Free In the Dark by Melody Taylor

paused, not really wanting to
say it.
    “It is
possible.”
    We stared down
at her, silent. She whimpered.
    “Twins?”
I asked out loud, dubious.
    Sebastian’s
eyes glittered as he took in the idea. “One a vampire, one not?
Or both human, perhaps, one some sort of vampire hunter.”
    I nodded as if
this all made sense.
    “Don’t
hurt me,” the woman pleaded. “Don’t hurt me
anymore.”
    I frowned.
    “What did
you do to her?” I asked. Then, “Why did you leave her out
in the rain?”
    “I fed
from her,” Sebastian told me. “And I told her to wait
here. The rain started while I followed you home.”
    “You left
her here that long?”
    “I told
you to wait for me in the club. If you had, she would only have been
here a moment.”
    I ignored the
jab. “Feeding isn’t supposed to hurt. What did you do to
her?”
    “She’s
frightened. Wouldn’t you be?”
    “Why are
you scaring her?”
    His eyes turned
impatient. “Enough, Ian. She will live.” He focused back
on her. “You have a twin?”
    She shook her
head, wet hair trailing into her eyes.
    “You have
a sister?” he asked.
    She shook her
head again.
    “Do you
know anything of Kent, or Ian?”
    She shook her
head miserably.
    Sebastian hissed
to himself. “Do you know anything of vampires or other
supernatural creatures?”
    “M-my
roommate has a Ouija board,” she offered in a tiny voice.
    I threw my hands
up. Worthless. I got the wrong one, I had to have. Different posture,
different expression, different attitude . . . she looked less and
less like the woman I’d seen by the second.
    “Ouija
board?” Sebastian asked. He didn’t know what she meant.
    “It’s
a game,” I said. “A stupid game where you’re
supposed to talk to spirits. It doesn’t work.”
    He nodded
slightly. I got the feeling he’d just cataloged that.
    “I can see
no reason to further detain her,” he said to me. “She has
no information. She is apparently not the one we seek.” He
cocked his head at me, waiting for me to agree or not.
    I glanced down
at the woman against the wall. She looked at me like she was waiting
to be beaten. I looked away.
    “I’m
sorry Sebastian,” I said. “It might have been the
lighting . . . or something. I really thought this was her.”
    “Are you
satisfied of your mistake? Do you no longer believe this woman to be
the one we want?”
    I snuck one more
look at her. She kept shivering. “I – I don’t think
she’s the right one.”
    Sebastian nodded
once, then turned to the girl. “Leave.”
    She scrambled up
and ran down the alley as fast as her high heels would take her. I
watched her, wishing I could apologize for the mistake. As if it
would mean a whole lot – “sorry my friend here dragged
you off and drank your blood. We thought you were someone else.”
    As her back
vanished around a corner, I shifted my weight again. “Won’t
she remember some guy biting her?”
    Sebastian
shrugged. “Perhaps.”
    “But what
about hiding? Staying secret?”
    “Who will
believe her? And if they do, who will think to look for monsters?”
    I kept watching
after her, even though I couldn’t see her anymore. “You
didn’t have to hurt her. Or scare her.”
    His eyes
flashed. “She is still alive. That is enough.”
    I knew what he
meant. I wanted to forget what he’d said about killing anyone,
though.
    “She won’t
lead anyone to us. No one ever has.” Sebastian turned to go.
    “What do
you mean, no one ever has?” I said to his back. “You do
this to a lot of people or something?”
    I expected him
to whirl back and yell at me, tensed for it, ready to yell myself. He
didn’t turn. Of course, he couldn’t hear me. I stalked
after him out to the car. He had his hand on the door by the time I
reached him. He turned calmly, eyes curious.
    “No one
ever has? You’ve done that before?” I gestured toward the
alley.
    He blinked.
“I’ve done worse, Ian. Much worse. You didn’t
bother to question that when I told