would say goodbye to him forever.
She spent the remainder of her time alone studying her speech. It still amazed her that she had ended up using the speaking circuit to promote her book. She had always hated talking in front of people. One on one she was fine, but when it came to public speaking, she froze up like an icicle. Somehow that changed when she met her publicist. He told her she had to do these motivational talks if she wanted her book to sell.
He helped her realize that the anxiety she felt about speaking wasn’t worthy of her time. That she needed to put her energy towards more productive activities, like helping people by selling her book. Once she looked at it that way, her perspective changed. Her publicist gave her some tips on public speaking and she had no problem after that. Once she concentrated on what she was saying rather than the setting she was in, her anxiety disappeared.
Someone knocked on the door. She got up to open it and then remembered Christian’s warning.
“Who is it?” she asked quietly.
There was no response. Yet there was. She saw the doorknob slowly twist. Someone was testing the lock. The room’s temperature dropped substantially. She began to shiver from the cold. An overwhelming sense of discord hit her like a slap to the face. The doorknob rattled. She took an unconscious step back. Somehow she knew. Whatever was on the other side of that door was evil. And it meant her harm.
Alyssa stared in horror at the doorknob. It stopped rattling. Then she heard it. It was a subtle but distinct sound, carried on the wind. The fact that there was no wind inside a building meant nothing. She heard it and that wasn’t all. It was someone whispering her name, someone calling to her. And it pulled at her. It reached inside her. She had to go to it. The wind brushed against her, pushed her forward. She didn’t question it. The voice needed her. How could she say no?
Her legs propelled her towards the door before she was aware of thinking about it. She reached it in no time. She grasped the doorknob. In that moment the smell washed over her. Sweet, that was her first thought—sweet, yet something more, too much more. It permeated everything. Made her dizzy. Her thoughts clouded, then suddenly cleared and crystallized into one idea. She had to open the door, now.
She began to unlock it. She needed to get out. The voice kept whispering, endlessly pressing her on. There. It was unlocked. Alyssa slowly twisted the knob. The door began to open.
The whispering in her head abruptly stopped and the wind brushing against her ceased. The sickly sweet smell disappeared. The urgent need to open the door was gone. Fear and shock instantly replaced that need. Then she heard it.
A screech so loud it ricocheted throughout her head. She covered her ears. Yet the sound was just as loud. She realized then that she wasn’t hearing the sound, it was coming from inside her mind. Her knees buckled and she went down hard. Then everything went black.
* * * * *
Christian scanned the auditorium. People were starting to file in. It looked like Alyssa was going to have a full house tonight. He was looking forward to hearing her speak. Whatever she was saying got people’s attention and they liked it. He had done some investigating and found out that Alyssa and her new book, Balance , were a hot item right now. She had made a number of the bestseller lists. Her down-to-earth, back-to-basic approach to getting your life in order and trying to live a personally productive and meaningful life was striking a chord with the stressed out, “no time to stop”, “have to climb to the top of the corporate ladder” population of today.
Of course, some people didn’t like that. They didn’t like change. They didn’t like someone stirring up the waters. Christian thought that was the type of person stalking Alyssa. She had somehow disrupted someone’s life and that person resented her for it. It seemed the logical
She spent the remainder of her time alone studying her speech. It still amazed her that she had ended up using the speaking circuit to promote her book. She had always hated talking in front of people. One on one she was fine, but when it came to public speaking, she froze up like an icicle. Somehow that changed when she met her publicist. He told her she had to do these motivational talks if she wanted her book to sell.
He helped her realize that the anxiety she felt about speaking wasn’t worthy of her time. That she needed to put her energy towards more productive activities, like helping people by selling her book. Once she looked at it that way, her perspective changed. Her publicist gave her some tips on public speaking and she had no problem after that. Once she concentrated on what she was saying rather than the setting she was in, her anxiety disappeared.
Someone knocked on the door. She got up to open it and then remembered Christian’s warning.
“Who is it?” she asked quietly.
There was no response. Yet there was. She saw the doorknob slowly twist. Someone was testing the lock. The room’s temperature dropped substantially. She began to shiver from the cold. An overwhelming sense of discord hit her like a slap to the face. The doorknob rattled. She took an unconscious step back. Somehow she knew. Whatever was on the other side of that door was evil. And it meant her harm.
Alyssa stared in horror at the doorknob. It stopped rattling. Then she heard it. It was a subtle but distinct sound, carried on the wind. The fact that there was no wind inside a building meant nothing. She heard it and that wasn’t all. It was someone whispering her name, someone calling to her. And it pulled at her. It reached inside her. She had to go to it. The wind brushed against her, pushed her forward. She didn’t question it. The voice needed her. How could she say no?
Her legs propelled her towards the door before she was aware of thinking about it. She reached it in no time. She grasped the doorknob. In that moment the smell washed over her. Sweet, that was her first thought—sweet, yet something more, too much more. It permeated everything. Made her dizzy. Her thoughts clouded, then suddenly cleared and crystallized into one idea. She had to open the door, now.
She began to unlock it. She needed to get out. The voice kept whispering, endlessly pressing her on. There. It was unlocked. Alyssa slowly twisted the knob. The door began to open.
The whispering in her head abruptly stopped and the wind brushing against her ceased. The sickly sweet smell disappeared. The urgent need to open the door was gone. Fear and shock instantly replaced that need. Then she heard it.
A screech so loud it ricocheted throughout her head. She covered her ears. Yet the sound was just as loud. She realized then that she wasn’t hearing the sound, it was coming from inside her mind. Her knees buckled and she went down hard. Then everything went black.
* * * * *
Christian scanned the auditorium. People were starting to file in. It looked like Alyssa was going to have a full house tonight. He was looking forward to hearing her speak. Whatever she was saying got people’s attention and they liked it. He had done some investigating and found out that Alyssa and her new book, Balance , were a hot item right now. She had made a number of the bestseller lists. Her down-to-earth, back-to-basic approach to getting your life in order and trying to live a personally productive and meaningful life was striking a chord with the stressed out, “no time to stop”, “have to climb to the top of the corporate ladder” population of today.
Of course, some people didn’t like that. They didn’t like change. They didn’t like someone stirring up the waters. Christian thought that was the type of person stalking Alyssa. She had somehow disrupted someone’s life and that person resented her for it. It seemed the logical
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