07/11/2024
My new book in process: Shadow Hunters. Here is the opening excerpt: SHADOW HUNTERS
It seemed to Eric that the night was unusually quiet, he had never experienced a night like this. It was as if time itself had stopped. He automatically slowed the car down as if something were telling him to be cautious. He drove for another quarter of a mile until he saw a large imposing silhouette against the night sky. His eyes strained to make out details of what was left of the structure. By the architecture he could tell that it had been a place of refuge, it appeared to be made completely of stone indigenous to the area. He found an overgrown road that seemed to lead straight towards the ruin. Pulling carefully off of the road he turned his land rover to follow the path. The road, if you could call it that stretched on for about half a mile, then suddenly the ruins appeared before him. Pulling up as close as he could he turned off the car and sat for a moment just staring at what was left of it. He had the oddest feeling, as if he were coming home.
The structure had the appearance of being some kind of stronghold like others he had visited here in Ireland, but not as imposing as some he had seen. It resembled a Keep which he had seen at Framlingham castle. It looked like it had been built in the 1600’s as were most of the castles he had seen. Most of what was left of the original structure was in ruin, only the Keep remained intact
All of his life he had been having dreams of an ancient fortress. He never knew where it was located but the dream was always the same. In the dream he was standing before the fortress dressed in some kind of medieval armor a sword of brilliant light held tightly in his hand. He knew he was there to defend something but he wasn’t sure if it was the fortress or something else. Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and an angel in silver form fitting armor appeared before him. The angel carried a large slender sword made of white light.
“Go inside, you are expected.” The angel said pointing towards what was left of the archway where gates must have once stood. He got the impression that it was important for him to go inside. The dream always ended the same way, with him walking through the archway.
Each time he woke from the dream he was left with a sense of urgency to find the fortress and fulfill his duty to the light. He didn’t know why he felt so strongly, after all he was a particularly religious person, but he did have a great sense of spirituality. All his life he had felt out of step with the rest of the world, like he didn’t quite belong.
He had spent a lot of time looking for the fortress in his dream. He had learned to seek out the locals wherever he traveled. He knew the people who had lived in a place all their life would know all the out of the way places where these ruins could be found. He had visited many countries and always the locals knew where the old buildings were located. He had made it a habit many years ago to write down everything he could remember after each time the dream occurred. Now he knew that this ruined fortress was the one from his dreams. Glancing at his watch he was surprised to see that it had only taken him an hour to get here. In his dream he knew he would find it on a summer night that was still and clear. Looking up he noticed what seemed to be a million stars decorating the black velvet sky with points of lights.
Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his flashlight and his bag of supplies he always used for exploring. Turning on the flashlight he made his way to the large imposing archway leading into the ruins. Examining the arch, he noticed the remnants of huge rot iron hinges where the gates must have once hung. They seemed to be intact only a little rusty, nothing more.
Just as he passed through the arch, it was as if he had been transported back in time to when the fortress was new. He could actually see, hear, smell people and animals. He saw a blacksmith shop and a small market area, it was if he had stepped through a doorway in time. It seemed like a dream, but he was sure it was real. Slowly he made his way into the center of the courtyard. He passed people who didn’t seem to be able to see him. It was the oddest feeling, as if he were a ghost no one could see.
Having an interest in the paranormal all his life he was aware that ghosts did exist, but he didn’t expect to be one. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was happening for a reason, he just didn’t know what it could be.
Calming his mind and opening his senses he reached out to see if he could get an awareness of what was going on. Suddenly everything stopped as if someone had pushed pause on the DVD player. He stopped in his tracks to wait and see if it would start up again, but nothing happened.
I wonder if this is really happening or if my mind is playing tricks on me. Just as the thought had finished forming everything around him disappeared. All that was left were the stone ruins and the warm night breeze. Holding very still he listened for any kind of noise or movement around him. All he could hear was the rustling of leaves in the trees and an occasional owl. It seemed as if time stood still.
Just as the thought occurred to him, he dismissed it as fantasy. He glanced down at his watch and noticed the digital second counter wasn’t moving. He entered the Keep through the large stone doorway just off of the courtyard area.
