But I figured that since this is my site and I am the author of the series, that I can use this as a way to start teasing the next book, Leader of Lost Souls. Here's the complete first chapter, free for all!
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Chapter
1
Bad
Dream
Ever since Luke Hawkins returned from his adventure in
the Afterlife, he has been having weird dreams. They are always the same,
making him toss and turn in his sleep, seeing images far beyond the reaches of
his imagination.
In
his dream, he's flying underground. There are shining dark towers that look like
they are made out of black crystalized stone. Demons are working in a pit of
hellfire. They carry hollowed-out rocks, pouring the contents into a river running
through the middle of the land.
The
river is neither liquid nor solid—it's a white mist. The mist makes screaming
and crying noises, as if it’s alive. The river runs down the center of the pit
and flows straight up to a big tower, where a figure watches from a black
balcony split with red, glowing cracks. The man turns around. He bears a
striking resemblance to Rigor Mortis, except he‘s taller and has long, jet
black hair tied in the back. He steps into a room with no beds, no
entertainment systems, just a mirror. The mirror is bleeding out a red mist from its sides. He’s about to touch it. He
WANTS to touch it.
"Mirror, you have given me the power to survive all
these centuries. Have given me strength. In exchange, all that has been
required of me is to steal a few meaningless souls."
He
has a curious, longing look on his face. "I can’t resist the urge to feel your
power."
He begins to move his hand closer, but when he is only inches
from it the door opens. Agitated by the sudden intrusion, the man lowers his hand
and turns. Two bulky guards in black armor are dragging a man behind them.
"You better have an excellent excuse for disturbing
me.”
"We caught this human trying to escape," one
guard says in a quavering voice.
"Why are you bringing him to me then? You know what
to do. Kill him, but make sure you take his soul.”
The guards bow. "Our deepest regrets, Lord Slarth,” they
say in unison.
Slarth looks at the human with disgust. "Don’t look
up at me with those filthy eyes. Very soon we will take over your world and all
the worthless souls inhabiting it."
The human spits at Slarth. "You’re not my lord, Slarth."
Slarth grabs the poor man by the face, and his skin turns
a burning red. The captive screams in pain.
"If you had any sense, you would see my
superiority.”
He notices the human is wearing a crucifix around his
neck. Slarth rips it off. Holding it in his hand, the cross is reduced to ash.
He drops the ashes in the man's hand. "Your God doesn't exist here."
He turns to the guards, "You are dismissed.”
The
guards let go of the man and leave. The man tries to run for the door, but
Slarth makes a pulling motion with his hands and the captive flies into a spiked
chair. Unbearable pain shoots through his body. He feels his life energy being
drained. Glowing green shackles snap around his hands and feet.
“And
now it is time to bring in your family,” Slarth hissed.
"No
… they’re safe on Earth," the man groaned.
Slarth throws back his head and laughs triumphantly.
“That didn’t stop me from bringing you here, did it?”
Smoke
materializes in the room and two Dark Druids appear. They are black as sin and can
move very fast. Tattered cloaks cover their bodies and their eyes are beet red.
They are dragging the human’s wife, who is terrified. The Druids have also
brought the two human children—a girl of twelve and a boy of six.
“Emery!” the woman yells, catching sight of her husband.
“How did you … how did we …” she stammers in confusion as she tries to run to
him.
The man weakly tries to lift his arms, as Slarth motions
with his hands, makes the woman fall to the ground, and drags her right under
his grinning face.
Slarth says, “Welcome to your death, my dear.”
Using all his strength, the man tries to get up but
collapses back onto the spiked chair.
Slarth looked down at the woman. “Your husband tested my
patience and my power. Now look at him. He thought he could escape my rule. He
was wrong.”
“Where
are we? What evil are you?” the woman weeps.
“Evil? I only want what any superior spirit wants and
that is power.”
Slarth
looks at the woman and her children. “I grow weary of your presence and have more
momentous things to attend to.”
The six year old begins to cry. Slarth extends his arm and
a power comes out of his hand, forcibly quieting the child.
Slarth
looks at all three of them and they look frightened. He walks to the husband,
who is moaning with the pain wracking his body.
Slarth
gets face-to-face with him.
"You brought this about with your attempt to escape.
Enjoy the pain, because it’s the last feeling you’ll get to share with each
other."
He spreads out his arms, creating a glowing red energy, and
wraps it around the wife and children. He pushes them towards the mirror.
The woman pleads, "No! Please, have mercy!"
At the same time, Slarth waves his hand, making the man
jerk up from the spiked seat and the cuffs fall apart. The captive yells in
agony as white mist pours out of his wounds. Slarth inhales the mist, becomes
light headed but controls himself … and the entire family is swept into the
mirror.
The end of Luke's dream is always the same. He stands
behind Slarth, who is in front of the mirror. Luke watches as that Dark
Spirit’s face turns a bright red, watches as the mirror bleeds red mist into
Slarth.
The Lord Slarth then focuses on Luke’s reflection in the
mirror, making eye contact and says, "Luke."
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For those who've read the first book, or excerpts at least, you will notice that the next volume is darker than the previous. But how about some more teasers? Sure, why not. We'll do them in bullet points.
- An old flame of Sharron's (Luke's mom) comes to Cold Creek. The thing is though is that he is an ex big time paranormal TV personality. And with Sam and Luke's interactions with spirits and knowing about the Afterlife, this could be bad.
- A death in the Hawkins family, caused by a spirit in the Afterlife.
- The dead invade New York City.
- Hollow Hill goes up in flames.
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But what about the release date? I'm thinking somewhere in the fourth quarter of this year, but I'm hoping for earlier. Keep checking back for more news of the next installment of the Afterlife Chronicles.
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