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

Kale, a look of self-condemnation and dreadfulness written all over his face.

“Let’s go now, Jay,” were Dagon’s cold words to him as he continued to casually wipe Kale’s blood from his chin, “Grab the girl.”

“No.”

Nora was astonished at Jay’s sudden response.  She looked up at him with pleading eyes and he looked into hers with sorrow.

“What the fuck did you say to me?!” Dagon angrily responded.

“I said NO!!” Jay then shouted.  It was then that he lunged forward, grabbing Nora and quickly said, “Grab onto Kale.”

“What?” Nora questioned for a second.

“I said, grab him!” Jay shouted and Nora wasted no time in obeying, falling forward on top of Kale and gripping him tightly.  It was then that she felt a surge of air around her like she was in the middle of a vortex.  The sensation only lasted a second and when it was over and she looked up, her and Kale and Jay were in the middle of a clearing of trees, the only sound in the distance heard was the loud and angry shouting of Dagon afar off.

CHAPTER 50

 NORA CONTINUED KNEELING beside Kale as he struggled for survival.  She had removed his shirt and was using it to cover his bleeding wound as she kept her hand placed on his neck and prayed for the worst not to happen.  However, she still knew the undeniable reality of their situation.  Kale had been bitten by another vampire; by Dagon.  She knew what that kind of thing would do.  She knew it wouldn’t be the bleeding that would kill him.  She watched how blackness was spreading through his veins from his wound and how it grew not unlike a tree growing and scattering its branches all over his skin.

“Nora…” she then heard Jay utter.  He was still standing over the two of them and Nora looked up.  “Nora…I…I’m so sorry…”

“Get away from us, Jay,” was all Nora said.

“But…I swear…I didn’t know he was going to do that…”

“I said get away from us…”

“Please…”

“GET AWAY FROM US!!!” It was after that shout from Nora that Jay suddenly felt an invisible force push him backward slightly.  It was as if some unseen person had shoved him, but no one had been there.  He looked Nora in the eye and saw an intensity he’d never seen before.  He also noticed something else; a few small rocks that had been under the snow around them were now floating in midair around Nora and Kale.  He couldn’t help but wonder what it meant and whether or not Nora noticed it.

“Nora…” he tried to plead again.

“No!  You did this!  You let this happen!  I don’t want you over here!  Go!  Go now!” Nora just screamed back at him.

Jay didn’t wait for another invisible something to shove him again.  This time he compliantly walked a few feet away from the two of them.

Nora continued staring at Jay with the same concentration until she heard her name being barely choked out by Kale.  She then immediately looked down at him.

“N-Nora…” he spoke again.  Nora could tell he was having trouble speaking as he winced in pain.

“No, don’t talk…” Nora pleaded with him, “It’s o.k. I’m here….I’m going to fix this…I swear.”

“No…Nora…I…I need to…tell you something…”

“Kale…”

“Please…” Kale begged.  Nora looked into his eyes and noticed the seriousness and resilience in them.

“O.k…” she whispered, “What is it?”

“I…I haven’t told you something…” Kale continued to struggle to speak.  The breaths he took in between each sentence were raspy and weak.  He flinched in pain with each one and Nora couldn’t help but think about how much she hated seeing him like this and how she would give anything to save him. “Y-you’re foot….” Kale continued.

“What about my foot?” Nora urged.  She wanted him to hurry and tell her what he was going to tell her.  She knew there wasn’t much time left.

“It was healed….”

Nora gave Kale a questioning stare.  He noticed it and after grimacing at his pain again he said shakily, “I-It was Amy…Will’s mom….she…she healed it…when you were in the hospital…I…I asked her…to…”

“What?” Nora questioned, “Why would you do that?”

“I’m sorry…I know I never told you….I…I just wanted….you to be safe….in case….in case….something like this….in case I….”

“Stop it,” Nora wouldn’t let Kale finish his sentence, “I’m not going to let you die…I can fix this, Kale. You’re going to be alright.  I haven’t been completely honest with you either….”

It was then that Kale brought up a shaky hand and put it to Nora’s cheek.  Nora felt it and looked into his eyes.  She hadn’t realized it but she had mostly been staring at the blackness inside his veins that was growing beneath his skin and how it was almost to his chest now.  However, as she now looked into his eyes she saw how they glistened with the tears that were starting to fill them.  She had never seen Kale cry before and even the thought of it brought tears of her own.  They fell down her cheek as she saw the sadness and regret in his eyes.

“I…I’m sorry this happened…I’m sorry I couldn’t….” Kale struggled to say.

“It’s o.k.  It’s o.k.” Nora tried to comfort him.

