Echoes (7 page)

I shrugged and avoided eye contact with him. “Nearly getting killed has a tendency to put things into perspective.”

“Don’t bail. You deserve to go. Hopefully we’ll figure things out before Saturday night and it’ll be safe for you again.” He scanned the lit area of the warehouse. “I just have to figure out how I’m going to do that.”

“You know, not many boys have taken me to check out potential vampire prisons before.”

“And?”

I gave the dark and dusty space one last look. “Very glamorous.”

“I aim to please.” He grinned a little. “You know, my mom likes you.”

“She does? She doesn’t think I’m the local tramp?”

“No. I think she was relieved to find out a girl actually wants to be around me.”

“I find it hard to believe there haven’t been lots of girls climbing in your window.”

“Oh yeah?”

A flash of Mrs. Cole’s bruise came back to me. “Listen, Ethan, your mom...is she really okay?”

His smile faded. “She’s fine.”

“And whoever did that to her...”

A spark of anger lit in his coppery eyes. “He’s gone and he’s not coming back. Let’s just say I dealt with it.”

“Chased him away, did you?”

“He took his rusty pick-up truck and left town for good.”

I grabbed his arm. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Hardly.” He pulled away from me, color touching his cheeks. I’d managed to make him blush with a single compliment. Then his brows drew together. “We should go see Frank now.”

“Why do you look worried about that?”

“Frank’s a bit...unpredictable. But trust me, he knows the Upyri. And he’ll—” He met my eyes. “He’ll be able to help you. I know it.”

An eerie sensation I couldn’t shake followed me from the warehouse area to downtown Ravenridge. Stores flanked us on either side—boutiques, restaurants, the drugstore, and the post office. But instead of feeling secure by knowing we were surrounded by other people in a public area, it made me uncomfortable, worried that any one of them could be an Upyr in disguise.

Along the way, I’d reached for Ethan’s hand and he didn’t stop me.

“I can feel them watching us,” I said, my voice hushed. “Why aren’t they attacking me again?”

“I stopped them before. If they are watching, they’ll think twice about approaching you while I’m around.”

It was reassuring, actually. “My bodyguard.”

“Weird, right?” He gave me a lopsided grin and squeezed my hand.

Yes, it was definitely weird, and good, too, if I was being honest with myself. “Did this Frank guy teach you how to fight against them?”

“He gave me some pointers, but I learned most of it on my own.”

“And he’s a friend of yours?”

“That’s right.”

I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “You don’t want to tell me anything else?”

“What else do you want to know?”

I shrugged. “Everything.”

He stopped walking. “Wait a minute...what you said before, that you felt them watching us. What did you mean by that?”

I shook my head. “It’s just a vibe. I can’t explain it exactly.”

“Do you think you can sense them?”

“Sense them?”

He nodded. “Like a sixth sense. The ones from the other night—the man and woman, did you sense anything then?”

I thought about it. “Not really, but I wasn’t concentrating. I was mad from being at Helen’s party, getting thrown in the pool. My mind was all over the place. And when they approached me, I didn’t think they were a threat until...well, until they
were
.” I frowned. “You were following me that night, weren’t you? You knew something was going to happen.”

“I didn’t know anything for sure. But, yeah, I knew they were around. Didn’t know where they were, or who they were using as shells.” He seemed uncomfortable talking about this so openly with me. “And I
wasn’t
following you. Really. Like I said, we live in the same neighborhood.”

“So it was a total coincidence you happened to be there when I needed you.”

He eyed me warily. “Is this part of your promise to grill me? Because I’m starting to feel a bit charbroiled.”

“I know you’re reluctant to talk about any of this, but I think I have a right to know as much as I can, Ethan.”

“You’re right, of course. I guess I’m just not used to the attention.” He raked a hand through his dark hair, his expression tense. “You should test it right now. Concentrate really hard and see if you can sense if any of them are around.”

“You think I can do that?”

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing away my apprehension. I tried not to think about anything else except just feeling. The warm breeze. The smell of the McDonald’s we’d passed where everyone usually went after school to hang out before heading home. The warmth of Ethan’s hand holding mine.

After a moment, I opened my eyes.

“Well?” he asked, studying me intently.

I shrugged, disappointed. “Nothing. Either none of them are around right now or I don’t have any ability to sense them. Maybe what I felt before was only paranoia.”

He nodded with one firm shake of his head. “Come on, then. The place we’re headed is only another block away.

