Blood Reaction A Vampire Novel

by Atha, DL

  Blood

  Reaction

  D.L. Atha

  foxoboro press

  © 2011 D.L. Atha

  All Rights Reserved.

  No reproduction in part or in whole without the expressed written consent of the author, except in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the creation of the author’s imagination. Any semblance to real persons or events is coincidental.

  Address inquiries to: editor@foxboropress.com

  ISBN 13 — 978-0-9793356-0-0

  Manufactured in the United States

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For my husband and the many nights that you unselfishly shared with my laptop.

  With special thanks to Debbie H. who read this book more times than I can remember. Thanks for your patience, sound advice, and encouragement.

  one

  Watching the car drive away, I let my breath out not just in a sigh of relief, but also the sigh of any worried parent watching their only child being driven away. No longer able to make out any part of my daughter in the passenger seat because of the distance, I continued to stare at the car until it was completely out of sight. I sighed again although there was no one else to listen.

  Samuel, my beloved German shepherd, whined quietly beside me probably recognizing more than I did just how anxious I was as my only daughter disappeared down the drive. Although I could use some alone time and my daughter would enjoy a visit with my mother, I would worry, at least a little, the entire time she was gone.

  Samuel, getting antsy, butted my leg with his nose as if to tell me we had things to do and standing here looking for a car that was already gone was a waste of time. He was right. I had a lot of chores to get done during my two-week hiatus from work so giving one last sigh and a backwards glance down the drive, I walked towards the barn to get some tools.

  With both arms full of supplies, I slammed the barn door shut with my foot and made the short trek to the garden. Dropping my armload where the dark brown earth met the dead grass, I picked up the hoe and buried it deeply into the recently plowed cold earth. Dragging it hard behind me, I made several rows, more or less straight, so I could start planting an early spring garden.

  Ellie and I were trying to live green, so every year since we moved here we had been planting a garden with varying degrees of productivity. We also had a few chickens and Ellie had quite a bit of fun gathering the eggs and giving the extras to the neighbors.

  With spring right around the corner, there was no end to the amount of work this farm could create. I had already broken the garden up with the old tractor that the former owners had included in the sale of the house, but there was still a myriad of chores left from cutting back the roses that grew everywhere to cleaning out the barn.

  Working in the dirt, I managed to get three rows of onions and a row of cabbages planted before my hands began to object to the cold. Although we were having some warmer days than usual in late February, the nights were still cool so the ground was cold and my leather gloves couldn’t quite keep the damp out.

  Leaning the hoe up against an outside corner of the barn, I decided to go riding for a couple of hours. Looking up at the sun, I was pretty sure it was between three and four o’clock. That would give me a couple of hours. If I hurried. Mentally, I chided myself for not putting the hoe up, but I soon forgot my laziness at the thought of the ride.

  Spotting my horse at the far end of the pasture, I grabbed a bucket of oats from the nearest feed bin and shook them. Watching her lift her head, ears pointed towards the sound, I could almost see her suspicion of what I had planned, but she simply couldn’t resist the oats. Breaking into a trot, she was at the barn in no time.

  Holding out a handful of oats towards her, she walked up, snorting slightly at my outstretched hand to confirm she really wanted to eat this enough to take the risk of being caught. Deciding it was worth it, she lipped at my hand, knocking some of the oats onto the ground while I reached for her halter, happy that I had caught her.

  Quickly getting her bridled and saddled, I swung up and headed through the pasture to the gate at the back of my property that joined the National Forest. The cooler air of the coming evening gave her more spunk than normal and I gave in and let her gallop.

  Whipping through the large pines lining the trails of the forest, her long coarse mane flew up and stung my face. By the time we stopped, tears were streaming down my cheeks from her mane and the cold. Laughing, I patted her hard on the neck. We were both winded and we spent the next hour just winding through the endless trails that crisscrossed through the woods.

  It got dark fast in the forest as the thick pine trees filtered out most of the sunlight and I realized that I had lost track of time as I often did. Dusk had not quite set in but I could only see the remnants of the quickly disappearing sun. It would be a tricky ride home in the dark as the trails were nearly indistinguishable.

  Luckily for me, my mare knew her way back to the barn better than I did so I gave her a free reign and she turned towards home. Traveling at a quick trot, she weaved through the maze of trails by some internal map heading for the comfort of the barn.

  Having ridden farther than I had intended, I was unable to make it out of the forest before the last of the sunlight had completely disappeared. I found myself riding in darkness except for the slight glow reaching me from the partial moon above.

  Alone and in the dark, the tall pine trees closed in on me and my mare was more spooked than ever. She was probably picking up on my nerves. I’d ridden in the dark many times but this time it felt different. I felt unnaturally lonely. Not sure what was causing this feeling, I tried to analyze it and finally decided it was because I was riding home to an empty house. Usually, Ellie would be with the sitter waiting for me to get home or over at a friend’s house.

  Lost in thought and not paying attention, I was unprepared when my horse reared suddenly under me. Rolling off backwards, I landed hard on my back.

