Page 12 of Hunting My Vampire

Pearl insisted. “You are so closed up, so guarded, Kaya. You need to trust people. Or vampires. Whatever. You’re too young to act this old.”

“That’s harsh,” I said, a bit stung. “My head is only just feeling back to normal.”

“You’re fine,” said Pearl firmly. “But you got burnt. Shit, I know all about that but I have to try to be a normal human being for Princess, as do you. We depend on you.”

I smiled at that. I had come to depend on them too.

But if I was going to learn to trust others again, I had to start with someone who was less dangerous, less of a risk.

But who?

I didn’t like most of the people I knew, and most men annoyed me with their silly pick-up lines and dumb jokes.

Jack Beaufort was the first man to spark my interest in a long time and he wasn’t even a man.

I didn’t know what that said about me.

Chapter Six

Jack

Kaya was not taking my calls.

I had lost count of the number of calls I had made, the text messages I had left for her. I was becoming annoyed that she wasn’t returning my calls. It was rude and I liked good manners. I called at her place of work and was informed that she had taken a few days off work. The man at the shop didn’t appear to know why or where she was. He seemed like a dim-witted fellow.

I dropped by her house a few times and scouted the neighborhood for her truck but she wasn’t around. I sensed that she had left town.

But three days of this was enough for me.

I established that the child was with her grandmother nearby and decided to pay them a visit as soon as the sun set.

I knocked on the door and the little girl opened it. She was a pretty little thing, with sharp blue eyes that didn’t miss a beat. I picked up a heightened awareness around her.

“May I help you?” she enquired politely.

“I am a friend of Kaya’s and I’m looking for her,” I said with a smile, trying to look friendly but not too friendly. “She doesn’t seem to be at work or at home?”

“If you are a friend, how come I don’t know you? I know all Kaya’s friends,” she said, frowning.

“I’m kind of a new friend,” I said.

We were still standing at the front door but she had not invited me in. She appraised me carefully through narrowed eyes.

“Are you a vampire?” she then asked.

I chuckled. “I am, yes.”

“Kaya hates vampires,” the girl said, crossing her arms.

“She does?”

“They killed her entire family; she says they are all killers.”

This was news to me but it did explain her behaviour in a way.

“I am not a killer, Princess, I promise you that,” I said in my most sincere voice.

She looked at me for a while.

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