Sophie Morgan (Book 1): Relative Strangers (A Modern Vampire Story) Read Online Free PDF Page B

I tried to look nonchalant, "I thought we would check out that bar again. Your favourite musician is on again tonight."
    Tracy didn’t reply. She just kept smiling.
     
     
     
     
    The day turned out to be more productive than we had expected, largely helped by periodic caffeine refuelling stops. The morning was quite low key, taking in some of Rubens’ work at the Cathedral of Our Lady, and then visiting his tomb at the surprisingly more ornate St James Church. The art and architecture were both breath-taking, although Tracy was more enamoured with the level of quiet each location offered. She continued to nurse a pounding headache, but felt a little better after a large lunch.
    The afternoon was spent shopping in some of the smaller boutiques and stores in the streets off the Grote Market. I purchased a few small gifts, some for myself, some for my Mum, and Tracy got a great deal on an oversized leather handbag. I thought it was a bit gaudy, but she liked it, which was the main thing.
    We wrapped up our shopping expedition close to four o’clock. We decided that it would be a good idea to go back to the hotel for a catnap and head back out a few hours later for food and drinks.
    I’m not a great one for napping during the day; even when I haven’t had much sleep at night, but I surprised myself by dozing off on my single bed for a whole two hours. Even more surprising, when I did open my eyes, I discovered that Tracy was up and showered. She kindly offered to make us both a cup of tea from the complimentary hospitality tray on the side table while I got my bearings, an offer that I took full advantage of.
    While I sipped my tea, I watched the news on the small TV which hung on a bracket on the otherwise undecorated, white walls. I could only watch it, rather than listen, as I didn’t understand anything that was being said. However, the pictures intimated that a young family had fallen victim to some brute who had massacred them all in their own home. There were interviews with the local police and what I assumed to be friends or neighbours. This was interspersed with pictures of the young children in what looked like their official school photographs.
    "It’s just sickening" Tracy sighed, massaging hair mousse into her mane; "some people should just be shot."
    At this point, I would normally have let rip about my unease with the death penalty. I used to think that killing for the pleasure of revenge doesn’t elevate us above the criminal, but minimizes us. As I looked at the pictures of those two young children and their seemingly happy parents, it was hard to argue with Tracy's position.
    "Is that here?" I asked her.
    "Not too far, I think. I popped down to the bar earlier, to pick up a bottle of water and it was on the TV down there. The waiter told me that it’s about thirty minutes away by car, maybe less. It’s been on the news for the past hour; the bodies were found this morning."
    It was hard to keep watching it, so I turned the TV off and tried to direct the conversation to more pleasant things. The evening was still early, but I recognise a hunger pang when I feel one, so I proposed that we go out and forage for food. After a brief debate with Tracy on where we should eat, I put down my teacup and headed for the shower.
    Within twenty minutes, I was ready to go, wearing a crisp white shirt, jeans and the only pair of boots I’d thought to bring with me. Unlike Tracy, my holiday clothing was usually based on what would require the least amount of luggage.
    Tracy was applying the finishing touches to her makeup when I noticed that she’d taken the tags off her new tote bag. She’d been busy filling it with the usual set of night out sundries – purse, camera, hairbrush, lipstick and so on. But as it lay open on the bed, I could see that she had also slung in her toothbrush and a pair of clean knickers.
    "You planning on going somewhere, are you?" I blurted out, simultaneously annoyed by her brazen