I smiled back. She had a point and what she was saying made me feel a little better. But even so, I’d caused a lot of chaos in very little time. Outside of the circumstances around my birth, that had all been my doing. I popped the top on my meds.
“Don’t do it.”
“I have to.”
“I mean it. You don’t need those.”
“I know I don’t need them.”
“Then don’t take them.”
“It’s not for me, it’s for everyone else. Like I said, it’s safer this way.”
I tried to shake out two pills but she slammed a fist into the horn, almost causing me to drop the whole bottle.
“Listen, you’re not some nutcase on antipsychotic drugs. Swallowing those pills only makes it safer for the things that are already afraid of you. Taking them doesn’t change the fact that they’re still out there. And they’ll eventually come up with a different excuse to kill each other. Believe me, they will. Your uncle’s actions convinced me of that.”
“He’s dead.”
“Yeah, but there’s gotta be more like him on both sides, and you know it.”
“Maybe...”
“No maybe about it,” she said, sounding more adamant than I’d ever heard her. “You think you’re dangerous and you are, but not to us, to them. You’re unique, one of a kind. You’re something that’s maybe happened ... I dunno, once before in all of history.”
I spun toward her. “Huh? What was that?”
“Maybe never,” she clarified. “But most importantly, you’re you. You deserve the chance to live your life how you want to live it, not how they want you to. And if the time does come when either side decides High Moon needs to be burnt to the ground for whatever reason, I sure as shit will feel a lot better knowing you’re there as you, not as whoever they want you to be.”
“I’m not sure...”
“I am. You’re the only one on our side, the only one who was out there that night fighting for the town and its people. Taking that away, making yourself a prisoner in your own body again, doesn’t help any of them. Any of us.”
I let Riva’s words sink in. This wasn’t a decision to make lightly, but she made a lot of sense. These past few days, all I could see was the guilt and the fear of it happening again, but the only reason any of this happened in the first place was because of someone else’s fear of me. If I lived my life the same way, would that really make anything better? And was that really someone else’s choice to make, even my parents?
What Mom told me still held weight, though. Going against that was risky and not just for me. She’d said that this was the only way, but was that true or just another attempt to protect me? And was it really me they were protecting, so much as the status quo?
My whole life I’d gone against the grain, tried to forge my own path. Just because my parents didn’t see another way didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Didn’t I owe it to myself to try to find it? And maybe I also owed it to the people of High Moon, too. Even if they didn’t realize it, they still lived on a razor’s edge – entirely dependent on the good graces of two warring factions. The slightest tip in either direction and they’d be at the mercy of one or both. Could I willingly turn my back on that?
Riva held out her hand. “So, how about it? Are you sickly little Tam-Tam Bentley, or are you badass Bent?”
I pursed my lips at her use of that nickname but then realized I was lucky to have so fierce of a friend, one who wasn’t beholden to either side in this bizarre supernatural cold war I’d found myself in the middle of. One who I could count on to tell me not what someone else wanted me to hear, but what I needed to hear.
Screw it.
I handed over the pill bottle.
“Good call.” She rolled down the window and tossed them out onto the highway. “How does that feel?”
“Pretty good so far, but if last time is any indication, be ready to pull over at a moment’s notice so I can puke.”
“And once that’s finished?”
I felt my sides, still tender from my injuries. But in a few hours, they’d be just fine. “Give me a little while, and then I think I’ll be ready for whatever this weird-ass world has to throw at me.”
“Now you’re talking. That’s the Bent I know and love.”
Once back at college, I’d have time to think, time to figure out how to break it to my parents that things had changed for me this summer and that there was no going back, no matter how much they wanted it. One side in this war already knew I existed. The cat was out of the bag. It was only a matter of time before my mother’s people found out, too. And when that happened, they’d discover that I was my own person, not a pawn to be used.
It was something both sides would have to learn to live with.
And if they couldn’t, if either faction tried to pull some shit that endangered my friends or family, they’d find me waiting for them at the gates of High Moon, ready to kick their asses back to whence they came.
THE END
Tamara Bentley will return to High Moon in
BENT OUTTA SHAPE
But before then, check her out in Hell-Bent
Part of the Beyond Midnight anthology.
