A Shade of Vampire 28: A Touch of Truth Read Free

had deliberately left me alone so that I could sleep, recover from my ordeal. I comforted myself with these hopeful thoughts as I began moving slowly and cautiously down the corridor.
    I wished that I could call out to see if anyone was nearby. But of course, I couldn’t. I might as well be calling for my death.
    I reached the end of the corridor and arrived at a set of elevators—broken, defunct elevators. Next to them was a staircase, however. I didn’t want to think about how many steps I would have to climb down to get to the bottom. This building was so high—I guessed over twenty floors, though my estimation could have been wildly off.
    I set the coil down and opened the box of matches, which thankfully were not damp. Sparking a flame and brewing it in my right hand, I replaced the matches in my pocket, picked up the coil in my left hand and started down the staircase. It was frighteningly dark. I was already imagining myself halfway down the first flight of stairs and coming face to face with one of those pale, nightmarish creatures. I’d never been more grateful for my ability to wield fire than I was then. The flames were comforting, though the shadows they sent dancing on the walls on either side of me gave me shivers. I tried to keep my eyes firmly on the stairs in front of me and quell my overstimulated imagination.
    I realized how much I was sweating as I arrived on the next floor down. I exited the staircase and stepped out into another corridor. As I scanned left and right, something caught my eye by one of the doorways. I could’ve sworn that I spotted a moving shadow. My throat grew tight and I froze, staring at where I thought I’d seen it.
    I moved toward the door slower than ever, and peered through the doorway. Another office room. An apparently empty office room.
    I’m just getting spooked.
    I explored this floor a bit more before returning to the staircase and making my way down to the next floor—moving noticeably faster this time. I stopped on each floor and explored as much as I dared, but each time found nothing of importance. No signs of whoever it was that had saved me. By the time I reached the ground floor, even my half-supernatural muscles were beginning to feel the workout.
    I gazed at a metal plaque fixed to the wall outside the staircase. It had an arrow pointing right. “Reception,” it read. And then beneath that was another word with another arrow, pointing down the corridor in the opposite direction. “Parking,” it said.
    A reception area didn’t sound like somewhere I wanted to go—it made me think of some grand lobby with lots of glass windows—probably all smashed, and leading directly into the dangerous road outside. But a parking garage didn’t sound much better. Though if it was in the basement, underground, as parking usually was in buildings such as these, maybe…
    Given that I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with options right now, I headed in the direction of the parking garage. Indeed, the arrow led me toward a pair of elevators and another stairwell. I reached the bottom of the stairs and arrived outside a thick metal door with a round handle. Gripping it with one hand, I pushed it open to create the smallest crack. I peered through into a pitch-black basement, filled with vehicles. I couldn’t see enough through this small gap, however, so I was forced to push it open wider. I stepped inside, holding out my fire and making it flare higher to cast its halo further around me.
    Surprisingly, the vehicles were intact. At least, none of them appeared to have any visible damage to them. And indeed this room in general seemed to be quite untouched—which was odd, considering that the door had been unlocked.
    I weaved in and out of the vehicles and moved down the center of the parking lot. Reaching the other end, I stopped and pressed my back against the wall to scan the room from this angle. To my right was a slope leading to what appeared to be the basement’s