Because he's a vampire, Jonathon Splinter needs to feed, hungry for blood. He seeks out young men along Lake Erie in the small town of Bitter. As Halloween approaches, Jonathon devises a plan for his next hunt with the help of his mortal lover and personal assistant, Toby Kinks.<br><br>Life grows bitter for Jonathon, though. Someone discovered his true identity and witnessed one of his bloody hunts where he not only fed but also murdered the man. Now Jonathon is being blackmailed.<br><br>With Toby’s help, Jonathon seeks out the blackmailer, and the two devise a plan in which Jonathon will hunt and feed on the man. But on the evening of the planned murder, Jonathon Splinter's bloody life will change forever.

Blood on My Hands

As I drove to the cottage, I recalled one of my published tales. Pure fiction. Maybe drivel. An excerpt from Unseen, by Renaldo Drake. Originally published in Horror and Frightsmagazine, April 1983. Used by permission…


Lance Midnight couldn’t believe what he saw. He wouldn’t believe his sight and mind, promising himself. If he started to add a sense of reality to what he thoughthe had witnessed, he figured he was one short and swift step away from Plimpton Psychiatric Ward on Hobson Hill. This is what he told himself out loud, “Sometimes you don’t want to see what you believe, or believe what you see, guy. Trust your instincts.”


He couldn’t un-see the silhouette of his dead boyfriend, though. Significant others weren’t meant to do that. Never. Mostly because it was unhealthy for the body, mind, and spirit. Any psychiatrist would have told him that…probably for free. Once you see something, you can’t un-see it. Who doesn’t know that? No one Lance knew.


Chapter 15