by C. J. Pinard
“Mom, Dad, you’re not going to be believe this! Today I was making a delivery to this man named Jonathan Murphy at that huge bank building on Hyde Street. Well, he said he saw good qualities in me and wanted to give me a job! He’s going to teach me the architectural trade, Dad! Can you believe it? I was quite speechless.”
“Wow, that’s great news, Tom. When do you start?” his dad asked, a little less excited than he should be, his voice vaguely masked in skepticism. He was also trying to hide the disappointment in his son not following in his career footsteps.
“Monday. I gave Mr. Smith my notice today. He took it well.”
Nell walked over and gave her only son a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Tom. You are a good boy. You deserve this. Just don’t let him down, okay?”
“Oh, Mom, I won’t!”
She smiled at him. “Also, I can make you some new dress shirts. I’m thinking you’ll need at least five more. All you have are a couple for church.”
“Yes, mom, that would be great, thank you.”
His father eyed him curiously, deciding he would use his influence to do some digging on this Jonathan Murphy once he got to work the next day.
∞∞∞
It was his last day of work, finally Friday. Thomas was to start at the Murphy Architectural Firm on Monday. He was still in utter shock of his luck. He had just completed the last delivery of the day, well actually of his life, when he was on his way home to enjoy the upcoming weekend. He was thinking about the new Alfred Hitchcock film he was anxious to see at the local movie house. He began to pedal even faster as it was now dark.
Because he was clearly not watching where he was going, and because it was now almost pitch-black out, Thomas took a corner a little too fast and crashed right into….something. He flew off his bike, ass-over-teakettle, and the next thing he knew, he was laid out flat on his back in the middle of the Mission District. He moaned, then shook off the smack to the head he had taken and sat up, looking around for his bicycle. He then heard the sounds of laughter. Not happy laughter, either; it sounded more like nails on a chalkboard. He quickly pulled himself to his feet and headed for his bike, not really wanting to find out where the laughter was coming from. He began to rub the back of his head where he had hit it and felt it was wet. Gosh-darnit, I hope I don’t need stitches, he thought, wiping his hand on his trousers.
Mounting his bike, he began to pedal off when three males suddenly appeared in the middle of the street; one was tall with long, wavy hair, and the one standing next to him was shorter, but was pretty average-looking. The last of them had unkempt greasy hair and a scruffy half-beard. The hair on the back of Thomas’s neck stood up and his arms became covered in gooseflesh. It seems fog had rolled in, because now it was eerily swirling and mounting around the three brooding figures that blocked his path down the shortcut alley he knew he had to take in order to get home. He could barely see them, as the one remaining streetlight was flickering, as if it was about to go out.
“Hey, fellas, excuse me, I need to get through,” Thomas indicated by jutting his chin in the direction of the alley, one foot resting on the ground.
“We aren’t your fellas,” the tallest one hissed with an accent. The other two began to laugh. It sounded anything but friendly.
“At any rate, I still need to get by you, so if you’d please move,” Thomas shot back, his patience quickly wearing thin, but his fear rising at the same time. He knew something was not right.
“He smells pure,” the shortest of them said to the other two, not taking his eyes off Thomas. The words seem to drip out, like venom from a rattlesnake’s mouth.
“All I smell is fear,” the scruffy one said with a slight snicker.
Then, swiftly, and without warning, the three were on Thomas. He screamed like a girl as he was knocked from his bike, his head hitting the pavement once again. He began to kick and thrash wildly while two of the thugs held him down and the biggest one sat on his chest. Their arms felt like steel grips as they pinned him to the ground. Suddenly, Thomas looked into the face of his assailant and thought he might pass out. He saw what looked like long, thin, dripping snake-like fangs protruding from the man’s mouth where his eyeteeth should be. His eyes were black with no pupils at all, and just as he lunged down to bite into Thomas’s neck, the attacker was suddenly whisked off of him and went flying through the air. Thomas and the other two watched as the gang leader was thrown at least fifty feet into the night, crashing into the brick wall of a nearby building. The creepy stranger slumped down the wall, motionless and bleeding from the head and face. Brick dust bellowed up and looked like flashes in the flickering streetlight. Thomas looked wildly around for whomever – or whatever – had done this. The other two thugs were on their feet on high alert, and Thomas sat stunned as he watched on as the ratty-looking one seemed to grow giant claws from where his hands should be. He also produced razor-sharp teeth, but instead of fangs, he had two entire rows of them, top and bottom. He was hissing like a deranged cat, spit dribbling from his mouth. Looking in the direction the men were gaping at, Thomas was stunned to see Jonathan Murphy standing there, suit torn, hair disheveled, and the most frightening, murderous look on his face Thomas had ever seen. On the last night of his mortal life, Thomas then mercifully slipped into unconsciousness.
∞∞∞
END OF PREVIEW
OTHER BOOKS BY C.J. PINARD:
Enchanted Immortals (Book #1)
Enchanted Immortals 2: The Vortex
Enchanted Immortals 3: The Vampyre
Enchanted Immortals 4: The Vixen
BSI: Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (An Enchanted Immortals Novella)
Patriotic Duty (When Riley Met Cara #1)
Tour of Duty (When Riley Met Cara #2)
Unscathed (A contemporary romance collaboration with Tim O’Rourke)
Three of a Kind: Tales of Luck, Chance & Misfortune (short story collaboration)
Summer Sizzle: Stories of Love, Lust, and Passion (short story collaboration)
Blood Bites: Three Vampire Tales (short story collaboration)
Coming soon:
Beneath Broken (contemporary romance)
Soul Rebel (Paranormal Romance)
The Lunar Effect (werewolf saga)
All books available on all venues.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
C.J. is a west coast native who has lived on both coasts and now lives near the middle, in Colorado! Coming from a family of writers and editors, she feels writing is in her blood and hopes people will lose themselves for a little while in the fantasy and fun of her stories. She also loves sweet red wine, the SF 49ers, and unlike most authors, doesn't have any cats. When she's not writing, she can be found chasing around her kids or working at her day job, which she totally feels interferes with her real life, but also sometimes gives her inspiration for her books, since reality is sometimes way more interesting than fiction.
She also loves getting notifications that people have sent her an email, added her on Facebook, or on Goodreads. So stop by and say hi – don't be shy! She's not! :)
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/CJPinardAuthor?ref=hl
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6565787.C_J_Pinard
Authors’ Note:
This is the first book collaboration between the three of us. We enjoy putting out short stories for people to get lost in. LR Potter, Kristen Middleton, and C.J. Pinard all have free books for you to enjoy that span the genres of Paranormal, Horror, and New Adult and Contemporary Romance. We appreciate you downloading our books and hope you will continue to read our other works. If you have enjoyed this book or any of the others, we would be oh-so appreciative if you could leave us a review from wherever you downloaded this book.
Thank you again. Links to our pages are as follows. Happy reading!
LR Potter: http://www.lrpotterauthor.com/
Kristen Middleton (also K.L. Middleton): http://www.kristenmidd
leton.com/
C.J. Pinard: www.cjpinard.com