My goal is to scare, amuse, entertain, sometimes make you shed a tear, but most of all draw you into stories that you can't put down.
My Books
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Coming sometime this summer a chilling tale of horror.
Cold Encounters |
Blood Lines 'The Curse'
When Emma finds out her father’s mother has passed away she has to make a trip back to her childhood home in Missouri. Emma’s mother had taken her and left when she was twelve years old and swore that they would never set foot on the property again after Emma’s father had died in a tragic accident. That had been twenty years ago.
Now she was back to put her grandmother’s estate in order when she hadn’t even known that her paternal grandmother was still alive until she had received the notice of her recent death. She wouldn't have returned even now if it hadn't of been for a notebook left to her by her mother who died a only few weeks before her grandmother.
Emma had inherited the estate which turned out to be quite large but with it came a hundred and thirty year old curse and some unexpected and unwanted family members. Now Emma has to unravel years of secrets to find a way to break the curse so she doesn’t end up like everyone in the Rodgers’ family bloodline. Every one of the Rodgers have ended up dead, most before they even make it to adulthood and the one child from each generation that does only live into their thirties and that has always been a male child. Emma is the only female to make it to adulthood and has been on borrowed time most of her life and the payment has finally come due.
An excerpt from Blood Lines The Curse
When I went out and started clearing away the dirt and debris from the old headstone that had been setting against the old pump house I never knew what it would start. Two little girls became the inspiration for my first book.
The sun was starting to go down and the wind had picked up a little. You could see clouds coming out of the west and it looked as if it might rain a little later. Great she thought. It sounded like a scene from some old grade b horror flick. Someone dies, the poor unsuspecting heiress goes to spend the night in the house for the first time afterward and a nasty damn storm blows up. The next thing you know the spooks are climbing out of every nook and cranny in the place. The stupid heiress ends up getting her head hacked off by some crazy, non-dying, chauvinistic ass hole wearing a mask with a thing against women inheriting the family fortune.
Emma heard Charlotte calling her name, “Are you OK? You looked a million miles away and I had to call you three times.”
“Yes, I was just looking at the sky thinking it might rain tonight.”
“I caught the weather report earlier and yes we are supposed to get a nice little blow in here tonight.” Steve told her.
“Figures.”
“What did you say, Sweetheart?”
“Oh, nothing Aunt Charlotte.”
Steve and Charlotte were sitting closer to the grill and talking between themselves so Emma turned her attention to the surrounding area. The irises continued all around the house and took up a good portion of the yard area and that was a lot because it was a damn big yard. The grounds around the house took up over five acres. If you counted the land around the barn and out building it was almost twice that much and there were irises and daylilies covering a very large portion of that as well. They weren’t willy-nilly either. They had all been laid out in neat little rows and in nice little patches and all had been well tended. Right now it was the irises in bloom but come June you would be met with all the daylilies. Scattered about the place were also roses and other flowers that bloomed at different times. During the entire growing seasons you would find something in bloom and color would meet your eyes everywhere you turned. Right now the irises swayed in the wind and the effect was almost hypnotic.
Emma thought back and could remember playing in this very yard. She had had a tree house in a big oak tree on the north side of the house. Emma got up to go check.
“Where are you going?” Steve asked
“I was going to check and see …?”
“It’s still there Emma. Your grandmother had it kept in good repair.” Charlotte knew what her niece was talking about.
Emma headed around to the side of the house to see the old tree house she had spent so much of her time in as a child. There it was. The tree stood about thirty feet from the house. The area around the tree had been beautifully landscaped. Where it had been mostly cedar chips around the base when she was little now there were flowers almost all the way around. There was an almost fairy tale quality to the tree house now. It had been painted a green color that made it blend into the foliage around it and the windows painted with a brown to match the bark on the tree trunk. Her dad had built it well but her grandmother had added the touches that a little girl would love. There now were flower boxes built into the rail around the balcony or porch or whatever you called the open space on a tree house? It looked like a little girls playhouse picked up and set in a tree.
Emma wasn’t sure how she felt about the changes. When her father had built it he had done it with love and care. He had insisted that if she was going to sleep in it then the door and little windows were going to have screens to protect her from pesky little critters. He had built it to last too but it had remained in a natural wood state and little frills were not his strong point. Now it looked like a little girl’s tree house. It also broke her heart to realize how much her grandmother had missed her and hoped that she would return.
She climbed up and sat on the porch with her legs hanging over the edge and she just couldn’t hold it back any longer. She cried. She cried as if the whole world had collapsed and fallen on her shoulders. Not the shoulders of a grown woman either but those of that little twelve year old girl who had left here all those long years ago. She cried for the little girl who had been ripped from the home where she had been born and lived for all of her childhood years. She cried for the much loved grandmother that she never saw again and she cried for the father that had so cruelly been taken from her at such a young age. She cried for the mother whom she had loved so dearly and would never be held in her arms again. She cried.
Click on any of the links below to find and buy my books.
Lulu/hardcover http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/CathyPaceMatthews
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5768667
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Curse/dp/1517571057/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-2&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/487345
Barnes & Noble/paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-the-curse-mrs-cathy-pace-matthews/1122743603?ean=9781517571054
Barnes & Noble/ebooks http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-the-curse-cathy-pace-matthews/1120651877?ean=2940046369250
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-the-curse
BooksaMillion/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Curse/Mrs-Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781517571054?id=6568745909235
When Emma finds out her father’s mother has passed away she has to make a trip back to her childhood home in Missouri. Emma’s mother had taken her and left when she was twelve years old and swore that they would never set foot on the property again after Emma’s father had died in a tragic accident. That had been twenty years ago.
Now she was back to put her grandmother’s estate in order when she hadn’t even known that her paternal grandmother was still alive until she had received the notice of her recent death. She wouldn't have returned even now if it hadn't of been for a notebook left to her by her mother who died a only few weeks before her grandmother.
Emma had inherited the estate which turned out to be quite large but with it came a hundred and thirty year old curse and some unexpected and unwanted family members. Now Emma has to unravel years of secrets to find a way to break the curse so she doesn’t end up like everyone in the Rodgers’ family bloodline. Every one of the Rodgers have ended up dead, most before they even make it to adulthood and the one child from each generation that does only live into their thirties and that has always been a male child. Emma is the only female to make it to adulthood and has been on borrowed time most of her life and the payment has finally come due.
