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Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Connect with Crystal Lake Publishing
CONNECT WITH CRYSTAL LAKE PUBLISHINGWebsite(be sure to sign up for our newsletter)FacebookTwitterWith unmatched success since 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading indie publishers of Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense books with a Dark Fiction edge.Crystal Lake Publishing puts integrity, honor, and respect at the forefront of our operations.We strive for each book and outreach program that’s launched to not only entertain and touch or comment on issues that affect our readers, but also to strengthen and support the Dark Fiction field and its authors.Not only do we publish authors who are destined to be legends in the field (and as hardworking as us), but we also look for men and women who care about their readers and fellow human beings. We only publish the very best Dark Fiction and look forward to launching many new careers.We strive to know each and every one of our readers, while building personal relationships with our authors,
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter One
CHAPTER ONEShe was beautiful, this woman who wandered the graveyard. All hair and eyes. In a light cotton dress covering her rounded belly, she walked barefoot across the overgrown lawns. She smiled and laughed as she touched the flowers garnishing the dead.She saw a particularly beautiful headstone, a grave marker.“Montessa,” she read, and something about it, the strength of it, the delicacy, stopped her in her tracks. She stood and waited. Moreover, she felt.“That will be your name, darling,” she told the child in her womb. The newly named Montessa skipped and spun and twirled. Or perhaps she sucked her thumb in silence. Her mama couldn’t really tell these days now that she was so ill. But she carried a little girl, she was sure of it, and she loved this child fiercely.“Your life will be charmed,” she said, navigating through the headstones and weeping angels as well as she could. “I believe wonderful things happen to little girls named Montessa. You’re special.”Sweet tho
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWOMontessa awoke and moaned. Renan’s blows had been nearly unbearable this time. She blinked, but the room remained dark.“Decided to wake up?” The voice was soft, surprisingly so. The words were spoken intimately like a lover would, but she didn’t recognize the voice, except to say that it was strangely beautiful and foreign.The hood was yanked off her head, and Montessa blinked in the dim light that came from a small lamp. Even that light was too much.“I’m going to throw up,” she said. A shadow suddenly swooped close, holding a large, plastic bowl in front of her face. She retched, twice. Montessa realized the stranger was holding her hair back from her face. “Thank you,” she whispered when she was done. The bowl was emptied. The stranger mopped at her face with a damp baby wipe. She closed her eyes to keep out the light.“I don’t like filth. Don’t mistake this for tenderness.”That soft voice again.She nearly laughed. She felt her lips turn up despite herself.“
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREEThe meathead bouncer saw Montessa leave that night, but he didn’t see where she went. Assumed she walked home if she didn’t have a ride. She’d been walking home a lot lately.“What’s that supposed to mean?” Renan demanded. His voice was hot and dangerous, his eyes narrowed to slits. He took his aggression and turned it on high.“Nothing. It just means that she’s been walking home a lot lately. What’s with the attitude, man?”“You didn’t see nobody pick her up or nothin’?”“Not that I saw.”Renan ran his hand over his hair. “She’ll be so sorry for this.”“Cool it. She could be in trouble. This doesn’t seem like her.”Renan glared at the meathead. “And just how do you know anything about her, huh? Not supposed to talk to the girls, are you? Not supposed to talk to my girl.”The bouncer stepped forward. “Then maybe you should take care of your girl, huh? Keep an eye out for her.”“What was that?”“You heard me.”Renan left with his anger burning slow. Didn’t come
