Free The Vampire's Release, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #4) by S.J. Wright

pressed back against the wall. 
    It hit me like a truck, that spongy, dusty thing that was alive but not living.  I had only a few seconds of absolutely naked fear before the sharp teeth sank into the flesh of my neck.  There was a familiar hard pull that left me very weak almost at once. 
    The front door splintered inward with a shrieking crash.
    “Elizabeth!  No.”  There was a stranger standing there in the doorway.  A man I had never seen before.  Correction:  A vampire I had never seen before.  Like the thing that had attacked me, he was dusty as well.  Tall, wearing outdated clothing, he could be nothing but a remnant of the past.  Dashing past the stranger with a burst of unreal speed, Michael hauled the dead biting thing off of me without much effort and examined the wound in my neck.
    He was frantic at seeing my blood.   But I kept my eyes on the thing that had bitten me, who had landed in a strange looking heap on the wood floor.  I watched the stranger approach the thing , lean down and stroke what might have been a head of hair.
    “Oh, Lizzie.  Try not to worry.  We’ll have you right as rain in a few moments.”
    “She’ll have to wait, Truman,” Michael said roughly.  “Sarah’s hurt.”
    Victoria entered, followed by Alex.  They both looked very worried.  But when Alex saw my blood, he turned away quickly.  “How is she, Michael?”
    Michael’s eyes were silver in the low light as he examined me.  “One bite.  Not at the jugular, thank God.”   He turned his head towards Alex.  “You should probably wait outside.”
    Victoria turned on several lamps in the family room and the overhead lights in the kitchen.  “Bring her in here and we’ll see what can be done.”
    He would have carried me, but I insisted on walking.  “What the hell is going on?”  The adrenalin was still pumping, but the pressure of it had eased with Michael’s presence.  Victoria found the first aid kit under the kitchen sink and opened it on the shiny countertop.
    Michael stepped back once she found what she needed, but his eyes never left my face.
    “A lot has happened, love.”  He explained the altercation between Alex, Meekah, Amanda and someone named William.  William, the original vampire who mad e the deal that left my family embroiled in a situation that would change us all.
    “He’s alive?  How is that possible?”  I squeaked.  Victoria was trying to be gentle, but the pressure she was exerting was painful against the raised bite marks .  “ Ouch .”
    “ Careful, Victoria, ” Michael said.
    “I’ m doing the best I can .  I don’t have a great deal of practice healing humans, you know.”
    “It’s okay,” I told her gently.  She offered me a small smile of thanks and swabbed some kind of antibiotic cream over the wound.  Michael squeezed one of my hands and left me to go over to the new vampire called Truman.
    “Will she be cooperative?” Michael inquired quietly.
    “Of course.  Just please help her.”
    A grimace went over Michael’s face, but then he raised his wrist to his mouth and bit down.
    “What the fuck?”  I shrieked.
    Victoria put a hand on my shoulder.  “Relax.  He brought Captain Jones back this way.”
    My mouth fell open.  “He’s bringing her back ?  Why?   That thing just attacked me!”
    Michael hesitated, looking doubtfully from me back to the stranger.  “We should probably do this outside.”
    I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or hearing.  What had I missed?   Truman lifted the limp vampire from the floor and followed Michael outside quickly. 
    “Victoria, please tell me what’s going on.”
    She finished with the bandage and sighed.  “I’m not sure where to start.”
    “Michael said that Amanda and the others had Katie.  How did that happen?”
    She carefully replaced the unused bandages into the first aid kit and snapped it closed.  Whatever had happened, she wasn’t happy about it either.  It was good to