Y9: Jo

Title: JO
Genre: New Adult Sci-fi/Horror
Word Count: 74,000

Jo was once a lovely girl, but now she’s a partially-embalmed monster, mutilated by an anarchist organization with delusions of grandeur. Self-preservation turns to self-sacrifice when Jo’s friends and parents become the group’s next targets.


I’m dead.

Almost.

I thought you should know that right away, because this story isn’t going to end well. At least not for me. I know that now. So whatever you do, don’t fall in love with me. I’ve hurt the ones I love, the ones who love me, and for that I’ll never forgive myself.

It’s not like I have much longer now, though. So at least I won’t be filled with self-loathing forever.

I’m sitting in my dorm room. My mother’s asleep on the bed, snoring lightly, a sound that reminds me of my childhood. Sometimes, when I was very small, we’d have “sleepovers” in my bedroom, pretending we were girlfriends instead of mother and daughter. We’d paint our nails and eat ice cream and giggle for hours. Sometimes even my father would come in to laugh with us.

Then, she’d sleep on the bottom bunk and I’d sleep on top, and she’d snore like she’s snoring right now. Lightly, so lightly. I loved falling asleep to that sound.