Vampire Blood by Kathryn Meyer Griffith Read Free Book Online Page A

basement fixing the washing machine, I hope. It broke down yesterday, and I wasn’t half done with the washing. I hope George finds the problem.”
    “Hmm. Me, too,” Jenny mumbled, distracted, still thinking about her father.
    “I wish Dad would get in here and eat.” Jenny’s eyes searched out the window. What was keeping him so long? Maybe she should go check on him.
    She was mulling that thought over when she noticed the same article on the front page of Maude’s newspaper that she’d been reading earlier that morning.
    “Have you read that yet?” Jenny leaned over and tapped the story with her finger.
    Maude’s eyes sharpened. “Yes, and I don’t like it one bit. Something’s not right. My old newspaperwoman’s intuition is screaming bloody murder. Too many mutilated animals lately for me. Says here that in Thorpsville they’ve found three horses and two cows completely drained of their blood in the last couple days. Hideous.” She shivered visibly. “The authorities suspect it’s some satanic cult or something.”
    “You don’t?” Jenny smiled sweetly, Maude’s seriousness tipping her off.
    “No, I don’t. There were no footprints or tracks left. Nothing. It doesn’t sound like any cult I’ve ever heard of. No trophies taken, either. No hearts or eyes gouged out. Cults go in for that sort of gruesome stuff, usually.” Maude touched Jenny’s hand. “You should know what it sounds like, Jenny. As I recall you’re the expert.”
    Jenny frowned. She’d written three horror novels about vampires, and she was considered an expert? Ha.
    “Let me take a wild stab at it. Vampires?” Jenny’s face shadowed with amusement when Maude simply nodded. “Oh, Maude, you know I merely wrote about those things. I don’t believe in them.”
    Maude stared at her with pity in her eyes. “No, Jenny, my girl, never make fun of such things. I’ve lived longer, seen more, and believe me; there are things on this earth that are unexplainable and dangerous. Never doubt it. Some of the mysterious incidents I had to investigate as a newspaperwoman were spooky, to say the least.” There was an apprehensive nervousness in her manner, a strange glint in her eyes.
    “Yeah. Well, whoever or whatever is doing the killing, I hope they catch them. Soon,” Jenny remarked and quickly changed the subject before anything else could be said.
    “Maude, Joey told me this morning that someone’s bought the old Rebel theater after all these years. Isn’t that something?”
    “You’re not serious? Someone’s bought the Rebel?” Maude’s face was incredulous.
    “I’m serious. Why are you looking at me like that?”
    Maude paused before she answered, “Oh, nothing, Jenny.”
    “It must be a mess inside.”
    “It’s been closed for so long. I’m sure it is. It’ll take a great deal of work before they can open it again to the public,” Maude mused.
    “I guess the guy, an eccentric older man according to Joey, is going to renovate it.” Jenny stretched, her body sore from the climbing, bending and scraping.
    “He’ll have to,” Maude‘s response was thoughtful. “I’d love to get a peek inside now. I did a series of stories on the Rebel for the newspaper, right before it went bankrupt and closed the last time. It wasn’t always called the Rebel. Did you know that?”
    Jenny shook her head.
    “When it was first built, it was called the Grand, because it was fancy and rich inside. Then sometime later, a new owner tacked on the word Rebel. The Grand Rebel. Eventually the Grand was dropped, and over time it just became known as the Rebel.” Then she fell silent.
    “Maude?” Jenny pressed, waiting. She knew Maude too well and she’d seen that look before. “What is it?”
    “Did you know that George and I used to go there every Friday night when we were courting? Nearly forty years ago now.”
    Jenny could tell by her expression she was revisiting those long-ago days, wandering in the past.
    “That