by Tasha Black
Meanwhile, she had no weapon to defend herself with, and no clue who the murderer was.
It could be the nice photographer lady. It could be the family man with the wife and kid.
It could be the weird guy who reserved three rooms, but didn’t seem to sleep in any of them.
No, she thought to herself. It can’t be Viktor.
But suddenly her mind was picking at the loose threads.
Viktor was so pale. She only saw him at night.
He’s got international business to attend to.
He had strange, heavy trunks that traveled ahead of him.
He deals in antiques.
He had covered his mirrors and windows.
I would do the same if I had trouble sleeping during the day.
But other thoughts were suddenly crowding her mind.
She had thought there was something funny when she was out walking with him that first night.
She closed her eyes and pictured it - the snowflakes falling, her breath pluming in the air.
In her mind, she looked over at Viktor. His breath didn’t plume.
She shivered and paced some more, thinking back to the time they had spent together.
She pictured herself eating dinner in the solarium and Viktor telling her he had just eaten. She had never seen him eat or drink anything.
But that didn’t make him a murderer.
She thought of his reaction to the murder itself.
He was so shocked, so upset by it…
She could still see him, gazing out the window into the snow, looking despondent and horrified.
Had he been faking a reaction? And maybe playing it up a little, for the sake of the witnesses? Or had he just been overwhelmed in the presence of so much blood.
He had never told Dru anything about himself. He always turned the conversation to her.
What was he hiding?
She’d read enough horror novels to see how the pieces of this puzzle fit together.
No breath, no food, weird reaction to blood…
Take it easy, Dru, she told herself. You can’t really think that your boyfriend is a vampire. The throat was slashed, not bitten. The body wasn’t drained. There was blood everywhere.
But of course the slash could have been deliberately placed to hide two puncture wounds. Plenty of blood could have been missing before the fatal wound was administered.
And then there was the missing cross…
Weren’t vampires afraid of crucifixes?
It hit her that there was a vampire book on one of the shelves by the window seat.
She scrambled across the room for it, slamming her shin into the side of the desk on the way.
“Ow,” she moaned to herself.
“Drucilla?” Viktor called to her from the hallway. “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine,” she stammered. “I just need another minute.”
He knocked on the door.
She made it to the bookshelves and ran her fingers along the dusty spines.
Viktor was banging on the door now.
“Drucilla, I’m worried about you,” he called to her. “Please let me in.”
“I’m f-fine,” she called back, scanning desperately for the book she wanted.
Finally she saw the thin scarlet volume, grabbed it, and shoved the Encyclopedia Vampirica into her bag.
She jogged over to the door, suddenly panicked about what to do next.
She didn’t want to be alone with Viktor now that she suspected his secret.
But she couldn’t exactly accuse him without endangering herself, or at the very least embarrassing herself.
She unlocked the door and opened it slowly.
“Thank God,” he said with seemingly heartfelt relief. “What was that noise?”
“I bumped into the bed,” she said, shrugging.
He smiled and his blue eyes crinkled. “I was picturing the worst, of course. Someone waiting to ambush you in your room, grabbing you, forcing you at knife-point to tell me that everything was okay.”
“You watch too many movies,” she teased, impressing herself with her ability to play it cool.
“Guess so,” he said.
She still couldn’t bring herself to go out into the corridor with him alone. She was just beginning to feel panicky again when she saw Mayor Tuck heading down the hallway with Melody the photographer.
“Mayor Tuck,” Dru called out in a bright voice. “I wanted to ask you about that… thing at the last council meeting.”
“The Aging-In-Place for Senior Citizens task force?” Mayor Tuck asked with a dubious expression.
“Yes,” Dru said emphatically. “That’s definitely the thing I wanted to ask about.”
“I’m so glad you’ve taken an interest,” the mayor said with a big smile. “Now isn’t a great time to get into a big policy discussion, but if you want to give me your basic thoughts, I’ll make a note of it. Though the best way to share your ideas is at a council meeting.”
“Really?” Dru asked, slipping past a very confused looking Viktor to join the mayor in the hallway.
“Oh yes,” the mayor told her. “That’s how I got my start in politics, you know. I attended a couple of council meetings and fell in love with the process. Now, tell me, what are your thoughts on easing zoning restrictions for seniors?”
“I have so many,” Dru began as they headed downstairs.
5
Dru managed to handle the conversation in a way that probably didn’t impress the mayor, but hopefully didn’t arouse her suspicion either.
“Well, it’s an unusual stance, but I’ll note it down, Dru,” the mayor said when they reached the lobby. “Thanks for your input.”
“Dru, there you are,” Howie barked out.
“Sorry, Mayor Tuck,” she said.
“Nice to speak with you dear,” the mayor said, heading over to Melody, who appeared to be waiting for her by the fireplace.
Dru took off her coat and hung it by the front door. A battery powered lantern sat on the front desk, casting a beam of harsh light across the lobby, and darkening the shadows around it.
“Where have you been, Dru?” Howie asked.
