Claire stepped over it carefully and checked under the bed, then the closet. There was no sign of her friend. She backed out onto the landing, took her cell phone out with shaking hands, and forced herself to look around with fresh eyes. There were smears of blood out here, too – not as many, but now that she was looking for them, she saw where Liz had been taken out of the room. They disappeared in a few feet, as if she’d been wrapped in something, or picked up and carried.

Claire raced upstairs and checked her own room, just to be sure, but it seemed undisturbed. While she was doing that, she dialled the number that had sent her the text message earlier in the day.

‘Holla,’ said a warm, smoky voice on the other end. There was a rustle of cloth, and then the lazy tone went away as Jesse said, ‘Claire?’

‘Somebody took my roommate,’ Claire said. ‘Was it you?’

‘I – what?’

‘You’re a vampire. Did you take her?’

‘Hell no, I didn’t take her.’ Jesse’s voice had gone tight now, and Claire could almost picture her standing up and pacing in that fluid, predatory way vampires had. ‘What do you mean, someone took her?’

‘I mean she’s gone, the door’s hanging open, and I think there’s blood in her room,’ Claire said. She was starting to shake now, a delayed reaction that meant it was hard to hold on to the phone. She gripped it tighter. ‘I’m calling the police.’

‘Dammit. No, don’t do that, not yet. Stay there.’ There was a murmured voice off the phone, and Claire suddenly realised that Jesse might have a visitor, a personal kind of visitor. ‘Tell me exactly what happened, Claire.’

‘I went out for a pizza. My roommate was here by herself, as far as I know, but when I came back the door was open and there’s blood in her room. She was hurt. And she’s not here.’

‘Is there a sign of a break-in?’

‘No,’ Claire said. ‘It was unlocked, and—’ In a flash, she remembered the black-clothed men entering the house the other night. Unlocking the doors. ‘Oh, God. Did Dr Anderson tell you about the men who broke in the other night?’

‘Yes. Claire, is there any possibility they might have mistaken your roommate for you?’

She honestly hadn’t thought about it until Jesse said it, but her stomach knotted up, and she let out a trembling breath. ‘Maybe.’

‘Okay. Here’s the deal: stay right where you are. Don’t touch anything, don’t shut the door, don’t try to solve the mystery yourself. I need to see it just as it is. I’m three minutes out. I’ll alert Irene.’