Free Reborn by Blood by Richard Murray Page A

the other.
    He had thick wellington boots on with his trousers tucked into them. Mud – at least I hoped it was just mud – covered the boots. His coat looked warm and waterproof as well as expensive. I figured him to be a local out for an evening walk.
    I tried to speak but no legible words came out and it occurred to me that the damage to my throat must be just as bad as the rest of my sorry carcass. I let my head drop back to the ground and continued to stare up at the bridge above me.
    From what Anna had told me, as well as the little I had read in Sebastian’s book my nasty little parasite would be trying to heal my body and perhaps the only reason I wasn’t dead was because it was keeping me on this side of death. The dreadful thirst that underlay the pain of my wounds indicated that it wanted or perhaps needed fresh blood.
    It was hard to concentrate through the pain but since I was unable to move, I needed to find some other way to get some blood before I ended up on an autopsy table.
    I lifted my head and stared at the man who was still speaking on his phone and not even giving me the courtesy of looking at my corpse. I frowned as I tried to will the man to put down his phone and walk over to me.
    After several minutes of frowning and straining the man still steadfastly refused to move. I dropped my head back to the ground with a thump and a groan.
    “Good lord! I think he’s alive.” The man said to whoever he was speaking to. I managed to lift my head enough to see him looking across at me.
    I tried to speak and little more than a gurgle emerged from my mouth before the strain of holding my head up became too much and I dropped it back down.
    The man ran across to me and knelt beside my damaged body. He had a kind face and I could see that he was an older man, perhaps in his late fifties. He cradled my head in his hands as he leaned close.
    “How on earth are you still alive?” he asked before continuing, perhaps knowing that I couldn’t answer. “I’ve called the police, they are on their way. They’ll bring an ambulance too.”
    I tried to speak but no words could come out. He leaned closer to try and hear and I desperately wanted him to lean in close enough that my fangs could reach him.
    “Its ok lad, we’ll get you help.” He said before muttering, “Come on, where are you.”
    Since I assumed he meant the police, I really didn’t want to know the answer. I strained that much more as I tried to lift my head a little further, or perhaps an arm.
    “Don’t try and speak, save your strength. God, how are you alive...” he trailed off as the faintest sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.
    Whatever happened I didn’t want to be lying here when the police arrived and something told me that Sebastian would be furious if I were. He had set fire to my flat because a small amount of blood may have been there to link me to the dead teen.
    Now you would have to walk a dozen feet in every direction from where I lay to not be touching my blood. With mounting panic I strained even harder to get some movement from my limbs and succeeded in doing little more than thrashing around in the old man’s arms.
    “Hey now, stop that before you do yourself some harm” the man muttered as he leant forward to try and hold me still, which put his neck and that beautiful glowing artery with striking distance of my fangs.
    He may have screamed as I bit into his neck, I didn’t notice, I wouldn’t have noticed if a bomb had gone off beside me as the warmth filled my mouth and suffused my body with a pleasure that surpassed anything I had ever experienced.
    With every gulp of his blood I could feel heat within my battered frame as my Vampiric parasite, perhaps sensing my need for haste was forcibly repairing the damage to my body. The pain increased as muscles, tendons and flesh knitted together. My broken bones twisted of their own accord and fused back as one.
    The blood began to slow as did the old