Blood Land by J.R. Lawson (famous ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Another loud thump from above.

“It’s coming from the attic!” Nora panicked, looking up again.  It was then that Will grabbed her shoulders and caused her to turn back to him.

“We’ll go down to the basement,” he just stated seriously.  Nora did not question him but just nodded as Will grasped her hand in his and she tightened her grip on him with all her might.  He swiftly led her down into the basement with him and even though it seemed so fast, the only noises Nora could concentrate on were the awful ones coming from the attic.

Once they were below, Will shut and locked the door behind them, “Nora,” he then commanded, turning back to look at her, “Make sure that other door is secure.”

Nora nodded and ran to the double cellar doors that led to the outside; however, as soon as she reached them, a loud thud came from the other side making her scream and jump back.  It only took a couple of seconds before they then burst open, and, in one fluent swoop, a dark figure flew in.  Nora stumbled slightly but was able to gain composer as she looked over to see what it could possibly be.  Her hands trembled as the fear that it could be a hellion from outside struck her.  However, she tried to overcome this fear and began to approach the figure.  It had somewhat ungracefully crashed to the floor across the room and was hunched over in the corner.  It began to rise and Nora let out a gasp.  Suddenly, behind her, Will had lit one of the kerosene lanterns, turning it up to its brightest.  Nora turned to look at him briefly and also noticed he was now standing there with a shotgun in his hand, pointing it at the corner where the stranger stood.

“Is that really necessary?”

Nora recognized the voice coming from the corner and a wave of relief filled her.  A small smile also began to form across her face as the form of Rogan made its way further into the light.

“I think it is,” Will now responded as he and Rogan locked eyes across the room.

“Will, stop! We can trust him!” Nora blurted out, now looking back at Will.  He looked over at her, gun still aimed at Rogan.  The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, not saying a word but understanding each other completely.  A giant sense of awkwardness had filled the room due to all the silence until Will finally began to relax and lower his gun.  Nora smiled at him softly and then looked back over at Rogan.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him very practically.

“I was flying by…you know…hunting,” Rogan answered as he walked further into the middle of the room and closer to both Will and Nora, “and I saw you’ve got a pretty nasty hellion problem.”

“How many are out there?” Will then asked very seriously, his strong gaze never leaving Rogan.

“At least half a dozen.”

It was then that Nora took a second to look at Rogan now that he was in the light.  He was back to his human-like form by now and he wore those all too familiar black jeans she had seen him in so many times.  He had no shirt on, and the paleness of his skin brought out the bright red he had drenched across his chest and chin.  His eyes were just as red, almost glowing, and his jet black hair was wet and matted against his forehead due to the rain outside.  She wondered why this image even gave her any comfort at all, but somehow it did.  However, she still hadn’t forgotten their last encounter and even though she desperately wanted to ask him a hundred questions as to why he was even here, she knew that wasn’t important right now.

“What did you guys do to attract so many anyway?!” Rogan then spoke again.

“We didn’t do anything!” Will then shouted angrily, “Unless being alive is wrong to do. Which I guess in a human’s case it would be!”

“Hey!  I’m just asking a question!  I don’t need any of your shit!”

“Hey guys, stop it!” Nora began to interject, however more loud and unsettling noises from above them did a better job at ceasing the arguments than she ever could.  Everyone simultaneously looked up with their eyes for a few seconds.  Ghostly silence then filled the room for a bit until Rogan then spoke up.

“Look, I might be able to help.”

“What makes you think we need your help?” Will remarked impolitely.  Nora shot an angry glance over at him.

“Will!” she scolded.  He looked back at her.  He was still holding the shotgun in his hands and even though it was pointed to the floor, his grip on it hadn’t loosened.

“I don’t have to help you.  That’s fine if you wanna deal with all this shit on your own.  I don’t give a fuck,” Rogan then turned and began to walk toward the cellar doors.

“Wait, Rogan!” Nora then shouted, turning to him and holding her hand out.  Rogan stopped and stood impatiently staring at the two of them.

Nora then turned back to Will quickly and spoke in a slightly hushed voice, “Will, he can help us.  He can be trusted.  He can.”

“Nora, I don’t know…” Will let go of the gun with one hand and adjusted his glasses nervously.  He then ran his fingers through his hair, to the back of his neck where his hand then rested.

“Please trust me.  We need his help.  We can’t do this on our own,” she stared at him with absolute seriousness, “Think of your mom…”

Will then let out a huge sigh and looked down at his feet for a second.  When he finally looked up, he looked past Nora and at Rogan, who was still waiting.

“Why would you want to help us?  What do you get out of it?” Will then asked him bluntly.

