Kevin McLaughlin

Chapter 17 - Death Hug

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were in ‘guard mode,’ so they started moving even before I ordered them. That was a good thing, because this snake was fast! It closed the gap between us more quickly than I could easily react, and its fangs sank into my calf. I let out a shout—the pain was intense. The snake’s head was almost as big as my own, and seeing those fangs pun...

Chapter 16 - Bad to Worse

I woke up to sunlight streaming through the big windows in the front of the building. I’d managed some solid sleep, thank god. I’d been exhausted after the running, fighting, and everything else that had made up my day. Waking up on the hard floor of the security office with only my lab coat as a pillow wasn’t ideal. But given everything I’d just been through, it was better than ...

Chapter 15 - Real Power

Someone had relit the candle, now that the danger was past, but folks had learned—two women were hanging heavy drapes over the front windows to make sure the light didn’t leak outside.

“Hey, Kat’s awake,” Alfred called out. He knelt on the floor beside her.

I wended my way over. She was indeed awake, although she still looked dazed. I joined Alfred in kneeling at he...

Chapter 14 - A Lot Of Trouble

“Candle!” I hissed.

Lords swore softly, then quickly put out the nearer one. Someone in the back of the room blew out the other, dropping the room into utter darkness for everyone except me. Far toward the rear of the room, someone whimpered in distress.

The response time putting out the lights was good, but I was pretty sure the goblins had seen something, because they w...

Chapter 13 - Calm Moment

The surgery totally sucked.

I’d always looked forward to my first chance to help in a surgery. I envisioned myself standing there beside some expert physician, handing him the tools of the trade and helping with some part of the procedure or another. In my imagination the scene was always sterile, cold, and calm.

The reality of saving Kat was nothing like that. She remained...

Chapter 12 - Complete Control

I marched straight toward the men, my pair of zombies not far behind me. Kat needed help, and she needed it now. These people were not going to stand in the way, not if I had anything to say about it.

“What the hell is going on here?” I called out as I approached.

“Who are you?” one of the men called out.

I was almost beside Alfred now, and I h...

Chapter 11 - On Our Own

There was no time to screw around. Alfred was strong, but the only way we’d outrun these things would be a flat-out sprint, and I didn’t think he could handle that while carrying Kat. I whirled back toward the others and shouted, “Alfred! Go! I’ll hold them off. Get to the security office.”

He snapped me a nod, hefted Kat more firmly in his arms, and set off at a jog acro...

Chapter 10 - Colder

I was moving in an instant, axe lining up to smack the monster away from her. My gut was cold with the horrible feeling that I was already too late; each time Kat’s heart beat, it was pumping more of the spider venom deeper into her body. But I had to try. Kat fell over screaming as I approached. She kicked at the spider with her free leg, but it wasn’t letting go

I sliced my a...

Chapter 9 - What About The Cooks?

The three biggest spiders I’d ever seen scuttled forward from the shadows. They made a bee-line for us. I had a sneaking suspicion those cocoons in the corner were the kitchen staff, and those spiders were aiming to add us to their collection. Not my kink.

“Run!” I shouted, rushing toward the door while I passed the mental command for my zombies to cover us.

Chapter 8 - Too Many Legs

We were out of time. I shouldered my bag and gave the mental command for the zombies to move out into the hallway. Nothing attacked them, so we were still clear for the moment, at least. The zombies coming this way were still a few minutes out. They weren’t coming at us too fast, so there was still time to make a getaway, but not a lot of it.

I glanced back at Kat, who was still ...

Chapter 7 - Splitting The Party

There was zero time to waste, so I set off across the quad toward our dorm building. It was only a couple hundred meters off, so my hope was we could get there without attracting any more monster attention. I kept a sharp lookout as we moved, using my zombies as a screen ahead of us to intercept anything nasty that we did run into.

“Thinking the dorm is the best bet...

Chapter 6 - And My Axe!

Like the shriek was a signal, next thing I knew there were a half dozen of the things rounding the corner, rushing at Carver. His zombies set themselves up to block the attack, and they more or less succeeded. The creatures coming at us were strange. They only stood about three feet tall, with skin the color of green jell-o and small knives in their hands. They were wearing scraps of clo...

Chapter 5 - Crystal Clear

I reached down and tapped the fallen zombie on the forehead. A new crystal instantly appeared, but it wasn't black like the others had been. Instead, this one was clear. I picked it up, wondering what it would do. Was it a different kind of crystal? Maybe a different sort of spell?

As expected, the thing sank into my hand, feeding me a new burst of memories. It wasn't a spell this ...

Chapter 4 - Here They Come

I headed over toward Dr. Carver, my zombies in tow. They were docile, but I wasn’t sure what would happen if one of the other students panicked and attacked them. Would they stand there and be beaten apart, or fight back? Either answer wasn’t good, so I kept them close. Carver was doing the same as he went toward one of the large windows to peer outside.

Alfred stood there sobb...

Chapter 3 - Zombies, I think?

Rosencrantz grappled with Zombie Stevens, the two more or less matched, which made sense. Stevens kept trying to lunge past Rosencrantz, but couldn’t, not with my zombie’s arms locked down on him. Pinning Stevens in place was enough to keep me safe, but I was going to have to do something more permanent if I wanted to end the threat for good.

Could I do that? I looked down at t...

Chapter 2 - Rosencrantz, get him!

Yeah, that officially locked down first place as the ‘weirdest thing I'd ever seen.’ Mercutio was now sitting upright, making growling noises as he dug his chompers deeper into poor Karen's neck. His skin hadn't changed; he still looked about the same as he had before all this happened: naked, pale, and very dead. But for whatever reason, our med school project had turned into a genu...

Chapter 1 - Gross Human Anatomy

Do you remember where you were, the day the Earth stood still? The day everything went boom, the old order came crashing down, and everything old was new? The day when magic returned, and all the fancy toys we’d built for ourselves stopped working?

Of course you do. Everyone who was alive that day remembers it. Probably right down to the moment, right? I’ve heard a thousand of ...

Accidental Necromancer

We're back with a new, fun blend of magic, mayhem, and fun! Welcome to the initial installments of Accidental Necromancer, and thanks for joining us! Here, you'll get new chapters five days a week, with free chapters posted every Monday through Friday.

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