I decided to do a paranormal excerpt for Snippets. This story takes place in the same 'world' as all my other paranormals, but it takes place a few years in our future. Some of the characters in this book are the children of Darlene and Vare, my couple in Single Mom, Vampire Lover, a book I wrote years ago, around 2007. This book is actually complete, just need to get the revisions and edits finished. And the cover!
1 Awakening
A man woke in a small meadow.
Around one foot was a plastic hobble restraint attached to his other ankle, but the restraint was broken, so his leg motion was free. Orange coverall. Restraints. He’d been in jail. Suddenly the man jumped up, wide-eyed, staring at his surroundings in shock. “What the hell?”
He was at the bottom of a crater, next to a glistening pool of blue water, under a huge tree. A small grassy meadow surrounded the pool and tree. Beyond the meadow was rubble, climbing up to the edge of a crater, maybe three hundred feet.
Earthquake? Do those cause craters? Asteroids cause craters, but how would this tree and pool be here?
The sky was weird. To the south, high in the sky, there was a permanent lightning bolt in a cloudless blue sky. An asteroid? An alien ship? Alien space weapon?
What is going on?
He couldn’t remember anything. Not even his name or why he was in prison. Or how he got away.
He decided to try to find…something. Other people, medical help. Since it seemed he couldn’t remember a blessed thing. Clothes. I really need clothes. Don’t want some good ol’ boy to shoot the prisoner first, ask questions later.
The clothes he had on were obviously courtesy of the Colorado prison system. Too bad they didn’t have his name on them somewhere. Just a number on the patch on his shoulder.
He trudged across the rough land and up the steep incline, finally coming to a cracked and broken blacktop, which he followed for several miles. Parts of the road were gone, just gravel and dirt. Crushed cars, flipped cars, mangled bodies. No living people. The countryside didn’t look like LA—he remembered LA— it looked like the Rockies in the distance, but he had no idea how he got here.
He checked. Mostly Montana license plates. Okay, that explained the mountains. But not how he got here. Last he knew he was an inmate in Colorado.
See, I do remember something. But not his name or how he got here.
Maybe there was a nuclear war. Maybe I’m right in the hot zone. Fear clutched at him, but there was nothing that could be done.
Would a nuclear war toss him across the country?
He came to a home, leveled into a pile of timbers and bricks. In the driveway was a car, its roof partly dented in by a fallen tree. The license plate said Idaho.
With great effort, he managed to pull the tree off. The occupant was dead, by a branch that had gone through the driver’s door window, crashing into the driver’s head. Other than the roof, the car seemed undamaged. It wasn’t gory, just a little blood on the guy, big dent. He dragged the guy to the side of the house. “Sorry, guy, but I’m gonna take your car. Not like you need it anyway.”
Some impulse— derangement caused by this accident? Was he insane? But the dead man smelled like food. His stomach rumbled with gnawing hunger. He felt his teeth grow. Fangs! And he knew just what to do with them. He bit into the man’s neck, swallowing still-warm blood. The guy hadn’t been dead long. Fresh blood. Somehow, he knew fresh tasted better. Electric thrills ran down his limbs as he fed.
When he was done, he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jumpsuit. He felt energized, alive, and knew he was stronger and faster. More alert. He could see farther, clearer.
What the hell? I’m a vampire? But it’s daylight. Morning, he could tell by the sun. Now he had an even better reason to get away from this area. Nobody liked vampires.
He felt much better though, not tired a bit. Like he could run for miles.
There was a suitcase in the car, and a cooler full of food. He felt extremely full, so ignored the cooler.
He dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, baggy but workable with the belt. Funny, he had a necklace under his jumpsuit. Long gold chain, not terribly fine, with a gold circle. Some type of raised writing. Runes? Old stuff. Weird. But his memory was shot, so…
Did they let you wear necklaces in prison? Weren’t they a potential weapon?
The dead man’s shoes were a little long, but okay. He put on clean socks from the suitcase. I may be a blood sucking monster, but someone’s dirty socks? Just no!
He tossed the orange jumpsuit behind a shrub, but not before ripping off the number patch and shoving it into his pocket. Maybe he could use it for identity.
The corpse had a leather wallet with a small key inside a pocket. After a search through the car he found a small locked box. It yielded cash and bank account information. The driver’s license was for David Green, thirty years old, if he had the current year right. From Boise, Idaho. “Well, man, I’m gonna borrow your life for a while. Until I can remember who the hell I am.”
He peered in the side mirror and compared his face to the license. He was surprised to find that he was handsome, with sharp cheekbones, blue eyes rimmed in gray with long dark lashes, and thick dark blond wavy hair, clipped military short on the sides in a kind of fade. A square jaw line. The man in the driver’s license had a shaved head, scruffy dark beard, a goofy half-smile on his face. Bad photo, blue eyes, brown hair. It worked well enough. He could say he’d been dieting and working out, because he figured he weighed about twenty pounds less than the dead guy.
As he’d changed clothes he’d been gratified to see he had six-pack abs and muscled thighs and arms. Made use of the prison gym. Being strong would probably help in this destroyed world.
Using a tree limb as a lever, he managed to get the dented car roof up, so he could sit in the driver’s seat without hunching over. The car started, and he was pleased to find that the engine was in good shape. That would mean it wasn’t an EMP, right? He was a bit fuzzy on man-made world-ending disasters. “Oh, yeah. Off to civilization.”
If there was any to be found.
He headed north, deciding to avoid a trip over the mountains to the west. Probably more people west, toward the coast, but getting gas might be an issue. He’d find some safe place, a little town or country place. Hole up. Unless he remembered he belonged somewhere.
He saw no other traffic for miles. A radio station gave a news flash about a huge earthquake in southern California, but the reception was really poor. Another news blast mentioned a polar shift and some particles from space. I guess that is what that lightening shape in the sky is? Space particles?
Seemed unlikely.
Whatever. Does it really matter now? Not like it will keep people from panicking.
This looked like more than an earthquake. Where were all the people? Shouldn’t there be bumper to bumper traffic? Polar shifts, space particles—they did this?
They’re full of shit, he decided. No one really knows.
He came to a small town turn off. Somewhere in rural Montana. Not so much traffic is probably normal.
He drove through the morning, not tired, but more and more anxious. He passed several towns, a couple looked pretty big. Didn’t see any traffic moving. What if it was some super virus? He didn’t want to catch anything.
But something in the back of his mind told him he couldn’t catch anything.
Maybe I’m just flat out insane.
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