Page 62 of Starved Until Sunset

“Anything else you need?”

Cody looked back at the woman. He hadn’t seen her around before, so she had to be new. Health care had a lot of turnover, especially when working with seniors. And especially when working in Parson’s Hollow.

“No, thanks. I’m Cody, Felicia Bower’s grandson.”

Her expression brightened. “I was in with Felicia this morning. I helped her out of bed and into her clothes. She said she saw you yesterday.”

Cody shook his head with a sad smile. “I wasn’t able to come out yesterday. It’s been a few days, actually. Maybe it was my brother, Dave.”

“Maybe. Either way, I could tell she loves you the way she was talking. It’s nice you visit her so often. Is she really going to be a hundred years old this year?”

“Next month, yep.”

“Amazing.”

“It is. She’s seen some things.”

The woman snorted quietly. “Haven’t we all?”

He had to give her that one. “What’s your name?”

“Brenda.”

“Nice meeting you, Brenda.”

“Same here.”

Cody smiled before heading off down the hall. As he walked, his smile fell away, and his thoughts turned darker. Too many deaths had been happening around Parson’s Pines lately. And he also knew this vampire was to blame. Also, Jesus Christ, he couldn’t believe he was thinking about vampires without tying them to some kind of book or movie. How had this become his life?

Correction, his and Demmy’s life together.

That thought sent an arrow into his heart, and he paused outside his grandmother’s door. Monster hunting wasn’t everything that bound them together. Before all of the creature craziness had invaded their lives, they’d had a strong friendship. The monster cases hadn’t brought out the love between them; it had always been there. Cody knew that as surely as he knew anything. It had taken the dangerous situations they stumbled on to make him realize who he wanted beside him when shit went down. And that person had always been, and always would be, Demmy.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, but Demmy hadn’t called or texted. Giving himself a minute to think, he sent Demmy a quick text and hoped it conveyed everything he was feeling.

I don’t want to lose you, to lose us. I’m sorry, again. I want to talk about us, but I also want to talk about how to find Zenona. When you’re ready. I love you.

It would have to do. He tapped send and jammed the phone back in his pocket. Stepping into Felicia’s doorway, he saw the orange light of the setting sun gleam along the small cross hanging just beyond the frame. Her bed and chair were empty, and he stepped inside to look into the tiny bathroom. No sign of Felicia.

Telling himself not to panic, he searched the room. Her Rollator walker was missing. She had gone on a walk, that was all. He recalled finding her sitting by that side entrance when he and Dave had come to visit. Good God, had that been less than a week ago? It felt like something that had happened last year.

Cody stepped out into the hall and nearly ran into an old woman leaning over her own Rollator. The woman startled and took a staggering step to the side. He moved quickly to take her arm and keep her from falling over.

“You gave me a scare,” the woman said, rolling her eyes up to try and see his face. She was bent nearly in half by osteoporosis, and wasn’t quite able to meet his gaze.

He crouched down in front of her and smiled. “Sorry about that. I need to be more careful when stepping into the hall. You okay?”

She scowled at him. “I’m fine. Now move, can’t you see I’m trying to get to my room? It’s almost dark.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Cody stood and stepped aside. “Do they shut the lights off when the sun goes down?”

“No, the other people come back. You’d best get out of sight.” The woman moved off, shaking her head and muttering to herself.

A chill ran through him, like something with cold, dead hands touching his spine. He started walking, looking into the rooms on his right as he went, watching the last of the light fade from the sky through the windows of each residence. It got dark so fast these last days of October. He increased his pace, careful to stay in the center of the hall and avoid running into anyone exiting a residence. The hallway intersection seemed to stretch farther away with each step he took.

When he finally rounded the corner, he saw his grandmother standing by the door. She was turned in profile and looking out the door’s window as she reached for the push bar. Someone’s pale face was visible beyond the glass, the mouth curved up into a terrible smile of psychotic glee, red eyes wide and gleaming with a feverish excitement as it watched Felicia push the bar.