The gold leaf shimmered throughout the swirls of the intricate floral design that surrounded the well-worn silvery glass inset. This mirror had belonged to someone special. Someone beloved. I liked holding it, and it had a bit of heft to it. I pushed my hair behind my ear.
“And you talk about Aggie looking worn out.”
I’d had many sleepless nights as of late, and it was starting to take its toll on me. Nightmares really aged a person quickly, I thought as I stood there glaring at someone I hardly recognized. Fine lines were beginning to show up more and more. I was worlds away from the perky cheerleader I had once been.
There were a lot of miles between me and that girl. Moving closer to the mirror, I pulled the corners of my eyes to smooth out my skin.
You might need a little Botox soon, old girl.
For a moment, my eyes seemed to double within the mirror. I blinked a few times to refocus. That was a weird effect. How on earth had I done that? I blinked again, but it didn’t help. Despite the strangeness, there were two reflections in the mirror.
Mine and someone else’s. Her pale face hovered right over mine, like it was superimposed over my reflection.
I slapped the thing down on the workbench and jumped away from it. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! The woman’s soft green eyes, flanked by brown curls against her ivory skin, were staring back at me through the mirror.
Rosy lips parted before her ghostly reflection slowly started fading away.
I stood there frozen in fear, trying to scream for Aggie, but nothing would come out. The sound of my own heartbeat filled my head as the room began to swirl around me.
This could not be happening.
Who or what did I just see?
Esmine, my lovely jasmine. I see you…I see you, Esmine.
With a yelp, I hurried out of the workroom and closed the door. Nope! Not today! This family had been through the wringer already. We all needed a break from the paranormal. I thought we were going to get one after all the work they’d done.
But that wasn’t exactly true now, was it?
I couldn’t deal with this today.
Later, maybe.
Not today.
I pretended I didn’t feel the soft fingers touching my hair while I helped a customer check out. I pretended I didn’t smell the scent of jasmine. I tried to ignore the occasional whispering of a dead man.
Esmine…I am coming to you.
Author’s Note—M.L. Bullock
What an absolute delight to wrap up A Watch of Weeping Angels, Book Three in the Devecheaux Antiques and Haunted Things series! Working with my friend A. E. Chewning has also been an exciting venture. She’s got such a great imagination and a huge love and respect for the paranormal world. It’s been a great experience, at least for me. Poor Ashley has been so patient with me, despite all my health issues. Kudos and props to her.
In this story, we took a different tack. Writing fiction has some perks. It’s easy to find a happy ending, no matter how dire the circumstances. At least it seems to be for us. But for those of us with experience in the actual paranormal field, we know that it is anything but easy. And there aren’t always answers. In our stories, we get to uncover who, what, when, where and how. But that’s not always the way it works in real life. I think in this story, we wanted to tackle that. There aren’t always perfect answers in the real world.
Just like with Randall and the Soul Collector. Who knows why evil targets innocence? That’s a topic I am covering in my autobiography, Delivered Me From Evil. Who knows why evil things gravitate to children? It’s as if evil takes a particular joy in targeting kids, and fear is one of its favorite weapons.
In A Watch of Weeping Angels, we touched on the importance of showing respect, the proper respect, to things that belong to the dead. In an antiques store, the Devecheauxs cannot help but come into contact with such items, but what they do with them, how they handle them, is crucial. In future books, we’ll dive more into this subject, but for now I am happy to give our favorite antiques dealers a break.
Have you ever handled a haunted item? Have you touched something and felt it just wasn’t quite right? I have. And I quickly put it down. It’s weird how Aunt Sadie’s brush can be an innocuous item one day and then the next trigger odd visions when you use it in front of her vanity mirror. (Am I the only one?)
I hoped that you loved reading this story as much as we loved writing it. It is always a good day when we can tell you a haunted tale. I think Ashley would agree with me on that. But never fear, we won’t leave you hanging. Ashley plans on writing another tale involving the Soul Collector and the other gravestones in Mr. Glass’ collection. Isn’t that neat?
In the meantime, please leave us a review. It helps us decide what to write next. It helps us know that we’re ticking all the paranormal boxes and that you want more. If I may be so bold, please leave a kind review. That helps Amazon decide when and how and to whom to show my books.
I am taking a little break from the Devecheauxs to spend time with Carrie Jo and start a new series called Twelve to Midnight. It’s a trilogy about wolves, ghosts and of course, Old Mobile. I can’t wait for you to read it. It begins in Ireland, around the turn of the 18th century. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Also, Carrie Jo is going back to Marietta in Footsteps of Angels.
As always, it is a great joy to write for you. My favorite thing is to tell you a spooky story. I am so blessed to have you as a reader. Thank you so much. Thank you for being a fan and a friend. When you write me to let me know I kept you company in the hospital or I was your companion on vacation, it warms my soul. Bringing you great entertainment, especially the paranormal sort, is my purpose in life.
Please visit me on my favorite social media platform, Facebook, and check out my website if you’d like a signed paperback of any of my books. While you are visiting MLBullock.com, please sign up for my newsletter. If you’re on my newsletter mailing list, you’ll get updates on new releases, book sales and author signing events. (And other events like paranormal investigations.)
Thanks again for reading!
All my best!
M.L. Bullock
Author’s Note—A. E. Chewning
Hey again!
Well, here we are at the end of Book Three. Each book has sent me on a different type of journey. Not only do we delve into the characters from the last book, but we have new ones that join us along the way. In this book, I found myself intrigued with the other headstones that Mr. Glass had on his (mostly definitely haunted) property.
Where did all the other souls go? What was their story? Where did all the bodies go? Is the Glass mansion haunted?
Imaginations tend to run wild when me and M.L. get together. Her creativity always pulls at my creative mind and exposes those thoughts that I would normally just keep to myself. She’s always there in those moments telling me, “Girl, just go for it.”
As always, it’s been a joy to work with Monica and discover those hidden haunted things in each corner of the shop. This one went a little darker than our others, but sometimes the paranormal world does tend to go dark when you aren’t cautious. Like Monica said, you have to have respect in dealing with the spirit realm. There is no doubt in my mind that there is true evil in this world.
On to a lighter note, Aggie is always fun to write. Sometimes I write and when I go back to it later, I think, “Hmmm, did I write that? Where did that come from?” Each muse tends to show and tell me things in a different way as I sit at the keyboard. Some days I get more information and their stories just flow onto the screen, and other days it’s like pulling teeth.
While I was writing this book, my family moved from Virginia back to Alabama. We bought a 1902 Victorian house and settled into a little town right outside of Huntsville. As my mom likes to say, “It’s like you’re living in a Hallmark movie.” The town is quaint and quiet.
I’m sure some of you will want to know if my house is haunted. I’ll just s
ay that even in those quiet moments by yourself in the house, you are never really alone. Maybe one day I’ll write a book about it, but for now it’s on to the next project with my Magnolia Series, A Haunting in Magnolia.
I’d love for you to follow me on FB or IG, or you can check out my website (www.aechewningauthor.com) to keep up with all my shenanigans.
Until next time,
A. E. Chewning
A Watch of Weeping Angels (Devecheaux Antiques & Haunted Things Book 3) Page 12