No place is safe anymore, and I’m on the run from something new.
The putrid stink of zombies has been replaced by sulfur, feces, and wet dog. The High Point Inn has been abandoned, the landscape plagued by the unimaginable, animal-hybrids. Wolves and bears rise from the grave or maybe they never died. Sure, the hordes of undead humans are diminishing, but whatever lies in wait is faster, smarter, and spurned by the devil himself.
With Caleb, Lilly, and Eric at my side, I search for friends and suFictiorvivors. But the new evil has arrived.
I can’t run quick enough.
The wolves are here, and they’re hungry, not to mention cunning and cruel. Endless rains force my group underground and into a cave system. Lost in the interminable, pitch-black subterranean tunnels, I struggle to keep my sanity and my life. There’s only one place in the world that makes sense anymore, and that’s where my friends are.
If I can survive the dark and the zombie wolves, Hopewell, Maine, here I come.
“It’s really dark. The flashlights don’t even make a dent,” Lilly said. “Let’s hope the batteries last.”
“Stay here for a second.” Caleb strode forward, leaving the rest of the group huddled in inky black‐ ness. “I can see it narrows ahead. Let me check it out. Don’t want us all to go stumbling around in the dark.” Caleb’s footsteps receded, taking the shadows of the flashlight beam with him.
Jenna bit her thumb nail. It tasted of dirt but the small pain from ripping off her flesh stifled her fear for Caleb. Relief flooded in waves when his voice preceded the watery beam from the flashlight.
“It’s a tight squeeze for about a hundred feet before it opens into a chamber. And it appears the underground river Lilly mentioned might be waiting for us too.” Caleb passed the beam of light over them.
A soft rumble, like a swarm of bees, echoed in the tunnel behind them.
“What the . . .” Eric’s words trailed off.
A cascade of rolling rocks had Jenna hopping forward. “Move!”
“Cave in.” Eric’s words bounced around like ricocheting pebbles.
Jenna ran deeper into the tunnel. Pain lanced her arm, a sharp rock ripping through her clothing and snagging her backpack. She stumbled, the rock bouncing away, and righted herself. Heart thudding, loud in the chaos entombing her, she sprinted, coughing up dirt.
Lilly twisted her flashlight. “Eric?”
“Help.” His voice diminished, dim as their surroundings. Muffled swearing and the thump of rock clashing hit the air. “I’m stuck!”
“Calm down,” Caleb said. “You’ll be okay. We’re coming back.”
“I can’t see anything. I’m not okay. I can’t move. Something’s coming. It’s behind me.”
“Be calm, Eric,” Lilly crooned. “They’re not coming. Take a deep breath.”
Eric huffed, coughed, and huffed again. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t breathe. They’re coming.”
“Stop. I’m here. Listen to me.” Lilly’s flashlight lit Eric’s face. She put a hand to his cheek. “You’re good.”
“I can’t move, and they’re coming. Not again. Not another time like the movie theater. I won’t survive. I’d rather be dead than stuck and defenseless. They’ll rip me apart. Don’t let it happen.”
Jenna moved close. “Eric, look at me. The most horrible thing that could have happened to you is over. Done. You survived. There are no Streakers here. You’re so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
“I can’t.”
“You can, and you will,” Jenna scolded. “For Lilly and me. We need you.”
Lilly aimed her flashlight into the shadows behind Eric. “Can you slip out of your backpack?”
“Maybe? My leg. I think I’m bleeding.” Eric shifted sideways, grunting. After a few lunges, he stumbled forward minus his pack. “Free.”
Lilly hauled Eric in for a hug. “Told ya so. Never doubt me.”
Caleb tugged the backpack. “It’s stuck on something.” He heaved but it didn’t budge. “Maybe we can twist it. Hold this.” He handed the flashlight to Jenna.
Redirecting the beam, the light hit the cave ceiling. Bats exploded, sinking low. Caleb hugged Jenna against him. She threw her arms above her head, hugged her scalp in hopes of protection. The draft of bats lifted after a minute and they spiraled high, consumed by the funnel-shaped black chasm.
