RUTH
An Insensate Novella
The Dissolute Trilogy
RUTH an INSENSATE Novella
(Book 1.5 in The Dissolute Trilogy)
Copyright © 2015 Michelle Horst
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.
As an author I love what I write and I wrote it for you. If you want to use any part of the book and you are not sure just email me @ [email protected]. Or you can find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MichelleAnnHorst I’m one of the friendly ones. Quote it if you want, please tell your friends about it, create super-hot trailers and teasers. And please leave those awesome reviews.
Michelle Horst (2015).
RUTH an Insensate Novella.
Kindle and Paperback Edition.
Also by Michelle Horst
THE TAINTED INK SERIES
Wake Me up – A Tainted Ink Novel
http://www. amazon. com/Wake-Me-Tainted-Ink-Book-ebook/dp/B00GDOP3NQ/ref=asap_bc? ie=UTF8
Twenty-two-year old Emma runs from a devastating life. Wanting to escape her demons with the help of her crazy friend Chloe, she travels halfway across the world.
Alone, Emma must make a fresh start in the small town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She doesn't let anyone near her, until Aiden.
Aiden gives her a glimpse of what love really is like, but then their little world is shattered when their lives collide and Emma gets caught in the middle.
Will Aiden cross an ocean for Emma?
CHLOE – A Tainted Ink Novella
http://www.amazon.com/Chloe-Tainted-Ink-Novella-Book-ebook/dp/B00O6Z4QAK/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
I’m the people pleaser.
I’m the party girl.
I’m the friend that says, “Just another one.”
But then comes Zac with his broken heart and I can’t make him just another one.
This book is not your usual romance. It doesn't have the ending every romantic dreams of. Sometimes fires burn so hot that it destroys what could've been.
ZAC – A Tainted Ink Novel
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21947983-zac
I found love twice … I lost it twice.
Screw that, who says I have to be the one to lose again?
I told Chloe I would fight for her and I’m going to. She’s my forever-girl and this time I’m going to make her see it.
This novel is intended for mature audiences over the age of 18 only. It contains graphic scenes of sex, violence and strong language. I can’t stress that enough.
VAALBARA SERIES
Visions and Shadows
http://www. amazon. com/Vaalbara-Visions-Shadows-Michelle-Horst-ebook/dp/B00KOZYQ56/ref=asap_bc? ie=UTF8
Shaken by the ruthlessness of the enemies she faces, Alchera learns she can really only trust one, her guardian. The bond she shares with Raighne can be both calming and confusing, and confusion is the last thing she needs as she has to race to fulfill her destiny. With an uncertain future and no past to speak of, Alchera comes face to face with her worst enemy – the shadows growing within her. Who will be the one to guide her back when all seems lost, Raighne her guardian or Carter, the man who is a threat to her life…
The Land of Shadows
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vaalbara-Land-Shadows-Michelle-Horst-ebook/dp/B00UIBMKYU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
It’s been years and Alchera can’t get rid of the Shadows, or the dreams haunting her every night. Luna knows Void is behind it and won’t just stand by while Alchera is in danger. Luna takes matters into her own hands, but soon she finds her own life in danger.
Then there is also the bond Luna shares with Storm, her trainer and friend she turned her back on not so long ago. So many secrets have to be kept while Void, with his darkness, can strike at any time. Will he bring their worst dreams and fears to life?
A Light in the Shadows – Coming End 2015
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25015322-vaalbara-a-light-in-the-shadows
Carter gave his heart to Alchera, but all he has is a broken soul to show for all the times he has tried and failed to be a good man.
The last person he expects or wants any pity from is Elora, the child he once saved. But she isn’t a child anymore. All grown up Elora might just be able to save Carter right back.
It's either that or Luna is going to destroy the whole of Vaalbara. Elora needs Carter on her side if she's going to go up against Luna.
As the Vaalbara series comes to an end, Elora teams up with Carter, Raighne, Alchera and Storm, with the hope of saving Luna from herself.
DARK BOUNDARIES
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Boundaries-Michelle-Horst-ebook/dp/B00TFY1ZWE/ref=la_B007BBSJR2_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423598410&sr=1-8
He stole me.
He broke me.
I'm being auctioned for Fifty thousand dollars.
Now, I don't belong to anyone but strangely enough I wanted to belong to him.
It's his eyes . . . I lost myself in them
CRUEL BOUNDARIES – coming July 30th
Goodreads - https://www. goodreads. com/book/show/24490654-dark-boundaries
He’s my cousin and I love to hate him.
He bullies me.
He tries to break me every chance he gets
I remind him constantly that he’s adopted. It’s the only weapon I have against him.
