Title: Parasite
Author: Ridley Harker
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 06/28/2022
Pairing: M/NB
Length: 82500
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA+, Action/adventure, coming-of-age, dark, humorous
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Description
Seventeen-year-old Jack Ives is used to being unlucky. His only friend has just moved away to college, his parents are alcoholics, and he’s relentlessly bullied by the town psychopath. All that begins to change with the arrival of a handsome but quirky new student, Lucien, who wants to be more than friends.
Their newfound happiness doesn’t last, however, as a strange new illness strikes the island. Fishermen go missing, and the villagers left behind aren’t themselves anymore. When Lucien is suspected to be the cause of the outbreak, can Jack overcome his teenage hormones and save Eldrick Isle? Will he even want to?
Excerpt
Parasite
Ridley Harker © 2022
All Rights Reserved
“Jack, have you been drinking?”
“What? I’m not…” he started, but his eyelids felt sluggish and his teacher noticed. Mrs. Ashford’s lips thinned, her frown more disappointed than angry. Somehow, that was worse than any yelling. Jack trailed off before he finished his lie.
“I’m going to ask you again, and I want you to give me an honest answer,” Mrs. Ashford said quietly. “Have you been drinking?” She put a gentle hand on Jack’s shoulder, but he flinched and pulled away. Her frown deepened as he guarded the injury. “Jack, what’s wrong? Show me your shoulder.”
“I’m fine.” Jack leaned against the wall to steady himself. His shoulder throbbed, especially when he moved it, and the bruises had burned like fire the second his teacher touched them. “Really, I’m fine. Are you gonna send me to the office?”
Despite the alcohol, panic rose from the depths of his stomach. His pleasant buzz had turned into an obscuring fog. It reminded him of a reoccurring nightmare: the one where he couldn’t see clearly or his legs didn’t work, but he had to be somewhere else fast. Now it was real, and he was beginning to feel nauseous.
“Of course I am. You shouldn’t have—” Mrs. Ashford broke off, pursing her lips. “Jack, let me see your shoulder.”
Jack shook his head. The room spun, so he stopped and rested against the wall. Sour spit gathered in his mouth, and he swallowed it down thickly. When he tried to focus on his teacher, she was nothing but a blur of brown. “Send me to the office already.”
“Show me your shoulder,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Jack grimaced but then reluctantly unzipped his jacket. He winced as he tugged at the collar of his T-shirt. Mrs. Ashford made an obvious show of ignoring the ace bandages, but she inhaled sharply as her gaze fell on his shoulder. There were five finger-sized purple-brown marks above his armpit, fading into a deep yellow.
“It’s nothing,” Jack said, zipping up his clothes. He pulled up his hood for good measure. “I fell… On some old machine parts out in the shed,” he added.
Mrs. Ashford’s steely frown melted into pity. “Jack—”
“Stop it, I’m fine!” he snapped. Mrs. Ashford flinched. Jack hunched his shoulders, ashamed of his own tone. A twinge of pain shot down his right arm. He couldn’t bear to look his teacher in the eyes. At least she no longer pitied him. “Send me to the office.”
Mrs. Ashford chewed at her bottom lip. Finally, she sighed again and laid a hand on his good shoulder. Jack started to pull away, but her hand only laid there, neither squeezing nor slapping. A wave of warmth flooded through him, but then his stomach lurched, and he tasted bile.
It was only the second week of class; what the hell was he doing drinking?
“Jack—oh, shit!” Mrs. Ashford grabbed him and hauled her student over to the nearest trash bin. Thanks to a pregnant classmate, the building had several cans strategically placed around the upperclassmen’s section of the building. Jack held onto the sides of the bin as the remains of a peanut butter sandwich—soaked in Banana Red MD 20/20—erupted from his esophagus. His teacher stood by, rubbing his back. Jack wished he could crawl inside the trash can and die.
“Let’s go to the nurse,” Mrs. Ashford said.
“No, I’m fine.” Jack wiped his mouth on his sleeve. His stomach purged, he felt better. “I’m gonna go home.”
“I think you should see the nurse.”
“I’m okay now, really.”
Jack returned to his backpack lying outside the classroom door and slung it over his good shoulder. He was glad he had brought it out with him instead of having to suffer through another walk of shame back into the classroom. He didn’t need to hear Kelly and Mary whispering about him, or risk tripping over Jesse’s outstretched feet. He certainly didn’t want to see Trevor’s empty desk.
“All right, fine.” Mrs. Ashford shook her head. “Go home. Sober up. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
Or never, Jack thought, escaping through the double doors.
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Ridley Harker is an up-and-coming horror author who delights in all things gay and spooky. While past careers have included reptile keeping at a zoo and EMT work at a casino, writing is his true passion. His favorite books are those with enemies to lovers, small town settings, and great villains. He currently lives in the Middle of Nowhere with his two dogs, a grumpy old snake, and a host of pet tarantulas.
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