Read Online After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry - Free Book Online Page B

anger towards Lorenzo, “you’re a priest! And here you are, having your… friend follow me and press me for all the gory details of my family’s murder! How sick can you people get? What are you two, some sort of vampire groupies or something?”
                  “Some might call us that.” She was glaring at Christian, but it was Lorenzo who answered her. He took a step forward, and then another, until he was even with Christian. She was breathing heavily and erratically, her eyes wide and wild. She looked as if she might bolt; Christian suddenly saw that as furious as she was, she was also terrified. He didn’t even look to Lorenzo for permission. He had come back to her to tell her the truth, and he still intended to. He took a deep breath before proceeding.
                  “I am what is called a vampire hunter,” Christian said. “I told you that I help people in need. Well, my job is to kill vampires.”
                  “Vampires are real.” She had said it before, but she was only just realizing the full implication and weight of the words.
                  “Vampires are real,” he agreed yet again, “and I fight them. Lorenzo helps me on the more intellectual end of the deal. Research and stuff. Hence, the books.” He gestured to the book-laden end table.
                  He waited to see what her reaction would be to his statements so far, but she remained silent. He began to worry when she still said nothing. He was about to continue with his explanation when she spoke, in a barely audible voice.
                  “My family.”
                  A chill settled in Christian’s spine. How could he have been so careless? Here, he had been trying to smooth things out, and he had forgotten that his admission could make things extremely, irrevocably worse.
                  She looked into his eyes, and he was suddenly frightened. There was no longer any anger, and the betrayal and hurt were also gone, but in their place was nothing. Her eyes were flat, devoid of emotion. She was shutting down.
                  “If what you’re telling me is true, then vampires killed my family. If you kill vampires, how were those two able to kill my family?”
                  Christian had no answer for her.
                  “Have you killed them? The vampires who killed my family?” Christian’s guilty silence was the only answer she needed. She nodded in understanding.
                  “So, my parents are dead, my sisters are dead, and those two vampires are still walking around someplace. That sounds pretty reasonable.”
                  She was right. About it all, she was right, except for the reasonable part. He had failed, and he would never forgive himself, but it suddenly felt ten times worse because she knew he had failed her, and she would never forgive him.
                  Without warning, she turned and walked to the front door of the hotel room, turning the knob. Christian rushed to stand in between her and the entrance to the hallway.
                  “Wait!” he cried, confusion and worry temporarily overriding his self-berating. “Where are you going?”
                  “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “Somewhere. Anywhere. Besides the fact that it’s none of your damn business where I’m going.”
                  Lorenzo was suddenly at her side.
                  “Leaving would not be a wise decision, my dear. You are not safe. Nobody knows about vampires save a select few, of which you are now included. You are a threat to them, and I am sure they intend to kill you. You must stay with us to ensure your safety until the Master Vampire is killed.”
                  “Oh, great, now there’s a Master Vampire?” she cried, nearly in tears. “And how am I