Visitor
(c) 2008 by Maura Anderson, all rights reserved

Something was not right.

Sata paused with the alarm code only half-entered, distracted by the odd tingle that traced up her spine. A familiar sensation but not one she’d felt since she’d chosen enter a voluntary exile in the land of the humans. Her land now.

The louder tones of the alarm’s final ten second warning pulled her back from her memories in time to key in her code and deactivate it. She really didn’t need a false alarm fine or an audience for her confrontation with whatever was waiting for her.

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I’ve been tagged with this meme by the evil Denise McClain. I will admit that I suck at these things, so be kind!

Though, I will admit I got Mr. Maura to decide on these for me:

1. I’m currently watching Alton Brown’s Good Eats show as I’m trying to answer these questions.
2. My least favorite noise is the sound of nails on a chalkboard. I want to stuff a screwdriver in my ear to make it STOP.
3. I’m definitely a cat person, not a dog person. Which is really strange coming from someone who writes about coyote shifters.
4. I’m completely chicken about driving in snow and ice. I’d rather stay home with my six year old instead – and that’s saying a lot.
5. I’m a total crafting junkie. If you name it, I can probably do it as long as it’s not painting. I could probably open my own craft store and have one room that is JUST crafting.
6. My coffee mug in use right now says “My greatest fear is that there is no PMS and that this is my personality”.
7. My favorite bird is a Raven – or could you guess that one?

I have no idea who to tag that hasn’t already been tagged, so join in if you want to play!

I’m in the process of moving my blog to my website to both cut down on the number of things I need to maintain and to allow better control of my content.

The archives should be moved soon.

Please check out it’s new home on my website for new posts!

Del Fantasma: Texas Tea is a finalist in the Fantasm Awards for Best Shapeshifter (non-wolf) Romance!

Voting will begin in February but you can click the graphic above to see the other finalists! Lots of really great company there!

Anna
(c) 2008 by Maura Anderson, all rights reserved

Still. Dark. Silent.

Slowly the nothingness began to recede.

She floated in a chilly sea of mist, surrounded by shades of grey, her movements slow and sleepy. Peaceful and calm, her body embraced by the fog even as her mind began to wake.

Anna.

She contemplated the name as she drifted. It felt right, it felt natural. Surely that was her own name. It had to be.

My name is Anna.

The acknowledgement seemed to open a floodgate – memories assaulted her. An invasion of visions, sounds, even tastes and smells overwhelmed her. Her mind writhed from the onslaught, helpless in the grip of the experiences it relived.

Noooooooooooooooooo.

Her silent scream faded off as she descended again into the misty silence, unable to process the bombardment.

***

Anna McInnes. She was Anna McInnes.

This time she knew who she was and the memories were still present but she no longer felt as if they were attacking her. She could picture her own face and body. She remembered her parents and that they were both dead, gone for many years.

Where am I? What happened?

She remembered leaving her house to go to her friend, Jo’s. She’d climbed into her car and started it, then began the short drive. But she didn’t remember arriving. What did that mean? Where was she now?

She couldn’t see anything. Anna tried to touch her face to make sure her eyes were open but her body didn’t seem to respond to her demands. Only silence and drifting sensations met her efforts.

Determined, she pushed her fears aside and willed herself to move, to control her body.

Nothing.

I have to move. I have to know I’m okay.

She focused every bit of her will on moving just her fingers. Just one finger. Surely she could do that. Finally, as if a tightly stretched barrier burst, she felt her right hand move at the same time a wave of excruciating pain swept over her, throwing her back into her grey silence.

***

“What the hell are you doing?”

Anna’s eyes shot open at the shouted words. She was laying on a damp, cold surface that was so hard it felt like she was laying on a rock. Her head swimming, she tried to push herself upright only to realize she was so weak she could barely manage it.

“Well, Miss, what are you doing here? Do you have no respect?” The voice was closer now. “Are you on drugs?”

Anna managed to rise to her knees on the flat surface. She wrapped her arms around herself, cold and shivering now. Looking down, she realized she was wearing a dress she didn’t recognize. A thin flowery fabric in a style she never wore. Where the hell had that come from?

It seemed like she couldn’t focus her eyes. Everything seemed to waver and shimmer. It was so bad she would swear she could see through her own body, impossible as that was. But the stone slab she was on seemed solid enough.

Lifting her head, she saw a stone wall in front of her with words engraved on it. Reading them, she almost fell over again when she realized what the words meant.

Anna Marie McInnes – Beloved Sister and Friend.