by K. G. Reuss
Testimony of the Blessed
Emissary of the Devil Book 2
K.G. Reuss
Emissary of the Devil: Testimony of the Blessed
© 2018 by K.G. Reuss. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s overactive imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.
Signed Books may be purchased by contacting the author at:
www.Facebook.com/kgreuss
Cover Design: GraficMonster
Publisher: Amazon Direct, Books From Beyond
Editor: Charlotte Stanley (N-D-Scribable Services)
Formatting: K.B. Andrews, EZ Book Formatting
First Edition
To anyone that’s ever lost their way. Keep the faith. You’ll find your way back.
“Faith, not hope.”
Maggie Westbrook
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Sneak Peek!
About the Author
Also by K.G. Reuss
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Trigger Warning: Some content of this book may be sensitive to some readers. Reader discretion advised.
Chapter 1
“Say thank you,” my stepfather, Alan, growled at me, his eyes flashing wickedly. “Look at me when you say it.”
Pushing back my tears, I lifted my head up and stared into the face of evil.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and trembling from my fear of what was to come.
He reached behind me and tugged my long hair out of its ponytail. It cascaded around me in soft waves.
“Say it again, and this time do it louder,” he commanded.
“Thank you,” I said louder, my body shaking violently. Alan was the devil. He was my tormentor. And I hated him with every ounce of my being. He stared down at me, his tongue flicking out and tasting his lips.
“Take off my belt,” he commanded with a snake-like hiss.
“No,” I whimpered, a tear leaking out of the corner of my eye. He reached out and fisted my hair roughly, pulling it. I let out a shriek of pain as he snapped my head back.
“Do it, or you’ll be sorry, little girl.” His teeth were clenched tightly as he glared at me. I already was sorry—sorry I’d been born, sorry my real father left me to fend for myself against the devil, sorry I had no escape, sorry my mother was passed out from her latest drinking binge in her bedroom, sorry I wasn’t brave enough to put myself out of my misery. Oh, I was sorry all right.
I reached up with fumbling fingers and undid his belt. It jingled loudly as I pulled it out of his belt loops, terrified of what his wicked plans for the evening were. He always got bad when my mom drank too much. Or maybe he was always that bad. It was up for debate.
“Do you know why you’re in trouble tonight, Magdalena?” he asked, taking the belt out of my hands.
“N-no, sir,” I whispered fearfully. As far as I knew, I hadn’t done a damn thing wrong. I’d been the perfect angel. I came straight home from school. I did my homework. I got all A’s. I did everything he asked. I’d even done all my church studies, so I’d be prepared for Sunday School.
“You didn’t greet me when I got home. You let your mother drink again. And dinner was cold.” He ticked each one of my supposed offenses off on his fingers.
“I-I’m sorry,” I stammered. “Please.”
“Please what?” he asked, a malicious glint in his dark eyes.
“Please don’t hurt me,” I whimpered, my throat tight.
“It’s not a lesson if you don’t feel the pain of the failure,” Alan answered darkly. “Now take off your dress.”
“No,” I begged pitifully. “I swear, I’ll do better! I swear! Don’t!” I desperately reached out to him, grabbing at his pant leg, tugging on it like a small child begging for candy. Only this wasn’t candy. It was poison. And God help me, I didn’t want it.
He kicked my hands away, a growl slipping from his lips before he grabbed me roughly. I let out another shriek of pain as I tried to fight him off, but he was bigger and stronger than me. He always had been. He tore my dress, bits of pink material falling to the floor.
“Stop!” I sobbed. “Please, stop!”
He fisted my hair as my dress pooled around me exposing my back, already aching from last week’s beating. I was left exposed to the sick, twisted monster in front of me. He pushed me down onto my bed, face first, ensuring my back was perfectly aligned with his large hands. I knew what was coming. I screamed for my mom, but he slammed my face down hard, planting his knee on the back of my head and forcing my face painfully into the mattress.
