Hunters by Aoife Marie Sheridan
(Demon Series #1)
Publication date: October 1st 2014
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal
Synopsis:
Abigail is nineteen. Her job, she hunts demons.
Her life so far has been tough. Having witnessed her family’s death
and her mother’s suicide, she’s been taken in by a priest, who believes
her when she says that she sees ghosts. Father Peter trains her as a
demon hunter with three other members, one being Daniel, who isn’t what
he seems.
But when a possession goes wrong, and ghosts start to attack Abigail,
the tight rope she has on her emotions soon starts to loosen. Abigail
draws the unwanted attention of the Reote, and she finds out a lot more
than she was willing to learn.
Knowledge is power, but for Abigail, it’s her undoing, and the only thing keeping her together is Daniel.
Purchase:
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AUTHOR BIO
Aoife
Marie Sheridan has loved reading from a very young age, starting off
with mills and boon's books, given to by her grandmother her love for
romances grew, by the age of 14 she had read hundreds of them.
Aoife
had a passion for writing poetry or in her eyes her journal entries. It
was something she did throughout her teens and into her twenties. Aoife
won first place for two of her poems and had them published at a young
age of just nineteen. Realising she needed to get a real job (What
writing isn't) she studied accountancy and qualified working in that
field for many years, until her passion for reading returned and
she found Maria V Snyder. Poison study one of her favourite books has
been read and re-read countless times.
Aoife's first book Eden
Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy) came to be after a dream of a
man and woman on a black horse jumping through a wall of fire and the
idea of Saskia was born. Now with her first novel published and taking
first place for Eden Forest with Writers Got Talent 2013, Aoife
continues to write tales of fantasy and is currently working on her
third book for the Saskia Trilogy amongst other new works.
To contact Aoife you can email her at aoifesheridan101@gmail.com
Author links:
Excerpt
Hunters – Taken from Chapter One – The Possession (Abigail)
***
“Where
is she?” I asked as I laid out my roll of equipment on a hall table; it
was the only piece of furniture in the hall so it had to do.
Taking
a cross out of my pack, I poured holy water over it, splashing some on
the hall table and the carpet. A small price to pay for us saving his
daughter’s soul. Rolling the rest back up, I placed it back into my
jacket and tucked the bible under my arm.
“This way,” the man said looking ready to bolt but thought otherwise.
He stood at the third door down the hallway. Zee placed his hand on the
door, and then gave me a nod, letting me know that we had the right
house. I moved towards the door, but before I turned the handle, I
turned back to the man.
“How long has she been like this?”
I asked as Zee got himself ready.
Father Peter didn’t give many details, he just needed me to get there as quick as possible.
Tears filled the man’s eyes. “A week, maybe two.” At least, it didn’t have a long time to fester.
I gave Zee a nod just as I turned the door handle and entered the
darken room. Light hurts them so I switched it on and let it flood the
space. It was a standard sized bedroom, nothing special about it. A
wardrobe rested against one wall, it once had been white but with time,
it had faded. My eyes moved to the locker that was pine. It was bare of
any ornaments and sat tightly against the single bed that the girl lay
on. Her body was partially naked and her long blonde hair was stuck to
her neck with sweat, I couldn’t make out her features as her face was no
longer human looking than the hands that rested on her swollen
abdominal. I turned to the man to give him a piece of my mind for
leaving such a small detail out, but he had bolted, leaving us here with
his pregnant and possessed daughter.
Words of another language
and another time came out of the girl’s mouth, more than likely cursing
us into the ground or into hell.
Zee’s hands moved robotically,
taking items out of his trench coat. He placed two small white candles
on the window sill, but didn’t light them - they were a just in case. He
stayed close to them, but leaned against the wall. He looked so large
in the small room.
“Do you want to do it or shall I?” I asked.
I always gave him the option; he did most of the work, but I hated tiring him out.
He gave me the once over, considering if I was strong enough. “You go ahead. I’ll observe,” he finally answered.
Moving towards the girl caused the demon inside her to rev up, making the girl’s body move at all the wrong angles.
I
splashed her with the holy water. It bubbled up on her skin, the vapor
rising and disappearing. A hiss left her mouth and more words followed.
Taking out the bible, I turned to the page where the most powerful
prayer lay, holding the cross steadily in my hands I started,
We drive you from us,
Whoever you may be,
Unclean spirits,
All satanic powers,
All infernal invaders,
All wicked legions,
Assemblies and sects.
In the Name, and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
May you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God,
And from the souls made to the image and likeness of God,
And redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb.
The
sound of laughter made me stop. As the demon overtook the girl’s face
completely. My heart rate elevated. Zee, quick to act, lit two candles,
knowing what was to come as the light bulb brightened, casting a
blinding light in the room before it exploded and small shards of glass
flew across the room. I covered my face, protecting it from the
onslaught of the flying glass. Small cuts across my hands stung and warm
blood slid slowly across my fingers. I took my hands away, ignoring the
pain. The flames from the small candles that Zee had lit danced across
the room but gave little light. Not being able to see fully, always made
a possession more frightening, no matter how many times I did it, it
never got easier.
“Aaabbbiiigggaaaiilll,” the demon hissed
inside the girl, slowly stretching my name, but I heard it. My body
responded, causing me to stumble back, never before had a demon or
spirit spoke my name. I stood paralyzed.
“Abigail,” this time it was Zee who called my name and I could hear the warning in his voice.
