Page 16 of My Monster's Keeper
“Back off, Frost,” Hartley drawls.
“You do not speak my name. You sit and be silent.”
I smile. “Not going to happen, and don’t speak to my partner like that. Now, step back, or I’ll mace your ass.”
His eyes snap to Hartley. I don’t know what they silently talk about, but Frost backs out of my space. I lift my chin and turn to the older cop.
“All right. I’m in.”
“Great!” Diablos almost cheers. “Well then, by the power vested by me, I announce you a Lawman of the Combined Corp of Earth, Fae, Shadow Kin, and others. CCEFSAO for short. Or rather, I just like calling you Earth Defenders.”
“Woman,” I snap.
“What?”
“Law woman.”
Diablos huffs. “You’re either going to be really fun or really painful, aren’t you?”
“The latter,” I say and reach out and pull my door shut. “Take me to the new house. I’m going to need to order some stuff, so I hope someone has a bank card I can use and some money.”
“Of course,” Diablos says happily.
“Great.”
***
The house is an old mansion in a rundown estate. It’s overgrown in green leafy shit and desperately needs a coat of paint or a bulldozer. Diablos hands me an envelope with a new ID, a phone, the keys to the house, and a bank card in my name.
He and Hartley leave, and I can’t help but be peeved that they’ve dumped me with these human eating psychos. I go to the kitchen, grab three knives, and check all the rooms until I find one that is nice and empty. It appears to be the master. It’s huge. The flat I shared with Grant could fit in this room two times over.
There are some dark pink panels of wallpaper that alternate with stripes of cream, all of it torn and peeling. The chandelier looks sketchy at best, hanging by a few wires. The floorboards are dusty, with dried leaves scattered in the corners, but there’s a bed under a sheet, a lock on the old door, and one single window that I’m going to board up.
I sit on the mattress and upend the envelope; to my glee, I find a smartphone that is the newest on the market. I hum as I open it up and set up internet banking. The number in my account balance staring back at me makes my stomach drop out.
Instead of dwelling on it or the sounds I can hear from the rest of the house, I go to my favourite store and start ordering what I’m going to need to begin a new life.
The day turns into night, and my eyes get heavy. The house is quiet, and I’m unsure if they are here or not. If they are, sleeping could be perilous to my well-being.
I’m thirsty and hungry. The orders should start arriving tomorrow morning, so I’m officially done. Dare I go search for food? I wait as long as I can, and then I creep out of my bedroom. In the dark, the house is even more creepy. I hear every creak of the house, and it sends my heart thundering.
One of the first discoveries I made was that there’s no power. I’ve fixed that. Tomorrow, they’ll come out and fix that. Light and illumination are my friends! But walking down here at night, it sends all my instincts screaming to run. Only the torch on my phone lights my way, and it lights a very small path.
I recognise what I’m feeling are primitive fears based on a gut feeling of being watched, being hunted. Hell, I know what’s in the dark now, but I can’t see it. I can sense the dangeras well as any prey animal. I’m small and weak, and they are apex predators not of this world.
Fuck, this was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done.
I get to the kitchen and find my first problem. When I turn the taps, nothing happens. The pipes scream and squeal, but no water comes out. There’s no fridge, which, per the lack of electricity, I’m endlessly grateful about, and the cupboards have nothing in them.
“Fuck!” I stalk around the blue shadows of the kitchen and ponder what the fuck to do.
“What are you doing?” Wilder snarls and steps into the kitchen from a pitch black room off it.
“I’m wondering where you all get anything to drink.”
He sniffs. “There’s a creek and lots of animals for meat.”
I shudder, no, that is not going to be me. “Are there shops close by?”
