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Little Book 6
Hello and thanks for stopping in again.
I was on Twitter the other day and stumbled onto the following.
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Jenny Stiles (@cocospitteler) |
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I’m raising funds for my uninsured costs of my 2nd kidney transplant with @HelpHOPELiveorg please RT and donate to ow.ly/ptbDA
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I decided to visit the site HelpHOPELive and I have to say I am impressed. You can think of this like a kick starter for helping people with medical bills. In many cases, this could be a difference between life and death, not just quality of life. I hope everyone will take the time to check this out and help if they can. This seems like a pretty good cause.
Also, if you get the chance, you should spread the word on this. Every little bit helps and this is a direct way to help someone.
Now back to the story.
L. E. White
Little Book 6
Joey opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to remember where he was. He could feel his pulse in his head and the steady thumping reminded him of a marching band in a parade.
His head hurt. The pain rolled down over his body with each beat and he felt his stomach roll. He forced his body to move, twisting and turning so that his head hung off the bed and was stopped mid-breath as he wretched. The burning, putrid sludge in his gut burned his throat and sinuses on the way out but there wasn’t enough time to wipe his mouth before the next convulsion hit him.
Joey tried to calm himself. He tried to clench his jaw and take deep breaths but the pain that flowed from inside his head pushed his stomach up and out, forcing it to try and empty again.
And again.
And again.
A pair of small, hot hands rested on his shoulders. After a dozen dry heaves he tried to look back at the person sitting on his bed but he didn’t make it. Another glob of green and yellow muck dropped out of his mouth and onto the floor.
“It will pass if you let it,” Claire’s said. “Don’t fight it, but let your body do what it wants to.”
“Ow.”
“I have seen this before. It will pass.”
Joey wretched again before he became aware of Claire’s hand rubbing circles on his back. The heat from her touch felt good as his body began to tremble and chill as it reacted to the violence of his sickness.
There was only a small spot of light in the center of Joey’s vision. The rest of what he saw looked like a spiraling tube of light and dark grey, as if someone had flushed smoke down a toilet. He drew shallow, ragged breaths until he finally felt he was done vomiting. He tilted his head up, and a glass of water with a straw was in front of him without a word.
“You can just spit the water out on the floor. The towels I put down will absorb it.”
After a few more minutes, Joey was able to take a breath without gagging on the taste of his own juices. “What the fuck?”
“It is a reaction to offering the full book. There is a cost to the transaction for the one who delivers the payment and this is that cost.”
“How the fucking hell did Morrin survive this?”
Claire’s hands began to squeeze and knead the muscles in Joey’s back. She rubbed small circles on either side of his spine as she spoke. “He suffered as you do the first few times, then he tried to get others to pay the tribute for him.”
“How?”
“The act of giving the ledger is what causes the transaction to occur. He would arrange it so that one of his men would deliver the ledger to her. The person who makes the payment is the one who presents her with the book.”
Joey rolled over onto his back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the light and force the room to stop spinning. “I understand why.”
He felt the bed shift and after a minute he realized how warm he was. It was like he had a heating blanket spread over his lap and Joey wiped his face with one hand.
“Do you still feel like you will vomit?”
“No,” he answered. “It’s just that I am really hot. Did you turn up the heat or something?” He wiped his face twice more with his hands before he realized that there was weight on his lap. Joey peeked out of one eye and then both of them shot open. Claire was the source of the heat. She was on his lap, sitting straddle of him where he lay in the bed in his boxers. The shape shifter looked like she did as a human except that she was naked.
He looked at her with a mixture of fear and confused lust. Joey knew what she was, that she could be anything or anyone he wanted and he had made a simple decision not to take her up on the offer of sex. It had been part of her job with Morrin, but Joey didn’t want anything to do with that.
Now, with her sitting on his lap, naked, feminine and perfect, it was much more difficult to keep from thinking of her that way. “Why are you in bed with me?”
“She told me to come here and comfort you.”
“I told you that I didn’t want to do that with you.”
The creature looked at him curiously. “Then don’t. I will not force you unless you tell me to.”
Joey opened his mouth to smart off and answer but stopped. He looked at her, thought about it and then closed his eyes again. “No,” he said while shaking his head. “Please get off of me.” He felt the slight weight leave him and then the heat stopped. The loss of that heat made his chest and groin ache. “Claire, is this what I can expect every time I settle up my account?”
