by Vance, Ramy
The Mortality Bites Box Set
Books 1 - 6
Ramy Vance
Keep Evolving Studios
Contents
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Mortality Bites
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. Roommates Ruminate
2. Vampires, Others, Professors and Football Players
3. History is for the Hyenas
4. Beggars Evidently Can Be Choosers
5. Libraries Don’t Just Have Books, You Know
II. Intermission
6. DayStalker, NightWalker
7. Vampires Aren’t Only Humans
8. Dirks and Lipstick
9. Human Security Securing
10. Hyenas and Denial Are Like Oil and Water
III. Intermission
11. Activists Play Football, Too
12. Wise Sages and Pale White Riders
13. Snakes and Sages
14. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth
15. Jessica Fletcher, You Are Not Darling
16. Sticks and Stones Hurt Waaaay Less than Words
17. Up, Up and Away!
IV. Intermission
18. On a Hill, Beneath a Neon Cross, Waiting for Dawn
19. Check Out What’s Been Checked Out
20. Let’s Party Like It’s Your Last Day on Earth
21. Screaming the Gods Back
22. Changelings, Hyenas, Warriors and Angels
23. An Ending of Sorts
Family Matters
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. In Case You Haven’t Heard—The Gods Are Gone
2. Danger, Lost Gods and Boyfriends
3. Dorm Rooms, Changelings and Calculus
4. The Past and All That Jazz
5. Din, Din Time
II. Intermission
6. When an Angel Shatters a Window, Use the Door
7. Mustangs, Confused Boyfriends and Laughing Hyenas
8. Goodbyes, Amulets
9. No Signals for the Past
10. Truth You Can’t Eat
11. Sometimes All It Takes is a Phone Call
12. Changelings, Baby Rats, Broadswords and Bad-Assary
13. Wanna Dance, My Little Angel?
III. Intermission
14. Boots, Pups and Butterflies
15. Phone Calls, Broken Chests and a New Respect
16. Killers Unsung and Modesty Lost
17. Codeine, Killers Now Sung and Blessed Sleep
18. Twins, Amulets, Alchemy and “What Did You Say …?”
19. Who’s Your Decorator?
20. No Staring Contest, No Questions, No Future
21. Goodbyes, Car Rides and Crashes
IV. Intermission
22. Car Parks, Airbags and Super Humans
23. Confessions of Love and Confessions of … Well, Let’s Just Say Confessions
24. Selfish Questions, Selfish Boys
25. The Lesser of Two Rights
26. One Last Confession
27. The Rasp
Superhero Me!
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. Demons of the Desert and Superheroes of the North
2. Superheroes Aren’t Real
3. Drunken Underdogs, Dorm Rooms and Suspicious Characters
4. A Quick Discussion and a Quicker Offer Denied
5. A League of Heroes, Research and More Awkwardness
6. Walking, Talking and Rocking
7. Justice League vs. The League of Doom vs. One Girl in Snow Pants
8. Superheroes Never Think About Repair Costs
II. Intermission
9. Run, Lola … Ahh, I Mean … Run, Kat, Run
10. Still Underground, Still Screwed
11. Superheroes to My Left, Superheroes to My Right
12. Daydreams and Fine Art
13. The Curse of Art
14. Hags, Boxes and Blasts from the Past
15. Curses—They’re Not Real … Are They?
16. I Can’t Hear You … Let’s Go for a Walk
17. Some Truths Give You a Stomach Ache
III. Intermission
18. Behold, It Is I! The Villain!
19. Up, Up and Get Away?
20. The Geriatric Ward of Heroes
21. Sorrys, Sirens and Songs
22. Presidential Fights Aren’t Very Presidential
23. Plans, Legally Blondes, Sleep and Reversions
24. Regression is a Bitch
25. A Song, a Party and a Bite
IV. Intermission
26. A Superhero Ball Whose Guest of Honor is a Villain
27. Ninja Minions and Darting Villains
28. Invisible Hands Are the Devil’s Playthings
29. Lead for Your Heart, Pennies for Your Eyes
30. Click, Clack, Bang, like It Ain’t No Thang …
31. How Many Lives Is Your Own Worth?
32. All’s Well That Ends Well … Well, Maybe Not
33. A Brief Epilogue
Orphaned Follies
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. Passive Aggressive, Overtly Aggressive, Nuclear Aggressive
2. Healthy Stalker Relationships Are Hard
3. It’s Beginning to Feel a Lot like Christmas
4. The Dark Side of Student Organizers
5. Shrinking from Shrinks
6. Walks, Friends and Party Prep
7. Let the Festivities Begin!
8. Snowed-In Speeches and Confined Tensions
9. Meeting Your Heroes Sucks
10. Festivities? I’d Rather Sleep
11. Nightmares and Murders
II. Intermission
12. Accusations, Much?
13. You Did It! No, You Did!
14. Spotless Rooms and Dirty Kitchens
15. Egg-Timers and Alibis
16. Wind-Downs and What’s Next
17. Polite Dinner Discussions and Impolite Dessert Disasters
18. Chases and Mirages
III. Intermission
19. Waking the Death
20. Bedtime Musings
21. Dark Elves and Kidnapping Papas
22. Death Does Not Become Him
23. Connecting the Firefly Dots
24. Tying Up Loose Ends
25. I’m Not Good at Being Good
IV. Intermission
26. Kings, Day-Dreams and Nightmares All Rolled into One
27. Once More … With Feeling!
28. Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?
