Hey! I am Rhys Ford… speaking to you in my own… okay that doesn’t work. Does anyone else remember Don Carnage!? He’s speaking at you in his own voice! Ah, the esoteric memories. You’ll probably want to skip this part during the next few…*coffs*…okay, over a dozen blogs as I parcel out a short tale featuring Wolf and Tristan! 

Welcome to a Hellsinger Investigation! 

There will be prizes and giveaways. Be sure to hit up each blog for an update on the investigation. I have brought in for this tale of ghosts and shenanigans two special prizes (well many of them…but two!). You might have seen them already; a pair of cuddly alpaca and a braided leather Wolf sigil bracelet. You’ll be able to win one or both at each stop with a Grand Prize to be given away at the end of the tour. 

Hellsinger Investigations

File #241

Residence: Hazel Maplethorn-Bocker
Paranormal Activity: Objects Relocating
Location: Eureka, CA 

The residence is occupied by Ms. M-B and ten cats. Client is retired school-teacher and has no history of psychic or paranormal activity either personal or in residence. Residence is 1940s bungalow with no recorded deaths. Land cleared of any prior paranormal activity; formerly undeveloped acreage. No structures or causalities reported at location. Cannot discount native population or transitory inhabitants prior to establishment of city boundaries. 

Team: Gidget and Matt

Consultant: Tristan Pryce

PART TWELVE

The ghostly smoke ring of cats flew up into dust motes, choking the air as Wolf sprinted past—or even possibly through—the dead woman in the room. A brisk chill hit his skin then grabbed at his marrow and for an instant, Wolf feared his bones would crack open at the icy clamp on his body. His breath bloomed into a chilled plume and when Wolf sucked in a surprised gasp, the air shivered through his lungs, piercing the warmth in his chest. Another step forward and he’d broken free, shaking off the glacial freeze slowly peeling away from his skin. 

Meanwhile, the shadow outside of the window turned and bolted back into the night. 

Wolf hit the sunroom’s outer door running, shoving at the latch hard and hoping it was unlocked. The door flew wide, slamming open and striking the exterior wall, its glass window rattling and buckling under the force of Wolf’s exit. 

Funny thing was—the shadow certainly was a hell of damned more solid than Deidre and about as graceful as an elephant in a tutu. 

A row of hedges took the brunt of the intruder’s flailing, his churning legs destroying the neatly lined up greenery. With the moon playing peek-a-boo with a thickening Eureka fog, Wolf could only catch glimpses of his prey as they ran through the back yard towards the front of the house. 

With only a few feet separating them, the shadowy form feinted about, zigzagging left and right in an attempt to avoid the large barrels Hazel’d set up on the side of her house to grow tomatoes and herbs. Successfully dodging the hazards of the herbal labyrinth, it was an old rose bush that proved to the intruder’s undoing. 

A rose bush obviously out for vengeance and more than likely, manipulated by a very pissed off Deirdre. 

The bush stretched out from its trellis, thorny tendrils snapping out to slap at the shadowy figure’s face and chest. Wolf caught the tail end of a bloom-rich whip across his cheek. It stung, opening up a cut deep enough to bring up moisture. 

Sadly for him, the intruder didn’t get off as easily. 

The trellised bush groaned and creaked, its branches bending across the walkway to grab at the running man. Stretched past their physical limits, a few thick stems broke, curved too far around for their heavy limbs to survive. They snapped, tiny shotgun booms as leaves and stem pieces showered down over the man. Too short to encase the runner, Deirdre had other plans for the sharp, prickly branches. One by one, the stems dove in, stabbing at the man’s exposed face and arms, rapid fire punches deep enough to leave gouges in his skin. 

Screaming, the man’s mouth was speckled with foam and his eyes were bulging in the short time it took Wolf to reach the man’s side. He was young, barely into his twenties, and even in the faint light coming from the street lamps a few yards away, Wolf could see he was terrified. The smell of piss hit the air and a dark stain began to spread over front of the young man’s sweatpants. 

