Reign of Coins (26 page)

“Judas?”

I had lowered myself against the wall, and I seriously doubt He could see me. But He knew I was there, hiding like a coward. Meanwhile, the other disciples came running out. The coin had rolled out of reach of me safely collecting it. Fearing being discovered, I shrank back from the courtyard and disappeared into Simon’s vineyard with the bag, now one coin short. The commotion that followed brought even more remorse. The Romans were beating Jesus. Beating Him as they dragged Him away in chains! He would not get the unbiased trial Caiaphas had assured me would happen. I realized I had made a terrible mistake….

“Judas? Snap out of it, man.” Roderick nudged me.

“Huh? Look, I’m sorry…. Just a bad memory.”

“Of what?”

“It’s not important,” I tried to assure him.  “You were saying something about a map and a church. Right?”

I couldn’t fully concentrate while memories of the very worst night of my entire existence played out for what must be the ten thousandth time. Thankfully, it was only the second time in the past two centuries. But I had hoped to avoid the experience until the other twenty-nine coins had been recovered.

I never dreamed it would come early.

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Destiny of Coins
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Cades Cove: The Curse of Allie Mae

The Cades Cove Series, Book One

(Please read on for a sample)

“M-m-u-u-r-r-der-r-r-er-r-r!”

David opened his eyes, awakened by the whisper. The room was completely dark, and not even the parking lot lamps’ glow penetrated the murkiness. He noticed the curtains’ unusual thickness when he turned up the heater before retiring, assuming it was the motel’s way of compensating its guests for the sparse insulation. At least one couldn’t be bothered by any car or truck lights coming in late, as most of the motel’s patrons seemed to be in the long-haul transportation business.

The television was blank and silent, and David couldn’t make out its outline. The heater’s comforting hum was also absent. It left the room in a hostile stillness. The sound of a deep sigh filled the air above the space between the two beds. Something floated there.

He raised himself, fully aware of his distinct disadvantage. Peering into the darkness where the sigh came from, he reached for the lamp switch.

“Don’t do it!”

The feminine voice surreal, the accent and the fact it sounded both near and far was familiar.

“Allie Mae?”

The air around him was already chilled from the lack of heat, but it grew colder. The presence was drawing close. A brilliant blue eye appeared, aglow in the darkness less than a foot away. The eye was especially beautiful, and it squinted. Perhaps it scrutinized him, or more likely, its owner was seriously pissed.

“What do you want from me?” David tried to remain calm despite the terror, but found it impossible to control the unsteadiness of his voice.

The eye moved closer, and as it did he became aware of a soft gurgling sound. It reminded him of the tiny streams he used to find in the mountain valleys of Colorado. Cold drafts of air brushed against his face, and the eye came within a few inches of his own eyes, as if the head shrouded by darkness positioned itself to kiss him. The smell of raw meat filled his nostrils. He pushed himself against the bed’s headboard.

“To take back what you’ve stolen,” the voice replied. It was softer and almost normal, erupting from the gurgling noise and sending an icy spray upon him. “And kill the wicked seed once and for all!”

“I didn’t steal your bag of treasures, and I’ll happily give it back!” He clutched the bedspread tightly, and shrunk away from the eye, the smell, and the gurgling. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right!”

“It’s too late to give it back,” replied the garbled voice, sending forth another spray of chilled droplets onto his face. David cringed in response and closed his eyes. “It’s too late to give back
my
life, Billy Ray-y-y-y!”

A splash of icy liquid against his throat and t-shirt emphasized the fervency of this last statement. Ever fearful, he opened his eyes. Another eye as grotesque as the first eye was lovely had since joined it. Its mutilated cornea and iris glowed as a ruptured mass of fire and blood within the torn edges of the socket.

“I’m
not
Billy Ray! My name’s
David!”
he shouted.

“Ya are what ya are and always will be, Billy Ray-y-y-y!” the voice hissed. “Y’all and yer seed have killed and taken whatever ya’ve pleased! But, no more!! There ain’t no more hidin’ from yer sins!!!”

“No, you’ve got the wrong guy! I’ve
never
done
anything
to you
—
”

“M-m-m-u-r-r-r-der-r-r-er-r-r!!”

He threw up his hands up to protect himself as she shrieked her condemnation over and over, the echo resounding loudly throughout the room before returning to where he lay huddled against the headboard. Iciness gripped the base of his bed and steadily moved toward him, chilling the bones in his feet, legs, and thighs as it touched him. Out of the darkness the two eyes suddenly looked up from his waist, revealing the entity now caressed his body like a famished lover, moving from his feet to his genitals and on up to his face. He whimpered in horror as something cold, wet and slimy crept inside his shirt toward his throat.

Screaming in terror, he slapped at himself, falling out of bed. He grabbed the nightstand, pulling the top drawer out while groping for the lamp’s pole. A pair of frigid arms embraced him from behind, and icy hands pinched his nipples. Coldness beyond anything he’d ever known flowed through him from behind, freezing his lungs. He began to pass out. Turning on the light switch was the last thing he remembered.

David woke lying on the floor between the two beds. The nightstand lamp was on, and his head throbbed worse than any migraine he could remember. He groggily stood and moved to the clock, which faced his bed. It read 3:38 a.m.

After replacing the nightstand’s drawer in its slot, and checking to make sure the heater still worked, he set the thermostat and blower on high and went into the bathroom. He intended to splash water in his face and take something for his pounding headache. But, when he looked in the mirror, he could only stare at his reflection.