29. Here’s What Happens When a Volcano Meets a Tornado
30. Back Doors and Magnet’s Helmet
31. We’re off to See the Wizard … Ahh, I Mean Witch
32. Ester and the Looking Mirror
33. I’m an Idiot … Seriously, I Am
34. Goodbyes and Goodbyes
35. And Before You Know It … You’re In Japan
Dawn of a Thousand Sunsets
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. Japan Airlines … the Soul of the Sky
2. Please Fasten Your Seatbelt, You’re About to Get Punched
3. Resurrecting the Dead—Goddamn Style
4. Costumes, Taxis and Japanese Malls
5. You May Be a No One, but Here You’re Famous
6. Walls, Walls and More Walls
II. Intermission
7. Okinawa — World War II
8. Shit … Shisa
9. Agyo and Ungyo and Their Pet Shisa, Open and Closed
10. A Trouble of Guardians
11. Reunions and Soul-Beating Moments
12. Ma’ams, Metal Tables and Sole Eyeballs
13. A Million Screens and Eyeless Creeps
14. Carrots, Sticks
& the Realization
15. I Really Wanted to Use the Stick
16. World War Other
III. Intermission
17. Okinawa - World War II
18. Boom, Boom, Shake, Shake the Room
19. Black Hole Sea, Won’t You Come and Drown Away the Pain?
20. Meres and an Underwater Griffin
21. Hiking Through the Jungle Is Five Star Enough for Me
22. Hotel Castles for the Rich and Dead
23. It’s Like Discovering the World’s Flat
24. 10, 9, 8 … Really? This Couldn’t Have Waited Until New Year’s?
IV. Intermission
25. Okinawa — World War II
26. The One and Only Chapter Left
27. An Ending of Sorts
Three Dead Gods
I. A Beginning of Sorts
1. Three Dead Gods. Three Dead Gods
2. The Dark Side of Your Soul
3. We All Have Our Angels to Burden
4. These Gods Ain’t So Tough
5. Who’s Saving Who?
II. Intermission
6. Charon
7. Absolutely Apocalyptic Mistakes
8. Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood
9. Home No More
10. Kat, Meet Father Time for the First Time
11. No Time Like Any Time but the Present
III. Intermission
12. Charon
13. G.I. Joe … a Real Other Hero!
14. What’s the Plan, Phil?
15. Not All Goodbyes are Created the Same
16. We Make Plans and the Gods Laugh
17. Cry “Havoc!” and Let Slip the Others of War
IV. Intermission
18. Charon
19. Watch How They Run
20. The Boys in Black
21. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
22. They Don’t Make Prophets Like They Used To
23. Idle, Godly Hands, Playgrounds and All That Jazz
24. Seasons of the Abyss
25. A Brief Interlude from Charon
26. Mortal Kombat … The Gods’ Edition
27. In the Arms of the Archangel
28. Why Can’t This Be the End
A Brief, Secondary Epilogue
29. Want more GONEGOD WORLD?
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About the Author
Mortality Bites Series © Copyright <<2018>> Ramy Vance
Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
For more information, email: [email protected]
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Mortality Bites
Part I
A Beginning of Sorts
TODAY—
“We disappointed them,” the monster said, pulling the ropes.
The old librarian groaned in pain as his arms and legs were forced apart so that he hung like Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
“Please,” the librarian muttered. “We didn’t disappoint them. The gods … they just left. That’s all.”
The monster gave a final tug, ensuring that the ropes were secure, before calmly walking past the librarian. “No, you’re wrong. We turned our backs on the old ways. We forgot the fundamental rule when appeasing the gods,” the monster, the old librarian’s torturer, said as it browsed the library’s rare-items display. It paused on the item it wanted, touching the cool glass with a light, almost casual finger. The monster’s lips crooked up in satisfaction. “This modern world, with its iPads and smartphones, its Wikipedia and unlimited data … it forgot that this … all of this … is because they willed it. Without the gods, we would be monkeys picking the ticks off each other’s backs. Stupid, arrogant modern world. To think that they actually believe they can go on without the gods.” With one powerful, angry fist, the monster shattered the display glass.
“Don’t do this. Please. It will not bring them back. Nothing will bring them back!”
The monster ignored the old man’s pleas, pulling the ancient obsidian blade from its stand and caressing its tip. The blade was sharp, and a tiny stream of red blood dripped from where it tore into flesh. “Blood. We forgot about blood. About how it is the essence of true worship.”
Approaching the helpless librarian, the monster held the blade aloft and started muttering ancient ritualistic words.
“Stop this. Please. I beg you,” said the librarian, but he knew his pleas were useless. He’d read the history books; he knew what these old rituals entailed. The fear and suffering of “that which is sacrificed”—him, in this instance—was part of it. According to the texts, the harder the one who was sacrificed held on to life, the closer the gods paid attention. Mustering the last of his pride, he closed his eyes and silenced his cries.
Death was coming. There was nothing he could do about that. But at least he could deny this monster some of the satisfaction.
The creature opened its eyes and, lifting the ceremonial knife high above its head, cried out an ancient incantation that no human ear has heard in over a thousand years.
As the blade punctured his heart, the librarian uttered a silent prayer, not for the gods to intervene, he knew that was useless, but as comfort to himself in his last moments. After all, this old librarian was once a priest, and old habits … well, old habits die hard.
Roommates Ruminate
Two Days Ago –
My dorm room door was open, which could mean only one of two things: I was being robbed or my roommate had finally chosen to show up.
The semester didn’t start until tomorrow, but I’d arrived a week early to check out my new living digs. An old habit—necessary when you’re a vampire living in secret among humans. Of course, vampires weren’t a secret any longer.