I tried sucking in air, but it was futile. I flailed around, trying to fight off the inevitable. The bite of the belt into my skin left me wailing uselessly into my comforter. He moved off my head. But I didn’t dare move once it started. It would only get worse if I did. Instead, I twisted my fingers around my comforter and ground my teeth together as he pelted me repeatedly with his belt. The snap of
it as it bit into my flesh made me squeeze my eyes together.
I let out a muffled howl as his belt buckle caught me in the ribs. And then it got me across the center of my back.
Just when I thought I’d pass out from the pain, it ended.
“Get up.” He was breathless—the man who was still in shape, who hit the gym daily. The man who was admired at his work. Even the people at church adored him. That’s how I knew he was really the devil. He had everyone fooled. Everyone but me. I knew his lies, his atrocities, his deep, dark secrets.
I should know. I was one of them.
I struggled to my feet, trying not to cry but failing as the pain and heat from the beating ate at my soul.
“You’re so beautiful when you cry.” He dropped the belt to the floor. Reaching out, he tilted my chin up so that I was staring at him as fat, ugly tears streamed down my cheeks. “Come. I’ll make it better.”
I was numb inside as he pulled my wrinkled comforter back and made me lie down. I was in so much pain. I knew I had to be bleeding from the buckle cutting into my skin. I did as he told me to because I knew the consequences if I didn’t. He removed his shirt and pants and stood before me in nothing but his boxers. After he kicked his clothes aside, he slid into bed beside me.
“Oh, my poor sweet Maggie,” he murmured, his hot breath blowing into my ear, his warm, near-naked body pressed up against mine as I lay on my side. I didn’t say anything. His lips brushed against my ear then down my jaw to my neck. I squeezed my eyes together again, my heart painfully banging in my chest.
I want to die! Why can’t I just do it?
His warm, wet tongue tasted my skin over one of my welts. I let out a whimper as he pushed me onto my stomach, his fingers tracing over all my bruises and cuts. Then his lips peppered each of them
The lake. Ice cream. Puppies. Swinging on the swings at the park with Lance. Lance’s smile. His words… Just breathe. Just breathe, Maggie. Just breathe.
I went to my happy place as Alan went to his, tracing my new hurts like a roadmap.
Just breathe. Just breathe, Maggie. Just breathe.
Chapter 2
It had taken the better part of a week for me to heal enough to not wince whenever someone touched my back. I never realized how many times a part of my body got jostled until I was trying to navigate the busy hallways at school. Or participate in gym class. Or sit. Or shower. Or breathe.
I’d made it a point to be on my best behavior, going above and beyond my normal duties. I didn’t want a repeat of last week with Alan. As I was focusing on homework that night, trying to block out the sounds of Alan and my mom fighting, my phone rang.
“Maggie! Hey! Where are you?” Jess’s voice came through my cell phone as I answered it. I frowned and pulled the phone away from my face to look at the time.
Crap!
I was supposed to meet everyone at Rue’s. I’d gotten caught up in my homework and had lost track of time. I’d told them I’d show up, not really meaning to. Honestly, I figured I’d just call off, but I’d forgotten to make the call.
I tried to spend as much time in my bedroom as I could when Alan was home since going out was pretty much out of the question. He made life almost unbearable. Every look passed my way made me cringe. He had a rule that if I was to go out, I wasn’t allowed out past ten, and it was well past ten now. And besides, he hardly ever let me leave the house to begin with, and the consequences of his indecisiveness and desire to cause me harm wasn’t something I wanted to risk tonight.
“I’m sorry, Jess. I should’ve called you guys earlier. I just really want to study for my biology test.” Alan’s angry voice traveled up the stairs, causing my gaze to dart toward my door again. Gripping my phone tighter, I drew in a deep, shaky breath. Tonight wouldn’t be a good night. My mom was drunk again, and they’d been fighting since he’d gotten home. I was sure to pay the price for her crimes.
“Come on! That test isn’t until Monday, Maggie! We’re all here waiting for you. You’re constantly bailing out on us. Tell me why we bother with you again?”
I winced, the sound of glass breaking and Alan screaming wafting up the stairs.
