Excerpt: Pine Wood

When I got home, it was eleven fifteen. The light in front of my apartment building was flickering. It had been for almost a month now, and any day I knew it would go out. I tried to stay logical and calm as I passed under it, but on a good night I bolted up the last few steps and slammed against my door while I unlock it, as if that would get me in any faster. I liked to think I was a fairly level headed and rational person, but I definitely felt like sometimes knowing too much was bad for my mental health. My ex would have disagreed with the first claim and agreed whole heartedly with the last. (If vampires are real, what else is?) We broke up the year the bulletins came out.

I didn’t go to my drawer first thing when I got home that night. I didn’t need to. I’d memorized most of the headlines. “Abandoned House Holds Family of Four Slain.” “Girl’s Body Recovered After Two Years Missing.” “College Student Dies of Injuries After Vicious Attack.” “Vampires Among Us.” “Girl Survives Attack on Family Vacation.” That last one was me, though I have only the faintest memories left in my nightmares.

I flopped onto my couch and tried to distract myself with pointless networking websites. (They say vampires smell like death.) Then what smelled like wood? (A barn.)