Dear Readers

Fear not the Darkness, But What Lies Within, The recesses of our mind, The creepy cobwebbed corners,That lingers on and tickles us,With tingle feelings of alarm, The deep in the stomach, Pain we feel when we do warn, The fear is deadly it seeks, The deepest corner of our mind, It's just a story to alarm,Educate and provide entertainment for our minds. So read on dear reader, I hope you find the stories amusing and full of charm.






Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 9 - Conclusion

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 9


Carcass, noun: The dead body of an animal; the trunk of an animal such as a cow, sheep, or pig, for cutting up as meat; the remains of a cooked bird after all the edible parts have been removed; the remains of something being discarded, dismembered, or worthless.

Geek, noun: An unfashionable or socially inept person; [usually with modifier] a knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast; a carnival performer who performs wild or disgusting acts; verb: Engage in or discuss computer-related tasks obsessively or with great attention to technical detail; be or become extremely excited or enthusiastic about a subject, typically one of specialist or minority interest:

Slash, verb: Cut (something) with a violent sweeping movement, typically using a knife or sword; reduce (a price, quantity, etc.) greatly; noun: A cut made with a wide, sweeping stroke; a wound or gash made by a cut with a wide, sweeping stroke.

If you missed Part 1 click here
If you missed Part 2 click here
If you missed Part 3 click here
If you missed Part 4 click here
If you missed Part 5 click here
If you missed Part 6 click here
If you missed Part 7 click here
If you missed Part 8 click here

    This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. 


The Gravel Pits-Part 9 -Conclusion


     Just when she thought she might have lost him a hand reached out from in front of her and grabbed her saying, “Found you.”
     “Don’t panic it’s me Karl.” he said, “Are you okay Kathleen? He didn’t harm you?” 
       “I have some bruises, but I’m okay.” she answered, I'm so glad you're here.

      Kathleen relaxed for a moment in Karl’s arms that he put around her, but then she remembered the man was still out there.

     “I saw his car parked in front of the Sulphur springs, you weren’t in it and I saw him enter the woods so I assumed you were in here. I slashed one of his tires, but he's the kind of geek to drive on it. We better get moving to my car before he gets here. My car is that way,” Karl said pointing.

     Kathleen heard a noise behind Karl and then saw the man come into view. He swung a log at Karl’s head and then with the other hand reached out to grab Kathleen but missed. As Karl fell down, Kathleen ducked, grabbed a log herself with her other hand and swung it at the man connecting with his head. The man’s head bled profusely and he dropped like a stone. Kathleen bent over Karl and helped him up as he pointed the way to his car. Kathleen dragged Karl to the car where he insisted she drive.
      “I can’t. I don’t know how,” Kathleen protested.
    “You can do this I can direct you, but I can’t see well enough to drive. I’ve got double vision.”

     Karl then showed her how to shift the gears and drive before buckling himself and her into the car. Kathleen wanted to take him to the hospital, but Karl insisted they go straight to his dad. Kathleen floored the car driving as fast as she could to the police station, but it was at least twenty miles away and it seemed like forever as she drove. she was terrified but she would not let this man catch them she decided as her adrenalin kicked in.  Karl seemed groggy and Kathleen kept talking to him to keep him awake. Just before they got to the out skirts of London the man caught up to them and banged the back of Karl’s dad’s car almost pushing them off the road. Kathleen kept the car steady and headed towards the police station. Kathleen raced through the city with the man on her tail. Finally turning into the police station driveway, the car disappeared. Kathleen got out and took Karl into the police station.
    “Can I help you?” asked the policeman at the desk.

