Are you ready for the final installment of THE DAMNATION OF DANI TRUEHART? For the past three years, I’ve given a Halloween twist on each of the books in my YA trilogy. Before I post the Halloween twist on the final book in the series next week, here are the first two installments of my spooky stories to refresh your memory.
Cursed Star
Dani’s overbearing stage-mom, Jodi comes across a necklace in antique shop in their neighborhood she’s never noticed before.
The shopkeeper at first refuses to sell it, hinting that it is more than just a necklace; it is too powerful and dangerous for him to part with. He ‘accidentally’ reveals it is an ancient talisman that allows the wearer to achieve their wildest dream, but that every dream has a cost.
Unfazed by the ominous foreshadowing, Jodi uses every trick she knows to persuade the elderly shopkeeper into selling her the necklace, convincing him she doesn’t believe his far-fetched tale and just wants a good luck gift for her daughter’s big audition. Handing over an ancient velvet box with the necklace tucked inside, the satisfied smirk of the devilish shopkeeper goes unnoticed by Jodi as she rushes out of the shop, blinded by her dreams of impending fortune.
Why would money-hungry Jodi ask for fame for her daughter rather than herself? Well, there’s always at least one gaping plot hole that never makes sense in every
After all in Poltergeist when Teague moved the headstones to build the Cuesta Verde neighborhood, we’re supposed to believe none of his construction guys ever unearthed any of the hundreds of bodies from the burial ground while excavating the foundations and basements for the houses. And no one in the entire development had thought to put in a pool before the Freelings? Not to mention that the psychic Tangina never heard a peep from the horde of restless spirits buried in the backyard before she declared “This house is clean”. Viewers around the world happily ignored these holes because the movie scared the beejeezus out of them so I’m sure this glaring gap in reality works for my story, too. Every good horror story has one, so I say this is mine.
Fast forward through the discovery of intricate instructions for a magical ritual that will lead the wearer of the necklace to their heart’s deepest desire conveniently concealed in the lining of the box, Jodi gifts the necklace to Dani the morning of her big audition making her promise to never take it off. The necklace transforms Dani’s voice into the mesmerizing call of a mythical Siren and she is instantly offered a record contract with legendary music producer, Jenner Redman.
With her recording contract secured, everything seems to be falling into place for Dani as famed song writers are dying (some literally) to write songs for her and her growing fan base would kill to be near her the moment they hear her sing. But when her vocal coach Martin Fox is suspicious about the changes in Dani’s voice and somehow connects it to the appearance of the cursed necklace Dani refuses to take off, tension between the long-time friends builds.
As Dani spends more time with Jenner in the studio locking down hits for her debut album, she pulls away from her friends and family who are upset at how much she has changed since she signed her music contract. Her physical appearance deteriorates the closer she comes to completing her first album.
Martin winds up in the hospital after trying to unclasp Dani’s necklace while she naps. Jodi warns him to stop investigating the necklace. Friends and family who question Dani’s unhealthy appearance and obsession with music mysteriously meet with similar freak accidents and near-death experiences.
Unable to relate to her loved ones and obsessed with finishing her album, Dani collapses after recording her final song. No doctor seems to be able to find a cure for her mysterious illness.
Worried that the wealth she dreamed of might die with her daughter, Jodi returns to the antique shop hoping to find a miraculous antidote only to find the shop appears never to have existed and no one remembers seeing it. Keeping vigil at Dani’s bedside, Jodi confesses what she has done to Jenner, burying her face in her hands as she cries.
“I told you the necklace was powerful. Your daughter must pay the price for her dreams. The Sirens demands it.”
Shocked, Jodi looks up and sees Jenner momentarily transformed into the ghastly grinning face of the shopkeeper, before he morphs back into his normal appearance Jenner reveals himself to be an ancient mariner whose fate was tied to the Sirens thousands of years ago when he survived a shipwreck caused by their hypnotic singing
He explains that the Sirens were water nymphs cursed by Demeter for failing to protect her abducted daughter. They were thought to have perished, but their spirits live on in the cursed necklace that once belonged to one of them.
Anyone who wears the necklace becomes a Siren, blessed with a voice of a goddess, but doomed to kill those who hear her song. Dani may pass the necklace on to someone new, releasing herself from the curse and dooming another. But she will die the instant she takes it off. The only way to break the curse forever is if the wearer refuses to kill anyone and accepts she will slowly waste away for refusing to honor the Siren’s thirst for blood the eons since the Sirens were cursed, no one chosen to end the curse.
A string of disappearances and dead bodies share the headlines with Dani as her fame becomes legendary. Will Martin recover in time to keep Dani from killing fans as she tours the world? Or will Dani’s thirst for blood strengthen as her fame grows, putting anyone who hears her cursed song at risk?
