This is Jason Willingham, a self-made millionaire and innovator in the field of digital technology. He’s also the second husband of Zetta Southerland, Dr. Nekros’ ex-wife. He and Zetta married eleven years ago when he didn’t have a penny to his name.
Ever the understanding husband, Jason is happy to help his wife try to save Dr. Nekros from impending disaster with the demon Xaphan.
Jason is featured in the latest Dr. Nekros serial entitled Dr. Nekros: Phantasms and Chicanery.
This is a pretty basic pencil sketch I made of Zetta Southerland, Dr. Nekros’ ex-wife from Dr. Nekros: The Tragedian. I really need to draw characters that I know I’m committing a great deal of time to because it makes them stand out more in my imagination and become more realistic.
Zetta is a very important character in the ongoing serial featuring she and Dr. Nekros. Their story will unfold over three volumes with six episodes per volume. The first episode has been released and it’s entitled Dr. Nekros: The Tragedian (Volume I, Episode I).
The second episode will come out soon. It focuses on Zetta and is called Dr. Nekros: Phantasms and Chicanery.
This is a simple pencil drawing I did in 2008 of Dr. Nekros as I wrote Dr. Nekros: The Tragedian. As you’ve probably noticed, it helps me quite a bit to draw my characters so that I can better envision them within my mind. It makes them real … to me.
Don’t forget, Dr. Nekros will be a recurring character in an eighteen-part series. If you want to get in on the ground floor, read the first episode, Dr. Nekros: The Tragedian (1 of 18). It’s hard to believe it’s all drawing to an end.
For better or for worse, without Crispin Vadenburgh, Mardella Webb, and George Vadenburgh, there would be no Dr. Nekros. The brothers and the enchantress tormented each other over the span of decades, and all three no longer exist as they did in 1923, yet their final fates have never been revealed … until now. Their story is full of revenge, sacrifice, tragedy, and, in the end, love.
I do hope you’ll give the latest installment of the Dr. Nekros saga a read. Only four episodes left until the story’s end!
Click on the image to read your copy for only $00.99.
[per·i·pe·te·ia n. A sudden change of events or reversal of circumstances, especially in a literary work.]
In this final installment of the second volume, Dr. Nekros and his ex-wife, Zetta Southerland, must face the demon Xaphan once again in order to rescue Zetta’s youngest child, Matty. The last time they fought against the fiend, they both nearly died. Will they fare any better this time?
Expect old faces to return, new grudges to emerge, and an ending you could never predict as the stage is set for the third and final volume.
This ninety-nine cent story is exclusive to the Kindle, and you can read it here!
The year is 1939, and Anton Hall wants nothing more than to provide for his mother, father, and girlfriend. So when Mr. Dove offers Anton work, he jumps at the opportunity, even though the job defies his sense of morality. Before long Anton’s loyalties are divided thanks to a 1936 Packard, and he must make the hardest decision of his life … one that will very likely result in death.
Look for the latest installment of Dr. Nekros on your Kindle soon!
This is it! In this final episode of Dr. Nekros: Volume I, the good
doctor and his ex-wife, Zetta, finally come face to face with the
monster Xaphan in Zetta’s own home! For months, Zetta’s mission has
been to save Dr. Nekros from the red fiend, but now that her husband,
Jason, and her two boys are in danger as well, Zetta must make a
difficult choice. Be warned – this is an abhorrent culmination, no one
is safe, and blood will be spilled.
Follow the link to check it out:
Remember, this series is exclusive to the Amazon Kindle, but if you
don’t have a Kindle, you can still read it on a Kindle App. Each
episode is only $00.99!
Dr. Nekros: Volume II begins in late March!
Sincerely,
Scott
This is it! At last, Dr. Nekros has Xaphan in his sights and the ghost
hunter is ready to exact his revenge, and it’s all thanks to Zetta’s
husband! But when Zetta admits that she knows nothing about Jason’s
information, Dr. Nekros grows suspicious. Is this yet another trick by
Xaphan, and if so, are all of them – including Zetta’s husband and
sons – being led to slaughter? Find out in the second-to-last episode
of Volume I entitled “A Nightmare Realized.”
