Things That Go Bump In The Night 5(Anthology)

208 Pages·2016·1.04 MB·English

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Things That Go Bump In the Night V
ISBN # 1-4199-0119-2
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Haunted Redemption Copyright© 2005 Melani Blazer
Embrace Forever Copyright© 2005 B.J. McCall
Cassandra’s Enchantment Copyright© 2005 Cynthia Williams
Edited by: Briana St. James and Heather Osborn
Cover art by: Lissa Waitley
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Electronic book Publication: September 2005
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written
permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.®1056 Home
Avenue,AkronOH44310-3502 .
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or
locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used
fictitiously.
Warning:
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Things That Go Bump
In the Night V has been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E
(E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall
word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find
objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth.
E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words
such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.
X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles,
stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT V
HAUNTED REDEMPTION by Melani Blazer
EMBRACE FOREVER by B.J. McCall
CASSANDRA’S ENCHANTMENT by Cynthia Williams
HAUNTED REDEMPTION
Melani Blazer

Chapter One
“Dayum girl, you look hot! This look really works for you. We need to get you dressed up more often.”
Susan Hamilton shook her head and sighed. “Damn scary how good you cleaned up.”
Lili Dewitt winked at her longtime friend’s outburst. “It’s Halloween, I’m supposed to be scary. And
don’t get used to this. I said I was changing some things about my life now that I’m back in Sycamore
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Springs. But I was going for a less extreme approach. This? This is just for fun.”
“Honey, fun or not, people are going to see the new you tonight. Slim and sexy. Shit. You hoping to get
laid or something?”
“Or something. Unless you mean laid out in a coffin so I can scare unsuspecting guests!” Lili laughed and
smoothed the too-short skirt over her legs. She was used to long flowing skirts or casual pants—or
jeans, what she wouldn’t give to wear a pair of jeans instead of this sexy vampire inspired getup. But
no-oo Susan had talked to a friend of a friend who heard about this haunted house up at the old Drake
estate—the one supposedly owned by a witch—and learned they needed volunteers tonight to help with
props. Susan had promptly volunteered herself, Lili and two other of their friends.
It had all sounded like a perfect way to spend what would have been a lonely Halloween—until Susan
had pressed a miniskirt into her hand and said, “Dress sexy.” So much for getting in touch with the
monster in her. Even the “old” Lili wouldn’t have turned down a chance to hang out with the girls. The
new Lili was going to be brave enough to do it wearing next to nothing. And thus she found herself
standing in the middle of the empty mansion’s front-yard-turned-parking-lot watching the sun slip behind
the behemoth of a house.
“Come on!” Susan grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the back of the house. “Cynthia and Monica
are here already. Omigod, hon, you should see them. They’re just…to die for.”
She wasn’t sure about this. Any of it. First off, what she was wearing—white blouse with a cutout
showing off cleavage and Susan’s borrowed black miniskirt, garters and three-inch heeled boots were
way out of her comfort zone. The only part of the costume she was really excited about was the resin
caps Cynthia had created for her. Once she’d put on the glue and adhered the teeth, she’d felt the part of
a lady vampire. Maybe repeating the mantra she’d repeated the entire time she’d devoted to unpacking
boxes in her new apartment was doing her good. Fun. This was about having fun.
A dozen girls were gathered near the back steps. Two of them were impossible to miss. Lili was
enveloped into her old friends’ hugs almost immediately.
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Haunted Redemption
“Shit, girl, are those garters?” Monica Korbis, the way-too-vivacious brunette pixie who still had the
energy that had made her captain of the cheerleading squad, reached down and lifted up the hem of Lili’s
skirt “Damn, I feel overdressed.”
As if. Lili snorted, Susan nearly choked laughing. She wasn’t sure if Monica could be considered
“dressed”. She had merely been wrapped in strips of white material, with tantalizing bits of tanned flesh
exposed just above her breasts, her stomach and even dangerously low on her back. It ended just above
her knees. No way would Lili have had the nerve to try that.
