Blood of Gold by Duncan McGeary Read Free Book Online Page B

snacks.
     
    #
     
    The Stockman house had a full pantry. Kelton had never seen a fridge and pantry so full of sauces and spices. He poured some hot mustard over Stockman’s leg and tried that, then threw the bone over his shoulder, where it landed with a clank against the other bones. Nothing tasted better than raw meat, but he felt an obligation to try all the seasonings. He didn’t want them to go to waste.
    The table seemed to turn on its side, and he gripped the edge to steady himself. He recognized the vertiginous feeling as the same one he’d had in the old lady’s house, when he’d been Turned. He closed his eyes and then opened them again, hoping the dizziness would go away. The house had suddenly grown cold. No, hot. No, both. It was a temperature that wasn’t comfortable, that’s all Kelton knew.
    Then he realized that there was someone behind him. He spun around, knife in hand, ready to rush whoever had come into the room.
    There was a strange blackness filling the corner of the kitchen.
    The intruder was in the shadows, which should have meant that Kelton could see him clearly, since his night vision was now better than his day vision. But the shadows cut off the corner of the room as if it wasn’t there; as if nothing was there. Kelton could hear the man, but couldn’t see him.
    “Who are you?” he demanded.
    Your Maker. Again, the words came directly into his mind, the inner voice flat, not so high that it could be called high, not so low that it could be called low. It couldn’t be called anything––it existed somewhere in the middle of sound, consisting of tones that had never been heard before. Kelton didn’t think anything could scare him, especially in his new form, but this made him shiver and made his heart skip a beat.
    “Why are you here?”
    I am your Maker , the voice from the void said again. I have chosen you. The voice entered Kelton’s bones and churned their marrow.
    Kelton believed him… it… whatever the creature was. Should he thank him? “What… what do you want?”
    I want to help you to fulfill your desires. I want you to never stop. Nothing can stop you.
    “The sun…”
    After tonight, the sun will no longer bother you. My Darkness cannot feel the light.
    The shadows moved toward him, and Kelton caught a glimpse of something whipping out, reaching for him. Something heavy landed on him, something heavier than the world, and yet he stood unbowed. He felt a sharp pain in his throat, but this time the creature didn’t drain him; instead, it seemed to be pumping something into him, some of the cold and the darkness, and it felt familiar, like all the hate he’d ever felt, distilled and flowing eternally through his veins. Over and under the sensation, he heard the creature speaking into his mind.
    I have chosen you, as I have chosen your forebears for long millennia. I have chosen only the vampires with the strongest desire to kill and to consume. I have selected only those who understand that they are not humans Turned vampire, but something completely different, superior in every way to their fleshly origins. You are the culmination of a long line of Darkness.
    The shadow man was gone when Kelton woke up, but the cold and dark remained inside of him, as if he was now part of the shadow.
     
     

 
    Chapter 6
     
    The Testament of Michael just appeared one day, seemingly everywhere at once. The message spread through every social network and was mentioned on the major networks’ evening news broadcasts. It was talked about in the newspaper gossip columns and magazines. It may have been reported mostly with a wink and a smirk, but there were plenty of believers.
    The devastation of Crescent City was originally attributed to an unknown pathogen and the ensuing rioting to mass hysteria, but enough visual verification existed from video and cellphone recordings that infiltrated the Internet that the government was having a hard time explaining it all away. Then there