I woke up jet lagged and starving. My mouth was dry, and my gums pulsed with pain. I rolled to the side of the bed and got to my feet. For a second, I didn't remember where I was. The room was familiar and dark, but my mind wasn't focusing enough to think about how I had gotten there. An ache pounded in my head, like my brain was swollen and throbbing against the back of my eyes.

I made my way over to the window and pulled back the heavy curtains. Instead of sunlight streaming into the room like I had expected, the sky glowed a deep, wine red with the setting autumn sun. It cast the city's old buildings in dark, gloomy silhouettes. Clouds glowed on the horizon as the wind blew in a storm.

I turned away from the window and found my clothes on the bed. As I dressed myself, my headache dulled and my mind slowly started working again. I was in Edinburgh. I'd slept at Clara's apartment. Her friend Jen had come over, and then after I went to sleep...

My lungs skipped a breath as I remembered how Jen had locked me in the previous night. My heart pounding, I rushed to the door and turned the knob. With a sudden and unexpected click, it gave, and I fell out into the living room.

Clara was sitting on the couch, turning pages in a thick, worn book. Her hair fell over her ear, obscuring her face like a curtain, and her feet rested on the lower level of the coffee table—the center piece of the room. Its glass surface was tinted a golden-yellow with age, but in an antique way, not like it was old or over-worn.

She looked like she belonged here. Her apartment had personality. It was a home.

I thought about my own place and its bland furnishings. My single bedroom flat was only 784 square feet, but it was empty in comparison. The only thing that set my IKEA black-brown coffee table apart from its ten-hundred-thousand siblings was the pattern of water rings from glasses I hadn't cared enough to find coasters for.

Standing in Clara's living room made me feel self-conscious. I felt like a child.

She turned another page in her book as she brushed her dark hair behind her ear. I wished I'd at least glanced in a mirror before stepping out of the guest bedroom. I was sure I looked like a mess.

I shifted on my feet, and the floor creaked. Suddenly, Clara snapped her head around to face me.

"Hey!" Her voice was almost too cheery, like she'd been waiting for me. She dog-eared a page of her book and set it down on the coffee table. "You're up." A soft smile stretched across her features as she stood.

"Yeah," I said nervously.

She blinked a couple of times as she approached me. She wore less makeup than she had the previous night at the bar, but her eyes still looked dark and enticing with the light shadow across them.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm okay," I said, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were a lie. The uncertainty about my future was overwhelming, and I felt myself choking like I was drowning. What was going to happen to me when I went home? What would my life be like? Would I be able to take back my old job, or would I have to find something else to do? Something at night and never see the sun...

"Did you sleep all right?" Clara's voice brought me back out of my thoughts, and I snapped my eyes to meet hers.

"Yeah," I replied quickly as I thought about the sun already setting outside. "How late is it?"

"It's a bit past six."

"Wow, I slept forever." I forced a chuckle. She hadn't broken eye contact with me once, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. The conversation I'd overheard the previous night crept back into my mind. Clara and Jen were hiding something. Why didn't they want me to know what was going on?

"It's easy to oversleep when the days are so long," Clara said. "Sometimes, I accidentally lose hours. It's better in the winter."

I nodded. "So, what else do I have to know about all of this? Are there a lot of... vampires in Edinburgh? Is it a hub or something?" I tried to shift the conversation. Maybe I could get some information out of her without having to give away the fact that I'd overheard them last night.

"There are a few of us." Her eyes shifted down to the floor. "Same as any major city, I'd presume." Her sentence trailed off as she walked toward the kitchen.

Avoidance. I was sure the whispered conversation was going through her mind, too. Why did she want to keep it from me? What was so secret about it?

"What about my teeth?" I followed her into the adjoining kitchen. "Why don't vampires usually lose them?"

"I don't know." Clara leaned against the dark granite countertop. A hint of annoyance crisped the edge of her voice like a lightly seared steak. "I don't know everything, Aaron. No one really understands it." She went over to the fridge and opened the door, lingering in front of the nearly empty storage space for longer than necessary. The oversized black sweater she wore slipped from her shoulder, exposing her smooth, pale skin. "Are you hungry?"

As if on cue, my stomach growled and betrayed me. A hollow ache gnawed at me from the inside. "Yeah," I admitted.

Clara pulled out the same metallic water bottle Jen had brought over last night, shutting the fridge behind her. "You should try to finish it." She handed it to me. "It will help to get something in your system."

I nodded as I quickly unscrewed the lid. It smelled possibly even more rancid than it had the previous night, but my hunger had only grown since then. I quickly took a large sip and swallowed it like a horse pill.

"I asked Jen if she could get you more tonight, too," Clara said.

"Thank you." I paused and set the canister down on the counter. "So, what is this stuff? I mean, where does she get it from? It's not like you can just buy it at the convenience store, I'd presume."

"Aaron..."

"Look, Clara," I interrupted her. "I heard you and Jen talking last night."