“Yes, although if you settle up more often, then you will not feel such extreme discomfort.”
“Is there any way to avoid this?”
“Whoever has the book is the boss. Whoever gives the book the book to the lady settles the account.”
Joey turned to look at Claire. She was sitting cross legged, naked and fantastic beside him. He let out a deep breath and turned his eyes to the ceiling. “So why did the lady have the book when I was sent to kill her?”
“Morrin mailed it to her in an attempt to have the delivery man pay the tab.”
“It didn’t work because he didn’t know what he was doing.”
Claire nodded. “You are correct. One must know what they are doing when the ledger is presented. It is a decision, a conscious act.”
“Why did he send me to kill her?”
“He was hoping that you would succeed or that by getting the book and then giving it to him, your decision to give it back would count as the acceptance of payment.”
“Didn’t he realize that the lady would tell me what was happening?”
Claire chuckled, a deep, rumbling that seemed far too low for the body that produced it. “Morrin was not an intelligent man. I doubt he thought that far ahead. The idea of having the letter carrier deliver the ledger was proof of that.”
The official Dilbert website with Scott Adams’ color comic strips, animation, mashups and more!
And once again, Scott Adams hits the nail on the head.
Sigh
The official Dilbert website with Scott Adams’ color comic strips, animation, mashups and more!.
Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip on GoComics.com
Little Book 5
I want to take a moment here to offer support for some of my favorite places on the web. These are all things I enjoy on a regular basis and that I think you might enjoy as well. I visit most of these sites daily and all of the weekly. In fact, these are probably the source of most of my entertainment. Check them out and if you like them, support them.
Pod Casts:
I listen to a few different ones on a regular basis. I know there are other and if you have any suggestions then please leave them in the comments.
Writing Excuses – Years of weekly episodes that are fantastic information about writing. This has taught me a lot. I am a faithful listener.
Escape Artist Pod Casts – I have mentioned these sites before. They record audio versions of all sorts of stories. Each site has a general genre that it sticks to and their work is fantastic. I hope to one day have stories on here.
Web Comics:
I am not going to something for each individual one. They all have their merits and are all fantastic. This is the order I visit them in each day. I usually spread them out through the day so that when I need a chuckle I have one. Bad days will see me visiting the archives. The only exception to this is Zen Pencils, which doesn’t do daily updates.
Music:
Grooveshark – This allows me to listen to whatever I want. The one problem that I have with Pandora is that it seems like they never play my seed songs. If I am seeding with them, then I must like them and want to hear them. Grooveshark lets me build a playlist out of whatever I want. I am very happy with this and if you want one of my playlists, try this one.
Well, I think that is enough for now. I hope you follow these links and enjoy the content. See you next week. Hope you enjoy the next installment of Little Book.
L. E. White
Little Book 5
Joey flipped the book open from the back and started moving forward. He ran into names five pages later. “We seem to have done a pretty good job,” he said before turning his gaze to his assistant. “When do I need to settle up with your people?”
Claire stretched in a way that only a cat can before jumping off the back of the couch. As soon as her feet hit the floor her body shifted and the busty brunette was standing in front of Joey again. “You may clear your account at any time as long as it is before you run out of pages.”
“So what happens?”
Claire brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “You must take the list to her. She will take it from you and in that moment the exchange will begin. The book’s pages will be wiped clean and she will hand you back the empty ledger.”
“So why do I need to give her the book? You have been collecting your cut of the take all along.”
“It is symbolic. You must present it to her to show that you are holding up your end of the agreement.”
***
That night, Joey and Claire drove over. The old woman was sitting in the same place that Joey had left her almost six months ago and she still had the same dress on. He looked at her with a close, scrutinizing expression as he stepped forward. She was still out of balance. Nothing about the woman was symmetrical, but now, he thought everything was off in a different way. He wasn’t sure he was remembering it right, but it looked like a mirror image of what he had seen in his mind.
“You have come to settle up like a good boy,” She said. “Morrin never showed up on his own to pay his debt.”
“I ain’t Morrin,” Joey said. “Now, do I just walk up and hand you this?”
The lopsided lady nodded with enough force to make her jowls shake and her ears wiggle. She extended her hands to Joey in the same way a little kid does when they want candy.
“Alright,” he said as he walked up to her. “Here you go.”
