Zanna Mackenzie: Guest Post - Author Kelly Martin

I want to thank Zanna for having me on her blog today! I think her book cover is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen! Makes you just want to go out and get it on your Kindle or Nook so you can look at it more often J

I wanted to give you guys a sneak peek at SAINT SLOAN, my new YA/Christian/Inspirational thriller out now from Astraea Press. In it, Sloan Bridges just wants her 18^th birthday to be perfect… her attacker had different ideas.

Chapter One

The cold November air burned Sloan’s lungs as she ran

down the secluded dirt driveway. Looking over her shoulder at the

brightly lit farmhouse swarming with people, she wished she had

grabbed her coat from the living room before escaping. Her legs

protested with each additional step she forced them to take, and

quite frankly, she felt like an idiot. In four days, she would be

eighteen, an adult; why should she care what others thought of

her? Or, more specifically, what Darcy Perry thought of her?

After nearly a quarter of a mile, the driveway sloped down

at a steep angle and met Brown Hollow Road. Sloan stopped at the

bottom, doubled over, and put her hands on her knees to catch her

breath. The harder her lungs extended, the sillier she felt for

running away like that. Sure, Darcy was mean, exceptionally so

when she drank, but Sloan shouldn’t have let her words hurt her

like they did. And that’s all they were, words. Words and cold beer

thrown in her face. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and

wondered how she would explain it to her mother.

When her breathing came easier, she stood up and looked

back toward the house. From her vantage point behind the short

hill, she could see all of the lights burning in the second story

windows and hear the music blasting throughout the isolated

farmland. The glow from the floodlights surrounding the house

made it appear to float in the sky. No doubt about it, Boyd knew

how to throw a party. Sloan couldn’t help feeling a little satisfied

thinking of how Mr. Lawrence, Boyd’s father, would react when he

found out his biology students were getting drunk at his house

without his knowledge.

She leaned on the standard-issue black mailbox and

frowned. It wouldn’t be fun to walk all the way back to get her coat

and beg Mackenzie to take her home. Everyone would stare at her,

mock her, and call her ‘Saint Sloan’, Darcy’s pet name for her. The

thought of Darcy’s smug face rising inevitably from Boyd’s

muscular neck made Sloan’s stomach knot harder, and she

slumped farther down against the mailbox, causing the metal to

creak. Sometimes Sloan wondered why she ever went anywhere.

She didn’t drink, do drugs, or make fun of others, and she wasn’t

into sleeping around anymore. She was the “reformed bad girl,”

and everyone loved to taunt her about it, especially her former best

friend, Darcy.

Blinding lights coming toward her right side caught her

attention. Turning toward them, she put her hand over her eyes to

block the brightness of the passing car. Instead of speeding by, the

car slowed down and stopped across the yellow line from her.

Goose bumps, not from the cold, formed under her long

sleeves. Meeting a strange person in a strange car at night in the

middle of an old country road didn’t appeal to her. Bloody flashes

from every horror movie she’d ever watched swarmed in her mind.

Suddenly, being made fun of and harassed at the party didn’t seem

so bad. She wished she had been able to control her temper better

and never have run out of that house. Nervous, she grabbed the

little golden cross that had fallen under her dark teal shirt collar

and prayed whoever was in the car wasn’t a homicidal manic.

The driver’s side window rolled down, and Sloan squinted

through the dark to see inside. “You okay?” an unfamiliar male

voice said. Whoever it was didn’t sound much older than her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She rocked on the balls of her feet so she

could be ready to run if the situation escalated beyond friendly

chatter. “Just out for a walk.”

“In the dark?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” she said truthfully.

Sloan heard a hint of laughter coming from the car. At least,

it didn’t sound menacing. “Like I said, are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said with an undercurrent of defiance. She

wished he’d just go on his merry way.

“In my experience, people don’t go for walks in the dark

when everything is fine.”

“I’m… I will be fine. Thanks for stopping. You must be in a

hurry.” She tucked her hands under her elbows and walked back

up the little hill. Seeing the lights and hearing the annoying music

coming from the farmhouse filled her with dread. Between the

house and conversing with a stranger alone in the dark, she figured

the house would be safer, but not by much.

“I don’t have to be at work until eleven,” he yelled. “I can

give you a lift to your house if you want.”

Sloan spun around, half expecting him to be standing

behind her with a rag full of chloroform. “Thanks. That’s sweet, but

it’s not necessary. I can get my friend to take me home.” Lord, please

don’t let her be drunk.

