Matthew R. Stitt // The Writer’s Archive

Category: Kingsboro Journal

  • Chapter 2 – Rebecca (archive)

    “You’re angry because I belong to the Network?” Rebecca shot back. He sat near the outside wall of the Burger Shack or Station 5, as the Network called it.

    Outside the 4 x 8 foot wooden planks covering the shattered windows, shadows moved. The thrall paced outside, their forms appeared and vanished through narrow gaps in the boards. Rebecca’s gaze drifted past him. Erik followed it— and flinched.

     A cancerous eye peered through a sliver of broken wood, unblinking and wet. From another gap, fingers twitched, gripping the edge of the plank as if testing its strength.

    He swallowed hard. “I don’t know much about the thrall,” Erik admitted. “But they seem… different here. More focused. Like they know something we don’t.”

    “At least you’ve been outside,” Rebecca muttered. “I’ve been stuck in Black Lake my whole life—even before they built this prison around us.”

    Rebecca held her breath for a moment.

    “They do that sometimes,” she said. “I’m sure one of us is a target of Dr. Cross.”

    Erik sat up, eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Loran Elias Cross is the shepherd of these things?” He exhaled sharply. “I heard rumors outside of M.A.R.S., but I didn’t believe them.”

    Erik rubbed his free hand over his bruises, wincing. His other hand, wrapped in stiff bandages, throbbed with every heartbeat.

    “Sorry,” he said. “I assumed you were a prisoner, not a local. The Network is what, exactly? And what the hell were you doing in that van? Why would you be out there with those maniacs?”

    A partial smile flickered across Rebecca’s face. Erik caught it immediately—along with something else.

    An elongated tooth.

    The realization settled in, slow and unwelcome. Vampire.

    They had come over the Bridge from Kymara—human-like immortals, lurking for years, maybe even decades. Bloodthirsty, power-hungry, meta-humans with too many secrets. Their status didn’t stop them from being arrested and sent to M.A.R.S., so Erik wasn’t exactly shocked she was a vampire—just disappointed.

    That would explain—

    “I know what you’re thinking,” Rebecca interrupted.

    Rebecca explained that she worked for the Network as a Guide—a designated escort responsible for safely transporting people through the streets.

    “You were a real Guide yesterday when twenty people, including me, almost died right at the gate,” Erik’s voice cut through the cacophony of pounding outside.

    Rebecca didn’t flinch. “We’re not allowed to help outside the street out there called the Avenue,” she said flatly. “Anything near the gate is guarded by auto-guns, and entry is always chaos. We’d be insane to show up. So we wait. One day…”

    She let the sentence hang. Erik grumbled, processing her words, her lack of sympathy—and the growing certainty that she was a vampire.

    “I’m going to stay quiet,” he muttered after a pause. His eyes flicked toward the rattling walls. “Are they ever going to stop pounding? I hate these goddamn thrall.”

    Erik grasp the fingers of the thrall and broke them. The noise echoed through the small building. The thrall, incensed, reacted immediately.

    The pounding intensified. The pattern changed. No longer just mindless hammering—now there was rhythm, urgency. The thrall weren’t just slamming the walls. They were coordinating.

    A guttural wail from the Collectors rose, echoing through the gaps in the wooden planks.

    Then came the heavy thuds. Bigger. Smarter. Stronger.

    Across the room, a large man, the size of a former linebacker, slammed his cards down, the slap of plastic on wood sharp and final. He stood abruptly, his shadow stretching across the dim interior.

    “The hell’s wrong with you?” His voice was low, controlled—but his glare was razor-sharp.

    Erik didn’t answer. He could feel the vibration in his bones from the last impact outside.

    The man took a step closer, eyes locked onto Erik like he was the real threat. “You trying to get us all killed? I should kick you ass and throw you back outside.”

    Erik looked at the towering man. Without a thought he spat, “You can’t threaten an old, angry drunk waiting

    It was pity.

    He crouched slightly, close enough that only Erik could hear. “I’m sorry you don’t value your life. But my brother and I value ours. So check yourself.”

    The man stared. Whatever anger had been simmering behind his eyes flickered—then faded. What replaced it wasn’t fear or rage.

    Then, without waiting for a response, he turned.

    The tall man stood in front of the others in Station 5.

    “Listen up,” he called out, his voice sharp enough to cut through the pounding outside. “This is different. They’re not just hammering at the walls. This man drew the abominations, called the Collectors here, so we are all going to die. 

    Erik exhaled, running a hand over his face. “They were not after me!” He shouted. They didn’t even know I was there half the time.”

    Sean’s head snapped toward him. “What?”

    Erik hesitated. He looked at Rebecca and she shook her head. “If they were after me, they would have killed me. I think they wanted her.”