BURNING HUNGER
A bubbly, synthesized beat from the radio at nurses’ station drifts faintly down the hall, creating a robotic syncopated rhythm with the various machine’s monitoring Dani Truehart’s vitals. The staff has been playing the young teen’s hits nonstop in hopes of luring her out of her coma. The entire hospital is abuzz with excitement ever since the pop singer was admitted. She’s been languishing for weeks from an undiagnosed malady.
Jodi Truehart, Dani’s callous and grasping stage mom, has just learned that dramatic decline in her daughter’s health isn’t exhaustion from publicizing her record-breaking debut album or a sudden illness, but a cursed necklace she unwittingly gifted her daughter.
Dani’s talent manager Jenner Redman, has just revealed the horrifying reality threatening Dani: either she fulfills the evil obligations of the cursed necklace that has given her the voice of the Sirens by drinking the blood of those who hear her sing or break the curse by refusing to kill her listeners and slowly waste away in starvation.
Jenner’s eyes flash with greed as his manicured nails rapidly drum the handrail of Dani’s hospital bed. Only moments before his guise of humanity momentarily slipped from his face, revealing the gnarled and sinister countenance of an ancient mariner who had fallen prey to the Sirens’ cursed voices eons ago. Desperate to avoid death, the mariner took up the mantle of the guardian for the Sirens’ cursed spirits now residing in the necklace. As long as the necklace is intact, Jenner will roam the earth, in search of bloody tributes to appease the Sirens’ souls.
“Time’s wasting, Jodi,” his whisper is as dusty as any corpse, “Will you chose the life of a stranger over that of your own daughter?
A shiver xylophones down Jodi’s spine and her eyes flick to Dani. The riotous duet of machines and music slowly wind down in unison, as if Dani’s very life is ending as the song drifting down from the nurses’ station draws to a close. Jodi clutches her daughter’s icy hand and nods, refusing to meet Jenner’s eyes.
“Save her.”
“You’ve made the right choice.” Jenner pulls a small silver flask from his pocket, deftly spinning the top off with one hand. “Any mother would have done the same. Dani will thank you for it.”
Jodi watches in horror as Jenner reaches over and pulls Dani’s chin down with one long thumb, parting her pale lips. He tips the flask and a dark, viscous liquid pours into her mouth. Bile flames up Jodi’s throat and she gags, barely making the trash can before she’s sick. She turns back and catches Jenner wiping away a trickle of maroon, leaving a ghastly smear on her daughter’s ivory skin.
Color immediately blooms in Dani’s cheeks and the machines come to life, vigorously beeping and clanging as her heartbeat strengthens. The change is nothing short of miraculous; Dani’s skin glows unnaturally white, her hair now impossibly lustrous despite days of neglect and when her dark brown eyes flutter open, an eerie golden aura smolders like the cursed Aztec gold of Cortés. The cacophony of beeping machines reach a deafening crescendo as Jodi stares at Dani in amazement and horror.
The door bangs open. Jenner turns and quickly pockets his flask as doctors and nurses flood the room. Dani smiles as the horde of physicians examine the machines dumbfounded, bumping into each other in their scramble to check her pulse, her eyes and heart. Dani silently allows the doctors to poke and prod her, a look of mild surprise on her face.
“Amazing!”
“It’s a miracle!”
“She’s OK!”
A harried young doctor frantically move his stethoscope around Dani’s torso while the rest of medical staff cluck around her like a flock of hysterical chickens. “Quiet down, I can’t hear anything.” The doctor’s plea falls on deaf ears.
Jenner’s baritone voice cuts through the clamor. “Dani’s astounding recovery is no doubt a testament to the meticulous care she has received from all of you. ” The crowd settles at once, preening under his praise. All except the concerned young doctor. He ignores Jenner and yanks his stethoscope from his ears, reaching for Dani’s wrist.
Jenner flashes a wide smile as he towers over the crowd. Jodi cringes, reminded of a shark on the hunt. Watching Jenner talk, Dani mimics him and offers a benign smile to the room.
“I think the best place for Dani to recover is at home.”
The doctor taking Dani’s pulse shakes his head, his forehead puckers in confusion. “That’s impossible. I can’t seem to get a – “
Jenner moves forward, arms outstretched, subtly herding the crowd towards the door with his bulk. “Thank you all for your help. Let’s let the doctor finish Dani’s examination while you prepare her discharge papers. With all the reporters and fans running amok since Dani arrived, we’ve certainly disrupted the important work you’re doing here for far too long.”
The room falls silent as the last nurse shuffles out on orthopedic-clad feet and the heavy hospital door whispers shut. Jenner approaches the doctor, who’s face is now as pale as Dani’s was before she sipped from Jenner’s demonic flask.
