Hey! I am Rhys Ford… speaking to you in my own… okay that doesn’t work. Does anyone else remember Don Carnage!? He’s speaking at you in his own voice! Ah, the esoteric memories. You’ll probably want to skip this part during the next few…*coffs*…okay, over a dozen blogs as I parcel out a short tale featuring Wolf and Tristan!
Welcome to a
Hellsinger Investigation!
There will
be prizes and giveaways. Be sure to hit up each blog for an update on the
investigation. I have brought in for this tale of ghosts and shenanigans two
special prizes (well many of them…but two!). You might have seen them already;
a pair of cuddly alpaca and a braided leather Wolf sigil bracelet. You’ll be
able to win one or both at each stop with a Grand Prize to be given away at the
end of the tour.
The giveaway for this spot is: A Pair of Alpaca and a Wolf Sigil bracelet
Leave a
comment to enter to win!
Hellsinger Investigations
File #241
Residence:
Hazel Maplethorn-Bocker
Paranormal Activity: Objects Relocating
Location: Eureka, CA
Paranormal Activity: Objects Relocating
Location: Eureka, CA
The
residence is occupied by Ms. M-B and ten cats. Client is retired school-teacher
and has no history of psychic or paranormal activity either personal or in
residence. Residence is 1940s bungalow with no recorded deaths. Land cleared of
any prior paranormal activity; formerly undeveloped acreage. No structures or
causalities reported at location. Cannot discount native population or
transitory inhabitants prior to establishment of city boundaries.
Team: Gidget and Matt
Consultant: Tristan Pryce
§
The
screaming jerked Hazel up out of her sleep, yanking the breath from her lungs
as the piercing broke through her dreams. The house was dark, so very dark and
despite the soft sounds of chatter coming from down the hall, she felt so very
alone. Her bed was empty, cold and clammy despite the cozy warmth of her home
and not for the first time since she’d called Hellsinger Investigations, Hazel
wished her lover, Andrea, hadn’t taken her damned business trip to Toronto.
Scrambling
to find her robe, Hazel slid halfway off the bed and felt around at the floor
with her feet, looking for the pair of fuzzy slippers Andrea’d given her last Christmas. If anything, the
floor was colder than her bed and Hazel shivered, feeling as if ice chips were
crinkling through her blood.
Something
fuzzy brushed her toes and Hazel let loose a small grunt of triumph. Working
her foot into her slipper, Hazel bent over to grab its twin when the ground
gave way under her. The hardwood floor she and Deidre stripped, stained and
varnished slipped out from under her and Hazel went down, sliding into the ooze
bubbling up around her bed’s frame.
Every part
of her mind screamed the slick liquid swallowing her up wasn’t real but Hazel
choked, trying to clear the viscous fluid from her open mouth. It clung to her
skin and tongue, a foul sourness working its way down her throat and filling
her lungs and belly. The bed tilted away from her as she sank further into the
growing damp lake. Kicking her feet only bound her nightgown and wrap around
her legs, restricting her movement and the heavy weight of the sodden material
seemed to be pulling her down further, sucking her down into the murky depths.
Afraid to stretch her toes out in case it drove her deeper into thick liquid,
Hazel steeled herself and tried to find steady footing beneath her.
There was
nothing there and she felt herself being dragged down deeper into the muck, her
frantic struggles splashing up waves of the foul oily water into her face.
Panic set in, chilling and prickling her skin and Hazel let go of her pride,
screaming for someone…anyone… for help.
Breathing
deep, she scolded herself, “Come on, old girl. Do something. Be smarter than this.”
The bed
seemed immune to the spreading sinkhole and Hazel slowly churned her legs,
trying to bring herself closer to the frame. The room’s walls were wavering,
slowly folding down into the rippling fluid. Kicking hard only dragged her down
further but swaying helped her drift closer.
Nearly to
the bed, she made a grab for her knitted coverlet, hoping to hook her fingers
into the tucked in throw’s open weave. The yarn slithered around in her hand,
curving to tighten painfully around her wrist. Her cry must have shaken the
house because the pendant light set into the recessed ceiling began to sway and
chunks of plaster broke off above her, crashing down into the water below.
Fighting the
coverlet, Hazel spat out a mouthful of rank liquid, alarmed at how warm it was
getting. The ripples grew stronger, cresting up into tiny waves and splashing
her face. There was shouting going on somewhere, faint and indistinct and Hazel
opened her mouth to respond, hoping to draw someone to her room to help her.
Her screams
turned to horror then silence as something grab at her ankle and yanked her
down into the burbling, hot depths and she disappeared beneath the churning
surface.
