Risen (Book #6 of the Vampire Legends)
Read Risen (Book #6 of the Vampire Legends) Online
Authors: Emma Knight
RISEN
(book #6 of the Vampire Legends)
emma knight
Also by Emma Knight
SWORN (Book #1 of the Vampire Legends)
TAKEN (Book #2 of the Vampire Legends)
BITTEN (Book #3 of the Vampire Legends)
CHOSEN (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends)
AWAKENED (Book #5 of the Vampire
Legends)
Copyright
© 2013 by Emma Knight
All
rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
prior permission of the author.
This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for
your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places,
events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
CONTENTS
Rachel held Benji’s face in her
hands as he leaned in to kiss her, and she had never felt skin so smooth. His
eyes opened, and in those eyes, she could see all the love shining out towards
her. She felt hypnotized. As their lips met, she felt herself transported to
another world, his lips so smooth, the kiss magical.
She opened her eyes, and looked
at him and he said, “I love you with everything that I am.”
She looked into his eyes and
tried to remember. She was confused.
“Who are you?” she asked. She
felt deep inside her soul that she knew him, but somehow she could not
remember.
“Don’t you remember?” Benji
asked.
She tried with everything that
she had, but she just could not remember.
Suddenly, Benji started slipping
away from her. Falling backwards, over a cliff. She reached out to grab him,
but she felt him slipping away and watched horrified as he went plunging down, disappearing
into a cloud.
Rachel blinked and found herself standing
in front of her grandmother’s house. She lifted her finger to ring the
doorbell, but saw that it was broken and hanging from its socket. She then made
a tight fist and knocked loudly on the stained glass front door, waiting for
her to open it. She heard the pitter patter of footsteps coming towards the
door and as she opened the large door, which creaked on its hinges, there stood
an old lady with long straight gray hair, staring back at her with fierce eyes.
Before she knew it, her
grandmother, who looked nothing like the woman she’d remembered grabbed her and
threw her into the dungeon of her house. There were other kids trapped in
there, screaming for their freedom. She heard the door slam behind her and
watched the woman, who she thought to be her grandmother walking away coldly,
screaming, “You will stay here until you die my kiddies!”
Rachel’s body jolted and then she
started to see her body shaking in front of her. She was no longer in the
dungeon, but now she was a top a grand castle somewhere, she couldn’t make out
where though. She stood there watching as an outsider her body morph into
something she couldn’t quite make out. Her fingernails grew long talons, and
her teeth grew into fangs, her skin became sensitive and the small tiny hairs
stood on their ends at the sight of the animals roaming around down below. She
felt the shirt she was wearing begin to tear on the back as her wings protruded
out of them. Her wings were big, bigger than any bird she’d ever seen and they
were clear and scaly, she could see through them all the way down to her bones
and the blue blood vessels flowing through them. Then, as if she couldn’t wait
one more second to taste the blood of the animals below she leapt high into the
air, higher than she’d ever leapt before and waited for her wings to spring
into action, but they didn’t. Rachel let out the loudest scream as she fell
down to her death on the ground far below and then started twitching and convulsing.
She woke sweating and with a jolt
as the train came to a halting stop. “Last and final stop of this train is
Simmesport. Please check around you seat for all your personal belongings and
make your way to the front of the train. I repeat, this is the last stop on
this train. Everyone must get off.”
Rachel rubbed her eyes and looked
around her. The once jam-packed and crowded train was empty with not a soul in
sight. She peered out the window and saw that it was pitch black outside and
there were no lights to be seen. She looked down at her watch and it read
1:05am. She couldn’t believe that she’d been sleeping on the train for so long.
It was as if she just boarded and now, all of a sudden it was already her stop.
She was excited to be here, yet she felt incredibly groggy from her sleep. It
was as if she couldn’t fully wake up, she splashed water on her face, but that
didn’t help. She knew she had to find her grandmother’s house and get into bed.
She started to pack up all her
belongings when the train came to a screeching halt. The lights started
flickering on and off on the train as the conductor came back on the loud
speaker, “Everyone must get off the train. I repeat, get off the train now.”
