Black Hollow: Reviving Love

by Cassidy K. O'Connor

  Chapter Twelve

  The faint light streaming in between the curtain windows pulled Sarah from her peaceful sleep. For a brief moment, she forgot she wasn’t alone and how brazen she had been the night before.

  As if he knew she was awake a hand gently massaged her hip and slid across her stomach. The steel band of his arm pulled her against his chest, her eyes drifted closed as she felt the hair on his legs tickle the backs of hers, the heat from his body sending goose bumps across her flesh. Gentle kisses along the curve of her neck sent desire pooling between her legs.

  Her confidence from last night was gone in the daylight. She wanted to make the next move but didn’t know what it was. The realization that she would be back in her own bed the next night gave her all the motivation she needed to take things into her own hands.

  She reached back, her fingers stroked up his thigh and in between them. Her hand wrapped around his already erect penis and squeezed firmly as she stroked him. His breathing grew ragged in her ear, his hot breath tickled her flush skin.

  Her hand was pulled away as he pulled her over onto her back. She reveled in the weight of his body on top of hers, for a brief moment they stared into each other’s eyes. Both could see the other was broken and needed to be loved for who they truly were. With one fluid motion, he slid deep inside her, her head rolled back with the depth of his thrust, his tongue traced a single drop of sweat down her throat to her collarbone.

  Last night was frenzied as if both were afraid it would be over too quick. This was something altogether different, this is what people called making love, something she realized she hadn’t had before.

  Obviously, they weren’t in love but both gave the other exactly what they needed to feel wanted and cherished. Maybe there was hope for them, maybe there was hope for reviving love.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Adam laid there staring at the ceiling, Sarah was draped across him, his fingers stroked along her spine. He was struggling to wrap his mind around the fact that he had a woman in bed, they were naked, and she could see all of him and wasn’t disgusted. It had been at least seventy-five years since he slept with someone and that was a prostitute who had no issue doing him in the pitch black.

  How did this stranger manage to pull him out of every protective layer he had wrapped around himself in less than forty-eight hours? She had gotten under his skin and for the first time in two hundred years, he wanted to get out of his house and spend time with her. From what he could tell she wasn’t a witch so a love potion wasn’t likely. He was starting to suspect she was his soul mate and he’d been going through the motions of life waiting for her to show up.

  Panic was building in his chest, he knew this was going to end badly. She was a weekender who would disappear tomorrow night and now that she’d woken him up he would suffer in the loneliness that he hadn’t realized surrounded him.

  “Sarah, are you awake?” He didn’t want to sneak out and be gone when she woke up but he needed space to clear his head too.

  She yawned and flipped her head on his shoulder to face him. “Hhhmmm, how are you so bright-eyed right now? I feel like I could sleep the rest of the day.”

  Ego swelled in him slightly, he chose to believe she was exhausted from their multiple rounds of sex and not because she was on vacation.

  “I have a project due today for a client, I need to get home. I didn’t want you to think I took off on you.” He could see the disappointment in her eyes at his announcement he was leaving, “I’ll see you at the party tonight, right?”

  She sat up, pulling the sheet up to cover her chest. “Yes, we’re going to the party. Do you have time for breakfast at least before you go?”

  Guilt was warring inside him but he knew he was getting attached fast and needed to get away for a bit. “I’m sorry, what if we meet at the buffet line tonight, it’ll be like having dinner together?”

  “Sounds good, thank you for last night, I had a great time.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek before climbing out of bed and going to the restroom.

  He felt like a piece of shit, but it was better this way in the end.

  He got dressed and slipped out of the hotel room. He waved at Sandy as he left the building, the stoic man never had an expression on his face but this time he had the slightest smile curving his cheeks.

  He hoped it was early enough the whole town wouldn’t get to watch him do the walk of shame for the first time in his never-ending life.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sarah stood in the shower letting the hot water beat on her back. The first time she had sex in four years and the guy takes off almost immediately. The many years of abuse she had suffered under her husband made it easy for her to slip into self-blame and thoughts of not being good enough.

  She knew the feelings were wrong but it wasn’t an easy habit to break. Penny’s face popped into her head, her best friend would smack her right now if she knew what she was thinking.

  With a sigh of resignation, she turned off the shower and got dressed. Her stomach was growling and she was never fun to be around if she hit the hangry stage.

  She got dressed quickly and opened her door to knock on Penny and Asald’s door. She wasn’t surprised to find their door wide open, Penny had pulled a chair inside her room facing Sarah’s door. She had the scarf Sarah had hung on her doorknob wrapped around her neck. The goofy smile on her best friend’s face was mortifying enough but then Asald peaked around the door and smiled at her too. Sarah tried to step back in and close her door but their yells of protest had her stopping.

  “If I come out do you promise to not pounce on me? Let me talk about it when I’m ready?” Sarah stared between the two of them, waiting for agreement.

  Penny could see in Sarah’s eyes that something was wrong. “Of course, forget we said anything. Let’s go get breakfast.”

  Sarah watched as Asald leaned down and whispered to Penny, “Do I need to go beat some sense into that guy?”

