The Mark (Weeping Willow Book 2)

by Steven Evans

  Gagging on the constant flow of blood oozing down my throat, I said, “Like the liberties you took with me?”

  That seemed to settle her rant, and she suddenly stopped, appearing to be thinking fondly of the nights we spent together. She leaned, longingly, against the wall.

  Through a sweet smile, she asked, “We were good together, weren’t we?”

  “I had no choice!”

  Pushing herself off the wall and gliding to the cot, she said, “I want it again.”

  “No… never!”

  “But, Lover, you act as if you have a say in the matter.”

  I tried to run away, but the weakened state my body was in left me flopping on the floor like a fish out of water.

  She was hovering over me. Licking her lips and panting like a bitch in heat, she blew me a kiss, and I was instantly lying on my back.

  “I think one more time will get us through.”

  I could see the desire and need reflecting in her gorgeous eyes, and my will to resist disappeared. I was, once again, lost in the ecstasy of our bodies entangled and the pleasures held within.

  “Lover… it’s not exactly noon, but what do ya say… we enjoy a quickie?”

  Lips glistening with anticipation, she mounted me. She smiled wickedly, and my clothes disintegrated.

  “Such a greeting!” she laughed. “You’ve been waiting for me, haven’t you?”

  Raising her hands in the air and displaying the long razor-sharp nails at the ends of them, she methodically lowered them to her waist. She plunged them deep within her inner thighs and raked them forward.

  Laughing deviously, she moaned, “My blood will mix with yours! Our bodily fluids will combine! The time is now, Lover!”

  With that, she easily slid herself down over my shaft that now stood tall and anxiously waiting, like a weather-beaten stump.

  Her panting increased as our bodies’ rhythms perfectly synched. Her light moaning turned into a boisterous cackling as she rode my length up and down. The intense pleasure overrode my pain; I gave in to the moment and placed a white-knuckled grip on her waist. Nearing satisfaction, our eyes locked, and the memory of every wrong she had ever perpetrated on me vanished.

  My thoughts lapsed, and I began thinking of what she must’ve been like before she became what she was now. With how absolutely perfect her figure was, she could’ve been a supermodel with her firm perky breasts and skin so luscious and young. She couldn’t have been older than her mid-twenties. God, she was beautiful! And in another life, I could see myself really falling for her.

  My moment of escape was abruptly broken up by a few quick shudders emanating deep from within her. We both reached a complete state of gratification, and she gently collapsed on my chest. She remained there for a minute.

  Suddenly, in a flash, she was back to her feet! She stared down at me, and I wasn’t sure if she wanted more or if she was ready to end her game.

  A puzzled look of dismay crossed her face, and she said, “That was fun.”

  The darkness resumed its hold, and her eyes reflected the evil held within them.

  She smirked, “Now, where was I? Oh, yes, I remember. Town’s sex pet…no consent…all the atrocities that you still have yet to sample. You shall endure such sweet agonies as having your flesh stripped from your body and the purification tests of water, blood, and fire. Such divine pleasures they were. All the while, your family and friends will watch this happen, but won’t lift a finger to help. Oh, I’m sorry, you have no friends, and, well, your family is dead. So, your suffering is only for my pleasure! It’s a pleasure I will savor until I’m reborn once again from your ashes. So, for now, Lover, you should rest. I’ll return to check on you later. A word of advice; don’t piss off the Sheriff. He does really enjoy his job.”

  I tried to answer her, but it was too late. She had disappeared, leaving only the odor of mildew, embers, and sex wafting in the air. Her presence lingered long after she had vanished, and the mark demanded to be noticed as it glowed and throbbed to the rhythm of my heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  Another Dream

  The tiny hole in the wall didn’t allow much light in, so I never really knew if it was day or night. The Sheriff, who was never shy about making his presence known, kept asking if I needed another country thumping. It was merely for his own amusement, as he didn’t stick around long enough for me to answer. Every now and then, he would enter the cell just to show his fist doubled up and wave it in the air or maybe throw his boot up on the cot to see me flinch a little. It was getting really old. The constant taunting and mind games had made me a nervous wreck. I was becoming someone who cowered away from a confrontation with the lone mouse vying for the last crumb of dried out cornbread.

  I was lying there thinking about how my decision-making process needed some major overhauling. The events of the last year or so were proof enough. It was time for a change. Right about now, when all my muscles were seizing, and my blood was draining faster than my body could produce it, I was second guessing the decision to ever go to rehab. Even if I wasn’t lucky enough to drink myself out of my misery, I could’ve at least been blissfully drunk and unaware as to the stark reality I now dwelled in.

  Suddenly, strange frigid air began to intertwine with the stale odor circulating my new home, and my breaths started freezing soon after escaping my lips. There was an eerie cloud forming in the corners that slowly congregated to the center of the room. It all combined into a dark, dense vision of a woman.

  “You are in danger!”

  “Thanks for the news flash, lady, but I already figured that out!” I yelled almost hysterically.

