Nothing creaked under my feet as I walked up. A couple more bodies were strewn around the hallway. From first glance, they were taken out quickly by gunshot.
My stomach sank as I got to the last room at the end of the hall. The door was also shot open at the lock. I nudged it open with my toe.
I had expected more bodies, but what I found was a room that was painted black and had the windows boarded up so that no light penetrated the room.
It looked like a medieval torture chamber from the movies.
A table coated in blood. Dried brown blood on the floor. The smell of death surrounded me. Knives hung on the wall, gleaming in what little light the door let in. Chains were bolted into the wall nearby. I walked up and examined them. Burnt flesh stuck to the cuffs.
Silver.
And whatever they had been holding captive had been allergic, so vampire or lycanthrope of some sort.
I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat as I thought about the little girl that we had in the cruiser.
Was she captive? Or was she involved in whatever was going on here?
I turned and left the room, going down the stairs and stepping back over the body.
I found Mason sitting in the front of the cruiser with the little girl, showing her what the switches did. She giggled, and her face lit up each time he let her press one.
“Mason, we need to call the crime scene unit in. And maybe PIB.”
He glanced at me. “You are PIB.”
“Yes, but you need someone with database access. The scene in there is like the one you took me to except we have bodies and a setup.”
He glanced at the little girl and then to me. “Theories?”
“I don’t have much.” I held my hand out to the girl. “Can you show me your room?”
She shook her head. “Don’t go back.” All the laughter and smiles were gone. “You take me.” She hugged my leg. “Lady said you take me.”
I ran a hand over my hair and looked at Mason.
“You catch a ride back with the ambulance. They should be here soon. I’ll call the crime team. I know you don’t want your boss catching you on scene, even as one of Levi’s people.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he’d be pleased. I want to take a look around the outside of the house as well. Stay with her?”
Mason nodded. “Absolutely.” He held his hand out to her. “Come on, sweetie. You can play with the radio again.”
She went back to him, and I walked back to the house. Starting from the front, I made my way around to the side. Last time I did this, I fell into a basement full of bodies. I was hoping to avoid that this time.
I kept my steps slow as I rounded the corner. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but a cellar with a note on it was not it.
I blinked at the handwriting. Liz’s scrawling words were written on the sheet.
‘Vampires, open with caution.’
It took everything I had to not pull my phone out and yell at her. I cracked the door open.
“My name is Abigail Collins.” I felt a little silly yelling down into the dark. “Can you hear me?”
There were mummers from below and then louder. “Princess Abigail! Alert the territory leader, please! We have vampires close to blood lust.”
I didn’t correct the title because, at this point, there was no reason to.
“How many of you are there?”
“Ten.”
Fuck. What the hell? Maybe they could give us some answers to what was going on up here. “I’ll be calling Levi in just a moment.”
I glanced up at the top window, thinking about the room up there. Oh, maybe they were the problem. “It’s about two hours until sundown. Hang tight.”
I shut the cellar door and went back to the cruiser. An ambulance had pulled up next to it, and the little girl was sitting on the edge of it with an EMT next to her.
I walked up to Mason. “There are ten vampires in the cellar. We need to have one of Levi’s people come out tonight and talk to them and help them.”
“We don’t bite friends.” She pointed her finger at me. “Not food.” She pointed to herself.
I frowned. “Have you been down there?”
She shook her head, then pointed up. “Not allowed to leave.”
I sighed and told myself I needed to remember she was just a small child, and it was amazing that she spoke this much to me.
“Take a ride back with her. See what else she might tell you.” Mason motioned to the ambulance. “I’ll call Levi in and keep you updated.”
I nodded, and the EMT moved so I could hop into the back. I held my hand out to the little girl, and she took it and snuggled into me as the EMT joined us.
“I’m sleepy. Is it okay I sleep?”
I ran my hand over her matted hair and looked at the EMT, who nodded. “Yeah, kiddo. Go ahead and take a nap. You’re safe now.”
I let the EMT get the little girl checked into the hospital. A lady from the state was already at the counter, waiting for us to get there.
She stepped up and held her hand out to me. “I’m Mary Jane. I’m with the Department of Human Services, and I wanted to ask you a few questions about the little girl you found today.”
I shook her hand. “I’m Abigail Collins. I was on the scene as one of the King of Vampires’
