Jeremy: The Jeremy Saga, #1

By Richard Bush

Jeremy wants to be a normal teenage boy, but he has several problems most fourteen-year-olds do not have. After his father's passing, he must run the farm on his own. Next, they closed his high school and he's being bused to a nearby town to attend high school there. The only thing his new school has going for it is his new friend Ashley. Unfortunately, her best friend doesn't seem to like him at all! Then things get even worse!
While working in the mountains one day, he finds out just where all the vampire legends come from! Bitten by a creature whose venom nearly kills him, he finds that he is now a prime strigoi, and he needs fresh blood regularly to stay healthy. What's worse is there are other primes out there and they don't like competition! Now he's trying to survive as he learns to recognize and master the new strength and powers that he has acquired without getting himself and those around him all killed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Bush
• Release date: Aug 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223333425

Richard Bush

Richard Bush was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Raised an Air Force brat, he has lived in places like Okinawa and San Francisco before returning to Las Vegas when his father left the Air Force, then moved sixty miles north to Overton Nevada. He has been writing science fiction since a young age but published nothing until the mid-nineties when he wrote a few articles for computer magazines. When he graduated from college he took a temporary job at a water district, but the dirty rats kept promoting him, so he stayed for fifteen years! He spent the last twenty-one years teaching high school math until retiring. Now he writes part time and putters around the house full time. He lives in San Tan Valley Arizona with his wife and a dog that's too intelligent for his own good!

Book preview

Jeremy

By

Richard Bush

Copyright © 2019 by Richard Bush.

2nd edition copyright © 2022 by Richard Bush.

All rights reserved. This book or any part thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dedicated to my daughter, Valery; she made me do it!

Table of Contents

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

ONE

Friday, the day before it happened, Jeremy Moore sat with Ashley Montoya in the lunchroom. She was a beautiful girl with long black hair cascading over her shoulders and that often hung over one eye. Only one thing dampened his pleasure at sitting with the lovely Ashley, and that was the presence of Taylor Briggs. Taylor, a dirty blond girl with pudgy cheeks and dark eyes, though quite pretty herself, was—unpleasant to be around. That day she and Ashley talked about typical girl stuff. This meant that Ashley wasn’t paying much attention to him, but that was okay. He had a hard time figuring out what to say to her anyway, so he always let her carry most of their conversations. All that he knew was that he enjoyed being with her.

Jeremy’s moment of contentment was shattered when John Grimes and his lackey Steven Turner slipped up behind him. His only warning was a little gasp from Taylor and then, something ran down his neck and soaked the back of his shirt. He whirled around to see the smirking face of his nemesis.

"Oh man Germy! I’m so clumsy! John said in a voice that made it clear he wasn’t at all sorry. He slapped Steve on the shoulder, See what you made me do! Apologize to the man!"

Steve was grinning from ear to ear, but he ducked his head and tried to look remorseful. It didn’t work. I’m sorry I made John so clumsy Germy! Then he brayed like a donkey.

Jeremy jumped to his feet. He clenched his fists so tight his fingernails cut into his palms. That was it! He was going to take out this piece of slime but, just as he got in John’s face, a voice interrupted him.

What’s going on here? Jeremy slowly turned around. Mr. Lamoureux, the dean of students, glared at him with disapproval.

John poured chili down Jeremy’s back! exclaimed Ashley. Just look at that mess!

Jeremy was pleased that she seemed so outraged. Taylor on the other hand had a hard time stifling her laughter.

"Well since I’m sure it was an accident and that Mr. Grimes has already apologized, then... you did apologize, didn’t you Mr. Grimes?"

Oh yes sir! I sure did, sir!

There then, Mr. Lamoureux said as if that settled everything.

He shooed John and Steve off with, You two run along. Then turning to Jeremy, he said, You better run and clean up, Mr. Moore, the bell’s about to ring.

With his fists still clenched he stared at Mr. Lamoureux. He wanted to hit someone, and since John and Steve were now safely out of reach, that left Mr. Lamoureux. Thankfully, sanity returned, and he forced his fists to relax. After shooting one last glare at Mr. Lamoureux, Jeremy stalked towards the restroom to clean up.

Jeremy was indeed late for his next class and had to wear a damp shirt to class.

