The Witch (35 page)

“Stupid, moralistic child. Do you believe you have such a power?”

Stephen swallowed hard.

“Yes, because I received it by birth. You passed it on to me. I keep nothing that belonged to you. The utensils I used are buried in the backyard. I release you from the spell that bound you to me.”

He heard his mother laugh but never wavered in his confidence. Not a complete shade, she played on the insecurities of humans. On his fear of being alone, his fear of losing his mother’s love, his fear of having to make a choice between parents. His momma had made the choice for him when she killed herself. For a long time he couldn’t say those words. She killed herself.

“Leave the house with me.”

“Of course I will.” His Mother’s voice brightened. The stink of death dwindled
.

He felt her make a rush for his body, but he expected it and stood firm. He caught his breath after the first attack and waited for her to niggle her way inside his flesh.

“You’ve turned to stone. There’s no love left in your heart for me.”

“Wrong. I love Momma, but I don’t like the part of her that was left behind. And …” He took a few moments to choose his words. Smiling he said, “I’ve become a scholar. I can live without you and make friends and love other people too.”

He saw her shade form within a white puff of smoke. While trying to hold the image her face look pained. Her form faded, coming back diminished each time she tried.

“Don’t fade away here alone,” Stephen said. “I’ll walk with you into the sun.”

“I need your body for that, fool.”

“No, you need to be willing to give up the earth for some rest.”

Smoke circled his body, and Grannie Smith almost made a grab for him, but he raised a hand to stop her.

“Momma can’t get inside me.”

He heard curses, pleas; a mad cacophony of words poured forth from his mother’s shade. He walked out of the room, the white halo still surrounding him.

Grannie Smith pushed Robin to the front door she had left ajar. Slowly she lowered the wheelchair back onto the cement path before turning toward the boy. As he reached the warmth of the sun the halo withdrew, fading back into the hallway.

Stephen stepped outside and Grannie Smith locked the door.

“Will she go away?” asked Robin. “There’s no one to keep her here,” he said. The threesome strode to the house, each looking over his or her shoulder, checking for a sign, but the house looked normal and quiet.

“I’m your mother,” screamed Cathy. “I birthed you. I am as whole as when I walked this earth.” Except for a physical body, a self-doubt reminded her. “I don’t need a boy to bring me back. I am here of my own accord. Nothing, no one gives me permission to be here.” Her words echoed around her, yet she knew no one heard her
.

In the backyard one of the dogs barked, incessantly, demandingly, loudly. She went to the kitchen window and saw the male dog looking up at her, its coat full and clean. Its face never turned away from her. Beyond him, centered in the yard, lay the burgundy velvet fabric, and trailing it lay the items Stephen had used to bring her back. The mound of clay looked singed by the sun, and the other items seemed cheap and used up. The dogs had mauled the goddess. Teeth marks bruised every inch of the wood. Chips missing had either been eaten or spat out onto the grass. But the figure no longer retained any specific shape; it was merely a discarded twig of a tree or broken-off bit of furniture
.

For a time the sharp backyard image stayed tattooed upon her vision, but soon it blurred as the surroundings faded. The sight and sound of earth lost the reality she so longed to keep
.

Her tired spirit wanted sleep. Death claimed her back into its bounty and cradled her in its arms
.

Don’t miss Mary Ann Mitchell’s next book, due out October, 2007 from Medallion Press:

ISBN#1932815848
ISBN#9781932815847
Gold Imprint
US $7.99 / CDN $9.99
Horror
October 2007
www.maryann-mitchell.com

Sirena is a beautiful young woman. By night she strips at Silky Femmes, enticing large tips from conventioneers and salesmen passing through the small Florida city where she lives.

Sirena is also a loyal and compassionate friend to the denizens of Silky Femmes. There’s Chrissie, who is a fellow dancer as well as the boss’s abused and beleaguered girlfriend. And Ross, the bartender, who spends a lot of time worrying about the petite, delicate, and lovely Sirena. Maybe too much time.

