I turned to head to my bedroom when I stopped in my tracks.
I really wasn’t alone after all, but it wasn’t the person I expected to see. Tall, dark, and handsome, it was easy to see what had attracted me to this man once upon a time, but that had been a long time ago, and things were very different now.
“Hank?” I whispered. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Kimberly,” he said with a smile. “I have to admit, I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Why?” I asked, confused. “It’s my apartment.”
If anything, I was confused to see him in my apartment. Why was Hank in my personal space? It really wasn’t his job to be here. More importantly, he wasn’t welcome here. After we broke up, I took my key back. As far as I knew, he was busy shacking up with his new girlfriend, anyway.
“Because from what I’ve heard, you don’t live here anymore,” he said simply.
What the hell was he talking about?
How would he know that?
“What are you talking about?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “This is my place. Last time I checked, I’m the one paying rent. So let me ask you again: what are you doing here?”
“Everyone knows you skipped town,” he said. “All of the hunters know.”
“That’s simply not true. Hank, I think you should go.”
I gestured toward the front of my apartment, as though that would somehow encourage him to leave. That was what I really wanted more than anything else. I wanted him out of my place, and I wanted to sit and wallow alone. I needed space from Liam and from the other vampires. I needed some time to myself so I could just think.
Everyone was always in such a rush with life that people always underestimated the complete and total value of just being by yourself from time to time.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, darling,” he stepped forward, and suddenly, I was caught off guard by the pure scent of Hank. I’d known him for a long time, yes. I’d known him for what seemed like ages, but something had changed between us: something I wasn’t very comfortable with. He didn’t smell the way I remembered him smelling. Was that because I was a vampire now?
All I knew was that the way he smelled was disgusting.
I would never take a bite out of Hank Ferentstine. That much was certain. He might be a total jerk, and maybe that was what turned me off to him, but there was something else, too.
Hank smelled evil.
What reason could have brought him to my apartment?
Was he here looking for me?
Or was he going through my belongings?
Ignoring his comment, I pushed past him and went into my bedroom. It looked just as messy as the day I left for the last time, but the mess was different somehow. This wasn’t my mess.
“You went through my things,” I whispered. Then I turned around. “Why?”
“You’re a vampire now,” he said simply. “You tell me.”
“What?” I asked, breathlessly. “What’s this all about?”
“Stop playing,” he said.
“I’m not...I don’t...what’s going on?”
I’d been confused a lot lately. There had been many days when I didn’t quite know what was going on or who I was supposed to be or where I was supposed to be. The problem with transitioning to life as a vampire was that you had these two lives you had to learn to cope with.
There was my old life from before I changed. My life before I was turned was so very different. I was busy, and I had a mission. I couldn’t say that I was happy, but I had things that kept my mind occupied. When I was dating Hank, I thought I was happy. Later I found out that happiness was just an illusion.
Then there was my new life. I was still the same person I was before, but my world was different now. It was wilder. More wonderful. Sometimes it seemed a little bit darker. Those were all things that were okay, but they were things I had to learn to juggle and deal with.