Dead-tective (Book 1): Vampire Dead-tective Read Online Free PDF Page A

mutual friend, Tim?"
    "All I know is Tim was my roommate, and now he's dead and I'm somehow stuck with this walking corpse." I jerked my thumb toward Vincent, who rolled his eyes.
    Bat coughed to hide a snicker. "I see. That isn't much to go off of to understand your current predicament."
    "And what's my current predicament?"
    "That you've fallen into the thick of the world of the supernatural and are now bound to a very stupid and dangerous fellow." My face fell and my hands shook. I balled them together in my lap, but I couldn't ball my emotions together. They were all over the place. There was fear, sadness, fear, confusion, fear, curiosity, and did I mention fear?
    "Um, that doesn't really tell me how to get out of this world," I pointed out.
    Bat leaned over the desk and the lamp cast shadows on the creases of his ancient face. "I'm afraid there's no escaping this world. Once you've dived into the rabbit hole the only way to go is forward and hope nothing snatches you from the shadows."
    I leaned back and cringed. "Have you taken your medication lately?"
    His eyebrows shot up and he sat back. "Now that you mention it, no." He opened a top drawer, pulled out a plastic container of pills, and popped a few into his mouth. "There. All better."
    "So there's a way I can get out of this mess?"
    "Oh no, there's no way in hell you're getting out of this mess. Or rather, you are in hell and there's no way out."
    I numbly stood and my shaky legs tried to collapse, but I grasped the back of my chair. "I-I think I need to get back to my apartment. I have some-um, some pants to fold."
    Bat smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be a good idea. You may as well accept that your old life has vanished."
    "Um, no? I'm not going to through aside twenty-well, a lot of years of living because of a one-night stand with Count Creepy here." I gestured to Vincent, who was amused by my title for him.
    "You mistake my meaning, Miss-?"
    "Stokes," I finished for him.
    "Miss Stokes, you're very much mistaken in my intentions toward you. I only want the best for you and that ring you wear." He nodded at the metal band around my finger. "After all, both of you are the only possessions we have of Tim, and I'm sure he'd want his friends and-" he frowned and glanced at Vincent. "-er, acquaintances to care for them."
    "First off, I'm nobody's possession. Second, I think this is all some horrible dream and if I ran into a wall I'd probably wake up," I countered.
    Bat smiled and waved his hand at the far wall to my right. "Go right ahead, Miss Stokes, but be careful not to hit too hard. We wouldn't want you to receive a concussion for nothing."
    I looked at the wall and decided maybe this wasn't a dream. "Or maybe I just need a really long nap and I can decide what to do after that," I suggested.
    "I have a comfortable couch somewhere in this mess," Bat offered.
    "My bed would work better, and I wouldn't want to trouble you guys." I backed up toward the entrance. "I mean, I've been enough trouble and-" My back hit something hard, and I didn't need to look around to know it was Vincent's body. My face fell and I tilted my head back to find myself staring into his dark eyes. "You're not going to let me leave, are you?"
    "We can't, Miss Stokes," Bat insisted as he walked around the desk. "It's in all of our best interests that you stay here, at least for tonight."
    I glared at the old man. "You think I'm so important with this ring, then why don't you have this stupid thing." I raised my ring hand, grasped the ring and gave it a hard pull. It didn't budge, and the only reward for my effort was a sore finger. I pulled again, but with the same painful result. "Anybody have a can of grease or oil?" I asked them.
    Bat chuckled and walked up to me. He pointed at the ring. "That's stuck to you until you can learn to get it off."
    "Learn to get it off? I'm pretty sure rings are supposed to just slip off," I shot back.
    "Not this one. This one's a very