by Willow Rose
Take care,
Willow
About the Author
The Queen of Scream, Willow Rose, is an international best-selling author. She writes Mystery/Suspense/Horror, Paranormal Romance and Fantasy. She is inspired by authors like James Patterson, Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Isabel Allende. She lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you'll find her surfing and watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. She has sold more than two million books.
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Books by the Author
Mystery/Horror Novels:
What Hurts the Host (7th Street Crew #1) - Grab your copy today
You Can Run (7th Street Crew #2) - Grab your copy today
You Can’t Hide (7th Street Crew #3) - Grab your copy today
Carefull Little Eyes (7th Street Crew #4) - Grab your copy today
Hit the Road Jack (Jack Ryder #1) - Grab your copy today
Slip Out the Back Jack (Jack Ryder #2) - Grab your copy today
The House that Jack Built (Jack Ryder #3) - Grab your copy today
Black Jack (Jack Ryder #4) - Grab your copy today
One, Two... He is Coming for You (Rebekka Franck #1) - Grab your copy today
Three, Four ... Better Lock your Door (Rebekka Franck #2) - Grab your copy today
Five, Six ... Grab your Crucifix (Rebekka Franck #3) - Grab your copy today
Seven, Eight... Gonna Stay up Late (Rebekka Franck #4) - Grab your copy today
Nine, Ten... Never Sleep Again (Rebekka Franck #5) -Grab your copy today
Eleven, Twelve... Dig and Delve (Rebekka Franck #6) - Grab your copy today
Thirteen, Fourteen... Little Boy Unseen (Rebekka Franck #7) - Grab your copy today
Better not cry (Rebekka Franck #8) - Grab your copy today
Ten little Girls (Rebekka Franck #9) - Grab your copy today
Edwina - Grab your copy today
To Hell in A Handbasket - Grab your copy today
Umbrella Man - Grab your copy today
Black Bird Fly - Grab your copy today
Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) - Grab your copy today
Miss Polly had a Dolly (Emma Frost #2)- Grab your copy today
Run, Run, as Fast as you Can (Emma Frost #3) - Grab your copy today
Cross your Heart and Hope to Die (Emma Frost #4) - Grab your copy today
Peek A Boo I See You (Emma Frost #5) - Grab your copy today
Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Emma Frost #6) - Grab your copy today
Easy as One Two Three (Emma Frost #7) - Grab your copy today
There's No Place like Home (Emma Frost #8) - Grab your copy today
Slenderman (Emma Frost #9) - Grab your copy today
Where the Wild Roses Grow (Emma Frost #10) - Grab your copy today
Waltzing Mathilda (Emma Frost #11) - Grab your copy today
Drip Drop Dead (Emma Frost #12) - Grab your copy today
Horror Short Stories:
Eenie, Meenie - Grab your copy today
Rock-A-Bye Baby - Grab your copy today
Nibble, Nibble, Crunch - Grab your copy today
Humpty, Dumpty - Grab your copy today
Chain Letter - Grab your copy today
Better Watch Out - Grab your copy today
Mommy Dearest - Grab your copy today
The Bird- Grab your copy today
Paranormal Romance/Suspense/Fantasy Novels:
Flesh and Blood - Grab your copy today
Blood and Fire - Grab your copy today
Fire and Beauty - Grab your copy today
Beauty and Beasts - Grab your copy today
Beasts and Magic - Grab your copy today
Magic and Witchcraft - Grab your copy today
Witchcraft and War - Grab your copy today
War and Order - Grab your copy today
The Surge - Grab your copy today
Girl Divided - Grab your copy today
Beyond (Afterlife #1) - Grab your copy today
Serenity (Afterlife #2) - Grab your copy today
Endurance (Afterlife #3) - Grab your copy today
Courageous (Afterlife #4) - Grab your copy today
Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar #1) - Grab your copy today
Broken (Daughters of the Jaguar #2) - Grab your copy today
Song for a Gypsy (The Eye of the Crystal Ball -The Wolfboy Chronicles) - Grab your copy today
I am WOLF (The Wolfboy Chronicles) - Grab your copy today
Box Sets:
Jack Ryder Mystery Series Box Set: Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 4-6 - Grab your copy today
Rebekka Franck Series Vol 1-5 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 1-3 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 4-6 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 7-9 - Grab your copy today
Emma Frost Mystery Series Vol 1-5 - Grab your copy today
Daughters of the Jaguar Box Set - Grab your copy today
The Vampires of Shadow Hills: Books 1-3 - Grab your copy today
The Afterlife Series (Books 1-3)- Grab your copy today
Horror Stories from Denmark - Grab your copy today
The Wolfboy Chronicles - Grab your copy today
In Cold Blood, excerpt
For a special sneak peak of Willow Rose's Bestselling Mystery Novel In Cold Blood turn to the next page.
