Blood Land, J.R. Lawson [electric book reader .txt] 📗

a problem.”

Nora just nodded and exited the car at the same time as Rogan and they both began to walk down the street, Rogan leading in front.

“Don’t touch anything or talk to anyone,” Rogan then instructed as he turned to look back at her for a second.

“Alright,” was all Nora said as she kept walking, hands tucked into her hoodie’s pockets.  She mostly looked down at her feet as she walked, watching the laces of her chucks flop as her feet moved and she listened to the sound her shoes made as they scraped the pavement under them.  All of a sudden, a sound startled her.  It was the soft meow of a cat that seemed nearby.  She turned her head to look around as she then stopped her pace to see a black cat in front of her.

“Oh, hi there,” Nora greeted the animal as she kneeled down for a small second to pet it.  In an instant, however, the cat puffed itself up and a large set of black bat wings jutted from its back.  It jumped up and hovered in front of her and hissed, baring its cat fangs, which seemed much longer than they normally would be.  It swiped at her as it growled and she instantly backed away, staring as she now noticed its bright red eyes.

She didn’t have any time to really decide what she was going to do next, because Rogan appeared on the other side of the cat and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.  He then tossed it aside, causing it to land on its feet right on the pavement and run away yowling.

“Get out of here!” he yelled after it.  He then turned to Nora with an expression that seemed to be a combination of anger and disappointment, “I told you not to touch anything!”

“I…I’m sorry,” Nora stuttered.

“Well…come on, let’s go,” Rogan then turned and started to walk again.  Nora only stood in thought for a second or two before then quickening her pace to catch up with him.

“What was that?” she then questioned as she walked behind him.

“It was a cat,” Rogan stated rather matter-of-factly.

“Duh, I know that,” Nora grumpily responded, “I mean…I didn’t know animals could catch the hellion virus.”

“Yes, they can,” Rogan answered.  He didn’t turn to look back at her but just kept walking quickly and looking straight ahead. “Animals are affected by the virus and anything that has to do with it.  Some vampires like to turn their pets so they don’t feel tempted to eat them.  After all, a bite from another vampire would kill them instantly.  So it’s easier to keep them around without the temptation.”

“Hm…yeah,” Nora pondered, “Why is that anyway?  Why does a bite from another vampire kill a vampire?”

She saw Rogan shrug in front of her, “I don’t know.  All I can think of is that it’s just too much venom for one blood stream to handle and so then it basically becomes a poison I guess.”

“Yeah I guess that makes sense,” Nora acknowledged as she then remained quiet for the rest of the short walk until they made it to Rogan’s house.

They stopped in front of a small Victorian style townhouse that was on the corner of the street.  The mailbox in front said ROGAN.  Nora admired the charm of the house and how it was the only thing around that didn’t seem in horrible disrepair.

“Alright,” Rogan spoke up as he glanced around them, seeming as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching them, “I’m going to go in and get a few quick things.  Stay right here and I’ll be right back.”

“Stay out here?” Nora asked in an uneasy tone as she too looked around them.

“You’ll be fine.  Just don’t chat with anybody.  I’ll only be a minute.”

“O.k.” Nora rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she watched Rogan enter his house and shut the door behind him.

It only took a second or two before she then heard someone speak behind her.

“Oh, hi there!”

She turned around to see a woman, possibly in her thirties, standing behind a fence next door to her.  The woman had a faded blue dress on and she seemed extremely unkempt.  Her brown, chin length hair was a mess on top of her head and she had dark bags under her eyes.  She was also very frail and thin.  She just smiled up at Nora with a tired expression as she petted a black cat in her arms.

“Oh…hi…” Nora hesitated as she looked down at the familiar cat in the woman’s arms and it hissed at her.

“Oh, stop that, Lucinda!” the woman scolded the cat as she then dropped it to the ground and the cat ran off into the house behind her, “I hope my kitty didn’t bother you,” she then added with another tired smile.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Nora reassured, weakly smiling back.

“I’m Rose, by the way,” the woman introduced, holding her hand out for a hand shake.

Nora hesitated but eventually returned the hand shake and responded, “I’m Nora.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rose said as she released Nora’s hand.  She then dropped her hands to her side and began fiddling with her dress nervously. “So…” she added, “You must be new.  Mr. Rogan is helping you?”

“Uh…yeah…?” Nora answered, not really knowing what she was talking about.

“That’s nice. He’s a very nice man.  He helped me out when I was new as well.  Gave me a great house, in a nice place, even provided me with food and supplies!”

“That’s nice,” Nora continued nervously, trying to avoid eye contact with Rose.  The woman was smiling as much as she seemed like she could and her eyes seemed to light up when she talked about Rogan.

“And he doesn’t even ask for much.  Just the daily payment, you know.”

