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

It’s a flat tire, he determines after turning the electric engine off. He climbs out of the car and ends up near its front bumper, near the passenger’s side door. The tire’s definitely flat. Shot-out by a rock or piece of metal. The tire looks shredded. Half the rubber hangs off the wheel. Pieces of it look like tangled hair. It smells like wet rat to Layton. An awful smell that almost causes him to vomit to his right, inside a pasture of high grass that blows in the light, summer wind.


He’s fucked. Layton knows this. He’s a professional chef who works with fish. Never has he changed a tire before. Not once in his life. Never. As he brushes a hand through his Robert Pattinson-colored hair and stares down at the mangled tire, he mumbles, “Fuck,” to himself and becomes emotionally drained, depleted.


Chapter 23