Blood Land by J.R. Lawson (top ten ebook reader TXT) 📖

enhanced by the darkness around her and the eerie glow of the moon that covered it.  It looked so worn down and depressing; the roof was caved in and the weeds in the lawn that peered out from the snow had grown so out of hand they almost looked like a small jungle around the base of the house. Also, the fact that no lights shown from inside gave it a cold and lifeless feeling, even though she knew it was only an inanimate house.  The memories of the things she had done in this place suddenly came rushing back to her and almost brought tears to her eyes as she thought about all of them.  Eventually, she shook her head, as if trying to get all the sentimentalities out so that she could focus on what she came to do.

It was then that she swiftly turned and headed around the left side of the house until she came to the cellar doors there.  After quickly opening them, she entered and stepped into the dark and dusty basement.  She looked around a bit before completely going inside.  She really was amazed at how well she was able to see in the dark now.  Last time she had set foot down here she had been just a human; one hundred percent human.  A weak human, but no longer.  She looked over at the refrigerator that was in the room that now lay on its side on the dusty floor.  The door to it was wide open and IV bags, most of them empty, of what used to contain Will’s mom’s blood covered the floor.  Nora approached them and bent down to examine.  She searched around, hoping to find something.  Finally, she did find it, wedged slightly under the open fridge door; a bag still full of blood.

She stood up as she held the bag in her hands.  She knew exactly why this bag had been left here.  It was different than the others had been.  This one was black.  This one had vampire blood in it.  It was then that she wasted no time in tearing open the top plastic and raised the bag up above her head.  Simultaneously she tilted her head back and squeezed the bag with her hands, letting the black blood flow out and into her mouth.  After a few seconds of drinking, the bag was finally empty and Nora tossed it to the floor.  She attempted wiping her face with the sleeve of Kale’s jacket, however, her chin and neck remained stained with the dark, black, color.  Immediately Nora could feel the difference her drink had made.  She tightened her hands into fists next to her and closed her eyes for a minute.  She could feel the energy and strength surging through her.  It was almost as if she could feel the vampire blood weaving its way all through her every vein.

Then, suddenly, she felt almost a burst of adrenaline.  It was quick, but what was left behind was a small, but very warm sensation deep within her; like it was coming from her very heart.  She knew immediately what that meant.  It was what she had been wanting, and she couldn’t wait to test it out.  It was then that she immediately opened her eyes and turned, suddenly eyeing herself in a broken mirror that once hung straight on the wall, as opposed to crooked like it now was.  All she could see in the biggest piece of glass that remained attached to the frame were her eyes.  They were no longer completely hazel like they had been her whole life.  They were, not surprisingly to her, now slightly red.  She smiled to herself as she stared at them and they stared back at her from the mirror.  She then wasted no time in hastening back out the door of the basement and back out into the snowy night, where she continued to run, eventually entering the dark woods where she instantly disappeared amongst the trees.

CHAPTER 44

IT HAD NOW been a whole week since Nora had run away.  Kale and Caroline had taken turns searching for Nora, mostly during the day, of course to no avail.  Caroline kept hope that they would find her or she would at least come back, however, Kale grew more and more discouraged as it was now the last night that would house a decently sized moon and he knew deep down that if Dagon hadn’t already captured Nora, he would most likely do so soon, or at least come after him and Caroline.

It was on this night that Caroline sat on the couch, picking at her own nails and thinking about what else she could do about the situation with Nora.  All the hope she had been trying to project for Kale’s sake was starting to wear thin, at least, thinner than it had already been.  She was beginning to think that finding Nora was impossible and she knew Kale was thinking the very same, however, she definitely didn’t want him to think that she was also all void of hope.  She had noticed that as the days without finding Nora piled up, he was starting to lose himself as well.  He had been very unkempt lately, not shaving; even wearing the same clothes days in a row.  Also passing out on the couch after being out all day looking for Nora, just absolutely exhausting himself and it was worrying Caroline more with each passing day.  She wasn’t sure when the day would come that he would finally crack.

Suddenly, Caroline was startled out of her deep thoughts as Kale stormed down the stairs from his room and began heading toward the door.  Caroline jumped up from her seat on the couch and turned towards him. “Where are you going?!” she shouted, thankfully stopping him before he reached the door.

Kale turned around the face her. “I’m going out to look for Nora again.”

