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    One For The Road
    One For The Road
    One For The Road
    Ebook54 pages45 minutes

    One For The Road

    By Mark Cantrell

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Out on the road, you find out who you really are.

    What you really are...

    Escaped killer Daniel is sure of himself. Armed and dangerous, devil-may-care; he's a hunter – a vampire – on the run from the police and enjoying the ride.

    Sarah, she's just lost; escaping a troubled home, she's running from herself. Until she meets Daniel, she has no idea she's running for her life...

    Poor Sarah, she doesn't know who or what she is, but Daniel knows – and he's going to show her. The two of them were made for each other...

    Daniel's desire will take them both on a road trip to sex and murder, and the destination will reveal far more than either cares to know about themselves.

    It's a relationship blessed in blood – and death is coming along for the ride...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMark Cantrell
    Release dateDec 7, 2013
    ISBN9781311396495
    One For The Road
    Author

    Mark Cantrell

    A coffee-guzzling journalist turned author, Mark Cantrell has chased the literary dream for years. Somehow, it's always managed to stay one step ahead, but Mark perseveres in his pursuit all the same. There are worse ways to kill time, after all. Mark is the author of two novels (so far), both released in paperback and digital editions by the indie press, Inspired Quill. Both his novels haunt dystopian ground, but aside from their dark tone they remain very different beasts. While CITIZEN ZERO (2017) runs towards political science fiction thriller, SILAS MORLOCK (2013) ventures into the shadows of dark, urban fantasy in homage of literary culture. For want of comparison, in CITIZEN ZERO The Matrix meets V for Vendetta with a touch of I, Daniel Blake. SILAS MORLOCK, though, is more a macabre melding of Fahrenheit 451 and Nosferatu. Away from novel-length works, Mark has written plenty of short stories and novelettes in his time. He's even been known to dabble in poetry. Over the years, his stories have appeared in a variety of small press journals both in print and online. Way back in 1998, two of his stories were featured in the Clover Books horror anthology, Spirit of Darkness. In 2001 there was Love, Sex, Death & Carrots. More recently, his work appeared in Bards and Sages Publishing's The Society of Misfit Stories Presents, Vol 1, Issue 1 (February 2019). Between times, his fiction has appeared in publications such as Sci-Fright, Alternaties, Asphalt Jungle, Writers' Muse, the Writers' Compass, and more. He's even self-published some of these works, individually as 'digital shorts', and in his collection of short fiction, ISOLATION SPACE (2009/2011). Available through Smashwords, you can find more details of these works below. Broadly speaking, Mark's work fits into the science-fiction-fantasy-horror spectrum, but he tends to write to the story and worry about the genre later. It seems to work, more or less. Certainly, he's happy (flattered) to be called a science fiction author even if he frequently feels unworthy of the accolade. By trade, Mark is a journalist. This is reflected on his author blog, where he writes articles about politics, society and current affairs, along with regular excursions into science, culture and literary life. Well, it keeps the 'blog-beast' fed. As a jobbing B2B hack, Mark has mostly written for trade mags. He worked in Manche...

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      Book preview

      One For The Road - Mark Cantrell

      BLURB:

      Out on the road, you find out who you really are.

      What you really are...

      Escaped killer Daniel is sure of himself. Armed and dangerous, devil-may-care; he's a hunter – a vampire – on the run from the police and enjoying the ride.

      Sarah, she's just lost; escaping a troubled home, she's running from herself. Until she meets Daniel, she has no idea she's running for her life...

      Poor Sarah, she doesn't know who or what she is, but Daniel knows – and he's going to show her. The two of them were made for each other...

      Daniel's desire will take them both on a road trip to sex and murder, and the destination will reveal far more than either cares to know about themselves.

      It's a relationship blessed in blood – and death is coming along for the ride...

      #

      One For The Road

      Published By The Author On Smashwords 2013

      Copyright (c) 1991/2007/2013 Mark Cantrell

      All Rights Reserved

      ISBN: 978-1-311396-49-5

      Mark Cantrell has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

      Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Mark Cantrell,

      Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

      tykewriter@supanet.com | http://www.markcantrell.co.uk

      This story was first published in the author's collection, ISOLATION SPACE (2009/2011).

      Cover Image: Photo by Cia de Photo. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Cover design by Mark Cantrell.

      CONTENTS

      ONE FOR THE ROAD

      END NOTES

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      FURTHER READING:

      SILAS MORLOCK

      CITIZEN ZERO

      ISOLATION SPACE

      DEUS EX INSOMNIA

      DIGITAL SHORTS:

      AT DEATH'S DOOR

      DEADLY NIGHT SHADE

      One For The Road

      THE video camera's glassy eye stared with almost as much clinical detachment as the psychiatrist, but Daniel was used to this charade by now.

      He met both observers with his own blend of detachment; no doubt they'd call it a sullen lack of co-operation, but screw what they thought. He didn't care about their university theories, anymore than he cared for these bullshit theatrics. This was all the motion of the job, the framework of their ignorance.

      Tell me about your problem, Daniel. When did you first begin to get these urges?

      Boredom sighed. "I haven't got a problem. What's your problem, Mister Thought-Cop?"

      The orderly at the door, standing for all the world like a nightclub bouncer, glared at his response – well, fuck him – but the doctor smiled at the defiance, as if he'd expected much the same.

      Daniel, you admit to killing a good number of people over the last five years – in a most gruesome fashion. Surely, you can see this is not entirely normal –

      "Maybe not for you, but me – I'm just being what I am. Why can't you understand that? I'm a hunter. I hunt and kill my prey. It's what I am. It's what I do. Perfectly normal!"

      Ah! So we're back to that again...

      THE sun blazed a reminder of why she didn't like hitching, but Sarah was stuck with it. She didn't have a car, couldn't drive in any case, and she lacked the money for the luxury of a train or a coach. Besides all that, she didn't have a plan or a destination, so she took her

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