The piercing shriek raised the hairs on John's neck. He clapped his palms over his ears and doubled over. "What is that?" the vampire demanded, refusing to remove his hands until the noise died. When it was safe -- relatively so -- he grabbed another fireplace poker and started out of the room. At the end of the hall, he spotted a woman with dark hair going into a door. John's fangs strained within his gums. He pointed after her and crept along the wall with the poker raised.
Once standing on the threshold, however, he didn't see anyone, though he could smell her. John side-stepped into the study.