Cynthia Wagner wasn’t to be outdone either. At first Lili had to do a double take to make sure she was
wearing clothes. She had on a very tight, flesh-colored bodysuit riddled with fake wounds and blood.
Clearly she’d used her experience in the medical field to create that getup. Somehow, despite the gore,
her voluptuous body still looked sexy.
Susan was probably the most dressed, but still would attract plenty of attention. Her
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zombie-meets-naughty-schoolgirl outfit would not be overlooked. No wonder they got the job. All Susan
had to do was propose four single women show up wearing R-rated costumes and no man would turn
them down.
Lili was glad she hadn’t second-guessed her decision. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like being out all together.
Are we sure Sycamore Springs is ready for this again?” Ten plus years melted away immediately and
memories of the wild times they all used to have worked like a shot of adrenaline.
“Hell, no, but let’s do it.” Cynthia grinned, pointing toward the door. “I vote we go on up and let them
know their help has arrived.”
Susan, always the loudest, let out an earsplitting whoop of laughter and led them up the rickety steps.
“Shit! Bats!” Lili ducked as what looked like thousands of bats took flight, whipping around their heads
as they fled their resting place under the roof of the porch. Shrieks pierced her ears as the other girls
threw up their hands to ward off the confused creatures.
She was half-laughing at the way her heart pounded in her chest. Nothing like a good fright to start off
the night. “Maybe that’s their way of weeding out the ones they don’t want,” she said, nodding toward a
group of girls running toward their cars. “Come on, let’s go.” She started up the steps again.
“Are you sure there aren’t any more?” Susan asked, eying the underside of the porch roof.
Lili shrugged. “Don’t know. But I’m guessing those were the bravest of the bunch. This is probably their
house every other month out of the year. Now they’re going to go camp out at your house until these
people leave,” she teased her friend.
Her laughter died as she saw the group of guys who had rounded the end of the house. They were
throwing rocks at the last few bats that were trying to escape the bedlam.
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Melani Blazer
“Hey!” she yelled, the initial surprise quickly turning to anger. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Stupid creatures,” one of them said, sneering at her and side-arming a rather large chunk of dirt into
remaining group of bats. One of them fell to the ground.
The group laughed and charged the animal. Lili raced down the steps, cursing the heels that impeded her
way. “Stop!” she screamed. She pushed through the small crowd gathered there and faced off with the
monster holding his at-least-size-twelve work boots over the head of a tiny struggling figure.
Her heart lurched. “You bastard!” She launched at the man, despite the fact he outweighed her by at
least a hundred pounds. Her attack caught him off-guard, knocking them both backward onto the dirt.
She got in a good blow to the chin before someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off him.
She broke free and immediately scooped up the tiny bat, folding its wings carefully as she whispered to
it. “Easy, sweetheart. It’ll be okay.” She hated people sometimes. Worse than animals—wanting to kill
an innocent creature like that, just for sport.
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“Excuse me, ma’am?”
She twisted away, protecting the bat and glared at the person who tapped her on the shoulder.
“I’m a medic-um, med student. I don’t know much about bats, but I could take a look, see if the little
fellow is okay.”
Lili exhaled and studied the boy. He didn’t look a day over twenty. Except for his eyes. She’d met men
twice his age who didn’t have that steady assurance in their gaze. Her gut instinct was to trust him. The
fact he was wearing a yellow polo shirt with the words “Out of This World Amusement” on it added to
that. He worked here. Probably knew about the colony of bats that inhabited the otherwise deserted
house.
She nodded and let him cup her hands and gently open them to expose the trembling creature.
“Did his wings close up okay? Has he tried to bite you?”
“Yes and nope.” She let him transfer the animal out of her hands. She showed him there was no blood.
Those teeth did look pretty sharp, though. “Hopefully he’s just stunned. Poor baby.” Using one finger,
she petted the tiny head.
“I’m going to take him inside. He’ll be safe, I promise you that. And I’ll get someone to get these
assholes out of here.”
Lili nodded. Her chest heaved from the shock of adrenaline and the realization of what she’d just done.
Felt damn good to take a stand like that.