    Rebecca frowned. 

    “There is something strange with this girl. She is not normal…” He continued but Rebecca stepped close to him and jammed her heel into the side of his foot. 

    “They were hunting. Yes,” she admitted stepping in front of the group. “…but it’s not me. I don’t know why the Collectors want us but we only have a few moments.”

    Another impact rocked the structure as the Collectors focused on the same section of the outside wall. The plywood inside groaned. The metal nails struggled to paste the wood to the building frame. 

    The thought sent a cold weight settling in Erik’s gut.

    Sean rubbed a hand over his jaw. “We don’t have time for bullshit. Board up anything loose, check the weapons, and someone keep an eye on that back exit.”

    His gaze flicked back to Erik. “And you—try not to make things worse.”

    Pages: 1 2

  • The Burger Place v. 2 – 2025

    Erik and Rebecca stood at the bridge. The water moved below, carrying debris and struggling thrall.

    “Of course the thrall fall in there,” Erik says as he steps forward.

    “They are thrall, right,” he asked.

    “Probably,” Rebecca replied. She stepped past him on a bridge designed for one person.

    The bridge shifted. Erik fell forward. He slammed his hand and jammed his shoulder. Erik collapsed upon the floor, his shoulder screamed. The bridge shook.

    Rebecca braced herself against the shabby sides. The noise of the fall reverberated outward. The nearest thralls turned. Erik knew what he had done but he just needed a few seconds to writhe in pain…

    Rebecca grabbed the hand of his ailing shoulder and pulled. Erik gasped. The shoulder rolled back into place. The pain crescendoed then wained.

    “Let’s go,” Rebecca said through her teeth.

    Erik got up slow.

    “Two seconds.. just two.” He repeated. He held his shoulder, stood and eventually followed.

    The bank of the river sloped down sharply. There was a footpath at the top. Erik held his shoulder. He watched the crowd of thrall gather below the bank. They attempted to climb but most failed. They would fall then stand and stare. Eyes pale and faces scarred.

    From behind the crowd a pair of large humanoid thrall appeared. Rebecca saw them and gasp. She grabbed Erik’s hand and pulled. Erik’s already sore shoulder forced him to curse. It was enough of a noise to alert the nearest monsters. The larger ones, Collectors began to climb the bank.

    “They are intelligent?” Erik said to Rebecca.

    “They are Collectors. They are after me. Just move faster.” She snapped.

    “After you… why?” Erik said but Rebecca ignored him. She pointed at a small boarded up building, nearly 500 feet from them. It was a tiny place floating in the center of a sea of concrete. A broken sign hung off a pole.

    “An abandoned Burger Place restaurant. Not something I would think safe from monsters,” Erik added.

    Rebecca pulled his arm again and Erik grimaced. He pulled his arm from her grip and began to run. The two padded along. They passed thrall. The monsters were slow to react and easy to pass.

    Erik looked behind him. The two large Collectors got closer. They stumbled a bit as they climbed down the slope. He approached Rebecca and said, “We are going to have to run faster. Those things are quicker,” Erik said out loud.

    “We need to hall tail, now.”

    The pair didn’t match the pursuit speed of the Collectors, once they found their footing. The football player-sized thrall gained on them. Erik ran into some of the normal thrall, called regulars. Purposely disturbing them to put them in the way. He looked back to confirm it was working… reasonably.

    Ahead, a path to a plywood-clad, pre-apocalyptic restaurant but it was still 450 feet away. Erik began to slow. The muscles in his legs began to object to his sudden activity. The Collectors stumbled through the obstacles Erik set. These creatures seemed to have a slight ability to see but it still wasn’t very good.

    Erik pushed his fifty-year old legs as fast as he could but he wasn’t going to make it far.

    Rebecca overtook the lead and headed toward the overhanging brick drive-thru window. Erik’s legs burned. He looked back. The mob, led by the two Collectors, got closer. Rebecca was well ahead of him.

    Erik’s legs were done. He slowed. He searched for an alternative, an escape route. The large monsters beared down on him. He pushed forward. A small, round, two-seater car sat alone in the parking lot. Erik fell left and crashed upon his hands and knees. He crawled along the side of the car. He watched as Rebecca looked back, paused then disappeared around a corner. One of the Collectors passed. A large muscular beefcake of a protohuman. The other crashed into the small car causing it to rock forward.

    “Idiot,” Erik said to himself and smiled.

    The mob of regulars passed Erik’s location. Erik hid as close to the car as he could. He lay and watched the hominoids chase after a 14 year old girl.

    “Coward!” He suddenly say to himself.

    “You know, I do my best,” he replied.

