Read Online Vampire Wake (Kiera Hudson Series #2) by Tim O'Rourke - Free Book Online Page A

precise, as if he knew what he was looking for.
    But what could that be?
    Tossing it aside, he pulled open the second drawer, searched it, then threw it aside, smashing it into the floor where it broke like matchwood. He did the same to the third and the fourth drawers. His breathing began to quicken as he raced about the room, knocking over my CD player and stack of CDs. He trampled over the cases, and I could hear the plastic snapping like broken bones.
    What are you looking for? I wanted to scream, but nothing came out.
    Once my bedroom resembled something close to a demolition site, he came back towards me, this time the torchlight sweeping over the mess on the floor, almost as if making sure that he hadn’t missed anything. And as he came towards me, I got a clearer view of his face. Although it was hideously disfigured, he reminded me of someone. Again, he brushed past me as if I wasn’t even there. He stood in the centre of the room like a dog and sniffed at the air. He froze, as if he had detected a familiar scent. Hunkering down, he crawled on all fours across the middle of my living room and towards one of the armchairs. His nose touched it. He paused, then was off again, the tip of his nose brushing up and over the seat, arms, and back of the chair. Whose scent had he detected – latched onto?
    Mine? No not mine. I never sat in that chair; I always sat by the window so I could look out. Who then? Who had been the last person to have sat there?
    Lady Hunt! I wanted to shout aloud, but my throat felt as if I were being strangled.
    The male stood up as if he had been disturbed in some way. Maybe he had heard something that I hadn’t. Some noise that suggested someone was coming or was close by. Then I heard the noise that had obviously disturbed him. It sounded like water dripping from a tap that hadn’t been turned off tight enough. The sound was close by. I looked down and in the darkness I could see the black spatters of blood on the newspapers spread about at my feet. I looked up to see the male sniffing at the air again. He looked in my direction, as I felt the warm sensation of red tears leaking from my left eye. I wanted to wipe them away, to stop them dribbling from my chin, but my arms felt as if they had been tied to my sides.
    The male came towards me again. He stopped, the tip of his nose almost touching mine. It was then that I knew how he had gotten those scars and who had given them to him. I stared into Sergeant Phillips’ twisted and deformed face and remembered how Potter had attacked him and left him for dead in the graveyard at St. Mary’s church in The Ragged Cove. He sniffed the air and smiled.
    “Oh Kiera,” he whispered. “So what they said about you was true after all.”
    Before I could say anything, he lunged forward and…
    …I sat up in bed. I drew in deep lungfuls of breath as I tried to figure out where I was. My chest was rising up and down and sounded like a clapped-out steam train, sweat covered me in a fine sheen and my throat felt raw. I looked all around me, and it was only when I saw the four wooden posts protruding from each corner of the bed that I remembered that I was in my room at Hallowed Manor. Daylight glistened around the edges of the curtains. Slowly, it was all coming back to me.
    But there was a noise – it sounded as if it were coming from miles away. It was music and it sounded hissy. Tilting my head to one side to listen, I realised I recognised the music that was being played. It was ‘Party Rock Anthem’ by LMFAO, and I had that particular track on my iPod. Straining to hear where it was coming from, I realised the music was closer than I originally thought. Wrapping myself in my blanket, I crawled to the end of my bed and peered over the edge. Sitting crossed-legged on the floor was a girl. She was rummaging through my rucksack and was listening to my iPod.
    Reaching out, I tapped her on the shoulder and said, “What do you think you’re