THE DISSOLUTE TRILOGY
Insensate
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25604988-insensate
The Virtuous feel it’s their duty to send seven Crusaders out every year - into the Dissolutes’ Ecocity - to at least try and see if there are still people worth saving. Thus far none have returned. You’d think after years of no one coming back, they would realize it’s not working. Surely all those people can’t all still be trying to convert the Dissolute?
Our Ecocity abides by way of the seven virtues since the wars have ended. I’d say live, but I wouldn’t go that far. No one is truly alive around here if you ask my opinion, but I wouldn’t dare say that out loud. If someone dares go against the System of Principles, they get judged by the Emissaries, and if found blameworthy of an act against any of the Seven Virtues they are cast out to become a Dissolute. The Emissaries are clever, they never use words like hate, love, religion, nor faith and hope. I’ve read about those words and I think words like ‘hope’ and ‘faith’ might wake the people up, make them less zombie-like.
Ruth (an Insensate Novella)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25765810-ruth
My life was all planned out until I got chosen to be a Crusader.
I’ve never spent a day away from my family.
I’ve been the perfect daughter. I was Daddy’s little girl.
But then … then I was chosen and my life as I knew it came to an end.
I always wondered what was on the other side of the boundary marker, I just never thought it was Hell.
Sentient and Cerebral (Book 2 and 3 in The Dissolute Trilogy) coming early 2016
Footprints In The Sand
(A Stand Alone Novel)
http://www.amazon.com/Footprints-Sand-Michelle-Horst-ebook/dp/B00YLJ5R4A/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433101882&sr=1-1&keywords=footprints+in+the+sand+michelle+horst
He is all I think and dream about.
My teenage heart beats only for him.
Until he becomes part of my worst nightmare...
Now, I avoid him.
I ban every thought of him.
(This is a Stand Alone novel. It is written from both Lacey and Seth's point of view.)
WARNING: This book has violence, sexual scenes and language in it. It is recommended for 18+ only.
If you suffer from any triggers, do not read this book.
Acknowledgements
I want to thank God for being there every step of the way and blessing me with such an amazing life.
Thank you to Ronald and Sheldon, my lovely family, for being so patient with me.
Kristine, my BFF and super-amazing PA, I’d be lost without.
And most important – the readers, reviewers and bloggers – thank you for each of you. You make writing worthwhile.
Love ya all tons ;)
~*~
‘a predatory, insensate society in which innocence and decency can prove fatal’ ~ Peter S. Prescott
Chapter One
Ruth~
I’m exhausted. I don’t think there is a word for the kind of fear I’m feeling. My eyes are burning, and I’m cold. Whatever I’m on, shudders. It feels as if my stomach is falling first, and then the rest of my body catches up to it. The structure stops moving with another hard shudder. I hear metal clanking, but the fear is too great. I can’t bring myself to look at what’s coming next.
Someone moves over me, straddling me, and I shut my eyes tightly, pressing my body into the hard surface I’m lying on. I wish the trembling would stop, it’s hurting. I wish I had died instead of Mr. Demetrius.
“Morning, Ruth, did you sleep well?” a man asks, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I was tied down, dressed only in my underwear, with him on top of me – it would’ve sounded normal.
But, nothing about this is normal. I don’t know how Jai made it. I don’t know how I’m going to make it. I take a deep breath. “What are you going to do?” I whisper. I don’t have courage to look at him.
“I’m going to make you strong,” he says, still sounding normal. “You’re going to listen to me. You’re going to do everything I tell you to do. You are not going to die on me. Do you understand me, Ruth.”
I nod, and chills run over my body.
“You will hate me when I’m done with you, but you will be alive, and that is all that will matter.”
I can’t stop myself and I dare a glance up at him. A whimper drifts over my lips, sounding almost as if it’s being torn from me. Not him! His black hair is short, and his brown eyes don’t have any kindness in them. His face is hard, as if he doesn’t know how to smile.
He reaches over me and unties my left hand, then my right, but I can’t bring myself to move. I’m terrified of him. He unties my feet, and then stops moving. Seconds pass into minutes and my stomach starts to ache from the tension. Why isn’t he moving?
My heart sputters to a painful stop as he pounces over me. As his fingers dig hard into my shoulders, and he yanks me up, I can’t help but shriek. I grab at his wrists as my feet dangle in the air.
He’s big, he’s strong – I’m dead.
“I haven’t introduced myself yet,” he whispers, close to my face. “I’m Roland and head of this ward. Here my word is law. Here you work to earn your keep and learn to fight for the cause,” it looks like he wants to say something else, and then he tilts his head, “and you don’t get the option of leaving, Ruth, not like the others.”
