6Chapter – 2
Silvia had assisted Tom to her full capacity in his research. When Tom had to submit a paper in the last year of his graduation, it was she who had helped him and that aid could not be measured by any means. The help was invaluable to Tom.
Silvia was also the same age as Tom, only three months younger. They were sort of neighbors and were ever together since their childhood. She had become a tomboy, much to the disgust of her traditional parents. She was a cross born; her father an Indian who worked for the US Embassy; her mother a devout Catholic housewife who hailed from Phoenix, Arizona. She was unlike other girls, never in her life had she played with dolls and soft toys, in fact she never liked them.
Silvia was unique. She was never like the normal. She was intelligent and was strong of heart, just like any other guy. Some said that it was a mistake that she was a girl; she should have been born a boy. And many in her school had made fun of her that way. But at the same time, they hailed her and were jealous of her.
She was like a gem among the others. She shone like a lonely star, her brilliance radiating from her brains. But she never applied them at the places which would be considered right by the intelligentsia. Instead, she had decided to apply her brains to the spiritual world.
Like Tom, she loved horror and supernatural phenomena. And she wanted to prove to the world that spirits do exist. She had conducted many experiments but they were all rendered futile. All the details which she had accumulated over time from various sources like the Internet could not help her. So, she had decided to apply for the department of paranormal sciences at the University.
Today, on this beautiful Saturday morning, she sat on a maroon colored sofa with her long legs folded and she tilted towards her left. Twenty-one years old, she had a lissome hour glass figure which was perfection in the eyes of any guy who would behold her. She had full round breasts, curving in a fashion that all voyeuristic personalities would love. Her long black hair streamed across her cheeks, some strands touching her midriff. She had a fair complexion, with cat like bright eyes, a tipped nose yet beautiful, her lips red with lipstick. She held a huge paperback book in her hand.
The book had a black and red color; each color streak winding across another. Particularly, the upper portion was mostly black and the bottom mostly red. The book title was engraved in white and read, SPOOKY PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES, AUTHORED BY MR. JOHN NEWT. The back cover was plain black with streaks of red darting in between. It contained a brief synopsis of the book and information about the author.
Silvia was almost on the verge of ending the book. And in a few minutes, she finished it and closed it, the back cover in front of her eyes. She saw the photograph of the author, almost of a 3.5 by 3.5 size. Besides it was written his biography.
She wanted to know more about the author, so she read it,
John Newt is a master storyteller in the genre of the horror and the supernatural. He has been the author of six worldwide bestsellers. The Paranormal Activities And Their Implications was his first book and it achieved instant success. Next came a horror thriller which was named The Haunting Hill Murderer which was followed by his triumphant bestseller The Supernatural Voyage. His fourth book was a collection of short stories, Letters From the Demons. This was followed by The Spiritual Nexus. The current book is his sixth.
John Newt was born in the year 1984 and educated at Wellington School, Somerset and Brasenose College, Oxford. From there he had come and settled in the United States of America in Pennsylvania. He lives now in a small village near Phoenix, Arizona and is expected to be writing a short novel there. He is a well known man who is also a priest, for people call him so. He is a devout Catholic and a master in paranormal studies.
Silvia placed the book on her table and walked to her bedroom. She booted her PC and connected it to a high speed Modem. Once the operating system (Windows 7) loaded itself, she opened up the Google Chrome browser which by default loaded the Google search engine. In the text field she typed in John Newt. The website gave her a list of sites matching John Newt. The first link took her to the author's personal website. She took down the author's email id. From his blog, she found out that the author was looking out for a job with a steady pay and the writing work just didn't give him enough money to afford a real home.
She had a powerful way of getting news in the university. She knew that the department of paranormal sciences required teachers who truly belonged to the field.
Who better than John Newt? she thought.
She quickly picked up her Nokia mobile phone and dialed her university recruitment center.
A young guy picked up at the other end.
"Hey, this is Silvia. This is regarding the notice put up on the recruitment board at the university. The department of paranormal sciences needs new teachers, it said. I have one recommendation."
"Normally we do not entertain recommendations but considering how urgent they require, we could give the name a consideration." replied the young guy.
"Have you heard of a Mr. John Newt?" asked Silvia
"What? The author of those spooky bestsellers? Yes, sure, heard of him."
"I believe he is quite nearby Phoenix. Maybe you could hire him. Heard he needs a steady job."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-