Releasing October 25 - On the Edge of Nowhere

 

Cover Image: Erin Dameron-Hill Graphics

Through another door, the horrors continue for Gina and Mattie.

* * * *

Her ankle throbbed and forced Gina to accept Amy’s better judgment. “Will the sirens notice us here? Will they try to attack us on land if we wait a couple of days?”

“I’ve never stuck around to find out.” Amy shoved her hand out, though her expression stated she didn’t expect them to shake it. “I’m going for it. Good luck when you make your attempt.”

Gina gripped her palm. “Good luck right now. To all of you.”

Mattie relented and accepted her fate. Her warning glare forbade Gina from suggesting she go without her. She murmured her best wishes for them, and the boys echoed it in return.

The trio set off. They leaped across stones sticking out of the glowing water. Several were widely spaced, and Gina held her breath, sure they’d fall in. She watched for signs of man-eating mermaids, but only soft, slow waves drew faint lines on the shimmering surface.

She chewed on her lip hard enough to hurt when they ran out of stones. Amy, in the lead, looked up at the nearby tree’s leafless branches. Thick vines draped in swags among the limbs, and she reached for one. An instant later, she was crossing an expanse of water hand over hand. Her toes swung inches above a log drifting past. Gina viewed the performance with wide eyes, impressed with Amy’s assuredness as she went. The girl must have been amazing at obstacle courses before Hungry House ate her.

George and Hal followed her in single file, clumsier but no less successful until Hal’s vine snapped. He plunged into the water to the accompaniment of Gina’s and Mattie’s horrified cries.

Amy and George glanced back. Amy barely hesitated. She hopped along a second path of stones. An instant later, George continued too.

When Hal popped up, he didn’t call for help. Instead, he grabbed hold of a black log and let it carry him to a stone where he could resume his journey. Once there, he paused, his back to Gina and Mattie on the shore. His body heaved as he caught his breath.

He was never going to make it. How could he? How could any of them? The hateful house was impossible.

Tears crept down Gina’s cheeks. She couldn’t raise a cheer even when Hal straightened on his boulder and resumed his attempt to cross.

Amy dived for a drifting log when other paths to the stairs disappeared. She pulled herself across the green surface with powerful strokes. Or were they desperate? Gina thought about calling out to her to return to shore. She’d drown even if the sirens left her alone.

“Cover your ears.”

Gina glanced toward the small faces peering at her from the hollow tree. She scrubbed at her tears for fear of upsetting them. They continued to flow as she recognized the little kids were doomed. They all were.

“What, sweetie?”

“Cover your ears. The sirens are singing. That’s why you feel so bad.”

He or she, along with the other child, had their fingers stuck in their ears. On the heels of the advice, Gina heard the hum she’d missed before. It rose and fell but remained so low, it was often covered by the soft sigh of the waves lapping the shore.

Mattie clutched either side of her head. Her cheeks shone with tears too, but she’d stopped weeping. “They’re right. I still feel as if going on is pointless, but the urge to throw myself in to die is gone.”

Gina plugged her ears. The sense of inescapable dread lessened at once.

With the sirens’ demoralizing song minimized, Gina felt hope. Amy and George were nearly to the stairs. Hal continued to lag, more than half the way there. He acted as if he was barely able to hang onto a drifting log as it carried him to the next stone.

“You can do it!” Gina yelled. “Keep going, Hal. You can make it if you keep trying!”

Perhaps the encouragement helped. Gina was sure his grip tightened on the log, and when he was close to the stone, he lunged with defiant determination. He made it. Without pause, he hurried over the next set of closely spaced stones before swinging on a vine.

Meanwhile, Amy swam the last few feet to the stairs. She crawled up the first risers, her expression twisted with what appeared to be grief and exhaustion. George was seconds behind her. Mattie jumped up and down, and Gina joined her victory yells as he scrambled out.

Though her arms quaked, Amy hauled herself up the steps, effort obvious in every movement. George inched forward at a much slower pace.

“Go, George! Don’t stop! They’ll be coming for you!” Hal paused on top of a rock and gathered his strength to swim to the next.

His words were prophetic. The dark head of something slid above the water, less than two feet from the stairs. 

Gina screamed at the sight of it. White as bone, the sagging skin of the creature’s face draped in ancient jowls. Its mouth open and shut like a landed fish as it sang its poisonous song. Its mossy hair was tangled and resembled a vast collection of soggy reeds. Green-gold eyes, with reptilian-slit pupils, widened with excitement. It gazed at the barely moving George. It swam toward him.

Gina and Mattie shrieked at George to hurry. Meanwhile, Hal dove. He plowed through the water, ignoring the rocks he might have taken rest on. He swam as fast as he could to get to the stairs. An additional pair of hideous sirens surfaced, their attention riveted on the boy dragging himself with painful slowness up the risers.

When the first grabbed George’s leg, he shook off the spell their song had woven. He turned to stare at the gruesome trio, and two others who rose from the swamp. His mouth gaped wide in a shriek, rendered distant because Gina’s fingers were shoved in her ears. Deadened or not, it was a terrible sound, filled with despairing horror.

* * * *

Those who step inside Hungry House never return. But when the abandoned house on the edge of town is ready to feed, it won’t be denied. 

Inquisitive Gina and her impulsive best friend Mattie know better than to enter the abandoned Victorian. The mansion on the edge of Nowhere, Georgia, has a reputation for ‘eating’ those who dare to step inside. Yet when another friend and her younger brother disappear after last being seen heading toward Hungry House, Gina and Mattie have no choice but to follow.

Inside, they find every door is a gateway to a new nightmare. Even death is no escape—it only sends the unlucky trespassers back to the start of Hungry House’s gauntlet. Their only hope is to survive long enough to confront the house’s mistress, an inhuman being whose lust for vengeance is as immortal as she.

Releasing October 25. Pre-order now: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords.

Print on sale now: print