Blue Skin (Book 4): Blue Skin
Page 17
MICHAEL MATTHIAS
49
My uniform still has blood on it. Not that it matters. My shirt is black, and I doubt any of these drunken losers will notice.
I swallow the whiskey and slam the glass down hard on the bar. The barman glares at me, but says nothing, just carries on serving the skinny woman two stools down.
She looks familiar. Have I seen here before? Or does she just have one of those faces? The face of a million women. Absolutely nothing that stands out.
What’s her story? Why would she spend the apocalypse in a place like this? Escape, maybe? From a toss-pot husband? Hiding from a fucked-up world?
Either way, it has no significance.
Before I even have to ask, the barman pours me another whiskey. I thank him with a nod, and then down it one.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I ignore it.
Thirty-seconds later, it vibrates again.
Squinting, I check the screen. Marie’s calling. Probably wondering where I am.
I let it go to voicemail and slip it back into my pocket.
At the corner of the bar, next to the pool table, there’s a low stage with a karaoke machine and a TV screen fixed to the wall. It looks prehistoric and broken, and most definitely hasn’t functioned for quite some time.
I wonder how everyone would react if someone was up there now, singing I will Survive during the end of the world. Would they see the funny side? I know I would. Hell, I’d probably get up there myself. A duet with one of these wasters. Sing at the top of my lungs. Let everyone hear me. Let the monsters hear me. Who gives a shit? Who cares if they come storming through those doors? None of us is worth saving. Not the barman. Not the skinny woman. Not the fat bastard slouching in his chair.
And certainly not me.
My vision is clouded, so I lean over the bar to see the clock on the wall.
Time to go.
I drop a fifty on the bar, and leave.
Outside is chilly, but the morning sun is shining on a dead vampire. It’s a half-breed. His thin body is literally lying in the gutter. One foot on the pavement, the rest, face down in the storm drain.
I step over it like roadkill and stumble to my car. I’m too drunk to drive, but nevertheless, I fumble about for my keys, start the engine and drive off.
Like most early mornings, the roads are clear. No cars. No dog-walkers. It’s peaceful. It gives me a chance to sober up without the added stress of getting pulled over by a cop.
I laugh.
Cops?
Where the fuck are those bastards hiding?
I pull up to the driveway and the engine stalls, throwing my chest against the steering wheel. A minute passes, maybe five, before I’m ready to face the world. Reaching over the seat, I open the glove compartment and take out the bottle of whiskey. There’s only a dribble left inside, so I swallow it, wipe my mouth, shove the evidence under my seat, and head inside the house.
I cautiously click the front door shut, and then creep across the hallway, struggling to see straight, using the walls for support. It’s still a little dark, but I make it to the kitchen without breaking any ornaments. There’s a bowl of cooked spaghetti in the fridge. No sauce, no meat, but I push my fingers into the middle of it, and stuff a handful into my mouth. It tastes of nothing. I close the fridge and move to the sink, take a dirty glass from the worktop and fill it with water. That’s when I notice the back door.
It’s ajar.
Confused and squinting, I open it all the way and peek outside. The garden is deserted. “Marie?” I whisper. No reply. I close the door, but it won’t click shut. The lock is broken.
A burst of adrenaline burns in my chest and stomach, launching me into clarity. “Marie!” I call out, heading for the hallway, knocking the lights on as I move.
I feel sick when I notice footprints on the wooden floor.
Lots of footprints.
Through tunnel vision, I race upstairs, leap onto the landing, and storm into Esther’s bedroom.
Empty.
Did she stay out last night?
Before I get to Joseph’s room, I see something that rips the air from my lungs.
My bedroom door is hanging wide open, barely clinging to the hinges. White plaster on the carpet.
I rush inside.
Vision narrowing with every step I take to them. My legs become heavy magnets, drawing me to the floor.
Drawing me to my children.
To Marie.
I can’t bear to watch. I want to look away. I want to scream.
But I can’t.
All I can do is crawl. On my hands and knees. Through the blood. Across the carpet. And sit with them. Be close to them. Take their hands.
In silence.
In hope.
Because any second this will all be over.
This nightmare will be over.
And I’ll be sitting at the breakfast table, helping Joseph with his homework. Marie will be standing next to us, refilling my coffee mug, dropping another slice of toast on his plate, telling him how important breakfast is. And Esther will come rushing into the kitchen, late for college again, stealing Joseph’s toast, then rushing out the back door.
