Hunger. Feed.
My alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. and I sit up in bed with a start. Whispers tickle my ears and I look wildly around the dark room as the echoes of faint voices fade away. Dark shadows flit and drift around the ceiling with clawlike hands pulling at the air.
Hunger. Feed.
My heart races as I squint, trying to make out the shapes. I turn on the light and see black wisps roll back into themselves until there’s nothing.
I rub my eyes and look again. Nothing. Just a dream.
I take a deep calming breath as I sit up. Then I do myusual “where am I?” and “what do I have to do today” routine to ground myself.
I look around the small room again. South Bristol, Maine. Meet with Kiki. Kill vampires.
I head to the bathroom and look in the mirror and frown. Nothing like bed-head and crease lines from the pillow on my cheek—ugh. Jennifer-Kate has suggested satin pillowcases for better hair and skin in the morning but Mom thought the idea was ridiculous and assumed Jennifer-Kate must have an interest in some pillowcase company.
I splash cold water on my face, run my fingers through my hair and then dig out an assortment of quarters and dollar bills from my purse.
I open my door and head out into the parking lot. A fishy-smelling fog is drifting around in swirls and eddies. I shiver as I head for the soda machine. As I get closer I see someone leaning over to take out a soda.
Tyler Harker.
“Hey,” he says and my stomach flips. His eyes are wide and for the first time I notice blue. He stares nervously at me, no doubt because I wasn’t too pleasant during our first encounter. He’s wearing a tight white shirt and I can’t help but notice he’s got a better build than I first thought. He should definitely ditch the baggy trenchcoat. His hair is still hanging in his face, but without the eyeliner he doesn’t look half bad.
Too bad he’s the enemy. Not to mention a complete jerk.
“Hey,” I say nonchalantly, deciding it’s best to act a little friendly—keep-your-enemies-close kind of thing. I walk past him and run my fingers through my hair again, wishing I’d brushed it before I’d ventured out and immediately hating myself for thinking that. I smooth the wrinkles on a dollar bill to put in the machine and wait to hear his footsteps walking away.
Nothing.
“No coffee in the rooms—sucks, huh?” he says.
I nod, keeping my attention on the soda machine. “I could tell they wouldn’t have free coffee when we pulled in. I’ve developed a sixth sense for predicting which places have it and which don’t. At least there’s decent shampoo.” The first bill I try is too wrinkled and the machine keeps spitting it out. I take out another and feed it carefully into the slot.
“You’re up early,” he says.
The bill comes back out toward me and I turn to him with my best evil eye. “Yup, gotta get an early start since we’re competing for kills.”
I yank out another rejected bill and hear him sigh.What does he expect? It’s bad enough we have to share the job. Does he think I’m going to be all buddy-buddy with him after he and his dad almost stole it from us? Please.
Suddenly he’s standing by my side, inserting a crisp bill into the machine. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as his arm briefly bumps up against my shoulder. Goose bumps crop up on his bare, well-toned arm and I wonder if it’s from the cold or me. The dollar disappears in the slot and I add two quarters. “Thanks.”
I push one of the diet soda buttons and the bottle rattles to the bottom. After I fish it out of the machine, I hand him one of my wrinkled bills but he shakes his head.
“I’m good. It’s the least I can do for crashing your territory.” His dark bangs fall across his eyes and he brushes them aside. “Look, I know it was a really crappy thing for my dad to do, but he got completely obsessed with coming out here. He’s …” Tyler looks away. “He’s not in a good place, if you know what I
My alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. and I sit up in bed with a start. Whispers tickle my ears and I look wildly around the dark room as the echoes of faint voices fade away. Dark shadows flit and drift around the ceiling with clawlike hands pulling at the air.
Hunger. Feed.
My heart races as I squint, trying to make out the shapes. I turn on the light and see black wisps roll back into themselves until there’s nothing.
I rub my eyes and look again. Nothing. Just a dream.
I take a deep calming breath as I sit up. Then I do myusual “where am I?” and “what do I have to do today” routine to ground myself.
I look around the small room again. South Bristol, Maine. Meet with Kiki. Kill vampires.
I head to the bathroom and look in the mirror and frown. Nothing like bed-head and crease lines from the pillow on my cheek—ugh. Jennifer-Kate has suggested satin pillowcases for better hair and skin in the morning but Mom thought the idea was ridiculous and assumed Jennifer-Kate must have an interest in some pillowcase company.
I splash cold water on my face, run my fingers through my hair and then dig out an assortment of quarters and dollar bills from my purse.
I open my door and head out into the parking lot. A fishy-smelling fog is drifting around in swirls and eddies. I shiver as I head for the soda machine. As I get closer I see someone leaning over to take out a soda.
Tyler Harker.
“Hey,” he says and my stomach flips. His eyes are wide and for the first time I notice blue. He stares nervously at me, no doubt because I wasn’t too pleasant during our first encounter. He’s wearing a tight white shirt and I can’t help but notice he’s got a better build than I first thought. He should definitely ditch the baggy trenchcoat. His hair is still hanging in his face, but without the eyeliner he doesn’t look half bad.
Too bad he’s the enemy. Not to mention a complete jerk.
“Hey,” I say nonchalantly, deciding it’s best to act a little friendly—keep-your-enemies-close kind of thing. I walk past him and run my fingers through my hair again, wishing I’d brushed it before I’d ventured out and immediately hating myself for thinking that. I smooth the wrinkles on a dollar bill to put in the machine and wait to hear his footsteps walking away.
Nothing.
“No coffee in the rooms—sucks, huh?” he says.
I nod, keeping my attention on the soda machine. “I could tell they wouldn’t have free coffee when we pulled in. I’ve developed a sixth sense for predicting which places have it and which don’t. At least there’s decent shampoo.” The first bill I try is too wrinkled and the machine keeps spitting it out. I take out another and feed it carefully into the slot.
“You’re up early,” he says.
The bill comes back out toward me and I turn to him with my best evil eye. “Yup, gotta get an early start since we’re competing for kills.”
I yank out another rejected bill and hear him sigh.What does he expect? It’s bad enough we have to share the job. Does he think I’m going to be all buddy-buddy with him after he and his dad almost stole it from us? Please.
Suddenly he’s standing by my side, inserting a crisp bill into the machine. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as his arm briefly bumps up against my shoulder. Goose bumps crop up on his bare, well-toned arm and I wonder if it’s from the cold or me. The dollar disappears in the slot and I add two quarters. “Thanks.”
I push one of the diet soda buttons and the bottle rattles to the bottom. After I fish it out of the machine, I hand him one of my wrinkled bills but he shakes his head.
“I’m good. It’s the least I can do for crashing your territory.” His dark bangs fall across his eyes and he brushes them aside. “Look, I know it was a really crappy thing for my dad to do, but he got completely obsessed with coming out here. He’s …” Tyler looks away. “He’s not in a good place, if you know what I
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