    Erik heard glass break and metal crunch. Movement from the other side of the car told him that the second Collector recovered from its sprint into the car. The creature growled, angry. It pushed the car forward. The Collector released the car and it crashed to the ground. The regulars turned around and looked, blind eyes unhelpful. The large thrall stepped around the car and stood at the corner. It took in Erik’s scent. It held its breath as it analyzed the scent. It looked down through heavily calloused eyes. It then seemed to lose interest and ran to the building. The regulars followed.

    “They left you. You are alone… but Rebecca… she would be overwhelmed. Dead for sure.”

    “My legs are done. They are not working,” he replied to himself.

    “Push yourself…”

    Rebecca screamed. Erik swore and stood. His legs wobbled.

    “How?” He said trying to think of anything he could do.

    He noticed a pair of humanoids. These were unusual, intelligent. They navigated through the thrall from the North.

    He smiled knowing someone else survived walking into MARS. These were human. He watched as they walked carefully around the thrall. Avoiding as much noise as possible.

    That was until Rebecca screamed again. Erik watched as the pair of survivors fell to the ground. The mob became alert and picked up the pace. They headed for the Burger Place.

    The hair stood up upon Erik’s back. Absent of monsters near him he began to walk toward the building. He crept closer and noticed the four-foot-five teenager stand in the middle of a field of grass. She stared at the building in front of her and screamed again.

    The mob pivoted at once toward her. The two large Collectors bullied their way to the front of the line. Erik picked up his pace, but not too close to attract attention to himself. He didn’t have the endurance to run away again.

    The floor of his stomach dropped and he felt sick. He had to do something but what could…

    Rebecca leapt. She disappeared.

    Erik shouted her name. Thirty thrall turned instantly. Color drained from his face.

    “Erik, swear to the gods. You’re dumb as a box of cookies,” he told himself as he watched all the thrall turn and look at him.

    The Collectors approached Kali’s position, caring little about Erik. 

    Erik followed the Collectors as they walked slowly toward where Kali disappeared. He forgot the attention he had called on himself and the first blow struck him unaware. He fell to the ground. A second, third and fourth punch followed. The thrall scratched and pulled at his clothes and limbs. He felt like a child’s stretch toy. A blow to the head. Erik’s world blurred into flashes of red, blue, green, yellow and black. It then disappeared.

  • Redd Church – The Hand-delion

    “I don’t always imagine something big and weird. Sometimes it’s on a smaller scale if you want to call a couple of hundred plant monsters small-scale.”Redd Church

    ———

    It may surprise you that I have a family, with my talent and all the fun that comes with that. The fear of losing someone in my family is constant. Safety precautions are established but don’t always work… you adapt.

    We woke on the weekend for a scheduled field trip. I made breakfast, which wasn’t common. I dressed. Sherrie and I woke our twin daughters, both 9 years old. We had breakfast, not standard but this was a special day. I walked out the front door. I always stopped and stared at the desolate street we lived. It used to be traffic-laden, with neighbors in every house but since the Resurrection and following insurrection. The neighborhood was quiet. We had maybe four families on a mile-long street.

    The population had begun to rebuild but it would be many years till it would return. This was our generation’s normal. Few amenities remained, local to us. Today was a rare field day for the family. The ability to get out from the normal and to visit a large farm. The farm supplied most of our food and there were sunflower fields in the summer.

    I packed the truck. Weapons are stored in a large toolbox on the side of the truck bed. Camping gear is packed in a second, for emergencies. Tents, sleeping bags, and kindling for a fire. I always packed sheets of wood and other tools to use as protection.

    After packing the truck, Sherrie and the two girls into the cab of the truck we headed out. A 30-mile drive took two hours. The roads, in poor shape, were a challenge but longer drives made this task harder. Add to that the dangers of a wild world filled with vampires and monsters. I was not the only Magician with no idea how to control his power. Once a creature appears, it is here, in this reality till death. 

    One group of creatures that have thrived is the Taurs. Groups of human/animal hybrids no longer maintained were in an unpredictable condition. Luckily, bandits took a holiday and they were not an issue. 

    The roads near the farm were cared for, bumpy but cleared of debris and fallen trees. On the left was a farm store. The right showed several acres of sunflowers. My daughter Candice noticed first and screamed.

    “Candice!” My wife replied. “We don’t scream in the car.”

    Candice blushed and apologized then began to cry. 

    “She’s crying,” I said.

    “I know what a Candice cry is, Redd,” Sherrie snapped. 

    “Candice, you don’t have to cry every time I yell at you.”

    This didn’t help and Candice teared up a second time. Followed by badgering from her sister Jodie to stop crying. This all wrapped up into a triad of trauma as I pulled into a dirt-covered parking area. 

