It’s my turn to host the YA Spooktacular today and I’m more than a little excited. I’m hosting Part 9 of Story 2, A Soul Laid Bare and today’s author is Kelsey Dickson.
Two stories, thirteen parts and thirteen different authors. Lots of fun and two amazing stories being told. You won’t want to miss out on this, seriously!
To read the story in order: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8. So without further adieu, let’s continue the story..shall we?
Sami jolted forward, throwing herself off balance. With an audible snap, her concentration was broken, and she knew without even testing it that any connection to magic she’d previously invoked was now gone.
Before she could think to do anything else, Sami was running. She had no idea where she was running to, all she knew was that there would be no stopping until either they were dead, or she was dead. The ultimatum made her blood run cold.
The night was dark—black—almost as though there wasn’t a moon. Sweat was dripping into her eyes, but Sami pushed forward. She could slightly make out the edge of the trees as they materializing in front of her when she tripped over something, and landed, hard, face down in the dirt. The sheer force of it made her dizzy. Sami raised her hand to her face, and felt something warm and slick–her nose was definitely broken. She tried to stand, only to find that her left ankle was completely mangled. Unable to support her own weight, Sami collapsed back to the ground just as an orb of fiery purple light shot past her head, sending the huge juniper in front of her up in flames.
She heard shouts behind her, and furiously began half crawling, half limping towards the woods. Once she finally reached them, she started running again, gritting her teeth against the pain as it set her body on fire.
As she ran, Sami looked for any possible hiding spot. She started to think about what would happen if she didn’t find one when she hit something—someone.
Sami looked up, and gasped in horror. It’s him, she thought.
“It’s you,” she whispered, never once breaking contact with his black eyes.
“I’m Jareth, but I assure you we’ve never met,” the man said.
Sami hadn’t realized she’d been slowly retreating away from him until she found herself backed up against a tree as far as she could go. “You killed m–her. You killed Tonya.”
He stepped forward and placed both hands on Sami’s shoulders.
“Don’t touch me,” she cried.
Jareth raised his hands up, palms facing outwards to show her he wasn’t a threat. “Look, I don’t know how you know about Tonya, but I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I was there! I saw you do it,” Sami spat. Jareth’s brow furrowed in what seemed to be genuine confusion.
“Listen to me. I need your help.”
“That’s what you told Tonya…right before you choked her!”
“I didn’t kill her!” He was losing control, fast. “I just needed to get that,” he pointed towards her neck.
Sami looked down. “What? My necklace?” Jareth nodded.
Sami protectively wrapped her hand around the stone, and the air around her began to tremble, distorting everything she looked at. She felt herself being jerked backwards by some invisible force; it was pulling and pulling on her until she couldn’t breathe, and then there was an explosion of light.
***
Tonya found herself staring up at the man with the blazing obsidian eyes. “You have something I need.” His voice echoed through her head.
Tonya blinked, and caught movement out of the corner of her left eye. A short man in glasses with graying hair was walking in their direction, his fingertips mindlessly brushing the rows of books. She turned back to the man, his hand reaching out to her. “I need your help,” he whispered.
She was reaching her hand out to meet his when she felt a sharp blow connect with the back of her head. Everything went black.
***
“Mr. Cooper killed Tonya,” Sami gasped. “I don’t understand. Why?”
“Cooper needed her body,” Jareth explained with a pained expression.
“What? Why? Why did he need her?”
“She was—”
“Why is he after me?” A feeling of dread settled into the pit of her stomach.
“Because now he needs yours.”
Holy crap! This story is shaping up to be pretty darn awesome! Thanks to Kelsey Dickson for keeping the party going with this fantastic addition to the story. If you want more from Kelsey then make sure you follow her on Twitter at @kelseydickson and follow her blog at: Reading or Breathing.
Wait! We’re not done yet because there are two amazing grand prizes being given away as part of this YA Spooktacular and it’s open internationally. For the full scoop on all of that, visit Frenzy of Noise. The jist to enter the contest for the grand prizes is this:
The rules are pretty simple:
- You must comment on EVERY post in a story to be eligible to win the grand prize pack.
- You MAY enter for both stories.
- The forms are a must to be entered.
- Winners will be selected at random.
Here at The Book Scoop, we’re hosting a Trick so click on the picture below to enter.
The trick is pretty simple:
Video telling your own part of the story. This is worth 4 entries.
Good luck!
For the next part of A Soul Laid Bare (Part 10), visit Overflowing Shelf tomorrow. It promises to be fabulous!
With all of this Story 2 awesomeness, you’ll definitely want to check out Story 1 as well. I’ve been following along and it’s just as great as Story 2 (I promise!), check it out!
..and that’s your scoop!
I knew it! I knew it! There was definitely something off about Mr. Copper.
I really can;t wait to read what is coming next!!!
And here I thought Mr. Cooper was a good guy. Gandalf went evil-the travesty! This story is really taking hold of me. I need the next part!
Damn Mr. Cooper! What does he want her body for?
There was something definitely creepy about Mr. Cooper. And killing librarians? NOT COOL!
Shocked! 🙂 Love it!
Didn’t see that coming, dark and mysterious was suppose to be the killer not the friendly neighborhood dad…so good!
It looks like Mr Cooper is not a good Gandalf afterall! =( What does he want with her body?!!
milagp1@yahoo.com.br
Hmmm… I like the looks of this Jarreth guy. This is such an awesome story! I really have enjoyed it so far.
Wow! Just when I thought I knew who the good guys and bad guys were another great twist happens!
Wow, wasnt expecting it to go that way.
I thought Cooper was good. I lvoe the name Jareth. I am LOVING this story!!
Okay so there is a necklace that does something and Cooper is a killer/psych wizard guy and just what is Jareth? ghost/vampire/something else.
Awesome job Kelsey 🙂 Love it!
What a twist!
This is getting really good. I wonder who is Jareth.
wow! i totally loving this story!! i knew there was something off about mr. cooper. i wonder what he is planing
Ooh! I loved the flashback type part, bringing it back to Tonya and connecting it to now.
Both stories are amazing!! They both need to be published somehow.
Tonya was …what?
Maybe Mr Cooper is responsible for her best friend’s behaviour!
fabgiada (at) gmail (dot) com
Wow! How does this keep getting better? I can’t believe it it’s already the ninth part!
lasynner@gmail.com
Definitely wasn’t expecting that twist.
jlynettes @ hotmail . com
Wow I LOVE the twists!! I had a feeling MR Cooper was creepy!! haha I am loving this story!!
Kristen
My Bloody Fairy Tale
I can’t believe Mr. Cooper killed Tonya! I definitely wasn’t expecting that!
Now that was a big twist to the story I have to keep reading I need more very good story I love it!
Too cool!!! Looking forward to more!
Uh-oh, wasn’t expecting that! Looks like the bad guy isn’t really who we think it is…
Woo Jareth! Finally a worthy love interest… except how old is he? I hope they defeat the body snatchers.
curiouser and and curiouser
I definitely wasn’t expecting that! These stories are amazing!
This one just keeps getting more interesting
I knew something was up with that Mr. Cooper! I want to read more!
I’m loving this!
My favorite part:
“Why is he after me?”
“Because now he needs yours.”
Wow! i was not expecting that!
-jessica b