My face was pressed into the airbag as I dragged myself up from unconsciousness. The seatbelt I was wearing had saved me from breaking my neck and the airbag had stopped me from crushing my face on the dashboard, or even worse, the windshield, because the seat I was in hadn''t stayed where it was supposed to. Of course, once I pulled a knife from my boot and popped the airbag, I saw the extent of the damage.
Instead of seeing a vampire beside me, I saw the tree trunk.
I was groggy and shaken when I reached for the door handle and didn''t realize there wasn''t a door there. I fumbled for a minute and then used the knife to cut the seatbelt and freed myself. Or so I thought.
I tumbled out of the remnants of the sports car and laid down on my back, only to see a large piece of something sticking out of my abdomen. I couldn''t tell what it was. Metal or plastic? I shook my head. It didn''t matter.
_______________
You have a life endangering choice. Will you lay there and hope that someone comes along to help or will you do everything that you can to survive?
A) Yell for help. B) Use your cell phone. C) Lay there and die. D) Take matters into your own hands.
Fuck! I thought and read the options. Who the hell am I going to yell for? Or call? I asked myself. The timer popped up and had five seconds on it. No, I''m not staying here to die. I choose D.
_______________
In what I thought was a monumentally stupid idea, I grabbed onto whatever the thing was that was sticking out of me, and I yanked it out. It easily came out, along with a large spurt of blood.
ARGH!” I yelled loudly and covered the spot with my hands to staunch the bleeding. It was then that I remembered the medical advice that if you ever had something foreign penetrating your body, you should leave it, in case it had perforated veins or arteries. It was acting as its own tourniquet.
After only a few moments, I felt better for some reason. I blinked my eyes and took in a breath of air. The cool night air was like a slap in the face and I sobered up quickly and my head cleared. I wasn''t sure how long I was actually unconscious after the accident, then I remembered Natalie.
NO!” I rolled over and coughed up blood, wiped at my face, and stood. I was a little shaky and blood still seeped out of my abdomen wound. I didn''t care. I was only down the street from where they had held Natalie and I started running. I had learned years ago not to run flat out because you ran out of energy quickly and are out of breath if you sprint too long. I ignored that advice and ran as fast and as hard as I could.
I could feel my leg muscles burning after only a few minutes. I guess not using my legs for over two months was detrimental to my physical fitness. I thought and it made me laugh.
I came up to the main entry of the cemetery and leaned my forehead against the cool metal gates while I rested for a minute. Taking deep breaths, I reached for my holster and my gun... then realized I didn''t have it.
Fuck!” I cursed and looked around to see if there was anything or anyone waiting for me. I couldn''t see anything obvious except that everything seemed much shorter than when I was here before. I guess that was because the last time I was seeing everything from waist level. I could see the gate was chained and padlocked, and it had never been before, so I knew someone was trying to stop me from getting in.
I wasn''t going to get in the front way, unless I wanted to break the lock off and alert the bad guys to where I was. So, I needed another way in. I walked along the outside wall and scanned the darkness for a support to help me over the wall and noticed a recycle bin near the street corner. It was pretty weak for a trashcan and probably wouldn''t have held a full-grown person.
That was like an eight foot jump! I thought in surprise. Okay, okay. Calm down. You can do this.
Damn it, David! Get your head in the game! I thought to myself. Stop making rookie mistakes and get your ass in gear! Move it! Move it now!
Where were they? I asked myself, because I knew for a fact that there were at least three vampires around. Mina, the male vampire, and the old man. There could also be more, because those were only the ones I knew about.
What the hell was going on?
“
How could they do it? How dare they take her from me! I summoned up all the anger and strength I could muster, then I reached out and grabbed the chains that bound Natalie to the wall. I did it carefully, so I wouldn''t damage her body any more than it already had been, and pulled the chains from their tethers on the wall like they were nothing. Her limp body fell to the floor and I went with her.
“
“
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
That''s not even a choice. I thought. I choose C! Definitely C!
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
Oh, shit. I thought and glared at Rick. “You didn''t call her parents to tell them we found her?” I asked. “It''s been hours, Rick! Hours!”
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
“
Another day, Natalie. I thought. Another day and I''ll see you again.
“
“
“
“
“
“
“