Abel strode into my room from the nether. I jumped up, running the few feet to him, and he pushed me behind him.
The shadow snarled, crouching low on my bed. If you think this is over, you should know this is only the beginning, it growled. You can’t protect her forever. In a flash of darkness, quicker than my eye could see, the shadow burst straight up through the ceiling of the trailer, disappearing as if it had never existed at all.
“What was that?” I ask with an uncontrollable shudder.
“Unsailee. A parasite. They aren’t usually so aggressive.” He looked at me. “You didn’t tell me you had a little friend,” he said the word loosely, “following you around.”
“It seemed harmless enough, and I had more important things to worry about.” I didn’t say her name; I didn’t think I could do it without crying.
Abel pulled me in for a hug, holding me tightly against him. I could feel his warmth radiating through me, calming me, slowing my breaths. He kissed the crown of my head, stroking the back of my hair gently. “We have to close the portal.” While I loved the sound of his voice, and there was no better sound in the world, least for me, I was not pleased by his words.
There’s more where that one came from, and I assure you, he paused, and much, much worse.
“I don’t want to know about the “much worse.” Even though I didn’t want to, I pulled slightly back so I could see his face. “Abel, what did it mean, this is only the beginning? If the unsailee is nothing more than a parasite, what could it have meant? And protecting me? Protect me from what?”
I saw uncertainty in the depths of his eyes, and what’s more, I saw fear before he quickly hid it away from me. If Abel was afraid, that scared me more than anything. Especially, since I knew his fear was for me.
Oh, so many questions. Don’t worry, it’s probably nothing. He kissed my eyelids, then rubbed my nose with his in an Eskimo kiss. I always love you, Krystal Abigail Haggart. Always….
Try as Abel might to distract me, I knew for certain I needed to find out for myself.
What wasn’t he telling me?
Acknowledgements
What an incredible journey this has been! I am so grateful to my friends and family members for your support through this process; I don’t know if this book would have been possible without you! In no particular order, I would like to give an extra dose gratitude to:
My husband, Kevin, and our three children; thank you for all of your love and support! (And for sharing the computer with me all those days when I hogged it to write!) Your encouragement was a great catalyst for bringing The Spirit Who Loved Me to light and your love, a tremendous inspiration!
My cousin and amazing artist, Joseph Bagwell; thank you for donating your work and time to create the beautiful cover art for The Spirit Who Loved Me.
Author L.M. Pruitt; thank you for mentoring me and for encouraging me to take up writing again. You were always willing to lend a hand and answer any and all questions I had regarding the publishing and writing process.
My mom and dad, Grace and A.D. Bagwell; thank you for your love and support. And an extra thank you to my mom for being more than happy to listen to me ramble on about story plots, mediums, Spirit, God, and Angels.
My sister, Kelley Bartley; thank you for beta reading and for your unwavering support. I will always be grateful for your encouragement!
My sister-in-law, Lisa Longmuir; thank you for beta reading, your insightful advice, and support throughout this journey.
To my high school English Teacher, Trudy Paschal Walters; thank you, not only beta reading and for giving me the courage to move forward with publishing, but for instilling in me a love of reading and writing. Your awesomeness will always be remembered by your students.
My cousin, Chay Broadway; thank you for allowing your likeness to be the inspiration for Krystal on the cover.
The Goffstown Public Library, New Hampshire, and its amazing staff; thank you for being an invaluable source for my research. (Please, support your local libraries!)
And last, but certainly not least, my loving Creator, God, my own Spirit Guides and Guardian Angels; thank you for your love and support and for the inspiration to complete this project!
Namaste, ya’ll!
Stacey Virginia Longmuir
About the Author
Stacey Virginia Longmuir grew up in the heart of rural North Carolina. At a young age, she experienced brief glimpses of the paranormal that would forever shape her perceptions about the world around her, and today she is still on the hunt to learn and discover as much as she can about God, Angels, Spirit, creation and reality, and how these topics interweave with one another. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, she enjoys reading, dancing and listening to music, especially Florence and the Machine. Though she currently resides in New Hampshire with her husband and three children, her family will soon be making a long anticipated transition back to the South. The Spirit Who Loved Me is her debut novel.
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