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Chapter 80
Three days after Christmas, Leesa and Bradley were in the new apartment, assembling inexpensive furniture purchased from the IKEA store in New Haven. They had driven down the day before in Uncle Roger’s Expedition and picked out everything they thought they would need for their mom and Bradley to be at least semi-comfortable. Leesa would be going back to school in less than a week, so they had just borrowed an air mattress from Uncle Roger for her to sleep on up in the loft. They didn’t really have to figure out how to furnish the loft until school ended for the summer.
They had already put together a bed for their mom and one for Bradley. The instructions were clear and simple and few tools were necessary. Leesa was now assembling a pair of dining chairs to go with the table Bradley was building. Their mom was at the bakery, working. Bradley had set up a CD player, but all of Leesa’s music was back at the dorm, so they were listening to a collection of Christmas carols borr
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 81
Rave looked at her sheepishly. Leesa loved it when he looked that way, because it did not happen often. He was usually so confident and in control. “Well, I did miss you,” he said. “And I wanted to check on you and make sure everything was all right. But you are right. There is more. I might be gone a bit longer than I originally expected.” That was definitely not something Leesa wanted to hear. “Oh, no. Why?” “The Council has decided it is safer for everyone that way. For volkaanes, vampires and humans.” “How long will you be gone, then?” Rave shrugged. “I’m not sure. Unless we hear that vampires are running out of control and our presence is needed, it could be awhile.” Leesa’s heart sank. Why did she have to fall in love with a volkaane? She quickly squashed the thought. Rave was by far the best thing ever to happen to her, despite the obstacles. And there were more than a few, for sure. “Three people disappeared within two
Leesa's Advent Chapter 82
The first thing Leesa DID when she got back to school, after putting her stuff away in her room, was go down to Cali’s room. She had only seen her friend once over the break, when Cali had borrowed her mom’s car and driven to Meriden two days before Christmas. That had been nearly two weeks ago, and Leesa missed her best friend. Texts were nice, but there was nothing like getting together in person.Cali’s door was wide open. Inside, Leesa could see Cali and Stacie sitting at Cali’s desk, their backs to the doorway. She knocked lightly on the door to let them know she was there and entered the room.The two girls turned at the sound of Leesa’s knock, and she immediately saw she had been mistaken. The second girl was not Stacie—this girl’s long straight black hair, so similar to the half-Japanese Stacie’s—had fooled Leesa. She had never seen this girl before. She was very pretty, with large, almond-shaped dark brown
Leesa's Advent Chapter 83
Leesa awoke in a cold sweat. She had just suffered another one of those powerful, all too realistic dreams. This time, she could only recall the final image, but that haunting vision was more than enough. She had seen a teenage girl standing outside a window peering in. Her hair was long and lank, her eyes wide but lifeless, her mouth hanging slightly open. Everything was dark behind her, but the light coming from inside the window partially illuminated her face. The total effect was one of longing, sorrow and terrible suffering.It was a horrifying image, one Leesa wished she could wipe from her memory. But no matter how hard she tried, the picture remained clear as a photograph. The girl’s face seemed to be seared onto her retinas.Unable to make the image go away, Leesa changed her focus, struggling instead to recall details from the dream. Who was this girl and where had she come from? What horrors had she suffered to make her look the way she did? And why ha
Leesa's Advent Chapter 84
Unbeknownst to Leesa, the one person who could have answered some of her questions was still almost three thousand miles away, growing more frustrated by the day in San Diego.Dominic had finally decided he needed help, so he had hired an investigator, paying cash and contacting the man once a day via a different public phone each time. After four days, the man had provided Dominic an address in the North Park section of San Diego.The place turned out to be a small, run-down apartment complex. Dominic had been stealthily watching apartment five for two days now, but had not seen a single person come out of the apartment. A check of the mailboxes showed a name he did not recognize, but it was possible Leesa’s mother had remarried over the years and now had a different name. He had walked casually past the window a few times and was able to see that the place was furnished, so at least he was not wasting his time watching an empty apartment. But whether Leesa, or
Leesa's Advent Chapter 85
Leesa poked through the clothes in her closet, trying to decide what to wear. She was going to some place called The Joint that hosted open microphone nights on Fridays. Andy had been there once with some guys from his fraternity and said it was really fun. Cali knew how stressed she had been lately—Leesa had shared her most recent dream with her—and had insisted Leesa come along, saying a night out having some mindless fun would be good for her. Caitlin was also going, so Leesa wouldn’t feel like a “third wheel” on Cali and Andy’s date.Cali had said to dress casual and “funky,” and Leesa was not exactly certain what that meant. She was pretty sure none of her stuff was very funky, though. She settled on a purple and black striped sweater and black jeans. She hoped her dark brown Ugg boots might add a bit of funk to her look. Checking herself in the mirror, she thought she looked fine, but fine was probably a long way from funk
Leesa's Advent Chapter 86
Leesa laughed. “Not a chance. Not in a million years.”“I might,” Andy said. “You never know. It could be fun.”“What?” Leesa exclaimed, totally surprised. “You’re kidding, right?” Andy grinned. “Why not?”“What would you do?” Leesa asked. “Sing? Tell jokes?”“Nothing so boring. Maybe I’ll recite some poetry.”Leesa hoped he was kidding. She had never been here, but she was pretty sure this crowd would not react too kindly to a poetry recital.Movement at the front of the room drew their attention. A tall, dark-haired guy wearing the same white shirt and black pants outfit as their waiter stepped up onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. He tapped the mic with his fingers and waited for the crowd to quiet.“Welcome, everyone, to open mic night at The Joint,” he said. Some whoops and whistles arose fro
Leesa's Advent Chapter 87
Leesa sat down numbly on the edge of her bed, her eyes moving back and forth from the soda stain on her rug—where the wastebasket had started—to the basket itself, now lying on its side across the room against the dresser. How had it gotten from one spot to the other? Sure, she had kicked at it after she stumbled over it, but she hadn’t actually connected with it. Or had she? The evidence was right there in front of her, lying against the dresser. She must have kicked it. What other explanation could there be? Wastebaskets did not fly across the room on their own. Unless….She thought back to the Red Bull can. Maybe the darn thing had actually slid a few inches across her desk. Maybe the can and the basket hadn’t moved on their own—maybe she had somehow caused them to move. She remembered a special she had seen on TV, about a guy who claimed he could move objects with his mind. Maybe she was doing the same thing. But that was craz
Leesa's Advent Chapter 88
Edwina glided through the darkness, getting ready to leave the vampire lair yet again. She was nearly to the cavern entrance when Stefan appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her lightly by the elbow.“Going out again?” he asked.“Yes, I am,” she said, her tone neutral, hoping he was not going to give her trouble.“This is the fourth time,” Stefan said.“But who’s counting?” Edwina replied lightly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” She looked down at his hand, still gripping her elbow.Stefan released her arm. “Is it so difficult to find a feeder?”“I keep my feeders for a long time, as you well know.” It didn’t hurt to remind Stefan just why she needed to go out. “I have to find the right one.”She could feel Stefan’s eyes probing hers, seeking some sign of deceit or guile. Edwina was not new to this game, though,
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