Caleb stepped back and tugged on Jenna’s jacket, arms still protective. “Please tell me you’re not going to adopt a wounded bat, tame it, and bring it along.”
“I’ll pass, but where is our dog?” Jenna twisted away. “Louie? I hope the bats didn’t scare him.”
A warm tongue licked her hand. “There you are. Good boy.”
Lisa Acerbo is a high school teacher and adjunct faculty at a local community college. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughters, two dogs, and horse. When not writing, she mountain bikes, hikes, and fosters dogs.
A living weapon. An attack on the laws of reality. One chance to save the world.
Michael Bishop is a man who never dreams, who never gets ill. He lives his entire life oblivious to the truths hidden from him.
He is a tool in the hand of the most powerful organization on Earth.
Michael’s world transforms when They bring him online- when They activate the mysterious technology buried within his skull.
Then, the lies fall away. He becomes Asset 108. Using intricate technology, he defends humanity from the gibbering, tentacled horrors that haunt our world.
When mysterious renegades fracture the very laws of nature, Asset 108 is put into position. As the world begins to unravel, a cabal of madmen with physics shattering powers hunt 108 and his cadre, driving them into an alternate reality— a realm filled with inhuman horror.
Between otherworldly arachnids, muscled brutes infected with psionic parasites, and depraved cultists, grisly deaths lurk behind Michael’s every choice.
I slunk to the side of one of the creatures, determined to be slow and cautious. The emitter might not mask sound in this bizarre place.
I count six remaining, Michael, Anya informed me.
Five. I slipped up behind one, the kinetic disruptor centimeters from its skull. I fired, sending a sharp siiiiuu sound keening through the cavern.
Less than a second later, bits of brain and skull sprayed over one of its fellows, who roared in uncomprehending terror.
As the corpse fell, I saw the tendrils writhe within the body, madly squirming beneath the flesh.
That aside, there’s something else here… something inside them. The link conveyed my revulsion.
Copy that, Bishop. Awe and disgust filled Wyatt’s link. I can see it in one over here. It’s like thick cables running through them, just below their skin. It’s— He broke off, and I felt him retch. It’s… it’s moving! Wriggling.
Assets. Anya’s crisp link came across almost curt. These aberrations may be host bodies for some type of phage. I felt her deliberately maintain calm as she linked. Many Irrational species seek host bodies and—
And they can go straight to hell. Wyatt recoiled at the thought. You mean like a parasite?
Exactly like that. My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched coils of tendril writhe within one of the corpses. Of all the fates that could befall an Asset, forced to be a host body for such unearthly horrors seemed like one of the more horrifying.
I felt quite vulnerable.
As quietly as possible, I stepped behind one of the other behemoths and aimed both pistols at the back of its head. I didn’t know if it would stop the parasite…
I shrugged. Couldn’t hurt.
The weapons sang, siiiiuu siiiiuu.
The monstrosity’s skull cracked. It jerked twice from the force, then collapsed against the dark stone ground.
Bishop…I felt the warning in Wyatt’s link. We got four left, but they’re all over there with you.
Copy that. Now might be the time to grab your gear.
Yup. He flung the door open and ducked behind the far side of the Legacy. The movement caught the attention of one of the behemoths, which started to turn in his direction.
Nope. I took two quick steps to my right, aiming for that particular brute. Several more stood between us, and I couldn’t get a square shot.
The beast cocked his head to see if something lurked on the far side of the car.
“Hey!” I cried, knowing none of them could see where I stood. “Let’s look over here instead!”
I shot another of the creatures with my left-hand Stiletto and hit it squarely in the chest.
The blow hurled the troll-thing back over six meters where it crashed into one of the stone columns.
The remaining four roared their outrage. One of them, the smallest of the lot, stared around wildly before running off into the shadows.
They’ll hear me the moment I shoot ol’ Rosie. Wyatt opened the trunk and pulled out his gear. I can crouch over here and get suited up. But the moment I fire ’er, I’m caught.
I get it. I started to jog away from the remaining three creatures. This should be easy. Our friends here aren’t very bright. I can handle them all here in just a moment anyway.
