ANTICIPATION

An evil witch

Hiding in plain sight.

In the town of Oasis,

Florida’s vacation paradise,

I will make my appearance.

Join the fun.

Book 2 will be here all too soon.

DARK SHADOWS

Darkness surrounds the town of Oasis.
The only escape is through the magical door.
The door that the villagers keep hidden.
Soon all the residents will need to escape.
The Oasis Hotel is engulfed in dark shadows.
Half-filled glasses sit on the tables at its bar.
Tables and chairs fly across its patio deck.
Where are the guests?
The Dead Game has begun.

THE DEAD GAME
Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

OUR GAMES HAVE JUST BEGUN --- THE DEAD GAME --- PART 19

A door to your dreams,
And if you're not careful,
It can lead to your downfall.

All you have to do is open it.
And then walk through.
Your imagination does the rest.

The villagers explain about the door
To their captive audience.
A captive audience surrounded
On all sides by strangers.

Linda backs away from the door.
She could feel eyes boring holes
Into the back of her head.
They have to leave this strange place.

Her friends stand as still as the cold air.
Eyes wide open in pale faces.
They can't believe in such nonsense.
Can they?

A plain door sitting in a plain diner.
A little girl stands up and runs through the doorway
Into the lights and sounds of a carnival.
A clown hands the girl a balloon.

The village mayor turns to smile at them.
The girl returns with a red balloon
Trailing along behind her.
She runs into the mayor's arms.

What game are they playing?
We should have escaped
When we had the chance.

Linda doesn't like to play games.

THE DEAD GAME

 

OUR GAMES HAVE JUST BEGUN

"I leave the storefronts behind,
With their pastel colors and shiny windows.
Windows eager to let in the famous Oasis sunlight.
I want to reach the beach.
I want to leave work and troubles behind me.
The sand will trickle through my toes.
The sea breeze will propel me forward
To the every-waiting, omniscient ocean.
The waves dance and writhe in their demented dance.
A dance growing wilder and wilder by the minute.
I feel their salty sweat on my face.
The trees join in,
Flapping their branches as if trying to hold hands.
The wind follows last with a rage of its own.
It torments the water and the trees
Until leaves are flying free
And waves are attacking the shore.
Why is this happening?
I should go back to town.
The town behind me is being plummeted.
Roof tops are flying through the air.
Glass crunches beneath my feet.
Windows hang broken and twisted.
The saddest sight is the church.
The once white church stands charcoal black
In the midst of its debris.
A day gone terribly wrong.
Whose fault is it?
The creatures who visit our town at night.
They are determined to destroy each and every one of us.
Are they demons or humans?
Who knows?
Oasis will never be safe unless these evil ones are annihilated.
We must save our town.
I have friends who will help me.
There are those who doubt our wisdom and abilities.
But we will clean out the riffraff from town.
Don't get in our way or you might join the garbage."
Linda turns to find her friends.
Our games have just begun.

THE DEAD GAME

EXCERPT OF THE DEAD GAME -- THE MAGICAL DOOR

EXCERPT FROM THE DEAD GAME — THE MAGICAL DOOR

    A small, petite, middle-aged woman with kind brown eyes and short brown hair, dressed in a conservative pin-striped blue suit, with low black heels, came over to greet them. “Hi! My name is Irene Moore and I’m the mayor of this village. When the killings began some years back in Oasis, Leanne approached me, explaining the situation between the good vampires and The Dead. She told us that it might take some years to destroy all the wicked vampires in town. She offered us a way for us to escape the atrocities that were happening too frequently around us.”

     “We accepted her offer. She gave us this door, which opened to any fantasy that the person opening the door wanted to imagine. Whoever walked through the doorway was safe from any violent storm or attack on our village,” continued a tall brown-haired man.

     “This is my husband, Jack. He is also the village’s sheriff. He is the one who makes sure that whoever walks through the door comes out again safely.”

     “What if a person decides to imagine a horrific scene instead of a fantasy?” David asked.

     “Why do you ask such silly questions?” Mike turned to David.

