Just let you know that I have changed the name of the novel. It’s now called ‘The Dark Heart’. It gets the point over that its a horror/thriller and not a romantic novel.

Anyway, here are couple more chapters from the novel for you to read. Enjoy:

2

Duncan had heard stories of the ghost. Everybody in town had a story to tell. Though nobody had seen it personally. Everybody knew somebody who had seen the ghost, but the details were always different.

Jenny at hardware store said that her daddy had seen the ghost, when he was a teenager. Her daddy said it was like smoke in the shape of a man, but you couldn’t make out the features. Terry at school said his brother had seen it. He said it looked like that green ghost out of that film Ghostbusters, but much more scarier. Sam the newspaper salesmen said an old drinking buddy of his had seen gravestones being picked up by invisible hands and thrown around the place.

Duncan’s favourite story was the one he heard from Old Mister Thomas, from next door. He said his wife, god bless her soul, had seen the ghost when she was a little girl. Her father, god bless his soul, had been the grounds keeper at The Preston Cemetery and had a small cottage next to the grounds. One day Old Mrs Thomas, god bless her soul, had gone out to play in the grounds and had forgotten the time.

As the sun was going down, she started to feel cold. It was the height of summer and it had been a hot day, but she started to freeze. Old Mrs Thomas, bless her soul, felt like there was somebody behind her, breathing heavily. As she turned around, she was knocked to the ground by a rushing creature. She couldn’t tell what it was, as it was a blur, but it was big with four legs.

Old Mrs Thomas, bless her soul, ran away as fast as her legs could take her. And she didn’t look back, until she bumped into her father, bless his soul. She told him about the monster and he went back with some friends with shotguns. They looked high and low, but couldn’t find any trace of that creature. Her father, bless his soul, was furious and was going to give Old Mrs Thomas a whopping that she would never forget. He stopped when he saw how terrified she was. She wouldn’t stop shaking from the fear.

These stories intrigued Duncan to the point where he decided he wanted to see the ghost for himself. He was going to be the first person to say that he had seen the ghost in person. Not his brother, not his father and not his friend, but him. And so nobody would laugh in his face, he had brought John to bare witness for him. That he Duncan Jones had seen the ghost.

3

Duncan had persuaded his best friend, John, to accompany him to Preston Cemetery. John had been hard to convince, complaining why does it has to be at night. Duncan couldn’t believe how dense John could be sometimes. Ghosts only come out at night. John finally agreed to join him on his hunt.

The plan was that they would tell parents that they were going to stay at each other’s house for the night. They had done it plenty of times before. John’s mum would joke that she would have to start charging Duncan rent. Anyway, he preferred it round at John’s place. His mum never showed much interest in him. At times he felt he was an inconvenience and just got in the way of her soaps on TV. She probably loved it whenever he went off to stay at John’s. She certainly didn’t call to check up on him when he was there.

John’s mum would call to check on him, but Duncan had a plan for that. He told John to tell his mum, that his mum was going to take them to the movies. Hence there would be no point in calling. Also, if John’s mum did try and call, Duncan’s mum wouldn’t pick up, as there was a marathon of her favourite soap on TV tonight. Duncan doubted she would even leave the chair.

Duncan had packed his school bag. As well as his workbooks, he had packed a couple of touches. They were going to need them if they were going to see the ghost in the dark.

Duncan and John left school together and headed to the local park, where they waited for the sky to turn dark. The cemetery was only half a mile away, so it wouldn’t take them long to get there. As they waited, they played on the swings, daring each other to see who could jump the furthest off the swing. Duncan would always win as he could get his swing up the highest and he was the bigger of the two.

Soon as the sun had gone done, it was time to go to the cemetery and find the ghost. As they walked, Duncan talked about what he would do once he, no, when they were famous for seeing the ghost. There would be a parade, and everybody would know who they were and what they had done and they could get anything they want for free. Even mum would take notice of me then. This thought made Duncan smile.