Raina's POV

The scent of blood clung to me long after I left Miss Agnes's house. It was in my hair, beneath my fingernails, and on the fibres of my clothes, like a stain that would never wash out. But worse than the physical reminder was the knowledge pressing against my skull—the certainty that Windshade Vampires had returned.

And I was probably the only one who knew.

I had wanted to call the police, to tell them everything. But who would believe me? The last recorded vampire sighting had been centuries ago—long enough for people to dismiss them as nothing more than ghost stories.

Unless I had proof, my words meant nothing.

Keeping to the darkest corners of the street, I tried to hide the blood staining my clothes from the few pedestrians still out at this hour. Every shadow seemed to breathe, every turn felt like a trap, like someone was watching me in the dark, but I forced myself to stay calm. One vampire sighting meant nothing. I told myself that, humming softly to keep my mind from spiraling.

Miss Agnes was gone. And with her, a quiet kindness I hadn't realized I'd come to rely on. She had always greeted me with a smile, fussed over my wrinkled shirt like a grandmother scolding a careless child. We were never close, not really, but she had been there. A constant. Now, her house would become nothing more than a crime scene, and I wouldn't be able to tell anyone what really happened to her.

The cross necklace sat heavily in my pocket, warmed by my body heat. It was a quiet, damning reminder that everything I had seen tonight was real.

And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake his face from my mind.

The vampire.

His eyes—bottomless and consuming. The way his lips curled in a smirk, as if this had all been a game to him. I had the gut-wrenching feeling that this wasn't the last I would see of him.

I slipped into my house through my bedroom window, careful not to wake my uncle. My bloodstained clothes landed in the trash with a dull thud. In the shower, I scrubbed until my skin was raw, but the water running red down the drain did nothing to erase what I had witnessed.

Still damped, wrapped in a towel, I sat at my desk and opened my laptop. If Windshade Vampires were truly back, then I needed to learn everything I could to protect this town.

*******

I hated mornings.

Even more than that, I hated having to be somewhere in the morning.

The shrill blare of my alarm clock sent a jolt through me, and I groaned, smacking the snooze button harder than necessary. My towel, barely clinging to my body, told me one thing—I had passed out even before getting dressed.

Great. No need for another shower, I supposed.

I pulled on my uniform: black cargo shorts, a sea-blue t-shirt tucked in at the waist, and black sneakers. The only upside to this outfit was not having to waste time deciding what to wear. I grabbed my cap on my way out of the room, shoving it onto my head as I stepped into the kitchen.

“You're going to be late. Again,” Uncle Garrett called from the stove, not even bothering to turn around.

Rolling my eyes, I walked over and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I have the fastest mode of transport in town. Trust me, I won't be late.”

“Hmm. Be lucky I'm not your boss. You'd have been jobless by now.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

We both knew better. If Uncle Garrett were my boss, I'd probably still be in bed.

I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and was about to leave when his voice stopped me.

“Raina?”

“Hmm?” I mumbled, already biting into my apple.

“I know you weren't particularly close to Miss Agnes, but did she ever mention anything unusual to you?”

I stiffened. Last night's event came crashing back in vivid, bloodstained detail.

“No. Why?”

“It's all over the news this morning.”

I cleared my throat, forcing myself to stay casual. “I haven't checked online or anything, so I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“This morning, Miss Agnes was reported missing.”

The apple slipped from my fingers, landing with a soft thud on the floor. “What?!”

“I know. It sounds fishy. But I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from you.”

“No, I mean—what? Miss Agnes barely left her house. There's no way she just….disappeared.”

“That's what they're saying.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Just be careful, alright? And come home on time today.”

I nodded and left the kitchen, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

In the living room, my eyes drifted to the framed picture of my parents. The police had told me the same thing back then. We've searched everywhere, but it's as if they've disappeared into thin air.

And now, it was the same story for Miss Agnes.

But I refused to believe my parents were dead.

If finding them meant getting closer to a vampire, then so be it.

I hopped onto my bike, checking the time—8:30 AM. Work started at 8. I was already thirty minutes late. Might as well make it an hour.

One quick stop wouldn't hurt.

Weaving through traffic, I made my way to Miss Agnes's house. I wasn't sure what I expected to find, but I knew I had to do something.

I pulled out my notepad, tearing out a small piece of paper. Quickly, I scribbled a short message:

I have something I know you want. Meet me at the town's bridge. 9 PM sharp. Don't be late.

I placed the note on the window where I had found Miss Agnes's body, pressing the glass down on it to keep it from blowing away. If the vampire was still lurking, he'd find it. If not…well, I'd find out soon.

Satisfied, I turned to leave, ready to finally get to work.

But the moment I opened the front door, I walked straight into a wall of muscle.

A slow, sinking dread settled in my stomach as I tilted my head up, past the neatly trimmed mustache and the permanent scowl.

Sheriff Grant.

His eyes bore into mine, his frown deepening. “What the hell are you doing in a house that's currently off-limits to the public?”

I swallowed hard.

Shit.