Clara's face blanched even paler than it already was. Her tastefully manicured fingernails drummed in an uneasy pattern on the counter. I'd originally thought they were painted black, but in the warm lighting of the kitchen I realized they were a deep purple.

"What did you hear?" she finally asked.

"I heard you talking about some guy named Richard. Something about him not finding out about me. Something about my teeth... and venom. Clara, who is he? What were you and Jen talking about?"

Clara bit her bottom lip. "I didn't want you to find out about him. It would have been easier if..."

"What, if I didn't know? It involves me, Clara! I need to know what's going..."

Suddenly, a heavy banging shook the front door. Clara's eyes widened, and I froze in place.

The knock sounded again. Louder.

My heart hammered against my ribs, and my hands clenched into fists.

"Stay," Clara mouthed to me. I nodded, my blood running cold as she made her way to the door. She pressed the tips of her fingers against the dark wood and peeked out through the peep hole. I watched, ready to make a move if there was a hint of danger. I didn't know what I would do, but I wouldn't be able to just stand there.

Before I could take another breath, she swung the door open. "Jen!" Clara's hand went to her heart as Jen stared at both of us from the doorway. "I didn't realize you were coming so early. You should have called."

Jen didn't say anything for a second. Her icy blue eyes shifted to me, and then immediately back to Clara. "I... I'm sorry," she stuttered.

"What?" Clara asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"I didn't mean to tell him," Jen continued, words rushing out of her mouth in a stream. "He was there when I went to Laura's, and he just kept asking questions and... Clara, I think he knows something."

"Okay, okay." Clara placed her hand on Jen's arm. "Just calm down, Jen. What did he say?"

"He was asking me about why I needed the Red Drink, so I said there was a new one, nothing else. He started saying he wanted to meet Aaron, and I was trying to, you know, just brush it off, and..."

"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Clara interrupted her. "Maybe come inside and we can talk about it?"

Jen shook her head. "We've got to get out of here. I let it slip that Aaron was at your apartment. What if Richard is on his way here right now?"

My heart pounded, and sweat slicked my palms. I had no idea what was going on, and seeing Jen this scared had all of my nerves firing at once. "Who's Richard?" I finally asked, not knowing what else to say. I needed to figure out what was going on. I had no control in the situation right now.

Jen glanced at me quickly before looking back to Clara. "We don't have time for this. Clara, we've got to go!"

"All right, all right." Clara grabbed her coat from the rack and shrugged into it. "I'll explain more later, Aaron." She pulled her knee-high boots on. "Come on." Panic lit up her eyes as she stared at me.

I shook myself, and the freeze that had trapped me in the kitchen finally released. In two steps, I darted across the living room. I clenched my teeth as I shoved my feet into my boots.

"Let's go!" Jen shuffled impatiently in the doorway.

"All right, I'm ready," I said as I pulled my jacket on.

Clara and I followed Jen out into the hall. She made her way directly to the stairwell like a dog sniffing out a trail. We dove through warm, musty air as we flew down the stairs. The off-red carpet squished under my feet like it had gone through too many cycles of dense humidity. The wood railing had soaked up enough water over the years that it wept, sticking to my already sweaty palms. We took the steps two by two, and then three by three after we rounded the first landing.

Finally, we reached the ground level. Jen's heels clicked against the tiled floor. I wondered how she moved so fast without breaking an ankle. She swung the front door open. "Hurry up!" she called to Clara and me as she ushered us out onto the street.

Crisp evening air hit my lungs like ice as soon as I was out the door. "Where exactly are we going?" I asked through a stinging breath. A cold mist of rain speckled my face. It glowed in the dim streetlights like fog. My eyes darted around the empty street, anticipating someone lurking in the dark waiting to pounce on us.

"I have a place in mind," Jen said. She took off at a brisk trot. At the first corner, she made a sharp turn and darted up a narrow, cobblestone alley.

My feet slipped on the smooth rocks as I pushed myself to keep up with her. I glanced back over my shoulder, expecting a shadow to leap out from an alley. Where was she taking us? My heart pounded with nerves, pumping adrenaline through my bloodstream. I nearly jumped when a car careened around the corner and took a tight turn onto the narrow street. Its engine roared as it passed, and its tires kicked up puddles.

Jen glanced up the street and ran across to the next corner. There, she looked over her shoulder, her eyes alive with panic. Clara and I followed behind as she ducked around the turn and slid out of sight behind the building.

In five steps, Clara and I caught up. I brushed my hand along the cool surface of the building as I took the turn. But, as soon as I had made it around, my eyes shot wide. I skidded to a stop. My pulse pounded through my wrists and temples, and a wave of nausea and unease crashed through my body, nearly enough to knock me over.

Jen stood still, fists clenched tightly at her sides a few yards ahead of us. Stopped on the side of the road was a black SUV, nearly too wide to fit in its lane. The passenger side door swung open with a creak, and a tall man in a long trench coat stepped out. The shadows of the buildings and the mist obscured the details of his face, but a devilish grin large enough to be seen from across the pond flashed over his features when he looked at us.

"Why are we in such a hurry, Jennifer?"