A little taste of Casa de Animas, YA Paranormal

Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Photo courtesy of Sonia Nieves

This is a ROUGH excerpt from Casa de Animas, which is my current WIP. :) Enjoy!!

Instead of going down the stairs, I climb out of the window and sit on the roof. My eyes take in the hills of green that roll away from me. The hacienda has been in the family since the first settlers came to Puerto Rico. My grandfather is extremely proud of how far back he can trace his ancestry, which include Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish families as well as Italians.

The sea of green in front of me helps calm me down, so that I don’t let the anger grab a stronger hold of my throat. Breathing is already difficult as it is.

Beyond the mountains in front of me, I know there lies my grandmother’s hacienda. It’s still run by her family. Her brother, Tio Tomàs is the sort of man that you don’t want to rub the wrong way, so I've never spent too much time there. The closest I’ve been to their property, while on my own, has been the cemetery. The cemetery which lies between two haciendas.

“What are you doing out here?” Bella asks pushing her red locks away from her face as she sticks her head out of the window. “Aren’t you afraid, Abuela is going to make you get down from there?” She smirks as I shake my head.

A smile pulls at my lips before I shift and move to the left for her to be able to sit beside me.

“It’s a lot to take in, huh?” She asks softly, twisting her long ginger locks around and then leaning her cheek against her knee.

“No.” The honesty in my voice makes her eyebrow shoot up. “It’s just… I …” I frown organizing my thoughts better. “I wish I’d known that everything was real.”

“I guess you are right. It’s better to know that the monsters are real, rather than have meds be pumped into your system.” She takes my hand in hers and squeezes it.

“It didn't help.” I laugh bitterly before turning my head toward her. “The meds just made me groggy, it didn't stop me from seeing.”

“Well, aren't you in the wrong place?” She sighs letting go of my hand before looking at the mountains ahead of us. “It’s like Ghost-a-palooza in here.” She lets a soft giggle escape her before I laugh with her.

“That’s really not comforting at all.” I knock my shoulder against her before looking at the front of the house.