Hey folks! Remember a few days ago where I made that absolutely ludicrous promise to release a new short story, for free, as a Christmas gift for you all?

Well, it’s here. In truth, it’s on the Download page as well, but the link goes to the same place.

So what is the story? It’s a brief glimpse at one of my earlier characters, Alec Rho, as he’s being questioned by an official with the FBI. What’s his deal? Well, he had an … “incident” where he wound up with a runic scar on his shoulder, his eyes turned from brown to glowing silver, and he now sees Seraph (angels) and Demons. He’s got a couple other tricks up his sleeves, but in reality, he’s an average guy given a few extra tools and stuck in a horrible situation.

How did I come up with this story? Well, Alec is actually the product of the first full-length novel I’d written, but the book was mothballed before it ever saw the light of day. Pacing was horribly off, I needed to rewrite the thing anyway but nothing was working, ect. So the story and character have sat in storage for some time.

When it came time to pen a new story for this challenge, however, my thoughts drifted back to Alec. There was no where I could conceivably write his origin-story again, not with the limited time frame, but a teaser seemed possible. From there, the story took shape and became what it is.

I had put out a single call for beta readers but nobody responded. Let’s face it, most rational folks are busy doing Christmas-y stuff that would demand their attention, so I most certainly couldn’t blame them.

Instead, I took the liberty of doing what editing work I could, along with formatting. Am I as confident in its quality as if it’d been put through a workshop? No, of course not, but the circumstances demanded it.

That said, give it a read. It’s a free download, it’s only about 3,800 words in totality, and it’s the most recent “finished” product of mine.

I hope you enjoy this story, as well as have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.