Free Dark Season: The Complete Third Series (All 8 books) by Amy Cross

In fact, he's kind of ancient. He's from an old species that died off, and now he's the last of his kind".
    My first instinct is to turn and run. These people sound crazy, but at the same time I feel as if something is starting to make sense. I hear that noise in my head again; the noise that used to drive me crazy, the sound of a powerful heartbeat that's stronger and wilder than anything I've ever heard anywhere else. "What is he?" I ask, feeling my hands start to tremble.
    "Come with me," Benjamin says, walking over to a door at the far end of the room. "You can see for yourself".
    "No, tell me," I say, refusing to go with him.
    "It's easier if you just see," he replies.
    "He's a vampire," Shelley says.
    I turn to her. "He's what?"
    "He's a vampire," she says again. "He's the only vampire left in the whole world".
    "It's true," Todd says. "He doesn't turn into a bat. He doesn't live in a coffin. He doesn't sparkle. But he's a vampire. A real, live vampire".
    I run my tongue against the two sharp teeth near the front of my mouth. "My father's a vampire?" I say, trying not to panic. "What does that make me?"
    "We don't know yet," Benjamin says. "You're not a vampire, at least not in the conventional sense. But you're not completely human, either. You're somewhere in-between".
    I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Is this why I've always felt so different and weird? Is this why people like Donna always used to pick on me? "I want to see him," I say, even though there's a part of me that wants to turn and run away from this place and never stop.
    "I'll wait here," Shelley says, taking a step back.
    "No!" I say, turning to her. "You've got to come with me!"
    "Shelley should wait," Todd says.
    "If Shelley doesn't go through that door," I say firmly, "then I'm not going through either".
    "Shelley can come," Benjamin says. "That is, if Shelley wants to come".
    "Please," I say, turning to her. "I need you to be in there with me".
    "Okay," she replies, even though I can see that she really, really doesn't want to see my father again. I reach out and take her hand, and we walk together across the room until we're standing with Benjamin.
    "Todd," Shelley says, turning back to him, "are you coming?"
    He shakes his head. "I don't want to see him again".
    "This might be very difficult for you," Benjamin says to me. "Please remember that your father is a very strong individual. It takes great effort to keep him in a place like this, but we wouldn't restrain him if we didn't feel that it's absolutely necessary. We couldn't let him remain loose. He's too dangerous".
    "You make him sound bad," I reply, trying not to let them see how scared I am. "You make it sound like he's some kind of killer, or a monster".
    "He's just different," Benjamin continues. "The way he sees the world is different to the way I see the world, or the way any human sees the world. But... There's only one person left on the whole planet who might understand how Patrick thinks". He pauses. "That's you, Abigail. Your father is the last of his species, but you're his daughter so, in some ways, you're like him. Not the same, but very similar. Do you understand?"
    "Let me see him," I say. My heart is racing so fast, I feel like it might burst out of my chest at any moment.
    Benjamin reaches down and unlocks the door. "Don't be scared," he says. "There's no way he can hurt anyone. And this is as much for his own good as for ours. He's not in very much pain".
    "Why would he want to hurt me?" I ask.
    "Not you," Shelley says. "The rest of us".
    I look into the dark room, but I can't see anything.
    "Go ahead," Benjamin says. I step past him, and I immediately feel as if I can sense a presence nearby. Somewhere in the dark, something is breathing slowly and harshly. It almost sounds as if there's a wounded animal in here. More powerful than the sound, though, is the sensation in my head. It's hard to describe what it's like, but it's as if I can feel his heartbeat in my own