  The cloud settled, and there was a solid figure staring at me now. I could tell that this was the same woman who I had watched drown herself every night in the spring near my cabin.

  “This place will eat your soul! Leave now before it’s too late!”

  “In case you don’t know it, they sorta have me incarcerated. But why do you say this place will eat my soul?”

  “You are the Alpha and Omega! It all begins and ends with you! Leave now!”

  “Stop with the fucking riddles already, Confucius! Just give it to me straight.”

  She was hovering in place, looking indifferent to my plea for honesty.

  “You are not ready for the answers you seek! This is not the right time. Remember, timing is everything!”

  “Yeah, I was just reminded of timing. So, you’re not gonna help me, then? This little one-sided discussion is for nothing? Either talk to me, and tell me the truth, or leave me the Hell alone!”

  Her attention was drawn to the office in the front of the building, but it was as if she was looking into the past, and tears roamed freely down the side of her face.

  Again, my heart was instantly crying for her. Wanting to hold her and to tell her that everything would be ok, I tried to walk over to her so I could look into her eyes. I kept walking and just went right through her like she wasn’t there.

  “Why is there such a connection between us? I’m stuck with that demon bitch, Willow, but why do I feel so close to you?”

  Her head rotated around while her body stayed in place. She was wearing the saddest expression I had ever seen, and immediately my heart broke. Her emotions shouldn’t have had this complete of an effect on me, but I couldn’t look away or stop the tears continuously bailing from my eyes.

  Her voice was low and crackling as she mustered up the courage to say, “We are the same! There is only one. Some say Katherine, some say Willow, and some say pure evil. In the end, we are the same, because we are both the one and only soul collector. We’re just at different times in the natural maturation of the same entity. We are the same!”

  “Wait! You are the same…just from different times in the life of Katherine-- or is it Weeping Willow?”

  Her expression relaxed some, and she moved closer to me.

  “Take my hand! You are not ready, but you must see this!”

&nbs
p; I stammered, “See what?”

  She said, “Take my hand. Your answers are waiting on the other side.”

  “What if I don’t want to go? What if I just want to find the answers on my own?”

  “You are funny.” She gave a little half smile. “You know you don’t have a choice!”

  Knowing she was right, I walked over and timidly tried to take her hand. Once again, it just passed through hers, and she laughed. Then she grabbed my hand, and instantly we were transported to another time, to another place. Though I was disoriented, I knew that I had been here before.

  It was this town, except… it wasn’t the same. The streets were full, and I heard laughter and saw children playing. It looked peaceful, almost normal. Then I noticed something: Mr. Blackmon standing by the furniture store waving to people as they walked by. He seemed happy. But why did I recognize him? Over there was Mr. Allen with a group all around him, and they were listening intently to every word he was saying. He wasn’t as irritating as he had been during my encounters with him. No way! Gertrude was even smiling. What the Hell? This couldn’t be the same place, and it damn sure couldn’t be the same stick up the ass people I had come to know and hate.

  “So, you know where you are, then?”

  “I know where it looks like I am, but, this isn’t that place. No way in Hell!”

  “No, it’s the same place and the same people. This is before the darkness infiltrated the minds of the leaders, and the sickness led to massive panic.”

  “This place no longer exists. It’s been gone too long to even be considered the same community. These people don’t deserve anyone’s sympathy, and they damn sure aren’t getting any from me!”

  She looked disappointed as she jerked me along beside her a little further down the street.

  “Tell me, what do you see now?”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. Yes, it looks like a better place, and the people look happy, but none of that matters now.”

  “You have to look beyond what these poor simple-minded fools have become and try to understand where they came from, or you’ll never be able to forgive them or yourself.”

  “Look lady! These people will never get my forgiveness, because I have none to give them! This place that Hell forgot needs to be obliterated from the face of the Earth!”

  “You are still as blind and ignorant as you ever were! Maybe you should’ve been allowed to finish the job by diving into a bottle and drowning. Maybe… maybe, you aren’t worthy of the task that lies before you!”

  “You won’t hurt my feelings by insulting me, but what task are you talking about?”

  “Just watch! You’ve seen the good and innocence of the town and its people before the sickness took over. Now, witness the aftermath!”

  She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. We were transported at the speed of light down the narrow street. Everything was a blur but I still recognized each building as we traveled by them. When we reached the end of the street and things returned to a normal speed, I looked around.

  The compassion in her voice singing out as she asked, “What do you see now?”

  The change was undeniable. It looked like there had been nonstop rioting for weeks; the little shops, which had once looked so quaint and charming, now laid in ruins. Nearly all the windows were shattered and the doors busted down. There was no longer any merchandise covering the shelves and racks. Now there was only filth and tattered remnants of what used to fill the stores. There seemed to have been nonstop rioting for weeks, but these people hadn’t seemed like the types to burn and loot or bring harm to each other. Sure, they hated outsiders, but if you were one of their own, you were family.

