Free Vampire World by Rich Douglas Page A

bashed in pretty good
thanks to the tree's large trunk.
    A
car pulled up alongside, its headlights blinding me. I hoped it might be a cop
offering to help. But no. It was my stalker. He stood in front of me, grinning
evilly.
    “Well,
looks like you’re in some trouble,” he said, his fangs glistening. “You can
come in my car and everything will be alright, baby.”
    My
instincts took over. I set off as swiftly as my vampire feet could take me
toward a grove of glistening trees. Through the trees I ran with no idea of
where I was heading for. Then, in my blind haste, I tripped and fell forward
into a hole that was obscured by the darkness and foliage. A very, very deep
hole – the Slice Canyon. I tumbled down and down before crashing into the
bottom so hard I could hear every bone in my body shatter.
    After
that I blacked out.

RECOVERY

 
    I
woke up in horrifying pain and with several tubes attached to me. Fresh blood
was being squirted into my arms, chest, legs and head. The hospital room
twirled as I saw Mr. FreeCut; he was calling out my name. Then I passed out
again.
    After
waking a second time, I could finally see straight, though the pain was still
gut-wrenching. New blood was still being pumped into me. I focused on Mr.
FreeCut clearly now.
    “Janice,
can you hear me?”
    I
tried to speak, but was unable. Then I saw a vampire dressed in a bloody smock.
He must have been a doctor.
    “She’s
going to make it,” he said. “In twenty degrees her bones and organs should all
be healed. In thirty, her cuts and bruises will be gone too.”
    Mr.
FreeCut was ecstatic. “Thank goodness!”
    “She
was very lucky. That fall almost killed her.”
    As
the grueling degrees ticked by, gradually the pain lessened and my memory
returned. I was able to talk a little too. I remembered the terrifying fall. I
must have gone down like two hundred feet. How could I possibly be alive?
    Mr.
FreeCut tried to communicate with me again. I could tell by looking into the
old man’s eyes how desperately he was yearning for me to respond.
    “I’m
okay,” I managed to say.
    His
pale face turned lava-like. Mine did as well, but not for the same reason.
After all the sneaky things I’d done that he now knew about, I was ready for
him to kill me. But he didn’t look mad. In fact, his face was suddenly split by
a wide smile.
    “Well,
I do have a lot of questions to ask you,” he said. “But those will come later.
Right now, I’m just so happy that you’re alive.”
    As
the degrees passed and more blood flowed into me, the pain eased further. It
felt like someone was inside of me, taking my broken bones and putting them
perfectly back together. What a miracle.
    The
doctor came in and removed the tubes from my body. “You can go home now,” he
said. “Just take it easy for the rest of the day. Your interior wounds have all
healed thanks to the additional blood. But your exterior wounds may take a few
more degrees to mend.”
    I
stood up, wobbly at first but okay. I glanced in a mirror. Wow I looked
trashed; there were cuts and bruises all over my face.
    Following
Mr. FreeCut down the lengthy central hall of the hospital, we exited back into
the refreshing outside air and walked to his car. Shockingly, there wasn’t a
scratch on it. He remained silent as he started the engine. Guess he got it
fixed. God, I was in trouble.
    I
was dead silent most of the drive home, and for good reason. So was Mr.
FreeCut. But despite my fear of him exploding at me, I asked the first
question. My curiosity was too great.
    “How
did I survive the fall?”
    “You
were very lucky,” he said. “You broke half the bones in your body, yet you
still survived. And you were also lucky that somebody found you before you'd
lost too much blood.”
    I
thought about who that might have been. Could my stalker actually have felt bad
over what he'd done and called for help?
    Putting
this thought to one side, I asked: “How did I heal so