Rebirth of the Seer Read Online Free PDF Page A

Richard.
    Four. My eyes widened. T here had been five o thers, and I realized this just as the premonition turned more urgent. I swung around and received the largest shock of my immortal life at the sight before me .
    “Flynn! Look out!”
    Monica’s command only froze me in position, rendering me the proverbial deer gazing stupidly into a pair of headlights. Lewis was the one I failed to take into account and, as he dashed toward me, m urder clouded his thoughts. In his hand, he held Richard’s stake.
    ‘ Fates be damned, I am about to become a pile of dust on the floor. ’

Chapter Two
     
    I was raised on a farm in rural Pennsylvania and went to school just like any other young man. I had been orphaned at thirteen years of age, and lived with my aunt and uncle for the duration of my formative years before beginning my studies at Temple Unive rsity. I had been relatively alone, having gone through a cycle of failed relationships for the bette r part of my college career. Still, I had known mo re happiness than despair. W hen Lydia Davies became a part of my life, I was a young resident doctor blessed with a bright, meaningful future ahead .
    The two years we enjoyed together were interrupted by my sed uction into immortality . Sabrina had convinced me that what I had lacked permanence. W ith her words tainting my vision, I saw nothing but death and ang uish surrounding me at work, and the quest to find forever became a consuming need. I thirsted for it to the point of obsession. The beast overcame me. Sabrina granted me that which I desired and collected my soul in exchange.
    And what an accused gift it had been thus far. It g ranted me eternal life, but ripped away my humanity. Nearly every memory of the years that followed was crimson-splattered, haunted by a litany of voices c rying out against my sins. S uch were the images that were invoked as I stood in the middle of the Council’s meeting room. I saw the deaths of many; almost felt their flesh beneath my fangs and tasted their blood runnin g down my throat. I watched each being fall to my feet, reminded countless times how much of a sadist I had become. So lost was I in these thoughts, I hardly noticed Lewis headed for me with a stake any longer.
    I did not pause to wonder if my mind was being manipulated , so I remained fixed in place. The scene would have only been more picturesque had I lifted my arms in acceptance of death’s sweet embrace. It was not until her voice broke through the madness that I was knocked from my stupor.
    “No, Flynn, come out of it !”
    Shaking my head, I blinked several times, feeling as though I had just woken from a frightful dream. As I struggled to orient myself, however, two things occurred simultaneously.
    First, I discovered Lewis was far too close for comfort. In the seconds it took for me to begin motioning away, he reached me and thrust the stake forward. The death blow fell short, though, when the second event transpired: Monica, who had begun running for me the moment I failed to respond, shoved me out of the way and placed herself in the line of fire. I toppled backward, twisting and landing on my side when unable to hold my balance. As I glanced up, however, I beheld a harrowing sight.
    The stake plunged into Monica’s upper chest, dangerously close to where her left lung should have been. She managed to stumble to ward one side until a shriek of unadulterated agony surged past her lips and her knees buckled. I reacted just quickly enough to catch her in my arms.
    Her head flopped into the crook of my elbow. “Put me down and get me out of here,” she murmured with her eyes clenched shut, “Before they have the chance to tangle you up again.”
    “Woman, you are the most quixotic creature ever fashioned,” I said. Gathering her against my chest, I was careful not to jostle the stake protruding from her wiry frame . I stood with her and lifted my eyes to stare at the daft human still poised in front of us.