Bloody Kisses
Virginia Nelson, Saranna DeWylde, Rebecca Royce, Alyssa Breck, Ripley Proserpina
Introduction
Dearest Reader,
Classic monsters have been a staple of my dreams and nightmares for as long as I can remember. From the first viewing of The Exorcist at my 8th birthday party where I thought about everything it made me feel, and I thought: “I want to do that” to even now watching movies and reading about every incarnation of the monsters that we love to scare us.
I remember the first time I thought that horror and love were a good mix. I was in middle school and it was Howling VI: The Freaks. If you haven’t seen it, an evil vampire captures a tortured werewolf for his carnival side show. But the werewolf resists his beastly nature for the local girl he’s fallen in love with—and for her part, she sees past the monster. The ugliest side of him. What a powerful story, right?
I’ve always wanted to write my own versions of these classic monsters and I wanted someone to tell me the story of how they fall in love. So within these pages you’ll find a lake monster, a demon, a mummy, a vampire and even a modern Prometheus.
I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought me.
Love and Spooks,
Saranna
Night of the Loving Dead
Virginia Nelson
Chapter One
Madeline
The rumors said the walls bled, which was enough to intrigue Madeline. She’d never seen anything like that, and if there was even a slight chance to see something like that, she was in. Most of the time, their little band of paranormal researchers spent their time stumbling around in the dark.
Nothing popped out of the inky blackness when they searched, unless she counted the occasional startled and unhappy raccoon. On really unlucky days, they might scare a skunk… not an experience she wanted to repeat.
No noises she couldn’t explain, even if Drew—her recent ex, and the leader of their misfit bunch—liked to romanticize everything. Every creak of old wood, every moan of wind through cracked windows, every inexplicable orb of light in their pictures were proof to him of life beyond the grave.
Madeline took a bit more convincing.
Her best friend, Layla, insisted that her disbelief was reason enough to leave the society and stop wandering around in the middle of the night seeking proof of the unknown, but Madeline didn’t see it that way. She went ghost hunting with the society because she wanted there to be something more. There had to be. Something other than waking up to go to work and paying bills. Something more than growing old and facing death. Something special. Something magical.
Besides, Madeline suffered from insomnia since she was a kid, so it wasn’t like she had something better to do at two o’clock in the morning. It was after her shift at the gas station—cashier, super fancy gig, right?—ended, so it wasn’t like she could work or do something else with the hours she spent wandering around abandoned buildings and anywhere else that might be haunted.
The road to the old mansion was overgrown and pitted, so they’d only made it partway down it in the car before they had to strike out on foot. A little walking never bothered Madeline, but Drew bothered her. When she’d first broken up with him—because lackluster sex wasn’t enough to make her keep dealing with his bullshit and drama—he’d tried to hook up with Cammie, another of their little society. Cammie wasn’t into him so much, but she wasn’t a great friend to Madeline, so for a bit…they’d had a thing. Madeline thought they still were together, at least as far as she knew. That led Carter, the last of their group, to think he should hit on her.
Nope. No way, no how. Been there, didn’t get a tee shirt. There is no way I am hooking up with anyone else in the society. This is my recreation and curiosity time. I’m not wasting it pretending to feel something for someone.
Because that was what relationships had become to her. Pretend. It didn’t seem anything enough anymore. Like she’d built up a tolerance to relationships and couldn’t get that emotional payoff others enjoyed.
Whatever. Enough introspection. Back to bloody walls.
Supposedly the old mansion had so many ghosts, people had actually died of fear when they tried to stay one night there. One person claimed they knew someone scared so badly, they never spoke again. All in all, it really was sort of the typical urban myth laden kind of thing the group chased down. But this one felt different, somehow. Like her skin was awake, each tiny hair on her arms feeling the breeze in a way they hadn’t before. Distant lightning illuminated the beast of a structure as they approached, making it look like black teeth gnawing at a storm tossed sky.