Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Half a dozen of the namesake trees ringed the property, their mottled bark peeling in pale patches.
Cody thought they appeared to be wearing tree camouflage.
Seed balls littered the asphalt, crunching under his tires as he pulled into a visitor spot near Building B.
A few of the units had window boxes with flowers in various stages of life, but most had nothing.
One ground-floor balcony was crowded with pots containing overgrown herbs that had started to flower.
Another had a folded camp chair leaning against a covered gas grill.
He killed the engine, and they sat for a moment.
Cody hadn’t been to her place in years, but he could still point out Zenona’s balcony to Demmy.
It was vacant of chairs, plants, or wind chimes.
Just a sliding glass door, closed against the heat, the curtains behind parted slightly.
Light shone through the gap in the curtains, and the shadow of someone inside drifted past.
“She’s home,” Demmy said.
“Let’s hope she’s not entertaining.”
Demmy made a sound of agreement as they got out of the truck. The sun was behind the buildings now, and their shadows stretched out to cover the parking lot behind them. Birds called, and a few blocks away, Cody heard a big truck rumble past on 118.
A man in his thirties was leaving Zenona’s building, talking at a phone in his hand while someone on speaker spoke back.
He held the door for them as he continued his speakerphone conversation, barely giving them a glance and a lift of his chin.
That saved them from having to buzz and announce themselves.
“Speakerphone people,” Cody grumbled as they ascended the stairs to the second floor.
TV sounds came from behind one door, and the high-pitched yaps of a small dog from behind another.
The smell of cooking meat and a number of spices made Cody’s mouth water.
At Zenona’s door, he knocked. Movement from inside, followed by a stretch of silence.
He smiled at the peephole she was undoubtedly looking through, and a moment later the lock disengaged and the door swung open.
Zenona stood holding the door with one hand and the door frame with the other, effectively blocking their entry.
She wore a pair of lightweight gray sweat pants and a t-shirt, both of which showed off her trim body.
Her dark hair was loose and hung around her shoulders in gentle waves, a marked difference from her professional style.
“What are you two doing here? How’d you get inside?”
“Good evening to you, as well,” Cody said.
Zenona furrowed her brow. “Why the hell are you dropping by unannounced?”
“Is that any way to talk to old friends?” Cody said. “We were just in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop in and see how you were doing. One of your less security-conscious neighbors let us in without a second look.”
“Fucking Jason. I’ve talked with him about that.” She sighed and stepped back, waving them inside. “Come on in.”
Cody had only been to Zenona’s condo a couple of times years before.
It had been right after their first spooky case—that fucking werewolf out at Parson’s Pines—and about a year before he and Demmy had gotten together.
He and Zenona had gone out a few times, trying to reignite the little spark that had flared between them back in high school, but it had never really caught.
In the years since he’d been there, Zenona had bought a new sofa and armchairs and painted the living room.
The walls were a buttery yellow, reflecting the lamplight and the early evening sun.
He glanced down the short hallway where three doors stood open.
“I like what you’ve done,” Cody said.
“Thanks.” She frowned. “How long ago were you here?”
“Oh, um, years ago. Back when we thought Ollie was a werewolf. We tried…” His words died out, and he glanced at Demmy who rolled his eyes.
“I know you two dated back then, it’s not like it’s a big secret.”
Zenona nodded. “Right, I’d forgotten about that.”
“Ouch,” Cody said.
She gave his arm a gentle smack. “Knock it off.”
“I don’t think I’ve been here,” Demmy said. Cody felt him shift to stand a little closer. “It’s nice. Was it always condos?”
“No, I was renting an apartment here when they told us they were going to become condos. I’d just gotten a bump in pay at the hospital and decided I was home to stay, so I upgraded to a second floor two-bedroom with a balcony.
” She sat in one of the armchairs, waving them toward the couch.
“Now I work so many hours I don’t have time to enjoy the balcony. ”
The couch was more comfortable than theirs back home, and Cody sank into the cushions. He hoped he’d have the energy to get back up again. The make up sex—absolutely epic, as he’d anticipated—had relaxed him more than he’d thought.
