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

in pain on the ground.

Nora continued to watch horrified, still in her hiding spot, as Dagon motioned Aaron and Jay to him.  They stood close to one another as Dagon then spoke to them in a hushed tone, “Go find that girl.  Bring her to me.  Make sure she’s not dead yet, do you hear me?  She has to be alive for it to work, understand?  Don’t fuck it up.”

“Yes sir!” Aaron enthusiastically answered.  Jay, however just nodded sadly.  It was then that Dagon walked over to the small ultraviolet light that lay on the ground and picked it up, quickly turning it off.  It wasn’t but a few seconds later that all three of the vampires turned back into their hellion forms and flew away.

Nora remained behind the tree, still in utter shock.  Her backside hurt with so much pain it was almost unbearable.  She could see Rogan struggling in pain on the ground ahead of her and she almost had to tell herself to move her legs because she was so afraid she felt as if she were paralyzed.  Finally, she gained the willpower enough to run to him and then collapse on her knees next to him.

“Rogan!” she exclaimed as she saw his mangled legs, his bruised and beaten body, and the amount of black blood that was spilling out of the stab wound in his stomach.

“N-Nora…?” Rogan barely spoke through coughs of blood as he looked at her.  However, that’s all he got to say because his eyes began to roll back in his head as he suddenly passed out.

“Rogan!” Nora shrieked in fright, “Rogan you dumbass!” She didn’t know what to do as she looked him over.  He was dying.  And it wouldn’t be long before she would be too.  She had to think of something.  What could she do?  She couldn’t carry him anywhere and where would she even go?  She put her hands on her head in panic, looking around her, trying to think of anything she could do.  It was then that she spotted the dagger lying on the ground not too far from them.  That was it!  She knew what she needed to do.  She immediately grabbed the knife and with little hesitation, began to make a cut down her left forearm.  Blood immediately began to poor from her wound and she quickly put her arm over Rogan’s face, letting the thick, red liquid flow into his mouth.  “Come on, swallow it!  Drink it!” Nora pleaded to the unconscious Rogan.  It wasn’t too long before she noticed some of the smaller cuts and bruises that littered his face starting to heal themselves.  It was working!  She then looked over at the stab wound.  It was healing too.  Slowly, but it was healing!  She’d done it!  All of a sudden, a huge wave of dizziness over took her and Nora could see the world around her begin to spin.  She looked around her as blackness crept in from all sides of her vision and began to close in on her.  She looked down at Rogan, noticing his eyes beginning to open before she then in turn, closed hers, and passed out.

CHAPTER 21

 NORA OPENED HER eyes to find she was on the couch in the living room of Rogan’s safe house.  She turned her head to see the extinguished candle still resting on the coffee table, its wick completely black.  She sat up slowly; surprised that she didn’t feel any pain at all.  She noticed that she was still wearing Rogan’s jacket and, as she pulled up the sleeve on her left arm, also saw a long scar going down her forearm.

“So, the hero finally wakes up.” Rogan’s voice jolted her out of staring at her own arm.  She quickly looked up to see him walking into the room, holding two coffee mugs, one in each hand.  He quietly set one of them on the table in front of her and proceeded to sit in the armchair to her left.

“Before you say anything else,” Nora then began to blurt out as she watched him sit with his legs crossed, “I know what I did was stupid.”

“Oh, it was definitely stupid,” Rogan agreed as he casually took a sip of his coffee.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I’m going to apologize for it,” Nora then sternly announced.

Rogan raised his eyebrows slightly. “Oh really?”

“Yes, really,” Nora continued, “I may have been reckless and stupid and went out when you told me not to but I don’t care!”  She looked over at Rogan who just continued to drink his coffee and stare at her, not saying a word. “Because…because,” she started again, slightly disheveled by his strange silence, “Because we’d both be dead if I hadn’t done it.  And to be perfectly honest, what you did was really stupid!  Thinking you could fight Dagon?!  Thinking you wouldn’t get caught!  If it wasn’t for me we’d be dead!  So…I’m not going to say sorry for what I did.  Even if you think it’s stupid and even if you yell at me for it!”

It was silent for a few beats as Nora just looked over at Rogan, waiting on him to respond.  Rogan, however, quietly set his mug of coffee on the table and then looked back at her.  It continued to be silent for a bit and Nora was beginning to feel very uneasy.  Why wasn’t he saying anything?  Why wasn’t he yelling at her?  Why?!

“Are you done?” Rogan finally asked her, breaking the silence.

“What?!” Nora asked in an almost offended tone.

“Are you done?  Because I have a few things to say.”

“Y-yeah I’m done,” Nora stuttered, “But if you’re going to just tell me I was stupid, forget it.  I already just said I don’t need to hear that.”

