Chapter 18
Truth
Rather than spend the night in one of the nurses’ lounges, Norris went home and set his alarm for an early wake-up call. The following morning, he made it back to the hospital before the ladies who worked in admissions arrived. Remaining in his car, he waited, keeping an eye out for Grace’s car.
At exactly ten minutes before the hour, the dark red Eagle pulled up in the employee lot. Getting out of his vehicle, he made a beeline toward her.
Grace was aware of someone approaching before he reached her. Whirling around, her look of fear softened when she recognized him.
“Goodness! Norris! You scared me there for a moment!” She stared at him, curious. “What are you doing here so early? Did you change shifts or something?”
“No.” He held up his hands to stop her from continuing into the hospital. “What I’m about to tell you, you have to believe me. You gotta believe me. You need to go back home right now.”
Her curious expression deepened. “Why? What’s wrong?” She glanced at the hospital as if to check to see if it was on fire on something.
“Miss Lockhart…Grace, that guy Welsh? He approached you, didn’t he?”
“H-how did you…”
“He’s Rhyne’s roommate.”
“What?”
“But they don’t get along,” Norris rushed to assure her. “Rhyne didn’t know Welsh had met you until the guy admitted it. Now your life’s in danger.”
If there was a facial expression for “you’ve totally gone off your rocker,” hers would match it. “What are you talking about, Norris?”
Taking a deep breath, he took the plunge.
“I know this is going to sound like I’ve been watching too many horror movies, but Rhyne, Welsh, and Nash, he’s the third guy, they all live together.
They’re vampires. Not the kind of vampires you see fabricated on TV or in the movies, but honest to God, real live vampires. ”
Grace gave a little grunt and tried to walk past him but he grabbed her by the upper arms and held on. “Just hear me out! Please! I’m trying to save your life, goddamnit!”
His heartfelt plea stopped her.
“You’re going to make me late clocking in.”
Norris realized it was now or never.
“Every evening, one of those guys shows up here after my shift. I give them the emptied blood bags from that day, and they give me the same number of blood bags back so my count’s not off.
But the bags they give me have been cleaned out because they add a little water to them and that way they can suck out the last drops of blood still inside.
That’s how they get their supply of blood.
They don’t bite people and suck ‘em dry like we’ve been told.
“Well, one of those bags was AB negative, and Rhyne drank from it. And…” He shook his head. “Holy shit, I know how crazy I sound, but it’s the truth. All of it’s the truth. But he told me after he drank it, he could see in color again!”
Grace slowly shook her head. “I gotta admit, you tell a fascinating story, but—”
“He brought me the bag back and asked me whose blood it was,” Norris continued, trying not to stumble over his own words.
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Did you tell him?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Norris!” Her anger was swift and fiery.
“Because… Because… Aw, shit! Miss Lockhart, listen, what I’m trying to tell you is this.
We don’t know how Welsh found you. It had to have been a coincidence, but when he came here to the hospital to find you, he somehow got a taste of your blood.
And now he can see in color, too! But he’s not going to be satisfied with just that little bit.
Rhyne believes Welsh is coming to kidnap you and keep you prisoner somewhere. ”
He noticed her looking at her hand. “You gotta go someplace where you’ll be safe. Look, you still have Rhyne’s phone number, don’t you?”
“Uhh, yes. In the office.”
“Call him. He wants me to ask you to call him. He’ll tell you the same thing I just did.”
Her eyes narrowed. “He’ll tell me he’s a vampire?”
“Miss Lockhart, Welsh is going to show up sometime soon because Rhyne found out the color sight doesn’t last. And when Welsh finds out, he’s going to come after you!
” Releasing her, Norris shook his hands in frustration.
“Even if you don’t believe me, you gotta get away from here before Welsh finds you! ”
“And you know Welsh is on his way here? Now?”
“Well, maybe not right now.”
“Then let me go clock in,” she firmly said and walked past him.
Norris followed her as they went in via the rear employee entrance, swiping their badges before the door unlocked to allow them inside. He remained inside and out of the way as she dumped her purse inside her assigned locker.
“Morning, Norris!” a voice chirped behind him. Susan strode up with a smile and a little wave as she disappeared into a back room. Down the short hallway he spotted Marcia already at the front desk.
Grace walked past him again, this time going up to join Marcia. Realizing she wasn’t taking his warning to heart, Norris slipped out the back and exited the building. Once he was outside and out of earshot, he pulled out his cell phone and called Rhyne. The man answered almost immediately.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to call.”
“She doesn’t believe me,” Norris flatly stated.
There was some slight hesitancy. “She doesn’t believe…what? What did you tell her?”
“I told her Welsh was going to come looking for her, and she had to leave the hospital and find a place of safety.”
“Where is she now?”
“She clocked in. She’s here at work.”
“Did you explain to her why it was urgent?”
“I told her…some stuff about you guys.”
“Like what? What else did you tell her?”
Steadying himself, Norris confessed. “Everything. I told her about you and Welsh and Nash. I told her you guys were vampires. Real vampires.”
The explosion he’d expected never came. Instead, Rhyne urged him to continue.
“I told her about you drinking the AB negative blood, and how it gave you color sight. And when Welsh somehow got a taste of her blood, how it gave him color sight, too.”
“She didn’t question you about that? About the color sight?”
“No. She just gave me that look. You know, the one that tells me I’m either making it all up, or I’ve gone off my rocker. So I told her you wanted her to call you. I don’t know if she will, but now I’m starting to doubt myself. Will Welsh really try to kidnap her?”
“He’s already told me and Nash what he plans to do.
He’s invited another nest to come down, and he’s going to serve them some of her blood.
Actually, he’s going to charge them for it.
He plans to make money off of her. He even told us our basement might be an ideal location to keep her captive.
That way, she can scream all she wants because no one will hear her.
” Rhyne’s tone was bitter, but his words were terrifying.
“Rhyne, I don’t know what to do,” Norris declared. “She won’t leave, and I don’t think I can say anything more to convince her to.”
“I’m on my way there now,” Rhyne informed him. “Just hang around until I get there, okay?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Maybe she’ll listen to me,” Rhyne replied. “If she’s determined to stay, I might have to stand guard outside the hospital… Hold on. I’m getting another call. Don’t hang up.”
There were a few beeps, and the line went silent. Norris took that opportunity to walk around to the front of the hospital. He’d reached the front entrance when Rhyne returned.
“Norris! That was Nash. Welsh is on his way over to the hospital right now!”
“He is?”
“Nash was on the phone with him when Welsh lost his color sight. Welsh is heading over to the hospital. Get Grace out of there, Norris! Do whatever you have to do, even if you have to grab her and drag her away from there!”
The line suddenly went dead. Norris couldn’t tell if Rhyne had ended the call, or they’d lost connection. It didn’t matter. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he headed for the front doors when a familiar voice behind him froze him in his tracks.
“What are you doing here so early this morning, Norris? I though you only worked the evening shift.”