The Housemates

A Late Night Encounter

Chapter Ten

A Late Night Encounter

The moon had set at 6:44am. By the time Elli had gotten out of the tangled mess of restraints and found Desmond, it was somewhere around seven thirty. Their walk there the day before had been slow and purposeless. It had taken two hours to fasten all the restrictions to ensure she wouldn’t escape, which meant they had walked for four hours. With an actual destination in mind, Elli figured that they could make it in three. She was correct.

Most of her injuries healed on the walk home, though the bruising around her neck and the cracked ribs still needed a few hours and probably some rest. It would help if she ate some meat, the protein would be good for her, but she knew she could go without it. Sleeping for the day would be perfectly fine.

They approached the house and Elli listened for her housemates. Noah was already back, passed out in his room. Addy was gone, but Kate and Richard were still sleeping. Elli sighed.

“I’m going in through the window. I’ll see you at dinner,” she told him.

“Why aren’t you just going in the front door?” he wondered.

“Because if our housemates wake up, I don’t want them to get the wrong idea. Noah would probably kill you. I advise taking a shower before you head off to bed. You smell like forest and me and like I said, Noah will probably kill you.”

He frowned and she smirked back at him, before leaving him on the porch. She sprinted to the backyard, still energetic from the moon and wishing she could have enjoyed it like she once did. Using the extra energy, she launched herself up onto the awning and sighed as she realized her window was closed and latched. She riffled through her backpack until she found her wallet. Her high school I.D. was still in it. She slipped the card between the window panes and slid it up, until the latch was unlocked. The panes swung open. She sighed contentedly and clambered inside. The room felt warm and she felt exhausted, so she didn’t shut the window. She collapsed on her bed instead.

…

She woke up twelve hours later and not of natural causes. She groaned as she had to leap out of bed and the window. Damn it, she hadn’t even had time to change out of her torn clothing. Running in baggy pants was most certainly not her favorite activity, but on the upside at least she had pants.

It seemed like a much further run than usual before the shriek faded from her ears. Her sprint ended in a section of the woods she had never been to before. She paused a moment, listening. She heard a car pass and headed that way, wanting to reach the road. Walking through the woods seemed stupid. Especially since Kate’s wail more than likely meant another vampiric murder.

Her run had lasted long enough to bring her into town. The small place was empty, which was odd since it wasn’t that late out. Then again, with murder occurring in such a tiny location, people were bound to return early.

As she was walking along the road, her ears picked up on the sound of a car. She listened more intently and realized it was the sheriff’s car. Damn it. Her clothes were torn and a little bloody, her hair was still tangled from the previous night, and overall, she looked a lot like a serial killer. Well that was unfortunate. She ducked into the first alleyway she came upon, knowing that she could return to the road once the cop car was gone. For now she could walk behind the building until she was in the clear.

Her pace slowed down when the scent hit her nose, but it was already too late. She couldn’t turn back, so she continued her way down the alley, rounding the corner. The sight still managed to catch her by surprise. A woman lay on the ground, blood pooling around the knife wound in her stomach, the stench of death hanging in the air. A young man leaned over the dead girl, slowly standing up and turning to face Elli. He pulled the knife out of the body and licked it, watching her with little emotion in his sapphire eyes. She began backing away, knowing it was a useless action. The slender, pale, strawberry blonde smiled, revealing sharp fangs. Another step back on Elli’s part. He was done cleaning the blood off the knife.