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOURIt seemed a shame to be so close to the sea and not to dabble in it just a little. There was nowhere Lu liked better. Sometimes he thought he’d been born of the sea, a Boy of Sorrows, and one day he’d simply walk back into the waves and disappear.“Fitting,” she said.“Why is that?”She stared at the ocean with a fierceness that belied her earlier good nature.He saw long canines, guillotines, and axes in her eyes.“You get rid of all of us, don’t you? In pieces and parts. How many are found? How long does it take? You have this life of secrecy. And in the end, you think you’ll just disappear and nobody will notice. It doesn’t happen like that.”“It happens exactly like that.”“It doesn’t. There’s always somebody who will miss you. Somebody who will know you’re gone. You think you can live on this Earth and not leave some kind of imprint?”Had he been the laughing type, he would have laughed at this, but it didn’t seem terribly funny. It just seemed terrible. “Who
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVEThis guy?” Lu said.“Renan.”“Yeah. Him. Why are you guys together, anyway? He’s obviously a complete tool.”Montessa stayed silent. This was where she was supposed to defend Renan. Tell her kidnapper she was in love, that he didn’t know her boyfriend, that he couldn’t make judgments on the wonderful man that she committed her life to.“Hey. Girl.”“I told you it’s Montessa. Why don’t you tell me your name?”“I don’t want to.”“It’s Lu.”“How did you know that?”She looked out of the window. He’d let her into the front of the cab, shackled her to the door handle again. It was dark. The seat was soft and comfortable and felt like luxury. She had told Lu as much. He said he was frightened that such small things made her happy. She must be awfully used to being miserable, he said, if such tiny things meant so much.“There’s a lot of energy to you, Lu. Built up under your skin. Behind your eyes. One day, you’re just going to explode.”She turned to him, studied his
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIXWanna take a walk?” Lu asked. He was tired of driving. His back ached, and his legs were cramped, and his head was full of cotton or bees or bloodlust. Sometimes it was difficult to tell which. Montessa hesitated. Lu tossed her a look. “What? I thought you’d be all over getting out and stretching your legs.”She swallowed hard. “Is this a killing sort of walk?”Lu frowned. He didn’t know why. He felt his lips curl and turn and stretch, felt his eyebrows furrow and his eyes spark. He was slightly offended. A killing sort of walk, indeed.“Nah, lady. It’s just a walk. A normal, everyday kind of walk.”“Call me Montessa,” she said, and stared out of the window again.He pulled over on the shoulder, next to a group of trees. Thick. Leafy. Perfect cover. Wonderfully remote-feeling. The type of place where, yes, he would gladly go on a killing walk. But that made his newly-beating heart heavy somehow.“I will kill you, you know. Just not now.”“I know.” Her voice, it had
Last Updated : 2021-09-06
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Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Connect with Crystal Lake Publishing
CONNECT WITH CRYSTAL LAKE PUBLISHINGWebsite(be sure to sign up for our newsletter)FacebookTwitterWith unmatched success since 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading indie publishers of Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense books with a Dark Fiction edge.Crystal Lake Publishing puts integrity, honor, and respect at the forefront of our operations.We strive for each book and outreach program that’s launched to not only entertain and touch or comment on issues that affect our readers, but also to strengthen and support the Dark Fiction field and its authors.Not only do we publish authors who are destined to be legends in the field (and as hardworking as us), but we also look for men and women who care about their readers and fellow human beings. We only publish the very best Dark Fiction and look forward to launching many new careers.We strive to know each and every one of our readers, while building personal relationships with our authors,
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Connect with the Author
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Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Biography
BIOGRAPHYMercedes M. Yardley is a dark fantasist who wears stilettos, red lipstick, and poisonous flowers in her hair. She is the author of the short story collection Beautiful Sorrows, the novellas Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love and Little Dead Red, and the novels Nameless: The Darkness Comes and Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy. She often speaks at conferences and teaches workshops on several subjects, including personal branding and how to write a novel in stolen moments. Mercedes lives and works in Sin City with her family and menagerie of Strange and Unusual Pets. You can reach her at www.abrokenlaptop.com.
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love The end?
