SNEAK PEEK into…
THE BOY FROM THE WOODS
By Jen Minkman
Expected release: December 1, 2013
Young Adult Contemporary/Paranormal Romance
Sneak Peek Excerpt
Julia
wiped the raindrops from her cheeks and trudged doggedly on. The rhythm of the
song spurred her on and made her run faster, her heart beating wildly in her
chest, tapping out an indeterminate fear. Her hands clenched into fists and her
eyes squinted against the rain falling from the sky. Only a few more minutes
and she’d be home.
And
then something caught her eye. She froze. In the light of a bright lightning
strike setting the forest ablaze with cold fire, she saw there was someone
lying on the ground. The black stain of a person on the edge of the path. A
motorcycle on its side, smack in the middle of the forest trail.
Julia
came to a standstill, her breath ragged. With trembling, slippery fingers, she
fumbled with the player to turn off the music. She’d ended up at her favorite
oak tree, the place suddenly looking sinister in the gloom. Her throat turned
dry as she peered at the unconscious figure on the forest trail. Step by step,
she shuffled forward. Her eyes followed the tire tracks that the motorcycle had
made in the muddy soil. Julia’s heart stopped when she came even closer and
recognized the Honda bike.
No – this couldn’t be happening. She
rushed the last few yards separating her from the boy on the ground. Julia fell
down on her knees next to his lifeless body, her stomach filling with dread as
she noticed the left side of his face was covered in blood. He’d hit his head
on a sharp-edged rock. His head injury looked really, really bad.
“Michael?”
she whispered softly, putting a trembling hand on his forehead. “Can you hear
me?”
He
lay very still, his lips almost blue in the macabre light of the thunderstorm
flashing occasionally. If only she could see whether he was still breathing!
She couldn’t hear him breathe over the din of the rain and wind in the woods.
With
shaking hands, she grabbed her cell phone from her jacket pocket, setting the
camera to permanent flash. The bright light illuminated Michael’s face, and
tears welled up in her eyes. He looked so lifeless… so vulnerable. For just a
moment, she forgot all about the horrible way he’d treated her. She’d wished
for all kinds of nasty things to happen to him, but not this.
“Michael,”
she sobbed, her voice breaking. “Please, please
wake up.”
Her
heart skipped a beat when he suddenly inhaled sharply. She took his hand. Very
slowly he opened his eyes, green like the forest leaves he was lying under, his
pupils dilated and black like the treacherous darkness that had caused him to
slip and fall in this severe weather.
“Julia,”
he whispered in a soft, yet clear voice.
She
swallowed.
Why
did he sound so different? He pronounced her name with so much emotion that she
could almost believe he was seeing her for the first time.
“I’ll get help,” she
managed to stutter before his eyes fell shut again, her words making him smile
faintly. About the Author
Jen Minkman (1978) was born in the Netherlands and has lived in Austria, Belgium and the UK during her studies. She learned how to read at the age of three and has never stopped reading since. Her favourite books to read are (YA) paranormal/fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and romance, and this is reflected in the stories she writes. In her home country, she is a trade-published author of paranormal romance and chicklit. Across the border, she is a self-published author of poetry, paranormal romance and dystopian fiction. Her books are available in English, Dutch and Chinese. She currently resides in The Hague where she works and lives with her husband and two noisy zebra finches.
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