Coming July 2018
♦ ♦ ♦
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this tale and I’d absolutely love it if we could stay in touch – no matter whether you’re interested in new releases, or just occasionally shooting the breeze.
Sign up for Rick’s Newsletter: www.rickgualtieri.com/newsletter
Join Rick on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RickGualtieriAuthor
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Some stories pop into my head nearly fully formed, while others take their sweet time gelling in my gray matter.
This story is one of those former, but the main character herself goes back a bit further than that. I had originally considered someone like Tamara Bentley a few years ago, while still working on The Tome of Bill series. At the time, she was marked for potential inclusion into that story, a sort of polar opposite to Bill Ryder. But then I realized I already had enough characters looking to kick his ass. There was also the problem that the background I envisioned for her didn’t quite fit with the canon established for that series.
Normally when that happens, I move on, but Tamara refused to be filed away so easily. While other scrapped characters were good enough to show themselves to the door leading to the primordial stew of my subconscious, she stubbornly stuck around and made herself at home.
It wasn’t long after that I realized the reason why. She was destined for her own series of stories. Once I understood that, the concept behind GET BENT! materialized soon after.
And now here we are.
It’s both new territory for me, while still feeling like walking down a well-traveled road. Tamara and her family dynamic, her friend Riva, the town of High Moon itself, all of that offers exciting possibilities. At the same time, Tamara herself feels like someone I’ve known forever.
Of course, if I said otherwise she’s liable to kick my ass when next I close my eyes. Let me tell you, being a vivid dreamer isn’t always wine and roses.
My mental bruises aside, though, I hope you enjoyed meeting her and, like me, can’t wait to see what she gets up to next in the fictional town of High Moon.
Rick G.
BONUS CHAPTER
HELL-BENT
From the Beyond Midnight anthology
Dark as it might have been, I’d become intimately familiar with the size and shape of werewolves to know this wasn’t one. It was too small and lean. That said, I got a distinctly non-human feel from it. The shape simply wasn’t right. The low hissing sound it made as it knelt down seemed to confirm this.
“Get away from me, you...”
I didn’t wait for Justin to finish before I was already on the move. He was a jerk, true, but that wasn’t a capital offense. “Stay down!”
That caught both their attention, just as I’d hoped, giving paus
e to their struggle long enough for me to close the distance and launch myself over Justin’s head and into his attacker.
I pulled my blow at the last second, as I still wasn’t sure what I was dealing with yet, but it was more than enough.
Justin let out a muffled cry of pain as I landed atop his assailant, telling me it had probably kicked out at him as it fell.
Oopsie.
Sadly, all thoughts of glee at his discomfort fled my mind as I caught a glimpse of a gaping mouth filled with wicked fangs.
I barely managed to pull back before they could snap shut.
If I was hoping the close quarters would give me a better idea of what I was up against, though, I was in for a world of disappointment. Whatever it was, it had rough, dark skin that blended in perfectly with the shadows in which we fought.
Oh, well, there’d be plenty of time to drag its unconscious ass into the light once this was over. I reared back, preparing to knock this thing into next week when something flashed out from behind the creature’s back.
I had just enough time to feel a whoosh of air and catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a leather bat wing of enormous proportions before it slammed into my face, knocking me back.
Thankfully, Justin was there to break my fall.
Before I could recover, however, movement registered in my vision and I heard the thud of running feet. Nice try, but it wasn’t getting away that easily.
I launched myself after it, but only got a few steps before another sound caught my ear – what could only be the flapping of a pair of enormous wings. I immediately skidded to a halt, and looked up.
Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of something large gaining altitude, but it was only for a moment before it was lost to the gloom. Not being able to fly definitely put a damper on pursuit. Sadly, my hesitation proved to be more than enough for the retreating footsteps to fade away into the distance. It’s possible I could have chased after them, but in the darkness it would be little more than a game of hide and seek.
What the hell?
I glanced back. Sure enough, Justin was still there. But then who had run away? So far as I was aware, I’d plowed into one inhuman attacker. Had there been another one present, lurking in the shadows? Or had someone else been hiding and then decided to make a run for it once the opportunity presented itself?
Whatever the case, this seemed like one mystery I wasn’t going to be solving right away.
