Free Read at Purple Sword Publications

Excerpt


An ominous darkness fell over the crypt extinguishing the lamps like a frigid breath of death. Amidst the hush falling around them, the veils between the world of the living and that of the dead opened, but Jake had no idea what he’d done.
A whirlwind began spinning around the urn, small and inconsequential at first. Then it picked up momentum.

Mike jumped to his feet, his eyes round with fear, staring at what was once just harmless marble.

Angel didn't move, but her terror looked no less palpable than Mike’s. When she glanced at him, she, too, jumped to her feet and moved closer to Mike, her eyes frantically searching the murky crypt.

Jake didn’t care. He immersed himself into the spell, blocking out everything going on around them. He heard a soft, melodic voice reaching out to him, like an invisible lover’s embrace, cooing words of endearment not of this plane of existence. Mesmerized by the insistent pull no one else heard or felt, he shut his eyes, drawing himself closer to the force feeding on his life energy, drawing him closer to an abyss he wanted to fall headlong into. He let himself go, fearing no consequences. He’d forgotten his two best friends stood nearby; he’d forgotten everything but the soothing, lulling voice that continued to draw him forward toward the precipice of no return.

He didn’t see Angel and Mike stumble back as gusts of wind increased in velocity. Putrid smells filled the crypt. Posters peeled themselves off the cement walls and fluttered by them. Soon, pillows and papers joined the fray. Books began to fly of their own accord. Angel dodged one that missed her temple. It grazed off Mike’s shoulder, and he ducked just in time to miss another. They turned to Jake, but he didn’t give a shit.

Although he couldn’t see that well without the lanterns lit, when he glanced up and realized the horror etched on his friends’ faces, he sensed something was definitely wrong. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes glowed deep crimson and the skin across his face stretched so thin that the bones of his face stood out like a skeleton. He sat rigid, lost in the spell. They gawked at a stranger before them, speechless, but Jake didn’t care. All he felt and cared about was the voice inside his head.

"Call me forward, my savior," Saphenia whispered.

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