Bleeding the Vein — T.G. Arsenault

For Retired Navy Petty Officer, Eddie Townsend, falling in love with a beautiful Filipino stripper on his first tour of duty was a mistake he would always regret. Unable to resist her intoxicating temptations, Eddie blindly complied as she made him do ever-stranger things in exchange for sex, never knowing that his mysterious lover wasn't even human. That was, until that night when she did something so grotesque, so unthinkable, that he knew then that he had to kill her...Now a struggling alcoholic, Eddie lives a reclusive life in Shadow Creek, a small Maine fishing community. Fast Eddie they call him, and he is a joke to all in the quaint village.When a putrid stench fills the air as an unnatural fog rolls in, memories of his time in the Philippines claw their way to the surface and threaten his complete demise. Something wicked is preying on the sleepy fishing town of Shadow Creek; a grotesque creature of legend that feeds on the most innocent and helpless of the townsfolk.Masquerading behind the guise of beauty, it comes during the night and leaves despair, desperation, and death in its wake. When a little boy disappears, Eddie has a chance to end the source of his nightmares for good...