this 40 pages 40 ride has been really fun for me. Selecting which books to post, having to restrict myself to only one page (frequently I end up reading the whole chapter) and finding images... I almost forgot that I am in fact 40 now.
Anyway, following the last posts - seduction, power, blasé people, here goes another vamp. One can never have enough vamps, right?
My fave Sookie:
Dead to the World
A Sookie Stackhouse novel
Southern Vampire mysteries, book 4
Charlaine Harris
page 40
page 40
"The house was still locked. I picked out the right key from the ones on my ring, and we went inside. I didn't have the feeling of homecoming when I entered, the feeling I used to have as a kid. I'd lived in Gran's house so much longer than this little place. The minute Jason had turned twenty, he'd moved over here full-time, and though I'd dropped in, I'd probably spent less than twenty-four hours total in this house in the last eight years.
Glancing around me, I realized that my brother really hadn't hanged the house much in all that time. It was a small ranch-style house with small rooms, but of course it was a lot younger than Gran's
house—my house—and a lot more heating- and cooling-efficient.
My father had done most of the work on it, and he was a good builder.
The small living room was still filled with the maple furniture my mother had picked out at the discount furniture store, and its upholstery (cream with green and blue flowers that had never been seen in nature) was still bright, more's the pity. It had taken me a few years to realize that my mother, while a clever woman in some respects, had had no taste whatsoever. Jason had never come to that realization. He'd replaced the curtains when they frayed and faded, and he'd gotten a new rug to cover the most worn spots on the ancient blue carpet. The appliances were all new, and he'd worked hard on updating the bathroom. But my parents, if they could have entered their home, would have felt quite comfortable.
It was a shock to realize they'd been dead for nearly twenty years.
While I stood close to the doorway, praying I wouldn't see bloodstains, Alcee Beck prowled through the house, which certainly seemed orderly. After a second's indecision, I decided to follow him. There wasn't much to see; like I say, it's a small house. Three bedrooms (two of them quite cramped), the living room, a kitchen, one bathroom, a fair-sized family room, and a small dining room: a house that could be duplicated any number of times in any town in America.
The house was quite tidy. Jason had never lived like a pig, though sometimes he acted like one. Even the king-size bed that almost filled the biggest bedroom was more-or-less pulled straight, though I could see the sheets were black and shiny. They were supposed to look like silk, but I was sure they were some artificial blend. Too slithery for me; I liked percale.
"No evidence of any struggle," the detective pointed out.
"While I'm here, I'm just going to get something," I told him, going over to the gun cabinet that had been my dad's. It was locked, so I checked my key ring again. Yes, I had a key for that, too, and I
remembered some long story Jason had told me about why I needed one—in case he was out hunting and he needed another rifle, or something. As if I'd drop everything and run to fetch another rifle for him!
Well, I might, if I wasn't due at work, or something.
All Jason's rifles, and my father's, were in the gun cabinet—all the requisite ammunition, too.
"All present?" The detective was shifting around impatiently in the doorway to the dining room.
"Yes. I'm just going to take one of them home with me."
"You expecting trouble at your place?" Beck looked interested for the first time.
"If Jason is gone, who knows what it means?" I said, hoping that was ambiguous enough. Beck had avery low opinion of my intelligence, anyway, despite the fact that he feared me. Jason had said he would bring me the shotgun, and I knew I would feel the better for having it. So I got out the Benelli and found its shells. Jason had very carefully taught me how to load and fire the shotgun, which was his pride and joy. There were two different boxes of shells."
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I almost cheated and found a certain shower scene to post a bit of a sweet Eric...
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| Oh my... After this I may need some time to... freshen up. |
Disclaimer: 40 pages 40 is my way to come to terms with celebrate my 40th birthday. By promoting 40 awesome books I like in no way I intend to dupe the original authors. If you, as me, like what you read, buy them!
All 40 books can be found on the right side bar. ►
All images found on Google. Kudos to the original poster.
