KISSED BY LITERATURE
A Collection of Short Stories
Enter worlds of steampunk and terror, where you’ll meet ghosts that will raise the hairs along your arms. Among the tales, you’ll encounter a serial killer stalking a country road and a vacation destination riddled with evil. This collection of short stories explores the different writing styles and genres of Amazon bestselling author Jordan Elizabeth.
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Check out the start of the short story “Evil that Walks Tweed Road”:
I slid the manila folder into the cardboard box, careful to keep them alphabetized. My brother might tease me to death over my organization habits, but not once had I fumbled during my presentations. Each photograph, newspaper article, and information sheet had a home.
“Excuse me. Annie? I’m Patrick.”
I glanced up, the final folder in hand. A man with gray eyes stood in front of the table. I’d studied those gray eyes during my lecture while he sat in the back row of the library’s meeting room.
“Yes?” I double-checked the words on the folder before placing it into the box.
“I’ve always been fascinated with Tweed Road. I grew up near there, and as kids we always wanted to see the ghosts. Swear we saw a couple of them.”
I nodded, my ponytail sliding over my shoulder. “I’ve heard plenty of those ghost stories, but I don’t really believe in ghosts. If a serial killer gets you, do you really want to hang around for all eternity?”
He chuckled. His teeth had to have been professionally straightened and whitened to gleam like that. “What got you into giving talks on Tweed Road?”
He couldn’t be flirting with me…but maybe he was. “Well, I got my Masters in history and then I got a job as a professor here. I started looking up local history, and this area is famous for the Tweed Road killings. It was mostly all legends and kids daring each other to walk along the road at night, so I wanted to tell everyone about the truth.” I smiled. I sucked at flirting, but I could sure smile, even if my teeth didn’t look half as nice as his.
“Do you think telling everyone about this will help them finally catch the killer?”
“Life is never that simple.”
Patrick leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “I know who the serial killer was.”
I lifted my eyebrows. At every library or historical society where I gave my presentation, someone always had a theory. My favorite suggestion had been Jack the Ripper. “Who are you thinking of?”
“My grandfather.”
That was similar to “my ex-husband,” which I heard a lot from elderly women. “Why do you say that?”
“He confessed to me before he died and he showed me the spot where he did the killings.”
The bodies had all been found dumped in the swamp, but no one had ever discovered where their hearts and livers had been gouged out. I frowned. “Who have you told?”
“I, um…just you.” The young man wiped his hand across his face. “I don’t know if I should go to the cops. They might just laugh. Do they even care about the case anymore? It’s all more of a legend now.”
“A lot of families would have peace of mind.”
Patrick closed his eyes and sighed. “Can I show you the spot? I think I’d feel better going to the cops if you went with me. You know all the facts about the killings and I just know what my grandfather told me.”
I shifted my stance. “Don’t let me put words in your mouth.” I had studied the Tweed Road serial killer for three years and it had all been paper, nothing I could walk on.
“Will you go with me? I’ll drive. It’s about fifteen minutes out of town.”
It might become my stupidest decision, but… “Let me just put my box in the car so we don’t hold up the library from closing at nine.” If the spot was fifteen minutes away, they wouldn’t make it back by then.
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Jordan Elizabeth is known for her odd sense of humor and her outrageous outfits. Surrounded by bookshelves, she can often be found pounding away at her keyboard – she’s known for breaking keyboards, too. Check out her website for bonus scenes and contests.
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