Page 28 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘When I was little, I thought the Easter Bunny was cool so I spent several months hopping around and wearing a headband with bunny ears. The name stuck,’ I shrugged with a ‘what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it?’ smile.

Her smile this time was a little more relaxed. I needed to build a rapport with her so I admitted, ‘I know a thing or two about having your life hijacked. Not exactly what you went through … but I was turned into a vampire without my consent.’

She gasped, her eyes wide. ‘That’s awful.’

‘It was really scary at the time,’ I confessed, ‘but I’m working through it.’

‘You’re very brave.’

‘And so are you to be sitting on this bench with me because you know two other girls might be in the same trouble you once were.’

Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t come forward.’ She bit her lip then blurted, ‘Two years ago, two mengrabbed me off the street and shoved me into the back of a van.’ Her jaw clenched and she brushed a tear from her cheek. ‘They held me in an underground bunker for a few days.’

My heart leapt. An underground bunker absolutely fit Sally’s profile.

‘I didn’t have any way of keeping time but it felt like days. They took anything I had that could be tracked – my watch, my laptop, my phone.’ She leaned forward with her arms around her belly to comfort herself. ‘I was pretty heavily drugged, but I know that I was taken to Homer by boat and then in another van to Anchorage. Then I was put in a building with some other girls. We were used as prostitutes.’

I wanted to reach out and hug her but I held off, knowing full well that might not be welcome. I studied her. She was still so young – I guessed she wasn’t even twenty yet. Her story seemed to have stalled so I prodded gently, ‘How did you get away?’

She swallowed. ‘I think there was a police bust or something. I never saw them, but the john I was with panicked and left the door open. I ran onto the street in full daylight and stopped the first woman I saw. She was kind – she took me to her house, fed and clothed me and helped me get home. She wasn’t supernat, but she gave me enough money to buy my tickets.’

My faith in humanity increased a little. There were so many good people in the world; the douchebags just shouted louder, that was all.

‘Do you mind if I ask how old you are?’ I asked gently.

She shook her head. ‘I don’t mind. I’m eighteen.’

Fucking hell. She was sixteen when she was taken, the same age as Kate and Essie. There were too many similarities to ignore. ‘I’m so sorry this happened to you,’ I said. ‘Can you describe the men that grabbed you?’

‘Not very well. They shoved a hood over my head, but before that I had the sense of them. One was tall and thin, the other tall and bulky. I’m just a hearth witch and I’m basically human in strength – and I don’t have active spells beyond making bread rise quickly. I was an easy target. I was walking home after play practice at school but it was late and no one was around. They must have known my schedule and that I lived alone with my mom.’

Another tick in the column. Essie lived with her mum, too.

The girl was tensing up again. Dark thoughts danced across her face and I saw guilt amongst them. This time I couldn’t have stopped myself if I’d tried. I placed a hand gently on her arm. ‘It wasn’t your fault. You did nothing wrong. You should have been safe in your own town.’

She looked at me gratefully. ‘I carry pepper spray and spells now, just in case.’

I nodded. ‘That’s a good idea. I’m sorry to ask more questions, but can you recall anything about the van?’

‘No. It was dark and I didn’t even see them coming. I was using headphones and didn’t hear the engine. The van was black, dark blue, or dark green, something like that. Definitely not white. I didn’t make note of the license plate or anything.’

‘Most people wouldn’t have. It was dark and it happened quickly. Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?’

She looked down at her feet. ‘I don’t know if this helps, but the other girls told me the men target supernats, mostly weaker ones they can control with spells or muscle. They choose supernats because we don’t carry human STDs.’

My stomach clenched. When I found these scumbags, someone had better hold me back because they were sick fucks. Sixteen-year-olds? Not that any age made it okay but these girls werekids.I prayed we’d find Kate and Essie before someone touched them.

‘I’m going to catch these bastards,’ I reassured her. ‘I’m so sorry about everything that happened to you.’ I gave her my card. ‘Would you call me if you think of anything else, anything at all?’

She nodded and her eyes filled with tears again. She was just a scared kid, one who had been traumatised, used and cheated of her childhood innocence. ‘Can I walk you somewhere?’ I asked.

She shook her head and squared her shoulders. A determined look settled on her face. ‘I’m in public, people are around and I have my pepper spray. I’m doing better being at outside alone. Mum says I can’t let them win.’

‘She’s a wise woman. She’s been supporting you?’

‘Yeah, of course.’

I was glad that she felt that way. I didn’t have the same relationship with my mother; I was pretty certain that if I’d been deflowered at a young age – with or without my permission – she would have disowned me. Perhaps I was being unfair, but Mumhadshoved me under a bus to try and force my magic to manifest, so perhaps I wasn’t.

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