Free Kidnapped by Annabelle Lake

had heard on the battlefield; it raised the short hairs on the back of his neck and sent chills of apprehension skittering across his spine.  
    Shock held the Duke immobile as the man or rather creature, was a more apt description of the thing in front of him. It was a man of course, though no man like Sussex had ever before seen. His eyes were soulless chasms staring out at him from behind a white film that covered its pupil. His face was slack and blank; blood poured from his mouth, dribbling down its chin. Good God. Had that thing been eating Laurie?  
    Sussex risked a quick glance at Laurie’s body and he had to fight the urge to vomit. This thing had indeed been feasting upon Laurie’s body. She was obviously dead, and by the state of her body, it was a mercy. Pieces of flesh from her face and chest were ripped away, and a hole had been gnawed through her stomach allowing her entrails to hang out. Nausea swamped him then. He had battled Napoleon in Waterloo and fighting for his life, been forced to kill hundreds of men, but nothing he had seen in the heat of battle had prepared him for this level of perversity.  
    The creature growled low in its throat like some sort of canine and swiped its arms out to grab and tear at the Duke; launching himself at Sussex.  
    His sword had fallen a bit slack from his shock, but he managed to bring it up level with the things stomach as the creature flew at him; impaling itself upon the upturned blade. The pressure on his arm did not diminish, nor did the creature fall lifeless to the floor. He kept coming until he had speared himself the entire length of his sword to the hilt; far too close for comfort, it opened its mouth and took a lunge at him. Instinct took over, and Grayson ducked the bite. He heard the sickening snap of teeth as they closed on thin air where he had only moments ago been standing.  
    Bringing himself up to his full height once more, Grayson pushed with all his strength to expel the beast from the end of his sword. The zombie staggered back and nearly fell over Laurie’s body but caught himself, not wasting a moment before he lunged for Grayson once more. Ready for him this time Grayson swung his sword and stabbed him neatly through the heart. Shock almost made him drop the sword, as again it seemed to have no response to the blow that should have been fatal. Sweat began to bead and run off his body as he worked to keep the creature at bay; pinned by his sword. How in the bloody hell was he supposed to kill something that didn’t seem to want to die? With a hoarse cry, Grayson shoved the creature off the end of his sword once more, using his shoulder. One of its swinging arms thumped him across the side of the face in the process, causing Grayson to have to shake his head to clear his vision.  
    When it launched its third attack on him Grayson knew he had to try a different approach, swinging his sword in a fast chopping motion he hacked at the things neck once, twice and finally on the third attempt he severed the head from the body. Blood shot out of the ragged stump as the arterial spray hit as high as the gilt ceiling.  
    Adrenaline still surging through his body he stayed at the ready, half expecting the creature to get up again but thankfully this time its decapitated body remained still. On rubbery legs, Grayson staggered over to Laurie and placed two fingers to her neck, he felt for a pulse though he knew it was useless. Her body was still warm, but Laurie was as dead as he had assumed.  Taking his fingers from the blood slicked area of her neck, where her pulse no longer beat; he turned away leaving Laurie’s body where he had found her. There was nothing he could do for her anymore; and he had to find someone who would know what the devil was going on. Rotating on his heels, he took off down the hallway, leaving the carnage behind him.  
    A door opened on his right, and Sussex turned eagerly to find another person in this madness. A whore