An excerpt from Blood Lines The Curse
When I went out and started clearing away the dirt and debris from the old headstone that had been setting against the old pump house I never knew what it would start. Two little girls became the inspiration for my first book.
The sun was starting to go down and the wind had picked up a little. You could see clouds coming out of the west and it looked as if it might rain a little later. Great she thought. It sounded like a scene from some old grade b horror flick. Someone dies, the poor unsuspecting heiress goes to spend the night in the house for the first time afterward and a nasty damn storm blows up. The next thing you know the spooks are climbing out of every nook and cranny in the place. The stupid heiress ends up getting her head hacked off by some crazy, non-dying, chauvinistic ass hole wearing a mask with a thing against women inheriting the family fortune.
Emma heard Charlotte calling her name, “Are you OK? You looked a million miles away and I had to call you three times.”
“Yes, I was just looking at the sky thinking it might rain tonight.”
“I caught the weather report earlier and yes we are supposed to get a nice little blow in here tonight.” Steve told her.
“Figures.”
“What did you say, Sweetheart?”
“Oh, nothing Aunt Charlotte.”
Steve and Charlotte were sitting closer to the grill and talking between themselves so Emma turned her attention to the surrounding area. The irises continued all around the house and took up a good portion of the yard area and that was a lot because it was a damn big yard. The grounds around the house took up over five acres. If you counted the land around the barn and out building it was almost twice that much and there were irises and daylilies covering a very large portion of that as well. They weren’t willy-nilly either. They had all been laid out in neat little rows and in nice little patches and all had been well tended. Right now it was the irises in bloom but come June you would be met with all the daylilies. Scattered about the place were also roses and other flowers that bloomed at different times. During the entire growing seasons you would find something in bloom and color would meet your eyes everywhere you turned. Right now the irises swayed in the wind and the effect was almost hypnotic.
Emma thought back and could remember playing in this very yard. She had had a tree house in a big oak tree on the north side of the house. Emma got up to go check.
“Where are you going?” Steve asked
“I was going to check and see …?”
“It’s still there Emma. Your grandmother had it kept in good repair.” Charlotte knew what her niece was talking about.
Emma headed around to the side of the house to see the old tree house she had spent so much of her time in as a child. There it was. The tree stood about thirty feet from the house. The area around the tree had been beautifully landscaped. Where it had been mostly cedar chips around the base when she was little now there were flowers almost all the way around. There was an almost fairy tale quality to the tree house now. It had been painted a green color that made it blend into the foliage around it and the windows painted with a brown to match the bark on the tree trunk. Her dad had built it well but her grandmother had added the touches that a little girl would love. There now were flower boxes built into the rail around the balcony or porch or whatever you called the open space on a tree house? It looked like a little girls playhouse picked up and set in a tree.
Emma wasn’t sure how she felt about the changes. When her father had built it he had done it with love and care. He had insisted that if she was going to sleep in it then the door and little windows were going to have screens to protect her from pesky little critters. He had built it to last too but it had remained in a natural wood state and little frills were not his strong point. Now it looked like a little girl’s tree house. It also broke her heart to realize how much her grandmother had missed her and hoped that she would return.
She climbed up and sat on the porch with her legs hanging over the edge and she just couldn’t hold it back any longer. She cried. She cried as if the whole world had collapsed and fallen on her shoulders. Not the shoulders of a grown woman either but those of that little twelve year old girl who had left here all those long years ago. She cried for the little girl who had been ripped from the home where she had been born and lived for all of her childhood years. She cried for the much loved grandmother that she never saw again and she cried for the father that had so cruelly been taken from her at such a young age. She cried for the mother whom she had loved so dearly and would never be held in her arms again. She cried.
Click on any of the links below to find and buy my books.
Lulu/hardcover http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/CathyPaceMatthews
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5768667
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Curse/dp/1517571057/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-2&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/487345
Barnes & Noble/paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-the-curse-mrs-cathy-pace-matthews/1122743603?ean=9781517571054
Barnes & Noble/ebooks http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-the-curse-cathy-pace-matthews/1120651877?ean=2940046369250
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-the-curse
BooksaMillion/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Curse/Mrs-Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781517571054?id=6568745909235
Blood Lines 'Buried Treasure'
Emma is back but for how long? She has made a couple of enemies along the way but now there is one that has been hiding in the shadows that is bound and determined to take everything Emma has, including her life. This is a showdown that has been coming for a very long time and it doesn’t matter that Emma had no idea that this conflict even existed. It also doesn’t help that there is more than one person that wants her dead and would do everything they can do separate Emma from what’s hers’ and making sure that she takes her last breath.
Emma’s family and friends will rally around her again but this time instead of Grayson trying to get rid of Emma he would be her biggest ally and the one of the key players to help her end it. Well when he isn’t stirring up mischief around the farm and kissing the ladies on the cheek or patting them on the bottom. The problem is, it’s a lot easier to beat the devil you know than it is trying to beat the one hiding in the shadows when you don’t even know they’re there. Could it turn out to be someone Emma knows well and has been welcomed into her home?
An excerpt from
Blood Lines Buried Treasure
Connors had even picked the place Tim would cross the small river behind Emma’s house. He knew that Timothy would never get across at that point without slipping, sliding, and possibly dropping the body in the mud. There would be no way that Tim would make it across without leaving hand and foot prints all along both sides of the river. The rain that had fallen over the past couple of days would insure that there would be a lot of them too.
After Timothy had dumped the body Connors had gotten him good and drunk and once Tim had passed out he took Candy’s car and drove him down to the bridge where State Highway 238 crossed the Diversion Channel. Connors then put a drunken Tim behind the wheel, adjusted the seat, fastened the seat belt and run him off into the channel. He then watched to make sure that the car with its passenger sunk and Tim didn’t somehow get out. It really wouldn’t have mattered if he had because he knew that Tim couldn’t swim and the water levels were high due to the seasonal high rain fall. After the major rain they had the day before the channel was nearly overrunning it banks and there was a fairly fast current.