    Kathleen burst into tears and then still shaking, she blurted through sobs, “I....kid ...”
   “You’re not making sense miss. Did this boy hurt you?”
   Karl took Kathleen in his arms and let her cry into his shoulder as he explained, “I’m Karl Ward, my dad works here.”
   “Oh you’re Lieutenant Peter Ward’s boy,” the policeman acknowledged.
   “Yes, I am,” Karl replied.
   “So what happened Karl? Can you tell me while I summon your dad?”
  “This is my friend Kathleen Jones. You have a BOLO out on her. That weirdo that you look for, kidnapped her. You know the guy who may have killed that girl Gina Waterstone? I spotted his car and I found Kathleen running from him in the woods. He caught up with us and hit me on the head but Kathleen saved me hitting him on smack dap on the head when he tried to grab her again. Then we drove here and he followed,” Karl said.
   “Your head bleeds.  I believe you both need to go to hospital. Now is the perp still out there?”
   “No, he took of once we turned into the station. But he did hit the back of our car when we were on the highway outside of town. There may be some paint scrapings you could get there,” Karl said and then finishing he said, “My head hurts.”
   “And here’s help right on cue,” the policeman said.

     The ambulance attendants arrived and diagnosed the Kathleen was in shock and said that Karl needed stitches and probably had a concussion. They loaded the two teens up and into the ambulance.
     “I’ll have your father meet you at the hospital Karl,” the policeman promised.

    The teens were seen almost immediately, though Kathleen refused to be far from Karl; so they set him up in a bed near her with the curtain drawn so they could examine her.
   Great-Aunt Frieda arrived at the hospital a half an hour after the ambulance and crying she said, “Thank, God you’re alive.”
  After the tears and reunion took place, they recommended an overnight stay for Kathleen because of shock. Karl’s father arrived three hours later to find Karl sitting beside Kathleen’s bed holding her hand his head sewn with twenty stitches.
    “We got him. You’re safe,” Lieutenant Ward reassured them.
    “You got him dad?”
    “I’m safe? He won’t get out on bail?” asked Kathleen
    “No he won’t get out of jail. I’m afraid he’s dead.”
   “Good! I'd like to kick his carcass, ” Karl exclaimed vehemently, “How did it happen, anyway?”
    “Karl!!”
   “He hurt Kathleen. He would have raped and killed her and he killed other women. He deserved to die, dad. you have to admit that,” Karl insisted.
   “No one deserves to die. Jail can be a terrible punishment. He tried to get away, but he was trapped and when he got out of the car he shot at us and my colleagues fired back. He died in a battle of gunfire,” Lieutenant Ward explained.
   “He can’t hurt me...”Kathleen said and then began to cry again.
   Karl went to her and hugged her again as the nurse came in and told his father and Karl that they had to go.
   “I’m not going home. Kathleen needs me,” Karl insisted.
   “It’s very unusual and I better be able to trust you young man. This young lady needs you for assurance only understand?”
  “Yes, ma’am,” Karl replied politely.
  “Fine then you can stay, but only if you lie down in that bed there. You have a head injury and should rest. She’ll hear your breathing and know you’re there. I’ll check you in a couple of hours,” the nurse said.
   Karl’s dad left smiling, reassured the teens were going to be fine and went back to work. In the morning Kathleen was escorted home by Karl and his father. Karl saw Kathleen to the door.
  “Terri is anxious to see you, but dad said she had to wait until tomorrow,” Karl stated.
   “Thanks for coming to save me Karl,” Kathleen said.
  “It’s nothing any boyfriend would have done. Besides you could have saved yourself. You are so brave,” Karl insisted.
  “Karl, are you my boyfriend now?” Kathleen asked surprised.
  “I’d like to be,” Karl said.
  “Then it’s settled you’re my boyfriend,” Kathleen claimed then kissed him gently on the cheek and said, “See you later, Karl.”
 “See you later Kathleen,” Karl cried planting a soft kiss on her lips and then leaving.

   Kathleen danced as she came in the house, “My first real kiss, because you can’t count Tommy Gunderson,” she called out to no one and then said, “I have a boyfriend and he’s handsome and older. All the girls will hate me. I love it!”
Then she giggled happily. Great-Aunt Frieda heard Kathleen’s record player turn on and the song ‘And then he kissed me’ by the Crystal’s come on full blast and sounds of Kathleen dancing around the room.