§
Duck Duck Ghost by Rhys Ford
Paranormal
investigator Wolf Kincaid knows what his foot tastes like.
Mostly
because he stuck it firmly in his mouth when his lover, Tristan Pryce,
accidentally drugged him with a batch of psychotropic baklava. Needing to patch
things up between them, Wolf drags Tristan to San Luis Obispo, hoping Tristan’s
medium ability can help evict a troublesome spirit haunting an old farmhouse.
With Wolf’s
sister handling Hoxne Grange’s spectral visitors, Tristan finds himself in the
unique position of being able to leave home for the first time in forever, but
Wolf’s roughshod treatment is the least of his worries. Tristan’s ad-hoc portal
for passing spirits seems to be getting fewer and fewer guests, and despite his
concern he’s broken his home, Tristan agrees to help Wolf’s cousin, Sey, kick
her poltergeist to the proverbial curb.
San Luis
Obispo brings its own bushel of troubles. Tristan’s ghost whispering skill is
challenged not only by a terrorizing haunting but also by Wolf’s skeptical
older cousin, Cin. Bookended by a pair of aggressive Kincaids, Tristan soon
finds himself in a spectral battle that threatens not only his sanity but also
his relationship with Wolf, the first man he’s ever loved.
Available from Dreamspinner on Sept 8.
§
Duck
Duck Ghost Promo Tour
Sept 2 Love Bytes
Sept 3 Prism Alliance
Sept 4 Smoocher’s Voice
Sept 6 Fiction Vixen
Sept 7 Boy meets Boy
Sept 8 Three Chicks after Dark
Sept 9 NdulgentBloggers
Sept 10 RainbowGold Reviews
Sept 11 Joyfully Jay
Sept 12 The Blogger Girls
Sept 13 The Novel Approach
§
About Rhys
Ford
Rhys admits to sharing the house with three cats
of varying degrees of black fur and a ginger cairn terrorist. Rhys is also
enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird, a Toshiba laptop, and an
overworked red coffee maker.
My Blog:
www.rhysford.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhys_Ford
And at the
Starbucks down the street. No really, they’re 24/7. And a drive-thru. It’s like
heaven.
My books can
be purchased, folded and first chapters read at Dreamspinner Press. http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
I'm screaming here myself. What a cliffhanger!
ReplyDeleteWash! I don't wanna wait! Wow you are good.
ReplyDeletehey, hey, can't leave Hazel like that!
ReplyDeletePatiently waiting for my copy of DDG. Up at Dreamspinner in an hour. :) Yay!!!
ReplyDeleteYikes! Getting grabbed under the water is one of my nightmares, so this cliffhanger is giving me shivers...
ReplyDeleteOh, noes! I don't know that I can hold my breath long enough! That is some cliffhanger!
ReplyDeleteWow! Now I really can't wait for tomorrow's installment.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying this tour too much. Can't wait for the next one.
ReplyDeletePoor Hazel!
ReplyDeleteSuch a good new series. Can't wait to read.
ReplyDelete-Miranda P
Oh wow! Eagerly awaiting the next post!!
ReplyDeleteAww...can't wait til tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteSo so good. Dead lover vs. live lover.
ReplyDeleteMarcine
Dejamew[at]centurylink.net
Hit Publish and the comment disappears, so trying again, and if it repeats, my apology.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine the much as a giant jello shot. That is definitely the way I want to go. Loving how each chapter is a different POV. Cannot wait for the rest of the story, and so waiting for DDG. Thanks Rhys and this site's host.
Totally unexpected, LOVE IT!! Hurry up tomorrow :-)
ReplyDeleteWas not expecting that! Looking forward to the next post!
ReplyDeleteAck! Poor Hazel!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the next part!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance at the giveaway!
aegger.echo(at)yahoo(dot)com
Whoa! What a way to leave us hanging. I love it. :-)
ReplyDeleteNo its ended on a cliffhanger, please not a cliffhanger, poor Hazel sucked down by ghostly ectoplasm, will she be rescued...
ReplyDeleteSeriously need to start this series but I'm already drowning in books I'm reading D:
ReplyDeleteSo real, I could smell the ooze!
ReplyDeleteWay to leave us hanging. Ah!
ReplyDeleteDespite not liking ghost or horror stories, I am reading this. Tell me why? :\
ReplyDeleteJust keeps getting better!
ReplyDeleteNice part
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
It just keeps getting better and better.
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWow, scary and exciting.
ReplyDeletestrive4bst(AT) yahoo(Dot) com
Sounds great, mevalem258 AT gmail DOT com
ReplyDeleteReally enjoying this...can't wait to find out what happens next.
ReplyDelete