She struck him three times fast in the side. Rib bones snapped. He staggered and released her, grabbing at his sides. His eyes, under heavy brows, widened.
“You’re one of the Silesians,” Tommy rumbled, jumping back.
“Daughter,” Emily said, spitting. “A middle child of the Renkau family.”
“And here I thought I killed them all.” He casually reached out and lifted a broken wheelbarrow with one hand. He flung it at her. She stepped aside and it shattered on the wall behind her.
“Not all.” She took a step toward him, clenching her fists. “You should know that that which you took from my kin runs through me naturally.” She lunged.
Tommy laughed as he leapt straight up and away from her, grabbing a jutting post and pulling himself up onto the uneven roof of one of the shorter buildings. He turned, batting away a thrown half-intact crate, splintering it on the front of a building a few yards away.
“I would be impressed.” His voice rumbled, carrying it down into the alley. “But the distillation I use is likely far, far stronger than that what waits inside you.” As she shrieked and leapt toward him, he jumped higher, smashing his hand through an already-cracked window and using the leverage of the sill to hurl himself toward the roof of a six-story building. He grabbed a rusted weathercock and used it to pull himself up.
He turned to look for her. A spidery wedge of wood and shingle – three feet of gable ripped from the roof of the building on which Emily stood – struck him in the face. Hyde fell back, screaming, as the lumber smashed his nose and cheekbone. The rusted iron weathercock broke free and he crashed to the roof.
“Whore!” he roared, blood pouring from his nose.
Before he could regain his footing, she grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled herself up. He started to rise, but she leapt, catching him by the neck and digging her fingers into his throat.
“Murderer!” she snarled.
“Yes!” he said, gasping. “Yes!” He twisted and struck. Emily gasped as the weathercock tore into her side, ripping through her dress and into her skin. “Yes!” he roared again, striking a second, then a third time. Her grip loosened. Hyde yanked her hand away from his neck and shoved. She staggered back toward the edge, holding her arms to her side and belly, as if to slow the flow of blood.
“No,” called up a voice from below.
Hyde glanced down into the alley. Lord Parkington stood in the faint moonlight, a service revolver in his hand. Next to him stood Sir Douglas and Mrs. Santilli, both holding hunting rifles. All three barrels pointed up.
“You think that I—” Hyde began to roar.
“Fire!”
Both rifles boomed.
Hyde jumped aside, shocked as one bullet tore into his arm and another struck the weathercock, ripping it from his hand. The echoes of the shots faded as he glared down at the trio. All three now pointed their barrels at the crumbling paving stones.
“Is that all?” Hyde roared, shaking blood from his hand.
“Yes,” Ruby Santilli called.
“Now, Miss Rankin!” Sir Douglas yelled.
Hyde spun, looking up just as Emily slammed into him. He stumbled, falling across the roof ridge-line, grabbing the shingles for purchase. She, now several inches taller and a few dozen pounds heavier, drove her knee into his stomach and wrapped her hands around his neck. Hyde balled up a fist and slammed it into her side, where he had torn her open with the rusty iron. She swallowed the scream, gritting her teeth instead as she tightened her grip on him.
“You’re… going to die… orphan girl,” Hyde gasped, his voice a roll of shredded thunder. He climbed to his feet and struck her again and again, blood covering his fist, raining drops into the alley with every blow.
“Shut up, Tommy,” Emily growled. “Just shut up!” She drove her nails even deeper into his neck. Blood began running down her fingers in heavy rivulets.
Hyde stopped hitting her and reached for her hands. “I—I—” he gasped.
“Be quiet!” Emily roared, yanking and twisting.
Hyde’s large and hulking body spun and flew from the roof, plunging sixty-some feet into a scatter of discarded wood and broken crates.
On the roof, above the body impaled on dozens of wooden shards and pieces, Emily slowly opened her hands. The head of Heinrich Baechle and Tommy Saunders fell from her fingers, bounced off the edge of the roof and tumbled, shattering against a rounded paving stone. Then slowly, she sagged, collapsed, and topled from the roof, falling headfirst into the dark alleyway.
