Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Vampires Among Us 1

  Vampires Among Us

  Erica Harper is a human trapped in an abusive marriage with a rogue vampire. Trusting the only friend she has, she runs to him to escape the wrath of her husband. Unbeknownst to her, she runs straight into the arms of another vampire.

  Kevin O’Rourke is the leader of the VCTF (Vampire Crime Task Force) and a prominent figure within the vampire society. When he discovers his true mate is being abused by a rogue vampire, he must protect her and convince her that they are meant to be together.

  As Erica begins to heal both emotionally and physically, she realizes that not all vampires are evil creatures. It is during this time that it is discovered she holds a few secrets of her own. But will that be enough to overcome her fear? Can she let go of her past long enough to embrace her future within a society of vampires?

  Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 121,024 words

  VAMPIRES AMONG US

  Vampires Among Us 1

  Alice Brown

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  VAMPIRES AMONG US

  Copyright © 2013 by Alice Brown

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-383-2

  First E-book Publication: September 2013

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Vampires Among Us by Alice Brown from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Alice Brown’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Brown’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To my husband and daughter. I could not have done this without your love and support. Thank you!

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  The USS Battleship North Carolina

  The USS Battleship North Carolina is located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Although the character in the story, Samuel Atkins, is fictional, The North Carolina Battleship that is described in Mr. Atkins’s story is very much real.

  In October of 1937, the keel was laid for the USS North Carolina. This is the beginning process for building a ship, primarily the large beam that runs from the bow (front of ship) to the aft (back of the ship). At that time, the USS North Carolina (BB55) was the first battleship to be built in sixteen years. She became the first of ten fast battleships to join the US Navy Fleet in WWII.

  Commissioned on April 9, 1941, she was considered the greatest sea weapon for that time period. She sported nine 16-inch/45-caliber guns in three turrets and twenty 5-inch/38-caliber guns in ten twin mounts.

  The ship during wartime had 144 commissioned officers, and 2,195 enlisted men. This included about 100 marines.

  Although the Japanese announced six different times that they had sunk the mighty American ship USS North Carolina, they never did. She survived many close calls and near misses.

  One such close call came on September 15, 1942, when a Japanese torpedo slammed into the Battleship’s hull. A quick response from crewmembers allowed the mighty ship to stay afloat and limp back to Pearl Harbor for repairs.

  By the end of WWII, only ten men had lost their lives on this mighty sea vessel. Sixty-seven men were wounded. She earned fifteen battle stars for her work and bravery in the war.

  She had been decommissioned for several years and was doomed to be sold off as scrap when the citizens of North Carolina rallied to keep her from this impending doom, campaigning to bring her home where she belonged. She was dedicated as the State’s memorial to its WWII veterans on April 29, 1962.

  I invite anyone who has the opportunity to visit Wilmington, North Carolina, to stop in and tour the grand old lady. You can tour the ship and get a true feel of how our sailors lived their everyday lives while on that ship. Although diaries were not allowed on this ship during wartime, many sailors kept them well hidden. Today, as you walk the ship, excerpts out of these diaries are displayed for your reading enjoyment. Read how some didn’t care for the food, how some coped with the everyday stress of being aboard a ship, how they slept when it was so hot inside, and much more! You will truly walk away with much more respect and admiration for our Navy men and women.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Author's Note

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About the Author

  VAMPIRES AMONG US

  Vampires Among Us 1

  ALICE BROWN

  Copyright © 2013

  Prologue

  Fresno, CA

  Erica rushed home from the grocery store. It had felt good to browse up and down the aisles, to sniff and pick out a few precious pieces of fruit and a loaf of bread w
hile she daydreamed of having the means to buy all kinds of goodies. Now she was late arriving home, a fact that would probably ruin her otherwise good evening.

  As she pulled her little car into the driveway, she spotted her husband’s car and knew trouble was upon her. She could only hope that he hadn’t been out drinking prior to coming home. His temper was always worse when he was drinking. She was late coming home, and to disobey his mandates was not tolerated. Goose bumps snaked up her arm as she turned the ignition off. She took a deep breath to steady herself. There was little sense in wasting any more time. It would only serve to make his temper worse.

