Beta: A Short Story with Illustrations

by James Noll

The villagers find the first body drained of blood on the outskirts of town. Wolves, they think, so they hunt down the pack and spike the heads on stakes at four points surrounding the town. but the murders continue, and all evidence points to something worse than wolves. More murders occur, and the villagers react by locking their doors and shutters. The village itself is a ghost town. One night, a group of men at the Inn, acting on a story told by the old blacksmith, decide that the murderer must be a vampire, and set off to hunt it. As they return to town with the head of their "vampire" in a sack, they happen upon two people trying to carry off a fourteen year old boy, and realize their mistake.
The murders continue, unabated. The vampire hunters disappear, and spring arrives, leading the narrator to the discovery of the real murderers, and their twisted reasons for draining their victims of blood.

38 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2011

About the author

James Noll has worked as a sandwich maker, a yogurt dispenser, a day care provider, a video store clerk, a day care provider (again), a summer camp counselor, a waiter, a prep. cook, a sandwich maker (again), a line cook, a security guard, a line cook (again), a waiter (again), a bartender, a librarian, and a teacher. Somewhere in there he played drums in punk rock bands, recorded several albums, and wrote dozens of short stories and a handful of novels.