THE END?Not if you dive into Mercedes’ other books:Nameless: The Darkness Comes—Luna Masterson sees demons. She has been dealing with the demonic all her life, so when her brother gets tangled up with a demon named Sparkles, ‘Luna the Lunatic’ rolls in on her motorcycle to save the day. Armed with the ability to harm demons, her scathing sarcasm, and a hefty chip on her shoulder, Luna gathers the most unusual of allies, teaming up with a green-eyed heroin addict and a snarky demon ‘of some import.’ After all, outcasts of a feather should stick together . . . even until the end.Little Dead Red—The Wolf is roaming the city, and he must be stopped. In this modern day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf takes to the city streets to capture his prey, but the hunter is close behind him. With Grim Marie on the prowl, the hunter becomes the hunted.Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy—Bryony Adams is destined to be murdered, but fortunately Fate has terrible
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTYBaby,” Lu said, and knelt beside her. Montessa’s father’s blood ran over his sneakers, but he didn’t care. “We have to go, baby. We can’t stay here.”“I thought he was such an animal.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. Wrapped her arms around them and put her head down, the gun still in her hand.“He was a monster. You did the right thing.”“He hurt me, Lu,” she cried, and rocked herself. Lu wrapped his arms around her, careful of the gun, careful of her wounded heart, careful of the pain and venom spilling from her eyes.“It’s over. You did it. You won. We won.”Years and years of misery. Of being tough. Of broken bones and dancing on swollen feet in front of men who looked at her like her father had always looked at her. And it was over. Over, with the tiniest of movements. Two short pulls on the trigger. A spasm in her pointer finger. That was it.“Come on, baby.” Lu pulled her to her feet. Ran his fingers through her hair and told her she was beautiful, th
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEENLu had a present to give his new bride. Something special and wonderful and deeply, deeply horrifying.“Wake up, darling.”She murmured and snuggled closer into his side. She had branches and weeds tangled into her hair like wedding flowers.“Montessa. Wake up. Today is a new day.”She yawned and stretched and sat up. Looked around with eyes still bleary from sleep. “Lu? Where . . . ah, I remember. We slept outside last night.”They had. Several yards back from the beach, across a small freeway, up in the tree line with a few scattered rental houses here and there.“Did you sleep sweet?” he asked.She popped her back, winced. “I slept sweet. How’s your shoulder?”“Stiff, but not bad. The salt water hurt like a dickens last night, but I think it helped.” He grinned, kissed the makeshift wedding band on her finger. “It really does heal everything.”Montessa stood up, and helped Lu to his feet. Brushed her hair out with her fingers and made a face.“I’m a mess,
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEENThey ditched the car and the body, cleaned themselves up as best they could, and rented a cheap room at a motel that looked the other way concerning most things. Drugs. Gunshot wounds. Blood.Montessa used tweezers to pull the shot out of Lu’s shoulder. Sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip like dew on a rose. She had never seen anything so lovely.“I’m sorry, baby,” she said and kissed him. Bit his lip. Cleaned and bandaged his shoulder with gauze and cheap bandages purchased from a gas station she didn’t burn to the ground.“No worries. Thanks for cleaning it.”“Of course.”“Think we should take off tomorrow? Or lay low?”Lu wrapped his good arm around her. “I think we should go to the sea. Once more. Then we can do whatever we want.”“Lulu, I feel like . . . ”“What? Time is short?”“Yes.”“It is. That’s why the sea is important. Will you go with me?”“Gladly.”She knew what he was asking, and it wasn’t just to go to the sea. It was Something Impor
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEENShe opened her eyes and moaned. Her body hurt. Felt broken. She turned and looked behind her. The gas station was in flames, the hottest of fireballs. Lu’s truck was burning as merrily as everything else.“Oh, Lu. What did I do?”She crawled to him, lying bloody and unmoving on the pavement. His shoulder was soaked with blood, and he had cuts on his beautiful face, but she ran her hands over his arms and legs.He seemed whole. He seemed unbroken.“Baby? Baby, wake up.” His eyelids fluttered, and then he was on his knees, trying to stand up. Montessa put a hand on his arm. “Stay still, baby.”“We need to get out of here.”“I’ll get us a car. Sit tight.” She stood up and ran to the road nearby. “Help!” Montessa screamed, waving her hands above her head. “Help me, please!”A small, white Honda stopped. A man leaned over, rolled the window down.“There’s a fire!” Montessa said, and pointed at the blazing gas station. “I just made it out, and my friend is hurt. Ca
Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEENThey drove until it was time to fuel the truck.“I’ll gas. How about you run in and grab some snacks?”“Sure thing, Lu.”She kissed him and hopped out. Touched the ground with the flat of her hands stretched.“I feel like I’m turning to stone, baby,” she said.Lu rolled his shoulders, popped his neck. “I know the feeling. Maybe we can get into town early, go on a walk or something tonight.”“Or a hunt?”Her reflection showed her eyes glittering with a new kind of light.It was beautiful.“That, too,” he answered, and his heart felt that now familiar piercing sensation. He knew it was love.She ran into the gas station. Cast a longing glimpse at the sodas and candy bars, but headed straight for the ladies room instead.Montessa finished up, washed her hands, and splashed cold water on her face. She studied herself in the mirror. No makeup. No stripper Ruby body glitter. No bruises or burns or bandages. Her face was a different sort of lovely. Eyes too large,