“How’ve you been doing?” Demmy asked. “Since everything that happened back around Halloween?”
Zenona hugged her knees to her chest. Her feet were bare, toenails painted a delicate pink. “I’m okay. Better now than right after, you know. Is that why you guys stopped by? Because I’m really doing okay.”
“Um, no. Not totally,” Cody said. “We did want to check in on you, of course, outside of the hospital and as a friend. But I also wanted to know why you were driving out to The Rusty Screw last night.”
He watched her reaction carefully. Her whole body stilled. She paled slightly and blinked a few times. A moment later, she pursed her lips and cocked her head.
“The Rusty Screw? What’s that?”
“It’s the bar out on Hemlock Way I saw you heading for last night,” Cody said.
“Zenona, we know you’ve been going out there,” Demmy added. “We saw you driving back late at night last week as well.”
Her expression hardened as she looked between them. “You’ve been following me?”
“No, we haven’t been following you,” Cody said, shaking his head. “I told you, we were dropping off that zombie at the cemetery when we saw you drive past. Last night, I was leaving The Rusty Screw myself when I passed you heading there.”
“You went there?” Zenona put her feet flat on the floor, eyes wide. “What were you doing there?”
“I thought you didn’t know what it was?” Demmy said.
She looked at him. “Is this some kind of interrogation? Are you playing good cop, bad cop with me or something?”
“People are disappearing, Zee,” Cody said, keeping his voice low and calm. “Dangerous stuff is happening. We’re pretty sure it’s vampires again.”
“Can you tell us about the people you’ve been treating?” Demmy said.
She got to her feet and stood behind the chair, putting it between them. Her fingers whitened with the force of her grip as she clutched the upholstered frame. “I can’t do that. It’s a violation of HIPAA laws.”
“We don’t need names or anything,” Demmy said. “Just tell us about the transfusions.”
Her eyes were hard and angry, pinning Cody in place. “Those people have a right to privacy.”
“Those people had been fed on,” he said. “We all know what it looks like. Hell, you and I were held in that basement together, and you saw that fucker bite me. Come on, Zee. Please, tell us what’s going on.”
“I…” She chewed her lower lip. “There’s so much you don’t know. That you don’t understand.”
“Then explain it,” Demmy said, moving to the edge of the couch. “You know us, and you trust us. We all grew up together, and we’ve been through so much. Tell us what’s going on.”
She tipped her head back and ran her hands up and down her face. When she dropped her hands, her shoulders slumped, and she leaned on the chair. “It’s not what you think.”
“Okay, then tell us what it is,” Cody said. “Please, Zee.”
She sat again, but she didn’t lean back. Hunching forward, she clasped her hands on her knees and stared at the floor. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Things between Michael and me started slowly. He worked in the morgue overnight, of course, and I ended up taking the later shifts in the ED. We often saw each other in the cafeteria or roaming the halls. He would come up to claim the occasional body when someone passed overnight. We spoke briefly in the halls now and then. He said he preferred the overnight shifts because they were quiet and gave him time to think. I liked them because they paid more, and I had a lot of student loans. Eventually we started eating meals together. At first, for my benefit, he ate yogurt and fruits, that kind of thing. Later, once I discovered he was…” She gently waved a hand and lowered her voice slightly, “a vampire, he stopped bringing food altogether.”
“How did that go?” Cody asked. “When you found out?”
She grimaced slightly. “It wasn’t the best way to find out. I almost ran him down as he chased a deer across the road.”
“Oh, shit,” Demmy whispered.
Zenona nodded, a quick smile there and gone, before she stared into the middle distance between them.
“Yeah. I freaked out a bit. The deer ran in front of me, and I slammed on the brakes. Then he ran after it, moving so fast. Faster than anyone could ever run. I only caught a glimpse of him in the headlights, but I’d been seeing him almost every day for a while by then, and I knew his face.
I knew…” Her cheeks turned pink. “I knew how he moved. Anyway, as I watched, he jumped the drainage ditch and tackled the deer out in the trees on the other side of the road. I was freaked, and I drove off really fast. I still don’t know how I made it home without crashing.
