Excerpt from Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Romance Dark Shadows of the Past - Chapter One, Part Two

A scream escaped her lips as she frantically took off toward the staircase. Stumbling over a box, she tumbled down the flight of stairs. Landing on her back, a sharp pain shot right through her ribs, making it hard to breathe.“Help!” she screamed desperately, but the deafening noise of Mrs. Stanley’s TV covered every other sound.A short, muscular man, dressed in black, with a nasty scar on his face, appeared at the top of the staircase. Christina’s breath caught in her throat when she saw the brutal look in his eyes as he lunged down the steps.If I don’t make it out of here, I’m dead! She placed a shaking hand against the wall and the other on a clay pot of a dead plant and managed to stand up and stumble for the front door. Just one more step and I’m there… Ouch! Pain shot right through her right arm as the man grabbed her and swung her around violently. Instinctively, Christina rammed her knee into his groin. A loud moan escaped his lips and letting go of her arm, he bent over.Christina made it to the door. She grabbed the handle and opened it. A breath of fresh air hit her in the face. Seeing a car turning into the dead-end street, she opened her mouth to scream but a filthy smelling hand shattered her attempt and pulled her back inside. The man fell backwards on the floor pulling Christina down with her back against him. Deriving courage from the terror rushing through her veins, she drove her right elbow into his ribs and rolled away from him.“You bitch!” he barked and jumping to his feet, he kicked Christina in the stomach with all his might. As she doubled up in pain, she caught a glimpse of Mrs. Stanley appearing at her apartment door.Terror-stricken, the lady tried to slam the door shut. However, the man was a lot faster and shoving her violently, he went inside the apartment after her.“No!” Christina screamed unable to move.A minute later, her assailant rushed back toward her. Christina’s eyes widened in horror as she saw blood dripping from the knife in his right hand.He dragged her off the floor, up the stairs, and down the corridor toward Johnny’s apartment while Christina twisted and turned, kicking and screaming, trying to free herself from the deadly grip.When they reached the apartment, he let go of her arm and grabbed her wrist. He twisted her arm behind her back and forced her inside. Scared and bewildered, Christina scanned her surroundings as the metallic smell of blood hit her nostrils, making her want to puke.Johnny was sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back. His face was all cut up and bruised, and blood was dripping from the side of his mouth. His right knee was covered in blood all the way down his leg to a revolting dark pool on the floor.Christina bit her lower lip to prevent from screaming. Anxiously, her gaze flew from Johnny to the short, bulky man standing next to him, and then, to the tall, bald-headed one, standing by the window.“Where the hell have you been?” the short one asked Christina’s assailant.“That bitch gave me a hard time!” he growled, twisting Christina’s arm even harder, bringing tears to her eyes.While the tall man had made no move since Christina came in, the other one came toward her and turning to Johnny he asked in a harsh voice: “What do we have here?”“Leave her alone! She has nothing to do with this,” Johnny yelled at him.Christina felt her heart sinking, hearing his squeaky voice.“Well, maybe she has. Maybe she hasn’t. We have to make sure, though, don’t we?” the man replied coldly.“I told you; she has nothing to do with all this. Let her go!” Johnny pleaded.The guy ignored him and coming closer to Christina, he grabbed her chin with one hand and forced her to face him. “Who are you?” he commanded.Christina shook, unable to utter a word. A scream escaped her lips when the man still holding her wrist twisted her arm tighter behind her back.“Who are you?” the short one repeated the question coldly.“Christina. Connors,” Christina rushed, and her voice sounded no louder than a whisper.“And what were you doing out there in the corridor?” the man demanded.“We were supposed to have dinner,” she replied and glanced at Johnny frightened.“She’s just a friend,” Johnny interrupted.“Well, maybe we should ask your friend about the tape,” the man said.“I told you!” Johnny growled. “She knows nothing!”“We’ll see about that!” he said and approached the tall one still standing by the window.The two of them talked for a few minutes, every now and then glancing toward Christina.A moment later, the short one came back toward her. “She’s coming with us,” he said firmly.“No!” Johnny cried out. “Leave her alone!”The man paid no attention to him. He waved to the man who was still holding Christina, and she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Then, she woke up in the alley…Oh, my God! What about Johnny? Christina wondered, feeling the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Frantically, she sat up and despite the pain in her chest, she yelled to the policeman outside.The policeman rushed into the room. “What’s wrong?”