Visiting Hours

By Rob Stennett

A young Amish man looks for some excitement—and finds a terror he never expected . . .
 
All Eli Troyer wanted was to escape the tedium and boredom of life among his Amish family and friends. What he could not have imagined was what the city holds for some newcomers. He wanted to reinvent himself—but didn’t realize that you can also be reinvented by someone—or something—else . . .
 
In the second episode of The Living and the Undead, Eli must now do the unthinkable to survive. He wants to hold on to who he was, but every hour it seems less likely. The monster is growing inside him. And Eli doesn’t know how much longer he can fight it. The Living and the Undead is a paranormal coming-of-age thriller unlike anything you’ve ever read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781629213446

Rob Stennett

Rob Stennett is the author of two novels: The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher and The End Is Now. He’s the creative director at New Life Church and an accomplished film and theater director. He lives in Colorado.

Book preview

1

Carpet

Eli stepped out of the bathroom and remembered there was still a blood-soaked body on his bed. It almost looked beautiful the way Charlotte’s hair fanned out across her pillow with her head lying peacefully on her arm—the side of her face painted in red—and the rest of her body lying atop a swirl of red and white.

I think I loved her, Eli said. It felt like he should just be able to walk over and wake her up. Hours ago, she wasn’t just a body, she was a human being. Someone loving and beautiful and sensual: a girl with beautiful curves and a smile that Eli basked in like sunshine.

She would have broke your heart, Gordon said.

Eli had almost forgotten he wasn’t alone. Gordon’s shirts were bright and colorful, yet somehow he had a knack for hiding in plain sight. Eli hadn’t even heard him come in last night.

Not that Eli knew what exactly had happened. He pictured Charlotte in searing pain with her neck violated as Gordon drained her of life. Maybe she whimpered or even reached out to hold Eli’s hand, but he had been too busy enjoying the most peaceful night of sleep he’d experienced in years.

Did it hurt? Eli asked.

I don’t know, Gordon said. He stood next to Eli and stared at the dead girl’s body. I didn’t die when somebody gave me the gift, so I don’t really know what it feels like when you don’t make it.

What did it feel like for you? Eli asked.

Can’t remember, Gordon said. I remember running right to the bathroom to look at my fangs as soon as I woke up. But I was also alone that day. Wasn’t lucky enough to have some cute girl in my bed.

"She’s not some cute girl. She’s an amazing girl. She wanted to become a fashion designer—"

It doesn’t matter what she wanted to become, Gordon said. Okay? None of that matters anymore. I wish it did, but it just doesn’t.

What’s going to happen to her? Eli said.

That’s our current problem. I actually expected the gift to take. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have given it to her here.

We have to let her family know. She shouldn’t be here. Not like this.

Eli wanted Charlotte out of his apartment. If he looked at her body much longer he might have nightmares of a dead girl lying next to him for the rest of his life. Besides, she shouldn’t be here like this. Exposed. Helpless. It was unnatural.

He walked over to the bed and wrapped his arms around her chilled form. Every part of him just wanted to get her out of the apartment and into a casket where she could sleep peacefully.

What’s your plan there? Gordon asked.

We have to get her somewhere. Before someone finds out what happened.

Who’s going to find out?

The police. I’ve seen what they can do on TV. They can track down any criminal, Eli said.

That’s propaganda, Gordon said. Something the government puts on TV to make weak-minded people afraid. You really think cops stand around in laboratories wearing expensive-looking suits combing through every microfiber until they catch the bad guys? That’s fantasy.

There’s fingerprints and DNA…

Eli was just echoing words that had jumped into his head from these shows. He didn’t know what was fact and what was fiction; it all felt true.

Eli, you don’t really know Charlotte. You were just one of the hundreds of guys to drool over her. She could have been killed by anyone. No one knows what happened here. And how will they ever know where to look? I made sure no one was watching when she came up here last night.

You were here last night?

I dropped Charlotte off, Gordon said.

I thought if I brought you to him, he’d give me the gift, Charlotte had told Eli last night.

Eli felt like he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. Of course, Gordon dropped her off. She didn’t just happen to stop by. She didn’t miss him. She didn’t want to spend time with him. Charlotte was a puppet, and she never planned to leave last night. She was going to sleep with Eli—or bed court—or do whatever it took to lie next to him until Gordon arrived.

We have to get her out of here, Eli said. He tried to pick her up and suddenly realized how heavy a dead body was.

He looked up at Gordon. I can’t do this by myself.

Gordon smiled. I knew I was right about you.

What are you talking about?

A girl dies and you don’t freak out. You get the gift and you aren’t all self-absorbed about your fangs. No, your first thought is to do the hard work of disposing the body. I’m telling you, I’m right. You’re a cold-blooded professional.

Gordon was crazy. Eli was dealing with an insane man. I just can’t look at her anymore. I don’t like this, he said.

Put her down. You can’t just take her out into the hallway. If we run into someone we really will have a problem, Gordon said.

So, what then?

"Don’t ever create a corpse without a plan. That’s the first lesson of our profession.