To add insult to injury, the story had spread at light speed. Soon it seemed everyone was laughing at him! And Mr. Lamoureux didn’t care; he always seemed to take John’s side! Oh, how Jeremy hated this place!

Since the closing of the Edward County High School, right in the middle of the first quarter of his freshman year, he and the few other students left, had been bused to Four Corners to attend the larger Howard County High School the next county over.

Jeremy angrily slammed into his seat in Geometry. He’d planned on graduating at Edward, but now had to spend his high school years at Howard. It really sucked!

Jeremy, you’re late! the teacher, Ms. Woods said.

Not my fault, he mumbled.

Well, that’s two tardies for you. I’ll have to write it up if you get another one, she said.

Jeremy could hear Steve, who was also in his class, talking quietly in the back of the classroom. Laughter followed Steve’s words.

The teacher sighed and turned her attention to the back. Steve, once again you’ve disrupted my class. This isn’t the first time and I think it’s time I changed your seat. Come up and sit here. She pointed to a desk just in front of Jeremy.

Jeremy sighed. This day just gets better and better, he thought.

Why can’t I stay here? Steve whined.

Just do it. I’m not going to negotiate this with you. Now move! Jeremy hid a grin as Steve slunk to the assigned desk. At least the attention was on him now and not Jeremy.

There were only two classes after lunch, so afternoons usually passed quickly, but this afternoon could not pass quickly enough for Jeremy. Throughout the entire period, Steve managed to whisper insults that the teacher didn’t quite hear, and it didn’t get better during the final class of the day since he had Spanish with John.

Everyone seemed to have heard about the lunchroom incident. It wouldn’t have surprised him if someone had taken a video of it and posted it online. As far as Jeremy knew, that hadn’t happened, yet.

After school Jeremy walked Ashley to the front of the building. Then he ran to catch his bus before it left.

Ashley and Taylor lived nearby, so they walked to school. Jeremy had always ridden the bus. Even at Edwards, school was too far away to walk. Now it was nearly an hour to get to school or to get home from school. Time he couldn’t afford to waste.

With his dad gone, he had to do all the chores. His mom tried to help, but she had to work so they wouldn’t lose the farm. It seemed that between homework and farm work, Jeremy had no time for himself. His friends talked about TV shows they’d watched, but he’d never seen them. It made him feel like an outsider. Ashley was the only good thing to happen to him since his father’s death, but she came with the baggage of best friend Taylor. At least the long bus ride enabled him to get his homework done. That way he could concentrate on the farm work when he was home. He even got to do some reading, something he hadn’t been able to do since his father’s death. With the long bus ride, he finally had time again. He mostly read science fiction. He didn’t like fantasy much. He preferred more realistic fiction than fantasy offered. Yes, he knew Science fiction wasn’t always realistic, but it had its basis in real science, usually. He’d heard there was a Fantasy and SF club at Edwards, but he had no way to go since they met after school. Besides, they focused more on movies and fantasy, than real science fiction.

He got along with the kids on the bus since they were all formerly Edwards students like him. They were also farm kids and knew his situation. They left him alone to do his work.

His homework was done for the weekend when he climbed off the bus. Since his house was a mile from the bus stop, he usually tried to run most of the way, to save time, since he had so much work to do.

Mom, I’m home! he announced, letting the screen door slam. He winced at that since his mother didn’t like it. He closed the kitchen door more carefully.

Upstairs, she called out. He headed up to change his clothes so he could go to work. His mother was dragging a suitcase out of the closet.

Are you going somewhere? he asked.

I’m going into Four Corners for a meeting, tomorrow. I’ll stay with Aunt Carey tonight and tomorrow night. I’ll be home on Sunday. She grinned at his surprised face. It wasn’t like her to be gone from the farm like that. However, he was glad to see her get out of the house. She hadn’t been the same since his dad had passed away. Don’t worry, supper’s in the oven, and I’ll have Casper look in on you.

Mom! he protested. "I don’t need Undersheriff Underwood to look in on me. I’ll be fine. You go enjoy yourself.

I’ve got some time tomorrow—if I get the south field cut tonight—so I’ll probably be going up on the mountain and cut some firewood. We probably have enough for winter, but I might as well be sure, and I might as well start stockpiling for next winter, too.

