Vampires, Eh?

Chapter 6

 Anna fished through her purse for her key as she walked up to the apartment building. She unlocked the door, and Rhys and Huxley followed her in. Anna had spent most of the car ride trying to convince them to let her go in by herself, but Rhys refused.

They stepped into the elevator and Anna hit the button for her floor. The faint hum of music filled the elevator. Huxley rocked his head from side to side as he snapped his fingers. Rhys glared.

"Do you have to do that?" Rhys asked.

"What?" Huxley asked as he continued to snap. "It's been a while since I have heard elevator music."

"Don't worry," Anna said. "We're already on my floor."

The elevator dinged as the doors opened. They went down the hallway to the apartment at the end. Anna unlocked the door and then pushed it open.

The sweet smell of Jess's perfume filled her nose. She always sprayed the scent of vanilla all over the apartment. Anna's heart ached as she thought about her friend. Jess was always so full of life and smiling.

"It smells like a girl's apartment," Huxley said. "I kind of like it."

"Get your stuff before he gets any ideas," Rhys said. "We don't need the house smelling like cinnamon."

"It's vanilla," Anna said.

"I don't care," Rhys said. "Go get your clothes."

Anna went down the short hallway to her room. She opened the door to see it looked exactly as she had left it that night. Multiple dresses Jess had picked out for her were thrown over the foot of the bed and her books were piled on top of the desk. She was a new person and had a new life, but all of her stuff was the same.

She pulled a duffel bag out of her closet and tossed it on the bed. She slowly opened her drawers and put the clothes in the bag. She knew this was the last time she was going to be in this apartment and she wanted to spend as much time as she could inside.

Rhys was leaning against the hallway wall outside the door. He watched her as she packed. Anna glanced over at him every few minutes.

She closed the door and changed out of Rhys's clothes and into her own. She opened the door to see that Rhys had not moved.

"You almost finished?" Rhys asked.

"Almost," she said.

Anna opened up her nightstand beside her bed. She always kept her favourite books and her grandmother's notebook inside. She grabbed one of the books and placed it in the bag.

"Are you actually bringing books?" he asked.

"Let me keep one aspect of my life," she said. "Books are important to me."

Anna dropped the duffel bag off the side of the bed so that Rhys could not see it. She crouched down next to the bed. She grabbed her grandmother's notebook and shoved it in the bag. She tucked it under all of her clothes.

She stood and saw that Rhys had stepped into her room. His hands were behind his back as he looked at the photos Anna had taped to her mirror. He pulled one off and held it closer to his face.

"Who is this?" he asked.

Anna pulled the picture out of his hands. It was a photo of Anna and her brother from the last time they saw each other. It was at their grandmother's cottage at the end of the summer. She went out West for school and he went up North to hunt. She knew that he would kill her the next time they see each other. No one hated vampires more than anyone else.