Book 2: Fear No Evil
Excerpt: Chapter One
Beyond the rain-soaked windows of the Larkson City bus, I could hear the street lamps hiss. See them flicker, each drop upon the heated bulbs sizzling a crescendo larger than the last. My heart was beating in my chest at just about the same pace--drip, sizzle, burn, then fade. Fear over the next few moments dripping down my spine like those fading raindrop, one connecting to the other as each grew larger than the last until they would reach the bottom. The ache settling in my stomach like the hard punch of reality before the progression began again and the ache grew larger.
The normality of the outside world seemed an eternity away from where I sat on the hard edge of the plastic bus seat, staring into the fathomless dead eyes of a second rank demon. Sweat, fear and the unmistakable scent of brimstone lingered with the thickness of humidity. Heated breath and buoyant prayers hung heavy in the restricted space while twenty-two people were packed in the small confines of glass and metal like pigs-in-a-tin blanket.
The reek of body odor began to grow the higher the level of fear became. In each stranger’s face I could see the fear trembling on their lips, glazing across their eyes. I could feel it on my flesh with every laborious breath they took. It bespoke of things childhood nightmares left unspoken and seldom ever seen. Until now.
Tonight’s excursion would leave most of them scarred for life. Turn unbelievers into the faithful. The faithful into zealots. Even Atheists would begin to choose a side closer to the line. And whatever side of the line they decided to cross would depend on the outcome of this digression into their fear’s unscrupulous darkness. I, unfortunately, had been blessed as their tour guide on this short trip to Hell.
The only good thing, they weren’t actually going there themselves. No, this was just a tourist trip. Call it window-shopping with the damned.
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