Unseen

  UNSEEN

  A Prequel to

  Unnatural

  ***

  by

  Yolanda Sfetsos

  This is dedicated to the first person who read Trina’s book and encouraged me to delve into her world.

  You know who you are.

  I’d also like to thank Linda, for giving

  The Hidden a wonderful home.

  Other Books by Yolanda Sfetsos

  Coming Soon

  Unnatural

  Copyright

  ISBN: 978-1-61026-087-9

  Unseen: A prequel to Unnatural by Yolanda Sfetsos. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express permission of ImaJinn Books, Inc.

  Cover design by Patricia Lazarus

  Cover credits:

  Aleksandr Frolov, Dreamstime.com

  Contact us at:

  ImaJinn Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 74274, Phoenix, AZ 85087

  Toll Free: 1-877-625-3592

  http://www.imajinnbooks.com

  Chapter One

  Humming along to songs about wearing sunglasses at night, shattered dreams, and girls having fun wasn’t exactly how Trina Martin had expected to spend her first solo shift behind the cash register at the stationery store. She’d been employed with Pen, Paper & Beyond for just over a month and had been looking forward to working alone at the customer service desk, but now kept yawning.

  She stepped back until the counter pressed against the small of her back. From this vantage point she could pretty much see the entire store. The many tall aisles were fully stocked with whatever stationery items, or latest tech gadgets, customers desired. The office furniture display was situated at the back of the store, and the electronic technology near the front desk. She’d already gotten caught up in the familiar jargon and labels her coworkers used to refer to products or sections of the store.

  Then again, the training they provided had been extensive. Unlike many of the other jobs she’d had before this one, where she was expected to learn things by osmosis, Pen, Paper & Beyond actually seemed to care that their employees become familiar with their products.

  A new song started, and her mind took her back to an incident that had provided her with a successful bounty.

  It’s a little strange that you remember what you were doing when these songs weren’t just department store fodder, and were actual new releases.

  And it wasn’t because she’d grown up with them, like several of her workmates probably had. Nope, she’d been the same age for a long time. Well, technically she still gained a year every time one passed, but she didn’t display the usual signs of aging, nor did she know her birth date. That small detail had faded into oblivion. Too many bad things had interrupted her life when she’d been young enough to be considered fully human. Before she was stripped away from a tranquil life and thrust into chaos.

  Unfortunately, most of the bad stuff was still packed inside her head. But the good, if there’d been any, was mostly forgotten.

  Just cut it out, think about the 1980s.

  She couldn’t help laughing at the thought. She’d had much bigger hair then, kept puffy by a lot of teasing with a comb, and half a can of hair spray each day. Ah, there was nothing like a slow night to encourage reminiscing.

  A gush of air lifted her hair as the automatic doors opened behind her. Winter had totally gripped Sydney this year.

  She was about to turn around to take a look, and maybe smile at the customer who’d dared to brave the cold night to buy stationery, when a bubbly voice said, “Hey, Trina, I’m ducking out for my break, okay?”

  Trina looked at her coworker, a tiny blonde with a big smile. Millie was working the electronic technology shift, and always seemed to be smiling.

  “Sure, take your break,” she replied.

  “If you need help with any questions you can’t answer, just call Zeke.”

  Zeke happened to be the manager on duty tonight, and the guy responsible for training Trina. He’d been very patient as she’d asked one question after another and pretended she needed him to hold her hand for a lot longer than necessary. She’d learned how to use the register instantly, but while listening to the gossip around here, she’d been led to believe that new staff got a lot of shifts at the beginning, to help them get into the swing of things, before being dropped down to twenty hours a week. She’d decided it was better to take advantage of the opportunity now, and had insisted she needed more training before being dumped on her own.

  “Trina, did you hear me?”

  “Sure, Millie. I’ll get Zeke if I need him.”

  “We always need Zeke,” Millie said with a wink as she strolled toward the staff-only stairs.

  Trina snorted. It was no secret that most of the female population in this store considered Zeke to be a hottie. While Trina hadn’t really noticed, she’d seen how the other girls scowled at her when Zeke paid her attention. But he was only training her. The sooner she knew her job, the less work for him. It made sense to put in all that extra time. Besides, Zeke was just one of those naturally friendly people who was willing to offer a helping hand and didn’t seem to let anything get to him. Plus he always had a smile on his face, like Millie, but he didn’t have the annoying, high-pitched voice.

  Putting up with her fellow workmates was starting to grate on her nerves. Most of them were in their early twenties and were always chatting about themselves, bragging about their weekends, or planning outings with each other. She avoided those conversations without much trouble because she was new and most of them were still testing the waters, but she knew that eventually they’d start asking her to join in the fun. Zeke had casually mentioned it one time already, but she’d lied and said she needed to go home to feed the cat. She didn’t have a cat.

