Chapter 28: Truth or dare
Kaine climbed the stairs to his apartment building, every step reminding him that vampire blood was a bitch to get out of fabric. His shirt was stiff with dried gore, his jacket had holes from crystalline spears, and he was pretty sure something important had happened to his left shoulder blade that his supernatural healing was still working on.
Three-fifteen AM. The perfect time to sneak into his apartment, shower off the evidence, and pretend he was a normal person who spent his evenings doing normal things like watching television or reading books instead of preventing teenage massacres.
It made the neighbors less comfortable to know there was someone living with them that slayed things that terrorized their nights. Because at any point, hunters also ran the risk of getting turned.
He was fishing for his keys when he heard footsteps in the hallway.
"Oh, thank God. There you are."
Kaine turned to find Rebecca emerging from the stairwell, wearing flannel pajama pants and an oversized sweater that suggested she’d either been sleeping or preparing to sleep. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she was clutching a ceramic mug that smelled like chamomile tea.
"Rebecca." He tried to position himself so the worst of the blood stains weren’t immediately visible. "What are you doing up?"
"Looking for you, actually." She approached with the casual confidence of someone who’d already decided they were going to have a conversation whether he wanted one or not. "I heard you come home earlier, then leave again around midnight. Figured you were probably—"
She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she took in his appearance. The emergency lighting in the hallway wasn’t doing him any favors, but it was sufficient to highlight the dark stains across his clothes and the general appearance of someone who’d recently been in a fight.
"Jesus Christ, Kaine. Are you hurt?"
"It’s not my blood."