Mortality Bites Box Set [Books 1-6] Read online

  The Mortality Bites Box Set

  Books 1 - 6

  Ramy Vance

  Keep Evolving Studios

  Contents

  Join The Clan!

  Mortality Bites

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. Roommates Ruminate

  2. Vampires, Others, Professors and Football Players

  3. History is for the Hyenas

  4. Beggars Evidently Can Be Choosers

  5. Libraries Don’t Just Have Books, You Know

  II. Intermission

  6. DayStalker, NightWalker

  7. Vampires Aren’t Only Humans

  8. Dirks and Lipstick

  9. Human Security Securing

  10. Hyenas and Denial Are Like Oil and Water

  III. Intermission

  11. Activists Play Football, Too

  12. Wise Sages and Pale White Riders

  13. Snakes and Sages

  14. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

  15. Jessica Fletcher, You Are Not Darling

  16. Sticks and Stones Hurt Waaaay Less than Words

  17. Up, Up and Away!

  IV. Intermission

  18. On a Hill, Beneath a Neon Cross, Waiting for Dawn

  19. Check Out What’s Been Checked Out

  20. Let’s Party Like It’s Your Last Day on Earth

  21. Screaming the Gods Back

  22. Changelings, Hyenas, Warriors and Angels

  23. An Ending of Sorts

  Family Matters

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. In Case You Haven’t Heard—The Gods Are Gone

  2. Danger, Lost Gods and Boyfriends

  3. Dorm Rooms, Changelings and Calculus

  4. The Past and All That Jazz

  5. Din, Din Time

  II. Intermission

  6. When an Angel Shatters a Window, Use the Door

  7. Mustangs, Confused Boyfriends and Laughing Hyenas

  8. Goodbyes, Amulets

  9. No Signals for the Past

  10. Truth You Can’t Eat

  11. Sometimes All It Takes is a Phone Call

  12. Changelings, Baby Rats, Broadswords and Bad-Assary

  13. Wanna Dance, My Little Angel?

  III. Intermission

  14. Boots, Pups and Butterflies

  15. Phone Calls, Broken Chests and a New Respect

  16. Killers Unsung and Modesty Lost

  17. Codeine, Killers Now Sung and Blessed Sleep

  18. Twins, Amulets, Alchemy and “What Did You Say …?”

  19. Who’s Your Decorator?

  20. No Staring Contest, No Questions, No Future

  21. Goodbyes, Car Rides and Crashes

  IV. Intermission

  22. Car Parks, Airbags and Super Humans

  23. Confessions of Love and Confessions of … Well, Let’s Just Say Confessions

  24. Selfish Questions, Selfish Boys

  25. The Lesser of Two Rights

  26. One Last Confession

  27. The Rasp

  Superhero Me!

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. Demons of the Desert and Superheroes of the North