    “Ok, girls,” I said bravely. “Can we reset? We have a beautiful field of sunflowers to explore.”

    “Yea, until a monster shows up,” Jodie shot back. 

    “She has a point, Redd. It’s guaranteed something will show up.”

    “Listen, I have been practicing emptying my mind but I won’t deny it’s really hard. Can we just try to be a normal family, with normal problems?” I said watching a horse-taur trot past the front of the car. Followed by a mare and children. I noticed, as I often do, something curious. 

    “Did you notice Taur don’t swing their arms like humans do when walking?” I said aloud. 

    “I just noticed,” I smiled and stepped out of the truck. I helped Candice from the backseat as Sherrie did the same for Jodie. 

    “The world is so different,” Sherrie said to me as we scanned the scene around us. 

    “So unpredictable,” I replied as I allowed a pair of satyrs to pass. “Humans don’t run the world anymore, that’s for sure.”

    “Let’s go girls,” I said and marched toward the field of giant, round-faced, yellow flowers.

    The girls ran ahead but not without a warning to stay in sight. Each girl was armed with a knife and as much skill as you can teach a 9-year-old. I was confident they could take care of themselves. I knew I couldn’t keep my magical summoning ability from appearing too long and I could only hope it wouldn’t be too awful.

    I looked again at the Taurs, they were well-known provocateurs but with a family in tow, I hoped they would be preoccupied. 

    There was a berm built up prior to the field of flowers. I walked up and over. My wife was several steps in front of me when the first scream shot through the air, followed by a second then a third. I immediately drew my pistol as did my wife. We were on guard but I saw nothing. There was a pair of human girls with hands on their mouths fifty feet from my location. I raced over there only to be stopped by more screaming. This scream I knew and I didn’t think twice.

    I ran through the field of sunflowers. Pushing past the large yellow disks. I stopped to see points. 

    I looked to see a human arm standing the same height as one of the sunflowers. At the top of the arm were a meaty palm and five meaty fingers. It stood, almost motionless, except for moving slightly in the wind.

    Mid-arm length I noticed a crease and an elbow.

    “Seriously,” Sherrie said, smiled, and chuckled slightly. 

    Another scream from within the field, was too far for me to see what was going on directly but I could tell the screamer was frightened.

    “What does it do?” I asked my daughters.

    “I don’t know,” came a reply from Jodie. “I think it waved at me.”

    “Waved at you,” I asked. “ As in friendly wave?”

    I waved. I noticed the hand, growing from the ground, waved back vigorously.

    “My gawd, this is weird. Sorry girls,” I apologized but I barely had control myself. 

    “It’s kinda cute,” said Candice.

    “A hand growing out of the ground is not cute,” I replied. 

    “What are we going to do with this,” Sherrie asked and I didn’t know what to say. The Zoo was designed for monsters not friendly hands growing in a sunflower field.

    Jodie approached the creature with no fear and attempted to start a conversation with it. It didn’t feel dangerous but all my monsters were unpredictable so I stopped her.

    The creature bent at the elbow and waited for a handshake. Jodie stepped forward and Sherrie was right there to stop her. 

    “That is not a good idea,” I warned, a step behind both of them. 

    Sherrie had positioned herself between Jodie and the creature. 

    I looked for Candice, found her, and told her to sit where she stood.

    The creature, called the Hand-delion grabbed a hold of Sherrie’s coat and pulled. Sherrie fell backward and under the Hand-delion. I watched as the creature balled its hand into a fist. 

    I grabbed Jodie and threw her toward her sister. Hoping I didn’t hurt her. I took several long steps and grabbed the arm by the wrist. The creature had a lower center of gravity making it harder to stop it completely but I slowed it down. It was very strong but it was enough time for Sherrie to escape. The creature then swung in my direction throwing me backward. Barely missed me with its meaty fist. I kicked it. It opened the hand and shook. Then closed the fist again. It attempted to hit me but I dodged it. 

    I crawled backward and took a breath. I heard around me dozens of men, women, and Taurs battling the creatures. One thing is for sure our generation was not afraid to confront anything. 

    “How many are here?” I asked

    “I don’t know,” Sherrie replied. “There are at least six groups, that I can see, but that doesn’t mean there are not more in places… this is a large field.”

    “My powers have a range limit,” I added as a stood to join my family. “I am not sure what it is but it’s not as large as these fields.”

    “Dad,” Jodie screamed. “There are more,” she added and pointed. 

    I looked to see a pair of sunflowers with large blue human eyes. They were staring at my family.”

    “The girls, Redd,” Sherrie said.

    “I understand, Sherrie, but listen are they safer with us or away from us?”

    “They are not safe anywhere!”

    “I know, I’m sorry… but these creatures don’t seem to have any power outside the ground they are planted in.”

