by Dave Becker
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Wandering the dark hallways of the medieval castle, I find myself face to face with a stone sphinx. Its teeth are bared, its claws are raised, and its wings arch ten feet above its head, seemingly pointing to a large wooden door. I press my shoulder against the heavy door and it opens with a loud creak.
Rows of books line all but one of the walls from ceiling to floor. To my right, a 60-foot mosaic of stained glass windows tells a tale of plagues and monsters and curses. Sitting at a long table under the windows, almost hidden behind a huge stack of books, is a boy with dark hair and dark eyes, maybe fourteen years old. He doesn't acknowledge me.
I slowly trace the shelves of books, brushing my fingers over the brittle spines, some so old and worn that no text remains. Those that I can make out have bizarre titles that center around the occult, prophecies, and mythical creatures. I pause in front of the boy.
"Hi, I'm Dave." I offer my hand.
"Tony," he grunts, and still doesn't look up.
He's studying the pages of a dusty tome entitled The Modern Curse of the Ancient Monster. Illustrations of rampaging beasts and falling stars destroying villages are interspersed with faded text that is barely legible. Tony scrunches his face in focused frustration.
I lean forward until my head is almost touching his, and peer at the upside-down pages.
"Can I help?"
Tony lifts his eyes for the first time. A cold terror fills them.
"Can you take away a curse?"
I stumble backward and stammer, "You…you think you're cursed?"
He raises his hands, showing me his palms, which look perfectly normal.
"I've made scrolls burn, walls collapse, and rocks bleed."
I feel the weight of the bookshelves pressing hard into my back. Suddenly I wish I was in any room of the castle but this one. Tony calmly returns to his studies.
"I need to figure out how to stop it before things get worse."
My hands are trembling. I take two cautious steps toward the door with the sphinx when I notice a strange shadow moving up the colorful windows behind Tony. The glass explodes in a violent rainbow, and a terrifying roar shakes the entire room.
~end
Guest post created by Dave Becker, author of The Faustian Host
© 2012. All rights reserved.
Dave Becker is the author of The Faustian Host, a new young adult, paranormal thriller. After losing his family and his home, 14-year-old Tony Marino is forced to move from Florida to Massachusetts to attend Kalos Academy, an unconventional school for gifted children. Strange things begin to happen the day he arrives, and soon stories of plagues, monsters, and mystical objects surround him. Refusing to believe superstitions, Tony struggles to explain the occurrences logically, until he comes face to face with a satanic cult determined to bring about the end of the world.
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by Dave Becker
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READ more about this world...
Apocalypse Signs
by Dave Becker
Plymouth Rock is bleeding. Day has turned to night. Hundred-pound hailstones level buildings. The small town of Clement seems cursed, and the residents know who's to blame: the new kid, Tony Marino.
After losing his family and his home, 14-year-old Tony is forced to move from Florida to Massachusetts to attend Kalos Academy, an unconventional school for gifted children. Strange things begin to happen the day he arrives, and soon stories of plagues, monsters, and mystical objects surround him. Refusing to believe superstitions, Tony struggles to explain the occurrences logically, until he comes face to face with a satanic cult determined to bring about the end of the world.
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* image source stone sphinx
