In case you didn’t already know, I have a series of fiction novels. My “Nature vs. Nurture” series is a trilogy of young adult, supernatural drama novels with elements of horror, thriller, mystery with a little bit of comedy and romance thrown it. So pretty much everyone can find something in the story they’d enjoy. Here’s a short snippet from the first book in the series, to give you an idea of the story, please enjoy.
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On a cold and gloomy day, in her home in Chicago, Emily Kane sat on her couch with her head in her hands, crying her eyes out. The last year of her life had been a living nightmare; both she and her husband, Robert, had lost their jobs. They used their savings to pay the bills for a while, but they soon ran out and then took out loans they both knew they couldn’t afford. They hoped at least one of them would find a new job to pay off the loans but, despite their best efforts, that didn’t happen. Both Emily and Robert feared losing their home any day, and to make things even worse Emily’s mother Stella had been diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer. The doctor had told them there was basically nothing they could do for her except give her treatment to make her comfortable. Of course, they couldn’t afford it.
So not only were her financial troubles weighing her down, but every time Emily went to visit her parents she was reminded that her mother was dying a slow, painful death and there was nothing she could do to help her. Stella tried to hide her pain from Emily and Emily’s father, David, told her everything was fine. But Emily could see right through their act. As she sat there alone with her whole life falling apart, Emily heard the familiar sound of the doorbell ringing. Fearing it might be a debt collector she approached the door slowly, and only opened it a crack to peek through. She saw a handsome man standing there; she guessed he was in his early to mid-fifties, with black hair greying at the sides. He was wearing a smart black suit with a red tie and a rose in the jacket pocket. He had a big smile on his face that had a slightly sinister look to it, and despite his good looks and smart clothing Emily just felt like there was something wrong about him.
“Mrs. Kane?”
“Yes?” Emily said nervously.
“Oh, good. My name is Mr. Smith and I’m here to talk to you about some of your problems.”
Assuming he was a debt collector, Emily opened the door to let him in.
“Okay, well, you better come in then,” she said sadly.
“Thank you very much,” he said, still with that strange smile on his face.
The man walked into the living room with Emily following, looking quite defeated.
“Please take a seat,” Emily said.
“Thank you.”
Emily sat down after he did, preparing for him to start with all the legal jargon she’d heard more times than she could remember.
“Look, sir, about the late payments—my husband and I are trying to get the money together.”
“Oh no, Mrs. Kane. May I call you Emily? I’m not here to collect money from you,” he said, raising his hand to stop Emily’s speech.
“Well then, why are you here?” she said, confused.
“I’m here to help you, Emily dear. I know all about your money problems and, of course, your poor mother’s tragic illness. I’m here to offer you a way out.”
“How do you know all this? Who are you?” she demanded, confused and uneasy.
“I know a lot of things, almost everything in fact, and as to who I am—well let’s just call me your guardian angel,” he said with a very disturbing chuckle.
At this point Emily was thoroughly unnerved by this man and wanted him out of her house as soon as possible.
“I think maybe you should leave,” Emily said.
“I don’t think so, Emily. Besides you haven’t heard my offer yet.” His tone sounding quite threatening.
“What is it then?” she asked, now quite scared.
“Well, my dear, it’s basically a ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ situation. You see, there’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now but wasn’t able to until recently. But I need your help to do it, and in exchange I will fix all your little problems,” he said sarcastically.
“I don’t understand.”
“Yes, I wasn’t expecting you to. All you need to know is that I am an extremely powerful man. The most powerful, well, except for my father and little brother, but I don’t want to talk about them. What I’m saying is I can make all your worries blow away like they were never there and all you have to do is agree to do a favor for me.”
“Why me?” Emily asked, both nervous and intrigued.
“Oh, just chance; you just happen to have been born at the right time and place. It’s an ancient and complicated issue that your tiny mind couldn’t possibly begin to understand,” he said in a condescending way.
“Well, what is it you want me to do?” Emily asked, trying not to show her disdain toward his tone.
The man’s attitude suddenly shifted from insulting to positive and charming.
“I’m glad you asked.”
He then dropped a large stack of paper in front of her which surprised and confused her, since when he walked into the house he didn’t have a briefcase with him or anything else to carry this large stack of paper in.
