Vampire Outbreak (The Josh Thorne Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  Vampire Outbreak

  by

  Joe Fowler

  Also by this author:

  The Josh Thorne Trilogy

  The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne (1st book ofseries)

  Witch Problems (3rd book of series)

  Losers vs. Zombies

  Having Fun With Side Effects

  Guarding the Door

  Titan’s Saga

  Titan’s Story (1st book)

  Titan Rising (2nd book)

  Vampire Outbreak (2nd book of series)

  Copyright© 2015 Joe Fowler

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not

  be used or reproduced in any manner without the express written

  permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or

  dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Chapter 1

  “See you Monday, Austin.” My jerk of a foreman said as we clocked out.

  “Have a good weekend, Bill.” I responded, although I really didn’t care what kind of weekend he had. Bill was an asshole. When he gave us a new job to do, you knew how bad it was going to be by looking at his smile. The bigger the smile the worse the job.

  I trudged to my old truck looking forward to the case of beer I was going to buy. I had been working for Fluor Daniels doing construction work since high school. Four years of calluses and living from paycheck to paycheck later, I was miserable. Working hard all week so I could drink the weekend away. I had given up on a better life early on and it seemed to be the right decision so far.

  I made the drive home in my beat up 1986 Toyota pickup. I had bought this old truck while I was in high school for three hundred dollars. My friends used to laugh and say I had been ripped off. It wobbled so badly when idling, you just knew it was going to go dead at any time. I had to change my own oil now because Super Lube refused to service it anymore. They couldn’t guarantee that the truck would make it out of the parking lot. The passenger side windshield was busted to the point you couldn’t see through it at all. The truck was originally blue but with rust and age it was multicolored now. I liked it anyway.

  An uncle had died leaving me a two acre lot of land in the woods. I couldn’t afford to build a house but found a good deal on a mobile home. I lived in the tiny little backwater town of Hurley, Mississippi. It was a quiet place full of good people. This was where my truck came to a wheezing stop after another hard day of work.

  By all accounts I am a good looking man. I had always been popular with the girls in school and had no trouble picking up women when I tried now. I rarely try since I usually end up with the crazy ones. I am six feet tall with a muscular build but had never been very athletic. Maybe I could have been but I preferred watching tv to playing sports.

  After my shower, I stopped by the fridge and got a cold beer. It was January, but in southern Mississippi it rarely gets too cold. That never stopped me from having my heater going strong in my trailer. I liked it warm. With beer in hand, I settled into my easy chair for a night of relaxation. Too bad it didn’t work out that way.

  About the time I reached for the remote, I heard an awful screeching sound coming from behind my trailer. I knew the sound. I had bought a little storage shed for my lawnmower and some tools that I needed. Sometimes when you open the door to the shed it made the screeching sound that I was hearing. I grabbed my shotgun and made sure it was loaded before I tore out the back door to catch whoever was messing with my stuff.

  I was expecting some thief, not the beauty queen that was standing by the shed. It was dark but I could see well enough to fall in love. The shout that I had prepared died on my lips as I lowered the gun and stared at her. She casually turned her head and looked at me. She smiled and started walking toward me.

  “Sorry to bother you, but I needed to use your shed today.” Her eyes held me like I was in a vise. I couldn’t have moved if I had wanted to. The closer she got, the more beautiful she became. “Why don’t you invite me in for a drink?”

  “Sure. Come on in.” I stumbled back up the steps and held the door open for her. I still couldn’t tear my eyes off of her. The way she moved was off somehow. She was too smooth, like she was gliding instead of taking steps.

  “I have beer, coke, or water. Which would you prefer?” I asked as we entered the kitchen. She turned with that mesmerizing smile still on her face.

  “I prefer you.” As she finished speaking she had her mouth on my neck in an impossibly quick move. I felt her teeth sink into my flesh and was overcome by this euphoria that was all wrong. I was aware that what she was doing was harmful to me, but the wave of bliss that came with the bite kept me from doing anything to stop her. Even as I started to black out from blood loss, I still felt so enraptured by her that I sank into unconsciousness willingly.

  There was a blurry confusing image of her wrist being at my mouth and tasting copper. I sank back into oblivion immediately after. I began dreaming sometime later. A castle and its dungeon filled my dream. No dream had ever been as crystal clear as this one. It was as if I lived these moments. I could feel the hatred for my jailors and later felt their necks breaking by my hands. It wasn’t until I was free of the dungeon and its guards that I realized it wasn’t me in the dream. It was the woman I had let into my trailer.

  I wanted desperately to wake up but couldn’t. I alternated between being aware that I was trapped in a sleeplike state and having dreams that were not mine. The next dream was of a seaside fish market at night. There were actual Roman guards, swords and all, walking around on their patrols as I hid in the shadows. Once the patrol had passed by, I found my victim fixing his nets for the next day of fishing. To my horror, I drank the fisherman dry and threw his body into the sea. This was followed by a more strenuous attempt to wake up. I continued to cycle through dreams of her past that included; killing numerous slaves on a plantation, a makeshift hospital filled with bloodless corpses during the Civil War, and a small Native American tribe wiped out by her and two of her friends. I felt both my own horror and her exhilaration in every dream, with every death. The longer the dream lasted, the more she avoided killing. She began to feed without killing altogether at one point.

