Well, for any of you who stay connected to my Facebook page, you’ll learn I made a pretty big announcement yesterday. The real girl, Bethany Halle, was asked by Booktrope, now one of the leading book publishers in the industry, to head the Edge Imprint section of their company. I’ll give you more details later, but let’s just say I’m still celebrating. This will be a challenge, a lot of work, but I’m so excited to bring my concept and voice to an often misunderstood genre. You all know I write tirelessly about D/s and the various lifestyles. In being Managing Director of the line, I’ll be able to 
share with you other voices, those in the world of BDSM and dark thrillers. I will no doubt write for them as well and this morning as I sat thinking about writing a bio and developing the imprint line, a story flashed into my mind – a very intense thriller I’ve been thinking about for several years.
You know me – hard to relax when I have a story rumbling around in my big brain, so I penned a thousand words or so to take the ‘edge’ off. LOL. See what you think. I honestly hope my position will allow so many others to enjoy a side of passion, kink and yes gory bloodshed through the eyes of some fabulous authors. Tell me, what’s the edgiest you long to read?
THE HUNT
“Come here my pretty. We won’t hurt you. We simply want to eat you.”
Jamie heard the guttural laughs and hunkered down, crawling through the jungle of rocks and twigs. Thorns pricked her hands and knees, creating biting pain, yet she made no sound. One mistake, a single cry would mean her death. Tears slipped from her eyes as she honed in on the cackles and grunts around her. There had to be at least twenty of them, men and women thrown away from regular society, hungry for another taste. They were hell bent on hunting her down, stripping away her humanity as they made her their slave.
Shivers trickled down her spine as the wind licked at her cuts and scrapes. She looked up at the late afternoon sun, trying to figure out where the fucking cameras were. A laugh bubbling in her throat almost gave her away. The real monsters were the assholes producing the show.
Crack!
Fuck me. Fuck me. Jamie knew the sound well, had experienced the whip several times over the duration of her capture. Her entire body was covered in welts, bruises from where they’d flogged and bitten her breasts and ass 
multiple times, nearly skinning her alive. Even her pussy was raw, swollen from countless hours of torture. She shrank back into the darkness, hovering against the base of a tree. How had her life gotten to this point? Closing her eyes, she willed herself back to the life she’d led before the nightmare, one she’d loathed before. Now she wanted nothing more than to resume her day-to-day doldrums, happy to simply be free.
Freedom wasn’t a right any longer, but something fought for. The realization had turned society into a mad group of beasts salvaging the streets for food, sex and any form of entertainment. Dear God, what had they become?
Crack!
Anguish seared every nerve as she was jerked up from the ground. She opened her mouth and the scream was silent, horror stifling everything but the wretched ugliness of blinding pain. Her naked body was on display, her arm wrapped in a sea of leather.
He peered down, his grin one of hunger as well as need. “You’re a very bad girl.” He twisted the end of the bullwhip and tugged, dragging her away from the tree.
Jamie shuddered as she stared into his eyes, ones haunted by years of battle and bloodshed. “Please.”
“Please?” His laugh was deep, the sound floating into the darkness. “Please fuck you? Please beat you for running away? Please use you like the whore you are?”
A line of tears slipped down her muddied cheek. “I’ll be good.”
“Trust me, bitch, you will be.” Opening his hand, he reached down, cupping and squeezing her breast, his nails digging into her bloodied skin. “I’m going to make certain you never forget why you’re here. After all, you’re expendable.” He lowered his head, opening his mouth.
In the sliver of remaining sun his sharp incisors gleamed, a haunting reminder she was nothing but a slave. Forgive me father for I have sinned.
****
“What the hell?” Detective Casey Roberts, CJ to the team, glared at the vivid images crisscrossing the screen. She’d seen just about every form of horrific crime in her tenure with the Miami Police Department. Time in the Special Victims Unit had certainly changed during the course of the last ten years. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a woman nearly ripped apart, skin hanging from her damaged bones. For a few seconds she couldn’t stop thinking about what the girl’s life must have been like before being abused, beaten and treated like an animal.
“Her name is Jamie Simons. She is or was a respected obstetrician until she went missing almost four months ago.”
She looked up at her partner and shivered. Very little had ever shocked him, let alone altered the tenacious and commanding tone of his voice. Today, Drew Kendrick appeared as a haunted man, one ready to give up on humanity. “Was her disappearance reported?”
Drew nodded and walked away from the desk, rubbing his temples. “Yeah. Her
brother called it in four days after she didn’t make any of her scheduled appointments.”
“Four days? Four fucking days?” CJ snarled. “Are you kidding me? I guess no one cares about anything but themselves any longer.” Of course she knew exactly what he was going to say. In the years 2030, life was about staying alive, remaining sane. Evidently the majority of people were losing the battle.
“Yeah, unfortunately she wasn’t liked or well connected.”
“Connected?” Now she burst into laughter and folded her arms. “What does well connected mean any longer? The ability to have the finer things in life, perhaps build some money to retire?” She remembered her childhood fondly, laughter and time spent with family and friends. Life today was ugly, bleak.
Chuckling, Drew sat down on the edge of the desk. “Being connected to the right people means staying alive long enough to enjoy certain aspects of life.”
“Right.” She shook her head and glanced down at the information glowing on her iPad. The body had been found the night before by natural hunters, men merely looking for food. “The hunt?”
“I don’t know. They don’t usually throw away their remains, if you know what I mean.”
CJ bristled as she thought about the internationally ranked, award winning Internet production. The Hunt was nothing more than an excuse to slaughter the vilest of criminals under the guise of entertainment. No one had known what would be created in the raw and disturbing world of monsters.
I hope you enjoyed! Kisses and spanks…
Cassandre
Passion with a Dark and Dangerous Twist 