I'm hosting a snippet from "Dark Lullaby" today, a paranormal/supernatural thriller. It sounds like a delicious, wicked read. Enjoy!
Book Excerpt
DARK
LULLABY
Chapter 1
Gabriel Diaz
took a long sip of beer. Then, almost regrettably, he put the glass down. He
wished his glass were bottomless so he could relish his precious prime Belgian
beer forever. At almost ten dollars a bottle, Belgian beer was his most
expensive vice.
Yet the buzz
it gave helped him deal with Liz and her wild ideas. “You’re blind, Liz.
Reading all those sociology books has shredded your spirit.”
“That’s not true. You’re only mad at
me because I was fifteen minutes late,” Liz said.
“Not at all. I was enjoying my beer
and meditating.” A fast-paced Middle Eastern melody was playing. He drummed his
fingers in time with the music. “I only want justice.”
The tavern was quite packed by now.
With so many colleges and universities around, it was a popular place among
students, especially on Friday nights. Gabriel loved the smell here. Old wines,
the sweet tang of anise, the strong aroma of Turkish coffee. Yet there was
something gloomy about the place. The flickering candles on the tables cast
eerie shadows on the walls, making the faces appear pale and distorted,
malevolent even. Old paintings of
historic Ottoman battles hung from the walls; figures killing each other with
long and pointed spikes against dark and desolate landscapes. He could clearly
discern Christian bodies impaled on stakes.
“You’re an idealist.” Liz sadly shook
her head. “Justice doesn’t exist. But you’re obsessed with it.”
“For Heaven’s sake, don’t you feel a
sense of ease, a perfect sense of meaning, every time a serial killer is fried
at the chair?"
“Yes, I do, but—”
Yet Gabriel went on, shifting in
his seat and leaning forward over the table. “Let me ask you something. Let’s
say a serial killer is—based on some trivial technicality—set free. Everybody
knows he’s guilty. Everybody knows he’ll kill again. Would you—if you could, if
you knew you wouldn’t be caught—eliminate him?”
“That’s beside the point, Gabriel.
That would be murder. The act of premeditated killing, whatever the reason,
would turn me into a being as corrupt as the killer.” Liz lifted a glass of red
wine to her lips. She was calm, as if she were a patient and good-willed
teacher talking to a raging child.
“Then archangels are murderers.”
“Don’t bring religion into this. You
don’t believe in archangels.” Liz eyed him scornfully. “Human beings have made
certain laws, and these laws are to be obeyed. If there weren’t laws, the world
would be in total chaos.”
“Laws, laws, laws. You and your laws.
Laws were made to favor the criminals, and you know it!” he burst out, making
an impatient gesture with his hands. “Think of the good of the innocent people.
Think about all the future murders you would be preventing. The hell with the
laws. Justice. The good of the many. The end justifying the means.”
“Oh, no, not the higher good again!”
“That’s right. The higher good.”
“That higher good of yours is
dangerous. It’s anarchistic. Goodness is subjective. Do you think a serial
killer doesn’t have his own concept of goodness? What makes you think his
is wrong and ours is right? We are forever impaired by our feelings.”
She flinched, expecting another outburst from him.
He simply shrugged.
“I don’t know if I should have another
beer,” Gabriel said. “I’ve already had two.”
“Beer will be your downfall.”
Gabriel made a face, a typical gesture
that made her smile. Poor Liz. He suspected it would be a lot better for her if
they didn’t see each other again. Or at least if they didn’t see each other so
often. They had been together for three years and broken up only four months
ago.
Love? From her part it had been
obvious. From his part he had never been quite sure, and he figured if you’re
not sure, it can’t be love. But they had stayed friends, which was more than
fine with him. In fact, he was still experiencing a bit of ‘after-divorce’
blues, though this feeling was nothing compared to the overwhelming sense of
freedom. They had never been married, of course, but they had become so close
it felt to him as if they had.
He could tell she still had romantic
feelings for him from her eyes; the way they lit up every time she saw
him. The main problem had always been
her jealous, suspicious nature, though now that they were apart she did a good
job at concealing it.
“You want another sophisticated
Belgian beer?” she mocked gently. “Order one. My treat.”
Gabriel ignored her jibe. “Elena’s due
to give birth within a month. I’m going to fly to Brussels to be with her.”
For a moment he closed his eyes and
massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers. Only minutes ago, he’d had
the strangest daydream. He’d been sitting here, quietly sipping his beer, and
then the vision had invaded his brain. He had pictured his sister Elena pushing
a pram in a lushly beautiful yet desolate park,
cooing and humming a lullaby to the baby, smiling and
happy.
He had watched her from a distance, as
if he were a far-off spectator. She had wandered round and round, every so
often leaning over to peer inside the pram and whisper loving words to the
baby. It was only at the end, when he had actually looked inside the pram himself, that he realized it was empty.
