Soul Snatcher (42 page)

The time it
took for Martha to answer felt like a lifetime of waiting and
Annie’s heart started to chip away and break as she was sure she
would be refused. Before she had lost all hope Martha nodded her
head subtly then it moved into a more definite movement.

“
Yes.” Martha finally said the word and it was like a
chorus to Annie’s ears.

A smile
stretched across Annie's face and she started laughing in relief.
Martha joined in her joyous laugh and they both pushed away their
little internal voices telling them that it would be near
impossible to find him. Even if they did they wouldn’t be able to
release him. They ignored the doubt and just celebrated for the
moment.

“
Let us get you settled in,” Martha said as she gently
placed a hand on Annie’s back and started to lead her through the
kitchen. They walked towards the upstairs bedrooms.

And Annie was
starting to get that little seed of hope that she might see Baden
again. This made everything seem just that much brighter and made
it easier for her to breathe.

When Annie
had settled into her room and dinner had long passed, she laid in
her comfortable bed staring out into the moon filled sky and
thought of Baden.
 

Baden sat in
the open doorway of his new residence, resting his back against the
frame and leaning his head to one side against the
do
or as he gazed up at the
stars. As he sat looking up into that same night sky as Annie and
he thought of her, as he had unceasingly and as he always
would.

His past had
already started to catch up with him and now Annie
was the one who would be burdened
with the consequences of his mistakes, all because he loved her. He
had left a trail of enemies and regrets longer than he could count
and now she was defenseless against them all, he couldn’t even
protect her. He doubted that even Eli would be able to defend her.
Now he had an eternity for the guilt and fear to bury itself deeper
and deeper into his soul until there was nothing left of
him.

Just thinking
about
her vulnerability
caused him no end of pain. Surely there had to be a way to keep her
safe? He refused to believe that there wasn’t. Right there he
promised himself that he would find a way for her to have her life
back, not matter what it took.

“Until next
time,” Baden whispered to Annie through the cold night
air.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First I would like to
thank my brother, Timothy for the splendiferous cover. I spoke my
vision and he brought it into reality with his skilled hands and a
computer. Thank you for being there to churn through many details
of my book and tirelessly helping with the entire process. You have
been invaluable through this whole journey and I will be forever
grateful to you.

Thank you to my niece,
Tempany for reading my books from the beginning. You gave up your
time to read them and loved the characters in the process. My
mother, who also read my books and fell head over heels for the
wrong character every time! Elisha, I may have had to put you on a
reading plan but you read them in the end and thankfully fell in
love with the characters along the way, few!

My other brother, Peter. I
do not think that my books are your style of read but you are an
oracle of sorts for me. You are the sense when everything else is
madness and the madness when sense is useless. I thank you for the
quiet love you give in your own special way, you are
irreplaceable.

To the random people along
the way whom I was only rewarded a short season of friendship with
but it touched my heart just the same. Donna from Bill’s Bakery, I
value the person you are and am better for knowing you. Elisa from
my school days, I hated school but it was worth it to meet you. You
were my best friend who helped me grow and I wish all the best for
your life. To the young man on the bus, 334 who extended his love
to someone in such a genuine way that it brought tears to my eyes.
Joy from college, you are truly special. And David, you have been
one of the truest friends I might ever have.

Heather and Jeff…I think
you know how grateful I am for you both but so the world knows I
want to say thank you for giving me much more than just a house in
which to live, you gave me a home. Your boys; Joel, Troy, Adam and
Jarred are a motley crew of sorts in their diversity but they are
special because of that.

To my twelve nieces and
nephews; Ebony, Tempany, Brittany, Hayley, Ashley, Carly, Elisha,
Isaac, Joshua, Lukas, Elijah and Hannah. You may have driven my
desire not to become a mother but you have also engulfed my heart.
And to all those who may be to come, I will love you with fervor as
I do your cousins.

To my brothers and
sisters; Lynette, Timothy, Kerrie, Rochelle and Peter, genetics may
bind me to you but love is what makes me stay. Danielle, you have
been in the family for so long it wouldn’t surprise me if you have
caught our DNA.

Ah, Shelly. I left you to
till the end because this will be the longest. You know what it has
been like because you have had this dream from childhood. Writing
is who you are and it has changed the experience of my own dreaming
to have someone to dream along with. You know the heartache and you
know the elation. Many sleepless nights and glassy eyes from
staring at a computer screen just to create the perfect chapter,
that perfect kiss. You read my work and critiqued and were there
when the rejections came in. From the bottom of my heart I thank
you for letting me come along with you on the journey of writing. I
think we shall never be the same again.

And in the most humble way
possible, I give thanks to my Jesus. As I do not have endless pages
I will say only this, You know.

Annie grew up and
currently resides in Newcastle, Australia. She is the youngest in a
family of six and very much enjoys her solitude. She hated school
with a passion and found it tedious beyond compare. She would much
rather spend her time in her fantasies opposed to, a sometimes
boring, reality.

She began her love of
writing in her early teens with poetry. She branched out to novels
in her late teens and though poetry is still a love of hers she
finds herself becoming more lost in her novels as the years
pass.

Her aphorism for life
is:
Dream. Believe. Do.
So much so that it is now living as a tattoo on
her arm. And her personal motivator which is also one of her
tattoos: ‘unless’…because there is an ‘unless’ to everything in
life.

She likes to keep her
biggest dreams a secret, a special treasure just for her to reflect
on. She believes in being all that you can be.

Your dreams are out there
if you only go searching for them.