Shadow Lover (Siren Publishing Allure) (39 page)

The reflection that had looked back at him was that of a perfect face, an incredibly handsome face, because there had been no fire, only the results of a small vial filled with a potion that resembled water. The old widow, in her wisdom, had given him the ability to see what was in his heart, so when he looked at himself in the mirror he didn’t see what was on the outside, he saw what was on the inside—a monster.

* * * *

Today, if anyone visiting the little town of Mystic Islands wanted to find an unusual tourist attraction, they would have to look no further than the sign at the beginning of a little country road that in the past year has had something added to it—

Entrance to Cat's Paw where

Moon Amber still stands, the

one time home of the famous

Mystery Man.

The old Frankenstein mansion sits empty now, and some say it’s haunted.

But they’re wrong
.

Down in the basement you might see dusty linens, cobwebs, and the neglected remnants of someone that used to live there—

but no ghosts
.

You might see evidence of kids crawling in and out the basement window looking at the place where the Mystery Man used to live—

but no ghosts
.

You might see a slice of moonlight that once framed a pair of tormented eyes—

but no ghosts
.

The
ghost
is the darkly handsome Quinn Grayson who roams the streets of Mystic Islands under the cover of darkness. He forages for food, nightly. His clothes are ragged, his eyes have a lost look in them, yet beneath the bearded shadow that covers half his face, he appears extremely handsome. Once he has what he needs, he winds through the dark streets and alleyways, hurriedly retreating into his lighthouse where the mirrors are covered because of what he thinks a fire has done to his face.

He hurriedly gulps the food down while he huddles in a corner, living his life as a
Frankenstein—a beast—a monster.

An insect that lives under the stairs
.

Then one night while Quinn was walking along the beach, he thought he heard a strange noise coming from the mansion. Like an animal he clawed his way up the incline to Cat’s Paw, then down the slope, and into the mansion.

“Who’s here?” he called out into the eerie blackness.

The only answer he got was the scuttle of a rat, the moan of the wind, and the creaking boards of time. Being surrounded by the familiar old mansion, ghosts from the past began to haunt him. Curious, he crept from room to room, seeing faces, hearing voices, and seeing remnants of the past that claw and twist at his insides.

Finally finding himself in Chyna’s bedroom, he smelled the haunting fragrance of her perfume, and buried his face in her pillow. When he finally rose he caught a glimpse of his face in a mirror, and lost control. With a bellow he attacked the mirror, and pounded at his reflection. Then after feeling the pain of his cuts, he held his bleeding fists to his chest, and began sobbing like a baby. Being reminded of what he had lost, he turned abruptly, reeled, stumbled, and fell, but finally found his way out of the mansion.

Away from the ghosts, away from the memories.

With tears blinding his eyes, he suddenly found himself upon Cat’s Paw, the raw wind and spray of the surf buffeting him about. He stood all alone looking down at the choppy ocean, the rocks, and the pounding surf, and felt his torment tearing at his insides. All at once he began to howl out his pain, and with fists red with blood raised against the sky, he cursed the God he never believed in. The pain he felt inside slashed at him unmercifully. It ripped, and tore to such an extent that he could no longer stand it. He felt that living one more minute—even one more second—with this face was more than he could bear, so like a mad man seeking relief from his pain, he let out one last howl of anger, hurt, and torment, and hurled himself off of Cat’s Paw.

To a suicide’s grave
.

The incident was big news around town for a while. And even though the men continue to gather daily in front of Cheney’s Market, each expressing his own opinion, they can only guess at what drove Quinn, a strong, handsome, rich young man, to leap to his death. No one knew, and after a while, no one cared.

As time passes, the empty mansion sits molding in the moist ocean air, it’s once unspoiled white boards turning dark. The only sign of life is a lonely, howling wind that whips across the ridge and down the rise, and a cold, salty spray lending its icy fingers to forge the ridge into the eerie shape of a Cat’s Paw. But as soon as night settles, a strange light circles the restless ocean exposing the vaporous ghosts that curl playfully over the surface of the water in an ominous dance of death.

Has the gnarled, bent up old widow returned, once again selling her spells, potions, and dreams, or has Quinn returned to keep the tower light revolving, and a single candle glowing in the window of—
the lighthouse
.

Audrey Godwin is a name that is becoming well known in the ranks of adult literature. Her writing slowly evolved from the boy meets girl scenario, to the sexy bad boys who leave a trail of erotic fire wherever they go. Her passion is the big, swarthy type of male animal. These alpha males might be vampires, werewolves or even spirit beings, but they are as sexy as hell. For the most part she writes Gothic stories richly bathed in erotica and paranormal activity. You will find the tortured hero, and a beautiful heroine going through a challenging situation filled with dark characters of all kinds. Witches, ghosts, spell-beings and shape shifters may show up at any time—or they may be the main character!

It all started when she began reading. She read good books, bad books, so-so books, and those that had no business being published. So, deciding she could do at least as well, she put down her latest novel, and decided to write. Even though she tried to focus on her heroines, she somehow couldn’t keep from wrapping her whole story around the gorgeous guys. Finally, she gave in to it and prowled the streets of her imagination in search of her next super idea and gorgeous hunk. Somewhere along the way she was discovered on the internet by a publisher that fully embraced her style of writing with open arms, and introduced her to erotic epublishing. What came from it was a series of books that slowly became published, giving her the feeling of at last achieving her goal.

Audrey’s had her days in the sun, when she was the life of the party, a laugh a minute kind of gal, and outrageously cool, but sadly, that’s all over now. Today she’s one of those boring x-civil service workers that has a penchant for bookstores and sappy love songs. She prefers quiet dinners with friends over maddening crowds. She loves to spend her time over a good book with a bag of potato chips and a coke. However, writing a truly exciting suspense or horror novel with strong, stand-alone characters, and an exciting, anything-can-happen plotline is the biggest thrill of all. Her novels are full, rich and engaging giving you chill bumps one minute and a hot flash the next.

Audrey Godwin’s Website

www.myeroticplayground.com

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com