Free After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry Page A

could make out the stone angel atop the fountain before she even approached the entrance, she knew that on her previous visits, that angel had not been there.
    She became convinced that the fountain was in a separate reality, sometimes vanishing altogether, only to reappear later. When she got older, she realized that this fantasy couldn’t possibly be true and she had not been able to find the fountain due to some serious lack of directional skills, but some tiny part of her always held on to the fantasy anyway. Maybe Bethesda Fountain wasn’t part of an alternate universe. Then again, maybe it was. She had, after all, just been told that vampires were real. Caroline figured after that, anything was possible, and if it was, then that was great, because she was thinking the universe she currently inhabited was too small for her to get as far from Chris Dreiden as she wanted to.
     
     
                 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
                  After leaving the hotel, Christian wandered around midtown for a while with no destination in mind. Caroline wasn’t in sight. She had booked it out of the area faster than Usain Bolt racing for Olympic gold. If I were a confused, angry, hate-driven yet hurting woman, where would I go? The truth was, he didn’t know Caroline Gallagher. She could’ve gone anywhere. Well, he’d have to start looking someplace.
    He eventually found himself wandering into Central Park. He found the park fascinating, a bunch of contradictions: tree-filled grounds in the middle of a city of glass skyscrapers, a haven and place of fun and play for children during the day, a breeding ground for drug addicts, the homeless, and muggers at night. Still, it felt natural to end up in this place, and so he wasn’t all that surprised to find when he reached Bethesda Fountain that Caroline was sitting on the edge of it, deep in thought.
                  She didn’t look up or move when he took a seat next to her. While not a warm reception, he found it encouraging that she didn’t get up and walk away.
                  “I’m so sorry,” he finally said. There was nothing else to say. She still wouldn’t look at him. He waited for her to say something – he still wouldn’t blame her if she simply got up and left. When she finally spoke, she caught him as off guard – he expected her to chew him out or say something about her family or his failure. Instead, she issued a calm question.
                  “How did you and Lorenzo get into this whole vampire hunting thing anyway?” she asked. “Or are you not allowed to discuss that kind of information?”
                  “We’re not really…encouraged to divulge that kind of information,” he admitted, “but I think you deserve to know.”
    She held up a hand to stop him from continuing.
    “Please, don’t,” she insisted. “I don’t want you getting into any more trouble with your superiors on my account.”

“It’s the whole vampire deal that we try to keep a secret from society. Since you already know that part, the damage has already been done. Anything else I say will not make the situation any more worse.”
    They sat in silence, side by side, for a moment before he continued. He wanted to keep her there by his side, wanted to answer her question. He figured it was the least he could do, but images were floating to the surface of his mind, ugly, brutal images that necessarily came with thoughts of how he had become the Hunter. For years, he had tried to not think about them, and for the most part, he had been successful. But if keeping Caroline from running off again meant dragging these memories up, he would.
                  He must have hesitated for too long, because something in Caroline’s eyes hardened and he could feel her closing off from him.             
                  “No, wait,”