Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy Read Free Book Online Page A

severe sunburn would be much more painful than sore muscles.
    Exiting the compound, I loaded myself up into the van and headed off once more down the mountain. I wished I was closer to the city; the forty minute drive sometimes irritated me down to my core if I was desperate to get there, like I was today. I swerved around the debris, cursing under my breath that some of it had shifted with the violent winds that had swept through the valley during the night. It was still a bit breezy but not as wild as the night had been.
    This time, after checking the supermarket area, I drove away toward the strip to be closer to my main search area. I had made it to the Flamingo and Las Vegas Boulevard intersection. That’s where I had ended my search the day before. The short mile had left me exhausted. There were so many buildings to search that it had taken too long to get through that short part of the Strip. It had frustrated me to the gills.
    I pulled in behind the Caesar’s Palace casino, a place I used to hold a job at. The Forum Shops was a super-long mall filled with rich displays of expensive goodies. Now it was a darkened tunnel, probably full of vampires. I wasn’t sure I wanted to start in the mall area. There were no windows in it, a completely enclosed mall. It was sure to be unsafe. The entire casino barely had any windows. I cracked a smile, thinking back to the reasoning for this. It had been done on purpose in constructing the casinos to keep people gambling their hard earned money away without a concept of time. No windows, no clocks. Genius on the part of the casinos but bad for me, in the complete darkness with creatures that wanted nothing but to slurp up all the blood out of my veins.
    I decided to enter the back way, where the employee entrance was and I had gone in many times before. At least I knew this casino’s layout well. Entering at the rear of the mall would be hazardous, but I’d have to go through there eventually anyway. Pushing the heavy double doors of the emergency exit, a black hole of nothing and dust swirled up before me, down a corridor into the insides of the building. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity. Nothing but the wind softly tossing about interrupted the air. I readied my hatchet and flashlight, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. I slowly entered, letting the doors behind me close softly, right into the bubble of black.
    It was suffocating. The ventilation in these places was poor, even when it had been alive with electricity and air conditioning. It always had kept the smoke clouds from burning cigarettes lingering forever in the enclosed space. Now it was stifling and stale.
    I walked slowly forward, reaching the vending machines full of old snacks that stood to one side of the wide hallway. An inlet to the public restrooms stood to my left and I contemplated searching them. I flashed my light over the doorway openings that stood opposite each other. Only the dust on the floor told me that no one had been here in a long time. A year of dirt streaked across the tile floors and all around me. I decided to forgo it, feeling pretty sure that no one had ventured down this way in ages.
    The hallway opened up to a large dining and entertainment area where a huge aquarium stood, half full with murky water and the stench of death. I held my breath and pulled my shirt over my nose. It was strong here, maybe from the slush of dead fish that lined the top of the aquarium water. I wasn’t too sure. Something told me to stay alert–the stench could very well be decomposing bodies in a hive of vampires. The place was wrecked. The beautiful faux marble displays and saltwater aquarium were filthy and disgusting now, a ghost of the memories I had of this place when I had strolled down these halls to work at Bath and Body store.
    I didn’t have to wait long to find out why the place was giving off a bad vibe. Three gaunt-looking ferals jumped into my view, snarling as their red-tinged