Novels by Deediong Francis

~Hanesville, Present day~Cassandra Blake felt strong hands grab her along the aisle that was lined on either side with cells. She recoiled as she saw the questioning faces of the inmates of the cells, poking their heads out to see who their new member was.Fortunately, the officers that held her on both sides were not heading there. They were heading to somewhere less conspicuous.They came to an abrupt stop before a heavy metal door. One of the police officers let go of her and punched on keys on the electronic keypad on the wall. A moment later, the door creaked open and they entered inside.The inside of the room was painted with bleached white color, and the three seats surrounding a square table in the room were all black. They lowered her forcefully onto one of the seats and exited the room, leaving her alone to herself.Cassandra heaved a deep breath. It had been a long and bizarre day. From the moment she opened the doors of the coffee shop where she worked and found a dead b

The low cackling evil laughter of the witch awoke something in her; her werewolf form. She fought it but it was useless. She knew it wouldn’t last long. It was only triggered because she sensed danger coming. She had no idea how right she was.The old woman rose to her feet and began to put her items of divination in place. All the while, she did not say a word to Opal. By the time she was done, Opal had switched back to her human form. She drew a large circle in the middle of the room and beckoned on her to step forward. Opal obeyed wordlessly. The witch stretched her shriveled hand, demanding for her to release the gemstone to her. Opal removed the gemstone carefully from her undergarment where she had safely hidden it and dropped it on her palm. She closed her palm and when she opened it again, the gemstone had disappeared. Opal stared back in horror, wondering where it had gone to. It took a moment for it to make sense to her. She was a witch, of course. These kind of things we

She ran faster, not stopping to breathe or feel the pain from the soles of her feet brushing against the sharp edges of the thorns in the woods. Pain was relative. One’s body had to actually be willing to feel pain before one felt it. Tonight, Opal's body was immune to all the pain she was feeling as she tore through the woods, looking for a way of escape.The trees danced before her and the mockingbirds taunted her as she went, all of them succumbing in solidarity to each other, threatening to drive her crazy with everything happening to her.A loud rumbling thunder echoed over her, shaking the woods. Something was happening tonight. She did not know yet what it was but she knew she was at the forefront of it.The woods seemed to get farther as she ran. When she thought she was approaching land, she’d only ended up crossing the borders of the woods to another denser part of the aisle of the wild.Opal was beginning to slow down now, her human energy failing her. Her hair was now a tu

Tave was gasping for breath now, lying defenselessly on the floor. Opal's hand pressed down harder on his throat, a twisted smile on her face. A horrified look registered in Tave's eyes as he stood on the brim of death’s door.Then, out of nowhere, he had a quick change of heart and tried to motion to Opal to stop. She did. She loosened her hold on his throat for one brief moment and kept her eyes on him, urging him to talk.“You are being betrayed, Opal,” Tave managed to say, “You and the other werewolves in your pack. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you the whole time.”Opal blinked, and a skeptical look crossed her face.“What are you talking about?”“There is a smaller circle in the big circle, one which you’re not a member of,” Tave said. His voice was strained. “And I’m telling you now that you are just a delivery girl. The folks in the bigger circle are using you to get what they want. The gemstones. They’ll discard you as soon as you deliver it to them.”As much as Opal h

~Hanesville, twenty-five years ago~ His kisses warmed her lips and sent a tingling sensation down her body. He was a gentle lover, penetrative through all the depths of her body, making her breath rise and fall in ecstasy. She loved him dearly and he loved her too. From the very first night they’d been mated together by the moon goddess, Tave had been a sweet lover. And even when she was tempted to leave him because of who he was, she could never bring herself to stay away from him. “Mmmmm!” She moaned as his lips rubbed against her ears, “I love you, Tave! I’ll never leave you.” He came to a slow stop and brought his eyes directly before hers.“Promise?” Her eyes answered his question long before her lips said it.“Of course,” She saw the look on his face and added, “Don’t you believe me?” He gave a small shrug.“I do. I just____” He stopped and heaved a deep breath, “I can’t help but think that someday, the enmity amongst our packs will separate us. I love you so much, Opal,”