Just click the link to download Episode V to your Kindle for $00.99!
The latest installment of my Dr. Nekros series has just been released exclusively to the Amazon Kindle.
Dr. Nekros meets a beautiful stranger in the middle of nowhere after she saves his life, but he never could have guessed her connection to the Packard, nor her insatiable thirst for blood. Find out how the 1936 Packard came to be haunted in “Dr. Nekros: Bloodied Pistons!”
And, as an added bonus, I’m holding a contest to celebrate this release. Here are the guidelines:
I can’t wait to hear from you, and enjoy “Dr. Nekros: Bloodied Pistons!”
Dear Friends
The second episode of my Dr. Nekros serial is live, and it is entitled “Phantasms and Chicanery.” If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d like to offer you this sampler of the first fourth of the story. In it, three months have passed since “The Tragedian.” Though Zetta has not heard from her ex-husband, Dr. Nekros, the recurring nightmare continues that she and her husband, Jason, believe foretells Dr. Nekros’ death by the demon Xaphan. They desperately want to save the charlatan from such a horrid fate, but he’s not making it easy. When Dr. Nekros finally calls upon Zetta for assistance with what he claims to be an authentic haunting, she and Jason seize the opportunity. Unfortunately, things go awry when Zetta awakens in Dr. Nekros’ arms after an all-night ghost watch and devastating truths are revealed that may prove too much for her to bear.
Sound interesting? Then give the first fourth a read, and if you like it, follow the link to read the whole story on your Amazon Kindle!
The heat seared her to the core, yet she could not turn and run. Micah needed help, and she would die before she’d willingly let any harm come to him again.
She saw the demon Xaphan clutching Micah by his head with a clawed, gargantuan hand. The monster flung her ex-husband’s body to and fro as a dog whips a rat. Xaphan grinned at her, revealing a set of horrid fangs; his gorged, animalistic eyes gleamed in the surrounding flames; his naked, red skin glistened from the torrid blaze. He had two massive horns erupting from his forehead, bisected by a towering, jagged mohawk. Intricate rings perforated his pointed ears, and a beard hung from his chin all the way down to his chest.
Besides an otherworldly loincloth, he wore nothing but short, course black hair over his chiseled, scarlet body, and that’s when she realized he had horns exploding from his shoulders, elbows, knees, and heels as well.
Only Hell could conceive such an entity.
Xaphan must have been huge, for Micah, anything but a small man, looked almost childlike in the monster’s grasp. In fact, Xaphan’s four-fingered hands were so large that, had she not recognized the back of Micah’s pea coat, it could have been anyone in the brute’s grip. However, even if the pea coat had not revealed the identity of the demon’s prey, she still would have known it was Micah, for she heard his deep voice screaming, “No! No! Don’t do this! You devil; don’t do this!”
As the flames grew ever higher and hotter, Xaphan finally finished thrashing Micah about. The red demon held Micah directly out, at arm’s length, and as the ghost hunter pleaded for Xaphan to stop, the savage slashed his throat with a bloodstained talon.
Strangely, Micah’s screams intensified, and they were now coupled with Zetta’s own muffled cries of terror as she witnessed blood splatter across the room, hit her in the face, and blur her vision. She wiped at her eyes madly before she saw Xaphan hurl Micah’s limp body through a sliding glass door that Zetta knew to be the one in her own living room.
Xaphan looked directly at her, smirked, and then howled with laughter, drowning out her shrieks.
“Zetta! Wake up! Wake up, Zetta!”
She shot up from her sweaty pillow. Perspiration soaked her shirt and boxers; her hair, having come loose, was stamped to her wet forehead and cheeks. She could still hear Xaphan’s laughter even as she looked into her husband’s eyes.
