Excerpt: Blood Kiss: Quietus

I’d always been fascinated with death. For as long as I could remember, this great looming specter frightened me and comforted me. If things were going well, I waited for it to swoop down and destroy my happiness; if things were not going well, I longed for it to take the pain away. Alternately I ran from it and into it, never knowing for sure which one I wanted more. Maybe it was because happiness felt so fleeting, ephemeral, something I wasn’t allowed to keep. I figured what was the point in trying so hard for something I’d only catch a glimpse of? Death, sadness, darkness waited with open arms at every turn. Even on rainy days I felt more comfortable, somehow contained and safer with the dark clouds holding back the sunshine. Occult. No one can find you or hurt you when only the darkness knows where you are and it’s not telling.