Copyright © 2013 by Melanie Walker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2013
ISBN
Awakened
Melanie Walker
Acknowledgements
This book, like all my books- could not be possible without my two biggest supporters. Weston Walker my husband, my right hand and my all around go to guy. Thank you Punky! Simply Thank you. I wish I could give the words for how heavy my gratitude is. I love you so much and I hope one day all the stress and worry over my books will be worth it.
Mandey Kuyper, my bestie and confidant in all things ‘Mel’s World’… You are such a blessing to me Mands. I hope you love ‘Kuyper’ aka ‘Fangs’.
To my Beta readers who took the time from family and everyday life to help make this book special: Caroline Banks, Elizabeth Rowdy and Andrea Brimhall Stark. I would like to give a special thanks to Andrea however, for stressing over this book as bad as I do.
And last to my Son, Treydn’ and my daughter Presleighrae. You both have suffered the most with my writing and yet, I still get kisses, smiles and ‘I love you’s’ everyday. In short my loves, this book is for you.
Dedication
This book is to the fans. Whether it be one single person or one-million in total doesn’t matter. This book is for you.
Note to reader from the author:
This is an independent work and it was edited with blood, sweat and tears. Please know I am so sorry if I missed a comma, or mis-spelled a word but I hope the story speaks for itself. Please rate the book on Amazon and please leave comments along the way. I hope this book leaves you feeling desperate for more but also satisfied for being so damn good!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Passion is often forged in friction.
Steven Tyler
Chapter One
Sadie Wilson was having a bad night. Considering she was dead long before the sun cast its gentle final rays in the Northwestern sky. It was a rare occasion that the sun showed itself in Seattle in late November. " Briar..." She spoke in a sigh. Sadie didn’t understand the draw to Briar, but knew the minute she saw her sitting on a park bench that she would know what was coming next.
To describe Briar as beautiful seemed almost unfair to the woman. Beautiful was Cindy Crawford or Kathy Ireland. Briar was stunning, the type of beauty that wealthy woman pay for and never come close.
Her hair’s the color of the haystacks on Daddy’s farm. Sadie thought with a smile and a longing to be back on that farm in the safety of her mother and fathers love. When Briar looked Sadie’s way she gasped. Never before had she seen someone with purple eyes. The woman watching her had purple eyes.
The lavender iris seemed to attract attention as passerby’s stopped and gaped at the lovely woman still perched on the bench, a smile trained at Sadie as if she could see her though she wasn’t corporeal and walking around like all the others around them.
Sadie had to remind herself that she was dead and though it had been less than a day, the first moments after her heart stopped she spent screaming as she ran from the prison that had held her captive for the last three months of her life. The people on the street had no clue she was there, well, all but one man who was most likely just insane and thought he saw her.
The way Briar was looking at her now, with the softest of smiles had Sadie taking a timid step forward in hopes that perhaps there was still hope. A memory from her childhood struck her. She was eleven and her parents had saved up for the entire year so that she and her little sister Emily could go on vacation to Disneyland.
Sadie had always liked Sleeping Beauty best as a child and she and Emily would fight over the differences between Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Seeing Briar before her all she could see was the actress who wore the elegant pink gown and called herself Sleeping Beauty.
Put a pink gown on Briar and she would hold the staple on look a likes. Though she wore a pair of low rise distressed jeans and a black tank top she was a spitting image of the famous Princess, down to the black headband that rested on the crown of her head. It was amazing how elegant the woman looked in such basic attire. She was perfect in the most heartbreaking kind of way. Briar was standing before her now and as Sadie tried to speak she had no voice inside of her.
Before the panic would set in though, Briar took her hand and spoke. “My name is Briar, but my friends call me Bri.” Her smile was genuine and a tender comfort seemed to ease Sadie’s aching heart. “You felt drawn to me right?”
When Sadie said nothing because really, what was the point? No one would hear her, Bri squeezed her hand gently. “You can speak if you’d like.”
Giving it a shot Sadie spoke. “My-“stunned that her voice worked she quickly continued. “My name is Sadie Wilson.”
“Nice to meet you Sadie.” Bri kept Sadie’s hand in hers and lead her toward the bench she had been sitting in. “Can you tell me what happened?” She asked as they took a seat on the bench and watched as people jogged, or lead their dogs by their leashes. The mundane acts of so many people and how each step they took was taken for granted. Sadie knew because she had been one of them just a few short months before, before she had been taken out of thin air.
