I decided to give you all a gift! Here is a little sample of my horror collection, Thicker Than Blood! Below you will find a short selection from each story, and a link to purchase it on Amazon for only $1.99!
-K.N. Lee
Book Description:
Thicker Than Blood
Phoebe
and Tara are twins. When Tara is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she
and her sister decide to take a journey together. Fear, discovery, and
death await. But is death what it seems?
Where is Katie?
Emily
is a little girl that lives with her mother and father. Why does she
live in a room that is locked, boarded closed, and kept from other
children? This little girl is not what she seems...
The Galloway Lake
There
are rumors that the Galloway Lake is haunted. Tanya wakes up to find
herself drowning in it. Can she survive this horrific night?
Part One
Another
nightmare was interrupted by the screams. Phoebe squeezed her eyes shut to
block out the faint cries she heard echoing down the hallway.
Like a ghost those
cries haunted her.
They kept her awake for
hours every night. Dark circles had begun to form beneath her large blue eyes.
Her skin was already pale enough.
Phoebe didn’t need such
blemishes tainting her plain looks.
“Phoebe,” the voice screeched.
There were moans of
pain and Phoebe finally sat up. She grumbled and glared at her door. The only
traces of light in her room were that of the moonlight spilling through the
maroon drapes of her large bay window.
This was the room she
had grown up in.
Twenty years old and
still living at home. Most college students would have jumped at the chance to
move out into the dorms and fully experience college life.
Not Phoebe. She feared
she’d be stuck in that old, creaky, house forever. She grimaced.
The bitterness
of her life was almost too much to bear.
Her parents had been
dead for two years now. So, there was plenty of privacy for Phoebe and her
dying twin sister.
She yawned and tried to
motivate herself. She needed to go and check on her sister. No one else was
around to help. All things rested on Phoebe’s shoulders now.
Angrily, she ripped the
covers off of her body and stepped onto the cold wood floor.
“It would have been
convenient to have my slippers near the bed and not beside the door,” she said
to herself. She found herself talking to herself more and more each day. It was
all she had to keep herself sane. She could no longer stomach the sight of her
sister.
“Phoebe!”
Phoebe felt her hair
stand on end. Her sister’s horrified cry made her suck in a cold breath. She
hurried and threw her cotton robe on to keep out the icy wind that swept in
through her window. The drapes danced with the howling of the wind and her head
snapped towards the bedroom door.
She stood there and
waited, hoping that the cries would end. She didn’t want to go.
“Phoebe!” Tara, her
twin sister screamed.
Phoebe had grown used
to her sister’s cries of pain and sorrow, but this time, there was something
new in her voice. She took off towards the door knob, disregarding the slippers
that waited for her.
She swung the door open
and ran into the dark hallway. Her guilt for keeping her sister in the room
farthest away from hers overwhelmed her as she ran as fast as her thin legs
would take her. Her footsteps pounded on the floorboards like a drum and she
nearly slammed into Tara’s closed door.
Phoebe snatched the
door open and looked around. The darkness smothered her and the smell of blood
overwhelmed her nostrils. Sweat and blood mixed to such a degree that made her
nauseous.
“Tara?” Phoebe’s hand
searched for the light switch. Her fingertips finally found the switch and the
flood of light blinded both of them. As she squinted, Phoebe’s hand went to her
mouth in utter terror when she saw the blood staining her sisters gown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emily
sat on her four post bed. She clutched her doll to her chest, and listened.
Angry shouts filled the small house. She stared at her door with a blank look
on her pale face.
The door was boarded
closed, locked from the outside, and chained. She heard her mother’s screams vibrating
through the house. Her mother pleaded for her father to stop.
Emily jumped when she
heard something crash. The screaming stopped. She leaned forward on her bed,
held her breath, and listened.
Silence.
“Mama,” she whispered.
No one replied.
