“Course. Course.” Kelly snapped out of her paralysis, took a couple of hesitant steps toward him, and then ran for the shelter of his arms. Randy watched the trees, sucking foam from the top of his beer can. He’d dropped it when the owl attacked.
“But I never saw nothing like it before.” Mike put his hands over his hat brim to shield his eyes, moved well away from the fire studying the branches against the stars. “No bat and owl—that’s crazy!” He chuckled, “Blue jay! Kelly, for Christ’s sake.”
“Do you think…” Kelly started, but was silenced when a tattered scream tore the night. The sound bounced off the frozen bark, off the snow and crackled in the hard winter air around them. Before they could react or speak, there was a powerful ripping sound high up in the trees—a gushing wet rending noise—and then nothing.
Mike pointed. Fifteen feet from them, at the edge of the firelight, a crisp pattering crackle began—something dripping—followed by a heavy thump. A branch maybe, some pinecones, had fallen and broken the surface of the snow. They shielded their eyes against a spangled curtain of frost that drifted down on them.
Mike pulled his flashlight out of his pocket, played the yellow beam past the edge of the firelight in time to see a dark stain burning through the surface of the snow, collapsing it—and then he gasped. A big brown wing with white-flecked feathers lay at the base of the tree. The torn stump steamed, a tangle of wet, ripped muscle.
“Holy shit!” Randy moaned, tightening his grip on Kelly.
She backed up to the fire, pulling Randy with her, gasping a warning as Mike walked toward the mess in the snow. He grunted, inspecting the stains and turned the light to the ruined wing. Then the flashlight beam slid up the giant tree trunks and into the branches. In the yellow light they could see thin dustings of snow falling on him.
“Forget it, Mike!” Kelly called after him. Her breath was coming in gasps. She tightened her grip on Randy. Adrenaline was washing the alcohol out of her system. She didn’t want anything to do with this Crocodile Hunter shit—you know how that ended up! Then a strangled cry burst from Mike and he dropped his flashlight. His bulky silhouette suddenly barreled through the snow toward them.
“No fucking owl! No fucking BAT!” he cried as he passed them, and then jumped onto his snowmobile.
“Go. Go. Go. NOW!” Mike shouted, turning his sled’s engine over. The machine roared twice and he was tearing over the snow to the north.
Kelly looked at Randy, jaw hanging stupidly—their expressions twisted over Mike’s behavior. Is he kidding? Then a rain of drifting snow, branches and twigs started falling on them—knocking new plumes of sparks from the fire. Their disbelieving looks dropped when heavy, scrabbling sounds came from the trees directly above them.
They looked up.
Something was moving through the high branches backlit by a half moon that rode the snow clouds like a sailing ship. Something big, and it was climbing down.
They ran.
Kelly’s snowmobile started right away. Randy’s hesitated—died—started and stopped before he swore and leapt behind Kelly on her Yamaha. The pair roared away from the fire into the winter night.
Neither of them turned to see the large dark shape move effortlessly out of the tree. They didn’t see the silhouette shifting against the blaze.
End of this eBook sample.
The story continues in
BENT STEEPLE
G. Wells Taylor
Discover other titles by G. Wells Taylor at
Smashwords.com:
The Apocalypse Trilogy
Zombies, Angels and the Four Horsemen fight for control of the World of Change.
Book 1: WHEN GRAVEYARDS YAWN (A FREE Wildclown Novel)
Book 2: THE FORSAKEN
Book 3: THE FIFTH HORSEMAN
Wildclown Mysteries
Detective Wildclown’s case files in the World of Change.
Book 1: WHEN GRAVEYARDS YAWN (A FREE Wildclown Novel)
Book 2: WILDCLOWN HARD-BOILED
Book 3: WILDCLOWN HIJACKED
Book 4: MENAGERIE – A Wildclown Novel
Book 5: THE NIGHT ONCE MORE – A Wildclown Novel
THE CORPSE: HARBINGER (Adventures of a Long-Dead Detective)
The Variant Effect
Old heroes battle a toxic zombie menace from the past.
Book 1: SKIN EATERS: (FREE eBOOK)
Book 2: GREENMOURNING
Book 3: COMING 2016
The Variant Effect: PAINKILLER (FREE Novella)
Dracula of the Apes
This trilogy picks up where Dracula left off and Tarzan of the Apes began.
Book 1: THE URN (FREE eBOOK)
Book 2: THE APE
Book 3: THE CURSE
Horror Fiction
Modern twists on vampires, ghosts and monsters.
BENT STEEPLE
MOTHER’S BOY
MEMORY LANE
The Gene Spiral Series
Frankenstein revisited.
6 – PORTRAIT OF A 21ST CENTURY SNUFF FIGHTER
Translations
WHEN GRAVEYARDS YAWN (Polish Language Version)
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Email Questions or comments to: books@gwellstaylor.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G. WELLS TAYLOR was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1962, but spent most of his early life north of there in Owen Sound where he went on to study Design Arts at a local college. He later traveled to North Bay, Ontario to complete Canadore College’s Journalism program before receiving a degree in English from Nipissing University. Taylor worked as a freelance writer for small market newspapers and later wrote, designed and edited for several Canadian niche magazines.
He joined the digital publishing revolution early with an eBook version of his first novel When Graveyards Yawn that has been available online since 2000. Taylor published and edited the Wildclown Chronicle e-zine from 2001-2003 that showcased his novels, book trailer animations and illustrations, short story writing and book reviews alongside titles from other up-and-coming horror, fantasy and science fiction writers.
Still based in Canada, Taylor continues with his publishing plans that include additions to the Wildclown Mysteries and sequels to the popular Variant Effect series.