The doctor drops Dani’s wrist as if it is contaminated, pumping hand sanitizer into his hand from the dispenser by her bed. Dani watches the doctor curiously.
“It doesn’t make sense.” He rubs the sanitizer into his hands vigorously. “She’s sitting up, smiling, …yet I cannot find any trace of a heartbeat. And there’s no sign of her actually breathing. Look.”
He fumbles in his white coat and draws out his phone, holding it under Dani’s nose. The screen, which should fog over as Dani exhales, remains clear. He puts his phone away and swallows. “Clinically, this patient is dead.”
A peal of musical laughter escapes Dani. The young doctor’s eyes glaze over, momentarily entranced by the sound. An eager smile creeps across Jenner’s face as Dani discovers her effect on the doctor.
She looks at Jenner quizzically and he nods. She answers slowly, enunciating every word.
“If I’m dead why do I feel so good? I feel as if I could sing for hours! Are you sure you’re using that thing right?”
Jodi stares, mouth agape. The voice Dani is using is not her daughter’s.
Dani reaches out a finger to lift the stethoscope hanging around the doctor’s neck. He flinches, stumbling into Jenner. Dani gives the doctor a warm smile.
“Am I really that scary?”
The same vacant expression washes over the doctor again. He sways on his feet as if in a trance which only seems to excite Dani more. She leans forward, staring into his eyes with mock innocence. “I’m just a kid.”
The doctor shakes his head, “I need to call the chief of neurology, schedule an MRI, maybe have you checked by a cardiologist. There has to be an explanation. I’m not making this up.”
Jenner folds his arms and watches amused as the doctor attempts to squeeze past him to leave. He eventually succeeds and scurries toward the door.
Jenner sighs. “Dani, I’m afraid the doctor won’t believe you’re truly cured until you show him. Why don’t you sing for him.”
Dani’s face lights up.
Jodi screams, run into the bathroom and slams the door. Her bizarre behavior startles the doctor and he pauses momentarily. The loud ventilator fan rumbles through the bathroom door along with Jodi’s screams. But before the doctor can pull open the door to leave, Dani closes her eyes and begins to sing.
Have you ever wondered what evil sounds like? Is it the haggard roar of a ravenous lion attacking a baby gazelle? Perhaps it’s the mechanical volley of bullets that pierce an innocent heart on a quiet suburban street? Maybe it’s the subtle hissing of a snake tempting the innocent in a far off garden-paradise? Or is it a sound so entrancingly pure and exquisite that the enraptured listener is rendered utterly incapable of perceiving their soul is being stolen?
The young doctor crumples to the ground into a slack heap of blood and clothes.
“That’s fine, Dani.”
Jenner dips his flask into the puddle of gore, then holds it out to Dani. She blanches momentarily, traces of her old humanity balking at the vile libation. But her golden eyes gleam ravenously and she lunges for it, slaking her thirst. She cries for more when the flask is empty.
Jenner crosses the room and bangs on the bathroom door. “It’s over, Jodi.”
The knob rattles and the door cracks open. Jodi pokes her head out, peering around the room with her fingers stuffed into her ears. A guttural moan escapes when she spies the grisly remains and she tries into retreat to the bathroom. Jenner punches the door open with his massive hand and wrenches Jodi into the room, pulling her fingers out of her ears.
“Feast your eyes on your daughter, Jodi! She wouldn’t who she is today without you.”
Jodi recoils as Dani sucks the last drops of blood from the rim of the flask. When it’s licked clean, she tosses it aside and leaps off the bed, onto the doctor’s remains. She slurps greedily, devouring the doctor’s cooling blood.
Jenner grimaces.
“The first feeding is always so messy. But be patient. Soon she’ll be eating neatly and using a napkin like any maturing child. The Sirens haven’t fed for a long time and their thirst is great.”
Jenner steps in front of Jodi, blocking Dani from view. “Get her cleaned up and dressed. We need to leave before they discover the doctor.”
Jodi stands uncomprehendingly.
“Now!”
Jodi jumps into action, pulling Dani’s clothes out of the closet. Jenner tries to lead Dani from the bloody mess on the floor, but she snaps and snarls at him. He chuckles as if humoring an ill-tempered child and patiently pulls her away. He guides her to the bathroom, and pushes Jodi in after her. “I’ll distract the staff. Be quick.” He shuts the door.
Jodi stares at her daughter, blood dripping down her face and hospital gown. Dani looks her mom calmly, serene and sleepy as a cat after eating a very large fish. After a few seconds of silence, Jenner bangs on the door. “We haven’t got all day, Jodi.”
