Scarlet Prison

Chapter 15

            Lissa and Stephanie were already at the pub when I got home from work. They didn't notice me when I first walked in, so I slunk around the edges of the bar, hiding behind hulking figures. The steps were all the way on the other side of the room, so I didn't think I would make it. When I made contact with the first step, I bounded up in victory.

            "Was that her going up the stairs?" A voice behind me asked. Lissa.

            "She must not have seen us," Stephanie said. Her voice sounded colder than usual.

            I paused as I considered my options. There was a possibility that I could make it to my room in time to just pretend to not be there when they came looking. Or I could hide out in the laundry room. They probably wouldn't think to look there.

            "There you are!" Lissa exclaimed, appearing at the bottom of the stairs. Too late to escape.

            I turned around and put on a tolerant smile. "Oh, hey, I didn't know you were here," I said. I faced Stephanie to acknowledge her, but lost my wit. She was deathly pale and something about her gave me the creeps. Her yellow-hazel eyes looked eerie against her white skin.

            "Stephanie, can you give us a moment?" Lissa asked. Stephanie was too interested in a crack in the wall to respond. Lissa grabbed my wrist and pulled me the rest of the way up the stairs and into the laundry room. "She's been refusing to drink blood, as usual, but I don't have time to force feed her. I don't know how long it's been since she last drank, but from the look of things it's been much too long. Can you keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't kill anyone?"

            I flicked my gaze toward the stairs, as if I expected Stephanie to appear with a bloody knife in her hand. "Um, does she do that sort of thing often?" I asked.

            "It's been a number of years since the last incident, but it's also been a long time since she's been this blood deprived," Lissa explained.

            Good; leave the starving vampire with the human babysitter. Flawless plan. "Will she try to kill me?" I asked. Crap, I sounded like I was actually going to agree to it.

            "She usually doesn't try to kill her friends. But don't let her near any Veins because she will kill humans if she sees them."

            "Are you sure I'm the best one for the job?" I asked.

            "The last time I trusted her with her douchebag of a boyfriend, they went hunting together. The guy's an idiot. She managed to not get caught, but he did some time for it. I'm pretty sure I can trust you to not let her do anything stupid." She gave me a hard stare, and I tried not to wither under it.

            "Okay," I said, regretting the word as soon as it came out.

            "Great! Thanks so much!" She gave me a quick hug and ran out. "I'll send her up!" she said from the top of the stairs, just before disappearing.

            A lifeless looking Stephanie appeared in the doorway of the laundry room. I suddenly felt very aware of the fact that the laundry room had no other exits. "Hi Stephanie," I said. I tried out a smile. The smile spread to Stephanie's face, and I felt a moment of relief, but then she popped her fangs out. She took a step toward me, and I almost screamed. She could tell I was human!

            "Let's go hunting. We're creatures of the night! It's against our nature to spend it cooped up inside." She grabbed my hand, and her skin felt cool against mine. "Mmm, you're warm," she said.