I stared at the buzzer on my wall for a minute or two, wondering if I was hearing things. From the way Scott was gazing expectantly at me, I guessed not.
“You going to answer that?”
“Erm…yeah, of course I will.” I tried not to let it show how nervous I was as I approached the intercom. I could see no way how this could be good news though. Like I said, I never get visitors. I had no idea who it could possibly be.
Let’s hope it’s not an angry werewolf
“Hello?”
“Alex? Thank god I have the right apartment! And thank god you’re alive! Can you let me up please?” Oh no, this was definitely not good. At the sound of Jacey’s voice my heart sank. I glanced around the messy room again, wishing I could just rewind a few seconds and un-press the buzzer. Scott had been great about pretending to not notice the hideous conditions I was living in. Would Jacey do the same? I very much doubted it.
“Yeah, sure.” I mumbled, pressing the button with a sigh. Scott raised an eyebrow.
“That’s your friend right? Stacey or something?”
“Jacey. And yes, that’s her.” Trying to calculate how long it would take her to climb the stairs, I quickly dived towards the couch and began grabbing as much rubbish as I could off the coffee table. I could feel Scott watching me with a bemused expression.
“So, if it’s your friend then why do you look so upset?”
“Well, you may have gathered this from the utter amount of crap I have lying around but I’m not really used to visitors. Jacey’s never been here before.” I moved with the same sense of urgency as I’d used last night with the Bastet demon but it wasn’t good enough. I’d just managed to toss the first lot of trash when there was a knock at the door.
“Coming!” I called, going to open the door. Then I thought twice.
“What now?” Scott seemed both amused and exasperated by my behaviour. I couldn’t blame him. If I hadn’t looked crazy before, I certainly did now.
“How am I going to explain you being here?”
“Good point. Erm…you’ll think of something?” Not impressed by his help, I took a deep breath and flung open the door.
“Alex!” To my complete surprise, Jacey pulled me into a hug. I stood awkwardly as she squeezed, wondering what could have possibly warranted such an unusual display of affection. One thing was for certain though-she wouldn’t be so happy to see me when she saw what I’d done to her dress.
“Hey Jacey.” I gently pried her off me, trying to steer her towards the couch. Unfortunately that only drew her attention to the rest of my apartment,
“Oh my god Alex, you live here?” Her mouth dropped open as she took in the dirty plates and empty boxes. For the second time that day I felt a stab of shame, “This is appalling! No wonder you never let me come over.” She scanned the room with laser precision, her look of disgust only vanishing once her gaze settled on Scott. She stared at him like he was sprouting devil horns.
“Hi.” To his credit, Scott did his best to look like it was completely natural for him to be in my home on a Saturday morning. Unfortunately all the nonchalance in the world couldn’t reverse four years’ worth of preconceptions.
“Oh. Hello.” She shot me a very deliberate look, her eyes widening in their demand for an explanation. Subtlety was never Jacey’s strong point. Clearly Scott was not a fan of her blunt attitude either because next thing he was heading for the door.
YOU ARE READING
Lycan Blood (Alex Vane: Demon Stalker #1)
Horror'Just once I would like to have a day which didn't end with me covered in blood.' One deadly werewolf, one girl who has the power to stop it. In Alex's world, nightmares are real and no one can be trusted, least of all the new kid. There's only one...