“Sorry, Howie,” she said. “I just needed a minute. Zander was covering for me.”
“Well, I need you to get some food for these people,” Howie said. “They’re freaking out, and none of them will go to bed.”
“I’m, uh, not a very good cook,” Dru warned him.
“Oh for Pete’s sake, I’m not asking you to make them a proper meal,” Howie said, exasperated. “Just go to the kitchen and find some snacks you can bring out. Got it?”
“Yeah, sure, Howie,” she said.
She headed for the kitchen with Viktor still at her elbow.
They would be alone in there, with all the knives.
“Hey, Zander,” she called. “Will you give us a hand?”
“Sure,” he said eagerly.
The three of them stepped into the darkened corridor that led to the kitchen and sitting room.
Dru held her phone out in front of her, wondering once again how long the battery would last, and what she was supposed to do when it died.
“Hey, didn’t you and Howie go to find Chester?” she asked. “I thought he was going to turn the generator on.”
“Oh, man, yeah,” Zander said. “Chester was so pissed.”
Dru could picture that.
“Turns out we don’t have a lot of fuel around and the generator is finicky, according to Chester,” Zander explained. “He’s working on her.”
“Holy crap,” Dru said.
“So we won’t have power again for a while?” Viktor asked.
“And when we do, we’ll be using it sparingly,” Zander agreed.
Dru placed her phone on the stainless-steel island so that the light made a wide circle on the ceiling and cast the kitchen in dim light.
“What do you think people want to eat right now?” she asked.
>
“We’d better not open the fridge,” Zander said. “Don’t want to let any cold out.”
“What do you think, Viktor?” Dru asked.
She could see his surprised expression even in the shadows.
“Comfort food,” he said after a moment.
“Chips and salsa,” Zander agreed. “And cookies.”
“The carbs will make them crash,” Dru said.
“I think that’s what Howie wants,” Zander suggested.
Dru shrugged and the three of them gathered up the snacks in silence, placing everything on trays to carry into the dining room.
“Constance is going to flip out when she comes in and sees that we raided the kitchen,” Dru said.
“Nah, she’s super nice,” Zander said.
“Tell you what,” Dru said. “Let’s tell her you did this by yourself.”
“Sure, Dru,” Zander said. “But I really don’t know what you’re worried about.”
Dru led the way to the dining room with her phone as Zander and Viktor followed, each carrying a tray of snacks.
Zander put his tray down and stepped into the lobby.
“Snacks in the dining room,” he announced and headed back to the big table to grab some sustenance for himself.
There were normally a few candles burning in the dining room for ambiance at dinner. Dru lit them now, hoping there was a good supply somewhere since they were clearly going to be needing them.
“Oh, thank God,” Angie Wilder said, sauntering in and grabbing a handful of chips.
Others trailed in after her, digging into the junk food with relish.
Dru grabbed a plate and placed a couple of cookies on it.
Zander already had a mouthful of chips.
But Viktor was standing in the corner, watching her. When he caught her looking, he smiled. She walked over to him, grateful for a change to have so many people in the room.
“Here you go,” she said, holding out a chocolate chip cookie.
No one could resist a soft-bake cookie with the chips gleaming in the candlelight.
“No thanks,” he told her. “I just ate.”
Dru gulped, her throat suddenly dry.
He definitely hadn’t just eaten. She had been with him for hours now.
“Dru, what’s wrong?” he asked, concern marring his handsome features.
But she heard a sniffling sound coming from the solarium.
“Someone’s crying,” she realized out loud.
She headed for the solarium door, with Viktor right at her elbow once again.
It was just her luck that she seemed to have ensnared the world’s clingiest vampire.
6
Dru stepped into the solarium.
Even in darkness the air here was redolent of sunshine.
“Hello?” she called out softly.
“Dru?” Hailey’s voice called back to her.
She slipped between the plants, back to the little table in the corner where she had studied the journal with Viktor what felt like a thousand years ago.
Hailey was sitting, her body curled in on itself as she tried to stop herself from crying. Apparently, she hadn’t gone off to bed at Zander’s suggestion after all.
“What happened?” Dru asked, wrapping an arm around her friend and holding her close.
Viktor stayed back a little, to give her some space with her friend.
“There’s been a murder,” Hailey said. “We need the police.”
“They can’t come,” Dru reminded her. “You saw that tree. And it’s still storming.”
“There’s not supposed to be a blizzard,” Hailey sniffled. “There hasn’t been a blizzard this early in the season in Willow Ridge for a hundred years.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Dru told her. “The snow will let up, then they’ll clear the roads and get the cell tower up again.”
“If this were a horror movie, I’d be the next one killed,” Hailey said. “First the fat guy, then the hot Black girl.”
“No one would dare kill you,” Dru told her. “Look at your amazing outfit. You look like an executive monster hunter.”
Hailey glanced down at her outfit and couldn’t contain a small smile.
“We just have to be patient, that’s all,” Dru said.
