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The way they evade my questions and refuse to tell me what Eli is doing down here has me on edge. Pushing the fear aside, I decide I have to know. I know I won’t rest if I can’t figure out what they are hiding. I twist the knob, the metal cool under my hand, before pushing the door inward. I find it a little odd that it would open onto the stairs leading down; it doesn’t seem very safe for anyone going into the basement.

Stepping on the top step, I am hit with a cold draft and stagnant air; the place doesn’t have very good ventilation. All I can smell is dust and the smell of old books. I quickly close the door and pocket the key before searching for a light, running my hand against the wall so I can find my way down the dark steps. When I reach the bottom, I feel cold concrete under my bare feet. My hand comes in contact with hard plastic that I know is the light switch. I flick it on, the fluorescent light blinking as it turns on and illuminates the room. I rub my arms, trying to warm them, looking around, but all I can see is shelves.

I walk around the shelving toward the back of the basement. Boxes are all stacked neatly and labeled on the shelves. I see a workbench along a wall and walk over to it. I see a few instruction manuals for some sort of cage-like structure. Shrugging, I walk along the shelves again before stopping when I see a box that looks way out of place as the lid is off. It looks like it’s been chucked on the shelf in a hurry. The box sits crooked, not straight like the others, and the label isn’t facing the front. Grabbing it down, I walk back to the workbench, flicking on the little overhead light.

Taking the lid off, I find some old photographs. I look through them; most are of them traveling around the world, different sites and some older ones from before my time, possibly before my grandparents’ time. The pictures are old and worn, turning yellow as they age. I continue rummaging, finding all the places they have been fascinating, when I see a photo that catches my eye.

The photo is of me with my father in a hall full of people. Grabbing it out, I realize it isn’t me but Taylor on closer inspection. She is around fifteen, so it isn’t long before my father passed. I take the photo and realize it is some sort of council meeting. I can see Sam in the background with an older man. Cyrus is shaking my father’s hand in the picture. My dad’s arm drapes over my sister’s shoulder lazily.

Is this the hunters’ organization? What is Cyrus doing there, and does that mean Eli is the one taking the photo?

I have so many questions.

I pause, thinking back to when Taylor told me they weren’t human and me wondering how she knew, the way Cyrus pulled her from the room, and she suddenly didn’t know what I was talking about.

But then I have other questions. Do they know about me then?

And Sam never once mentioned he knew my sister. He told me my father was a hunter like him but never once said anything about knowing her.

Everything is spinning like cogs in my mind as I try to work out the connection. Or is it all just one strange coincidence?

I quickly stuff everything back in the box before pocketing the picture. I place it back on the shelf before noticing something in the back under a huge tarp. I walk over to it. It takes up nearly an entire wall hidden behind all the shelving. I pull the tarp off and gasp at what I see.

It makes no sense why they would have one, but it does explain the instructions manual on the workbench.

It is a huge steel cage. You could fit around twenty people in it. It has a single bed on one side with blankets on it. On the other side is a toilet and sink basin made of steel. I step back, bumping into the shelf behind me. I jump in fright at the noise of me hitting it as everything on the shelf rattles.

Why do they have a cell built down here? What could they possibly need one for?

Having seen enough, I quickly make my way through the maze of shelves before rushing up the stairs as quietly as possible. I flick the light off on my way before opening the door and popping my head out. I am met with silence and darkness. Quickly closing the door, I lock it with the key. Turning around, my heart drops somewhere cold within me.

His hand goes against the door above my shoulder next to my head, caging me against the wall.

Why, oh why, did I go down here?

“You shouldn’t have gone down there, Addie,” Cyrus says, his eyes crimson as he presses against me. “What did you see?”

“Just shelves,” I lie, which don’t get past him as my heart beats erratically in my chest.

“Anything else?” he asks, gripping my chin and tilting my face as he scrutinizes my face.

I shake my head, and he chuckles.

“You’re lying. Now, what did you see, Adeline?” he says.

His eyes are holding mine, and I suddenly find myself answering; no matter how much I try to hold my tongue, the words spill out of me in a foggy haze. He growls, running his nose along my chin.

“See, now that is a problem. You weren’t meant to see any of that yet,” he says, kissing the side of my mouth.

Cyrus runs his hand down my side while I try to remember to breathe, to stop myself from passing out. He runs his hand down my track pants before I hear the crinkle of the photo. He puts his hand in my pocket, pulling it out and looking at it. His eyes snap to mine, darkening, and I see his fangs slip out.

“I really didn’t want you finding out like this. Why did you have to snoop? Now I have to erase everything,” he says, grabbing my face, his eyes staring intently at mine, and I can’t pull my gaze away.

“If Eli finds out, things will be moving a lot quicker than you’re going to like,” he tells me, and I wonder what he is talking about.

“I’m sorry, Addie,” he says, and my heart jolts in my chest.

“I need you two for—”