    “Not what others are seeing!” She snapped.

    “I can’t stop that. I can only account for my —-“

    The ground shook under my feet. Another arm erupted from the ground. I watched as the dirt under the sunflowers rose. 

    “Sherrie, things have changed! Get the girls out of here!”

    I watched a form appear. I skipped over column-sized legs rising from the ground. The hand-delion transformed into a headless giant. The giant had the chest, torso, and legs of a human. Small arms, compared to its massive body, and two tall sunflower stalks for eyes. 

    It sat on the ground. The ground it just rose from. It stared at me as I stood looking at it. For a second, a glint of sorrow pierced my soul. 

    That sorrow multiplied. Something behind me caught its attention and it instantly stood up. Dirt and sunflower erupted and fell around me. Once I cleaned myself off I looked left of me to see a centaur standing over another giant. A large spear was in the creature’s chest. 

    I looked at the creature and saw the horror in his eyes. I saw another creature begin to rise and the centaur saw it too. I knew the four-legged warrior could knock out the next creature easily if it didn’t get up so I had to do something, or did I? 

    I wasn’t killing the creatures. It wasn’t my fault so could I park my guilt and watch it happen, right?

    No, the No’doer had different plans. Sherrie appeared at my side for a moment then walked quickly to a position where the giant could see it. She jumped and screamed, though I doubt the creature could hear. 

    The centaur saw it and he froze for a moment. I watched as Sherrie successfully got the creature’s attention. She then began to form words with her hands. Words the creature seemed to respond to. An amazing gift to the whole situation and just the motivation I needed to stop the death of an intelligent being. 

    I ran behind my wife, in clear view of the first creature, and targeted the centaur. This huge, brutish creature grunted and pawed at the ground. Many had lost their ability to communicate with humans but they understood the language. 

    “You can’t kill that other giant,” I said.

    The centaur pulled the spear from the chest of the dead giant. His human face displayed anger, which is understandable, and reluctance.

    “They’re intelligent. Not monsters,” I pointed to my wife who was talking to the giant behind me with her hands. “She’s amazing right?”

    The centaur grunted and growled but he didn’t attack the third giant. That giant sat up and looked to find his brothers.

    My wife called and I turned. She stood in front of the standing giant, having a conversation. The creature, with its undersized arms, was a master signer. Its flower eyes focused on Sherrie. 

    The other giant was unsure of its next move. It sat searching the field. Outside the radius of the giants and me, a group of humans crept closer. 

    “Sherrie, we have to contain them. I’m calling the Zoo. How are we going to transport them?”

    “The creature agrees to comply. Not happy that one of his brothers has been killed.”

    “Tell him I’m sorry.”

    Sherrie continued to speak to the creature. I returned my attention to the centaur family. I apologized. I explained my powers. This was a mistake. The centaur turned his rage on me.

    He picked up the spear and stepped forward. His partner stepped up from behind. The smaller goal stayed a safe distance away.

    The centaur growled. I had endangered his children, that was fair to be angry but murderous. That was not. 

    I tried to explain that my powers were not something I could control. I had little responsibility in endangering anyone but that was a half-truth. I knew somewhat and I knew I was responsible. 

    “Please, stop. You don’t want to do this,” I pleaded. 

    The centaur raised his spear to strike me down. A bullet sped past my ear and struck the horse-like chest of the male centaur. He collapsed. The mare snarled and stepped forward. I, the slowest hand in the sunflower field, began to pull my own gun when the giant stepped over me. 

    I think we have all experienced a dark cloud floating above us, this was similar except with dirt falling on your head and the earth moving under your feet. 

    The creature stepped into my field of fire, knelt, and began to treat the centaur for his bullet wound. I stood, shocked at the act of kindness. The mare hesitated and stepped back to allow the creature to help. The second giant approached and I noticed they communicated by touch. The second moved to the fallen giant and began to pray. 

    I called the Zoo and they sent some large transports but they were a couple of hours away. While we waited the landowner and I had a conversation. We talked about the possibility of starting a reservation for these creatures. 

    Several more creatures sat up from the ground and there were ten at the end of the day. I set up camp with the Zoo directors and we plotted out a plan. They are very fragile but gentle giants. 

    The male centaur survived. His partner was forever thankful. The family stuck around and our families became close. They ran the hand-delion reservation.

  • Chapter 1 -Get There

    Erik wiped sweat from his brow as the summer heat loomed over him. His hands trembled as he set the duffel down, though he didn’t need anything it. He released the pry-bar and let it fall the short distance to the ground. He shook off the anxiety, wishing he had a shot to medicate it away. His knees throbbed and he knelt.

