Totally a Vampire Thing || ONC 2024 ||

Chapter 5. The Grandpa

Corazon was bound to trick me, so I cheated by driving to the Eternal Acres half-an-hour before the visiting hours. If the staff here was as nice as the manor peeking above magnolia trees, I wouldn't have to short-change an old man.

But if I had to...Grits and biscuits! I had to make sure Corazon didn't bullshit me after the game. Locked into this moral dilemma, I nearly chewed a hole through my cheek before taking a side-road to the Eternal Acres.

Despite the grandeur of the copper roof and lush gardens, I didn't see anyone else coming or going. The parking lot was so empty that Cruz Triana's askew parking job wasn't a problem...except he was supposed to be playing football fifteen miles away.

Did I misjudge Corazon, and she had arranged a date for us...at a seniors' nursing home? With the twin's grandpa as a chaperone? No way, just no way.

Even from the bleachers, I could sense how truly devoted Cruz was to football. Love life hardly blipped his radar, so he wouldn't sacrifice a game and fail his team to meet me. It also wasn't like him to park his precious car carelessly.

Creasing my brows, I parked next to the Porsche.

Thanks to some trick of light, the windows didn't look tinted at all, so I could see the empty interior clearly after I rolled my driver-side window down.

Normally, an unoccupied car isn't a disturbing sight, but a shiver ran down my spine as I studied the gorgeous stitching of the leather seats. The Porsche felt too empty, if it makes sense.

I climbed out of the Mini, breathing in the funerary fragrance of lilies that grew everywhere, and shivered again. The air of the Eternal Acres was too cold for a sunny May day, and it was too early in the season for lilies to bloom. Despite how beautiful everything was, the place gave me creeps. I wanted to flee and never look back.

So, the sooner I found both Triana men, the better.

Actually, only Cruz was a Triana. Grandpa's name I gave to the woman manning the entrance desk was De Triana. Bartolome De Triana. It sounded like the ancient scrolls smelled, but I couldn't blame the twins for shortening their last name for the high school.

"Miss Zoe Green to visit Monsignor De Triana. Yes. Yes." Mrs. Front Desk typed something on her keyboard, then slanted a glance at the floor-clock that towered in the corner. It showed time, dates of Mayan calendar, phases of the moon and Zodiac. "Can I offer you anything while you wait?"

I cleared my throat. "Ah...I know I'm early, but I was worried about traffic and...well...."

The woman's penciled-in brows rose. "Traffic, Miss Zoe?"

Suppressing the memory of the deserted road, I shifted my tote from one shoulder to another and ignored her question. Rude, but I'd just tangle myself further in my lies, and anxiety was already gnawing at me.

"Well, since I'm here already, could I see ah...Mr. De Triana earlier?" And Cruz as well, since he would be with his Grandpa. Hopefully.

"Of course, Miss Zoe, but can you handle it? Our guests are playing boules and they haven't been served their mid-morning repast yet."

She made 'guests' sound breathy, like she was in awe, and they were playing what da higgidy thing? Been served mid-morning which...?

"I'll be okay, I'm sure." I faked confidence pretty well for someone whose stomach was full of rabid butterflies. I was about to meet Cruz outside the confines of school!

"Very well." The woman pointed with an arm clad into a puffy polka-dot sleeve. "Go through the French doors and follow the gravel path between the Southern lily beds. Bear right until you'll come upon the Far Southern lily bed. Circle that to find the Boule lily bed. If you see a stand of young lily trees, you went too far south."