A loving mother returned from the grave. A vampire fallen prey to her own kind. A young girl who can set the night aflame. These are the whispered stories of the night’s darkest creatures.
Zombies, werewolves, ghosts, and other things that never found a name; this collection of eleven short stories explores the darkest corners of the unknown. Complete with eleven illustrations by the author herself, Whispers finds the creatures hiding in the dark, and drags them into the light.
Contents
A Mother’s Love
Max only came home for the funeral; she never expected to stay. But when her mother returns from the grave to find the daughters she left behind, Max has no other choice. She must keep her family safe.
The Fever
A newborn werewolf’s first transformation can be ecstasy, or it can be agony. For this newborn, tormented by the loss of her creator while still swimming in her memory, it just might be both.
The Motel Room
Since his death, this ghost has been trapped in a motel room. Only when a maid enters the room, and the two lock eyes, does he begin to discover the true power behind his ghostly form.
King of the Forest
A little girl sleeps in the forest, growing dark fruit from her night time thoughts as the tree’s roots twist deeper into her heart. Only the King of the Forest can tear the two apart.
Fall From Glory
An alpha predator in her own mind, this vampire stalks through her city, taking any prey she chooses. When her guard slips, caution replaced by confidence, she will find herself on the opposite end of the chase.
The Drawer
Lost somewhere between real life and a nightmare, a little girl grows up in an old, crumbling bedroom. Although she has always longed for silence, when she is finally left alone in the quiet house, she discovers how horrifying solitude can be.
Pyromaniac
Tristan lives for the nightlife. When a dangerous man attempts to shatter her reverie, she’s forced to teach him a lesson. Not your typical teenager, this girl will set the night on fire.
Whispering Peak
Martha and her brother were born in the Outlands. They have never seen the grand capital, Invictus City. But when their general is taken hostage, Martha and Asher have no choice but to make their way through the monumental steel gates that enclose the city, and bring him home.
Night Terrors
As a child, she dreamt of wolves. Growing into a woman, she left her wolf pack behind, forgetting the dreams that had shaped her so long. Tonight, the wolves will come to take their sister home.
Beggars
Shelley has always been little afraid of commitment; in almost a century of being a vampire, she has never longed for a companion. When she meets a young homeless boy with a sweet tooth, though, she begins to change her mind.
The Walkers
The walkers roam a desert of endless silver sand, under a sky that shines with the light of twin moons. When the smallest walker wanders away from her tribe and finds the first human ever seen in their desert, all of their lives will change forever.
Targeted Age Group:: young adult – adult
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
This book was inspired by my dreams and nightmares, and by all the scary stories that I loved as a child. I’ve always had a taste for the darker side of fiction, and this collection is a sampling of all the things I’ve found in the dark.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I like to think that all of my characters come from the same place… but I still don’t really know where that is! They stride into my head, fully formed little people just waiting to be dropped into the right world.
Book Sample
I woke from my familiar dreams feeling feverish and strange. My entire body was gleaned in sweat; the pressure in my skull was so great I was sure the bones would break. Moving gingerly, so that I wouldn’t wake my sleeping partner, I slipped out of bed and limped through the dark to the bathroom. When I flicked on the light in the glaringly white room, a hiss escaped between my teeth; I was blind. A bright white sun sent a thin knife of pain through my forehead, and my response was primal.
When my eyes had adjusted, I lifted my head cautiously, as if I expected attack. I was faced with my own reflection, looking pale and strange, my hair tangled into a cloud around my head. My cheeks were flushed, my lips bright red. And my eyes… something was very wrong with my eyes. Always dark brown before, they glittered too bright. I leaned close to the mirror, an inch from the twisted caricature painted on the glass, and I peeled down my eyelid. I saw the bright yellow of my iris, stretching back into my head, ringed in black and showing white only behind my tear duct.
My head started to spin, and then I was on the floor.
The lights around me flickered and strobed, maybe an illusion but real in my agony, making me rage and twitch as I twisted in pain. I buried my face in the cold white tiles, in the porcelain edge of the tub, anxious for darkness, for calm. I had a wild memory of being sixteen years old, hiding beside the tangled toilet pipes and carving my imagined angst into my thighs. I had thought of the wolves then, too, as I sucked the blood from my fingers and cleaned the wounds with my shaking tongue.
Strange things started happening inside my skin. My bones popped and my muscles shifted, making grotesque sounds that were deafening in the silence of my white womb. My back arched, and lengthened, my teeth turning mean inside my mouth. My legs and my arms changed and twisted, my ribs bowed up through my flesh, and I watched in wide-eyed horror as my fingers shrank gruesomely into my hands.
It all happened very fast, though, and when it was over the pain was gone. The light had fallen back into a solid point, and when I dragged myself up off the floor, I found myself standing on four legs. I ran my heavy tongue across my snout, and with a snort, shook out my thick, new coat.
After that, everything starts to get hazy. My memories, even now, are indistinct. My mind went strange.
I thought like a wolf.
About the Author:
A lifelong lover of literature, Alyssa Cooper was first published at the age of eighteen. Her passion for the written word started early, and as a child she would carry her mother’s novels as part of her wardrobe. She has dedicated her life to developing her voice and pushing the limits of her craft. She is the author of three traditionally published books, Salvation, Benjamin, and Cold Breath of Life. The Motel Room and Whispering Peak are her first foray into independent publishing. She currently resides in Belleville, Ontario, where she lives with her typewriters and a personal library.
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Book Sample:
