Nathaniel Sewell

Amanita When Artemis Lamb was a young girl, she never battled with her parents before her nine o’clock bedtime. Never. She bathed herself as instructed by her mother with just enough coconut butter soap and foamy lavender shampoo. As the bathroom water vapor dissipated into the heavens, she dried off with a thick white cotton towel. She folded the towel in half with the seams side-down, smoothed out any lumps, and hung it at the center point over a polished nickel rod. She buttoned up her pink, Continue Reading

Amanita - a novel         by Nathaniel Sewell From her childhood, redheaded Artemis Lamb has clairvoyant gifts to communicate with the souls lost in limbo. Tasked with a new medical malpractice file for a secretive hospital in Selene, Kentucky, a hospital where the plaintiff lawyer, Jerome Jenkins, swears opioid addict bodies are being artificially kept alive. Caduceus Re sends Artemis out to manage these high volume death cases; she’s their best investigator. But a clandestine organization, Continue Reading

29 “I’ve never seen you let a case get this complicated,” Wylie said. He pointed over at Alan the Moon’s bartender whistling a tune and engaging his bar guests. “What are we having?” Alan asked. He tapped his fingers on the marble bar top. “Welcome, Artemis’ guest.” “I’ll try a Guinness,” Wylie said. He sat on a solid wooden stool next to Artemis. “This your joint?” “It’s a good, quiet spot,” Artemis said. “I rarely get hit on, mostly local crowd.” Alan had turned, he grabbed a branded Guinness Continue Reading

28 “Artemis?” The voice said from Artemis’ smartphone speaker.“Yes,” Artemis said. She sat up on her hotel bed with two pillows stuffed behind her back. “Jerome?”“Yes,” Jerome said. His voice was hesitant. “Been dealing with your request. Your statement, connection to the father has been greatly helpful, and I think well received by the court.”“You don’t sound overly confident?” Artemis said. She held the smartphone closer in front of her mouth.“You’re correct,” Jerome said. He coughed to clear Continue Reading

27 “I’m brilliant, it’s a fact,” Dr. Demetrius said. He glanced over at Artemis as he pulled out a rectangular plastic tray. He shook the tray covered across the top with wobbly mushroom caps. “I guess we all need some self confidence,” Artemis said. “It’s how I manage the humidity, temperature, C02, with just the right environment,” Dr. Demetrius said, proudly. ”Did you know that I can create a structure for human organs.” “Why keep people on life support?” Artemis asked without looking into Continue Reading

26 “They’re brothers,” Artemis said. She gripped the warm coffee mug. “He was wearing a demonic mask, now it makes sense.”“Well now,” Agent Beaky said. He watched a lady at a nearby table stabbing her fork into her bland breakfast. “How on earth did you find this out?”Artemis pondered the situation for several minutes. She thought about the fact Satan had revealed itself to her. And most importantly, a little girl’s life was in danger. She needed to get Agent Beaky’s help.“You’re right,” Artemis Continue Reading

25 Artemis foraged deep into the thick forest. She climbed up the steep mountain sides as the darkness was unmasked by her night vision glasses. Her Glock 9mm holstered to her side. A ballistic knife strapped to her right thigh. Her boots splattered with brown mud. After she finally relocated the tall tree, and the ritualistic sight. She knelt down, and allowed her breathing to slow, and her warm skin to accept the cold air. As she appeared to release steam from her body. And as she expected Continue Reading

24 “You should have hired me, like I told you, too,” Jerome said, angrily. “Or at least another local attorney.”“What can I do now?” Artemis asked. She sat outside the courthouse on a metal park bench. “I thought one of my company firms could handle a simple case.”“Lexington lawyers are not welcome here,” Jerome said. “You should know that, always, always get a local. They know the judges, the staff.”Jerome Jenkins sat down next to her. He stuffed his smartphone into his jacket. They had watched Continue Reading

23 “Tell me about these death cases.” “I’m not sure what you’re asking me,” Dr. Demetrius said, dismissively. “It’s a hospital, people are born, we heal most, but we have to deal, manage if you will, death.” “Yes,” Gene said. His puffy hands typed on his iPad without looking over at Artemis. “We have the EHR’s all in line, up to date, what’s missing in your mind, Ms. Lamb?” “They appear way to clean,” Artemis said. She stared directly at Gene. “What would a plaintiff lawyer Continue Reading

22 “I’m not sure how to say this?” “Dear lady,” Agent Beaky said. He glanced over at Jerome Jenkins. “Best way, just say it.” “I’m curious why I’m even here? Or better, why you two are in my office,” Jerome Jenkins asked. He sat behind his office desk staring over at Artemis and then over at Agent Beaky. “What am I to make of you two?” Artemis sucked in a deep, reflective breath. She held the breath for several heart beats and blew it back out down toward the dark red and blue Persian pattern Continue Reading