Connors knew that the car would end up a little downstream and it would be found in a day or two when it came to rest somewhere and the water levels dropped. He had used this little trick once before when he had needed to get rid of a man who hadn’t wanted to sell a piece of property to him. Once the man was out of the way his widow had been happy to move on. That had been about ten years ago and he saw no reason it wouldn’t work again. After all, the police hadn’t been smart enough to figure it out then so he saw no reason to think they would this time. It was a good thing that Timothy’s house was so close to this spot because otherwise it might have been his ass that would have been down the creek, if not literally, figuratively.
Connors finished up removing every possible sign of his having been there and got into the little car he had managed to get his hands on. He had parked it a little ways from the house in some overgrowth where it couldn’t be seen by anyone passing by. It was a little before five in the morning and still dark. He wanted to be back at his motel as soon as he could before to many people were out and about. He got into his vehicle and without turning on his lights pulled out to the end of the drive and made sure no one was coming in either direction and pulled out onto the highway. He drove for a short way before turning on his lights and made his way back to the motel and now thought of getting a few hours of sleep before starting on his next little project later on today. He had stopped at a coffee shop in case someone noticed his car had been gone this morning. Right now though, he was looking forward to a much needed rest.
There was one thing that Connors regretted. It was the fact that he wouldn’t be there to see the look on that other bitch’s face when she found the mutilated corpse. He could see her going all to pieces at the sight of the dead body when she and her students went to do whatever they do when digging in the ground and they find that body. Yes, he really regretted not being able to witness that.
He was quite sure that the news media would make a big deal out of how much the professor and her students had been traumatized by the whole atrocious event. The news loved to stress the trauma that is experienced by the people involved for the shock value. They wanted to give the sadistic public a way to feel the same thing anyone there might have felt through the whole horrific experience. Yes, he could look forward to that at least.
Below is a picture where I dumped the body in the book. The vehicle came to rest one the bend you see in the distance.
Book trailer:
Blood Lines Buried Treasure
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5789434
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Buried-Treasure-2/dp/1517726751/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-4&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-buried-treasure-cathy-pace-matthews/1121331524?ean=2940046608885
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Buried-Treasure/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781517726751?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-buried-treasure
Smashwords/ebooks https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/523047
Emma is back but for how long? She has made a couple of enemies along the way but now there is one that has been hiding in the shadows that is bound and determined to take everything Emma has, including her life. This is a showdown that has been coming for a very long time and it doesn’t matter that Emma had no idea that this conflict even existed. It also doesn’t help that there is more than one person that wants her dead and would do everything they can do separate Emma from what’s hers’ and making sure that she takes her last breath.
Emma’s family and friends will rally around her again but this time instead of Grayson trying to get rid of Emma he would be her biggest ally and the one of the key players to help her end it. Well when he isn’t stirring up mischief around the farm and kissing the ladies on the cheek or patting them on the bottom. The problem is, it’s a lot easier to beat the devil you know than it is trying to beat the one hiding in the shadows when you don’t even know they’re there. Could it turn out to be someone Emma knows well and has been welcomed into her home?
An excerpt from
Blood Lines Buried Treasure
Connors had even picked the place Tim would cross the small river behind Emma’s house. He knew that Timothy would never get across at that point without slipping, sliding, and possibly dropping the body in the mud. There would be no way that Tim would make it across without leaving hand and foot prints all along both sides of the river. The rain that had fallen over the past couple of days would insure that there would be a lot of them too.
After Timothy had dumped the body Connors had gotten him good and drunk and once Tim had passed out he took Candy’s car and drove him down to the bridge where State Highway 238 crossed the Diversion Channel. Connors then put a drunken Tim behind the wheel, adjusted the seat, fastened the seat belt and run him off into the channel. He then watched to make sure that the car with its passenger sunk and Tim didn’t somehow get out. It really wouldn’t have mattered if he had because he knew that Tim couldn’t swim and the water levels were high due to the seasonal high rain fall. After the major rain they had the day before the channel was nearly overrunning it banks and there was a fairly fast current.
Connors knew that the car would end up a little downstream and it would be found in a day or two when it came to rest somewhere and the water levels dropped. He had used this little trick once before when he had needed to get rid of a man who hadn’t wanted to sell a piece of property to him. Once the man was out of the way his widow had been happy to move on. That had been about ten years ago and he saw no reason it wouldn’t work again. After all, the police hadn’t been smart enough to figure it out then so he saw no reason to think they would this time. It was a good thing that Timothy’s house was so close to this spot because otherwise it might have been his ass that would have been down the creek, if not literally, figuratively.
Connors finished up removing every possible sign of his having been there and got into the little car he had managed to get his hands on. He had parked it a little ways from the house in some overgrowth where it couldn’t be seen by anyone passing by. It was a little before five in the morning and still dark. He wanted to be back at his motel as soon as he could before to many people were out and about. He got into his vehicle and without turning on his lights pulled out to the end of the drive and made sure no one was coming in either direction and pulled out onto the highway. He drove for a short way before turning on his lights and made his way back to the motel and now thought of getting a few hours of sleep before starting on his next little project later on today. He had stopped at a coffee shop in case someone noticed his car had been gone this morning. Right now though, he was looking forward to a much needed rest.
There was one thing that Connors regretted. It was the fact that he wouldn’t be there to see the look on that other bitch’s face when she found the mutilated corpse. He could see her going all to pieces at the sight of the dead body when she and her students went to do whatever they do when digging in the ground and they find that body. Yes, he really regretted not being able to witness that.
He was quite sure that the news media would make a big deal out of how much the professor and her students had been traumatized by the whole atrocious event. The news loved to stress the trauma that is experienced by the people involved for the shock value. They wanted to give the sadistic public a way to feel the same thing anyone there might have felt through the whole horrific experience. Yes, he could look forward to that at least.
Below is a picture where I dumped the body in the book. The vehicle came to rest one the bend you see in the distance.
Book trailer:
Blood Lines Buried Treasure
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5789434
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Buried-Treasure-2/dp/1517726751/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-4&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-buried-treasure-cathy-pace-matthews/1121331524?ean=2940046608885
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Buried-Treasure/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781517726751?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-buried-treasure
Smashwords/ebooks https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/523047
Blood Lines Family Ties
What happens when a cousin shows up at your door late one night in the dead of winter looking as if she had seen a ghost? If you’ve seen that look before and more than once you try to help her if you’re Emma.
