Chapter Thirteen
Of course Steven hadn’t shown. Krystal scowled down at her drink. She’d taken a few sips of her beer, but it tasted like piss. She looked up and watched the popular kids from school dancing to some throbbing bass in the middle of the room, boys grinding up against girls, despite half-hearted protests. Most of them were already drunk. Most of them had already paired up and were making out in corners, a steady chorus of moans coming from the bedroom just up the hall.
She was not having fun at all. She felt awkward and just wanted to go home. But like a trooper, she pasted a smile on her face and bopped to the music, trying to pass as someone who didn’t want to stalk right out the front door without a backward glance.
Natalia was dancing with her friends, and flirting heavily with a blonde guy who, from the looks of him, was on the football team. She was way better at faking things than Krystal. She had no idea where Quinn was. She hadn’t seen him for at least an hour. He was probably busy blending in, sticking his tongue down some girl’s throat.
“Isn’t this the best?” a cute black guy sidled up to her shyly. He looked her up and down discreetly. “Need a refill?”
“I’m good,” Krystal replied. “And yeah, this is great. Best party I’ve been to in a long time.” She grimaced at how false the lie had sounded, but the boy hadn’t seemed to notice.
“You’re Krystal, right?”
“That’s me.”
“You hung out with Steven the other night, didn’t you? Went on a date? How’d it go?”
“It was fun,” she lied again, looking away. “Steven’s a great guy.”
“He’s my boy.”
They watched the dancers silently for a minute before he cleared his throat. “So, have you talked to him since the date?”
“Talked to him?” she raised an eyebrow as she noted the suddenly serious look on the boy’s face. “No. He wasn’t in school today.”
“I know, I know. I just ask because no one’s seen him today at all. Not even his dad.”
Krystal froze. “No one’s seen him?”
“Nope,” the boy shrugged. “And you know, with the disappearances lately, I’m a little worried about him. I mean, his dad isn’t. Steven’s disappeared for days at a time in the past, to get away from the asshole, but I don’t know, even when he’s avoiding his dad, he usually calls me, lets me know he’s alright, you know?”
Krystal nodded stiffly. “I didn’t realize…”
“And the thing is, he never called to tell me about the date either. He was really looking forward to it, and I know he would’ve wanted to talk about it after.”
Licking her lips, Krystal shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know where he is. Really.”
He looked like he didn’t really believe her, but nodded. “Alright. Cool. Just checking.” Then he sauntered away.
Krystal watched him leave, her mind going a million miles a minute. He never went home? Was the date that upsetting to him? Or…had something happened to him? She recalled the zombie following her through the fog and swallowed hard.
Setting down her drink, Krystal tried to signal Natalia that she was leaving, but the hunter didn’t even look up. Giving up, she rushed out the door, texting Quinn to let him know that she would see them back at the mansion.
When she finished the text, she slid her phone back into her purse and took off at a sprint, retracing her steps from the previous night without slowing down. When she finally made it to the train cars, she was completely out of breath, and had to rest for a moment before she could continue. Then, squinting in the dark, she tried to recall which train car Steven had made his own. She slowed her pace, trying to remember that night and paused beside the one that she thought was correct.
“Here goes nothing,” she murmured. She stepped up onto a ledge and pulled the door open before hopping up into the dark interior. She could see by the moonlight that she’d guessed right. But Steven was nowhere to be seen. After fumbling around for a minute, she located his lamp and the place was softly illuminated.
It was a wreck. The sofa was tipped back, the contents of the cooler strewn about. Either he had been so upset by the date that he’d freaked out and went on a rampage, or he’d put up a fight. Personally, she didn’t give herself enough credit to imagine that this was due to her.
“Damn,” she whispered, looking around with her stomach in her throat. She rifled through the papers that had slipped to the floor, dug through the drawer of his upturned table, but found no clues as to what had happened here. But Krystal was certain that some foul play had occurred. Whether it was the thing she’d seen in the fog, or whatever was happening to the students in the area, or even the vampire that was running amuck around town, she knew that he was in trouble.
And she was going to get him out of it.