carries the Seeker gene⦠Hmm,. Meals on mules, ha-ha. â¦Passed down from. Mother to son and Father to daughter. Don't
BOROUGH OF CHURCHES PREVIEW EDITION
CHEAL
BIRDI
SUMMERS
LOPKIN
BOROUGH OF CHURCHES PREVIEW EDITION
WRITER
ADAM CHEAL
ARTIST
AMRIT BIRDI
COLOURIST
LETTERER
MICHAEL SUMMERS
MINDY LOPKIN
Copyright © 2017 Amrit Birdi & Adam Cheal All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
BOROUGH OF CHURCHES PREVIEW EDITION Throughout history, the chosen few have joined the ranks of the ‘Borough of Churches’. A Secret order tasked with an on going battle to destroy the forces of evil. Charlie Swanson is the latest recruit. Trouble is, she didn’t ask to join and doesn’t give a damn about the B.O.C or what it fights for... Yet! Charlie ‘Chuckles’ Swanson was a normal everyday NYC police officer, doing her bit to make the world a better and safer place. That was until a random encounter awakened a dormant gene causing a transformation into a human vampire hybrid. Discover the secret order of the Borough of Churches directly from Charlie who will tell you her story the only way that she can… with humor, horror and a whole lot of blood!
Somewhere in the Carpathian mountains, the year of our lord, 1753. Evil forces creep, crawl and slither across the globe… sucking, feeding and devouring all in their path. A brave order of Knights led by Sir Doyle Swan, pursue and destroy any unholy creatures they encounter.
In the name of our lord God, I vanquish you and your vile Go back to brethren. the hell you spawned from, abomination of the Devil!
Ah... Monster slaying! It's a dangerous job, right? Well, someone’s got to do it. So who you gonna call?
Religious fanatics, that’s who!
Hmm, Meals on mules, ha-ha.
Each generation of my family carries the Seeker gene…
…Passed down from Mother to son and Father to daughter. Don’t ask why! Seriously… I don’t know.
Supper time. For more than two hundred years, this has been the way of things…
Since the dark times… since the rise of the feeders! Too cliche? No, we’re good.
Yuck! Gross.
Now you’ve really gotten on my bad side.
In the name of God, I’m going to destroy every last one of you blood-sucking bastards!
Wow, look at him spin that sword. Dude’s got some mad skills.
It runs in the family, by the way…
... but I digress, let’s get back to the action.
Throughout history, my family has been charged with finding and destroying these forces of darkness...
Praise be to God for giving me the strength to do your bidding.
my work now done, I look for your blessing to return home to my wife and daughter.
Give me a sign.
…We’ve just forgotten it. Hey, we all forget things. wait, where are my keys?
Perhaps it’s time for a wake up call?
WAKE UP, Charlie!
You've been summoned.
About a year ago.
HOLY CRAP! What the hell was that?!
It’s time to remember who I am and what needs to be done... ... I just don’t know it yet.
Oh, just another goddamn dream.
I don't need this crap today. Why the hell am I so tired lately? These Early weekend shifts suck!
No pun intended.
I’m a goddamned hero…
… time to start acting like it.
Have a good day and be careful, babe. As always, hun. Don’t wait up.
Present day.
Hey there! I’m Charlie. You know, the person who's been narrating for you so far! Anyway, my friends call me “Chuckles,” well…
... when I had friends. They're all gone now. But we’ll get to that later. First, onto the important stuff, like the plot.
They say that every person has at least one great story to tell. I guess this is mine. I used to be normal, just like you… well, kinda. I was a daughter.
A girl.
A Woman.
A Wife.
A Mother.
A Cop.
And a Hero.
It’s funny how we capture moments from the past...
... and put them in a book to remember them.
I always used to think that if something was worth remembering, never forget it. Now… what was I saying? Oh yeah…
… trouble is, we only want to remember the good stuff.
Ironic, as it’s the shitty things in life that seem to define us.
I wanted to forget the bad times, but someone won’t let me. Maybe some people think it’s “Character building?”
I didn't want this story to be about the past…
… It’s supposed to be about the future. {Gulp}
But first you need to understand what brought me to this moment we’re about to share. After the good times, there were still plenty more things I would become, Whether I wanted to or not.
Choice is not something I was given the luxury of. Most of us aren’t.
A Failure.
Divorced.
Homeless.
An outcast…
… A murderer…
… And a villain.
I want to say goodbye to any shred of the past, good or bad.
The only trace of who I was or what I’ve done is gone forever.
This is how it starts. The darkness takes me and I find out something else I wish I never knew. Memories from past lives. I know! This is a convenient “in” for another flashback. so, shall I start at the beginning?
It’s time to start over.
Hell no! That's boring. We'll start when things went batshit, the day my family got SUCKED into this mess.
Again, no pun intended.
The year of our Lord, 1719. The land to the east is ancient and evil. The Church of England has sent righteous emissaries of good all over Europe. Meet my ancestor of eight generations, Doyle. He was a young boy, fresh out of school.
This is it, Doyle. The last known resting place of Lord Greystone. Let’s vanquish this evil in the name of the lord.
The Church assigned him to accompany Brother Marcus on his pilgrimage to the Carpathian Mountains.
Once they were in the catacombs all they had to do was follow the stench of death and decay ... and lavender?
In the darkest pit of the catacombs they found the tomb of Lord Greystone.
He was a two hundred year old vampire that the church wanted destroyed.
Who wouldn’t, right?
In the name of god, help me, Doyle. This is your birthright.
Inside the tomb they found the Vampire, sleeping the sleep of the undead. He stank of death… and strangely of… lavender.
Oooh... Shiny!
Open your eyes, Doyle.You must be god’s witness.
And they say video games are too violent for kids, huh?
No wonder Doyle went on to become a badass vampire slayer!
Take this, lad, you may need it.
They collected the mythical Soul Seeker pistols. Legend told that the bullets would hunt down any person whose name was whispered to the guns. Hmmm, sounds a bit fishy, huh?
Brother Marcus was Lord Greystone’s last victim. The necklace was cursed. Any good in him was sucked right out.
OK, I meant that pun.
Little Doyle ran and ran, as fast and far as his legs could take him. Which wasn't too far.
Let that be a life lesson to you, don’t go robbing from the dead.
He turned to see what had become of Brother Marcus... Big mistake... huge!
Another life lesson. Never look back! Oh, and don’t accept free hugs from strangers.
Doyle! I’m going to open you up and feast on your innards.
Ewwwww, YUCK!
Not today, Brother Marcus...
NO!
That Goddamn necklace! If only that little runt had left it to rot. But nooooo, of course Doyle took it and the cursed piece of junk got passed down to me.
Like a fool, I took it… Hey, It was Shiny!
Just look at me now! Cursed like the rest of my family to walk in the shadows and stalk the legions of undead blood-suckers.
The Feeders. Ironic, huh? Seeing as I look like one of ‘em.
Just one difference, I don’t kill people. well… most people. Just don’t piss me off, OK?
And so the sacred order of the “Borough of Churches” was born and the Swan family would be bound by blood for generations to come, using their enemies’ greatest strengths to uncover their greatest weaknesses.
Time to get to work, Charlie!
J OI NU S .
COMI NGS OONT O a mr i t bi r di . c o/ boc /