Their fingers touched and a spark of static cracked between them. Joey jumped and cursed, looking down and seeing a dark red mark where the electricity had burnt him.
“Thank you,” the woman said. “Catch him Claire.”
“What a…” Joey’s words faded out as he felt the room spin. Flashes of light went off all around him and for a second he thought maybe the woman had set of fireworks. The windows and walls were covered in splotches of color and Joey went down.
“Take him home and put him to bed,” the woman told Claire. “Lie with him to ease his payment.”
“He does not lie with me,” the demon said. “I will have to retrieve his concubine.”
The old woman shook her head. “His concubine will not understand the payment. It must be you.”
Claire sighed but bowed her head in supplication. She knelt, collected the unconscious form on the floor and headed out of the building. She looked at him before dumping his body into the trunk, making mental note of the white hairs that had spread over his scalp in the last few minutes.
▶ Lonesome October Night | John Anealio
▶ Lonesome October Night | John Anealio.
A song about one of my favorite books. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.
I love this. Thank you John Anealio.
Unspeakable Vault
Cthulhu and social media. Two great evils that taste great together.
Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip on GoComics.com
Calvin shares one of my favorite things about fall. : – )
Little Book 4
Hello,
I have some great news to share before you get to the next installment. I have received an acceptance for one of my stories, Stick Figures, from Under the Bed Magazine.
I will be posting more about it when the issue is printed but I want to share now for a couple of reasons. First, this is my second sale of the year. It has been a very lean writing year where acceptances are concerned compared to the last one and this story is one of the reasons. I have submitted it everywhere in an attempt to find a home.
Second, I have just finished the first draft of my second novel length work. By just finished I mean the morning that this post will go up. I read a call for submissions to the Devils and Deviants anthology, a collection of erotic horror stories and decided to write for it. The collection was supposed to have a word count from two to seven thousand words. I started writing, and before I knew it I was at ten and I wasn’t near the end. Today, I broke 47,000 words. I had no idea this story was going to be this large, but hey, it is what it is. I will go back and add a couple of scenes that I need and I will do my best to crank up the creepy and scary. When that is done, I think “Mandy” will finished up at close to 60,000.
I am happy with my writing and I am so glad that I can share an acceptance. Now that this story is finished, it will be back to the drawing board on my first novel to do the third draft and try to improve it after having received a bunch of critiques and feed back.
I may actually qualify as ‘giddy’ about this but I’m not sure.
Oh well, make sure and check out the most recent issue of Under the Bed and I will be sure to post links to the issue with Stick Figures in it. In the mean time you should follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
L. E. White
Little Book 4
Joey sat in the warehouse at a folding table with a notepad and a pen, Claire stood behind him, her nails clicking against the surface of the tablet as her fingers flew across it.
“Boss?” Carl stopped dead in his tracks as he stood just outside of the circle of light that surrounded Joey’s table. “What are you doing out here?”
“I am here for the collection,” Joey said with an easy smile. “You see, I feel like I need to keep in touch with all of you. Really be sure you guys are doing your best and that you feel like we care.”
“What?”
***
Joey had done this act a dozen times in the last three days. He would walk around and talk to the guys who worked for him. Make sure that they knew how much he valued them and how important it was to him that they were treated like family. After that, he would walk back, drag the notepad over and handwrite what they were owed.
Claire would record their private tally from the spirit that accompanied Joey’s human employee. One nod and Joey would know if things balanced or not. So far, he had caught three guys who were skimming off the top. In each case, it had been small, like cash or change that they found in the house. He would smile; ask them if they had taken anything else, anything at all, if the nodded, he would explain that for the sake of keeping records, he wanted to know about all of it. If they told him, he would give them two bills for being honest. “We take from others, but if you want me to have your back, you have to be honest with me. We are family from this point on.”
Mark had emptied about ten bucks from a change jar and Sam took a doll for his little girl. Both got two bills and left feeling great. Joey wasn’t worried at all.
Jim had tried to hide the cash box that he had found. Two grand in his pocket got him a broken foot. Joey stomped down, grinding his heel after he did it and then he punched him in the nose. Jim was on his knees on the floor, spitting blood and snot out as he looked at Joey with wide, panicked eyes. “Boss please.”
Joey knelt in front of him and smiled. “If you lie to me again I will eat you alive.”
