Super short chapter, but I have to share the computer. Sorry about that. This is a continuation of the last chapter. I changed tenses on purpose btw.
Slowly, the thing formerly known as Richard Castle opened its eyes only to promptly slam them shut again. The light was dazzlingly bright, almost painful, and Rick shied away from it instinctively. His mind felt oddly blank, almost marshmallow-y, and he didn't like it. There was something sinister about the feeling, less like the safety of a warm hug and more the suffocating protectiveness of a padded room. Beneath him, the motel-grade carpet dug at his skin. He could feel the minute detail of each and every filthy strand, as well as some of the unevenness of the concrete slab underlying it. The cacophony of the city at night assaulted his senses. He might have thought himself in Times Square if not for the oddness of it all.
Well, that, and that damn heartbeat.
He had all the respect in the world (and then some) for the great Edgar Allen, but when came to the tantalizing, rhythmic siren song of this beating miracle, even that man's description fell far short of the reality.
It's the single most appetizing sound he thinks he has ever heard.
Richard Castle was hungry.
He heard a slimy-sick voice emerge from somewhere behind him, in the opposite direction from the beating heart.
"Welcome Back."
He flinched away, and it laughed. Rick shivered, he knew that laugh. It carried with it the promise of pain and fear, not to mention the slow inevitability of certain death.
The laugh that could only belong to Jerry Tyson.
"Welcome to the ranks of the undead."
It all came rushing back, the hotel room, the bite, his desperate attempt to let his mother know that he needed help. He remembered the vampire's rage and the bones-rattling blow it had delivered after it had ended the call.
The second bite and the cold taste of blood in his mouth.
The short lived relief as his bonds were removed, followed by the utter agony of the change as his body fought the invading force, the helplessness he felt knowing that it would ultimately lose.
And then, at the last, Death.
Now what?
Sorry it's so short, but I want to publish it before I lose momentum. Reviews help.