She started to turn back around when he yelled again. “You

don’t know who I am, do you?”

Of course she didn’t. It wasn’t like she could see him in the

shadows. “Should I?”

“Guess not. I’ve not been back in town all that long, but I

know you.”

The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Who

was this guy?

“You’re Sloan Bridges. You used to date, and I use that term

loosely, my brother back in the day.”

That didn’t help much. “Could you be more specific?”

His laugh filled the space between them. “Had a lot of

boyfriends, have you?”

“More than my fair share,” she admitted regretfully.

“We all have a past, Sloan. Don’t let it get you down.”

Easier said than done. “So, who is your brother?”

“I’m not surprised you don’t remember. You were both

eating paste in Kindergarten back then. Ray Hunter.”

Ray Hunter! Her face lit up when she recognized the name.

When she was six years old, Ray had been her first official school

boyfriend. He was also her first kiss. Unfortunately, that kiss on the

cheek during nap time landed him in time out next to Mrs.

Dobson’s desk. Sloan had always felt bad about that. “I remember

Ray! Wow, so you’re Adam or Aidan… I’m sorry. I don’t remember

your name.”

“Aaron.”

“Aaron Hunter! Yeah. I remember you now! You and Ray

and your mom moved after Christmas that year. Broke my heart.”

“I’m sure you bounced back quickly.”

She couldn’t deny that. “I didn’t know you were back. Are

Ray and your mom here, too?”

There was a pause, and Sloan wondered for a second if he

had heard her. “Ray is. My mom’s not.” The way he said it let Sloan

know he’d rather have his teeth pulled out than talk about her.

“Anyway, I’m going back to town to get ready for work. If you still

live next to Donna Robinson, it’s on my way.”

“I do, but Donna doesn’t live there anymore. She’s in

Evening Oak Nursing Home.” She found herself walking toward

him as she spoke.

“I hate that.”

“She’s been in there about a month. I visit her now and then.

She’s doing as well as you’d expect, but she can’t take care of

herself anymore. Her house has been on the market ever since she

went in.”

“They don’t think she’ll come back home?”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Thinking about Donna always made

her sad. A few months before, the woman had been full of life.

Then a stroke nearly killed her. It did take away her ability to walk

and care for herself, but not her mind. Though slow to talk, Donna

was as spry as ever. “How do you even remember where I live?”

“Good memory,” he said. “Donna was always nice to me

and Ray. She took care of us when my mom wouldn’t… couldn’t,”

he corrected quickly. “And she used to make us cookies. She took

us to church a few times.”

Sloan heard the genuine sadness in his voice. Something

about it made her not as apprehensive as she had been a few

moments before. Anyone who held on to such sweet memories that

long wouldn’t hurt her. She hoped not anyway. “Yeah, she was. I

always liked her. She took me to church, too. I still go to her church,

but it’s not the same without her.”

A few seconds went by before he spoke again. “So, it’s

obvious you’re freezing and something or someone ran you out of

that house.” He motioned toward the lights on the hill. ”You don’t

want to go there, for whatever reason. I can help. Last chance. Let

me drive you home. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Says the guy sitting in a strange car talking to an innocent

girl in the middle of the night.”

“A Mustang isn’t strange.”

“No, but the rest of this is.” Torn, she looked back toward

Boyd’s house filled with mostly judgmental classmates; then she

shifted to Aaron’s car and bit her lip. “Okay. Look, I’ll text my

friend, Mackenzie, and tell her I have a ride home.”

“Good.”

“I’ll also tell her that if she doesn’t hear from me in one hour

to call the police.”

“Ouch,” he laughed. “You think that little of me?”

“I don’t know you well enough to think anything about you.

That’s the point.”

~Kelly Martin

Kelly Martin is a southern girl who lives with her husband and three rowdy, angelic daughters. By day, she is a teacher. By night, she is a crazy-haired, multi-tasker who writes when the kids go to bed.

She has two young adult novels out now: SAINT SLOAN (about a girl who can’t get away from her past) and CROSSING THE DEEP (a girl’s faith is tested, stranding on a mountain with a guy she barely knows). Both are Amazon bestsellers.

You can find her at any of her two blogs: www.kellymartinstories.com (author blog) and www.encourage365.com (daily devotional blog).

Kelly loves God, is addicted to chocolate, and would rather write than sleep.

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