C.O.T.V.H. (Book 3): Extermination by Dustin J. Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

look long, right next to the front door were three switches.  He flicked them all up and down. Nothing.  Great, he thought to himself, someone forgot to pay the electric bill.
    Confident that the immediate area was secure, if just for the moment, he slung his shotgun back around his shoulder and pulled the claw hammer out of the belt.
    Slowly, making as little noise as was humanly possible Jake pried the boards off the windows, letting in the early morning sunlight.  On closer examination Jake discovered many of the boards had black, bloody handprints where someone had hammered the nails in with their bare palms.  Not letting himself get distracted, he shook the sudden fear from his shoulders and ripped the dusty yellow curtains from their rods.
    Some of the windows hadn't been boarded up but had been painted over with a darkish red paint.  Jake ran his gloved finger across one and discovered that it wasn't paint at all, but what looked like human blood.  He shuddered in disgust and moved on to the final window that was covered by the large dining room table.
    It took a little more effort and a lot more noise than he would have liked but it finally gave way and fell to the floor with a crash.  The early morning sunlight streamed through.
    Now that the room was filled with as much sunlight as possible, Jake returned the hammer to his belt and began his search. 
    Keeping The Cleaner tight to his shoulder, he methodically checked every corner, every dark spot, every closet, every nook and cranny where a vampire might hide from the sun.  Just as Sgt. Major Castle trained him. 
    Clearing the living and dining room he next moved into the kitchen.  Opening all the cabinets he found only dishes, boxes of stale cereal, and dusty canned goods.  He opened the refrigerator to find it fully stocked with rotting leftovers.  He picked up a half gallon of clumpy milk and checked the expiration date to find it had gone bad a little over a week ago.
    Leaving the kitchen, Jake rechecked the first floor, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.  When he was done he sighed with relief.  It was completely clean.
    He pushed the button on his walkie. "First floor clean.  Moving to the second."
    "Copy that," John's voice replied.
    One down, one to go, Jake thought to himself.   Thank god it doesn’t have a basement! He thought back to Billy William’s story of being trapped in a basement with a crazed, perverted vampire.  Yeah we definitely don’t need any basements.
    With The Cleaner in hand Jake walked ever so carefully up the creaking staircase. The closer he got to the top the stronger the smell became.  He had to will himself not to throw up his bacon sandwich breakfast.
    At the top of the stairs was a landing overlooking the living room with two doors at each end and two running along the wall.  He opened the door directly in front of him to find a closet filled with musty blankets and boxes of old Christmas decorations.
    As he approached the second door he began to hear a loud buzzing sound.  He slowly turned the knob and discovered the source of the smell.  It was a bathroom.  An old claw-foot tub was hidden behind a bloody white shower curtain.  He pulled it back to find six naked bodies, wedged tightly together, hanging by their feet.  Their throats and wrists were slashed wide open and coagulated blood was oozing into the tub beneath.  The blood was clotted, giving it a sick chunky look, almost like some twisted cherry Jello. Thousands of flies circled above it.
    Jake’s stomach churned violently and he couldn't hold back any longer.  Dropping caution to the wind Jake ran out of the demonic butcher shop, dropped The Cleaner to the floor, and ripped the bandana off his face then puked over the edge of the landing into the living room below.  Unable to help himself he looked back into the room at the fly covered bodies, the faces drawn in terrible screams. Only vacant holes remained where their eyes once sat,