It was always a gamble if Susan would be here or not, but it was finally time to face her and get some answers. Things were getting far too dangerous, especially not knowing what she was involved with. Now, with the Vampire Order in the mix, something had to be done—and fast.

I wasn’t worried about hiding anymore and parked in the closest available spot. I walked straight up to Susan’s door and rang the doorbell. But no one answered.

It was twilight, the sun now well behind the buildings, so I glanced at the kitchen window for any signs of interior lights. From what I could tell, all the lights in the main living area were off.

I rang the doorbell one more time for good measure and heard a dog yapping from the apartment upstairs, but no sound coming from Susan’s flat.

Undeterred, I crept around the back and entered the apartment through the bathroom window like previous times. I surveyed all the rooms to make sure the apartment truly was empty, then see if she had left her laptop or anything of informational value, but the place was just as clean as the last time.

While waiting for Susan to return, I ventured into Fiona’s room. “Rebecca, are you here?” I asked. It took a few seconds, but I received a response. “Hi, Matthew,” she said. “Is Fee coming home soon?”

“I think she will be,” I said. “I can’t give you a specific date or anything yet, but I think she’ll be home real soon.”

“Awesome! I get so sad when she’s away. I hate it when she and Mom go on summer vacations. It’s so lonely here. Last summer, they went on a cruise and were gone for like two whole weeks. They had a good time though.”

“But you missed them and wished you could have gone too,” I said, empathizing with the dead girl. I remembered them going on that vacation—a week-long Caribbean cruise while spending another week in Florida. I had someone keep an eye on them in Florida, though I didn’t insist on someone joining them on the cruise.

“Yeah,” she said, and I could hear the grief in her sweet voice.

I paced the room, glancing around at all of Fiona’s personal items. The room smelled like her, so much so that I could close my eyes and imagine she was right here, close enough for me to wrap my arms around. Then I dropped onto the edge of the bed, frustrated I was seemingly reduced to waiting for everything. It was so hard when all I wanted to do was take action—do something. The waiting made me feel helpless and useless.

“Do you miss Fee too?” Rebecca asked.

“Is it that obvious?” I chuckled.

“You seem sad.”

“Yes; I miss your sister. You’re not the only one who wants her to come home.”

“But I thought she was doing something with the group you’re both in, so why can’t you see her?”

“She’s… umm… how do I put this? She’s going through some training I wasn’t invited to. So I’m waiting just like you are.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“What do you know about vampires?” I asked as images of Fiona in the vampire-run asylum invaded my thoughts.

“Dunno,” she said innocently. “Aren’t they like bats or something?”

“I take it Fiona or your mother don’t talk to you about them,” I said.

“Not really.”

“That’s okay…” I started to say, but then heard a creak from somewhere outside the bedroom. “Is someone here?” I whispered.

“I can check,” she said.

But I didn’t wait for Rebecca to report back. I sneaked out, peering around the unlit, dusky living room, then noticed a dark figure step out of the kitchen holding a large butcher’s knife.