Creature - An Outer Hells Dark Urban Fantasy (The Tome of Testaments Book 3)

By Jeremiah Kleckner

Suspenseful and disturbing, Creature is the third entry in The Tome of Testaments, a 26-part dark urban fantasy series of short fiction that will keep you at the edge of your seat... and your sanity.

When a dying cultist hands Gracie a mysterious shard, she is at a loss. Damon Nero and Dloigotha have locked themselves in a dark embrace and refuse to be disturbed, making it impossible for her to consult The Tome of Testaments.

Without the malevolent guidance they have come to rely upon, Gracie and her husband Chris find themselves alone on a murderous adventure that takes them from Hoboken up into the Hudson Valley and the Catskills to prevent rival cultists from raising their own eternal Creature from the deep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeremiah Kleckner
• Release date: Oct 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370968695

Jeremiah Kleckner

Jeremiah Kleckner has taught since 2005. During that time, he wrote several books and published short fiction in editions of Allegory, Frost Zone Zine, New American Legends, and Speculative North Magazine. Jeremiah lives in Jersey City with his wife, daughter, and an ever-increasing number of dogs and cats.

Book preview

The Tome of Testaments

Creature (Book Three)

By Jeremiah Kleckner

Smashwords Edition Copyright © 2016

ISBN-13: 978-1535429788

ISBN-10: 153542978X

The Tome of Testaments

Creature (Book Three)

An OUTER HELLS Dark Urban Fantasy

By Jeremiah Kleckner

Copyright © 2016

Registration Number: TXu 2-012-053

ISBN-13: 978-1535429788

ISBN-10: 153542978X

This is a fictional work and any resemblance to actual people living or dead, businesses, locales, or events is either coincidental or parodied with extreme absurdity.

Reproduction of this publication in part or whole without written consent is strictly prohibited.

Thank you for reading.  Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book so that others may find it as well.  Your support is everything.

Chapter One

A crash shocked Gracie awake.  She sat upright, her panicked eyes wide and searching.

Confused, she wondered why she was on her couch in the living room and not upstairs.  In her bed.  Comfortable.

Another thud came from above.

Gracie looked up at the ceiling.  Her shoulders relaxed as realization filled her thoughts.  She let out a breath and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.  They're still at it?

Three days and counting, Chris said from the kitchen.  Gracie knew her husband well enough that, just from the sound of his voice, she could picture him shaking his head in futile irritation.

She groaned, stood, and stretched.  She walked to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living and dining rooms.  That's love for you.

Something like that, Chris said.

Gracie thought back to when she and Chris were first together.  They would lock themselves away and have at it.  That was years ago and they never went for seventy-two hours without food or rest like Damon and Dloigotha.  But, then again, she and Chris were only human.

Something heavy slid across the floor upstairs, followed by horrid screams and retching.

Gracie wondered how much damage the two of them had already done to the second floor and how much more was coming.  She silently scolded herself for worrying about material things.  Two Gods of the Far were locked in an embrace and she should be happy for them or at the least stay out of their way and not criticize.

Is that coffee fresh? she asked.

Chris looked over to the counter.  Twenty, maybe thirty minutes.

Gracie walked to the counter and poured herself a cup, happy to see small wisps of steam.  She opened to the refrigerator and retrieved the milk, but stopped short when she saw the open yellow box on the counter.

She put the milk down and turned to her husband.  You're into the sugar again.

So what?

Your fasting blood sugar is 100. You're pre-diabetic at thirty-five.  That's what.

Is that supposed to matter? he asked.  They're awake.  Alive.  And, soon, we won't be.  So I got back into putting sugar in my coffee.  I'm using heavy cream again, too.  Are you going to be on my ass about that as well?

If you'd just exercise a little more--

Again, why bother?  He let his hands fall to the table.  She recognized the growing anger in his voice.  It mirrored her own.

Gracie knew it wasn't their place to be angry at the gods who promised to kill them and everything else in creation.  Anger was the wrong word.  Frustration was more accurate, if just as inappropriate.

And now Dloigotha demanded a child.  The thought made Gracie shiver.

As if reading her mind, Chris said, I didn't sign up to be a nanny.

Keep your voice down, Gracie hissed.  We'll be whatever they want us to be.

I was working toward an end.  Now I have to hear your bullshit about sugar in my coffee?

Gracie