I was born in the ghetto of the British Common Wealth. Dwelt in trash, ate brown banana peels, and fought rats for plate scrapings. Rain was my only source of water. Thank God it rained daily. I learned to run before I could walk. That was how we lived, survive or die. Became a sailor I did and sailed the oceans. Then I lost me leg, and discovered the truth about them, those demons of the dark who dwell in the blackness. I killed to live, and now I live to kill.

The bright ball of fire in the sky brings me warmth and hope. Those who pursued me stay below and I stay here out in the open. They will not come out in the direct daylight, nor will they track me until nightfall. Then, they will come. Oh, they will come alright…I keep on fighting, because once bitten you change. And the change makes you one of them.

With staff in hand, I go.

With hope and fire in my heart, I fight,

With desire to live, I stand.

If you want to survive, hear this, listen and learn my friend, read the stories within these covers and you to will live to tell the tale of your own. If ye fail to read we shall never meet again. Once you are bitten, you are gone. My name is Nigel Drake, and my story is in there too. The Traveler I was, and now I’m the hunted.

Bitten … an anthology of Vampire and Werewolf stories by thirty outstanding authors … launching soon.