Caroline looked Kale up and down as she took a few steps toward him.  His black hair was a mess, his five o’ clock shadow was becoming longer and messier, he wore a dark grey shirt that had obviously been worn for a day or two and was wrinkled and dirty, and his jeans were tattered with a few holes in the knees.

“You can’t go out now, it’s night!  You’ve already been searching all day!” Caroline debated him.

Kale shook his head at her statement. “I don’t care.  It’s the last night with a strong moon.  I’ve got to utilize it.  I’ve got to find her!” He then turned and grabbed a black canvas hooded jacket that was hanging on a hook by the door and proceeded to put it on.

“Kale, think about this for a minute!  You’ll be blind out there in the dark!  It’ll be harder to know where you are or where you’ve been!  Just wait until morning again and get some rest tonight!”

Kale just kept shaking his head at everything Caroline continued to say. “No.  No, I’m going to find her tonight!  I don’t care what you say!  Besides, I’m a vampire, I can see plenty well in the dark!” Then, without waiting for Caroline to respond, Kale turned and exited out the front door.  Caroline, of course, followed him out and into the snow and as she did so, she noticed him stumble a bit as he walked down the few steps from the porch.

“Wait a minute!” Caroline called after him as she then approached him and, touching his shoulder, turned him around to face her. “Have you been drinking?!”

Kale sighed and rolled his eyes but didn’t give her any other response.

“Oh my god, Kale!” Caroline condemned, “Where did you even get it?”

“Oh don’t act all fucking innocent!” Kale then shouted back at her, “I found some whiskey in a cabinet in your kitchen!  Maybe you were drinking once too…back when Dagon was messing up your life!”

Caroline shot daggers at Kale as she could smell every bit of whiskey on his breath as he yelled at her. “O.k well, now you really can’t go out looking for Nora.  Your judgement is impaired.  You’ll just get yourself in trouble!”

“Leave me alone!” Kale demanded as he then shrugged her off and turned around to storm away.

“Kale!” Caroline shouted after him, but he just ignored her. “Kale!  K—” it was then that in her shouting, Caroline had gotten a sudden whiff of something familiar.  She stopped her yelling momentarily to take in a big sniff of air and really see if what she smelled was what she thought it was.

“Kale!” she then exclaimed again, this time more joyfully.  She laughed a little as she yelled his name again, “Kale!!”

Finally, the happy tone of her voice peaked Kale’s interest and he turned around to look at her.  He saw the large smile on Caroline’s face as she laughed to herself.

“What?!” he then asked her, “What is it?!”

“It’s Nora!” Caroline happily answered.

“What?!” Kale questioned as he hastily walked towards her.

“I smell Nora!” Caroline repeated.

“You do?!”

“Yes!  I can’t believe it!  But I can smell her!  I…I know where she is!”

 

***

 

            It was at this same exact moment that Nora stood behind her old house, void of Kale’s coat, and staring at a small pair of sticks, fixed together in the form of a cross, sticking out of the snow.  She kneeled in front of it, her jeans getting covered in snow.  She folded her arms and shivered a bit, trying to pull her dark green sweatshirt sleeves over her hands.  She stared at the cross in front of her, her auburn hair, no longer in a ponytail, blew all around her, snow mixing throughout it.  It was then that Nora began to feel the tears well up in her eyes.  However, this time she felt no need to hold them back and she let them fall down her cheek as she began to speak. “Oh Will,” she started as she kept looking at the stick cross in front of her, “I miss you…so much.” She reached up and wiped a few of the tears away with the sleeve of her shirt. “If you could see me now….” She then chuckled to herself as she finished her sentence, “Well, you’d probably be fuming at what I’m becoming, but…” she then looked down at her snow soaked knees and continued, “But I would hope that you’d be proud of me.  Of what I can do for myself now.  How strong I am and how I can take care of myself so well.  I…I used to be so afraid of being all alone, but I’m not anymore.  I know I can be my own hero.  I don’t have to rely on anyone…”

Suddenly a loud sound like a cracking branch startled Nora.  She instantly turned to look behind her.  She scanned the area a bit, but saw no one.  She then started to turn her gaze around again before she heard another snapping sound.  This time she stood up and turned toward where she thought the noise was coming from.  “Who’s there?!” she shouted, taking a very strong stance as she did so.  However, no one responded to her. “I know you’re there!  I can hear you!  Come