Prologue
Anne Christensen was running for her life. She was panting and gasping for breath as she cursed the newly fallen snow beneath her boots. That new treacherous clean snow that no matter how much she zigzagged through the tall trees, gave her whereabouts away.
Someone was following her.
At first, it had been nothing but a shadow. A shadow creeping against the wall of her dormitory building as she was about to sneak back in after a night out with Peter, who had returned to the boys’ quarters after escorting her to the front door and kissing her goodnight, hoping and praying that no one would catch them and have them expelled.
The shadow had reached out for her with its long claws and Anne had thrown herself at the door, only to find it locked.
Of course it's locked, you idiot! It's after curfew. You're supposed to be in your bed.
Anne's best friend Christina was supposed to have unlocked the door right before she went to bed. That was the deal they had made. In return, Christina was going to borrow Anne's nicest dress for the big spring dance that was coming up in a few months. Those were the terms, to those they had both agreed. But somehow, Christina hadn't lived up to the agreement. Why, Anne never got to know.
When she had realized the door was locked, Anne had started running in the same direction as Peter had gone, hoping to catch up with him and maybe make it to safety with him. But she couldn't see him any longer and the door to the boys’ dormitory was locked as well, she discovered when she tried to open it, frantically pulling on it. She tried to yell and scream for help, but no one heard her. She tried another door, then another, but none would open. The shadow crept closer and closer and soon she heard it behind her. She thought it sounded like a big animal of some sort. She
looked into its face as she turned and, in the split of a second, her eyes locked with his. At first, she almost thought she had just been silly…that there was nothing to be afraid of. Her mind had played tricks on her and, relieved, she had smiled at the face that she knew so well.
"Boy, you scared me," she said.
But the eyes had given him away. Oh, how they had scared her. Red and scorching, they seemed to see straight through her. They wanted her. She felt how they craved her flesh.
"What…What are you doing…?” she asked, but she knew she wouldn't get an answer. That was when she decided there was nothing left to do but make a run for it. Make a run for the forest and hope to find somewhere to hide in there.
Anne had never been out after curfew before. But Peter had been insistent. He wanted badly to take her out. To take her to the lake and make out. She had been afraid when they walked through the forest, and Peter had held her tightly in his arms, enjoying how the fear brought them closer. She had shivered with cold when Peter had put his foot on the ice of the lake and told her to come with him. She hesitated and shook her head. Anne wasn't a girl who liked to take chances. Going out like this through the forest after the lights were out wasn't something she would ever do, normally. Until Peter had asked her to come with him. To him, she couldn't say no. And she didn't withstand his charm long when he tried to persuade her to follow him out on the ice either. He kept pulling her hand and soon she went with him. The ice creaked underneath her foot and she gasped. Peter pulled her closer and put his arm around her. Then he kissed her for the first time. For fourteen-year-old Anne, it was her first kiss ever and it was worth all the wait and even the nervousness that had almost killed her all night at dinner, knowing she was about to do something that would get her expelled if found out, something her parents would never forgive her for doing.
The kiss had been long and soft. Peter had been gentle and told her he adored her. Two years older than her, and very popular with the girls, she knew it probably wasn't the first time Peter had brought a girl down to the lake. But she didn't care. She had wanted to be kissed by him ever since she had come to the school last year and seen him in the dining hall. She knew he had probably done the exact same thing to many girls at the school, but she didn't mind being one of them. Besides, he told her she was special. While the cold night air bit her cheeks, Peter whispered in her ear that she was the one he had been waiting for. That she made him happier than anything in his life.
Anne had smiled and felt how her cheeks blushed. Then he had told her he'd better take her back to the school before anyone found out they were gone.
Anne had sighed, a little disappointed that the night was almost over, but agreed it was for the best. On their way back through the dark forest, Peter had kept his arm around her shoulder. When they were close to the school and she could see it in the distance, he had suddenly stopped and pressed her up against a tree. He had kissed her passionately and held her head between his hands, kissing her neck and nibbling her ear, breathing into it, whispering gentle promises about their future together. Then she had felt his hand crawl up under her shirt and she had moaned between kisses.
"Please don't, Peter."
"Come on," he had whispered without stopping. His hand reached her bra and tried to crawl under it.
"I'm serious, Peter, please don't."
"I know you want to. Just as much as I do."
Then she had felt his hand on her thigh as it crawled up on the inside and reached in under the skirt of her school uniform.
"Stop!" she had said, more determined, and Peter had finally reacted. Then he laughed.
"Sorry. You're just so damn beautiful," he said and hammered his fist into the trunk of the tree behind her. "I just want you so badly."
