My Bad Self: My ... Self Series, #0.5

By Jessica Huntley

Good or bad. Right or wrong. The choice is yours ...

 

Josslyn has a problem. A big problem. Not only is she fed up with her loser boyfriend hitting her, but she also has Alicia to deal with … and Alicia wants to kill the said boyfriend.

Alicia is the psychotic voice in her head who seems to have her own personality and can take over her body at will, resulting in blackouts and memory loss.

Josslyn has never told anyone about Alicia and isn't about to start now. But can she deal with her abusive boyfriend on her own … or will Alicia need to step in and save the day? And what about the creepy phone calls she keeps getting?

 

My Bad Self is the prequel novella you've all been waiting for, set four years before the events of My Dark Self, the first book in the hugely popular psychological thriller "My ... Self Series" about two people inhabiting one body. If you loved this series then you'll be jumping at the chance to read more about the dynamic duo or, if you've never read the series, it's the perfect place to start your journey and find out more about Josslyn and Alicia before diving into the full series of books.

 

Click BUY NOW above to grab this short read and start your new psychological thriller addiction today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jessica Huntley
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223905493

Jessica Huntley

Jessica wrote her first book at age six. Between the ages of ten and eighteen, she had written ten full-length fiction novels as a hobby in her spare time between school and work.             At age eighteen, she left her hobby behind and joined the British Army as an Intelligence Analyst where she spent the next four and a half years as a soldier. She attempted to write more novels but was never able to finish them.             Jessica later left the Army and became a mature student at Southampton Solent University and studied Fitness and Personal Training, which later became her career. She still enjoys keeping fit and exercising daily.             She is now a wife and a stay-at-home mum to a crazy toddler and lives in Edinburgh. During the first national lockdown of 2020, she signed up on a whim to a novel writing course, and the rest is history. Her love of writing came flooding back, and she managed to write and finish her debut novel, The Darkness Within Ourselves, inspired by her love of horror and thriller novels, as well as complete the first in the series, My Dark Self. She has also completed a Level 3 Diploma in Editing and Proofreading and has worked with four other authors on a collaborative horror novel entitled The Summoning.                        She is now working on two further novels in her spare time.

Book preview

My Bad Self

A Prequel Novella to the My ... Self Series

First published in 2023

Copyright © Jessica Huntley 2023

Jessica Huntley has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of the work.

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or copied by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the author.

First edition

Website: www.jessicahuntleyauthor.com

Cover Design: GetCovers

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Other Books by Jessica

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The Darkness Series

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The Darkness Within Ourselves

The Darkness That Binds Us

The Darkness That Came Before

My ... Self Series

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My Bad Self: A Prequel Novella

My Dark Self

My True Self

My Real Self

Standalone Thrillers

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Jinx

How to Commit the Perfect Murder in Ten Easy Steps

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Writing in collaboration with other authors

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The Summoning

HorrorScope: A Zodiac Anthology

Chapter One

**Josslyn**

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My phone pings again, vibrating against the hard surface of my bedside cabinet. That’s the seventh ping that’s disturbed my happy snoozing in the past fifteen minutes. He must really want to get hold of me. It’s the weekend. At weekends I snooze for as long as possible. He knows this.

Ping!

My teeth grind together as I pull the duvet further over my head, creating what I hope will be a sound barrier or an invisibility cloak or maybe even a black hole that will swallow me up.

Ping!

Nope, I can still hear it. He really is persistent this morning. I know who it is. It’s always him.

Daniel. Fucking Daniel.

Ping!

I thought you put your phone on silent last night.

I forgot.

You are fucking useless.

You’re so dramatic, Alicia.

There’s no response from my morally grey, psychopathic voice in my head, so I take that as a small win. Okay, I should probably explain ...

Ever since I was like ... five ...

Six.

Fine. Six.

