CHAPTER VIII

Ice insisted that we drive to the coffee shop where Rupali was hanging out with Sawyer. "The more of us that are looking for him, the better his chances will be," she explained. I drove much faster than I probably should have, and did a terrible, terrible job parking in front of the coffee shop. The coffee shop itself, called the Grand News Cafe, was in an old building that had once housed a bank. Inside it was the kind of kitschy-cool place that college students flocked to, with antique posters and movie memorabilia as far as the eye could see.

Rupali and Sawyer were sitting at a table in the corner, and they were deep in conversation. I didn't want to bother them, but before I could tell Ice that maybe we should leave, she strode up to the table and leaned on it. Sawyer scowled. Ruplai looked concerned. I stood behind Ice and tried to look apologetic.

"Shit, did the house burn down?" Rupali asked. She tossed her purple hair and took a long swig of coffee.

"Um, not exactly," I said slowly.

"Did you hear about the double murder?" Ice asked. Rupali and Sawyer looked at each other and shook their heads.

"What happened?" Sawyer asked. He reached back to tighten the ponytail he was keeping his long, black hair in.

"Well," Ice said, leaning in even closer. She lowered her voice. "Dumah killed a girl. And a cop. And he's probably still on a rampage."

Rupali almost dropped her coffee cup. "What?" She looked at me for verification. I nodded.

"We have to find him," I said flatly, "Before the local chapter of the Council of Elder Vampires finds him and stakes him."

"I figured you'd be pretty happy with someone staking him, Amara..." Rupali mumbled.

"Hey!" I snapped, "No one gets to stake Dumah but me!"

Rupali and Ice shared a look. Rupali burst into laughter. Ice grinned.

"Dumah would like to stake you, if you catch my drift," Rupali said. Her shoulders shook from laughter. I sighed, even as my face started to feel warm—a sure sign of a blush.

"Now wait a minute," Sawyer interjected. "You're telling me that that weirdo Dumah is a vampire, and that he flipped out and killed people, and you're trying to save him?"

"That's the long and short of it, yes," Ice affirmed.

"Just let the vampire cops get him," Sawyer sighed.

"We can't!" I said before I could stop myself, "He doesn't quite understand the way things work in this world!"

One of Sawyer's eyebrows arched. His blue eyes narrowed. "This world? What is he, some kind of space vampire?"

"We'll explain later," Ice groaned, shooting me a dirty look. "Please, please come with us!"

Rupali smirked and stood up to join us. Sawyer groaned. Rupali smiled. "Come on, Sawyer, it'll be fun!"

Sawyer shook his head even as he stood up to join us. "Yeah. Like a root canal is fun," he muttered.

We piled into the car and drove to the place a vampire was most likely to go if he were thirsty and upset: the blood bank.

"Right," Ice said as we climbed out, "We need to split up."

"You know, splitting up gets people killed in vampire movies," Sawyer pointed out. We were all quiet for a moment.

"This isn't a movie," Rupali finally said, "It's like, real life and shit."

"We're not going to argue," Ice said evenly. "Amara, you check that alley," she gestured toward an alley that was already dark in the late afternoon light, "Sawyer, check the lobby. Rupali, check out the parking lot

."
"So what are you going to do?" asked Sawyer.

"I'm going in through the vampire's entrance," said Ice. When we all stared at her, she shrugged. "You know, the back. Hurry, we don't have any time to lose."

I nodded and hurried into the alley. While there are not very many sketchy places in Butte Falls, this alley was certainly one of them. I kept my head straight up and my fists clenched.

"Dumah...?" I called nervously to the darkness. I heard footsteps somewhere behind me. As I stepped backwards to turn around, someone clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me behind a dumpster.

"Shh," said an unfamiliar, male voice, "You'll catch his attention." He moved the hand from my mouth and I turned around to look at him. Useless, really. I couldn't see in the dark.

"Who the hell are you?" I whispered.

"It's better that you don't know," he replied. "You should get out of here. There's a killer in this alley."

"Would he happen to be a vampire?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. The man started, then lowered his gaze. "How did you know about that?"

"None of your business," I snapped. I stood up and started to walk out from behind the dumpster. "Dumah! Where are you?"

The man grabbed me again and slammed me against the wall. He easily grabbed both my wrists with one hand and pinned my hands above my head.

"He violated the code, you know. He has to be stopped."

He moved his face close to my ear. "If you stand in my way, I'll kill you, too."

I tried to free my hands from his grip. But he was strong, almost inhumanly so. It dawned on me then.

"You...you're one of them, too," I breathed.

"A very old one of them," he replied. I tried again to free myself and couldn't.

"Dumah, if you can hear me," I shouted, "Help!"

The man leaned back without releasing me. "Who is this person you're calling? The rogue vampire? Or someone else...?"

At that moment, someone grabbed the man from behind by his hair and yanked him away from me. The man didn't let go of my wrists at first, and so I was dragged away from the wall. I fell face first onto the ground, but I didn't care. I was glad to be free. I slowly stood up and looked at the figure towering over me.

"Dumah...?"

He nodded.

I cautiously extended a hand toward him. "Let's go home."