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“He came over and wanted me to stop banging on the ceilings,” she said. “But I told him to fuck off before I called the cops on him.”
“Why were you banging on the ceiling?”
“Because Pepper was trying to sleep,” the woman pointed at the little dog beside her. Pepper was resting at her feet. “And he was sitting up there for a whole day, just stomping around.”
So that was it.
He’d been waiting for her.
The monster had come to her house, and he’d waited for her, and then he’d taken her.
“Ma’am, was there any sort of disturbance this morning? Any sort of yelling or anything like that?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us a little more about that?”
The old woman nodded excitedly. She still didn’t trust us, but it was obvious she didn’t like Kimberly’s ex-boyfriend, either.
“Kimmy came home. Her boyfriend was there. They had a fight, and then he left.”
“He left?”
“Heard him do it.”
“What about Kim?”
“She never left,” the woman said. “So, she’s probably sleeping or something. You know how hunters are. They sleep all day and then they’re out all night. Honestly, they make for great neighbors,” she said. “Most days, anyway.”
So that was it.
She’d come home, and he’d been lying in wait for some reason. Then he’d taken her. Before we turned to go, I thought of another question.
“Does the boyfriend come around a lot?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “He stopped for a little while, but then about two weeks ago I caught him lurking around outside. Strange, if you ask me. I let him in a few times when he forgot his key.”
“That was nice of you,” I said.
“I try to be neighborly. If I didn’t know they were dating, I wouldn’t have let him in. It’s not a good idea to trust strangers, you know.”
“Yes, ma’am, I completely agree.”
“It was strange when I saw him yesterday, though. As far as I know, he came home and just stayed in the apartment.”
“Why was it strange?”
“He just had a lot of luggage,” she said with a shrug. “And an old steamer trunk he could barely carry on his own.”
Lex and I looked at each other.
It was time to go.
11.
Kimberly
WHEN I WOKE UP, EVERYTHING hurt. My entire body hurt. I didn’t understand why at first. Wasn’t I a vampire now? My body hadn’t hurt since I’d been changed into a creature of the night. Now, everything hurt, and I didn’t know why. I groaned, shifting my body. I was hungry. My stomach hurt. I needed blood – any blood – and I reached for Liam. We’d gotten into the habit of drinking from each other in the morning before getting a “real” breakfast.
