Chapter 7

Actually not sure exactly what was happening, I tried getting around Alex, but he grabbed my arm and ****** me backward.
“Who the **** are you?” he asked the woman. I’m Tessie, nice to meet you.
In answer, she pulled out a set and of handcuffs. “ Alex Jacobs, you’re under arrest. You want to do the easy way or the hard way?
The choice is yours.”
“For being a *******, “ I mumbled.
Not appreciating my humor, he grabbed my face with his hand and began squeezing it. “ Don’t talk.”
I touched my cheek, which was already starting to heal, but still pretty ******.” No. That’s okay. I think I’ll just take off. Uh, thank you.”
Nodding, her eyes studied my face. “ You’re a vampire.”
Yep.”
“ ***** , let me go,” growled Garrett, trying to unlock her arm from his neck without success
“Shut up,” order the young girl,
Glaring at him.
“ Nah, I asked, impressed. She was clearly one bad-assed immortal. Like this *******.
What’s your name?
“ Sarrett”.
I’m Sam. Hey, grab my handcuffs, will you?” she asked, nodding toward them. She’d lost her cuffs in the scuffle and they were lying on the carpet a few inches from my foot.
She tilted her head and gazed upon a transparent woman, no more than twenty. Her flaxen hair fell across her shoulders, circling her heart-shaped face. “ Who are you?” Lillian stammered.
I’m Sophia, once like you.
They’ve been here for centuries, before the pirates, before the first settlement. The true first inhabitants of this continent.
Who are they?
They are bookseekers. Come now! “ The urgency in her voice resounded inside Sophia.
Lillian did as asked. Not questioning Sophia. She knew the footsteps belonged to a book seeker.
Fourteen years ago, when I was only four years old, I was at a park in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, when I watched my mother get murdered. Every Sunday after church, she would take me to play at this park in particular, because it was her favorite park. She loved it because of its many trees, but she also loved it because of its solitude.
Once, I remember her
explaining to me that it reminded her of her hometown in rural California.
And a voice inside her head commanded her to stop. Her body froze in place. She tried to move but his mind controlled the core of her brain and she collapsed, waking up on the stone floor. Lillian stayed as motionless as possible, controlling the tremors threatening to shake her body. She popped her eyes open and watched his form through the corner of her eyes. A wooden door appeared before Lillian as she reached the top of the stairs. Sophia motioned for her to open it, the hinges creaking as she pushed it.