Afterlife (Afterlife Saga)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Morgan!”

  “Yes I remember… Afterlife” He said answering Sammael and I couldn't swallow at the sound of the club being mentioned.....what was he going to do? Then it hit me, maybe the reason they wanted Draven here was to get back to the club without his guard. Were they really going to try and bring down the Afterlife.... OH NO.... IT WAS A TRAP!!!!

  “NO you can't!” I shouted and Sammael started to laugh spitting more blood to the floor and it sizzled acting like acid as it hit the black tar.

  “You don't need to worry about it my dear, you have played your part well...and maybe we will meet again in some other life but for now....well I will leave you in Morgan's capable hands.” He said snapping his teeth shut which overhung his nailed lips. The wires were in the way and the sound of bone against metal was a gruesome noise.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked trying to pull my body up but my wrists were bleeding from the skin that had been rubbed away by the rope.

  “Revenge of course. See your precious Draven did this to me,” he said, pointing to his wired mouth. “He and his brother think they have the right to meddle in my affairs like they are the LAW! After my partner, Belphegor, didn't need me any longer he sought the help of your dark prince to silence me forever.” He said with a bitter spark. “But as you can see I found a way and now, well thanks to you, I will finally get my revenge...he is not the only one with powers and well, now I have an advantage. See I have nothing to lose but Draven...now he finally does!” He nodded to me with another evil snap of his fangs.

  He then left out of the door and it was then I realised where I was. I was in the log cabin in the woods where I had fallen. It looked different, as the furniture that had been piled up against the doors and windows was all stacked in one corner. The moon was still bright in the sky from the clear day we had, and having no clouds to hide behind, it flooded the cabin with light.

  Now we were alone again Morgan wasted no time coming back over to taunt me like the leech he was! His hand went to my scared arm and he ran a dirty hand over each one taking pleasure in it.

  “Now we will be alone forever Catherine, I will take care of that.” He said as if this was something I would want to hear, so I decided to try reasoning, if you could with a nut job like Morgan. I said his real name for the second time in my life and it felt like acid was burning my mouth at the infection it caused.

  “Douglas please, I am not your sister, my name is Keira not Catherine...you don't want me, it's Catherine you’re looking for,” I said and his face first looked shocked then twisted in a red misted anger.

  “My name is Morgan and you are not allowed to talk about my sister...she LOVED ME!” He screamed and this could be my one chance to stall for time.

  “What happened to her?” I asked him as he had now turned away from me, so at least with this I had accomplished something.

  “NO, NO, NO, you don't speak her name...she didn't leave me!” He shouted and I could see the tears starting to form. He bent down and gripped his head in both hands, pulling his hair to the point of obvious pain. It was at this moment that he had never looked sicker. He needed help it was clear.

  “Speak to me Douglas, tell me what happened to her,” I said in a soothing voice trying to calm him down.

  “I loved her! And she loved me! It would all have been fine if he had never come in between us.”

  “Who came?” I asked as I tried to squirm loose when he wasn't looking.

  “That boy...THAT RICHARD! I hated him! I hated him but she said for me to give him a chance. I couldn't look at him, the way he looked at my Catherine...SHE WAS MINE! God damn it!” He said as if seeing the memory there for himself, he shook and so did I, as I guessed what was coming next...

  His twisted soul's confession.

  “I found them together the way we used to be. She loved him now, not me. When I forbade her to see him again she lashed out...at me? She couldn't understand, he didn't love her...not like I did! I was trying to keep her safe...I just wanted her to be safe!” His arms flew up dramatically as his story continued.

  “I found her sneaking out to see him so I followed them and tried to get them to stop. His car wasn't as good as mine...and neither were his brakes.” He said in an eerie voice that held a hint of satisfaction. I shuddered at the sound, knowing this human was pure hatred and the evil sickness had consumed his mind long ago.

