Doors (Book 1 of the Longwood Series)

and relaxed on the sofa to catch up with their day. They each had a glass of fine red wine

t. She invited me to go to her church. I want to go; I'm curious as to what it's like. If you want

ed. "Too cr

It was a lovely building that looked like any other church, but inside, the cross was upside down and people gave malevolent glances at it, which

own voice. It felt as if it was going through her, and not from her. Was this

ful, shining angel with silky black wings being unjustly cast out of Heaven hung on the wall just behind and to the right of the upside-down cross. God's face looked fierce, cr

g it.' The voice wh

Not that she believed in the voice being Lucifer. Perhaps it was her subconscious playing tricks

owerful, all-knowing, and always there, perfect. They admitted that Lucifer wasn't strong enough yet and asked him to send them more believers so that he would be strong enough when the

rd Son. Sheila felt fear for the first time there, and she realized how much she had been raised in a Christian c

re going to be judged. Just a deep, pervading, dark presence all ar

when he saw God kill an angel for wanting to judge any man on his own merits rather than all paying for the sins of two

ifer asked God: Is that jus

d and become like Him, all-powerful. God, appar

r-a primal fear that made their sweat stink. It was the fear a prey would feel just before fangs ripped into their flesh, splashing their blood everywhere. It was the fear women f

do you think?

t's for sure," Sheila

t, huh?" Maureen sa

ing nervous in th

eaches of the pure evil of Lucifer, but that isn't the wa

ses Lucifer and his followers like this church curses God and His son. I'm n

y but, inside, she was fuming. She

ed to her. "Please don't stop coming to my home, and I will visit you in

You bet I'll keep in touch. You do t

reen. Sheila had made other friends from the neighborhood, but Gwynn and Maureen we

wondering if Linda would finally reveal her feelings to Brad or if she would turn away out of fear that he

e was doing. She'd been doing this for a long time, and her hands moved nimbly without even being watched. After this soap came One Life t

appen with Linda and Brad. It was aggravating to be kept in suspense

she was ahead of schedule. It was about one, and the kids would be home by two. She had an

She'd taken it out of the freezer last night, but she knew it was partially frozen. It wouldn't take long, about a half hour to completely t

she felt it breathing its cold, foul breath on her neck. She shivered. She didn't know where the draft came from-it was July and

was hungry and about to attack. She whirled aro

n on TV said, extremely loud now. Sheila

ace, as if dying to feed him was such a pleasure. Her intestines were half ripped out of her body and blood pooled to the opening. The announcer took a bite of the innards, chewing and slurping the intestines as if it was a huge spaghetti stra

pened her eyes, and the salesman was back to normal. Th

o the couch. What just happened? Why was she hallucinating? Did

for an hour in a stupor, pondering what she saw. She had to be outside and wait for the bus to come to her house and drop off h

around. Nothing was broken, but it wasn't her orderly organization, either. Peas were mixed with corn, the sauces for pasta were wi

ooked right now. She took the ground beef and put it face up in the sink and ra

so scared before in her life, and she broke into gut-wrenching sobs.

kids were almost home. She just hoped the polt

g and then sat down again. That was more believable than some stupid spirit doing this. No, she wouldn't shunt this off to the spiritu

esh-eating salesman on TV, chomping with gusto on the model in his arms. There was no

with the ground beef. She took the garlic out. She was about t

I'm working late tonight, so don't wait fo

ed. She was about to remove the ground beef when she noticed that water was no longer

, shook her head, and opened th

p," Brad said, feeling afraid. Even throu

ly, are you coming home

y at home," Brad said. "I'm only doing the paperwork all pilots h

was his dream job, and he was new. If he had to leave in

do need to talk. It can wait u

ll if you need me. I

lump in her throa

to a stop. She wished she could believe in a God to ask

e of the ground beef, garlic, and basil Brad brought in yesterday. She had made that last night and set it in the refrigerator. She got out parmesan and ricotta cheese. When she was done cooking everything, she took out a pan and layer

something, but I remembered what you said about minding my own busines

Crystal is your friend, but that doesn't mean you have to get involved with her problems. You can stand beside her and be

older, but she still loved to play games that most seven-year old children loved to play. If she were put with ten-year old children, she'd be the smallest, and they would pick on her. She would probably understand why, but that wouldn't have made it easier. So, because of her incredible IQ, they'd felt she was smart enough to choose for herself.

on her hands as she sat at the dinner

back yard with a lizard i

animal. "Let me have that right now. You're killing it!" sh

you almost killed it. It's hurt, see how it's limping?" she asked, allowing the lizar

y!" Sean said, tears flowing down his cheeks. He was an avid a

knows too. Now, you're going to hold it right and I'l

first finger and thumb and closed his hand gently so that he had enough pressure to hold th

Sean asked, his he

t him, so he's trying to bite you. Don'

d the lizard gently. "I just

lay with the lizard, stroking its he

he laughed, a

rds, wait for me, okay? We can do that this Saturday. That way, I'll know that you won't hurt th

ast up the tree, trying to get away before the predator changed its mind and tried to eat h

and rinsed. Afterwards, Deanna cleaned the counter tops. Sean had to put the cups he found around the house in the sink and, when the cleaning was done, he had to gather all of the little bags of garbage from the bedrooms and bathrooms and throw them into the big garbage bag in the kitchen. Once that was done, Deanna threw out the ga