Outskirts Press, INC.

Is Danger in the Past… or the Present?

Layla doesn’t recognize herself anymore. Talented, intelligent, and ambitious, she has fallen victim to crippling panic attacks that leave her unable to function. Despite the support of her husband, Derek, she feels alone. Desperate for help, she reaches out to her husband’s friend James, an energy practitioner and hypnotherapist who suggests a past life regression. But just as the session is about to start, she is suddenly immersed in a world not her own…a lifetime that she has never known…or was it her own past life?
As information continues to come to her in visions, she realizes that her anxiety isn’t as simple as it seems. But after someone tries to murder Layla, the stakes get higher. Layla discovers that she is a conduit for justice long overdue, even as she struggles to make sense of the danger in her current life. Will Layla discover the truth in time? Or will the nameless stranger who wants her dead destroy Layla and claim her husband? Imaginative, detailed, and suspenseful, Darkest Betrayals is a thrill ride from start to finish.

I had never felt such a dark presence before in my life, but there was one here tonight. I stepped toward her to see who it was; my curiosity got the best of me. Even though I wasn’t sure what she meant to do, I knew she meant to do me some sort of harm. The hair on the back of my neck was at attention, and I was covered in cold sweat and goosebumps; my primal instincts flaring wildly. She charged at me like a crazed animal, and as we struggled, my bracelet broke into many pieces. I could hear them bouncing like little hard balls across the wooden floor. As the struggle got more physical and enraged, I felt an intense pain in my left side below my rib cage. I felt an increasing dampness where the pain came from. I looked down in horror as I saw blood soaking through my gown. I heard a scream that sounded surreal and realized I was the one making that noise! I could smell blood and I could taste it. I was choking on my blood with every scream. I realized she was tugging at me, and I wasn’t coherent enough to register just exactly what it was that she had done! Then she was gone like a ghost in the night. I could hear footsteps and hollers in the corridor, responding to my screaming. I knew I had to hold on, so I could tell someone what happened to me. I knew that I didn’t have much time to say goodbye to my dad and my love. “Hold on, Aeryana, hold on!” I could hear someone saying to me, as I left my body! As I snapped out of this vision like dream state in a cold sweat terrified at what I just observed, the panic seemed hell bent on consuming me. What the hell did I just witness and who is Aeryana?” Layla asked herself as the panic took over.