Erik Handy (16 page)

He loved his sister. He would do anything for her. He’d do anything for her son, his nephew. The source of this fierce love, he figured, was his wanting her to live a happier life than the life she had been living before she moved in with him six months ago. She was unlucky when it came to love and lovers. He tried to remember all the times when she would come to him crying and brokenhearted, but the only time he could remember was the latest heartbreak.

She met Johnny Gold at a bar and it was love at first sight. Of course it was, he had said to her when she told him that she was going to move in with Mr. Gold. Alex didn’t object to the move. He knew the relationship wouldn’t last. The failure wasn’t Isabel’s fault. Romantic misfortune just seemed to follow the woman like a long shadow.

But Alex was proven wrong, for a short time, and the two lived in bliss for two years. A son was born to Johnny Gold and Isabel Martin, Jacob Downing. Five years later, Johnny kicked Isabel out of their apartment, citing the baby as destroying their love life, which only existed because he wanted it to; it existed to fulfill him and only him. Isabel screamed at him to at least accept responsibility for the boy and Johnny punched her in the left eye and in the mouth, loosening but not relocating any teeth. She left him, taking only her son with her. Five years gone with the kissing of a fist.

She went to Alex. Dear brother Alex. And Alex took her and Jacob in without any debate or discussion. He made enough money to support them for a while and he was glad to have someone living with him. He was a bit lonely, even with the Friday dinners with the Hennings (only with Earl most of the time). Plus he wanted to help her, to console her. It was his self-imposed duty.

Johnny Gold wasn’t forgotten about though. A few months after things had settled, Mr. Gold was found laying in the apartment living room with a sledgehammer standing up on its butt end in the place where Johnny’s face and brains used to be had they not been bashed to a liquid state. Inquiries were made and investigations performed and the only conclusion anyone came up with was that Johnny ran afoul of some shady criminal types, which was well within the realm of possibility.

Alex thought it was some kind of cosmic retribution for harming Isabel and giving up on a potentially great thing like a family. Isabel had thought it was her dear brother who avenged her. She asked him one night after Jacob was in bed asleep if he killed, no, avenged her and Alex had tried to look into her blue eyes and said no. The matter was dropped. The siblings agreed that Jacob didn't need to know the details of his father’s death until the boy was much older.

Alex pulled into a gas station, opened his door, and threw up the puffed stuff he gulped down a few minutes prior.

The boy didn’t need to know.

Isabel didn’t need to know.

Jacob didn’t need to know the truth and Isabel didn’t need to know how much he loved his sister.

He dabbed his mouth with the back of his hand to check for remnants of puke. Finding none he closed his door and pulled out into traffic again.

THE CREEPING CITY IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!

Reality has broken down, allowing the spirit world to bleed into our own. The source of this chaos, an ancient demon, stalks the streets, rallying his strength for a final confrontation with the young woman who has the power to stop it and to save our world.

Erik Handy, the author of
The Web
, brings you an urban fantasy epic that will stretch your imagination . . . and make your skin crawl.

Here's an excerpt:

"I don't believe this."

The planchette quivered. The wooden triangle with a hole bored through one of its peaks felt warm to the two girls' touch.

"Quit moving it," Abby demanded.

Brittany shook her head. "I'm not."

Both girls sat across from each other, the aged Ouija board between them. The board's letters, dark and bold, shone through the faded layer of the wood. Shadows from the tiny candles at each corner of the board danced along the bedroom walls and along each of their soft faces.

They kept their fingers firmly on the planchette. Brittany felt the device vibrate. She thought she could hear a barely audible hum emanate from somewhere in Abby's bedroom. She tried to pinpoint its location, but the drone shifted position each time she focused on the intruder noise.

"You're moving it," Abby said.

"I am not." The hum now gnawed at the back of Brittany's head and reached up into her ears.

The planchette crawled to the middle of the board, now warmer.

"Look," Brittany said.

"A." Abby grinned.

Brittany felt a bead of sweat roll slowly, gently, down her back, gathering speed as it neared the bottom. The humming filled her eyes. A sliver of tears formed. "B."

