True Scary Story
by
Le a Nolan
“Ray, I don’t think we’re alone in this house.” My mother held her breath, waiting for my father’s response. They’d just moved into the old cottage that faced the highway. Finding another place to live was probably out of the question.
“Of course not, Alice. The baby’s here, too.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. We, the three of us, aren’t alone. Someone else is here too.”
My father’s shoulders stiffened. “Like an intruder?” His voice filled with a fierce mixture of testosterone and the urge to protect his own.
“No,” she shook her head, trying to explain the recent events to her no-nonsense spouse. “It’s a… presence. And it’s here all the time.”
His brow furrowed. “A ghost?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think so. I’m pretty sure it’s a child.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And how would you know that?
“During the day, when you’re at work and I’m here with Lea, it plays with me. When I’m in the kitchen with the baby, I’ll hear something moving or jingling in the living room. As soon as I go in there to see what it is, the pots and pans start rattling in the pantry. This happens all day long, no matter where I am.” She gazed into my father’s pale blue eyes. “It’s happening so much, I’ve started talking to it, telling it I know it’s there. I think it believes we’re playing a game. And… I can almost see it. Not if I look at it straight on, but once in a while, I’ll catch a glimpse of something that looks like a wisp of smoke from the corner of eye.”
As my father stared hard at her, my mother knew he was working to make sense of all he’d just heard. Yes it was far-fetched, and sounded completely crazy, but it was also the truth.
He rubbed his chin. “Are you afraid?”
“No. It hasn’t done anything to hurt me or Lea, so I think we’re safe.”
Sometime later as my parents were watching television one evening, they heard me babbling in my bed.
My mother sighed. “I don’t know why she won’t go down. Would you go in there and see what she’s up to?”
Dutifully, my father headed to my room and found me sitting up in bed speaking to no one he could see.
“What are you doing?” he asked, scanning the room.
I turned my head toward the doorway. “Talking to my friend.” Though I was just over a year old, I was an unusually early talker.
“Your friend?” he asked.
“Yes.” I smiled and glanced back at the empty space before me.
“Is your friend here?”
Nodding, I pointed directly in front of me. “Right there.”
He drew a deep breath. “Well, it’s time to go to sleep, so tell your friend you can see him in the morning.”
“Okay,” I answered as I lay down.
Over the next few months, the ghostly presence became a part of our little family. Eventually my father began to see it too, hovering in a corner between the living and dining rooms, its diaphanous appearance vanishing whenever he attempted to look at it straight on. If he had any doubts of the ghost’s existence, they evaporated the night he heard my Fisher Price toy xylophone tinkling out a distinct tune. Sure I’d gotten out of bed to strike the multi-colored keys with my wooden mallet, he charged into my room and found me sound asleep. The xylophone was deep in my toy box, well out of reach.
Not long after, as my nearly six-month pregnant mother reclined on the couch one evening, both she and my father saw the apparition hovering in the corner, but this time it appeared to linger longer than usual. It disappeared and a few seconds later, an eerie, cold sensation crawled across my mother’s body and the icy impression of a small hand clutched her foot.
It was the last time they ever saw or heard from the ghost again.
So what about you, readers? It’s one thing to think you may have a ghost in your house, it’s another to see it. Would you rather retain that comfortable distance (and plausible deniability), or would you prefer to confirm its existence with your own eyes?
Lea Nolan writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen—smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She’s holds degrees in history and women’s studies concentrating in public policy and spent fifteen years as a health policy analyst and researcher. She lives
in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three clever children.
Her debut YA novel, CONJURE, book one in The Hoodoo Apprentice Series releases on October 23, 2012 from Entangled Publishing. In CONJURE, three teens discover a mysterious 18th-century pirate treasure and inadvertently unleash a wicked flesh-eating curse. To save her brother’s life and the soul of her unrequited secret-crush, Emma Guthrie must apprentice herself to an elderly Gullah root worker to learn hoodoo magic and break the hex.
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Conjure by Lea Nolan
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (October 23rd, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 314 pages
Series: The Hoodoo Apprentice, #1
Be careful what you search for…
Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry--hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma’s ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper’s soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday.
When a strange girl appears, bent on revenge; demon dogs become a threat; and Jack turns into a walking skeleton; Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before summer—and her friends--are lost forever.
Prize:
- 1 winner will receive an ebook of Conjure, magnet, and a signed bookmark.
- You must be at least 13 to enter.
- Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
- Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
- Contest is US Only and ends November 10th.
- Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
- The form must be filled out to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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