The Vicious and the Virile by Luki Belle

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A collection of short horror stories, The Vicious and The Virile VII offers a captivating combination of unique and varied short stories emblematic of the dark fantasy genre.

Karan Lloyd Hamilton: when touring a fictitious national park in India a wealthy American couple, Judas and Priscilla Hamilton are attacked by tigers and get physically separated. The mortally wounded wife, pregnant with male twin, dies giving birth in the wilderness to healthy babies. Only one twin is found and returned to Judas who survived the attack. The grieving father returns to America with his newborn and the corpse of Priscilla. The boy, Karan Lloyd Hamilton, grows up to be a Wall Street investment banker. He bears a physical scar from his traumatic birth which has transformed Karan into a predator by night in the streets of Manhattan.

Kartik Shiv Yuvarajan: the second twin boy of Judas and Priscilla Hamilton did not die but was taken by the mystical tribe of the national park. The tribe hides the baby until he is stolen and given to a tour guide of the park, Arjun. Afraid of the consequences of taking the baby to the American embassy, Arjun adopts the child, gives him the name Kartik Shiv Yuvarajan and then returns to his ancestral village. Kartik bears a similar mark upon his body like his twin Karan. This mark brings about strange physiological changes in Kartik and leads to unexpected events that threatens his life in the village. Arjun must now decide whether to let Kartik know of his identity or whether to flee once again with the teenager.

Hounds of the Monks: a warrior flees with his family to save his daughter from the lustful, cruel king of the land. When the king’s army gives chase to bring back the young girl, the warrior separates from his wife and daughter to protect them. Mother and her girl seek shelter in a monastery only to realize that the holy surroundings may be equally dangerous.

Desert Frogs: a film producer with her adolescent twin sons and a film crew travel to a fictitious nation, Gapharkh, to shoot a few scenes in the country’s legendary desert. A civil war is imminent in Gapharkh between the military regime and the nomadic tribe of the desert. Unexpected connections quickly form between the twin boys and the nomads while the war heats up in the backdrop as the film crew rushes to complete their work. Discovering that there was a dark motive behind allowing the foreign film crew to shoot in the desert, the producer desperately tries to escape Gapharkh with her sons and her crew.

Stolen Princess: Rosemarie, a young woman rescued from prostitution, finds herself alone and homeless when her husband is lost at sea and her in-laws throw her out of her husband’s home. Rosemarie’s fate momentarily worsens when she is raped and almost killed but, miraculously, she is saved by strange old women who take Rosemarie to a secluded, enchanting island. The heavenly place seems like freedom until Rosemarie realizes that there are sinister forces around her who intend to keep her captive in the isle. Rosemarie’s past may be her only salvation.

Bastard of the Mist: Angeline a young widow, arrives at a remote and beautiful rehabilitation center for veterans to work as the assistant of the institution’s co-founder. Angeline is supernaturally gifted. Her dark powers clash with evil forces that exist in the forests surrounding the institution when she discovers a sinister plot by her employer Professor Kvalish, a man with a mysterious past. An unraveling thus begins and threatens the existence of everyone at the rehabilitation center.

Nature’s Call Girl: in a futuristic Earth a global war is ongoing between humankind and nature. Here, a fictitious country Parakrytheon, has built a nation devoid of plant and animals with artificially created weather to protect its humans from natural predators. On a fictitious island Kamin, humans live harmoniously with nature and beast. This place has the resources that Parakrytheon needs to defeat its natural enemy. Twin brothers Hagaath and Laksha, and their sister Kamina, are the means to this end.

Read an Excerpt

“Never did I think you would go so far as to work for fighting like this…never!! Your life, the life I gave you has come to this??!! You are putting yourself in danger every night like this?? For all these years?? How can you do this to me? To us? When you could have had such a different life that…” Arjun said angrily while crying to Kartik and pacing around the young man.

“Yes! I could have had a different life!” Kartik said abruptly in a harsh tone implying everything that had remained a secret about his identity.

Arjun immediately realized the intention behind those remarks and became quiet, but Kartik was only getting started.

“I know you know the truth about my identity, about my parents, about where I belong! But I NEVER, NEVER, EVER asked YOU TO TELL ME WHAT I UNDERSTOOD WAS YOUR SECRET! WELL THIS IS MINE!!” Kartik said extending his arms, his voice getting louder.

Tears ran down Arjun’s cheeks, he shook his head “Why? Why beta, why this?” he whispered in a broken voice.

Kartik pressed in his lips. He had put on a clean pair of clothes and had transformed back to his human self and looked towards the dirty soil below his shoes and nodded.

“My truth…you will hear my truth now…” he looked up at Arjun “…it was the only way to keep you alive, me alive and to keep the women in the brothel safe…I fight, you all stay safe. That was the deal I made with the gang leader nine years ago!”

“But why did you not tell me??!” Arjun stepped closer to Kartik “We could have left! We could have run away from the slums…to somewhere else…we could have been safe! Why did you not tell me!!” he shook Kartik’s arms, crying uncontrollably.

“Because I have a curse in me!! I am a tiger, I have a disease, I have to release myself to turn into a beast and everywhere I go this beast must be able to come out and I cannot run from myself bapu ji!!!” Kartik said agonizingly and crouched down in front of Arjun, shaking his head.

Arjun exhaled, half in shock, half in relief of the realization that his suspicions about Kartik’s abilities had finally come out.

About the Author: Luki Belle works in the media industry. In addition to The Vicious and the Virile VII, she is the author of three other novels: The Delicate Affair of Colonel Baquiste, The Sexy Seven Supernaturals, and Shakti of the Illuminated Lotus. Storytelling has been a fixture since Luki's childhood when she would listen to stories told by her grandparents, parents, sisters, and cousins reading to her from diverse cultural fiction books. Paranormal characters existing as and amongst humans-while exalting in their mystical powers-have always fascinated Luki. She loves to explore magical, futuristic, fantastical, and ancient realms in her stories where her human and supernatural characters are thrust together, and their conflicted and tormented natures collide.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Vicious-Virile-VII-Freaky-Stories-ebook/dp/B0DCDKMMV6/ref=sr_1_2

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