Volume 2 of the best-selling Horror Anthology 13 is here!
A mother will do anything to protect her child...even if it means seeking the help of a witch known for her dark arts. She gets the protection she asks for with the ultimate price: the life she and her child have will not be a safe one...and not all of the witch's intentions are known.
Read "Caved In" and more in the second volume of 13: Deja Vu!
Introducing the collection giving classic Nursery Rhymes a macabre makeover: YRESRUN SEMYHR
MY SOUL TO KEEP debuts this collection telling the story of a young girl seeking answers about the afterlife...and finding them in all the wrong places.
MY SOUL TO KEEP is based on the Lord's prayer.
Read a sample below!
"The whispering in my head jolted me out of my dream. My eyes flew open and then I couldn’t remember my dream. I strained my ears around my room, listening.
I didn’t hear any more whispers, but the more my ears tuned in around me the more they started to pick up other things: Steps. Creaking. Maybe a door or two opening. Something moving. What gave me any reason to think it wasn’t other students?
As I strained my ears to listen I also strained my eyes to see. I saw nothing but black in my room. I knew my desk and dresser were in two corners, but I couldn’t even make out their hazy shapes. As I turned my head, I thought I heard a whisper from the other end of the room. I jerked my head back. It was too close to be coming from any of the rooms next to mine. I slowly and carefully sat up to try to see the hazy dresser, thinking that something had to be perched on top of it and watching me.
In an instant I grabbed my cell from inside my pillow case and flashed it across the room. The small beam picked up on my clothes sticking out of the drawers, the loose change on top and my books on the floor, but nothing else. Outside, I heard the floor creaking again. Someone was awake. My phone told me it was four in the morning: Too late to still be up and too early to get up. My stomach felt a little heavy, but it flat out jumped as soon as I heard my own door creak.
I aimed the phone light at the door. It was barely open a crack, but one more push opened it a little more. I tensed up in my blankets and became perfectly still. No one was in the darkness of the hallway. I knew instantly that whatever haunted these halls was out and about… this very moment.
I got out of bed and grabbed my glasses. Taking deep and steady breaths I prepared myself for anything I was about to encounter. I wouldn’t allow myself to be afraid. Holding my phone flashlight as steady as I could, I left my room and shut the door. A wind blew through the walls, rattled the ceiling light fixtures and fluttered the window curtains. Both windows on both sides of the hallway were shut.
I didn’t exactly know where I was going; my feet just took me down the stairs and into the corridor. I walked, moving my light from left to right in a sweep from my surroundings. I came across those bookcases, the very ones I saw in my own vision. There was a single book sticking out of a bookshelf, no doubt just lazily put back by a student. As I approached that book I realized just how far it was sticking out, so far that it was not even on the shelf at all—but levitating on its own.
I paused and kept my light on it, sitting there in mid-air only inches—inches—away from the shelf. Was it really just floating there? I couldn’t go closer, thinking I wanted to watch it. Nothing moved. Nothing, that is, except for what came around the corner.
I jumped a little—only a little—to see two eyes brighter than my phone light. I brought my phone down as the face shot through the light and stared right at me, arching her whole body back and raising her head a little.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s only me.”
She lurched forward a bit, only acknowledging me for a minute; then she turned her attention to something by the bookshelves.
I dared to look where the cat looked, and saw that the levitating book was now just sticking out of the shelf. I walked closer, needing to be sure. Yep, it was on the shelf, just poking out like someone wanted to see the front and then just didn’t push it back in. It was on the shelf all right, not floating out in mid-air. I just stood there, bewildered. It was floating before. It was.
Ad Astra emitted a low growling noise from her throat. She was still staring intensely at whatever she was staring at. I sidestepped a little, not sure what to think or do.
“What is it?” I asked. “What do you see?”
She continued to stare, lowering herself to the ground more and more until she was almost touching it. Her tail brushed a little behind her, jerkily, and her whiskers rose up and down. Finally, she started to crawl away and gave me a good long look as she passed me. I shone my light around a bit… then something told me I had to follow the cat."
Read "Caved In" and more in the second volume of 13: Deja Vu!
Introducing the collection giving classic Nursery Rhymes a macabre makeover: YRESRUN SEMYHR
MY SOUL TO KEEP debuts this collection telling the story of a young girl seeking answers about the afterlife...and finding them in all the wrong places.
MY SOUL TO KEEP is based on the Lord's prayer.
Read a sample below!
"The whispering in my head jolted me out of my dream. My eyes flew open and then I couldn’t remember my dream. I strained my ears around my room, listening.
I didn’t hear any more whispers, but the more my ears tuned in around me the more they started to pick up other things: Steps. Creaking. Maybe a door or two opening. Something moving. What gave me any reason to think it wasn’t other students?
As I strained my ears to listen I also strained my eyes to see. I saw nothing but black in my room. I knew my desk and dresser were in two corners, but I couldn’t even make out their hazy shapes. As I turned my head, I thought I heard a whisper from the other end of the room. I jerked my head back. It was too close to be coming from any of the rooms next to mine. I slowly and carefully sat up to try to see the hazy dresser, thinking that something had to be perched on top of it and watching me.
In an instant I grabbed my cell from inside my pillow case and flashed it across the room. The small beam picked up on my clothes sticking out of the drawers, the loose change on top and my books on the floor, but nothing else. Outside, I heard the floor creaking again. Someone was awake. My phone told me it was four in the morning: Too late to still be up and too early to get up. My stomach felt a little heavy, but it flat out jumped as soon as I heard my own door creak.
