Free Operation by Tony Ruggiero Page A

grow. It wasn’t just that she needed to feed that caused impatience to gnaw at her, but rather just the fact that she wanted to get it over with. Tonight it felt like something that you had to get done, rather then something you wanted to do. This change in attitude she did not understand.
    Feeding upon Jake, her primary source of human blood had brought her pleasure over the years. She couldn’t deny that.
    She tried to pinpoint when her feeling had changed and the answer came quickly as if it had been waiting to be discovered.
    Ever since she had learned of the possible existence of other vampires and about John Reese, something had changed. Was it that she felt her isolation was over? That there were other vampires that she could join?
    She opened her car door and stepped out. Her feet crunched on the gravel parking lot as she swiveled her body around to close the car door. Looking to both sides of the small area she saw that there was only one other car parked nearby. She assumed that whoever owned this vehicle was probably fishing in the stream that meandered along the quiet road that slipped from Virginia and into North Carolina. Walking away from the car, she moved toward the area she had remembered seeing the homeless people.
    She entered the wooded area, flushing her mind of all thought and allowing her senses to guide her in the hunt. She lifted her head as a gentle breeze tickled the forest around her and told her what she needed to know. For an instant, there was a sense of familiarity—something from her own country; as if she had been here before long, long ago. She placed these thoughts aside and her senses told her that someone was here. She closed her eyes allowing her mind to drift toward the smell.
    Suddenly something reached out and slammed into her mind so hard it made her stagger in her steps and stop. Then it was gone. She didn’t know how to interpret it but thought it was like a memory long forgotten that had come back with a vengeance. But as suddenly as it had appeared it had departed leaving her wondering what it was. It had something to do with her surroundings…the woods she thought. She looked around and saw or sensed nothing unusual. Regardless it was gone now and so she returned her thoughts to her prey and the meal at hand.
    She moved toward the smell and came to a small building where a single man with his back to her sat next to a small fire he coaxed along on a small tabletop grill. Some kind of meat sizzled on the hot grill, the smell also reaching her nostrils, but ignoring it for the smell of the blood that coursed through the man. She moved in quietly.
    She stood directly behind the man when he suddenly rose and turned to face her as if he had known that she was there.
    However, he was not the one that was surprised by what he saw. Christina stared into his face. It was then that she recognized the feeling she had had moments ago; the woods of her home. She felt her breath escape her lungs in surprise as she saw the face of the vampire that had made her.
    Alexander.
     

C HAPTER S EVENTEEN
    Samantha smiled as she imagined the efficiency of such a kill. She smiled and felt the warmth between her legs as she thought about the explosion and the effect it would have on the human body.
     
    No…she could not give into it yet…the pleasure…not yet!
    She exhaled deeply focusing on the moist warmth between her legs and forced it to dissipate. A few moments of breathing deeply and she felt that she was back in control. She let her body relax a little as the images of the explosive device and their effects diminished from her thoughts.
    She returned her thoughts to Iron Stake. Samantha knew that the creature was aware of all of the issues dealing with controlling her actions and even could have possibly resisted at times. But the interesting part of this revelation was that she simply chose not to.
    This fact had always puzzled Samantha and during her first meeting with the creature,