“Can we give it a rest for one day please?” the young man commanded. “This city is out of control and most of my friends have either skipped town or died. Pretty soon there won’t be much of a city left to hold on to and you’re sitting here having dinner like nothing’s happened. If only we’d been there to protect-“
“We’ve talked about this enough son,” his mother added sharply. “This hasn’t been an easy thing for us to accept at all but she’s gone. Your father and I tried everything we could to get her back, but she wouldn’t listen. She made her decision and it cost her. Best thing to do now is to focus on what we can salvage. Eat your dinner Blake. It’s one of the few pleasantries we have left before everything is really shot to Hell.”
Blake looked on at his mother and father consuming their meals under the bright lights that did absolutely nothing to illuminate his dark mood. His blackened redfish coupled with his favorite cauliflower puree would not fare much better to lift his spirits either. Not on this day. The son simply looked on with utter disdain coupled with nausea as the parents consumed their meal without a care in the world. Joseph Devereaux took a moment to take it all in. Ingesting the splendor of the room as he sipped on a bracing glass of Macallan 25, the memories of ‘Old New Orleans’ seemed to march through his mind as vibrantly as a parade. Putting the glass down and slicing away at the flesh before him, he looked over to his son.
“New Orleans will be great again son, I promise. It’s like I said, you just have to have the gumption to bite into the heart of the problem.”
He spoke with the assurance of a man completely lost in the pit of his own hubris. The Devereaux family had enjoyed a legacy of living above the law and enjoying the finer things in life while many of those in the city around them suffered. What old man Devereaux never had the humility or the foresight to accept was the fact that nothing in this world lasts forever. Eventually…everything comes to an end.
When the mob finally marched through the streets of the Quarter, those historic streets ran red with blood. There would be no joyful noises or Second Line parades, not this time. The so-called ‘dregs of society’, the poor, tired and hungry of the once great city of New Orleans flooded the Quarter with reckless abandon and bloodlust. Caught up in the splendor of their refined dining and solitude, the Devereaux family never saw it coming…until it was too late. That thunderous roar that shook the hallowed walls of the Rib Room sent a surge of panic through everyone, as casual diners all looked for an exit. There would be none to be found. Not on this day. Joseph Devereaux looked on in horror as the wait staff and bartenders made a futile attempt to protect their customers from a swarm of the living dead invading the restaurant. Clashes of silverware and tables were met with screams and ravenous snarls. Pristine tablecloths that were once white as snow, now became splattered with blood as the mob dined feverishly on the elite of New Orleans.
“My God,” Joseph Devereaux stammered as they soon inched closer and closer to his family.
A true fear encircled the steel heart of the man as he saw something he never imagined he would witness in a million years. As the infected marched closer, grabbing a hold of his prized son followed by his wife, Joseph Devereaux looked into the dark, sullen and sunken eyes of the man he’d forbade his daughter from seeing. It was Barabbas Purify. In a flash, the tattered body of Barabbas, completely devoid of any humanity lunged toward the man. Taking a vicious bite directly into Joseph Devereaux’s throat, Barabbas savored the thrill of human flesh as his teeth immersed themselves into the elite flavor of the man’s life. Rare. Bloody. Perfect.
Man was made to devour flesh every now and then. It was natural, a primal way of life harkening to the days of old. Joseph Devereaux knew it all too well, and now Barabbas Purify would experience it for himself. Maybe…just maybe the old man was right. Sometimes, you just have to have the gumption to bite into the heart of the problem…
OTHER WORKS BY lazarusInfinity
Exodus: A Requiem for Jacob Forlorn
A dark fantasy filled with interracial romance, lust, betrayal and vengeance. What happens when everything you've worked for and sacrificed for is suddenly taken away from you? What happens when the greatest love you've ever known isn't what it seems? What happens when your most loyal childhood friends and family pass away? What happens when one man takes a fateful journey between love and hate, light and darkness...Heaven and Hell?
Jacob Forlorn is a beleaguered everyman escaping from the shadows of a bitter and broken past to find his place in life when he meets Miranda, a beautiful and mysterious woman with a past of her own. Drawn by love at first sight, a whirlwind interracial romance brimming with intense passion ensues, culminating in the birth of a beautiful child. But all is not well in paradise. Against the remains of a hidden past, something dark and deadly emerges, threatening to either warn Jacob or rob him of both his heart and his sanity. Jealousy, resentment and deception emerge, soon forming a deadly web of intrigue, lust and secrecy which all have repercussions far beyond anything he ever imagined.
As dark visions and nightmares haunt him repeatedly, Jacob soon begins to walk a very fine line between right and wrong, against a backdrop of misery and death that pushes him to the limits of his faith in God. Someone...or something is after him. The secrets of the past begin to destroy him both physically and spiritually, forcing him to make a dangerous choice.
Love. Lust. Betrayal. Vengeance. It all comes to an end and something has to give. The journey to Hell and back has now begun in this brooding and haunting dark fantasy for the Kindle.
The Little Boy and the Sea: Reflections from the edge of infinity…Vol. 1
"If you can't make it a happy day for yourself, you can make it one for someone else." That's the first lesson learned in a heartwarming, easy to read tale of a young boy's efforts to make friends. From overcoming kids at school teasing him for dreaming big to helping those less fortunate, this collection is created for the Kindle by award-winning playwright lazarusInfinity. The first volume in a series of stories sure to inspire children of all ages.
Revelation: The Return of Jacob Forlorn
Raise no more devils than you can lay down...
It's been five years since the tragic death of Jacob Forlorn. Written off as just another lost soul gone too soon by Miranda and her family, she has now taken their daughter to the sunny, glistening streets of Miami to live the typical 24 karat, Ocean Drive lifestyle. Living off a fabricated story that everyone has been led to believe, including the newfound love of her life, everything seems to be on the upside for Miranda in her new home. Meanwhile, others in Jacob's family have all moved on with the deadly secrets of the past seemingly buried away forever. Yet somewhere between life and death...Heaven and Hell, the tortured soul of Jacob Forlorn is thirsty for revenge.
Haunted by terrifying nightmares, Miranda soon delves into a dark abyss of depression and paranoia. Tormented by visions of the past, Miranda is soon forced to accept the truth; that Jacob's soul will not rest. The unquiet spirit yearns for vengeance and soon...very soon...the dead shall rise with a mission to right the wrongs that have been hidden. Will Jacob avenge his death? Will Miranda be able to escape the inevitable? Can there ever truly be peace between the living and the dead? Love. Lust. Betrayal. Vengeance. Something has to give when the tortured spirit returns for blood...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
lazarusInfinity: "Just keep writing." Out of those simple words grew a dream that would instill a profound sense of purpose within a young kid born and raised in New Orleans, LA. With only his dreams along with an insatiable drive to be the best he could be, this writer would grow from penning children's literature in the 3rd grade to later writing stageplays and screenplays in college. Heavily influenced by a who's who of incredible writers such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Ralph Ellison all the way to August Wilson, Arthur Miller and Aaron Sorkin, lazarusInfinity has continued t o stretch his creative boundaries to encompass all forms of writing. In addition to w
riting contemporary fiction and children's stories, he is currently at work on several screenplays along with another novel.
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