Forsaken Read online

  “Fine dammit, I’ll take her with us, for now!” Lucas stands above the mess of a woman in front of him. “Fuck, I'm going to have to touch her again,” he whispers to himself. “What, how? I can’t even stand the smell from up here, let along, try to hold her long enough to get her home.” Rage steps back away from the girl, sniffing her face. A whine leaving him, “Have you turned into a damn lap-dog?” Rage whips his head around and snarls. “I have had enough of you tonight; do you want to pack her to the house?” Rage turns his head and Lucas could tell he was trying to find a way to actually pack her himself.

  “Fine, I’ll carry her, she probably won’t make it through the night anyway.” Lucas takes his cape off and throws it on top of the girl. Then he roughly rolls her over so that her entire body is covered. He picks her up and starts to throw her over his shoulder when he catches Rage watching him out of the corner of his eye. So he decides to hold her in his arms, but as far away from his body as possible. He mumbles, “Damn aggravating, wolf. I should have left your mangy hide years ago. You are fascinated with anything that stinks aren’t you? Well, Hell I reckon that doesn’t say much for me does it?”

  Chapter Two:

  By the time Lucas got to the front door of his manor, his eyes were watering. The girl smelled like pure pig shit. He could have gotten them here within a blink of an eye, but he didn’t think the girl’s body could handle any more stress.

  Rage walked in front of him nudging the door open with his snout. Lucas turned sideways walking through the front door only to realize he had no idea what to do with the girl now. He could put her in one of the spare rooms, but he didn’t want to have to burn one of the beds because he couldn’t get the smell out of the material. Her body was already so damaged he knew the floor wouldn’t work either. Hell, he should have just left her in the cemetery. He had no knowledge of what to do with a hurt female. He was a killer, not a healer.

  “Rage, what now? Do you want me to leave her here on the floor? She is your pet after all!” Rage, paced all around Lucas, snarling and growling they had always had a bond, the two of them. At times Lucas could feel Rage’s emotions, even random thoughts, and he was really upset right now. Rage kept sniffing and pulling at the cape. He was trying to make sure the girl was still in it.

  Lucas shifted the girl in his arms. “Hell’s far, I can’t stand the smell any longer she is going to have to have a bath or I am gonna toss her back outside.” He maneuvered the girl through the house and towards one of his favorite places. A natural hot spring under the manor house, he had found it when he was remodeling his own private space downstairs. The manor had multiple floors but Lucas preferred the safety of the basement and its hidden doors. He was uncomfortable taking the girl into his lair, but it was the only bath in the home that he wasn’t going to have to pack hot water too.

  Going down two flights of stairs, Lucas was greeted by the familiar darkness he loved so much, nothing like the feeling of home. This manor and its surrounding property had been in his family for centuries. He could feel his family’s spirits touching him as he moved through the dark and their curiosity about the bundle in his arms. Lucas had rules that he had always abided by. One, never eat too close to home. Two, never let anyone know where you rest. Three, never bring home anything you don’t plan on keeping. His kind couldn’t afford any kind of human attachments. They died too soon, become way too attached, and could easily be swayed. So why was he breaking his own rules?

  He could barely smell the steam over the stink from the girl. He snaps his fingers and the candles in the room light giving the room an eerie glow. The spring flowed freely out of the ground and into a manmade hole Lucas had dug out years ago. He lowered the girl to the ground gently then removed his vest, shirt, and then his shoes. He knew his pants were going to be soaked, but he wasn’t getting his skin, next to that thing. Rage was standing over the girl whining like a puppy.

  “What has gotten into you? I have never heard you whine in your life. Even when you got caught in that bear trap, you never made a sound. You would think she was your mother or something?” Lucas blinks at the sudden intrusion of Rage’s thoughts of a little girl, but then it was gone.

  Rage looks up at Lucas and lets out a roar that would wake the dead, but the girl never moved. “Damn, wolf. You do know I'm the master around here right? I can snap her neck and make this a lot less painful for all of us!”

  Lucas shakes his head and walks back towards the girl, one hand holding his nose, and the other one, pulling the cape off from around her. She unrolls out from it like a rag doll. He holds the cape out away from him and throws it in the corner of the room. “I will burn that later.”

  He takes his foot and shoves her over onto her back. She was still breathing but barely; her heart was still struggling to beat in her chest. He takes his foot and rolls her towards the water’s edge, trying to wait until the very last moment to touch her. She tumbles over the edge of the bathtub, face first into the water.

  Lucas had a one-second thought of just letting her drown, but Rage was already headed into the water to get her. “Get out of the damn water, Mutt. I’ll get her. I’ll be lucky to get the smell of her out of here, let along wet dog too. Take your ass over and sit down. I am not going to let her drown, not after packing her stinking ass all the way here.”

  He enters in behind her and pulls her up so that her head is out of the water. There is so much dirt already running out of her hair and onto her face, he wasn’t for sure where to start. He props her up against his knee and reaches for the soap. This was going to take awhile.

  The water ran black with dirt as it headed out of the drain. The fresh water pouring in was finally pushing the smell and the filth out of the room. It seemed like it took hours to get her clean from top to bottom. Her hair had been so matted he had to lay her on the side of the tub and lean her hair back into the water to finally get all the knots and dirt out.

