by Cerys du Lys
I shook my head. "No. I feel fine. I think everything's alright. I don't know why I fainted."
"Oh," Desiree said. "Oh, good. Your cat's been... fine..."
Cinna rushed over, batted at Desiree's shoelaces. Her claw got stuck in the string and she pulled at it, mewing as if she was in mortal peril.
Desiree bent down and reached for the cat's claws, unsticking them from her shoelace. I frowned when I saw her arms; covered in thick, long lines of bright red scratches and scabs. She saw me staring at her arms and then shied away, folding them over her chest again to hide herself.
"It doesn't hurt," she said. "I'm not angry at your cat or anything. It was just an accident, you know?"
I stepped forward, letting go of Evan's hand, and I put my arms around Desiree. She watched me, confused, and just stood there, stiff. I hugged her tight. After a few seconds she gave in and hugged me, too. She felt soft and nice and her hair smelled like rain and vanilla.
"I'm so sorry," she said, whispering quietly so only I could hear.
"It's alright," I said.
Then, louder, she said, "Now that everything's settled, I'll head back. Your bag with all your stuff's over on that couch." She pointed to another of the seats neat the restrooms. "I'll see if Alex is alright, I guess. I'll tell him that you both abandoned me the first chance you got. I don't know if he'll believe me, but what's the worst that can happen?"
"Desiree," Evan said. "You can't go back there. I don't think Alex is necessarily a bad person, but... he's changed. You saw what he did to Sadie. Who knows what he'll do to you."
"It doesn't matter," Desiree said. "I deserve it, alright? And it's not even that I deserve it, but I can't ask to go with you two. You don't owe me anything. I need to go back."
"What if I ask you to come with us?" I asked.
She turned, looked at me. "What?"
"You said that you can't ask to come with us, but what if we ask you to? What will you say?"
"I..." She swallowed hard and squeezed her elbows in her hands. "You can't, alright? Just... just don't. Don't take pity on me or anything. It's not fair. I mean, I guess if you asked, I'd say yes, but don't ask because you feel bad for me. I don't want that."
I smiled, genuine. "I don't feel bad for you," I said. "I'd still like it if you came with us, though. I think it'd be nice."
Evan backed away, appraising the situation. Jonny glanced over, curious, and Evan shrugged at him.
"I'll... I'll go, I guess. But if you change your mind, don't be afraid to tell me," Desiree said slowly, stumbling for words. "I mean, I'm not useless, you know? I can do things on my own, too. Even if I don't go back to Alex and the rest of the people in the camp, I'll figure something out. I'd be fine."
"I know," I said. "But you don't have to."
We stood there in awkward silence, no one knowing what to say now.
Cinna bounded forth and snatched at Desiree's shoelaces again, taking the end of one in her mouth and biting into it. She tried to pull it away with her and bring it back to her secret kitten lair, but it remained attached to Desiree's shoes. The laces came undone, though, and Desiree bent to re-tie her shoes.
"This cat," she said, nervous, laughing. "I swear, she's crazy. Playful, but she needs toys or something. I should go check the pet store. I bet there's plenty left there. She'll need a cat carrier anyways, so..."
"We can probably find a car," Evan said. "I know Alex thinks it's a bad idea, but I think he's wrong and what does it matter what he thinks now, anyways? If we're going to travel we could use one. It'll work out better."
Jonny ambled over to us. "You guys are leaving then?" he asked.
"Not right away," Evan said. "If that's alright? Do you mind if we stay here for a couple of days?"
Jonny mimed dismay and grumbling, then he grinned. "Nah, I don't care. It'll be nice. There's plenty of popcorn for everyone, right?"
He pointed to a box of it behind the counter; it was only half full. Were there more boxes? How many did he have to start with? He probably had enough for a few more weeks, but then what? Maybe he kept some in a storeroom somewhere, too. I shouldn't worry about it, but I did.
