by Simon Clark
I fell with him in my arms into the River Ouse. It was swollen with autumn floodwater. In a moment its powerful currents carried us downstream.
Is there any point in trying to drown a man who cannot die? I don’t know. But before this plague of the mind overwhelms me, and I become a disciple of that contamination, I decided that for as long as possible I would hold on tight to the disease carrier. If there is a God to answer my prayer then maybe He will permit me to keep this monster a prisoner in my arms long enough for these swollen waters to bury us both in the silt on the river’s bed. Then lock us there until mud turns to stone. There, we will become twin fossils that remain in a state of blessed sterility beneath the surface of the Earth for the rest of time.
Dear Lord, I truly hope so….
From Hotel Midnight
Electra’s here, my dear friends. That completes our triumvirate of the vampiric. Three stories that touch on the vampire-like state that so many of you have encountered in one form or another. This website will continue to cater for you as long as you need it. There are far more stories on my files than I have had chance to publish here yet, so please call back again in the future. And always there are tantalizing promises of closure to testaments by individuals that continue to tug my curiosity. For example, just now, a note appeared pinned to my window frame. It begged me to meet a stranger down on the river-bank behind my home in ten minutes. What would you do? Especially as it is signed John Helvetes. Is this the self-same author of Jack of Bones, the testimony that you’ve just read? Or is it an imposter intending to lure me to what could be a fateful rendezvous? So what to do? Stay here in the warmth of the kitchen with my laptop and you, my dears? Or slip on my best boots and smartest coat then stroll down to the river? After all, don’t they say that you only die once? Or is that, only live once?
I confess, my curiosity is an irresistible force. Wait for me, my friends, here at Hotel Midnight, the website without frontiers, without boundaries. Then, the spirits willing, I will be back with more stories soon. And perhaps even a revelation or two….
By the Same Author
Darkness Demands
Stranger
In This Skin
Copyright
© Simon Clark 2005
First published in Great Britain 2005
This edition 2012
ISBN 978 0 7198 0636 0 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7198 0637 7 (mobi)
ISBN 978 0 7198 0638 4 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7090 7819 6 (print)
Robert Hale Limited
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.halebooks.com
The right of Simon Clark to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
