Escape Read Online Free PDF Page B

living with a psychic vampire,” she replied, bringing in a tray that held the two cups of coffee. She set it down upon the bed and joined him as he rubbed the sleep dust from his eyes.
                “That was a rhetorical question.” Connor picked up his own mug and sipped the scalding liquid without difficulty, as did Esmeralda. Connor looked around his dirty room that was littered with laundry. “I bet you’re going to say I need to clean up, too, huh?”
                Esmeralda only drank her portion of coffee and didn’t answer. It was only when she noticed Connor was glaring at her, waiting for a reply that she decided to snap back. “Oh, I thought that was a rhetorical question.”
                “You know, I ought to smack you around for all the crap you make me put up with.”
                Esmeralda knew Connor really didn’t mean it. He was just grumpy. He was always grumpy and she learned to ignore his snide remarks.
                Esmeralda grinned wickedly, leaned forward and kissed Connor on the cheek. “Yeah, but you know you love me anyway.”
                Connor scoffed and sat his mug down. “Yeah, sure I do,” he mumbled half heartedly before glancing at the digital alarm clock on the dresser that was half covered by a dirty sock. “You should have been back an hour ago. What kept you?” he asked.
                “I decided to work an extra thirty minutes today,” Esmeralda said whimsically as if it were nothing new. She stood up from the edge of the bed and walked into one of the spare bathrooms that she had claimed for herself and began to dress down.
                “And the other thirty minutes?” Connor asked, closing his eyes and wishing he could go back to sleep, leaning his head to one side lazily.
                “Well, it’s a funny story actually. I was walking home and I saw this strange girl wandering around in the street. She looked lost, but ok at first. Then, she ran into Greg. You remember him from your martial arts class?” Esmeralda paused, waiting for Connor to respond with a grunt of affirmation.
                “Well, she took one look at him and ran away screaming. It was the oddest thing. Most people like the way he’s been cleaning his scales lately. I wouldn’t think that he would strike so much fear into that little girl.
                “Then, she ran into Mr. Heart’s antique store, but she didn’t stay in there for long. She came out looking just as frightened. And to make matters worse, she ran straight through Robert on the sidewalk!”
                Connor didn’t show it, but he was thoroughly entertained by this story so far. “I did that about a week ago. He wasn’t happy.”
                “And he wasn’t happy this time either. But, he just yelled at her and kept on walking. Then, Kendra and her friends came in for a street landing and that scared the girl, too. She saw Matt’s pack coming down the street, Fiona’s brothel, and the kids from Twenty-first Street playing around. She even saw poor Mr. Johnson’s head fall right off after an accident involving a rogue ball.”
                Connor rubbed his palm over his jaw and chin that was covered in black stubble and thought about what she was saying. It seemed peculiar that a girl would go through all that and be frightened. She must not have been from around here. Something seemed wrong about it.
                “Anyway, I wanted to keep an eye on her and she ran right out of town. I read her thoughts and she definitely isn’t from around here. She’s from some place where there’s something called a ‘sun’ and ‘horror movies’. She decided she was going to try to go back home. Although, I doubt she’ll be able to. I’ve never heard of anything like it. So, I was spending some time just watching her and making sure she wasn’t