Lost in Shadows (ONC 2024)

Chapter Four

After Charlotte left, I sat on a chair I didn't even remember owning. Memories blurred with immortality and time had little meaning. I could sit for hours and not realize how many hours passed.

In the morning Sky bounced out of the bedroom, leaving to do volunteer work as they did every day. They no longer needed a job since they were a blood promised, but they liked to help people. Some vampires would expect a blood promised to devote every moment to them, treating them like an item. Elizabeth never expected that sacrifice. If Sky walked out one day and broke their vow to Elizabeth, she would never hunt them down. Elizabeth played the role of a monster when she was the farthest thing from it.

It was why I knew she would help.

Before the sun went down, Elizabeth emerged from her room. She was only wearing a Pearl Jam shirt that probably belonged to her when she was alive. Even wearing a shirt that should have been tossed out in 1995, she had a preternatural attractiveness. The transformation into a vampire enhanced the person's best features. It was helpful for luring prey.

It never really worked on me. Unable to see myself in a mirror, I still saw the lack of interest from others.

Elizabeth's desirability didn't really work on me. Not only did it not have the same power over vampires, but I could only ever see her as a little sister. She still seemed so young to me, even though she was over half a century old.

Her bleary gaze fell on me, and she gave an exasperated groan. "Have you been sitting there since last night?"

"I suppose so."

She rubbed her eyes. "I mean this in a constructive way. I know you're dead, but get a life." She flopped on the couch and hugged her knees, giving the disconcerting image of a normal young woman instead of a monster. "So, did you kill your mortal, or did I scare them away?"

I linked my fingers together. "She still wants to find her sister. But I'm at a dead end. I'm not really schmoozing the vampire upperclass."

She leaned forward. "Why are you looking at me this way? Since when do I spend time with those royal poseurs?"

I cocked my head. "You spend more time with them than I do since you have to get their permission for a blood promised. You've been to the Blood Gatherings."

She lifted her head. "God, those things are so tedious. And those fuckers are always so pretentious. Like I'm supposed to care when they rip the head off of a blood promised traitor."

Her manner resembled a teenager embarrassed by her parents, but I knew better. Her mood was always much more dangerous when she returned from one of those ceremonies. Though she loved being a vampire, she wasn't old enough to have grown hard about their displays of cruelty.

"But you know the vampires who introduced new blood promised," I said.

She made a face. "I never saw Anna Gold."

"That doesn't mean she wasn't there."

"I also don't remember the vampires there," she said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help your mortal if I wanted to."

Without Charlotte there, honesty crept into her voice. We didn't lie to each other. So I knew she would tell me the truth.

"Where is the next gathering held?"

Elizabeth's brow furrowed. "Are you planning something stupid?"

"Where?"

Elizabeth rose. "Anna sounds like she was already a blood promised. She wouldn't have to be brought there. I took Sky once."