  Certain that it was a bear that had startled the horse, I rolled over, struggling to get to my feet, but I was knocked back down by a compact body. I pulled my arms up defensively in front of my face, but the animal forced its snout through and I realized it was only Samuel.

  Laughing out loud now that I knew I wasn’t about to be eaten, I let him give me several wet licks to the face as I wrapped my arms around his shaggy neck. Like any truly good dog, he had taken off after my horse and tracked us in the woods. At least I wouldn’t be completely alone since my mare was long gone. Getting to my feet, I dusted off my butt as best I could and started towards home. My horse had thankfully gotten me close enough to my property that I knew where I was even in the dark.

  More of the moonlight was beginning to reach the ground as I approached the edge of the forest, making strange shadows and shapes from the trees around us. It was a difficult walk in the dark and I strained my eyes to catch a glimpse of the dark tree roots weaving their way across the trails before I stumbled on them and fell.

  Samuel padded along quietly beside me. With his much keener senses, he never missed a step and I could just make out his ears swiveling back and forth in the dark, catching every sound the forest made in the night. Suddenly stopping in mid-stride, one paw lifted in the air and his hackles up, he growled deep in his throat.

  Automatically, I stopped too and turned in every direction, studying the shadows intently for something that might be hidden. I could see nothing out of the ordinary but gooseflesh popped up on my arms and legs and a feeling of pure terror suddenly raced through my body.

  The feeling came out of nowhere. I could feel eyes on the back of my head, like when yo
u’re being watched from across a room, but this was accompanied by a feeling of sheer panic. As if the person across the room was a serial killer.

  I kept turning in circles trying to pinpoint where the creepy sensation was coming from, but it seemed to move quicker than I was capable of. The trees and bushes rustled around me despite the lack of wind and the feeling of terror continued to grow until I felt I would suffocate. Finally finding the courage to move, I sprinted towards home.

  With Samuel at my side, I ran as fast as I could but I didn’t make it more than a few strides before something knocked me down hard. I rolled twice before coming to a stop, several feet from the path, on my right side. Rocks and old branches poked painfully through my clothes, scratching my skin and bringing tears to my eyes. My eyes closed, I struck out defensively with both arms, my hands meeting nothing but cold air.

  Forcing my eyes open, I could see only the interwoven branches of the tall trees above me. Pushing off of the ground, I didn’t bother to look for what had hit me but focused instead on running towards home as quickly as I could while watching my every step.

  Sprinting out of the thick woods at the edge of my pasture, I felt a deep sense of relief at the sight of my brightly lit house at the northern end of my property. The dark outline of my horse could be seen standing next to the barn. At least she had made it home. I couldn’t be angry with her, I was as terrified as she obviously had been.

  The overwhelming sense that I was being watched was now gone and besides, I couldn’t have run any further as I was totally out of breath. My legs were burning and my heart was pumping so hard that my chest ached with exertion. Feeling like jelly all at once, I leaned over, bracing my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

  Samuel, having never left my side, jogged little happy circles around me, his wagging tail beating reassuringly against my knees while I rested. Feeling a little stupid now, I laughed uneasily to myself. In the glow that reached me from the glaring security lights in my yard, it was easy to reason I had imagined the entire scenario. My imagination had gotten ahead of itself.

  Walking the rest of the way towards the house, I dreaded having to catch my mare and unsaddle her. I just wanted to go and collapse on the couch. Making it to the barn with my lungs still burning, I quickly scooped up a bucket of oats. No longer concerned it was a trick, my horse eagerly followed me into the barn.

  I poured the oats into her feed bowl and she was eating before I finished. Patting her on the neck, I quickly unlashed the saddle, pulled it off her back and set it in the corner of the tack room, thinking I would put it up later. Procrastination is one of my many character flaws.

  Reaching over to switch off the barn lights, I paused in mid-air as I remembered the hoe leaning up against the outside wall. All I needed was to knock myself in the head with it if I stumbled across it. Reaching around the doorway, my hand met only the cold wooden wall of the barn.

  Looking around the doorway, I scanned the entire length of the barn wall. Glancing back around behind me, I looked up automatically to where the hoe would normally be hanging on the wall. It was exactly where it belonged.

  Rubbing one hand across my forehead, I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly into the cool air, fog forming in front of me as I questioned my sanity. Convincing myself I had simply forgotten that I had put the hoe up, I slapped the lights off and headed for the house.

  The walk across the yard seemed interminably long and I couldn’t help but glance back at the dark border of trees marking the edge of the forest. Swaying gently in the light February breeze, the darkness of their branches contrasted against the lighter hues of the sky lit up by the partial moon.

  As I stood there in the dark studying the tree line, a familiar shudder worked its way down my spine. Feeling like a mouse in a trap, I sprinted across the yard and up onto the deck, yanking the back door open with trembling arms. As usual, I had locked the door out of habit. Taking a deep breath, I slowly typed in the code to the electric lock, my fingers shaking the entire time. But it lit up green and with a quick twist of the knob, I was in the house.