I turned back toward Justin. Tempting as it was to ditch him and go monster hunting, I had no idea how badly he was hurt. I might’ve been something other than human – a hybrid of two mythological creatures – but I wasn’t an unfeeling monster.
Mind you, I also wasn’t stupid, so I did my best to disguise my voice when I held out a hand for him. “Are you okay?”
“I ... think so. Just a bit dinged up.” I pulled him to his feet and he grabbed hold of his side. “Yeah, definitely going to feel that tomorrow.”
Justin blinked a few times, as if what had happened was finally hitting home. Poor dickhead was probably going into shock or something. “Holy shit! You saved me.”
A part of me was tempted to offer some snark in return, let him know that women were good for something besides cooking and spitting out babies, but I didn’t want to risk him figuring out who I was. Instead I simply nodded, hoping that was the end of it. I’d saved him, but that didn’t mean I had to like him.
“You freaking plowed into that thing and took it down like it was nothing. You’re a...”
“A what?” I barked. “A girl?” So much for not letting my bitch face out to play.
He shook his head. “No. I mean, yeah, you’re a girl, but I was going to say you’re amazing.” Oh. “That thing knocked me on my ass like I was made of cardboard.”
That was different. I’d expected him to start in with the swagger, telling me how he was this close to beating it when I came along. Admitting the truth, that he was getting his ass handed to him, caught me off guard. “What exactly were you doing out here? You do realize there’s a curfew, right?”
He shrugged. “It’s quiet. I sometimes come out here to unwind a bit. I’m damn glad you came along when you did, though. This place is usually a graveyard after the library closes...” His voice trailed off and his eyes opened wide as if he finally realized the danger he’d been in. “Oh my God. If you hadn’t been here, that thing would have...”
Despite coming dangerously close to cleaning his clock earlier, I put a hand on his arm to steady him. “You’re okay now. Fortunately, I heard you yelling.”
“Not my finest moment.” He let out a nervous laugh. “Hey. Why are you wearing a mask, by the way?”
“Um...”
“It’s gotta be over seventy degrees out.”
“Well...”
He stared at me, as if seeing through my disguise. “You were looking for that thing, weren’t you?”
That was a disturbingly apt guess. “No. It’s just that I was...”
“Wandering around campus at night, wearing a disguise, and just so happen to be strong enough to kick that thing’s ass was?” Justin raised one side of his mouth in a smirk, reminding me again how awesome it would be to put my fist through it.
Instead I turned and started to walk away. “I think we’re done here.”
“Wait! You didn’t tell me your name.”
“That’s kind of the point of the mask, genius.”
I could hear him following after me. “But I didn’t get a chance to thank you.”
“You just did.”
“No, I meant properly. Like, maybe I could ... buy you a cup of coffee or something.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and he walked into me.
“Whoa, you got some solid delts going on there.”
“Let me see if I have this straight.” I replied, turning to face him. “Are you actually hitting on me?”
“That depends. Is it working?”
I narrowed my eyes. “No.”
♦ ♦ ♦
BEYOND MIDNIGHT
Coming July 2018
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Gualtieri lives alone in central New Jersey with only his wife, three kids, and countless pets to both keep him company and constantly plot against him. When he’s not busy monkey-clicking words, he can typically be found jealously guarding his collection of vintage Transformers from all who would seek to defile them.
Defilers beware!
Rick Gualtieri is the author of several books, including:
Bill the Vampire (The Tome of Bill - 1)
Night Stalker: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
Scary Dead Things (The Tome of Bill - 2)
The Mourning Woods (The Tome of Bill - 3)
Holier Than Thou (The Tome of Bill - 4)
Sunset Strip: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
Goddamned Freaky Monsters (The Tome of Bill - 5)
Half A Prayer (The Tome of Bill - 6)
The Wicked Dead (The Tome of Bill - 7)
Shining Fury: A Tome of Bill Series Companion
The Last Coven (The Tome of Bill - 8)
The Tome of Bill Series: Volume One
The Tome of Bill Series: Volume Two
Bigfoot Hunters
Lycan Moon
Midnite’s Daughter
Get Bent! (The Hybrid of High Moon Book 1) Page 29