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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
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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.&
Leesa's Advent Chapter 143
Stefan, Genevieve and Dara made it back to the vampire lair well before dawn. The late hour had allowed them to race across the roadway of the East Haddam Bridge, rather than climbing hidden along the outer girders. The rest of the way was all within the dark woods along the river’s shoreline.“Say nothing about tonight to anyone,” Stefan instructed his two companions as soon as they entered the caverns. “This is a matter for Ricard, and perhaps the Council.Genevieve and Dara nodded their agreement and disappeared deeper into the caverns. Stefan knew they kept no secrets from each other, but he was confident they would feel no need to talk to anyone else. He headed directly to Ricard’s chambers.He found the vampire chieftain in his smaller rear chamber, stretched out upon an ornate four poster bed. Each of the bedposts was etched with incredibly detailed carvings of gargoyles and demons. The bed’s mattress had not survived t
Leesa's Advent Chapter 144
She limped over to her mini fridge and pulled out a can of Red Bull, the other item she had apparently moved back before she even knew what was happening. Taking it to her desk, she balanced it on the edge, half on and half off.When she tried to move it, nothing happened. She tried again, focusing as hard as she could, but the can stubbornly remained in place. Dejected, she picked up the can and moved it away from the edge. While she pondered what was wrong, she didn’t want it falling of its own accord and giving her the visual she was trying to avoid.Two possibilities came to her. First, unlike the basket, which she had clearly seen flying across the room a few months before, she had never actually seen the can move. She thought she might have somehow caused it to move a few inches one night when she was studying for midterms, but she had never been sure. Indeed, until she met Dominic, she had never been absolutely sure she had moved the basket without actuall
Leesa's Advent Chapter 145
While Leesa and Dominic drove west, Stefan was making his way toward the Weston campus. The beautiful gray clouds that had blanketed the sky yesterday were breaking up, allowing the sun to peek through for increasingly long intervals. Stefan did not care. He had his hooded sweatshirt and his gloves. As much as possible, he would keep to the shade, but if he had to bear the burning rays of the sun he would do so. There was no time to wait for nightfall. He wanted to begin putting his plan into motion as soon as possible.Most of the route between the vampire lair and the college was sparsely populated and he was able to move at vampire speed through the wooded hills. Only when he neared the southern edge of Middletown did he slow to a fast walk.When he reached Leesa’s dorm, he crossed quickly to the stairwell. Today was Sunday, so there were no classes. He hoped Leesa would be here, but he hadn’t even ascended the first flight of stairs when he knew she was
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