The Dagger and the Chalise | Part Two of The Witch Doctor Trilogy by Wayne Kyle Spitzer
He went into the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
“I’m not hungry,” she said. She seated herself slowly, tentatively. “Two, maybe three days. Ever since Sister Samain wrested control of the coven from the Council. Thank you …” She took the glass from Jeremiah, still looking at the paintings. “They’re all done by the same hand, aren’t they?”
He took off his wide-brimmed hat and studied them. “The same eye. Sometimes Jasper’s hand shakes uncontrollably and I have to steady it with my own. Other times I am his hand, and he tells me what to do.” He laughed a little. “He says that I am an artist, just as he. But even I know it’s the eye that sees, not the hands.”
She continued staring at them. “No, I don’t think that’s true. These pictures have lines of grace … look, see how the fingers are elongated, and tend to curve up or down depending on the position of the body. They dance upon the canvas … surely you can see that. I think you paint them together, Jeremiah.”
He swung the strap of the respirator over his head and set it on a mantle. “I’m just his hands.” He moved to leave the room again.
“Just? But hands are for feeling,” she said.
He paused at the entrance to the hall. “And they’re for killing, too.” Then he disappeared into the dark.
And she thought, It’s the heart that kills, Jeremiah. The hard one by slaying others … and the soft by slaying itself. Then she pushed it from her mind.
Description
Find more from this author on:
Amazon
Smashwords
Author Site
FacebookAbout the author:
Wayne Kyle Spitzer (born July 15, 1966) is an American author and low-budget horror filmmaker from Spokane, Washington. He is the writer/director of the short horror film, Shadows in the Garden, as well as the author of Flashback, an SF/horror novel published in 1993. Spitzer's non-genre writing has appeared in subTerrain Magazine: Strong Words for a Polite Nation and Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History. His recent fiction includes The Ferryman Pentalogy, consisting of Comes a Ferryman, The Tempter and the Taker, The Pierced Veil, Black Hole, White Fountain, and To the End of Ursathrax, as well as The X-Ray Rider Trilogy and a screen adaptation of Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows.
Here is a short sample from the book:
He went into the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
“I’m not hungry,” she said. She seated herself slowly, tentatively. “Two, maybe three days. Ever since Sister Samain wrested control of the coven from the Council. Thank you …” She took the glass from Jeremiah, still looking at the paintings. “They’re all done by the same hand, aren’t they?”
He took off his wide-brimmed hat and studied them. “The same eye. Sometimes Jasper’s hand shakes uncontrollably and I have to steady it with my own. Other times I am his hand, and he tells me what to do.” He laughed a little. “He says that I am an artist, just as he. But even I know it’s the eye that sees, not the hands.”
She continued staring at them. “No, I don’t think that’s true. These pictures have lines of grace … look, see how the fingers are elongated, and tend to curve up or down depending on the position of the body. They dance upon the canvas … surely you can see that. I think you paint them together, Jeremiah.”
He swung the strap of the respirator over his head and set it on a mantle. “I’m just his hands.” He moved to leave the room again.
“Just? But hands are for feeling,” she said.
He paused at the entrance to the hall. “And they’re for killing, too.” Then he disappeared into the dark.
And she thought, It’s the heart that kills, Jeremiah. The hard one by slaying others … and the soft by slaying itself. Then she pushed it from her mind.
Related products
-
The Fall Book 1 Conversion by ST Campitelli
Melbourne, 2052, two years since The Fall.
A wave of infection, the Jackson Virus, has swept the world, leaving in its wake a terrifying apocalyptic wasteland populated by wild cleanskin survivor groups and the ravenous, infected night predators – the jacks. In this nightmare landscape, one of the last remaining sanctuaries is Kulin Wallcom, a community enclosed by a 10-metre wall patrolled by what’s left of the military. The wallcoms are the last remaining bastions of defence and security in a world gone over the edge.
But the people of Kulin can’t stay behind their wall forever.
Recovery expert, John Bradley, is part of a major operation into the wasteland looking to not only ensure the survival of Kulin by bringing back critical supplies from the abandoned Southstone Supermall, but, more crucially, to also locate and extract the only person left who may be able to reverse the tide of infection.
However, the mission faces danger at every turn. It seems to be compromised from the inside, Southstone is thought to be an impossible target overrun with infected, and wasteland survivor bands, led by the psychopathic wasteland leader, the Headhunter, are bent on making sure the operation has to fight each step of the way to get back to the wallcom before nightfall.
Because that’s when the jacks come out.
And they will find you.
Welcome to the world of The Fall.
Testament: The Trial by Edward V’Kanty
For the first time anywhere, Testament draws the reader into the New Yorke witch trials! Experience this 17th century horror firsthand and decide for yourself whether or not to condemn the accused for heresy and witchcraft.
Testament: The Trial It is a matter of public record (and public knowledge) that, in the year 1692, the infamous witch trials swept through the colony of Salem, Massachusetts. While precious little may be known about the witch trials of Salem and those witches that the good puritans of Salem persecuted, there is even less known about the witch trials that swept through the remainder of the Thirteen Colonies. For instance, in 1665, twenty-seven years before the Salem witch trials, the people of New Yorke believed themselves to be plagued by the devil’s works and so the New Yorke Court of Assizes was established to deal with this spiritual epidemic. The New Yorke witch trials began with a very unusual case of witchcraft and heresy: that of Ralph and Mary Hall.
The following fictionalized book is based upon the trial of Ralph and Mary Hall, accused of practicing witchcraft and sorcery against the family of Ann Rogers. This book takes a look at what may have happened and how New Yorke, like Salem, could have fallen prey to the fear of witchcraft.
