Altar

A Supernatural Thriller

thanks to my son-in-law, Tristan for the image

An Excerpt:

She was going to die. Horror seized her and she realized that these were her last moments on earth. The man’s face, distorted and muddled, peered at her through the river’s surface. She opened her mouth to scream but only sucked in water. Bubbles hissed in her ears, her skull throbbed and she choked.

Like some sadistic tango, the current drove her away and then pulled her close again and she pawed for the surface. The man smiled and extended his hand. Why? To drag her to safety or to welcome her to the unknown, to a better place— or worse? She reached for his large hand and muscled arm but the torrent held her, she would not be his today.

The river swatted her and then laughed in her face; an arrogant, condescending laugh, letting her know she was nothing. It hauled her back, away from the man and away from any chance of escape.

She knew him, a fleeting thought, a familiar stranger in a crowd; but the water penetrated her nostrils and burned its way into her brain and she began to fade.

She collided with a rock and fastened onto its slimy surface, a last chance oasis in this hellish void. The suction relaxed, she clawed above the waterline and gasped for air.

The day had progressed without her and the clock tick paid no attention to her panic. The emerald trees continued their shade, the ebony crow sustained its mocking cry from the perch above, and the yellow dandelions still punctuated the field beyond her reach.

She cried out for help but her voice was strangled and distant.

She put her foot into a crevice of the rock but slipped, plunging her back into the void. The suction returned and she thrashed against the current. She was alone again, empty, suspended in a million gallons of death.

She saw light through a curtain of bubbles and then dark, quiet, deep peaceful. Her lungs filled with water and then her stomach, she became one with the torrent. A short time, only a moment and she would never escape death’s grip.

Another rock, head first and she felt her scalp split without any pain. The pressure on her body subsided, the roar around her grew quiet and she slipped away.

His face appeared again and he smiled.

Life released her and she yielded; her muscles relaxed and she descended into black serenity.

Click here for an interview with the characters of Altar and the Darkness >>