His face and t-shirt were covered with blood.

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Cades Cove
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The Vampires’ Last Lover

Dying of the Dark Vampires, Book One

(Please read on for a sampl.)

“I hope this was worth it,” said Tyreen once we reached the parking lot. The temperature felt as if it had dropped another five degree during our brief visit inside the library. She pulled her hood on and fastened the top buttons around her face above where the front zipper to her parka stopped. She looked like a damned Eskimo—a damned scared Eskimo as she nervously looked around her. “You are ridiculously stubborn…you know?  Was this really necessary?”
     “You mean getting my Ipad and the book I’ve been nibbling on for the past week? Hell, yeah!” I retorted, hoping she could see the playful expression on my face.

She already had moved through the parking lot, her pace even quicker than before. I should’ve known she’d try to hurry back to the dorm once her feet found level pavement, since her tone sounded irritated. Aside from the combination of the wintry chill and my forcing this unwanted excursion upon her, the eerie feeling of being watched had returned, only worse…as if whoever or
whatever
studied us had moved closer. I couldn’t detect anything around us—not even the canine unit patrolling the campus grounds on foot. 

“Hey, wait up, Tyreen!” I called after her. “Do you have to be in such a frigging hurry?!”

“
Hell
, yeah!!” she replied, pausing to shoot me a perturbed and worried glance over her shoulder. “The sooner we get back into Massey Hall, the better off we’ll—“

A low menacing growl interrupted her, resounding from across the street, as it emanated toward us from the deeper shadows in front of the Alumni Center. Tyreen froze, as did I.

Shit!

“What the hell was
that??”
Her tone clearly revealed her terror. Several hulking shapes bobbed above the shadow line, moving down the sloping frost-covered lawn toward the street. A shrill shriek echoed eerily in the air from near the Alumni Center’s entrance.

“It doesn’t matter—just
run!!”
I urged her, fearing we only had a sliver of a chance to outrun whatever lurked in the darkness. Yes, we could’ve turned back and headed for whatever protection the library offered. However, assuming the two campus guards were the only ones in the building, we’d soon be in a much worse predicament. At least there were a dozen Knoxville police officers hanging around the lobby at the dorm. With the mental images of what these creatures had wrought upon Peter’s townhouse the other night still fresh in my head, the choice was an easy one.

If only we didn’t have to run past the bastards.

“What the hell are those things??”
Tyreen murmured fearfully,
not
moving.

“The last ‘mo-fos’ you’ll ever see if you don’t get your ass in gear!!”

Ignoring the fact that one of the suckers had reached the sidewalk, its yellow eyes glowing like a pair of candles inside a Halloween pumpkin, I grabbed her arm and yanked her behind me, sprinting down the street toward the dorm’s long driveway.

When I heard the scrapes and clicks of sharp talons, claws, or whatever else they dragged across the pavement running alongside, I prepared myself for the worst. Peripherally, I could tell there were seven or eight of these things closing in from the lawn, and another handful had emerged from the dense brush on the other side of the road. 

If it had just been me, I might’ve considered giving in and letting them take me, praying my life would end quickly and that I wouldn’t be an ongoing living meal for them. But, Tyreen’s presence and the fact her endangerment was entirely my fault negated that option completely. Somehow, I had to get her to safety.

They say in the direst circumstances people can surprise themselves with superhuman feats. It certainly was the case for me. A powerful surge of adrenalin flowed through me, enabling me to increase my strides while keeping a secure grip on Tyreen. It was like I suddenly floated toward our dorm, and where up until then nary a damned cop was in sight, I felt immense gratitude for the handful mulling around the entrance.

“Hey, help us!
 
HELP!!!”
I shrieked, when within fifty feet of the cops.

Unlike the B-horror movies my brothers and me devoted our spare time to watching back in high school, the police didn’t act like a bunch of donut-munching buffoons. Once they heard me scream, they quickly mobilized themselves and pointed their pistols and rifles in our direction. Obviously, they saw something following close behind us, coming up fast, like greyhounds chasing a pair of scared rabbits.

“Get over here,
NOW!!!”
one of them shouted, motioning for us to make a beeline to where they huddled in front of the entrance. Three other cops bearing shotguns stepped outside to join them, wearing slack-jawed expressions of stark disbelief. 

“Ow-w-w!!”
Tyreen cried out as I yanked her arm even harder while sprinting with all my might to the entrance. Suddenly, multiple fire flashes erupted from in front of us, causing both of us to duck instinctively. The volley of gunfire flew above our heads and toward either side. 

A bloodcurdling shriek, inhuman in its timbre and hair-raising in its enraged anguish, filled the air just behind us. This time I did cast a glance over my shoulder, horrified by the hideous face just behind us. In the soft glow afforded by the security lights, I saw the orange eyes of the thing gleaming, and its mouth full of razor-sharp, jagged teeth pulled back from deformed lips. They were covered in blood. Tyreen’s blood.

It must’ve happened in the instant I yanked her arm, as the right side of her parka glistened with crimson streaks. Her eyes began to roll up, and I could tell she was about to faint.

“Tyreen!! Hold on!!!”

I sensed the bastard moving up closer to take another bite, only from me this time. There was no way I could fight the monster off if it caught me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let it get Tyreen, who collapsed on the ground.