Authors: Daryl Banner
Tags: #Romance, #Fantasy, #New Adult & College, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Paranormal & Urban
The Whispers (23 page)
He puts a finger to his lips, signaling that I should be quiet. His hand is trembling.
“What’s so—?” I start to ask, but his other hand goes to my mouth, silencing me at once.
His soft, warm hand.
The violent throws of bodies and glass continues for what feels like several minutes, and then instantly falls silent. A single pair of footsteps crosses the tavern floor as though pacing, one end of the tavern to the other, back and forth.
The man holding his warm hand to my mouth, I notice how strong his arms look. His broad shoulders from which the arms come. His face reflects a warmth that stirs something deep in me, something I’d assumed was lost. His five-o’clock-shadowed rosy cheeks, I’m shocked that any miracle from the squatty pink Refinery could replicate them. Or his lush lips. A noteworthy job they did on this rugged man I have to admit, even despite the odd circumstance. His soft watery eyes are more aware than any I’ve seen yet. I watch his forehead screw up in concentration as he silently presses an ear to the door, listening with all his body.
Slowly, the steps approach us. This guy’s grip on my mouth tightens so much, I have to bring my own hand up to meet his. He seems to be holding his breath, squeezing his eyes shut like he’s in pain. The mystery walker stops just short of the door, then waits there as though he is listening too. An eternity seems to pass before finally, the footsteps slowly draw away, growing fainter, fainter, then gone at last.
He finally lets go of my mouth and whispers his first words: “Are you going to eat me?”
Not the sweetest first words I’ve heard. “What?”
“Are you going to eat me?” he asks again.
“Seriously?”
After studying my face doubtfully for a while, he seems to relax. “Okay, then.”
And without further explanation, he swings open the door and peers outside. Deciding the coast is clear I guess, he steps out of the bathroom. When I reluctantly follow, I find the tavern littered with skulls and bones of the bodies it once peacefully occupied. None of them stir. This must be part of the big pretend-scene—the part where they all lay in a mess, knocked out by one bottle or another, done in by someone’s wildly swinging fist. Skulls and bones, an unsettling but impressive touch. Among them, shattered glasses and spilled pools of waste decorate the scene.
This is an impressively disturbing tableau of undeath. I’m genuinely taken aback by its … horror.
“Is everyone okay?” I ask carelessly, looking around. “A little bit overdone, don’t you think?—this scene? I didn’t know the dead could die. Seems silly, the thought.” I blink. “So … Anyone getting up anytime soon?”
“No,” the young man murmurs, quickly locking the front door of the tavern—no idea why—then whipping over to the bar counter and inspecting it, looking for something.
“Is this normal? Bar fights? Is this what I have to look forward to for all eternity?”
“No,” he mumbles again, agitated, opening cabinets, rummaging through drawers.
“I’m Winter. That’s the name they gave me.” I watch him scavenge through every drawer behind the counter, curious. “What’s the name they gave you?”
“No,” he says, slams something shut, tears open another cabinet, a vein jutting out of his forehead with his face scrunched up in frustration. “Not a drop of anything, anywhere. Not even—Not even—”
“What are you looking for? Wait,” I say, listening carefully. “Do you hear that?”
He stops his hunting and stares at me now. I meet his eyes, pointing up at the ceiling where I think the sound is coming from. “Do you hear that? It’s like ... a gentle drum.”
“No,” he whispers, the sound barely making it from his lips this time. “I hear nothing.”
“Do you think whoever it was that started this is coming back? It sounds like footsteps, or some kind of drum, or ... Wow, I can’t believe you can’t hear that. Just listen ...”
I draw closer to him, thinking the noise is coming from the counter. Then I cross around the counter and notice him stepping away from me.
“Wait,” I tell him. “Just listen … Listen.”
His back is pressed against the wall. Before I realize how closely I’ve come in pursuit of the strange sound, I’m standing right in front of him.
Then I hear it, clear as a spoken word. A thumping. A drumming.
The horror returns to his eyes. Thumping. Thumping.
Drumming. Within him.
A heartbeat.
~~~ Want to know what happens next? ~~~
Click here
and take the journey with Winter and her friends that started it all in the original
Beautiful Dead Trilogy
.
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Are you a fan of dystopian series? Try out the epic urban fantasy Outlier series by Daryl Banner: full-length novels set in an immersive medieval/futuristic world. Its story is told through multiple POV’s. Contains M/M and M/F sexuality, adult language, and violence.
“Outlier: Rebellion (Book 1)”
http://www.amzn.com/B00M1XUK7W
The world is destroyed, save for the Last City Of Atlas where every citizen is born with a unique, special ability and, for some unknown reason, humans no longer sleep or dream. Poor, starved, and armed with only their lowly powers, an unlikely crew of slum-born form a secret rebel group with the sole purpose of assassinating the Banshee King, who rules from the Lifted City above where those born rich—and with great powers—live in luxury. When all seems hopeless, the rebellion discovers that their newest member—a boy who can sleep and dream—just might be the key to their victory.
“Outlier: Legacy (Book 2)”
http://www.amzn.com/B0172A5OHE/
In the second installment of the OUTLIER series, rebels armed with unique and fantastic abilities called Legacies continue to shake the Last City of Atlas from below, rising against the majestic, high-tech Lifted City and its cruel Banshee King, who can annihilate an army with just one scream. Friendships are made and broken as loyalties change. Love is ignited ... and savagely avenged. Can peace ever hope to be found? Will lost loved ones reunite? Unlikely alliances form and incredible new powers are discovered in the wake of the coming war between slum and sky. Weapons find your hand ... It is time to discover your Legacy.
“Outlier: Reign Of Madness (Book 3)”
(coming soon)
“Outlier: Beyond Oblivion (Book 4)”
(coming soon)
“Outlier: Five Kings (Book 5)”
(coming soon)
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“Houseboy Rules (The Brazen Boys)”
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Uptight and perpetually-single Scott can't wait to embark on a seven day cruise with his straight best friend. Trouble is, stressed-out Scott doesn't know how to "vacation". When he stumbles into the unapologetically carefree and stunning boy named Hendry, Scott's dry heart gets an overdue drenching. With only seven days on the luxury cruise ship, things between the boys are about to get slippery.
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Follow author/composer Daryl Banner on all your favorite social media platforms!
www.facebook.com/darylbannerwriter
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Thank you for all your love and support. I can’t do this without you. Let’s take many more adventures together. I have so many more stories to share with you.
~ ~ Daryl