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    Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias
    Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias
    Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias
    Ebook62 pages50 minutes

    Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias

    By Richard Martinus

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The Apocalypse may or may not be around the corner, but the lamias of Nether Parts Punishments, Afterlife Services England & Wales (Hell), have a more serious problem to deal with. The delivery of twenty-eight unruly souls to the wrong address – viz, their office – and the subsequent overly energetic castigation of said souls by an unsupervised young demon on secondment, could lead to them facing one of the ultimate horrors the underworld has to offer: a disciplinary panel. Hell, we learn, can be almost as much of a trial for the staff as for the customers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Martinus
    Release dateMar 18, 2014
    ISBN9781311540027
    Enraptured: A Novelette About Lamias
    Author

    Richard Martinus

    Richard Martinus is of Welsh and Dutch descent, currently based in Yorkshire, UK. He has been known to write the odd humorous contemporary fantasy e-novel.

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      Book preview

      Enraptured - Richard Martinus

      ENRAPTURED

      A novelette about lamias by

      Richard Martinus

      ___________

      Copyright text & cover image © Richard Martinus Wilson, 2014

      The moral right of the author has been asserted.

      This story is a work of fiction. Names and descriptions of characters, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

      This edition published on Smashwords in March 2014

      Smashwords Licence Notes: This publication remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorised retailer. Thank you for your support.

      Table of Contents

      Enraptured

      Author’s afterword

      Other works by this author

      ___________

      PROLOGUE

      I opened the front door and found myself face to face with a short, skinny girl of about nineteen or twenty summers. A natural blonde from the look of it, and her delicate, high-cheekboned face, if not stunningly beautiful, was pretty and full of character. Oh, and her wide, golden-irised eyes were quite unlike anything I’d ever seen before. She carried a clipboard with several sheets of paper attached, while a large bag, rather like an old-fashioned doctor’s bag, rested on the doorstep next to her feet.

      She consulted the top sheet on her clipboard. Mister Richard Martinus?

      That’s me. And you are?

      This was going to be one of those phoney surveys as a prelude to them trying to sell you high-speed broadband or solar panels or whatever, so I should have sent her packing. But I didn’t have anything I had to be doing at that moment and I confess I was enjoying watching her smiling, perky face, so I inclined towards indulgence. And I mentioned the eyes, right?

      I’m April, said my visitor. I’m here to tattoo your forehead.

      You’re… what?

      Your forehead. Is now convenient? Only I’ve got loads more people still to do today.

      What are you? Some kind of door-to-door tattoo artist?

      No! April chortled. "This isn’t my normal job. You wouldn’t believe my normal job! But there’s this really big do on, so it’s like an all hands to the pumps kind of situation, see?"

      I didn’t see, really, but that was rather beside the point.

      I don’t think I want a tattoo on my forehead, I explained.

      It’ll be just fine, April assured me. Nothing big or embarrassing – just a QR code. It’ll give you a sort of roguish air.

      What do I need a QR code for? If this was some new government policy, I’d missed the announcement.

      Oh, you know – it’s for the rapture thing.

      The rapture thing. Did this mean anything to me? Well, Rapture was a 1981 hit for the group Blondie, but something told me April wasn’t here to discuss long past their sell-by date American new wave bands and, anyway, I’m more of a Pink Floyd man.

      Fat raindrops started tumbling from the sky, meeting their end in large, dark splodges on the walls and pavement.

      What about my wife? I asked. Is she down for a tattoo too?

      April consulted her clipboard again. For some reason, a snatch of the song ‘I’ve got a little list’ from The Mikado went through my head.

      Yup, she’s here, said April. Is she in?

      "No, she’s just popped out for some milk and a Radio Times. She won’t be long."

      The rain was falling more heavily, flattening April’s hair as drops struck her head.

      Look, do you want to come inside and wait? I asked. I promise you I’m quite harmless.

      I’m not, said April, with a feral grin. Anyway, I can’t very well tattoo you on the doorstep, can I?

      I ushered her into the hallway where, noticing the shoe rack, she dutifully slipped off her trainers.

      Tea?

      Please – one sugar.

      Make yourself at home. I indicated the doorway that led into the living room.

      Now,

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