  In all of his days, he had never seen a human in this bad of shape. Most women took pride in themselves and it looked like this girl hadn’t been clean a day in her life. Her hair ended up being much longer than he originally thought, even though he had had to cut pieces of it out. It ended up being more blond than dark. Her poor bruised and neglected body lay-out in full view beside the tub. Her side was bleeding once again from the scrubbing he had given her in the water. At least he could be near her now without holding his nose.

  Lucas got out of the tub and stripped off his pants. Picking a towel up off the floor, he wrapped it around his hips. The girl was still lying on the floor and she hadn’t made a sound through the entire bath. He didn’t think she had much of a chance. His blood had helped her, but it didn’t look like it would be enough. At least he had done all he could for her. He reaches down and picks her limp form up off the floor and starts back upstairs. He decided he would place her in one of the rooms and wait until she died.

  He noticed her hair was dragging on the floor as he went up the steps. He pulled her up higher in his arms, trying to get it off the floor. Her weight was so insubstantial. She weighed no more than a child. If it hadn’t been for her breast and the curls over her sex, he would have thought she was a child. It’s hard to believe she is a full grown woman. It’s a pity she is in such bad shape, because she has pretty features once he got all that dirt off of her. Too bad she has been so miss used, all she really needs is some good food and of course, clothes. It’s a shame that she isn’t going to make it.

  He lay her down in the bedroom closest to his lair. As he pulls his hands away from her, his right one was covered in blood from her side. He licks his hand instinctively. The taste of her pure and rich upon his tongue causes his fangs to immediately elongate, wanting more.

  He steps back from the temptation of draining her dry. Shakes his head, and then takes off the towel he had wrapped around his waist. He pushes it snuggly against her wound, hoping to stop the blood flow. His will-power was just too weak to try and stitch her up right
now. He would just have to hope her body healed itself in time. Lucas pulled the covers up over her gently. Rage immediately jumps up on the bed and snuggles in close to her.

  “You freaking traitor!! You have never slept with me! But this human, forget it, stay here. I'm going to go get some clothes on.”

  Chapter Three:

  Lucas returned later settling himself in a chair in one of the darkened corners of the bedroom, safe from any windows or the deadly sunlight outside. Rage was asleep tucked into the girl’s side. In all of his years, nothing should surprise him, but for Rage to be in the bed with that girl really did. That wolf had been with him for ten maybe even twelve years. Lucas knew he was unconditionally loyal to him, even though they never had that pet, human relationship. It was like their bond was more like they were predators after the same prey. They had an understanding if you will.

  Lucas settled down in the chair preparing to get comfortable for the remainder of the day. His mind finally calms, after feeling so antsy earlier. Maybe all he had needed was a fresh kill to relax. The house was unusually quiet; the only sound was Rage’s soft snores and the faint breathing coming from the girl.

  He closed his eyes and welcomed the darkness of his usually dreamless sleep. Except this time he was in for a surprise. He was in such a deep sleep his body actually jerked in the chair. When there were flashes of light behind his eyes all of a sudden, this awakened him immediately. Lucas knew something had disturbed his sleep. He sends his spirit outside of himself looking for the disturbance, only to find that nothing had changed from earlier.

  Troubled, he pulled his spirit back, then got up and walked towards the bed. He knew the moment she sensed him coming near, from the grimace on her face, and the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She was a fighter, even in her sleep she was aware a predator was standing over her bed. The moment her pulse started racing this drew his attention to the blood pulsing through the veins in her neck. The first thing he thought was what a delightful meal she would make! Just as he steps closer to the bed he started battling his consciousness and his hunger. He sees Rage open his eyes and turn to look up at him. His eyes immediately turn red when he sees Lucas’ fangs. He is prepared to defend her if he needs to, even against Lucas, his master.

  Lucas shakes his head and takes a step back, battling with his own demons as he walks back to the chair, and settles down to watch her. Let’s see how this game would play out, he thought to himself.

  §§§

  Something is watching me. I can feel it underneath my skin. I feel strange all over, almost as if my skin has changed texture, I feel clean. I must be lying in heaven because there is no way, Hell could be this soft. I mean yea, it’s warm in here but nothing uncomfortable. The only thing unnerving is this presence I feel of being watched. Maybe God is watching over me now and my prayers have actually been answered this time. That’s what it has to be because this can’t be punishment for killing Cook.

  My mind could have never imagined this kind of comfort even existed. I feel like I'm laying in a cloud, floating along in the sky on a bright sunny day. That is until I try to move. The pain returning to my body makes me scream inside my mind, but barely a sound leaves my lips. I take a deep breath and try to curl back farther into the warmth hoping to escape the pain, once again, but it moves away from me. I try to reach out for it, but my arms won’t work. I stop struggling to move and slowly open my eyes, at first I see nothing.

