Page 84 of Dark Obsession

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Demetrius and the others watched as Lucia slammed out of the apartment building and ran to her Honda Pilot before speeding off down the street. During those couple of minutes, the fire had brightened considerably, the tips of flames visible now over the trees. More sirens pierced the humid night air, screaming over Demetrius’s nerves. He spun away from the wall and practically ran toward the stairs. He heard Cody right behind him.

“Wait!” Clarabell shouted. “Before anyone leaves, arm yourselves!”

Demetrius paused at the top of the stairs to look back and Cody passed him, thundering down the steps. Clarabell had placed a large bin made of clear plastic on the dining table and was reaching for another one. Through the sides of the bin, Demetrius saw wooden stakes, strings of garlic bulbs, a handful of crosses and water rifles he knew would be filled with garlic water.

Cody had reached the bottom of the steps and opened the door, grabbing his attention. Demetrius hurried down and pushed through the doors. He could smell smoke in the air now, the sirens coming from all over town. Cody was already at the back of the truck, digging items out of the tackle box. Demetrius yanked open the passenger door and got in. Blood roared in his ears, and his breaths were quick and shallow. His skin tingled as if someone had touched a live wire to the top of his head. With shaking hands, he unlocked his phone and tapped Amelia’s name. The line connected, but each unanswered ring felt like a cold needle in his gut.

Cody climbed in behind the wheel, his arms loaded with supplies that he handed off. Water rifles, crosses, wooden stakes, and strands of garlic bulbs, their skins sticking to Demetrius’s sweaty palms.

“Amelia’s not answering,” Demetrius said.

“Keep trying her. Eileen, too.”

The door to the building opened again and the others rushed out, going to their own vehicles. Cody honked and opened his door, calling to Dave and Oliver.

“Dave! Come with us!”

He flipped his seat forward to allow Dave and Oliver to climb into the narrow bench seat in the back. They both carried water rifles and wore strings of garlic bulbs around their necks. They looked stunned, eyes darting back and forth, and Oliver’s face was pale.

“Where was my grandmother?” Oliver said. “She’s not answering her phone.”

“Amelia’s not answering either. They were at Margie’s, just sitting down to dinner together, all four of them.” He gripped the armrest as Cody burned rubber away from the curb. “They were in front, by the window.”

“Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“We don’t know what this is,” Dave said. “This could just be an equipment malfunction at the coffee shop. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“That’s one hell of a malfunction,” Cody said.

A woman ran screaming into the street in front of them. Blood ran down one side of her face from a scalp wound. She stopped, hands held out in front of her, eyes wide in the headlights. Cody hit the brakes, and the truck screeched to a stop a few yards away. Before any of them could say a word, before the woman could even lower her arms, a figure moving too fast for Demetrius to see clearly raced across the road and snatched her.

“Fuck!” Cody jerked back in his seat.

“Jesus Christ,” Oliver said. “Was that…?”

“A vampire, yes,” Demetrius said, hearing the calm in his voice even as his heart banged, and his muscles were screaming for him to move, to act, to do something. “We’ve got to get downtown.”

Cody drove again, faster now. In the side mirror, Demetrius could see the headlights of the rest of their group following. He disconnected the current unanswered call to Amelia and sent a text to the group chat: Vampire sighting. Stay alert and watch each other’s backs.

Dave and Oliver’s phones buzzed, as did Cody’s.

“That’s from me,” Demetrius said. “I let the others know it’s definitely vampires.”

Cody barely slowed for a stop sign before turning onto Main Street. A block later, the road was cordoned off by sheriff’s cruisers, and beyond them Demetrius saw a wall of flames hungrily devouring Hollow Grounds. The Purple Orchid, the gift shop next door, was also burning. Demetrius pressed a hand against the center of his chest as he watched the flames reach into the sky. Sparks and burning paper products rose above the flames then drifted away on the humid wind.

Cody parked at the curb, and they all got out. Tracey pulled up behind them, Zenona in her passenger seat. Jugs parked his pickup behind them and he, Agatha, and Clarabell got out. Everyone held a water rifle, and half of them wore necklaces of garlic bulbs, while crosses hung around the necks of the others. They gathered as a group on the sidewalk and watched in silence as firefighters sprayed water on both buildings. Waves of heat pulsed over them, and Demetrius thought it felt like the fire’s heartbeat. The sound of it was louder than he’d expected, a primal and hungry roar as it consumed the buildings.

“Oh my God,” Oliver said. “What the hell?”

“Robin!” Clarabell shouted, trying to be heard over the fire and people shouting. “Robin!”

Demetrius stepped to one side to better see around the cruisers, and something in his chest loosened when he saw the windows and awning of Margie’s were intact. Now they just needed to find Amelia and the others.

Cody nudged him toward the sidewalk on the side of the street opposite the coffee shop. “Let’s try this way.”

One of the newer deputies stepped in front of them. He was in his late thirties, wavy dark hair peeking out from beneath his campaign hat and his khaki uniform showing off a fit build. His dark eyes were wary, and beneath a trim dark mustache, his lips pressed tight. “Sorry, guys. Block’s off limits.” He looked them over with a frown. “It’s nice you want to help, but those water guns aren’t going to do squat against this fire.”