The Lazarus Trick

By John B. Rosenman and TBD

Growing up can be hard, especially when you have mixed feelings about a fellow sixth grader. Tommy Starr is drawn to Mark Harmon, but despite Mark's magnetic personality, he has a dark side as well. On Halloween, Mark displays terrifying telekinetic and other abilities that frighten Tommy and make him decide never to see Mark again.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Mar 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781619505667

John B. Rosenman

John was an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and taught a course in how to write Science fiction and Fantasy. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published 300 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, The Age of Wonders, and Hot Blood. John has published two dozen books, including SF action-adventure novels such as Beyond Those Distant Stars and Speaker of the Shakk (Mundania Press), A Senseless Act of Beauty and Alien Dreams (Crossroad Press), and the Inspector of the Cross series and The Amazing Worlds of John B. Rosenman (MuseItUp Publishing).

Book preview

Contents

Copyright Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

About the Author

The Lazarus Trick

by

John B. Rosenman

All rights reserved

Copyright © July 15, 2018, John B. Rosenman

Cover Art Copyright © 2018, Charlotte Holley

Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

Lockhart, TX

www.gypsyshadow.com

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

ISBN: 978-1-61950-566-7

Published in the United States of America

First eBook Edition: October 25, 2018

Dedication

To my wife, Jane. Fifty-one years together and still going strong.

Chapter One

Wanna see somethin’ really scary? Mark said.

Tommy looked at Mark, who like himself was carrying a bag stuffed with candy, the reward of visiting 59 houses this Halloween night.

Like what?

Like somethin’ so scary it’ll make the hair stand up on your head, that’s what!

It depends, Tommy said cautiously. Mark was spooky, unpredictable, and always got into trouble. Both Tommy’s parents had warned him to stay away from Mark. Why, if they knew…

Shhh, Mark whispered. Just watch!

Nervously, he followed Mark up yet another flagstone walk and watched while he pressed the 60th doorbell of the night. Beneath his pointed Peter Pan cap, Mark’s impish face glistened expectantly in the moonlight.

The door opened, and a kindly, white-haired woman gazed down at them. Somebody’s grandmother, Tommy thought in disappointment. Probably gab our ears off and give us a piece of gum. Or even worse, Sour Tarts.

Well, what do we have here? Two boys, is it? She beamed. And what can I do for you?

Tommy adjusted his Batman cape and raised his bag. Trick or treat!

Trick or treat, you say? The old biddy practically went into conniptions, hugging herself and doing a little jig. Then she pointed a finger at them.

You just wait here. I’ll be right back.

Tommy watched her fade down the hallway and nudged Mark. C’mon, let’s split. We ain’t gonna get nothin’ out of her.

"Oh, yes we will." Mark winked at him and Tommy thought of witches and goblins. Come to think of it, when Mark had first moved into the neighborhood, he’d been quite popular. Now for some reason kids avoided him. Tommy himself felt torn. Part of him liked Mark a lot. It was as if the boy had some hold on him. Yet, at the same time, Mark scared him a little, and he’d thought often of ending their friendship.

Footsteps. The old woman was coming back. He saw a chipped bowl full of peaches thrust forward. Half of them looked rotten. Disgusted, he reached to take one.

She snatched it away. Nooooo, you don’t!

Ma’am?

"Do a trick first. That’s the rule! Least it was when I was a little girl."

A trick? He looked at Mark in confusion.

Mark smiled. What kind of trick would you like, lady? he asked politely.

Oh, something clever. Surprise me!

With the greatest of pleasure. Mark grinned, and something happened in his dark eyes. He pointed at the bowl. Hershey bars!

Tommy blinked. The old woman’s bowl was filled to the top with Hershey bars, the half-pound size that cost over two bucks.

"How did you do that?" he gasped.

Mark shrugged.

The old woman stared at the bowl in disbelief. "Now where did they come from? I could have sworn I brought peaches."

You want trick or treat? said Mark. Lady, you got it.

Sores appeared on the old woman’s face. Some of them burst and began to run. She dropped the Hershey bars and clasped shriveled hands to her cheeks. One of the fingers fell off.

How about flying, lady? Mark said. Like to be a bird?

Screaming, she rose and shot through a doorway. Through a front window, Tommy could see her whirling about the living room, occasionally banging into walls.

Mark turned to Tommy and smirked. Scary enough?

He tried to speak, but he couldn’t. Horror filled him like ice water.

It’s a knack, Mark said. I don’t use it much ’cause I’ll get caught. But now and then…

In the house the woman’s screams rose and fell. Tommy heard a thud. Then more screams.

He swallowed, surprised he could. What—what are you…

Going to do next? Mark contemplated the moon. You know, maybe I’ll turn her into an animal, like a skunk or pig. He grinned. Or maybe I’ll even make something up, something so wild no one’s ever thought of it before. Something that’ll blow your mind.

Now the hair rose on his scalp just as Mark said it would. No! Stop it, please!

Oh, all right. If you insist. Mark pouted and looked into the house. The woman swooped out of one of the rooms and for a moment was just as Tommy had last seen her: disease-ridden and terrified. Then she was unblemished, standing before them again with a bowl of overripe