Page 28 of Our Little Monster
The warehouse definitely looked abandoned. The only thing sitting on the outside of it was an old, beat-up green dumpster. Some of the windows were spider-webbed with cracks, others completely broken.
I had walked the perimeter of this place three times now and hadn’t seen any signs of life. I looked around one last time before pushing forward to the building’s back door. I snuck in, closing it gently behind me, and turned to look at my surroundings. Tall arched windows were on either side of the massive space illuminated by the thick rays of moonlight beaming through them. Trash, broken glass, and graffiti lined the brick walls. Industrial pipes jutted out along the ceiling.
You could hear a pen drop in here, it was so quiet. I stepped forward carefully, holding a stake in one hand and my gun in the other.
The small crunch of broken glass under my boots sounded with each step I took. My eyes looked for any movement in the shadowed corners but came up empty. It seemed like no one was here, but this was only the bottom floor, and if there were Vampires present, I was sure they had heard my steps by now. But still, no movement came from the shadows.
I made my way through a large room. A massive set of double doors sat to the right, and a smaller single door sat to the left with a sign above it indicating the stairs.
I headed for the smaller door, looking down the stairwell and aiming my gun that direction before doing the same for upstairs. I took each step slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness since there were no windows in this part of the building.
The flickering light, suspended from a single frayed cord overhead, cast erratic shadows on the crumbling walls. It didn’t help my sight much and only made this place that much creepier.
I made the first turn to the right on the staircase and moved up to the next floor. The moonlight casting through the open door up to the next floor ahead proved to be my only light.
I turned quickly. Not giving myself enough time to doubt myself before I stepped across the open floor.
The layout was the same as downstairs except up here there were old machines that looked like they hadn’t been used in years. I moved past everything, looking over the machinery.
I was about to head back downstairs before I froze. Laughter and footsteps echoed from the open door to the stairwell.
Hell, it must be my lucky day. I must have beat them here.
I hid behind one of the large machines, silently hoping they wouldn’t smell me. I wore a perfume that dulled my scent, something Brielle had cooked up for me along with all the other witchy things she had given me over the years. But regardless of that, my breathing and heartbeat would give me away if I didn’t calm down. I closed my eyes.
Breathe, sweetheart.My dad’s voice murmured in my ear as it did on all the hunts we had ever gone on together. It grounded me.
I steadied myself just as they started coming through the door. There were four of them.Fuck.
Maybe I could take them out one at a time.
I watched them as they sauntered to the center of the room exchanging conversation.
“I've been monitoring their online activities. They're using encrypted channels to communicate and share information on Vampires. We should infiltrate their networks and manipulate their intel,” the only woman in the group said. “Then we could be lying in wait when they arrive.”
“While that is an excellent idea, we also need to hit them where it hurts. Find their bases, expose their identities. Make them question their own safety. They’ve done well at staying hidden, and the ones that aren’t are moving too fast between hunts.”
Were they talking about me? I grinned to myself. Did they think I was a small group of hunters? Honestly, I couldn’t blame them; I'd been moving from hunt to hunt faster than anyone I’d known, leaving a blood trail behind me.
I was determined. Even Sam didn’t know about all the hunts I’d been doing. She’d be pissed if she saw the chaos I had been creating.
I made a mental note to let Sam know to up her security if they planned on trying to infiltrate our methods of communication to feed us false information.
Suddenly, a hand wrapped around me, knocking my stake from my hand. I struggled against the male’s hold.
“Looks like we have an unwelcome visitor,” he hissed as he moved me to the center of the room where the others were.
Fuck,there had been five of them.
Had they known I was here the entire time?
Before he could shove me to the ground, I grabbed for another stake at my hip and twisted it around in his arms before shoving it through his chest.
He had underestimated his unwelcome visitor. I gave him a smug smile as he fell to the floor clutching his chest.
When I shifted around on my feet to face the others, they weren’t there. They were gone, but the hairs still rose on the back of my neck with the presence of them hunting me.
I didn’t move, watching my surroundings as carefully as I could. When the shadows shifted to my left, I grabbed my shotgun hanging on my back in one smooth motion and fired it in that direction. A growl and a thud followed, and I rushed toward it.
