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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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Pink’s hit anthem “Perfect” rang out from Leesa’s cell phone, pulling her from her sleep. The song told her it was Cali on the other end. Leesa thought the line about people not liking the singer’s jeans and not getting her hair was the perfect ringtone for Cali, and Cali had laughed delightedly when Leesa told her about her choice.She wiped the sleep from her eyes and checked the clock, surprised to see it was already twenty minutes past nine. She almost never slept this late, even on the weekend. Her tossing and turning and dreaming must really have exhausted her, she thought. At least she had finally managed to fall asleep, and to stay asleep until after nine. She wondered how long she would have slept if the phone had not awakened her.She pushed herself up from the bed and grabbed her cell.“Hey,” she said.“You sound tired,” Cali said. “Did I wake you?”“Yeah, you did, b
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“Sorry,” she said. “I kind of like the cold, but I guess we could spare some heat.” The cold did not affect her, of course, but she had another reason for not turning the heat on until necessary—the body still crammed into the trunk. She didn’t think much heat would seep into the trunk, but figured the colder it stayed back there, the longer it would take for the corpse to begin to decay. She reached for a knob on the dash and warm air began blowing into the car. “Better?”“Much,” Cali said, holding her hands in front of one of the vents. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”They followed Highway 9 north, through a series of towns Leesa had never been to before, but did not look all that different from Meriden. The drive was pleasant enough, and in about forty minutes they were pulling into a wide parking lot. At Cali’s urging, Vanina circled the lot until she found an open spot not t
Leesa's Advent Chapter 91
Edwina had been back inside the vampire caverns for just a short while when Stefan approached her.“I trust you enjoyed your outing,” he said, moving close in front of her. There was a hint of controlled anger in his voice.Edwina took a half step backwards, startled by his comment and his tone. What was he saying? How much did he know? She decided that if he knew she had been with Leesa, his anger would have been far more furious. It had to be something else.“What do you mean?” she asked, buying time.“Don’t act the innocent with me. You have taken human blood. I see it in your eyes, and I can smell it.”“So what?” Edwina straightened her posture and pushed her shoulders back. She had to show him she would not be cowed. “I was careful, and I disposed of the body where it will never be found. No one will ever connect his disappearance to our kind. He is just another missing human.”
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