* * * *
Four days later
Charles fidgeted as he listened to the latest news report. He’d finally turned off his phone, tired of rejecting the calls from his friends. The ice rattled in the bottom of his glass as he brought it to his lips to get the last of the watered down scotch. He longed for more to numb the fear gnawing at his gut, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk across the room to refill his glass. This could not be happening! It was the stuff they came up with in bad movies. Charles watched as the same female newscaster recounted the details of his failure.
“Officials are urging all citizens to remain in their homes with the doors locked. What is happening now is nothing short of a nightmare. Victims of the deadly virus that struck three days ago have begun to rise from the dead in a mindless state. Others have come forward in fear of frightening changes they are experiencing. Both have the desire to consume blood and the growth of fang-like teeth. Those who seem to have mysteriously returned from the dead are slaughtering anyone in their path. The military and police are trying to contain them, but they are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of these creatures. Many members of the military reserves and National Guard were victims of the pandemic, so there is little back up. Other nations refuse to offer assistance for fear of having this mysterious illness spread to their people.”
As she droned on about the tragedy, Charles considered taking all his wife’s Xanax and ending it all. How could his perfect plan have gone so horribly wrong? Instead of killing the poor, he’d turned them into vampires. A hysterical giggle escaped his lips. They really were leeches now. There had to be a way to fix this.
Raven's Blood Page 4
