Swamp Secrets (A Bayou Blood Novel)

Swamp Secrets (A Bayou Blood Novel)

Available at Amazon.com

Swamp Secrets is a short novel for challenged young readers who want to read the popular Vampire and Witch stories but have a hard time doing so.  I wrote it for my students that don’t like to read, so it is fast paced and suspenseful.  I have also included creatures from Louisiana folklore to help them identify with the characters.  I hope that other teens from across the world will find it intriguing and interesting as they will have a glimpse into life in Louisiana.

This is an exert from Chapter One!  

Blame it on the Moon 

It was one of those nights; the moon was this amazing overwhelming presence. It looked like it was actually sitting on the ground, like I could reach out and touch it. The only sound was the gravel crunching under my converse.  I had that eerie feeling that someone was watching me. I hate it when I freak myself out like that.

I had decided that a walk in the cool night air would help my mood and clear my mind and besides Dee’s house is only about a mile from mine.  That was the first night I had the feeling.

So, my day was kind of crappy. During first hour in Coach Johnson’s class, I found out that Billy Tarver was going to the homecoming dance with Bethany Bertrand.

Billy is this amazing athlete with sparkling crystal blue eyes and dimples to die for. I had had a crush on him since the sixth grade when we rode the same bus together.  Ok, so I never actually had the courage to talk to him, but it still didn’t mean I had given up all hope.  So what if he looks like he just stepped out of a magazine and every girl on campus is falling all over him.  I know, I know, what am I thinking?

Finally, I reached the big oak tree which meant I’d see the lights of Dee’s house at the next curve.  It was then that I heard a loud cracking sound.  I stopped and looked behind me, but even with the moon so bright, the woods on either side of the road were too dark to really see anything. My heart pounded in my chest and then my ears as adrenaline flooded my system. I waited for another sound, but none came.

Why was I so jumpy? I had been walking this road in the pitch black since I was ten and my best friend Deanna Savoi moved into the old Bailey place.  At one time, it was a real working plantation that produced cotton. No one knew actually how old Mr. Bailey was, but he had outlived his wife and all eight of his children. The only remaining relative was a great-grandson who had no interest in moving to the swamps of Louisiana. The place was rumored to be haunted, but we never really believed any of the stories. And let’s face it, in the South, there are always stories.

I took a deep breath and turned to walk when I heard the cracking sound again.  Now, I was totally freaking myself out. I turned to look behind me and saw something red out of the corner of my eye. I stopped and stared into the woods.  Sure enough there was a pair of red eyes reflecting the moonlight. Then there was another loud crack of a tree limb. Survival instincts must have kicked in because the next thing I knew I was running through Dee’s Iron Gate and banging on her enormous door.

“Eva, what’s wrong? You almost broke the door down.”

“There was something in the woods following me,” I stuttered before thinking.