Reign of Blood Read Online Free PDF Page A

not have to search long; she was standing at the van, which I had parked in the back of the house, and seemed to be trying to fiddle with the door handle. I had the keys so there was no way she was going to steal it. Anyone with carjacking skills would have had that van on the road by now. She seemed clumsy and unsure. I wondered why she was so fascinated with the van. I soon found out exactly what had caught her attention.
    She had slipped down into a crouch as her face caressed the side of the door, near the smear of blood that had now dried onto the paint. She scratched at it and licked the dried flakes with her tongue, like a large cat lapping up milk. My disgust made the rage inside me burn. I wanted to smack her off the vehicle and my mother’s blood, to make her suffer. The hatred rampaged through my head as I gripped my sword and pointed the flashlight into her face, briskly approaching her.
    “Hey! Get away from there you animal!” I yelled as I got closer. My sword was already held out and set to cut her down. My voice startled her and she backed away and turned to face me. Surprise and fear flashed across her face as I came within sword’s reach of her. Stepping back away from me, she winced as the sword flashed across her face.
    “Who are you?” Her thin voice came out shaky and unsure as her eyes darted around at me. I paused, stunned that she had spoken. Feral vampires don’t speak. I shook off my shock as I glared at her.
    “It doesn’t matter! Who are you?” I demanded. I nodded to the van as I continued, “you seek blood don’t you?” I stepped one foot closer and she cringed, glancing behind her for an escape route. She had unfortunately gotten herself into a tight spot. The van stood in her way on one side and the wall of the house was at the other. She only had one way out for I was blocking the front. She glanced back to me and shivered as I stepped closer.
    “I–I, wait, I don’t know what you mean.” She stuttered as her back pressed against the van. Her wild eyes reflected the beam of the flashlight, much like a cat’s retinas would. This was always a definite sign of a vampire and it confirmed my suspicions. I held the sword ready and continued to approach her.
    My hatred boiled in my veins, and the need to connect my blade with her neck felt overwhelming. I wanted her to suffer. My mother and brother were gone because of her. The vampires had killed everyone I had ever loved and they were nothing but blood hungry beasts that did not care about who they sacrificed. She may have looked young and weak, but I knew better. The monster lurking under her skin would rip me to shreds if given any chance. They had no mercy and neither would I.
    “You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time; I will make you pay for what you have done to my family,” I growled at her. My voice was almost unrecognizable, even to myself.
    “Your family? I–I don’t know them! I’ve done nothing!” Her voice cracked with the terror that spread across her face. She turned and tried to climb up the side of the van to get away. I swung the sword back as I approached. Bringing it around, it easily connected with her neck as a piercing screech escaped her mouth but ended suddenly with the thump of her head on the shattered leaves below. Her headless body convulsed as its missing controller was now gone, slumping to the ground almost immediately. Her black-red blood pooled under the mass of her thin, childlike frame.
    My heart was racing and I felt like throwing up. I hadn’t had anything to eat all day or night except the caffeinated drinks I had used to stay awake. Dizziness and utter disgust from everything rushed over me at that moment. Her death had brought me no relief. She wasn’t even a feral. What she had been was a mystery. Ferals do not speak. They had no speech at all. How could she be a vampire and be able to talk? It was an anomaly at best.
    The nausea of what I had done overwhelmed me as I