The Playground E-Book

E. Denise Billups

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Struggling for survival after the death of her husband, a woman leaves her hometown to make a fresh start. Arriving to the small town of Willows Grove, she and her two daughters take shelter in an old church next to a playground.

Seventeen years later, Jillian and her friends set out to disprove local folk tales of evil spirits that allegedly inhabit the burnt-out church and The Playground next to it.

Arriving at the dilapidated playground, they wait for the hour the ghost has reportedly been seen, while mocking the silly townspeople's beliefs. Very soon, their doubts are challenged, as they come face-to-face with something unspeakable.

Leseprobe

THE PLAYGROUND

A Supernatural Short Story

E. DENISE BILLUPS

Contents

Beams of Heaven (Some Day)

Willows Grove

Nightly Sacraments

Taunting Spirits

A Century Old Mystery Released

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About the Author

Copyright (C) 2017 E. Denise Billups

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2022 by Next Chapter

Published 2022 by Next Chapter

Cover art by CoverMint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author’s permission.

Beams of Heaven (Some Day)

Wickedness awhile may reign; Satan’s cause may seem to gain

There is a God that rules above, with hand of power and heart of love

If I am right, he'll fight my battle I shall have peace some day…

No mourning soul shall roam its plains

And to that land of peace and glory

I want to go some day

~Charles A. Tindley~

Willows Grove

A century-old evil resides by my side. Soul to soul we exist between earth and a spiritual plane, imprisoned inside decaying church walls. From sacred windows, I watch my eternally youthful daughters laughing and playing like living, breathing children on a condemned playground. He watches too, but for different reasons, to reap vengeance on people in town who dare trespass on cursed grounds. It was a year ago, my two daughters and I came to this place to start a new life after death befell my husband. The sea rolled in and swept him away one sunny day on an Atlantic beach, his body never recovered. He left us saddled with debt, and no real assets, our treasured items sold to sustain us. We traveled from coastal Florida, searching for a new start, stumbling on the town of Willows Grove.

I thought we’d found a new home, but instead, we found death. With no job or money, we lived precariously from street to car, until townspeople, ignoring our plight with shameless disregard drove us away with scathing remarks. One night we took shelter from a storm inside an old Episcopalian church. We knew not what lives inside—a soul of unrest, trapped for centuries. One restless night, I sat in the nave, sensing his presence in the transept’s shadows. I believed a guardian angel in this house of worship watches over me and the girls as we slept, but I was mistaken. Again, he arrived one quiet night, whispering sad hymns as I slept.

Harder yet may be the fight. Right may often yield to might. Wickedness awhile may reign. Satan's cause may seem to gain…

He filled my mind with old-world images and spoke poetically of lost love and the tragic death of his mistress and daughter. I woke sad and empathetic for an unknown entity. Several nights later, he revealed himself, a frightful cloaked figure glowed hellish red. Quickly he soothed our fear, with mental images of his true form. An attractive muscular, brown man with doleful eyes dressed in slaves clothing, his true earthly essence. Our minds soon filled with ghastly images of murder. Without tongue, he spoke of Willows Grove’s hatred of his family’s mixed blood, their murderous actions, and his family’s banishment to a crypt beneath the church. He began to sing a hymn I’d heard the previous night.

There is a world where pleasure reigns. No mourning soul shall roam its plains and to that land of peace and glory, I want to go someday…

For centuries, he’s wandered church grounds, mourning loved ones, and taking revenge against Willows Grove families. With our arrival, he cleaved quickly to my daughters who reminded him of his own. He promised to protect us if we stayed, but he didn’t protect us the night of the fire. When angry men from town set the church ablaze, he bolted doors, locking us inside. Then I understood his true intent was to keep us eternally. I tried to escape both him and the men outside. I fled with the girls to the tunnel beneath the church. Trapped, our bodies were overcome with smoke.

With our death, he swore a new vengeance against Willows Grove. Anyone who set foot near the church or playground would feel his wrath. I fear our souls are damned for eternity by his side. Our bodies, undiscovered, remain hidden beneath the church. I pray someone will release us from this hell.