We were leaving London in a few days’ time; after my father’s adventures with the Monmouth Rebellion, my mother was uneasy with the political climate here. James II was passing more and more laws to support tolerance of all religions, but everyone understood that this was meant to give free reign to Catholics. Not that we were opposed to religious freedom, b...
It was an unusually brisk June morning, filled with darkened grey clouds cloaking the kindness of sunrise. Mina smiled as she dashed towards the cover of the trees, thankful for the added stealth. On her heels, her best friend and apprentice cohort, Tish, trudged behind. "The Beast should be leaving soon," commented Mina, as she fished through her jacket p...
Chapter 3: Jonathon Everything seems different now. Even Mina doesn't seem the same to me anymore. I still love her deeply, but my experiences have changed me, and I don't know if its fair to her to carry on with our marriage. The time I spent at the castle of Count Dracula haunts my nightmares still. The shadows and whisperings in the darkness that follo...
Prologue: Halloween Eve! Jack-o-lanterns grinned from their porches overlooking lawns filled with polystyrene grave stones and plastic skeletons. Paper bats fluttered from every window of the neighborhood determined to fly away with the rustling leaves. The wind was teething in preparation for its icy winter fangs, but on the night before Halloween, it cou...
[Archival reference: The following is an excerpt of a chronicle of the immediate affairs of an unidentified prime material entity, apparently recorded by same. It contains numerous accounts that appear statistically anomalous. However, other details of the record contain brief mentions of the habits of certain influential Abyssal entities, and therefore may...
The people and interactions in this story are real; the emotions, filtered by 40 years of life, are as factual as memory can hope to be. The major bits of fiction are: moving an event that occurred in 1975 into the present; putting us on bicycles instead of in a car; changing names to protect the somewhat innocent; and of course the dialog, the actual words...
Victor notices his friends are not looking well, and he decides they will have to go home immediately. 'Can you make it to the carriage, Adison and Vincent?' he asks. Vincent answers, 'I feel like I have been trampled by a bull, but I'm in no danger. Please check out Adison, Victor, she looks positively grey.' Victor lends Adison his arm, she seems rea...
The old woman's word stabbed him like an icicle, and Joel halted in his steps. He turned, facing her as she stood dismally at her window, and he hesitantly crossed her lawn, went up the squat steps. She opened the door for him, and he entered. Joel was met by the warmth coming from the fireplace. The man he had seen previously, obviously the woman's son, wa...
While it was enjoyable to be holding the soft curves of a young woman, it was not exactly pleasant to have to listen to her chattering and that vapid laugh. Instead he focused on what he planned to do with her. He had several desires, but he knew exactly what he wanted first. He would have to put off his demands for a night. There was a hunting lodge close b...
Position 2 Locking the door behind her, Mina sat down on the edge of the tub. She rolled her shoulders and breathed out slowly, her heartbeat a loud drum. She watched in the mirror as her fingers began to stroke up and down her bare thigh, stopping just short of the space between. Her muscles tingled. Her flesh was still slick and hot, but Mina wanted more...