The Painter’s Requiem

By L. Chambers Wright

Officer Ian Nelson can’t figure Kirsten out. She’s young and attractive, but doesn’t belong where she is. He isn’t certain where she belongs. Several days later, he’s tasked with enforcing the order against her, but never has the opportunity. She’s gone. She vanished without shoes or purse. No one saw her leave the apartment, which was secured from the inside. The painting she worked on was still fresh, but she was gone.
Six months pass and Nelson is the only person to take any interest in her disappearance. There still isn’t any leads or witnesses. As he gets closer to finding her, things change. Things are different in those old places. It isn’t long before he’s left with more mysteries than hope of resolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black House Books
• Release date: Mar 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465915702

L. Chambers Wright

L. Chambers-Wright also writes as Laura Wright. She grew up surrounded by Appalachian folklore and ghost stories, many of which find their way into her material. She currently lives with her family in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She has had many books published, and continues to prolifically write fiction, as well as non-fiction history. She is the primarily caregiver for a number of relatives, several pets, and an unknown number of wild animals. Her interests include photography, music, and casual gaming. Her personal website is Laurawrites.net [http://laurawrites.net]. She runs the Virginia Creeper Appalachian History and Folklore website [http://vacreeper.com], as well as Appalachia Obscura, an obscure history and folklore website [http://appalachiangothic.com].

Book preview

The Painter’s Requiem

By: L. Chambers-Wright

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Copyright 2011, L. Chambers-Wright. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published by Black House Books [http://blackhousebooks.com].

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Chapter 1

She wanted him. It was all she knew at that moment in time and the only substantial feeling in the universe. She wanted him with an insatiable hunger that went beyond attraction or ideal. Her soul's aching had not only continued through time, it had grown in intensity. She was under his power, his spell, and unable to distract herself from those vain and wanton thoughts.

She had one week left. She’d been evicted. Summoned to court by a piece of paper and sentenced to homelessness. She was judged and found wanting. They were sending her to some shelter she’d never heard of in some part of the city she’d never visited. She had nothing. There was the option to just remain where she was. They would simply continue taking her to court. She'd been down that road, though. It was time wasted for nothing.

Zach had taken everything when he left. She didn't work when they were together because he wanted her at home. She hadn’t called all the friends she once had because he was uncomfortable with her excluding him. The cell phone, in his name, hadn't worked for two months. The computer, he purchased last summer, had gone with him. She couldn’t start regular telephone service because he took the money.

She'd submitted 168 job applications, sat through 82 interviews, and not one job. All that was left consisted of a partial bottle of wine, remnants of her painting supplies, a filthy apartment, a pile of dirty clothes and nothing else.

Except him.

She'd always had him. He was there, somewhere, in the back of her mind. In her heart. In her soul. He’d always been there. She would eagerly abandon everything