Today as I am visiting in Tennessee, my blog is in the competent hands of a young author I recently met through LinkedIn. I was impressed by her personal author story and the subject matter of her new book Poachers seemed like an ideal fit for my Halloween theme for this month. I hope you will enjoy meeting Stephanie Campbell and have fun with the special Halloween story she created especially for today's post.
Stephanie Campbell had her first book, Until We Meet Again, published at the age of seventeen. Now, at twenty, she is still whacking away at her computer, one day at a time. When she isn't reading or writing, she likes to dance, take karate lessons, and run. After all, you never know when you're about to be sucked into another world. Be sure to visit Stephanie's blogs--Stephanie Campbell's Blog and So You Want To Be A Writer and show her your support.
Curse of the Shadow
A Ronnie Toll Side Story
By Stephanie Campbell
Ronnie Toll sat at his desk, drawing a dark circle over and over again until his pen tore through the paper and ripped through to the other side. The girl that sat next to him—Lizzy-- saw this and scooted her chair as far away from him as possible. Ronnie ignored her. In fact, he ignored everything.
The truth was, Ronnie had a very scary secret. He has been able to see dark, shadowy figures since birth, and they had been haunting him. His mother had taken him to multiple doctors, but nothing helped. Now, he went to a psychologist. Ronnie was convinced deep down that she was crazier than he was.
It was Halloween. Everybody in his class was excited and was going to go trick-or-treating. Last year, his parents had tried to take him, but he had ended up kicking some woman in the face. That had stopped the relentless cycle. Instead, he spent his day watching the door like a dog ready to attack the first “shadow man” to creep through.
This year would be no different. While Lizzy showed off her sparkling princess costume and the rest of the class talked about their plans for the evening, Ronnie sat still and silent. Until the light in the classroom flicked off, of its own accord.
The whole class screamed in fear. Some of them tripped over their desks. Ronnie strained to hear a shadow monster, knowing that one was to blame. It was just too hard to tell, though, when his classmates were scrambling around like they were.
“QUIET!” Ronnie cried.
For the first time ever, they obeyed.
Lizzy clung onto his sleeve and said, “Ronnie, what is it? I want to go home! I want my Mom! This is so dumb. I hate Halloween.”
The truth was, Ronnie had a very scary secret. He has been able to see dark, shadowy figures since birth, and they had been haunting him. His mother had taken him to multiple doctors, but nothing helped. Now, he went to a psychologist. Ronnie was convinced deep down that she was crazier than he was.
It was Halloween. Everybody in his class was excited and was going to go trick-or-treating. Last year, his parents had tried to take him, but he had ended up kicking some woman in the face. That had stopped the relentless cycle. Instead, he spent his day watching the door like a dog ready to attack the first “shadow man” to creep through.
This year would be no different. While Lizzy showed off her sparkling princess costume and the rest of the class talked about their plans for the evening, Ronnie sat still and silent. Until the light in the classroom flicked off, of its own accord.
The whole class screamed in fear. Some of them tripped over their desks. Ronnie strained to hear a shadow monster, knowing that one was to blame. It was just too hard to tell, though, when his classmates were scrambling around like they were.
“QUIET!” Ronnie cried.
For the first time ever, they obeyed.
Lizzy clung onto his sleeve and said, “Ronnie, what is it? I want to go home! I want my Mom! This is so dumb. I hate Halloween.”
“Quiet,” Ronnie repeated.
That was when a dark shadow came pouring through the door. It was scary and fearsome, more solid than he had ever seen one before. The rest of the class won’t be able to see it, he thought, though he swore that some of the students leapt back in fear.
Ronnie pulled away from Lizzy and grabbed his math book, which was far too heavy for him normally. Now, it would be perfect. He had never tried to bludgeon a shadow to death before, but now he had no choice. Even if he hated his classmates, it didn’t mean that he wanted them dead. Here goes nothing, Ronnie thought.
He leapt forward, holding up his book and screaming like a warrior, “ARGHHHHH!”
That was when the shadow did something extraordinary, something that it had never done before. The shadow let out a shriek and screeched, “NOOOOO!!!!”
The shadow fled from the room as the rest of the class cheered behind him. He stared at where the shadow had been and felt his face flush—that had not been his shadow man. Something was rotten in the state of Denmark.
As Lizzy and one of the other students that usually teased him came up and patted him on the back, Ronnie stuck his head around the corner and groaned. Their math teacher, Mr. Clark, was lying on the floor from where he had tripped on the doorframe. He was in an all-black costume. Oh, no, Ronnie thought, realizing that Mr. Clark had been trying to scare them.
The class, who had just seconds before been cheering him on, turned against him. Lizzy and the rest of his fellow students shrieked, “Ronnie did it!”
Mr. Clark made a muffled sound against the carpet and looked up. By tonight, Mr. Clark would have two black eyes that would match his costume perfectly.
Ronnie Toll has never played with other kids. He's never slept soundly throughout the night, turned a corner without checking first, or laughed for the sake of laughing. All Ronnie knows is a world of shadows and monsters. His mother and father, Marion and Leon, are the only ones by his side. But all that is about to change when his mother is murdered by the monsters that only he can see. With his only safe haven crumbling around him, Ronnie becomes a poacher for the other side to help protect human civilization as he knows it. The problem is, he’s taking on more than he bargained for when he tangles with creatures that are larger than life—and himself.
For more information about Poachers visit Stephanie Campbell's Blog.
..
