Title- Possess My Soul
Series- Possess Saga # 5
By- J.A. Howell
Publication Date- May 15th, 2014
“Being half-fae I had the
ability to sense others' impending deaths. Anomalies. Deaths that didn't have
to happen. Sometimes, if I had enough time to get to them, I could stop their
deaths. But I never imagined I'd see my own.”
With only a week to go before she gives birth to her daughter Emma, Harley Faye
Finley chooses to make the ultimate sacrifice. Trade her life for that of her
daughter’s. When the time comes, she’s ready for the inevitable.
But something goes wrong.
Harley survives.
But someone…or something else is in there with her.
As this unknown, malevolent force fights for control, Harley finds herself a
prisoner in her own body, and those she loves are now in mortal danger. Will
she, Nolan, or anybody else be able to stop it before it’s too late?
Or will the Harley they know and love be lost to them forever?
Excerpt 1
When we reached the
hospital, it was chaos. There were ambulances, police, and news vehicles
crowding the Emergency entrance. I tried to hear what was going on, but we
weren’t close enough. None of it mattered anyway. I’d be gone soon.
“I’m a couple days
early, but I already called the doctor. We don’t need to go in that way.” I
assured Nolan. He eyed the ER, then turned the truck around to the main
entrance and pulled up in front of the glass doors. He handed the keys to the
valet, thanking them before helping me out.
“You called
everyone else, right?” I looked up at him as he eased me into a wheelchair. “I
want them to be here for yo—I want them to be here when Emma comes.”
Nolan gave me a questioning look but nodded. “Yes, I called
them. Aggie is rounding up the troops as we speak.”
“Good.” I felt a
little more at ease at that thought. Of everyone that had been there with Nolan
when something went wrong, I trusted Aggie the most. I was sure she could help
Nolan through this too.
“Harley! Ya okay?
Is it another one?” Nolan stopped and kneeled in front of me. I was doubled over, my hand gripping the side
of the wheelchair. I could only nod,
letting out puffs of breath. A couple nurses were already rushing to our side,
seeing me in active labor.
“Come on, mommy.
Let’s get you into a room.” The woman’s chipper tone stung me.
Mommy. I won’t get the chance to be her
mommy.
Twenty minutes
later we were settled into a room in the maternity ward and my contractions
were coming quicker and stronger than before.
“My, first time
moms usually are sitting and waiting for hours for anything to happen. You’re
just moving right along, aren’t you?” The nurse shook her head after she
checked my dilation. “Hope your doctor gets here before the baby does.” She
joked but I gave Nolan a nervous look.
He kissed my
forehead and came closer to the side of the bed. “It’ll be okay, love.”
I squeezed my eyes
shut. Another wave of contractions hit me hard. My fingers gripped the bed
railings and I tried to hold back the scream forcing its way up.
“Breathe, baby,
breathe.” Nolan’s hand caressed my back and I let out a slow breath, tears
stinging my eyes.
“I’m scared.” I
couldn’t help the pitiful tone in which the words came out when the contraction
finally subsided. Nolan leaned over me as I laid back. He brushed the strands
from my face that were stuck in place from the sweat coating my forehead.
“Yer doin’ good.
Yer almost there, love, and I’ll be right here the whole time.”
I nodded, pressing
my forehead to his and his fingers intertwined with mine. I didn’t want him to
be here. I didn’t want him to watch me die. But it was a comfort to know I
wouldn’t be alone. I gave his large hand a squeeze, savoring the feel of it and
the way mine fit in it so perfectly. God, I didn’t want to let go.
I won’t. Not until I have to.
The doctor came
into the room a couple minutes later, just as another wave of contractions
subsided.
“Well, Mrs. Finley,
you’re ready to go. Next contraction, I want you to push, got it?”
I nodded, still
clutching Nolan’s hand as another one hit.
“Alright, here we
go. Push!”
I let out a pitiful
whimper at the pressure building within me, but pushed with everything I could.
“Alright, just a
couple more pushes, Harley. You’ve got this.”
I already felt my
body weakening, but I did what I was supposed to. Just how the vision went. I
pushed again and the world blurred around me.
“Harley, I can see
her head! You’re almost there.” Nolan’s voice was filled with joy, and a tear
ran down my cheek. I didn’t want to leave him, but at least he’d have her. Our
baby girl.
“Okay, one more
push.” The doctor’s voice was barely distinguishable, but I already knew what I
had to do.
“I’ll always love
you, Nolan.” My words slurred together and I gave his hand one last squeeze.
With everything I had left, I pushed. I heard Emma’s wailing just before the
lights faded overhead and my hand slipped out of his.
“Harley? Harley!”
Excerpt 2
I took my time
heading back to the apartment, making my rounds downstairs to ensure everything
was business as usual in the pub. I would have loved to bury myself in work,
but I knew better. It probably hadn’t been the best idea to leave Harley alone
either given her erratic behavior—even if she had seemed closer to her old self
at the doctor’s this morning. Close, but
still not right, I thought.
When I walked into
the apartment it was silent and still. I
glanced toward the bedroom to find her fast asleep, long wavy hair spilling
over her face. She slept on her side with one arm under her pillow, the other
hanging off the bed. With a tired sigh I walked into the bedroom, carefully
placing her dangling arm back on the mattress and pushing a gleaming black
strand back from her face. Her long dark lashes twitched against her bronzed
skin as she dreamt, and I sank down next to her, my hand gently stroking her
hip.
