Read Online Night Runner by Max Turner - Free Book Online

wrong about her. She really was very pretty. But maybe I just thought so because she was trying to be helpful. Or maybe it was because I was hungry . . .
    For some reason I got thinking about what Dracula might do at a moment like this. With all his bizarre talents, he was easily the undisputed heavyweight champion of the undead world. He could climb walls, turn into a bat, or a wolf, or mist. He could make himself thin and slip through cracks. He could command rats and other night creatures to do his bidding. He could even go out in the daytime.
    I figured that stuff was poppycock. I’d been infected for eight years and I couldn’t even keep my room clean.
    But some of his talents weren’t so unrealistic. And they were certainly better suited for a time like this. Hungry. Alone with a beautiful woman. He certainly wouldn’t let himself starve. So I took a page out of his book and made my move.
    First, I opened my eyes so they were really wide. Then I sort ofraised my hand with the fingers spread wide. “You will let me have my dinner,” I said to Nurse Roberta in a slow, commanding voice.
    She still had her hands on her hips. Her chin dropped just a little. Then she opened her eyes very wide and raised her hand. “No, we’ll have to find you something else,” she said. Her imitation was flawless.
    And so I learned something very valuable about my power to charm. I guess I still needed a few centuries of practice before I could command humans to do my bidding. Dracula would have been very disappointed.
    I put my hand down. I must have been blushing because the skin on my face felt really tight. “I don’t think I can have anything else,” I told her. “All I know is that Nurse Ophelia mixes one of those in with the rest of my medications.”
    Nurse Roberta shook her head gently. “Zachary, you aren’t on any medications. You haven’t been for months. Not since last year. Didn’t you know that?”
    I shook my head. Then my stomach started to kung-fu my other organs. And my throat started itching as well. Like I had ants crawling around in there.
    Nurse Roberta reached out and gently took hold of my hand. “Don’t do that,” she said.
    I’d been scratching at my neck.
    â€œWe’d better find you something else,” she added.
    I shook my head. “Honestly, this is what she uses. I watch her. It’s the same thing every time.”
    â€œAre you sure?”
    I nodded.
    She looked a little cross. “You’d better be. If you drop dead on me, and it costs me my job . . .”—she spread her fingers wide and made her eyes bug out—“. . . I’ll kill you!” Then she cut the bag open and poured it into the blender.
    I realized that it didn’t look like blood. I’d seen the real stuff when the old man on the stolen motorcycle got shot. This stuff was much thicker.
    â€œWe should water that down a bit,” I suggested.
    A few seconds later, I was drinking. It tasted exactly the same as normal. And it was gone in a blink.
    â€œYou gonna be okay?” she asked.
    I nodded and smiled. Then I blushed again. I was feeling guilty. I’d been a bit too hard on her, thinking she was cranky all the time.
    We left the kitchen and I made my way back to my room. With food in my stomach, I felt a lot better. And so I enjoyed another chapter of
The Hobbit
. Enough to see Bilbo and the gang safely to the house of Elrond. Then I closed my window, lowered the blinds, drew the curtains and went to sleep.

Chapter 12
The Fallen
    I woke from a deep sleep around noon. Someone was knocking at the door. The cadence was hurried, but soft. Just to be safe, when I rose out of bed I picked up the chair by my desk and held it up over my shoulder. Then I asked who was there.
    â€œIt’s your uncle,” said a voice. “Maximilian.”
    I told him he could come in. He opened the door and