Watcher in the Darkness, Book 3: Imprisoned

Chapter 8

The second I saw that stupid kid, I went from zero to pissed, and every step I took in his direction made me that much madder. I'd always liked Scotty, in a younger cousin sort of way, but I literally could've wrung his little neck right then. I didn't say a word or break stride as I snatched up a handful of his sweatshirt to drag him down the hall.

"Hey!" Scotty's voice cracked in protest. He stumbled as he tried to keep up. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" I said as I punched through the Sanctuary's double doors. Safe on the stoop, surrounded by blazing sunlight, I shoved him in the direction of the steps. "Do you have any idea where in the hell you are? Go home!"

Scotty caught himself on the handrail then spun around to face me. "I can't go home. I came here looking for you."

I felt my face twist into a mask of ugly fury. "Are you stupid? Why would you do that? Do you have any idea how many broke, starving vampires live here?"

It's a sad truth that little kids are basically vampire chocolate, but not liking it won't change anything. I don't know if it's the lack of adult hormones, or their rich, high-sugar diets, but their blood is so goddamn good. It's the main reason so many kids get turned into ghouls; their blood is too great a temptation for most vampires to resist, and their bodies are so small.

Scotty was twelve years old, but he looked much younger. As a double-whammy, his asthma and allergies had stunted his growth. He wore thick glasses, and his curly blonde hair was almost as white as his skin. He was so frail and weak, even my half-breed instincts urged me to cull him.

My hands clenched into fists as my voice hardened. "You need to get out of here. Now."

"I can't. I need to talk to you."

"Next time, pick up the phone."

"I don't know your phone number, and they wouldn't let me see you when you were in prison." Scotty's face was red with embarrassment, and he wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. "They told me I had to be accompanied by an adult on your visitation list."

I found myself growing more and more disgusted by his weakness. "Well, here I am. What do you want?"

Scotty straightened his shirt as he said, "I need your help. You've been gone for a long time, but there's something wrong with my sister."

Of course, this wasn't news to me, but pretending to be ignorant seemed like the quickest way to end the conversation. "What do you mean, there's something wrong with Karen?" I said, as though he was so young and stupid that he had to be wrong.

Scotty set his jaw in resentment at my tone. "She's different. I can't explain exactly what's different about her, but she's totally changed. My mom has noticed it too, and she's getting really weird around her."

I felt a coldness spread through me as I listened to the way the simple act of speaking took away Scotty's breath. What if...what if I put him out of his misery? It was the least I could do for him. He was a good kid, and I would make it quick. Even as sickly as he was, his blood smelled amazing.

I punched down those thoughts. "Has your mom talked to Karen about this?"

"No, but I heard her talking to a friend of hers on the phone the other night. She's afraid that while Karen was sick and in that coma, she might've gotten brain damage, or something. She was asking if there was any sort of medication or therapy Karen could get."

I felt a tug of satisfaction. Karen wouldn't be happy to learn that her loved ones weren't being fooled by her replacement. "Have your mom and sister been fighting?"

"No. Never." I could tell he was growing self-conscious by his inability to persuade me. "Like, ever, which is weird. This new Karen is always on her best behavior, and it's...not normal. She's never salty with either of us, and she's always smiling. Plus, she never blinks!"

"Okay," I said, unimpressed. "Is that all?"

"No. She never has any idea what I'm talking about when I ask her about the past. It's like she has amnesia and is faking her way through life."

I nodded, deep in thought. Bad Karen wouldn't know what the hell Scotty was talking about if he brought up something that had happened when he was little. "I don't know, man. Maybe your mom is right and she's just thrown off after the coma. She'll come around. What do you want from me?"

"I think she might not be herself anymore. Like, there's someone else living inside of her." Before I could say a word, he rushed to add, "I know that sounds stupid, but she's doing things the real Karen would never do."

The way his face turned bright red again made a tiny insect of suspicion burrow its way out of my sandy indifference. "Like what?"

"She's been..." He didn't want to finish, which made my hackles begin to rise. "She's been crawling into bed with me at night."

Scotty couldn't look at me, and my irritation with him blossomed into a burning anger toward Karen. How could she leave? How could she abandon that kid to a demon? What did that heartless whore think would happen?

Scotty began to backpedal immediately. "Nothing gross, though. She wakes me up then tells me these stories. Like, really messed up stories that scare me and keep me awake all night. Then she holds me really close. So close, I can barely breathe."

Damn it. I should have seen this coming. Trevor was almost depleted, so Bad Karen had shifted her attention to the next closest source of male energy. I pinched the bridge of my nose as the ripples of pain in my temples began to throb like a heartbeat. My eyes felt like they were about to explode.

"Here's what you have to do," I said, defeated. "Put a line of salt across the threshold of every entrance to your room. Your bathroom door, your bedroom door, your windows, everything." Scotty nodded that he understood. "Make sure your bedroom mirror is uncovered."

"I don't have a bedroom mirror."

"Then get one!" Scotty flinched, startled. "If she can't get near you at night, she'll lose interest. She'll turn on a neighbor, or a kid from school, or something."

Scotty's eyes began to shine. "What's the matter with my sister?"

There was no point in lying to the kid, and I don't have very much experience with breaking bad news gently. "That's not your sister."

Scotty blinked and fat tears spilled down his cheeks. His jaw quivered as he said, "Did Karen die?"

"No, she's not fucking dead. Dry it up, you little pansy. Be a man. Just go home and do what I told you. Don't be alone with her, and don't come back here. You should be thanking me. This isn't even my fucking problem."

Scotty was wide-eyed with shock, but that quickly transformed into anger. "Fine. Fuck you, you asshole. I came here because I thought you were her friend, but you can go to hell if you don't care. If that's not really Karen, and Karen isn't dead, then I'll find her myself without your help. Even if I have to run away."

I rolled my eyes as Scotty turned to storm off. Karen and her mother had coddled this kid so much that he thought he was invincible. "Fine," I said with an aggravated sigh, grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull him back. "Don't run off and get yourself killed. Karen will never let me live it down if something happens to you. Just...give me a couple days."

Scotty gave me a distrustful look. "Why? What are you going to do?"

I really, really, really didn't want to resort to this, but I had no choice. "I know someone I can talk to. She's helped me before."