Handsome Harold: Turning Vampire stories, #3

By Phoebe Matthews

Harold has it all, looks, personality, and money, making him the perfect catch. He also has fangs.
This short story is about a character in the Turning Vampire series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LostLoves Books
• Release date: Jun 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513028965

Phoebe Matthews

Phoebe Matthews is currently writing three urban fantasy series. Her novels have been published by Avon, Dark Quest, Dell, Holt, LostLoves, Putnam, Silhouette, and Scholastic.

Book preview

Handsome Harold

You never fail to disappoint, she said, and walked out of his life.

Harold stared after her, stunned, wondering why she was leaving if it was true that he never failed. Did she want a failure?

Ten minutes later he realized what she had actually said. Yes, of course, she shouted and that should have given him a clue but when hungry he sometimes thought slowly.

He brushed at the spot on his trousers where she had kicked him. Then he spit on his handkerchief and rubbed at the wine stains on his shirt.

No, he had not spilled wine. He did not drink wine, although he had no objection if its flavor was mixed in with his usual drink. Taylor, the woman he had thought loved him, had reached up and emptied a full wine glass over his head.

His main regret was that she preferred red wine to white. From experience he knew the stains would never come out and he would have to replace the shirt. As a lone drop of wine trailed down his face and dripped off his chin, he added his tie and his handkerchief to his mental list of throwaways. He now required a new shirt and tie, a new handkerchief, a new cummerbund and a new girlfriend.

Before all else, he needed a drink to clear his mind and allow him to imagine what he had done to disappoint. A drink did not require a girlfriend. All it required was a girl. As he was a hopeless romantic, he would prefer the girl to be a girlfriend, but he knew that when in the Sahara one accepts the first drink offered and hopes it is not a mirage.

After a quick glance at the corridor to avoid running into any neighbors in the building, Harold left his condo and went down the stairs. If he met neighbors on the stairs, he could hurry past, head bent, but if he took the elevator there would be no avoiding their eyes. A change of clothing would have been good, but he did not actually have a clean shirt in his closet, or a clean cummerbund. Or a clean white tie.

When he reached the street he hurried into the dark night. Flying was tricky. The city sky had a permanent glow at night. With