Page 1 of Undying
ChapterOne
JOLIE
I’m being stalked.
Not the fun, sexy game you play with an exciting new lover, where you get dicked within an inch of your life when caught. No, the icy chill slinking down my spine says it’s the serial killer kind of stalking, where they want to wear your skin and eat your flesh.
I study the shadows, but I can’t pick out what triggered my unease.
Maybe a premonition of danger?
One I know better than to ignore.
I whirl, reaching for the door to the market…just a second too late.
It clicks shut before I can grab it, leaving me on the wrong side of the locked door. My asshole boss kept me late again, threatening to fire me if I didn’t finish stocking the shelves tonight. All because the fucker sent me on a delivery to the paranormal bar down the road the locals call The Den, bending over backward to garner favor with the vampire assholes who own it.
Like he thinks if he gives them whatever they want, they’ll turn him into one of them.
What a laugh.
Since rent is due and I only have a couple hundred bucks in my bank account, I stayed against my better judgment, knowing the risks of being out after curfew.
It’s a dangerous gamble, but I can’t lose this job.
Without it, I won’t be able to pay for my freedom.
Because if you don’t pledge yourself to a vampire house, you have to pay them to leave you the fuck alone. Since I refuse to become a blood whore, I live paycheck to paycheck, forced to work overtime just to survive.
As the darkness slowly creeps across the city, I bite my lip, then decide to splurge and call a car service. I chew on my nail as the phone rings and rings and dread thickens in my chest with the knowledge that the car won’t arrive in time.
After five minutes of being ignored, I reluctantly give up.
Fuckers!
It’s so close to sunset, the assholes aren’t even bothering to answer. I note the time, then shove my phone into my purse and hurry down the sidewalk at a quick jog.
Twenty minutes to make it three miles.
Plenty of time.
The sun hasn’t even set yet.
I’m totally safe.
But no matter how many times I chant the refrain, even I don’t believe it. I debate heading back toward The Den on the off chance Michael, the bouncer, would stash me somewhere safe.
Would it be better to get caught wandering the streets, or take refuge in a bar full of paranormal creatures who think humans are yummy?
I grimace and decide to risk the streets.
It’s my best bet.
My feet skim along the sidewalk, the scuff of my shoes loud in the deserted streets. I keep looking over my shoulder, watching the sun as it slowly drops from the sky.
I’m cutting it way too close.
As if to prove my point, the last of the pedestrians still on the streets scurry into their homes, no one daring to break curfew and be caught after dark.
