you.” Barry grabbed his suitcase and followed Casey to the elevators.
A few minutes later they arrived on the ninth floor and made their way to their room. The two-bedroom suite was three times the size of Barry’s apartment back in Fort Worth. Complete with dining area, an entertainment center with Wi-Fi, and a living room with a high ceiling.
She placed her bags on the couch. “Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when I’m ready.”
“Ready for what?” asked Barry.
“To meet my family.”
Barry’s jaw dropped open.
“Don’t look surprised. It was your idea.”
“I meant for you to meet them. They don’t know me.”
“They will tomorrow.” She opened her duffel bag. “Tomorrow they’ll know everything.”
“I don’t get it. Why the change and why bring me along?” Barry didn’t know if vampires needed oxygen, but he thought he saw Casey take a deep breath. He followed her over to the sliding glass doors and went out onto the balcony. The lights of Lubbock outlined the landscape.
“You can’t understand what I’m feeling. What I’m going through. What I am. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”
Barry listened to her sincerity.
“I made some bad choices. Running away was one of them. I wasn’t interested in the life of a country girl. My heroes were Charlie’s Angels and the Bionic Woman, because they had cool day jobs and I wanted one.”
“Doesn’t sound like a reason to leave home.”
She became serious. “I had a strict father who didn’t want me becoming an actress. I wasn’t allowed to date and I had a curfew every time I went out with friends.”
Barry had read stories about runaways for his paper. He didn’t expect to hear one firsthand.
“There was a boy in high school, Bobby Joe Freeman. I liked him and he liked me. We did what all teenagers with strict parents do. We found ways around the rules. Papa caught us at a movie theatre. He grabbed me, told Bobby Joe to stay away, then dragged me home and nearly beat the fire out of me. That’s when I decided to leave.”
“And made your way to Los Angeles?”
Casey nodded her head. “I had no idea I was trading one prison for another.”
“What happened when you got there?”
“The rest is my business.”
Disappointed, Barry reminded her, “You’re not answering my questions.”
“You’re here because I need your help.”
“With what?”
“To protect my family.”
The answer shocked Barry. “I don’t understand.”
“Vampires are like mortals. Some good, some evil, but we all have one thing in common—the need for blood. Some detest killing, but others don’t give it a second thought. The most sinister of our kind give in to the one desire that causes us to lose what’s left of our souls and become true vampires.”
“What’s that?” asked Barry.
“We kill off our immediate family. Parents, siblings, even our own children if we have any.”
Speechless, Barry stared at her.
“Before we find out where Kelly went, I’m going to teach you how to kill a vampire. If it looks for an instant like I might lose control, you’re going to have to destroy me.”
His mixed emotions went into overdrive. “Now wait a minute, I didn’t sign on for this!” He pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath.
She pleaded, “I know I’m asking a lot.”
“Ya think? You should have told me this before we left,” he argued.
“And if I had, would you have come along?”
“Of course not!” Barry went back inside the suite, Casey following closely behind him. “I’m a teenager trying to get into college, I’m not a murderer.”
“I’m already dead, so technically it isn’t murder.”
“You know what I’m talking about,” he said as he paced the floor. “There has to be another way.”
“There’s no other way,” she countered.
“There has to be somebody else!”
“There is no one else.”
“What about one of your rock star friends?” He snapped his fingers. “I know. Ozzy Osbourne! I heard he bit the head off of a bat once. He’d be perfect for the job!”
“Barry, this is no time for jokes.”
“Who’s joking? What’s his number? I’ll call him.”
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” she yelled, turning away from Barry and walking over to the dining room table.
He didn’t mean to push her to the limit. Any more and she might lose control—on him. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry, Casey. I’m sorry, but this is a lot to take in right now.”
“I understand.”
He tried looking for a way out. “But why me?”
She turned to face him. “You mean you haven’t figured it out yet?”
“I’m new at this, remember?” He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “What are you not telling me?”
Casey looked down at the floor like a schoolgirl being scolded for keeping a secret. Finally, she spoke. “First, I need your help to find out where Kelly went and to make sure I don’t lose control.”
“I got that part,” he reassured her.
“Then we have to find Kelly.”
“I’m on board with that.”
“If we find her in time, then we’re good. We’ll bring her home.”
This part Barry didn’t understand. “What do you mean by ‘in time’?”
“If she’s been brought across like me, I can’t kill her because she’s part of my bloodline. It could trigger the desire—the hunger—and I’ll be back here to wipe out everyone. I’ll become evil incarnate. A true vampire.”
“And if you don’t kill her, then she could lose control and come back here to kill everyone.”
“No,” she corrected him, “if you don’t kill her.”
Now it became clear. “You can’t be serious. What part of ‘I don’t hunt or kill vampires’ are you not getting?”
The desperation could be heard in her voice. “Barry, there is more to it than that.”
“Like what?”
“Saving my family. I made a mistake running away; they shouldn’t have to pay for what I’ve become.”
Barry remained silent. Arguing with her was pointless and fatigue started to take over. The opportunity didn’t come along every day to make a difference. Casey needed Barry’s help for redemption and a second chance. He already knew the answer when he asked himself the question, What would Dad do? He picked up his suitcase.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting some sleep. Tomorrow has ‘long day’ written all over it and I need some rest.”
“Then you’ll help me?”
Barry knew the next