This is my family.
This is my world.
My job to protect it.
In front of Marie’s bare foot, I see her phone. I pick it up and wipe the blood from the cracked screen.
The last person she called was me.
To Be Continued...
FREE BOOKS
For a limited time, you can download FREE copies of Blue Skin (Book 1 & 2), and Burn The Dead (Book 1 & 2) - The No.1 bestsellers from Steven Jenkins.
Just click here: GET MY BOOKS
Also Available
Thea: A Vampire Story
(Book One)
How far would you go to protect your child?
Vampires are real - hidden among us, concealing their lust for human blood. But monsters come in many forms. Teenage boys, drug addiction, underage sex - single mother Sarah battles to keep these demons from her daughters.
As the long nights of worry start to feed Sarah’s paranoia, she must take desperate measures to save her family.
Although sometimes, the only way to kill a monster…
…is to become one.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Thea II: A Vampire Story
(Book Two)
Teenage life. Miles from home. And a taste for human blood.
Struggling to control her newfound bloodlust, Thea is taken to a secluded farmhouse by Kate, an experienced vampire with a dark past.
In the shadows, far from watchful eyes, a young life will begin to transform and leave behind the little girl she once knew.
For now, Thea is safe with Kate: her teacher, her friend, her protector.
But is this woman really all that she seems?
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Blue Skin: Book One
What will you do when they come for your children?
The world has turned inward, away from the sun, in the wake of a mysterious disease that has altered the human race. No longer able to bear human children, our mothers and daughters have brought vampire-like hybrids into the world, and with it a new order. Now that reproduction has been banned, those left with young children face a terrible and devastating decision - turn your babies over to the government or pay the price. For young Freya, keeping her brother hidden is the only real option.
Enemies of the state, Freya must stand between her family and the forces of a fearful world. Although her brother may not be human, there is little else separating her and those of the blue skin.
Choices will be made. Lines will be drawn. The battle for humanity has only just begun.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Blue Skin: Book Two
You can’t run forever
In a crumbling society, danger is everywhere, ene
mies come in many forms - and not all monsters have blue skin.
Fugitives from the government, Freya and Ben find themselves living in a decrepit flat, in a dying town infested with lowlifes and vigilantes.
But in the shadows, a light shines.
The enigmatic Maggie, protector of vampires and leader of a fortified community, provides respite and salvation.
The fences may be high; the watchtowers heavily armed. But how long before the darkness finds them again?
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Blue Skin: Book Three
A secret lab. A prison. Deathrow.
Welcome to The Facility.
Broken and alone, Freya must find a way through its thick walls, and free her vampire brother before it’s too late.
But beyond the security cameras, the armed guards, and the smell of burnt bodies, something is waiting for her.
Something much worse…
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Eyes On You: A Ghost Story
“She’s always watching.”
Having found the perfect flat, Matthew and Aimee settle into their new home with all the hopes of a young couple in love.
But something hideous resides within its walls.
Before long, curious incidents turn violent, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the sceptic Matthew to deny that an unholy ghost has descended upon his happy home.
Tormented by the wrath of this angry spirit, Matthew and Aimee’s relationship begins to crumble under the weight of their terror, and have no choice but to flee into the night, leaving their beloved flat behind.
But you can never run from your past…because dark secrets have a way of hunting you down.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Burn The Dead: Quarantine
(Book One)
It’s a dirty job - but someone’s got to do it.
Robert Stephenson burns zombies for a living.
It’s an occupation that pays the bills and plays tricks on the mind. Still, his life is routine until his four-year-old son becomes stranded in a quarantined zone, teeming with flesh-eating rotters.
Does Rob have what it takes to fight the undead and put his broken family back together?
Or will he also end up in the incinerator…
…Burning with the rest of the dead?
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Burn The Dead: Purge
(Book Two)
There are those who run, while others hide.
And then, there are the Cleaners.
The living dead have staggered straight out of hell, and all that keeps humanity from crumbling is a small team of men who catch the rotters, before cleaning up the mess left behind.
Catherine Woods might not be a man, but no sexist, out-dated nonsense is going to stop her from following her dreams and joining the war against the undead.
The only problem is—even the best dreams can become nightmares in an instant.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Burn the Dead: Riot
(Book Three)
A sold-out stadium.
