Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page A

watched as his chieftain put his hands on either side of the young vampire’s head and leaned forward, as if about to whisper some piece of fatherly advice. Suddenly, Maier wrenched his hands in a twisting motion and ripped his captive’s head completely off his body. Jarubu grimaced as Maier hurled the head to the side as if it were nothing more than a piece of garbage. The vampire chieftain was clearly not in a forgiving mood.
    Jarubu knew it wouldn’t be long before Maier turned his attention to finding the rest of the wayward vampires. Jarubu crooked his head at his fellows—still wide-eyed from the horror they had just witnessed—signaling them to melt farther back into the trees. They crept away as silently as if they were hunting prey, little more than ghosts in the night. When he judged they were far enough from the camp, he led them racing off to the northeast, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the camp as they could before any pursuit began.

 
    4. A FRIGHTENING VISION
     
    B y the time the snow stopped falling on Monday morning more than two feet of the stuff blanketed the Weston campus. Classes were cancelled for the day and the entire region was at a standstill. The governor had declared a state of emergency, closed all the schools in the state, and urged the public to stay home and off the roads, most of which were impassible by anything short of four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires. Even those risked becoming stuck in the five and six foot drifts which seemed to be everywhere. Many areas of the state were without power, as snow laden tree limbs broke off and fell onto the electrical lines, snapping them. Luckily, the campus had been spared any power outages.
    The cook for Leesa’s dining hall had been unable to make it to work, despite living barely a mile from campus, so Leesa and her friends had gathered downstairs for a breakfast of toast, cold cereal and hot chocolate heated in the microwave. Leesa thought if the cook had been really dedicated, he could have hiked in to work with snowshoes or something, but she certainly didn’t expect that kind of dedication from a low paid college employee. Besides, she didn’t begrudge him the chance to take an extra day off from work—she was certainly happy enough to have the day off from classes. Anyhow, she liked cereal, and they didn’t need a cook to whip up hot chocolate.
    “We’re going to build the biggest, baddest snowman ever this morning,” Cali declared. “We’ll make it so big we’ll need a freakin’ crane just to get the head up on top of it.”
    “Ha!” Leesa said, pausing with a spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. “And just where are we going to get that crane?”
    Cali slapped playfully at Leesa’s shoulder, spilling cereal and milk onto the table. “Don’t be a spoil sport. You know what I mean.”
    “Did any of you happen to take a look outside at our snowman from yesterday?” Caitlin asked.
    None of them had, so they crowded together at the window and searched the courtyard for any sign of their snowman. Leesa saw a small lump in the snow where she thought the snowman should be, but that was it. The storm had completely buried it.
    “Wow!” Stacie said. “That’s amazing.”
    “It reminds me of this Ozmandias poem we had to read in high school,” Leesa said. “About this giant statue that lies crumbled and buried in the sand. Apart from a few ruined pieces, all that’s left are some words about how everyone should admire the mighty statue and the ruler who had it built.”
    “Wow, that’s really heavy, Lees,” Cali said, a serious look on her face that lasted just a few seconds before breaking into a wide grin.
    Leesa shook her head in mock resignation. “I should know better than to try to give you any culture.”
    Both girls laughed, and then Cali drained the last of her hot chocolate and put her empty mug back down onto the table with an exaggerated thump.
    “Who’s ready to