   Great-Aunt Frieda went into the kitchen made herself a cup of tea and took out a cookie from a batch she kept back from the bake sale. Great-Aunt Frieda smiled, Kathleen sounded herself again after that horrible kidnapping.She had come out of this with very little harm thank goodness. It had been a hairy situation but it was over.The boy Karl had finally declared himself. Karl was a good boy brought up properly he wouldn’t take advantage of Kathleen.  God had seen their family through this tribulation and all was right with the world. She could relax for a while until the next teenage drama, of course, hopefully not anytime soon.
      Next on her agenda making a fabulous picnic lunch for Kathleen; Karl and his family were meeting them at the gravel pits for a swim and a picnic. Time to make peace with the gravel pits and the terrible thing that almost happened nearby. They could make some new happy memories for the all the teens Terri, Karl and Kathleen. It would be a beautiful day the weather was perfect. If she hurried she could just about make her German potato salad in time, before she let Kathleen know about the picnic and swim.
The End

©Sheilagh Lee  September 17, 2014


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 8

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 8


Carcass, noun: The dead body of an animal; the trunk of an animal such as a cow, sheep, or pig, for cutting up as meat; the remains of a cooked bird after all the edible parts have been removed; the remains of something being discarded, dismembered, or worthless.

Geek, noun: An unfashionable or socially inept person; [usually with modifier] a knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast; a carnival performer who performs wild or disgusting acts; verb: Engage in or discuss computer-related tasks obsessively or with great attention to technical detail; be or become extremely excited or enthusiastic about a subject, typically one of specialist or minority interest:

Slash, verb: Cut (something) with a violent sweeping movement, typically using a knife or sword; reduce (a price, quantity, etc.) greatly; noun: A cut made with a wide, sweeping stroke; a wound or gash made by a cut with a wide, sweeping stroke.

If you missed Part 1 click here
If you missed Part 2 click here
If you missed Part 3 click here
If you missed Part 4 click here
If you missed Part 5 click here
If you missed Part 6 click here
If you missed Part 7 click here


                                        The Gravel Pits-Part 8

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. 


     Stuck in the trunk Kathleen panicked she needed to find a way out, She found her mind going to the car magazines that had belonged to her dead father. He had considered him self a car geek and she had loved to browse those magazines with him. Kathleen remembered seeing in one of those magazines with a description of this car. Karl had been correct that it had been a Ford Fairline but this was also a muscle car and a rare edition that. It was some kind of weird name like a snake or something. Cobra, that was the name. She’d remembered the name for all the good it did her trapped her in its trunk.
     She hit her arm out and hit the spare tire. Banging it she managed to dislodge and move to the front of the trunk so she could get at the seat. Some of these seats folded down if she could somehow get it to do so she could escape. If only she could find the switch. She pushed at the seat at several places. Nothing happened, no movement. She began to think she’d die in here. She took out the knife again and tried to slash through the edges of the seat and triggered something. The seat began to fold down.
     She was free she could escape as long as he didn’t come out. It was dark and the parking lot was empty she observed through the bag Plexiglas window. She saw the bar with its name in neon lights After Hours.
     Kathleen had never heard of the bar. Where was she? She looked and saw woods at the edge of the property on the other side of the property and on the other side the gravel road that the car had travelled in on. If she escaped to the road, it’s the first place he would look for her.  She’d have to brave the woods and hoped they would come out to somewhere she could seek help.
   Kathleen climbed over the seat and opened the front driver’s door quietly as she watched the bar hoping he wouldn’t see the light on in the car. She entered the woods stealthily and ran quickly through the woods. She came upon a path and followed it to a clearing. The dim light from the moon revealed a sulphur water fed spring. She was at the Sulphur Springs and the nearest home was four footballs fields away but it was there. She could seek help and be safe. She ran around the front of the springs to the road and then she heard it. With the rumbling of a car Kathleen darted to the woods, but not soon enough as she was caught in the headlights. She picked up her pace as she heard the car door open and him call to her.
   “Give it up little girlie. I’m not going to kill you. I won't leave your carcass on the road, if you come to me now. I kind of like your feistiness. I’ve decided you’re the one I’ll keep. After all we were destined to be together.”
   This sent chills down Kathleen's spine. Kathleen picked up her pace, but heard him hot on her trail, as branches started hitting her in the face. Just when she thought she might have lost him a hand reached out from in front of her and grabbed her saying, “Found you.”

