The Creation (Book III)

(5) Present: 2024

                                                          Present: 2024

I knelt down next to Joanna’s freezing body with my eyebrows knitted together in concern. The cell phone went silent for maybe a minute or two before I finally heard some sort of response from him.

“Is she okay?” he asked, his voice strained and full of concern.

My hand nudged her slightly to see if she was really out or not. She remained stiff as a corpse. Well, technically she was a corpse right now. She’d heal soon, of course. “I think so. I had to, err, incapacitate for a bit. She’ll be fine.”

“How many this time?”

My eyes went from bloodied body to bloodied body, making my fangs accidentally pop out just by the sight of blood. It’s been so long since I’ve had blood straight from the vein. It’s just so warm and pure and—

“Lucy? How many?” Matthew questioned impatiently.

“Three. She killed three.”

“Shit. Where are you?”

I had to walk away from the crime scene in order to spot a street sign. If I had a high tech phone it would have saved us both the trouble. After spotting a sign I immediately rambled off the name of the corner we were on and went straight back to where the four bodies were. “Can you send someone to clean it up? I can get her back to the apartment.”

“I’ll have it taken care of immediately. Stay where you are until it gets cleaned up and don’t touched anything. Keep people away from the area, if you must.”

I hung up and slid the phone back into my coat pocket. Paranoia swept through me as I eyed every single person as much as a block from this area. I could hear laughter and voices not too far from here, but the darkness kept most from coming near this street. In a lot of ways, this area was kind of known for crime. For the longest time I thought it was ridiculous, especially when I learned it was one of the reasons I got the apartment so cheap. But after see Joanna smacked with a baseball bat, I think I believe it now.

Not twenty minutes later did a car pull up, unloading three men. At first I thought Matthew had sent his usual men. I’ve met them before, though I often forget their names. But then I realized it wasn’t just two of Matthew’s usual employees. Matthew came as well.

“Did you hire a private jet to rocket you here or something?” I questioned when the tall, blond vampire approached me in his expensive black wool coat.

He had a thick red scarf wrapped around his neck, though none of us truly needed one. His eyes were on Joanna before he even acknowledged me. “Did you break her neck?” he questioned, his tone showing high disapproval.

We both stood over her body with the same confliction on our faces. “She was going to take off if I didn’t,” I defended, slightly worried he might make me suffer for doing something so violent.

He knelt beside her, letting one knee press into the snow. “Anna…” he murmured as he brushed the long dark strands from her face.

I watched as he unwound his scarf and began scrubbing the blood from her face. “It’s dried on. Do you happen to have a wipe or something?”

Matthew frowned and placed his scarf on the ground beside him. “I have to get it cleaned off before we transport her. Otherwise this will look highly suspicious.” That’s when he lifted her head gently off the ground and licked her face.

My eyes widened and I cringed at the sight. “Eww.”

He looked up at me, his tongue tracing over her lips. “Any other suggestions?”