Shadows Rising (Darkness Falls Book 2)

Chapter Eleven

The whole way to the Waffle House, I had to fight the urge to run. Anger boiled through my veins, making me twitchy and jumpy. Running would have burned off some of that negative energy, but I didn't want to turn up to a potential job interview with sweat patches and flyaway hair.

My mind replayed the scene over and over again - opening the front door and finding a dead rat nailed to it. My hands curled into fists. All this time I'd been blaming the neighbour's cat for the rats on the doorstep, but the truth was far more sinister. There was no doubt that all the rats were the work of the same sick mind, and there was only person that fit the bill.

Leon.

All this time I'd defended him and made plans to try and help him, and he responded by playing this twisted little game. What was the point of it? Caleb had been many things, but he'd never beaten about the bush. If he wanted someone dead, he'd go after them. He wouldn't stalk them and gift them with dead rodents. It didn't make sense.

Unless of course, Leon wasn't responsible. Even if what happened last night had helped him to track the clan down, the rats had been appearing long before then.

My eyebrows twisted into a frown. The pieces weren't quite adding up.

The Waffle House appeared around the next corner, the diner's name already flashing cheery neon despite the fact that it was still early. The sign on the door read WELCOME. Set against a scrubby patch of field that would probably become a housing estate one day, and surrounded by straggly clusters of trees, the diner looked like a bright piece of candy.

I paused outside and took several deep breaths, gathering up all the confusion and anger and calmly folding it away until I was ready to deal with it. The diner manager needed to think I was just a normal teenager looking for a job. If they thought I was anything else, that might blow my chances of getting finding work here, and I needed this job if I wanted to start saving for a future with Luke.

When I eventually plucked up the courage to go inside, I was greeted almost immediately by the manager, a twinkly-eyed man with so many chins that I suspected he devoured each dish on the menu on a regular basis. His name tag informed me he was called Arthur. I told him I was here to ask about a job, and he shook my hand with such vigour it was like he was trying to pull my arm off, and then asked me to come into the office for a chat.

The office turned out to be a little more than a closet, tucked between the kitchen and what looked like a locker room. It was occupied only by a small desk and even smaller chair that didn't look as though it would support Arthur's weight.

He sank into it with a huff of air, and the chair-legs emitted ominous squeaks. "Sorry, I've been meaning to get another one in here," he said, waving a plump hand at the space in front of his desk where another chair should have sat. "You don't mind standing, do you?"

I shook my head.

"Excellent." He rubbed his hands. "Now then, do you have a CV?"

Sudden panic assailed me. It hadn't even occurred to me to bring one and even if it had, what was I supposed to put on it? Previous job experience: vampire hunter. Personal skills: hand-to-hand combat and proficiency with weapons. I'd be lucky if Arthur didn't call the police.

He must have seen my stricken expression because he offered another wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll just take down some details." He riffled through the desk drawers until he located a notebook and a pencil with deep teeth-marks at one end.

"Okay, kiddo." He pointed the pencil at me like a gun. "Name?"

"Kiara Morrow."

Arthur grinned. "Pretty name." Coming from someone else it might have seemed sleazy, but the only vibes I got from him were pure friendliness. He pointed the pencil at me again. "Age?"