Running From the Night Read Online Free PDF

next thing I knew, I was flying uphill on another of the dirt paths leading into the park. Uphill, man. And while I was trying to get my head together after the tumble, they were right there.”
    He held a hand up when Daniel went to speak. “No, no, wait. There’s more. Big man is pretty much about to put my lights out. He leaned his head back, and his canines elongated right in front of me. Right in front of my face, man! And I watched his eyes go from light brown to white. You can tell me it was my imagination, or fear, or whatever, but he was right in front of my face. His eyes changed color. I have no doubt in my mind he was going to take a bite out of me.”
    Daniel sat staring at him for a few moments. “Look. Obviously, you know I’m going to tell you this is impossible, and that out there in the dark, being attacked, you saw things that your mind may have embellished. At the same time, I’m not gonna insult you either. I know you well enough that you wouldn’t just come up with this, and the fact that you look very serious is making me nervous. Have you called the police?”
    Jelani laughed. “And tell them what? I was out for a late night jog, saw two guys eating a third, and almost was eaten myself? Spotted a couple of vampires and made a daring escape?”
    “Well, you better figure out something. How are you going to keep this quiet? It’ll eat your conscience alive.”
    “My conscience will be fine, because once I figure out the right thing to do, I’ll do it.”
    Daniel leaned forward. “Well, while you’re figuring out what the right thing to do is, think about this. The longer you wait to call the police, the more questions they’re gonna ask. It will look a little odd to them that you witnessed this and waited a day or two, or however many, to call them.”
    “I’m not worried about that,” Jelani replied. “I can call anonymously and give them all the details I can remember that fit around all the other stuff.”
    “Fair enough.” Daniel frowned, as if remembering something. “So from what you’ve suggested, you stumbled on a couple of vampires. Just for the sake of argument, if they were vampires you could have been an Olympic track star on steroids and still not have had a prayer of outrunning them.”
    “I didn’t, remember.”
    “Yeah, but how did you get away?”
    “Now that’s where it gets interesting.”
    ***

Chapter Five
    Jelani came awake from the fitful sleep of aggressive nightmares. First he’d been running through some blasted forest full of charred black trees where zombies grew out of the ground to chase him. Then he was chased by what looked like those two guys he’d run into at the park last night. Instead of that ugly white, their eyes were glowing red, and their fangs were twice as long. He had run tirelessly but was never able to escape them. Finally, a nine foot tall cloaked figure had slowly descended from the sky and hurled his attackers away.
    Jelani swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat for a moment, rubbing his hands over his hairless head. After running a hand over his face and realizing he needed to shave, he stood and opened the blinds on the only window of his room. There had never been a time Jelani had ever been more happy to see the sun. Despite the nightmares, the sleep was still rejuvenating, and he was able to go over the previous night’s events with a fresher mind.
    Of what he saw last night, there was no doubt he was attacked by two people who were more than what they appeared. He vividly remembered being stopped in his tracks by nothing more than that assassin’s demand that he do so. He remembered those eyes, the fangs, and lastly, the tall black guy who had saved him. Perhaps the figure most strongly burned into his mind’s eye was that exotic woman he’d seen.
    If ever there was a piece of the puzzle that was out of place, it was the presence of that woman. Though he had only been afforded a quick glimpse, he remembered