She opened her mouth to say something, and then paused. Finally, with a little sigh she said, All right, but you be careful, you hear?

I hear, he said and kissed her cheek. He escaped to his room and changed his clothes.

⁂

The next day, the morning of the day it happened, Jeremy dragged himself out of bed. He’d been up late, but he’d gotten that field cut. It felt like he’d just got to sleep when his alarm went off. He had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and, after finishing morning chores, packed some sandwiches and headed up the mountain. His favorite spot was where a fire had killed a grove of trees that were the perfect size for cutting. There would be little need for splitting the logs, since the trees were small enough to make perfect burning logs. He figured he could cut this area for at least another year. Then he’d have to find a new spot. He parked the truck and went to work. With a short pause for lunch, he had the truck full well before dark.

On the way back his thoughts wandered, as they often did after a hard day’s work. The truck slammed down in a hole and nearly yanked the steering wheel from his grasp. He forced his attention back to the rutted track leading down the mountain. With the load of firewood, he had in the back, he needed to go easy on the old Ford. His thoughts had drifted to the incident at school yesterday instead of paying attention to the road.

He angrily slammed the gear shift into a lower gear to climb the steep rise ahead of him. He bounced over the washboard in the road at the top of the hill and eased down the other side. He was again lost in his thoughts when the fireball streaked across the sky and thudded into the earth a mile or so ahead of him. There was a flash as it hit and a few seconds later, he heard a huge explosion. The shockwave nearly drove him off the road!

What the heck! he exclaimed as he wrestled the truck back onto the road. He slid to a stop near where he knew the meteor had gone down, since he could see the smoke rising in the distance, and parked the truck. He pulled on the old Edward High jacket he’d inherited from his father, since it was getting a little cool, and set out in the direction of the smoke. After hiking to the top of a nearby hill he could see the crater about an eighth of a mile further. He checked the sun and decided he had a good hour of daylight left and made a beeline through the trees towards the crater. He found a five-foot bowl pounded into the forest floor, still steaming, with trees knocked down in a pinwheel shape all around it. But what caught his attention was the object half buried in the middle of it; a sphere about 18 inches in diameter, blacker than anything he’d ever seen, and smooth, definitely not natural.

This felt like something out of a science fiction novel, Come on! he muttered, This cannot be happening! He cautiously approached. Picking up a pebble, he tossed it at the sphere. When it struck, the black surface changed into a reflective mirror like surface for a moment and the rock rebounded right back at him. He ducked as it narrowly missed him. The surface had blackened again by the time he straightened up. He held his hand close to check for heat and, since he felt none, tentatively brushed his fingertips across it. There was a sound, halfway between a snap and a tearing noise, and he jumped back as a seam appeared around the middle. It split open and the top folded back. His feet were in motion, backing him away, but it seemed he was getting no traction and couldn’t move fast enough as a hissing nightmare rose from its nest in the sphere and launched itself at him, going straight for his throat!

The snake-like creature seemed to be all teeth and attitude and he fell back, throwing his left arm up so the horror sank its teeth into the arm and not his throat. He grabbed it with his right hand and tried to rip it away, but it wouldn’t let go. It coiled tightly around his hand and pulled it against the bitten arm. It was very warm, and strong! He wrenched his hand loose and grabbed a rock. He stretched the creature across a boulder protruding from the side of the crater and smashed the rock down on it again and again. It didn’t seem to hurt the thing at all. Then he remembered the propane torch he’d been using a few days before, still in the toolbox behind the cab of the truck.

He ran all the way back, the creature still clamped on and showing no intention of letting go. His left arm was going numb, but he managed to open the lid one handed and pulled out the torch and striker. Fortunately, it lit on the first try and he turned it on the creature. It writhed and jerked, making a noise that sounded like Schizzzz! It finally let go of his arm. Once it hit the ground, it tried to squirm away, but he burned it until it stopped moving. He stretched out the remains and estimated it was about eight feet long! It twitched and Jeremy realized it might not be dead yet. He turned the torch on it again and continued burning until the torch sputtered out as the last of the propane ran out. Now nothing remained of the creature but blackened bones.

