Ashton (Vampire Morsels) Read online



  Vampire Morsels:

  ASHTON

  A short story

  By Joleene Naylor

  https://www.joleenenaylor.com

  [email protected]

  Copyright 2011-2015 by Joleene Naylor

  Cover art copyright Joleene Naylor 2011-2015. All rights reserved.

  Ramblings from the Darkness at https://www.joleenenaylor.com

  You never know what you’ll find in the shadows…..

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  GET ALL SEVENTEEN SHORT STORIES IN ONE ILLUSTRATED VOLUME:

  The Vampire Morsels Collection: Tasty Bites from the Amaranthine Universe

  Other books by Joleene Naylor:

  Amaranthine:

  0: Brothers of Darkness

  1: Shades of Gray

  2: Legacy of Ghosts

  3: Ties of Blood

  4: Ashes of Deceit

  5: Heart of the Raven

  6: Children of Shadows

  7. Clash of Legends

  8. Masque of the Vampire

  9: Goddess of Night

  Also:

  Vampire Morsels Collection: 17 Short Stories

  101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire by Joleene Naylor

  Heart of the Raven Mini Prologue Collection

  Tales from the Island: Six Short Stories

  Thirteen Guests: A Masque of the Vampire companion

  Road to Darkness: A short story companion to Brothers of Darkness

  COMING SOON:

  Tales of the Executioners

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Thanks to Susan Koenig for her ninja-like proofreading skills.

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  This is the fourth in a collection of short stories, Vampire Morsels. Each story is about a different vampire from the Amaranthine universe who, for one reason or another, didn’t get a chance to tell their tale.

  You can’t actually find Ashton anywhere, except as a mention in the novel Legacy of Ghosts (Though you can find his brother, Loren in Legacy of Ghosts, Ties of Blood and Ashes of Deceit.) This takes place in Maine in 1995.

  This story may contain violence, strong language, sexual content or other disturbing scenes and is not intended for a young audience.

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  “Hey, dickhead, get up!”

  Ashton jerked awake. “Huh?” He blinked away the last shreds of sleep to see Loren, his younger brother. He stood in the bedroom doorway and glared impatiently, as if he’d expected more.

  “I said get up, dude. It’s after eight. You need to give the cat its pills and we need to get some shit from the store-”

  Loren went on, but Ashton ignored him. He swung into a sitting position on the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands.

  God, I’m tired. I’m so fuckin’ tired! I thought I was supposed to feel like fucking superman now?

  “Are you listening?”

  He wanted to tell Loren to go to hell, but he only muttered, “Yeah, sure. Look, go to the store and get whatever we need, a’ight? I got some shit to do.” With too much effort he climbed to his feet and rifled through the rubble of his bedroom for something to wear, his back carefully placed to his brother.

  “You’ve always got shit to do!” Loren snapped. “How about look for a fucking job? We’re almost out of money and-”

  “And you’re still in school, blah, blah, blah.” Guilt washed over him the moment the words left his mouth. He forced his voice calm before he went on. “Look, I’m sorry, a’ight? I know this shit’s hard on you, it’s hard on me, too. If we run out of money before I get a job we’ll just pawn some of Mom and Dad’s stuff.” He turned and met his brother’s dark eyes for a moment, then turned away again. “A’ight?”

  Loren physically shrank from the idea. “I don’t wanna pawn their stuff.”

  “I know, but they don’t need it anymore, and you need to eat.” Ashton shrugged and went back to dressing. “I’m gonna go up and see Jessie and the guys for a while.”

  There was a moment of silence and then Loren said quietly, “You’ve been off with them every night for like a month. You’re different since they showed up. I never see you anymore. It’s like you’re avoiding me.”

  “You’re seein’ me now.” Ashton tried to sound casual. “Don’t turn all girly on me.”

  “I’m not turning all girly! I was just saying, you know…” Loren trailed off. When Ashton didn’t fill in the silence he sighed with resignation. “All right. I’ll go get the stuff. But, I’m taking your bike.”