The moonlight illuminated their bedroom like a candle inside a womb, and she could see Jason’s every feature perfectly. His face wore an expression of utter concern.
“Was it The Dream?” he whispered carefully so as not to wake the children. It seemed a miracle that his wife’s wails hadn’t already done just that.
She rested her head in her palm with her knees drawn up to her chest before replying, “Yes … it was The Dream.”
Jason began rubbing her back and asked, “Any different?”
“No,” she answered. “Exactly the same as always.”
“It’s becoming more regular.”
She sighed, “I know.”
“Do you think the increased frequency means anything … important?”
Zetta lifted her head, looked at her husband, and said, “I hope not.”
“We have to get in touch with him, Zetta.”
Sighing, Zetta replied, “I’ve been trying, Jason. I leave comments on his blog all the time.”
“He never replies?”
“Only once. He told me he tossed my cell phone ten minutes after I gave it to him.”
Jason huffed, “He’s not making this easy, is he?”
“He’s a stubborn jackass. Always has been.”
“Have you tried telling him specifically why you want to tag along? Maybe he’d be more receptive if he thought this wasn’t merely business legitimization.”
Zetta answered, “No, that would only fire him up. He’s trying to find the demon … or whatever … remember? Besides, his business isn’t legitimate. I found that out with the Hords’ case. He’s a cheap con artist.”
Using a steady voice, Jason said, “Even so, we can’t let him die; not if we can help it. This isn’t something the police can handle. They wouldn’t even take it seriously in all likelihood. It’s up to us.”
Propping her head against his lightly haired chest, Zetta said, “You’re such a good man, Jason. Between my ex-husband and a supposed demon … well, most husbands would never be this understanding.”
Jason kissed the top of her scalp and smiled. “I’m not like other husbands.”
Zetta pulled Jason closer, and, because the two of them had a few hours before the children would wake, they made the most of their solitude.
Zetta sat at the desk in her home office, reviewing the notes on a potential client, when she heard a phone ringing from the depths of some unknown pit.
She exploded to her feet and dashed to the adjoining kitchen where she threw open the “junk drawer.” Long ago resolving this phone in particular would never be used, she had cast it away to no-man’s land. She’d bought the renounced phone for one reason and one reason only, and now it seemed its purpose would be fulfilled at long last.
She yanked it out, opened it, and hit the green button. But it was too late. Voice mail had taken over.
Waiting half a minute, she realized there would be no voice mail, and so she slammed the phone down and screamed in agitation.
The phone rang anew.
She hit the green button again and yelled, “Micah!”
“What?” a surly voice returned. “You tell me to call then don’t even answer your phone? I’m getting mixed signals here. I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”
“It’s been over three months, Micah—”
“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s Dr. Nekros.”
“Whatever. Besides, you told me—when you graced me with a lone response—that you threw the phone away.”
She heard Dr. Nekros clear his throat before he said, “Oh. That. I actually wrote the number down on a napkin before I gave it away. You know … just in case.”
Zetta would have loved nothing more than to further embarrass him with that information, but she had to remind herself that she was trying to save this man unwilling to save himself.
They remained silent for several moments before Dr. Nekros admitted, “Listen. I need a little help.”
Again, his humility gave her endless pleasure, but she fought against taking advantage. She simply asked, “With what?”
“I’ve got a case.”
“Like the Hords?” she asked.
He laughed, but only a little. Not an embarrassed laugh, but a genuine one. “No, nothing like that. This one is real.”
“How real?”
“Real enough that I need all that fancy equipment you offered. Specifically, the client wants visual proof of his haunting. I could give it to him if only I had something to record it with. That’s where you and your husband’s gadgets come into play.”
Realizing this was her opening, Zetta couldn’t afford to let it pass. “I’ll have to clear my schedule for the next few days, but then I’ll be on my way. Tell me where to go.”
“I’d love to, but first let me give you directions.”
To read the rest of the story, follow this link:
Sincerely,
Scott
SCOTT WILLIAM FOLEY 