Life had suddenly turned good for Emily. It was barely a week into her engagement and the soles of her feet had stepped into more bridal shops than she'd stepped into restaurants in her entire life.It wasn't exactly her fault. Jason wanted a quick wedding. The wait was killing him and he needed the wedding to be over and dine with in no time. He'd reintroduced her to his family and his mother had even begun warming up to her, despite her earlier cold feelings towards her.Emily wasn't sure whether it was the universe that was tired of seeing her suffering and had decided to make things better for her or it was just purely out of merit but whatever it was, she was grateful for it.Today, she was going to go with Mia and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Mrs. Wendy Campbell to yet another boutique that had a bridal shop to pick a wedding dress.The boutique was owned by one of Mrs. Campbell's influential friends. She was going to take the ladies there to show them around and also catch up

Seeing Edmund jump down from his jeep and advancing towards her like some maniac made her blood to suddenly stop flowing. She stood rooted at the spot and plotted her next move.Directly across from her, Jason was standing on his own, waiting for her. No matter the direction that Edmund came from, he was going to see him.There was no need to run away. Edmund didn't look like he was going to back away easily. The only decision she now saw was to stand back and contend with him or maybe reason with him.They didn't have to cause a scene here. In fact, if Edmund cooperated, no one would have to know what the problem with them was.As Edmund continued to take quick strides to reach her, all her hopes of reasoning with him evaporated into thin air.Edmund didn't look anything like the Edmund she knew. He wore nothing else but a fades shirt that shouldn't have been seen outside and a pair of trousers that were at least two sizes smaller than him.He looked even worse. His facial hair was s

All around the garden, black umbrellas formed pinnacle of covering over the over hundred people that had come to witness the lowering of her coffin to the ground.It was unarguably the most horrifying scene that Emily had ever witnessed. It was hard to just stand there and not shed tears while the burial proceedings for Dre Sinclair who was amongst other things, her friend was ongoing. She thought she had her acts together all this time. Not even when the priest had delivered a pitiful sermon about how people ought to lead good lives when they were alive so that when they died like Dre had just done, their spirit would not be filled with regret, had Emily shed a single tear.The high point of the event was when everyone was led to the graveside, dug in the middle of a beautiful garden. It was just the kind of place that Dre would have wanted to rest in, had she been alive to make her decision. A place filled with so much calmness and serenity, where she would forever commune with th

The man slipped out of the door unnoticed, feet barely touching the ground as he struggled to make it out of there without making a sound.Just a few meters away behind him, Jerry Ishag's body lay lifeless, his face bent over on the table. He'd died with tears rolling down his face.A part of him felt guilty for what he'd done but there was no undoing his action neither was there another option. It was a dog-eat-dog world. You either ate or got eaten. If he chose to disobey the order that had come for him to kill Jerry, that would be him signing his death warrant with his own hands.It was best to obey and stay alive to fight another day. The image of Jerry lying helplessly while the poison worked inside his body, killing him slowly was certainly going to haunt him for life. But Andre had no regrets, only guilt. Even if he'd refused to get the job done, another person would have been hired to finish Jerry off once and for all. And afterwards, come after him.By killing him, he'd save

Charlotte arrived breathlessly at his door. It'd taken a lot of guys to admit to her fault and finally make the trip here but in the end, she decided that it was all worth it. She was never really welcome back at Edmund's house anyway. At least here, she had a man that loved her, a man that wanted to be with her and most of all, a man that was determined to take care of her.Those were things that Edmund could never ever do for her. So, her fall was a blessing in disguise. At least now she'd get to love her truth and loving her truth wasn't as hard as the lies she'd been trying to keep up with all along.She didn't bother to knock on his door. He barely went anywhere these days. He just stayed at home and read all the books on his shelf. When she was around, they would make love from sunrise to sunset.As happy as she was about this new development, she still had her doubts about the new life that he'd adopted for himself. Would he be able to take care of her if he continued to live

Outside, Emily could barely focus on the road that lay ahead or any other thing for that matter. It was hard to focus on anything knowing that she could be in the police cell any minute.The idea of trusting Edmund to keep everything that had happened between them simply did not appeal to her. He wasn't just going to allow her to get away with everything she'd done.That's why she needed to clean up her mess and get out of town. This town had taken so much from her. Now, all she wanted to do was stay far away from it and count her losses.In reflective moments such as these, Emily couldn't help but think about how lonely her life had just gotten. With Dre dead and Mia grieving, there was really nobody else to talk to.Well, except for Jason who'd gotten so busy with work that he barely had time for her anymore. There was also her father. But surely, he too would be busy with work.Emily was in the mood to throw in a surprise on her old man. She didn't bother to think about it or call