She watched as the kid carrying the wounded animal walked up the steps and into the house. Then
followed him without looking back. Her temper was still near boiling and she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t
try to get in another punch if that jerk said something else.
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Haunted Redemption
Her friends hugged her when she got back onto the porch. “That bat could have had rabies or
something. What were you thinking?”
“Suse, there’s no way I could let them kill it. It’s nothing more than a frightened little mouse with wings.
Not like some vampire bat or anything. Just fruit eaters. They’re cute actually.” She gritted her teeth and
shook her head. “Stupid, pigheaded, macho turd of a man.” She couldn’t help but look up and feel a bit
better to see two nicely built men clad in the haunted house uniform leading the dork squad back toward
the parking lot.
“No, really, tell us how you feel.” Cynthia’s dry sense of humor always made Lili laugh. She’d heard that
line a million times but coming from Cynthia in her throaty, deadpan delivery helped pull her from angry
back to eager to get the night started.
“Good one,” Susan whispered as she walked past and opened the door. Lili grinned. These were little
steps she made toward erasing the last ten years. It’d take some work, but she could do it.
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Crossing the threshold made her forget the last ten years…well, almost. The house looked amazingly
intact. Of course, they wouldn’t be having such a thing here if there really was a danger of falling through
the floor, but still. The old place had been vacant for decades. The kitchen had been stripped, all major
appliances yanked out, leaving gaping holes. And dust coated everything. Everything but the guys
standing on the yellowed linoleum.
“Her,” the medical student Lili had met outside said, pointing.
Lili stopped in the doorway and ducked her head when she saw the finger aimed at her. She felt the heat
rising up her neck.
Susan kicked her and muttered through clenched teeth, “Get over yourself.”
Lili looked up and smiled, finding those wide, knowing eyes of the med student who’d taken the bat. “Is
it going to be okay?” she blurted.
“You betcha. I’m Trivor, by the way. I take it you guys, er, ladies, signed up to help us out tonight.”
She looked back over her shoulder at Susan, who was literally drooling on herself. Damn. Lili had never
seen her friend silenced so easily. Looked like the role of group spokesperson was up for grabs.
Lili figured since Trivor was already talking to her, she should step up. “Um, yeah. My friend Susan
here,” Lili grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, “heard about you needing help and here we are.” No
harm done in helping Susan get together with the guy who obviously made her mouth water. That was
what tonight was about, right?
“You all look great,” he said.
“Thanks,” Susan murmured.
Cynthia and Monica were too busy checking out the guy getting strapped into thick armbands and a
knight’s helmet. Lili had to admit, those were some nice biceps. All
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Melani Blazer
these guys were in their age range and fit. No wonder Susan had practically dragged her along. “So,”
she said to Trivor, “What do you think you’ll have us do?”
“I don’t make final decisions, but I think we’ll have the mummy girl lying on a table in one of those gold
looking tombs and then sit up as people walk by. It’ll be dark, lots of spiderwebs, fog and strobe light,
so the effect will be good. I’ve got an idea for—”
Another guy stuck his head around the corner and interrupted him. “Triv? Send the bat girl to the
basement with any other volunteer vamps. Scott’s got coffins ready for them.”
Trivor looked at each of them. “I’ve only got one.”
“I’ll take her.” The tone of voice wasn’t lost on Lili. She felt heat staining her cheeks. She definitely
wasn’t used to this.
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“Ah!” Susan laughed and gave her a push toward the guy at the door. “See you later!”
Lili looked back once, only to see her friends avidly talking and nodding toward the guys in the hallway.
Not that she could blame them, after all even the one leaning against the door frame was off the scale. His
arms were like huge cannons. He’d ripped the arms off his shirt to better show them off. On one of his
biceps, he had a tattoo of a giant panther that looked like it was coming off the flesh. As she got closer,
she noticed it had oversize canines. A vampire cat. “Great tattoo,” she said as he held the basement door
for her.
“Thanks. I’m Charlie. Look for me if you run into any trouble. Just shout my name if any of the patrons
get out of hand. You’re here to scare them, not the other way around.”
