Shadows of the Past
Carmen Stefanescu
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Genre: paranormal/light romance/light
historical/light horror.
BlurbAnne's relationship with her boyfriend Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year separation, they pack for a week vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has other plans for them.
The discovery of a bejeweled cross and ancient human bones opens a door to a new and frightening world--one where the ghost of a medieval nun named Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world threatens not only to ruin Anne and Neil's vacation but to end all hopes of reconciliation as Anne feels compelled to help free Genevieve's soul from its torment.
Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest?
A touching, compelling story of tragedy, loss and the power of endless love and good magic.
The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.
Excerpt
Shadows
of the Past
Carmen Stefanescu
The
peal of the church bells from the abbey tower startled Genevieve. The sound
added to her mounting anxiety.
The
massive abbey loomed over the stone paved path.
All the nuns were at evening mass.
With a bit of luck her disappearance would go unnoticed for a few more
hours. The Abbess would assume she was cleaning the toilets as ordered.
Fear
skittered through Genevieve when she turned away from the abbey towards the
path leading to town. Nothing stirred.
She hesitated. Evil emanated from
the forest surrounding the abbey. With a shiver, she leaned against the solid
oak gates that flanked the abbey's main path. They had hidden her from
detection for the past couple of hours, but how much longer would she be safe?
The
mountain shadows grew thicker and closer.
She
moved her weight from one leg to the other. They ached from so much standing,
but she lacked the strength to return to the gardener's cottage and wait for
Andrew's arrival as planned. Genevieve closed her tired eyes. The image of old
Ryan, slumped dead in his chair in his cubicle, caught life in her mind and
made her whole body ripple with fear.
She'd
rather wait for Andrew here, outside.
Had
he forgotten his promise? What if something terrible befell him during the last
three days, or he had changed his mind? Why should he risk all for an ordinary
nun?
Had
his folks talked him into giving her up, made him see reason? Helping her out
of her predicament meant a huge risk for him -- losing his family, his friends
and his position among his peers. His words echoed in her mind. "I will
risk everything for you, even life, if necessary."
* * * *
"Anne, Anne, wake up. Wake up,
please," the insistent voice whispered next to her ear. The touch of a hand, on her shoulder,
startled Anne.
She opened her eyes, still half between sleep
and reality. Her gaze stopped on a stranger, a woman, by her side.
The moon's pale face, the only light,
filtered through a small gap in the tent's entrance; yet the stranger's whole
body emanated a kind of soft ray, a yellowish halo making her figure and face
easy to discern.
A long, dark robe, similar to those worn by
nuns in monasteries centuries ago, covered her body. No traditional headdress
covered the woman's red hair, which fell loosely over her shoulders in long,
heavy tendrils and continued down her chest and back.
Anne stood up and studied the intruder with
open curiosity. The stranger’s wax pale face looked corpse like. Anne opened
her mouth to ask her who she was. She looked Anne straight in the eyes, placed
her forefinger on her lips and whispered, "Hush, come. Follow me."
Anne's eyes widened.
The woman, moving away from the sleeping bag,
appeared to glide above the ground. Her bare feet didn't make a sound.
As if hypnotized, Anne followed the
illuminated silhouette heading into the forest, without questioning her own
actions.
An onrush of sensations unfamiliar to her followed.
Dizziness and a malevolent feeling of unreality suffocated her. The presence of
evil, creeping up and enveloping her, became almost palpable. Her throat turned
dry, and she gasped for air.
Genevieve is talking to us:
1. Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable
Miss...
"Genevieve.
My name is Genevieve, but Sister Clementa, the Abbess, and some of her followers call me The witch."
2. Tell me, Genevieve, where are you living?
Genevieve ( a small sigh escapes her lips.
Then she shrugs) "Well, for the moment I reside at St. Mary’s Abbey. On
top of a mountain in Britain, in the...cursed forest."
3. Do you have
any schooling?
Genevieve (nods and pats and invisible crease of her dress)
"Kind Old Bertha, who took care of
me after my family perished, taught me to read and write. Not only English but
also Latin. And, most important, she taught me how to prepare healing potions
from plants and herbs. Perhaps that’s why the Abbess hates me so much. A
peasant girl of the 13th century is dangerous if she knows more than her
superiors, I think."
4. What are your worst fears or nightmare?
Genevieve
(throws a shy look around her. She shivers and her voice is small) "I fear
the cursed forest. This forest is responsible for what happened to my family.
My father’s odd behavior, the death of my siblings. All the evil that lurks in
it.
My
nightmare - the Abbess, sister Clementa, who threatens me all the time with
sending me to the stake. I can’t understand why she wants me out of the
way."
5. Is it
anything that you secretly desire?
Genevieve
(blushes and wrings her hands. Then she looks me directly in the eyes. Her
voice is strong now. ) "To become Andrew’s wife and grow a family. If his
family agrees....If the Abbess lets me go... If God forgives me for giving up being a nun.....If
I escape alive from the forest.... If....”
Author bio:
Carmen
Stefanescu resides in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count
Dracula, but where, for about 50 years of communist dictatorship, just speaking
about God, faith, reincarnation or paranormal phenomena could have led someone
to great trouble - the psychiatric hospital if not to prison.
Teacher of English and German in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books.
Teacher of English and German in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books.
She has dreamed
all her life to become a writer, but many of the things she wrote during those
years remained just drawer projects. The fall of the Ceausescu’s regime in 1989,
and the opening of the country to the world meant a new beginning for her. She
started publishing. Poems first, and then prose. Both in English.
Shadows of the Past, paranormal/light
romance/light mystery/light horror was released at the end of 2012 by Wild
Child publishing, USA.
Carmen Stefanescu's Links:
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