“This is a contract stating all the details of our deal; I like to have things in writing. Please feel free to browse through it,” he said with that sinister smile.
Emily looked at the contract; it was so thick and heavy she could barely lift it, and the writing on it was so small she couldn’t read it. She tried her best but could only make out a few words of the tiny writing.
He then leaned in closer to Emily looking directly into her eyes. She wanted to look away from him but found she couldn’t. Despite what her head and heart were telling her, she couldn’t help but be drawn into his eyes like she was in a trance.
“Don’t you want to be free, Emily; free from all the stress and fear? Don’t you want it all too just disappear? Don’t you want your mother to be healthy and happy again? You want all that Emily, don’t you?”
Emily couldn’t move; it was like she was frozen solid. The only things she could focus on were his eyes and voice. Suddenly everything around her seemed to fade away and was replaced with the hallway of a large, beautiful house. She then heard laughter coming from the next room. Walking in, she was stunned to see a vision of herself with her family. They all sat there laughing and enjoying each other’s company; she and her husband both had big smiles on their faces and were holding each other affectionately. Emily’s mother and father sat there smiling and holding hands. Her mother looked so well, completely pain free and happier than she had been in so long. Emily was so overwhelmed by what she was seeing she couldn’t help but cry. She then heard the man’s voice echoing inside her head.
“It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it, Emily? It can be real, you know. You and Robert could be more than just debt-free; you could be rich and live in this beautiful house. Both your mother and father could be healthy and happy again. All that pain, fear, and anguish could be gone. I can make it all go away, Emily; all you have to do is agree to the deal.”
Just as quickly as it appeared the vision around her disappeared and Emily found herself back in her house with the man.
“Like I said, Emily, I can give you all of that. Just sign here and it’s all yours.”
The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an old-fashioned pen with strange markings on it. He passed it to Emily and, just as before she felt like she was in a trance. It was like she had no control over her own body. Her hand was being pulled to the contract like it was a magnet; without even thinking about what she was doing she signed her name on the contract. Just as she finished signing her name the man snatched the contract away from her; doing that seemed to snap her out of her trance.
“Excellent,” the man said, staring at the contract.
Now out of her trance, only now did the full magnitude of what just happened to her hit Emily.
“Who are you?” Emily asked in a shaky voice, trembling with fear.
“Me? Oh, you know who I am. Everyone knows who I am. I’m the bogeyman, I’m the monster under the bed, I’m what’s waiting for you in the dark. I’m the voice that’s been whispering in humanity’s ear since you were living in caves,” he said as he stood up and slowly walked towards Emily.
More afraid than ever before Emily jumped up and ran for the door, but before she got there it slammed shut and no matter how much she tried it wouldn’t open.
“You can’t run from me now, Emily; we have an agreement.”
Emily’s legs gave way out of fear and she fell to the floor. She looked up at this mystery man, but now she knew exactly who and what he was, although she dared not say it out loud.
“Why the strange look? You should be proud—you just made history.”
He bent down to be eye level with Emily.
“You must be very confused right now. Let me explain. I’m sure you’ve realized by now I’m not like you; I am much more than you. I have existed since the dawn of time. You know who I am now, don’t you, Emily. I want to hear you say it.”
“Say it,” he commanded as his eyes turned pitch black.
“SAY IT!” He screamed this at her in a deep, demonic voice.
“You’re the devil,” she said in a weak, terrified voice.
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If you’re interested in my “Nature vs. Nurture” series and would like to know more, simply follow the links below to where you can purchase a copy in either paperback or kindle. The first two books in the trilogy “Nature vs. Nurture” and “Nature vs. Nurture: Sins of the Father” are available now, with the third book coming soon.
Note: These links are to the current editions of my books, any other pages you may find will be for old, out of print editions. Don’t waste your time, if you want to find my up-to-date work, please use the links below thank you.
Book #1 – Nature vs. Nurture – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nature-vs-Nurture-Glyn-Williams/dp/1073597741/ref=sr_1_2?crid=QSGIV4UYXBDL&keywords=nature+vs+nurture&qid=1566410739&s=gateway&sprefix=nature+vs+n%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-2
Book #2 – Nature vs. Nurture: Sins of the Father – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nature-vs-Nurture-Sins-Father/dp/1070562580/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1566410918&sr=8-4
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