Walking into Danger
My eyes opened slowly. I was in my bed, tucked in, even though I didn’t remember walking here on my own. The light leaking through the curtains was soft and washed-out.
And then I saw him.
Kellan sat in the chair by my desk, straight-backed, hands resting on his knees, watching me with that unreadable look of his.
“You were out for a while,” he said softly. “Your mark…” His gaze flicked to the back of my neck. “It glowed.”
I rubbed my hand over the spot. The skin was unusually warm but I couldn't process Kellan’s claim.
First, he's a vampire and now, my birthmark glowed. How interesting. I should write a fairytale about that when I'm done with Crest’s story.
“That does not happen to regular humans,” Kellan continued. “You need to—”
“I know. I know, okay? You're a vampire and I have a mark. I don't care about all that shit okay? I have work to do and when I'm done, I'm taking you to the station ASAP.,” I said, swinging my legs off the bed.
"Wait Ree...I know it's a lot to process and I know you don't believe me but maybe you just need to rest for now and...”
“I will rest when I am dead.” I crossed to the small stack of files I had picked up the night before. The man in my house might be a vampire—still wrapping my head around that one—but my job was not something I could just put on hold.
The papers smelled faintly of damp earth and old boxes. I spread them out over my blanket.
Photographs came first. Senator Crest, caught in grainy telephoto shots, shaking hands with an unidentified man whose face always seemed to be half in shadow. Another shot of Crest leaning close, speaking to the same man in what looked like an underground parking garage.
Then the records.
Lines of transactions, all feeding into the same name: PROJECT V-12. The amounts were obscene- millions, funneled through a web of shell accounts into something so secret it left no public trace.
I pulled my laptop closer and typed PROJECT V-12 into the search bar. Nothing. No news, no government filings, not even some dusty conspiracy blog post. It was like the name didn’t exist anywhere except in these papers.
Kellan leaned in the doorway.
“I'm telling you, Ree. You should be resting,” he repeated.
“And you should be answering questions,” I shot back. “Look I don't want to get involved in whatever business you have, Kellan. I do not care if you are a vampire, or Bigfoot, or an alien in disguise. I just need some time to put these pieces together. When I'm done, I'll take you to the police.”
His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
I was still scanning the papers when a figure passed my building.
The doorbell rang.
I stayed quiet for a few seconds then looked at Kellan. He nodded for me to check who it was.
I hoped that I didn't make a mistake by bringing a stranger to my home. I've never done that before.
He said he felt safe with me but I felt scared and paranoid as if he was bringing danger right to me.
The doorbell rang again, longer this time. I slowly opened the door.
A man stood there in a khaki shirt and black pants.
Thank goodness. It was the police.
The officer was broad-shouldered, with a friendly smile.
"Good morning, Miss Morgan. I'm Officer Peterson". He said.
I returned his warm smile as my brain tried to remember the face.
I worked closely with the Fenceville police department on a case recently but I still didn’t know this face. Oh well. Maybe he was a newbie or freshly transferred from another PD.
“Got a call from this address,” he said, looking between us. “Someone here in trouble?”
Kellan who was now behind me whispered in my ears. “I did not call anyone.”
“I did not either,” I said out loud. But my pulse skipped. This could be my way to separate Kellan from my home without making a scene. “Actually… officer, yes. I could use your help.”
I stepped outside, lowering my voice. “A few days ago, I found this man in the woods. He had no memory of how he got there.” I left out the part about him being half-dead because… well, with no sign of any wounds or bruises, who was going to believe that? “I think maybe you should take him in, see if anyone’s reported him missing.”
The officer’s gaze flicked to Kellan, then back to me. “We can do that. You can come along if you want, Miss Morgan.”
Kellan looked confused and his eyes looked like he was begging me to let him stay a while longer, but he didn’t resist when the officer gestured to his car. I climbed into the back with him.
The drive was quiet, the hum of the engine steady enough to almost lull me. We passed the edge of town, the streets thinning into empty stretches of road. The gas needle on the dash dipped low, and the officer muttered something before pulling into what looked like a long-abandoned petrol station.
The place was silent except for the creak of the pump as he stepped out.
Kellan glanced sideways at me. “You are very quiet.”
“Shhhh....I am thinking,” I said.
He moved closer to me and touched my arm gently then he whispered to me so closely that his lips brushed my ear.
"Don't worry. You're safe with me."
I looked up at him, my cheeks flushed and our faces so close to each other. My heartbeat increased steadily.
If he didn't look so unbothered about what he had just done to me, I would have kissed him right there.
The moment was small and flirty but… warm. Until my left ear began to buzz.
It was not the normal feedback I sometimes got from my hearing aid. It was something similar to what happened in the woods.
"This damn aid needs to get fixed" I muttered as I pulled the device out.
Strangely, once the aid was out, the buzz continued and then sharpened into a voice.
The officer’s voice.
“I’ve got them,” he was saying. “We’re coming to you now.”
Ice slid down my spine. What the hell?
How could I hear so clearly without my aid?
I looked outside the window and found the officer at a distance too far for me to hear anything he was saying. He was on a call.
“Kellan,” he turned to face me. “I don't know what is going on but we have to get out of here. Now.”
His brows knit. “What—”
Before I could finish, a hiss filled the air.
A white gas curled into the car through the vents, smelling faintly sweet. My lungs burned. My vision wavered.
“Kellan…” everything went blank.