“He’s going to be wrecked,” I moaned, thinking about how much he loved his father. “Poor Duncan.”
Nathan closed his eyes and nodded. “Come on,” he said into the phone. “Pick up, bro.”
When Duncan didn’t answer, Nathan slammed his phone down on the counter.
“Don’t! You’ll break it and then she won’t be able to contact you.”
He picked it back up and reached for his own knife from the butcher block. Then we drove back to Duncan’s house and as I kind of expected, he wasn’t home.
“Should we check the club?” I asked nervously, although the last thing in the world I wanted to see was him with another girl, even if he was just feeding.
“We don’t have time,” said Nathan. “Let’s go get mom before Caleb does something disgusting and irreversible to her.”
I nodded in agreement.
When we arrived at Caleb’s mansion, it was eerily quiet.
“Well, Caleb’s squad car is here,” said Nathan, gripping his knife firmly. “And there,” he pointed, “is his Jeep.”
I noticed there were two other cars parked in front of the house, but I didn’t recognize either of them.
“Should we knock?” I whispered as we stepped onto the porch, both weapons in hand. I really didn’t think we’d have much chance with the weapons, but it gave me extra courage.
He licked his lips and shook his head. “No, let’s just go in. Chances are they know we’re here anyway.”
My heart was pounding as he turned the knob and I half expected Celeste to greet us like she did the day before, this time, however, as an enemy. Fortunately, I was wrong.
“What are we going to do if he won’t let us see her?” I whispered.
“He has to. I won’t take no for an answer,” snapped Nathan.
We searched the lower level first, but found no signs of anyone.
“I’m sure they’re upstairs,” he whispered. “Resting or whatever it is they do.”
I nodded and followed him. As we crept upstairs, I could hear myself breathing heavily with fear.
Suddenly Nathan stopped and I slammed into him. “Listen,” he whispered, turning to glance at me. “If this doesn’t go the way we’d planned, I just want to say sorry for doubting you these past few months, and…I love you, Twerp.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
He released a shaky sigh. “I hope this plan works and we don’t end up as bat food.”
“Nathan, I don’t think these particular vampires turn into bats.”
“Whatever. Let’s just have each other’s backs at all costs.”
I nodded and continued to follow him.
After inspecting three bedrooms on the second level and finding nothing, we went up to the third and final level.
“I’ve been up here before. This is where Ethan’s room was.”
“I hope he’s back so I can slice his throat,” mumbled Nathan.
We proceeded to check each of the bedrooms and found they were also empty.
“What’s going on?” I whispered angrily. “Where the hell is everyone?”
He sucked on his lower lip for a while and then his eyes lit up. “You know what? Let’s check the cellar. I mean, shit, they must have one of those? Don’t vampires like dark, dank places?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. These vampires are different than the others.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Others? You mean they’re different than what…the fictional ones?”
I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
He snickered and began walking away. I quickly followed.
We went back down the steps and next to the kitchen, we eventually found another set leading to the cellar. As we began to descend the rickety staircase, I heard an unearthly growl from somewhere down below.
“Did you hear that?” I squeaked, pausing on the steps.
He nodded. “Sounds like some kind of animal.”
“I don’t think we should go down there,” I whispered, my eyes straining to see down into the darkness.
He sighed. “I don’t either, but we have no choice. I mean, what if mom’s down here?”
I bit the side of my lip and nodded. “Okay. Yeah, fine. Let’s go before I change my mind.”
Every step creaked against our weight, making it all much more ominous.
“We should have brought a flashlight,” I told him, trying not to fall.
“We weren’t exactly planning this to begin with,” replied Nathan.
There was another growl, followed by a pained moan.
“Oh, crap, Nathan!” I whispered loudly. “This is nuts. We’re going to get ourselves killed!”
He raised his hand. “Shush.”
The cellar was large and filled with old boxes and jars of things I didn’t even want to know about.
“Look,” he pointed when he reached the bottom first.
On the other side of the basement or cellar, whatever the hell it was, we saw a single door with a light shining underneath. As we stared at it, another moan escaped from the other side, one that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
“Stay behind me,” whispered Nathan.