Seems like it, Wyatt linked. As easily as you put these guys down, I might as well wait before drawing attention to myself. I’ll set the spikes when you’re finished.
I’ll get them all over here, for a start. I powered the Wraith down where I stood, a good six meters from the nearest aberration.
Um, that’s stupid, Wyatt opined.
The moment I faded into sight, the closest one snarled at me.
“Hey there, tubby.” I fired once at the ground between us, leaving a hole nearly a meter across. “Look, I’m right here. All soft and pink and small.” I grinned at it.
It roared and charged me.
I hadn’t taken into account how fast the muscled creatures might be, due to their lumbering stride and immense size. But a charging gorilla can move scarily fast, as can a stampeding bison.
This thing put those two to shame.
It cleared the six meters in what felt like a step. Like the hammer of an angry god, it swung its maul-like fist down on me.
JM Guillen was your average, everyday awesome writer just trying to make it in this modern, awful corporate dystopia. He knew he wanted to make wonderful, bizarre things, but how could he afford to make that happen? Every day, he sat about crying and drinking, trying to figure out what he could do.
THEN A RADIOACTIVE METEOR CRASHED INTO HIS BACKYARD! FROM OUTER SPACE!
While examining the fuming interstellar rock, unknowable emanations radiated into the very center of his being. These unearthly energies changed the very depths of him, granting him powers that no man can name, and no god could ever master.
Reeling from the influx of spectral energies, he stumbled back into his home, his eyes open. Now, an entire universe unfolded before him. Now, he saw the way.
HE STARTED HIS OWN EVIL PUBLISHING COMPANY!
Now, JM Guillen begins to meet AWESOME people who supported his INSANE plans. Fiendishly, he scrawls story after story, writing steampunk, dark fantasy and eldritch horror…
The strangers hadn’t come for just any story. They’d come for her—the memory I’d clearly failed to bury. The one story I’d never tell… from “The Storyteller”
Somewhere down in the depths of the ocean, deeper than any light could reach, something awoke… from “Cost of the Crown”
I cannot shake the call of the ocean. It consumes me, fills my dreams, crowds my mind, and in that moment I know…I will do anything to become a mermaid… from “The Calling”
As gentle and sweet as the ocean’s lullaby can be, its waters are dark, dangerous, and full of mystery….
Dive in and explore ten original stories centered around the ocean. You’ll find something for everyone, from benevolent mermaids to powerful levjatans; stolen secrets and forbidden stories. Meet pirates and thieves, sea dragons and gods in these tales of action, grief, romance, and mystery!
Titles Included in Trials by Tides
The Song Thieves – Eleanor Owen
A girl who steals secrets from the sea searches for her missing sister, following clues found in the sea’s strange songs.
Manannan’s Daughter – Christiana Matthews
Mortals are all very well to use as playthings, but Cliohna’s decisions anger her father, with disastrous results.
Son of the Sea – Aisling Wilder
On an island in the West of Ireland, a lost soul rescues a dying man—or does the man rescue him?
The Delivery – Barend Nieuwstraten III
For a pair of hired hands, a simple task of escorting a coffin and its caretaker across the southern sea should make for a relaxing journey. However, as questionable things begin to happen, they find themselves more and more involved in the wild events to come.
The Storyteller – R. L. Davennor
An elderly storyteller is forced to recall the one tale she swore never to utter.
Cost of the Crown – Ine Gausel
Young prince Coral has always been told that the sea is a dark and dangerous place, but something he finds up on shore will change his life forever.
Heart of Amber – Kida Langås
After a storm brings two lost unlikely friends together after a decade apart, both of them have to make a choice: sneak away and rekindle their friendship, or risk losing each other a second time.
One More Time – A. M. Dilsaver
A young widower seeks solace from the ocean and its mysteries after his wife dies.
The Calling – A. M. Dilsaver
Torn between her true love and the ocean, Cordelia must make a choice that will change her life forever.
The Sparrow in the Ash Sea – S. K. Sayari
An unlikely hero must return the Goddess of the Sea to her temple before the ash sea overtakes all.