We walked until Ethan stopped in front of a local bar/hotel called the McGavin. It was located on the far side of downtown. A half dozen motorcycles were parked in the lot to the side. The exterior looked rundown, with peeling white paint and a shutter that hung half off its hinge. The place was infamous for being a total dive, which catered to the biker crowd.

“Classy place,” I observed. “Let me guess. This is Frank’s favorite hangout.”

“
And
he lives here.” He eyed the broken neon sign. The
Mc
in McGavin had been smashed. “I’m hoping that he hasn’t been in the bar for long today.”

“Why?”

“He likes whiskey. A lot. But he wouldn’t meet us anywhere else.”

“The scummiest bar in Ravenridge is where your Upyri expert spends his time. Nice.”

“Afraid so. You can, uh, wait out here if you’d prefer. I’ll see if I can get him to come out. He did agree to meet you so it’s not asking for much, really. He knows how important this is.” He’d let go of me and now had his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans. He looked uncomfortable apologizing for Frank’s behavior before I’d even met the guy.

“I need answers and I need them now. You showed me your swanky Upyri prison. Now I’m ready to meet this Frank guy. So let’s go.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no, I’m not waiting outside.’”

“Correct.”

I stayed close to Ethan’s side as we entered the dark interior of the bar. Despite laws that forbid smoking in restaurants, I could still smell cigarette smoke.

The place was bigger than I’d expected, with a long wooden bar that hugged the far wall. A ceiling fan creaked overhead. Dozens of glass bottles were stacked in a pyramid in front of a mirror that reflected back the interior. To my right was an adjoining room where two men played a game of pool. That was the source of the smoke. They both had cigarettes in hand. A bartender leaned against the far end of the bar, a newspaper spread before him, and he eyed us with disinterest as we moved across the sticky floor.

A man sat at the bar with his back toward us. He had long, straggly grey hair and his reflection in the mirror in front of him showed that he had a beard to match. He hunched over his empty glass.

“How about another?” he growled at the bartender.

“How about you pay your tab?” the bartender replied casually.

The man snorted as if that was an amusing answer. “Ethan, kid, I was wondering when you were going to roll in here.”

“I’m on time.”

“Where’ve you been?”

“School, mostly.”

“Of course.
School.
How could I forget something as important as that?” He scratched his beard. “Now how about a loan so I can get another refreshing beverage, pal?”

Ethan’s expression was tight. “How about you pull yourself together for five minutes and meet Olivia? I told you I was bringing her here today, remember?”

The stool squeaked as Frank swiveled slowly around to face us. I honestly couldn’t guess his age with all that grey hair. He could have been anywhere from his forties to somewhere in his sixties. When he grinned, wrinkles spread out around his eyes, but they weren’t too deep.

I forced myself to hold my hand out toward him. “I’m Olivia Hawthorn.”

He eyed my hand for a moment before shaking it with his rough, callused one. “Frank Kaplan, at your humble service.”

The scent of alcohol was heavily on his breath. This was our source for answers, was it? The town drunk? I glanced at Ethan with, I was sure, a questioning look on my face.

“Can we talk in here?” Ethan looked around.

“Don’t we always?”

“Not always. This is new.”

“New, old. What’s the difference, kid?”

“Come on, Frank. Don’t let me down today.”

Frank shook his head. “Ah, the young. Gotta love ‘em. Everything’s always so damned urgent.”

Every word he spoke brought on another dose of disappointment for me. This guy wasn’t going to help us. He couldn’t even help himself if he was this drunk at four o’clock in the afternoon.

“She looks kinda mad, Ethan,” Frank observed. “I think your pretty friend is less than impressed right now.”

“I don’t exactly blame her.”

“Lemme get a better look at you, sweetheart.”

Before I could move out of his reach, Frank grabbed my chin and drew me closer to him. He squinted at me with his pale, watery eyes. “Cute little thing, aren’t you?”

“Frank, leave her alone...” Ethan warned.

“Got my friend Ethan’s panties in a bunch, have you? He can barely think straight lately. And I’m guessing it’s all to do with you, Olivia.”

I tried not to squirm away from his alcohol-laden breath. “Is that what you think?”

“Let go of her,” Ethan snapped. “Now. I mean it, Frank.”

He finally did as Ethan requested.

I eyed him with distaste. “So you’re the expert on the Upyri around here?”

“Impressed?” He waggled his shaggy eyebrows.

“Not yet.”

“You said you’d help us.” There was now a sharp edge of anger to Ethan’s voice. “You promised.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me before, Ethan, old buddy, old pal, but how ‘bout that loan so I can wet my whistle? I can’t talk business when I’m dying of thirst, can I?”

