by David Paul
He thinks of a quick and easy dish to prepare for his love and their guest, Emily. David is noticeably excited and somewhat relieved. Finally, a piece of the unknown has been revealed to the vampire in regards to the prophecy. A major portion of his duty has been completed. The vampire is not foolish enough to assume that from here on is smooth sailing, but a major obstacle has been overcome.
As he approaches his door, a familiar scent is in the air. A scent that is ages old…a scent that invokes memories of horror. At first, the vampire is not sure whether his mind is playing tricks on him. He opens the door to his house and finds that it is not locked with either the deadbolt or the regular doorknob lock. David has a really awful feeling as if he already knows what lies beyond his door. He fights the negative thoughts and opens the front door.
“Fiona!” He called out. There is silence in the house. “Hello? Anyone home?” There is no answer. Maybe, they are both sleeping. The vampire is worried because her black Cadillac is still in the garage. He walks into the foyer and sees her car keys sitting on a half-round decorative table. The vampire calls her cell phone, and he hears it ringing somewhere in the house before it goes to voice mail. “Fiona?”
The vampire smells blood and follows the scent to find that his fears have come true. His beloved pet Damien is lying on a priceless Persian rug with a slit throat. A major pool of blood on the rug that has spilled onto the living room floor surrounds the fallen beast. The lack of a blood trail or random blood splatter possibly indicates that there was not a struggle in the house. All of the blood is concentrated around Damien and his general area. None of the blood is human, which is somewhat comforting to the concerned vampire in one sense.
The girls are missing. The vampire moves throughout the house like a lightning bolt searching for them. Deep down, he knows that this is a futile effort, but he searches anyways. The house is in relatively good shape, and Chinese food takeout containers are strewn about various rooms. Emily’s purse was found in the kitchen.
They must have had food delivered and stayed in the whole time. The vampire scrambles his brains to recreate what might have actually happened in his mind like a forensic crime scene analyst. He comes upon his dining room to find a bloody hand axe planted deeply into his priceless dining room table. The vampire remembers the hand axe, and how he had dropped it in the Black Forest while battling Regina. It still looks the same as he remembers except it is covered in the fresh blood of his slain dog.
Right next to the axe, a note is written on a piece of the vampire’s restaurant stationery inked in Damien’s semi-dried blood. David already knows who it is and what will be wanted before even reading the letter. The letter reads:
Dear Davide,
It appears as if we both have something that is important to the other. If you ever want to see your precious Fiona and her pretty cunt friend alive again, then you will have to give me what I desire. I ask for a simple trade. Give me Devin in return for the lives of your friends. Don’t take too long to think about it because I can educate them on the pleasures of the flesh, my little pet. Meet me where the sun sets upon the dead moon.
Love always,
Regina
The wickedest of vampire’s is back, and her cruel torments return after many centuries of absence from David’s world. David is beside himself. The vampire is angry for letting this happen. David feels like he should have known this would happen. The silence inside of the house is punishing. The vampire wasn’t expecting to come home to this. His long hellish journey is not over yet. It has just begun, but that is a different story.
“Goddamn it,” David said in disgust.
Afterthoughts
Just to let you all know, I plan on doing Nocturnal as a series of at least three books. There could be possibly more depending on the storyline. Sorry to leave it a cliffhanger, but like all great stories (Star Wars comes to mind,) there needs to be a buildup and anticipation. Unfortunately in life, not every story has a happy ending. A happy ending wouldn’t have held true to the dark nature of the novel. I would have felt like I “wussed” out to make everyone else happy, or logistically, I would have had Nocturnal end up as a thousand page saga crammed into one book.
Keep an eye out for the sequels! They are in the works as we speak. Also, keep an eye out for the full color version of this book. I didn’t want to do only a color version because the price would have been too high. So, I did this version in black & white to keep costs down for the reader, but I will release the full color version for those that crave the artwork in its full glory. I am toying around with doing a full color art book that is full of my artist’s character renderings for Nocturnal. Keep an eye out for some of the upcoming and exciting new developments.
Once again, I’d like to thank each and every one of my supporters! You all showed so much passion and enthusiasm for the project before it was officially released! Feel free to leave your feedback on the Amazon book order page. If you loved Nocturnal, then please let the world know!
Thank You,
Sincerely,
David Paul
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Chapter One: Night Moves
Chapter Two: The Meeting of Zurelda
Chapter Three: The Black Forest
Chapter Four: Captivity
Chapter Five: A Glimmer of Hope
Chapter Six: The Turning of Two
Chapter Seven: Finding the Path
Chapter Eight: An Bye Opener
Chapter Nine: Deeper Inside the Vampire’s World
Chapter Ten: The Hunt is On
Chapter Eleven: Doctor Carver
Chapter Twelve: The Devil’s Child
Chapter Thirteen: Evil Touches Us All
Chapter Fourteen: Taking Out the Trash
Chapter Fifteen: The Beast is Near
Chapter Sixteen: Dancing with the Devil
Chapter Seventeen: The Beast is Here
Chapter Eighteen: Aftermath