Feeling sick and dizzy, either from the bite or the horrific stench of the thing as it burned, he climbed back into the truck and started driving. His injured arm was now completely numb. It hung, a useless lump, from his shoulder. He shifted gears by steering with his knee while he worked the gearshift with the right arm. As he grew sicker and dizzier, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to make it back to the main road. He grabbed his phone and checked, but as expected, there was no service yet. He slammed down the accelerator, hoping to get close enough to the highway for service before he passed out, but soon he was having trouble seeing the road and the numbness was spreading quickly. The old Ford bounced off the road and came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of a wash. Jeremy stumbled out of the truck, but his legs would no longer support his weight. He collapsed and let the blackness take him.

TWO

There was a buzz in his ear. He swatted at it. It grew louder and as he came more fully aware; he realized the buzz was a helicopter off in the distance. He sat up and realized that he’d soiled himself while he was unconscious. Remembering, he examined his arm, but could find no trace of the bite, and it felt fine, no pain at all. There was, however, dried vomit on his face and clothes, along with far more unpleasant stuff. He could hear the stream nearby, but the sound was soon drowned out by the approaching helicopter. He stumbled down to the stream, emptied his pockets, stripped off his soiled clothes, and dumped them into the stream. Then he climbed into a small pool and started washing the filth off. The water was ice cold, and he should have been shivering, but somehow, he found the cold water pleasant. Still soaking, he scrubbed out his clothes and wrung them out. He tossed them one by one at some nearby bushes so they could dry out.

The warm fall sun should have been pleasant, but it felt hot and prickly like he was getting sunburned. Annoyed, he glared up at it, and then realized—it was a morning sun! He’d been unconscious all night! Reluctantly he climbed out of the stream and put on his still wet clothes and began to walk back towards the crater. Then to cover the ground more quickly, he ran. It was at least two miles back. He ran all the way in about ten minutes. He wasn’t even out of breath when he arrived!

The helicopter had drifted away, but now came back. Jeremy realized it was searching for something. The meteor, probably, since it now circled the crater. He watched from behind a spruce tree as the helicopter landed in the road and two extremely pale men got out. Both wore long, heavy black overcoats, gloves, and a broad brimmed hat. Both also wore heavily shaded glasses. That’s when he realized the glare of the sun was becoming more and more unpleasant and he wished he had some sunglasses. One of the men had long platinum hair. The other looked younger, perhaps late twenties or early thirties. They walked toward the crater talking to each other, but Jeremy couldn’t hear them, so he crept closer.

The sphere’s open, said the platinum haired man when he drew close. Someone let it out. Check for tracks.

There, Master, said the younger man with a French accent, A set of tracks coming in and another leaving. It looks like he was running as he went away. The two followed Jeremy’s tracks. Jeremy wasn’t sure why he was being so cautious, but something told him he shouldn’t trust these two. Carefully he followed, listening intently to their conversation. He couldn’t have gotten far with a schizzard on him. Unless he found a way to get it off, the younger man was saying. The older man stopped by the rock where Jeremy had left the remains of the creature and pointed it out to the younger man.

"Mon Dieu! the younger exclaimed, Look at its size!"

Yes, that’s the largest I’ve seen. The older stared at it a long time. Smart, he said, Burning it like that. Still, it isn’t likely he survived the bite, especially not one that size. He moved over to the road. He had a vehicle. He went that way, he said pointing down the road. Find the body.

What if he had someone with him? They would take him to a hospital.

No. See? He got in the driver’s seat. He was alone.

What if he survived?

The platinum-haired man glared, and the other man seemed to wilt. If he survived, kill him. He pointed down the road. Go, Jon. The younger man pulled a huge knife from somewhere and said, Yes, Master Mobius. He turned and walked off.

Jeremy’s heart was now racing. He couldn’t be hearing correctly! The younger man would soon find his truck and they would know he was on foot and nearby. He had to hide! He eased away, trying to keep a tree between him and the older man. His foot kicked a rock, and he froze as it rattled down a rocky ledge. Then he heard footsteps as Mobius investigated. Jeremy crouched behind a patch of scrub oak and when the footsteps approached on the left, he edged around it to the right. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure the man would hear it. He barely dared breathe, dared not move. Mobius moved away so Jeremy risked a peek around the oak and saw him scan the hillside, obviously looking for whatever had caused the noise.