Christine drove to Emma’s all the way from her home in Arkansas with nothing on but her PJs and robe. She not only didn’t bother to dress but she left her purse and phone at home. She had seen something that had scared her nearly to death and whatever it was it had been dragging her next door neighbor behind it.
Since 1903 there have been people who go missing and there is no trace of them. They’re just gone. Now Emma and her family and friends will step in to try to figure it out but there’s a problem. The creature, whatever it is, has decided that Emma is marked to be his next victim.
A town is dying from fear as the Police department in Tiner is running out of officers to keep the people safe. They have families too and want to protect them. Business are closing, people are putting their homes up for sale, and the ones who are still there are not only afraid to go out after dark but it doesn’t look like you’re safe in broad daylight. How does it take people without anyone seeing it? No one knows how to stop it before it claims its’ next victim and with Emma on its’ list they are running out of ideas for finding answers and ways to stop this thing.
An excerpt from
Blood Lines Family Ties
Emma reached for the door handle and had every intention of jumping out of the truck hoping that it would bring this nightmare to an end. She was quickly stopped when Taylor reached across and grabbed her arm and jerked her hard toward him.
“I don’t think you really want to do that Emma. Do you really want to leave Taylor at my mercy? All I have to do is run this thing into something and drop him back inside his body just before this body dies. I want to thank all of you for teaching an old dog a lot of new tricks.”
“Allen?” Emma barely whispered the name.
“Yes ma’am.” Taylor said as he turned to face Emma. It may have Taylor's face but the eyes were no longer his. Where Taylor's beautiful kind eyes should have been there was nothing but blackness broken by the blazing infernos emanating from where the pupils should have been.
“No.” Emma tried to look away but couldn’t. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and roll down her face as she stared into the eyes of a monster.
“Do I scare you less with this face or would you prefer that I arrange it for you to see mine as you did earlier. Maybe even the face that so many people have seen just before I rip their insides out, the face you finally saw today.” Allen looked at her for only a moment but the fire in his eyes, in Taylor’s eyes, couldn’t be denied.
“Allen please let me go!” Emma tried to pull away from the hand that held her so close to him. Emma tried to block out everything in her head.
“Don’t worry I have no intention of invading your mind as you put it. I’ve had enough of knowing what you think of me. Of seeing what is in that head. The look on your face earlier spoke volumes.” Allen continued to hold tight to her.
“Why?”
“Why? Because of you Emma. I didn’t come looking for you, you came to me. If you had just continued walking out to me that day you wouldn’t be here and the connection between us would have ended. I wouldn’t have found out the things I have. Instead Taylor was there to rescue you and because of that the connection stayed in place and got stronger with each day. I’ve had you in my head ever since. I thought a little turnabout was far play, don’t you agree?”
“So it’s been about killing me all along.” Emma now began to understand the terror he had been putting her through.
Allen let out a harsh almost demonic laugh.
“Is that what you think my dear? Didn’t your boyfriend tell you what was happening? No Emma, it hasn’t been about killing you in days. It’s been about you waking in me things that had died. Making me remember who I once was and what I had. You my smart little girl, figured that out already. You got the images of Nadine and her burnt corpse. You saw my children with the flesh burned from their bones. You saw what I did that helped start all this, you who have been screaming and crying and fretting over your mind being invaded all day. What the fuck do you think you did to me time and time and time again.” Allen again glanced at Emma and pulled on her arm. The fires that burned in his eyes were growing larger and brighter by every second.
Emma tried to pull away from Allen and he jerked her hard nearly pulling her over the console between the seats smashing her ribs against the edge of it.
“Emma don’t try that again. I’m having to pick through this bastard’s head to get how to make this machine go so the less distraction you cause me the better for you. So stop thinking that jumping out of this contraption might be a way to salvation because it’s not. I will only drop Taylor back in as this thing crashes and then I will finish what I have to do with everyone you care about. And Emma I can reach them with or without you now, again thanks to you and Taylor.” Allen tightened his grip on Emma’s arm until he heard her moan. That only served to make him laugh causing the embers in his eyes to burn even brighter resulting in a bright red glow that seemed to fill the interior of the truck.
Emma tried not to make another sound as Allen continued to tighten his grip on her arm. She knew that at any moment it was in danger of breaking. When Allen looked at Emma this time he saw the evidence of the pain she was feeling and loosened his grip a little. He had plenty of time to make her hurt a little later and hurt her he would. Before this night was over she would know pain as she had never known it before.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve made a trip like this in a truck is it. I like that word, truck. It makes it sound heavy and strong. It’s a good word for this thing. Anyway as I was saying this isn’t the first time for you. You took a scary ride in one last year and that almost didn’t turn out too well, did it? I promise you’re in for a treat this time. This won’t end well for you my dear or for anyone you love.” Allen felt Emma going limp and again he jerked her.
“Don’t you dare faint on me! I want you conscious for this whole little joy ride my love.” Allen spit the last part out as if it were a mouth full of venom.
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5823674
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Family-Cathy-Matthews-ebook/dp/B0176H252K/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-family-ties-cathy-pace-matthews/1122861603?ean=9781518777875
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Family-Ties/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781518777875?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-family-ties
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580222
Christine drove to Emma’s all the way from her home in Arkansas with nothing on but her PJs and robe. She not only didn’t bother to dress but she left her purse and phone at home. She had seen something that had scared her nearly to death and whatever it was it had been dragging her next door neighbor behind it.
Since 1903 there have been people who go missing and there is no trace of them. They’re just gone. Now Emma and her family and friends will step in to try to figure it out but there’s a problem. The creature, whatever it is, has decided that Emma is marked to be his next victim.
A town is dying from fear as the Police department in Tiner is running out of officers to keep the people safe. They have families too and want to protect them. Business are closing, people are putting their homes up for sale, and the ones who are still there are not only afraid to go out after dark but it doesn’t look like you’re safe in broad daylight. How does it take people without anyone seeing it? No one knows how to stop it before it claims its’ next victim and with Emma on its’ list they are running out of ideas for finding answers and ways to stop this thing.
An excerpt from
Blood Lines Family Ties
Emma reached for the door handle and had every intention of jumping out of the truck hoping that it would bring this nightmare to an end. She was quickly stopped when Taylor reached across and grabbed her arm and jerked her hard toward him.
“I don’t think you really want to do that Emma. Do you really want to leave Taylor at my mercy? All I have to do is run this thing into something and drop him back inside his body just before this body dies. I want to thank all of you for teaching an old dog a lot of new tricks.”