  Sarah chuckled and waved him off, “I promise he did nothing wrong. Let’s drop it for now.”

  She turned down the hallway not looking back to see if they followed. Penny’s hand slid into Sarah’s and she squeezed. She could always count on her friend for knowing exactly how to comfort her.

  “Aristide said there is an awesome bakery on Main Street called Magical Delights, we can get breakfast there.” Asald held the door to the lobby open for them then led the way. As they walked through town Sarah still couldn’t grasp the eccentricity of the place. She found herself daydreaming about living here with Adam, picturing Alex walking to school with a cauldron.

  Thoughts of her son made her realize she slept with a man who didn’t even know she was a single mother. She suddenly felt very reckless, that could be a deal breaker for some people. Then again, last night could have been a one-time event so she could be worrying for nothing.

  Sarah could smell the sugar long before they got to the door of the bakery. There was so much pink and purple all over it looked like a five-year-old’s princess party on steroids. The employee’s behind the counter seemed to glow, their beauty was nearly blinding. The most unique part of them were the golden horn’s jutting out of their foreheads.

  “Ah, I get it, they’re like unicorns.” Penny’s eyes danced with excitement. She dragged them to the counter pointing out everything as if they weren’t seeing the same things.

  Sarah had to admit their designs were creative, “If I eat any of this I may not fit into my costume tonight.” Penny’s head swung towards her, a perplexed look on her face.

  “What are you talking about, there isn’t an inch of skin showing on you and it’s not form fitting at all. You need to lighten up and drown your last twenty- four hours in a sugar coma.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes at her, “I’m going to get a bagel and coffee.” She leaned forward and ordered, they had bagels in every color of the rainbow, she wasn’t sure that much dye was good for a person.

  “Fine but
we’re coming back later for dessert,” Penny grumbled before ordering her own bagel.

  They sat at a table in the corner, Asald saw Toussaint walk by, “I’m going to say hi, I’ll be back.”

  He wasn’t four feet from them when Penny faced her straight on and quirked her eyebrow, waiting patiently.

  Sarah took her time chewing, she stared around the cafe, taking in the sights while not looking in Penny’s direction at all. Her eye’s drilling into the side of her face finally became unbearable. “Fine, geez, you are persistent.”

  “What? I didn’t say anything?” Penny batted her eyes innocently.

  “What do you want me to say? It was amazing, he was a gentleman when he needed to be and aggressive when I wanted him to be. We had a great night, then when I woke up he seemed to shut down and said he had to go to work.” She tried to not sound pouty.

  “Don’t read too much into that, he was totally into you last night and it was an unexpected date so maybe he really did have to work.”

  “Yeah, he was into me, three times actually.” Penny choked on her coffee at Sarah’s statement.

  “Holy shit girl, lead with that next time!” Penny held her hand up for a high five, “I honestly didn’t think it was going to get past some heavy petting, that was the freaking Olympics.”

  “It really was amazing, I’m pretty sure I orgasmed at least five times. He did things to me I had never even thought of.” Sarah’s cheeked burned in embarrassment. She knew Penny would never judge her but she still was shy admitting it.

  Asald came back in, “Are you guys done yet? Toussaint offered to take us on a tour of the town.”

  Toussaint stood in the window of the bakery waving to them. “Sure, we have a couple of hours to kill before we need to start getting ready for the party.” A horned employee appeared next to them and took their trash away, even the workers smelled like sugar.

  Asald held the door open, “Let’s go see what else this crazy town has to offer.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I still can’t believe you are going in that crazy costume, you have a cute butt under that lab coat and should be showing it off.” Penny lectured Sarah for the tenth time since they dressed for the party.

  “I know we don’t know Seraphine well but something tells me you don’t go against her wishes. And like I said before, I need the extra yards of material to let me hide behind if I get nervous.” Sarah stuck her tongue out at her best friend and left her hotel room to go meet Asald at the car.

  It was her first time laying eyes on him in costume and she was in awe. He stood leaning against the car, giant wings were folded up against his back, his skin was grey and mottled looking. “You look awesome! Your wings look so real.” Sarah reached forward to touch them as Asald stepped back and climbed into the car, she was impressed how easily he got in with them on.

  Penny came bouncing out of the hotel in her skimpy fairy costume. Her wings were nice but nowhere near as good quality as Asald’s were.

  They drove the short distance to the mansion on the edge of town. The gates were huge, ornate, wrought iron, two massive gargoyle statues stood sentry on either side. Asald pulled up to the gate, a call box was nowhere to be seen. After a few seconds, the gargoyle on the left started to stretch and turn its head towards the car.

  “Get the fuck out, I give up, we have to move here.” Penny was leaning in front of Asald watching the statue move.

  “Good evening, may I help you?” All three were taken aback when the Gargoyle spoke to them.

  Asald cleared his throat, “Um, we’re here for the party.” Sarah was very glad she was in the backseat, she would have been mortified talking to the stone creature.

  “What’s the password?” Penny jumped and threw herself against Asald, the gargoyle on her side of the car had leaned close to her window and spoken too.

  “Did the guys give you a password?” Penny looked at Asald who shook his head no.