I needed to continue. I sucked in a deep breath and wiped the blood
from my hands onto my jeans. I started the prayer again, saying it
faster, and louder. My voice trembled slightly. I felt shook up after
hearing that thing say my name. The demon inside the girl roared to life
and squirmed with a voracity that shook the bed savagely. The bed’s
thin, wooden legs slammed into the carpet, the noise drowning out my
words, but I didn’t stop, I couldn’t stop for fear of what might happen.
I continued as a few pictures fell from the walls, their frames
snapping with the impact and the glass shattering across our feet. The
curtains billowed now from an unseen wind. The bed continued to move
rapidly. And the large wardrobe shook violently. Its doors swinging open
and closed, the sharp bang lifting my heart every time. Zee stood
protecting the candles from the breeze that raced through the room,
carrying the foul stench of an unwashed body. I spoke louder closing my
eyes, forcing myself to stay focused, even against the activity in the
room. I clung to the cross. As my grip tightened it caused my cuts to
bleed, coating my hand once again. I could feel the cross slipping and
soon my hand was empty. The slamming of the wardrobe doors was getting
faster and louder. The bed hit the floor harder, the wood snapping
against the strain, small splinters of wood breaking free, and
scattering across the floor.
Then everything ceased, silence
fell upon the room, my breathing moved in and out of my nostrils,
sounding so loud in the dead silence.
“Dad?” The one word was
filled with fear and confusion and had come from the young girl; her
voice broke through my numbness and fear.
I moved towards her
slowly, looking at her face. She looked normal again, pale yet
terrified, but normal. I smiled the best I could at her confused face,
hoping to give her comfort. She met my eyes with big blue ones of her
own, ones she must have inherited from her mother as her father had
those muddy brown eyes, a ray of freckles covered her nose and cheeks
making her look like she was only about sixteen. She was so young to be
pregnant.
“Hi, my name is Abigail your dad called us, you were sick,” I said
She looked around the room for her father. I gave Zee a nod to go get him and he hesitated, looking at the girl for a moment.
“It’s fine, Zee. She’s okay,” I assured him.
He left hesitantly at my words.
“What’s
your name?” I asked, moving closer, trying to halt all the questions
that I knew must be going around in her head right now. Once someone was
possessed, they could never remember the ordeal. It was for the best or
lots of people would never sleep again.
“Lucy,” she said, still looking around the room that was only lit now by candle light.
“Lucy, that’s a pretty name,” I said, she was looking at me as if I was crazy.
“What
are you doing in my room? And why is everything such a mess?” she
asked, looking at all the frames and shattered glass on the carpet. A
logical question, yet I had no logical explanation.
“How far are
you gone?” I asked, looking at her stomach, trying to distract her
until her dad got there and he could come up with whatever story he
wanted to. She looked down at her belly after hearing my question and
her cheeks lit up when she realized she was half-undressed. Fear and
confusion filled her face.
“It’s okay, Lucy.” I didn’t get to
finish as she started to scream while kicking her legs and pulling the
remaining blankets off her, blood started to soak the sheets.
“My
baby!” she screamed as Zee and her dad entered the room. I rushed
forward, grabbing the blanket; I needed to stop the bleeding, her
stomach rippled and I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing what I
was seeing. A hand formed, pushing its way against her stomach,
reaching out to me, stretching her skin almost to breaking point. I fell
back off the bed, away from the hand, while pulling the blanket with
me. The bed started to levitate.
Lucy’s screams and her father’s
pleas to save his daughter made the room swarm around me. “Abigail,
Abigail,” the voice danced around me, I covered my ears. “No. No!” Zee’s
feet rushed past me and he jumped up on the bed, fighting the
hysterical flailing arms that Lucy threw around as her stomach stretched
and moved at abnormal angles. The demon had attached itself to the
child’s soul. I snapped out of my daze. The cross lay on the ground, its
gold surface now tainted with my blood. I grabbed it and jumped up
while holding onto the cross for dear life as Zee placed his hand on
Lucy’s stomach, a gust of air ripped through the room, throwing
everything into chaos. The candles hit the carpet and distinguished
almost immediately, leaving us in darkness. I couldn’t move for a
moment, but could only watch as light poured from Zee’s fingertips,
blinding all of us. Sound ceased to exist at that moment, while
everything around us continued to shake. I could feel the ground under
my feet vibrate. Through the light, I could see Lucy was still alert,
her mouth open as she screamed in fear and agony. Her eyes wild, the
veins bulged in her neck as she continued to scream soundlessly. It was
like watching a movie with the sound on mute. A large crack raced down
the wall behind the bed, just stopping at the skirting board, and then
the room went dark. The world stopped shaking.
“Lucy,
sweetheart, talk to me,” her father’s frightened whispers reached my
ears. I opened my eyes as Zee came to me and his strong arms pulled me
into a tight embrace. His smell, his warmth calmed me. His heartbeat
pounded against my ear, bringing me back. I looked up at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded, but I was anything but okay.
I
pulled away and stood on trembling legs, making my way to the bedroom
door. Once I opened it, light flittered into the room. I looked at Lucy,
her body lay still. She looked snow white against the blood soaked
sheets.
The father’s face turned to us tears stricken and red with anger. “What have you done to my baby girl?”
I
didn’t reply, but took out my phone, ignoring the trembling in my
hands, pausing before making the call. I turned to Zee. “Did we lose the
baby?” I asked, he nodded his head, and a pang twisted my heart. “The
girl?”
“She’s alive,” he answered and left the room.
I pushed the button and made the dreaded call.
