Welcome to the Darkness (Darkness Trilogy) Read Free

then,” Reed replied, and relaxed his stance. “I was attacked, in my home. My family–” and here he paused, obviously having some difficulty retelling the events. “Some psycho guy attacked my family. He slaughtered them. I thought I was dead too, but then I woke up. He was having a snooze on my couch, so I grabbed him, ‘cause I was thinking I’d drag him out back and chop his damn head off. The second I stepped into the sun with him though, he burst into flames, and I threw him off me and he landed in the house. The whole house burnt down with him in it, so he must be dead.”
    “May I ask what this ‘guy’ looked like?” Nathaniel r eplied, realizing something about the account bothered him.
    “He was maybe five foot nine or ten, and he had black, curly hair–”
    “Panagos,” he hissed. So . . . Panagos had indeed su ccumbed to insanity and lost control. He should have gone to meet the sun long before now, rather than cause a situation that had surely attracted the attention of the human authorities. Any vampire who risked the exposure of their kind was eliminated, however this was clearly a moot point as far as Panagos was concerned. Still, it was possible some “clean up” was required to cover anything that might appear out of the ordinary. Nathaniel thought for a moment longer to review what the newling had said. “Hold on a moment. You said you stepped into the sun with Panagos, but you must have meant you pushed him or perhaps threw him out into the sun’s light?”
    “No, if that’s what I’d meant, that’s what I would have said. So . . .  it’s true then? I’m really a vampire? How could you tell? I look the same as before. I feel the same as before . . . well, mostly.” Reed’s questions continued to tumble out, although Nathaniel did not pay attention, lost in his own train of thought.
    “You went into the sun,” Nathaniel breathed out in a whisper.
    “Yeah, I was in the sun all day today, big deal. You’re totally ignoring my questions, Buddy. Don’t you get it? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through today? You’re not even paying attention. If you’re not going to help me, go away and leave me alone. My life is ruined, and I don’t know what to do.” His voice had started to crack on his last few words, and he turned away.
    Good grief, this boy was an emotional whirlwind. I gnoring the outburst of questions and accusations, and his decision made, Nathaniel said, “You must come with me. The Queen will want to see you.”
    “The Queen? What Queen? You don’t mean the Queen of all vampires or something like that, do you?”
    “Not the ‘Queen of all vampires’, no. The Queen of San Jose. King City is a part of her realm.”
    “The Queen of San Jose? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of! God, just go away you weirdo freak!” He stormed off and shook his head.
    Nathaniel moved in front of the boy. Reed stopped, narrowly avoiding walking into him. “Get out of my way,” Reed said, enunciating each word.
    Reed’s fangs started to emerge. Strong emotions tended to have that effect and Nathaniel’s own fangs punched through his gums. “It was not a request. You will come with me,” he growled in a voice that no longer resembled anything human.
    “No!” Reed retorted in his own growl with a threate ning glare.
    “Impudent child!” Nathaniel ground out between clenched teeth. He grabbed the newling by the front of his shirt, and slammed him headfirst into the ground with a sickening crunch. Then he dragged the unconscious body of the boy the block and a half to his car, popped the trunk, and stuffed him inside. He took care not to slam the trunk so hard in irritation lest he damage the car with his superior strength. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the drive towards San Jose, hoping the newling wouldn’t heal and awaken before they arrived.
     

Reed
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I awoke with a gasp. “What the . . . ?”
    I