drained of its translucent red liquid , my legs let go . As I slid down the brick wall , every bump and scratch burned into my skin . I didn ’ t care anymore .
Brenda Stephens is a gothic and horror short fiction writer who is influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Anne Rice . By age 15 , she had written over 25 short stories , 2 plays , and 3 screenplays . After a freak car fire burned all her work , she lost her creative muse – and stopped writing . Over 28 years later , she ’ s back to writing short stories and a debut novel . Brenda holds an M . A . in English and Creative Writing with a focus in Screenwriting and teaches first-year composition at university . Learn more about her work by visiting
https :// brelstephens . weebly . com /.
Vampyre Paladin was printed in Issue 1 ( Fall 2019 ) and is still running .
Read Stephens ’ interview on the TDS blog : https :// darksiremag . wordpress . com / 2020 / 12 / 14 / the-creative-nookwith-brenda-stephens /
124