Vampires of the Sun by Kathyn J. Knight Read Free Book Online

began walking again, her footsteps seemed to echo a little too loudly, like someone was copying her pace at a distance. Sobering up quickly, Norah walked a little faster, paying close attention to her seemingly empty surroundings.
                  Lights from the condo complex were comforting but Norah’s heart was still racing fast. Seeing the gate, she started running with relief. Half way through the entrance of the pedestrian gate, she took one last look behind herself but she still didn’t see anyone behind her. There seemed to be a faint whisper on the wind that followed her. It caressed her ears and it made her wonder if she was hearing things in the wind but the words sounded like ‘good girl’ before tapering off into silence.
                  Turning away from the street and going into the condo complex, Norah had goose bumps on her skin and a faint, fluttering feeling in her head. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the dark or the night but she was beginning to think she might be becoming a bit unstable. Hearing things on the wind and going to meet complete strangers who had first taunted her before offering her a strange kind of protection wasn’t normal. Talking to Mauve would have made her feel better but now she doubted what Mauve could say to her thanks to these strangers. What if the strangers were figments of her imagination and it was all a ploy from her erratic mind to get her stop going to see her shrink.
                  Shaking her head with force that made her neck hurt, the best Norah could decide to do in order to deal with whatever was making her feel crazy was put it out of her head and focus on something else entirely. She showered and slept cozily in her bed, effects of alcohol creeping up on her enough to make her drowsy.
     
     
                  A parched mouth and a small headache greeted Norah upon awaking and she promised herself that she would refrain from ever drinking again if it meant feeling like garbage. A little pink tongue licked out at her toes, waking her from a dead slumber. Maxine was slobbering all over Norah’s feet in an effort to clean them. With a frown, Norah got up and showered, putting on some black Stella McCartney sweat pants that matched a loose James Perse V-neck cotton shirt. On her feet went the only pair of tennis shoes she owned; Jeremy Scott teddy bear tennis shoes. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and downed two glasses of water before packing up her lunch, some treats for Maxine, and a day bag filled with things to go.
                  Maxine went for her leash all too happily and let Norah lead her down the hallway to the elevator and down to the garage and into the car. Ignoring the screeching rubber on cement sound that her car made every time she left to go out into the city, Norah headed for Barton Springs. She had told herself that the perfect cure for all of the crazy in her life was ignorance. Ignorance is bliss right?
                  The park was congested with people but Norah still found a spot to lay out her blanket and watch Maxine run in circles excitedly. Norah couldn’t keep the smile off of her face when she looked at Maxine taking pleasure in the simple things like gnawing on a stick. She would sit down and lick her fluffy white fur before standing up at attention and looking at whatever dog was coming closest. When the dog had passed, Maxine would sit down again and either scratch herself or chew on bark or the chew toy Norah had brought along with them.
                  Norah focused on reading her book, taking moments to glance up at the people in the park and see how they were also enjoying their own day off from work or school. There was a lovely couple laying together, sunning themselves not too far from herself. Kids were playing catch with their parents and on the far side of the park, Norah could see some college age guys playing touch