He winked and pointed toward a casket. “When we get the lights out it’s going to be hard to get around
in here. The strobes are a pain in the ass, but it sets the tone. You any good at acting?”
“Act? What do you mean?” Lili was ready for this—all of this. Talk about atmosphere! She couldn’t
help but smile as she took in the amazing décor. It was frightening, even with the overhead lights on.
Caskets were propped in various places through the maze. In the wider open area where the visitors
would stop, the center of the room was highlighted with a central stone tomb, its lid slid to the side. She
shivered at how authentic it looked.
“Well, your job here is to play a part of a tortured, captive vampire who’s thirsting for blood. We’ll put
chains on your ankles and arms, but they’re not going to be attached to anything. Fire Marshal’s orders.
You’ll have to pretend. Cry out, reach for the people as they walk by.”
Good, specific orders. Just what she needed. She liked purpose. While she was nervous and scared,
she was also very excited at the confidence boost this could give her. “Where do you want me to be?
Will there be others?”
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Haunted Redemption
“There’s a dummy—a remote controlled one—in the tomb. We had a girl here in this corner the other
night and that worked out real well. You’ll be hidden by the shadows until you jump out at the people.”
“I can’t wait.”
“It’s a three hour stint tonight.”
“I’m game.” She was. She hoped Cynthia and Susan and Monica had equally cool positions in the
house.
“One of us will come get you when it’s over.”
“Cool.”
The first ten minutes of waiting were the worst. She had to be careful not to move, as her chains rattled
and seemed to echo in the basement. Partitions had been built throughout the already dark, dank
basement. The cobwebs filling the floor rafters above her were not props. Why’d she have to go and
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notice that? The walls didn’t reach the ceiling, allowing the very modern florescent lights to reach into the
majority of hallways.
The strobes came on. Her own movements looked like a stop action movie. It was hard to judge speed
and distance. Then the lights went out.
She froze, waiting. Counting the seconds that passed while listening to the strain of eerie organ music
wafting through the floor. She felt the smile that played on her lips as the basement door creaked open.
No effects were wasted.
The way she understood it, groups were taken through, a dozen at a time. As they progressed,
individuals were pulled off the main path and sent an alternate direction. She shivered. Good thing she
wasn’t taking the tour, that would freak her out.
“Good evening,” a voice whispered near her ear.
Lili jumped and screamed. She nearly tripped over her chains trying to get back. Where had he come
from? How had she not heard him!?
“Sorry!” he said, his voice low. “I thought I should make you aware I was here.”
“So you did.” She held her hand over her chest and damned the strobes for making it so difficult to see
his features. Of course, the makeup didn’t help. His face was painted white, and he had bloodstains
dripping down either side of his mouth.
He wore all black, and it looked to be some kind of cape, something that disguised his movements. He
appeared to be floating as he circled the center tomb, reached in and then came back to her corner.
“Charlie forgot to turn the dummy on,” he explained. “I’ll be sharing the basement with you tonight. I’ll be
over there near the exit.”
Where ever that was. “Um. Okay.”
“What’s your name?” he asked, taking a step back.
“Lili.”
“Lovely, as you are as mysterious and beautiful as the flower.”
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Melani Blazer
“Who are—” she stopped. He was gone. Damn. Where had that come from? She hadn’t heard that in
years. Not since—
Scott.
Christ. Scott. Lili stepped backward into the shadow and shook her head. She’d thought of him the
moment she’d driven up and seen the looming mansion. After all, a girl rarely forgets when a man ditches
her—much less at a haunted house on Halloween night. She could have accepted if he didn’t return the
feelings she had for him. He could have said it wasn’t working out. She’d been little more than a
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dormouse then, one without enough self confidence to fill a thimble and an extra twenty pounds around
her middle. Dates for her had been rare, and second dates nonexistent. Scott had been different, at least
she’d thought. Then he’d disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Somehow that one event had shaped her life. Hindsight, being the wonderful thing it was, made her let
go of the Scott incident. It was one block in the now sky-high wall around her heart. Susan was
threatening to hire a sexy demolition man to take it down for her. Maybe she would. But she needed to
repair her self-esteem first.
