Deny Me If You Can by Nellie C. Lind Page B

choose wasn't hard. She went for the attic. Luckily, the door was open. There would be a lot more places to hide on in there, she hoped, and maybe it would be more difficult for Jaromir to find her. A vampire's sense of smell was a lot stronger than a human's, and attics where filled with plenty of odd and old scents. If she was lucky, it would confuse him long enough for her to gain time. Well, at least it sounded like a nice theory, but she had no idea if it was true.
    Megan looke d at her watch. Three hours to go.
    She felt tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest. She was not used to being up this late, and worrying about her sister made her lack in sleep. Stacey didn't have much time left. Everything came down to these final hours.
    “You can do this,” she told herself and opened the door to the attic.

Chapter 19
     
    The first thing Megan saw when she opened the door was a narrow corridor followed by stairs that went upward. It was dark inside, and that worried her. Who knew what was hiding up there. Maybe it was some kind of vampire nest where they performed rituals on humans.
    Megan shook her head and knew she was unfair. So far she hadn't seen anything of that sort. The vampires had turned out to be different from what the media had made her believe, and she wasn't surprised. The media was good at reporting only the bad things about the vampires, but at the same time all the news was created by humans who had no clue about the world of vampires.
    Megan realized where this was heading. Here she wa s, among the vampires, still unharmed and alive. Although being hunted, there was no real danger in it. The only vampire that had shown an unkind side was Jillian, but she had her reasons for it. Megan couldn't blame her for being angry. Jillian wanted Jaromir for herself, and one thing Megan had noticed about the vampires was that they were possessive.
    Megan knew she would be one of the few humans who would actually talk kindly about the vampires once she got out of here. That was the least she could do if Jaromir gave her his blood.
    Megan stare d at the stairs in front of her. She would miss him when this night was over. Nothing would ever be the same. She felt it in her entire being. Jaromir would remain a memory of something thrilling and wonderful, but that was all it would ever be. He maybe wanted her now. The hunt had him all worked up, and that was the only reason as to why he wanted to keep her, she told herself. When all this was over, his feelings would go away and she doubted he would even remember her after a few days.
    That thought actually hurt.
    Megan sighed and tried to focus on here and now. She took a deep breath and went inside. The door closed slowly behind her, and the loud sound from the door shutting made her heart jump. The light was poor and there was no light switch, but when she went up the ten steps it became brighter.
    Megan looked around with big eyes.
    “Wow,” she said to herself when she saw that the attic was one huge room with leaned roof. Windows were placed here and there on the roof and through them entered the light, creating a dim atmosphere. There were boxes, clothing racks, chandeliers and other things that were no longer used all over the place. In one corner stood an old grandfather clock with broken glass. In another corner were pieces from an old horse wagon piled up, and close to her stood a worn out table with a computer from the eighties.
    It felt like she had stepped inside several different epochs at the same time. Everything wa s dusty, old and used, but it mesmerized Megan. She didn't know who this belonged to, but when she looked closer she figured it belonged to several people. In one of the boxes lay beautiful dresses from the twenties. Next to it was a huge wooden chest. It was open and Megan gently touched the fabric of what looked like hippy clothing from the sixties.
    “Someone has had a very interesting life,” she said to herself and