Page 48 of Starved Until Sunset

“I’ll say,” Cody said. “First we had the stumbling undead, now we get the smart and strong version that want to drain all our blood?”

She gave him a sharp look. “That’s not exactly how it is.”

Lucia stood and approached Zenona, her voice surprisingly more gentle. “Then explain it so we’ll understand.”

“I will. But I’ll need some help to explain it clearly. From Dr. Graham.”

Icy fear ran through Cody like some kind of awful internal roller coaster. “The medical examiner?”

“Yes.”

“So, we’ll have to go downstairs?” Cody said. “To the morgue? Again?”

“That’s right.”

Cody groaned. “Can’t we ever all meet out on the street on a nice sunny day where there are birds singing and people laughing?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Clarabell screeched at him.

He watched her set off after Zenona, firing rapid questions at her back.

“Let’s find out what’s going on,” Demmy said, standing and reaching down for his hand. “We should at least understand the situation.”

Cody felt the sadness reflected in his expression. “I haven’t understood any of the previous situations. Promise me we won’t get involved?”

Demmy made a face and shrugged. “We’re already involved, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know. But still, it would be nice to believe for a minute we could back out.”

“Come on.”

As Cody allowed himself to be dragged after the others, he dropped his half-full coffee in a trash bin. No way he could finish that now.

They took the elevator down to the morgue. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead, and they all followed Zenona along the hall toward the two swinging stainless steel doors. Cody’s nerves prickled right beneath his skin. He wanted to turn and walk quickly back to the elevator, go up to the lobby, leave the building, and never return. But instead, he trailed after the rest of their group.

It was cold inside, and gooseflesh rippled up Cody’s arms and back. He glanced around at the three stainless steel tables on their left, each with its own set of lights, sink, and workbenches with tools neatly arranged. Thankfully all of the tables were empty. For the moment. To their right, the doors of coolers to store bodies were stacked three rows high and three columns wide, like the most gruesome game of Tic-Tac-Toe ever invented.

At a sink in a far corner, Dr. Michael Graham stood washing his hands. He was Parson’s Hollow’s nighttime medical examiner, and he wore blue, short-sleeved scrubs that showed off a more powerful upper body than Cody had noticed when he’d met him over the summer. Dr. Graham looked over his shoulder when they entered and smiled.

“Hello, everyone. I see the gang’s all here.”

He had an English accent, which helped calm Cody’s nerves slightly, and he approached their group, drying his hands with paper towels. Slightly taller than Demmy and broader across the shoulders, he had a pale face with a thin nose that ran almost to a point, and a narrow, sharp chin. He shifted his bright blue eyes between each of them, taking in details.

“Everyone except Oliver,” Zenona said.

“Ollie?” Cody said. “You invited the monster blogger as well?”

“Hey, he’s getting pretty good at digging up information in that library of yours,” Clarabell said. She checked her phone and shrugged. “He hasn’t responded to my text. We can go ahead, and I’ll catch him up later.”

“All right. Good.” Dr. Graham looked at them each again, rubbing his hands together. He finally set his gaze on Zenona. “Where should I begin?”

“How about just the information you know from the past year or two,” Zenona suggested.

“Year or two?” Demmy said in surprise. “Wait, does that mean there have been vampires in town for two years?”

“Perhaps,” Dr. Graham said, then held up a finger. “Most likely. I’m not sure when they first arrived, but they have been here since at least the end of last year.”

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to us,” Cody grumbled. “Here’s a terrible monster to quietly invade your town. Again.”