The planchette slid a millimeter above the B and then back down over it.

"B."

"I'm not doing it," Brittany mumbled. The planchette, down to --

"Y," Brittany breathed.

Abby just grinned. She looked up at her friend and shook her head. "This is crazy."

The wood turned to rubber beneath Brittany's cold fingers.

"D," Abby said. "D?"

Brittany stared at the planchette to confirm it was indeed a piece of wood. She pressed harder.

"I."

"I'm not doing it," Brittany mumbled again, louder this time. The humming drone filled her ears, eyes, body. The warm hum.

Abby didn't hear Brittany’s denials or any hum. The unfolding message numbed her to any external stimulus.

"E."

Brittany snatched the planchette and jammed the tip into her friend's right eye.

A ghost has been haunting a stretch of I-4 for decades. Photographic evidence yields only blurs of light where witnesses claim to have seen the female spectre along the highway. Skeptics scoff at the very notion of such a roadside phenomenon.

For a group of curious college students, there is no question if the "I-4 Ghost" is real or not. The question is who she will kill next as she spins a web of blind vengeance.

Bullets can not stop her. Brute violence can not stop her. Prayers have no effect. No one is safe once in
The Web
. It will ensnare them all.
 

There is no escape from
The Web
!
 

Here's an excerpt:

"You okay?" Lacey asked him.

"Candy was talking to me."

Lacey looked at the sleeping Candy through the curtain. The girl's head was straight, as if she was projecting her dreams from her forehead straight up to the stars.

"Well, she's sleeping now," Lacey said. "We should go see where Jen is."

The couple looked at Candy one last time, wishing her the best.

Jay's head was clear of any wanton thoughts for Candy. No memory remained of them. His throat still itched and he rubbed the area until the irritation went away.

Lacey's cell rang.

"Shit," she said as she answered the call quickly, worried it'd wake Candy. "Hello. Jen? Where were you? Slow down. Ryan? We're on our way."

"What's up?" Jay asked.

"Jen found Ryan. They're at Joe's memorial on campus."

"Let's go," he said, already making for the door. Lacey followed him out.

Neither noticed that the figure in bed, Candy or not, was now sitting up, grinning, manically showing a razorline of teeth.

A small, black spider crawled out her right nostril, down her upper lip, and into her mouth.

The crew of the Final Fantasy is searching for the cause behind recent disappearances on the high seas. When they find it, there will be no escaping
The Malice Below
!
 

Here's an excerpt:

The short distance to the bridge was a blur for Kim. Her feet pounding on the hollow floor echoed the pounding in her chest. She could feel that beat in her ears. It was exhilaration given form. She felt like if she pushed hard enough off the floor, then she could fly.

"Martin," she said, barely in the doorway. "We got --"

"We know," the elder interrupted.

She looked at what he and Knight were gaping at.

A pink light shone up through the calm, dark waves. The lit area was about fifty yards in diameter. The shape was more like a big jigsaw puzzle piece than anything round.

The light shining wasn't strong, but strong enough to bathe the Final Fantasy and all within close eyeshot.

Kim immediately thought the light came from a type of algae yet to be discovered. But she couldn't explain its apparent barb. She rebelled against her inquisitive nature and just desired to rest her eyes upon that submerged red. To laze. She thought she smelled . . . no, that was impossible.

Then the light blinked out, leaving the ship and the three on the bridge in the near dark of night. The minute glows from the ship's control's lights didn't do much in the way of illumination.

"It's gone," Kim said more to herself than the others just joining them. Emptiness tugged on her chain, wanting to draw her closer to embrace her. Hello, isolated princess, the warmth of that cold empty said to her as it glowed pink.

Don't go, Kim wanted to yell at the light. In the few seconds of its existence, the light seemed to be a natural part of life like the wind and rain. The light was sorely missed by the three on the bridge, even to the uninterested Knight. However, they kept their slight melancholies to themselves. As the seconds passed, so did their gloom.

Keyes, Tagg, and Hunter leaped onto the bridge, too late.

Tagg and Hunter wasted no time racing to the deck.

The hunt was on.