Jude Stephens by Touch of a VAmpire Read Free Book Online Page A

paperwork was done we drove
to a supermarket to get some supplies and since Bullet was looking
a little restless in the backseat we stopped at a park to let him
run around for awhile.
    We would have to wait until near dusk to get Bullet
on the boat. When the sky started to turn purple we headed back to
the marina. Luckily there weren’t many people around, and we
managed to get Bullet on the boat without any problems. I went
below deck to unpack the supplies and Mark was up on deck with
Bullet getting ready to depart. When I finished and went up on
deck. Mark was sitting in one of the two captain’s chairs with, of
all things, a big grin on his face.
    In shock I asked him, “Are you actually
smiling?”
    He turned towards me. “I love being on the water.
When I was a kid growing up in Virginia, we had a sailboat that we
would take out every weekend during the summer.”
    I sat in the chair beside him. “It’s really lovely
out here on the water. It makes you forget all of the ugliness that
the world hides.” Mark nodded his head in agreement.
    After a long stretch of comfortable silence he
asked, “Any idea yet where we’re heading?”
    “ Not exactly, I know we’re going
in the right direction though. I feel it. We’ll have to make a few
stops along the way so Bullet can do his business.” I looked over
at Bullet stretched out on the deck. He looked very much at ease.
We were cruising at a slow speed since it was getting to be full
dark now on the river.
    “ Are you
hungry?” I asked Mark. He nodded in the affirmative. So much for the new smiling and chatty
Mark , I thought as I went below deck to
make some sandwiches. I was spreading mustard on the bread when a
shiver traveled from the top of my head all the way down to my
toes. Goosebumps spread across my flesh. Up on deck I heard Bullet
whine and then the boat engines cut off.
    Mark appeared at the cabin entrance. “What’s wrong?”
he asked.
    “ I’m not sure. I just got a
strange feeling. I think I need to go up on deck.”
    I climbed the few stairs up onto the deck. Bullet
padded over and stood close, touching my leg. The wind picked up
and blew my hair across my face. As I raised my arm to brush it
away, what felt like an electrical current running through my body
made the hairs on my arms stand up.
    “ Holy shit.”
    “ What?” I asked him
anxiously.
    “ Your hair. It’s standing up. You
look like that chick from Carrie before she hacked everyone to
death.”
    I gave him an exasperated look. “Carrie didn’t hack
anyone. She burned them. But I’m guessing this means we’re close to
where we need to go.”
    Beside me Bullet, whose hair was also standing on
end, suddenly lurched for the left side of the boat and began to
whine loudly.
    “ Mark, start the boat. I think we
need to go left.” I went to stand beside Bullet and felt the
electrical current intensify.
    Mark started the engine and turned the boat
left.
    “ I’m not comfortable with straying
too far from the coast. I can’t see in this darkness,” Mark said
worriedly.
    “ Don’t worry. I can see just fine.
I’ll let you know when to stop.” It was still a marvel to me having
my extraordinary senses. I peered into the darkness. I felt with
every fiber in my being that we were getting close to something or
someone. The energy crackled in the air around Bullet and
me.
    My heart started pounding until I thought surely it
would burst. And then I saw it. At first it was just a dark shape
in the night, but as we drew a little nearer I could see tree lines
and some definite hills. When we got a little bit closer I said,
“Slow down. I think I see a dock.” And indeed the closer we got the
more defined the dock became until I could clearly see the entire
thing including the handsome dark haired man waiting for me.

Chapter 7
     
    I recognized him instantaneously. It was the rude
man from my dream, the one who I had bumped into in the Native
American village. If I had thought him