“Allen?” Emma barely whispered the name.
“Yes ma’am.” Taylor said as he turned to face Emma. It may have Taylor's face but the eyes were no longer his. Where Taylor's beautiful kind eyes should have been there was nothing but blackness broken by the blazing infernos emanating from where the pupils should have been.
“No.” Emma tried to look away but couldn’t. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and roll down her face as she stared into the eyes of a monster.
“Do I scare you less with this face or would you prefer that I arrange it for you to see mine as you did earlier. Maybe even the face that so many people have seen just before I rip their insides out, the face you finally saw today.” Allen looked at her for only a moment but the fire in his eyes, in Taylor’s eyes, couldn’t be denied.
“Allen please let me go!” Emma tried to pull away from the hand that held her so close to him. Emma tried to block out everything in her head.
“Don’t worry I have no intention of invading your mind as you put it. I’ve had enough of knowing what you think of me. Of seeing what is in that head. The look on your face earlier spoke volumes.” Allen continued to hold tight to her.
“Why?”
“Why? Because of you Emma. I didn’t come looking for you, you came to me. If you had just continued walking out to me that day you wouldn’t be here and the connection between us would have ended. I wouldn’t have found out the things I have. Instead Taylor was there to rescue you and because of that the connection stayed in place and got stronger with each day. I’ve had you in my head ever since. I thought a little turnabout was far play, don’t you agree?”
“So it’s been about killing me all along.” Emma now began to understand the terror he had been putting her through.
Allen let out a harsh almost demonic laugh.
“Is that what you think my dear? Didn’t your boyfriend tell you what was happening? No Emma, it hasn’t been about killing you in days. It’s been about you waking in me things that had died. Making me remember who I once was and what I had. You my smart little girl, figured that out already. You got the images of Nadine and her burnt corpse. You saw my children with the flesh burned from their bones. You saw what I did that helped start all this, you who have been screaming and crying and fretting over your mind being invaded all day. What the fuck do you think you did to me time and time and time again.” Allen again glanced at Emma and pulled on her arm. The fires that burned in his eyes were growing larger and brighter by every second.
Emma tried to pull away from Allen and he jerked her hard nearly pulling her over the console between the seats smashing her ribs against the edge of it.
“Emma don’t try that again. I’m having to pick through this bastard’s head to get how to make this machine go so the less distraction you cause me the better for you. So stop thinking that jumping out of this contraption might be a way to salvation because it’s not. I will only drop Taylor back in as this thing crashes and then I will finish what I have to do with everyone you care about. And Emma I can reach them with or without you now, again thanks to you and Taylor.” Allen tightened his grip on Emma’s arm until he heard her moan. That only served to make him laugh causing the embers in his eyes to burn even brighter resulting in a bright red glow that seemed to fill the interior of the truck.
Emma tried not to make another sound as Allen continued to tighten his grip on her arm. She knew that at any moment it was in danger of breaking. When Allen looked at Emma this time he saw the evidence of the pain she was feeling and loosened his grip a little. He had plenty of time to make her hurt a little later and hurt her he would. Before this night was over she would know pain as she had never known it before.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve made a trip like this in a truck is it. I like that word, truck. It makes it sound heavy and strong. It’s a good word for this thing. Anyway as I was saying this isn’t the first time for you. You took a scary ride in one last year and that almost didn’t turn out too well, did it? I promise you’re in for a treat this time. This won’t end well for you my dear or for anyone you love.” Allen felt Emma going limp and again he jerked her.
“Don’t you dare faint on me! I want you conscious for this whole little joy ride my love.” Allen spit the last part out as if it were a mouth full of venom.
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5823674
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Lines-Family-Cathy-Matthews-ebook/dp/B0176H252K/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-lines-family-ties-cathy-pace-matthews/1122861603?ean=9781518777875
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blood-Lines-Family-Ties/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781518777875?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/blood-lines-family-ties
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580222
Journey into Nightmares
A collection of short stories for everyone but if you're going on the road, especially in any type of RV, or if you have a fear of big semi trucks you might want to read this one in the comfort of your bedroom with the lights on. If the last is really on your 'Things That Scare the Crap Out of Me' list, you might want a companion to keep you company and keep the Boogeyman at bay. If you love to travel the roads in a converted bus or a brand new RV these stories are sure to give you a shutter in the dark of night. You don't have to be a traveler to enjoy. For those brave souls who still want to open the cover, enjoy. May I recommend you read this book around a fire while you're camping out. Come on in and let me introduce you to some of my friends. There are those who will welcome you with open arms and some may make you run screaming into the night. A collection of short stories for the very brave especially if you love to travel, camp, own an RV, have a fear of semi trucks, or even just sleeping alone at night. These stories will scare you in ways that you have never been scared before. Don't look for the old tried but true here. That went out the door with this one. Horror took a sharp turn at nightmare and took the road straight to Hell.
An excerpt from
Journey Into Nightmares
The sound that stopped each one of them wasn’t the rain or thunder or wind but the horrific loud screeching howl that didn’t just penetrate but drowned out the sounds of the torrential storm that now surrounded them.
Mark shouted for everyone to come inside as he opened the door to his bus and made room for everyone to get inside.
“What the hell was that?” Carol asked trembling, not just from the chill from being wet but from fear as she slid into one of the bench seats of the table.
“I don’t know?” Responded Robert as he slid in next to her.
Kari slid into the seat across from them and shook her head. “I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
“Maybe it was a bobcat or a cougar?” Put in Mark as he took the chair in front of the sofa behind Kari while Rachael and George huddled together on the sofa across from Mark.
“Did you lock the door Mark?” Kari asked.
“I don’t think that was necessary.” Mark thought Kari had been acting a little strange ever since he had walked up behind her earlier.
“Just lock it Mark.”
“OK Kari but I don’t think a wild animal is going to be able to open the door.” Mark got up and locked the door and returned to his seat.
The rain still poured down on the metal roof of the bus and didn’t sound like it was going to stop anytime soon.
“Maybe we should think about heading back to our own places, after all whatever it was probably is somewhere out there in those woods.” Robert said although he didn’t look all that convinced.
