……”It is outside of me, but in my head also, as before when I ran through Eden Park to escape the thing that forced me into this dead wood. Escape is impossible, it is enraged. It is him, it was him who I saw. Evie’s Storyteller and I want to scream his name, beg for forgiveness but that takes breath and very little comes now.
‘Fury surrounds me. I should be dead by my own hand but he will kill me now for sure as again I am slammed into the tree….losing more ribs to its impact…
…….”I am assitsted, pulled upward, my face dragging along the rough trunk….
…..”Evie’s ruined image in my head, the pleasure in taking her….A castle….A painting…..then blood comes, flowing across its dark surface. In the short time remaining, I shall never understand any of this.
….”I scream for the pain…..but I am glad for the darkness that comes and the small explosion as my brain releases its blood from my staring eyes and nose at last……”
From ’Among Other Edens’
Watch the air. Inhale, observe its transformation around you and be ready, always, for the one who wishes you harm, made flesh.
As he discovered me……..
They come now, their deceit claiming the stairs before them and I understand their final intent. Know what is to come as you will learn also, what the calm tread of footsteps mean.
Always with us, it is the same, save that in times such as these, it arrives without the flickering hunger of amber flames.
We are deranged. Evil lies within our madness and the things we are cursed to See. And to those who do not understand, we must be stopped.
One day, you will See and will understand……
Until our return.
Evelyn Edern
Ashes fall, takes the day
Gone the sun, masks everyone
In with the freaks, the world’s greatest taboo
Out of the shadows, sliding through
Feel the rush of breath, breaking souls, teasing inside.
Stranger with your voice
Strange heaven on her face
Fallen angels masking whispers in the rain.
And she keeps her thoughts in cages
And a halo in a box by the side of the road
Glance of a stranger at the side of your neck Bites the sadistic ritual.
Dark shadows veil the face
Wet skin on wet
Moving in deep, two steps to the edge
Dim reflections incognito and the guilt steps in.
Stranger with my face
Strange heaven in her sighs
Fallen angels marking whispers in the rain.
And the thoughts that blind me Are the ones that bind me
Side step the shadow dance easing through
Side-kick the last thought, imagine if your wildest dream was you.
Needing more than you see
My breath pours in on you
But the path that leads to your eyes
Pulling in, drawing near
Stealing midnight from your hand
And the rain on your face glistening
And the small sigh breaks a quiet dawn
And the angel face, half left behind
Strange heaven in her smile, still.
.…From the Forthcoming novel-’Strange Heaven’- 2nd in the Legends of Eden Series.
….“Take my hand, become aware of its pressure against your skin, and walk through here, beneath the crumbled arch and the shield of ivy, guardian to what lies beyond. Walk now; invade their quiet secret and the soft hush of grass beneath your feet.
“You are no stranger here; its life breathes toward you, pulsing with the blood of your history and the stretch of time reaching toward you, drawing you to a place you once dwelt. This garden of time, suspended, waiting for your return. It is safe here; it will always be safe in this place.
“Observe Evie, the mound of earth, fresh from Adam’s betrayal, I give this to you. All of this is yours. Fall to your knees, thread the cold of each green blade between your fingers, push your hands into the fresh earth and understand. He waits.
“Watch as the scene transforms, unfolding above the canopy of white petals you lie beneath. Observe their gentle descent, falling like quiet snow to their death against the edge of your mouth. Accept the flow of this sweet drink; let it nourish the life that longs to exist again.
“Find me, Evie, find me in the depths of yourself, in the broken earth held between your fingers and in the blood that feeds your soul. Rise to my voice at last, I want to live in your existence. Slip behind the words and fall now into this changing space of life and death.
“Carefully, I lift you from this earth, away from the changing seasons and the rain that seeks your skin. Your transformation too, as you move toward me, not as you are now but in your becoming, the dark length of your hair, the pale slope of your shoulders, the shape of hips and thighs, formed now, untouched save for the hands that draw you toward me.
“Let the serious play you desire, begin.”
Among Other Edens Paperback edition now available on http://www.amazon.com and http://barnesandnoble.com.
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Among Other Edens is now available for purchase in both Kindle and e-book form. The print version will be available within a week. Check out www.amazon.com/Among-Other-Edens-Legends for the Kindle version.