  She hurried out of her car, grabbing the bag of groceries before hurrying into the house. He met her at the door, anger pouring off of him in waves.

  “Where have you been?” he bellowed in her face the second the door closed behind her. The stench of alcohol on his breath was heavy.

  She felt herself start to shake as she meekly cast her eyes downward. “I’m sorry, I know I’m late. I have no excuse.”

  The grocery bag was torn from her arms and thrown across the room as a tiny whimper left her lips. He snatched a handful of hair and dropped her to her knees.

  “Please, I–I’m sorry. It w–won’t happen again,” she pleaded in a tormented whisper.

  “You’re damn right it won’t happen again. When I give you a time limit, I expect it to be obeyed!” He glared down at her, before gently caressing her cheek, then grabbing it roughly and jerking her head upwards to meet his eyes, before calmly stating, “I can see you need to be taught a lesson in obedience.”

  Knowing that pleading wouldn’t do a bit of good, Erica still found herself trying anyway. Tears spilling from her eyes, she began to tremble. “No, I have learned my lesson. I promise, it won’t happen again, I am truly sorry.”

  Those were the last words she was able to speak before her husband Shawn cut loose on her. Jerking her up by her hair, he punched her in the stomach several times before backhanding her across the face. He hit her so hard that it sent her flying across the room, hitting the kitchen counter, bouncing off of it before hitting the floor. He calmly stalked over to her and took aim with his booted foot, kicking at her as if she were no more than trash. She cried out in pain, several kicks landing in her abdomen and stomach, as she curled up in a ball, trying to protect her head as much as possible, just praying she would make it through his discipline alive.

  Suddenly, he stopped kicking and grabbed her by her hair once again. He pulled her through the house to the bedroom, calmly walked over to the bed, and threw her down. He stood before her and immediately reached down to unclench his belt.

  Erica watched him and flinched in horror. Oh no, not a beating with the belt! She wasn’t sure her body could take another beating. Her head and ribs were in agony, and she sat quietly whimpering on the bed, trembling uncontrollably. He knelt on the bed, and she glanced down to see that not only had his belt been removed, but he had also unzipped his pants, his flaccid penis hanging out.

  She stared up into his face for a few seconds, trying to guess his intentions. He was silent for a moment, and she recognized the faraway look in his eyes. She had seen that look before. As he stared down at her, he seemed to be in another world. Reaching down and gently stroking her face, he spoke words that assured her he was in his own world, not even recognizing who she was. “What’s your name pretty girl? I won’t hurt you.”

  His actions were the complete opposite of the temper he had just rained down on her moments earlier. Erica recognized and knew immediately where this was headed. When he drank, he would often have flashbacks from his time in the service. It was during these flashbacks that Erica would usually become either enemy or whore, neither having an advantage over the other. It looked like tonight she would be his whore. She held her breath as she watched him wobble as he attempted to stand back up. He hit his foot on the bedpost, which caused him to lose his balance. When he hit his head on the nightstand on the way down, she began to really worry. Surely she would be blamed for this, also. She cautiously took a breath, and gently leaned over to see him sprawled out cold on the floor.

  Leaning back on the bed, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was over, at least for tonight. As the pain continued to worsen, blackness began to descend upon her, and she welcomed it. At least then she wouldn’t feel anything.

  Chapter One

  The next morning had Erica hurrying to get out of the house. She had class at the local college, so she had an excuse to leave, even though every muscle in her body protested when she tried to move.

  As she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, she thought about her life. Just how did an otherwise kind, law-abiding, reasonable individual get into such a tangled web of life? How does a young woman get to the point that she doesn’t trust another living soul, therefore, reaching out for help doesn’t even cross her mind? For her, it had all started four years ago. She was young, naïve, and blind in not seeing her husband for the monster he really is. She shook her head at herself in the mirror. “No, I’m stupid for letting someone trick me into thinking that I was safe and loved,” she told her reflection with a frown.