Anne had fixed her hair and started walking. "Take me back, please."
Peter grunted, then grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for not getting mad."
They had walked in silence till they reached her dormitory. Then he kissed her again.
"Let's do this again soon," he whispered and moved her hand to his crotch so she could feel him. Anne gasped and pulled her hand away.
"That’s how much I'm looking forward to it," he said and started walking backward away from her while waving and blowing finger kisses. The last she saw of him was when he turned and ran toward his own dormitory.
It was when she turned her back on him that she saw the long thin shadow on the wall creeping toward her.
Now, as she was running through the forest and the snow was getting deeper, slowing her down, Anne screamed but knew no one would hear her. When she reached the lake where she and Peter had shared their first kiss, she stopped, knowing there was nowhere to run anymore. As she sensed her follower creep closer, she took the first step onto the ice, carefully placing her foot where she thought it might be thick enough to hold her.
He won't follow me out here, she thought to herself.
Anne felt a slight hope arise inside of her while thinking that if she only stayed out there on the ice all night, then maybe, maybe her follower would go back to where he came from and leave her alone. Maybe he would give up.
As Anne felt the icy air from her follower's breath on her neck, she knew she wouldn't be so lucky. As she felt the pain in her back like sharp razor blades and she saw her own blood spurt onto the clean newly fallen snow on top of the ice, she knew there would be no more running off after lights were out, and there would be no more kisses in the dark and icy night.
Part I
Next Morning
1
Jakob Dyrberg was in his senior year when they found the girl. He was in his dorm, studying when he heard. Before his classmate sprang into the door of the study, where he was doing his homework, and told him about her, Jakob was sitting quietly, working on his paper on the French Revolution for history class. He was happy at that moment. Stressed about the paper and the upcoming exams in the spring, but happy. He was especially looking forward to the spring ball and graduation coming up. It had been a good year for him so far, even though it was only November, he could tell this year was going to be better than the previous. He was doing well in school, he had a date for the spring ball, and he was looking forward to spending a year at the business school in Switzerland that his father had paid for him to go to after he finished high school at Herlufsholm Boarding School. He knew all he wanted was to get rid of him, place him somewhere where he and his new wife didn't have to worry about him or even take care of him, and Jakob really wanted to be as far away from them as possible, so in this way it would end up as a win for them both.
His friend, Christian Bjergager, stared at him while panting. His hair was wild and unruly, his cheeks red from running. He closed the door behind him carefully to not make a sound. Talking was not allowed during study-time.
"They found someone," he whispered, agitated.
Jakob didn't even look up from his book. He was in the middle of a sentence and didn't want to lose the context. So far, he had only gotten a few lines down on his computer and he had to be done by the end of the week.
"Hmm," he said and finished the paragraph, completely oblivious to his classmate's exciting, yet disturbing news.
Christian walked to the window and looked out. Then he shivered. "Did you even hear me?"
Jakob sighed and looked up. "No, I'm in the middle of something. It's kind of important that I get this done soon. Plus, you'll get us both in trouble by talking." Jakob paused, feeling curious after all. "What was it?"
"They found a girl," Christian said with even more tension and excitement in his voice than before.
Jakob shook his head in confusion. "They found a girl? What does that even mean? Where did they find a girl and why is it so important?"
"Down by the lake. The soccer team found her on their morning jog. She was lying on the ice, blood splattered all over the snow. Rumors say several of them threw up."
Jakob looked up. "And what about
the girl? What happened to her?"
Christian shrugged. "I don't know. They say she was splattered all over the ice, man. Sounds really nasty."
"Who was she?" Jakob asked.
"Don't know yet," Christian answered while biting his lip in agitation.
"Was she someone from this school?"
"I guess so. She was wearing a uniform, they said. With the Trolle emblem, like ours have. But you haven't heard the best part yet. Get this…they also told me her head had been…ripped apart from her body, and there’s more…that her heart had been ripped out."
Jakob gulped. "But how?"
"Who knows? Someone probably stabbed her with a knife, then cut her head off and her heart out. The question everyone is asking is, where are the head and heart now?" Christian bit his lip again while staring outside toward the forest. "I haven't seen it yet. Oh, I wish I had been one of them down there. The place is probably blocked off by the police now. Why couldn't I have been the one to find her? I would have loved to see it."
Jakob stared at Christian, not sure how to react. "Why?"
Christian almost jumped with exhilaration. "Why not? Aren't you curious? Don't you want to see what it looks like? I’ve never seen a dead person before, let alone someone who has been murdered. I want to know what it looks like."
"Is that what they say it is? Murder?" Jakob asked.
Christian shrugged. "I guess. Since there was blood and all. I mean, it must have been, right?"
Jakob shrugged. "It could have been an animal?"
