Surreal Estate

Book 0: Pax Arcana

by Elliott James

Genres: Contemporary Fantasy; Paranormal; Urban Fantasy

Synopsis

John Charming. Ex knight. Current monster hunter. The line between reality and dream is never entirely clear under the best of circumstances. . .and when John Charming finds himself being hunted through a nightmare house, it is far from the best of circumstances. This is a short story from contemporary fantasy author, Elliott James, within his Pax Arcana world. The first of his novels, Charming and Daring, are available now.

Release date: January 14, 2014

Publisher: Orbit

Print pages: 25

Sample

Surreal Estate

Once upon a time I am in a classroom. I am a child, old enough to read and write with some degree of sophistication but not yet having reached puberty, and I am wearing the black slacks and blue blazer and red tie that we have to wear because we are pretending to be an elite Catholic school. Blobs of gum do not lurk beneath our desks, however, and graffiti is not scratched on top of them. Cell phones have not been invented yet, and we do not whisper or snicker behind our teachers’ backs. We communicate wordlessly in sign language.

Our instructors don’t mind. We are being trained to hunt creatures with exceptional hearing, and our instructors want us to learn how to communicate covertly and quickly and silently. The teachers stroll among us dressed as priests and nuns, and perhaps some of them are, but they do not use rulers or wooden paddles to enforce discipline. They carry bamboo poles.

I am taking some kind of test. I glance down at the question my pencil is poised over.

13. What is the sixth pillar of Krav Maga?


A. Any object can be a weapon.

B. Techniques should be mastered before being built upon.

C. Threat recognition

D. I KEEP MEAT FRESH BY EATING IT ALIVE

A drop of blood plops onto the test. I am not sure where the drop came from. I hold my hand up to my nose, and when I look at it the middle of my index finger is red. I hear another plop, but this time when I look down, I see a small blob of gray matter on the test. It looks like brain tissue. I am afraid to hold my hand up to my nose again.


I glance up questioningly. My fellow students are gone. My desk i. . .