Finding Fire

Chapter 12

Anna slept through most of the day, despite the troubles on her mind. She woke around five in the evening after a dreamless sleep. The hectic events of the night before had completely knocked her out.

She needed to get ready to leave. First she had to get through a long series of phone calls to sort out what to do with her classes during her absence. She called in a lot of favors and gave lots of promises in return for people to help cover for her while she was gone.

She gave a half lie as the reason for her absence. She said the police from her hometown found a possible lead on her father's disappearance and she needed to go home and be with family.

With that taken care of, she needed to pack. She didn't know how to pack for a trip with an indeterminate length. She had a nice large suitcase that was a hand-me-down from Abigail, but it didn't seem practical for running from men who wanted Nicolas, and possibly her, dead.

The only other two bags she had were a backpack and a medium-sized duffel. The backpack was much too small, so the duffel it was.

She threw in one extra pair of jeans and sweatpants, along with two tank tops and two t-shirts. She packed practical underwear and some toothpaste and a toothbrush from the bathroom. She could survive without hair products and didn't bother to pack any makeup.

It would probably be best if Nicolas saw her looking as plain as possible. If she had low confidence, his continual pursuit would be flattering, but her confidence level wasn't the issue.

It wasn't that she thought she was gorgeous or anything. It just had never occurred to her to worry about her looks. To her, the people with striking beauty always seemed to come by it naturally.

No matter what Evie did, she always managed to look like this beautiful, ethereal angel. She had this really thick, curly blonde hair, so when the light would hit it perfectly, a halo would appear around her head. But her beauty had seemed so effortless.

Anna didn't see the point in putting so much time and thought into an end result that could never compare to Evie's beauty. She supposed that sounded like a low self-image, but she didn't think she was ugly by any means.

Anna had a large appetite, but running kept her in good shape. She had pleasant features that with enough work would seem exceptional, but she had never had a reason to work on being more attractive. In school, she'd never been as focused on boys as her classmates. In college, her life had become more about furthering her academic career than the social scene. She brushed the misplaced thoughts aside, deciding she had more important things to focus on.

She didn't want to pack anything that was valuable, seeing as how she might have to abandon her things at some point, but she had to bring her laptop with her. It might come in handy at some point. After that, the only thing she added to her bag was her canister of mace.

She zipped the bag shut and heard someone knock on the door. She looked over at her clock. The sun wasn't supposed to set for another half an hour. She wished she still had her gun.

She crossed over to her door and looked through the peephole. Brad stood in her hallway. What was he doing here? How did he even get her address?

She supposed Dennis could've told everyone about her short email, but how could he know where she lived? She remembered Nicolas's warning about not letting anyone inside. It was unlikely that the vampires who were after him had used any mind control on Brad, seeing as how no one she knew was aware that Brad and she knew each other.

Only one person outside of the Stakes would know about their association. That was Mr. X.

Brad had never buzzed her to get into the building. He knocked on the door. That meant that somehow he slipped in.