Dark Needs at Night's Edge
1Outside Orleans Parish
Present day
Stay sane, act normal, he chants to himself as he strides down the rickety pier. On either side of him, water black like tar. Ahead of him, muted light from the bayou tavern. A Lore bar. A lone neon sign flickers over flat skiffs below. Music and laughter carry.
Stay sane...need to dull the rage. Until the endtime.
Inside. "Whiskey." His voice is low, rough from disuse.
The bartender's face falls. Like last night. Others grow skittish. Can they sense that I ache to kill? The whispers around him are like metal on slate to his ragged nerves.
-- "Conrad Wroth, once a warlord...madder than any vampire I've seen in all my centuries."
-- "A killer for hire. If he shows up in your town, then folks from the Lore there'll go missing."
Missing? Unless I want them found.
-- "Heard he drains 'em so savagely...nothing's left of their throats."
So I'm not fastidious.
-- "I heard he eats them."
Distorted rumors. Or is that one true?
Tales of his insanity spreading once more. I've never missed a target -- how insane can I be? He answers himself: ... read full excerpt from Dark Needs at Night's Edge ebook
