by L. L. Soares
NO!
Viv pulled away, but Colleen was grunting and wriggling on the bed before her, lost in pleasure. Viv was trying so hard to stop it, but it was too far gone. As Colleen’s sensations came to their peak, she began to die, and her essence flowed into Viv.
“You can’t die, Col,” she said. “Please don’t die.”
But it was too late. One moment, Colleen was convulsing beneath her. The next, she was limp and lifeless.
The room got very quiet.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
It was dark now.
Viv went out to the car. Colleen was in the back seat, wrapped in the sheet. Viv would find a good place to bury her.
An anger burned within Viv over what had happened. Maybe I didn’t escape from Sam Wayne, she thought. Maybe he left a piece of himself inside me, after all.
She started the engine and pulled away from the motel parking lot. She had no idea what direction to go in, so she left it to chance.
She turned on the radio. A haunting song filled the car. A song she hadn’t heard in a very long time.
There are stairs. That go upstairs. Only, there’s nobody there.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she drove.
That was Jeremy singing. Back when he had been young and innocent. And alive.
She had never felt so alone in all her life.
-THE END-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L.L. Soares was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Dozens of his short stories have appeared in magazines like Cemetery Dance, Gothic.net, Bare Bone and Horror Garage, and anthologies like THE BEST OF HORRORFIND 2, RAW: BRUTALITY AS ART and ZIPPERED FLESH: TALES OF BODY ENHANCEMENTS GONE BAD! His story “Second Chances” received an Honorable Mention in the sixteenth annual edition of THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling.
In the fall of 2010, his first story collection, IN SICKNESS (featuring stories by himself and writer Laura Cooney), was published by Skullvines Press, and BREAKING EGGS, a novella written with Kurt Newton, was released by Sideshow Press.
He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and a former chairman of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW).
He was nominated for the 2009 Bram Stoker Award for co-writing the humorous horror movie review column, Cinema Knife Fight, which now has its own website and a full staff of writers at cinemaknifefight.com
He lives in the Boston area with his wife and pet iguana, Pippi Greenstocking.