Sadie looked at Briar, struck by the sheer beauty of her. "You are so pretty." She hated that she blushed, or maybe not she was dead after all. Maybe she only thought she did. "You look like a double for Sleeping Beauty."
Briar looked taken aback by the comment and Sadie wanted to put her foot in her mouth. She watched Briar cup her cheek and turn her head to the side and though she seemed bothered, she smiled and urged Sadie to tell her what happened.
“I was leaving school.” She looked at Bri. “I take college courses at Seattle U and was walking to the bus stop when a man came up behind me. I didn’t know him and I passed out right as he came up from behind because he covered my face with a towel, just like you see in the movies.”
“Yeah, I get the movie cheesiness trust me.” Briar's voice held a note of sarcastic understanding.
“When I woke up I was in the basement of what I thought was a house but learned that it was an underground parking lot’s security office.”
“Was there anyone else in there with you, any other girls or boys perhaps?”
Sadie shook her head no. “I was alone, always alone and it was dark unless he was in there with me.” When Sadie shivered at the memory of her captors face and voice, Bri pulled her c
lose and wrapped an arm around her.
“Do you know his name or what he looked like? Anything will help.”
“Are you some kind of special cop or something? Because I know I am dead Bri and it makes absolutely no sense that you can see me.”
“Well, no I am not a cop- but, I am able to see you and I sensed you just the same as you sensed me. I am who you think I am even if you can’t wrap your head around it.” She stared at Sadie, that sweet smile not even a little disconcerting. It was not possible to even fathom that Briar was Sleeping Beauty. Sure Sadie was being a little hypocritical, here she was a… ghost for lack of a better term and talking to a living breathing woman so saying it was impossible was a little crazy.
Wasn’t it?
“I am Sleeping Beauty, Sadie. I was betrayed a long time ago,” she cringed. “Very long ago and I made the choice to keep fighting, long after my human death and so I help victims like yourself, settle the debts owed to you before you move on.”
“What happened to you?” Sadie asked not hiding the desperate tone in her voice needing answers to that one.
“Ask Pete when you get to Purgatory and he’ll tell you the whole thing.”
Purgatory?
“Isn’t purgatory… hell? I swear no matter what I did in my life I don’t deserve to burn for eternity.”
Bri laughed and hugged her closer. “No actually. Purgatory is where you rest while judgment is made. You will find peace there I promise. And Peter is a very good friend of mine; he always makes sure my souls are treated well.”
“Peter as in Peter Pan?”
“Indeed.” Bri smiled and stood from the bench to squat in front of Sadie. “Before we do that though, I need to settle a few things, tie up your loose ends. I’ll be your hands in this.”
“Like tell my mom I love her and that my little sister Emily can have all my clothes and CD’s?”
“I can do that for you sure…but see, if you were able to summon me it means that there may be a little something more you’d like before you move on.”
Sadie wanted to laugh as Bri danced around the point and she tried to think of something that was unfinished and all that came to mind was that the guy who took her was alive and well and probably looking for his next victim. Suddenly Bri’s words came tumbling back through her mind… betrayed… settle debts…
“Ding. Ding. Ding.” Bri sang. “See I chose my path when I died before my time and the deal I made was vengeance. See, the place I was in back then all I could see was making sure I had revenge. I was lucky enough to receive a second chance and stop the bad guys from every hurting someone again.” Leveling her gaze she spoke soft and sure. “I can make sure that he never touches another girl again Sadie, but you have to ask me because that’s how deals go.”
“Will I go to hell for this?” When Bri shook her head no Sadie felt a rush. “I want him dead.” She cried and for the first time since dying she started to cry because she didn’t deserve this, she had a future and because of one sadistic bastard her light was snuffed forever. She wanted revenge.
This was always the hardest part Bri thought as she watched the poor girl before her struggle to make the decision that more than a few denied. When the souls couldn’t go through with asking for vengeance, Bri sent them on their way with the respect they deserved and the promise of peace.
Then she went after the bastards anyway.
Being a Vengeance demon she had that right. She did it in her own name, used a dull pirate’s blade and slept peacefully on the nights that Fil didn’t summon her. If Sadie chose to forgo vengeance and find eternal peace leaving her fear behind Bri would assist, because with retribution came peace for the wronged.
The world needed balance, at least that’s what Ezek always told her and Briar held the title on get backs.
The vibe Sadie was giving off now however, said this girl wasn’t beyond revenge. Times like this Bri wished she could give the final strike to the victim; allow them the final blow that would kill their torturer. Nonetheless rules were rules and punishment had to come from Briar.