***
Emily lay unmoving, on the dirt and stones, blood and filth masking her features. This stretch of the West End was quiet enough for the others to hear the groaning, cracking and popping of her body as it resumed its normal size and shape. Several feet away, Hyde had departed, replaced by the torn and shattered form of Tommy Saunders. Neither moved, though the others expected one would, eventually.
“That was a fine shot, Sir Douglas,” Lord Parkington said, puffing again on his Meerschaum, as he stood near the prone forms.
“Nonsense!” Sir Douglas said. “It was Miss Santilli who made that shot. And damnably fine marksmanship it was.”
“Oh, Sir—”
“Rubbish. I’ve done this enough to know where my bullet landed.”
“I believe she is stirring,” Ruby said, kneeling next to the younger woman.
Softly, Emily exhaled, blowing blood from her mouth.
“Why did you let me—” she began.
“Because we believed this was something you needed to do,” Ruby answered. She pulled Emily’s hair away from her face.
“How did you know?” The wounded woman’s voice remained thin and whispery.
“That you were here?” Lord Parkington asked, from around his pipe. “The steward found the package Mr. Saunders had sent you. Privacy is one thing; turning one’s backs on a fellow member is quite another.”
“I am still a member,” Emily asked. “Even though I lied about my family?”
“My girl, you claimed your family was entirely murdered by a terrible monster,” Sir Douglas said. “That was true.”
“He was just a human before they died,” she said, trying to sit up.
“Oh, no,” Lord Parkington said, shaking his head. He took the pipe from his mouth. “He was certainly a monster before that. You will be a Challenger as long as you wish.”
“I’ve already sent a girl around to the print-shop,” Ruby said, helping Emily to her feet. “To explain that you will be sick and too weak to return for a few days.” Emily nodded, accepting the assistance of Ruby’s arm.
“But we believe that since you have a desire to search for the truth – no matter how difficult – you might be best served seeking employment at the Times,” Lord Parkington said.
“You do?” Emily asked.
“We do,” Ruby said. “Even Sir Douglas does.”
Sir Douglas put his arm around Emily, to help hold her up.
“Rubbish,” he said.
About the Contributors
Robert Nelson Robert has penned many titles under different names. It is time for him to come out and play as Blaze. In addition to inclusions in numerous anthologies, he has written many novels, short stories, flash fiction pieces, and even poetry. Most of his offerings are Dark. However dark they might be, there is always an underlying message contained within. Join him as he explores the Dark side. You know you want to. As for editing, Blaze loves seeing other authors prosper. New and established. That is why he works with them, allowing them to polish the apple, so to speak. He is honored to be on the Editing and Marketing staff for Lycan Valley Press and will do all he can to see the Press thrive and the authors prosper. Find him at blazemcrob.com.
Greg Chapman Greg is a horror author from Rockhampton, Australia. He is the author of the novellas, Torment, The Noctuary, The Last Night of October, and The Eschatologist. His debut collection, Vaudeville and Other Nightmares, was published in 2014 and Omnium Gathe
rum will release his debut novel, Hollow House this July. He is also a horror artist and illustrated the Bram Stoker Award®-winning graphic novel Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, written by Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton. His latest work is the one-shot comic, Bullet Ballerina, written by Tom Piccirilli. Find him at darkscrybe.com.
Roy C. Booth Roy hails from Bemidji, MN where he manages Roy's Comics & Games (est. 1992) with his wife and three sons. He is a published author, comedian, poet, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and internationally awarded playwright with nearly 60 plays published (Samuel French, Heuer, et al) with 800+ productions worldwide in 29 countries in ten languages. He is also known for collaborations with R Thomas Riley, Brian Keene, Eric M. Heideman, William F. Wu, Axel Kohagen, and others (along with his presence on the regional convention circuit). See his entry on Wikipedia, his Facebook page, and his publishers' pages for more.
R. Thomas Riley R. Thomas is the author of the short story collection The Monster Within Idea (2009-2011) published by Hugo Nominated Apex Publications and garnered a Best Horror of the Year Honorable Mention, for his story Too Little. The collection was re-released as a Kindle exclusive in 2011 and on January 14, 2013; the collection reached the Top 100 Paid Bestseller list in the Horror category. To date, the collection has been downloaded nearly 50,000 times on Kindle and is also available as in Paperback and Audiobook.
