Sample chapter from THE ATROCITY VENDOR

My Top 5 Reads of 2014 Works in Progress

Sample chapter from THE ATROCITY VENDOR

My forthcoming dual-novella collection, THE ATROCITY VENDOR, is my tribute to the horror / exploitation films I grew up with in the 70s and 80s. Below is the first chapter of the first novella, titled THE BLASPHEMOUS SISTERS OF ST. APOLLONIA. Then stay tuned for a peek at a later section...

PART ONEINITIATION
CHAPTER ONE

Four non-stop hours in the back seat of her parents’ Mercedes started to get to Abigail Brannon. She was sick and tired of scanning websites on her cell phone and just wanted to get there, to get things started and then over with as quickly as possible.A sign said there were six miles until they reached Aurora. She had read all there was to read about the small, upstate New York town, and while living so close to a lake was probably cozy, she didn’t have high hopes she’d get to see it on this particular trip.Abigail leaned her head back and fought the urge for a smoke. She had been told by her family’s priest there would be absolutely no smoking at St. Apollonia’s, a boarding school for troubled and runaway teens. And while she had never run away from home, Abigail’s behavior since freshman year of high school left her with a few unpleasant options: get serious help now (her father’s words), repeat her senior year under close supervision (her principal’s words) or, get ready for life in prison (the family court judge’s words at the time of her trial for stealing their neighbor’s Cadillac and taking it on a drug-fueled joyride with her friends). And while her friends were probably still getting high and laid, here she was en route to one of the strictest juvenile correctional facilities on the east coast. At least, that’s what her father told her it was.Aurora. Five Miles.How bad could it really be, she asked herself. She’d have to listen to a bunch of priests and nuns preach about the dangers of premarital sex, drinking, drugs—all the usual bullshit she had heard in the dean’s office, only now from the clergy. She’d play along, do what they said to do, and by the time her one-month stay was over she’d be sent back to Manhattan to finish high school and get on with life.True, she knew she’d have to calm down a bit, at least until she got her diploma and got the hell out of her parents’ house, miserable shithole that it was. Big deal if her old man was able to send her to that stuck up prep school on the Upper East Side. Her friends went to public school and their parents didn’t care if they let their hair down once in a while.Aurora. Four Miles.The first thing she planned to do when she got back to the city was kick the living shit out of that twat Debbie. Halfway through their “drug-fueled joyride” around the Lower East Side, she decided she needed to go home, so they dropped her off, and within thirty minutes the cops pulled them over. Bitch ratted them out, as she claimed, “Because I was worried you guys were going to get hurt or killed.”Yeah, right. Abigail shifted in her seat, fantasizing about knocking her alleged friend’s teeth out and hoping Cara or Rachel hadn’t done so yet. She wanted the pleasure of watching the bitch suffer for herself.Aurora. Three Miles.While she wasn’t one to worry, Abigail had to admit she didn’t fully trust Cara around John. They weren’t seeing each other exclusively, but she knew Cara had been eyeing him since the first time she brought him around. Abigail had taken care of him however he wanted, but she wasn’t stupid. Everyone knew Cara was the best looking of her friends, and John was, as far as she could tell, a typical guy.Shit.This crap better go quickly, she thought, daydreaming about how she was doing John on her king-sized bed before her parents came home yesterday, her last day of freedom for an entire month—that is, if she didn’t cause any trouble at St. Apollonia’s.Good God. She knew she messed up, but did her parents really have to send her away, even if for a short period of time?Aurora. Two Miles.“You okay back there?”Abigail responded by nodding her head. She knew her father saw her in the rearview mirror, and she knew her mother didn’t actually have a cold. She was crying into a series of tissues, probably blaming herself for the way her daughter turned out.Sorry to disappoint you, Mom, but not everyone wants to live life with a pole up their ass.“You know this is your only option, honey,” Abigail’s father said as the dashboard GPS told him to make a left at the next stop light.“Mmm-hmmm,” Abigail said, looking at the back of her father’s balding head.“Oh leave her alone, David,” Abigail’s mother said, wiping her nose on yet another tissue. “Just let her be. She’s going, okay? Isn’t that enough for you?”“Sorry, hon. Just trying to make conversation.”The landscape became greener. Trees became more pronounced.Aurora. One Mile.Had this been a family trip like the kind they took when she was a kid, Abigail’s mother would’ve been pointing to the foliage and little gift shops saying how beautiful everything was. But now she was so upset they could’ve been driving through the Las Vegas strip at night and she wouldn’t have noticed a thing.That bitch better stay away from John.That other bitch’s old man better have a good dental plan.These nuns or whoever is running this place better be on the up and up. No old goat better think she’s going to be copping a look or feel of my cooch.Abigail attempted to straighten her thoughts out as they approached a large sign that read:WELCOME TO THE VILLAGE OF AURORAPOPULATION: 750Abigail’s mouth soured when she saw how few people lived here. Apparently she hadn’t read everything there was to know about this place.Within a few minutes they parked in front of St. Apollonia’s rectory. Across the way was St. Apollonia’s Catholic Church, a small but nice looking building that reminded Abigail of a Norman Rockwell painting.Her father removed her suitcase from the trunk then led the way to the front door where Father Clement waited.“Mister Brannon! Welcome to Saint Apollonia’s.” He shook his hand.“Thank you. This is my wife, Claudia.”The priest smiled and shook her hand, but Abigail could tell he was more interested in getting down to business than exchanging pleasantries. She found it odd how he looked exactly like his picture on the St. Apollonia’s website, as if he had just taken the shot yesterday.“And you must be Abigail,” he said, offering her his hand.She shook it but kept her head down.“If you’ll follow me inside we’ll get everything settled and show your daughter to her quarters,” Father Clement said as if Abigail wasn’t standing right there with them.Oh, great, she thought. Despite his smile and positive tone, she could already tell this Clement character was a phony asshole.And before she entered the rectory, she caught a glimpse of a building off in the distance behind the church. Despite the Sunny April morning, it seemed out of place in this picture-perfect town. It was as if a dark cloud hovered over it, letting her know this wasn’t going to be a picnic, that games weren’t played here and her nonsense wouldn’t be tolerated. And when she realized crosses were etched into its side windows, she had a feeling it was the place she’d be spending the next thirty days.Oh yes. Her parents were going to pay for this shit.Dearly.

And now a brief peek from Chapter 12:

After what seemed like a half hour, Sister Ann clapped her hands again. All the nuns stopped dancing and moved into a squad-like formation: the young nuns stood in a line as the hooded nuns took their places behind them. Their bodies sweated so intensely it looked like they were dripping blood in the candlelit attic.As if out of nowhere, Father Clement walked into the room and stood next to Sister Ann.“Excellent work, Sister,” he said, placing a kiss on the elder nun’s cheek. “Has everything been prepared?”“Yes it has, Father.”Abigail followed Sister Ann’s line of sight, which led to a small table a few feet to her left.
On that table sat the pair of rusty-looking metal pincers.