  When my eyes finally opened, I looked around at the details of my bedroom. Even in total darkness, I saw with perfect clarity. Thick quilts had been nailed over the windows. Sounds and smells made themselves known almost forcefully. I could hear what sounded like a squirrel eating some kind of nut in a tree outside. I sensed the woman lying next to me and felt a mixture of fear and loathing. She began to stir and my instincts were to run. I stood in one fluid movement and tried to go for the door but she grabbed my arm.

  “You finally woke up. I was expecting you to be up and at ‘em last night. I hope you are worth the wait.” She stood as she spoke. She was even more beautiful with my new eyes.

  “Why did you do this to me?”

  “I needed a new friend. My old friends were killed by the biggest damn werewolf I ever saw. I won’t be going back to Mobile any time soon. I barely got away. You will be my new traveling partner.” She said this and smiled.

  “Do I have a choice in this?” I asked even though I was pretty sure what her answer was going to be.

  “Nope. You will do what I say, when I say. Besides, it’s not like it will be all bad. You will come to enjoy your new life just like all the others have before you.” She took a step closer as she said, “As a matter of fact, I could use some enjoyment right now.”

  She ran her hands over my chest and down to my pants. She had my pants
unbuttoned and unzipped and was pulling them down when I tried to speak. One look from her shut me up before I could utter a word. She finished undressing me and pushed me back onto the bed. I watched enthralled as she slowly took her clothes off. No model or actress has ever achieved such physical perfection as the woman in front of me. I was too overcome with her beauty to do much more than stare at her. She pushed me onto my back and straddled me. I lay there helpless as she reached down and took me into her. She started slowly, taking her time. Her rhythms were so different from what I was accustomed to, I could feel my eyes rolling back in my head. Without warning, she went from slow to fever pitched. I knew I couldn’t take much more of this so I tried to roll her over but she wasn’t haven’t that. She locked down on me and worked her hips with a twist showing me who was in charge. I lasted as long as I could before having the hardest orgasm of my life.

  “You’ll do. Maybe one day I will let you be on top, but don’t count on it.” She smiled down at me before releasing me. I was too stunned to speak. As she lay beside me she placed her wrist over my mouth and said. “You need to drink. We might go out for a human later, but for now, you can have some of my blood.”

  I felt my teeth shift just before I bit into her wrist. I had seen enough horror movies to know that my fangs had just dropped. When her blood filled my mouth it was like having another orgasm. This was better than any food had ever been. I drank in as much as I could until she stopped me. I felt so powerful at that moment, like I could take on the world.

  “What’s your name?” She asked.

  “Austin.” I answered still stunned from the sex and the feeding.

  “I am Rosalyn. If things go well, we will be traveling together for a very long time.” She got out of the bed and stretched. My mind had trouble processing her beauty. Her skin was very pale, of course, but flawless. Long black hair cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her curves were perfectly proportioned with ample breast and sensuous hips with a tiny waist. Nothing could be improved, she was perfect.

  “Vampire. I am a vampire now. I just can’t wrap my mind around it.” I sat there still mulling over this development. She got dressed and walked out of the bedroom. After a few moments, I heard a beer opening and decided that would be really nice right now. I got dressed and went to join her.

  “Liquids are fine but you can no longer eat real food. You will need to feed two or three times a week if you are partially feeding. If you completely drain someone, then you are good for a week. You will still have to piss, but you’ve taken your last shit. Pardon the vulgarity but there really isn’t a better way to say some of this. After I drained you, your bowels released like they do with all humans when they die. It is the job of the maker to clean you up before you wake. The younger vampires have lost touch with the old customs. They leave their young to lie in shit until they wake to their new life.” She sat in my chair and waited for me to come join her.

  “How old are you? Where are you from?” I wondered from some of the dreams of her life I had viewed while I was turning. I sat on my couch as I awaited her answer. It was so hard to concentrate on her words instead of just staring at her. She had that kind of beauty that you can’t get used to.

  “I was turned almost twenty-four hundred years ago near Naples, Italy. I mostly stayed in Italy for a few hundred years after being turned. Then the thought of seeing the world finally got the better of me.” She smiled at me before she added. “No, I never met Jesus. I remember the uproar he caused very well, but I usually stay away from those with the strength to kill me. Every vampire who is old enough gets asked that question regularly. I just wanted to get it out of the way before you asked.”

  “It had already crossed my mind. So you say we will be traveling. Does that mean you never stay in one place for long?” I was shocked that I was not in a state of shock. I had lived a very boring life until now, but I seemed to be handling the whole turned into a vampire thing pretty well. At least I thought so.

