Page 62 of Benjamin and the Thief

A moment later, the two brothers left the den. She heard their footfalls in the corridor and realized that they had left the door ajar. She listened intently, and only after what appeared to be a full minute, when she heard the entrance door open and then close again, did she dare to breathe deeply. She sat up on the couch and pushed the blanket aside.

She took a few steadying breaths to collect her thoughts. Every interaction with Benjamin replayed in her mind. Had there been any instances that suggested that he wasn’t who he said he was? Any indication that he had a secret? And that his secret had to do with what David had suggested? And he had definitely said that he wanted to drink blood. Did this mean that Benjamin was like him too? Did he have some sick fetish of wanting to drink blood? Was there such a thing? Because if it wasn’t a fetish, then her other suspicion could be true. And that would be horrifying!

Still, she couldn’t form the word even in her mind. Because to do so would make it real. And she didn’t want it to be real. It would destroy not only everything that she thought she had with Benjamin, but also her entire worldview. Because in the world she knew, monsters didn’t exist.

Yet…

So much would finally make sense. If he and his friends and family were really what David’s words suggested, then it would explain why they all looked so young. Benjamin’s father and mother in particular, as well as Benjamin. Nobody looked their real age. While it was easier to explain away in Benjamin’s case, there was no reason why his parents looked no older than their own son—unless none of them aged. And that would make them… monsters who didn’t age.

Vampires.

There, she’d finally allowed herself to form the word in her mind. If the lore could be believed, then they didn’t age, they drank blood, they stayed out of the sun.

Her mind screeched to a halt. Benjamin had been outside during the daytime. She’d been with him. Did that mean he couldn’t be a vampire? Or was the lore wrong?

She pressed her hands to her temples. She was going crazy. Again, she let the words she’d overheard replay in her mind. She’d missed something. Zach had said that he wanted to drink another bottle of blood, and that there would be plenty in Samson’s fridge. In an instant, she remembered the night of the party at Benjamin’s flat. She’d seen bottles filled with a red liquid in his refrigerator and had assumed it was tomato juice, but what if it wasn’t?

She had to know, or she would drive herself completely crazy. Since David and Zach had left the house, she could risk going to the kitchen and peeking into the refrigerator. Even if Benjamin or anyone else surprised her there, she could simply say she wanted to grab a bottle of water to drink and didn’t want to disturb Delilah in her work.

Collecting all her courage before it could leave her, she rose and went to the door. Again, she listened to the sounds in the hallway, but it was quiet. She left the den and walked along the corridor. The first door she opened led to a dining room, and from there she saw an open archway leading into the kitchen. She entered and walked to the stainless-steel refrigerator. Her heart pounded into her throat, and her palms were damp.

Catalina wiped her hands on her pants, then exhaled before she finally gripped the handle and opened the refrigerator door. She let her eyes roam over the shelves. There wasn’t as much food inside as she’d expected. After all, it appeared that not only Grayson and Monique were staying at the house, but that David and Zach were also visiting. She would have expected the fridge to have been stocked for the many guests. Instead, one of the lower shelves was filled with bottles. Bottles with red liquid. In shape and content, they looked identical to the bottles she’d seen in Benjamin’s fridge.

She took one and inspected it more closely. As she tilted it, she noticed that the liquid inside seemed viscous, but it didn’t leave the sometimes grainy texture that tomato juice left on the glass. She turned the bottle around to read the simple white label. AB+ was written in black letters, then farther below, Bottled by Scanguards.

She gasped, and her heart began to race. She swallowed hard. AB+ was a blood group. This was the blood Zach had spoken about. It was true then. Benjamin had had bottles of human blood in his fridge. She couldn’t deny it any longer. She was surrounded by vampires. She had to get away from here.

“Who are you?”

The voice coming from the door almost made her drop the bottle. She caught herself in the last second and placed it back on the shelf before closing the fridge and facing the person who’d spoken.

The boy was maybe four or five years old and wore pajamas. He stood at the door to the kitchen and stared at her. Undoubtedly, this was Delilah’s grandson Ross, whom she’d put to bed before they’d arrived at the house.

She forced a smile. “I’m Benjamin’s girlfriend, Catalina.”

He didn’t acknowledge her words and instead said, “I’m thirsty.”

“I can get you something,” she said quickly.

And just as soon as she’d given him some water or milk, she would leave as quietly as she could.

“You smell nice.”

He stared at her, and suddenly she noticed that his eyes seemed to change from a dark brown to the color of a glowing ember.

Benjamin paced in front of the desk, while Delilah continued to scroll through the documents on the screen.

“Well, well, well,” Delilah finally said and looked up.

“You found something?” he asked, hopeful now.

Delilah smiled. “I always do.”

There was pride in her voice, and he knew that feeling. It was the same he had whenever he found an important clue in his investigations.

“Tell me,” he urged, when his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the display. “Damn, that’s Anita. Let me take it quickly.”