Rogan shifted a bit in his chair and chuckled lightly. “Like I said, what you did was definitely stupid.”

Nora scoffed and crossed her arms, looking away from him.

“But…” Rogan then continued, “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Nora now turned to look at Rogan again.  She was slightly surprised at his response. “What?” she said, somewhat stunned.

“You are definitely reckless,” Rogan went on, “But for once I’m actually glad you were.  And…” Rogan now looked down for a minute as he seemed to summon up a bit of courage to speak again, “And I suppose I should…thank you.”

Nora didn’t speak.  She just continued to stare at Rogan in bewilderment.  Did he really just say what she thought he had?  Did he really just sincerely thank her?”

“I mean it,” Rogan spoke again, breaking the silence as he brought his head up again and looked Nora right in the eye, “Thank you.  You are right.  If you hadn’t come…both of us would have been dead.  I was stupid.  I thought I could handle myself, but I couldn’t.  Seriously.”

Nora confusedly looked at the seriousness on his face as he stared at her. “Is this a trick?” she then found herself asking him.

Rogan laughed. “No, I promise it’s not.  I’m being serious.”

Nora then looked away for a bit, nodding her head. “O.k.  I guess…” was all she could think to say in response.

“However,” Rogan then said and Nora looked back at him, “I do have some questions for you.”

“Alright, here we go,” Nora said as she rolled her eyes.  She brought her legs up to sit Indian-style on the couch and turned more to face Rogan.

Rogan ignored her response and just kept going, “How did you even know I was in trouble?”

“I felt it,” was Nora’s reply.

“You felt it?”

“Yeah, I mean, the scars on my back started to hurt….burn really.  And I checked and they weren’t bleeding.  The only thing I could think of was that you were in trouble…hurt maybe.”

“Well, that leads me to my next question, how did you find me?”

Nora shifted in her seat nervously as she started to answer, “Well, I first went to your house and when I got there, I saw the wreckage.  I knew something had happened.  And…that’s when I got a strange idea.”

“What kind of idea?”

“Well…” Nora nervously continued, “I didn’t know where you had gone and I didn’t know how I would even find you.  Then all of a sudden I had this idea pop in my head.  It told me to go to your kitchen, get some…human blood….and drink it.”

“That’s….strange…” Rogan confusedly responded.

“I know, but it worked.  I did that and…the strange thing was…I felt different afterward.”

“Different how?”

“Well…I could hear better, see better….smell better.  I could smell you.  Like…like the scent was almost something I could see…could follow.  It’s like I knew exactly how to find you.  So I got in your truck and followed it and that’s how I got to the woods where you were.”

“Hm,” Rogan said curiously as he rubbed his chin thinking.

“What do you think that was?” Nora then asked him.

“I guess…it must have just been the effects of human blood reacting to the vampire blood that’s in you.  And it gave you vampire abilities temporarily.”

Nora then looked down and fiddled with the sleeves on Rogan’s jacket. “Actually…” she started nervously, “it hasn’t worn off.  I can still smell, hear, and see better.”  She then looked up at Rogan apprehensively, “Plus, last night I was able to run faster than normal.  And when I saw my reflection in the window of your house….I looked paler.”

“Huh,” Rogan narrowed his eyes and stared at Nora intently as if he was studying her.

“What do you think that means?” Nora then asked.

“I actually don’t know.” Rogan then leaned back in his chair. “I’ve never shared the Vinculum with anyone before so this is new to me too.  I really don’t know what is happening.”

Nora looked down again as she then said, “I’m scared, Rogan.”

“Hey, look, I doubt you’re going to turn into a vampire.  You don’t have to worry about that…” Rogan started to say, but Nora spoke again, cutting him off, “No…I mean that scares me a little.  But I’m mostly scared of Dagon.” She now looked up and Rogan noticed her worried expression, “When I saw him last night…I had this overwhelming sense of his power.  I felt so weak and helpless.  Like I was some insect compared to him.  And…and the fact that he’s after me….makes it even scarier.  He got really close to getting me last night.  I mean…what is it he wants from me?!”

“I don’t think he wants anything from you,” Rogan then said, “I must have been wrong.  I think all he really wants is to just kill us both.  Just because we didn’t follow his rules. And maybe because he’s just been doing this to me for years.  Torturing me because I won’t follow him.  I don’t know.”

“No,” Nora then said seriously, “I know he told you that, Rogan, but after he….” Nora paused a second before saying the next word, “stabbed you…” she didn’t like hearing herself say it, “He said to Aaron and Jay to go find me.  He told them to bring me to him alive.  Because…something he wanted to do to me wouldn’t work if I was dead.”

“He said that?” Rogan asked now more curious.

“Yes.  What do you think it is?”

Rogan looked away, the expression on his face showing how much in thought he was. “I