….and remember……
‘Your Dreams Are My Survival’
The Storyteller….
“Evil Evie, Evil Evie
Born on the Eve of May
Pagan Child, Satan’s Bride
Tie her up and burn her.”
The eve of a new Millennium and Evelyn ‘Evie’ Edern has made a decision. Haunted by the lasting image of her father stepping off the gothic tower of the Liverpool Cathedral and the constant refrain that she should burn in hell, Evie takes the sleeping pills from the kitchen cabinet and transports the small cargo up the stairs to her room. Searching for death, Evie clutches a faded book of poetry with the mysterious inscription;
To Evelyn
Your Dreams are My Survival
The Storyteller, 1848
Now, instead of death, a voice haunts her existence, making her write until the blood and the terrible headache comes. But she must take him in, must walk beside him into darkness and fear none of it, not even the brooding stillness of Orchard House and the boy lying in the tangled wreckage of a garden taking the blood rain into his waiting mouth. ‘Adam’. A name falls into her head and she cannot understand why. And then in every story flows the crystal perfection of his voice as each immaculate word forces a secret death and dark betrayal into her head until she cannot breathe. He comes now, drawing her forward, green eyes laying claim to her soul. And God help her, but she loves this darkness….
“With language as beautiful as it is riveting, Among Other Edens is a wonderful tapestry of gothic sentiment and modern day culture. The story is steeped in haunting imagery so vivid you’ll feel the dread and longing right along with Evie, page after page.”
-Rebekah Hunter Scott, author of Motherhood Is Easy…As Long As You Have Nothing Else To Do For The Next 50 Years.
“Among Other Edens mesmerizes and compels the reader to fall soul-first into another world – a world of intrigue, passion, danger and fear. Guinevere Edern’s writing harkens to the days of flowing literary prose, a welcome respite from the terse language generally spewed by fiction writers today. A must-read for lovers of the English language.”
Michael Ray King President – ClearView Press Inc.
“AMONG OTHER EDENS is an edgy, urban-gothic tale told by a very talented story teller. With a literary blend of contemporary and medieval voice, Guinevere leads readers through time and place at a rapid pace, visiting past, present and alternative time with grace and color. Urban legend fans will love this fresh new voice in the genre and will wait on the edge of their seats for the next book by this gifted author.”
N. L. Quatrano, Author/Editor
www.NLQuatrano.com
“Among Other Edens is a modern-day gothic tour de force that takes the reader on a thrilling journey through the troubled mind of Evie, whose dark family history holds mysteries both horrific and magnificent. The author brings a beautiful, melodic literary voice to every page and breathes life into a stale genre with a unique character and concept.”
-Jeff Swesky, ghostwriter of Flight from Fear: A Rabbi’s Holocaust Survival Story.
…..closer, Evie approached the hanging figure….staring into the bleeding face, half afraid he might say something in his death. But…..that would be Taliesin’s magic if he did……never scare her like that.
She wanted to touch his hand, harmless now in its dreadful sleep. Carefully Evie stretched her fingers forward, searching for what earlier had been the cause of such pain……never touched death before and her breath refused to come forward, strangling the back of her throat as she felt now for the first time, the permanent frost buried beneath his skin rise against the tips of her fingers. He moved then, slightly, as another breeze shifted the branches, partially rotating the swaying body.
Catching the fast scream, Evie fought its ascent…and refused the natural urge to recoil as a single, shoe-less foot bearing a dirty white sock kicked against her legs. The head fell forward…..a bloody mass at the top of his skull.
Taliesin’s point of entry?
Perhaps, but what really mattered was how the fingers on this ruined body gripped hers. In death he refused to let g0….wanted a partner in this terrible sleep.
An image, sharp, flashing into her head and she tipped forward, inhaling the sweet death within his clothes. Someone running…..the effect was exhausting. In fact, she might be moving too, fast, incredibly fast.
Traces of fear jolted her heart….pouring into her veins and making her terrified of something unseen.
…..In spite of Taliesin’s revenge, Chris might have been coming to her again.
But this was the least of her troubles as she became less aware of the dead weight hitting the side of her leg and the slow blood falling from his nose …and more present in the panic screaming through her thoughts.
The voice she recognized.
Chris.
Another image came.
