Blood Run by Christine Dougherty Read Free Book Online Page B

rolled to the side and scrambled up. “Come on in the kitchen,” he said and offered his hand.
    Once at the table, Lea pushed her bowl to Allen, and he dug in.
    “What happened? How’d you get stuck outside?” Mark asked, and Allen looked up. His face flushed a deep red, and he lowered it, blinking.
    Promise shook her head, and Mark sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Jesus Christ, are you kidding me? Don’t you dummies realize what could happen?” Mark asked. “Are you really that stupid?”
    Some of the younger people–mostly a small group of boys aged twelve to fourteen– had started playing a game they called ‘tagged-out’ that involved running between the safe houses after dark.
    “I’d heard about that stupid game, but I couldn’t believe–” Promise shook her head, her voice incredulous. “You really play that, Allen? Don’t you realize how dangerous that is?”
    Allen glanced at Promise and shrugged. “It’s not like it used to be, not like when they first came here. We hardly ever see vampires anymore. No one even knows if they’re still around.” His voice held a tone of stubborn, little boy defiance. Everything he said was the amplification of what the boys said to themselves and each other in defense of the game.
    “One chased me today, Allen,” Promise said. “During the daylight. In the woods. And it almost outran Ash.”
    Allen’s face drained of color, and the dirt stood out in sharper contrast. Now he looked about eight.
    Promise continued. “There are vampires around, Allen, don’t doubt that just because we take better precautions. The precautions are what keep everyone safe.”
    “What would have happened if you had been bit? And we let you in?” Mark asked, leaning toward the boy. “Is it worth it? Are our lives worth the game?”
    Allen shook his head, obviously upset, and brushed angrily at the tears trying to form in his eyes. Lea put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, and he turned to look at her, his face filled with misery.
    “Are you still hungry? Do you want some chips or crackers?” Lea asked, and Allen smiled shakily. She smiled back and turned to the food stored on the counter.
    “Can I pet Ash?” Allen asked, and Promise nodded. She didn’t smile.
    Allen pushed back his chair and then hesitated. “I really am sorry,” he said.
    Promise nodded again. “Be careful petting him, his back leg is sensitive,” she said. “The vamp scratched him.”
    Allen looked at her in surprise and then slid off his chair. He took the package of crackers Lea offered him and then went to the family room where Ash stood, drowsing. He offered Ash a cracker even before he ate one himself, and Promise, watching, sat back and sighed.
    “He’s not a bad kid,” Mark said, as if reading her mind. “Just, you know, a boy.”
    “There won’t be any boys left if they all act that stupid,” Promise said, but she kept her voice low.
    They worked out the sleeping arrangements. Promise elected to sleep on the couch in the family room so she could stay with Ash. Mark said he’d bunk down with Allen in the room that held two twin beds, and Lea opted for the barren master bedroom.
    “You gonna be okay, Lea? Not scared of being alone in there?”
    Lea looked at Mark in surprise. Scared? Of being alone? She’d always been alone, really. She shook her head and smiled. “I’ll be okay,” she said and turned away, blushing at Mark’s concern.
    The bedroom was big and open. The master closet and bath doors each had a sheet of plywood over them, just like the pantry downstairs. The bed–bare of sheets but heaped with a tangle of comforters–sat in the middle of the room, under three skylights. The skylights had not been covered. As far as anyone knew or had ever seen, flight was not part of the vampire’s repertoire.
    Lea kicked off her sneakers, pulled the comforters into a nest, and lay on her back, staring up at the skylights. They broke the sky up like a triptych art