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    The Dark Inside
    The Dark Inside
    The Dark Inside
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    The Dark Inside

    By Donna Galanti

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Heartbreak, danger, lust, and betrayal blaze to life in this collection of stories that reveal the dark places hidden within us. When what you most desire is on the line how far will you go to get it, and what will you give up?

    A young man desperate to leave a world that doesn't accept him–and a father who hates him. A tormented man imprisoned as a science experiment experiences love for the first time. A secret agent gives in to his carnal desires and risks exposing the one secret he wants to keep. A college freshman betrayed by her lover takes matters into her own hands. A young girl is determined not to suffer at the hands of her molester anymore. A sadistic leader who thrives on mind control leads his people into a new life. A teen seeks escape from his abusive foster father and faces a life-or-death situation to survive.

    They must either fight the dark inside or embrace it. Which will they choose?

    This short story collection features characters and settings from the paranormal suspense novel, A Human Element and its sequel, A Hidden Element.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDonna Galanti
    Release dateOct 30, 2016
    ISBN9781370227136
    The Dark Inside
    Author

    Donna Galanti

    Donna Galanti is the author of paranormal suspense Element Trilogy (Imajin Books) and its short story collection, The Dark Inside, and the fantasy adventure Joshua and The Lightning Road series (Month9Books). She is represented by Bill Contardi of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. Donna is a contributing editor for International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine and blogs with other middle grade authors at Project Middle Grade Mayhem. She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. Donna enjoys presenting on writing craft and marketing at conferences and colleges and also presenting as a guest author at elementary and middle schools. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse that has lots of nooks and crannies, but sadly no ghosts. Visit her at www.elementtrilogy.com and www.donnagalanti.com.

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      Book preview

      The Dark Inside - Donna Galanti

      The Dark Inside

      Donna Galanti

      February 2013

      All Rights Reserved.

      Copyright © 2013 by Donna Galanti

      Cover illustration © Calista Taylor

      www.coversbycali.com

      Donna Galanti

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. All characters portrayed in the book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.

      Published by Donna Galanti

      Thanks to Kathryn Craft with Writing-Partner for her assistance with developing these stories.

      www.writing-partner.com

      Thanks to author Pavarti Tyler with Fighting Monkey Press for her story idea of The First Time.

      www.fightingmonkeypress.com

      For more about Donna and her books,

      visit her websites and sign up for her blogs at:

      www.donnagalanti.com

      www.elementtrilogy.com

      Don't miss an exclusive excerpt from her debut novel,

      A Human Element,

      at the end of these stories.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      The Dark Inside

      The Well

      The First Time

      The Job

      Frat Night

      The Tree of Sheltered Secrets

      The Beginning

      A Lucky Strike

      Excerpt

      About the Author

      Buy A Human Element

      Introduction

      This short story collection features characters and settings from my paranormal suspense novels in the Element Trilogy, A Human Element and A Hidden Element.

      What inspired it? The simple fact I wanted to be with my characters again. Once you write The End on a book something terribly sad happens. The people you fell in love with along the way, you suffered with, you rejoiced with–they become real. Every day for months you leave the flesh and blood folks in your life to go be with the people inside you. You listen to their songs. You dream about them. You ache to be with them.

      When I neared the end of writing A Human Element I actually slowed down my writing. I knew our relationship was almost over. I didn't want my people to leave me! But their story had to come to an end. This is why I revived some of them in a sequel. Those that didn't make it into the sequel are featured here in behind-the-scene tales that expand on their life, their desires, and their fears. And new characters come to life here that are introduced in A Hidden Element. And what about the other stories here of random folks? Who knows, they may come alive in another tale. Whether they do or not, their stories are still about…The Dark Inside.

      The Dark Inside

      Heartbreak, danger, lust, and betrayal blaze to life in this collection of stories that reveal the dark places hidden within us. When what you most desire is on the line how far will you go to get it, and what will you give up?

      A young man desperate to leave a world that doesn't accept him–and a father who hates him. A tormented man imprisoned as a science experiment experiences love for the first time. A secret agent gives in to his carnal desires and risks exposing the one secret he wants to keep. A college freshman betrayed by her lover takes matters into her own hands. A young girl is determined not to suffer at the hands of her molester anymore. A sadistic leader who thrives on mind control leads his people into a new life. A teen seeks escape from his abusive foster father and faces a life-or-death situation to survive. They must either fight the dark inside or embrace it. Which will they choose?

      The Well

      Before They Left

      Caleb

      Caleb's chest felt like it would crack right open. He sprinted down the field, a wild man chasing his prey. Victory was just a throw away. He dodged the shirtless enemy that grabbed at him. Serah flashed him a brilliant smile filled with promise as he ran past her. Her lovely face shot an ache to his groin. It wasn't possible for his heart to pump faster, but it did.

      He threw the ball. It sailed toward the makeshift net, and then Ferrell grabbed it. Caleb crashed into him. They landed in the cold mud. Pain mixed with his humiliation. He pushed himself up off Ferrell. Cheers filled the air. The Hides had won. He looked for Serah but she had vanished in the retreating crowd. The field returned to nature. It seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after lending itself to crazed teenagers secretly celebrating their youth. The winning team headed off to the after-game party where there'd be plenty of drink and clutching in dark corners, wet lips pressed together. Except Caleb wouldn't be pressing anything up against Serah tonight.

      His Shift teammates muttered empty consolation as he headed for the wooded path. Hot with failure and anger, he ripped off his shirt and shoved it in his bag. The mist mixed with beads of his sweat, trickling cool now down his chest. Last bullyball game of the season. Last chance for them to beat their rivals–and he blew it. He wiped mud from his face and looked back at the field. Ferrell's friends stood around him in a circle. He wasn't getting up. Caleb hesitated. They had been best friends when they were young kids, but things were different now. Since Ferrell's parents split up he'd been acting like a tough guy. Playing pranks on people, breaking rules. They faded away from friendship and now, at seventeen, were pitted against each other in sports, but Caleb hadn't meant to hurt him. It was the typical bully-ball game today. He walked back to his old friend.

      Ferrell lay on the ground, his face a white grimace.

      Hey, you okay? Caleb wedged his way in between the other players, who scowled at him.

      Do I look okay?

      Caleb knelt down and felt his leg. A vision of Ferrell's dad beating him flashed into Caleb's head. Sometime it was a curse to read memories from touch. His talent for it was more intense than most of his people, and his talent to heal…and his talent to do what no one else could do–bring back the dead. The day he discovered it he had come upon a dead deer. He had touched its rough fur, saw its painful final moments, and wished it alive. When it hopped up and limped away he was stunned, and terrified of this power. He didn't want it. Or for anyone to know about it.

      Ferrell shoved his hand away. What are you doing?

      I hurt you. At least let me heal you.

      Forget it. Ferrell groaned and his teammates helped him up.

      It was an accident. I'm sorry.

      Yeah, right. Hurting me is no win for you. You're still a loser.

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