Curse of the Reaper by Brian McAuley

Author:Brian McAuley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945863820
Publisher: Talos
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

25

Howard stood frozen for a moment before spinning on his heels for the exit. But a thick layer of fans had already flanked up behind him and were physically pushing him back toward the stage. He was the lamb being led to the slaughter, dragged past hundreds of hungry faces until he finally stumbled his way up the side stairs and onto the stage.

Trevor forced a feeble smile, jutting out his hand for a shake. “Mr. Browning. So great to see you again.”

Howard shook the hand as he swallowed deeply and the crowd cheered. He was confident that his verbal spell had worked, but that confidence was waning now as his nerves began to prickle. He wanted to get off this stage as fast as possible before something bad happened.

“A handshake?” Chuck scoffed, inserting himself between the two actors. “Are you kidding me? Let’s get a proper photo op here. Give us Reaper versus Reaper!”

Howard winced at the suggestion. Chuck had no idea what he was asking for, what he was summoning as the ravenous crowd cheered, eager to meet their monster.

My children are waiting.

The Reaper’s dark whisper returned, louder than all other sounds. Howard could no longer discern if it was internal or external as it vibrated through his entire being. All he knew was that no one else could hear it as he shook his head, denying the command.

He took a step back, but not far enough as Trevor raised his hands to Howard’s throat, barely making contact for a camera-friendly faux choke.

“How’s that?” Trevor smiled at the crowd as they all went wild.

Howard felt their electric energy coursing through him now, galvanizing the creature.

“My turn!” The Reaper’s voice burst forth from Howard’s lips. His hands flew at Trevor’s neck, as if pulled by a puppeteer’s strings.

“That’s more like it!” Chuck exclaimed over the roaring audience, delighting in the performance.

But Howard wasn’t performing as his hands squeezed tightly against his will. Trevor’s eyes swelled with confusion as Howard fought to loosen his own grip, but he couldn’t regain control as his veins surged with untold energy.

His knuckles went white, choking the life out of Trevor before the insatiable crowd. Howard wanted to fight it, but there was no use. He was about to murder this young man on stage in front of thousands of people, but they were asking for it.

The villagers of Ashland demanded their sacrifice.

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