Where Secrets Lie

The man with the emerald eyes suddenly appeared, interrupting their shocked silence. He addressed Alyssa, "Sorry to cut your little tiff short, but it's time."

Alyssa nodded then turned her attention toward her sibling. "Kara, this is Logan." She paused, trying to find the words. "He is my master. I have to go."

Kara didn't know what to do for the first time in a long time. Alyssa had a master? What did that even mean? She stood there feeling utterly devastated as the two of them climbed into a limo and drove off into the night.

How could this be happening? She thought she knew Alyssa better than anyone. Sometimes, she knew Alyssa better than Alyssa knew herself.

I'm just having another nightmare; I'll be waking up pretty soon now. Grant will be calling my phone. Where is the ringing? Where is the ringing?

But the ringing never came. This was real.

The night passed like a blur as Kara wandered around the city in a daze. Finally, she found herself back in front of her apartment. She looked up at the slowly brightening sky: dawn approached.

"Another sleepless night," she thought and entered her apartment. She collapsed into her vintage armchair, too exhausted to make it to her bed

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Kara crinkled her nose and shut her eyes tightly, ignoring the incessant rapping on her front door. Her wondering night left both her body and mind too weak to deal with company. She sat quietly, hoping whoever it was would simply leave. She needed to sleep and forget what she learned last night for just a moment.

"It's Alyssa, open up."

Kara hurried and rolled out of the chair to get the door. In the process, she banged her knee against the coffee table with a loud, painful thud. "Ouch! Son of a bitch!" She limped to the door, unlocked the latch and turned the handle, rubbing her knee.

Alyssa stomped into her apartment, nearly knocking Kara over in the process. "How?"

Kara stared at her, waiting for her to continue. She was too exhausted to play guessing games. "How?" Kara finally asked.

"I learned about them from an old case I worked on." She narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about them?" Her words were just as sharp.

"You asked where I've been staying." Alyssa walked over to sit on the couch and continued. "Approximately two years ago, I took a class about vampires at my university. I started to research and came across old artifacts that were believed to belong to vampires. The artifacts were donated by Caswell Financial Group. After a little more research I found out CFG owned Immortal too. I got a job there and met Logan Caswell. He and I became good friends and over time he trusted me with the secret that they're vampires. The Caswell clan invited me into their home shortly after that, and I've been faithfully serving and living with them since."

Kara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Alyssa was serving them? "What the hell kind of cult have you gotten yourself into? I heard they can compel people to do what they say. How can you be sure they didn't do that you?"

She expected Alyssa to get annoyed and shout back at her to defend herself. Instead, she appeared calmer than she'd ever been. She smiled at her sister with a warm, loving smile that spread from ear to ear. It certainly looked like the smile of a cult member.

"I'm happy." She hesitated, not as if she were too nervous to tell Kara the next part, but as if she were too excited to say it. "That's not all. They've offered to make me one of them when I've proven myself worthy of the honor. I intend to graciously accept their gift."

Kara was sure she had misheard Alyssa. Did she intend on accepting their offer to become a vampire? That wasn't a gift; it was a curse. "One of them? You mean a vampire? You've got to be kidding me."

Alyssa handed her a carefully folded envelope. "In three days you can open this. The letter inside will tell you where to find the clan, and me. All of the questions you have asked me tonight will be answered then." Grudgingly, Kara took the envelope. As her fingers brushed by her sister's, she took note of her perfectly manicured fingernails. Normally, that would impress her; however, after what her sister said, it horrified her and reminded her of an owner getting their dog groomed.

With another creepy smile, Alyssa left. Kara watched after her, wanting to drag her back and fix her. If Alyssa came to her, begging for help because the vampires were forcing her to join their cult, she knew what to do, but this was different. Alyssa wanted to join them. It didn't make any sense.

The days crawled by. Nearly every minute, Kara looked at the envelope, fighting the urge to open it. After two days, she thought she was going to lose her mind, and she was already losing her patience. She had the paper that told her where to find Alyssa, and she wanted to go rescue her. However, she never thought she would be rescuing Alyssa from herself. Even if she broke in and saved her, Alyssa would just go back. Of course, that was if Kara didn't get killed in the process. These weren't normal people; they were vampires and more dangerous than the day-to-day criminals she faced on her job.

She needed a cunning plan to get Alyssa out of the mess she'd gotten herself into, but Kara struggled to think of anything. All she could think about was the envelope sitting on her counter and how she had one more day to wait.