As Twilight Falls(3)
Author: Amanda Ashley

After a quick shower, he donned a pair of jeans and a shirt. The hunger clawed at his vitals, yet he hesitated to leave the security of his lair. Though thirty years had passed since he had gone to ground, he remembered all too vividly his last foray outside Morgan Creek . . .

It had been a beautiful summer night and the city had been alive with people. Walking among them, their combined scents had aroused his thirst. A Fourth of July celebration was in full swing at the park. After the fireworks, there had been music and dancing.

Spying a beautiful young thing in shorts and a halter top heading away from the crowd, he had followed her. He had been closing in when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Too late, he realized he had walked into a trap. A dozen hunters swarmed over him, driving him to the ground. He fought back, breaking a neck here, a leg there, sinking his fangs into another, but they never let up. Fear had been like ice in his belly when they splashed him with gasoline. He fought with renewed energy when he caught the scent of sulphur, roared with pain as his clothes and his hair caught fire.

The flames had driven the hunters back. It had taken every ounce of preternatural power remaining to will himself back to Morgan Creek and bury himself deep in the earth so the healing could begin.

The pain had been constant, relentless. Even trapped in the dark sleep of his kind, there had been no escape from the agony of blistered preternatural flesh. It was definitely an experience he didn’t want to repeat. Even now, it was hard to believe he had been so careless. It was a mistake he would not make again.

Shaking off his morbid thoughts, he willed himself to the nearest city. He needed blood to complete the healing before he approached the woman whose mere presence had called him from the arms of the earth.

Chapter 3

Kadie woke with the sun shining in her face. A glance out the window showed a beautiful clear day.

Fighting down a surge of guilt for spending the night in a house that wasn’t hers, she went into the bathroom to take a shower.

With the water sluicing over her head and shoulders, her thoughts turned to the strange man she had met last night. Who was he, really? He had seemed ordinary enough, and yet there had been something strange about him. She recalled the odd red glow in his eyes, then shook her head. It had to have been a trick of the light. Nobody’s eyes turned red.

After drying off, she pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and her favorite high-heeled, black boots. Glancing around to make sure she had everything, she shoved her dirty clothes inside her suitcase, grabbed it and her handbag, and left the house.

The houses she passed were all older homes, circa the thirties and forties, but they were all in good repair, the yards well tended. Now and then she saw people staring out their windows at her.

Mostly women. Mostly young and pretty.

They all seemed surprised to see her.

She passed a handsome young man mowing his yard.

An older woman rocking on her front porch.

A pretty young woman pulling weeds along the edge of the driveway.

They all watched her, their eyes filled with curiosity. No one smiled. No one spoke to her, not even when she offered a tentative hello.

Not a very friendly town, Kadie thought, wondering at their reticence.

When she reached the edge of town, she glanced left and right. The streets were deserted. No sign of people hurrying to work, no children walking to school. No cars on the road. Of course not, she thought glumly. There was no gas to be had. How was that even possible in this day and age?

Her SUV was where she had left it. Unlocking the car, she stowed her suitcase and her purse inside, locked the door, and shoved her keys into the pocket of her jeans.

The tavern Darrick had taken her to last night was closed.

Was nothing in this town open? And where was everyone?

“Hi, honey, you look lost. Can I help you?”

Kadie turned to find a woman walking toward her. She had short, curly, gray hair, brown eyes, and a friendly smile.

“What are you doing here?” the woman asked, frowning.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t get many new people in town. I mean, we’re not even on the map anymore. How did you get here?”

Kadie gestured at her car, parked a few yards away. “I ran out of gas.”

“That’s unfortunate,” the woman said, sighing. “We haven’t had any deliveries in ages. Where are my manners?” she exclaimed. “I’m Donna Stout.”

“Kadie Andrews. What do you do for transportation if there’s no gas?”

“We walk,” Donna said with a shrug. “Where are you staying?”

“Well, I’m not sure. Last night I . . .” Kadie broke off, wondering if she should admit to where she’d spent the night. She had a feeling Donna Stout was the town gossip. But she was leaving, so what did it matter? “I stayed at a friend’s house,” she said, stretching the truth a bit.

“You look like you could use a good hot cup of coffee. The restaurant should be open now if you’d like some breakfast.”

“Sounds great.”

Inside the restaurant, Kadie followed Donna to a table near the front window.

After ordering coffee and a short stack of pancakes, Kadie folded her hands on the table. “Is the town always this quiet?” she asked, noting that the streets were still deserted. “I mean, where is everybody?”

Donna looked at her, cleared her throat, then glanced away. “We . . . that is . . . you see, it’s like this. Morgan Creek isn’t an ordinary town. We’re kind of . . . um, unique.”

“Unique?”

“People move in from time to time but . . .” She looked over her shoulder, her expression troubled. “As long as I’ve been here, no one has ever moved out.”

Kadie stared at the woman. What was she trying to say? Or not say? “I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t.” She patted Kadie’s hand. “I wish I could explain it, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t.”

Kadie pondered Donna Stout’s words while she ate. What was the woman hiding? It was almost as if she was afraid to tell Kadie what was going on. Was Morgan Creek the home of some kind of cult? Like Jonestown?

The waitress returned a few minutes later. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.

“No,” Kadie said. “Just the check.”

The waitress looked at Donna, one brow raised.

“Kadie is new here,” Donna said as if that explained everything.