Excerpt for my novella, The Darkness Within
THE DARKNESS WITHIN
A Novella, by Jaime Rush
CHAPTER 1
"The male victim, according to witnesses, was torn apart and gutted like an animal."
That line from the newscast drew Tucker Cane to the television, where the reporter shoved the microphone at a police officer and asked for more details.
"It looks like a wild animal attack, maybe wolf or panther. We can't comment until we know more. For now, we advise residents of the Las Vegas suburbs not to wander into the desert areas after dark and to be on alert."
From what Tucker could see in the churning colored lights and spotlights, the area looked like a typical suburban neighborhood.
A woman with tangled hair and wild eyes pushed her way to the camera. "It wasn't no wild animal! I saw it. The man that did this turned into smoke, and then a werewolf! I told the police, but they won’t listen. We have monsters here in Las Vegas! They’re going to get us all!"
An officer took the woman by the arms and led her away as she struggled and continued to rant.
Every hair on the back of Tucker's neck stood on end. He glanced to the kitchen and then the stairs going up. He already knew none of the D'Rats were home yet. Their cars had been absent from their various places in the driveway fifteen minutes earlier when he'd come home. He’d turned on the news and gone into the kitchen to grab a beer.
In the seven years since he'd found those who were like him, gathered them and cobbled together a family, Tucker was as close to a parental unit as they'd ever had. He tried not to be. What did he know about taking care of someone? He was only twenty-four, and he’d hardly had a parental role model himself. He did, however, know firsthand how shocking it was to discover how different you were, and the reason you had the skills you did.
He rewound the newscast to the part he'd missed while he'd been in the kitchen and watched from the beginning. The attack had occurred three hours earlier, the victim only identified as a male in his twenties. Apparently this had been news for a while now. They had already spoken with a biologist called to the scene, trying to determine what kind of animal would commit this act and how the fine citizens of Las Vegas could avoid being next.
Typical hype, but the attack didn't sound typical.
The biologist said, "We haven't seen an animal attack like this since the Las Vegas man who was mauled twenty-three years ago in a residential area."
"What kind of animal was responsible for that attack?"
"We couldn't make a determination due to lack of obvious evidence. We found no fur or distinguishable prints in the sand outside the house. The only thing we found, at both scenes, were bloody prints that appear to be paw prints. In this investigation, it’s still too early to rule out anything."
The hairs on Tucker's arms now joined the rest at attention. The man who was mauled back then was Del's father. Supposedly Tucker's father had killed him out of a fit of jealousy.
Del. Damn, the thought of her cut into his chest even now. He finished half his beer, pacing the living room. It hit Tuck then: the victim was a male in his twenties. He started calling the Desert Rats. One was on his way home; the other, on a date. Tuck told them to get their asses home, now.
The door banged open, and Darius wheeled inside. He'd been with the D'rats only three years, the newest member of the family. Tucker still didn't feel as though he knew him. The dude had been paralyzed in a car accident right before Tucker had found him. He wore his hair in a wavy, poufed style that reminded Tucker of a Fifties ‘do.
Darius spun his fancy new chair around and kicked the door closed. He grunted, the only greeting he was going to give Tucker obviously, as he headed to his room.
"Been running?" Tucker let those words hang, taking in the sheen of sweat on Darius's face, his damp hair at his neck.
Darius paused at the beginning of the hallway. "Yeah. Moon's not up until three."
Dark enough to camouflage him.
Tucker waved him over. "Come here. You need to see this."
Tucker played the newscast and watched Darius’s expression darken when the woman broke in with her hysterical account. Tucker paused at the end of the segment.
"We knew there might be others out there like us. The men responsible for what we are—our biological fathers—liked to visit prostitutes. Stands to reason our mothers weren't the only ones who got pregnant."
"I think it was a wild animal and that the crazy broad reads too many vampire and werewolf novels…with her heroin."
Tucker shook his head. "She said the guy turned to smoke first. That's not something a book-crazy woman's going to read about.”
Darius wheeled down the hall to his room and shut the door with his usual kick. It always sounded like an angry slam.
Tucker had heard that sound enough as a child.
He called the one female in their group and asked her to come over. Time for a meeting. He paced, hoping the others would come home soon. He supposed this was how a parent might feel, worrying about their kids, feeling the tightness coil around his chest. But it wasn’t only their safety that had him knotted up. What they harbored inside could render any of them mad, vicious … uncontrollable. He only knew it as Darkness. Either there was another person out there with it … or one of the D'Rats had gone mad. That was the possibility he feared most.
