Page 99 of Thorn Evermore
“I suppose that’s true.”
Thorn stops walking suddenly. “Look. The oddities museum.”
“Ooh, let’s go in. You’re gonna love it.”
Thorn opens the door and guides me inside the old building. It’s not much to look at until you’re past the macabre lobby decorated with skulls and fake cobwebs, giving the vibe of an abandoned house more than a haunted one.
Thorn pays the twenty-dollar entry fee, listening politely to the very enthusiastic goth girl at the front desk. Once her overview is done, he joins me and we step behind the curtain into a crazy world of strange objects.
There are bloated body parts floating in jars, death masks, and gruesome photos of the dead. But farther back is my favorite part. It’s called Beyond the Veil and has a collection of supposed proof of the supernatural. Now that I know the supernatural world is real, I can’t wait to see it with my new perspective.
I turn to find Thorn when he abruptly leaves my side. He walks straight to the vampire collection. His energy feels different again, almost like when he saw the Greek statues, but not quite as melancholic.
“What is it, Thorn?”
He visibly shivers as his fingers feather over a vampire hunting kit. He doesn’t say anything as he leans forward and lifts a box from the shelf containing fangs. His energy shifts again, this time to something much darker.
“Thorn?”
He finally looks at me, his eyes glowing with a red ring around them I haven’t seen before. “The energy lingers. Every vampire who’s ever touched these items is connected to it. I can feel it. These…” He hands me the fangs. “She was alive when they took them.”
“You can feel that?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
“You’re not sensitive enough yet.” He takes the box and puts it back on the shelf. “These modern mortals think it’s kitschy. They collect these items like decorations, but vampires died for them.”
I clutch his arm, gazing at the items. I don’t know what to say.
His attention shifts, his head twitching as he focuses on another box of items. “Odd.”
“What?”
“This box of letters. I swear…” He shakes his head. “No.”
“Talk to me, Thorn.”
“Sorry, love. I think I felt Yves for a moment, but it’s distant. Vague. Perhaps he knew someone connected to these items.”
“Whoa.”
“We have to take them.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. Yves needs to see them.”
“We have to steal them?” I whisper.
“At least one of them.” He kisses my forehead. “Don’t worry, darling. We’re just borrowing it. We’ll return it.” He holds his hand over the box of letters, choosing one towards the back.
The paper it’s on is yellowed and weathered. A red ribbon is wrapped around it with a wax seal that has been opened before. Thorn tucks it into his jacket.
We peruse the other items in the case and Thorn reacts strongly to a damaged and tarnished ring in a velvet box. He tries to lift it but it’s secured by a metal tag.
“I don’t know what it is about it,” Thorn whispers, still touching the ring. “Someone in my life knows who this belonged to. I have to bring Yves back. He’ll know.”