The final installation of the horror, paranormal trilogy
The Darkening
Nexus:
The Araphym
The Darkening Part III
~
BLURB
Michael's daughter, Claire, is now eighty and a widow. In the twilight of her life, she has come to accept a quiet and uneventful existence.
But that is all about to change. For Claire is the Araphym, an immortal, human hybrid, and the only thing standing between Cagas, king of the underworld, and the total annihilation of the human race. Only problem is Claire doesn't remember...
Will Claire come to realize her place in history as the Araphym, or will life as she knows it cease to exist?
Warning: This book may contain language and violence which may be offensive to some readers.
* * *
EXCERPT
“Mrs.
Lawson has a pretty garden.”
Claire
cast a smile in the direction of her Great Green Macaw, as it sat on its perch
on the front porch. “Thank you, Ta-lin.”
“Not
at all.”
She
chuckled to herself and dropped a cushion on the cement path. “Now if these
eighty-year-old knees will keep working, it will continue to be a pretty
garden.” She kneeled next to a flat of marigolds and grabbed the garden trowel.
Stooping over the earth, she dug a hole and placed the single marigold into it.
Drawing the soil in around it, she then patted it gently.
“Pretty
flowers.”
“Yes
they are, aren’t they? Samuel always did love when I planted marigolds.” She
sighed. “If only he were here to see them.”
“Ma’am?”
Ta-lin
barked like a dog and Claire turned.
A
man leaned over the white picket gate.
She
squinted, adjusting her straw hat down over her eyes. “May I help you?”
“I’m
your neighbor, Dale Coleman.” He thrust a thumb at the street to his left. “This
letter was in my mailbox. I believe it’s yours.”
She
climbed to her feet. “Funny. I thought I knew all my neighbors.”
“Moved
in a couple of days ago. Into the old Peterson place.”
“The
Petersons moved? I didn’t even know their house was for sale.”
The
man shrugged and held out the envelope.
“I’m
sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Claire Lawson. Please, do come in and have a glass
of fresh squeezed lemonade.”
He
tipped his hat and opened the gate. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Ta-lin
squawked. “Duck, Claire.”
Claire
turned to Ta-lin.
“I
need you to duck. Now.”
Her
brow crumpled, as Ta-lin stretched his green wings out at his sides, the
feathers knitting together as they grew and extended out into great leathery
appendages. His eyes glowed yellow, his beak protruding into an elongated snout.
He opened his mouth as long sharp teeth glistened in the sunlight.
Claire’s
jaw dropped. “What the f—”
The
dragon-like beast leaped from its perch and swooped directly at her.
Claire
screamed and jumped back—falling onto the cement pathway as Ta-lin swooped over
her. She brought her arms up, as he flew into the man.
The
man pulled a knife, his eyes now red.
Ta-lin’s
claws ripped at his throat.
The
man plunged the knife up into Ta-lin.
Ta-lin
screeched and sank his teeth into the man’s neck, as they both fell to the
ground. For a moment, they were still, and then Ta-lin rolled onto the grass. The
six foot wings retracted, as feathers once more formed. “Claire…”
“Ta-lin?”
Claire stared from the man to the parrot, and then slowly crawled to Ta-lin’s
side. Blood flowed from the gaping wound, and Claire reached instinctively for it.
The
moment her fingertips touched Ta-lin, a glow surrounded him, the wound closing
and knitting as the blood disappeared. The scrapes and blood on her hands and
knees vanished.
Claire
gasped, and a blinding flash of light surrounded her. The light faded, and she
was standing in a park. “What’s happening?” She staggered back. “What is this?”
A
girl waved from a sandbox.
“That’s…me.”
She spun to the bench behind her. “Oh my God. Mom? Dad?” She gulped. “But…How
can this be?”
All
motion ceased, silence surrounding her.
