WIPWordSearch Excerpts December 2023 Week 3

“Yes, exactly. It’s all about being in the #present. Live for yourself.”

Thomas stopped in his #path, overcome with nausea. He’d drunk blood, and he’d liked it. That wasn’t normal. He gagged, horrified with himself—he was now one of the monsters wandering the shadows of Colesbrooke.

“I wouldn’t mind someone around here who could #pour a few drinks while I’m out on the town. And the fact you know how to work the equipment downstairs is a plus. You know how to tap a vein, don’tcha, sawbones?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’ve already drank or fed or whatever. It’s a feeling in the #pit of my stomach, always reminding me I’m a freak.”

Had he ever unknowingly been in the presence of a vampire? Thomas tried to remember if he’d ever seen a questionable looking #person on the train before. A man across from him wore a trash bag and picked gummy worms out of his hair. On second thought, when had Thomas ever not seen someone questionable on the train?

To bring her closer to him. He craved the feeling of ecstasy he’d felt biting into Sean’s neck. Artemis could give him strength, power, pain, #pleasure.

A man in his early forties stood up from a chair nearby and grinned, his lips pulling wide and flashing a #perfect set of teeth, brown eyes sparkling and concerned. He wore athree-piece suit and fancy hat as if he’d materialized from a film noir movie.

“He said that every day we stay in this city, humans and vampires will die,” Thomas #pleaded, but no one listened. His heart was racing in his distress, causing an outpouring of fiery pain to surge through his chest.

The Trouble and Toil building seemed to repel visitors and graffiti, but there didn’t appear to be anything special about it. Her skin itched as if silver were #present, but Dirk and Kale had said it’d felt like this last time, too.

Everything seemed more vibrant. The smells in the air painted the scene with a hundred different stories, and she could trace with ease the #paths of the creatures that had visited this part of the woods.

He shifted his weight behind the bar, still holding the bottle in one hand, then started to #pour her a glass.

“I’m not here for a drink. I’m looking for someone.”

Understanding flickered in his eyes.

Freed of life and his lycanthropic curse, — was in his human form, a scrawny man that had been heedlessly dumped near a fire #pit.

“No, other werewolves hunt them. We haven’t hunted vampires since we found the Crone. I want to be a #person, not an animal,” Clara said sharply. “That’s why we stayed here and pay for the damn potion every month.”

Clara could now understand some of the comments that Sean had made about his friend—he was “the smartest dense person you’ll ever have the #pleasure and frustration of meeting.”

She ravaged the box’s wrapping, eagerly searching for the #perfect chocolate. The creamy texture was just the change of pace she needed from the watery soup, and the dark cocoa smelled so good that she could almost taste it.

For a moment, Thomas looked as if he was about to speak up, and by the look on his face, whatever he had to say was not going to be positive. Artemis shot him a #pleading glance, and he stayed silent.