There’s also Detective Williams. He’s looking for a missing man and his investigation takes him to Silky’s. Like so many others, he finds Sirena irresistible. But again, like so many others, he’s underestimated Sirena.

Because Sirena has a hobby. Not just any hobby. From the stage she searches out men with the solid bone structure she requires. The ones she picks get to go home with her where she will perform one last private strip for them. They can’t believe their luck. They simply don’t realize it’s just run out.

ISBN#1932815163
ISBN#9781932815160
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US $6.99 / CDN $9.99
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www.maryann-mitchell.com

His name is Topiltzin. He is the son of the Dragon, a blue-eyed Mesoamerican hero. He is also a godless ballplayer, a wanderer, a rogue warrior. He will become known as the Plumed Serpent, the man who became a god, who transcended death to become the Morning Star.

In the world of the Fourth Sun, Topiltzin is the unconquered hero of the rubberball game. When he comes with his companions to a city to play, children flock to meet him, maidens cover the roadway with flowers for him to tread on, and people gather to watch the mighty Turquoise Lords of Tollan. They are the undefeated champions of the ancient game of ritual, a game so fanatically revered that spectators would often wager their own children on its outcome. To lose meant decapitation. The Turquoise Lords of Tollan never lost. At least until now.

The Smoking Lord, descended from Highland Mountain kings, has come with vast armies. He has learned of the splendid Tolteca from a priest who tried to teach him the true way of the one god. After offering the old man up as a sacrifice to the midnight sun, Smoking Mirror has now come north to see if the legends are true.

An army has come, and a new age. Topiltzin witnesses its horrors. He finds cities destroyed, villagers raped and ritualistically slaughtered by sorcerer priests sent as heralds to offer up human sacrifice. Unable to stop the blood slaughter of innocents, realizing the vast armies of the Shadow Lords will annihilate even the mighty Tolteca, Topiltzin becomes obsessed with one final objective, one last move in the rubberball game: the death of the Smoking Mirror.

ISBN#1932815465 / ISBN#9781932815467
Platinum Imprint—US $26.95 / CDN $35.95

Teen-aged filmmaker Tom DeFrank, through his hobby of stop-motion photography, conceives a monster: he builds and animates a demon puppet. Unbeknownst to Tom, however, the “toy” creates a subliminal bond with a dark entity. As he labors with the miniature beast, making his movie, the boy unwittingly summons a force that wreaks the terrible vengeance of Tom’s repressed rage.

Only reclusive psychic Stephen Parrish and his daughter Julie know of the ancient evil awakened in their little town. As romance blooms between the teens, Parrish senses the strange presence within the troubled young filmmaker and seeks to unravel the mystery of the demon.

But people are dying as bitter grudges come to the fore. Rumors abound of a strange creature loose in the countryside, and a fearful public turns suspicious on Parrish. Will he be able to leash the monster and the will of its creator—a boy little conscious of his power to create … or destroy?

ISBN#I9328I5708
ISBN#978I9328I5702
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Unsuspecting Rick Summers had simply gone to the cemetery to visit the graves of his mother and sister, killed in a car accident years earlier. He had the cabbie wait for him. But when he got back into the taxi, he didn’t have the same driver. His new chauffeur was a re-animated corpse. And he was about to take a drive into hell.

The doors to hell open in the house of his ex-lover, Katarina, where he is delivered by his not-so-sweet smelling driver. Rick learns that Katarina is missing and has been recently plagued by a stalker. That’s just the beginning of the bad news. When the house changes right before their unbelieving eyes, taking them somewhen and somewhere else, a horrifying mystery begins to unfold. At its heart is unrequited love. And Rick Summers.

It seems that several lifetimes ago, Rick, then Thomas, spurned a woman named Abigail. Not a good idea. Because Abigail’s great at holding a grudge, some of her best friends are demons, and she’s dedicated to keeping a promise she made to Rick long, long ago. “Forever will I remember; forever will you suffer …”

ISBN#1932815694
ISBN#9781932815696
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www.authorgaryfrank.com