21 “What are you really doing?” Artemis asked. Dr. Demetrius stood up from behind the fancy conference room table. He waved over for Gene to remain behind with Loretta.“Have I ever taken you for a tour of my lab?” Dr. Demetrius asked Artemis. “It’s quite remarkable. Even by my standards.”“No,” Artemis said. She glanced over at the despondent Gene and Loretta. “But, I guess I’m about to.”“You sure?” Gene asked. He started to stand up.“You stay, Gene. I’m in charge, after all. Follow me Artemis,” Continue Reading

  19 “Where has this child been?” Dr. Langendorpher asked. She took off her rainbow styled eyeglasses, and set the retro frames on her metal desktop. “She’s quite bright, sweet girl, but her bodies a mess, her lungs were inflamed like she was a mushroom farmer.”Artemis sat down on a nearby cushioned side chair.“Like we agreed,” Artemis said. She crossed her legs. “She’s part of a new file, a hospital client? Wylie and I have to manage it, investigate the claim before it goes into a suit, and Continue Reading

  18 “You’ve been up there?” Artemis asked. She stared down at the Jenkins Law office’s persian carpet that was made from beautiful workmanship. It was stretched out over a thick padding that also absorbed sound. “Been near that tree, those mushrooms?”Jerome Jenkins tapped his long left forefinger over his lips. His office chair calmly shifted side to side.“Yes,” Jerome said. “It’s a rather brutal group, I try to avoid the area these days.”Artemis studied Attorney Jenkins’ pale blue eyes, the Continue Reading

    17 “Ms. Lamb?”“Yes,” Artemis said into her smartphone. She placed the phone on her nightstand, using the speakerphone function. She wiped away morning haze from her eyes. “I can hear you.”“This is Dr. Langendorpher,” she said. “Only reason we are talking is Wylie, understand?”“Of course,” Artemis said. She coughed. She picked up the smartphone after plugging in her earpiece. “I have you off speakerphone, sorry, I just woke from a nap, rough night, working a bit late.”“Try pulling an ER Continue Reading

7 “Can I help you?” “Yes,” Artemis said. She strode up to the hospitals information counter. An older lady sat behind and smiled up at Artemis. “I need a visitors pass, I work with the risk management department, they said I should come over here for a pass, you know, log me in?” The lady shook her head in agreement, she reached forward. “Honey, I need to see you driver’s license-“ Artemis handed it forward, and she turned to look around the busy lobby searching for a child Continue Reading

6 Artemis discovered an address for Laina Lynn’s mother, Ruth Lynn. It was not difficult to determine after a basic internet search. She drove her rental truck into the dense Appalachian forest along narrow, winding blacktopped roads. She dodged several hulking coal trucks, drove past the shaved mountain sides, and then proceeded to got lost in the wilderness. As Artemis drove along, she found a local gas station next to a single story grocery store. She parked her truck in front of the Continue Reading

5 “You likely think I’m some hayseed lawyer-” “No, I know you’re well educated, I know your background,” Artemis said. She sat across from the plaintiff lawyer, Jerome Jenkins. His law office was within easy walking distance from the hospitals front doors. It had taken Artemis’ assistant several days to set up the meeting. “Friends call you, J Square? You’re a busy man.” “Yeah, it’s my nickname, grew up here, high school basketball star, helped get me educated,” Jerome said. He was tall, Continue Reading

3 Artemis hooked the laminated Do Not Disturb sign on her hotel room’s front door knob. Still fully clothed, she flopped backwards onto the queen sized bed, she rolled the comforter around her into a warm cocoon, and then tried to sleep. But her dreams were invaded by Satan, and by her memories of Benjamin. And the moment he died in her arms as lethal bullets rained past like a metallic sandstorm. She wrestled with the specters in her mind until almost dawn. She got up. She took a hot Continue Reading

Below is Chapter 2 for - Amanita. This is when the main character, Artemis Lamb, gets to meet her earthly minder. … I’ll be curious as to the reaction, let me know? # Amanita Chapter 2 (remember, unedited… ) Artemis stared out her hotel room’s smoked glass window located within downtown Selene, Kentucky. She searched below for any wandering spirits. The dark city streets were still, and calm. It appeared like any normal American town washed in pale light from a line of faux antiqued Continue Reading

Below is the unedited, Chapter 1...  Amanita.  The basic themes come from my medical malpractice insurance experiences, population health, and as typical with me, the supernatural world.  The main character is named, Artemis Lamb. She’s a rather feisty redhead sent out to investigate a claim on behalf of her medical malpractice reinsurance carrier at a suspicious hospital in the small Kentucky town known as, Selene.  Below are the first 10 pages ... let me know Continue Reading