The Remedy
Page 27
“What are you doing in Embry?” Dale asked, still in disbelief that his high school crush was standing before him.
Her smile lessened a bit. “Unfortunately, I’m in town because my grandfather passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Cindy shrugged. “What can you do? I’ll miss him terribly, but I know he lived a long, fulfilling life. Anyway, at least I ran into you. This is wild! It’s so good to see you!”
Dale raised his glass. “I’ll drink to that. But I’m still surprised you came to the Buck. You’re a local, you should’ve known how dead it would be.”
“Yeah, same old scene.” She placed her purse on a nearby table and took the chair right next to Dale’s. “But I haven’t eaten all day, and Freemont’s already stopped serving dinner. So here I am.”
“Here you are.” Dale smiled as he lifted his glass to his lips.
“Have you eaten yet?” She flicked his shoulder playfully.
He had yet to swallow the beer in his mouth, so he just nodded.
At this, Cindy rearranged her face into a flirty pout, a mirror image of the girl Dale had lusted over in high school. “Shoot. I was hoping you’d want to join me.”
Dale caught an eyeful of Cindy’s smooth, milky legs and swallowed so hard it actually hurt the back of his tongue. He felt something other than the beer slide down his throat and splash into his stomach.
That pill. The big one.
It had finally made its way down.
“Now hold on,” he said. “I did have a little something earlier, but I could eat again.”
Cindy’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he said, taking one final glance at the creamy skin on her meaty thighs.
“I’m still hungry.”
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank every single person who helped me in any way to complete this novel, even if I’ve forgotten to include you here: my family, first and foremost, for supporting and encouraging me since day one, my writers-in-arms, Rachel Carter, Zack Jernigan, Paul Kirsch, and C. Liddle, for the constant reminders that I’m not alone in all of this, the pros who read my original manuscript and offered their advice, Brian Keene, Nancy Holder, Sarah Langan, and Jim Kelly, everyone at Full Fathom Five, especially Jane and Samantha, for making the publication of my first novel the absolute best experience it could’ve possibly been, and to Amy McClure, for just being who you are.
About the Author
Asher Ellis currently lives in his home state of Vermont, where there are far fewer cannibals than his novel may suggest. A graduate of the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Southern Maine, he has written award winning short stories, plays, and films. When Asher isn’t killing college students on the pages of his fiction, he teaches them as a creative writing and English professor at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH.
Visit Asher online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AsherEllis
Author website: http://asher-ellis.blogspot.com/
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Full Fathom Five Digital is an imprint of Full Fathom Five
The Remedy
Copyright © 2014 by Asher Ellis
All rights reserved.
No part of this text may be used or reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in review, without written permission from the publisher.
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Cover design by Kealan Patrick Burke, Elderlemon Design
ISBN: 978-1-63370-042-0
First Edition