You there, Moon Dance?
The IM box appeared on my laptop screen as I was packing my bags in my room. I quickly tossed my unfolded sweater in my suitcase. It was only February. Even Vegas was cold in February.
To what do I owe the pleasure, Fang?
I need to talk to you.
In person?
Maybe. No. I don't know.
What's going on, Fang?
There was a pause, and I was suddenly alarmed to discover my normally dormant heart had picked up its pace. It thudded steadily against my ribs, rocking me slightly. Normally, my own beating heart went unnoticed, which wasn't too surprising since these days it generally only beat about five times a minute.
Something was wrong. Or something could potentially be wrong. Or something was just...off. For starters, Fang seemed unusually closed to me. Not to mention, he didn't seem to be picking up on my own increasingly worried thoughts. What the hell was going on?
The little pencil icon appeared in the IM box, which meant Fang was typing something. A moment later, his words appeared:
I recently...met someone.
Would this someone happen to be a female?
Yes.
This wasn't horrible news. At least, not for me. I liked Fang. I appreciated his friendship and help. But I had always felt he had an ulterior motive: he wanted something from me. And what he wanted, he had made clear a year ago.
He wanted me to turn him.
Although I didn't doubt that he loved me, I always wondered where the love originated. Was it for me, or for what I am? A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I voiced it. Or, rather, wrote it:
Is this woman a...vampire?
Yes.
A real vampire?
A real vampire, Moon Dance.
May I ask her name?
You know her.
Something inside me turned to ice, which, for me, is saying something. I exhaled a steady stream of cold air, and wrote: Detective Rachel Hanner.
Yes.
How did you two meet?
She came in the other night, sat at the bar. Ordered a glass of white wine, same as you.
I read his words and would have held my breath, except I was never sure when I held my breath these days. He went on:
There was something about her. Something...otherworldly. The way she stared at me. Her small, precise movements. Her faint accent. It wasn't long before I suspected what she was.
I waited, re-reading his words, thinking hard, puzzling through this. What did this mean? I didn't know yet.
It wasn't until later, after her second glass of wine, that I realized she had been reading my mind. Her intrusion wasn't obvious. Not like the way I know when you're in there. I mean, I can always feel when you're in my mind, Moon Dance. Touching down here and there.
He paused and I was truly feeling sick. Down the hallway, I heard Anthony snoring lightly. Music came from Tammy's room. The house was locked. I always kept it locked. What was Hanner up to? I didn't know, but I had that creepy-ass feeling of being watched. Of course, with me, it might be more than a feeling.
I stood and walked over to my main window and looked out into the cul-de-sac. No one was out there. At least, not that I could see. All the cars on the street I recognized. But with Hanner - the only other vampire that I knew personally - she could be anywhere. She could be sitting on my roof, for all I knew. I shivered.
Jesus, I thought.
I sat back down and Fang's next message appeared almost instantaneously: I think within a few minutes, she knew all my secrets. All of them.