Roninsha Chronicles: the Strange Case of the Lonely One
an excerpt

Prologue: A Dark and Stormy Night

He didn’t notice the rain falling on his bare skin.
It was a frigid, autumn rain, soaking through his thin, patched garments, but he ignored it. The wind moaned through the streets, freezing the rain on his skin, but still he did nothing to warm up or shelter himself. He simply stumbled forward, the rain mixing with the blood on his clothes and dripping into the street.
No one would notice, or care. This was Southside; it was a strange day when there wasn’t blood in the streets.
And he did not notice. He had long since grown used to the sharp, acrid smell of blood, to the feel of it running over his hands. His ears had grown deaf to screams of pain. And she never screamed. She did not know how to scream. It simply would not have occurred to her.
“Sarah,” he said, in a weak, lost little moan. “Sarah!”
He stumbled on down the dark, filthy street, sobbing brokenly. He had to find Sarah. Where was Sarah? Who had taken her?
“Sarah…”
All their fault. It was all their fault. He didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but he would punish them, hurt them, tear them to pieces until they gave her back. He had to find Sarah.
“Sarah! I’ll save you, Sarah! Just hang on! I’m coming, Sarah, I’m coming!”
The rain poured on, a steady stream of white noise, as he disappeared into the shadows of the night. No one had seen him…or rather, no one still alive.