Rogan looked slightly surprised at his question as he shifted his weight on his feet a bit and then answered, “Does that really matter?”

Will stared at him for a few seconds, pondering the answer that was given him.

“You’re not going to get a better answer out of him, Will.  Trust me,” Nora then stated, looking over at Rogan.  She thought she saw a slight smirk appear on his face at her comment, but it then quickly disappeared.

“O.k.” Will then consented, “What’s your plan?”

“I’ll try to lure them away,” Rogan answered.  It was then that he hastened over to the fridge on the right wall, close to where he had crashed in earlier.  Nora watched as he opened it and pulled out one of the bags of blood that were still in there.

“No!” she then shouted, predicting what he was about to do.  Will just continued to watch with curiosity.

“I have to!  This will make me smell like I just killed one of you.  They’ll think the kill has been taken and move away; possibly following me.”

“But…but…” Nora started to protest.  Her eyes fell on the bag of blood that was in Rogan’s pale, blood soaked hand.  Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

“Do it,” she then heard Will say behind her.  She turned around quickly.

“But, Will…” she uttered with wet glossy eyes looking up at him.  He looked back at her sympathetically.

“It’s o.k. Nora.  It’s just blood.  It’s time to move on.”

Nora knew deep in her heart he was right.  She needed to let go of the past too.  She needed to think more of the future; the future with Will.  Warmth filled her inside as she thought of marrying him.  She trusted him wholeheartedly and with that realization she nodded to him and turned back to Rogan, wiping her tears, and nodded to him as well, “Alright.  Do it.” She consented.

It all seemed so fast as she watched Rogan tear open the bag with his teeth and spill its contents across his chest and chin.  He then threw the bag to the floor and hastened to the cellar doors.  Suddenly, more booming noises came from above them and Nora ran up to him, “Rogan!” she exclaimed.

Rogan looked at her, his hands on the doors, ready to open them at any minute.

“There’s one inside the house.  I think it’s in the attic,” Nora said.

Rogan looked up, listening to the shuffling and bumping noises above them, “O.k.  I’ll try to get that one to follow me first.  If not…” he looked down at Nora now, “I’ll just take care of it for you,” he followed that statement with a wink and a small smirk.  Nora shuddered for a bit at his image smiling at her with all of the blood drenched over him.

“But…” he then said, now gaining a more serious tone to his voice, “I need you to do something for me.”

Nora was slightly surprised as she answered, “What?”

“I need you to stay in here.”

“What?” she was slightly confused at this request, “Why would I want to go out there?”

“I know you,” Rogan spoke, “You get reckless.  It’s your nature.  Don’t deny it.”

A soft smile peeked its way across Nora’s lips at his statement.

“Exactly,” Rogan responded to her expression, “That’s why I need you to promise me you’ll stay in here.  I won’t be able to do what I need to do to help you two if I’m worrying about saving your stupid ass out there.”

“O.k. I promise.”

“I’m serious,” Rogan looked at her in a sort of scolding manner.  The way a parent would to a child.

“Me too.  I promise.”

“O.k.” Rogan then turned to exit the doors again.

“Only if…” Nora then interrupted, causing him to stop and look at her again.

“If what?” he answered, somewhat annoyed.

“If you promise not to be too reckless either.  I don’t want you getting yourself killed over us.”

Rogan then burst into a slight bit of laughter, “Oh please, don’t worry about that.  I won’t be getting myself killed.”

“I’m serious!” Nora exclaimed, giving him that same sort of scolding look as he did her.

Rogan rolled his eyes and then responded, “I promise. Besides, I’d cut my losses before I sacrificed myself for a couple of dumb humans like you two.”

Nora slightly smiled even though she wasn’t sure if he was being funny or not, “O.k.” she then agreed.

“Can I go now?” Rogan wined jokingly.

“Go, get!” Nora commanded, smiling.

Rogan rolled his eyes, “Woof!” he jokingly stated as he then pushed open the cellar doors and jumped out into the night.  Nora saw his silhouette change only for a second, and large wings burst forth from him, before she then grabbed the doors, shutting them and locking them.

 WILL AND NORA were now huddled together on the couch as they listened to the terrifying sounds outside and around them.

“You sure he knows what he’s doing?” Will then broke the fearful silence.

“I believe he does.  I trust him,” she then looked over at Will, “To an extent…” she smirked.  Will smiled back and put his arm around Nora, bringing her even closer to him.  Nora rested her head on Will’s chest.  She felt safe with him.  She knew she somewhat trusted Rogan, but it didn’t come close to the feeling she had when she was here in Will’s