I aimed the phone light at the door. It was barely open a crack, but one more push opened it a little more. I tensed up in my blankets and became perfectly still. No one was in the darkness of the hallway. I knew instantly that whatever haunted these halls was out and about… this very moment.
I got out of bed and grabbed my glasses. Taking deep and steady breaths I prepared myself for anything I was about to encounter. I wouldn’t allow myself to be afraid. Holding my phone flashlight as steady as I could, I left my room and shut the door. A wind blew through the walls, rattled the ceiling light fixtures and fluttered the window curtains. Both windows on both sides of the hallway were shut.
I didn’t exactly know where I was going; my feet just took me down the stairs and into the corridor. I walked, moving my light from left to right in a sweep from my surroundings. I came across those bookcases, the very ones I saw in my own vision. There was a single book sticking out of a bookshelf, no doubt just lazily put back by a student. As I approached that book I realized just how far it was sticking out, so far that it was not even on the shelf at all—but levitating on its own.
I paused and kept my light on it, sitting there in mid-air only inches—inches—away from the shelf. Was it really just floating there? I couldn’t go closer, thinking I wanted to watch it. Nothing moved. Nothing, that is, except for what came around the corner.
I jumped a little—only a little—to see two eyes brighter than my phone light. I brought my phone down as the face shot through the light and stared right at me, arching her whole body back and raising her head a little.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s only me.”
She lurched forward a bit, only acknowledging me for a minute; then she turned her attention to something by the bookshelves.
I dared to look where the cat looked, and saw that the levitating book was now just sticking out of the shelf. I walked closer, needing to be sure. Yep, it was on the shelf, just poking out like someone wanted to see the front and then just didn’t push it back in. It was on the shelf all right, not floating out in mid-air. I just stood there, bewildered. It was floating before. It was.
Ad Astra emitted a low growling noise from her throat. She was still staring intensely at whatever she was staring at. I sidestepped a little, not sure what to think or do.
“What is it?” I asked. “What do you see?”
She continued to stare, lowering herself to the ground more and more until she was almost touching it. Her tail brushed a little behind her, jerkily, and her whiskers rose up and down. Finally, she started to crawl away and gave me a good long look as she passed me. I shone my light around a bit… then something told me I had to follow the cat."
Character Spotlight
Get to know characters and members of the Guardians of Light:
Sky Monroe- Main character. 13-year-old girl new to Applewhile Prep Boarding School, which seems like it could be the place to help her in her mourning period. She believes the Guardians of Light will give her all the answers to her questions. She has spiritual yet morbid curiosities which might bring her too far into the deep end.
Damien Cleary- Sky's good friend who joins her in the Guardians of Light. Damien and Sky have a special bond between them that could ultimately set them apart form the others...in terms of both friendship and survival.
Mitchell Brooks- 7th grade English teacher who is also the head of the Guardians of Light. He nurtures his students and cares for them, and grooms them into the special people they are supposed to be....but Mitchell has secrets that haunt him and eventually reveal his well-intentions to the dark side.
Ad Astra- Mitchell's cat and everyone's pet at The Manor, the group headquarters. She may just be a cat, but in particular times she proves to have skills that connect her to the paranormal. She can hear, see and sense things that no one else can...making her a very useful ally.
Seth- Upperclassman GOL member, who is kind and welcoming to new members, but also obedient when he must be.
Iris- Upperclassman GOL member, whose presence is both mysterious and intimidating. She is said to be manipulative and like Seth, is obedient when she must be.
Becky- 7th grade GOL member who becomes a friend of Sky and Damien's. She starts to have suspicions about the Guardians of Light early on and when she starts to question things, she quickly becomes silenced in a brutal punishment.
Deanna- Sky's roommate serves as her opposite from the start, contradicting life choices and values, but might not be so wrong in the way she sees Sky.
The Guardians of Light- School group that focuses on spirituality and meditation, and stands out from the rest of campus for being different and strange. Other students think that they are a cult and there to brainwash people....but who listens to rumors?
Get to know characters and members of the Guardians of Light:
Sky Monroe- Main character. 13-year-old girl new to Applewhile Prep Boarding School, which seems like it could be the place to help her in her mourning period. She believes the Guardians of Light will give her all the answers to her questions. She has spiritual yet morbid curiosities which might bring her too far into the deep end.
Damien Cleary- Sky's good friend who joins her in the Guardians of Light. Damien and Sky have a special bond between them that could ultimately set them apart form the others...in terms of both friendship and survival.
Mitchell Brooks- 7th grade English teacher who is also the head of the Guardians of Light. He nurtures his students and cares for them, and grooms them into the special people they are supposed to be....but Mitchell has secrets that haunt him and eventually reveal his well-intentions to the dark side.
Ad Astra- Mitchell's cat and everyone's pet at The Manor, the group headquarters. She may just be a cat, but in particular times she proves to have skills that connect her to the paranormal. She can hear, see and sense things that no one else can...making her a very useful ally.
Seth- Upperclassman GOL member, who is kind and welcoming to new members, but also obedient when he must be.
Iris- Upperclassman GOL member, whose presence is both mysterious and intimidating. She is said to be manipulative and like Seth, is obedient when she must be.
Becky- 7th grade GOL member who becomes a friend of Sky and Damien's. She starts to have suspicions about the Guardians of Light early on and when she starts to question things, she quickly becomes silenced in a brutal punishment.
Deanna- Sky's roommate serves as her opposite from the start, contradicting life choices and values, but might not be so wrong in the way she sees Sky.
The Guardians of Light- School group that focuses on spirituality and meditation, and stands out from the rest of campus for being different and strange. Other students think that they are a cult and there to brainwash people....but who listens to rumors?