  “Sometimes I settle in one place for a few years, but never for too long. The longer you stay in a city, the more likely you are to be caught. If you follow my guidelines you can live for a very long time. I can show you how to avoid the vampire hunters and the werewolves.” She finished her beer and headed to the fridge for another. “Do you need another one?”

  “Yes, please.” I took the last swallow of the one I had.

  “Wow. You actually said please. It’s rare these days to meet someone with manners. I think I am going to like you.” She said as she handed me a beer.

  “So, what does kill us? The movies say things like wooden stakes and garlic. I know the obvious sunlight thing. What about crosses?” I needed to ask but wasn’t wording things very well.

  “Garlic does nothing to us. The same goes for crosses and stakes, although the stakes hurt like hell. Decapitation, fire, and sunlight are the only things that will kill us. Before you ask, I have no clue about the soul thing. I know that we have to feed off of humans to survive and that in itself would cause us to be damned. If we don’t have a soul, then I guess we cease to exist after we die.” She was straightforward and to the point at least.

  “Does it have to be human blood? Could we survive off animal blood instead?” I could hope. At least I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone that way.

  “Human and vampire only. Animal blood would be vomited up as fast as it went down. Your system wouldn’t tolerate it.” She shot that hope down quickly.

  “How strong am I? I feel so much more powerful than before.” I seriously felt like there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.

  “Usually, you start out about three to four times stronger than you were as a human. You get stronger as you get older. It can vary from vampire to vampire though. Some start out as strong as a hundred year old, while some don’t get much stronger at all. Your speed can vary like that too. Give me time for another beer or two and we will go outside and test you.” She took another swallow of beer. Part of me wanted to just sit and stare at her. I had never known such beauty could exist.

  “Are all vampires beautiful?” I admit it, I had read the Twilight series of books. Looking at Rosalyn, I knew what Bella was talking about.

  “You are perfected as you age. The more attractive you are, the easier it is to lure in your prey. You have a good head start over most, but you are nowhere near what you will become as far as your looks are concerned.” She took a long drink emptying her beer. She smiled and got out of her chair. “Ready to see how strong you are?”

  “Why not? I always wanted to be stronger.” I drained my beer as I stood up.

  We went outside to a whole new world of sounds and smells. There were a thousand new smells assaulting my nose. I think about half of them were from my old truck. It took a moment for all of this to sink in completely. I could hear a car on the road from a half mile or more away. Animals were everywhere. I had never known just how much life there was surrounding me. It seemed ironic that I had to become undead to realize all this life.

  “First thing is your speed. I need to see how fast you can run. Follow me and keep up as long as you can.” She said this and started down the driveway making me rush to catch up. We covered the half mile to the road in just a matter of seconds. She turned and headed down the empty highway with me a step behind. She smiled and sped up. It was a struggle but I stayed within a step of her until she hit another gear and slowly pulled away from me. She stopped and turned when I got to her. “Damn, I actually had to push myself to beat you. I like it. Let’s hope your strength is as impressive.”

  “How can you test that?” The words had barely left my mouth when she grabbed me by the arms and started to twist them. The pain was instant making me strain to turn my arms back the way they should be. Just when I would turn my arms enough to ease the pain, she would twist harder. This went on for some time until I couldn’t get my arms back to a comfortable position anymore.

  “Ok, ok. I give.” I was a little ashamed that a woman had
just proven herself stronger than me, but then I remembered she was a twenty-four hundred year old vampire.

  “You are just full of surprises. That was nearly as impressive as the speed. I am really glad I decided to turn you. I need someone strong for when I meet with wolves or the more territorial vampires. Just a warning, vampires love to fight. They don’t need a reason. Come on.” She started back to the trailer at a brisk pace. I had no problem keeping up with her. We made it back in less than two minutes. I wasn’t the least bit tired or out of breath, well I don’t guess I breathe anymore at all.

  “Didn’t you say it was a werewolf that killed your friends in Mobile?” I asked hoping she would tell me some details.

  “Yes, he was the biggest damn werewolf I’ve ever seen. There isn’t much in this world that I need to run from. That big ass bastard shredded three of my friends before I could stop him. I tried to fight him, but he was just too damn strong and he was almost as fast as I am. I barely got away.”

  “Are they as strong in human form? Do they need to change to be a threat to us?” I had trouble imagining something that could kill Rosalyn. I had seen her kill twenty soldiers without breaking a sweat in the dreams I had while turning.

  “Normally we have the advantage when they are in human form, but there are exceptions. They usually have the advantage when they are in their wolf form, but again, there are exceptions like me. It had been over a thousand years since I was beaten by anything. I know there are a few vampires as old as or older than me that still exists. You never see them though. They sleep for decades and then only show themselves to feed before they go back to sleep. I still enjoy life too much to be that way.” She leaned against my truck and looked at me. “You will be able to take most even in their wolf form. If we ever run into a pack you make sure you leave the alpha to me, though. You are off to an incredible start. I hope you can last long enough to grow into your potential.”