"I kind of wish I'd brought my solar array," Evan said. "Without it the laptop's pretty much useless, but I can't really go back for it now."
"If we leave soon, we might be able to sneak into camp while it's still dark and grab it?" Desiree suggested. "The rain's stopped, but it's nighttime now. Who knows if Alex is awake, either. Or if he's..."
Dead. She didn't say it, but I knew what she meant. Would I feel bad if I killed him? I didn't know. I shouldn't, because of what he'd done for me and what he'd done to Evan, but I knew I would. It didn't matter how angry I was. I never wanted to kill anyone.
"It's risky," Evan said, shaking his head. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"You have other things back in your camp, don't you?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, but..."
"It's not just about the sun power thing," I said. "Desiree probably has stuff she could use, too. You two should hurry and get your things if you need them."
"We don't need them," Evan said, reticent.
"It'd be really nice if we had some of our stuff," Desiree said to him. "I know where you're coming from, Evan, but it'd work out a lot better if we had more to start out with. If we're going to do this, we need to go now. Soon. Otherwise we probably won't have another chance."
He frowned, obviously disliking his options. "Let me think about it."
"You're welcome to some of the supplies here, too," Jonny said. "What am I going to do with them? Want to see what we've got?"
"Yeah." Evan perked up. "Yeah, if you don't mind, Jonny? Let's go see and then... yeah. Maybe there's stuff here we can use instead. That'll work out great."
Evan and Jonny left, but not before Evan snuck over and kissed me. His lips lingered on my cheek like a sultry promise and he winked at me before leaving. I blushed and squirmed, gazing after him as he walked away.
"You two," Desiree said, groaning. "Seriously. It's like eating too much candy every time I see you. Ick."
"Shush," I said. "There's always Jonny if you're lonely."
"Ha! That guy. How did you even meet him? Is this some Zombie's Anonymous place or something? You meet up once a week for popcorn and a movie and discuss zombie problems?"
"I think I'm offended!" I said, putting my hands on my hips. Desiree rolled her eyes at me and I grinned.
"No," I said. "I don't know. Evan and I just found him when we came here. Jonny's like me, I guess. He's really nice."
"He seems alright." Desiree shrugged. "A little weird, but alright. It's not a bad place here, you know? I never thought I'd be in a movie theatre again. The popcorn's a nice touch, too. I haven't had any in forever."
She slinked behind the counter and opened the machine, filling the scoop and dumping some of the snack into a popcorn bucket. Grabbing some to munch on for herself first, she held the bucket towards me, offering some.
I took one piece and plopped it into my mouth. The sweet, buttery warmth of it made me smile.
"What's your favorite movie?" I asked all of a sudden.
"Huh?" Desiree stared at me blankly for a second. "I guess... it's kind of dumb, but I really liked Ghost. It's older, but it was one of the first movies I ever saw and I guess it stuck with me."
"Ghost, really?" I grinned wide.
"Yes, Ghost. What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
I scampered over to the couches, ignoring her, my happy grin taking up half my face.
"Sadie!" she shouted after me, chasing behind me with the popcorn bucket. "What's wrong with Ghost? It's not just some trashy romance flick, you know? It's a good movie!"
"Oh," I said, still grinning. "Oh no, I know. It's good."
"Right." She raised one brow at me, perplexed. "Right, then."
"Do you think everything will be alright?" I asked.
Cinna hopped onto the couch next to me and crawled into my lap, snugg
ling against me. I scratched behind her ears and she nuzzled her head against the side of my hand.
"Yes," Desiree said. "I mean... I don't know if everything ever will be alright, but for now I think it will be."
I nodded. I thought so, too. I wanted to think so completely, but a little part of me disagreed. Just a small part, a nervous part.
Everything would be alright, but what if it wasn't?
I shouldn't think about those things.
A Note from Cerys
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~*~
That's all of it! Plus some lengthy samples after this, so keep reading!
This story is a little different from what I usually write, but it's also different from anything I've read before, too. I really enjoyed the idea of it and I had fun doing some research into the possibilities behind it.
