Time’s Crucible

E. R. Schaeffer

Description

A young woman, determined to uncover the mystery behind a relative's death, finds herself caught up in a battle between good and evil, discovering her very existence is the
only thing preventing a trio of demons from unleashing Armageddon.
In the gripping supernatural thriller, “Time’s Crucible” young Emma Mitchell is unwittingly thrust into a paranormal whirlwind when the spirit of her late Great-Uncle Harry implores her to track down a long-lost gold pocket watch. As Emma joins forces with her friends Samuel, Kelli, and Isobel to unravel the mystery, they quickly discover that the search for the timepiece is far more than just a treasure hunt.
As they dig deeper, the friends become entangled in a dangerous battle against a trio of ruthless demons who have set their sights on Emma. Intent on using her to open a portal between the demonic realm and our own world, the demons will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister goals. To make matters worse, Emma’s friends are possessed, forcing her to confront the darkness alone.
Time’s Crucible weaves an intricate web of ancient secrets and modern-day intrigue, tracing a story that spans millennia and propels Emma along a twisting path toward an uncertain future. With the demons closing in and the stakes higher than ever, Emma must summon her inner strength, courage, and resilience to thwart their plans and prevent her own untimely demise.
Get ready to embark on a heart-pounding journey through time and the supernatural in this spellbinding novel, where nothing is as it seems, and every decision can mean the difference between life and death.

Sujets

• Thrillers
• Armagedón
• Armageddon
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 14 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665744027
• Langue: English

Extrait

TIME’S CRUCIBLE
 
 
 
 
E. R. SCHAEFFER
 
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2023 E. R. Schaeffer.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and
may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4390-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4389-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4402-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023908927
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 05/12/2023
CONTENTS
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
About the Author
01

Emma woke in the middle of the night, heart pounding.
She sat up and turned on the light on her nightstand, taking deep breaths. Already, the nightmare was leaving her conscious mind — but the fear she’d felt remained.
There’d been a storm — wind howling, rain lashing down through the night. There’d been a barn, too. She remembered seeing it when a flash of lightning had lit up the sky.
There had been blood.
“Okay,” she said, softly, needing the sound of her own voice to break the silence, “it was just a nightmare. Come on, Emma — you’re a big girl now, right? You’re not going to let a little thing like a nightmare bother you.”
She sighed, took a deep breath, and reached for the light, ready to turn it out, ready to try to get back to sleep.
Ticking.
At first, she thought it was her imagination or the remnant of the dark dream but it wasn’t. She distinctly heard the sound of ticking in her bedroom.
Her alarm clock was electric.
As she listened, the sound of the ticking grew louder — and faster. She threw the covers off and stood up, trying to determine where the sound was coming from. She moved slowly around the small room, trying to locate the source of the ticking, but it seemed to come from all around her.
Her heart raced — and the ticking pace increased, as well
It grew louder and she wanted to run away, wanted to get out of the bedroom, needed to get to safety — but she remained where she was, trapped as it grew louder and faster and —
— and suddenly stopped.
As quickly as it had started, it stopped and Emma closed her eyes, letting out a long breath, her entire body shaking.

