MASKS – BLOG HOP & BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY

Under the Mask Tease: Excerp from The Fickle Hand of Fortune

The high-pitched yelp has me running for the back door. Sarge, my old Belgian Shepard, had been outside for one last bathroom break before bed. He’d probably had a run-in with one of the neighbors’ cats; some of them were feral beasts.

His chain sits limply, trailing off into the shadows, ending at a darkened mass lying on the lawn. As I run to my long-time friend, the scene clarifies. His massive head lay beside his lifeless body; the ax, still wet, lay beside him. Revulsion and terror fight to assert themselves in my shell-shocked mind, made worse by the backdoor slamming shut.

I turn towards the house, slipping in the slick dark blood of my old friend. Reaching the door, I come up hard as I find it locked. I pound my fist on the door, screaming to open up. My family is still inside the house. My panicking mind realizes that whoever has killed Sarge will never let me in. I run back to his body and grab the ax, shuddering as my hand slides on the warm blood that coats the handle.

Desperate, I slam the ax’s head through the door’s half-window. Ignoring the jagged shards, I reach through and turn the latch.

A dark-suited stranger sits in my recliner; a mean-looking pistol aimed at my head stops me.

“Drop <keyword: The> ax, Mr. Paxon,” he says in a conversational voice.

“You killed my dog. I’m ready to do the same to you, asshole.”

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