He stood there for a moment pulled out some of his paranormal investigating equipment. He pulled out his EMF detector and Ovilus turning them on and setting them down on a stone ledge. He started to turn around when he heard a voice come through the Ovilus almost immediately, “She’s comes.”
“Who’s coming?” He wondered.
“She’s comes, she’s coming, you’ll see!” Another voice responded.
He heard a male voice say, “She’s coming and you must help and she will help you. She has much to teach you, this is what you were born for.”
“But who’s coming, why won’t you tell me?” he paused waiting for a reply. When he didn’t get a response he asked, “What do you mean it’s what I was born for? Are you talking about the dreams?”
All through the exchange the EMF detector hadn’t alarmed once which was extremely odd. He had never known it not to alarm in the presence of ghost or negatives. He had just put a new battery in the device before he left the house. Heading back to where the meter sat he picked it up and checked the battery level which was at full strength. He pushed the test button and it tested fine. Well, if the voices weren’t ghosts or negatives just what here they? This was the first time in ten years of investigating that this had ever happened.
Suddenly the atmosphere in the Keep changed dramatically. The room felt electrically charged and heavy at the same time. He took a moment to analyze what he was feeling. The heaviness he felt wasn’t a bad feeling, it was as if something of importance was about to happen. He just had no idea what it was. The voice had said it was his what he was born for and the only thing he could think of was the dream. It had to have some connection, there was no other logical explanation he could think of.
What sounded like a loud clap of thunder filled the room and a flash of light so bright that it reviled the sun filled the room for a brief moment. The light blinded him for a split second and when his vision cleared, he couldn’t believe his eyes. A figure which was unmistakably female knelt on one knee on the cold stone floor. But it wasn’t the fact that the form was female that made him gasp, but the fact that coming out of her back was a pair of large whitish-silver wings folded close against her body. By his estimate the wings would have a nearly twelve-foot span. Her hair was long, black and thick from what he could see of it. He had been so busy obsessing about her wings that he hadn’t realized her head was up and she was looking directly at him.
Their eyes met and he was startled by the clarity and color of her eyes. Her eyes were such a light color of blue as if to be almost white. He suddenly realized that she was talking to him but her lips were not moving. He thought to himself it must be a form of telepathy only he couldn’t understand language she was speaking at first. After a sentence or two the words started making sense to him as if she had suddenly switched from her language to English.
He responded to her the same way that she had communicated with him, telepathically.
“Who are you? What are you? Are you an angel?” He fired the questions at her rapidly.
“Humans you always have to complicate everything.” She commented standing up and turning to face him. For the first time he noticed that she wore a white robe of some kind.
Reading his thoughts she told him, “This robe that you see is out of difference to the human condition.”
“What do mean human condition?” He asked her his eyes and thoughts returning to her wings.
“You mortals wear clothing to cover your bodies, we have no such trappings on the other side. The appendages that you see as wings are nothing more than white light energy. They provide stabilization, protection and act as a shield. We use our wings to shield us if we do not wish to be detected like when we are in the presence of the dark ones.”
As he watched he saw her wings slowly fade into nothingness. Now there was nothing to indicate that she was anything other than a mortal woman. “You never answered my question. You’re obviously not a demon or an earthbound spirit so that only leaves one thing, you must be an Angel. But I would wager no ordinary Angel, maybe an Archangel like Michael.”
“Very good Eric, Michael said you are intelligent for a mortal. My soul name is Salia and I am an avenging Angel. I dispense retribution that is so ordered by the creator. Although not as well-known as the others I am sent out when things need a hands-on approach.”
“Okay, so why are you here and why have you taken on human form? I’ve heard of instances where people have been in the presence of angels and they look and act like humans but they’re never here for long. They always have a purpose so what is your purpose? And what do I have to do with all of this?”
“All valid questions, let’s go outside.” She said heading for the door.
He followed her out the large stone doorway. She took a seat on the top step and he sat down beside her. As he sat down, he felt the cold from the stone pe*****te his jeans.
“I am the one who gave you the dream about this place.”
“Okay but why so early in my life, I’ve experienced this dream over and over again all my life. Couldn’t you have waited until I was an adult?”
“To you it was years to us on the other side it was but a moment ago. I purposely made it repeat every year on the same date. I did this so that you would remember and search for the ruins of the Keep.”
