COME HOME, EDWARD
I stared at the name, my real name, and my blood ran cold.
The light caught silver again. I knew what it was before I pulled the scalpel blade out of a crack in the rock. I stared at the chipped steel then dropped it to the ground and charged out of the cave.
My heart pounded in my ears as I ran to the bike, stumbling across the muddy ground. I pushed it forward off the stand. It tipped, and I fell on top of it. My shin hit the metal frame, but if there was any pain, I couldn’t feel it. A crow cawed from a nearby tree. The sound scraped across my ragged nerves.
I dragged the bike back upright and climbed on. My hands shook as I turned the ignition. The engine whined and caught. I slapped my foot on the gear pedal and twisted the throttle. The bike darted forward, scattering a plume of mud and leaves behind it.
Chapter 57
Sunset
I don’t remember how I made it through the forest to the highway without hitting anything. I must have been riding on pure instinct—the desire to get away from the cave and whoever had been there overwhelming my desire for self-preservation. But make it I did.
The bike slewed sideways as I hit the road, and I almost went down again. I caught the slide, straightened up, and accelerated.
A few minutes later, I reached a junction. I pulled over and turned off the engine. A sign laid out my options. North or south. Mountain or city.
Emotions churned inside me. The world I had been so comfortable in had fallen apart in a matter of days. I’d been ripped from my home, beaten, and almost killed. The shadow had set itself loose without my knowledge. How many times had it put me at risk and erased the memory of what had happened from my mind? I might never know.
Not that it mattered. Someone from my past, someone who knew about my old life, had taken my tools. Without them, I’m nothing. The shadow gives me purpose, but it’s the scalpels that allow me to fulfill that purpose. Now they were gone, and I’d been summoned back to the city.
Searching for something I could pin my sanity to, I reached for the shadow. It didn’t respond. I tried again, a dull sense of dread growing inside me. Nothing. Ice chilled my veins. Treacherous though it might be, the shadow was still part of me. Whenever I needed guidance, it was there. It had held me together since I was a child. Other people fought against their darkest urges, I’d learned to embrace mine. The shadow was me and I was the shadow. If it was gone, what was I left with?
I sat on the bike as rage and fear waged war inside me. It was a long and bitter battle, but there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Eventually, as the light began to fade, I started the bike again and headed south.
It was time to go home.
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Thank You
Thanks for reading Serial Killer Z: Sanctuary, I hope you enjoyed the book.
The ideas for Sanctuary started percolating in my mind about halfway through the writing of the first book. I knew Marcus wasn’t the only person living out in the forest, and obviously not all of them would be good. Adversity reveals people’s true nature, and that’s not always a good thing.
Pitting Marcus against some of those people seemed a good way to throw some new challenges at him and ratchet up the action. There’s something very satisfying about unleashing hordes of ravenous dead on a mostly defenceless group of survivors, but it’s the humans that create the tension, drive the twists and turns, and make me want to come back to the Serial Killer Z world. As long as I get to kill plenty of zees, too, of course.
Once again, thank you to Jason Whited who applied his considerable editing skills to Sanctuary and made it immeasurably better. Thanks to Red Adept Editing and Pikko’s House for proofreading. Any remaining errors are down to me.
Thank you to everyone who bought the first book, and extra special thanks to the people who left reviews or sent me emails to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Your support means a lot. And last, but not least, a huge thank you to my wife, Ann, whose unwavering support keeps me going when I’m fighting with the voices in my head.
The next book in the Serial Killer Z series, Shadows, will be on virtual shelves at the end of November 2017 and continues from where Sanctuary left off. Marcus is heading into the city to find whoever left him that message in the cave. Of course, the dead have other plans, and that’s only the start of his problems. It’s my favourite book in the series so far, and I think you’ll enjoy it, too.
If you’d like to know when Shadows is available (and get it for a discounted price), you can sign up for my newsletter by signing up here - http://smarturl.it/SKZ2News. I’ll also send you a free copy of the prequel to Serial Killer Z, Infection. Subscribers get discounted and free books, behind-the-scenes extras, and all sorts of other goodies.
If you enjoyed Sanctuary and would like to read more, I’d really appreciate a review on whichever site you bought it from. Those reviews make it easier for readers to find books they’ll enjoy and enable me to continue writing.
Thanks again for reading.
Philip Harris
November 2017
About the Author
Philip Harris is a speculative fiction author and video game developer. Originally born near Oxford, England, he now lives on the West Coast of Canada where he spends his days developing video games and his nights writing speculative fiction—anything from horror to science fiction to fantasy.
His first publication, Letter From a Victim, appeared in the award-winning magazine, Peeping Tom, in 1995. His published books include The Leah King Trilogy and an homage to the old pulp science fiction serials—Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet.
His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines including The Jurassic Chronicles, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, Bones, Uncommon Minds, and The Anthology of European SF.
He has also worked as security for Darth Vader.
www.solitarymindset.com
philip.harris@solitarymindset.com
Also by Philip Harris
Serial Killer Z
Infection (Prequel)
Serial Killer Z
Serial Killer Z: Sanctuary
Serial Killer Z: Shadows
The Leah King Trilogy
The Leah King Trilogy Box Set
The Girl in the City
The Girl in the Wilderness
The Girl in the Machine
Other Novels
Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet
Short Stories
Bottled Lightning
Curfew
Serial Killer Z: Sanctuary
by Philip Harris
Copyright © 2017 by Philip Harris
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN (Print) 978-1-988968-04-9
ISBN (Ebook) 978-1-988968-05-6
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Cover design by Bookfly Design
Edited by Jason Whited
Proofreading by Red Adept Editing
Even more proofreading by Pikko’s House
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Philip Harris, Serial Killer Z: Sanctuary