Free Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 by Derek A Schneider Page A

“Shit, look at me, I’m covered with blood.”
    Just then, the sound of automatic gun fire
filled the air. The Writemans dropped to the ground as the bullets
hit the wall behind them spraying shards of brick in every
direction. A second gun began raining bullets in their area from
the bal-cony above. With no cover nearby, Benny and the others were
pinned to the ground, certain death looming in the very near
future.
    Suddenly, pistol fire broke out and the two
rifles were silenced.
    “ So much for the element of
surprise,” a gruff voice shouted from across the lawn.
    Benny, Jack and Autumn all looked up in unison
to see the Old Man walking toward them. They all stood up, looking
awkward and ashamed.
    “ You guys need to be more careful,”
Frank contin-ued, “I may not always be around to pull your asses
out of the fire. Is everyone okay, any bullet wounds that need
tending to?”
    “ I’m fine,” Benny
answered.
    After running his hands over his body for a
moment, taking extra special care to check his crotch, Jack finally
looked up and said; “I’m cool, too.”
    “ Oh no,” Autumn said casually,
“I’ve been shot.”
    Benny rushed to her side, “Are you
okay?”
    “ I’m fine, Benny,” she gave him a
sympathetic smile, “I’m the dead girl, remember?” The hole the
bullet made in Autumn’s left hip was small and clean, with no blood
flow at all. She kissed him on the cheek and said; “Follow
me.”
    Autumn began walking toward the house with
Frank following close behind. Jack paused a moment to brush off his
cloths while Benny cleaned the blade of his sword on the tall
grass.
    “ I told you I’m stronger,” Benny
teased.
    Jack held out his hands in an exasperated
manner, “What are you talking about?”
    “ That dog.”
    “ What about it?”
    “ That thing weighed like thirty
pounds at the most, and it had you pinned to the
ground.”
    A wave of incredulous shock washed over Jack’s
face, “Are you seriously giving me shit about that? That little
fucker was trying to eat my face, man.”
    “ Whatever,” Benny chuckled as he
began to follow the others.
    Jack stared slack jawed at Benny’s back, “He
was squirming around like he had rabies or something. I couldn’t
even get a good grip on him.”
    “ Come on, sissy,” Benny hollered
back.
    “ Fuck,” Jack sighed to himself as
he began walking.
    Staring up at the house, Benny thought it was
pretty obvious that these so called “businessmen” had made a lot of
money through his father’s bank. He didn’t think the house was
quite big enough to qualify as a mansion, but it had to be damn
close. Its enormous Victorian style looked familiar to him, as if
he’d seen it in some old Vincent Price haunted house movie, only it
wasn’t run down and shabby looking. Instead, it was in exquisite
shape, as if it had been built very recently.
    As the group reached the front of the house,
they found the entrance in the form of a very large and expensive
looking double door.
    Frank tried the knob and was not surprised to
find it locked.
    “ What do we do now?” Benny
asked.
    Frank pulled a double barreled, sawed off
shotgun from a holster that was strapped to his right thigh, “Stand
back,” he said, raising the gun to the doorknobs. Both barrels
fired simultaneously, spraying wood in all directions and creating
a gaping hole in the center of the doors.
    The Writemans entered the manor.

    Inside, the house was lavishly decorated with
many high priced items. Large vases and strange sculptures lined
the multitude of antique chests and dressers in the lobby area.
Though Benny had taken a few Art History classes at Herron when he
was younger, he didn’t recognize the sculptures. Not very
surprising, considering most of them seem to feature vampires in
some way or another. Directly in front of the en-trance, a double
staircase split off to opposite wings of the house.
    “ Should we expect more human
servants in here?” Benny asked.
    “ I