  She pushed off the counter and made her way toward the counter drawers, hoping to spend a few minutes rifling through them to make the time go faster. Though she knew it wouldn’t work for long. As she grabbed the drawer, a familiar scent tickled her nose.

  What the hell? What’s one of those idiots doing in here?

  Trina dropped her hand from the red drawer—every surface was painted bright red—and instinctively reached behind her.

  Damn! The weapon she was looking for wasn’t there. It was sitting inside her locker upstairs. She could conceal her weapon while outside in the dark, but in a fully lit place like this, she’d decided it was best not to risk attracting any unwanted attention. Besides, how could she have known a stupid vamp would decide to take a stroll in here?

  She tried to get her bearings by taking a longer sniff, but the vamp seemed to be moving a little too swiftly to keep track of. As cliché as that sounded, if a vampire was cocky enough to risk coming into an almost-empty stationery store, it most likely had evil intentions in mind.

  Trina shivered as she strolled around the customer service desk and out of her temporary square prison. She slowly made her way around to the other side of the register, grabbing a stack of pamphlets. She straightened them before stepping in front of the counter to sort through the stacks of clearance items on display, but still couldn’t see anyone su
spicious. She did hear Brenna’s now-familiar nasally voice as she explained the ins and outs of mechanical lead pencils to someone.

  The customer didn’t respond, probably too entranced about the topic to interrupt. She snorted. Yeah, right. She couldn’t see them from where she stood so she walked in that direction. When she’d almost reached the second register, she noticed someone turning into one of the back aisles beside the office furniture. The person had moved too fast, and she hadn’t been able to get a reading, so she assumed it was just a customer.

  Maybe you’re just imagining this. The last few weeks had been a little slow on the vamp-hunting side of things. She’d even decided to take a little hiatus from her weekly meetings with Father Constantine and his trusty sidekick, Tomas the scholar. It didn’t stop Tomas from calling her every other day, but if there was nothing to report, what was the point of popping into church?

  As she was about to head back into her little hen-house, she caught sight of Brenna rushing down the aisle toward her. She dumped some scissors on the counter, offered Trina a smile, and swung around, heading towards the right side of the store.

  Trina paused, watching as the girl in charge of stocking the shelves and helping customers with standard-issue stationery pushed past the thick plastic swinging doors leading into the docking area.

  Only a second later, someone else pushed past the plastic barrier, and a shrill cry filled the store. Others probably hadn’t heard or seen anything out of the ordinary, but Trina had noticed both the motion and the sound. Someone had followed Brenna into the back, and she was betting it was some bloody vamp trying to score an easy meal. What a brazen attack! He’d probably asked Brenna for something that wasn’t on the shelf, and being the helpful girl she was—as their training drilled them to be—Brenna headed into the back without a care in the world.

  Trina raced across the aisles, headed straight for the back, before she could stop herself. Because, even if she had to pay for it later, she wasn’t willing to let some bloodsucker ruin her first real shift.

  She needed to keep this job. It had enabled her to subscribe to cable TV, and she now had several cans of hot chocolate in her pantry. She wasn’t about to let some moron ruin her small pleasures in life.

  Besides, once she made the bloodsucker pay, there would be a reward left behind for her.

  As soon as she’d swiped the plastic doors aside and stepped into the darkened area, she swallowed against the horrid stench of vampire and body odor. It made her stomach turn, but she kept moving. Someone wasn’t keeping up with their hygiene. Maybe it was her lucky night, and she was about to bag a newbie—a weak excuse of a vamp still learning the ropes—and he wouldn’t be much of an opponent. It would certainly explain this sloppy attack.

  I can finish this and be back at the service desk before anyone notices I’m missing.

  Trina rushed forward, turned a corner, and found a male vampire hunched over Brenna. The idiot should’ve been facing the opening, not have his back to it. Oh well, that’s his last mistake.

  She coughed to get his attention, confident that he hadn’t bitten the girl yet. “Hey, get off her. She’s got a job to do!”

  A low growl filled the space between them, and the vamp spun around to face her, one arm still wrapped tightly around Brenna’s front. He smiled at Trina and pushed his victim’s collar aside.

  “She’s a pretty one, don’t you think?”

  “Just let her go, and I promise not to make this too painful for you.”

  He laughed, his dark gaze pinned on Trina. He lifted his nose to sniff the air between them. “You smell strange but good. Are you one of us?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” The last thing in the world she wanted to be was a pathetic bloodsucker with nothing better to do than stalk the shadows for human victims. Though she kinda did something similar, she didn’t have to actually hunt the vamps down. They usually came to her. She couldn’t help wondering why this one didn’t seem to sense the Allure, an intoxicating magnetism able to naturally draw vampires to her. It was an ancient power forced on her centuries ago, and she’d had no choice but to embrace it. Most of the time, for the price of a mound of ash and a longer existence, it was well worth it.

  “Who are you, then?” he asked, eyeing her curiously.

  Trina smiled. “I believe I’ll be your executioner tonight.”

