Sometimes death is not enough.
Looks that Kill
by Lee Gemmill
Genre: Serial Killer Thriller
Sometimes death is not enough...
Laura Johnson's life has been a mosaic of terror, each piece
a fragment of her haunted past. In her world, to be unnoticed is to be safe,
yet, beneath her camouflage lies a burning desire to live without the constant
pulse of fear.
Enter Diablo, a serial killer who transforms his victims
into chilling avatars that appear within his dark and popular computer games.
With the police powerless to peel back his many masks, Diablo sets his sights
on Laura.
In this heart-stopping race against time, Laura is thrust
into a deadly play where facing fear isn't a choice-it's survival. With the
killer's shadow looming, can she stand against the darkness? Or will she become
the next character in his twisted games of death?
The terror begins now....
“A wounded soul becomes the target of a brutal serial
killer’s game in this dark, gripping, game of cat and mouse.” ★★★★★
– Explore Authors Magazine
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A tide of claustrophobic panic
engulfed her. Thrashing against the cords, she felt them dig deeper, burning as
they sliced her wrists and ankles. Through a haze of tears and her own poor
vision, she glimpsed redness streaking her arms. Blood. It took all the willpower she had to calm herself against the terror. At
last, she settled down and sighed tragically. Escape wasn’t an option.
“Help!” she cried, the words scraping her dry throat. Traces of duct tape
glue tugged at her lips when she opened her mouth. Louder, she screamed, “Help me!
Somebody help!”
Laura tensed as
she detected movement to her right. A blurred figure appeared and drew nearer;
his murmuring voice sent a chill down her spine. The man strode up to Laura and
crouched over her, bringing his face uncomfortably close to hers. His breath smelled
like an ashtray. Up close, she squinted, struggling to discern his features. A
jolt of fear pierced her heart — it was the pizza delivery guy without his cap.
His gaze was predatory. Laura shuddered, paralyzed by the terror of
understanding.
“W-who are you?” she stammered, her voice quivering with
fear. The simple question caught in her throat, nearly choking her. The
stranger’s presence filled her with dread.
She lay on the concrete floor compelled to learn his identity despite the fear
gripping her heart. She asked him again in a timid whisper, “Who are you?”
“I think you know who I am,” he replied, sounding cocky.
When she didn’t seem to register,
he shouted at her. “Diablo! Who did
you think I was?”
Diablo set
something blue and blurry on the floor by her head. Laura turned and looked but
couldn’t see it well enough to know
exactly what it was. A small box maybe? He took something from the box that
shone brightly in the light. Her blood went cold. Was it a knife?
“I need you to scream more, but louder. There’s no ADR session after we’re
done here, so I need all the vocals you can give me now.” He pointed at
something, then at something else, but she could only squint and wonder what he
meant.
“You can’t see, can
you? I thought those glasses were awfully thick. I’ve placed microphones above
and around you, and I’m
recording your every sound, so I need you to be loud. And I have camcorders
strategically placed to show your face, your body movement, everything about
you.”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Why are you doing this?”
“To capture your entirety, of course!” he beamed. “I need the best sound and video I
can get.”
“Why me?” she asked, still not comprehending. “I’m
ugly.”
Diablo was taken
aback. “How can you say
that? I saw your picture in the paper. You must know how truly lovely you are.”
“You’re going
to kill me.” Laura became uncharacteristically calm, like an animal being led
to slaughter that knows it’s going to
die. She accepted her fate with sadness.
“I’m going to
make you immortal.”
“You’re going to kill
me. I saw it in your eyes just now. Your eyes have the looks that kill.”
At 20, Lee Gemmill
set off on a hitchhiking adventure from Virginia to California, climbing
Handies Peak in Colorado and losing all his food to sneaky ground squirrels in
the Grand Canyon along the way. A former biology and anatomy teacher with 32
years of experience in Virginia, he’s now retired and fully dedicated to
writing.
Lee’s mission is to reshape storytelling by blending fantasy, science fiction,
and horror into unforgettable tales. His work pushes the boundaries of
imagination, delivering thrilling experiences that stay with readers long after
the last page — all while building a legacy of unique, genre-defying stories
that cultivate lifelong fans.
Sounds like a really good thriller.
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