said anything to me about what she was going through, but I could see the loneliness tearing at her and I couldn’t let her be on her own anymore. I started to get scared that she might take off for good, or do something to herself, and how could I live with that?
Besides, maybe this is my destiny. Maybe with our enhanced abilities we can be some kind of dynamic duo superhero team, out rescuing the world, or at least little human pieces of the world.
The funny thing is, when I told her I wanted her to turn me, she was the one who argued against it. But I wouldn’t take no and she finally gave in.
And it’s not so bad. Even the blood-sucking’s not so bad, though I do miss eating and drinking. I guess the worst part was those three days I was dead. You’re aware, but not aware, floating in some kind of goopy muck that feels like it’s made up of all the bad things people have ever done or thought.
But you get over it.
What’s my fear? Fuzzy animal slippers. I used to adore them, back when I was alive. Even at sixteen-years-old, I was still wearing them around the house. Now I break into a cold sweat just thinking about them.
Pretty lame, huh? But I guess it’s a better weakness than some you can have. Because, really. How often do you unexpectedly run into someone wearing fuzzy animal slippers?
I still have this idea that we should turn Mom and Dad, too, but I’m going to wait awhile before I bring it up again. I think I understand Apples’s nervousness better after she told me what she learned the last time she saw the woman who turned her. I don’t think it’s that she doesn’t love our parents. She’s just nervous that they won’t make the transition well. That they’ll be more like the woman than us.
“Let’s give it a year or two,” she said, “ ’till we see how we do ourselves.”
Mom and Dad sure weren’t happy about me moving out and into Apples’s apartment. I wish I could at least tell them that I’m not sick anymore, but I’m kind of stuck having a secret identity whenever we go back home for a visit. I have to carry around my puffer and pretend to use it. I have to put the leg brace on again, though we had to adjust it since my leg’s all healed.
What’s going to happen to us? I don’t know. I just know that we’ll be together. Always. And I guess, for now, that’s enough.
The Screaming
J.A. Konrath
Joseph Andrew Konrath’s first novel, Whiskey Sour (2004), introduced Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. The eighth in the series, Stirred , will be published this year. Joe is also the editor of the Hitman anthology These Guns For Hire (2006). Under the name Jack Kilborn, Konrath has written four horror novels. His short stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines and compilations, and his work has been translated into ten languages. His blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing (jakonrath.blogspot.com), gets over a million hits a year.
Konrath’s “The Screaming” was originally published in The Many Faces of Van Helsing, edited by Jeanne Cavelos. This excellent anthology featured new stories of literature’s first vampire hunter: Bram Stoker’s Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. In “The Screaming,” we find the hunter and the hunted creepily combined.
“Three stinking quid?”
Colin wanted to reach over the counter and throttle the old bugger. The radio he brought in was brand new and worth at least twenty pounds.
Of course, it was also hot. Delaney’s was the last pawnbroker in Liverpool that didn’t ask questions. Colin dealt with them frequently because of this. But each and every time, he left the shop feeling ripped off.
“Look, this is state of the art. The latest model. You could at least go six.”
As expected, the old wank didn’t budge. Colin took the three coins and left, muttering curses under his breath.
Where the hell was he going to get more money?
Colin rubbed his hand, fingers trailing over dirty scabs. His eyes itched. His throat felt like
Besides, maybe this is my destiny. Maybe with our enhanced abilities we can be some kind of dynamic duo superhero team, out rescuing the world, or at least little human pieces of the world.
The funny thing is, when I told her I wanted her to turn me, she was the one who argued against it. But I wouldn’t take no and she finally gave in.
And it’s not so bad. Even the blood-sucking’s not so bad, though I do miss eating and drinking. I guess the worst part was those three days I was dead. You’re aware, but not aware, floating in some kind of goopy muck that feels like it’s made up of all the bad things people have ever done or thought.
But you get over it.
What’s my fear? Fuzzy animal slippers. I used to adore them, back when I was alive. Even at sixteen-years-old, I was still wearing them around the house. Now I break into a cold sweat just thinking about them.
Pretty lame, huh? But I guess it’s a better weakness than some you can have. Because, really. How often do you unexpectedly run into someone wearing fuzzy animal slippers?
I still have this idea that we should turn Mom and Dad, too, but I’m going to wait awhile before I bring it up again. I think I understand Apples’s nervousness better after she told me what she learned the last time she saw the woman who turned her. I don’t think it’s that she doesn’t love our parents. She’s just nervous that they won’t make the transition well. That they’ll be more like the woman than us.
“Let’s give it a year or two,” she said, “ ’till we see how we do ourselves.”
Mom and Dad sure weren’t happy about me moving out and into Apples’s apartment. I wish I could at least tell them that I’m not sick anymore, but I’m kind of stuck having a secret identity whenever we go back home for a visit. I have to carry around my puffer and pretend to use it. I have to put the leg brace on again, though we had to adjust it since my leg’s all healed.
What’s going to happen to us? I don’t know. I just know that we’ll be together. Always. And I guess, for now, that’s enough.
The Screaming
J.A. Konrath
Joseph Andrew Konrath’s first novel, Whiskey Sour (2004), introduced Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. The eighth in the series, Stirred , will be published this year. Joe is also the editor of the Hitman anthology These Guns For Hire (2006). Under the name Jack Kilborn, Konrath has written four horror novels. His short stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines and compilations, and his work has been translated into ten languages. His blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing (jakonrath.blogspot.com), gets over a million hits a year.
Konrath’s “The Screaming” was originally published in The Many Faces of Van Helsing, edited by Jeanne Cavelos. This excellent anthology featured new stories of literature’s first vampire hunter: Bram Stoker’s Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. In “The Screaming,” we find the hunter and the hunted creepily combined.
“Three stinking quid?”
Colin wanted to reach over the counter and throttle the old bugger. The radio he brought in was brand new and worth at least twenty pounds.
Of course, it was also hot. Delaney’s was the last pawnbroker in Liverpool that didn’t ask questions. Colin dealt with them frequently because of this. But each and every time, he left the shop feeling ripped off.
“Look, this is state of the art. The latest model. You could at least go six.”
As expected, the old wank didn’t budge. Colin took the three coins and left, muttering curses under his breath.
Where the hell was he going to get more money?
Colin rubbed his hand, fingers trailing over dirty scabs. His eyes itched. His throat felt like
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