The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 18

THEY STOPPED in their tracks and stared at me.

"What did you say, girl?" she asked.

"You're James and Hannah, right?"

They looked at each other. "And who might you be?" James inquired.

"I'm Amy, a friend of Alexander's."

James's eyes went big, and then he smiled. Hannah smiled, too, but she kept her mouth closed. I saw the slight bulges of fangs beneath her cheeks.

"Good God, do you know where my cousin is?" James asked, his handsome features etched with worry.

"I have his phone number. I can call him right now."

They both looked shocked when I pulled a cell phone out of my pocket. I got Alexander's voice mail. "Hi, Alexander. Your cousin is here and he wants to talk to you. Call me back."

"Any notion of where he could be?" Hannah asked.

I looked from one to the other, knowing that I could trust them. Even more so than Alexander, these were the good guys of Otherworld.

"He's probably underground hunting Vigo."

"Good," Hannah said. Her statement surprised me. Hannah had a complicated relationship with her brother. The books made it clear that she still cared for him despite his incredible cruelty toward humans. They had been through a lot together since that night three hundred years ago when they had been attacked and changed into vampires.

"You found the portal," I said, stating the obvious.

"Not on purpose," Hannah told me. "We spent day after day looking for Alexander or his ..." She didn't finish the sentence. "Then today we found ourselves in an unfamiliar Chicago."

James nodded. "We deduced that Alexander must have gone through the portal, too. We did not know until we happened upon today's newspaper that Vigo was also here."

"Alexander chased Vigo through the portal," I explained. "You're in a different dimension. It's basically how your Chicago would have been if the vampires hadn't come."

"An evolved Chicago!" James turned to Hannah. "This proves how different our world would be if there were peace between humans and vampires."

I wasn't sure if I should tell them about the Otherworld books or if it would just confuse things. Maybe grasping the dimension concept was enough for now.

"Alexander knows where the portal is," I said, "but he won't go back to your world without dealing with Vigo first."

"That's our Alex." James was the only one who called him Alex. "From what I've read, Vigo is terrorizing this city. People here are not accustomed to vampires, are they?"

"We've never had a real vampire before. Most people don't even believe they exist."

"Which makes it a ripe hunting ground for Vigo," James said grimly. "We must find a way to send him back through the portal or, better yet, stake him." When he said the last part, he put a hand on Hannah's shoulder. She slipped a hand over his.
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I opened it. Before I could say anything, Alexander shouted, "Where are you?"

"Downtown, with James and Hannah."

"Do not joke with me. Tell me exactly where you are."

"Hang on."

James took the phone. "Cousin! You have no notion how worried we were about you. I am glad you are keeping well."

Alexander's response contained some choice curses. James put his hand over the receiver and looked at me. "Forgive him. He's overexcitable."