    “We shouldn’t stop here long,” voice low but urgent. Rebecca, who stood nearby, nodded silently. Her eyes darting from one sleeping thrall.

    In front of them a large patch of towering grasses mixed with stalks of corn and pigweed.

    “Let’s go,” he said to Rebecca. “Be careful, anything could be in here. Follow behind me, please.”

    “You may want to be extra careful…” Rebecca tried to add the Erik had already disappeared. She swore and followed.

    Erik parted the grasses and stepped carefully. Took a second step, then a third. Every step rustling. The noise felt louder then it should of been. Every step felt like a signal to the monsters outside.

    The inability to see what’s mere steps away. The corn, towering over him, swiped at his bare arms. The waist high grass brushed against his legs. The pig weed scratched at his vulnerable skin. Erik was on edge. Rebecca was somewhere behind him. He could hear the steps but another problem is he couldn’t be certain it was her and not a thrall stumbling through to snatch him up.

    He began to recall the day his life changed. The moment the monsters destroyed his wife and stole his daughter.

    “Five years, it’s been five years Erik.” He said to himself.

    “They came into my home,” he replied. “They were targeting me, I know it.”

    “For what, Erik? You have this fantasy that you’re important. You were a janitor. It was a coincidence.”

    “A coincidence my ass. Why did the Collectors target the house. Answer that question. Why did they swipe Diana? I never found her body.”

    Erik fumed. The world had disappeared. The stalks fell over by themself and he walked forward automatically. That was until he tripped and tumbled forward. He crashed into a pile of thorns. Something tighten around his ankle. It pulled him forward thorns digging into his back and head. He wanted to scream to just end it… till she showed up. Her brown hair fell over her little face. Her brown eyes looked down upon him. Horror reflected in the afternoon sun. Erik remembered and it hurt.

    “Give up Erik?” He said to himself as he looked up at her.

    “In front of her?” He said silently, as he started to struggle. He tried to clear the bramble thorns from his head. The points digging in. The tentacle pulled. Erik lifted his knee and tried to back up.

    “She’s not Diana,” his thought continued.

    “I’m aware she is not Diana. She looks like her. What would she say?”

    “She wasn’t the same age. She was younger but I would like to think she would want you to live.”

    Erik watched as Rebecca flashed her knife. She pointed it down. She stabbed through the fleshy appendage.

    Something screamed. A pained scream but it also sounded like a warning or a lead for a trap.

    Rebecca stabbed the tentacle again. A second tentacle struck out and punch Rebecca in the side. Erik watched her fall backward and into the stalks.

    Erik sat up in seconds, his doubts vanished. He tore the remains of the thorns from his head. He kicked the remains of the tentacle from his ankle. He leapt. His ankle was sore but functional.

    Rebecca began to sit up. Erik held out his hand to slow her down.

    “Let me help you.”

    Rebecca looked up. Blood tracing paths down the crevices of her dirty face.

    “I’m sorry,” he apologized. Bent down and grabbed her arm. Rebecca stood. She held her left arm. Her face was red and would likely bruise.

    She suddenly snapped at him, “I’m not some helpless damsel! I know things. I’ve been here 5 years!”

    Erik said nothing.

    “I could have stopped you from running into that… we call it a Groundling. It’s a mass of flesh, teeth and tentacles. You, seriously, just run headfirst without thinking.”

    Erik smiled, a bit, “Ya.. I tend to do that. You call that octopus thing a Groundling.”

    “Yes, and a siren because it calls the thrall and they are headed to us now.” Rebecca said.

    “So we need a new plan,” said Erik. “The thrall still can’t see but can hear. I think we can whip them into a frenzy by messing with that puddle thing.”

    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

    “Got a better one?” Erik asked.

    Rebecca was silent.

  • Author Update 2024

    I’ve only done this a few times on this blog. Today is one of those times.

    I have been writing on this blog since 2011, around this time September…October. I have written thousands, maybe ten thousands of words. I’ve published maybe six short stories, no novels. It’s a rough stretch. The audience coming and going. The author coming and going.

    I have a novel that I’ve spent an equal amount of time trying to figure out. I won’t even claim to be writing a novel.  I’m still figuring it out.

    I have an idea… and it’s the purpose of this post. This idea starts like this:

    To me, a story is better told than read. I have so much material, why not.

    So my idea is to begin reading my work by post.

    I will only read what’s within the post.

    I will then put that post at the top of this blog along with the audio.

    I will throw each post into 1 of 3 categories (Short story, Novel, and Trashcan)

    I will start with this post and continue three days a week until I’m unable to do it.

  • Chapter 1 – Drenched in Sweat

    Ai generated image

    Half a bottle Harold’s Dark Whiskey sat in the passenger seat. Having not expected to survive the night, Erik stirred.