“Deirdre, let him go,” Wolf muttered, grabbing at the branches. “Shit, I don’t know if you can hear me but… let him go. You’re hurting him.” 

The whisper in Wolf’s ear was barely loud enough for him to hear over the frightened man’s screams but it was there, raspy and enraged. 

“I don’t care,” she whispered. “He hurt Hazel.” 

“You’re going to kill him,” Wolf pointed out, yanking his hand back just as a thick root broke open, its shorn, glistening end poised over the young man’s chest. “You’re going to kill him.” 

“Then he’ll be dead. Like me. And then imagine what I could do to him.” 

“Hazel wouldn’t want you to do it,” Tristan’s voice rang through the madness. He came through the front picket gate, the watery moon running silver over his pale face. “Please, Deirdre. She’d hate herself if she knew she was the reason he died. Even after all he’s done to her, she wouldn’t want that. Not Hazel.” 

“No,” Deirdre’s voice echoed, gravel and velvet wrapped around deep sadness. “She wouldn’t.” 

The branches stopped moving then in a slow churn, unraveled, dumping the young man onto the stone walkway below. Wolf lunged, grabbing the intruder then pulled him free of the trellis as Tristan awkwardly patted the house. 

“For Hazel,” Deidre’s whispers began to fade. “But never….again…” 

Follow all of Hellsinger Investigations File #241 at these blog spots:

Sept 2 – Love Bytes
Sept 3 – Prism Alliance
Sept 4 – Smoocher’s Voice
Sept 5 – On Top Down Under Book Reviews
Sept 6 – Fiction Vixen
Sept 7 – Boy meets Boy
Sept 8 – Three Chicks after Dark
Sept 9 – Ndulgent Bloggers & MM Good Book Reviews
Sept 10 – Rainbow Gold Reviews
Sept 11 – Joyfully Jay
Sept 12 – The Blogger Girls (Hey, that’s us!)
Sept 13 – The Novel Approach

About Duck Duck Ghost

Paranormal investigator Wolf Kincaid knows what his foot tastes like. 

Mostly because he stuck it firmly in his mouth when his lover, Tristan Pryce, accidentally drugged him with a batch of psychotropic baklava. Needing to patch things up between them, Wolf drags Tristan to San Luis Obispo, hoping Tristan’s medium ability can help evict a troublesome spirit haunting an old farmhouse. 

With Wolf’s sister handling Hoxne Grange’s spectral visitors, Tristan finds himself in the unique position of being able to leave home for the first time in forever, but Wolf’s roughshod treatment is the least of his worries. Tristan’s ad-hoc portal for passing spirits seems to be getting fewer and fewer guests, and despite his concern he’s broken his home, Tristan agrees to help Wolf’s cousin, Sey, kick her poltergeist to the proverbial curb. 

San Luis Obispo brings its own bushel of troubles. Tristan’s ghost whispering skill is challenged not only by a terrorizing haunting but also by Wolf’s skeptical older cousin, Cin. Bookended by a pair of aggressive Kincaids, Tristan soon finds himself in a spectral battle that threatens not only his sanity but also his relationship with Wolf, the first man he’s ever loved.

Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About Rhys Ford

Rhys  admits to sharing the house with three cats of varying degrees of black fur and a ginger cairn terrorist. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird, a Toshiba laptop, and an overworked red coffee maker. And at the Starbucks down the street. No really, they’re 24/7. And a drive-thru. It’s like heaven.

Connect with Rhys on her Blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Rhys is kindly giving away THREE awesome prizes to ONE lucky winner! This winner will get a Pair of Alpaca, a Wolf Sigil Bracelet and a $20 gift certificate to the etailer of their choice! Here’s what these great prizes look like:

The giveaway starts now and ends September 18, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of Duck Duck Ghost to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!