BLAKE CROUCH, JACK KILBORN & JA KONRATH
Birds of Prey - A Novella of Terror
Introduction
The original version of SERIAL, still available as a free ebook, was a 7500-word horror short story written as an experiment. In less than a year, that experiment was downloaded over 200,000 times, and has received over a hundred scathingly negative reviews, with many people claiming it was the most depraved, awful thing they’ve ever read.
SERIAL UNCUT was over 36,000 words, much of it brand new. Along with the insertion of additional material too extreme for the original version, it also had a vastly expanded beginning and ending, including an extended section that originally appeared in the novellas BAD GIRL and TRUCK STOP.
But even with this expanded version, there were still some loose ends to tie up, and some story left to tell.
Which brought us to KILLERS, the sequel to Donaldson’s and Lucy’s escapades in the desert southwest.
A now, finally, the lynchpin that ties it all together…BIRDS OF PREY.
Neatly bringing together characters from Crouch’s, Kilborn’s, and Konrath’s works, BIRDS OF PREY is a companion piece to SERIAL UNCUT, DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS, BREAK YOU, ENDURANCE, FUZZY NAVEL, CHERRY BOMB, SHAKEN, STIRRED, SNOWBOUND, ABANDON, RUN, and DRACULAS.
If you can handle horrific thrills, proceed at your own risk.
But if you suffer from anxiety attacks, nervous disorders, insomnia, nightmares or night terrors, heart palpitations, stomach problems, or are of an overly sensitive nature, you should read something else instead.
The authors are in no way responsible for any lost sleep, missed work, failed relationships, or difficulty in coping with life after you have read BIRDS OF PREY. They will not pay for any therapy you may require as a result of reading BIRDS OF PREY. They will not cradle you in their arms, rock you back and forth, and speak in soothing tones while you unsuccessfully try to forget BIRDS OF PREY.
You have been warned…
Love,
A Watch of Nightingales
“Get in here, boys!” Jeanette shouted. “It’s happening, and you’re missing it! Andrew! Orson! Come on!”
The eight-year-old twins raced each other down the hall and into the living room, where they skidded to a stop on the green shag carpet.
“You have to see this,” their mother said, pointing at the television screen.
“What’s wrong with Dad?” Orson asked.
Andy looked over at their father who sat on the edge of an ottoman, leaning toward the television with his forearms on his knees and tears running down his face.
“Nothing, son,” he said, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. “Just never thought I’d be alive to see something like this.”
“Can we go outside?” Andy said.
“It’s too late,” Jeannette said. “Ya’ll need to get ready for bed.”
“Aw, come on, Mom. Just for ten minutes,” Orson begged.
“Five minutes,” their mother said. “And don’t make me come out there looking for you.”
The boys rushed out the front door into the night, the screen door banging shut after them.
It was July and warm, lightning bugs floating everywhere like airborne embers, sparking and fading, sparking and fading.
“Look at me!” Andy screamed, running out into the long, cool grass in the front yard. “I’m floating!”
When the boy stopped, he glanced back toward the driveway, saw his brother lying on his back, staring up at the sky.
Andy moved back toward him in exaggerated hops, pretending to bounce along through reduced gravity.
He lay down on the warm concrete beside his brother, their shoulders barely touching, and stared up into the sky.
The gibbous moon shone with a subdued brilliance through the humid southern night.
“I can see them up there,” Andy said.
Orson glanced at him, brow furrowed. “Really?”
Andy smiled. “Of course not, I’m just kidding.”
“I knew that.”
They were quiet for a bit, and then Orson said, “I think there’s something wrong with me.”
“I know, my stomach always hurts after Mom’s meatloaf, too.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“What?”
“You ever feel different?” Orson said.
“Different? Like how?”
“Like from other people, stupid.”
“I don’t know. I don’t guess so.”
“Yeah, that’s because you’re normal.”
“So are you.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are, you’re my brother.”
“That doesn’t make me normal, Andy.”
“I know you and there’s nothing wrong—”
“But you only know my outside. You don’t know what’s inside. The thoughts I have.”
“What thoughts?”
“Just thoughts.”
“Normal ones?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Like what?” Andy asked.
“I don’t want to tell. They’re mine.”
“Tell me.”
Orson looked over at Andy. Now there were tears in his eyes. Glassy in the moonlight.
“You’ll tell Mom and Dad.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Orson looked back into the sky.
“Everyone’s real excited about what’s happening.”
“I know.”
“But you know what I’m thinking?”
“How could I?”
Orson hesitated. Then: “No, I don’t want to say.”
“Orson.” Andy reached over and took hold of his brother’s hand. “You can trust me. Always.”
Orson blinked twice, and then said, “I wish Neil Armstrong would die up there.”
“Why?”
Orson shrugged. “I don’t know. But I wish his friend would leave him on the moon or the Eagle would blow up or a space monster that no one had ever heard of before would crawl out of a hole and eat him. Everyone would be
