Chapter 5

Charlotte Sanguinite POV:

Two black vans arrive, and serious-looking men unload from them.

I am completely ignored as they move about, cleaning the entire animal shelter and the street outside. A couple of them head to the backyard, where they disappear with the bodies. Two of them measure the door, and not thirty minutes later, a similar glass door is brought and fixed into place. Even the dogs in the back rooms, who are causing an uproar, are given treats to calm them.

One of the men goes so far as to wipe out the security camera footage.

The whole thing is over in less than an hour, and they leave as quietly as they came.

As I look around the shelter, it is like no one was ever here.

I sit down heavily with a sigh. Glancing at the clock, I realize it's time to feed the kittens again. I'm starting to get worried about Ricky.

As I'm about to pour the milk into the pan, I hear the back door open.

My first instinct is fear, and I immediately pick up the pan, ready to slam it into the intruder's face. The footsteps are slow and careful. I put myself in an ideal position. The face, first, and then hit them with the family jewels. Double strike.

I was already swinging the pan when I saw the person emerge from the doorway.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to stop the momentum, and Ricky goes down with one blow.

"Oh my God! "Ricky!" I toss the pan aside, crouching by the side of the dazed man. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were an intruder!"

"My head," the young vet groans, clutching his skull.

I helped him up, the guilt eating at me. "I really did think you were a thief or something. I'll get you some ice."

Sitting on the kitchen stool, he rubs his forehead while I get him a cold compress out of the freezer. I apply it to the bump that is forming. "Did I hit you hard?"

"No, Charlotte. "You barely grazed me." Ricky snatches the compress from me. "I just decided to fall on the floor for kicks."

It feels like I keep apologizing these days. "I'm sorry."

"Who would want to break into our shelter?" He glares at me. Explain the logic to me. "We don't have anything worth stealing here."

I can't really explain my paranoia to him, so I mutter, "We have drugs."

Suddenly he blinks, giving me a good, hard look. "What happened to your eye?"

"I—" I struggle to think of an explanation that doesn't involve vampires and beheading. "I walked through the door."

"With your left eye?" Ricky's gaze narrows. "Do I look like I'm five? What happened, Charlotte?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did someone hit you?" he asks abruptly. "Are you seeing someone?" Is it an abusive—"

"Ricky!" I cried out, horrified. "Of course not! It's stupid, alright?"

"Somebody punched you in the eye, Charlotte," the vet says darkly, "and you're making up stories about it, which means you either know the person—"

I cut him off. "I was mugged. That's why I was so cautious when you came in. All those self-defense classes, and I couldn't stop someone from punching me in the face. It was embarrassing, so I didn't want to talk about it."

"Well, it's swelling up pretty badly." Ricky leans forward to touch it. "Get yourself an ice pack, and I'll write you a prescription for some painkillers."

"Can you do that as a vet?" I ask in awe.

Ricky eyes me. "Of course I can. I'm an MD as well. Did you report the mugging?"

"He didn't take anything from me. "I got away," I replied, hating the fact that I had to lie so blatantly. Anyway, I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine. What happened to you?"

He clears his throat. "My sister went into labor, and I had to drive her to the hospital. I tried calling, but my cell phone battery was dead, and I didn't have my charger, and it was a whole mess. I know I should have contacted you."

"It's okay." I sat down opposite him. "How is she?"

"Healthy," Ricky says, smiling at me. She gave birth to my nephew. Her husband finally got there, so I left. Come on, I'll drop you at home. It's really late; I doubt any buses are running."

"Why don't you feed the kittens first?" I suggest. "I'll go get my things."

Ricky nods, and I head into the back office and close the door behind me. My expression is serious now as I take out my laptop and plug in a small device that can capture different frequency ranges. Robert's people managed to delete the security footage from our cameras, but when my father begins to look for the two missing vampires, he's going to be thorough. The frequency of the device now sticking out of my laptop captures the security camera footage from the nearby buildings. One by one, I go through them all.

On the main road, I saw Robert pull up in his car. He gets out, seemingly looking for someone.

It's Droga who ambushes him. He has something in his hand that he thrusts against Robert's neck. A fight occurs, and as I watch it unfold, a sense of dread settles within me. I have no way of downloading this footage. It would be wiser simply to delete it, but something prompts me to take out my phone and record it. After that, I wipe all the footage, camera by camera. Aside from one of them, they all function on an open, public cloud service, which makes it easier to hack.

Once I'm done, I remove the stick from my laptop and close it.

I'm not a hacker by any means, but the old man who let me stay with him was a software engineer, and he taught me a lot of things. Most of those skills have come in handy when I want to avoid being tracked.

Ricky is waiting for me, and as he drives me—first to a pharmacy to pick up the painkillers, and then to my apartment—he looks just as tired as I feel.

"Get some coffee on the way back," I advise. "You don't look too good yourself."

He gives me a weak smile. I'll probably take a nap once I get there. See you next week."

I wave at him and watch as he drives off. Hopefully, he won't notice that I swapped his key for the front door of the animal shelter with the new one. It kind of looks the same, so it shouldn't be a problem. And since Ricky is the only one who carries a key to the shelter, nobody else is bound to notice anything different. I wonder what excuse I should come up with in case the usually absent-minded vet does notice the swap.

Well, that's a problem for another day.

I made my way into my building. Once I'm inside my apartment, I collapse on the bed, exhausted. I stare at the ceiling.

"What have I done?"

There is no way that there are not going to be any repercussions stemming from my actions.

Two vampires are dead. An Alpha was attacked and is in critical condition.

Without a doubt, Portland is going to become a hub of activity soon.

I turned onto my side, a ball of tension forming in my stomach.

I really hope I'm not dragged into this mess any more than I already have been.