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As an author I primarily write high
fantasy and steampunk adventures novels, but I also delve into dark
horror for my poems and short stories, so I’m always intrigued by
this question.
What scares you?
I know what scares me.
When I’m taking a shower, and I lean
back to rinse and shampoo my hair, I’m always convinced that when I
tilt my head forward, and open my eyes, I’m going to be face to face
with some spectral nightmare. When I walk through my home with the
lights out I never glance into any mirrors for fear of seeing the
reflection of something following me through the dark. I’m also one
of those people that thinks thrice before sticking my foot out from
under the blanket. There are things under the bed. Sometimes. Most
times.
Honestly, I like being scared and I
know you do to.
In the last year or so I’ve started to
notice short social media posts, from all sorts of folks, about a
moment that had just scared them. Some little moment that made their
spine tingle or their heart leap into their throats. They always seem
to be moments, or realizations, that come out of nowhere.
A baby’s laughter is one of the most
beautiful sounds you’ll ever hear. Unless it”s 3am. And you’re
home alone. And you don’t have a baby.
I’ve got a ghost in my house. No,
seriously, I do. I closed a curtain last night, and I woke up to find
it wide open. I shut the bathtub shower doors, and found them open
not too long ago. From the looks of it, whatever it is just wants
attention.
I guess he was sleep walking and she
was trying to coax him back in bed and he said something along the
lines of “I would but the devil is behind you.”
Creepy. Thinking your kid is napping
but walking past his room to see him quietly standing in the corner
of his crib staring at you.
People are seeing things and they’re
open to talk about it now more than ever. I think with times as scary
as they are people are more willing to admit they get scared. I think
they want to get scared. People need to face fear in order to
understand they have the power to overcome it and survive. It’s built
into our DNA.
I recently wrote a short story about
the type of horror character that scares and intrigues me the most.
The loner out there. The lonely tortured and tormented soul out there
that lives in a world all their own and is capable of striking out,
quickly, out of nowhere. I called my story Awilda. Or rather, Awilda
insisted I call her story Awilda.
I’d like to scare you today. You need
it.
I’d like you to get to know Awilda as I
did. On the surface I wrote a vampire story. A tale of a very skilled
hunter. Awilda made me understand that her story was really about a
twisted mind influenced by all the misinformation around her. She
made me see how scary that can be. How quickly that could happen. How
long it could build before that mind lashed out.
I’d like you to meet Awilda, so I’m
giving her to you, for free.
Awilda made an observation last night
that made her laugh out loud on the subway. Chicken in a can
shouldn’t come in liquid. It’s just wrong. We accept it with tuna.
Fish are meant to be in liquid. Chickens are air breathers. Awilda
often had thoughts like that. Quick random shots through the dark
that made her laugh out loud, or cry quite a lot. She liked to laugh.
She didn’t like the crying at all. The laughing helped her forget the
dark things. The crying reminded her that the laughing was a lie.
Awilda killed her first vampire when
she was six years old. He was a child just like she was. He attacked
her and she stabbed him in the heart. Just like that. Nice and easy.
She was young, but she knew exactly what he was. She had seen the
movies. She knew Bela Lugosi when she saw him. So Awilda killed him
and buried his body in the abandoned building where it happened.
There were questions. There were police
and an investigation. The boy was a friend, of a friend, of a friend,
so no one really talked to her about the incident. They couldn’t find
him for a long time and then the questions stopped. They never found
the body. Just a few years ago the building was demolished. They
built a church on that spot. Awilda laughed a lot when she heard they
had done that.
Awilda was a demure young lady of
twenty-six now, with an indefatigable mind in a myriad of places. She
was very pretty. Not too thin. Not too heavy. She was a bit on the
tall side with lots of leg. Her flesh was creamy white with light
pink tones. The vampires loved her for all those lovely attributes.
They were all foolishly drawn to her because of them. Awilda was her
own secret weapon.
She loved her full breasts. She loved
the weight of them in her hands. She was also quite fond of her
derriere. It was round and plump. Whenever she couldn’t sleep she
would lay on her side, close her eyes, and slowly breathe three deep
breaths while she caressed all her curves. The sensation would always
lull her into dreamtime. Awilda loved her body. She started to
develop her shapely presence when she turned thirteen. That’s when
she killed her second vampire.
This short story from Amazon
bestselling author Edward Medina was originally intended for an
anthology submission. But Edward fell in love with Awilda, and
decided to keep her all to himself. Now it’s time for him to share
her with you.
The story of Awilda is an urban
paranormal trip through the mind of a dedicated hunter. A hunter
specifically designed to kill a very particular form of vampire.
Believing it to be her mission since birth, Awilda puts a
meticulously planned set of events in motion in order to eradicate
the world of this infestation. Good girl by day, holy terror by
night, Awilda is not the type of woman you’ll soon forget.
Awilda is free on Amazon from October 15th – October 17th, 2013. Intended for mature audiences.
Amazon bestselling author Edward Medina
is a native New Yorker who was raised by his mother and grandmother
to believe that life is an adventure best lived to the fullest. To
that end he has lived his life on the edge of creative possibility.
Over time, Edward has been a radio and
voice over artist. He built a significant career as a producer,
director and writer for both digital media and the New York Off and
Off – Off Broadway stages. He also had the honor and the privilege to
work for the late great Jim Henson. He then went on to become a theme
park designer. For fun, he became a steam train engineer and has been
since childhood, a sometime magician. Although, at this point in his
life, the magic he creates is more for the page as an author of high
fantasy, dark horror, and epic steampunk adventures.
If you’d like more information on
Edward’s work, visit his website, follow him on Twitter, like his
page on Facebook, and subscribe to his blog on WordPress.
Edward Medina is proud to be a member
of the Horror Writers Association and the Society of Children’s Book
Writers & Illustrators.
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