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“Do your principles hate pillows?” Amber asked. “One night where you can sleep in a bed, behind a locked door? One night when you’re safe? Are you really going to turn that down?”
“Safety does sound nice …”
“Come on,” Amber said. “I’ll even get you a room with a shower.”
“A shower?” Clarissa said, skipping back to Amber. “For realsies?”
“For realsies.”
“Golly!”
They stepped into the manager’s office and Amber got Clarissa a room key.
“Meet you for breakfast in the morning?” Clarissa asked, swinging the keychain around her finger.
“We’ll probably be gone by then,” Amber said. “We tend to leave early.”
“Oh,” said Clarissa. “Well, okay then, so I guess this is goodbye.”
“Guess it is.”
They looked at each other.
“You’re a really nice person, Amber.”
“And you’re pretty cool.”
They hugged, and Clarissa went to her room and Amber strolled back to hers. But, right before she slid the key into the lock, she heard the fluttering of clothes from somewhere above.
Glen.
(#ulink_e70efc44-3e58-506e-a6e0-fb57f90e3299)
AMBER SHIFTED AND CLIMBED on to the Catching Z’s roof. She saw him watching her, pale in the saturated night. Thin. Had he always been this thin? She couldn’t be sure. The weak breeze didn’t stir so much as a strand of his brown hair. His face, frozen now in his eighteenth year, was mournful.
She moved towards him and he turned.
“Stop,” she commanded.
He hesitated, one foot over the edge of the building.
She bit her lip, and reverted. All horned up, she had a tendency to shoot her mouth off, but something like this required a little more empathy. “Why are you doing this?” she asked gently. “You’ve been following us since Cascade Falls. You followed us to Alaska and back. I’ve checked online. I’ve seen the reports in the towns we’ve passed through. I know you’ve been killing people.”
Glen didn’t move. Didn’t turn. Didn’t answer.
“Milo thinks you’re following us because Varga’s dead, and you don’t have a – a vampire family. Is that true? Is that why?”
She moved a little closer. “Glen, you helped me in Desolation Hill. You took care of Kirsty. Thank you for that. But you can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep killing and you can’t keep following us. You helped me, but I can’t trust you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re going to do – if you’re going to help me or attack me. Maybe if you’d talk to me, you could make me understand.”
Glen offered no response.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be where you are right now,” Amber said, softening her voice. “Milo says … he says vampires don’t have a soul. Glen, if he’s right, I have no idea what you’re going through.”
A whisper passed on the breeze. She couldn’t be sure where it came from.
“I want to help you,” she said, “but I don’t know how. I don’t know if I’m able. Glen, I don’t even know if this is still you. I want to believe it is, but I’ve got no way of telling if you’re here because you feel you belong with us, or if you’re just obeying some vampire instinct. Help me. Talk to me.”
A moment passed, and Glen stepped off the edge and vanished.
Amber waited to see if he’d return, but after a few minutes she started to feel silly, and she went to her room and locked the door.
She showered, finally washing away the last of the bogle juice, and put on shorts and a T-shirt. She sat with her back against the headboard, iPad on her lap, and logged into the Dark Places forum.
TempestROCKS said …
Anyway, I gotta go to bed. Peace y’all!
Sith0Dude said …
Night, Temp!
Mad Hatter99 said …
Bye!
Ima gonna go 2.
The Dark Princess said …
Hiya
Sith0Dude said …
Don’t go, Hatter, there’s no one else chatting. I’ll be all alone.
Mad Hatter99 said …
Princess! Welcome back! Haven’t seen you in AGES!
The Dark Princess said …
Been busy! How you doing?
Sith0Dude said …
Hi, Dark Princess.
Mad Hatter99 said …
I’m good! Will I be seeing you at the con? It’s only 2 weeks away!
The Dark Princess said …
Don’t think so. I’d love to but might be on the other side of the country by then!
Hi, Sithy.
Mad Hatter99 said …
That SUCKS!
You spoken to BAC? I keep missing her.
The Dark Princess said …
Not surprised. Australia’s a day ahead of us or something.
Sith0Dude said …
BAC is from Australia? I thought she was from Austria.
Mad Hatter99 said …
Stupid timezones.
Sith0Dude said …
I keep talking German to her. No wonder she never replies.
Mad Hatter99 said …
You know German, Sith?
Sith0Dude said …
Sort of. Not very well. My uncle works part time as a Hitler impersonator.
Mad Hatter99 said …
Is there much demand for that?
Sith0Dude said …
Not really. It’s why he only works part time.
The Dark Princess said …
It’s late, guys, so I’m gonna go. Just popped in to say hi! Night now!
Amber powered off the iPad and raised her eyes to the TV. The son of a New York police chief had gone missing. Reporters feared the worst.
She switched off the TV, climbed into bed, turned off the light, and let her eyes close. Her thoughts drifted in the oasis of quiet in which she now found herself. So very quiet. So very incredibly, impossibly quiet.
Amber opened her eyes and looked at the window. Headlights swooped by. She couldn’t hear any engines, though. It must have been one thick window to block out that noise. Thick door, too. Hell, thick walls. In every cheap motel she’d been in, the walls were so thin the only thing keeping the ceiling from collapsing was the mould.
She turned over, closed her eyes again. Sleep caught her like a hand around the ankle, and dragged her down.
And, as she slept, she dreamed and, in her dream, Amber had a birthday party. They were in her house, back in Orlando. It was hot, and everyone was sweating.
Her parents were there, and a boy and girl around her own age that she didn’t recognise.
Her demon-self was also sitting at the table, looking bored. “Why do I have to be here?” she asked. “Your dreams are as dull as you are.”
Nobody paid her any attention. This was Amber’s special day, and Amber was beaming.
“Happy birthday, sweetie,” said Betty. She started cutting the cake. Blood spilled out but nobody cared.
“Our little girl has grown up,” said Bill. “This is a big day. A momentous day. An important day. A succulent day. A mouth-watering day. A big, juicy day.”
He talked on, and Amber’s smile failed and she turned to her demon-self. “Who are they?” she asked, indicating the boy and girl.
Her demon-self sighed. “Don’t you know anything?” she said. “It’s James and Carolyn. Your brother and sister.”
“Oh,” said Amber.
James sat at the table with his head down. He had a collar around his neck, with a chain attached to it that Bill held like a leash. “I live in the attic,” he said.
Carolyn sat with a faltering smile on her face. She was wearing a light summer dress, and white gloves. “I live in my head,” she said.
“Where’s Molly?” asked James.
“What did they do with Molly?” asked Carolyn.
Betty pushed a plate across to Amber, spilling blood on the tablecloth. The slice of cake had a heartbeat, and, with every beat, more blood pumped out.
“Are you ready for your present?” Betty asked. “I know you wanted a pony.”
Amber frowned. “I never wanted a pony.”
“So we got you a pony,” said Betty.
“I don’t want one.”
“Bill, go fetch the pony, would you?”
Amber’s father, who had shifted into his demon form without Amber noticing, let go of the chain and went into the kitchen to fetch the pony.
With their father gone, James tore off the collar and bolted for a door that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