Ever since I was six, I’ve had a voice in my head. She’s called Alicia. I’m not going to dive into the details of how she came about right now because it would take far too long. She’s sort of like my best friend and my mortal enemy rolled into one crazy being. Oh yeah, she also happens to be a raging psychopath who has no feelings or attachments to anything. You could say I’m crazy, but I honestly can’t tell you what I am because I don’t know myself.

I am what I am.

My name’s Josslyn Reynolds. I’m an ordinary woman in my mid-twenties who works as a vet in her own practice, which I started two years ago. I have serious attachment issues to my parents, which I’m not proud of, a small addiction to gin and pinot grigio and the love of a small, furry dog called Oscar. You see, I’m completely ordinary ... apart from the voice in my head who tells me to kill people from time to time.

Who is the dramatic one now?

Oh, please! You threatened to kill the waitress the other night when Daniel took us out to dinner because she brought us the wrong plate of food.

It was mushroom risotto.

True. Mushrooms are the work of the devil but—

Ping!

I swear to God if you do not answer that phone in five seconds, I am going to personally hunt down and murder that pathetic excuse of a boyfriend of yours. I will make him bleed. I will make him scream and it will be all your fault.

I sit up in bed, roll my eyes and grab my phone. Oscar stirs beside me but doesn’t wake up, though he does stretch his legs and kick me. Oscar is my tan and white Jack-Russell Terrier who I adopted and rescued as a puppy. He’s three years old and thinks he is the size of a Doberman.

Daniel has messaged me sixteen times in the past hour.

‘It’s Daniel,’ I say out loud for no other reason than to feel as if I’m talking to another human being, when in fact I’m merely talking to myself ...

I would be delighted to hunt down and murder him.

You don’t get delighted. You have no feelings apart from rage.

Rage is a feeling.

I ignore Alicia and swipe through the messages. All of them are practically the same. They start off sounding all happy and cute like, Hey babe, let me know when you’re awake, love you and then gradually turn nasty when I haven’t messaged him back straight away. Fine, fuck you, you fucking bitch. And then they turn sweet again, I’m sorry babe, just missing you. Call me. The last one says, Did I do something wrong?

I’ll wholeheartedly admit that Daniel is a loser. I don’t know why I’m still dating him. It’s not like the sex is any good. I met him towards the end of my university studies. He was doing some lame political degree, but for some reason, he dazzled me with his charm, good looks, and his ability to hold a conversation without looking down my top (most of the time). I’d never had a boyfriend before, so I had no idea whether he was decent. The façade eventually faded though, and I saw him for who he truly was: a monster. I should have recognised it in him from the start, seeing as I also have a monster inside of me. I should have listened to Alicia, but I rarely do because I’m the one in control of this body and I refuse to let my once-imaginary friend tell me what to do.

And that is your one fundamental flaw, Josslyn.

The first time Daniel hit me was about three weeks into our relationship. We’d both finished university (him with a first-class and me with a second, but whatever, I’m not keeping score) and I had bought my very own building, which I eventually planned on renovating (with help from my dad) and turning into a vet practice (which I’ve now done). I was staying late to do some paperwork and he accused me of cheating on him, sent me numerous texts and called me, demanding to know why I wasn’t answering. He came to my flat once I’d finished work, which is situated above the practice, and slapped me across the face.

Just like that.

You should have let me kill him.

I should probably mention that Alicia despises him. Luckily, she’s not been in control of my body while she’s been around him yet. Oh yes, I forgot to mention. Alicia takes over my body on occasion and, when she does, I don’t remember anything that’s happened, which is utterly terrifying, but thankfully, those instances are few and far between. I’ve been able to keep her at bay and relatively under control.

For now.

God only knows what will happen if I ever lose control of her ...

Anyway, today is my day off from work. The practice is relatively new and I’m finding my feet with everything, but hopefully one day I’ll be busy enough to warrant hiring some help. Maybe a receptionist (because I loathe paperwork and dealing with customers) and a veterinary nurse to help with the appointments because I’d rather not deal with people. I prefer animals. Dogs, in particular, hence why I adopted Oscar. Cats are evil incarnate. At least, they are when they’re around