    His eyelids felt too heavy to lift. A heavy thump shook him from his liquor-laden coma. Opening his eyes slightly, his vision blurred. He was barely able to make out the dust covered dashboard of the abandoned car he found himself in.

    He listened as a hand dragged across the drivers side. He retched his eyes open to see a blurry hand trace fingerprints through the grime of the driver-side window.

    Erik closed his stubbornly burdened eyes, but his brain was now wide awake.

    Light filtered in from the windows, causing a red aura and a headache. The headache was   a small mercy after escaping the grasp of the thralls. Erik and the thralls are now together in what many have called MARS or Military Asylum and Restraint Sector. A walled off city for vampire, their thralls, and other ‘despicables’.

    Erik was one of those. A vagrant… a criminal. He entered MARS through the North Gate. He fought his way through the night. He survived and hid in this car. He lost his belongings and his food but saved his liquor.

    That liquor had squashed the horror of listening to the screaming as the thralls grabbed un-bitten humans to hold or drag to its master.

    “… but why are the thralls moving around right now?” He pondered as another pressed upon the plyable aluminum hood and passed by the windshield.

    “What triggered them from their sleep?” He asked. “Is it possible someone else survived the night?”

    He reopened the bottle of Dark Whiskey and downed a swallow.

    “There is no way someone survived the night. It’s not possible,” he continued to think… to reason. “I heard the screaming stop last night,” he tries to recall.

    “… or did I?“

    “I did pass out… I would not be here if it wasn’t for drinking.“

    Before Erik can reply, a door opens, then a scream, followed by the door closing.

    “Did one of those thralls open then close the door,” he asked himself. “They don’t open doors… Can they?” He wondered.

    He reached over the passenger seat and locked the door of the two-door coupe he found.

    He sat in silence for what seemed like a long time. He stared at the grimy window.

    “The scream came from the left,” he figured. “It’s only a few hundred feet ahead of us.”

    “Gawd…” Erik shouted at himself. “I am not a superhero. I don’t know what you think I am?”

    “I don’t rescue people!” He screamed suddenly.

    He felt the car door handle jingle. He had forgotten the thralls near his own doors.

    Erik sat quiet, hoping the thrall would move on, but they rarely did that. They only escalated. They would often attract the others, who were sleeping… they slept a lot… but they woke up real easy.

    The handle shook again, and soon, the passenger door handle shook.

    Erik could sense they didn’t understand how door locks worked and why the door didn’t open. He also knew they would find a way to get inside. They would… but that stranger screamed again, very loudly.

    Erik knew the woman… it sounded like a woman… wouldn’t last much longer.

    “Would you allow another human to be turned? Will you?” He vilified himself.

    Erik listened this time. He was prepared to fight his way out the door, but they had stopped shaking.

    “They moved on to that screamer. You could stay,” but Erik was going to do something. Save someone.

    He grabbed a small duffel and a bat that had been left in the car. Its owner passed long ago and lied in the backseat under a blanket. He almost opened the door but looked back at the bottle of whiskey. He grabbed it and placed it in the bag. He then shoved the door open and stepped into the cool air of early fall.

  • The Drink

    “Jess… Jess,” a middle-aged man, dressed in a tie and brimmed hat, shouted as he rushed into the kitchen.

    “I need a drink to celebrate,”

    “Erik…” Jess, his wife, attempted to inteject, but Erik is far too excited to even acknowledge the look of concern on his wife’s face.

    “I have made a break through. I did it. The chemist that barely made it through his doctrine has cured the Harrows. I swear.”

    Erik opened a bottle of brandy and poured a small amount in two tumblers.

    “Well, I didn’t cure it… cure it, but it is a positive step and perfectly safe on humans. I even tried it…”

    He paused when he met her sad, dark brown eyes.

    He swallowed the shot of sweet blackberry liquor, but the momentum of his thoughts carried him on.

    “I tried it on myself, no one else would dare… I know.. I know it’s dumb…”

    Jess’s face looked like it had melted.

    The skin under Jess’s eyes sagged. A frown dragged down the creases at the sides of her mouth.

    “I had this practiced. What I was going to say. I had it down, but… what happened? What am I missing? Do I need another shot?”

    “Erik, your daughter is missing.”

    “What?” I took his mind moment to unwind and change direction.

    “Rebecca is missing.”

    “Where is the Vallenwood Uniformed Corp? Did you call them?”

    “We are on our own. The VUC isn’t helping.”

    “What do you mean they are not helping.” Anger built up, but elements from work began to filter in.

    Long simmering suspicions.

    “Oh my gawd, they are going to blackmail me.  This is Vallenwood. They took Rebecca.”