  “He ran them straight into a tree and I parked up to watch, waiting for the flames. But I had to get closer. I had to look as I hoped his face had been mangled into a pulp! But when I saw them they were both still fine, still alive and still breathing. My sister didn't call my name...she called his…HIS! After everything I had done for her, after everything I gave her! He had poisoned her mind against me! So they needed to be punished and it was my right to punish them. So I took out my father’s lighter he had given me and as the fuel pumped out all around them, I sent them to where they belonged!” He said finishing his past and I cried for that poor girl’s desperate attempt at real love, only to be murdered for it by the jealously of her own brother.

  “So you see Catherine, you will not leave me again...not for another Richard. This time I will keep you safe and I will keep you always...forever!” He said now coming back closer to me, to place his hands on my skin as if staking his claim.

  “Please Douglas, you don't want to do this,” I pleaded as his hands slid around my back and down the material of my ripped skirt. He was gathering it up in his hands and I couldn't bear the thought of what he wanted to do to me.

  “Now it's my turn to have you, I was going to wait till we were married but seeing as you have already mated with that thing! Then I will take you here and now, ready for him to see when he arrives. Won't that be nice for him?” His hands pulled my skirt all up around me and I twisted again trying to get loose but the pain in my wrists was making it hurt so badly I couldn't try for long.

  “Calm down my love, you will learn to love me back...in time...lots and lots of time.” He kissed my neck working his way up to my face. His hands held my backside and he pulled my lips to his, crushing himself against me. I opened my mouth and bit down as hard as I could on his bottom lip tasting his blood in my mouth. He screamed and backed away placing his hand to his mouth in surprise. I spat his blood out on the floor, not wanting anything from him to touch my body again. I didn't care what happened next as he may have taken my body by force but my soul belonged to just one man and one thing was for sure...I wasn't going to make it easy!

  “That wasn't nice, do you know what happens to bad girls?” He shouted slapping me again making my head whip to the side like a rag doll. Only now I wasn't as scared as I had been so the laughter came thick from my bloody lips making me look…Demonic!

  “Stop laughing! What's wrong with you?” He screamed at me and he slapped me again trying to knock some sense into me, which was exactly what I wanted to do to him only using a baseball bat!

  Then I heard the most beautiful sound that made my laugh turn to a scream.

  “AVA!” I shouted and Morgan's head whipped round to the door seeing it flap on its hinges in the wind. I heard Ava cry out at the sound of my voice and I knew now it wouldn't be long.

  “Are you ready Morgan?” I asked in an ice cold voice that I didn't recognise.

  “Ready for what exactly?” He said coming back up to me with his knife in hand as if he had the advantage again. I just looked up with an evil grin of my own and said,

  “For my revenge!!!”

  Chapter 48 - The Trap!

  I screamed at him before he grabbed me by the throat closing my windpipe making it nearly impossible to breathe but his grip was slipping from his sweaty palms and shaking hands. But he wasn't the only one losing grip. I was quickly getting lost in the darkness that was trying to pull me under. I just needed to hold on...just hold on for a little while longer. Draven was coming. I could feel it, as every cell in my body started to ignite and the connection was burning br
ighter the closer he got.

  Then the walls started to shake and the wood made splintering noises as if under strain from a storm. Morgan looked all around the room, as like me, he didn't know what was happening. Then we both heard a huge crashing noise as if a boulder had fallen from the sky giving off an aftershock on the wooden floor making it shake and split. That's when it all happened at once. The whole front of the cabin ripped from its foundations, moving at such high speed it made the logs crumble into the forest as if they were just twigs. The roof was about to cave in on us, when one half pealed back as if it was just a tin can. It flew backwards over the cliff's edge and you could just hear its destruction as it smashed onto the crater floor.

  The cabin was a mere shell with a few beams remaining and only three walls. I shook with every movement it made as I was still attached to the beam by the chain. My wrists were beyond a bloody mess as my bonds had cut through the flesh but at least my screams had been muted thanks to the mighty quake that had erupted the forest floor.

