She noticed the light blinking on her phone and hit the play button.
“Olivia, I just got your message. I was in the shower. Please call me as soon as you get this,” Mindy’s concerned voice said. “I called your cell, but you didn’t answer.”
When the machine beeped and the next message started, it was Mindy again, sounding even more scared this time. “Come on, Liv, call me. I’m freaking out here.”
As Olivia made her way through the messages, they were all from her best friend, each one growing more frantic than the last. Her cell phone was who knew where. She’d lost it sometime between calling Mindy and the cascade of horrible events that followed. She picked up her cordless phone and dialed Mindy’s number.
“Liv?” Mindy sounded on the verge of tears, very unusual for her.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Oh, thank God. You had me scared to death. What happened? How did you get home?”
Olivia let out a long breath. “You’re never going to believe it.”
“Try me. I’ve imagined just about everything waiting here by this phone, praying you were alive.”
Olivia pressed her palm against her forehead as she continued to pace the floor of her living room, unable to sit still even though she ought to have her foot propped up on a cushion and ice packs on all the cuts and bruises. “Someone stole my car, and I got attacked as soon as the sun set.”
Mindy gasped. “Attacked?”
Olivia heard the unasked question. “I wasn’t bitten. Nearly, but I’ve still got a heartbeat.”
“Were you able to get inside a safe building?”
“No. I couldn’t find anyone willing to open their door.”
Mindy cursed under her breath. “This new world has turned us into hardhearted bastards.”
While there were still good people in the world, Mindy’s assessment held enough truth that Olivia didn’t contradict her.
“You know I don’t believe in miracles, so how did you get away?” Mindy asked.
“This is the part you’re not going to believe.” She paused, thinking again about how crazy the truth was going to sound to her friend. “Vampires.”
“Vampires?” There was no missing Mindy’s disgust.
“Yeah, this black armored truck rolled up, and the next thing I knew, these commando-type vampires were fighting the other ones.”
Mindy was quiet for several seconds. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Olivia didn’t blame Mindy for sounding skeptical. She wouldn’t believe it either if it hadn’t happened to her. Part of her didn’t believe it despite that fact.
The details of the rest of the night flowed out of Olivia, faster with each word. It felt as if she were draining her body of poison.
“Wait, let me get this straight,” Mindy said, interrupting the flow. “The big vampire who attacked and almost killed you, he’s the one who later pulled you to safety?”
“Yes.” Olivia realized she was on the verge of sounding hysterical. “It’s all insane but one hundred percent true. And when I finally thought he was going to bring me home—” Her voice broke, and tears leaked out of her eyes to roll down her cheeks.
“What is it?” Mindy sounded worried, as if she wanted to help but was afraid to hear more.
“Never mind.” She shouldn’t be talking about this with Mindy, reminding her of how vile vampires were when she needed no reminding.
“No, it’s okay.”
Olivia took a deep, shaky breath. “He took me back to that blood den, made me go inside. Oh, Mindy, it was beyond horrible. It was like a castle dungeon and a slave ship all rolled into one. Chains.” She sniffed and wiped at her tears. “They had them chained to the walls. My God, the smells.” She felt as if she might throw up again at the mere memory.
“Don’t think about it anymore. Try to push it from your mind.”
Was that what Mindy had to tell herself each morning to survive the loss of her family? Olivia didn’t think she’d ever forget that place if she scrubbed her brain with bleach.
“I know none of this makes any sense, but after that I swear he dropped me off at my front door and didn’t leave until I was safely inside.”
Mindy was quiet so long that Olivia wasn’t sure she was still on the other end of the line. Finally, she spoke. “Had to be V Force. No other explanation.”
“V Force?”
“Vampire cops, if you believe in such a thing. I’ve heard they attempt to keep the vamp population in line, but I always figured it was a myth or some propaganda put out to make the little humans feel better.”
Well, didn’t this night just get weirder by the moment? “Damn fine job they’re doing.” Although they had saved her life, more than once.
Olivia spent the next few minutes answering more of Mindy’s questions before the simple act of talking became too taxing.
“Listen, I’m exhausted. We’ll talk more in the morning, okay?”
“Sure. You deserve a good night’s rest.”
But when Olivia ended the phone call, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to sleep again. It’d been two hours since Campbell had brought her home, and she still couldn’t calm down. Trying to focus her mind on anything but vampires, she planned the next day’s restaurant menus, then the ones for the rest of the week. She followed that with a full inventory of the stock room. When sleep still seemed to be nowhere on the horizon, she even tried watching TV. Nothing stopped the anxiety that pulsed throughout her mind and body.
She desperately wanted to take a shower but couldn’t make herself do it even though she knew no vampire could get inside without her inviting him in. Somehow fiction had managed to get that tidbit of lore right. The limitation didn’t make sense, but it didn’t make it any less true. She found she couldn’t even force herself to change clothes, afraid to leave herself vulnerable for even a moment.
Though she was more exhausted than she could ever remember being, sleep would not come. She lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, her muscles tensed, ready to fight for her life yet again.
When daylight began to edge into her world again, she finally relaxed. But now she was faced with an entire day of work. If she were the only one who depended on the diner’s income, she’d be tempted to stay closed for the day despite her need for the incoming cash. But Mindy’s livelihood was tied to the diner, too, so Olivia dragged herself out of bed.
When she stood, she was careful about putting weight on her injured ankle until she was sure it would support her. She was surprised to find it felt better than it had when she’d gone to bed. Evidently having it propped up during the long hours of the night had helped.
However, her back felt as if someone had hit her in the spine with a cannonball. Straightening her back brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away, and when she could see clearly again, she eyed her bathroom door. Nothing sounded better in that moment than a long hot shower. With a full day of work in front of her, she needed something to help her get through it.
She winced her way to the bathroom. Her foot remembered it was injured and started throbbing in a rhythm opposite that of her back, a tennis match of pain. The idea of spending the entire day in bed beckoned to her, but she couldn’t leave Mindy alone to handle the diner all day. She might not have the crowds she once did, but she needed to keep the customers who did come in happy so they’d return.
Besides, she needed to stay busy so she’d stop thinking about how she’d barely cheated death the night before.