  2. Superheroes Aren’t Real

  3. Drunken Underdogs, Dorm Rooms and Suspicious Characters

  4. A Quick Discussion and a Quicker Offer Denied

  5. A League of Heroes, Research and More Awkwardness

  6. Walking, Talking and Rocking

  7. Justice League vs. The League of Doom vs. One Girl in Snow Pants

  8. Superheroes Never Think About Repair Costs

  II. Intermission

  9. Run, Lola … Ahh, I Mean … Run, Kat, Run

  10. Still Underground, Still Screwed

  11. Superheroes to My Left, Superheroes to My Right

  12. Daydreams and Fine Art

  13. The Curse of Art

  14. Hags, Boxes and Blasts from the Past

  15. Curses—They’re Not Real … Are They?

  16. I Can’t Hear You … Let’s Go for a Walk

  17. Some Truths Give You a Stomach Ache

  III. Intermission

  18. Behold, It Is I! The Villain!

  19. Up, Up and Get Away?

  20. The Geriatric Ward of Heroes

  21. Sorrys, Sirens and Songs

  22. Presidential Fights Aren’t Very Presidential

  23. Plans, Legally Blondes, Sleep and Reversions

  24. Regression is a Bitch

  25. A Song, a Party and a Bite

  IV. Intermission

  26. A Superhero Ball Whose Guest of Honor is a Villain

  27. Ninja Minions and Darting Villains

  28. Invisible Hands Are the Devil’s Playthings

  29. Lead for Your Heart, Pennies for Your Eyes

  30. Click, Clack, Bang, like It Ain’t No Thang …

  31. How Many Lives Is Your Own Worth?

  32. All’s Well That Ends Well … Well, Maybe Not

  33. A Brief Epilogue

  Orphaned Follies

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. Passive Aggressive, Overtly Aggressive, Nuclear Aggressive

  2. Healthy Stalker Relationships Are Hard

  3. It’s Beginning to Feel a Lot like Christmas

  4. The Dark Side of Student Organizers

  5. Shrinking from Shrinks

  6. Walks, Friends and Party Prep

  7. Let the Festivities Begin!

  8. Snowed-In Speeches and Confined Tensions

  9. Meeting Your Heroes Sucks

  10. Festivities? I’d Rather Sleep

  11. Nightmares and Murders

  II. Intermission

  12. Accusations, Much?

  13. You Did It! No, You Did!

  14. Spotless Rooms and Dirty Kitchens

  15. Egg-Timers and Alibis

  16. Wind-Downs and What’s Next

  17. Polite Dinner Discussions and Impolite Dessert Disasters

  18. Chases and Mirages

  III. Intermission

  19. Waking the Death

  20. Bedtime Musings

  21. Dark Elves and Kidnapping Papas

  22. Death Does Not Become Him

  23. Connecting the Firefly Dots

  24. Tying Up Loose Ends

  25. I’m Not Good at Being Good

  IV. Intermission

  26. Kings, Day-Dreams and Nightmares All Rolled into One

  27. Once More … With Feeling!

  28. Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?

  29. Here’s What Happens When a Volcano Meets a Tornado

  30. Back Doors and Magnet’s Helmet

  31. We’re off to See the Wizard … Ahh, I Mean Witch

  32. Ester and the Looking Mirror

  33. I’m an Idiot … Seriously, I Am

  34. Goodbyes and Goodbyes

  35. And Before You Know It … You’re In Japan

  Dawn of a Thousand Sunsets

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. Japan Airlines … the Soul of the Sky

  2. Please Fasten Your Seatbelt, You’re About to Get Punched

  3. Resurrecting the Dead—Goddamn Style

  4. Costumes, Taxis and Japanese Malls

  5. You May Be a No One, but Here You’re Famous

  6. Walls, Walls and More Walls

  II. Intermission

  7. Okinawa — World War II

  8. Shit … Shisa

  9. Agyo and Ungyo and Their Pet Shisa, Open and Closed

  10. A Trouble of Guardians

  11. Reunions and Soul-Beating Moments

  12. Ma’ams, Metal Tables and Sole Eyeballs

  13. A Million Screens and Eyeless Creeps

  14. Carrots, Sticks
& the Realization

  15. I Really Wanted to Use the Stick

  16. World War Other

  III. Intermission

  17. Okinawa - World War II

  18. Boom, Boom, Shake, Shake the Room

  19. Black Hole Sea, Won’t You Come and Drown Away the Pain?

  20. Meres and an Underwater Griffin

  21. Hiking Through the Jungle Is Five Star Enough for Me

  22. Hotel Castles for the Rich and Dead

  23. It’s Like Discovering the World’s Flat

  24. 10, 9, 8 … Really? This Couldn’t Have Waited Until New Year’s?

