Page 45 of The Vampire Always Rises

---

From: Tempest

Good. Um. Any particular spot?

To: Tempest

Who is we?

From: Tempest

Huh?

To: Tempest

You said “we were wondering.” Who are you with? Did you find Victor? You were supposed to tell me if you saw him! Has he harmed you? Is he forcing you to text to me? Why didn’t we set up a duress word? Tell me where you are right now.

From: Tempest

Whoa now, that was like a wall of words. No, I haven’t seen Carlo.

From: Tempest

We is Ellis and me.

From: Tempest

No one is forcing me to text you. Ellis wouldn’t let me drive, so I have all the time to text without killing someone.

To: Tempest

Why are you threatening to kill someone? What the hell is going on?

From: Tempest

Henceforth, my duress word is: windowpane. I think I could work that into a conversation in which I was being forced to text you.

To: Tempest

ARE YOU WITH YOUR COUSIN?

From: Tempest

Such as, “here I am in a windowless van, one that doesn’t even have a windowpane.”

To: Tempest

Did you just use windowpane as an example, or did you use it because you are secretly under duress?

From: Tempest

I am not with my cousin. I told you that I was meeting my friend Ellis in Genoa today. You sound odd. Are you hungry? Are you missing me, but don’t want to tell me that because you insist you don’t need me, but in truth, you’re hungry and crabby and don’t get the humor in someone sending you a faux duress word text?

To: Tempest

Emergency (noun): a situation of dire peril, and not one in which you simply wish to text someone information about the picking up of friends from California.

To: Tempest

Although I will remember windowpane for future situations.

---