Emma sat down across from Kelly, who was already halfway finished with her white chocolate mocha.
As she sipped her morning coffee, she refrained from thinking about what had happened the previous night. It had taken her a long time to finally get back to sleep and the only way she’d managed to do so had been to tell herself that she’d actually been caught in a dream within a dream.
When she’d first woken up, she hadn’t really woken up — she’d still been in the dream. An online search showed her that her case was not unusual and that it happened to quite a few people. It had never happened to her before, however, and she definitely hoped it wouldn’t happen again.
Kelly gave her a long look and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, Emma, but you really look awful. What’s wrong? You’re not coming down with something, are you?”
Emma shook her head.
“No. I’m fine.”
Kelly looked skeptical, but shrugged and said, “So, would you like to hear about my latest disaster?”
Emma grinned, her mood already beginning to lighten. Kelly was one of her best friends and was constantly attempting to find true love, even though it usually meant falling for the wrong people.
“I take it your blind date didn’t work out?” Emma asked.
Kelly rolled her eyes. “Let’s put it this way,” she said, “it’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone who made me want to rush into the bathroom and climb out the window to avoid seeing him again.”
“What was wrong with him?”
Kelly sighed. “He was one of those losers who thinks that the reason I agreed to this blind date was so he could talk about his ex-wife all night and what a horrible person she was and how could she have left him when he was such a great guy and after ten minutes of that, I was definitely understanding why she decided to leave him.”
“Well, your night was still probably better than mine,” Emma said.
Kelly raised her eyebrows. “Go on,” she prompted.
“I just had a really bad night, that’s all — and yes, I know I told you that I’m fine and I am…but last night, I definitely wasn’t. I had a nightmare and I woke up from it…at least, I thought I woke up from it but it turned out I didn’t because I heard a ticking sound that grew louder and faster and then it stopped and I guess I must have woken up at some point after that — but, to tell you the truth, I don’t actually remember the waking up part.”
Her friend frowned.
“What did you eat before bed? Did you have Chinese food again? You know you can’t eat that after eight o’clock, Em.”
“No. It wasn’t like that. It was — weird. The first nightmare definitely seemed like a nightmare; you know? It was disjointed and stuff and I only got flashes of images when I woke up — but the second nightmare felt so real. It just had me standing in my bedroom and hearing this ticking sound grow louder and faster.”
“What kind of ticking are we talking about here? Was it like a ticking time bomb or something?”
Emma thought for a moment.
“No — it was like the ticking of a clock…but not really a clock. The tone was different. It was like — I think it was like the ticking of a watch or something smaller like that.”
Kelly glanced at her wrist and said, “Speaking of watches, mine is telling me that if I don’t leave within the next thirty seconds, I’m going to be late for work again and I’ll have to sit through another of the Dragon Lady’s lectures. I’ll see you later.”

02

While many people might find the idea of working in a library to be boring, for Emma, it was ideal. She’d worked in a variety of jobs but the only place where she found herself relaxing was at the Center Pointe Public Library.
She liked being around books and being in a quiet place — and not dealing with crowds. Even on the busiest day, the number of people coming into the library was never overwhelming.
Emma was rolling the cart down one of the non-fiction aisles when suddenly, someone came up behind her and put their hands over her eyes.
“Guess who?”
She whirled around to see a grinning Samuel standing there.
“Don’t do that!” she snapped, slapping him lightly on the arm.
He gave her a confused look.
“Whoa — you okay?”
Samuel was one of her oldest friends. They’d known each other since childhood and he was one of the few people who Emma felt had always been there for her.
“Sorry,” she said, with a sigh. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“That makes two of us,” he told her.
She raised her eyebrows. “Nightmares?”
“Worse — Julie broke up with me.”
Emma shook her head. Okay, she wasn’t surprised by that announcement. Samuel and Julie were never going to last. They were two different people — Julie was ambitious and driven and a dominant personality.
Samuel was — well, Samuel was Samuel.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said.
He sighed. “I kind of always knew this was how it was going to work out, you know? I just kept thinking I’d find a way to make it work,” he said. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a book that can teach me how to understand women.”
Emma laughed.
“Sure — you’ll find it in the same section on how to understand men, Samuel. Don’t act like women are such a big mystery and that men are easy to figure out. You guys are just as confusing as we are.”
“You really think that?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
“Huh — so, what’s up with you? You okay? You seem a little — jumpy?”
“Nightmares,” she said.
“The one where you’re being chased by a giant s’more in the forest?”
Emma shook her head.
“No. This one was different. It was — strange.”
“You don’t think a giant s’mores nightmare is strange?”
She was about to answer when her phone pinged, signaling she’d received a text message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
Emma’s heart seemed to stop when she read the one word text.
DANGER.

That night, Emma h