AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As I performed shoulder circles to loosen the muscles, my skin tingled. If there was an assassin on my lawn, my greeting was going to be extremely unpleasant. I knew it wasn’t Camryn; she had texted me an hour earlier with news on the Collector. I was to meet him at his office at eight o’clock tonight. It would disrupt my evening plans to avoid humanity and do absolutely nothing, but c’est la vie.
I stepped onto the front porch as Alicia crossed the bridge. She waved eagerly, and my heart sank. As much as I wanted to discourage her, I couldn’t turn the teenager away, not when I knew she was desperate for adult attention. I related too much to her situation to disappoint her.
“Hey, Miss Clay.”
“You can call me Lorelei.”
“Can I see inside your house today?”
Alicia was direct, I’d give her that.
There was no sign of Ray. “Sure. Come on in. Are you hungry? I have snacks.” I remembered being Alicia’s age and coming home to an empty cupboard. My grandfather had many skills, but anticipating the hunger level of a growing teenager hadn’t been one of them.
Alicia took her time walking through the foyer. “Did you paint in here? I smell chemicals.”
“I feel like I’ve been painting for the past seven months. There’s always a paint can and roller somewhere in the house. Today’s task was light fixtures.”
She tilted her head back to admire the high ceiling. “I think it would be fun to paint a whole house.”
“Tell me that again when you actually have to do it.”
She stopped to examine the intricate woodwork on the staircase railing. “This is so fancy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“The original owner spared no expense.”
“Like that old dude in Jurassic Park.” She tossed me a glance. “But that didn’t work out so well for him.”
“Didn’t work out well for the original owner either.”
Alicia followed me into the kitchen where I withdrew a few snack options from the pantry. She chose barbecue potato chips, one of my weaknesses.
“Water or iced tea?” I asked.
“Water. I don’t like iced tea. Just feels like I’m drinking dirty water.”
I set her up at the small table with a tall glass of water and a bowl of chips. She munched happily as she chattered about the state of my house and the mysterious absence of furniture.
“Where’s your TV?” she asked.
“Don’t have one.”
“You can get a good deal on one if you wait for Black Friday. That’s only a couple months away.”
“I’m not in the market for a television, but thanks.”
“I watch YouTube more than TV,” she admitted. “I subscribe to so many channels, I don’t have time to watch them all.”
I debated whether to ask about parental controls but decided against it. Not my kid. Not my business.
“I started asking around about gateways and supernaturals,” Alicia announced.
I braced myself for the next statement.
“People think I sound crazy.”
I couldn’t decide whether that was a better or worse outcome.
“Then I went to see old Jessie in the bookstore. I figured if anybody would know, she would.”
