Son of Blood

by Craig Jones

  ‘Father!’ screamed Christian, his eyes wild and his canine teeth exposed. Robinson was still struggling with his weapon and Christian lunged towards him. That was when Alfie launched himself at Christian, leaping up and pawing at the boy’s chest, leaving bloody prints on Christian’s shirt. The dog barked into the boy’s face and Christian stopped—this was not the right time to seek vengeance.

  He nodded numbly and fell away, and the dog dropped down onto all fours and barked again, frantically.

  ‘Christian, run!’ exclaimed Sinead through her grief.

  Christian looked across at Sinead, their mutual loss shared in a panicked, disoriented look.

  I love you, he thought.

  I love you, too, he heard.

  A click drew his attention back to Robinson, who had loaded the arrow into the crossbow and was raising it towards Christian.

  ‘I’ll see you soon,’ said the boy as he pointed at the man who had killed his father, then closed his eyes in concentration. And as Robinson steadied his aim and prepared to pull the trigger, Christian’s body faded to mist and was gone.

  About the author

  Craig Jones is from Wales, the home of great rugby, great singing and many great writers and artists. Craig lives in Cardiff with his wife Claire, baby son Shane and a rather insane ginger cat called Wookie. He works for Public Health Wales and is the Wales lead on alcohol harm reduction. As much as he loves this job, his dream is to be a full time writer.

  Inspired by the late, great James Herbert, Stephen King and Bret Easton Ellis (Craig says Patrick Bateman is the best character ever created and it is even better that he was played by a Welshman in the movie) he has always been a huge horror fan. From Jason to Freddie, Ash to Rick Grimes, there is nothing scary that he won’t watch, no one he won’t try to scare with his stories.

  Craig writes for young adults because he believes the more they read, the more creative they will become. ‘I grew up with a book in one hand and a tennis racket in the other. I think writers have a responsibility to pen stories to inspire youngsters to read by knowing what kids want.’

  Also by Craig Jones

  Outbreak: The Zombie Apocalypse. It begins with a flight into Heathrow Airport. It ends up at Matt Hawkins’ front gate, in a crowd of savage, lumbering bodies. An epidemic is sweeping Great Britain, transforming countless victims into mindless predators and forcing Matt and his little brother, Danny, out of the safety of their late parents’ privileged legacy and into a rapidly changing world.

  Every day is vital. Every action counts. As the brothers make alliances and learn to defend themselves and their home against an unthinkable enemy, choices are made, some with devastating consequences. In the midst of this nightmarish fight to survive, Matt begins to learn what is truly important to him, and exactly what it means to be human.

  Breakout: The Zombie Apocalypse Book 2. In this sequel to Outbreak: The Zombie Apocalypse, Matt Hawkins strives for redemption following Britain's first zombie outbreak. His internal struggles and his psychological analysis of those around him lead him to question the ethics of humanity and himself as he fights to survive the apocalypse.

  Hawkins perception of the immoral decisions of the leadership in seeking a possible cure force him to reevaluate his past and question his own motives as he tries desperately to conceal a secret that could ruin him and prevent him from keeping the fragile promise which has become his only motivation to live. From the sanctuary of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales to the promise of an escape through the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, Kent, their only hope for survival and for the possibility of ending the zombie outbreak, the diverse group of people experience loss while they hope for success but all at a very high price.

  Becoming Zodiak. He has the looks, the skills and even the name, but is that enough to win... Becoming Zodiak?

  Zodiak. An unmatched, unbeatable team composed of twelve elite fighters. Their purpose? To rid the streets of crime and corruption, and to fend against a kind of wickedness that runs much deeper than any ordinary crime could. And they were unmatched, they were unbeatable. Until they weren’t.

  After the events of what should have been just another mission, Zodiak finds itself one member short—one member too few. The team is scrambling to fill their empty seat, to find a new number twelve, and this desperation bringsabout one of the largest media events the world has ever seen: a competition.

  Acknowledgements

  Skerries is actually a beautiful coastal town north of Dublin and as far as I know it doesn’t actually have any vampires living on one of its islands. When I first visited my wife’s family in Skerries I saw Shenick Island and its tower and I wondered ‘what lives in there?’ I hope this book answers that question. I have taken a few geographical liberties when describing the town for which I hope the people of Skerries will forgive me.

  I’d like to thank Eamon O’Daly of The Outdoor Studio for providing the cover photo. Please check out their website www.skerriesphotography.com. I’d of course like to thank my publisher Pants on Fire Press, especially David Powers, for seeing that not all vampires have to be sparkly and perfectly formed. Some just like to drink our blood. I also want to thank you, the reader. Now that you have finished my book, won’t you please consider writing a review? Reviews are the best way readers discover great new books. I would truly appreciate it. If you enjoy this book why not join me on Twitter (@cjoneshorror),on Facebook at CraigJonesHorror or at my website at http://www.craigjoneshorror.co.uk.

  Thank You

  Now that you have finished my book, won’t you please consider writing a review? Reviews are the best way readers discover great new books. I would truly appreciate it.

