Parricide
S.
Briones Lim
Genre:
Horror
Date
of Publication: 4/1/2014
ISBN:
9781304790262
Number
of pages: 362
Word
Count: 92,026
Cover
Artist: S. Briones Lim
Book
Description:
Stanley
Heckley’s world was torn apart the night his wife and infant
daughter were murdered by his wife’s ex-lover, James Gandy. Left
with no family to call his own, Stanley is consumed with rage and
thirsts to exact revenge in the only way he thinks is fair – to
kill Gandy’s entire bloodline.
Unfortunately
for Stanley, his timid personality and good conscience makes killing
a difficult task to accomplish.
Tormented
by his inability to avenge his family, Stanley seeks the help of a
distant acquaintance known simply as the vampire, Geoff. Touched by
Stanley’s plight, Geoff takes it upon himself to give Stanley a
thirst for blood and the talent to kill. As a newly turned vampire,
Stanley joins Geoff on a complex mission of murder and vengeance as
they hunt each member of the Gandy family one by one, wiping the
entire bloodline from existence.
Or
so they thought.
Over
a century later, Stanley learns that a dire mistake has left one
Gandy alive. Once again faced with the monsters of his past, Stanley
finds himself returning to his hometown of Meyers to hunt the
remaining descendant, Amanda. From the get-go, Stanley’s mission
is plagued with many obstacles including a new henchman for Geoff, a
ghost of a young, sadistic girl, and the fact that Amanda looks
remarkably like his late wife. For this member of the undead, hunting
the final Gandy may just be the death of him.
Excerpt:
Stanley
April
9, 1904
“No!
Please don’t shoot!” Her voice wavered slightly though she tried
her hardest to remain firm and unfazed. Had it not been for the
tremor in her tone and the unmistakable trembling of her shoulders,
the intruder might have bought her act of valor.
The
terrified cries of my wife echoed against the bare wooden walls
causing me to run in a panic. I flew down a flight of stairs towards
the parlor area and noticed the dim flicker of a single candle
illuminating the room. It added an eerie ambiance to what was to be
the most horrifying moment of my life.
“Gandy!
What do you think you’re doing?! Get your hands off my wife!” I
shouted with pure ferocity. I wouldn’t be surprised if the blood
vessels in my eyes had burst open given the tint of red that shadowed
my vision.
“Well,
well, lookit ‘ere who it is,” Gandy slurred drunkenly as he
gripped my wife’s strawberry blond hair between his fingers. “It’s
Stanley Heckley! Or might I say, the Great Stanley Heckley.” He
cackled and peered down at my wife.
My
eyes fell instantly onto Christiana’s tear stained face. I made an
attempt to rush forward, however, she shook her head slightly and
mouthed, “Go! Save Katie.”
My
stomach wrenched as I pictured our three-month-old daughter hidden
under the floorboards in the main room upstairs. She was safe - for
now.
I
cleared my throat and stood up straighter. Holding my hands out as a
final plea, I said as calmly, but with as much authority as I could
muster, “Gandy, please put down the gun. You had a little too much
to drink tonight and I promise that if you walk out of here this
instant, I will not tell the authorities of this little incident.”
I
braced myself for his reaction and was surprised to hear a hearty
chuckle in response. Christiana winced as he continued his belly
laugh and pulled tightly against her head. Her beautiful braid was
now a rat’s nest and I was surprised not to find clumps of her
pinkish locks strewn along the floor.
“Do
you think you have the right to tell me what to do?” Gandy laughed
hysterically. With his gun toting hand he reached up and wiped tears
from the corners of his eyes.
“I
beg your pardon but I don’t see the humor in this situation,” I
growled.
“You
want to know what’s funny?” Gandy snapped. “The fact that
Christiana here picked you over me. What does she see in you anyway?
Nothing but a stack of cash that your daddy gave you.”
I
glanced around the room frantically, looking for any escape route. My
eyes focused on the window and my mind methodically went over any
possible option I had to get my family out of this situation. It was
as if everything was running in slow motion, from the flow of my
blood through my veins to the harsh beating of my pained heart.
“Are
you listening to me?!” Gandy’s hazy voice interrupted my frantic
thoughts.
I
gulped. “Yes, Gandy.”
His
eyes widened as he pointed the barrel toward me. Christiana gasped
and began pleading frantically, begging for him to drop the gun.
Ignoring her cries, he lifted an eyebrow as he looked me dead in the
eye. “It’s yes, sir,” he corrected.
I
nodded my head. “Yes, sir,” I replied through gritted teeth.
His
lips curled up into a sinister grin and he began pacing the room
dragging Christiana along with him. She grabbed at his hand, trying
to pry his fingers from her scalp, but was unsuccessful. The gray
skirt of her dress, a birthday present from me, dragged behind her,
becoming soiled with the dust from the floor.
“Now,
I don’t know why you’re stupid enough to come back to town,” he
said through gritted teeth. “The folks here were finally steer
clear of the Heckleys, yet here you are infesting our town again with
your filthy riches. You think your family’s better than all of us
here, don’t you? Just because of your blue blood ways.”
“Gandy,”
I said in an even tone. It pained me to even speak, my throat dry and
parched from fear. “Please leave my property. We’ll deal with
this when you’re sober in the morning.”
“This
ain’t about being sober! This is about the abomination that your
family has bestowed upon the less privileged. That’s why you came
back to town now, isn’t it? To take over all the businesses that
your greedy father wasn’t able to get his cold, vile hands on! You
should have stayed in God knows where you were!”
“It
was a mistake to come back,” I agreed as I nodded my head; and good
God did I agree. “We only came back to tie up ends concerning my
father’s estate. Nothing more.”
“Ah,
yes,” he grinned. “That’s right! Your old man croaked a month
ago, didn’t he?”
My
blood began boiling and instinctively my fists clenched together.
“Yes,” I said in a raspy tone. The pain of having lost my father
still burned freshly in my heart. Hearing Gandy speak so nonchalantly
about his passing made me want to gouge his eyes out. That would have
to wait. For now I needed to focus on helping my sweet wife.
About
the Author:
Thanks
to her Mom's unwavering devotion to read a bedtime story to her every
single night throughout her childhood years, S. BRIONES LIM's love
for books began before she could even speak.
Raised
in Southern California, Author S. Briones Lim initially dreamt of
becoming an artist and/or Book Author. A Psychology Degree (Summa cum
Laude), a stint in Art School, and a career in Advertising/Media
later, she is finally delving back into her first love - books. As a
self-renowned bookworm, S. Briones Lim’s love for books has
inspired her to pen her own novels and hopes her readers will fall in
love with her stories as much as she enjoyed writing them.
Author
of the Life Force Trilogy, S. Briones Lim's other obsessions include
time with family, POPCORN, watching movies and her pug, Tobi. She
currently lives on the East Coast with her husband and continues to
write every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment