// Baby, I'm a sociopath; Sweet serial killer. On the warpath, Cause I love you just a little too much. //
Mr. X, as he's been named by police is the infamous Homicidal maniac, also known as the Instagram murderer. He's known to be very, very dangerous, calculated and possibly alluring.
"Once he posts your picture on Instagram, you might as well say your prayers. I hear the guy is completely mental... Not a compassionate bone in that body."
"Well, how do you know if he posts your picture on Instagram? His Instagram is private, isn't it?"
"Well, you just have to follow him to find out."
Follow Mr. X in this enthralling, fictional tale about a boy who tries his very best to get away until maybe he just doesn't want to, causing a stir, in his hometown of Redville, written while listening to Lana Del Rey's unreleased song, "Serial Killer."
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]