Summary: Random robberies begin occurring around Charleston, too much to turn a blind eye to. The Academy is curious and sends their best team in to investigate. But Luke, being Luke, decides to do a bit of snooping on his own and becomes intrigued by the girl who lives across the street from Kota. She always keeps the curtains closed, disappears at night with another girl in tow, and returns just before dawn in new clothes. But looks can be deceiving and when he buckles up the courage to tail her one night, he stumbles upon something he knows he wasn't supposed to witness.
Getting anyone involved was the last thing she wanted–especially the Blackbourne team. She was a monster, a fiend. But, slowly but surely, they begin working their way into her undead heart and show her she isn't the monster she makes herself out to be.
Confirmed RH – HEA with the Blackbourne team.
Chapter I – Curiosity Killed the Cat
Luke's POV
Kota had weird neighbors. I didn't think any of my brothers gave it any mind, but I definitely noticed how odd it was that we never, not once, saw them come outside. Heck, I didn't even know what they looked like or what kind of people they were! But, to be fair, I didn't think anyone up and down Sunnyvale Court knew who they were.
They were elusive. Mysterious, even.
Something about mysteries got me excited, made me nervous, and filled me with a sense of euphoria all at the same time. I liked the unknown, unexplainable things. I enjoyed putting all the little pieces together in order to figure out the mystery. I'd chalk it up to my Academy training, but it was really just in my nature to be curious.
My first suspicion about Kota's neighbors was that maybe we both had different schedules and I just managed to miss them all the time. I didn't come over to Kota's often, so I thought nothing of it. No problem, right? Strike one, Luke.
My second suspicion was that, hey, maybe they worked late or had odd jobs that took up a lot of their time. I knew a few people like that (Mr. B and the Doc), so I tried to brush it off once again. Strike two, Luke! Great going!
But one late night, I saw them. There were two of them. Girls, young, one blonde, one brunette, dressed from head to toe in dark clothing. The brunette was taller, looked older, and had her hands clenched as they scurried down their driveway. The blonde, small and petite, was walking after her hurriedly, and it almost seemed like she was trying to hold herself back every few seconds. From what, I wasn't sure.
For the next week and a half, they followed the same routine. My skepticism rose each night and soon, I was convinced there was something up with these girls. Especially the blonde one. I had a burning curiosity to figure her out.
There was this niggling feeling at the back of my mind that kept telling me I needed to find the answers to my questions, and I had plenty. I had a taste of it one weekend at Kota's; he needed someone to babysit Jessica since Nathan couldn't and I was the only one available, at least till Silas could join me later.
It was all good and fun. We had a tea party, I made her chocolate chip scones to go along with her sweet iced tea, and afterwards, I told her a bedtime story about the troll who lived under the bridge. She seemed to like that one, and it was one of my favorites, too.
Silas came over later that night and that's when I finally saw them—her, actually. It was only the blonde one. I'd never gotten a good look at her face because she wore really thick, dark glasses and an oversized hoodie that hid her features from view. Like always, she was dressed completely in dark clothes. But I knew her hair was blonde and her skin was pale like mine. She was tiny, though, which begged the question: just where was she going so late every night?
I finally couldn't take it.
A shiver of worry crawled up my spine and before I knew it, I was opening the door and stepping out into the cold night as the icy air attacked my skin. I tried to see if she'd gotten far, because I was about to run after her to see if she needed a ride or something. Maybe get some answers about where she disappears to all the time, but she was nowhere to be found. And I was left standing there, in a pair of Jessica's pink tights with a matching tutu, gaping at the empty cul-de-sac.
I probably looked ridiculous, but I knew what I saw; I replayed it over and over in my head, but I came up with the same conclusion each time: she just... disappeared.
Silas was immediately behind me, peering down the road in front of us. I felt his questioning stare when I refused to look away from the spot where she'd been standing not more than a few seconds ago.
I know what I saw, I kept repeating to myself later when we went into the house and I had Silas call Kota. I thought about texting the Doc or Mr. B to tell them what I saw, too, but Kota told me it was best not to get them involved yet. I was frantic, though; I wasn't crazy and my brothers knew I'd never make this kind of thing up.
