DARK SIDE OF PURGATORY

By L.J. Hadaway 

Jaxon Slater was the life-of-the-party- guy until one day he woke up in Purgatory. He runs into a mean  bunch of …guys…an unlikely guide and… possible redemption. His quest is finding a certain young  woman and steering her away from the path of Destruction that killed him. He will need to face the wreckage of his past. Old temptations linger. Dark forces shadow his path.

Long blurb
Everyone knows Jaxon Slater. He’s the life-of-the-party guy. He’s the fun guy we want to invite to our out door barbeques but not marry our daughters. He is our nephew, the next-door neighbor who drinks too much, a friend of a friend that overdosed on heroin. He’s the class clown in high school that was always in trouble from drinking and driving.

Jaxon Slater has ‘pushed the envelope’ and tried to scam his way through most of his life. He’s charismatic and good-looking. Many things come easy to Jaxon. Sobriety isn’t one of them. He’s tried staying clean numerous times but always falls  back into relapse, using one more time. His long time sponsor had warned him plenty… His last use of heroin landed him dead-in Purgatory.

Jaxon believes he is having a terrible nightmare until he finds an old friend and recalls how he died. Reality sets in and Jaxon begins to learn the rules of the strange land. He runs into a mean bunch of guys, an unlikely guide and… possible redemption. His quest is to find a certain young woman and steer her away from the path of Destruction that killed him. In doing so, he will need to face the wreckage of his past. Old temptations linger and Dark forces shadow his path. Jaxon has no idea his journey will take him to an abyss of his deepest fears.

Excerpt:

Jaxon panted from exertion while he jogged towards his old buddy. He stopped a few feet away, leaned over, and rested his hands at the top of his knees, gasping for air. It took a moment for him to catch his breath. He stood up and looked over his old friend. He looked identical to the last time Jaxon saw him. Skinny dude, his lean face held a beard with a touch of gray beginning at his temples and chin, sporting a ponytail, worn blue jeans, and a black turtleneck sporting The Doors.

Shorts gave a slight grin and shook his head.

“So, you’re here too?”

“Uh?” Jaxon responded, unsure if he heard him right. He smiled back. “I’m having this crazy dream. It’s funny you being here, I haven’t thought about you in….” He stopped. Jaxon’s eyes squinted a bit, trying to pull up an old memory. It came to him. “I thought you were….” His voice trailed off.

“Dead?” Shorts answered.

Jaxon nodded.

Shorts looked passed Jaxon, staring at what seemed like nothing, and paused. His voice was low and heavy, as if coming from a deep well. “One hellav’a pile up on my bike.”

Jaxon remembered hearing about it now. Shorts going too fast around a corner on his Harley, grazing a telephone pole. Tipping sideways, the only thing in his way was the damn guide wire, bolted into the ground.

His forehead furrowed deep calling up the memory…taking his head clean off. Jaxon glanced at Shorts’ neck, but the turtleneck he wore hid any…scars. He shuddered again. A feeling of anxiety began to stir in his stomach. “I guess I’m still dreaming.” He glanced down the paved road. “Where are we? It’s the old neighborhood, but different.”

Shorts tilted his head back and laughed. Meeting Jaxon’s look, Shorts’ eyes flashed red. Jaxon reared back, remembering the lizard’s eyes a few minutes earlier. His old friend opened his mouth to speak. Jaxon noticed his teeth were rotten, probably from all the meth he used to inject. His voice took on a different tone now. It seemed to echo as he spoke. An evil grin emerged.

“Why, we’re on the dark side of Purgatory, Jaxon Slater.”

“Purgatory?” Jaxon questioned, his nightmare fears expanding.

“Yeah. That limbo place between Heaven and Hell. And we’re on the dark side….” He laughed. “A long ways from Heaven, but only a hop and skip from Hell.”

Shorts climbed on his bike. “Come on, bro.” He waved for Jaxon to get on. Jaxon got behind him. Shorts turned, formed his fingers into a make believe gun, lowered his thumb, and pretended to shoot him. “And you’re dead.”

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About the Author:  I live in a small town in Washington State near the Cascade Mountains. I have worked in the Human Services field for thirty years, mainly in chemical addition. My writing genre has taken me to different arenas: suspense- One Step Ahead Of Danger, contemporary-Life Choices and now, with Dark Side Of Purgatory, the paranormal.

Writing has always been a great passion of mine and seeing my books published in the last few years, has certainly made my dreams come true.

I hope that you, the reader, will share your thoughts about this book with me. Please drop me a line at: ljhadaway@hotmail.com

I make my own book trailers, which you can view at: www.lindahadaway.com

Thank you for reading…..If you have a “Jaxon Slater” in your life, please remember him in your prayers. There’s always hope.