With shaking hands Jodi turns on the tap, dampens a wash cloth and reaches for Dani. A goading smile spreads across her daughter’s face.
“Is this what you dreamed fame would be like?” She scoffs, licking a dark red globule stuck to the corner of her mouth. Jodi closes her eyes and scrub Dani’s face, the cloth turning darker with every wipe.
Dani is pliant and slow, her Siren’s body adjusting to the massive intake of “food” after years of deprivation. Eventually she’s clean and dressed. Jodi opens the door, eager to leave the confined space.
Jenner shoulders Dani’s bag and waves the discharge papers. “We’re all set. There’s a car waiting in the alley.” He pats a wheel chair on his right. “Hospital policy.”
As Dani sits down, Jodi gathers her nerve and heads for the door, keeping an eye on the bloody mass still splayed on the floor. Jenner clears his throat.
“Not so fast, Mama Bear. Somebody has to make sure no one discovers what happened to the good doctor. Since I’ll be wheeling Dani downstairs, looks like you’re on cleanup duty. But you’re a mom, so I’m sure picking up after your kid is something you know all about.”
Jodi’s eyes bulge, “You can’t be serious! That’s a dead body. What am I supposed to do with it?
Jenner shrugs, “You’re a resourceful gal. After all you’ve gotten your daughter this far, haven’t you? If you’re looking for ideas, you can always try Martin. He’s just a few doors down, still trying to recover from his attempt to take the necklace off Dani a few weeks ago. I’m sure he’s dying to help you.”
He chuckles and drops a blanket over the body before opening the door and wheeling Dani out. He pauses, “Charter to London leaves at six tonight. Don’t miss it. Dani’s going to need someone to pick up after her as she tours Europe. I think you’d be perfect for the job.”
Panic sends Jodi’s heart into overdrive, but a glimmer of hope emerges. If he would just leave I could run away, escape, forget the horror I brought to my daughter…
Jenner meets her eye. “If you don’t show up, or maybe you’re thinking of telling the police? I think one phone call from Dani to Geena or maybe Don would make you understand just how important it is for you to be with her on tour. She’s depending on you.”
The wisp of hope evaporates and a suffocating resignation sets in.
“See you at six, Ma!” Dani calls as Jenner wheels her down the hallway. Jodi spies a forgotten laundry cart across the hall. Making sure the staff is absorbed in their celebrations at the nurses’ station, she quickly pushes it into the room.
***
Dani’s vocal coach, Martin, was the first one to suspect that the change in Dani had to do with the necklace; he’s been in in a coma ever since. Forced to carry the burden of Dani’s curse alone, Jodi becomes an expert in the disposal of bodies, creating plausible accidents out of bloody murder scenes and adopting a cloak of anonymity so no one remembers seeing her when they’re questioned by the police. With every horrific death she must cover up, shame and disgust burn away her former desire for fame and fortune. Jodi remains ever vigilant for a solution to her daughter’s eternal damnation. She prays relentlessly for Martin to wake up so he can help her.
Dani’sconcert tour, blazes across Europe. Her concerts are sold out in every city, her frenzied fans fueling record sales forcing Jenner to add more dates to the tour schedule. But what she’s become most famous for are her intimate concerts, at times only one or two fans are admitted. Tickets for these exclusive performances can only be won by lottery; the lucky winners are never announced and can only attend the show if they do not tell anyone they’re going. The concerts become the stuff of super-fan legend, cloaked in mystery because no one ever hears from the lucky winners before or after their private concerts.
The genius of the Sirens’ curse is that it allows Dani to select her victims by staring at them as she sings. So while an entire stadium might be listening to her song, only one or two fall victim each show. Who wouldn’t collapse in ecstasy if their favorite performer were singing directly into their eyes? Reporters have noted the high number of fainting fans at each show, but what they fail to notice, thanks to Jenner’s sleight of hand, is the blood pouring from the victims eyes, ears and mouth because they are covered up by thick black blankets as soon as they fall, and are whisked away for ‘medical attention’.
The tour stretches on for months, a seemingly endless number of fans clamoring to hear Dani’s mesmerizing songs. The Sirens’ thirst for blood increases every day, often leaving Dani writhing in unspeakable agony until their burning hunger is appeased. Jenner pressures his young protégé to perform relentlessly, urging her to keep the tour moving to avoid any connection to the increasing body count at every stop.
Despite all the money she could possible want, the adoration of an entire planet and an endless supply of fresh blood to satisfy the fiery appetite that ever-pulses just below her skin, at certain quiet moments, the Sirens’ minion wonders if there is an escape to the endless cycle of death and feeding.
Can Dani Truehart break the Sirens’ curse?
You’ll have to find out next week…
Happy Halloween🎃