Terri DelCampo In addition to founding, editing, and writing Owl's Eye View Magazine, Terri currently pens four non-fiction blogs (Write Now with Terri DelCampo, Disability Challenges, Healthy Nudge with Terri DelCampo, and her personal blog, Hi You've Found Terri DelCampo. She also writes the RoJo Adventure Blog for kids, contributes short horror fiction to Friday Frights each week, and has published 30+ Kindle Books. She is married to horror writer and Hottie Scottie Blaze McRob and the cute couple of Alpharetta partnered up to found Blazing Owl Press in 2015.
Dave Gammon David has been a contributing columnist, film and novel critic for horrornews.net for the past five years. Dabbling in more creative waters in 2015 his first horror related short story The Evil That Men Goo appeared in the anthology titled Splat from J. Ellington Press. His debut novel House of Anguish is slated for release later in 2016. At present time he’s working feverishly on a collaboration with his eternal muse Jaime-Lee Barker on a full length prequel to Keep the Change titled Dream Until Yesterday Comes. You can find him at horrornews.net/author/dave-gammon or on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.gammon.54. He loves for nothing more than to talk endlessly on anything and everything to do with horror.
Nancy Kilpatrick Nancy has published 18 novels, over 220 short stories, 6 collections of her stories, a non-fiction book, and has edited 15 anthologies, including the most recent and award-winning nEvermore! Tales of Murder, Mystery and the Macabre. She has a (badly in need of updating) website: nancykilpatrick.com and can be found on Facebook: facebook.com/nancy.kilpatrick.31 and on Twitter: @nancykwriter.
Rod Marsden Rod was born in Sydney, Australia and currently lives on the south coast of New South Wales. He has three degrees; all related to writing and to history. His stories have been published in Australia, England, Russia, the USA and now Canada. He has short stories in the American Anthology Cats Do it Better. He has a novella in the American science fiction book Break Time. Many of his short stories have been published in the American Publication Night to Dawn magazine.
Undead Reb Down Under and Other Vampire Stories is a collection of his short fiction on vampirism. His novel Disco Evil: Dead Man’s Stand is his first venture into the vampire novel. Ghost Dance is his first undertaking into dark fantasy involving a vampire, a wizard and a werewolf. Desk Job is his salute to Lewis Carroll and it is also his initial surrealist novel. In it a dysfunctional office provides much insight into human nature and also the nature of political correctness. He is no stranger to controversy and much of his writing is purposely politically incorrect. He prefers truth and integrity over the lies and half truths we are so often inundated with. Thus his work has a certain honesty about the times we are living in that may not be found elsewhere. Recently he has had plays he had written, such as The Door and Zombie Vision, staged at the Arts Theatre Cronulla, south of Sydney.
Jo-Anne Russell Jo-Anne is a dark fiction writer and a member of the Horror Writer's Association, the Writers Guild of Alberta and the Edmonton Arts Counsel. Her work can be found in a multitude of anthologies, and as standalone stories. Her debut novel The Nightmare Project is being republished this year with Book 2 to follow soon after. Find her at jo-annerussell.com.
M.J. Preston MJ’s debut novel: The Equinox, published in 2012, was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Awards and rated a solid straight horror novel by a reviewer at Publisher’s Weekly. His second novel: Acadia Event, published in 2015, was inspired by his time running the world longest ice road, as an ice road trucker, in the Canada’s Northwest Territories. It was also met with praise, including an endorsement by Gregory L. Norris, a screenwriter for Star Trek Voyager and writer for the Sci-Fi Channel. Norris called Acadia Event, ‘an Epic read and personal favorite.
He is now hard at work on his third novel: Highwayman, a thriller, which is forecast to be published in late 2016. Along with a number of short stories published in anthologies, MJ Preston is also an artist who does his own cover artwork. He also dabbles in photography and hosts a Podcast called: The Quiet Room which promotes books, writing, writers and publishing. He resides in Alberta, Canada with his wife, Stormy and pet beagle, Dexter.
