Blood Legacy: The Story of Ryan by Kerri Hawkins Read Free Book Online Page B

boy’s eyes. The boy was so startled he nearly fell backward out of the tree. The man had to be further than the distance the boy could throw a stone, and the boy could throw far. He regained his balance and again locked eyes with the man.
    Another man approached his lordship and their words drifted to the boy’s location.
    “Is something wrong, my lord? Is there something you need?”
    The younger man peered out into the blackness, seeing nothing. The man spoke, and his voice was smooth, smooth like the stones at the bottom of the river that had been worn by water and time.
    “Nothing you can provide me.”
    The reply seemed to anger the young man and he stalked off. The man watched his departure mildly, then turned his attention back to the boy.
    Or at least it seemed that way to the boy. But he realized there was no way the man could see into the blackness, no way he could see across the clearing to his hiding place. Still, the boy’s heart was beating so loudly it seemed the man could hear it.
    The boy quickly climbed down the tree. He began to make his way back through the forest, more hastily than he had come. No sense in staying out here all night.
    The boy was about half the way home when he stopped, feeling as if something was behind him. His senses strained the blackness around him, but he heard nothing. He shrugged and started on his way once more.
    He again stopped, whirling around as if to catch whatever was stalking him. And that was what he felt, as if someone, or something, was in the darkness behind him. There was nothing but silence.
    The boy began to trot, and then to run. Whatever was behind him seemed maddeningly close yet unidentifiable.
    The boy had feared few things in his life. He had always been faster or stronger than most things that threatened him. But he was very afraid right now, and he began to crash through the underbrush, his breath coming loud and harsh and his heart pounding in his chest.
    Whatever was behind him was not only keeping pace but was catching him. He could not see it but knew it was too large for a wolf and too fast for a bear. He began to dodge side-to-side in a futile attempt at evasion.
    He was tackled from behind and went face first into the warm, dark earth. He could taste the rich soil in his mouth as he was grabbed roughly from behind and lifted off his feet. He was imprisoned in a grip as strong as a vice and waited to be torn limb from limb.
    He did not have long to wait. He felt a piercing pain, then felt his insides turn to liquid. He saw an extraordinary redness behind his eyelids, then all went black.

CHAPTER 7
    SUSAN TAPPED THE BLOOD FROM THE SYRINGE onto the glass slide, then tapped a cover slip into place. She held the syringe up to the light, noting the bend in the needle. She had finally gotten up the courage to re-enter the room, and had discovered the skin of the woman was not any easier to pierce.
    She slid the sample beneath the electron microscope and brought the image into focus. She furrowed her brow, staring into the eyepiece.
    She sat upright, tiredly rubbing her eyes. She glanced over at her computer screen. Her conversation with the machine had become more and more informal. “Well, I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She leaned down to peer into the microscope again. “They look like leukocytes. But they’re entirely too large and entirely too many. If they are white blood cells, then her T-cell count is in the hundreds of thousands. The red blood cells don’t appear to be normal, either.” Susan sat upright, the faintest sign of delirium in her voice. “This is not possible. Her blood is pathological. It’s not infected by a virus, it doesn’t appear to be antibodies, it’s not anything.”
    Susan’s vocabulary was beginning to fail her due to her exhaustion. But her fatigue was also making her extremely creative. She reached over to open a drawer and removed a test-tube