Emily sighed and picked
up one of her dolls from her collection. Her room was incredibly clean, except
for the mold that grew on her ceiling. Her bookcase was filled with old used
paperbacks and broken toys. All of Emily’s porcelain dolls were stacked neatly
on her bed.
She held up her newest
doll and smiled. Her face was beautiful. She had blonde hair and blue eyes,
such a contrast from Emily’s black hair and brown eyes. She clutched the doll
to her chest and listened. She heard loud footsteps on the creaking floorboards
outside her room.
Emily could smell him.
Her father had been drinking. He paused outside of her door and she tensed. She
could hear him breathing. She stared at the door knob waiting for him to turn
it, but knew that he never would. She hadn’t seen her father’s face in years,
nor her mothers. The footsteps continued down the hallway and she heard a door
slam.
Emily hopped off her
bed and ran to the window. She caught the back of his balding head as he got
into his red pickup truck and sped down the rocky driveway, headed towards
town.
She stood there for a
moment and watched the truck go up the hill and turn right onto the country
roads. The grass and weeds were so high in the yard that it looked to Emily
like a jungle.
She opened her window
to a hot breeze.
Emily climbed to the
ground, holding her dolls tiny arm. She had on her backpack. It was old and
falling apart. She had stapled the straps back together and had sewn the zipper
back in place. She began the long walk to the school in silence. She hummed to
herself and to the doll and swung her along as she strolled up the driveway.
Emily kicked rocks and
gravel as she walked along. She blew the hot dust from before her.
She heard the door open
behind her. Emily paused and looked over her shoulder. She was surprised to see
her mother standing in the doorway, staring at her.
Emily thought she was
dead. She guessed she had simply been knocked out for a time. The frail, short
woman stood there with blood dripping from her head and onto her apron.
Emily squinted; she
couldn’t make out the expression on her face. Then, the door was slammed shut.
Without a word. Emily turned on her heels and continued her trek.
What did she expect?
She was almost seven years old and her mother and father hadn’t spoken a word
to her in two years. She didn’t forget their voices. She couldn’t. Her mother
and father argued every day.
Emily spent all of her
time alone in her room or playing in the countryside. School was an illusion.
She would sit outside in a tree and watch the children play.
Maybe once in a while a
child her age would approach her and she would convince them to come and play.
Such moments were rare, but they were what Emily lived for.
She continued to kick
rocks with her dusty black shoes. She hummed and sang to herself, songs that
her mother used to sing when she was smaller, when she was still loved.
Birds flew above and
she smiled, imagining that they were singing along with her. She remembered
seeing a movie once. There was a beautiful girl with golden hair in the film.
She sang outside her window, and the birds and critters of the forest sang
along and played with her as if they were friends.
That vision stuck in
her mind. One day, perhaps, she could be like that girl in the movie.
Emily skipped with her
eyes closed, feeling the sun warm her cold cheeks. She was always cold. She
imagined a beautiful world behind her eyelids and smiled.
Her smile faded when
her stomach growled. It was a deep, gnawing nag within the pit of her stomach.
Her stomach twisted upon itself, begging for food.
Emily continued
skipping. She could always steal an apple from Farmer Mac’s garden. He never
caught her. She thought he saw her one day, but he never said a word to her.
Perhaps they had an unspoken understanding.
Emily was broken from
her thoughts when she heard a car approach. She moved aside when the rumbling
grew louder behind her.
Emily skidded to a stop
just as the car did.
Her face paled. She
could feel his presence.
He watched her. She
knew he would be coming. She was ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part One
Tanya’s
body crashed into the icy lake. It was a violent awakening.
Like a slap to the
face, her mind was jolted by the impact.
Dark brown eyes popped
open to the rush of the murky water. Her body tightened at the chill of it. It
felt like a thousand knives pricking her exposed flesh.
Without light to see
her surroundings, she panicked and kicked. She tried to keep her head above the
water, to see a shred of hope, but the handcuffs that bound her hands behind
her back made every movement difficult.
Death was not an
option.