    “How can they do that!” Erik shouts.

    “They are going to abandon us. What do I need to do. Where was the last place you saw her.”

    Jess frowned. Took in a long breath.

    “Can you check your neuro-divergance for a damn second. Stop, breathe, and think.”

    Erik stood for a moment. He took a breath then…

    “Tell me what happened,”

  • Current Wip in a list of wips

    So this is a potential art contest winner, if I can finish this week. My muse has been dragging lately and it’s been a struggle. Worse case, it will sit on my stack of ‘hope to sells’

  • Wip – First contest entry – got till Apr 30 to finish

    So I have to draw the Jeep then something to add, plus the company logo, which happens to be a round headed logo 🙂

    The other parts I’m still unsure about… a panda? Not sure

  • The Red Line

    The cold sat and ate upon Erik’s fingers like rabid dogs. Nibbling away at the nerves as quickly as they could as he stood outside the bus stop waiting for the five o’clock Red line. Erik had lost his gloves and his pockets were full of rocks. Rocks collected from his quarry, for the last few days. The rocks, a minor compulsory addiction for Erik when he couldn’t feed his other toxic addictions.
    The Red line bus was a two story monster on six wheels. The driver sat on the bottom right side behind a large front window. The doors, two of them, sat on the left side. One next to the driver and the other near the back. The driver slowed the monster. It growled and jerked and finally stopped with an angry burst of smoke from a metal pipe in the back.

    Erik shook his hands, willing the dogs from his fingers, picked up the duffel and stepped inside.

    The driver stopped him.

    “Blessed by the Omnipresent No’doer , you are,” the driver said. His chest and head human. His body was covered in black fur. His hands and feet large and clawed.

    “How have you not lost your fingers?”

    “There is still time,” Erik said as he placed the duffel on an empty seat and placed his bare hands under his coat.

    “The bus is a bit empty this morning Harry. Did you scare them all off with your ugly face and fierce temper.”

    “Ey, ridership has been falling off lately. This old Bear has nothing to do with it.”

    “The vampire population is growing again. It makes it hard to trust anything. I done no’ how you survive in these conditions. You need to settle somewhere.”

    “I haven’t…” Erik began. “I don’t… never-mind.”

    “How do you drive this thing being a taur and all.” Erik add.

    The bear/man laughed as he closed the bus door and put it into Drive. The Red Line bus growled and lurched forward.

    “Where u heading tonight?”

    “I’m off to get arrested,” Erik said.

    “You can get arrested trespassing, which you do often. Where are you headed?”

    The bus begins to slow, it jerks to a stop. Harry opens the bus doors and a pair of gaunt men step upon the bus from the back door.

    Erik knows what they are immediately and he begins to stand.

    “Sit down!” Harry growls. “No judgement on my bus, ever. Everyone is allowed a ride on this bus.”

    “I’m not riding a bus with them on board!”

    Erik shouts as he steps toward the front door.

    “They are the sole reason for the death of my family!”

    Erik glared at the pairs elongated, muscular jaws and bulges beneath the loose fitting clothing.

    “Why are they here Harry? They can fly. I thought you were smarter then this.”

    Harry stood over Erik, who was not a small human, but was smaller then the human-like bear.

    “Sit down Eric,” Harry said, exposing large teeth and a powerful human torso.

    “On my bus, you are my guest and will be treated as so, understood.” He adds then repeats the statement to the young vampire. The vampire nod and sit near the back door.

    “No one is leaving till they reach the destination. Erik, please finish this plan of you wanting to get arrested.”

    Erik sits down.

    “Where are they going?” Erik asks.

    “I don’t ask. They have passes.” Harry replied.

    Erik sat quiet for several moments as the Red Line bumped along roads that had not been maintained in 5 years. Traffic had all but stopped while the vampire-infected humans known as Resurrected prowled the streets.

    The North Eastern Territory didn’t used cars much anymore. The Red Line and other buses filled the need mostly.

    The bus hit a large patch of trash lying in the street and the bus lurched left then right tossing the passengers around like dominoes.

    “Fine… Harry. Fine, I’ll tell you. Stop hitting shit in the road.”

    Harry smiled, slowed the bus and it stopped with a jerk. Harry opened the doors. Outside the door, a half mile away was a large stone wall. Erik watched as the two vampires stepped down. Through the grim covered glass he could see them unfurl a pair of wings each and begin to fly. The headed to the wall.

    “For the gods sakes, tell me the plan,” the bear/man growled as his claws scraped the metal floor. If it wasn’t for you mother I wouldn’t care less but I promised I would take care ya. Spill it boy.”

    “I need to get into the Zoo Harry there is someone I got to find.”

    “The Zoo? Are u mental? You know what’s in their, right?”