It had been empty all along.
Liz sobered up instantly. “So you’ve
decided to go? That’s great, Gabriel. She’ll be so happy. Did you already tell
her?”
He nodded. “A few days ago.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Very good—for now.”
Three years ago Elena had given birth
to a baby girl. The baby, however, had died a couple of hours after delivery.
Unusually rare situation, inflammation of the placenta or something. Maybe he
was more worried about his sister’s pregnancy than he had thought. Over the
phone, she was always overly positive and enthusiastic. Too optimistic to be
genuine. His precious Elena, the eternal optimist, protecting him from her
own fears, from her own pain.
“Gabriel.”
He blinked. “Hmm.”
It was past eleven o’ clock. He was
tired, sedated by the beer, and he still had lots of reading to do. Along with
a colleague of his, he was writing a paper about the internal structure of neutron
stars, and the research was staggering.
“You okay?” Liz asked, placing her
hand over his. She pressed it lightly, comfortingly. “Everything will go all
right this time, you’ll see.”
“I hope so.” Automatically his body
reacted at her touch. After their break-up, he felt awkward when they had
physical contact, even though Liz always acted natural about it.
Liz was getting her master’s in
Library Studies. Her rebellious brown hair was forever trapped in a long braid
down to her waist. She had kind eyes, big and brown and luminous, which she
heightened with black kohl and mascara. An intricately carved St. Christopher
silver medal, the size of quarter, hung from a chain around her neck, a gift
from him last Christmas.
He grinned, suddenly feeling a pang of
old love. She had always known how to press the right buttons to distract him
from distressful subjects.
“But then freedom—free will—doesn’t
exist!” he said so loudly a few heads turned in his direction. “Actions
resulting from desire cannot be free. Remember, freedom is to be found only in
rational action. Any action possesses moral worth only when it is done for its
own sake. In other words: justice for its own sake. When we kill that serial
killer in that chair, we’re doing it for justice’s sake! It is rational!
It is right!”
“Wrong. We’re doing it because it
makes us happy. There’s no such thing as rational action. Our feelings, our
desires are forever involved, and because our emotions are involved the action
becomes irrational. It becomes worthless.”
Gabriel shifted in his seat,
incredulous. “How can you not believe in free will?”
Too heated up for his own good,
Gabriel was about to spew forth a cutting rejoinder, when the most captivating
woman he had ever seen approached the table where he and Liz were arguing. The stranger stood behind Liz, gazed down at
him, and smiled.
Gabriel felt her magnetic force take
control of his soul.
Dark Lullaby
Title: Dark
Lullaby
Author: Mayra
Calvani
Genre:
Supernatural/psychological thriller
At a tavern one Friday night,
astrophysicist Gabriel Diaz meets a mysterious young woman. Captivated by her
beauty as well as her views on good and evil, he spends the next several days
with her. After a while, however, he begins to notice a strangeness in
her...especially the way she seems to take pleasure in toying with his
conscience.
The young woman, Kamilah, invites him to Rize, Turkey, where she claims her family owns a cottage in the woods. In spite of his heavy workload and the disturbing visions and nightmares about his sister’s baby that is due to be born soon, Gabriel agrees to go with her.
But nothing, not even the stunning beauty of the Black Sea, can disguise the horror of her nature...In a place where death dwells and illusion and reality seem as one, Gabriel must now come to terms with his own demons in order to save his sister’s unborn child, and ultimately, his own soul.
The young woman, Kamilah, invites him to Rize, Turkey, where she claims her family owns a cottage in the woods. In spite of his heavy workload and the disturbing visions and nightmares about his sister’s baby that is due to be born soon, Gabriel agrees to go with her.
But nothing, not even the stunning beauty of the Black Sea, can disguise the horror of her nature...In a place where death dwells and illusion and reality seem as one, Gabriel must now come to terms with his own demons in order to save his sister’s unborn child, and ultimately, his own soul.
Author Bio
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico,
Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults and has
authored over a dozen books, some of which have won awards. Her stories,
reviews, interviews and articles have appeared on numerous publications such as
The Writer, Writer’s Journal, Multicultural Review, and Bloomsbury Review,
among many others. When she’s not writing, reading, editing or reviewing, she
enjoys walking her dog, traveling, and spending time with her family. She has
travelled extensively and lived in 3 continents, but now calls Belgium her
home.
Visit her website at www.mayraCalvani.com. For her children’s books, visit www.MayrasSecretBookcase.com.
Links
Giveaway
Mayra was kind enough to offer a copy of her non-fiction book "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" and a $25 Amazon Gift Card for a giveaway during the tour! Fill in the Rafflecopter form below to participate!
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