The deafening squeal of metal being ripped apart was the next sound to break through the pounding of the rain on the roof and thunder overhead. It didn’t sound like a crash either but more like someone had taken some kind of sharp blade and cut through metal in a long drawn out single stroke.
What came next was even worse.
They heard the crash of glass and then the blood curdling screams of two people. The screams, one male one female, didn’t stop with one outburst but went on for a while intermingled with an occasional loud thud and more breakage of one thing or another.
The sounds were coming from the direction of the newer RV on the right of their bus. When the noises stopped everyone remained still, each waiting for the next noise or movement from the outside. The only thing that penetrated the walls of the bus now was the sounds of the storm.
“That had to be Tammy and John screaming.” Carol said referring to the couple who owned the expensive new rig sitting next to Mark and Kari.
Mark tried to make it to the door but Kari, who had gotten up before him, was between him and the door and wouldn’t let him pass. “Don’t go out there Mark, don’t anyone go out there.”
“Kari we have to try and help them.”
“Mark I’m telling you not to go out there. I don’t know what’s happening but I know that we can’t open this door to anyone.” Kari stood her ground rooted to a spot between Mark and the door.
“What are you talking about Kari? We have to see what has happened to them.”
“No. Don’t ask me why I have this feeling but I do and I know that if we walk out of here we won’t walk back in. You asked me earlier what was wrong with me when you came and got me. There was something in those woods and I knew I couldn’t turn my back on it. I thought later that I was being silly but now I know I wasn’t. Something was out there and we don’t know what it is. We need to make sure everything is locked up and don’t open the door for anyone until morning.”
book trailer for
Journey Into Nightmares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAUtqWwsK4
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5818912
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Into-Nightmares-Cathy-Matthews/dp/1518743021/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-3&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/journey-into-nightmares-cathy-pace-matthews/1122107019?ean=2940151963817
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Journey-Into-Nightmares/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781518743023?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/journey-into-nightmares
Smashwords/ebooks https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/549093
An excerpt from
Journey Into Nightmares
The sound that stopped each one of them wasn’t the rain or thunder or wind but the horrific loud screeching howl that didn’t just penetrate but drowned out the sounds of the torrential storm that now surrounded them.
Mark shouted for everyone to come inside as he opened the door to his bus and made room for everyone to get inside.
“What the hell was that?” Carol asked trembling, not just from the chill from being wet but from fear as she slid into one of the bench seats of the table.
“I don’t know?” Responded Robert as he slid in next to her.
Kari slid into the seat across from them and shook her head. “I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
“Maybe it was a bobcat or a cougar?” Put in Mark as he took the chair in front of the sofa behind Kari while Rachael and George huddled together on the sofa across from Mark.
“Did you lock the door Mark?” Kari asked.
“I don’t think that was necessary.” Mark thought Kari had been acting a little strange ever since he had walked up behind her earlier.
“Just lock it Mark.”
“OK Kari but I don’t think a wild animal is going to be able to open the door.” Mark got up and locked the door and returned to his seat.
The rain still poured down on the metal roof of the bus and didn’t sound like it was going to stop anytime soon.
“Maybe we should think about heading back to our own places, after all whatever it was probably is somewhere out there in those woods.” Robert said although he didn’t look all that convinced.
The deafening squeal of metal being ripped apart was the next sound to break through the pounding of the rain on the roof and thunder overhead. It didn’t sound like a crash either but more like someone had taken some kind of sharp blade and cut through metal in a long drawn out single stroke.
What came next was even worse.
They heard the crash of glass and then the blood curdling screams of two people. The screams, one male one female, didn’t stop with one outburst but went on for a while intermingled with an occasional loud thud and more breakage of one thing or another.
The sounds were coming from the direction of the newer RV on the right of their bus. When the noises stopped everyone remained still, each waiting for the next noise or movement from the outside. The only thing that penetrated the walls of the bus now was the sounds of the storm.
“That had to be Tammy and John screaming.” Carol said referring to the couple who owned the expensive new rig sitting next to Mark and Kari.
Mark tried to make it to the door but Kari, who had gotten up before him, was between him and the door and wouldn’t let him pass. “Don’t go out there Mark, don’t anyone go out there.”
“Kari we have to try and help them.”
“Mark I’m telling you not to go out there. I don’t know what’s happening but I know that we can’t open this door to anyone.” Kari stood her ground rooted to a spot between Mark and the door.
“What are you talking about Kari? We have to see what has happened to them.”
“No. Don’t ask me why I have this feeling but I do and I know that if we walk out of here we won’t walk back in. You asked me earlier what was wrong with me when you came and got me. There was something in those woods and I knew I couldn’t turn my back on it. I thought later that I was being silly but now I know I wasn’t. Something was out there and we don’t know what it is. We need to make sure everything is locked up and don’t open the door for anyone until morning.”
book trailer for
Journey Into Nightmares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAUtqWwsK4
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5818912
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Into-Nightmares-Cathy-Matthews/dp/1518743021/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1446574044&sr=8-3&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/both paperback and ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/journey-into-nightmares-cathy-pace-matthews/1122107019?ean=2940151963817
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Journey-Into-Nightmares/Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781518743023?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/journey-into-nightmares
Smashwords/ebooks https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/549093
Nightmare Express
What is apparent at first glance doesn't always show the truth. What can appear beautiful on the surface, can hide pain and horror underneath. A beautiful sunny day on your honeymoon can hide untold sorrow and death. We all chase our dreams but watch that last step. Do you want a house in the country? Remember every house holds a few secrets. Parks can be a lovely way to spend the evening but demons can hide even there.
Have you every walked into a restaurant or a bar and felt the need to leave as quickly as you got there. Did you ever stop at a rest stop and for some reason you decided not to stop. Have you ever seen something on the highway and it left goose bumps on your flesh. You get these feeling but you can’t explain why. In Nightmare Express you may get your answer to these question. There are things in this world that we don’t see. Not because we can’t see them but as humans we choose not to.
There are demons and monsters you never suspected. The things in your nightmares are real you just don’t want to see it. John is an individual that will lead you through each story and tell you why certain things happen. He will show you the stuff of your nightmares.
There are no real happy ending in this book, well maybe one. Every character you are introduced to in each of these stories has something in common with the one before them. They all share a link. They each go about their lives making choices that effect not only their lives but the lives of everyone they come into contact with. We are told from the time we are very young that we have those choices in life and it’s true we do. We choose the path we take and ultimately it comes down to whether or not we make good decisions. Yes we all have our choices, until we die.