     “It isn’t a silly question, because I do have to make sure the scene is peaceful before anyone crosses the threshold. Someone had to remain behind to watch over the door while the villagers escaped through the doorway. It was a huge responsibility that I’m happy is finally over,” Jack said.
     “Why is it over?” Todd asked.

     “Leanne informed us today that we are finally free of The Dead and their evil games, so we won’t need to escape any longer. We were just coming here to see our door for the last time. Our daughter, Cindy, wanted one more fantasy before it was gone for good,” Jack said with a smile.

     Cindy’s laughter could be heard tinkling merrily through the open door. It was the laugh of a young girl who was happy and carefree. That is what Shana wanted for the town and this village: a lifetime full of joy and challenges and many happy endings.

     Irene called to her daughter that it was time for her to return. Cindy waved goodbye to her new friends at the carnival and ran back through the doorway to her mother.

     She said to everyone, clustered around her at the diner, “That was fun. I will miss the magic door.”

     Irene bent down and picked up her daughter. “You will have many more adventures in life that will be real, but it will be fun to remember the fairy-tale adventures that we had behind the door. Now go out and play with your friends.”

     Cindy ran out to play. Shana looked across the street and noticed other children also running out to play in the park. These children didn’t need fairy tales, since they had a very beautiful life right here in their village.

     “I agree,” said Leanne who appeared behind Shana.  Shana turned around and also recognized Reece and Diane in the crowd.

     “I forget that you can read minds,” Shana said.

     “Sorry, we were just arriving to remove the door.”

     “Could we have a door just like that in our town?” David asked Leanne.

     “Don’t act silly,” Mike said.

     “Don’t correct me anymore. If you aren’t happy with Louise and me being a couple, then go find different friends.”

     “I’m sorry, I guess I was feeling left out. I’ll leave you both alone if you want.”

     “I want you to be friends with both of us. Just lay off of me a little.”

     “See. You don’t need a magical door to find happiness. You could find it within yourselves and with the people around you. You just have to open your eyes and your heart to the possibilities.”

     With that said, Leanne disappeared with Reece and Diane and the magical door.

     The villagers began dispersing, while waving goodbye to their new friends from town. Irene and her husband thanked them for coming and sharing the special experience with them. The couple briskly walked out of the diner into the brilliant sunshine, hand in hand.

Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

EXCERPT FROM THE DEAD GAME

     The streets of the village were empty of cars or people. Fallen autumn leaves swirled in mounds around the deserted sidewalks. All was quiet except for the soulful moaning of the trade winds coming off the ocean.
     The two cars pulled up in front of the diner.
     “I hope nothing has happened to them,” Shana said as she climbed out of Sam’s car.
     “What could possibly have happened to them? All the years our town was under attack, they’ve been living peacefully. It was almost if they were immune to all the chaos happening around them,” Mike said.
     Shana said, “We should begin at the diner. The last time we visited, most of the town was gathered there: eating and gossiping.”
     They entered the diner with Shana in the lead. The diner was packed with people to overflowing. There weren’t enough seats for everyone, so most people were standing in the aisles. They weren’t noticed as they quietly stood behind the crowd of people at the front door.
     All the villagers were looking at the same thing: at the door behind the diner’s long counter. The door was open, and Shana could see a colorful and noisy carnival on the other side. She knew that there couldn’t be a carnival outside the diner; however, the scene looked so real that she could even see a Ferris wheel turning. Then a little girl from the diner walked through the doorway to become part of the scene; she ran to the clown who handed her a large red balloon.
     Shana’s surprised gasp caused the villagers to turn around and stare at her. She knew that she’d been spotted, so she just smiled.
     Rose walked over to welcome her and her friends to their village. ”I know that this looks strange, but it is totally harmless. This is how we’ve dealt with the tragic events that have occurred around us.”
     “Is the scene outside real or a figment of our imagination?” Shana asked in wonder.
     “It’s both. First, a person imagines a peaceful scene. Once he opens the door, he walks into the fantasy world of his own choosing. Whoever walks through that door with him or her will experience that same adventure.”
     “How could that happen? Are you witches, or supernatural beings?” Shana asked.

Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

MAGICAL DOOR

A door exists in Oasis, Florida that will grant
access to anywhere you would like to escape to.
The fishing village has kept this door a secret
from the residents of Oasis.
Only the elders of Oasis are aware of this door,
since they were the ones who gave the door to them.
Whenever damaging storms or attacks by creatures
plague Oasis, the villagers use the door to escape.
To escape to a safer and quieter place.
Too bad the rest of the town aren’t aware of this escape.
One more secret in a town full of dark secrets.
THE DEAD GAME
Kindle
http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

THE DEAD GAME -- DAY 182

Shana and Linda couldn't believe that some of their friends were vampires. How could they have been fooled all this time?

     Shana asked Todd, “Do you mean that Minnie, Frank, Hank, and Shirley were true vampires? They looked and acted like everyone else in town. When did they turn into vampires?”

     “Vampires don’t appear different on the outside from humans: what’s inside is what really matters. Humans and vampires could be good or bad—just like we’ve seen here. Each person has to choose his or her own path.

     “As for the answer to your second question,” continued Todd, “they must have been vampires for a number of years already. I’ve always suspected them of some kind of duplicity, but I’ve never been able to pinpoint exactly what they’d been involved in.”

     Linda said, “When I questioned Minnie and Frank about the End House party, Minnie quietly tried to warn me that things weren’t always what they seemed. Maybe she was feeling guilty and was trying to warn me. I feel so bad that I didn’t listen to her. It must have been Frank who attempted to drown me; the swimmer had his size and shape. He looked angry every time I visited their store. Maybe Minnie didn’t even know the full extent of the evil lurking inside of him.”

     “It was Frank who tried to drown you. Minnie might have gotten herself involved in something that she couldn’t get out of,” said Todd.

     “We’ll never know.”

     “Maybe Minnie never transformed into an evil vampire like the others. She didn’t participate in the bonfire of Sam and Todd,” Shana said.

     “Then she died a hero, who was valiantly trying to warn me. I’m going to remember her like that,” Linda said.

     “Anything is possible. It’s very noble of you to believe in the good of people. That’s what makes you so special,” Todd said as he softly kissed her on the head.

Kindle

http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

Nook

http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

 

THE DEAD GAME -- DAY 116

 

What secrets are buried in Oasis, Florida? Who lives in the quaint gingerbread house and who are they watching?
 
     Anna led them across the front room, which was furnished with antique couches and chairs. To the right, Linda stole a quick glimpse of the dining room with its beautiful crystal chandelier and large dining room set. On the left, she had already seen the quaint living room with its flowery curtains and ornate antique furniture.

     They climbed the narrow staircase, which was set back behind the front desk. At the top, Linda looked around and was startled to find that the house was much larger inside than it had appeared from the outside. As they followed the long hallway, they were shown five bedrooms: each with its own unique color scheme and furniture. The first room on the right was done all in pink with white and gold furniture. Toys were scattered about the room with dolls lined up on the bed—as if the inhabitant was expected to return at any moment.

     The room to the immediate left was decorated in blue, with boys’ dark furniture and toys. The next two bedrooms, on either side of the hallway, also displayed children’s furniture and belongings: one with green furnishings and the other one with purple. The last bedroom, straight ahead, belonged to Abe and Anna.

     Linda was entranced by the rooms and all the furnishings. When Anna requested for them to visit the attic, Linda agreed. She hoped the attic was full of old clothes and items from the past.

     They climbed a narrow staircase that descended from a trap door in the hall’s ceiling. They discovered the attic to be bare, except for the lone rocking chair that was facing the gravel road leading out of town. Linda walked over to gaze out the small triangular window, when the chair began to rock by itself.

     Anna said, “Everyone in the family takes turns watching the supposedly deserted mansion down the dirt road, and End House at the edge of the dark mountain. Both spots can be clearly seen from this vantage point.”

     Linda realized that this meant that someone was actually sitting in the chair—right at that moment— causing it to start rocking. She didn’t ask any more questions, but just grabbed Shana’s arm and pulled her out of the room, bidding the couple a hasty goodbye. She didn’t think that she could remain in this unnatural house one moment longer without either screaming or pulling her hair out. She was freaking out over the house and the strange story that she’d been just told.