  “We don’t know the password but we were invited by Pascal and Toussaint. We met Seraphine yesterday, she would remember us and tell you we’re allowed in.” Asald hoped name dropping would help.

  “I don’t know Abenor what do you think, do we believe him?”

  “He is dressed like one of us Larott, how could we turn him away?”

  “Mistress doesn't like us letting people in who weren’t invited. If they don’t know the password, how do we know they’re supposed to be here?”

  ‘You know he’s allowed, he’s one of us. If he wants to bring along friends I say we let him in.”

  All three people in the car volleyed their heads back and forth watching the strange stone creatures arguing over the car at each other.

  “Fine, I’ll let you in but you have to do the password.” Larott leaned close to Asald’s face, laughter on his face.

  “You do a password? I thought you said a password?” Penny looked perplexed.

  “You must sing us a song to enter, it’s Abenor’s turn to choose.”

  Abenor’s beady eyes squinted for a second while he thought, “Okay, this should be fun, I want you to sing I’m a little teapot and it doesn’t count if you don’t do the dance with it.”

  Sarah was nearly out of breath trying to keep her laughter silent. No way was she going to risk gaining their attention. Penny elbowed Asald and gestured for him to perform.

  “This is ridiculous, fine, I’m a little teapot, short and stout,” Asald growled the words out.

  “Stop, stop, that is a fun song you are butchering and you definitely aren’t dancing.” Asald glared at Abenor then let out a huff of irritation before starting again.

  Sarah was impressed, his second try was much better, she still wouldn’t let him sing it to a classroom full of kids but watching him tipping himself over, his arm shaped like a spout was too much fun to not laugh at.

  “Larott, Abenor, how many times have you been told?” Both gargoyles snapped to attention, looking straight ahead rather than at the tiny woman who was standing on the other side of the gate.

  Seraphine had appeared without anyone noticing, “I’m sorry for these two, they let the power get to their heads sometimes. While you do make an excellent teapot, I do suggest you come up to the house and join the party.” She didn’t wait for an answer she spun on her heel, took a few steps and was swallowed by the darkness.

  The statues didn’t say another word, the gates slid open silently. The winding drive ahead of them was ethereal. Like the rest of the town, the trees were barren yet beautiful. The light fog creeping across the ground, its whisps licking at the tires threatening to engulf their car.

  Sarah was surprised Seraphine hadn’t stayed on the road, she had vanished. “Every time I think I’ve gotten used to this town something like that happens. Can you imagine what those things must have cost? They were incredible, technology these days never ceases to amaze me.”

  A mile down the road the imposing mansion came into view. Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces Sarah wasn’t sure who was more impressed at the sight. “I want to thank you guys now for dragging me along, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

  Penny turned back and smiled at Sarah, I would say all in all this weekend has been awesome for all of us. Now, we need to go find your man so no stalling, let’s go.”

  Penny calling Adam her man sent tingles through her belly, she realized how true she wanted those words to be. Penny was right, it was time to find him and see if this morning was a fluke or if he really did want to blow her off.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The gothic mansion was dark and gloomy on the outside, if it weren’t for the buzz of people talking and music playing Sarah would have thought it was abandoned.

  Asald parked the car and led the way, the large doors swung open slowly, a loud creaking echoing around the entryway. Asald was a tall man but even he looked tiny next to the doors.

  The sounds of people partying led them to a huge ballroom. It was a Halloween party on st
eroids. Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes, her mouth gaping open. She stood silently taking in everything around her. There were people who looked part human part werewolves and bears, a witch, a large yeti, and so much more.

  “Excuse me.” Sarah jumped as a pure white unicorn walked by, trying to get around their group. She reached out to touch it, she couldn't see any seems, but someone had to be inside since she heard it speak.

  Penny grabbed her wrist, “You don’t reach out and touch someone you don’t know.”

  “I think I’m losing my mind, please tell me you heard that thing talk,” She turned and pointed to a corner of the room, “and you see a freaking phoenix sitting on a table, right?” She spun the other direction and pointed to a group near them, “okay, come on, seriously? How the hell is there a satyr talking to Medusa and a dragon? They all look so real, I suddenly feel really cheap in my costume.”

  “No second guesses now, you were the one who said you had to follow Seraphine’s orders.” Penny reminded Sarah.

  A loud, piercing whistle caught their attention, four gargoyles were standing across the room, two identical ones were waving exuberantly. “Is that Pascal and Toussaint?” Their wings were as impressive as Asald’s, their skin was similarly colored but the angles to their faces and bodies were much sharper. “That must mean the other two are Aristide and Sebastian, did you guys plan to dress alike?” Sarah looked at Asald questioningly.

  “Um, yeah, we thought it would be fun.” Asald rubbed the back of his neck nervously before taking off toward the guys.

  Sarah and Penny followed closely behind, they nearly ran into his back multiple times, they weren’t able to pay attention to him when there were so many fascinating costumes around them.

  They passed a table with a giant chocolate fountain flowing, tiny winged creatures were strewn all around it, some hanging out of the bowls with drool dripping from their open mouths.