One of the demons took Jim to the hospital where he used the money from the cash box to get a cast and Joey had laughed when he looked at Claire. “I bet he doesn’t do that again.”
“Sir, that isn’t enough of a shortage to account for the difference.”
Joey nodded. “These have all been small time. Someone else still needs to realize he isn’t going to get employee of the month.”
***
As Joey moved around the table, he saw that Carl was shaking. The old thief tucked his hands in his pockets to hide them but almost ripped his coat trying to pull his hand back out to shake Joey’s.
Joey’s smile was predatory than before.
“So, how did you do this week Carl?”
Carl took a slow breath to steady himself and then he nodded. “Really well boss.”
“Call me Joey. We worked together before Carl, no reason to be anything but family am I right?”
“Sure, sure.” Carl reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small scrap of paper.
Joey felt it tremble between his fingers as he took it. This time, he glances at Claire before he went to write it down.
She was smiling a menacing, vile smile that made the hair on Joey’s neck stand on end. At that moment, despite looking like a beautiful woman with magnificent cleavage, Claire revealed one of the truths of herself and of the others.
She was a predator.
Joey sat the paper on the table and turned to Carl. “This feels a little light Carl. Why don’t you tell me how well you really did?”
Carl’s eyes widened and Joey made a mental not to remember to invite Carl to play poker if her survived this. The man had no poker face at all.
“That’s all of it boss. I swear.”
“Boss?”
“Joey,” Carl almost yelled. “Sorry Joey, I won’t forget again.”
“Carl, you are lying to me and you are a terrible liar. Now, you can tell me or I can make you tell me. You pick.”
Carl looked around and jumped. Three of the demons had been standing around, invisible to everyone one that came and went, but now they were there, looking like ex-military and boxing the nervous man in.
“Joey, I didn’t take nothing from your jobs that I wasn’t supposed to.”
Joey looked at Carl and pursed his lips. “That is an interesting way to say that,” he said as he crossed his arms. “Carl, have you been pulling jobs on your own?”
Carl began to twitch.
“So that is what’s been happening,” Joey said. “You haven’t been skimming, you’ve been moonlighting.”
Carl began to shake so much that Joey could hear his jaw chattering like a little kid who has been out playing in the snow.
“Why are you moonlighting Carl? Don’t I pay you enough?”
Carl lifted one hand up and covered his face. Joey listened to hear the sound of his palm slapping his forehead from how much the thief was shaking but he couldn’t hear it. What he did hear was Claire, growling. He put one hand down and waved it to try and keep her back.
“Carl, tell me what’s going on so we can fix this.”
All the demons looked up from Carl to Joey. They were tense, ready to rush the man. Most likely, they were hoping Joey would give the word for them to take care of this. He remembered Claire’s threat to eat Carl and shook his head a little.
“I got bills.”
“What kind of bills?”
Carl looked at Joey and settled down. His hand stopped trembling as he tucked them into his pockets and Joey could see him deflate like one of those kids bounce houses when you turned off the fan. “My kid is sick.”
Joey nodded but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just stood and waited for Carl to look back up at him. “You got sick family, then we got sick family. You come see me tomorrow and we will find you more money.”
Carl’s jaw dropped. When Joey looked over at Claire with a smug smile, he was stunned to see her jaw hanging open as well. She was struck for a moment before snapping her mouth shut and turning a smoldering glare at her tablet.
Joey turned back around, “You come see me at lunch tomorrow.”
Carl was bobbing up and down, promising to be there and thanking Joey while he stumbled away. When Joey looked at the floor where he had been, he saw a wet spot.
“I can’t believe you let him leave?”
Joey turned back to Claire. “I told you before, if he is smart enough to do the job and skim some extra, then we need to use that, not kill him.”
Claire shook her head and began to tap the tablet again. The other demons faded out of sight and the whole group prepared for the next scheduled delivery. Joey couldn’t see it, but all of the monsters were glaring at him with open hatred on their natural faces.
None of them understood why dinner had not been served.
Little Book 3
I hate dealing with auto accidents. I myself have a terrible driving record and therefore have a lot of experience with it, but yesterday my wife had her first. No, nobody was hurt except the car and no, it wasn’t her fault.
I feel sorry for her. I have been through this and it sucks. There really isn’t any other way to say it. This wasn’t bad, but still.
Enjoy the third installment of this serial.