Stacey Turner Stacey lives in West Central Illinois with her husband. Three wonderful, adult children call her “Mom,” and three beautiful little boys call her “Mimi” (Grandma). She is owned by cats. She spends her days writing and editing, but still finds time to review books & interview authors, as well as blog about her absolutely ridiculous family and other adventures. She is the editor of several anthologies, including Fairly Wicked Tales, as well as many novels & novellas for a variety of authors. To contact her about editing, you can email her at [email protected].
She has been published in several anthologies and online magazines, most recently in Grimm Mistresses by Ragnarok Publications. Her short story collection, The Night Air and Other Stories, will be released this year. When not working, she enjoys photographing cemeteries, playing “what if,” and discussing the imminent zombie apocalypse. She does not enjoy scarecrows, creepy dolls, birds (of any sort), snakes, clowns, or garden gnomes.
Tina Piney From her hilltop home in southern Ontario, Tina has begun to release her stories into the world. She shares her life with her husband, her beloved twins and many pets. She continues to work on developing her writing and draws inspiration from all things spooky. Find her at facebook.com/authorTinaPiney.
Suzanne Robb Suzanne is the author of the Z-Boat trilogy published by Permuted Press and Contaminated published by Severed Press. She co-edited Read The End First, which made the Stoker Recommended Reading List for 2012. She has been published in dozens of anthologies. She is an Active member of the ITW and an Affiliate member of the HWA. In her free time she reads, watches movies, plays with her dog, and enjoys chocolate and Lego’s. Find her at suzannerobb.com.
Franklin E. Wales Franklin is the author of seven novels as well as a slew of shorter works both fiction and nonfiction. Franklin and his beautiful wife Jacki share their South Florida home with a cat named Oz (as in wizard of) and a dog named Bailey (Boo). Pickin’ to Beat the Devil is the third installment of The Dramos Saga. The full novel is slated for late 2016 and will contain seven standalone stories that together comprise the complete Saga. This will be his eighth novel to date. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/franklin.e.wales or Amazon at amazon.com/Franklin-E.-Wales.
Donna Marie West Donna is an educator, translator, and author. Over the past 12 years, she has published over 160 fiction and non-fiction pieces in a variety of Canadian and American magazines and e-zines, such as What If?, Horsepower, Mysteries Magazine, The Wer
e-Traveller, Halloween Forevermore, and Beyond Centauri. She is also a contributor to a number of anthologies, including Scarlet Whispers, Death Awaits, The Grays, In Shambles, Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2014 and 2015, and Crossroads in the Dark. She spends most of her free time reading, writing, and doing research for her current projects. She lives in Quebec, Canada, with her long-time partner and two beloved cats.
Suzie Lockhart Suzie attended The Art Institute of Pittsburgh after graduating, but the gnawing urge to write remained. Upon discovering the ability for macabre storytelling, Suzie embraced her inner-creepiness. Writing with her son & business partner, they have over thirty-five short stories, in a dozen paperback publications and a variety of eZines. The duo also won two P&E Readers’ Poll awards for anthologies they have edited. Presently, her energy is focused on writing a YA novel. Find her at facebook.com/suzie.w.lockhart or on Twitter @suzienbruce2dcxdx.
Cameron Trost Cameron is a writer of strange, mysterious, and creepy tales about people just like you. His short stories have been published in dozens of magazines and anthologies, and many of them can be found in his collection, Hoffman's Creeper and Other Disturbing Tales. He lives in the subtropical city of Brisbane, Australia. He is the vice-president and Queensland community leader of the Australian Horror Writers' Association, and an Australian Shadows Award-winning editor. Rainforests, thunderstorms, and whisky are a few of his favourite things. Find him at trostlibrary.blogspot.com or facebook.com/Cameron-Trost-author.
Daniel I. Russell Daniel is an Australian Shadows Award finalist and has been featured publications such as The Zombie Feed, Pseudopod, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Author of Samhane, Come Into Darkness, Critique, Mother's Boys, The Collector, Retard, and Tricks, Mischief and Mayhem, Daniel is also the former vice-president of the Australian Horror Writers' Association and was a special guest editor of Midnight Echo. His latest novel, Entertaining Demons, is due for release in 2017 with Apex Publications. Daniel lives in Western Australia with his partner and four children, and is currently completing a BA in psychology and counselling. Find him on Amazon at amazon.com/Daniel-I.-Russell.
Morbid Metamorphosis Page 30
