A Ghoul Like You is out!
Oct. 18th, 2010 05:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jl_merrowMy new short story A Ghoul Like You is now available from Noble Romance:
Here's the blurb, to save you scrolling back to my earlier post:
Niall's just a ghoul looking for a quiet life. Instead he meets Jamie, a kid on a vampire killing spree. And nothing says "I love you" like a stake through the heart…
A visceral story of love (or something like it) among the undead.
And here, as promised, is an excerpt. The story is noticeably darker than my usual fare - one of those things you write and then think, "Whoa! Where did that come from?" Those squeamish about blood, please take note!
;)
Niall walks away from the club. Away from the cute kid with the pouty mouth and the curly blond hair. His footsteps echo off graffiti-covered walls. He doesn't look back.
He doesn't need to.
He can smell the kid's arousal from here, feel the vibrations as he moves. Not walking, more like bouncing, too much energy to be contained in one pair of cut-price Converse. He can hear the kid's breath coming hard and fast, and the beat of the boy's heart throbs in Niall's chest too. Jamie, that was his name. Hi-I'm-Jamie-this-is-my-first-time-here.
It hasn't been Niall's first time at the Pit for many a year, but he's still got it. Hell, if you go by the number of guys who come on to him, he's got more of it now than he's ever had. Come back when you're legal, Jamie.
Hey, I've been legal age since, like, forever. Wanna see my ID?
Niall stops. Turns. The kid's wearing that aw-shucks-you-caught-me look that must have gotten him out of all kinds of trouble with his Mom and Dad. It's not going to get him out of trouble tonight. "You following me, kid?"
"You want me to?" Jamie rocks forward on his toes, like a greyhound ready for the off.
Niall guesses that makes him the lure. He's always wondered: if the dogs ever caught that damn fake hare, would they know what to do with it? He figures he's about to find out. Or perhaps Jamie is. "Maybe. If you've got the balls for it."
Now it's the cheeky grin. Man, that kid must've had his teachers eating out of the palm of his hand, back in school. "Want me to show you?"
Oh, you will do, Jamie. Trust me on that. "Maybe."
"It's, uh, kinda public round here."
"That it is, Jamie, that it is." Niall walks on. Turns a corner. Opens a door.
It shuts behind him. And the kid, of course. "What is this place?"
"Home. You got a problem with that?"
"It's kinda . . . ."
Empty. Cold. Dark. "Missing your home comforts?" Niall can feel the heat as the blood rushes to Jamie's face. He's drawn to that warmth, that life, but he resists. Opens the door from the empty garage to the part of his home he actually lives in. Flicks on a light.
Breath, like a sigh behind him. "Shit! You had me worried for a bit, there! Hey, this place is pretty cool. You've got some serious Goth vibes going on here, you know?"
Yeah, Jamie, I know. All the black—well, that's just practical. Doesn't show the stains. And the wrought iron, and the arches on the windows that don't look onto anything . . . . "I like a place that feels like home."
"Man, it feels like a graveyard, is what it feels like," Jamie says, a laugh in his voice.
Right first time, kid.
"Hey, you got anything to eat around here?"
Now, Niall laughs, although he does it silently. Is this kid for real? Niall can almost taste him from here, feel that firm, tender flesh against his lips. "Oh, yeah. Got something special—" Niall doesn't finish the sentence. Whirls, his teeth bared. Ready to strike.
The kid's not there.
Niall blinks—and then something slams into him like a pile driver, and he's looking at three inches of wood sticking out of his chest. Blood bubbles, sluggishly, from the wound.
"Fucking vampires," Jamie says, and leaves just as Niall collapses to the floor.
Here's the blurb, to save you scrolling back to my earlier post:
Niall's just a ghoul looking for a quiet life. Instead he meets Jamie, a kid on a vampire killing spree. And nothing says "I love you" like a stake through the heart…
A visceral story of love (or something like it) among the undead.
And here, as promised, is an excerpt. The story is noticeably darker than my usual fare - one of those things you write and then think, "Whoa! Where did that come from?" Those squeamish about blood, please take note!
;)
Niall walks away from the club. Away from the cute kid with the pouty mouth and the curly blond hair. His footsteps echo off graffiti-covered walls. He doesn't look back.
He doesn't need to.
He can smell the kid's arousal from here, feel the vibrations as he moves. Not walking, more like bouncing, too much energy to be contained in one pair of cut-price Converse. He can hear the kid's breath coming hard and fast, and the beat of the boy's heart throbs in Niall's chest too. Jamie, that was his name. Hi-I'm-Jamie-this-is-my-first-time-here.
It hasn't been Niall's first time at the Pit for many a year, but he's still got it. Hell, if you go by the number of guys who come on to him, he's got more of it now than he's ever had. Come back when you're legal, Jamie.
Hey, I've been legal age since, like, forever. Wanna see my ID?
Niall stops. Turns. The kid's wearing that aw-shucks-you-caught-me look that must have gotten him out of all kinds of trouble with his Mom and Dad. It's not going to get him out of trouble tonight. "You following me, kid?"
"You want me to?" Jamie rocks forward on his toes, like a greyhound ready for the off.
Niall guesses that makes him the lure. He's always wondered: if the dogs ever caught that damn fake hare, would they know what to do with it? He figures he's about to find out. Or perhaps Jamie is. "Maybe. If you've got the balls for it."
Now it's the cheeky grin. Man, that kid must've had his teachers eating out of the palm of his hand, back in school. "Want me to show you?"
Oh, you will do, Jamie. Trust me on that. "Maybe."
"It's, uh, kinda public round here."
"That it is, Jamie, that it is." Niall walks on. Turns a corner. Opens a door.
It shuts behind him. And the kid, of course. "What is this place?"
"Home. You got a problem with that?"
"It's kinda . . . ."
Empty. Cold. Dark. "Missing your home comforts?" Niall can feel the heat as the blood rushes to Jamie's face. He's drawn to that warmth, that life, but he resists. Opens the door from the empty garage to the part of his home he actually lives in. Flicks on a light.
Breath, like a sigh behind him. "Shit! You had me worried for a bit, there! Hey, this place is pretty cool. You've got some serious Goth vibes going on here, you know?"
Yeah, Jamie, I know. All the black—well, that's just practical. Doesn't show the stains. And the wrought iron, and the arches on the windows that don't look onto anything . . . . "I like a place that feels like home."
"Man, it feels like a graveyard, is what it feels like," Jamie says, a laugh in his voice.
Right first time, kid.
"Hey, you got anything to eat around here?"
Now, Niall laughs, although he does it silently. Is this kid for real? Niall can almost taste him from here, feel that firm, tender flesh against his lips. "Oh, yeah. Got something special—" Niall doesn't finish the sentence. Whirls, his teeth bared. Ready to strike.
The kid's not there.
Niall blinks—and then something slams into him like a pile driver, and he's looking at three inches of wood sticking out of his chest. Blood bubbles, sluggishly, from the wound.
"Fucking vampires," Jamie says, and leaves just as Niall collapses to the floor.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:31 pm (UTC)Oh, noes! Does this mean we won't be seeing Captain's Surrender with Zombies, after all? ;)
And thank you! :D
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:39 pm (UTC)If my ill children ever go back to school and let me write anything, that is.
random commenter
Date: 2010-10-18 08:42 pm (UTC)Re: random commenter
Date: 2010-10-18 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 09:24 pm (UTC)Great story, perfect for Halloween. I liked Niall very much.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 09:35 pm (UTC)I really enjoyed writing this one. I'm not quite sure what that says about me! ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 02:16 pm (UTC)Thanks for letting me know!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-20 12:40 pm (UTC)