Halloween Week: Forsaken

In keeping with the monster theme this Halloween Week, I bring you the strange world of lost Egyptian tombs and mummies. I have a spotlight on my horror story, Forsaken, published in the anthology, Abandon: 13 Tales of Impulse, Betrayal, Surrender, & Withdrawal. Enjoy.

Forsaken

Greed meets magic under the sands of Egypt as a lost tomb is discovered. Betrayal and danger lurk in the dark tunnels and something powerful waits to be awakened.

A short snippet from the story.

Forsaken by A. F. Stewart

A hot desert wind blew down a dark London street, and fine grains of sand sputtered against the street lamps. A cloaked figure of a woman shimmered out of air and shadows, thrust into the lonely night, seemingly from nowhere. Sirocco and the ancient world travelled with her, clinging to the folds of her garments.
The edge of loneliness stole out from her mind’s dark recesses, a sense of displacement she carried whenever she ventured into the bastions of civilization. Cities such as London were not her home; that had been taken from her a long time ago.
She paused, staring down the empty street to get her bearings and drew in a breath. She heard the wind tickling at her ear; the whoosh of the air, mixed with a hint of the desert, stirred her thoughts. Long buried, ever festering words conjured themselves into her consciousness.
May the desert claim you for your transgressions.
Memories flickered, of being left in the sand dunes to die. Of surviving.
Cast out because I would not renounce my loyalties.
With a sigh, she squeezed the pain back into its box and returned to the present.
She walked with quiet footfalls, and the agility of a cat, to the entrance of a large house nestled on the street. Its windows reflected a murky interior, and no sign of life offered welcome; a foreboding place most would avoid. Yet, the woman rapped on the door, the echo of the brass knocker breaking the night’s peace. Moments later, a tall lanky man answered, his sallow face and grin peering out from beneath a bowler hat.
The woman smiled, repressing the upsurge of revulsion. “Jackal. Is your master at home?”
“Hello to you too, Hagar. He’s here waiting for you. Come in.”

You can find the story (plus many more fabulous tales) in the horror anthology, Abandon: 13 Tales of Impulse, Betrayal, Surrender, & Withdrawal

ABANDON: 13 Tales of Impulse, Betrayal, Surrender, & Withdrawal

To act with abandon, in any sense of the word, is human. Whether it’s the sudden, strong urge to do something, either good or bad, or the act of betraying someone you love, we make choices that forever change our lives. Do you give into something or someone completely, or withdraw wholly into yourself? These thirteen stories run the gamut of emotions and express horror as you’ve never imagined it.

The story of a woman alone at the end of the world and the small lifeline she hopes will prove humanity still exists challenges the search for anything left behind after the death of a child. What if you hid a secret you’d thought no one else knew? Would its revelation spark the monster hiding within? A downward spiral into madness juxtaposes the ultimate, but impossible, (re)birth. Would you choose the frigid winds of winter over the warmth and safety of your lover’s arms?

Abandon hope, all who enter here…