Title: The Curse
Genre: Supernatural Suspense
Page count: 149
Author: Kristin Ping
Publisher: Fire Quill Publishers
Release Date: September 25 2018
Description: Dreamcatchers can't ward off nightmares if your nightmare is your reality?
Moving to a small town is the last thing Melanie wanted, but her entire family, even her identical twin, Emily, assures her it's the best thing for her family. But Melanie knows it's just another form of punishment, because that's all her family does to her—punishes her.
Emily just wants her sister back, wants to recover their twin bond after she broke her sister's trust. But something evil is waiting in their new house… When Melanie falls into the clutches of an ancient darkness, Emily is the only one who can save her. Will their bond be strong enough to break the curse? Or will Emily lose her sister forever?
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ABOUT KRISTIN PING:
Kristin is a USA Today Bestselling author and lives with her family in South Africa, where she writes full time.
Her debut novel, Immortal: A Varcolac Novel, followed by Hinder: A Benders Novel, are the first two novels in a sweeping saga called Guardian of Monsters. Nine intricately imagined novels are in the works, following witches, vampires, werewolves, djinns, Benders, and shifters.
For More Information
The Curse will be translated in Italian in 2021 through Hope Edizioni and for audio lovers, the wait is not long anymore. The Curse is in production and Carly Lepard will narrating as Emily and her twin Mel.
Excerpt
EMILY
I liked the new house. The quaint town, too. I didn’t share Mel’s aversion to small towns; in fact, I’d always had a fantasy of living somewhere everyone knew each other. A part of me was certain that this move would be the best thing that could happen to Mel, though she was still sulking.
She would be okay. She had to be okay, so we could move on and fix this rift between us.
Mel still hadn’t forgiven me for telling Keith about the party, which had been two freaking years ago! But that was my sister; she could hold a grudge like no one else could.
Of course, I hadn’t planned on breaking her confidence. But then I’d heard there’d be alcohol and drugs and who knew what else. Really, I was just worried about her safety. And it wasn’t like I could have lied straight to Keith’s face. I was never a good liar at the best of times, and the worrying hadn’t helped. So when Keith had realized Mel wasn’t home and questioned me, everything had just rushed out of me. I hadn’t wanted to disappoint Keith or Mom, because I wanted a father again. I was scared that if I disappointed Keith, he would leave, and I didn’t want Mom to be unhappy again. If Mel had just listened to Mom in the first place, I wouldn’t have been put in that position. Now, I regretted the choice I made.
If I knew we would never be the same after that, I would’ve kept my stupid mouth shut and never said a thing.
She was so mad at me. I desperately wished I hadn’t hurt her like that.
In all honesty, I hadn’t thought Keith would drag her ass out of that party. That must have been so humiliating.
According to Mom, he wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t care. But those words didn’t stop Mel from rebelling, and I could sense she felt lost and betrayed.
I heard Mel’s door open and shook my depressing thoughts from my head as our eyes met. I smiled at her, but she looked away and wandered down the hall.
I got up and followed her. “Where are you going?” I called.
“Just to look around,” she snapped. She was always short when she spoke to me now. I missed the way we used to be. Now we were broken.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Do what you want, Em. It’s a free country.”
She was silent as we opened the doors to each room, looked inside, and closed them again.
“Keith said it used to be—”
“I don’t give a shit about what Keith said,” she interrupted, stalking out.
I sighed and shut the door before traipsing after her.
She stopped when she saw a trapdoor in the ceiling.
“Please don’t,” I begged.
“Why, Emmie, are you scared?” she teased. She pulled on the latch, and the stairs to the attic came down. She glanced over her shoulder at me as she started to climb up. “Stay, come up. I don’t really care.”
Her words were like a knife twisting in my heart. She was never going to forgive me. It shouldn’t be this way. I gulped as I looked at the stairs. I couldn’t stay down here. What if Mel got hurt? Tentatively, I followed her upstairs.
A light came on as I reached the top.
It wasn’t as big as I’d thought it would be, but the attic was spine-chilling.
I hated attics. They always gave me chills. Bad things always happened in attics and basements.
Dust tickled my nose and I sneezed. I glanced around. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, from the old mirror in the corner to the mannequin next to it. The window was grimy. Spiderwebs covered the corners. Clouds of dust billowed into the air with every step Mel took. Stacks of boxes and old toys crowded the floor. Mel walked over to one of the boxes and picked up a stack of papers, leafing through the pages.
My skin crawled and goosebumps flushed over my entire body.
Something was wrong with this room.
Mel opened one of the boxes.
“Can we please go?”
“Go if you want. It’s not like I asked you to come with me. I don’t want you here anyway,” she said as she peered into the box.
“You can’t ignore me forever, Mel. I’m your sister!”
“Wanna bet?” she scoffed.
I was so tired of her miserable attitude, I was tempted to leave. But I didn’t.
She moved another box and gasped. “Oh wow.”
I was curious to see what she found. As I neared her, I saw the outline of something round and big.
She held it up in the dim light. My chest tightened when I realized it was an old dreamcatcher. Bigger than any I had ever seen. For some reason I didn’t share my sister’s admiration. It felt like I was suffocating.
“Mel, please leave that thing alone.”
“It’s just a dreamcatcher, Em. These things are made to keep bad dreams away.”
“Something just doesn’t feel right about that thing.”
“Stop being so superstitious,” she said without breaking her gaze from it. She seemed awed.
“Please,” I begged.
My sister turned away from the dreamcatcher and glared at me over her shoulder.
“Look at my arms.” I thrust my arms into her face, showing her the goosebumps peppering my skin and the hair standing on end. “I can’t breathe. Put it down. Please.”
“Sheesh. Fine, drama queen.”
She put the dreamcatcher down and walked back to the stairs.
I couldn’t stop staring at the damn thing, and the deafening silence of the room started to choke me.
What was it about that stupid dreamcatcher?
Suddenly, the trapdoor swung shut with a loud bang. The light flickered and faded. I was trapped in the dark.
I ran to the exit. “Mel, open up! Please,” I begged.
She laughed as her footsteps receded.
“Mel,” I yelled.
The air in the attic became thicker and thicker. Something in the darkness caught my eye and I spun in its direction, but I couldn’t see anything. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, and no light filtered in from the grimy window.
GIVEAWAY
Description: Chastity Blake discovered the hard way what she was: a modern-day Sandman. But things aren’t looking up for Chastity. She is guarding a secret deep within her — her dark sand, or what Reverians call her Shadow. Shadow Casters are known for their dark dreams, the nightmares they create. If she’s caught with dark sand, she may be subjected to harsh interrogation, even banished to the Oblivion with the other Shadow Casters... and that is SO not on her list.
