Free Reborn by Blood by Richard Murray Page B

man’s heartbeat. I was getting close to drawing too much of his blood, reaching that point where he wouldn’t be able to recover. I was far from fully healed as I pulled back and withdrew my fangs from his neck.
    I could move my arms and legs. Each movement sent waves of agony through my body and as I looked down at myself I could see that the wounds were still open and leaking just a small amount of blood.
    With a quick swipe of my finger through some of the crimson fluid that was leaking slowly from my own wounds, I pressed that red stained finger against the puncture wounds in the old man’s neck which soon stopped his bleeding.
    He had a pulse and he was incredibly pale and no longer conscious but he was alive and the sirens were coming closer. I could do nothing at all about the blood splashed all around the river bank but I could at least leave before the police came. The old man who had cared enough to try and help me would be safe with them.
    I managed to stumble a short way along the riverbank and ducked behind a tree as the flashing lights of the police car appeared on the bridge.
    When I saw that the police were making their way down to the river bank with their torches in hand and I was confident they would find the old man, I set off along the river and back to Beth’s flat.
    The package for Sebastian was lost, a great deal of my blood was splashed around an unconscious man and some creature had done its damndest to hurt me. Not kill me, I was sure of that, it had intended to cause me a great deal of pain but had stopped short at killing me.
    I would need to call Sebastian and I was not looking forward to that phone call at all. I certainly didn’t intend to do it without a great deal of rest and some more blood. I could still feel the thirst and my wounds needed a great deal of healing.
    My only consolation was that I could see incredibly well in the darkness. I had no idea of the time or how long I had been unconscious but I wasn’t blinded by the sun. It was, I decided, the little things that made all the difference.
    With one last glance over my shoulder at the still flashing lights of the police car, I was satisfied that I at least hadn’t yet become the monster everyone expected. The old man should survive and I had healed enough to make my painful walk home. It was going to be a long night.
    I arrived back at the block of flats where Beth lived, well before dawn. My clothes were in tatters and covered in dry blood but my flesh had mostly healed and the thirst had been sated.
    Of course it hadn’t been easy to find blood on a Monday night when most normal folk were in bed, but a dog and two cats had proved to be slow enough to catch and filling, if somewhat sour to the taste.
    The animals would no doubt be fine with a bit of food and rest so I didn’t have their deaths on the tattered scrap of conscience that I was struggling to keep hold of.
    I approached the block of flats from the rear and took a moment to rest behind the overflowing bins to decide on how best to get into Beth’s flat without being noticed. I barely had the chance to consider my options before the stench of the bins drove me away.
    With little choice in the matter I approached the front entrance cautiously. It was early enough that no one was around and only the occasional car would pass by on the road. Few people drove through Beth’s area if they could avoid it.
    The front entrance was locked but I still had Beth’s spare keys so that posed no problem, nor did the lack of lights that had been turned off for the night. With my superior night vision I had no problem making my way to the lift and riding it up to Beth’s floor.
    A cautious look down either side of the hallway to make sure that no one happened to be about before I stepped off the elevator and opened Beth’s front door. I quietly locked it behind me and looked around the living room.
    Beth’s jacket and shoes were absent which meant that she had found someone