So come and take a ride with John and me as we take you to places so dark your mind will scream in terror. Oh don’t bother with the seat belt where we’re going you won’t need it.
An excerpt from
Nightmare Express
The man sat against the trunk of the dried up disfigured tree. The gnarled interwoven branches seemed to be drawing in on themselves while also trying to reach out and ensnare you in its life sucking embrace. The dead tree stood at the peak of a sandy ridge. From where the man sat he could look out over the wasted barren land. What vegetation, or what passed as vegetation here, was like the tree he now leaned against. Everything was dark and foreboding showing no sign of life.
Overhead the sky was filled with angry deep purple and grey clouds that appeared to be at war with one another. Each one shot out steaks of lightening that seemed to be deliberately aimed at the clouds around them as if each was trying to take control of the shadowy expanse overhead. The heavy hot air generated by this constant battle created a skin scorching heat that blew dust devils around everywhere you looked. The dull black sand that was swept up in the heat and wind driven swirls only added to the uninhabitable appearance of this place. No rain fell here, there was no water, no moisture at all. This place was dryer than any desert on any map in another place.
There was existence here but you couldn’t call it life, at least not the type of life that would every make someone feel warm and fuzzy toward it. The things that lived here were as dark and ugly as this land itself. The creatures here were the things of nightmares for living breathing humans. They were as malformed and dark as the vegetation. He watched as a black slithering form reared back and struck at his prey and succeeded in catching the small creeping creature that had tried to escape its unending demise. He thought about how he almost felt sorry for the little monster that had just been devoured by the larger predator because he knew the damn thing would be back tomorrow. In a bit the larger creature would also be taken by an even larger predator and this would continue throughout the day. It was an endless succession of one creature after the other inflicting pain on something smaller. In this dark land the only things roaming here were the shadows of what once was and only existed in this land of shadows born of nightmares. No, there was no life here. These abominable beings would be tormented day after day and there would be no end to this torment that would be repeated over and over.
The man sat there watching the workings in the expanse before him and contemplated what his next move would be. If he decided to go rogue he knew what the ultimate consequences of his actions would lead to. The trick for them was for them to find him and he had learned and learned well how to stay hidden.
His mind began to wonder to other things. He could be walking in places that were green and lush. Places where there was water and live trees, where thing were beautiful and alive. Hell if he wanted he could be walking on the top of a mountain that was clothed in a shimmering gown of pristine white that sparkled and glittered in the reflective rays of the sun that beat down on it. He could be looking out over someplace where the temperature would burn the flesh of a skin and bone being with a mind numbing blast of cold polar air.
The man’s attention was drawn back to the place where he now rested against that hideous excuse of a tree as a dust devil came close enough that the little bits of lava hot sand pelted his skin. He didn’t have to look down to survey the damage because he knew there wouldn’t be any. Oh he felt the pain from the little beads of incendiary grains, he felt them to the bone, but no damage would be done. No he couldn’t be damaged but he could feel pain and oh had he felt pain ever since his transition.
He stood up and winced as he did. The pain was still there but not as bad as it had been and soon it would only be a distant murky memory. The man looked back over his shoulder to more of the same as what was in front of him. The clouds continued their battles overhead while the dust devils spun along their routes twisting and turning and sometimes intertwining with one another, swelling up then breaking apart to resume their random staggering paths.
Turning back in the direction he had been focused on before he again leaned back against the tree. He hadn’t yet stepped so far over the edge that he might not get out of it but he needed to make up his mind. Deep down inside he knew that he couldn’t continue this existence. The constant moving from one place to the other and never connecting to anyone except in that one moment of another’s life. That moment when everything that had gone before only mattered in determining where you went next.
There was an exceptionally loud roar of thunder and he jerked to attention thinking he might have been found but remembered they were blind to him right now. It would have been hard for them to detect him in this place even if he wasn’t off the grid but right now unless he allowed it they couldn’t see him anywhere he went. When they had come to him and told him he would no longer be a collector and would from that point on be a tracker he had tried to refuse. Of course in this, like in all things for longer than he cared to think about, he hadn’t had in say in what he did or what happened. It finally was more than his mind could process. More than he could handle. More than his damaged, twisted, blackened soul could endure.
Now he was thinking about becoming that which he had been tapped to track. Others like him who had found they could no longer follow meekly and continue to be tied to those who controlled their existence. He would, like them, no longer be bound by the tethers of his sins and a contract he had never wanted to enter into.
He like the others would take what he wanted and bring about as much chaos as he possibly could. He would leave a path of destruction that the powers that be will never recover from. He would no longer collect from their list, any list, but his own. Only he would have no list.
The man again looked out at this plane that existed between two others. They had made him a reaper of reapers and he would show them what a reaper was capable of.
He was death and now he was rogue.
book trialer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAUtqWwsK4&t=12s
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5818912
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Express-Collection-Short-Stories/dp/1530027241/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457096883&sr=8-1&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightmare-express-cathy-pace-matthews/1123425152?ean=2940152625547
Barnes & Noble/paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightmare-express-mrs-cathy-pace-matthews/1123433400?ean=9781530027248
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Nightmare-Express/Mrs-Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781530027248?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/nightmare-express
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/614919
Have you every walked into a restaurant or a bar and felt the need to leave as quickly as you got there. Did you ever stop at a rest stop and for some reason you decided not to stop. Have you ever seen something on the highway and it left goose bumps on your flesh. You get these feeling but you can’t explain why. In Nightmare Express you may get your answer to these question. There are things in this world that we don’t see. Not because we can’t see them but as humans we choose not to.
There are demons and monsters you never suspected. The things in your nightmares are real you just don’t want to see it. John is an individual that will lead you through each story and tell you why certain things happen. He will show you the stuff of your nightmares.
There are no real happy ending in this book, well maybe one. Every character you are introduced to in each of these stories has something in common with the one before them. They all share a link. They each go about their lives making choices that effect not only their lives but the lives of everyone they come into contact with. We are told from the time we are very young that we have those choices in life and it’s true we do. We choose the path we take and ultimately it comes down to whether or not we make good decisions. Yes we all have our choices, until we die.