For paranormal stories, everyone writes about shifters and werewolves, vampires, and even other magical beings like witches, demons, and angels. Psychics and ghosts aren't entirely unheard of, either.
This... isn't really any of that, haha. If I had to liken what exactly Sadie and the "Others" are, they're probably more similar to vampires in a lot of ways. A friend of mine helped me out with figuring out the specifics behind the mentality and the somewhat scientific workings of my idea in a medical sort of way. I didn't want to include a lot of the science of it in the story, though, because honestly I feel like it kind of bogs it down, you know? There is a scientific sort of reason for what happened, though, and it's mentioned somewhat in the beginning. There's more to it, too, but... how would Sadie or Evan know about that?
I wanted to leave this one open to possibilities at the end, but I also wanted to close it up, too. The story is finished, but there's the potential for more, you know? I like that in stories I read, and for a lot of reasons. One of the main ones is... well, what do you think will happen? No one ever really knows where their life is going to take them, and this can be especially true for dire situations like this.
Now that you've read this story, it's not just mine anymore. I think you're as invested in Sadie and Evan's future as I am, and so I want you to be able to imagine possibilities for them, too, you know?
Saying that, I do have plans for more of this in the future. I enjoyed writing in the style I did for this one, and not only was the story different, but the writing was different, too. I tried to use some subtle nuances in writing to get certain points across, and I hope it worked. Just small stuff, nothing too crazy, but I think it added to the atmosphere of the story.
I don't know about anyone else, but I like to think about what could happen for post-apocalyptic situations, too. I mean, I don't want them to happen or anything, but the idea is interesting, isn't it? Would the world become wild and untamed again, or would something else happen? Some of my favorite TV shows, movies, and books deal with these sorts of ideas and themes, and it's always fun to see the different ways that people decide to go with it.
Speaking of, I really don't know why no one ever seems to have generators or solar panels in their stories, which kind of bugs me. I feel like gaining access to a generator or solar panels would be hugely beneficial, but the only post-apocalyptic story I can remember utilizing them is the movie adaptation of I am Legend with Will Smith. I thought that was a good movie, too! I haven't read the book, but I hear it's also good, albeit different. There might have been a generator in that one, too, but I'm honestly unsure.
Are there more? I don't know! Feel free to let me know of any if you'd like, though. You can email me at [email protected] and tell me! Haha.
Anyways!
I loved telling Sadie and Evans story, and I hope you loved reading it, too. It's different, but I think that's a good thing. It's fun and sweet, but it's a little dangerous and suspenseful, too. The world they live in is entirely unlike our world right now, and it might be a little scary, but I don't think that it always has to be scary. It can change and become different, and it's certainly possible that Sadie and Evan will change it, don't you think?
I mentioned a continuation possibility in the future, and I definitely want to do that, but I'm not entirely sure when I'll be able to. I'm hoping for something in 2014, though! My plans for that would be to deal with Sadie and Evan's exodus from the city, but I'd also like to put some focus on Desiree, as well. Plus there'll be another character added into that, which will be a little different, but not entirely unexpected. I won't spoil any secrets there, but I think it'll be fun and interesting.
If you liked this story, I have a few more you might like, as well. I included a sample of The Monster Within: Elemental Love, which is definitely similar to this story in many ways. It's more of a historical fantasy story, but a lot of times I feel like paranormal and fantasy are just a short step away from each other, you know?
Besides that, if you like contemporary romance as well with commanding and dominant men, you should check out The Billionaire's Paradigm. The story revolves around Elise Tanner and Lucent Storme. Elise is just a librarian and college student, while Lucent is a powerful Director of Public Relations for a billion dollar company. When a massive, record-breaking snowstorm traps them in a library, well... Lucent's known for his austere personality and is rumored to have some forbidden desires and dark passions.
