Haunted Halloween: Kelly Keaton + A Giveaway!

I haven’t thought about this night for a long time, but now that I’m writing it down, sharing my experience with you, it remains as vivid as it was on the night it happened. Well, minus, the fear-factor of course! After a decade, the memory is still crystal clear and still as haunting as ever.

Ten years ago, my husband and I were renting a house on a few acres with a small barn. My hub was bartending at the time, so he was gone most nights. The house was at the end of a long wooded drive. Isolated. And, I have to admit, scary at night when I was alone.

On such a night—Hub was working and I was in bed—something extraordinary happened that to this day I can’t explain. But, first let me say that I’d never had an experience like this previously. No visions. No sightings. No weird waking dreams. Nothing. I was asleep. I’m a light sleeper and I toss and turn a lot. I remember waking up, becoming aware, but I hadn’t opened my eyes. This is very typical. And usually, I just turn over to my other side and try to fall back to sleep. So, this is what I did. I turned over onto my left side.

The left side of the bed was almost against the wall. No room for a night table, but room enough for a person to walk. Once I turned over, I got the most intense feeling of being watched, of not being alone in the room. Immediately, my heart started pounding. I kept my head on the pillow, didn’t move a muscle, except to open my eyes. And right in front of my face, standing in the small space between the bed and the wall, and leaning over to peer at me closely was a person. Inches from my face.

I swear, I was up out of that bed in a flash, somehow making it out from under the covers, off the bed, and across the room. I remember my back hitting the wall hard, and my hand flailing for the light switch. It came on. There was no one in the room.

I was terrified. I can’t even explain how much. I have no idea how long I stood there, staring at that spot and trying to catch my breath. I was shaking so bad. And I called my husband at the bar and begged him to come home. By then I was crying.

But let me tell you about the face because it’s emblazoned upon my memory for the rest of my days. In that brief moment of contact, I can tell you several things. It was a girl. Around eleven or twelve maybe. Two long braids hung down as she leaned over to study me. She was grayed-out (that’s the only way I can explain it), her skin, her clothing, her hair… She wore a dress and the style was older, like from the 50’s or earlier. Her hands were braced just above her knees as she leaned down. She was checking me out, getting a good (very close) look at me.

Now here’s where it gets really bizarre. A week later, I found out I was pregnant. Several weeks after that I learned I was having a girl. And a good friend of mine who knew about this night looked dumbfounded when I told her it was a girl, and she said: “You don’t think that girl you saw . . .” Immediately, I was like: No way. No. Way.

I’m a writer, a storyteller, so it’s ingrained in me to see all avenues, all possibilities. And one of those could be that she was, indeed, there to check me out for a specific reason. If you believe in reincarnation, the reason is clear. Was this little girl making a decision, a choice to have me as her mother? Who knows?

Could it have been a dream, a waking dream? Sure. But it would be a singular event/dream in my life that never happened before and has not happened since. For me, all I can say is that I was awake in my mind and doing my usual routine of changing positions to try and get back to sleep. To me, this experience occurred when I was conscious and awake. The little girl was there. In my room. Bending down and staring at me. And I have no idea how to explain it.

All I know is that ten years ago, I saw a little girl by my bedside. And my daughter just turned ten this summer….

Spooky, huh?

Title: Darkness Becomes Her

Synopsis: It was once known as New Orleans. Now it's called New 2. Where the Novem rules the city from the French Quarter. Where Mid Town is in ruins. Where the Garden District has been left to rot and is now home to squatters, misfits, and Other things. Where one girl finds her place among the shadows.

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very…different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Available February 21, 2011, from Simon Pulse!

Preorder Online:

Amazon | Borders | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Find Kelly Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

This is a HUGE giveaway. Kelly has donated her ONE and ONLY ARC of Darkness Becomes Her. It's been used/read by her and has some corrections in it making it even more of a one of a kind ARC.

Here are the rules and how to enter:

You MUST complete the form to enter. No entries in comments please they won't count. Comments are welcome, so share your love with Kelly!
You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
This contest is open to INTERNATIONAL!!!
Contest ends: Oct. 25th, 2010

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Good luck to everyone who enters. If you have any questions, please see my policy page or feel free to email me with any questions.

I have to say a HUGE MEGA Thank You to Kelly for everything. Her time, the post and such an amazing donation that made this giveaway possible.

Check out Jessica's Haunted Halloween post with Kimberly Derting + a Giveaway for a Signed copy of The Body Finder & some Swag!!!

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