The Color of Dying
Page 27
It is nearly impossible for us to self-terminate. Otherwise, I would do it right now. My existence brings nothing but destruction to those around me. Even when my intentions are good, I bring misery to those I care about. I befriend Veronica, what happens? She’s now in the hospital, pretty much a vegetable. Her kids must now face life without a mother.
My attempts to help Davey and Jesse also weren’t stellar. With his past, if a witness places Davey where I killed Darryl Briggs, he could end up in a shitload of trouble, maybe even back in jail.
Nice going, Pops!
And Jessie, even though I got that shitbag Nemeth out of her life, my appearance in front of her car left her so shaken, she might never recover.
Dominic too, was a wakeup call. When he found me, his disgust reminded me of how I don’t belong on this earth. Except for maybe his last few seconds, he never saw me as his brother-in-law. He only saw the product of Hell that I am. And in the end, I cost him his life, too.
My wife, the only love I’ve ever had, Stefanie, she’s gone. I will never be able to see her again. The dream was to grow old together, die together, and spend eternity in Paradise. Instead it will be Rippey. He was a good husband. And it is he that will share eternity with my wife and my children.
My eternity will have me walking this Earth, preying on humans that I decide the general population can do without. It won’t make me any less of a monster, but at the very least I will feel like I am doing something useful. When I was alive, no one at home ever wanted to take out the trash. It always wound up being me.
The tradition continues.
But this could only happen if I can maintain the power of my own free will. If I am unwillingly carrying a soulless guest with centuries of devastation marking her past, how could I know that any decision I ever make will be my own. Even now as I approach the door of a small cabin in the woods of Upstate New York, I am not sure if it is me or her that is doing the knocking. Who is it that is patiently watching as the door slowly creaks open? Who knows? Surely not the shocked and horrified woman that stands opposite me on the other side of the doorway. The smell of her fear is near irresistible, but I must have some degree of control because I am able to maintain my composure and patiently introduce myself. “Hello, Dr. Gunder. I’m Nicky Negrón.”
The doctor stands frozen. She has opened her door to Death. And she knows all too well from her research, that unlike the fictional stories in books, movies or on TV, this real-life vampire standing outside her door does not need an invitation to come inside.
The End
About the Author
Born in Spanish Harlem and raised by Puerto Rican parents in the South Bronx, Carlos Colón was a storyteller from the start. He began in his pre-teens by writing comic strips for his parents and continued throughout school writing dramatic short stories in his English classes. Teachers immediately took notice nicknaming him Hemingway and encouraging him to the point where he eventually graduated from Lehman College, CUNY with an English degree in Creative Writing. That same year, 1979, his play "Jerome" won Honorable Mention for the Jacob Hammer Memorial Prize. Since then he wrote several screenplays for Hollywood producers but unfortunately never saw one reach the big screen. Nowadays, Carlos is living out on Jersey Shore, serving as a singer/songwriter/front man for the retro rock n’ roll Jersey Shore Roustabouts band, one of the most in-demand entertainment acts of the New Jersey/New York/Philadelphia area.
Sangre: The Color of Dying is Carlos Colón’s first published novel, introducing readers to the foul-mouthed, urban-vampire vigilante , Nicky Negrón, a tragic anti-hero who is haunted by loss. Readers have already taken to the Nicky, who has alternately been described as haunting, hilarious, horrifying, and heartbreaking. As a result, Sangre: The Color of Dying, which was originally intended as a stand-alone tale, will now be followed up in late 2017/early 2018 with Sangre: The Wrong Side of Tomorrow, a sequel that will take readers deeper into the haunted psych and tormented afterlife of Nicky Negrón. Also being discussed are current plans to adapt Sangre as a feature film and television series
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