“I’m sorry,” Jerusa managed to say between spasms of pain.
Shufah shook her head. “Don’t be.”
“Did you know this would happen?”
“No, but Taos and I agreed to stay close, just in case.”
Jerusa forced a smile, though her insides were on fire. “I’m glad you did.”
Shufah pointed to the edge of the trees. A brace of rabbits hopped along, playfully chasing one another. “It won’t sustain you like human blood, but it will take the edge off of the thirst. Drink from a few rabbits and then we shall go hunting proper.”
Jerusa nodded and Shufah left to rejoin Taos and Thad. Jerusa went to the path at the back of the tardy lot. She knew the rabbits’ speed was nothing compared to her own, but thought it better not to hunt them in the open parking lot. She walked twenty yards down the path, caught sight of a rabbit, and scooped it up in a blinding dash.
The poor creature squealed in terror. Jerusa never knew a rabbit could make such a sound. She gripped it tight so as to not drop it, brought it close to her face, then stopped. Someone was coming down path toward her.
A light from a tiny flashlight blasted her in the face. “What are you doing to that rabbit?”
Jerusa would have recognized that haughty, spiteful voice anywhere. It was Kristen, Thad’s ex-girlfriend.
Kristen was having trouble holding the flashlight steady and she stumbled side to side down the path as though the ground was unsteady. Even if Jerusa couldn’t smell the alcohol on her, it was still obvious that Kristen was drunk. She could hear other voices calling out farther down the path. Kristen had wandered off with the flashlight and her drinking buddies were searching for her.
“Didn’t you hear me, Frankenstein?” Kristen’s speech was thick and slurred. “I asked what’re you doin’ to that rabbit?”
Jerusa dropped the rabbit and the frightened beast darted off through the underbrush. Kristen would have been wise to follow it, but instead, she stumbled forward to within a few yards of Jerusa. She was ripe with sweat and booze. Despite being drunk and stumbling down a wooded path, Kristen managed somehow to still look great. Her hair remained styled and her dress, though too short and tight for Jerusa’s taste, still looked better than any other at the prom. Kristen’s heart beat with a healthy thudding and the blood rushing through her veins, called out to Jerusa.
A sober person might have noticed the look in Jerusa’s eyes. A sober person might have been able to read her squared shoulders, arched back, and dropped stance as a telegraphing of eminent attack. Had Jerusa been well fed, she might have been able to employ the hypnotic stealth her new powers afforded her. But Kristen was drunk and Jerusa was starving.
“Do you enjoy having my leftovers?” Kristen asked. She opened her mouth, perhaps to vomit out another slurred insult, or maybe it was to scream. Either way, she didn’t get the chance.
Jerusa darted forward, snatching Kristen by the throat and knocking her off of her feet. She moved through the trees, away from Shufah, Taos and Thad, away from the calling voices of Kristen’s drunken friends. Jerusa couldn’t stop what was going to happen, and though Shufah and Taos would understand, her own shame demanded that she complete this grim task alone.
Jerusa stopped beneath a patch of ancient-looking pines. Kristen was unconscious, either from fear or because of her inebriation, so Jerusa laid her out on the ground. The entire scope of creation vanished around Jerusa, leaving Kristen as the sole focal point of the void. Reason, kindness, morality, all fled from her mind. All that mattered was the blood.
Jerusa straddled Kristen, unmindful of the dirt and grime that stained her white gloves and wrap. She scooped up Kristen beneath her arms and pulled her to a sitting position. The girl’s head lolled to the side, revealing a lone pulsing artery running down her neck. Jerusa opened her mouth, suddenly very aware of the deadly fangs, and went for Kristen’s throat.
A powerful hand pressed against Jerusa’s chest and a terrible pain flooded her body. It was as though a javelin of lightning had fallen from the heavens and struck her borrowed heart. Jerusa wrenched backward, her only instinct to flee the torment. She landed on her back on the mossy earth and the pain subsided.
Jerusa sat up and looked around. Someone had touched her. In the back of her mind, she thought Silvanus would be standing there, but he wasn’t. She checked the shadows for Shufah or Taos, but they were absent, as well. Slowly, as if to make a point, Alicia materialized between her and Kristen.
Alicia looked beautiful standing beneath the pines in her prom dress, the bright aura emanating from her as though she were some sort of forest nymph. She stood in her patented stance with arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes were wide and haunted.