“What type of person would I have been if I admit to wanting him dead?” Sadie’s voice was small and she bit her lower lip unable to look at Bri.
“Someone who got the shit end of the stick.”
Sadie’s head snapped up and Bri wanted to smile. It wasn’t everyday you heard a Princess use such language. Bri wanted to tell her to stick around; because the shit would get a lot more graphic.
“I think I want that… for him to get what he deserves…” She shook her head slowly as if wanting to shake the memory and knew it was no use. “The things he did…”
Bri nodded. The deal was struck and she didn’t need to go into detail. Sadie knew what she was doing. “What … how will… you…”
“That depends on you.” Bri stood and reached for her hand. “You have any requests?” She asked as they walked toward the darkening street that Sadie emerged from. Not wanting to freak Sadie out she tried to be less buoyant about the whole vengeance thing.
When Sadie shook her head Bri understood. It took a certain kind of… flair to take a life, human or… other didn’t matter. Bri had taken down some of the strongest most loathsome demons, a few Wares’ who took the term ‘Moon Feast’ in a completely different way and there was even a Vampire… that was a long time ago but she had the death of one Vampire under her belt as well.
Vampires weren’t her problem, hardly anyone’s really. Vamps had learned over the years that to live in secret and not starve, it was best to play nice. That and they were the deadliest creatures in the game of life, or un-life as it were. They were the pawn in any fight, a guarantee at getting the bad guys off your back. Vampires were sought out by demons and humans alike, purchased for protection because everyone knew who the scariest thing to go bump in the night was. They were peaceful as long as they weren’t pushed, piss off a Sire and the whole Posse came for you, but make a Sire an ally and you were under their protection for life. Vampires were honorable and worthy of being deemed the best.
Except one.
Bri cupped her cheek again as the chills raced down her arms. She knew what was on her face even if nobody could see the damage her skin had endured.
Ironic really, how in sleep she suffered and in life her beauty was marred. Sleeping Beauty was nothing more than mythic lies created to put smiles on little girls faces.
Bri knew that Happily Ever After only happened in books and movies. Her own fucked up story didn’t teach her that, it was the centuries divvying out vengeance that taught her.
Vampires.
With the exception of one and she cried tears of joy when she watched her first kill, a Vampire turn to dust. But to say you hated all because one was bad, well, it made no sense. She knew a Vampire that was honorable and loving and…sexy as hell. But like her first kill and her last love, both Vampires, both gone now, both left scars that Bri would never be free from. One left scars on her perfect face, the other on her tattered heart.
Bri and Sadie came to the back street entrance of the parking garage and descended to the basement where the guards would have been on duty had the building not been vacant since the summer.
“How long were you held here Sadie?”
“What month is it?”
“November.”
“Almost two months.” She winced.
Time well wasted, Bri thought with a sneer. Her father was the arch demon of the Dark and Bri had fought with him for centuries. If she could get a head start, get the bad guys before they attacked… the lives she could save was unimaginable.
“ Briar, there is a balance to things.” Her father had said, his condescending tone like a shovel on concrete. “If you save these souls before the act of violence, who is to say that the victimizer won’t find another, out of your territory. Let alone the drop in numbers for the Dark. Without the souls imprisoned here the balance will shift Bri. You must think about these things darling.”
&nbs
p; She had left his chamber furious. It wasn’t about saving people to him, and sure she wasn’t a fool. He is a demon and not the fluffy sweet kind. He was a number cruncher and as far as he cared he wanted the Dark packed with regretful souls.
His daughter was his greatest tool. He wasn’t about to sacrifice both.
The room that Sadie had been held in had an almost unbearable energy to it when Bri entered. She could feel and see the memories of the room by simply touching an object. She let her fingers slip along the bare concrete walls as she circled the room; images of chains and whips flashing through her mind. She could see Sadie spread eagle on the bed, her arms and legs bound by a filthy rope.
She could smell the putrid stench of the man on top of her, the feel of his clammy skin as he writhed inside her body. Bri gasped and withdrew her touch. She had what she needed. Though she knew almost every time she walked into a room that her victim was guilty of the acts they were accused of. She always forced herself to see the hell they died in, to watch as every terrifying second played out through her touch. She needed to see what they went through, feel it. She did this because it intensified her need for vengeance and know her souls were at peace because by seeing what they went through, somehow it made them all personal.
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