Tanya wouldn’t allow
it. Even after days of torture, she never gave up her will to live. Her body
and mind would be forever bruised by the abuse she suffered. Water filled every
orifice as her head sunk again. The darkness terrified her. Her fear of
drowning and what lurked deep in the lake was being realized.
The handcuffs were her
only obstacle. She was an avid swimmer and had won countless medals and awards
for her skill. She might survive if she could get free. Little did her
kidnapper know, but Tanya was double jointed. She squeezed her hands very tight
and mashed her fingers together until the bone in her thumb tucked inward.
Tanya pursed her lips
together and tried to clear her thoughts. Her lungs burned and yet she had to
concentrate. After a moment of suffocating agony, her right hand slipped out of
the metal handcuffs.
Tanya sprang into
action and swam to the surface as quickly as her fatigued body would take her.
Her lungs swelled with the air that entered when her head broke the surface.
Tanya choked and coughed in ragged fits. Her throat burned from the water she
had swallowed.
All was quiet around
her. Tanya sucked in a breath and felt her fear rise. She looked around in
desperation. She pulled her black hair out of her eyes. Everything was calm and
still. She could see her breath puff into the air before her. Tiny lanterns
hung from the bridge. Tanya knew where she was.
This was the bridge
that led to the Galloway
Plantation. The
lanterns lit the way to the shore.
She had to reach dry
land. The fact that she was naked in the frosty air of made it dire for her to
get out of the water.
Tanya swam as hard as
she could. She reached the shore and collapsed onto the rocky ground.
Pebbles and rocks
embedded into her arms and legs.
She cried out in both
joy and pain. Her head crashed into the mud and she didn’t care. Her eyes
closed and she nearly passed out again from days of malnutrition and
exhaustion. She wondered if he knew she was still alive when he tossed her over
the bridge.
Tanya had to be strong.
She had to stay focused. Tanya was an athlete. Her training was all that she
had left.
Pain was weakness.
Tanya refused to be weak.
The forest was a mass
of black shadows that reached towards the lakes shore, the branches of the
trees hung over the water like a canopy.
Tanya looked to the forest
and felt her body tense. There was nothing but a silent darkness all around
her, and the forest went deeper and deeper, making her dizzy as she tried to
make out what shadows lingered.
It reminded her of the
days when she would stare into the woods in her parents back yard and imagine
she’d seen goblins watching her from the trees.
Tanya swallowed hard
and rubbed the gooseflesh in her arms. She winced. The gashes were still
bleeding. Tanya glanced down at the blood on her hands and felt her lips quiver.
She could still remember the sting of the ropes that had cut into her flesh.
She had hung like a pig
ready to be butchered for so long that the ropes had dug deep, and all of the
blood in her body had traveled down to her head.
Tanya squeezed her eyes
shut and tried to block out the memories. She blew into her hands to warm them.
It was useless. Her hands had lost all feeling already.
Tanya fought her
weariness and shivered as she crawled to her feet.
“Tanya, you can do
this.” She tried to motivate herself, but the sound of her voice, so fragile
and cracked made her weep.
She couldn't believe
she had let such a thing happen to her. She had always been careful. Her mother
had always warned her. The day Tanya had left for college, her mother had told
her to be aware of her surroundings.
“Always look around to
make sure no one followed you when you’re alone. Never get in your car without
checking the back seat first. Never go alone to a party or club. Always watch
your drink. Call mommy if you need a ride home. Just be aware, Tanya.”
But I was aware! Tanya
screamed in her head.
She missed her mother’s
voice more than anything.
For days she had gone
over and over what had went wrong. Tanya always checked her surroundings. She
was cognizant of who was around and watching her.
Still, Tanya couldn’t
have prepared for what had happened. He bragged to her about how meticulous he
was. He had watched her for years. He knew every detail of her schedule. This
had been planned for a while now.
So, one night, he
finally came for her. The man in the black mask stole her from the comfort of
her own bed.
To finish each story, buy Thicker Than Blood for only $1.99 on Amazon today!
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