Jerusa stood to her feet. “Did you do that, Alicia? Did you hurt me?”
Alicia nodded.
“Why did you do that?”
Alicia touched her chest then pointed to Jerusa’s. She had only made that gesture one other time. It was the night Jerusa had awakened in the recovery room after having the heart transplant. It was clear what the ghost meant: My heart is your heart. But Alicia wasn’t just speaking of the piece of meat used to pump blood. There was a deeper meaning. They were connected, bound to one another. What one faced, the other would face with her.
“I can’t help what I am,” Jerusa said with a growl. With the pain gone, the thirst had returned. “I can’t keep from this forever. She’s as good as the next person. Leave me alone and let me do this.”
Alicia shook her head no.
Jerusa tried to step around Alicia to go for Kristen again, but Alicia grabbed Jerusa by the elbow and squeezed tight.
Jerusa gasped and stopped in mid-step. She could feel Alicia’s hand on her arm, her fingers digging into the crook of her elbow just as though she were a corporeal being. Jerusa reached out, her hand quivering with shock, and brushed across Alicia’s face. She could even feel the ghost’s eyelashes bristling against her satin gloves.
As amazing as this revelation was, it did not compare to the lashing whip of the thirst. Another pang ripped through Jerusa’s midsection and she pulled her arm free of Alicia’s grip. She went for Kristen again, but Alicia was too fast.
The ghost embraced her, clutching her around the waist with one hand while the other pressed against Jerusa’s chest. Jerusa’s scar sizzled with pain while the heart within rampaged beneath Alicia’s lightning touch. Jerusa’s legs gave out and the pair tumbled to the ground. Alicia’s face was twisted in pain and Jerusa realized she was receiving just what she was giving. But still, the ghost held on. Finally, just when Jerusa thought she could take no more, Alicia pulled her hand away. The absence of pain was so great that Jerusa cried out.
After a moment, the fire roaring in her bones subsided and with it, Jerusa realized, the blood-thirst had vanished, as well. She stood to her feet and faced Alicia.
“Why won’t you let me feed? Do you want me to die? Should I sit here and wait for the sun? Do you want your heart back, is that it?”
Alicia shook her head. She still couldn’t speak, but the anguish in her face spoke for her. It wasn’t about drinking blood or taking another’s life. Alicia didn’t want Jerusa to die, nor did she want her heart back. There was something else, some secret the grave had divulged to her that she could not share with Jerusa. Alicia pressed her hands to her chest. Trust me, she was saying.
“You stopped my thirst?”
Alicia nodded.
“Will it come back?”
Alicia’s face grew solemn as she nodded again.
“What am I supposed to do now? I’m a vampire that can’t drink blood.”
Alicia gave an apologetic shrug. She didn’t know any better than Jerusa did.
“This is just wonderful.” Jerusa walked in the direction of the school, leaving Kristen where she lay. It was best to go before the thirst returned. “We’re gonna need some help. Maybe Shufah will know what to do.”
The vampire and the ghost moved
through the forest, hand in hand. Jerusa reached up and touched the scar on her chest and wondered just where her endless lot of tomorrows would lead her.
The End.
What Comes Next
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A Word From the Author
Thank you so much for reading HEART OF THE DEAD. I’ve had a love of vampires ever since I was a kid, probably kicked off when I read about a vampire rabbit named Bunnicula. It was all downhill from there. I know that the genre has been overdone. Still, I felt compelled to write this story. I hope I was able to bring something new to the table.
Word-of-mouth is crucial in the success of any book. If you enjoyed this story, please take a few minutes and write a review on the book’s Amazon page. Even if it’s only a sentence or two, it would mean so much to me.
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About the Author
Gabriel Beyers lives in Indiana with his wife, two children, and two lovable yet destructive dogs. He is also the author of:
Guarding the Healer
Contemplations of Dinner
Predatory Animals
Beauty & Power: Perpetual Creatures 2
Copyright
Heart of the Dead, Perpetual Creatures 1
Gabriel Beyers
Copyright © 2014 by Gabriel Beyers. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
Cover art created by Emily Lam.
July 2014
Table of Contents
Before You Start
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
What Comes Next
A Word From the Author
About the Author
Copyright
Heart of the Dead: Vampire Superheroes (Perpetual Creatures Book 1) Page 27