Christmas in July
On July 1st I will be pleased to present
a Special Edition incorporating Book I and II of the Enigma series. The Special
Edition will be available for one month only and will contain original artwork
as well as a brand new short story Silver’s First Christmas.
Let me introduce you to my lovely Silver
in all his glory, the unique enigma that he is. I have written about him in
what, so far, is a series running to five books, of which the first two have
now been released as Enigma and Enigma II – Fighting the Man.
Enigma
I
Synopsis
River wants to be a nurse. He is working
towards the fulfilment of his dream by working as a carer is a Care House.
Residents come and go and River learns to keep a professional face no matter
how difficult the resident might be. Then Silver arrives and turns his world
around.
After six months in a coma following an
apparent attempt on his life, Silver is locked inside his own mind, interacting
with the outside world on only a very basic level. Right from the beginning
River struggles to keep his feelings for the beautiful and enigmatic, Silver on
a professional footing.
As Silver slowly opens up it becomes
more and more difficult for River to look on him with purely professional eyes.
As their love grows River becomes more and more suspicious that Silver’s mental
health problems may arise from a past more horrific than anyone had previously
imagined and when that past explosively catches up with them he is caught in a
nightmare that threatens not only to destroy but to end both of their lives.
Escaping from an impossible situation
thanks to River’s quick thinking and a professionalism he thought he had lost,
they think they have finally laid the past to rest and can face a future where
they can openly declare their love and live a live free from fear.
But the past is not going to let them go
that easily and once again catches up with them. With danger facing them down
the barrel of a gun River, once again, saves them with explosive and tragic
consequences.
Still the past will not leave them alone
and, as Silver slowly grows more and more distant and their love seems doomed
River makes a final attempt to lay the past to rest once and for all.
Will Silver be able to finally break
away from his past and make a future with River? That depends on a priest, a
painting and a long walk through a churchyard.
EXCERPT
Silver turns his eyes on her
impassively, seeming to be perfectly at ease but completely detached.
“Do you want some coffee?”
Silver turns to Max and gives him the
same empty look. “Coffee?” Max holds up a mug and Silver stares at it.
“Try him with some, Max. I don’t
think he’s good at making decisions.”
Max nods and pours a mug of coffee,
putting milk and sugar in it. He hands it to Silver who takes it and
stares at it for a while before releasing it with a cry so that it falls to the
ground smashing on the tiles and splashing everyone, who jump back; everyone
except Silver.
“Fuck! What the hell are you
doing? Be careful, that’s hot.”
“Hot?”
“Yeah... fucking hot.” Max sounds annoyed,
brushing at his soaked trousers. “Fuck! I am going to have to
change. Come on Julia; we don’t have time for breakfast: I am going to
have to call in at home for clean trousers. We can eat at the college,
they do good breakfasts; my treat.”
Julia laughs and slips daintily off the
table. Silver’s eyes swivel to her and she reaches up to touch his
face. He is tall, taller than me by a couple of inches and she has to
reach up high.
“Don’t worry.” She smiles her beautiful,
sweet smile and it is almost reflected on Silver’s face. “Max’s bark is worse
than his bite. Remember though; coffee is hot; okay?” Silver nods,
blinking and Julia takes his hand, stroking the palm with her small delicate
fingers. I note with some surprise that his hands are not much bigger
than hers, although the fingers are long and look dextrous.
“Does it hurt?” When there is no
response she puts one hand on his face again, smiling into his eyes. “Does it
hurt, Silver, beautiful Silver? Did the cup burn your hand?” Slowly
he nods and looks down at his scarlet palm. There doesn’t seem to be any
pain in his eyes. There doesn’t seem to be anything much at all.
Julia leads him to the sink and turns on
the cold water drawing his hand, palm upwards, under the stream. He doesn’t
try to pull it away although I know it must be stinging like hell.
“Fuck.” We have all been so riveted by
the interaction between Silver and Julia that we completely forgot about the
coffee mug, which smashed when it hit the tiled floor. Silver had walked over
it when Julia had drawn him to the sink and now there is blood mixing with the
coffee on the tiles.
Ronya quickly scoops up the remaining
china and I gently steer Silver away from the sink again and into a
chair. Lifting his foot it is a relief to see that there is only one
small sliver of china embedded in the ball of his foot. I pull it out as
gently as I can but he doesn’t even flinch. I look up and meet his eyes;
they are as impassive as ever.
“What the hell?” Max exclaims.
“Don't sound so surprised. Haven’t you
read the file?”
“No; he’s your baby.”
“Ah. Well, welcome to our happy home,
Silver. Shall we try again with the coffee?” Silver shakes his head.
“No coffee... hot.”
His voice is like a gentle rain shower
on a hot day, cool and refreshing to the ear and the mind. God is there
no end to this boy’s beauty? He must have been a really nasty piece of
work: no one can look and sound as good as this and be nice.
