Free Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa by JG Cully Page A

and backed into a wall.  Only then did she start
hyper ventilating.  Again, she didn't actually need to hyper ventilate as her
body didn't need to breathe but she could do the actions.  Breathing hurriedly,
clutching her chest.  Eyes wide with fright, body trembling.  She was trying to
fix her glasses in place again but she was making a bad job of it.  She wasn't
doing any of these actions to fit in.  She was just terrified.
    Oh Gods! Oh
Gods! Oh Gods! her mind repeated over and over.  They know!  Why else would
they be here?
    No no hold on
a sec, the
more rational part of her mind was saying, trying to assert some control.  Let's
just think about this.
    WHY ? The rest of her mind
screamed.   They said they were hunting vampires!  And guess who's a vampire
who works at the tavern they've just arrived at?  ME!  That's who!
    Alyssa covered
her face with her hands, feeling tears forming.  I don't want to die! 
Again.
    But wait.  I
didn't kill the fat man.
    Alyssa stopped. 
Her hands dropped from her face a little.  The rational part of her brain took
that as a good sign and continued.
    They said he
died of falling on a spike.  Well, I didn't do that.  I left him unconscious on
the ground.
    That was true
too.  Alyssa's hands moved from her eyes to her mouth.  She started to calm
down just a little as her mind got the time it had requested to think things
through. 
    Wait a second! 
Did that mean...There was another vampire out there?  Her composure changed
from worried to, well, a different kind of worried.
    Another
vampire.  After all this time?
    That still
didn't explain why they were here.  It couldn't just be chance.  Could someone
have seen something?  Could they have seen her?  Either way, she had to clear
her name out of the possibilities somehow.  Make them believe that the murderer
wasn't her.  Thing is, that would mean admitting she was a vampire.  Which just
put her in more trouble.  Damn.  Maybe there was a way to clear her name but not admit to being a vampire?
     
    “Alyssa?” said a
voice.
    Alyssa yelped,
jumping back into the wall in fright, almost knocking her badly positioned
glasses off her nose.  Katy was standing nearby in a hooded cloak, looking over
at Alyssa with the most curious of expressions.  She'd pulled the cloaks hood
down, revealing that she had her hair pulled up into braided pigtails tied by
pink ribbons.  If Alyssa had been in a better mental state she might have
commented on how cute Katy appeared.
    Why does that
keep happening?  Vampires shouldn't get surprised by people at night!
    “Gods Katy, you
scared me!” breathed Alyssa (another good impression), now properly fixing her
glasses to the right angle.
    “Sorry.” Katy
smiled apologetically.  “You ok?”
    Alyssa looked
over and the nucleus of a plan formed.
    Katy can
help!
    “Actually no,”
she admitted.  “but you might be able to make things better.”
    She beckoned
Katy over and, with the greatest of care, told her what she had overheard.  She
indicated her thoughts that the fat man the two Council of Peace people were
referring to could be the same one she and Katy had encountered.  She didn't
say she was a vampire (of course) but she did say that she was concerned they
might mistake her for one unless she cleared her name.  Just a small deception.
    “So I'm really
worried” she said afterwards, with genuine truth (the best kind).
    Katy, bless her
little heart, seemed to understand totally.
    “I'll help you
Alyssa.” she said, a wonderfully loyal determination in her voice.
    It was Alyssa's
turn to hug Katy.  They agreed to wait until the two visitors had gotten their
food and were relaxed. Then they would approach them together.  Meantime,
Alyssa was determined that Katy was going to start work at the Elk Horn that
very night.  As long as she could talk Gretna into it.
    “There you are!”
came a voice behind them.  Gretna was at the open door, her hands on her hips
again,