Urban Legends: An Eve Hathaway's Paranormal Mystery Collection Part 3

By Eve Hathaway

From the Publisher that brought you popular short story series Chains of Darkness, Song of Teeth, Children of Time, Splicers and now... our two stories in 1 book!

Urban Legends, real or not?

Chains of Darkness Part 3 : The Unbreakable Bind

Melinda and Gabe learn that they must free Daniel from hell, except that they have no idea how to find him or how to break the chains of darkness which bind him--or, indeed, any idea of what awaits them in hell.

The demon Azgaroth and the angel, Ariel cannot help them on their task. Melinda and Gabe must keep their wits about them as they negotiate their way into the very center of hell and break the unbreakable chains of darkness that bind Daniel. But that's nothing compared to how they are going to get out again...and Melinda uncovers a startling power within her that could change the course of events for everyone.
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Song of Teeth Part 3 : Ancient Scars

After a long and difficult debate, Mark and Tatiana decide to share their discovery of Ally and her species. Enlisting the aid of one of the local university’s biology professors, Dr. Henry Sanders, the young couple start compiling research to get protective status for the crocodiles, which Tatiana officially names “singing crocodiles”. They develop a deeper friendship with Ally, and despite the language barrier, find ways of communicating through music.

Even as they make progress on finding the best balance between the crocodiles’ safety and advancing human knowledge, Mark faces other problems. His shaky relationship with his family suffers a new blow when his parents file for porce, and his inner turmoil strains his relationship with Tatiana. The uncertainty of their futures beyond high school makes Mark wonder if he is prepared for a large change in his life.

In a further complication, Mark’s historical research finds a wealth of information from a recently uncovered diary. From that, he learns about the first known contact between these crocodiles and humans—in the words of a young Spanish settler 400 years in the past. Her story reveals a shocking twist in the chronicles of Fontel’s people. The pressure of keeping their findings secret is increased by old wounds carrying centuries of resentment between crocodiles and humans.

If you wish to read more, download and find out what happens!

Other titles in Eve Hathaway's Paranormal Mystery Collection:

Urban Legends Part 1 which includes The Child of Mystery & The First Voice

Urban Legends Part 2 which includes The Spawn's Blood & Pale Eyes

Urban Legends Part 4 which includes The Grace Bearer & The Last Note

Download and discover why readers follow Eve Hathaway.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Ross
• Release date: Nov 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311500496

Book preview

Urban Legends Part 3

By Eve Hathaway

Published by Publications Circulations LLC.

SmashWords Edition

All contents copyright (C) 2013 by Publications Circulations LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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The Unbreakable Bind

Chains of Darkness Part 3

Prologue

CAPTAIN WINSLOW BARNES was China Air's star pilot: Certified on the 747 and the A380, with 40,000 hours logged on the first, 10,000 hours on the second; with an impeccable safety record, speaking flawless Mandarin and English like an Eton scholar.

He'd once ditched a plane off the coast of Australia, miraculously bringing the plane to kiss the water with textbook precision and saving everybody on board. With his now white (then brown) hair and brilliant blue eyes, dressed in the crisp black with gold trim captain's uniform, his crew would always joke that he only had to tell the plane what to do and it would do it.

But even star pilots get tired, and a week of flying back and forth across three time zones is hard work. The co-pilot with him today was a rookie who'd just earned his full co-pilot status, but the A380 they were taking from New Delhi to Beijing was sophisticated enough that Winslow decided that the young man could handle it on his own. He said, I need a quick break. Will you take over?

Yes, sir.

And Zhang, he said, to the flight engineer. Make sure this kid doesn't do anything crazy, all right?

The flight engineer gave him a lazy salute, and Winslow looked over the controls one last time and eased himself out of the pilot seat, into one of the recessed bunks behind Zhang's chair.

Five minutes, he said to himself...

NONE COULD explain Winslow's current predicament.

He was alone on the plane.

The passengers, the crew, the co-pilot, Zhang, had all vanished. According to the clock, he'd barely slept at all, and the plane was still flying level, maintaining speed and altitude. He went to the passenger seating area one more time, to make sure that what he saw was real. It still was.