©Sheilagh Lee  September 10, 2014

To be continued

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Stalking the Demon author is looking for reviewers #HighFantasy #FREEBIE


Stalking the Demon by Writer CIARA BALLINTYNE 


The cracks in our souls bleed darkness. High fantasy. 

EMAIL – info@ciaraballintyne.com
WEBSITE – http://ciaraballintyne.com
TWITTER – @CiaraBallintyne

STALKING THE DEMON ~ Advance Review 
EBOOKS by @CiaraBallintyne

 #HighFantasy #FREEBIE
Available for a limited time
FREE Advance Review ebooks (Review Copies only) 

STALKING THE DEMON
(Book 2 in the Seven Circles of Hell)
by Ciara Ballintyne


40K word short novel - Genre: High fantasy - 



Date of Publication – 31 October 2014

Genre:  High Fantasy (Adult)
About the Book:


Alloran lost his hand to thwart his renegade friend–but the 
world is still going to hell. 

Six months after Ladanyon's defeat, Gisayne is fading away
 from a baffling illness. Alloran is desperate for a cure, but he has 
a secret–the seven circles of hell are unstable. His worst fear is that 
the terrible mirror spell cast upon Gisayne has wrought some connection
 between her and the demon dimensions. 
As everything Alloran loves races toward destruction, he does the 
unthinkable and refuses to obey the council of wizards. The only people
 who can help him are the two research assistants assigned by the
 council–but he knows he can't trust them. All the answers are 
locked away in the last place anyone wants to go: hell!! 


Add it to your Goodreads TBR
My fellow writer Ciara Ballintyne is looking for honest reviews, 
if you would like to read this book in e-Arc , and have a 
valid Amazon account and will cross post to Goodreads 
she would like to hear from you.

ALL REVIEWERS PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM at
 https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RZLV37Y

Must be able to provide an honest review before October 31

N.B. :  eARCs may not be identical to the final published version 
and therefore may contain some minor editing and typographical 
errors prior to the final proofread.
 eARCs are expected to be available 2 weeks prior to 
the publication  date. 


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 7

Three Word Wednesday - The Gravel Pits-Part 7


Bribery, noun: The giving or offering of a bribe.

Clobber, verb [with object] hit (someone) hard;
treat or deal with harshly; defeat heavily [with object].

Skeptical, adjective: Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations.

If you missed Part 1 click here
If you missed Part 2 click here
If you missed Part 3 click here
If you missed Part 4 click here
If you missed Part 5 click here
If you missed Part 6 click here


                                        The Gravel Pits-Part 7

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. 

     Terri came over and for two days they baked and cooked. Terri and Kathleen made muffins and cookies and cakes. Great- Aunt Frieda offered bribery some of the baked goods, but the job was tedious. They made casseroles and other meat dishes and Jell-O salads, until they thought they'd scream because it seemed so boring. Great-Aunt Frieda said they'd soon be done but Kathleen was skeptical, at least until they took the last cake out of the oven. 

  “Kathleen we need some linens, there are about fifteen white table cloths in the far closet upstairs near your bedroom. Please bring them here,” requested Great-Aunt Frieda just when Kathleen thought she take a break.

