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Chapter 134
Sunday morning, Leesa walked over to her mom and brother’s apartment. The almost three mile jaunt was the perfect amount of exercise, especially with the brunch her mom was going to be serving. The sun was shining and the temperature had already climbed above freezing. Leesa wore sunglasses to protect her eyes from the glare. By the time she reached the campus gateway she was warm enough to unzip her parka and shove her knit cap into her pocket.
She knew the last few sunny days had melted a considerable amount of snow, but she couldn’t tell by looking at it. A foot of snow looked pretty much the same as two feet, and the tall, soot and dirt spattered snow banks lining every street and sidewalk didn’t seem to have shrunk at all. She had been yearning for snow all winter, but they had gotten far more than she bargained for. Be careful what you wish for, she reminded herself—you just might get it. As she carefully skirted another of the seemingly endless
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 135
A tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice sat at each setting and there was a basket of rolls in the middle of the table.Leesa took the seat at the far end. Bradley sat to her right, with Aunt Janet opposite him. They saved the end nearest the kitchen for their mom, who emerged through the doorway a moment later carrying a spinach quiche in one hand and plate of bacon in the other.“Dig in,” she said. “Don’t wait for me. I’ll be right back.”She returned to the kitchen and came back this time with a big bowl of scrambled eggs and another of hash brown potatoes. After placing the two bowls onto the table, she sat down.“Since Roger’s not here, we’ll save the cinnamon rolls for dessert,” she said jokingly. She grabbed her glass of orange juice and held it up for a toast. “To family,” she said.Everyone clinked classes and then settled in to eat.The food was delicious
Leesa's Advent Chapter 136
Rave laughed. “I know. But the tone is always much hotter when it comes from you.” He kissed the top of her head. “So, is there anything special you want to do today?”Leesa linked her arms around his elbow. “Just being with you is enough for me,” she said. “What about you? Is there something you want to do?Rave nodded. “As a matter of fact, there is.”He swept Leesa up into his arms and started down the path, turning deeper into the Maston settlement when he reached the road. A melted pathway stretched ahead of them. Leesa could have walked beside him, but this was so much more fun, and quicker, too.He carried her past the now barren apple orchard on the far side of the road and several cabins and small houses on the nearer side. When he turned off the pathway into the trees, Leesa was pretty sure she knew where they were headed. She smiled, because it was a place she really liked.The ground
Leesa's Advent Chapter 137
Saturday morning, Leesa and Cali were sitting on Cali’s bed chatting when Caitlin rushed into the room, red-faced and breathing heavily. Her blonde-tipped hair looked like she had started using her curler but had stopped half-way through. One side looked full and fluffy, the other hung close to her head. She was wearing black sweatpants and sandals, with a yellow and white striped pullover shirt that was twisted in the front, as if she’d thrown it on just before leaving her room and hadn’t bothered to take the time to straighten it. Her face was bare of any makeup, which was rare for Caitlin.“Did you guys hear about the serial killers?” she asked excitedly.Leesa looked up worriedly. She hadn’t heard anything about any killings.“Calm down, girl,” Cali said to Caitlin. “You look like you’re about to explode.” She patted the mattress beside her. “Have a seat.”C
Leesa's Advent Chapter 138
“Sit, Stefan.” Ricard’s voice was deep and melodious.Stefan did as he was bid. The wood bench was smooth and comfortable.Richard stepped closer, remaining on his feet.“Someone has been feeding in our territory,” he said.“Yes, my lord. I have sensed it also.”When vampires fed, others of their kind could sense the feeding across great distances, especially vampires as powerful as Ricard and Stefan.“There are two of them, I think, traveling together,” Ricard said. “They have fed four times in the last fortnight.”“Four times, my lord?” This was even more serious than Stefan had known. “I sensed but three. The fourth must have occurred beyond my range to detect it.”“Once, or even twice, I could let pass,” Ricard declared, “thinking they might merely be wanderers passing through. But this is too much. We cannot risk the
Leesa's Advent Chapter 139
When Caitlin left to finish getting dressed and fixing her hair, Leesa and Cali were free to talk about the subject on both their minds—vampires. They each scooted backward on Cali’s bed until their backs rested against the wall.“Do you think it’s vampires doing it?” Cali asked.“I’m not sure. But it sure sounds like it could be.”“I wonder if they’re vampires from Stefan’s coven.”“I don’t know.” Leesa drew one leg up against her chest and wrapped her arms around her shin. “For all we know, Stefan could have done one of the killings himself.”“You really think so?” Cali frowned, clearly troubled by the idea. “He seemed so nice.”Leesa twisted her body around so that she was facing Cali.“Stefan is a vampire, Cali. Never forget that. He drinks blood, sometimes from people. That’s how he survives. A
Leesa's Advent Chapter 140
Shortly before ten o’clock, Leesa left Cali’s room and headed back upstairs. Dominic was coming by at ten and they were going on another road trip. The timing was perfect—she would have plenty of time to talk to him about her vision during the drive.The weather had been unusually warm recently, but today’s forecast called for increasing clouds and colder temperatures arriving later in the day. Leesa donned a red Weston sweatshirt—all she thought she would need for the drive and maybe even outside during midday. She grabbed her parka for later when the temperature dropped and headed out the door. She didn’t know how late they would be gone and it was certain to be cold when the sun began to set.The elevator chimed as she was closing her door. Sandee, one of her neighbors from the far end of the hall stepped out and greeted her with a smile and a hello. Leesa returned the greeting and limped into the elevator. More often than not she
Leesa's Advent Chapter 141
“Having lots of people in the general area creates more psychic noise,” Dominic explained. “The noise reduces the chances of our enemies sensing you even if they happened to be in the vicinity. If we worked somewhere in the middle of nowhere, that would not be the case.”Leesa nodded. What Dominic said made sense. He had clearly been doing a lot of scouting to have found these places. She wondered how many more he had located already.“I understand,” she said.“And in the unlikely event we are sensed,” Dominic added, “having a city nearby gives us a better chance to disappear.”Dominic’s emphasis on caution and safety was an excellent reminder for Leesa just how dangerous what they were doing was. In the excitement of learning new skills, she tended to forget that sometimes. She resolved to try to remember it better.As before, Dominic directed her into a parking area away from the p
Leesa's Advent Chapter 142
They crisscrossed the countryside north of Middletown and Meriden, moving at vampire speed when they knew they would be invisible to human eyes and slowing when traversing more populated areas. By midnight they had covered many square miles, with nothing to show for it so far. Stefan almost hoped the visiting vampires would feed one more time so he would be able to sense their location from a distance. Still, he was not worried. Vampires were a patient species, for what did time matter to those who had eternity? If they did not find their quarry tonight, they would simply resume their hunt again tomorrow night. Eventually, the new vampires would feed, and he would find them.Finally, in an area of woods filled with thick, bare trees, Stefan detected the faint trace of vampire presence. He motioned his companions to a halt. They each raised their chins, listening and sniffing the air.“I sense it as well,” Genevieve said, “but it feels wrong some-how.&
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