Free Fall of the Mortals (Book 1) by Ken Bush Page A

arms and closed his eyes. There was a rumbling sound. Shaun looked at Harold with a frightened expression. The pictures on the wall began to shake. The books on shelves in the room shook and tumbled to the floor. Some of the pictures hanging on the wall fell… A few cups sitting on a card table flew across the room. Trang, Ni and Kim ducked from being hit by them. One of the sofas that sat against the wall slid to the center of the room towards Mr. Jones, Thai and Yuri. They put their hands out to stop it but it pushed them back against the wall. They pushed on the sofa with all their might. Tommy and Mercedes began to cry, they were scared to death.
    “Whoa!” Thai hollered.
    “I said go away!” Shaun shouted at Kristof, holding up a crucifix.
    Kristof glared at Shaun. His eyes widened. His mouth gaped open as he stared at the crucifix in horror. He tried to resist the power that emitted from the cross but Shaun stood firm with it. The rumbling ceased. The sofa stopped moving. The objects in the room stopped shaking.
    “We’ll finish this later,” said Kristof, staring at Shaun with hatred.
    Shaun didn’t answer but stood holding the cross, breathing heavily. Kristof and the other vampires flew away.
    Everyone was exhaling, catching their breath. Tommy and Mercedes were still crying. Thai and Yuri pushed the sofa back to its original place against the wall.
    “This madness must end,” said Yuri.
    “We got to do something,” Thai agreed.
    Shaun thought about his rendezvous again. He would definitely be there on time.
    “Vampires? Hah! I’ll kick all their asses!” Mr. Jones hollered.
    “Just try to go to sleep, Mr. Jones,” said Shaun.
    “I ain’t going to sleep for a week after that!” said Mr. Jones. “Are you freaking kidding’ me?”
    Shaun wheeled the motorcycle out of the room and into the foyer on their level. He stewed over the disrupting vampire scaring everyone to the point they couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t risk trying to leave to see Sharon with everyone on edge. He hoped the incident didn’t set him back for days. They needed him to see her. Shaun was frustrated. Thai walked by the foyer doors, glancing at Shaun.
    “Damn it!” said Shaun kicking the wall.
    “Shaun? Something wrong?” asked Thai, curious at his outburst.
    “No, no, no. I’m f-fine,” Shaun stuttered trying to think up a lie quickly to cover his actions. He wasn’t expecting anybody to hear him.
    “How’s your bike?” asked Thai.
    “This motorcycle means a lot to me. It was stupid of me to leave it outside. That’s all,” Shaun responded, relieved knowing that Thai would accept his answer.
    Thai looked at him for a moment but nodded.
    “Right. Well, I’m going to bed. Good night,” said Thai.
    “Night,” Shaun responded.
     
    ***
     
    It was eleven forty-five a.m. Shaun rode his motorcycle on the freeway. He maneuvered around some of the cars that were parked crookedly. He merged into the emergency lane on the right side and headed north towards Santa Barbara. He looked everywhere for a suitable pickup truck that wasn’t trapped in the congested mess of cars on the freeway. Sure enough, a Ford, Chevy and Dodge were seen but they were in the middle lanes of the I-101 surrounded by smaller sedans, minivans and sports cars.
    He came to a stop and leaned his bike on its kickstand. He checked several of the other cars surrounding the pickup trucks for keys. He grew frustrated as he checked vehicle after vehicle. There were no keys and no way to move any vehicles away from the pickups.
    “Are you kidding me?” scoffed Shaun in a sharp tone. “Vampires flying everywhere, people are still worried about their damn cars.”
    He got back on his bike and rode on down the emergency lane. Shaun thought about how materialistic people really were before the end came. Their cell phones, cars, flat screen TVs, other electronic devices, boats and RVs; it seemed like it was all people ever cared about.
    He remembered