“No,” Hailey said. “We don’t have to be patient. Our regular cell tower is down, but the one over in Lady of the Lake might not be.”
“But we can’t get down the mountain right now,” Dru reminded her.
“We don’t have to get down,” Hailey said. “It’s on the other side of the mountain, but if we hiked to the top, there would be nothing in the way of the signal from the valley.”
“In the middle of a blizzard?” Dru asked.
“Sure,” Hailey said. “Unless you’d prefer to stay warm and dry and murdered.”
Hailey had a point.
“Let’s go,” Dru said, making up her mind on the spot.
Hailey was right. It was better to do something, anything, than to just sit around and wait for the next bad thing to happen.
“Really?” Hailey asked.
“Really?” Viktor echoed, moving closer.
“Of course,” Dru told them. “But we’re sticking together. Agreed?”
“Of course,” Hailey nodded.
“I don’t know about this,” Viktor said, touching Dru’s arm.
“Do you have a better plan?” she asked.
“No, but this one seems dangerous,” he said quietly.
“Not getting help when you’re trapped with a murderer is pretty dangerous,” Hailey said.
“Point taken,” he replied. “I’m in.”
“Dru,” someone called from the hall.
They headed toward the door and found Channing poking his head into the solarium.
“There you are,” he said. “I need my recording officer.”
“I have another idea,” Dru said. “Well, we have another idea.”
“Go on,” Channing said.
“Hailey and Viktor and I are going to hike up to the peak,” Dru said. “We want to see if we can get a signal from the tower down in Lady of the Lake, on the other side of the mountain.”
“That’s not a bad plan,” Channing said after a moment of consideration. “No splitting up though.”
“No splitting up,” Viktor agreed. “And if we’re not back in four hours, send help.”
“Agreed,” Channing said. “God speed.”
“I’ve got to get my coat,” Hailey said. “I’ll grab yours too, Dru.”
“Uh, me too,” Viktor chimed in.
“Perfect,” Channing said. “I’d like to chat with Dru for a few minutes, anyway.”
“Do it in the dining room,” Viktor said pointedly.
Dru headed out in Hailey’s wake before Channing could protest.
Did Viktor really think Channing was a danger?
It could be an elaborate cover for his own guilt.
“Are you really comfortable with this plan, dear girl?” Channing asked her gently. “I’m happy to pull you off the mission for necessary work here.”
“I’m fine,” Dru said, wondering if she was telling the truth. “I’m an experienced hiker, and it’s really not that far.”
“Good, good,” he said. “When you return, we’ll search the victim’s room.”
“You can do it now,” she suggested.
“No, ma’am I cannot,” he retorted. “Not without my recording officer. Anyone could be the guilty party. We want a proper record of everything that happens here, with more than one reliable witness.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be back soon,” she said.
The others returned and Hailey handed over her coat.
“Thanks,” Dru said, slipping it on. “See you later, Hugh.”
Hugh Channing gave a funny little bow and stepped back into the corridor.
Dru led the way to the solarium’s exit door that led to the patio.
The snow was stil
l coming down hard and fast outside. She ducked her head down and walked into the wind before she had a chance to talk herself out of it.
7
Dru’s thighs were burning and she was sweating and freezing all at once by the time they reached the peak that overlooked Hemlock House.
She was grateful that Hailey seemed to know her way around the trails. Dru had taken a hike or two since arriving, but everything looked different now under a heavy blanket of snow.
The wind and cold had prevented them from really communicating, other than to wave each other on during the long trek.
But now that they had reached their destination, it was time to make a plan.
Dru pulled her phone out, allowing herself just the tiniest bit of hope.
No bars.
And she was at less than 5% battery life.
“Let’s all move around a little,” she yelled through the wind. “We’ll stay in each other’s sight, but we can cover more territory if we spread out.”
Viktor frowned, but Hailey nodded.
“Viktor, you go left,” Dru told him.
He gave her an icy look, but moved slowly in the direction she had indicated.
“I’ll go right, and Hailey you stay here but try going up and down the hillside a little,” Dru said.
Hailey nodded.
Dru hiked to the right, raising her phone and checking her signal every few feet.
One bar flashed up very slightly, but disappeared just as fast.
She glanced back at Hailey and Viktor.
Neither of them seemed to be having any luck. It was really going to suck if they had braved the snow and come all this way for nothing.
She kept moving, trying not to look down into the snowy valley. In the deepening snow, it would be all too easy to lose her footing, so concentration was key.
A high-pitched sound emanated from Hailey’s direction.
Dru turned and could make out that her friend was speaking with someone, screaming into the wind to be heard.
At the same moment, Dru’s phone buzzed in her hand.
She looked down to see it was showing new messages from her chat group, which meant that she had service now, too.
Every instinct told her to head back to Hailey.
But she couldn’t resist asking her friends to weigh in on Viktor. If she was quick about it, maybe she could get answers before Hailey was off the phone. She opened the site and took off her gloves, holding them in her teeth so she could type quickly.