  When everything stopped shaking, I finally looked up to see Draven's demon form. He stood where he had landed from the sky, with his huge wings expanded out on full view. His body was exposed showing his powerful energy as he only wore trousers, and you could see his veins glowing fiercely. His hands positioned out to control the rubble that was in his way, making it shoot through the air giving him a clear path. It was only now that I fully understood the intensity of the power he held. It was truly terrifying....

  If I thought that I had seen Draven mad before, then that had only been the tip of the volcano that was about to erupt into full Demon fury. He moved forwards making the rubble part like the red sea, launching it out into the forest like it had been made from foam. This was not the half Angel Demon I had seen before.... Oh NO... there was no Angel insight as his eyes found Morgan holding my neck in one hand and a large blade in the other, which he had positioned to my side.

  As he got closer his naked torso looked as though it would explode with the energy under his skin. You could see a raging red river flow in his veins as it was destroying the Angel within him. It looked as if the Demon part was completely taking over and was most definitely winning the fight! His muscles rippled as he tensed them at the sight of me. I must have looked as I felt.... which was broken. My dress had been torn exposing all my legs and the straps were no longer. The blood down my arm remained as it had dripped all the way to my shoeless feet and as my face had been hit at least four times, I couldn't have been pretty to look at.

  “YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!!!!” Morgan screamed at him as the blade got closer to me but Draven moved faster than either of our eyes could catch, and was soon at Morgan. He just extended his arm out and flung him aside as if he had been a cardboard cut-out.

  “Watch me!” He said in a controlled anger as Morgan's body flew through the air, crashing into the other side of the cabin. I jumped at the thud it made, making my body sway around on the chain. Draven's eyes found mine but it was as if he was looking at fire and what I was seeing was the reflection. The purple had all gone, being replaced by the utter rage of hell itself. His red irises scanned over me and I could just see the hint of pain that touched them as he noticed every new mark on my shattered body. He came closer to me and I couldn't help the tears that still flowed only now they were tears of relief, not so much that I survived but more that I could now see his face once again.

  “You came for me...you…you found me!” I sobbed feeling the tears fall down my sore red skin. His hand went to my face and I was surprised when it felt ice cold. It was the only part of him that was now flowing back his purple energy. He was controlling it to soothe my burning cheek.

  “Of course I came for you...I will always come for you Keira.” He said as he leaned his forehead to mine and he whispered, “I love you”. I was just about to say the same back, when I saw a flash in the corner of my eye of Morgan's blade.

  “DRAVEN BEHIND YOU!” I screamed and he turned into the blade that Morgan held out in his hand making it disappear into Draven's stomach and now only the handle was showing.

  “NO!” I screamed out as I saw Morgan back up to wait for Draven's fall.

  Only it never came. Instead Draven looked down at it sticking out of his flesh, making his hair fall forward in front of his face. I couldn't speak at the sight....I wanted to run to him and pull it out, driving it deep into Morgan's body! Then Draven flashed a pure evil grin as he looked up to find Morgan's terrified face.

  “Now it's my turn!” He said and he pulled the blade from his body and grabbed Morgan by the throat and pinned him to the wall lifting him with one hand. He started to choke him and Morgan's legs fought franticly for the floor beneath him. Draven's eyes grew wider enjoying the sight of his pain. He even licked his lips as if he would soon attack like a hungry animal going in for the kill! I couldn't stand it any longer, as the good in me couldn't let this carry on.

  “Draven, please...he’s sick...he isn't right...he needs help.” I said as I watched the life drain from his body and Draven shot me a fierce look as I had just interrupted his Demon frenzy. He dropped him making him fall to his knees where he coughed and wheezed, trying to regain his breathing, making him clutch his throat with his hands. Draven looked down at him like he was disgusted with the parasite at his feet.

  “You’re right my Keira, he is sick and I know just where they can help him.” He said in a voice I had never heard before.... It was his demonic voice. This made me shake to my very core. He was beyond terrifying, he was the place from where nightmares were born!