  Turning the bolt lock behind me, I leaned back against the kitchen wall, letting my chin rest on my chest momentarily. Shaking from head to toe, I took a few deep breaths to calm my trembling limbs.

  In the house, the illogical fear I felt in the yard melted away again and I tore my jacket off, angry at myself for being such a sissy. To add insult to injury, I jumped nervously when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket.

  Pulling it roughly out of my jeans pocket, I didn’t bother to check the caller ID. I knew it would be my mom. “Hey Mom,” I greeted. My voice still held a slight tremble and Mom picked up on it immediately.

  “What’s wrong?” I could hear the anxiety in her voice. Knowing where this conversation was going, I groaned as I walked into the kitchen.

  Getting inpatient because I didn’t answer immediately, she asked again, “What happened?”

  Grabbing a jar of spaghetti sauce out of the cabinet next to the fridge, I held the phone between my shoulder and ear while I opened it. “I had a little scare in the woods tonight while I was out riding. It was nothing. I’m fine,” I told her, trying to downplay it but knowing it wouldn’t work.

  “Exactly what kind of scare?” Mom’s voice had gone up about half an octave.

  “Nothing bad. I lost track of time and had to ride home in the dark. The dog spooked the horse and I fell off.”

  Intentionally leaving out the part where I thought I had been knocked down, I waited to see if my explanation pacified her. I wasn’t really trying to keep anything from her, I was just sure that my nerves had gotten the better of me and I had created a spook out of thin air.

  Pouring the sauce in a pan, I placed it on the burner over a medium flame and then put the water on to boil for the noodles.

  “What were you thinking riding at night? You’ve got to be more careful. You have a daughter to think about.” Mom had that tone in her voice that said, “I’m glad you’re OK but I’m mad at you at the same time.” The one that always made me feel guilty because she was usually right.

  “You have got to be more careful.” She repeated it again. “Besides the fact that you live in the middle of nowhere, completely alone except for Ellie, you risk your life by going horseback riding in the dark.” She emphasized the last four words, her voice now at least an octave higher.

  “Mom, please don’t turn this into an argument about the house. But you’re right. It was irresponsible of me to ride in the dark, but that has nothing to do with the house.”

  Hoping to avoid the never-ending argument about my home, I tried to end it before it got started. My back was hurting from where I had fallen from my horse and I was dirty from rolling around on the ground. I just wanted to take a shower and eat my dinner, but from past experience I knew she was not going to let this drop.

  The house was a contention point between us at every turn and to say she hated the place was an understatement. The house, actually its location, terrified her. She wouldn’t even spend the night with me when she came for a visit now that my dad had died. She stayed in town at the Day’s Inn. She preferred to not even drive out the dirt road except in the daylight. I could understand why. After leaving the paved road, it was an eight-mile drive to my house on a very lonely one-lane dirt road.

  I had bought an older home built in the antebellum style so far out in the country as to even be called remote. It was large, much more room than I would ever need. The realtor had showed it to me on a whim.

  Falling immediately in love with it despite it not being what I was looking for or needed, I had made an offer within the hour. Imagine my surprise when it was accepted just as quickly.

  When my parents drove in from one state away to look at the house, Dad had taken one look at the place and announced, “Well, I see you met a salesman.” And he had been right. It was too big, too old, and way too far from civilization to be right for me. Probably the exa
ct same reasons the former owners had sold it. They had even thrown in most of the furniture, they were so desperate to sell. Of course, I was too blinded by the beauty of the house to have thought about that at the time.

  Grabbing a long wood-handled spoon to stir the sauce, I tried to multi-task while we talked.

  “Annalice, you have absolutely no business living that far out by yourself. You could’ve been killed out in the woods and no one would have ever known. You should have come and spent the week with Ellie and me. Not stayed out there in the boondocks all by yourself.” Boondocks, she was really laying it on thick tonight.

  “Mother, I do not live in the boondocks. You’re being ridiculous. Besides, I like it out here.” Now I was laying it on thick. Of course it was the boondocks.

  A quiet thump from upstairs made me jump and I splashed spaghetti sauce out of the pan onto the stove where it sizzled on the burner. Laying the spoon down on the stove, I walked into the entryway and looked up the stairs onto the landing above me. I could see nothing out of the ordinary.

  Mom was still lecturing me. I had pulled the phone away from my ear but could still make out the buzz of her voice in the background as I listened intently for any more noises upstairs. Hearing no more, I brought the phone back up to my ear.

  “Annalice, are you there? Did you hear anything I said?” Her voice was going back up again.

  I lied and told her yes. “Mom, look. You and Ellie will be back in a week. Just enjoy yourselves. Have a good time together. I’ll keep the doors locked. You know, I’m actually looking forward to being by myself for a while. Everything will be fine. And I won’t go riding in the dark any more, I promise.” She wouldn’t drop this until I had made at least a few concessions.