Synopsis
After being invited to a party, Seiren
never dreamed of being haunted by the Haydens--supernatural
beings--of her city. She was supposed to forget about how they
watched her every move days before. She was supposed to forget how
everything went downhill after meeting a certain white eyed Hayden.
But that would be too simple...
Ereshkigal, a group of powerful beings
that all Haydens resent, have their sights on Seiren and Haydens from
every corner of Black Phoenix will do everything in their power to
stop them.
With the help of the gun-toting agent
Luann and Hayden guardian Julius, Seiren must figure out her place in
all of this and why she is literally running for her life.
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Title: Desolate City
Series: Albertos Series
Author: Racquel Jones
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self-published
Format: E-book & Paperback
Length: 238 Pages
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Excerpt
“I need a drink over here!”
Two hours had gone by and the urge to
run drove her up the wall. It was one of The Soul Reaper’s busy
nights and it made her mood no better. Haydens were laughing loudly,
clashing glasses and literally breaking them. Dimmed lighting with a
smoky haze flowed around every table.
Monkey faced Haydens cackled in their
corner, while the fairies—sweet smelling and graceful—sung
soothing songs and swayed to their own beat. The poisonous Haydens
poked at one another in their game of ‘whoever turns a different
color and dies, wins’.
The lone ones sat at the bar mumbling
to themselves in a foreign tongue. Seiren figured that what they
spoke was one of Haydoria’s many languages she heard over the
years. Either way, she made sure she wasn’t the one to serve them.
One had rows upon rows of jagged
dirt-caked teeth, too big to fit in his mouth. Around his mouth, the
skin was stretched and torn, yet no blood poured from the wounds. The
skin had white fuzz in patches. How a mouth like that could even
mutter words was beyond her. The sight of it speaking was sickening.
She sneaked a peek at another lone one
at the right side of the bar. It puffed black smoke in small pants as
its chest heaved harshly. One of its eyes was missing, the socket
oozing a greenish substance. Its skin, pale and covered in pink
warts, sizzled in the light and gave off fumes that smelled of rotten
eggs.
He wasn’t the worst of them, though.
The one at the very end of the bar had toothless mouths sucking in
air like a dying fish and blistered eyeballs all over his body
following everyone’s movements. The wheezing noise easing out of
his mouth probably meant a lot of words to another Hayden, but to
Seiren it meant stay away.
“Hey, waitress! How ‘bout some
service?”
“Coming,” Seiren mumbled, breaking
her attention away from the bar.
Her dream was to one day leave Black
Phoenix. The city was so unorganized when the Haydens were involved.
Everyone had their set group, but with all of them mixed with one
another, she couldn’t even tell what was what anymore. And that
bothered Seiren. She couldn’t even tell the difference between the
snake and crocodile Haydens after a while.
“Here’s your beer, sir,” she
forced out glumly. “Will that be all?”
Bug eyed and drooling, the devil look
alike scanned her body. “No, it won’t,” it said, nudging its
crusty friend. “I think I’ll have you next, baby.”
Slowly blinking, she struggled to keep
the vomit from rising in her throat. Relax. Just relax. Scum will
always be scum, she thought. “Nothing else? Call me if you need
anything.”
Not giving it or him a chance to be
disgusting for a second time, she walked behind the bar and slid to
the floor with a pained moan. The peanut shells from the bar pressed
into the bare palms of her hands. It wasn’t enough that she had to
work with them. The horrible flirts and jokes had to come with the
job at some point. It had to be endured for the sake of earning her
keep and her very expensive ticket to freedom. Any ticket, rather it
be by boat or train, was well worth over a few thousands.
She massaged her temples. It annoyed
her that the rich had all the resources in the world to leave, but
they would rather stay for some unknown reason. If she had more money
than she could hold in two hands, she would have been on a plane a
long time ago.
“I don’t pay you to sit on your
butt, Seiren.”
Kat, her boss, worked behind the bar
serving drink after drink. The short woman had crow’s feet by her
eyes and an uneven bob. Kat came off as a bitter old woman to most,
but was nice enough to risk giving a job to an underage girl.
“You’ll actually pay me to sit on
the floor?” Kat gave her a sullen look while Seiren slowly wiped
the peanut shells from her hands. “I know. Just feeling a little
drained.” Over the bar, she could hear another glass shattering.
“You? Wonder Woman? No, that’s a
lie,” Kat stopped momentarily to spare her a look. “Been
overworking yourself?”
What’s with the superhero names?
“Well, you know me. Won’t stop till I drop.”
Kat shrugged. “You’re one of my
best workers. We can’t have you dropping now.”
“Yeah. Seriously, I feel crappy.”
“Suck it up then, Seiren. We got a
busy night and you’re slacking. And let me remind you, I’m not
tolerating any violence tonight.”
Seiren’s lips twitched upward. She
punched a scrawny long arm thing once for feeling her up. “I was
put on earth to beat on the scumbags. I can’t hide my gifts, Kat.”
Oh, the memories of that Hayden’s broken nose.
“Then I guess you’re willing to get
fired?” Kat asked sliding a shot glass down to a ghoulish looking
fellow. “Not tonight, you got it? Last time, you started a riot.
You should have been gone right then.”
“Sure, sure, I got it. But I’m
telling you. I’m not making any promises.”
If only she could run for two minutes.
Only two minutes and her night would be refreshed. Maybe then she
would be able to keep that promise. The wind blowing through her
curls when soaring from rooftop to rooftop seemed so far away.
“Seiren, I mean it,” Kat said
through her teeth, slamming a bottle of whiskey. “As a matter of
fact, make yourself useful and take the trash out. Maybe some fresh
air will do you some good.”
At first a protest built itself up in
the pit of her stomach. That was not the type of fresh air she was
thinking of. However, a Hayden looked over the bar, clear teeth
chattering with a snotty nose. She shook her head with a sigh and
stood up.
“You know what, you’re right. I’ll
do that.”
“Yes, please do,” Kat answered as
she turned to the chatter teeth customer. “What’ll it be, hon?”
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| Racquel Jones |
About the Author
Racquel Jones has been a Michigander
for 22 years now. She has a love for all things fantasy, art and the
history behind it and comic book heroes. Since she was able to talk,
she told stories to her friends rather it be fan fiction or her own
original ideas. Right now, she is looking to one day expand her
horizons into writing for comics and owning a branch of unique
cafes/bookstores.
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