It's not quite what you'd expect, though. There's BDSM, yes, and some deliciously erotic scenes, but it's a really sweet and wonderful love story about trust and acceptance, too. It's about accepting someone for who they are, but in ways that are a lot different than you'd first expect.
I've got plenty more, too! The Billionaire's Ultimatum is another attempt at dealing with a dominant man, but in a different sort of way, too. If you like corporate intrigue, suspense, and forbidden love, that one's for you.
Princess Miri is... well, I love Princess Miri, haha. It's totally crazy and different, though. It's really fun and a bit silly, but sexy, too. It's more of a fantasy coming of age story than anything, but with some wild sexuality in the form of a bratty princess and a monstrous hulk of a troll. Plus some blackmail added in there, because, I mean... as the heir to the throne, Miri really shouldn't be fooling around with a monster, you know? If someone found out, then that could be pretty bad...
Hunted is my final full-length novel, and an erotic retelling of the classic fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. Hunted is kinky, and that's all I can really say about it. If you're into that, and looking for something a little more heavily erotic, it's probably right up your alley. I really like Hunted, but I know it's not for everyone.
I have a ton of other stories available in various e-book and audiobook formats, too. Some are shorter, some are longer, but all are a lot of fun.
Saying all of that, if you enjoyed this story, I hope you'll check out more from me. If you liked it, I'd also love if you rated and reviewed it, too! It helps me a lot when you do that, and I love reading everyone's comments and seeing what people think, too. It helps me figure out what you liked and how I can write more of that in the future. It's also fun to see what people think of my stories, as well.
If you're interested in finding out more about me, I'd love if you signed up for my weekly newsletter, as well. I talk about what I'm writing, what's coming out next, what books I like and what I'm reading, other random amusing things, and fun stuff like that. It's just a casual newsletter mostly, but I try to offer some interesting insight and entertainment! You can sign up to receive notices of new releases, as well.
You can sign up for that here:
CerysduLys.com/Newsletter
And... that's it! Thanks so much for reading and taking an interest in my writing! As an indie author, I do all of this myself, and I try to provide you with the best possible -everything- that I can. I appreciate you taking the time to read my book, and I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll read more from me in the future!
&n
bsp; Bye for now!
~Cerys
Sample (Sweet)
Please enjoy this sample from fantasy romance, The Monster Within: Elemental Love, by Cerys du Lys
~*~
Solace was a cook and a scullion maid, a seamstress and a servant. She waited on tables at the local inn when they let her, and she went out and picked herbs to sell to anyone who would buy them. She knew the very basics of alchemy and herbalism and could mix up medicine to cure most common ailments. She liked animals and the woods and reading, though not in any particular order She was a little strange, but not too much, and overall her life would have been wonderful except for one thing.
Everyone hated her.
When she cooked, even if she tested what she made and did her best to ensure it tasted nice, everyone complained about the flavor. She could never seem to clean as good as anyone else, no matter how hard she tried. Her sewing was impeccable, without a stitch out of place, but most everyone always criticized her about this or that and no one offered her more than a copper coin for any of the work she did.
Men tripped her when she waited on their tables at the local tavern or made lewd comments about her and told her she was only good for one thing. Except, of course, they added that she wasn't good enough for them no matter what, but they had a horse in the stables she could spread her legs for if she liked.
She tried to ignore them, she really did. She wanted to be happy. Solace put on a front, smiling and humming to herself whenever anyone else was around, because she wanted to show them that she was just like anyone else. She wouldn't get angry or be upset or disappoint anyone or give them any reason to dislike her.
But still, they hated her.
They hated her when she was younger and when she grew up. When she was fourteen, a traveling man came into town and treated her nicely for the first time in her life, but only for a little while. In the evening when the man rented a room at the inn, she helped him and tended to his needs, cleaning his dusty clothes and doing a bit of mending in exchange for a warm place to stay that night. Later, he left for an hour to take a walk around town. When he returned he looked at her with a blank expression on his face and asked her to leave.