The mail had just five lines. Five lines that completely changed Yolanda Hamilton's life from that moment. "I have to see you, Yolanda, before I die. My name is Gracie Hamilton, your grandmother. Something is about to happen. You have to come home quickly. I've attached my address to the mail. Please, come home, Yolanda. Whatever you do, you must not open The Red Door."Yolanda swallowed hard. Something was not right. Her hands trembled as she took the phone. She dialled the first number that came to her mind and listened to the line ring. There was no response the first three times the phone rang. Her adrenaline shot up. There was no way this was true. If this was true, then she'd been lied to her whole life. Yolanda slammed the phone on her table after the fourth ring and held her head with both hands, as if to stop it from exploding. Her head was spinning in circles. She tried to lift her body but felt no strength in her limbs. The sick feeling that something bad was about

Yolanda Hamilton was an attractive-looking woman in his late twenties. She had black, unruly hair, dark blue eyes, an elegant body that could fit right into any feminine dress, and a warm smile. With looks straight from Hollywood, the men were constantly roaming all over him like fleas. Perhaps the only thing that put some of them at bay was the fact that she was an officer of the law who could easily have them locked up for assault. Growing up as an only child had made Yolanda rather defensive and this played out in her interactions with people. She was the kind of woman who stood his ground even if it meant fighting alone. Today, Yolanda had come to work disturbed. The events of the past night still replayed in her mind, although now, it seemed more of a dream than reality. She sat before the computer screen in her booth staring blankly at it for almost half an hour before he suddenly came to himself as she felt a presence around her."Hey, Yolanda. What's up?" A familiar voice sa

"Give me your hand," The Shaman said, staring directly at Yolanda. Detective Hamilton began to lift her hands, very slowly at first because she was not sure what she was getting herself into. And yet, she could not shake off the stubborn feeling that clung to her guts that she had to be here. A hand halted her mid-way. she stopped, puzzled. It was her friend's hand. She looked into his eyes and read a thousand messages from it but in the end, she snatched her hand away and handed it over to the shaman. The ritual was about to begin. Officer Hillary watched skeptically as the shaman lifted his wrinkled hand over his friend's hand, reading through her palms like he was reading a book. His eyes widened as he traced through the lines on her palms and his brows knitted. Something was not right. "Yolanda," He called softly, his voice sounding normal for once. "You have a very interesting life."Yolanda swallowed hard, reading through his lips. "I would like to see my future."The old ma

For a moment, Officer Charles Hilary was back in the robbery scene at Greenfield. There was the spontaneous flashing of lights and the horrified screaming of people as they scampered away from the chaos. The officers from NYPD were scattered around the scene like grains of sand in the seashore, trying to catch the bad guys. But everyone was careful. No one wanted to be martyred tonight. While others hid in the shadows, waiting for who was going to make the first move before they joined in. Their fear of the unknown would not allow them to follow their instincts, Detective Yolanda Hamilton had evaded the barricade they had set up and had smuggled himself into the bank which was being robbed. He was quick, like a fox in the woods. An operation that had lasted for almost a full hour was busted in seconds and the bad guys were caught and brought to books. The following day, the boss had asked to see Detective Hamilton, and that had been the beginning of his journey to fame. Officer Cha

Detective Yolanda Hamilton was in an elated mood tonight. The most anticipated victory of the past month had just been secured and now, she was just one step closer to becoming a lieutenant. Could there be any better news than this? Her eyes began to feel dizzy as she drowned another shot of the whiskey in her throat. It caused a burning sensation as it made its way into her stomach, and then the lingering feeling of satisfaction followed. She belched out in another moment and a satisfied grin crossed her face. From her vision which was now beginning to dull, she could make out the faces of three of her colleagues who had joined her in her drinking spree. Kevin Owens, the nerdy officer with glasses was seated on his far left trying to coax the barman into fixing him another shot even though it was obvious that he'd had enough. Tyler Hartman, who was perhaps the most experienced one amongst them having been in the force for almost fifteen years was seated by his right. He was the o