Obsessed (Book #12 in the Vampire Journals) Read Online Free Page A

him, he felt Jojo quiver.
    He reached the
gym and hauled open the doors to find the cheerleader girls had attempted to
form a human pyramid to get out through one of the top windows. The pyramid
tumbled as soon as they realized their capture had returned and foiled their
plot.
    “Clever,” Kyle
said with a laugh. “You’ll all make excellent additions to my family.”
    “Jojo!” someone
cried as Vivian’s friend was thrown into the gym.
    Kyle looked
around and licked his lips.
    “Let the fun
begin,” he said to himself.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Police officer
Sadie Marlow peered through the small glass window into the room. In the
otherwise bare room, she saw that there was a bed against one wall. Sitting
upon it was the girl she’d been sent here to speak to.
    The psychologist
standing on one side of her pulled a swipe card from his pocket. But just
before he swiped it against the door lock to allow the officers entry, he
paused and turned to face them both.
    “You know we
haven’t been able to get an intelligible word out of her yet,” the psychologist
said. “All she says is ‘Scarlet. Scarlet. I have to find Scarlet.’”
    It was police officer
Brent Waywood’s turn to speak up.
    “That’s why
we’re here, sir,” he said, pointing to his open notebook. “Scarlet Paine. That
name keeps cropping up in our investigation.”
    The psychologist
pursed his lips.
    “I understand
why you’re here,” he replied. “I just don’t take kindly to the police
interrogating my patients.”
    Brent flipped
his notebook shut abruptly, making a smacking noise. He glared at the
psychologist.
    “We have dead
cops,” he said in a clipped tone. “Good men and women who won’t be going home
to their families tonight because of some psycho who will kill anyone and
everyone in his path. What does he want? Scarlet Paine. That’s all we have to
go on. So you can see why questioning your patient is a priority for us.”
    Officer Marlow
shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, frustrated by the way her partner
seemed to find conflict in every situation. She couldn’t help think that her
job would be much simpler if she could do these interviews by herself. Unlike
Brent, she had a calm demeanor__ and a way with witnesses, particularly the
mentally vulnerable ones like the girl they were here to see. That’s why the police
chief had sent her to the secure the mental facility in the first place. She
just wished he’d picked a better officer to accompany her. She realized then,
with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that the police chief hadn’t exactly had
many cops to choose from. Other than the ones guarding the high school, the
rest in the precinct were dead or injured.
    She stepped
forward.
    “We understand
the witness is in a fragile state,” she said, diplomatically. “We’ll keep our
tone civil. No demanding questions. No raised voices. Trust me, sir, I’ve got
years of experience talking to kids like her.”
    They all glanced
back through the window at the girl. She was rocking back and forth, her knees
pulled up to her chest.
    The psychologist
finally seemed satisfied to allow the officers entry. He swiped the card
against the door lock. A green light flicked on, accompanied by a bleep.
    He led the two
officers into the room toward the hunched girl. It was then that Officer Marlow
noticed the cuffs on her ankles and hands. Restraints. The hospital didn’t
issue restraints unless the patient was a harm to themselves or others.
Whatever this girl had gone through, it had been horrific. How else would a
sixteen-year-old high school kid without so much as a blemish on her permanent
record be suddenly deemed dangerous?
    The psychologist
spoke first.
    “There are some
officers here to see you,” he said, calmly to the girl. “It’s about Scarlet.”
    The girl’s head
darted up. Her eyes were wild and roved across the faces of the three people
before her. Officer Marlow could see the anguish in her expression and