John Watson his short story The Hallow Eyed Girl in Possessed by Passion
Kayleigh Barnes runs a horror movie themed Instagram account that is beginning to gather some steam. Her goal, though, is to make it bigger and better, so that she can become an internet star.
When offered the opportunity to Beta test a subscription horror game called “The Hollow-Eyed Girl,” Kayleigh jumps at the chance.
Pretty soon, she is granted access to a live online feed showing a girl locked and bound in the basement of an unknown location. The clues that Kayleigh and her friends receive need to be solved in order to save the girl before time runs out.
The stakes are raised as the clock winds down.
Can Kayleigh and her friends save The Hollow-Eyed Girl?
Excerpt
“I beg to differ.” Kayleigh placed her purse on the table and pulled out the contract, which she smoothed out as much as possible and laid on the table.
“What’s that?” April asked, wiping wing sauce off her fingers before reaching for the document.
“That may well be the break that we have been waiting for, kids. We are about to play a game that could turn the CreepyKaylz page into a major horror influencer.”
Sean eyed his friend suspiciously, waiting for some kind of punchline. When she failed to deliver one, he asked, “When and how did this all come about?”
Kayleigh recounted her meeting with Terry, going into detail about the nature of the game and how it might lead to a business arrangement with the group that created it. Normally calm, cool, and collected, Kayleigh babbled, waving her arms and gesticulating wildly the deeper she got into the story.
When she finished, she looked at April, whose wing sauce ringed mouth was hanging open in shock. “What does the contract say?” she managed to blurt out.
“I honestly don’t know. I just signed it without reading?”
“Are you mental?” Sean said, snatching up the paper before April could get her hands on them. “You could have agreed to just about anything. Why didn’t you wait?”
“I know it’s crazy, Sean, but this was a limited time offer. I couldn’t have someone else take this opportunity away from us.”
Holding up a hand, Sean scanned through the papers, flipping back and forth between the pages a few times as though clarifying some detail in his mind. “Did you sign it in blood?” he asked, daintily holding the papers between his thumb and forefinger as he handed them back.
“I cut myself on my cracked screen, doofus,” Kayleigh laughed. “What does it say?”
Sean sighed. “I don’t talk that lawyer jargon, but it seems like a pretty basic contract. Lot’s of chatter about non-disclosure and such, but it also looks as though you have basically permitted them to use your info in any way they choose.”
“What does that mean?” Kyleigh asked, heart thumping in her chest.
“It could mean lots of things. I’m guessing that it’ll be for promotional stuff if the game goes to market, but who knows.”
Reaching for her glass with a trembling hand, Kayleigh drowned the remaining contents of the rum and coke, then waved the empty glass at Adam, who stood behind the tiki bar at the far end of the patio. He gave her a wave and immediately turned to start pouring another.
“Are you okay, Kaylz?” April asked, a look of concern etched across her face.
“Why did I sign that stupid thing? Why didn’t I just wait?”
“It’ll be fine. Sean and I will help, won’t we, babe?”
“Of course,” Sean said. “Listen. Let’s have a couple more drinks then get home. I’ll get up early and get started with installing the cameras. It’s a bit of a one-person job anyway. You two can get some beauty rest while I work. How does that sound?”
Kayleigh nodded. “You guys are the best. What would I do without you?”
Bio
Born under a gloomy, grey, Scottish sky, it is perhaps no real surprise that darkness has always felt comfortable to John Watson. After countless hours spent in his local library, he found that he was more at home in the worlds of Clive Barker, Stephen King, and James Herbert than he was in his own. The need to carve out his own niche in the horror genre drove Watson to slice open his mind and let the words spill onto the page.
From donuts to mysterious karaoke bars in the middle of nowhere, Watson mines the depths of the ordinary to find the evil that lurks beneath the surface. He dares you to join him in his ongoing forays into the dark side.
https://books2read.com/u/31qZ0M
Other books by John Watson
Karaoke Night – http://mybook.to/KaraokeNightCI
Crueller – http://mybook.to/CrullerCI
Off The Grid – http://mybook.to/OffTheGridCI
Be Kind, Rewind – mybook.to/BeKindRewindCradle Robber – mybook.to/CradleRobberCFS
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