There is but one catch: You, the reader must determine the path this colony is to follow. There can be no greater responsibility than to be called upon to serve as a juror in these witch trials. After reading the journal entries of apprentice magistrate Singent Straubb and the court documents regarding the trial of accused witches Ralph Hall and his wife Mary, how will you cast your verdict?
Testament Verdict: Guilty You have chosen to convict the Halls and condemn them to death as witches. Now read the remaining entries in the journal of Singent Straubb to learn what fate your verdict has had upon the entire colony of New Yorke…
Testament Verdict: Not Guilty You have chosen not to convict the Halls and they shall be released forthwith. Only the journal of Singent Straubb may tell what fate your verdict will have upon the entire colony of New Yorke…
Rise of the Witch by Jason Kondrath
Jeanie long suffered her parents mental, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse so she summoned the “Powers of Darkness” to help her, and they did -for a price. They not only gave her solace, but vengeance, and no one was spared.
In the aftermath Jeanie met and fell in love with Mark, a man she loved more than life itself. And soon she found herself pregnant. The young couple planned to marry, but Jeanie never told her fiancee about her past debts… Contract Taken by Aya DeAniege
Isabella Martin was born a hundred years after an economic crash, which changed the whole world. Countries fell, and others rose up in their place. Debt is now genetic. There is no escaping one’s family without special dispensation.
With the help of a few patrons, the government began a Program which oversaw private contracts between the rich and the poor, contracts that would pay off chunks of debt, or even allow a person to remove themselves from their family and hold a private debt.
Each contract has very clear terms dictating what is to be expected of those who sign it. Each one has several escape clauses. The government employed private workers to check in on the contracts to prevent abuse of power.
Isabella was a tomboy. She worked as a labourer alongside her father and brothers until she was hurt in a workplace related accident. The other skills she developed in the slums were not exactly marketable, leading her to the Program building in search of a contract to bring her family’s debt down any way she could.
She was presented with a ‘blank slate’ contract. No rules, no guides, no escape.
This is her story.
Witch Hunt by JR White
After the bloody murder of her brother, Rei finds herself on the run from the coven that killed him. A powerful Earth witch, Rei searches for a natural well of magic to avenge her brother’s death, even if it costs her life. However, standing between her and her goal is an alluring wolf.
Aidan never took the time or interest to look for his mate, but when the young witch shows up on pack hunting grounds his solitary life is turned upside down. Now, he must find a way to protect his pack and the woman that fate has handed him.
In a world where witch and werewolf merge, this odd couple must fight off challenges from both within and outside of themselves. Can they fight off the coven of blood witches who threaten not just Rei, but Aidan’s entire pack? Can Rei accept the help that Aidan and his pack offer or will she try to brave it on her own?
The Obsidian Stairway: The City of Dark Pleasures – Part 1 by Bibi Rizer
Young journalist O’Mara Tanner ‘s world was forever changed by The Expiation, a brutal near genocide that left her society unbalanced and isolated. In her cold unfriendly city, carefully controlled citizens seek solace in The City of Dark Pleasures, a vast riverfront red light district. Those who have lost their citizen privileges are reduced to working there.
When O’Mara is assigned to report on a new sexual service in the City of Dark Pleasures — one that has been the subject of much gossip — she’s not sure what to expect. What she finds there only reminds her of all that has been lost in The Expiation.
She meets Tully — handsome, attentive, mysterious — who lives like most non-citizen do — on the fringes, limited to the few base professions plied in the City of Dark Pleasures. But Tully is unlike any “servant” O’Mara has met in the Pleasures. And his extraordinary service is about to allow her to experience a level of intimacy she has only ever imagined.
Code: Revelation by Boris Sanders
Introverted computer scientist Maximilian Gutenberg had no intention of acquiring a crystal with a being trapped inside, especially not one with the power to save— or destroy—humanity.
Her name is Lucy, and she cannot escape her prison until her mission is complete. A mission she keeps secret from everyone, even Max.
But she needs his help.
To gain his trust, she offers to get rid of his abusive boss in one week, and get him that promotion he always wanted. She’ll make him the hero of his own life, a man worthy of recognition, in exchange for helping her complete her mission.
This could be the opportunity of Max’s life, but he can’t help but wonder if Lucy is as good as she seems… And exactly what mission she must complete to regain her freedom.
Set in a dystopian, futuristic city built miles into the sky, “CODE: Revelation” is a powerful, psychological thrill ride that calls into question the nature of good and evil, and the importance of taking control of your own destiny.
Enter the Witch Doctor by Wayne Kyle Spitzer
They were the kind of musical notes men and woman once swayed to—even worshiped to—or so Jasper had told him, ground from an instrument called an “organ”—which had once been common, or so he’d said, but had vanished from the face of the world. So, too, were there cymbals, which echoed throughout the crew compartment of the War Wagon like tinsel—if tinsel could be said to have a sound—and mingled with the steely whispers of their muskets and tanks and other gear as the truck rocked and their harnesses held them fast.
“When a maaan loves a woman,” sang a hearty and soulful voice both inside and outside the compartment, and Jeremiah knew they were close, else the driver wouldn’t have cued the music, and when he scanned the other Witch Doctors, strapped in six to a bench in the wagon’s cramped confines, he knew that they knew it too. What was more, he knew that, however fearsome they looked in their black jumpsuits and white flame-retardant vests, their goggled respirators, their buckled hats—they were frightened, too.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.