[Ongoing] A collection of unsettling or unusual short stories. Some have monsters, some have humor, some draw tears, some make you think, and some have artwork. Each is a revealing glance of someone's life.
Every writer has their own methods of comi...
The idea for this story was inspired by instances that have happened one too many times where women who are being harassed by creeps sometimes ask a nearby person to pretend to be their friend.
The idea that the nearby person could be in cahoots with the creep isn't new, but I wanted to see if I could approach it from a different angle. A few different ideas began churning in my mind, and when they veered towards the supernatural, I followed.
I settled on having a clan of vampiric beings who craved the taste of gratitude in their victims. Yet, instead of wasting time and energy searching for men and women to "rescue", they have others orchestrate dangerous scenarios for them to thwart, allowing them to be the heroes who whisk the grateful victims away (and feed on them).
I thought it'd be interesting to have Oscar be a selfish, cowardly criminal to heighten his dilemma and to have him start the story in a villain role, only for it to switch, and then to sort of switch back.
I didn't want Lady Anastasia to be good either, but I did try to show her as someone confident with clear motivations who was also astutely aware of Oscar's motivations as well.
I enjoyed writing their dialogue, and even though I had a story in mind, I tried not to spell everything out so the reader could make their own assumptions.
As for the title, I tend to favor those with double meanings, and my brainstorming ended with two perfect words that showed Oscar's disdain while also hinting at Lady Anastasia's truth: Heroes Suck.
If you've read the story, let me know what you think. I'm always open to feedback, suggestions, and critique!
And if you liked this story, you can find it in "The Fall of Souls: and six other twisted stories about unlikable people", available on Amazon! If you do purchase it, I'd greatly appreciate an honest review. :)
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