Cryptic Cravings
now I imagined how this factory could be transformed, too. I wish I’d thought of it first. But had it been my idea and my venture, the only thing that was sure was that no one would come. With Jagger, he already had vampires inhabiting it and hadn’t done a thing to it.
    The sunlight streamed in through cracked, broken, and vacant windows. This would be a hard place for a sleeping vampire to get any shut-eye. Last time we’d discovered Jagger’s hideaway he was holed up in a freight elevator.
    But with so many vampires now in his company, that would be too smal for al their coffins.
    I found the two-flight staircase we’d once taken when Alexander and I had original y found Jagger here months ago. As I ventured down the rickety staircase, less light streamed in and I dug into my backpack and grabbed my flashlight. My free hand got tangled in several spider-webs.
    “Sorry,” I said to a grizzly-looking spider who stared back up at me.
    I walked down a darkened hal way. It was straight out of a horror movie. There were no windows here in the sublevel hal way, and I only had a flashlight to show my way. My imagination transformed it into a mental institution, with screaming inmates. Not sure who or what might jump out at me, I had to fight my own wil just to open a door.
    I opened a few doors that led nowhere—empty rooms with no sign of life . . . or the undead. At the end of the hal way, I came to the last two doors—one across from the other. At this point I wasn’t sure how much daylight I had to keep me safe. I decided to try the one on the right.
    The door was secured, but not with a lock. It felt like something was wedged in front of it from the other side. To me that meant there was something behind it worth securing. I pushed against the door with al my might, and the wedge shifted just enough for me to slip through the opening. I stepped inside and cast my light around the room.
    There they were—one right next to the other. Five coffins in a row. The first one, black with band stickers, was Jagger’s. The second, baby pink, was no doubt Luna’s. The third one was embel ished with stickers from countries and cities across the globe, and I recognized it as Sebastian’s. The fourth was black onyx stone outlined in white, and the fifth was adorned with shiny beads. Those were certainly Onyx and Scarlet’s. Each had dirt around it in a circle. Five sleeping vampires, only a few feet away from me.
    I imagined creating a custom coffin for Alexander and me—perhaps a double-wide coffin that looked like a huge heart. I wondered if the vampires were lonely in there, isolated from the rest of the world. I felt they must miss seeing each other during the daylight hours. Did they dream like we did or did they always have nightmares? I had to real y contemplate this issue—think about if it was something I ultimately wanted, to be so closed away from another vampire or the outside world.
    I knew I should back out immediately, return to the hallway, and close the door. I knew I shouldn’t remain in the room or step any closer to the coffins, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I tiptoed up to Jagger’s coffin. I paused briefly, then leaned my ear to the coffin lid. I heard the faint sounds of breathing.
    Suddenly a thud came from the other side. I was so startled I jumped up and let out an audible gasp. My heart was racing so hard I was sure I’d have to cal a doctor.
    I paused, covering my mouth with my hand. I wondered if they had heard me.
    Now I knew it was time to retreat. I tiptoed out and did my best to wrestle the wedge back underneath the door from the other side with my flashlight.
    I checked the time on my cel phone and, with sunset approaching, realized I had only a few minutes to investigate further. I’d found the coffins and discovered that no plans had been carried out yet. But what was Jagger’s next move, and were there any clues that could help me figure that out?
    There was one more door
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