Free The New Night Novels (Book 1): Rippers: A New Night Novel by Ashlei D. Hawley Page A

know how the other man had caused such destruction with his bare hands. He felt fear and adrenaline course through him. Whatever Jameson was, he wasn’t human.
         “I’ll explain,” Jameson insisted in a soft voice. Leland realized he wasn’t even breathing hard. “We have to get somewhere safe first.”
         Leland bent over, hands on his knees, and gave into the agony in his lungs. He’d never run like that before in his life. He’d be glad to never have to do it again.
         The infected howled and prowled in tight circles below the ruined fire escape. Jameson made sure to look at how many others there were. From the apartment on the edge of the landing they stood on, they could reach a second escape to their left. He noted that in his mind and put his hand on the window.
         Before he could open it, a hand from the inside pushed the curtain away. A pair of wide hazel eyes set in a pretty young face widened as they locked on Jameson’s blue-eyed gaze.
         After a moment of hesitation, the girl unlocked the window and pushed it open.
         “Can we come in?” Leland asked from around Jameson’s muscular form.
         The girl hesitated. She bit her bottom lip. Her eyes went even wider when she saw the infected people on the ground level trying to get up to where Jameson and Leland sought to enter the building.
         “Um, sure,” the girl said. She backed away from the window, pulling two children with her as she did. She kept them behind her as Jameson and Leland slipped through the window.
    Chapter Twelve – Dinner in Apartment 2B
         “I’m Phoebe,” the girl introduced herself as Jameson closed and relocked the window. He closed the curtain and turned back to face the girl as Leland stepped forward.
         “Leland,” the teen said as he held out a hand.
         Phoebe was hesitant, but she shook Leland’s hand after the slightest delay.
         “The kids are Eli, Hannah, and that’s Carmen over there on the couch,” Phoebe explained. “We…she…she’s not speaking. We’ve seen something terrible. What about you?”
         The expressions on both of their faces would have convinced Phoebe she and the children weren’t alone in their experiences even if she didn’t know the entire world had already gone to Hell.
         “Do you know what’s happening?” Jameson asked as he moved forward.
         Phoebe took another step back. Something about the man intimidated her. Everything he did made her feel jumpy.
         “Sorry, my name is Jameson,” the vampire offered in a soothing tone. “Leland and I teamed up after his family was killed. My wife was murdered, too. I just want to know what’s going on. If you want us to leave, we can try to get into another one of these apartments. I just wanted to know if you knew anything.”
         Phoebe gestured to the television, which played mutely near where Carmen sat on the couch.
         “It’s all over the news,” she told them. “Those people, they’re calling them Rippers. Some Army experiment gone bad is how it started, I guess.” With a shrug, she led Hannah and Eli back to the couch. “I was going to make some food. Would you like some?”
         Leland surprised himself by saying, “I could eat.” After seeing the end result of the massacre at his aunt’s house, he was surprised he’d be interested in eating ever again. However, he felt starved.
         Phoebe nodded and moved toward the apartment’s small kitchen. “I’ll see what I can do.”
         Jameson sat in front of the television and watched Hell unfold on the screen. Major cities that had already fallen under the assault of Rippers were listed in a running list along the bottom.
         ‘Boston safe zone abandoned, residents directed elsewhere.’ ‘Death toll expected to reach the millions by the end of the night, billions by the end of the week.’ ‘No safe zones to report in the