Excerpt: from Chapter Two
With a squeal of delight, Claire broke free of Tabitha’s hand and rushed forward toward Allison. Claire’s happiness reminded Vance of the real reason he had started coming to Comicon, and why he kept coming back.
Allison, a heavyset young woman of about thirty, with long dark hair well past her shoulders, had stopped in the exit space to shout hello to Vance’s family. When she saw Claire rush toward her, she bent forward and reached her hands out to greet her.
The warmth in Vance’s heart chilled as though doused with cold water, however, when the muscular clown at the door saw the rush of movement out in the corner of his eye.
Claire made a beeline straight for Allison, oblivious to anything else around her.
As the little girl ran toward the exit doors, the clown unfolded his arms, reached down, and stuck his hand out to block her path.
Claire bounced off his open palm and thick fingers and stepped back. She looked at him, and her eyes went wide, almost in terror.
“No entry here,” the clown said to her with a cold stare. “Go through the line.”
Vance instantly felt a white heat in his core, and he hurried forward, Tabitha right beside him. The hair on the back of his arms and his neck bristled, and it was clear in his mind that he was going to rip the clown’s arm off and beat him to death with it.
Fortunately, though they were only a few steps away, it was enough time for Vance to get control of his emotions. By the time he reached the clown, he merely intended to beat the clown unconscious.