Once I got here, I practically barricaded myself inside. ”
“That must have been scary,” Demmy said.
She nodded, eyes wide. “It was. I avoided him for a few days. He tried to talk with me, but I told him I was busy or too tired to walk the halls like we had been doing. But, after I’d had some time to think about it, I was…
curious. You know? I’d never felt threatened by him, not once.
Never a weird look or creepy vibe. I knew he was different, but I didn’t believe he was dangerous.
And I wanted to understand what he…” She shrugged and wrinkled her nose as if not satisfied with her phrasing.
“What he was. So, I went to visit him in the morgue. He was surprised to see me there because we usually talked in the hallways or cafeteria. I told him I’d seen him, seen what he’d done to that deer, how fast he’d moved and jumped.
He looked a bit panicked that it had been me who’d seen him, but I assured him I hadn’t told anyone else, that I just wanted to understand.
That’s when he told me he was a vampire, but he was what his kind called a vegetarian, that he only fed on wild game. ”
“I talked with Michael one time,” Demmy said. “Back when you and Cody had both been taken. I asked him about the relationship between you two, and he told me how you…” Demmy held his hands out palms up and made a face. “How you fed him sometimes.”
“Oh. He told you about that?”
“He said at first you would draw the blood off into a bag for him, but after a while he started, um, drinking from your wrist.”
“Yeah. Oh, wow. He told you all of that?”
“He did. And I could tell how much it meant to him that you trusted him so much. I could also see how much you meant to him.”
Her brows knitted, and she wiped more tears from her cheeks. “Thanks for saying that. He meant a lot to me, too.”
“He never tried to turn you?” Cody asked.
“God, no.” She pressed her lips tight as she shook her head. “He hated being one himself, and he definitely didn’t want me to become one.” She was quiet for a moment, then said in a soft voice, “Just because someone comes from a monster, that doesn’t make them one.”
Demmy cleared his throat and asked, “Is there a new Michael in town? Does he own The Rusty Screw or something?”
Zenona sighed. “It’s not really like that.”
“We’re here to listen,” Demmy said.
She nodded and sat back. “It started when I found Michael’s journal.
Not long after he, well, died, I went through the drawers of his desk in the morgue.
I wanted to clear out anything that might, I don’t know, confuse someone else or damage his reputation.
He was a great coroner and doctor. I didn’t want people to think badly about him. ”
“Right, of course,” Cody said.
“I found his journal in a drawer. It’s bound in leather and very thick. The first date noted in the beginning was from 1999.”
“Twenty-seven years?” Cody said. “That’s a lot of dear diary entries.”
“He didn’t write every day,” she said. “Just important things.” Her cheeks turned pink and she looked down at her hands in her lap.
“Did he write about you?” Demmy asked gently.
The blush deepened, but she lifted her head. A smile lifted the corners of her mouth, changing her entirely.
“He did,” she said. “I couldn’t help checking for it first.” A tear ran down her cheek and she swiped it away.
“I also found a spare key to his house and let myself in. He had so many other journals he’d filled over the years.
I’ve read most of the entries.” She smiled sadly.
“I hear his voice in my head when I read his words.”
“Girls always go for the guys with the accents,” Cody said, and they all laughed quietly.
“Sounds like he was really lonely after he left Aldrik and Xavier,” Demmy said.
Zenona nodded. “He was. But it was better once he moved here.”
“Better?” Demmy said, a hint of caution in his voice.
“Yeah.” She shifted in the chair and her fingers tightened on the arms. “You know, he could never really get close to any human, and his own kind felt threatened by his insistence to not feed on people. But he met some others who were interested in his ideas.”
“Others?” Cody caught himself clenching his hands and forced his fingers to loosen. “How many others?”
“He never specified a number,” she said. “But when I read the entries from the time before we met, I came across the name of someone he’d met soon after arriving in this area. Another vampire.”
“What was the name?” Cody asked.
Zenona looked him in the eye. “Marlowe.”