Excerpt: Almost Demon by AJ Salem

18586128Almost Demon
(Chamber One of the Sigil Cycle)
By: AJ Salem
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: Oct. 31, 2013
Genre: Paranormal YA

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The last thing Gemma Pope expects to study in the after-school book club is demon etiquette but that is exactly what she has to do to succeed as a summoner and save her hometown.

Since taking the blame for the car accident that claimed the lives of her twin brother and two of her best friends, she s been seeing things. Dark shadows, opaque, menacing, multiplying.

The clock starts ticking when the local mild-mannered librarian suffers a psychotic break and pulls a gun on her reading circle. People are dying in disasters and wars all over the world. Gemma s dad is getting weird, her classmates are becoming violent, and the darkness surrounding Harrisport is getting thicker.

Does she trust hot English Lit teacher Mr. Flynn or Ian, the mysterious new kid in town, who has knowledge beyond his years and access to other dimensions?

It is only when the gates to hell are opened, that Gemma learns who her real friends are.

Discover what lies just beyond the veil of humanity in the sleepy town of Harrisport.

 

Excerpt
The loudspeaker interrupted and let out the single tone meant for school-wide announcements. There was some reverb followed by a pert female voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. This is Principal Kelly speaking. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all back to another productive year of higher learning.However, we must all take a moment to reflect on those who will  not be returning to these halls. Please join me, as well as the esteemed members of the faculty, in a memorial dedication in honor of three shining stars that were extinguished too soon in a senseless car accident: Mimi Yin, Jenny Goodwin, and Brian Pope. We will commence before first lunch in the auditorium. There are also additional counselors on staff this week for anyone who needs it.”

My pulse sped up to a break neck speed. I couldn’t believe it.

“Freak!” I felt something wet hit the side of my cheek. I wiped off the wad of paper encased, no doubt, with a million germs, and kept my eyes on my planner.

“All right then. Let me call roll before you all run out of here.” The familiar drumbeat of panic began throbbing in my head. No way was I going to survive the assembly.

“Gemma Pope.”

“Here,” I replied.

I looked up at the clock perched above the threshold and groaned. It was only forty-five minutes into the school day and I was already fuming. Someone could have warned me about the production the school was going to make, starring my dead brother.

 

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AJ Salem was born in Haifa, Israel to parents who immigrated from the other side of Dracula’s mountain. She was just a toddler when her family picked up and made the big move to New York where necessity had her learning English from Sesame Street and weekly trips to the public library where her mother encouraged her to stock up on books.

When she isn’t writing or reading, AJ is rearing her four children, crocheting and watching too much British Television.

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