A virus unleashed.
For 17-year-old Alfie Button, today was always going to be a memorable day.
The cheers of excited fans soon become desperate, bloodcurdling cries for help as a legion of the undead overwhelms the stadium. Panic erupts as 21,000 people rush for the exits, only to find them sealed.
With nowhere to run, suffocating in a torrent of blood and chaos, all Alfie and his friends can do is fight for survival—and pray that help will come.
But in every game, in every stadium…
There has to be a loser.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Thread: A Short Horror Story
A brand new drug has infected the streets.
Thread.
The first hit: a high unlike any other.
The second hit: the addiction takes hold.
The third hit: the sun starts to burn your skin.
The last hit: you become one of the horde. A Junkie. A Monster. A Thread-Head.
A Vampire.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Under: A Short Horror Story
There's a dead body under Hayley's bed.
She can smell it. Touch it.
Her husband can't see it. He thinks she's having a nightmare. Her therapist believes it's the trauma of the car accident. And Hayley doesn't believe in ghosts.
But with every day that passes, the vile stench of death gets worse.
Who is this rotting woman?
Why is she under Hayley's bed?
And more, importantly...
Who killed her?
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Spine:
A Collection of Twisted Tales
Listen closely. A creak, almost too light to be heard…was it the shifting of an old house, or footsteps down the hallway? Breathe softly, and strain to hear through the silence. That breeze against your neck might be a draught, or an open window.
Slip into the pages of SPINE and you’ll be persuaded to leave the lights on and door firmly bolted. From Steven Jenkins, bestselling author of Fourteen Days and Burn the Dead, this horror collection of eight stories go beyond the realm of terror to an entirely different kind of creepiness. Beneath innocent appearances lurk twisted minds and scary monsters, from soft scratches behind the wall, to the paranoia of walking through a crowd and knowing that every single eye is locked on you. In this world, voices lure lost souls to the cliff’s edge and illicit drugs offer glimpses of things few should see. Scientists tamper with the afterlife, and the strange happenings at a nursing home are not what they first seem.
So don’t let that groan from the closet fool you—the monster is hiding right where you least expect it.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Fourteen Days
Workaholic developer Richard Gardener is laid up at home for two week’s mandatory leave—doctor’s orders. No stress. No computers. Just fourteen days of complete rest.
Bliss for most, but hell for Richard…in more ways than one. There’s a darkness that lives inside Richard’s home; a presence he never knew existed because he was seldom there alone.
Did he just imagine those footsteps? The smoke alarm shrieking?
The woman in his kitchen?
His wife thinks that he’s just suffering from work withdrawal, but as the days crawl by in his solitary confinement, the terror seeping through the walls continues to escalate—threatening his health, his sanity, and his marriage.
When the inconceivable no longer seems quite so impossible, Richard struggles to come to terms with what is happening and find a way to banish the darkness—before he becomes an exile in his own home.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Also Available
Rotten Bodies:
A Zombie Short Story Collection
We all fear death’s dark spectre, but in a zombie apocalypse, dying is a privilege reserved for the lucky few. There are worse things than a bullet to the brain—much worse.
Meet Dave, a husband and father with a dirty secret, who quickly discovers that lies aren’t only dangerous…they’re deadly. Athlete Sarah once ran for glory, but when she finds herself alone on a country road with an injured knee, second place is as good as last. Howard, shovelling coal in the darkness of a Welsh coal mine, knows something’s amiss when his colleagues begin to disappear. But it’s when the lights come on that things get truly scary.
Five zombie short stories, from the grotesque to the downright terrifying. But reader beware: as the groans get louder and the twitching starts, you’ll be dying to reach the final page.
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
About the Author
Stev
en Jenkins was born in the small Welsh town of Llanelli, where he began writing stories at the age of eight, inspired by '80s horror movies and novels by Richard Matheson.
During Steven's teenage years, he became a great lover of writing dark and twisted poems—six of which gained him publications with Poetry Now, Brownstone Books, and Strong Words.
Over the next few years, as well as becoming a husband and father, Steven spent his free time writing short stories, achieving further publication with Dark Moon Digest. And in 2014 his debut novel, Fourteen Days was published by Barking Rain Press.
For More information
www.steven-jenkins.com
author@steven-jenkins.com