"You can finish up your stuff. Mike's father is taking me out." She grabbed Ani under the chin and turned her head to face her. "I'm putting a great deal of trust in you. Don't screw it up."
Ani widened her eyes. "I won't, Mom."
"Promise." Her mom squeezed her cheeks.
"I promise."
"Good, 'cause I'll know if you try anything stupid." She kissed her forehead. "You want to be a headstrong teenager, but you don't have that luxury. If you think I've been restrictive before, try lying to me again. You'll never leave the lab until you're cured."
Her mom never bluffed. Ani would be chained to a chair. She thought of Arizona, of leaving Ohneka Falls, of leaving Mike. Does it even matter if I am?
* * *
They spent the rest of the evening and most of Saturday packing the basement and turning it into something more nearly normal. A bare concrete floor swept clean, whitewashed walls, and a hot water heater were all that remained. Even the 'just in case' room had been turned back to its original purpose, the washer and dryer ensconced where a shackled recliner once sat.
They talked of research advances from her mom's new colleagues, improvement ideas for her serum they could try, advanced regenerates that could repair bone, and promising antiviral therapies. When her mom tried to talk up Arizona's virtues, Ani moped until she gave up. They stopped at three so her mom could get ready.
* * *
Her mom left at four-thirty. Ani waited a half-hour to call Mike. The phone rang once.
"Hello?" Her throat closed at the sound of his voice, tight and breathless. She closed her eyes against the hollow gnawing in her chest. Is this how I'll always hear it, on the phone?
The words rushed out. "It's me. There's no way I can go to the prom. Mom has spies who will rat me out in a second. It will literally ruin my life like you have no idea."
Silence brooded on the other end of the line. "Do you want to go?"
"Yes, Mike, more than anything I want to go."
"Well, I have an idea. I'll pick you up at eight-thirty."
"Why eight-thirty?"
"It's dark out by then. No one will catch us. I'll see you soon."
"They'll catch—"
"Trust me."
"Okay. I trust you. I'll see you soon." She licked her lips. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Ani. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to see it."
"Me, too. See you soon." I'm babbling.
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She hung up the phone and opened her eyes. The world blazed with color and life.
* * *
Ani took a hot bath and cranked the heat in the bathroom as high as it would go to raise her body temperature. Her mom called at six-thirty. She called again at seven. And again at eight. Ani checked online, and the concert started at eight-fifteen. Good call, Mike. She listened to Katy Perry's One of the Boys on repeat while she got ready.
Ani's only dresses were black, and that couldn't be helped, but she used her mom's makeup. Glossy pink lipstick and pink rouge over a very light foundation made her look more human. It made her look like a girl.
She quashed the butterflies in her stomach, or tried to. If I know this is the right thing to do, why do I have to keep telling myself it's the right thing to do? She shoved the thought away, touched up her lipstick, and waited on tenterhooks. At eight-thirty sharp she went downstairs.
A soft tap on the kitchen door startled her. She leapt up when she saw Mike, dapper and handsome in a black tuxedo with a pale green bowtie that matched his eyes. She disarmed the alarm system and pulled open the door, confused.
She pointed at the front door. "Why are you...?"
He stepped forward and kissed her, his lips warm and rough and gentle. He tasted like mint and honey. It lasted a moment. It lasted forever. She stepped back, breathless, and shared his boyish grin.
"You look beautiful. I don't know if your mom's spies include the neighbors, so I thought I'd do things this way." He grabbed her hand, his bandage soft against her palm, and led her out the door. He closed it behind her and she reset the alarm. They walked through the back yard and onto the adjacent block, where Mike's dad's rusty pickup waited. "It's not a limo, but it'll do."
"It's perfect," Ani said. For what, she still wasn't sure.
He opened the door for her and helped her up. At least the inside is clean. He started the engine and drove toward school, but hung a right instead of a left. Ani wanted to ask, but the tiny smirk on his face told her everything she needed to know—it wasn't polite to ask about surprises.
Mike pulled onto the access road that stretched behind the school, then into the unmowed field. He killed the lights and drove the truck through the tall weeds, right to the edge of the soccer field. He turned off the engine, got out, circled the truck and helped her down. He kissed her again, and she resisted as he pulled away.
He took her by the hand and his touch electrified her. He led her through the darkness toward the school, where they could hear music. They neared the back of the gym, and he pulled her into an embrace. He held her, then began to sway.
They danced, first to one song, then another, staring into one another's eyes under the starlit late May sky. He kissed her, a bare brush of the lips. She kissed him, pulling him down to her, devouring his taste and his touch. He pulled away, gasping, then circled behind her.
Another song started, and he put his arms around her waist, his chest pressed against her back. He leaned over her shoulder and kissed her ear, and then her neck. She closed her eyes and felt the passion grow inside, an all-consuming rush of energy. She'd never wanted anything so much.
"We need to slow down—" She almost didn't get the words out.
"No," he said. "I've wanted this, wanted you, too long. If we only get one night together, I want it to be this night." I do, too.
He ran his finger down her neck, slipped her dress off of her shoulder and kissed her naked skin.
"This isn't right," she gasped. I don't mean it. Tell me otherwise.
"It is. There's never been anything more right." His hands moved on her body as his mouth danced on her neck. She started to pant, to gasp, to moan. He talked to her, low and loving, and she fell into his voice. "Yeah, Ani. I love you so much. I need you. I've always needed you. You don't have to pretend anymore. Let go." His words carried her to euphoria, guided by his hands, and she surrendered to it.