Ronya, finishing cleaning up the glass,
hands me the first aid box from under the sink and I swab Silver’s foot with an
antiseptic wipe, although the bleeding has already stopped. I put a
plaster on it and then release him. He simply sits and looks blank.
“What is it with him? I have to
admit I am finding this a little spooky now.”
“Read the file, Max.”
Julia crouches at the side of the chair
and looks into Silver’s eyes, pushing the heavy tangle of hair out of the
way. She smiles and he mirrors it. “He’s just hiding. We all
have our own ways of doing that. He’ll be alright, won’t you sunshine?”
He smiles uncertainly and his eyes follow her as she bounces to her feet and
out of the door calling back. “Come on, Max; you’re going to make us late
and then you’ll have to shout for lunch too.”
Enima
II – Fighting the Man
Silver has been freed from sexual
slavery and settled down with River, who adores his lover and former patient,
yet cracks begin to form when it becomes increasingly obvious that the stress
of constantly having to care for Silver, begin to tell on River. When River’s
parents die, leaving him to care for his 12 year old brother it, at first,
seems that the introduction of the lively twelve year old into the mix was
going to do them all the world of good. However, when spiteful relatives
involve Social Services, the previous flaws nearly rip them all apart.
Faced with the dilemma of keeping either
Ben or Silver at home and sending the other to stay with Sam, a personal
friend, River chooses responsibility for his brother over his love and concern
for Silver. Things come to a head when a series of misunderstandings lead
Silver to believe River doesn’t love him anymore and that everyone is secretly
ashamed of him because of his past. After running away, Silver reasons the only
place he can fit in is with his own kind and he sets out to search of a new
“home.”
At the Theatre de la vie he meets Tony,
a club owner with big ideas, who ‘looks after’ a group of young men who dance
and “entertain” patrons of the club. There, among others, Silver finds Ariel,
an ephemeral little minx with a knack for getting into trouble, and Asher, a
former sex slave like Silver, he finds a kindred spirit and soon, finds himself
falling for the beautiful, broken boy.
Together, Ariel and Asher show Silver a
whole new way of looking at the world, a transformation echoing the sleeping
chrysalis of his soul, and soon his inner self emerges as the beautiful
butterfly he was always meant to be. Yet as happy as he is with his new
friends, Silver eventually realises he truly misses River and intends to return
to his side, but a dark figure from his abusive past returns to threaten both a
possible reunion and the new friends who would protect Silver. River learns of
the danger, and hurries to add his own support of Silver and reaffirm their love,
but is it too late for a chance at happiness together? At the emotional climax
to this suspenseful story of love and loss, Silver and River reach conclusions
that will either save them both or drive them apart forever.
Excerpt
“It... it was the hospital. My parents
have been in an accident. They... they’re dead.”
“Oh, God. River I’m... I... don’t know
what to say. It’s so terrible.”
“Yeah. I... wasn’t close to them, at
least not for the last few years. They didn’t exactly disown me when I came out
to them but they didn’t take it too well either.”
“Came out of what?”
I smile. I can’t help it. He’s so sweet.
“’Coming out’ means telling people, usually people close to you, that you’re
gay.”
“Oh.” I can see he doesn’t understand.
“There’re a lot of people who think it’s
wrong, even evil for a man to love another man.”
“Why?” He looks really confused now. I
sigh. I wish we’d never got into this conversation. It’s a wonder we’ve never
had it before, but Silver’s so innocent, so accepting the whole concept of
prejudice is alien to him. He’s kind of got his head round racial prejudice.
Although, I don’t think he really understands the concept that one person could
hurt another because of where they live or what colour their skin is. There’s
no way he is going to be able to understand why they’d do it because of who we
love.
“I can't really answer that. There are
some, religious people, who say that it’s banned in the Bible and is vile and
an abomination to God.”
“I’ve read the Bible. It isn’t very
nice.”
“In some places it isn’t, no.”
“I don’t remember reading where it says
that love is evil. Doesn’t it say that love is holy?”
“Only some kinds, it seems.”
“But...”
“Silver,” I say gently, knowing what
he’s like. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can have this conversation right
now. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“I’m sorry, River. I know I get carried
away. You must be feeling awful.”
“I am but... but that’s not all. My
brother was in the car with them.”
“You have a brother?”
“Yes, he’s twelve.”
“Is he going to die too?”
“No. He... I don’t think he’s badly hurt
but, with my parents gone, he’s alone.”
“But he can’t be, River. He’s the same
age as I was… as Matthew was. You can't let something bad happen to him like it
happened to me. Can’t you bring him home to live here, with us?”
My beautiful, beautiful boy keeps on
surprising me. I was paralysed with pain and fear and Silver, ever the pragmatist,
went straight to the heart of the problem and found a solution, without even
trying.
Links
nephylim-author.blogspot.co.uk
~6/3 Cia http://ciasstories.blogspot.com
~6/6 Andy Gordon http://andrewqgordon.com/category/my-writing/
~6/7 Talismania http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com
~6/8 Christ T Kat http://t.co/h6Kn4uYhRV
