Read Online Blood Run by Christine Dougherty - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christine Dougherty
Ads: Link
think I’m going to turn into a full-fledged vampire. I was…the sickest…right after I’d been bit. I’ve gotten better, more in control, ever since.”
“But you don’t know. You can’t know,” Mark said. He sat back and crossed his arms. “I don’t feel all that comfortable with it. If he’s a half-vampire, then–”
“It might explain what happened to me the day before yesterday, Mark,” Promise cut in quietly. “If there are degrees of it. It might explain a lot.”
Mr. West sat forward, concerned. “What happened?”
She felt all their eyes on her, but she felt Peter’s most of all. It was as though his gaze contained heat or a force that worked on her nerve endings. “I went to look for the cabin. In the woods north of Willow’s End. I rode Ash in around noon, and I was checking trails, marking as we went along. I thought if I could just find the cabin, mark the way to it, then we could come back and destroy it…” she trailed off, uncomfortable as her story had begun to drift south of the truth. But there were things about what she was doing that no one here needed to know. “Anyway, I couldn’t find the cabin, and by that afternoon, we were headed out, but we were going through the part where the kudzu is the worst, the thickest, and I heard one behind us, and he just…he came out of nowhere. Ash took off before I could even tell him to. I almost fell. And we were…it ended up being lucky for us because the vampire got caught, tangled up in the kudzu, and we got a good head start. We were at the very edge of the woods, almost out, and it followed us the whole way. Right at the end, at the edge of the clearing, the sun came out, and the vampire started to burn. Its hand started to burn. And that stopped it. But it kept watching from the trees, just a little further back. It was waiting. It knew enough to do that, to wait like that.” She sighed, and her breath trembled out. “And I didn’t understand how it could be out. Even in the woods, even cloudy and surrounded by kudzu, it was still daylight…it shouldn’t have been able to go out. It scared me.” She looked at Peter, guarded and watchful. “Does the sun burn you, too?”
He looked at her for so long that she grew uncomfortable under his gaze, but she didn’t look away, merely tilted her chin up in determination. She needed to know something about him, and she needed to know it now because she already sensed the potential of her feelings. She was drawn strongly to something in his eyes, some deeper sense of loss and pain.
He stood and held out his hand to her. Promise looked at the other three, feeling slightly embarrassed, and then took Peter’s hand. He led her to one of the big cafeteria windows, where the mid-morning sun shone the brightest. He stood facing her, the side of his face painted in strong light, and she observed his skin, his eyes. He was fair, almost pale, and his eyes grew translucent. They were light gray. He smiled, and it was a sad smile, full of a past she didn’t know but understood to some degree, regardless.
“If I stay in the sun too long, I’ll start to feel uncomfortable; eventually my skin will start to blister, but that’s only after hours of strong sunlight. There are…other things…the strength and–” he dropped his head briefly, then looked up again. “–but I think they’ll develop a cure, a complete cure for it.” Promise wondered about the part he’d skipped over, but something about him made her trust him. He smiled and again, it was a grave smile, weary but not beaten. “It’s no different from any other disease. I’m still human.”
“For everyone?” Promise asked, her voice faint.
He shook his head. He didn’t understand her question.
She swallowed. “Will it cure anyone who is a vampire now ?”
“I don’t know,” he said his eyes filling with concern and recognition. “Who is it? Your dad or mom or–”
“My mom and dead are dead, but my little
“But you don’t know. You can’t know,” Mark said. He sat back and crossed his arms. “I don’t feel all that comfortable with it. If he’s a half-vampire, then–”
“It might explain what happened to me the day before yesterday, Mark,” Promise cut in quietly. “If there are degrees of it. It might explain a lot.”
Mr. West sat forward, concerned. “What happened?”
She felt all their eyes on her, but she felt Peter’s most of all. It was as though his gaze contained heat or a force that worked on her nerve endings. “I went to look for the cabin. In the woods north of Willow’s End. I rode Ash in around noon, and I was checking trails, marking as we went along. I thought if I could just find the cabin, mark the way to it, then we could come back and destroy it…” she trailed off, uncomfortable as her story had begun to drift south of the truth. But there were things about what she was doing that no one here needed to know. “Anyway, I couldn’t find the cabin, and by that afternoon, we were headed out, but we were going through the part where the kudzu is the worst, the thickest, and I heard one behind us, and he just…he came out of nowhere. Ash took off before I could even tell him to. I almost fell. And we were…it ended up being lucky for us because the vampire got caught, tangled up in the kudzu, and we got a good head start. We were at the very edge of the woods, almost out, and it followed us the whole way. Right at the end, at the edge of the clearing, the sun came out, and the vampire started to burn. Its hand started to burn. And that stopped it. But it kept watching from the trees, just a little further back. It was waiting. It knew enough to do that, to wait like that.” She sighed, and her breath trembled out. “And I didn’t understand how it could be out. Even in the woods, even cloudy and surrounded by kudzu, it was still daylight…it shouldn’t have been able to go out. It scared me.” She looked at Peter, guarded and watchful. “Does the sun burn you, too?”
He looked at her for so long that she grew uncomfortable under his gaze, but she didn’t look away, merely tilted her chin up in determination. She needed to know something about him, and she needed to know it now because she already sensed the potential of her feelings. She was drawn strongly to something in his eyes, some deeper sense of loss and pain.
He stood and held out his hand to her. Promise looked at the other three, feeling slightly embarrassed, and then took Peter’s hand. He led her to one of the big cafeteria windows, where the mid-morning sun shone the brightest. He stood facing her, the side of his face painted in strong light, and she observed his skin, his eyes. He was fair, almost pale, and his eyes grew translucent. They were light gray. He smiled, and it was a sad smile, full of a past she didn’t know but understood to some degree, regardless.
“If I stay in the sun too long, I’ll start to feel uncomfortable; eventually my skin will start to blister, but that’s only after hours of strong sunlight. There are…other things…the strength and–” he dropped his head briefly, then looked up again. “–but I think they’ll develop a cure, a complete cure for it.” Promise wondered about the part he’d skipped over, but something about him made her trust him. He smiled and again, it was a grave smile, weary but not beaten. “It’s no different from any other disease. I’m still human.”
“For everyone?” Promise asked, her voice faint.
He shook his head. He didn’t understand her question.
She swallowed. “Will it cure anyone who is a vampire now ?”
“I don’t know,” he said his eyes filling with concern and recognition. “Who is it? Your dad or mom or–”
“My mom and dead are dead, but my little
Similar Books
