My ninth SHORT HORROR TALE, entitled TROLL is currently going through the final drafting stages. It should be released in the middle of next week.
TROLL has been an interesting story to write - it's a mix of childhood friendships, loyalty, fairy tale monsters and a dark side of the internet. Twisting all that together and creating an atmosphere of worsening dread, was a very welcome challenge. I hope people out there enjoy the result!
Here's the opening (second draft):
It was 9:05 PM when my iPhone received the panicky email from David Marshel.
I tried to call him five times during the next half hour. Each time, he either didn’t pick up or wasn’t near enough to his phone hear it ring.
By 10 PM, I was in my car, starting a four hundred mile journey back to the city where I had been born.
The man who had been my best friend when I was six, and right through every day of my school life, was in trouble. We had stopped speaking to each other on his twenty-fourth birthday, some eight years ago – but I forgot the argument and all those silent years when I heard he needed help. I doubt very much that he would have done the same for me, but loyalty has always been one of my strongest characteristics, and one of my heaviest burdens.
The email had read:
‘Steve, I think Tom’s in deep shit.” I could have told the message was from David just by the perfect punctuation – the emails I get from most other people are encoded into gibberish. “He’s locked up in that house of his. Won’t see anyone. Won’t answer the phone... And he’s been acting really weird over the last few months. Could be on the drugs again or it could be something worse. The last time I saw him, he was all hazy and strange, and talking about killing himself. I thought it was drunken bullshit talk... But now, I dunno. I’m scared. I think you’re the only one who could get through to him. Maybe you can make him see sense and get into rehab again. I know you two haven’t spoken for ages, but please come and try. Please, Steve, get down here fast.”
I had no choice. I got down there fast.