Page 38 of Bitten Vampire
The world erupts in screams—his mother, the bystanders—while I stand helpless, tears streaming down my face.
I jerk upright, gasping.Oh heck.Heart thudding, hands shaking, it takes a while to calm down. Baylor grumbles, touching his cold nose to my wrist. I’m still on the sofa in the living room, phone clutched tight in my hand. I haven’t moved. I was scrolling…
I try to shake off the memory of an impact I didn’t witness in real life. I try to ignore it, but I can’t. Everything inside me screams that what I saw is real. A little boy. I can’t ignore that.
What was the name of the park?
I grab my laptop and start frantically typing, fingers flying as I search.Westview Park.Yes, I think that’s it. I close my eyes, and the scene re-forms, every detail crystal clear. It feels as though I’m still standing there. I have not forgotten a single thing. My vision memory is different: sharper, almost photographic.
I have the place, but I need the time. The Pink Ladies and their bowling competition… Another search—it’s today.
“House!” She can hear me, obviously, but I can’t seem to lower my voice. I’m panicking.
What is wrong?
“I had a vision. I was in a trance. I was scrolling on my phone, and suddenly I was standing in the street. It felt so real—a little boy was hit by a car.” I give the details in a rush.
“I checked: the park is in the Vampire Sector. It’s real, and the bowling competition is today.”
I feel an overwhelming compulsion to save him.
“What’s happening to me, House? Am I going mad?”
The reason you can hear me isn’t my magic, it’s that you are psychic,she replies.You may always have had the gift, and the vampirism is amplifying it. It’s rare—hardly spoken of—but some vampires are special. Do not worry, Fred, we will work it out.
An emerging gift.
One that I’ve been doing my best to shut out for weeks.
“If it’s real, I will need to go to the park and save that little boy.”
I kiss Baylor on the crown of his head and leap up, heart pounding. I dash upstairs and throw on some clothes, nearly tripping as I shove on my trainers.
Tie your laces,House scolds.
“Right, right! I will!” I mutter, fumbling to knot them before grabbing my coat and bolting for the door.
I’m halfway down the path when I realise I’ve forgotten my keys. Spinning around, I see them hovering behind me. “Thanks, House,” I say, breathless.
Be careful. Drive carefully. You won’t save him if you have an accident.
“No, you are right,” I reply, forcing myself to nod before sprinting to the car.
I pull out of the drive, gripping the wheel tight as I head for the Vampire Sector. My brain screams at me to go faster, but I have to be sensible. At the next stop, I slap the park’s name into the navigation, then floor it as soon as the lightsturn green.
I barely remember crossing the border. I follow the directions, skid to a halt outside the park and fling the car door open—I don’t even switch off the engine.
I’m almost too late.
“He’s going to get run over!” I yell, sprinting along the pavement. The mother turns at my shout, her scream piercing the air.
Without thinking, I do what I couldn’t do before: I grab the little boy and yank him clear.
He wails, terrified.
I’m holding a child. A real child.
His dark-haired mother—her eyes the same green as his—snatches him from me, sobbing. “Thank you, thank you, he would’ve died.”
