We drove to my father’s home. A place with low property value of mostly working class people and the working poor. As the car turned the corner leading to my home, Terry spotted what I couldn’t see with human eyes. A yellow tape on the door that said Crime Scene.
“Something is wrong there, Zoey. Let’s not stop.” I heard the sound of her voice. It was calm and matter of fact. No longer did she panic and raise her voice as before, but her words and her tone had a cool clarity to them.
“But I have to, my father must be worried, and you can’t go back to the hotel looking like that.” I stopped the car in front and cut the lights and that’s when I saw the same thing. I bolted from the car barely putting it in park and bounded up the few steps.
Fumbling in my purse, I found the key. I opened the door, flicked a switch for the lights and stood in horror. Someone had made a white mark on the floor which looked like a body.
No tears welled inside of me. No tears escaped my eyes. I had to question if I had seen too much to shed a tear for my father, but then my breathing became uncontrollable and I bent over shook and the tears fell slowly down my cheeks.
I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, “Don’t cry. I know it’s hard. I lost both my mother and father at the same time,” Terry said to me. “It will get better.”
I slumped into the nearest chair. “My room is over there,” I said pointing, and Terry headed in that direction. My eyes followed her to look away and not face the inevitable. I thought of Terry wearing my clothes and I laughed.
She and I weren’t the same size. I was a six and she maybe an eight or nine. But I’m sure she didn’t mind. She’s worn tight tops before just so men would think she had large boobs. And her being almost a vampire didn’t seem to diminish her need for companionship and the attention of young men, on the contrary, her seeking out male attention may have been more noticeable than ever. Because I saw the way she looked at Blake. She felt no disgust for him but more of an erotic desire she needed to quench.
As I looked around the room trying to digest what had happened to my father, I looked to my left and a stranger stood in the doorway. He stood about six feet. Maybe an inch shorter than Sebastian. He was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and a tie. He looked in the dim light about thirty and very handsome but not as handsome as Sebastian but who was.
I didn’t feel as if he was a threat. But I did feel and immediate attraction to him and I didn’t know why. Maybe I’m attracted to men that give me the impression that they can protect me. That was a stupid reason to be attracted to someone.
It’s those instincts that woman had that caused some to survive when things were difficult, I thought. It was probably my attachment to Sebastian instead of Aare when I was a child that made me cling to Sebastian instead of Aare.
He stepped close with his badge in his hand. “What are you doing here?” he asked me.
“I came to see my father,” I said with a low voice and weak reply. “My friend is in my room and she spilled something on her sweater and she’s changing it. I prayed Terry didn’t come tearing out of the room with her small fangs drawn.
He stood over me, “You’re Zoey Miller. Do you remember me?” His face brightened and his blue eyes softened as if he wanted me to remember his face. It was a nice face but I didn’t know where I had seen it before.
“My name is Ryan,” he said trying to stoke my memory as you would a low fire. I slanted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes. “Detective Ryan Cole. I was the one who brought you home from England. You were a young teenager then and very scared. You were so skinny and I thought you would die before I got you home and to the hospital. I was the one who picked you up from the hospital.”
All those memories came flooding out and I stood. He looked at me and I walked to him and he held me. I fell into his chest and held on to him and the rush of memories of his smell came back to me when he held me when I was afraid. The thoughts of him on the plane when I fell asleep on his shoulder and he let me sleep, and that too was a reminder of Ryan Cole my savior.
He held my hands as we walked from the airport. He was still very young then in his early twenties as I am now. But he had the instincts of someone who cared and wanted to take me home.
“Are you alright?” he said. Before I could look up and tell him, Terry showed up.
“Of course she’s alright. She just need to find out what happened to her father.”
“And who are you?” Ryan didn’t recognize Terry and that was a relief.
“Terry, her friend.”
“What’s your sir name?” Ryan asked.
“Just call me Terry.”
“I need to know more than that?”
“For what reason?”
“There was a crime committed here.”
“Obviously we didn’t do it.”
“Did you say Terry?” Ryan’s eyes moved he was thinking of something, and he walked closer to Terry and she backed away.
“Yes. I said Terry.”
“Are you the Terry Millhouse who disappeared three months ago about the time Zoey went missing?”
“Do I have to answer that?” I could tell Terry was getting upset and I didn’t know what she would do. She could still die because she wasn’t yet a vampire. And I hoped she realized it.
When Ryan stepped back and put his hand on his gun, I sensed that he thought Terry was a threat. I stood between them.
“Terry is that person you referred to and she and I went on a vacation and we just came back from Italy.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie. I watched at him put his hand down, but he glared at Terry.
“You two can’t be here. Didn’t you see that yellow tape? I need you to come to the station and you have to go to the morgue to identify your father’s remains,” he said to me.
“I can’t do it now.” I became hysterical. He grabbed me and Terry stood watching at him with Ryan’s eyes never leaving Terry. He knew something about her or he suspected something but he wasn’t sure about it.
“You don’t need to now, but you will have to sooner or later. And I need to speak to you alone.” I looked to Terry and Terry left and walked to the kitchen as if she would look for something to eat.
When we were standing looking at each other and silence fell between us, Ryan said, “I think you’re in danger. I don’t have proof and no one will believe me, but I think there are beings that are here to harm you.”
I laughed at Ryan. “You can’t be serious. Who would want to hurt me?”
“That strange friend of your for example.” I narrowed my eyes and lost my smile.
“Terry would never bring me harm. You have no reason to suggest something as outrageous as that. I don’t think you have a right to say those things about her.”
“If I’m wrong, I apologize but something strange has happened in this house and something that defies reality happened to you. Starting with your kidnapping when you were a child. You knew something you wouldn’t disclose about the people who did that.”
“I told you then I didn’t remember and I don’t know anything. Why are you badgering me?” I asked him. This time my tears began to flow freely and it wasn’t because I didn’t want to talk to him, it was because he knew too much, and someone was getting too close who could harm me, and I may never see Sebastian again if Samantha succeeds or Aare finds me.
After assuring Ryan that I would go to the station to talk to him and identify my father, he left and Terry stayed inside the kitchen and then came out.
“Where to now?” Terry said.
“Back to the hotel, I’m tired.” She had a wide smile on her face which I would soon learn why.