She didn’t know if this was a
normal loudspeaker notice, or if something was wrong with the train. She couldn’t
understand why the lights would be flickering uncontrollably or why the
conductors tone would be so harsh. Either way, she knew she had to move quickly
and get to the front car of the train.
She swung her backpack over her
shoulders and gathered her sweatshirt and jacket and started running towards
the front of the train. The train started to move slowly again as it made its
way into the station and then jolted to a stop. She pulled open the heavy metal
door in between the train cars. It took all her might to get it open, but when
she finally did, she had to run across the vestibule into the other train car
directly in front of her. Again, she grunted as she forced the door open and
she walked into an empty train car. It was as if she was the only person going
to Simmesport.
Then, out of nowhere, a man
appeared, wearing a full camouflage outfit with combat boots. He quickly looked
at Rachel and then grabbed her quickly, covering her mouth with his large, grimy
hand. She dropped her bag and the items in her hands and started flailing. He
took out a spray and sprayed it into the air, causing her to cough and sneeze
uncontrollably. He then dragged her back toward the back of the train and into
the sleeper car.
“You better be quiet, girl. You
hear me?” the man said in a southern accent.
“Get off of me!” Rachel screamed,
as she felt the man’s heavy body push her down onto one of the cots as he
forced his body onto hers.
“There aint nobody here to save
you now. They think this car is empty,” the man said.
Rachel let out a scream and then,
before she knew it, her body started shaking and a surge of power flooded her
body. She grabbed the man by the balls, twisted her hand and then threw him off
of her and he landed, crashing down into the isle next to her.
“Who do you think you are girl?”
he said, lying there on the floor, with blood on his face.
Rachel couldn’t help but get a
whiff of the blood that was oozing out of his chin. Despite his nastiness, his
blood smelled good to her. She felt her long talons growing out of her
fingernails and then she raised her hand up and swooped it down, scratching his
face entirely so it was bleeding all over.
The man let out a piercing yell,
which was louder than she’d ever heard anyone scream. She had to act fast and
get off this train, but she couldn’t just leave him there on the floor,
fighting for his life.
She leaned down and whispered to
him, “You messed with the wrong girl!”
Then, her fangs protruded and she
sunk her big teeth into his throat, sucking his blood out, laughing loudly as
his body convulsed to its death.
Rachel finally made her way to
the front of the train, looking back with her every step to make sure nobody
had just seen what she’d done. She couldn’t even believe what she’d just done. She
heard a noise behind her, which made her jump, but when she turned around there
was nobody there. She replayed the last fifteen minutes in her head and was
almost certain that creepy guy was dead, but now she had doubts. What if he
were still alive and out to get her? The thought of that frightened her
terribly, as got off the train onto the desolate platform.
“Get home safely,” the conductor
said, as she disembarked the train.
“Uh huh,” Rachel said, still
shaken up by the whole thing.
“Everything ok young lady?” he
asked.
Rachel turned to him and snapped
out of her funk, “Oh yes! Yes, I’m fine,” Rachel said, trying to play it cool.
After all, she didn’t want to be a suspect when they find the guy dead in the
train.
As she stood there, she heard a
loud beeping noise as all the train doors shut. The train horn sounded and then
chugged along the tracks, with its cabin lights off. She looked around the
concrete platform, which was lit up by only a few dimly lit lights above her
head.
She was alone, no one else in
sight. The sound of the crickets rang loudly in her ear and she couldn’t stop
swatting the bugs away from her face. She didn’t know where she was or where to
go next. She pulled out her cell phone to check the map but when she powered it
on she realized she was in a dead zone. She walked to the other end of the
platform thinking maybe she’d get a better signal there, but it didn’t help,
she still had zero bars.