Ethan glared at him and routed around in his pocket. He threw twenty dollars in front of Frank. “Enough?”

“It’s a start.” Frank smiled. His teeth were crooked, but whiter than I’d expected. “Thanks, kid.”

As Frank beckoned the bartender over and ordered another drink, Ethan drew close enough to whisper in my ear. “What do you want to do? We can leave.”

It sounded like a fantastic idea, but I shook my head. “You said he has answers.”

“I hoped he would.”

If we had another option at the moment I’d definitely take it. But from where I was standing, we didn’t. “I’m willing to give it ten minutes.”

“Okay. Ten minutes.”

I watched as Frank tossed back a shot of whiskey. Was this really what he did? He hung out at a bar all day long? If this was any other situation I might feel sorry for him.

He also ordered a tall glass of beer which he took a long gulp from before turning around to look at me again with a grin. “My whistle is now officially wet.”

“Then let’s get on with this,” Ethan said stiffly.

“Sorry, kid. Are we keeping you from something more important?”

Ethan glared at him. “Let’s talk.”

“Let’s.”

“Is there somewhere more private we can go?”

“We’ll grab a table.”

I followed them over to a booth in the corner and sat down, feeling more frustrated with every passing moment.

“So,” Frank said, leaning back into the booth, “what’s going on?”

“Don’t you know already?” I asked. “About the Upyri in town?”

“Guess they found a way to escape that prison of theirs—at least, some of ‘em have. And now it looks like they’re waiting for something.”

“Yes, they’re waiting,” Ethan agreed. “But for what? And why have they targeted Olivia?”

“You said they escaped a prison?” I asked. “How?”

Frank shrugged. “All’s I know is they haven’t been seen or heard from in this town in a century. And now they’re back. And when it comes to their kind, a small trickle will become a flood if given enough time.”

I shivered. “Are they in other towns? Or is it only here?”

“Other places aren’t my territory or my business.”

“You don’t know how they escaped?”

He played with the empty glass in front of him. “They can only be trapped so long before they can start to break free.” He cocked his head to the side and eyed me again with curiosity in his drunken gaze. “And now they’re looking for you. Why you?”

So far he wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “I was hoping you might be able to answer that question for me.”

“There must be something special about you.”

“Why?”

“Because Ethan told me so, himself.”

I slanted a glance at him, but he wasn’t looking at me, his attention was completely on Frank.

Frank frowned, scanned my face. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“That’s your age, too, Ethan. You two have tons in common, don’t you? So cute I could puke.”

Ethan looked like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment.

Last night, he thought this guy was going to be helpful to us. I hoped he was right about that. If nothing else, Frank seemed experienced and clearly had some knowledge of Upyri. Just because he liked to dive head first into a bottle of whiskey in the middle of the afternoon didn’t mean he couldn’t still help us.

“You two dating?” Frank asked.

“Frank,” Ethan growled.

“I see why you like her so much, kid.” He looked at me. “Do you like him too, Olivia?”

My face flushed again. “Can we please try to stay on topic?”

“Right. You’re here to find out what I can tell you about bloodthirsty creatures who take over human bodies. Kinda gross, ain’t it?”

I shuddered. “It is.”

“Immortal beings like Upyri are powerful. But they have one very important weakness—they don’t have a body of their own. They have to steal one in order to fully exist in the physical world.”

Now that we were talking about what mattered I finally saw a spark of intelligence light up in his eyes.

“So how do we stop them?” I asked. “If they find another shell when their last one’s destroyed, how can they be stopped permanently?”

He belched loudly without covering his mouth. “Oh, there are ways, sweetheart. Nothing easy, though, especially not when they’re so sneaky good at hiding in their new shells.”

“Olivia mentioned to me earlier that she thought she felt their presence,” Ethan said.

Frank raised a bushy eyebrow. “Yeah? That’s interesting.”

“We tested it, though. Nothing.”

I shrugged. “I guess I’m not psychic after all. Can’t say I’m all that surprised.”

“Give me your hand.” Frank stretched his hand out to me.

“Why?”

“Humor an old guy.”

I hesitated before I took his hand. He placed his other hand on the back of mine and squeezed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, worried now.

“Seeing if I can sense something.”

“Are you psychic?”

“Let’s just say I sometimes have moments of helpful insight.” He paused, his forehead furrowing into deep lines. “There’s something there inside you. I can feel it. Very faintly.”

“What?”

“Ethan’s right. You are special. You’re different from most other people.”

Ethan watched him. “What do you mean?”