  It had all started off so innocently. She had allowed a friend to set her up on a blind date. That night he seemed so kind. That first date quickly led to a few more, and before she could blink twice, she was agreeing to marry him. He had quite literally walked into her young life, found her insecurities, and worked them to his advantage. As a young woman who had been raised in the foster care program with no family, having the attention of a good-looking older man was heady. She found herself swept off her feet with his charm.

  She heard a slight movement from the other side of the bed, and this gave her the momentum to stop daydreaming and get a move on it. If she didn’t make it out of the house before he woke up, chances were, she wouldn’t.

  Throwing on some cover-up on her face, she quickly donned a long sleeve shirt. Getting jeans on was a bit more difficult, but Erica was determined. She grabbed her books and keys, and quietly left the house.

  As she headed for the college, she pondered over her life. Her “happily ever after” fantasy marriage had died almost as quickly as it had begun. Once the wedding was over, and Shawn had her settled in his home, her world had quickly turned into a nightmare. He had done a great job of hiding his true personality while they were dating. His drinking, which had managed to go from bad to positively horrid over the past four years, was when he was at his worst. Erica discovered on her wedding night, much to her horror, she had not only managed to marry an alcoholic, but an abusive, alcoholic vampire on top of that!

  Shawn consumed more liquor than he drank blood. When she thought about it, there was a part of her that was happy about this fact, considering Shawn would often take his dinner straight from her. If he weren’t an alcoholic, she would have been dead a long time ago.

  He had told her his story one night shortly after they were married. He had been a young officer in the army during the Vietnam War. He and a few of his team members had been captured and held prisoners of war. Evidently, their captors had thought it would be a big joke to change their prisoners into vampires, and why not? Release them back into society, and watch them wreak havoc.

  Unfortunately, when Shawn became extremely intoxicated, he tended to have flashbacks of the war. During these flashbacks, Erica would watch him become a total stranger to her. He seemed unaware of where he was, or who anyone around him was. She would watch him in horror as he seemed to reenact some scene in his mind of being in the jungles of Vietnam. It was during these times, Erica was not his devoted wife, but became the enemy. The first few episodes had scared her so badly that she had tried running away from the situation. She had learned a painful, swift lesson in not making him angry when he was already out of his mind.

  She breathed a sigh of relief that he had passed out last night before inflicting any more pain on her. She was even more relieved that she had made it out the doo
r this morning before he woke up. Now, if she could only figure out how to leave him, and never face him again, she would be doing great.

  She wanted to leave, she really did, but just how does a young woman leave a vampire without him chasing her down? If she left him and he found her, she wouldn’t live to tell about it, that she knew for sure. It wasn’t like she could go to her local police station stating, “I need a restraining order against my vampire husband.” Like that would do a bit of good!

  Yet, she knew if she continued to stay with him, it was only a matter of time before he killed her. She had allowed him to think he ruled her a long time ago, simply because if she didn’t he would beat her into submission. But the truth was he hadn’t beaten anything out of her. Her independence was still there, just carefully hidden, waiting in the wings to come alive.

  So, now the question of the day, was it possible to escape from a controlling, manipulating vampire? And live to tell about it? She was allowed to have no friends, and had been forced to stay at home at his beck and call. Add to that, he threatened her at least weekly that if she ever attempted to spill his secret, he would kill her. Trying to avoid going stir-crazy, she started nagging him almost two years ago to allow her to take a few courses at the local college, just for something to do. It had taken her fighting him for a year until he finally gave in.

  As she pulled her little car into a parking space, she allowed a slight smile to tug at the corners of her lips as she knew who would be waiting for her arrival. She had managed to befriend a classmate, and had somehow been able to keep this tidbit of information away from her husband. Kevin was Erica’s ray of sunshine as she traveled alone in her sea of despair. He was also her confidant. She certainly could not blurt out that her husband was a vampire, of course, but after talking with him for a few months, she finally trusted him enough to share a few of her problems. She had confided in him that her husband was an alcoholic, and became abusive at times when he indulged. The bruises she sported at least once a week were testimony enough. After the night she had endured last night, she could use a friend.