Benny's Turn: Katie McGuire, Vampire

By Jared Wynn

Book Four in a series of six fantasy novellas that will forever change the way you think about Vampires, from the author of "Hey, Zeus!" and "Zen and the Art of Dying."

 

Katie McGuire wasn't very good at dying, and she didn't want to get better at it, either. All she wanted was to go back to the way things were, and if dying a second time was what it took to get there, she was willing to give it a try.

 

Of course if she did manage to go back, she would lose all her superpowers, and there was no guarantee that she would lose her enemies in return. But the only superpower she really wanted was the ability to kiss her new boyfriend, Benny, without tearing his face off and sucking his life out. He was willing to become a Vampire just to be with her, but she was willing to risk her very existence just to become mortal again, especially if it meant that Benny wouldn't have to go through the same experience.

 

But unfortunately for Katie, it was Benny's turn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jared Wynn
• Release date: May 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201724214

Jared Wynn

Jared Wynn spent his formative years in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East as an expat and diplomatic dependent. After what felt like several lifetimes overseas, he returned to America to pursue a higher education while bouncing around between odd jobs. To date, he's been a cook, a bouncer, a geophysical technician, a hypnotherapist, a Jujitsu instructor, and a standup comic, all of which he thinks makes him a better writer but which probably just makes him eccentric. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and three stepkids.

Book preview

Prologue:

"A friend asked that I might show you the evil inside you. I shall honor that request." He gripped the grenade firmly in his hand, hooked one of his fangs into the wire metal ring keeping the spoon in place, and jerked his head to the side, pulling the pin.

Remember this in your next life, for it will be short.

Things that go Boom in the Night

I t smells like gas , Detective Celso said as he approached the gas station counter. It was four o’clock in the morning, and he’d gotten there as fast as he could. But he smelled gasoline as soon as he stepped out of his car, and his was the only car at the pumps.

Well, that’s what happens when you eat a lot of beans, the clerk answered sarcastically. She was a slim twenty-something sporting pink hair and an oversize work shirt with the name ‘Greg’ embroidered over the left breast pocket. She looked up and did a double take when she saw him. Sorry, officer, I thought you were someone else.

Celso wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or impressed. His sport coat was buttoned, his service pistol safely out of sight, and his badge and ID were in his pocket. Nothing about his appearance should have even hinted that he was in law enforcement. How did you know I was a cop?

She gestured at a small TV next to the cigarette display behind the counter, then turned the monitor so he could see it better. It was a replay of the previous day’s five o’clock news. Most of the program had been dedicated to covering a press conference that Celso gave about the murder of one of his young officers.

She shrug/smiled the way people do when revealing a guilty pleasure. I’m not supposed to be watching TV, but you’re only the second customer I’ve had all night, and I’m trying to keep up with all the Vampire murders. A metaphorical light bulb lit up over her head as an idea struck. She pulled a cell phone out from under the counter and started swiping through apps. Hey, my friend is doing a podcast about this, is it true that cop was an unregistered Vampire? She pointed her phone at him and tapped something on the screen. The camera light came on.

Celso smiled through thin lips. He pointed at the name on her shirt. Greg, right?

She blushed. Aurora. This is my dad’s shirt, he’s the manager. I’m just covering some night shifts.

Ah, he nodded. And the other customer who came in here during the last hour, did you get a good look at him?

She shook her head. More like a good smell. I thought he was homeless at first, but he said he ran out of gas back out on the freeway, and then he bought the five-gallon can. Like, one gallon should be enough, right? But I didn’t ask, I didn’t want him stinking around.

OK, Celso nodded again.

"Get it? Stinking around, instead of sticking?"

I’m sure your dad would be very proud. So, he bought a five-gallon can—

And five gallons of gas, Aurora added.

And did you see the name on the credit card? He asked.

Still filming him, she leaned her head to the side as if trying to see around a much larger camera. Why would I look at the name on the credit card? She nodded toward the card reader on the counter.

Of course, Celso reassured her. So the name Elijah Jessup doesn’t ring a bell?

She frowned. Elijah Jessup? I know him from high school, he called me a lesbian because I wouldn’t go out with him. Oh, and he used to protest outside the women’s clinic, if you call screaming insults at people protesting. Did someone steal his credit card or something?

Celso nodded at his own image on the TV. He was one of the people who died the other night.

Aurora looked absolutely elated. Whoa, he was a Vampire? She pumped her fist in the air.

Celso pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. No, he was not a Vampire. But he’s also not the person using his credit card. He glanced up, spotting the security camera above the cash register. I’m going to need the security footage.

No can do, Aurora said brightly.

You’re gonna make me get a warrant? He asked.

No, a key. She pointed at the door labeled ‘office’ behind her. You gotta come back when my dad’s here.

Celso sighed. Alright. Can I at least use the restroom?

Aurora pointed toward the back. Ignore the paying-customers-only sign, it’s open.

Celso went into the men’s room and looked around. It was the very essence of a freeway gas station men’s room; the floor was sticky, there was no mirror over the sink, and the air reeked of cherry-scented urinal cakes. He leaned over the sink to splash cold water on his face and accidentally inhaled some of it when he heard the explosion.

He sprinted out of the bathroom and into what looked like the aftermath of a tornado in a war zone. Broken glass crunched under his shoes, or maybe it was something else, it was too dark to see. A couple two-liter soda bottles near the counter had broken open, spraying their contents onto bags of chips and candy strewn all over the floor. Orange light from the fire outside danced over the walls. If the store had an alarm, either the blast knocked it out or Celso couldn’t hear it over the ringing in his ears.

He found Aurora on the floor behind the counter, unconscious and bleeding from her neck. He holstered his gun and took his coat off, using it to apply pressure to the cut. Then he called it in.

ARE YOU SURE THIS IS OK? Katie asked. She’d swung by her best friend Aisha’s house to catch up, but hadn’t expected to be invited inside. Now she was standing on the balls of her feet in the living room, ready to run the moment someone so much as frowned in her direction.

Aisha relaxed back into one of the couches with little Sammy in her lap. Her parents were nowhere in sight. Relax, already. I told them you saved my life, and they wanted me to tell you that they’re very grateful, very sorry, and that these chocolates are for you, Aisha smiled. She took a praline truffle from a box on the coffee table and popped it in her