“Christ, Harley. I
wish I knew what’s goin’ on inside ya.” I whispered in the quiet room, not
wishing to wake her. “Did I do this ta ya? Ya’ve been through so much and then
suddenly the baby and the wedding...maybe it was too much too soon. God, I wish
ya could tell me something. I wish I could make ya better again. Make ya happy
again.”
My throat
tightened with the last words and I fell silent once more, watching the subtle
twitches and movements as she dreamt. Unaware of my presence, her chest rose
and fell, deep in the comfort of sleep. She looked more than ever like my
Harley. I swallowed hard, sliding my hand off her side and resting it over her
hand. “Ya’ve no idea the depths of my love fer ya. Yer my heart, the very soul
of my being.” I squeezed her slender hand in mine but as my grip relaxed, hers
suddenly tightened.
“Nolan?” Her voice
came out in a strangled whimper, barely audible.
“Harley?” I held
onto her hand and she squeezed mine harder.
“Nolan?!” Her lips
trembled with the rise in her voice and a few tears rolled down from the corner
of her eyes, though they remained shut.
“I’m here, baby,
what is it?”
“I’m trapped,
Nolan. I can’t get out!” More tears came and I could see the twitching movement
beneath her lids. I touched her cheek, wiping away the tears as they trailed
down the valley between her nose and cheek.
“Shh, it’s just a
dream. Yer fine. I’m right here.”
“I can’t get out!
It’s dark and cold here! Please, Nolan. He keeps hurting me.” Her nails dug
into the back of my hand, pain bleeding into her voice.
“Who, Harley? Yer
asleep. Nobody’s here but me. Wake up.” I shook her gently but it did nothing
to pull her out of it. Her back arched and she gasped, more tears wetting her
thick lashes.
“He’s so strong
now. I can’t keep fighting! Please, Nolan. I’m trapped.”
“Baby, wake up,
it’s just a nightmare.” I shook her with a little more force and her hand
trembled in mine.
“I can’t wake up!
He’s keeping me here, forcing me down. It hurts! It hurts so bad. He’s so
strong. He’ll make me do things! Please! I don’t want to do them!” Her whole
body shook and she curled toward me, sobbing in her sleep. Anger flickered
inside me at the thought of her ex. After what he put her through, after he
tried to kill her and nearly succeeded, there had been many times I’d had to
wake her from nightmares of him, comforting her and bringing her back to the
present. But it hadn’t happened in a long time.
“Baby, ya need ta
wake up. He’s gone, remember?” I pried my hand from hers and shook her once
more before pulling her into my arms and patting her cheek. “Jackson’s dead. He
won’t hurt you again.”
“No. Not him!” Her
bottom lip trembled and a hand flew up, gripping mine once more.
“Then who?” I
asked. She didn’t answer, didn’t open her eyes as I cradled her against me.
“Wake up, love. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I shook her again
and her eyes fluttered open, startled and scared as she stared up at me. “Who,
baby? Who’s hurtin’ ya?”
Her body relaxed
and her frightened blue eyes dulled suddenly as she looked away from me. The
anguish and pain in her features smoothed away and she sat up, untangling
herself from my arms.
“Harley?” I tried to pull her back to me but she stood
and started for the bathroom, barely glancing over her shoulder.
“Sorry, darling. It
was just a bad dream.”
Possess My Soul got a lot darker than the rest of the
series...and as a result so did the playlist for it. There is also a lot of
action in this book so there is a lot of songs with heavy thumping beats on
here as well, like Rammstein. Nightwish and Apocalyptica were really great to
write to especially with all the paranormal elements. Imagine Dragons just fit
Lucas’ character really well.
1- Flesh and Blood- Johnny Cash
2- Bye Bye Beautiful- Nightwish
3- Scaretale- Nightwish
4- Fake Angels- Lovedrug
5- Feed The Fire- Combichrist
6- Retaliate- VNV Nation
7- Storytime- Nightwish
8- Bodies- Drowning Pool (A good song for when shit hits the
fan)
9- The Widow- The Mars Volta
10- End Of Me- Apocalyptica
11- Radioactive-Imagine Dragons
12- Du Hast- Rammstein
13- I Don’t Care- Apocalyptica
14- Demons- Imagine Dragons
15- Bleeding Out- Imagine Dragons
16- Not Strong Enough- Apocalyptica
17- Seven Devils- Florence + The Machine
18- Breathe Me- Sia
19- Don’t Bring Me Down- Sia
20- All I See- Lydia
21- Hospital- Lydia
22- Arabesque- Nightwish
23- Last Ride Of The Day- Nightwish
24- Save Yourself- Stabbing Westward (I named a chapter
after this song)
25-Come Little Children- Erutan (One of the prettiest and
creepiest songs)
26- Wild Horses- The Sundays (Serious Nolan Feels)
27- Never Tear Us Apart -INXS
J.A Howell is an office drone by
day, and a writer by night. Her love of writing took off when she was eleven
years old and decided to fill a composition notebook with stories to read to
her friends. Many years (and notebooks) later, not much has changed. She still
loves writing and sharing her works with others. When she isn’t writing, she
can often be found trying her hand at whatever artistic pursuit strikes her
fancy. J.A. Howell resides in Apopka, FL with her husband and their menagerie
of animal children.
No comments:
Post a Comment