  Catalog

  Resilient. Livia has never felt like she fits in. As normal as it sounds, Livia is anything but ordinary. She can feel every emotion of every single person around her, and it’s maddening. In pursuit of some psychic quiet, she moves with her family from New York City to Whidbey Island in the lush and sleepy Pacific Northwest. But when a horseback riding accident in her new home gives her a broken leg that heals in a day, she finds that another unexplainable ability has manifested, and her life isn’t about to get any easier. Adam has no problem fitting in and making friends. In fact, he’s the top of the school, the boy everyone knows and loves. However, people only see what he allows them to. No one knows what Adam is truly capable of.

  After witnessing Livia’s accident, Adam sees something intriguing in her quick recovery, something that gives him hope that he’s not alone. Adam is the only one whose emotions Livia can’t read. Afraid of not knowing what goes on behind his dark eyes, Livia decides to keep him at a distance. Yet the more she tries to ignore him, the more alluring he becomes, and while their personal quests for identity will inevitably bring them closer together, it is the confirmation of what they really are that threatens to tear them apart. Resilient, told in alternating point of views, is a gripping story of survival and romance, in which two teenagers face the consequences of being anything but normal.

  How I Became A Teenage Survivalist. Bracken is a typical teenage boy, more interested in the angles of the girl’s exposed back teasing him from the seat ahead of him than in anything the geometry teacher could present. His life is filled with school, video games, and thoughts of girls, not necessarily in that order. Life just flows along uneventfully and unacknowledged, like the electricity that courses through the power lines — until PF (Power Failure) Day. On PF Day, the sun strikes Bracken’s world with an unseen surge of electromagnetic fury, which cripples power stations and burns transformers to crispy nuggets of regret.

  No one in Bracken’s world had ever thought about how much they depended on electrical power, but now, without it, they are plunged into survival mode. Without electricity there is no communication, no modern conveniences, and soon, no modern means of transportation, as the reserves of refined gasoline run dry. Worse still is the failure of the water and sewer systems, the impossibility
of getting food and supplies to people living in cities, and the deaths of millions of people from starvation, disease, and lack of medical care.

  Bracken soon realizes how lucky he is to live on a farm in the Midwest. What seemed like a dull and backwards life before is now the greatest chance for survival in what seems like a powerless world. Food, water, and heat are readily available, although hard work is required to make use of them. Bracken and his family must learn to survive like their ancestors, who settled their land. Told in the first person, Bracken tells the story of how they not only survive, but how PF Day actually makes their lives better and more satisfying.

  I Am Currency. Would you turn in your books to a corrupt government, or would you join the movement? When a meteor slams into the earth causing a shift in the planet's magnetic core, the age of technology ends and economies across the globe crash. Years later, knowledge is not only power…it is currency. Bookkeepers are invaluable in this post-apocalyptic world. Nevel can never tell anyone he is a bookkeeper. His photographic memory is his secret. With a dystopian government that keeps all known books under lock and key looming as a constant threat and with parents involved as agents in the U.B.M. (Underground Book Movement) to protect the books that still secretly exist, Nevel is in a dangerous position. Never does this cause an issue until the day a fellow classmate, Quinn, appears at his door and proves to know more than she should. Awards: 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist (Children's/Juvenile Fiction).

  Hidden Power. Aurora Turnleaf has lived her whole life hearing fairy tales of mysterious lands, magical beings, and crystal towers. She thought nothing of them until the day she stumbled upon a magnificent city, deep within the woods, built entirely of see-through crystal. It appeared out of nowhere, in a part of the forest she’s never ventured into before, and suddenly all those stories she heard growing up become much less imaginary.

  Her guide is Iragos, a light mage, who introduces her to Kayne, a mage in training for a dark wizard named Kronos. Unbeknownst to Aurora, Kayne had just stolen the Ythra Orb form the Hallowed Hall on behalf of his master and hidden it in her pack. Suddenly Aurora is thrust into a life or death journey to help Kayne find the mystical land of Morgis, home to the Oracles who first created the Orb, in hopes that they can secure its safety against Kronos.

  The path to Morgis will be treacherous enough, but it is what follows the two teens that is more life threatening. For the dark mage’s fierce legion of vicious minions is on their path, with Kronos himself not far behind, and all of them are intent on intercepting Kayne and Aurora at every turn. Meanwhile Aurora and Kayne must battle both the elements and Kronos’ dark magic to complete their quest. And along the way, the two teens from very different worlds must learn to work together to overcome obstacles, one of them being their mutual attraction.

  My Water Path. Mississippi, the late 1950s. After the death of his father, eleven-year-old Jory Sheppard runs away from an unwanted life in foster care. Trying to make it on his own, he is caught in a violent storm on the Mississippi River, but when he is rescued from the raging waters by an old black man named Moses, it becomes the event that will change his life.

  Taken into Moses’ family as one of their own, Jory is introduced to a world so familiar and yet so very different from the one he once knew. As he learns and grows under the benevolent care of his new family, he struggles to make sense of the society in which he lives—a society that would spit on a man such as Moses simply because his skin is black, and make every effort to rip Jory from the family he loves.

  Quickly entrenched in a struggle that is much bigger than himself, Jory must learn the difference between what feels necessary and what is right, what pity is, and what hate is. If he wants to fight the injustice and uncertainty that surrounds him, he must learn what it really means to stand up for what he believes in.

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