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going to get herself into any trouble. She’s somewhere in the woods now.”
                Esmeralda came back into the bedroom in her black, silk nightgown, braiding a section of her hair. When looking at Connor’s contemplative expression, she stopped and stared.
                Connor glanced up to her and tightened his jaw. “What?” he asked with a sneer.
                “You’re curious, aren’t you?”
                “No.” Connor settled himself back into a comfortable spot. “Why would I? She doesn’t belong here, obviously, so what else is there to do?”
                Esmeralda gazed at him calmly and smirked. “You want to go after her and see who she is,” she stated with a sly grin.
                Connor didn’t answer. What was the use when she could read his thoughts? There was no arguing with her, but he could throw a pillow at her. She giggled and threw it back, hitting him in the face.
                “Well, if you want to go after her, let’s go while I’m still awake. I’m just as curious as you. Come on!” Esmeralda said excitedly, prancing back to the bathroom to put on something suitable for travel.
                Connor grimaced and plunged his face into the pillow. He really wished that vampire would stay out of his thoughts. He could never get away with a lie around her. 

Chapter 3
                Connor shuffled through town, his hands shoved into the pockets of his tattered jeans. He was in no mood to go anywhere, much less to find this stranger. He never stopped muttering his complaints from the moment he had shrugged into his leather jacket on the way out the door.
                Esmeralda, on the other hand, was giddier about their trip to the forest. She wore a long, flowing, brown beaded skirt with a turtleneck sweater to match and her own black leather jacket over it, all topped off with a pleasant smile, while Connor’s lips were puckered into a scowl.
                It wasn’t a lie that he was curious about the young woman’s sudden appearance, but he didn’t want Esmeralda to tag along. She was more of a nuisance nowadays than she used to be, and her presence set Connor at a constant state of edgy discontentment.
                They walked a ways through the low-lying dense fog until Esmeralda skipped towards a large burrow in the side of a sloping hill on the edge of the path. She bent over at the waist and peeked inside the dark, shrouded hole and turned back to him with a toothy grin.
                “She’s in here, Connor!” she cried out, obviously not caring if the girl inside heard or not. Connor took his time in joining Esmeralda at the mouth of the burrow, then squatted and peered inside for himself.
                Surely enough, past the dark recesses of the burrow’s shadows, he could see the silhouette of a lady’s figure inside, shivering and sniffling with her knees hugged tightly to her chest.
                “Come on out, dear. We won’t hurt you,” Esmeralda called encouragingly to the girl, her words echoing in the void.
                “Go away!” the young girl cried back. The fear was so tangible in her voice that Connor almost began to feel sorry for her.
                “You heard her, let’s go,” Connor said quickly, then turned to make a run back for town. Esmeralda grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him back to the opening of the burrow before he had any chance to rise from his knees.
                “Oh, no you don’t,” Esmeralda scolded, then looked back into the burrow. “Sweetheart, we don’t want to hurt you. We want to help you. My name’s Esmeralda, and this is Connor. We’re friendly. Everyone in this town is. We didn’t mean to frighten you. Please come out?”
                There was silence in the burrow for a moment, and