L. E. White
Little Book 3
Joey picked up a knife and smeared a thick layer of cream cheese across his bagel. The sun was coming in through the windows of his apartment and he smiled at the birds that flittered around on the balcony. The leaves in the park were starting to change color and for one of the first times in years, he was excited and happy. Things were going his way.
The clicking of heels from the next room warned him of his guest. He sat down his breakfast and waited, watching the doorway until she walked into view. “Hello Claire,”
“Sir, I have last night’s numbers.”
The busty woman walked over and sat a tablet computer beside his hand. Joey smiled and nodded his thanks while brushing off his fingers before touching the device. He flipped through the notes and numbers, taking stock of all the figures before pushing it away and taking a sip from his coffee.
“We have a problem,” he said.
“What is that sir?” Claire sat forward, her expressionless face angled to look at the tablet. “The numbers seem to be increasing. The lady is happy with your efforts. What problem do you see?”
“It isn’t your problem, its mine,” Joey said. He reached forward and pointed towards the top of the report. “This doesn’t add up, which means that someone is skimming.”
Claire nodded. “You are correct, but from our point of view, it is acceptable.”
Joey shook his head. “But from mine it isn’t. If they think they can rob from me, then they will start doing jobs on their own. When that happens, your numbers will fall because your people won’t be with them to collect.”
Claire sat back up straight and nodded. She stared at him with her expressionless face, waiting.
“I told you that you don’t have to keep that shape in here. I don’t care what you look like. Relax.”
Claire grinned, the only sign of emotion that Joey would get from her, and relaxed. Her body shifted, moving from solid to liquid and then back before she took on her true form. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful, busty woman with the big eyes was gone and a heavy, hairless creature with metallic skin sat in her place.
“Do you allow the others to do this,” Claire asked.
“Yeah. If there aren’t people around to scare then I figure you guys need to be able to let your hair down. I know the secret, no reason to worry about it.”
Claire nodded but didn’t say anything.
“So, how did Morrin deal with this?”
Clare shrugged. “Morrin wasn’t smart enough to notice things like this. He never dealt with anything.”
“Do you have a suggestion?”
Claire’s tongue darted out and made a circuit around the beast’s lips. “In our home, if someone steals from another and is caught, they are eaten.”
Joey looked at whatever it really was; he called them demons, and nodded. “Thing is that I don’t want to kill them. This thief is good enough to be valuable. I need to teach a lesson without losing an operator.”
Claire nodded but said nothing. They sat there in silence for a moment before hearing a click from the front door.
Claire was back in her form before Joey turned away. He turned to look at their guest, his hand beside him, on the pistol that was holstered in his chair, and relaxed when another of the demons came in.
As soon as it saw Claire, the man transformed from a tall, slender blonde man into a short, fat red monster with wisps of white hair coming out of its joints.
Claire shifted back as well while the other creature joined them at the table. “So how did it go last night, Red?” Joey asked after the thing had settled into a chair.
“The new kid ran too slowly and the police arrested him.” Joey grinned at the Spanish accent this demon used. It had taken time, but he was growing fond of most of the creatures that worked for him. They all went on jobs with the humans, offering backup and in some cases, magical assistance, without the mortals knowing that they were not regular men.
“Can we get him out without stirring up the cops?”
Red nodded.
“Ok, make it happen tonight. Let’s get him before his mother finds out.”
Red left and Claire tilted its head while looking at Joey. “Why do you care about the young one’s mother?”
“Because, if she tries to help him, then she will start stirring up attention.”
The pair sat while Joey finished his breakfast. After he sat his fork down, he turned to face his guest fully. “Can you tell me exactly which one of the guys is causing the discrepancy?”
“No, the balance is a total in the morning. We merely collect.”
Joey nodded, stood and stretched. “Well, I think it’s time we changed the collections a bit.”
Claire looked at him for a second before nodding. “I see. That will be easily done.”
“Good,” Joey said as he unbelted his robe and turned towards the bedroom. “When you leave send Amber up here. I am wanting a massage before I head to storage.”
Claire nodded, resumed her form and headed out to get the human woman that Joey had selected for his physical pleasure. The demon smiled a devious and viscous smile as she headed out. Claire wouldn’t have admitted it, but she was very happy that the new boss preferred the physical attention of a human to that of a demon. Humans were disgusting.
Forever
The Sirens Call
Links
An Opener's Closing by L. E. White 