“I…I meant what I said….earlier….when I said I l—” Kale didn’t get to finish because all of the sudden he began to seize up as every muscle in his body tightened and his back arched.  Nora removed her hand from his neck and grabbed the hand that had been on her cheek only a second ago.  She held onto it tightly as she watched with horrified eyes the tiny black veins reaching his chest.  A dark black spot then grew from the left side of it; where his heart was.

“No! Kale!  Wait!  I can fix this!” Nora screamed but Kale’s eyes were tightly shut and he didn’t seem like he could answer her.  It was then that she frantically put her hand inside his pocket desperately hoping to find the one thing she needed right now.  Thankfully, she found it; his pocket knife.  She quickly opened it and urgently began to cut her palm.  As she saw the blood begin to drip from her hand she immediately placed it onto his bloody bite.

“I’m going to save you!  Please just hold on, I’m going to save you!” Nora pleaded with Kale.  All of a sudden, his seizing began to dissipate.  His body began to relax and Nora let out a few breaths of hope.  It was working.

However, her hope soon began to change to fear again as she noticed Kale had opened his eyes to look at her.  He looked utterly defeated and she saw a small drop of black blood leave the inner corner of his eye and fall down his cheek like a tear.

“Kale?” Nora asked, but she didn’t get a response.  Kale’s eyes then glossed over and she could tell he was no longer looking at her.

“No…” Nora breathed out, “No, no, no, no, NO!” she frantically began to scream as she placed her other hand on his cheek and began to nudge his head, but he, unfortunately, didn’t respond. “Kale!  Kale, no!  No, come back to me!  Come back to me!!” she kept screaming as she continued shaking him.  Her pleads were useless.  He was gone; and deep down she knew it.

Suddenly a brush on her shoulder jolted her and she looked up to see who was now touching her.  It was Caroline.

“Nora honey….he’s gone…” Caroline had tears running down her face also.  Nora stared at her for only a second as she could only wonder how she came to find them here but her wondering didn’t last long as she looked back down at Kale.

“No…no he can’t be!  I…I’m going to save him!” Nora frantically said between sobs, “I have to!  I have to save him!  I can save him!!”

“Nora, stop, he’s gone!  He’s been bitten you can’t do anything about it!” Caroline cried back at her.

“NO!! I HAVE TO!!” Nora sadly and angrily shouted.  It was then that Caroline felt an almost shock come from Nora’s shoulder and she removed her hand instantly at the sensation.  She was confused for a moment but as she noticed Nora’s hopeless state she quickly ignored it and went to grab her again, this time by both shoulders.

“Nora, honey, please!  You can’t do anything!” Caroline fought to get Nora away from Kale and after a short struggle she finally got her to turn in her direction.  It was then that Caroline kneeled down beside her and looked her in the eye.  The two of them stared at one another with grief stricken faces for a moment and then Nora broke down.  She fell into Caroline’s shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably.  Caroline put her arms around Nora and petted the back of her head softly.

“Oh God!” Nora said amongst her sobs.  Caroline didn’t say anything back but began to cry also.  She shut her eyes as she hugged Nora tightly, receiving squeezes from her as well. The two of them continued to sob in utter agony together, as if nothing else around them existed.  That is, except Jay, who stood afar off watching, trying his hardest to not show the pain on his face as well.

 

***

 

            It was but a few minutes later that Nora sat on a snow covered log that belonged to a fallen tree nearby.  She sat, staring ahead of her at nothing as she felt the trickling of warm blood dripping down her back.  She also looked down at her arm, her dark red blood oozing from it as well.  She felt numb.  It didn’t even hurt.  All she could do was stare at it as she listened to Caroline and Jay argue.

“All I’m saying is, we need to come up with a plan. Dagon is going to come looking for us soon!” Jay persisted.

“Who said you were coming with us?! You’re the reason all this happened!  You’re the reason Kale is…..” Caroline paused her shouting for a moment before she uttered the last word. “Dead…” she said it like it was poison on her lips.

“Don’t be so mad at Jay…” Nora now found herself saying.  Both Caroline and Jay turned to look at her.  Nora wasn’t looking at them, though.  She was just staring out straight in front of her again. “He did get me away from Dagon.  That’s something…”

“You don’t have to defend him, Nora,” Caroline argued.

“Well he’s not wrong!” Nora shouted, “We can’t just sit here!  I hate sitting here!  I don’t want to sit here anymore arguing!” Tears began welling up in her eyes again.  Nora wasn’t sure she had any more tears left to cry.  Her face was already soaked with them and as she turned to look over at Kale’s lifeless body lying in the snow she could barely feel the tears that began to fall once again.

“Well….” Jay then started to say softly, “Let’s go somewhere.  Do we have a safe place we can go?” he turned to Caroline as he asked his question.

Caroline rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “I don’t really know.  I’m not sure if my place is even safe anymore.  Our best bet might be to even get out of state.  Go somewhere new.”

“Do you really think we can get that far without Dagon