Afterlife - Douglas Clegg [97]
“The human soul is inviolate, Julie. There is always hope because of that. The human soul is inviolate.”
She tried not to think of Matt. Of how Diamond had said he’d died. Maybe it wasn’t completely true. Maybe there was truth on both sides. I must put those things out of my mind. Only Livy matters. Only Livy.
The human soul is inviolate.
Her soul was somewhere in her body. It could not die. There was no death except for the flesh. But the soul had its journey. Michael Diamond had moved elsewhere when he was burned at Project Daylight. Opened another door. Passed into a passageway that had remained unseen. And then, came back. And he wasn’t dead, was he? Not even now? Maybe they’d done something to him. Maybe they’d buried him alive. Or subdued him in some way, but if she could somehow get him to help again… But even as she thought this, she felt that she was doing the kind of magical thinking that had never gotten her anywhere.
But Livy did not have to go through that passage. Not yet.
She may not even come back bad. She may not be spoiled, the way Diamond had told her. She might be the same. She might even be better. Michael Diamond had been better, after all. Maybe Hut wasn’t. Maybe Matt had come back with slight problems. But it didn’t mean they all did. She believed it. She believed it with a ferocity of emotion. There was no more reason in her life. She had to cling to belief. She had to remember that the world was not all murky darkness. It had benevolence. It had love. It had stronger elements than this Death Cult imagined.
It had hope.
Even in this murderous circle, there could be good rising from it. A hand could be uplifted. It could be raised in prayer. A hand could be held. They weren’t alone. Livy would not be alone. I’ll be there for you, Liv. I will. I will not abandon you. I’ll help you find your soul. I promise.
The human soul, inviolate.
She clung to this idea, as she felt her daughter’s small fingers clutch at her arm and heard the faint growl of a child’s voice.
THE END
Author Biography
Douglas Clegg is the award-winning author of several novels and collections, including the bestselling novel, The Priest of Blood, as well as Isis, Neverland, Purity and many others.
Clegg is currently at work on a novel about murder, madness and family set on the New England coast, where he also happens to live. Look for the fully-illustrated trade hardcover of Isis, a tale of the supernatural, in bookstores everywhere September 29, 2009.
Also on Kindle from Douglas Clegg:
The Vampyricon Trilogy:
The Priest of Blood
The Lady of Serpents
The Queen of Wolves
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Purity, a novella
The Words, a novella
Wild Things: Four Tales
And now, for a thrilling excerpt from Douglas Clegg's novella, THE WORDS, also available for the Kindle!
About THE WORDS:
Never speak them.
Never whisper them.
The Words.
The Words is a novella of otherworldly terror and madness from Douglas Clegg, the award-winning author of The Priest of Blood, Isis, Purity, The Hour Before Dark and many others.
The two teenagers invoke the words -- the names of those who walk beyond the veil, in the dark of the Nowhere...
When Mark befriends outsider Dash, he believes his new friend to be an outcast rebel. But a dark mystery unfolds as Dash leads Mark into dangerous games and rituals involving stories of the occult and a strange drug that allows Dash to see into another world -- a world of absolute darkness and terror.
“Your flesh will remember the words even if your mind forgets."
One summer night, on their way with friends to a party, they make a fateful detour to a place where the words of Dash's secret ceremonies will bring a new terror into the world...and where Mark will face unspeakable horror as it comes to monstrous life.
A tale of teen alienation at the crossroads of darkness and absolute brotherhood, The Words will get under your skin...and stay with