"ANKH" (sample: Chapter 1)

     Sweet smells of summer breezes whispered through the screen door.  Morning sunrise danced on the windows.  Wild birds sang an unusual song.  That tune, one to never be forgotten! 
     "Jess, hurry!  You have to see this," screamed Stacy. 
     Screeching, black crows surrounded the land on Woodrow Farm.  Silence of the farm animals crept into the atmosphere.  Stacy covered her ears with her hands.  Her healing, crystal bracelet mysteriously turned black! 
     "Stacy, Stacy, what's wrong?  Are you, o.k.?"  Jess ran quickly down the steep, stair case.  Her heartbeat racing with every breath!  The tone of her sister, Stacy's scream sent chills up her spine!
     "Stop it!  Stop it!  No!  I belong here with my sister," argued Stacy with an unknown entity.
     "Stacy, let go of your ears!  You're hurting yourself!  Stacy, do you hear me?"
     Jess began desperately prying Stacy's hands from her ears.  Warm blood began sliding down Jess's hands.  Terrified, Jess abruptly let go of Stacy's hands.  Still screaming horribly, Stacy forcibly rammed her thin body into Jess.  Stacy's sister, Jess fell to the floor.  Jess's medium, stocky body caused a harsh thud once her body hit the floor.  Eerily, her motionless body lay still.
     "Jess, Jess," cried Stacy.  Stacy dropped to her knees, vigorously!  She began shaking her sister's motionless body in hopes of waking Jess.  The sight of blood struck dark fears in Stacy.  Crying and screaming, Stacy left her sister's lifeless body and ran outside.
     It was if the earth stood still.  The wild, black crows became silent.  Not a sound from the farm animals.  The horses sinister stares, cold and distant.  The chickens stood oddly in a straight line.  The rooster stood perfectly still at the end of the line.  The goats, pigs and sheep appeared to form into the shape of Stacy's homemade, healing, crystal bracelet.  Each animal mysteriously faded to black!  Their eyes resembled coal.
     "Welcome, child," spoke an unfamiliar voice.
     Stacy was paralyzed in fear!  Her piercing, green eyes searched for the voice.  It seemed to be surfacing from a herd of cows.  Unsure, Stacy managed to slowly step towards the cows.  As she approached the cows, her breathing grew intense!  She could hear only her heartbeat.
     "Who's there?  What's happening?  What did you do to my sister?"  Scared and angry, Stacy directed her fear to the unfamiliar voice.
     "It's what you've done.  You've created this revolution of the souls!  Your spirit once was blessed.  Think, child.  Think back in time.  When your innocence was pure.  You were seven years old.  Your sister, Jess was nine.  I prayed and watched you both from above.  I heard your mother and Aunt Cecily discussing the mystical myth about the land here on Woodrow Farm.  I could hear, feel and smell their curiosity, doubts and fears," explained the voice. 
     A thick fog began to blanket the land.  Stacy felt tears rolling down her slender cheeks.  She feared the unknown presence.
     "Where are you?  Please, please, show yourself!  My sister needs help," cried Stacy.  Her eyes started burning from the thick fog.  Stacy rubbed her eyes, rapidly.
     "Take my hand, child.  Release your fears.  Believe in your true power," suggested the voice.
     The thick, fog slowly cleared.  The burning in Stacy's eyes began to subside.  A powerful stench filled the air.  Stacy began to see visions of the horses galloping.  The galloping transformed into fierce speed and force!  Grunts not neighing from the horses broke the intense silence on Woodrow Farm.
     Black crows screeched an ear aching tune.  Mysteriously, all the black crows formed a circle over the land.  Their flight, continuous speed!  In Stacy's eyes, the crow's appeared to be a black, circle of fury!
     "What's happening?  Quiet!  Quiet," shouted Stacy!  Stacy spun around in circles.  She began to feel the earth's anger rumble under her feet.
     "Child, come.  We must get into the house," demanded the voice!
     "You, do I know you?"
     "Come now, child!  The sky and earth are angry!"  A slender arm extended a bony hand with crooked fingers.
     Stacy grabbed onto the deformed hand.  The two raced towards the house where Jess was last known to be seen.  The earth's ground continued to rumble.  The other farm animals broke their unusual formations.  The animals natural colors reappeared.  All the animals scurried throughout the land.
     Stacy and the elder woman continued running, quickly!  They stayed hand in hand.  It seemed as if they were racing through a maze of chaotic animals and shaking ground!
     "Where is she?  Jess, where are you?  Where is my sister?"  Stacy screamed as she swung the see through, screen door open.  Stacy desperately dropped to her knees next to the antique, wooden chest.  Exactly where Jess was last seen. 
     "Child, look here," The old woman kneeled down next to Stacy.  Compassionately, she began to wipe the tears from Stacy's face.
     "Don't touch me!  Don't you ever touch me!  What have you done with my sister?  Jess, Jess," screamed Stacy!
     "Does this belong to your sister?"  The old, woman slowly opened her hand.
     "Yes!  I made that for my sister.  Where is she?  What have you done?"  Stacy tried to snatch the healing, crystal bracelet from the old woman.
     "Child, this healing, crystal bracelet is the entity to your sister's soul.  Your spirit is in turmoil.  Listen closely, child.  Look at your sister's bracelet.  Her healing crystals are of pure pastel colors.  She is untarnished of its presence.  Unaware of its darkness," carefully explained the old woman.
     "Why?  Why my sister?  Why not me?"  Stacy slumped over in despair.
     "Child, back when you were seven years old, I saw you digging in the dirt.  You were under the oak tree.  Your sister, Jess was nine.  She always loved climbing the oak tree.   Do you recall what you found in the dirt that day?"
     "Yes.  I found the healing, crystals.  I made Jess and I bracelets out of the crystals.  What does that have to do with my sister disappearing?  Or the chaos outside on the farm?"  Stacy looked so confused!  She was at a loss for words.  Her sister was missing.  The animals were out of sorts.  The earth and the atmosphere were at war!
     "Duck, child!"  The old woman threw her aged, body over Stacy's.  A black crow forcefully soared through the house window!  Shattered glass surrounded Stacy and the old woman.  "Child, are you, o.k.?"
     "Yes.  I think so.  Are you?"
     "Yes, child.  We must perform a sacred ceremony.  The spirit wants to challenge you!  Your love for your sister.  It wants to steal her soul for its innocence and use it for evil," explained the old woman.  She carefully raised up off of Stacy.  "Their evil sanctions can prosper only with innocence.  You were the first to locate and touch the healing, crystals.  Your intuition scares the evil within its entity."
     "You were like an entity.  Out in the fog on the land.  I could not see you.  I felt your presence.  I heard your voice," replied Stacy.
     "Yes, child.  When your fear turned to anger, our souls met.  I began to appear in human form.  Evil feeds on fear!  Your love for your sister will bring her back to you and the human world.  Your aura is a threat to the evil that lurks and haunts this land.  The black crow that crashed through the window, it's a warning from the evil force!  A warning for you to give in to evils wishes."
     "No!  I will never give you my sister!  I will always love her!  Jess, can you hear me?  I will bring you back to me.  I promise.  I love you," vowed Stacy to her sister.