Ghost of a Shadow

Description

Sadie Myers is in a funk. Everyone who loves her seems to leave. No one remembered her fifteenth birthday – not even her parents. They have grown distant and moody ever since tragedy struck the family one year ago. Since that terrible day, Sadie’s life has become a dark brew of strange visions, unearthly messages, and vivid dreams in which a mysterious shadow man follows her every move. Are all these bizarre happenings real or figments of a troubled mind? When Sadie is pulled into a world so different from her own, everything she thinks she knows is turned upside down. Will she find the truth behind these unsettling episodes? Sadie will need to muster every ounce of courage and resilience she possesses in order to walk through the shadows, the fear of unknown evil, and—most important—get to the other side alive.

The Beginning – Excerpt from Chapter One: Earth, Spin: Check

“Run, Sadie! Run!” Gramma Rose yelled.

Where’s her voice coming from? “I’m running as fast as I can!” I screamed, but the wind swallowed my words. I looked down at my feet; they disappeared into darkness.

Terrorized by the lightning storm overhead, I jumped every time an earth-shaking boom of thunder followed a jagged strike. With the tempest so close, I feared being struck by the next bolt. Sideways heavy rain pelted my face like burning needles, stabbing mercilessly.

“I can’t see!” I ran smack into a tangle of branches that formed a maze. Their sharp teeth snapped at me as I crawled through. I knew home was on the other side. I had to get there.

Rumbling peals of thunder cracked, one after the other, shifting the ground beneath me. I pushed my hands hard against my ears to block out the loudest booms. Red lightning jolted my body with electric vibrations. Red flashes strobed all around. I sensed the shadow man behind me, but I couldn’t tell where he was.

“Keep running, Sadie!” Gramma Rose called out.

Petrified, I thought this was it: The End of Sadie Myers.

“I don’t want to die!” I yelled back.

The sound of footsteps squished behind me. I imagined breath on my neck. I felt his fingers graze my hair with creepy restraint.

“No! Leave me alone!”