by Ken Preston
Turning his back on her, he forced himself through the shrubbery and disappeared into the night.
* * *
Emma climbed on the boat and knelt down beside Nick.
“Fucking kid tried shredding me into tiny pieces,” Nick whispered. “What the hell’s going on, Emma?”
“Shush, don’t try and talk, help’s almost here.”
Nick swallowed, his eyelids fluttering. Looked like he was going to pass out. But then he gripped Emma’s wrist.
“Is he dead? The Birmingham Vampire, is he dead?”
Emma nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” Nick took a deep breath, his chest hitching with the effort. “Get out of here, Emms. Get the fuck away before they arrive.”
“No, I can’t do that, I can’t leave you,” Emma said.
“You can’t stay here,” Nick whispered, his voice hoarse. “What are you going to say when you’re down the station, and they ask you what happened here?”
“I’ll tell them, I’ll explain—”
Nick gripped Emma’s wrist fiercely. “What? What are you going to explain? I had to kill Coffin’s kid to stop him, Emma. He would have fucking ripped me apart if I hadn’t done. How do you think that’s going to look when everyone finds out I’m a child killer?”
“But you had to, it was self-defence.”
“He was a fucking four-year-old kid!” Nick hissed. “And I hacked at him with that Samurai sword Coffin brought to the party, just kept chopping at him until he was a lump of red meat, and then I dumped his body into the canal. And you, I don’t know what you’re involvement in all this is, but you’re in deep, right?”
Emma nodded, holding back the tears.
“Get the hell out of here, Emma, now. Go find Barry, tell him you slipped on the towpath, fell in the canal. I’ll explain all this shit here.”
“Nick, I—”
“Just fucking go will you?”
Emma stood up. Lights flickered through the trees. The police search party was almost around the bend in the canal. Another few seconds, and they would be able to see her.
Emma jumped off the boat and ran.
UKUS
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‘I love these books! You must start reading from Season One to fully understand what the dynamics are between the characters. Joe Coffin is my favorite bad boy with a heart. These books are full of blood, gore, killing, suspense, heart pounding, and oh did I mention the blood!! The characters are well though out and they definitely give you the feels, whether it be hate or love!! Do yourself a favor and buy the bundle set your gonna want to binge read them all.’
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‘Too much blood? Too much violence? No way! Not when mix gangsters and vampires! And only Joe Coffin can survive them both, not to mention crazed, methodical killers, cops, and a whole plethora of insane and bloodthirsty characters! I'm continuing this series!’
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I want to thank my wife Jo for her support, especially through the difficult year of 2013. I know it wasn’t easy.
I also want to credit the two counsellors, with whom I discussed, amongst many other things, the darker areas of the mind, and the role that life’s difficulties can sometimes play in the creative process.
Thanks also are due to my good friend Nick Thompson, who is a consistent encourager, and an honest critic. Also Daniel Fazey and Richard Gallon, with whom I draw encouragement from our talks about creativity and writing.
Finally, I owe a big debt of thanks to Carrie Rowlands, who read the manuscript for me, helping pick out some of those typos, and in particular one glaring continuity error which would have made me look very silly indeed if it had passed through to the publication stage undiscovered.
You also helped shape the story, taking Season Two into a direction I had not expected.
Thank you.
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