A Girl in the Shadows

Chapter Nine

 Kai wandered around the room, looking through my sketchbooks. A different expression came across her face with each page she turned. I was lying down on the makeshift bed. Now that she was calmed down, I could explain myself.

"The school doesn't like that I've killed a few of their students," I said.

Kai snapped her head up. "You think?"

"I just don't like sinking my teeth into some grubby homeless person, you know? The smells and the dirt...pretty college girls smell so much nicer."

"But the homeless won't get you in trouble unless you're really not careful. Stray cats won't get you in trouble." She leaned against the wall, let out a breath of air, and stared up at the ceiling. "Aren't you lonely here, all by yourself?"

"Kai, the vampire hunter."

"Oh right, sorry."

"I see how your attention span has stayed the same," I said, grinning. "I made a kill on Saturday, and—" Liar. "And now that they know another one is missing, they know who to point their money-hungry fingers at. This letter is from the dean. Left it before I went out tonight."

I handed it to her, watching her eyes go back and forth. "It doesn't sound like he's sending a hunter."

"You need to read between the lines. He's bringing me to the farthest corner of the building at night. Fulton Banquet Hall is directly below the science wing, which the students consider the most haunted area of the building. They don't go near it at night." Kai's hand was in her mouth. She was biting her talons. "As far as I know, because it's an event space with classrooms above it, it's sound-proofed. Beck knows exactly what he's doing."

"Oh boy...but wait, why are you going there, then? You could just run away. Come back with me!" She clapped her hands. "We always have food, and we've got our own space with beds and air conditioning! And we always plan game nights and parties and movie nights, and sometimes, on Saturdays, we—"

"Game nights and parties? What the hell is going on down there?"

She got out of the sketching corner and sat with me. "Tali, I wish you could see it! As we traveled out west, we met so many other vampires that wanted to come be a part of our group. We lived on the streets for a little while, then found an abandoned house out in the suburbs. Haitus led this big project to dig out from the basement, and by then there were like, almost fifty of us, and then we started getting more and more people. We have this big huge underground place with a common area and bedrooms and even a game room! We all live there and work together for each other, just like Hiatus wanted!"

"So what does he need me for?" I asked.

Kai's eyes went to the floor. "I promised I wouldn't tell."

I leaned sat up. "You can't keep a secret to save your life. You're as blabbermouth, Kai Evans."

"Just read the letter."

I pushed it towards her. "I have better things to do, like find out how to defeat a vampire hunter, or possibly more. Wait, you could help me!"

"Me?" She pointed to herself, then shook her head. "No, no no. Do you remember when we used to hunt together? I used to be the lookout because I can't kill anybody, even if my life depended on it!"

"Yes, but you helped," I said. "The Three Amigos."

Kai let out a long, overdramatic sigh. "I know. It was so much fun, and then you left. And then a few months ago they promoted Ace to Chief Hunter, so I don't get to see him as much and it's just me. The only one," she said, putting up her pointer finger. "There's not even amigos anymore! It's just amigo! One amigo!"