Reaper II: Neophyte (9 page)

The fresh grave dug out at his uncle’s cabin, next to an older one, the shallow grave of Sarah Andrews, the last girl who had dared to tell Jimmy Blair
no
.

At my will, the Dark Thing jutted thick probes of razor sharp exoskeleton into his neck, a multitude of them, sucking the corrupt blood from his body as I held him there, his feet barely touching the ground.

Lizabeth stirred on the ground, regaining consciousness. 

I had to finish him off, quickly and so, upon crushing his throat, I willed the Dark Thing to contort into a thick rope around his neck. With a sharp twist, I snapped it.

Willing the cord back into my second skin, I dropped his body and left at a full run before Lizabeth regained complete consciousness…

I heard Lizabeth scream long after I retreated around the block, willing the Dark Thing to sink back into my body, dormant. 

I went back into the bar, through the rear entrance, no trace of the Dark Thing on my skin or in my hair.

Wherever the Dark Thing had come from, whatever it was, at times like these, I was grateful for its presence, its power, its ability to identify the wolves amongst the sheep…

“I
knew
I left the oven on,” I said to Charlie, before taking my place back behind the bar.

I was taking drink orders from a group of rowdy construction workers when Lizabeth ran through the rear door, crying, “He’s dead! Oh my God, somebody – help me! He’s dead! Jimmy’s dead!”

A few minutes later, with the cops on their way and Charlie Friday checking out the crime scene for himself, I was pouring Lizabeth a shot of Jack Daniel’s straight up when I decided to engage her in conversation.

“Well… He can’t hurt you anymore,” I told her, knowing better than she did what he’d had in store for her that night.

“I know,” she sobbed. “I know.”

“Did you get a look at the person who… killed him?”

“It’s going to sound strange.”

“Try me.”

She tossed back the whisky shot and grimaced.

“I think it was a woman—a woman with black dreadlocks, wearing a monster mask and skin-tight black leather. 
Head to toe black leather.”

“That is strange,” I agreed, pouring her another shot.

“But I’m glad she was there.” She shuddered. “I just know he was gonna kill me this time.  He threatened me before, you now that?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” I handed her the next shot. “Why didn’t you go to the police?”

“The cops?” Lizabeth gave a miserable laugh. “What were they gonna do?  His dad’s a judge, for fuck’s sake.”

A judge. 

No wonder the guy had thought that he could get away with murder. 

He already had, once and without his father’s help, at that. 

Poor Sarah Andrews…
 

For the sake of the family that was likely still looking for her, hoping that she might come home one day, I was going to have to make yet another anonymous call to the police. 

A call describing to them where and how to find yet another body, with yet another hapless victim’s name for their records.

Sarah Andrews.
 

At least her family might be able to find some peace in bringing her home, to a final resting place in her family’s own burial plot, rather than the few feet of dirt out at Jimmy Blaire’s uncle’s cabin. 

At least they would finally know what had happened to her…

Sarah Andrews. 

One more reason for me to become a cop.

Up next?

Reaper III: Rookie

Coming Winter/Spring 2012

About the Author

Amanda M. Holt is the oldest daughter of an oldest daughter.  

She enjoys being single, has no pets and no plans of parenting.  She has had a variety of
jobs
through her adult lifespan and now finds herself in a very gratifying
career
that she is very devoted to.

Her first and truest love is creative writing, which she does as often as life and the Muse of Procrastination allow. 

Her Kindle Direct Publishing Amazon Author
Central Page can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/author/amandaholt

She has a Blog at
http://www.amandamholt.wordpress.com
and a website at
http://www.amandamholt.com
, both of which are not updated very often. 

At the time of writing this entry she is 32 years of age, looking forward to 33, learning a few languages and maybe even getting re-introduced to the piano!

She lives in Manitoba, Canada and is proud of her humble roots .

She loves Halloween.

This is her at Halloween 2011:

She is very grateful for your support of her craft and chosen charitable organizations and promises entertaining works to come (edits in progress, cover art licenses already purchased from Jimmy Thomas –
http://www.romancenovelcovers.com
, formatting for ePublishing in progress, et cetera). She receives and returns email at [email protected] and looks forward to hearing from you (no forwards about guardian angels or spam, please).

Happy reading!

A.M.H

Look for more titles in Winter/Spring 2012!

About the Cover Art

Licensed photography by Jimmy Thomas
www.romancenovelcovers.com