“Daily…payment?” Nora repeated, now slightly curious.

“Yes, you know.  And it doesn’t really hurt like you think it will.  I was nervous at first but it really is a small price to pay for all that he does for us,” Rose began to wring her hands as she spoke, and she looked away from Nora nervously.

“Oh…right…” was all Nora could think to answer.  It was then, to her relief, that Rogan emerged from the house and approached the two of them.  He looked at her first and then over at Rose.

“Rose, what are you doing here?  You should be out looking for a new place to move like we talked about, remember?” Rogan then said to her.

Rose dropped her head in slight shame as she answered without looking up, “I know, Mr. Rogan, I just….I’m afraid to leave here.”

“I know that,” Rogan sighed, “But you really need to get out of here.  You’ll be much better off elsewhere.”

Rose didn’t respond but just nodded.  Rogan then turned to Nora, “Come on, let’s go.” He gestured toward his house.

“Mr. Rogan!” Rose then blurted out, causing Rogan to stop and turn back to her.

“Yeah?”

“I…I was wondering if you had any more…blood for me today…”

Rogan then sighed and gave Rose a frustrated look, “Rose we talked about this.  You really need to hunt for yourself now.”

“I know…I just…I’m not very good at it…” Rose was so timid as she stood there, pulling herself inward as if she were trying to make herself as small as possible.

Rogan let out a huge sigh and threw his head back slightly in frustration, “Look,” he then answered looking back at her, “I have some more blood for you in my house that I’ll give you.  But this really is the last time, o.k.?  I need you to start taking care of yourself.  I can’t be here all the time to do this for you.”

“I understand, Mr. Rogan.  I thank you so much.  I promise I’ll try harder!” Rose spoke excitedly as she now stood up straight and looked at him happily.

“Alright well, I’ll get it for you when I come back here later.”

“O.k., thank you so much!”

“Well, you should get back inside, Rose, o.k.?”

Rose just nodded to him and did as he instructed, leaving just him and Nora next door.  Nora just turned to Rogan without saying a word, but giving him a very confused look.

“Don’t even ask about it,” Rogan quickly instructed, knowing what she was getting at by her expression.

Nora knew at this point not to argue so she just shrugged and put her hands in her jacket pockets.

“Come on,” Rogan then initiated as he then began to walk back to the door to his house, “I need some help putting some things in the truck.”

Nora just sighed and did as she was told and followed him. 

 

CHAPTER 15

 ONCE THEY WERE inside, Rogan preceded to tell her what things he wanted taken out of the house.  Nora began grabbing some things silently; however, she really couldn’t control her silence for long as she finally spoke up, “What was that woman, Rose, talking about, Rogan?”

Rogan let out a huge and annoyed sigh. “God, I told you not to ask!”

“I know but I’m curious.  She said some really strange things to me.”

“Aren’t you always curious?” Rogan halfheartedly joked, “Anyway, I remember telling you not to talk to her.”

“She talked to me.  It wasn’t my fault!”

Rogan let out another small sigh and rolled his eyes. “What did she say to you?” he said.

“She said something about you helping me…?” Nora began, “And something about a…daily payment…”

“She thinks you’re a fledgling,” Rogan casually answered.

“A new vampire?  Why would she think that?” Nora asked, now trying to hasten closely to Rogan as they loaded things into the truck.

Rogan finished putting what he had in his hands in the truck before responding, “Because you don’t smell quite human.  Since…you have vampire blood inside you, you smell like both.  So she thinks I turned you and you’re still….in transition.”

“Is that what you did to her?”

Rogan just looked at Nora for a second but then instead of responding he just shook his head and started walking toward the house again.  Nora quickly put what she had in her hands in the truck before then hastening after him.

“Rogan!” she shouted after him.

Rogan turned around to face her as he had reached the door. “Look,” he now spoke sternly, “You really want to know all this stuff?  Cause I really don’t want to tell you about it.  You don’t really need to know.”

“What stuff?  Does this have to do with that ‘daily payment’ Rose talked about?”

Rogan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Let’s just say it’s about stuff that happened when I was still working for Dagon.”

“Tell me,” Nora requested.

“It might change your perception of me,” Rogan responded.

“My perception of you?” Nora said, “You mean I won’t think of you as a self-absorbed asshole anymore?” she spoke the last sentence with a sarcastic smirk.

Rogan smirked back. “O.k. come inside,” he instructed as he touched her shoulder and led her into the house.

Once they were inside Rogan started again, “O.k. look, for a while I used to work for Dagon.  He had several vampires that he trusted alongside him that he called his ‘brood’.  I was a part of that brood.  We were each assigned an area of the Blood Lands to keep in check and basically inforce laws etc.  This neighborhood, this