She walked down the stairs and
into the large dark parking lot of the station. She was hoping to see a taxi,
or a car waiting to pick someone up, or anything. She wanted to see any sign of
life in this town, but it was dead quiet and not a soul around but herself. She
started walking down the road, still thinking that she was hearing things
coming from behind her. Maybe she was paranoid because every time she turned
around there was nobody there. She started to panic and work herself up. Her
heart began to race as her steps grew quicker and quicker until she found
herself running quickly down the streets of the town.
She came to a four way
intersection, but didn’t know which way to turn. She looked down each road, but
they all looked the same, quiet and dead. No sign of life ahead in either direction
so she stayed straight, and continued along her path.
She then heard the sound of a
motorcycle coming up from behind her. It’s loud revving sound, reminded her of
something, but she couldn’t put her fingers on it. The noise made her feel
safe, but she didn’t know why. It was almost as if she expected someone to come
and rescue her on a motorcycle. It was a weird feeling though, because she’d
never known anyone who rode a motorcycle, and had never been on one before. Despite
that, she turned around to see its one bright headlight shining right in her
eyes.
“Stop! Stop!” Rachel screamed as
she tried to hail down the motorcycle.
“STOOOOOPPPPPPP!” Rachel yelled
again, as it passed her by without even slowing down.
She couldn’t believe it. How
could they not have stopped? Did they not see her? She stood there for a moment
dumbfounded on the side of the road, and then heard a loud rattling noise in
the brush beside her which made her jump and start running again. She’d never
been a runner before, but right now, she felt like she could run forever. She
was high on adrenaline and needed to find safety or some sign of life here.
Until she did, she didn’t feel comfortable or safe.
Then, about five minutes later as
he run turned into more of a sprint for safety as she continued to look back
over her shoulder, she heard the loud engine of a tractor trailer pulling up
behind her. The air breaks making noise as it chugged around the corner. Rachel
quickly turned and started jumping up and flailing her arms in hopes the driver
would notice her and stop.
“STOP! STOP! HELP ME!” she yelled
loudly, although she was quite sure he couldn’t hear her over the loud noises
of the truck. Then, as if by magic, the truck driver stopped right next to her
and rolled down his window.
“Are you ok?” the driver asked. “What
are you doing out here at this hour?”
“I, um, I am lost,” Rachel said,
shyly. The second she said that, she started kicking herself because she knew
she shouldn’t have admitted to being lost. Now she was a target in this guy’s
eyes. He could do anything to her. She’d always remembered her parents telling
her never to speak to strangers and never ever tell someone you’re lost or you
can’t find your way. She knew this could turn out to be a bad situation, but
she weighed her current options, and given that they were both unfavorable, she
had nothing to lose. She could die out on these streets alone.
“Where are you trying to go?” the
driver asked.
She looked up at the man and
surveyed him, before answering. He wore a brown straw hat with a big gold
buckle and a green and navy flannel short sleeved shirt. He had a pipe in his
mouth and as he spoke you could hear the years of tobacco had taken a toll on
his vocal chords.
“I’m going to my grandmothers,
but I seem to have lost my way,” Rachel admitted.
“What’s her address, maybe I can
help,” the driver said, smiling down from high up in his truck.
Rachel reached into her pocket
and pulled out a small piece of paper with her grandmother’s address on it.
“12 Maple Way,” she said, and
then looked up.
“Hmm…12 Maple Way. I think I know
where that is. You need a ride?” he asked.
Rachel knew never to take a ride
from strangers, but at this moment it felt like the right thing for her to do.
After all, this guy didn’t seem like a predator, nor did she think he’d hurt
her.
“Um, sure. Only if it’s on your
way thought. I don’t want to put you out,” she added.
“Put me out? Don’t be silly. I
couldn’t let you out here on these streets alone. It’s not safe out here. You’re
lucky you made it as far as you have,” the driver said.
Feeling increasingly scared and
nervous to be on these unknown streets, Rachel quickly said yes, and climbed
high into the passenger seat of the car. She turned to the driver and surveyed
him again. He seemed like a good, honest guy, but she couldn’t be sure. She
trusted her gut and smiled back at him as the truck pulled away down the dark
empty road.