Read The Vampire Diaries: Bound By Blood (Kindle Worlds Novella) for Free Online Page B

said, “but I’ll tell you what I know.”
    The town had thrown a meteor party. This town loved to throw parties—usually, in this very square. I think it was the city council’s way of showing that everything was okay in Mystic Falls, even when things weren’t okay. Anything to make all of these disappearances and murders fade into the background of a faked normality. Anyway, there had been a school science fair, along with a big, projected countdown to the meteor. The meteor had literally shown up like clockwork. Tom had been there with his son.
    “Remember that I spent some time with you and your son, but then, I excused myself?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “I hadn’t been feeling well.”
    “What do you mean you weren’t feeling well?” asked Tom now.
    “I felt dizzy. Nauseated.”
    “Go on.”
    “I sat by myself, actually not too far from here, and as the countdown got closer and closer to the meteor’s appearance, I felt worse and worse. I vomited. Violently. Just barely making it to some bushes, I must have looked like the town drunk.”
    “That’s my job,” said Tom, giving me a rueful smile. “Sorry, go on.”
    I continued.
    “I watched the countdown from the bushes, alternately heaving and looking into the sky. Food poisoning, surely, although all I could recall eating was a can of soup and a PB&J. Anyway, the sickness was growing worse. What I thought was the stomach flu turned into violent shaking, sweating, and fever. I literally felt as if I was being burned alive in my old skin.”
    “Sweet Jesus,” said Tom. “I had no idea.”
    “No one did. Anyway, I had just decided to haul my ass to the urgent care clinic when the countdown reached zero and the meteor appeared in the sky.”
    “What happened then?” asked Tom.
    “I felt better. No, I felt perfect.”
    “What do you mean perfect?”
    “I felt better than I had before. In fact, I felt incredible.”
    “You’re not making sense, Max.”
    “None of this makes sense.”
    I told him more. I told him about the case and the two killed campers. About the falls, and about the bloody tree branch.
    “This might just be the weirdest day anyone has ever had, ever,” said Tom.
    “Tell me about it.”
    “Do you think this weird wind stuff has to do with the murders?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “And why was the branch bloody?”
    “I checked it out,” I said. “The branch had been about 30 feet up.”
    “I’m not following.”
    “Something bleeding had been on that branch 30 feet up.”
    “Why did it break free?”
    “I’m guessing it was already broken—”
    “Maybe from the weight of whatever was up there,” said Tom.
    “Maybe.”
    He thought about it. “Leopards and cheetahs are known to bring their kills into trees,” said Tom. “Maybe cougars do the same.”
    “Maybe,” I said. “Are there any cougars left in 10 square miles, though?”
    He looked perplexed. “And your little windstorm trick broke free a branch that had already been about to break, thanks to the ‘cougar’ and one of the dead campers.”
    “Could be,” I said, “except….”
    “This windstorm you created somehow broke free this branch.” Tom nodded. His investigator instincts had thoroughly kicked in, which was what I was hoping for.
    “Sounds about right,” I said, although nothing about this sounded right. It felt good to confide in him, though.
    Tom clapped his hands and said, “Okay, now that we know that we’re dealing with another cougar in town, we’re going to have to figure out what the hell is going on with you … and your antics.”
    I grinned, and that’s when the door to the Mystic Grill opened, and the same guy emerged. The guy who I was sure had been listening to us … the guy who might also be haunting my dreams.
    Then again, I could just be going crazy.
    “Let’s get the hell out of here before something else falls from the sky,” I said.

Dear Bloody Diary,
    Stefan came home excited. Apparently, he’d seen