  Then they adjust and I see bed curtains, long blood red bed curtains. I have to be dreaming because I have never been in a bed, let alone one with bed curtains. I can see the velvet material and the intricate stitching on each panel. I blink, trying to clear my eyes, but a sudden light flashes and the instant pain in my head makes me cringe. I shut my eyes quickly, trying to calm my mind. The warmth returns to my side and this makes the pain tolerable again, that is if I don’t move. I think I hear a deep voice talking around me, but I'm too tired to care. I decide to let the dream of sleeping in a cloud in heaven, take me away, and I slip back into a deep sleep.

  §§§

  The morning sun was making its way through the curtains. Lucas couldn’t comfortably stay up any longer. With his advanced age he could stay up after sunrise for a few hours, but he seemed unusually drained this morning.

  “Rage, stay with the girl today. I don’t believe she will awaken before I do, but don’t let her out of your sight if she does.” Rage got back up on the bed and curled up to her, settling in comfortably.

  Lucas stood there for a moment, contemplating what to do with the girl when, and if, she did awaken. She was going to be nothing but trouble, most women were. He walked away from the bed and ducked behind a tapestry on the wall that hid one of the many entrances to his lair. Hopefully, she would die while he was asleep.

  He walked the familiar stairwell slowly, feeling his age today. The darkness surrounded him was like a warm blanket. He plopped down on the bed, staring into the dark. Looking for the normal comfort that was his lair, but something was wrong. Maybe it is the unfamiliar heartbeat upstairs, but it felt like it was so much more than that. His mind started going over the problems the girl was going to be. Closing his eyes, his thoughts were troubled. He knew his actions this evening would bring change into his world, but for good or bad?

  Slipping into his death sleep, the lights begin to flash in his mind once again. He tries to force himself awake, to no avail. It starts out fussy in his mind, images, and sounds that make no sense.

  He could hear music or maybe the sound of someone singing in the distance. He could feel the warmth of someone holding his hand, but it was at a weird angle. Like he was a child and someone was pulling him forward. His legs felt suddenly tired from hours of walking. Then he was singing a familiar song along with someone else. As his perspective changes, he becomes someone else.

  ∞∞∞

  I look up and it’s a woman and from this angle, she is really tall. She looks down at me and gives me a sad smile. “I know you’re tired sweetie, hopefully, it won’t be much farther.” We keep walking until we start to hear wagons approaching. She lets go of my hand and waves at the wagons trying to get them to stop. I was happy when I saw them stop; maybe they would let us ride with them. My legs hurt and I'm really hungry, but mommy says she will get us something to eat later. She says that often. I don’t know where later is though, it’s taking a really long time to get to this place.

  I see a man get out of the first wagon and he walks towards us. I tuck myself in behind Mommy’s legs, trying to hide because he looked scary. I hear him say she can come with them, but then he pulled mommy away from me. He pulls her close and rips at the front of her dress looking inside. Then he takes his dirty hands and yanks the front of her dress up showing her legs. He must be feeling around for something, but mommy doesn’t have anything under her dress. And I know you’re not supposed to do things like that. Mommy told me to always keep my ankles covered, that we don’t show our bodies like boys do, but Mommy doesn’t stop him. I look up at her and back to him, he has this terrible sneer on his face and I know he is a terribly cruel man. Then he opens Mommy’s mouth and looks at her teeth. Now I'm really confused, Mommy has pretty teeth. Is he going to look at my teeth too? Because he won’t be happy, I'm missing two of them right now. Mommy, says that’s normal and it’s just part of growing up. Growing up seems really scary right now though. I don’t think we should go with them. I think we should keep walking. I need to talk to Mommy so I can promise her that I won’t complain about my legs or being tired any longer. I tug on Mommy’s dress trying to get her attention to tell her this, but she is still talking to the bad man.

  He motions for her to come on and she grabs my hand pulling me along with her. When she turns to pick me up and put me in the wagon he stops her. She was holding me up in the air for a second then she turns and puts me back on my feet. She has a confused look on her face. I hear her tell him that I was her daughter. Then he said something I w
ill never forget. “She isn’t welcome. I have no use for another worthless girl or bastard child for that matter. You’re welcome to come, but you know, my terms, leave her here.”

  I see tears in mommy’s eyes and she looks at him and then down at me. I see her look around like she was trying to find someone to help us. She shuts her eyes for a second then turns towards me. “Honey, come here.” She walks me over to the side of the road. “Now listen to me carefully, you know how we have had talks about there being a time in your life that you’re going to have to act like a big girl?” I shake my head yes, clinging to her as the tears flow down her face. “I want you to stay right here and wait for the next set of wagons to come down the road, honey.”

  “No, I want to go with you?” I start to cry. “Mommy, I'm scared!”

  “Emma, you have to stay or we’re both going to die, you will have a better chance on your own. Remember, I Love you honey and I pray that one day you forgive me for what I'm about to do to you!”

  I start to walk behind her and she grabs me and puts me back on the side of the road. “Stay, I mean it.” Mommy has her mean face on. The one where she says your whole name and you’re in big trouble.

  I stand there, sobbing as she walks away from me. I watched her climb up and get into the wagon. I never turned my head away from her, because I was sure she wouldn’t leave me here just standing on the side of the road. I watched all the wagons pull away from me. No one even acknowledged that I was standing there and she never looked back.