* * *
Ani wiped her hands on her dress. They were sticky with something, red and pungent with the tang of iron. She licked her fingers, sucked the delicious fluid from them.
She knelt down to the thing on the ground. It was all legs and arms and meat, nothing good. She saw a gobbet of something gray nestled in a tangle of its hair and she cooed in excitement. Brains! She pulled it out and put it in her mouth, then pushed it out with her tongue. Why so good before, but now so bitter? She moaned in anguish. MORE! Where?
She heard music, laughter, talking, as the meat thing on the ground struggled to its feet, bowtie askew and splattered with blood. She looked at it, warm flesh and hot blood, and wanted it. Bitter. No good. She looked up at the moon and groaned in denied hunger, then turned toward the laughter. More. She lurched toward the gym door, licking her lips, the tuxedoed corpse at her side.
The End
Tied for 1st Place in the 2012 JS Horror Writing Contest.
Billy Moon would have given his life for rock 'n' roll stardom, but the Devil doesn’t come that cheap.
Goth rock idol Billy Moon has it all: money, fame, and a different girl in every city. But he also has a secret, one that goes all the way back to the night he almost took his own life. The night Trevor Rail, a shadowy record producer with a flair for the dark and esoteric, agreed to make him a star... for a price.
Now Billy has come to Echo Lake Studios to create the record that will make him a legend. A dark masterpiece like only Trevor Rail can fashion. But the woods of Echo Lake have a dark past
, a past that might explain the mysterious happenings in the haunted church that serves as Rail’s main studio. As the pressure mounts on Billy to fulfill Rail's vision, it becomes clear that not everyone will survive the project.
It's time the Devil of Echo Lake had his due, and someone will have to pay.
“VERDICT This unique and unnerving read is a sure bet for horror and sf fans.”
—Rebecca M. Marrall, Western Washington Univ. Libs., Bellingha - Library Journal
In the deepest reaches of space, on a ship that no longer exists, six travelers stare into the abyss...
Man has finally mastered the art of space travel and in a few hours passengers can travel light years across the galaxy. But, there's a catch—the traveler must be asleep for the journey, and with sleep come the dreams. Only the sleeper can know what his dream entails, for each is tailored to his own mind, built from his fears, his secrets, his past... and sometimes his future.
That the dreams occasionally drive men mad is but the price of technological advance. But when a transport on a routine mission comes upon an abandoned ship, missing for more than a decade, six travelers—each with something to hide—discover that perhaps the dreams are more than just figments of their imagination. Indeed, they may be a window to a reality beyond their own where shadow has substance and the darkness is a thing unto itself, truly worthy of fear.
“The work is as tidy as the town and as pat as a familiar horror film."
—Publishers Weekly
Diagnosed with a brain tumor, Geoffrey returns to his hometown for a reunion of the Jokers Club (his childhood gang) with the hopes of unearthing the imagination he held in his youth.
Unfortunately Geoffrey’s tumor quickly worsens, bringing on blackouts and hallucinations where he encounters the spectral figure of a court jester who had been his muse as a child. The jester inspires Geoffrey’s work on his manuscript, fueling his writing at a ferocious pace. The dead and the living co-exist in the pages of Geoffrey’s story, in a town where time seems to be frozen in a past that still haunts the present.
Will the pounding growth in Geoffrey’s head be held at bay long enough for him to discover who is targeting his friends, or will the pages in his unfinished novel rewrite history?
“This is a novel full of visceral, intense moments. It will keep you holding on until the brilliant end.”
—Richard Godwin, author of Mr. Glamour and Apostle Rising
An evil force is at work at the Hospital where Nathan is recovering from injuries he received at the hands of his Mom’s abusive ex-boyfriend. Demonic looking men with pale faces and glowing eyes lurk in the shadows. Someone is harvesting skin and organs from living donors against their will.
In his dreams, Nathan can see these demons in their true form – evil creatures who feed on the fear and hatred they create in their victims. Nathan’s only ally is the Doctor who cares for him. Bound together by their common legacy, they alone seem to share the ability to see the demons for what they truly are.
Together they must find a way to stop these creatures before they, and their loved ones, become the next victims.
In a tiny community on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Brother Placidus finds little Amanda LeFleur sacrificed below a crucifix, in the attic of The Brothers of the Holy Cross. It is not the first body he’s found there.
Assigned to the investigation is detective Peter Toche whose last case was that of a murdered child, a child that has been haunting his dreams, forcing him to face his worst fears and the evil that has targeted his town.
As additional victims are discovered, Tristan St. Germain, a mysterious man who was rescued by a parish priest from the waters near his home, may hold the key to the safety of all mankind.
Little Amanda was only the beginning…
“Faherty’s latest novel provides readers with as much fun in a graveyard as the law will allow.”
—Hank Schwaeble, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of DAMNABLE and DIABOLICAL.
Rocky Point is a small town with a violent history - mass graves, illegal medical experiments and brutal murders dating back centuries. Of course, when Cory, Marisol, John and Todd form the Cemetery Club, they know none of this. They’ve found the coolest place to party after school - an old crypt. But then things start to go bad. People get killed and the Cemetery Club knows the cause: malevolent creatures that turn people into zombies. When no one believes them, they descend into the infested tunnels below the town and somehow manage to stop the cannibalistic deaths.
Twice Shy Page 22