“I-I really am sorry, Jess.” I apologized, eyeing my bedroom door nervously as I heard another loud thud from downstairs. “It’s not just that. You know how Alan is—”
Please don’t come up here! Please don’t come up here!
“Ugh. Whatever, Maggie. You’re ridiculous. You’re the one missing out on everything while you wallow around in your room. We met a guy tonight, and he’s pretty cool. But I guess you’re probably not even into guys, are you? You just like leading them on and getting their attention.”
I frowned at her words. She was being meaner than usual, which was pretty bad considering she could’ve had a starring role in a bad teenage, mean girl movie.
“What’s his name?” I asked absently as the sound of something else shattering reached my ears. My mom was screaming at Alan. It wouldn’t be long now. I stared at my door awaiting the inevitable.
“Like it matters. You only care about yourself, right?”
I pulled the phone away from my face and looked down at it in disgust. She was on a roll tonight. Lance must have not been giving her the attention she wanted.
That’s not nice, I scolded myself and shook my head. It didn’t matter. I had more important matters at hand to worry about. Like when Alan would burst into my room and start making demands. My body trembled as I thought about what the night held for me.
Another crash resounded, and the front door slammed closed. Then heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs. Alan. He was coming.
“J-Jess, I need to go,” I said tightly, the footsteps drawing closer. “I’ll see you at school.” I didn’t wait for her response. I quickly hung up the phone, went to my desk, sat down, and pulled my biology book closer to me. Each thud on the stairwell made me flinch. I waited for him to push my door open.
The minutes crept by before I heard his footsteps on the stairs again. He was leaving. I let out a breath of relief as the front door slammed shut. Looking out my bedroom window, I watched as he got into his car and left the driveway.
Thank Christ.
I had to call Lance and apologize to him since he was the one who’d invited me tonight. Plus, I enjoyed our talks. I knew he was busy and didn’t want to keep him. He had a habit of visiting me in the middle of the night when Alan and my mom were sleeping. He’d creep up the vines on the side of the house and knock on my window. We had a code. If I left my desk lamp on, he knew it was safe. When it was dark, he stayed away. Although I knew it ate at him to do it. He knew I didn’t have it easy with Alan. I never told him why either. I didn’t want him to pity me. And I didn’t want him to overreact and hurt Alan. Not that Alan didn’t deserve it, but Lance deserved to have a bright future. Being arrested wouldn’t allow that to happen.
I was always nervous to talk to Lance. We’d been friends for ages, but he was gorgeous in a way that made me feel out of my element. There was just something about him that felt different. I could never place it. He wasn’t like the other guys at school. He was so much more than they’d ever be, at least in my eyes.
Picking up my phone, I quickly called him hoping Jess wouldn’t be the one to answer.
“Hey,” his voice came through sounding soft and sweet like it always did when he talked to me.
“I-I felt like I should apologize to you directly,” I said into the phone. “It was you who invited me out tonight and all that.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he assured me gently. “I know you’ve got your own stuff going on.”
“Thank you. I probably should’ve waited to talk to you, but I-I need to be sleeping before Alan gets home.” My stomach rolled with the thought of him coming home drunk. It was bad enough I had to deal with my mom like that. It was ten times worse dealing with him.
“I told you that you could come stay with me,” his voice was low. “You know my mom wouldn
’t mind.”
“I’ll be fine,” My voice cracked. The sound of the front door slamming loudly made me jump. A yelp fell out of my mouth as my blood ran cold. He was back. I knew he was. “I-I need to go! I’ll see you on Monday!”
I hung up the phone without waiting for his goodbye. Alan’s footfalls were on the stairs. I swallowed hard as he stopped outside my door.
Just breathe.
Chapter 3
“No! Please!” I pleaded frantically. He grabbed me roughly and forced me over the bed, my thin pajamas nowhere near thick enough to offer me the protection from his blows I desperately needed. I wept into my comforter as he forced my face harder into the mattress, making me shake with fear. I focused everything I had on my happy place.