He put on his headset and tried to make radio contact, but got only static. He tried the shortwave radio, but again received no signal.

No signal? he muttered to himself. How can that be? There was always a signal somewhere on the shortwave system, even if it was just a ham operator.

And then he realized that, according to the radar map, they haven't moved since he had lied down.

I was wondering when you were going to pick up on that.

Somehow the co-pilot had reappeared.

Where the hell were you? Winslow demanded. What the hell is going on?

The co-pilot smiled, and opened his hand. Fire and water danced in his palm to create a scene-one Winslow immediately recognized as his living room; with his two children sprawled on the rug, playing a board game while his wife read a magazine.

He opened his other hand-and showed Winslow an A380 with four smoking engines and ragged ailerons.

Winslow paled as he understood, without having been told what he had to do.

You son of a bitch, Winslow said. You fucking son of a bitch.

Chapter One

THE GROUP LEFT the hospital, curiously invisible to the nurses who were bustling around them.

Gabe was on crutches, but just for now, Ariel promised him.

I'll heal you, but trust me when I say it's best that we do that elsewhere.

Why, is it that painful? Gabe asked.

Azgaroth coughs. It's never pleasant, he said. He shifted inside his suit, and Melinda was left with the distinct impression that he was a lot more insubstantial than he had been when they first met.

Are you doing something so that they can't see us? Melinda asked.

Ariel snorted. As if I had to. People only pay attention to what you tell them to, and even then, they only draw the conclusions that you draw for them.

The blue sedan was in the parking lot. Melinda started to ask a question, but then decided against it. She had escaped a cult, was working in league with an angel and a demon, fended off Caleb twice and lived with Mongolian horsemen for a week.

How a blue sedan got from the New Mexico desert to the middle of Ulaanbaatar was one of the lesser mysteries, and compared to the idea of an eternal battle between the forces of good and evil, one of the less interesting ones.

They got in. Ariel drove them into the capital, where he said he'd found them a hotel so that they could get some rest, Trust me, you're going to need it, he said to Gabe-before embarking on their journey to hell. We can hope that Caleb won't think to look for you there because just as his demon blood keeps him out of heaven, Daniel's blood keeps him out of hell.

But Danilel... is he in hell, Melinda said, puzzled.

Yes, but only after he became human, Azgaroth said. The Puritans got the general gist of it-you can't buy your way into heaven with pardons and good deeds, but only inasmuch as nobody goes to heaven. Heaven is for the One and His agents. Hell is for everything else.

Is hell the eternal-torment-and-pain thing that Father Thomas always said it was? Gabe asked.

Yes. Gabe looked distraught at this news, so much so that Azgaroth added, If it helps the amount of torment and pain is variable and can be assigned depending on where you fall on the scales of goodness and evil. Which, before you ask, is something you humans also seem to never understand. We're not interested in what you did or didn't do. There is no celestial scorecard keeping tabs on which sin got canceled out by which good deed. Nobody cares about deeds. You could have personally walked up to and killed everybody who died in the Holocaust, and still end up in a lesser circle than the person who steps on kittens because he likes to hear them scream. We are more interested in the impurities of your soul. The more spotted it is, the farther you deviate from the path of creation and the more you celebrate destruction-that determines how much agony you suffer.

Gabe had a frightened look about him as he contemplated this. Melinda reached across the seat and took Gabe's hand. Love creates, she said, trying to break him out of this funk.

I-I just never really believed any of it was real, he said finally. And now, I find out that it is real and that it's a lot worse than anything I ever imagined. I mean, where's the sense in it, if people who murdered and plundered and were just generally awful people go unpunished, while people who might have been perfect citizens their whole lives spend their lives writhing in agony?

Azgaroth sighs. We punish who you are, and let your fellow humans worry about what you do. If it's any consolation, bad people usually do bad things.

But is there even a point to being good, then, if we all just end up in hell anyway? Gabe sounded frantic, almost desperate for some kind of good news.

Azgaroth pointedly looked at Ariel, who was weaving the car in crazy patterns through gaps in traffic so narrow