A Novella, by Jaime Rush
CHAPTER 1
"The male victim, according to witnesses, was torn apart and gutted like an animal."
That line from the newscast drew Tucker Cane to the television, where the reporter shoved the microphone at a police officer and asked for more details.
"It looks like a wild animal attack, maybe wolf or panther. We can't comment until we know more. For now, we advise residents of the Las Vegas suburbs not to wander into the desert areas after dark and to be on alert."
From what Tucker could see in the churning colored lights and spotlights, the area looked like a typical suburban neighborhood.
A woman with tangled hair and wild eyes pushed her way to the camera. "It wasn't no wild animal! I saw it. The man that did this turned into smoke, and then a werewolf! I told the police, but they won’t listen. We have monsters here in Las Vegas! They’re going to get us all!"
An officer took the woman by the arms and led her away as she struggled and continued to rant.
Every hair on the back of Tucker's neck stood on end. He glanced to the kitchen and then the stairs going up. He already knew none of the D'Rats were home yet. Their cars had been absent from their various places in the driveway fifteen minutes earlier when he'd come home. He’d turned on the news and gone into the kitchen to grab a beer.
In the seven years since he'd found those who were like him, gathered them and cobbled together a family, Tucker was as close to a parental unit as they'd ever had. He tried not to be. What did he know about taking care of someone? He was only twenty-four, and he’d hardly had a parental role model himself. He did, however, know firsthand how shocking it was to discover how different you were, and the reason you had the skills you did.
He rewound the newscast to the part he'd missed while he'd been in the kitchen and watched from the beginning. The attack had occurred three hours earlier, the victim only identified as a male in his twenties. Apparently this had been news for a while now. They had already spoken with a biologist called to the scene, trying to determine what kind of animal would commit this act and how the fine citizens of Las Vegas could avoid being next.
Typical hype, but the attack didn't sound typical.
The biologist said, "We haven't seen an animal attack like this since the Las Vegas man who was mauled twenty-three years ago in a residential area."
"What kind of animal was responsible for that attack?"
"We couldn't make a determination due to lack of obvious evidence. We found no fur or distinguishable prints in the sand outside the house. The only thing we found, at both scenes, were bloody prints that appear to be paw prints. In this investigation, it’s still too early to rule out anything."
The hairs on Tucker's arms now joined the rest at attention. The man who was mauled back then was Del's father. Supposedly Tucker's father had killed him out of a fit of jealousy.
Del. Damn, the thought of her cut into his chest even now. He finished half his beer, pacing the living room. It hit Tuck then: the victim was a male in his twenties. He started calling the Desert Rats. One was on his way home; the other, on a date. Tuck told them to get their asses home, now.
The door banged open, and Darius wheeled inside. He'd been with the D'rats only three years, the newest member of the family. Tucker still didn't feel as though he knew him. The dude had been paralyzed in a car accident right before Tucker had found him. He wore his hair in a wavy, poufed style that reminded Tucker of a Fifties ‘do.
Darius spun his fancy new chair around and kicked the door closed. He grunted, the only greeting he was going to give Tucker obviously, as he headed to his room.
"Been running?" Tucker let those words hang, taking in the sheen of sweat on Darius's face, his damp hair at his neck.
Darius paused at the beginning of the hallway. "Yeah. Moon's not up until three."
Dark enough to camouflage him.
Tucker waved him over. "Come here. You need to see this."
Tucker played the newscast and watched Darius’s expression darken when the woman broke in with her hysterical account. Tucker paused at the end of the segment.
"We knew there might be others out there like us. The men responsible for what we are—our biological fathers—liked to visit prostitutes. Stands to reason our mothers weren't the only ones who got pregnant."
"I think it was a wild animal and that the crazy broad reads too many vampire and werewolf novels…with her heroin."
Tucker shook his head. "She said the guy turned to smoke first. That's not something a book-crazy woman's going to read about.”
Darius wheeled down the hall to his room and shut the door with his usual kick. It always sounded like an angry slam.
Tucker had heard that sound enough as a child.
He called the one female in their group and asked her to come over. Time for a meeting. He paced, hoping the others would come home soon. He supposed this was how a parent might feel, worrying about their kids, feeling the tightness coil around his chest. But it wasn’t only their safety that had him knotted up. What they harbored inside could render any of them mad, vicious … uncontrollable. He only knew it as Darkness. Either there was another person out there with it … or one of the D'Rats had gone mad. That was the possibility he feared most.
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