As I am nearly finished with my Mate Index Halloween novella, I am turning my attention to my novel for October. It is appropriate themed for the season! Havoc of Souls, once again bringing in Sam Griffin (the artist who brought us the cover of Red) on the coverart, is in progress to be released on Halloween with a mixture of horror and romance.

What happens when infernal spirits and maddened souls break free on the Earth and a merciless guardian of the gates is sent to retrieve them? Destruction sweeps the world as he ruthlessly and mercilessly roots out those his is sent to contain and return to Aites, the land of the dead. Many die by his hand, yet when he is moved by a moment of pity to spare the life of a human woman, will she be enough to save the world in the wake of his bloody pursuit.

Below is the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Havoc of Souls.

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Havoc
of Souls

S.J.
Sanders

Prologue

            The
road was silent of life, dark and barren beneath the watch of a cold, uncaring
moon. Few would risk being out in the night. Though the ravage could
happen at any time, the dark made it all the more terrible. Anything could
creep through the darkness unseen, and so people huddled in what was left of
their homes, their windows boarded, and doors barricaded, in horror of what
lurked since the ravagers came into the world upon the first mist of autumn.

            It
had been as if a gate had been thrown wide as every corner of the world
reported hearing the load moaning crack like hinges breaking free from a frame.
Then the icy mist had spilled forward that night, rolling over every bit of
ground, and with it bringing the ravagers.

            That
is what everyone called them. They wreaked havoc and destroyed everything in
their path. Life seemed to wither and die even quicker than usual for the
season. Some said that they were demons sent to punish the people, with their heavily
muscled, massive bodies, long thin tails and curving horns, some said they were
unnatural spirits that had awoken from a long slumber to cleanse the earth. Then
there were those who claimed that they were angry souls. No one could agree
what they were dealing with, other than the fact that they indisputably ravaged
the world within a matter of weeks.

            They
favored the night, that much was certain. That was when the worst of their
number came out to hunt. The smaller ones who fed on the scraps of the living
braved the daytime where there was fewer dark places to hide and hunt their
prey. These were the ones that often burrowed into vulnerable humans, consuming
them from the inside as the grew stronger like a parasite.

            And
then, sometimes, you got something much more dangerous hiding within people that
no one would expect.

            One
traveler, five days after the first mist, came to Ashton. He’d shuffled into
town, dirty, his boots worn as if he’d walked for miles, and his windswept hair
hanging in tangled knots around his face. When people inquired, he said that his
vehicle broke down miles away on the interstate. That was nothing unusual. With
the ravagers, gas supplies dwindled and fewer people had working vehicles.  He ate and drank like a man. In fact, he
consumed food and drink like one starved. He always had plenty of coin with
which to pay, so no one thought much of it.

            Not
until night came.

            He’d
been sitting in pub, consuming an order of wings, a lovely young woman on his
right, and a good-looking man on his left laughing flirtatiously and talking
with him. Although he hadn’t bothered to rent a room or groom himself, his generosity
had quickly endeared people to him. They became less wairy and more eager to
please.

Word was that when
the last of the sun’s rays fell from the doorway that he’d smiled. A truly
cruel and maddened smile. He dropped the wing from his fingers and his body had
twisted and changed until the beast that was among them had nothing of humanity
lingering to him. He’d grabbed the woman at his side and dug a mouthful of
razor-sharp teeth into her throat, gnawing into the flesh as her blood ran over
his lips, spilling down her neck. The man at his other side had attempted to
flee while the creature was distracted but it had sprung upon him with the
reflexes of a panther, pulling him down and tearing into him before going after
another and another person trapped inside with him.

Only a handful of
people managed to get away, braving the darkness, chased by the savage sounds
of the ravager. Though they were scared of other ravagers hiding in the
darkness, they had, each one, reported of being more terrified of the ravager
beast.

People turned
against each other, afraid that anyone could be harboring a ravager within
them. Families became insular, trusting no one outside their tightknit bonds. What
was left of their town disintegrated even further people began to strike
territories and jealously defend them. They would draw together, hesitantly,
reluctantly, during the daylight hours to exchange provisions in the town
center, but the community itself died on that night.

That was what the
world had become, what Ashton had become, since the ravagers came.

Chapter
1

            A
scrap of old wet newspaper, one of many strewn about the street with their
shocking, damning headlines, flapped with a sudden gust of wind. The echo of an
eerie moan stirred the crows, their wings flapping suddenly as they rose like a
black cloud, blotting out the moon.