So come and take a ride with John and me as we take you to places so dark your mind will scream in terror. Oh don’t bother with the seat belt where we’re going you won’t need it.
An excerpt from
Nightmare Express
The man sat against the trunk of the dried up disfigured tree. The gnarled interwoven branches seemed to be drawing in on themselves while also trying to reach out and ensnare you in its life sucking embrace. The dead tree stood at the peak of a sandy ridge. From where the man sat he could look out over the wasted barren land. What vegetation, or what passed as vegetation here, was like the tree he now leaned against. Everything was dark and foreboding showing no sign of life.
Overhead the sky was filled with angry deep purple and grey clouds that appeared to be at war with one another. Each one shot out steaks of lightening that seemed to be deliberately aimed at the clouds around them as if each was trying to take control of the shadowy expanse overhead. The heavy hot air generated by this constant battle created a skin scorching heat that blew dust devils around everywhere you looked. The dull black sand that was swept up in the heat and wind driven swirls only added to the uninhabitable appearance of this place. No rain fell here, there was no water, no moisture at all. This place was dryer than any desert on any map in another place.
There was existence here but you couldn’t call it life, at least not the type of life that would every make someone feel warm and fuzzy toward it. The things that lived here were as dark and ugly as this land itself. The creatures here were the things of nightmares for living breathing humans. They were as malformed and dark as the vegetation. He watched as a black slithering form reared back and struck at his prey and succeeded in catching the small creeping creature that had tried to escape its unending demise. He thought about how he almost felt sorry for the little monster that had just been devoured by the larger predator because he knew the damn thing would be back tomorrow. In a bit the larger creature would also be taken by an even larger predator and this would continue throughout the day. It was an endless succession of one creature after the other inflicting pain on something smaller. In this dark land the only things roaming here were the shadows of what once was and only existed in this land of shadows born of nightmares. No, there was no life here. These abominable beings would be tormented day after day and there would be no end to this torment that would be repeated over and over.
The man sat there watching the workings in the expanse before him and contemplated what his next move would be. If he decided to go rogue he knew what the ultimate consequences of his actions would lead to. The trick for them was for them to find him and he had learned and learned well how to stay hidden.
His mind began to wonder to other things. He could be walking in places that were green and lush. Places where there was water and live trees, where thing were beautiful and alive. Hell if he wanted he could be walking on the top of a mountain that was clothed in a shimmering gown of pristine white that sparkled and glittered in the reflective rays of the sun that beat down on it. He could be looking out over someplace where the temperature would burn the flesh of a skin and bone being with a mind numbing blast of cold polar air.
The man’s attention was drawn back to the place where he now rested against that hideous excuse of a tree as a dust devil came close enough that the little bits of lava hot sand pelted his skin. He didn’t have to look down to survey the damage because he knew there wouldn’t be any. Oh he felt the pain from the little beads of incendiary grains, he felt them to the bone, but no damage would be done. No he couldn’t be damaged but he could feel pain and oh had he felt pain ever since his transition.
He stood up and winced as he did. The pain was still there but not as bad as it had been and soon it would only be a distant murky memory. The man looked back over his shoulder to more of the same as what was in front of him. The clouds continued their battles overhead while the dust devils spun along their routes twisting and turning and sometimes intertwining with one another, swelling up then breaking apart to resume their random staggering paths.
Turning back in the direction he had been focused on before he again leaned back against the tree. He hadn’t yet stepped so far over the edge that he might not get out of it but he needed to make up his mind. Deep down inside he knew that he couldn’t continue this existence. The constant moving from one place to the other and never connecting to anyone except in that one moment of another’s life. That moment when everything that had gone before only mattered in determining where you went next.
There was an exceptionally loud roar of thunder and he jerked to attention thinking he might have been found but remembered they were blind to him right now. It would have been hard for them to detect him in this place even if he wasn’t off the grid but right now unless he allowed it they couldn’t see him anywhere he went. When they had come to him and told him he would no longer be a collector and would from that point on be a tracker he had tried to refuse. Of course in this, like in all things for longer than he cared to think about, he hadn’t had in say in what he did or what happened. It finally was more than his mind could process. More than he could handle. More than his damaged, twisted, blackened soul could endure.
Now he was thinking about becoming that which he had been tapped to track. Others like him who had found they could no longer follow meekly and continue to be tied to those who controlled their existence. He would, like them, no longer be bound by the tethers of his sins and a contract he had never wanted to enter into.
He like the others would take what he wanted and bring about as much chaos as he possibly could. He would leave a path of destruction that the powers that be will never recover from. He would no longer collect from their list, any list, but his own. Only he would have no list.
The man again looked out at this plane that existed between two others. They had made him a reaper of reapers and he would show them what a reaper was capable of.
He was death and now he was rogue.
book trialer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAUtqWwsK4&t=12s
Createspace/paperback https://www.createspace.com/5818912
Amazon/paperback and ebook http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Express-Collection-Short-Stories/dp/1530027241/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457096883&sr=8-1&keywords=cathy+pace+matthews
Barnes & Noble/ebook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightmare-express-cathy-pace-matthews/1123425152?ean=2940152625547
Barnes & Noble/paperback http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightmare-express-mrs-cathy-pace-matthews/1123433400?ean=9781530027248
Books-a-Million/paperback http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Nightmare-Express/Mrs-Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781530027248?id=6568745909235
Kobo/ebook https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/nightmare-express
Smashwords/ebook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/614919
Laugh, Cry, DieHere is a collection of stories that will make you do just what the title says. From the spirit of a man leaving this life and turning to another to a child in the woods scarier than any monster you might encounter in the darkest room. A woman who's husband may or may not be trying to scare her to death to a young woman heartbroken over her family turning it's back on her. These are short stories to make you think, give you chills, laugh your socks off, and or scare you into a mind numbing fear.
Some you will find right here under stories but there are a lot of new ones in the book as well along with a couple from two young writers I'm spotting. So if you would like to read some of the stories you'll find them here on my website or go get the book. You can also get it at other distributors in paperback. Thank you. Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Books/b/ref=sv_b_4?ie=UTF8&node=549028 Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/laugh-cry-die-cathy-pace-matthews/1127062948?ean=9781975970239 Books a Million, http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Laugh-Cry-Die/Mrs-Cathy-Pace-Matthews/9781975970239?id=7290106558241 
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