"I know what I saw," I repeated to Kota over the phone. I can't count the number of times I'd said that already, but it must've been a lot because he just sighed. "Kota, she was there and then she wasn't! She disappeared! She and that other girl have been doing this every night for the past week! Plus, she looks like she's about fifteen! What fifteen-year-old goes out at eleven-something at night?! Wait, don't answer that. We still need to investigate this or something!"
I hadn't realized I was pacing around the room yelling until Silas threw his shoe at my head, making a 'shh' motion with his hands towards the stairs. Yeah, big guy. I got it. Don't wake the munchkin or we'll never get to bed. Still, I was getting frustrated that Kota was taking this so lightly.
I know what I saw.
"Look, Luke. It's late and we're both tired. I'm sure it was nothing, but just to make sure, we'll go over tomorrow and see if she's okay. We can also bring it up to discuss later when we're all rested and can think clearly, all right?"
He didn't believe me and it kind of hurt, but I was going to prove that I was right.
Later, after we hung up and put aside Academy business, I went to the window again and peaked through the blinds and curtains at the house across the street.
Movement from one of the windows on the top floor caught my eye. A pair of vivid red eyes stared this way, like they were looking right at me. But when I blinked, there was nothing. The curtain was still and the eyes were gone.
I went to sleep, dreaming of the girl and those eerie red eyes.
.
.
.
The next morning when Kota and Nathan came back from their mission, we went over to the house across the street. I'd never felt so nervous in my life, but I realized I was probably more anxious that I really was imagining all this, that it was all just a figment of my 'vivid imagination.' Nathan's words, not mine.
He and North had been spending too much time together, in my opinion. I knew he didn't believe me. I could see it in his eyes and in his gestures. We'd never been particularly close, and while we were brothers through and through, at times like these I wondered.
When we finally arrived, I had to stop myself from ringing the doorbell repeatedly or knocking hard on the door in my excitement to prove them all wrong. Except, when nobody answered after a few minutes of waiting, the doubt began trickling in. The longer we waited and rang the doorbell, the more I began to think that maybe Kota was right.
Maybe I was so tired that I dreamed the entire thing. Wouldn't be the first time. The girl disappearing, the window, those eyes... It made sense. Nathan and I had a movie marathon a week ago in honor of Octoberfest since it was his birthday soon, so maybe I... No. I know what I saw.
But what exactly had I seen? What explanation did I have?
I said nothing as we walked back to his house. Nathan was lounging on the couch, watching TV, and Erica was starting up dinner in the kitchen. The others were supposed to come over for our weekly family meeting after Erica took Jessica to a birthday party, and Kota had planned to bring up the girl incident, but now, I didn't think it was a good idea.
"Maybe we just came at a bad time. We can go back over when they come home," Kota said, taking a seat next to Nathan on the couch. "In the meantime, we need to discuss our plan of action regarding the robberies."
I sighed, but nodded, not knowing quite what to say to that because at the moment my thoughts were all over the place. I couldn't focus on anything besides that blonde girl who lived across the street.
"I still think this would be way easier if Corey helped us out. I mean..."
By that time, I wasn't listening. Their voices faded out and I barely paid a speck of attention to the family meeting when the others came over later after dinner. Gabe kept giving me weird looks and North would hit me upside the head every now and then when it looked like I wasn't listening. He wasn't wrong; by the time the meeting was over and the others began to leave, I had absolutely no clue what we'd just discussed.
I think Mr. B. knew something was up with me, but he never said anything. He and the Doc were the last to leave, followed shortly by me, North, and Silas.
We went home and for the time being, I dropped the topic completely and kept my thoughts to myself. I'd better lay off the horror movies for a while because my mind was coming up with wild conclusions, ones that went out of the realm of normal.
Definitely no more late-night snacks for you, Luke ol' boy.
Well... Until this whole thing blew over. I wasn't ready to give it up so soon. Or ever, actually.
Kota and Nathan seemed positive it was nothing, so maybe it was, right?
My gut told me no, but my mind said to forget it. Against my better judgement, I listened to my mind instead of my instincts.
I'd never know how wrong I was to do that.