            Meredith
tilted her head up, her body crouched low at the sudden burst of movement. She
watched as the crows disappeared from sight, doubtlessly looking for a more
preferable perch. She didn’t blame them. The sound had bore through her down to
her bones, icing her blood in her veins. It was inhuman.

            She
was a fool to be out so late. She knew that. Foolish as it may be, it was the
best time to scavenge for supplies when she wouldn’t have to compete with other
people looking for food and resources. When she wouldn’t have to worry about cross
into another family’s territory.

            Her
boots hit the pavement with more sound that she’d like as she rushed between
the buildings. Every time she slowed, every time she waited, she took a
dangerous chance. The ravagers couldn’t enter the abodes of humans without
invitation, but on the street, she was completely exposed.

            The
traveler, the first ravager majorum as she liked to call it, the first of the
larger breed to come into Ashton, was still out there in the city. The behavior
of the other ravagers that came on the first mist changed since that night the
traveler arrived…it became organized. The ravagers slowly over the weeks began
to hunt in coordinated attacks. It was not only alarming, but it made her
sojourns into the city increasingly dangerous.

            Another
moaning bellow. It sounded closer. Her booted feet skidded as she rounded a
corner. She was nearly to the superstore. Meredith put another burst of speed.
She could hear the crunch of numerous feet rushing through the garbage and dry,
crunchy autumn leaves on the road. She leaned forward, reaching with her entire
body as she saw the glass doors of the entrance.

            Breath
behind her panted in between low snarls and vicious growls. Interspersed beneath
it all she swore that they were speaking to each other, numerous layered voices.

            Mine.
Back off.

            No,
she is mine. Tasty female flesh.

            Leave
the bones! I will break the bone and eat the marrow. Sweet, so sweet.

            A
feast for us, a feast of death. We will bleed the body, gnaw the flesh, and drink
the blood.

            She
bit back a sob, her breath closing off in her throat as the air moved behind
her as if a large hand or paw had swept through the air just inches away. A
cold sweat popped out over her skin. They were closing in. She wasn’t going to
make it.

            “Not
a fucking chance,” she cried and pushed her muscles for all they were worth.
She didn’t even slow as she approached the open door, she catapulted through. Her
boots scuffed over the linoleum, and she tripped, her body careening into metal
carts. She slid, pulling the carts with her by her momentum, until they all
landed together in a loud crash. Meredith lay there among the tipped over
baskets, staring up the ceiling with disbelief. Once again, she’d made it.

            Outside
the howls of anger where audible. Let them be angry. She would rest and eat and
gather her supplies and then leave as the light of the sun rose with her goods.

            Pushing
onto her elbows, Meredith rolled over onto her knees and rose to her feet.
Strands of purple hair fell in front of her eyes as she looked out the glass
windows facing her. The ravagers paced back and forth in front of the entrance,
stopping every now and then to snarl at her, or fight amongst themselves.
Shooting them a triumphant grin and the finger, she adjusted her backpack and
wandered down the nearest aisle, pushing a cart in front of her.

            She
couldn’t get greedy. There was only so much that she’d be able to carry with
her. Still, the principle was, get enough things small enough to cram into her
bag and longer she’d be able to put off a return trip.

            Wrinkling
her nose, she surveyed the grocery aisles. Things such as bread, milk, eggs and
meat had quickly become depleted. She knew that some families raised chickens
and had tiny indoor greenhouses in which they grew vegetables and fruits.
Meredith would have killed for one…not literally….well, maybe. Still, she contented
herself with grabbing what was left of the remaining cans of tuna, canned beef,
cans of green beans, stewed carrots and creamed corn. All the better vegetables
had been picked over already. A lone can of fruit cocktail shoved far enough back
on a lower shelf that it had gone unseen made her hoot victoriously as she tossed
into her basket.

            Once
she was satisfied that she had gotten enough food for several days she went to
the hygiene section. The world may be ending but she refused to smell like
death herself. New tube of toothpaste and deodorant quickly joined her
belongings, along with a bottle of shampoo. She hesitated in front of the hair
dye as she fingered her hair.