   Kathleen ran up the stairs and went to the cupboard and took out the linens that Great-Aunt-Frieda would loan to the church for the sale. She then started thinking about her lucky escape two days ago and grew frightened. Even going to the church seemed terrifying so she decided to tuck her dad’s Swiss army knife down her go-go boots before she went to load the car with the linens and food; after all better safe than sorry.
They loaded up the car and Great-Aunt Frieda drove them Terri and Kathleen to the church while she went to pick up Terri’s mother and the food from there house and a few other church ladies houses. There she opened the church with a key she took out of her purse. Then she helped them set up one table and then they placed all the food at that one. Great-Aunt Frieda instructed them to set up the tables, (twenty of them) while she left to pick some other foods from Terri’s house.
    The tables were soon set up and Terri became bored then she said to Kathleen, “I need to go to the bathroom. Want to come?”
   “I don’t have to go besides I want to put the Jell-O salad in the church fridge until it’s served,” Kathleen answered, “Do you think my chocolate cake will do okay in the raffle?”
   “Yes and my dorky brother will probably bid on it. See you in a couple of minutes,” Terri replied.
   A few seconds later Kathleen heard footsteps and asked, “Terri is that you,”
   “Hardly brown eyes,” a voice answered.

  As Kathleen turned she saw a man sticking his whole hand into her raffle cake and taking a big chunk.
   “Mmm yummy cake,” he said.

    Kathleen’s whole body filled with chill and her feet felt cemented to the floor. Then without thinking, she turned to flee, but in seconds her hands were grabbed and twisted behind her back.
   “Now is that anyway to treat a guy who offered you a ride the other day?”
   “Please, let me go!” Kathleen begged as he propelled her towards the door.
   “No I’m taking you for a ride, unless your friend Terri is here? She could join us too.”
   “No, I’m alone. But my Great-Aunt and Terri are due back any minute,” Kathleen insisted.
   “Then we better take that ride before they get back,” the man demanded.

   Kathleen struggled kicking back with her feet and even biting his left hand, but he still managed to push her into the car. Instead of putting her in on a seat, he opened the trunk. He clobbered her on the head, took out some rope trussed up her hands and feet and threw her in the trunk. Kathleen started crying as the car started up and her whole body felt the bumps as the car when down a gravel road. At least Terri was safe maybe Terri had heard and would call the police to save her? No, somehow she had to save herself. She tried moving this way and that and then realized if she bent her right wrist back she could slip it out of the rope. Being double jointed did come in handy. She managed to get her wrist out and reach down for her dad’s Swiss army knife in her boot. It had moved almost to her foot. She had to move around awkwardly, in the small space of the trunk to get it dislodged and to propel it to the top of her boot. This seemed to take hours but she knew it was really minutes as the knife dropped into her free hand.  She cut away at the rope on her left wrist and then was able to remove the rope from her feet. Now how could she get out of the trunk? She worked at the catch but it wouldn't budge. She was trapped and the car was still moving. would she become a statistic like that poor girl they had found two days ago? No, she had to think of another way before he stopped this car. 
    The car's engine came to an abrupt stop and Kathleen's heart felt like it had entered her mouth. This was it, her time was up he'd open the trunk and do whatever he was going to do to her, she thought. She heard a bang on the trunk and she hit her head on it. 
    "Hey little bitch, I'll be back to deal with you in a few hours after I have some beer. Maybe the time we'll teach you not to bite the hand that holds you. If you're a good girl when I get back we'll have some fun and maybe I'll even bring you a beer. No, maybe not, you're not old enough to drink. Are you?" he laughed.
   Kathleen then heard his boots hitting pavement. So they were in parking lot? Parking lots meant people. She started to scream and bang, but no one came. What kind of a dive had no people. The kind of dive a serial killer hang out at a little voice said.
   Kathleen felt herself baking in the late afternoon sun; it was so hot in the trunk. She had to find a way out not only because he was coming back to kill her, but because the heat in the trunk might kill her before that.

©Sheilagh Lee  September 3, 2014

To be continued