Which is why she needed to forget who once made that statement and concentrate on the man who had
just paid her a very lovely compliment. Only he was gone.
Lili took a deep breath. Her little mental pep talks were helping. She loved the idea she was in a new
place and here, hidden in darkness and in costume.
With a job to do, she reminded herself as the upstairs door creaked open and rowdy laughter bounced
down the stairs.
The new and improved version of herself had no qualms about crying out and reaching for the patrons as
they passed. She pleaded and begged, leaping from the shadow and sending the crowd bouncing into
one another, and ultimately the casket in the middle, which would move and then send them ricocheting
back at her.
When it was over, she was exhausted. Her voice cracked and felt as if she’d gargled with the
entireSahara desert. The bright overhead lights did little to replace the flashing that would likely be a
permanent part of her vision now. She was going to have a headache later, that was a guarantee.
“Coming up to the party?”
Lili jumped, half expecting the mysterious vampire to have snuck up on her again.
But it was Charlie who grinned devilishly and grabbed her hand. He quickly undid the simple mechanism
holding the chains in place.
“Party?” Damn. A good cold drink sounded really good. Susan had said something about hitting some
clubs when their gig was done, so why not start here? Here she knew a couple of people. Or at least
their names. “Didn’t hear about that.”
“Yep. Our way of paying you. Oh, and Scott said you made a great vampire.”
Scott. There was that name again. What coincidence was that? She placed a hand over her chest to stop
the sudden pounding of her heart. “Who?” she asked, collecting the chains and laying them on the tomb
in the center of the room.
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Haunted Redemption
The figure inside moved, reaching up toward her. She screamed and stepped back. Then she started
laughing.
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Her breath caught and the laughter faded as the mysterious man in the vampire costume appeared at her
elbow and rested one hand on the small of her back. Electricity shot out from the point of contact. The
thin white cotton did little to protect her skin from the heat of his hand.
“Damn, you scared me,” she breathed out. “You’ve got to quit doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Sneaking up on me.” She bit her lip, then forced herself to look up into his face. The makeup hid his
real features, but his eyes bored into hers as if he could see her soul. It unnerved her. She looked away.
He chuckled. “You screamed, I came. There was no sneaking about it.”
“This is Scott,” Charlie said, with a bow.
She shivered. “Oh.”
She wasn’t sure she liked the look that passed between the two men, like there was an unspoken
communication about her. “Well?” she stepped away, separating herself from Scott’s touch. “Are we
going to chat here in the dungeon or join the party? I could do with a drink, that’s for sure.”
Again, that look. Couldn’t they wait until she was out of the room at least? She lifted an eyebrow at
Charlie, hoping he could read her look. Either she wasn’t too good at it or he chose to ignore it.
“It definitely is party time, and I for one am rather thirsty.” This time he winked at her.
She followed Charlie upstairs, way too conscious of Scott right behind her. The attention was flattering,
but something she was totally unused to. In fact, she’d forgotten how obvious men could be when it came
to sex. And she wasn’t so dumb to think Charlie’s eyes had strayed to her hemline because he was
checking out the design of the skirt.
“Lili!” Monica half-screamed and ran toward her as she walked into the parlor. About a dozen people,
mostly young females with a few young males, stood in the middle, looking around. The volunteers. Four
guys who rivaled Charlie in size were quickly dismantling two partitions and moving props.
“Where’s Cynthia and Susan?” Lili asked, grabbing her friends’ hand and leaning in close. “Did you
know about this party thing?”
She nodded with way too much enthusiasm. “Susan said they told her there would be refreshments
afterward. But with tonight being the last night, I’m sure there’s going to be something special.”
“There!” Lili turned at the squeal of her name and saw Susan and Cynthia heading toward them. Their
faces were lit up with wide grins and their hands filled with extra drinks.
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Melani Blazer
“Oh my God!” Susan gasped as she passed over one of the cups. “The men in this place are amazing.
We should all get lucky tonight.”