“Please…” Christina cried out as the policeman rushed toward her, calling out for the nurse at the same time.“Please...help him!” Christina exclaimed in agony and pushed away the nurse who had rushed into the room and was trying to make her lie back down.“I’m going to give her something to relax,” the nurse said, and the policeman nodded in agreement.“No!” Christina protested. “I don’t want to go to sleep.”“Please, Miss Connors,” the nurse insisted, checking her pulse and her blood pressure.“Johnny is in danger! You must help him.”“Who is Johnny?” the policeman inquired.“Miss Connors, you blood pressure is too high. If you don’t calm down, I’ll have to give you something to do it for you. Please, take a few deep breaths, and the nice police officer will listen to you.”I need to calm down. I have to explain to them about Johnny. “I want to speak to the detective,” Christina said, taking deep breaths.“He’ll be here first thing in the morning,” the policeman assured her. “But if it’s something urgent you can tell me, and I’ll contact him immediately.”“Yes! Yes, it’s urgent. Tomorrow morning might be too late.”Without a word, the policeman turned on his heel and walked outside the room. Christina saw him talking on his radio and breathed out in relief. The detective will listen to me, she thought. He will know what to do.
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Wild thoughts whirled around in her mind as she waited for the detective. Who were those people? How did Johnny get involved with them? He wasn’t the type of guy to have dealings with people like that. But then again, she realized, what do I actually know about Johnny?They had been casual friends for a while, but she didn’t know much about his work or his life. She only knew he was from Denver and had no close relatives.Thinking back, it struck her kind of odd having run into him on several occasions in Birmingham and meeting him again a few months later in Atlanta after she had moved here. Johnny didn’t remember her from Birmingham at all, and Christina hadn’t thought much about it back then. However, what if things weren’t the way they seemed? What if he did remember her? Then why would he lie about it, and what did he know about her?A chill caressed her spine. Oh, my God! Will the nightmare ever end? Will I ever be able to have a normal life and stop being afraid?Up to now, she’d been successful in hiding her past, and no one had ever suspected anything. Why would they, anyway? Everything had happened so long ago, and almost everyone who knew Christina’s real identity, was dead…But what about Johnny? she wondered once more. What if he somehow knew who she was? What if he had followed her here from Birmingham? Don’t be ridiculous, she reprimanded herself. Stop being paranoid and seeing enemies everywhere! But then again, her mother’s tragic death had made her realize that her father’s people were ruthless, and they would stop at nothing to find her and either force her back or kill her. Of course, her father—Mafia lord Paolo Rosetti—was dead. She had read about it in the papers, some years back. But his family would never give up. That was the kind of people they were. No one ever walked out on them and survived.Unconsciously, she raised her hand to touch the locket she usually wore around her neck. Alarmed, she realized it was gone. What on earth? Her heartbeat accelerated. The locket was a present from her mother—the only thing she had to be reminded of that wonderful person who sacrificed everything to save her.“Where is my locket?” she asked the nurse who had just stepped into the room.“Don’t worry, Miss. Your locket is with your personal effects. We have to remove all jewelry as a precaution.”“Oh, I see.” Christina breathed out relieved.It was stupid of her to keep the locket on since it had the Rosetti’s crest carved on the front. However, her mother had the words I love you engraved on the back, and Christina wore it so that the crest was in the back and the loving words in the front. Thinking of her mother, Christina drew a deep breath and placed her fist against her mouth, fighting back the tears. I need to pull myself together.“Could you please bring me my locket?”“Don’t worry, Miss Connors. Your locket is safely stored away.”“Please…” Christina pleaded, feeling a lump in her throat.The nurse stared at her for a moment. “I’ll be right back,” she said finally and left the room.Christina tried to relax, but her thoughts flew to Johnny again. I have to tell the detective about him,she thought determined. No matter who he is, he’s probably in serious trouble right now…
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I’ll be posting a new section every Tuesday and Friday. The novel will be published in June 2015.

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