In the mid western edges of the Canadian Rockies, there is a town most maps mark but few mouths dare to name aloud. They call it Eerie, British Columbia, though those who live there have learned not to say the word after dark. It stains the tongue. It carries weight.
And it never lets go.
If you are reading this, you have already stepped too close.
I warned myself once, too. I thought it was only folklore, the rambling of an old woman tethered to her last breaths.
Dolores Balcom. She lived more than a century, and yet the final thing she gave this world was not wisdom or comfort but a confession. She whispered of Abaddon's bats, creatures no light has touched, wings that blacken the sky, a hunger born beneath the mountains.
Folks laughed at her.
I laughed too once.
But laughter does not silence the darkness that surrounds Eerie.
The caves below Eerie are older than stone, older than the blood in your veins. Miners heard them first: wings beating against the black, claws scraping the rock, the echo of screams that did not belong to them. They sealed the tunnels, but the earth does not hold forever. What waits inside does not rot.
It waits... patiently
It listens... endlessly.
Dolores knew this, and with her last breath she left the burden in her daughter's hands. Carla never wanted it. No one would. But secrets like these do not vanish. They grow restless. They demand witnesses. And now you, unfortunate reader, have heard it too. You can close this book, put it back on the shelf, bury it beneath your bed, but Eerie already knows your name.
The wings will find you in the dark.
This is the extended version, of this story
I hope that you enjoy it.
Aryn Bats is a Canadian author of horror, psychological thrillers, serial killer crime fiction, dark gothic fantasy epics, and relentless suspense. A self-publishing indie writer through Draft2Digital and Kindle Direct Publishing, Aryn began releasing work publicly at age 48, though the passion for storytelling started at sixteen. After decades working in the trades, a severe back injury and long recovery shifted the course of his life. When the depression lifted following successful spine surgery, the urge to write returned stronger than ever.
Bats dusted off an old manuscript written as a teenager, expanded it into a full saga, and has not stopped since. Known for twisted serial-killer crime sagas like Grey Kong, Bah Bah Blacksheep, and Cry Little Sister, as well as Dark Fantasy Epics such as Brackengloom, also atmospheric stand-alone horrors such as The Coroner's Daughter, 1313, Marlowe's Grin.
Bats blends psychological depth with dark, immersive storytelling.
Readers who enjoy the unsettling tension of Stephen King, the psychological sharpness of Gillian Flynn, or the stylized darkness of shows like Hannibal, Dexter and Mindhunter will find a familiar chill in Aryn's work.
Bats has published over 30 novels to date and has more than 30 new stories in development... proof that sometimes a second chance at life ignites a fiercer voice than the first.