  The smiles and laughter had disappeared. Now only hate remained. They were arguing and fighting amongst each other like they were mortal enemies. One wrong look and the fists were flying in every direction. There were public hangings right in the center of town, and a huge bonfire built so they could continue their bloodlust long into the night. But only women were being attacked and injured and hanged. The children’s tears and cries of confusion were filling the air as they ran and hid. This was definitely not the same place we just left.

  “What happened here?”

  Her sadness was amplified by the honesty of the pain and suffering of the people as she spoke. “This is what happens when fear and hatred rule over common decency. These people were hopelessly lost in the clutches of an evil they had never known before, and, being ill equipped to handle it, violence took over. The anger and all the bad emotions that they had been so successful at ignoring all the years prior became the normal reactions. No one even noticed what they were doing. Not until the time came that they could no longer lie to themselves about the extreme decay their souls had fallen into, were they able to stop the madness. They sat down and developed a new set of governing laws that they all swore an oath to uphold.”

  “Sounds like quite a little bedtime story.” My disgust in her attempts to make me feel sorry for these people couldn’t be hidden as my sarcasm showed through, “They deserve what they got! They have no forgiveness in them, so why should I forgive them? They’ve had centuries to come to terms with their plight, so they should understand what I’m going through now!”

  “You are hopeless! My efforts are wasted on you! Your soul is already black. It’s no wonder she is attracted to you! I have but only one more thing to show you. Maybe this will bring a little clarity to your damaged soul.”

  Once again, her head slides backwards and time speeds up. Suddenly, we were back to the night where the people were gathered and cheering for the woman to be brought out. The door swung open, and there in the shadows of the flickering candlelight, she approached the door. It was happening again! Willow was being sacrificed one more time. I knew I couldn’t stop it, and there was no reason to even try, but the urge to interfere never left me alone.

  This time, as they paraded her in front of the crowd, just before they tied her to the center post, she looked at me and smiled. She was beautiful! There was no way to hide how sweet and innocent she looked at that moment. My heart plummeted. I only wanted to save her, to whisk her away from this place and keep her from the fate that she so happily accepted. My emotions were displayed openly for the world to see as she smiled again and blew me a kiss. I looked around, and the woman from the spring was no longer beside me. I could still hear her words slowly resonating in my ears.

  “Sometimes people do not know what they are doing. We must forgive them in order to find peace for ourselves. In order for our very souls to be free, we must accept the fate we have been given and learn to not fight against our own destiny. Remember the good times before the sickness came, and remember not the aftermath, which we are all forever a prisoner to.”

  As the torches were tossed purposefully on the bonfire, the people cheered, and the noise was lifted to the Heavens, along with the flames. Her head was covered, and she was gagged and securely tied to her death bed, but I swear I saw her disappear before the flames fully engulfed her. As the winds picked up in an unholy attempt to fan the fire into a rage, the wind whispered to me.

  “You can’t save me!”

  ***

  A swift kick raking down along my ear rustled me from my near coma. As I winced from the new and old pains rummaging through my entire body, I saw the Sheriff standing over me.

  “Did you have a good sleep, Boy?”

  I was still not smart enough to hide my stupidity; gritting my teeth, I said, “More now that you’re here, beautiful!”

  This seemed to catch him off guard, because he just staggered back to his office and sat down. Just before my body demanded that I rest, I heard the Sheriff shuffling around in his chair. He was digging in the drawers of his desk, searching for something.

  “Did you lose your self-respect, Sheriff? Well, Hell, you’re not gonna find it in there.”

  “Quiet or you’ll get another lesson in discipline!”

  He k
ept looking in his desk, but every once in a while he would look up, and with a puzzled look smeared on his face, he would rub the half-grown whiskers on his chin.

  “You know, you’re a lucky man. The gathering is tonight, so you get a brief reprieve from school today. No more lessons. Doesn’t that make you happy, Boy!”

  In my best attempt at a smart-ass tone, I said, “Besides, you don’t want the local celebrity showing up unable to take further abuse from the good and decent Samaritans of this town, do you?”

  He smirked and yelled, “Shut up before I forget my manners and stomp the living Hell out of you anyway! Now, you better rest up; you have a big night tonight!”

  Finally, my eyes closed and rest visited me!

  Chapter Twelve

  Cinderella and the Ball

  I had just started a deep snoring exercise when the Sheriff began vigorously shaking the cot. He threw a little package on my chest and sneered.

  “There’s some warm water in the pan and clean rags to clean up with. I also took the liberty of ransacking your place and found some fresh clothes for you, although I believe the blood-stained clothes you’re wearing make you seem less of a threat.”

  He was laughing uncontrollably as he waddled back to his office.

  I did my best to clean the wounds and dress them, but the blood was still steadily seeping through the bandages. The clothes, the Sheriff had picked out, were actually pretty nice. After getting dressed-- a painstakingly difficult task-- I looked around quickly to see if I could find anything to use as a weapon. These people had been intent on running me out of town since the beginning, but now I was beginning to think that they would only be satisfied with blood.