Happy Halloween. Today’s GHOSTly #1lineWed theme is rather apropos, don’cha think? 😉 And while the word is only mentioned in passing in this snippet, Sade does find herself in a rather spooky place. She’s getting really tired of flitting between realms, half of which she didn’t know existed and doesn’t really want to find out what sort of critters might inhabit them. She’s bouncing around and now she’s ended up in a…boat. On a lake. That isn’t a lake…loch…yikes! Is that Nessie?

Sade gazed across a dark landscape painted in watercolors by a madman—both beautiful and savage. Instinct took over and her pistol was in her hand, except it wasn’t a pistol. She stared at the lethal-looking sword gripped in her fist.

Muttering, “Somebody pinch me,” she glanced over the prow of the boat, gazing at her reflection as it was captured in a mirror of ebony glass. Her very serviceable jeans and sweater had been replaced by—

“Seriously?” Shouting, she raised the sword and cursed the heavens, adding, “This is not fucking Gor and I’m not some fucking slave girl!”

Fingers teased her hair and she stiffened. Just the wind. Not a ghost. Or worse. The boat skated across the black expanse, no sign of ripples to mark its passage. The sail hung limp, and nobody manned the rudder. She was alone.

“What do you think of me now-ow-ow?” The disembodied voice echoed off the rocky cliffs lining the cursed stretch of water.

“Magic doesn’t work on me,” she snarled. Then it occurred to her. Shit. Not magic, alchemy. Except…alchemy was a myth, right? Wracking her brain, Sade searched for the information she needed. Magic didn’t work on her, hadn’t since Mathias and Oberon had both marked her when she was a toddler. Shit. She was fucked so it was time to see the wizard—figuratively speaking because everyone knew wizards worked magic. Nope, she had a date with some Mad Hatter of a sorcerer. Two could play that game. “Let’s stir the pot and see what surfaces.”

Leaning over, she plunged the sword into the water. Glass shattered with a bright tinkling and a massive silver head reared up from the depths, maw open, teeth dripping black water and…Vikings? Seriously? The head lowered but before the dragon could eat her, she smacked him on the nose with the flat of her blade.

“Gawddammitalltohell, Nikos! We have to stop meeting like this!” If her presence in this realm was somehow his doing, she’d have new dragon-hide boots by morning.
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Poor Sade. She really has no idea why she’s being played like the ball in an antique pong game. If you have any ghost stories to share–be it WIP words, or a real ghostly encounter, please share! Tis the season, don’cha know. 😀