  IV. Intermission

  25. Okinawa — World War II

  26. The One and Only Chapter Left

  27. An Ending of Sorts

  Three Dead Gods

  I. A Beginning of Sorts

  1. Three Dead Gods. Three Dead Gods

  2. The Dark Side of Your Soul

  3. We All Have Our Angels to Burden

  4. These Gods Ain’t So Tough

  5. Who’s Saving Who?

  II. Intermission

  6. Charon

  7. Absolutely Apocalyptic Mistakes

  8. Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood

  9. Home No More

  10. Kat, Meet Father Time for the First Time

  11. No Time Like Any Time but the Present

  III. Intermission

  12. Charon

  13. G.I. Joe … a Real Other Hero!

  14. What’s the Plan, Phil?

  15. Not All Goodbyes are Created the Same

  16. We Make Plans and the Gods Laugh

  17. Cry “Havoc!” and Let Slip the Others of War

  IV. Intermission

  18. Charon

  19. Watch How They Run

  20. The Boys in Black

  21. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

  22. They Don’t Make Prophets Like They Used To

  23. Idle, Godly Hands, Playgrounds and All That Jazz

  24. Seasons of the Abyss

  25. A Brief Interlude from Charon

  26. Mortal Kombat … The Gods’ Edition

  27. In the Arms of the Archangel

  28. Why Can’t This Be the End

  A Brief, Secondary Epilogue

  29. Want more GONEGOD WORLD?

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  About the Author

  Mortality Bites Series © Copyright <<2018>> Ramy Vance

  Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  For more information, email: [email protected]

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  Mortality Bites

  Part I

  A Beginning of Sorts

  TODAY—

  “We disappointed them,” the monster said, pulling the ropes.

  The old librarian groaned in pain as his arms and legs were forced apart so that he hung like Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

  “Please,” the librarian muttered. “We didn’t disappoint them. The gods … they just left. That’s all.”

  The monster gave a final tug, ensuring that the ropes were secure, before calmly walking past the librarian. “No, you’re wrong. We turned our backs on the old ways. We forgot the fundamental rule when appeasing the gods,” the monster, the old librarian’s torturer, said as it browsed the library’s rare-items display. It paused on the item it wanted, touching the cool glass with a light, almost casual finger. The monster’s lips crooked up in satisfaction. “This modern world, with its iPads and smartphones, its Wikipedia and unlimited data … it forgot that this … all of this … is because they willed it. Without the gods, we would be monkeys picking the ticks off each other’s backs. Stupid, arrogant modern world. To think that they actually believe they can go on without the gods.” With one powerful, angry fist, the monster shattered the display glass.

  “Don’t do this. Please. It will not bring them back. Nothing will bring them back!”

  The monster ignored the old man’s pleas, pulling the ancient obsidian blade from its stand and caressing its tip. The blade was sharp, and a tiny stream of red blood dripped from where it tore into flesh. “Blood. We forgot about blood. About how it is the essence of true worship.”

  Approaching the helpless librarian, the monster held the blade aloft and started muttering ancient ritualistic words.

  “Stop this. Please. I beg you,” said the librarian, but he knew his pleas were useless. He’d read the history books; he knew what these old rituals entailed. The fear and suffering of “that which is sacrificed”—him, in this instance—was part of it. According to the texts, the harder the one who was sacrificed held on to life, the closer the gods paid attention. Mustering the last of his pride, he closed his eyes and silenced his cries.

  Death was coming. There was nothing he could do about that. But at least he could deny this monster some of the satisfaction.

  The creature opened its eyes and, lifting the ceremonial knife high above its head, cried out an ancient incantation that no human ear has heard in over a thousand years.

  As the blade punctured his heart, the librarian uttered a silent prayer, not for the gods to intervene, he knew that was useless, but as comfort to himself in his last moments. After all, this old librarian was once a priest, and old habits … well, old habits die hard.

  Roommates Ruminate

  Two Days Ago –

  My dorm room door was open, which could mean only one of two things: I was being robbed or my roommate had finally chosen to show up.

  The semester didn’t start until tomorrow, but I’d arrived a week early to check out my new living digs. An old habit—necessary when you’re a vampire living in secret among humans. Of course, vampires weren’t a secret any longer.