  Then like lightening he had him back up straight and plunged the knife deep into his heart without even a shred of humanity.

  “Enjoy Hell Vermin!” He said through the deadly smile on his lips...Oh yes he was most definitely enjoying this. Morgan was suspended onto the wall behind, as the large knife went straight through to the wood. He spluttered out blood and I couldn't believe my ears when I heard laughter come from his blood soaked lips. He turned to me and looked me straight in the eye.

  “I will be seeing you soon Catherine!” And those were his last words before the life left his body completely. Draven got angry at this and ripped the knife from his chest and as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor he kicked it, as if it had been a dead animal!

  “CORPUS VILE!” Draven shouted at his victim (Means “Worthless body” in Latin) He then came over to me but I was still shaking from what I had just witnessed, so when his hands touched me, I jumped and let out a shriek.

  “Ssshh, its ok Keira, I won't hurt you...I'm sorry you had to see that.” He said softly. His hands gripped round my waist and for the first time tonight it felt good, now I was finally in the right hands. He lifted me up gently as if I was going to crack and fly away like dust. He lifted me over the hook and set me down clearing any debris before my feet touched the floor. His hand stroked my hot face and he shook his head at the state I was in.

  “Keira, tell me you are alright...tell me... are you in pain?” He asked through closed eyes and gritted teeth. He looked as though he would soon lose his last thread of what sanity he had left. Then his eyes suddenly flashed open and he scanned my face then the blood on my arm.

  “I'm ok, but my wrists,” I said I as I held them out for him to see. He looked at the bonds tearing my skin and then he pulled them off gently as he growled at the indents they had made. He tossed the blood stained rope to one side as I winced at the pain.

  “I'm sorry...I was so stupid…I thought…I believed...” I started to sob but he placed his hands on my cheeks, once again making them cool. He wiped my tears and smudged eyes with his thumbs and then pulled me into him to hold me safely in an embrace.

  “Ssshh...You’re safe now, I have got you...I won't lose you... not again, not ever!” His voice was full of hard emotion and I could feel his muscles flex under my arms I had wrapped around his waist. Then they went harder still, like granite, as he heard his enemy calling him out.

 
; “OH DRAVEN! Time to come out and play!!!!” Sammael's voice echoed around the trees and bounced off the canyon wall. Draven let out a growl that sounded deadly to the core. He still had me in his arms like my dark protector.

  “Keira, stay here” He ordered but I held onto him and for the first time touched his wings, which were surprisingly much softer than they looked.

  “Draven don't, it's a trap! There is more than just him out there...I heard him talking about others and he also said something about Afterlife.” I said shaking my head and gripping on to him so tightly, as if I never wanted to let go.

  “Keira, listen to me, I have dealt with his kind before, do not fear for me but you must stay hidden. Ava is outside, when I leave here I want you to run over to her, she will keep you safe...do not move Keira...you understand?” He said, fully aware that I was no longer to be trusted with my own decisions and rightly so...just look where they had got me.

  “NO you can't go...please don't leave me!” I begged, wrapping my arms around his neck and trying in vain to hold on. He looked down at me and wiped the tears from my frightened face.

  “Keira, do you trust me?” His eyes flicked back to their calmer purple and I think this was for my benefit.

  “Yes...but...” He kissed me softly before I could finish, filling my mind with ease. I didn't even notice when he had lifted my arms above his head freeing himself from my hopeless hold. He turned me round showing me where Ava would be waiting.

  “Run to her Keira, run and don't look back. This is something you will not want to see!” He said with the flames reigniting in his eyes as he was now leaving me to face his enemy. He walked out of the ruined cabin and went around the side to where Sammael's voice came from. As soon as he was out of sight I made a run for it, to where I could see Ava's shadow waiting for me. I tried to run as quickly as I could but I had to dodge around the rubble on the forest floor, so it took me longer than expected.