  He laughed again and tightened his hold on Brenna. She was biting down on her bottom lip, crying quietly as the unnamed vamp licked the side of her neck and collarbone. The fact she was reacting only confirmed this vampire had no idea what he was doing. Any vamp worth their ash would have locked Brenna’s mind and had her looking like a useless zombie already. This guy was pathetic.

  “Okay, I’m getting a little tired of this,” she told him impatiently. “You either let her go willingly, or I’ll make you.” Trina took another step and so did he, forcing Brenna to shuffle forward in front of him.

  “You smell nice,” he repeated. He was still smiling, but now looked more captivated than anything else. Something he should’ve done to his would-be victim. “I think I’ll drink from you after I’m done with this one.”

  Trina sighed. Did they always have to make things harder for her? She closed the distance between them and smacked him square in the face with her fist.

  “Oh, fuck . . . my nose!” he bellowed, stumbling back so suddenly his grip on Brenna slipped. The girl made a move to slide out of his arms, but the vamp didn’t completely lose his grip on her. “Fuck! I’m going to make you pay for that.” He shoved Brenna aside, sending her flying across the docking area until she smacked the back of her head against the parked forklift. She slumped to the dusty floor.

  The vamp glared at Trina with wide, crazed eyes. A line of blood dribbled from one nostril, and he hadn’t bothered to retract his fangs.

  “I’m going to tear out your throat,” he murmured, stepping forward. “And I’m going to enjoy it.”

  “I don’t think so.” What B-grade movie was this guy picking up lines from? She wasn’t going to let some asshole vamp get his fangs anywhere near her. She’d never succumbed to one of these disgusting creatures before, and she wasn’t about to start now.

  “Come here, you!” he ordered.

  Trina ducked just as he rushed her, flipping him over her back. He landed with a thump, sending a cloud of dust into the air, but was back on his feet in seconds.

  “You’re good,” he said, licking his lips. The blood from his nose was now dribbling into his mouth. “But I’m better.” He leaped into the air, kicking her ribs on the way down. He made a grab for her sweater, but she jerked away before he could use it to reel her in. The sound of tearing echoed louder than it should have as she put several feet between them.

  Damn. He’d ruined a perfectly good sweater.

  “So far, I’m not impressed,” she taunted.

  “You bitch.” He ran at her again, claws out in front of him and fanged mouth gaping. She punched him in the mouth, and he staggered back, one foot slipping on the dusty floor. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! You broke my tooth!”

  He straightened, opening his mouth in a snarl. Sure enough, one of his fangs was now cracked in half. She could feel the pointy end stuck into the back of her hand but didn’t waste the time looking.

  “Don’t worry about it. I only broke one.” This was getting old fast, and soon she’d have to get back to her job of standing around. So instead of waiting for his next move, she grabbed a box from the metal shelf beside her and threw it at him. She didn’t know what was in it, but it was heavy enough to send him flying backwards until his spine smashed against the wall.

  Trina scanned the area. Without her wooden stake she wouldn’t be able to finish him off, so she had to improvise. A stack of pallets caught her eye. Perfect.

  Chancing it, she ran across the dusty room and tore off the end of one wooden plank. She was back in time to watch the vampire push the heavy box off his chest and get to his feet. But she stood
waiting with a makeshift stake clutched in her hand, the splintered end stuck out in front of her and ready to impale him.

  “Trina, please report to the service desk. Trina, report to the service desk.”

  The intercom call made her pulse quicken. Shit. That was Zeke.

  The vampire took the opportunity to charge her, using his shoulder to push her off balance. She went sprawling to the ground, but somehow managed to keep her hold on the stake.

  He was suddenly there, staring down at her with a satisfied grin curving his bloody lips. “I’ll kill you, bitch.”

  “I’ve been called worse names.” She’d also met many vamps stupid enough to gloat in their temporary success to know that she was about to win the battle. She wrapped her fingers around his ankle and pulled on it, sending him crashing to the ground beside her.

  Trina climbed to her feet by clawing at the dust now caking her fingers. She grabbed the vamp’s jacket as he got up, and used it to shove him into the stack of metal shelves fixed to the ground and ceiling. The frame wobbled under the impact but it would hold. She kicked her leg out and struck him in the gut before he could react. When he leaned over, she kneed him in the face.

  She didn’t give him time to straighten before raising the piece of wood high into the air and plunging it into the vampire’s back. He cried out and dropped to his knees, struggling to pull out the lodged piece of wood. But it was lights out for this guy.

  Trina stood poised and waiting, breathing heavily as she watched the show of vampire-turning-into-gory-corpse before settling into a neat pile of ash. It took only moments for it to happen, but her heart still drummed hard against her ribs. She didn’t want to get busted in the middle of this. She might have just stopped a workmate from being bitten, but as long as there wasn’t a corpse by the time Zeke found her, she could hopefully explain her way around the reason for her being here.