            The
purple coloring that she’d applied before the world had gone to hell was
quickly fading. It wasn’t a necessity…but, didn’t she deserve one small frivolous
thing just because it made her happy? The small box certainly wouldn’t take
much room in her bag. It wasn’t nearly sensible but what did it matter? With a
tiny smile, she snatched up a box of purple hair dye before she could talk
herself out of it and added it to her haul.

            Packing
her belongings into her bag, aside from a can of stew and her new toothbrush
and toothpaste, Meredith pushed her cart to the back of the store. The electric
grid may be crap, but the water still ran. It was cold as fuck, but no one went
thirsty and didn’t have to be dirty if they didn’t want to enough to grit their
teeth and bear it as they washed beneath the frigid shower. More importantly,
it made it a lot easier to cook.

            Going
into the pitch-black bathroom, Meredith felt along the walls until she found
the faucets. She cranked one and allowed the water to run for a moment before
she placed her canteen beneath it, gathering water for her meal. Once the cold
water overflowed into her hand, she pulled it back and replaced the cab before
turning off the tap. She was walking out of the bathroom when she heard a distinctive
crunch.

            Meredith
froze in place, her sense reeling. Without the light of the moon, it was darker
inside than it was even outside. She was nearly blind. Her heart sped up, beating
out a staccato rhythm in her chest.

            Once,
when she was young, she remembered seeing from her window a neighbor’s cat
stalk a bunny in the yard. The bunny had barely looked old enough to leave the nest,
but had known, instinctively, that it was in mortal peril. It had frozen in
place, it’s tiny dark eyes staring with fear as its tiny body shuddered. At the
last moment it had attempted to run but the cat had killed it with ruthless efficiency.

            At
that moment she felt like the bunny.

            She
was the helpless being paralyzed in the face of certain death.

            A
stack of boxes fell over two feet away and Meredith cried out, shying away from
them, her arms brought up to shield her from the sight of the attack. Stumbling
over an obstacle, she found herself once more on her back, her eyes screwed
tightly shut.

            A
heartbeat passed, and then another.

            Feet
away there was a mad scramble amid the fallen boxes and plaintive, indignant
mew before a darker blur against the dimness of the room darted pass her.

            It
was a fucking cat.

            Meredith
threw her arms back, her hands cradling the crown of her head and her elbows
pointing outward as she laughed in disbelief. She nearly killed herself over a
fucking cat.

            Muttering
beneath her breath she picked up her bag and canteen from where they’d dropped
to the floor and continued through the dark store. Before long she arrived in
the lawn and garden department. From between a pair of toppled shelves, she
pulled out the grill she’d hidden there for nights that she’d be there. There
was no longer any hope of finding any profane, but that was fine. The grill was
a cheap metal charcoal grill, and charcoal bricks there was still plenty of
bags piled on long shelves remnant from the summer barbequing season.

            By
her calculation it was late October. Once this had been her favorite time of
the year. The season for soft throws, hot chocolate and pumpkin everything, the
latter of which she found rather disgusting on principle outside of pumpkin
pie. She missed those simple luxuries.

            Sure,
she was certain she could probably find a can of pumpkin puree and a box of
graham crackers, but it wasn’t the same.

            Sighing,
Meredith dragged out the partial bag of charcoal she’d been using and dumped a
portion into the grill. A bit of lighter fluid and a flame later, she had a
steady fire going. Meredith dug out the pot she’d hidden and dumped the contains
of the can and canteen into it before setting it on the grill. Pulling her bean
bag over beside the grill, she plopped down on it, relishing the aroma of
cooking food.

            As
with most nights spent within the superstore, she ate quickly, washed her
dishes in the tepid water in the bathroom and stowed everything away again. The
grill she left out so that she could savor what little more warmth she could
get from them during the night.

            Curling
into a pair of blankets, she tucked them tightly beneath her chin. On a nearby
shelf, the Halloween décor that the store had begun to display at the end of
August leered at her cheerfully from a shelf. She ducked further into her
blanket and glared at the smiling witches, ghosts rising from tombs, and
plastic skulls.

            She
once loved Halloween, before. Now she hated everything about it. She
hated the idea of spirits running the earth, of a day that celebrated monsters
and things that went bump in the night. What was there to enjoy about that when
that very thing terrorized her. It wasn’t a fun fantasy; it was all too real.

            Giving
her back to the display, Meredith sank into an uneasy sleep. She never slept
truly well, but every minute she could close her eyes and allow the world to
disappear. for at least a little while, was one that she was ever grateful for.