Fallen Blood Read Free Page B

knew..." she was saying

    "Heather, come here."

    "What?"

    "Are those the men outside?"

    "What?" She jumped up. "Outside? Here?"

    "I think you need to see this." Brian watched as the men produced a hand-held battering ram and knocked the front door on the other house open then surged inside, as several others stood around in the yard looking about as if on watch duty.

    "That's my house! What are they doing?" She all but hollered. He knew very well it was her house, he had been living across from her for several years now, he wasn't stupid.

    "Lower your voice or they might hear you." He tried telling her unsuccessfully.

    "Mama, Daddy..." she started to turn to run toward his front door. He glanced out the window before he turned to grab her, he saw in that brief second two figures in various states of undress, with black hoods over their heads being dragged from their home, each between two men simultaneously supporting and dragging them.

    "Heather, no , you can't." He grabbed her and began to turn her back toward him.

    "No, let me go! They have my parents!" She struggled wildly, trying to escape his grip. Brian turned her forcefully toward him and shook her to get her attention.

    "Listen to me!"

    "I have to stop them!"

    "Heather, look at me!" He shook her again, this time more forcefully, and she turned in response trying to knock his arms away. He barely felt her hands striking his arms as he bent down and locked his eyes to hers

    "Heather, relax, it's going to be alright," he said, as he looked deep into her blue eyes.

    He felt the fight going out of her as he spoke to her.

    "But my parents.." she trailed off

    "You're going to be alright. Trust me."

    She stared at him for a moment, confusion crossing her face not for the first time tonight, and nodded.

    "Okay then, we need a plan." He pulled her to him, and gently caressed the back of her head. The smell of her hair filled his nose with her sweet scent. He didn't feel any resistance from her, her body was completely relaxed against his. He couldn't help but wonder if she were in some form of shock.

    He hoped she was alright, as if anyone could be, with what was going on around them at the moment. Something strange was happening, and that certainly said something, given his regular life.

    Car doors slamming brought him away from his thoughts, as he moved back to the window with Heather, and watched as all but one SUV pulled away from Heather's house and left in a convoy. The remaining vehicle pulled under an old weeping willow whose branches hung over the street and parked itself facing Heather's home. A stake-out, no doubt waiting for someone to return home. Someone currently held in his arms. Yet, he still had no idea what they could possibly want with her. He was there, and he hadn't seen them do anything that would cause this kind of reaction.

    What could Chuck and his friends possibly have done down in that basement?

    "We've got to do something Brian," she started saying, gaining more strength in her voice as her determination began to resolve. "We need to go to the police or..."

    "Heather, look at me." He bent down trying to get her to look at him.

    "No... We need to get help."

    "Heather, wait!" He grabbed her chin with his left hand as he continued to hold her with his right. "You need to sleep."

    "No...I need to..."

    "Sleep, Heather. We will get help after you sleep." He forced her to look into his eyes.

    "Sleep..." she mumbled, "we'll get help in the morning?”

    Brian nodded "Yes, after you sleep." She smiled and closed her eyes, her form going limp and her legs buckling.

    He caught her before she hit the floor, lifting her easily then carrying her up to his room. He laid her on his bed, and watched as she curled into a fetal position. Her breathing was deep but at least it was relaxed. He stood there and watched her for several minutes. The rise and fall of her chest was one of the most beautiful things he thought he had ever seen. It