  Ashton cringed, but didn’t argue. When Loren sensed his victory, he disappeared. Ashton didn’t relax until he heard the door shut, and the motorcycle roar to life.

  “Fuck,” he muttered to thin air, as if he thought it might answer him. “What am I gonna do?”

  It was a good question, and one he’d been working on for three weeks. Loren was right, he was avoiding him, but how could he face him - really face him - now? How was he supposed to explain that he really was different? How did he tell his kid brother that he was a vampire?

  Vampire. Yeah, that’s a word that makes a lot of sense.

  “Fuck.”

  Ashton shoved the pill down the pissed off cat and got a scratch for his efforts. He rubbed the creature’s throat until it swallowed. The dark look in its eyes seemed to say “I’m doing this against my will, jack ass, and I will make you pay, later”. Let it try. Ashton was just dying for a reason to give it to the neighbors. The Willingers had a bunch of kids and a soft hearted mother. He bet he could talk them into taking the fuzzy white monster. If it wasn’t for his new condition he’d have tried it already. That was something he’d have to get Loren to do. Yeah. Let the Willingers take the fucking demon cat.

  A Band-Aid later and he was out the door and on his way. The moon hung heavy in the sky, and a chilly wind blew across the beach. The walk to the dilapidated house was a short one. Ashton tugged open the rusty screen door and slumped inside. The rooms were cluttered with broken furniture and old junk. The floors crunched under foot with a mixture of garbage, bits of plaster, mouse droppings and the occasional hardy roach.

  This was headquarters, or that’s what Jessie called it anyway. Jessie was tall, dark and infinitely cooler than the other chumps that lived around the small seaboard town, especially in off season. During the summer, they sometimes got tourists from the big places, but in the cold months there was just the steady, slow grind of small town people with small town ideas. Jessie had blown in a month ago with a handful of followers, including his right-hand-man Wesley. They’d set up shop in the abandoned house and for all the world looked like a group of partying beach-bum/gang members who lived to get fucked up and set fire to something. With the still too recent death of Ashton’s parents and the sudden responsibility heaped on his shoulders, Jessie and his friends seemed like the perfect escape from reality. Get high, get drunk, forget about everything.

  If only he’d known what an escape from reality it was.

  Ashton paused in the doorway of what had once been the house’s living room. A single hurricane lamp splashed wavery light over a handful of stained furniture and threw twisted shadows across the walls. Despite the gloom, Jessie sprawled in one of the chairs, as though he were the king of a grand castle, and warbled a terrible attempt at a song.

  “Well if you feel the wanderlust, just grab a car or hop a bus. In every town there's excitement to be found, so much is happening-”

  Ashton flopped into the other chair sand snickered. “What the fuck are you singing?”

  Jessie’s head snapped around instantly. “Spring Fever.” When Ashton only blinked, he nearly exploded, “Elvis Presley, man! The King! What’s wr
ong wi’ you, huh? You never heard a’ it?”

  Ashton’s hands went up and he flinched involuntarily. “Sorry, dude. Sorry.”

  “Yeah, sorry. You always sorry. You come in here, interruptin’ my vibe, man, wit’ your dumb ass questions. Don’t you know nothin’? And call me Master, fucktard. Remember your place, huh?”

  Ashton rolled his eyes, but let it go. Jessie is in one of his moods again. Great.

  The “Master” went back to his song. Soon, the other guys started to trickle in. They were all too smart to comment on the music, even as Spring Fever gave way to Teddy Bear. In fact, they didn’t say a word. It wasn’t until Wesley kicked Ashton’s chair and snapped, “Hey, get outta my chair, loser,” that there was any conversation at all.

  Ashton snapped back with, “Fuck you.” The words were brave, but one fanged snarl from Wesley and Ashton stood up. “It’s fuckin’ uncomfortable, anyway. And it smells like