He sets me down on my feet and he turns his back to me. I don’t know what he’s planning but I’d rather face what’s out there than face him, especially with only the scantly underwear covering my shivering body.
With a suffocating anxiety building up inside of my chest and squeezing the air from my lungs, my eyes dart wildly around, looking for a way out. I don’t think and make a run for it while he has his back turned to me. I jump off the structure, but that is as far as I get, because pain shoots up my feet and ankles and I crumble to the ground.
I hear him jump down next to me and I push myself into a sitting position. I can’t keep back the tears as they start to roll hot down my freezing cheeks. He crouches down in front of me, and he shakes his head as if he’s disappointed.
“You can’t even jump?” he asks, a worried frown appearing on his face.
I shake my head, too scared to talk. I’ve never been so scared of anyone in my life.
He takes a breath. “Well, I suppose Sam got Rachel, Chance got Jai and me-,” he stops and reaches out to touch my face. I freeze and then my breathing speeds up until it’s only puffs of air racing from my parted lips. He takes hold of my chin and lifts my face an inch, “Chin up, Ruth. I’m not going to kill you. You might wish you were dead, but I won’t kill you. Now get up and run.”
I don’t know where he wants me to run to but I struggle to my feet, too scared to disobey him. I look down, aware of the fact that I’m still only wearing my underwear. He hasn’t looked at my body, but there are others here and I don’t want them to see me dressed in so little.
He steps up to me and the terrifying fear sets back in. “When I tell you to do something, you do it,” he hisses. I stumble backwards to get away from his voice.
“I don’t know where to,” I whisper, my voice hoarse with fear and tears.
“The Drill Zone, of course.”
~*~
In the tunnel I really start to worry about everyone seeing me in my underwear. It makes me stop dead in my tracks. I swallow hard on the fear threating to choke me, and I turn around.
“Where are my clothes?” A sob makes the question come out, a strangled gasp.
“You’ll have to ask Sam. He’s the one that does the undressing and tying downs. I do the choking. By the way, I want your nails cut. You especially, have long nails,” he says, taunting me – and it works.
My eyes drop to his arm and I see the scratch marks. Fear numbs my mind as I remember the night before. I remember them grabbing me and the overwhelming dread and terror that flooded me.
I spin away and run, but the blue door blocks my way and before I can turn around again he corners me.
He presses up against me, pinning my body to the door, and my every muscle goes tense. My skin prickles with terror. Sobs burn up my throat. I hear the door click open, but his arm goes around me and he holds me back. Where his forearm wraps around my waist, his skin is scorching hot against mine. I’ve never been touched by a man! I kept myself pure for the man that would become my husband. I start to cry harder as shame washes over me in trembling waves.
“The first lesson I taught Chance was to survive, the second was that there is always good in every bad situation, and the third is that you always have a choice,” he whispers, his breath hot on my ear.
I can’t think straight enough to make any choices. He lets go of me, and my fear drives me to get away from him. I run as fast as I can down the tunnel.
Fear explodes in my chest and I can’t get enough air into my lungs. My teeth clatter and my breaths are nothing more than choked sobs.
“I said run, Newbie!” Roland’s voice thunders behind me. I reach the end of the tunnel and only then do I realize I have nowhere to run. Terrified I look for a way to escape but there is none.
“Run, run, run!” he roars, and I hear his heavy footsteps behind me. Waves of dread and fear crash over me, and I dart right.
I run into the dome shaped building I was shown yesterday, but I can’t take in anything around me. My vision is blurry with tears. I stick to the wall so I don’t fall off the side.
“Jump the scaffoldings,” Roland hisses behind me, and his words are like a wildfire licking at
my back.
I don’t know what he’s talking about! When I reach the opposite side of the room, I can’t go anymore. I stop and press up against the wall. As Roland comes closer his eyes jump to somewhere below, then back to me. I wish the wall would just swallow me and end this hell I’m caught in. He keeps walking right at me and I turn my head away, pinching my eyes tightly shut. Every inch of me is shaking.
His clothes brush against me and I press as hard as I can into the wall. “Right in front of you are scaffoldings. You are going to run. You are going to jump them, or so help me, Ruth, I will throw you across them.” He takes a deep breath and I can feel him leaning closer to me. “Don’t make me throw you,” he says, his voice ending on a whisper. He almost sounds human.
“I don’t know how,” I whisper, taking a chance and hoping he won’t bite my head off and then throw me.
“You haven’t tried,” he bites the words out, the whisper of a moment ago, gone.
He steps away and I look at the platforms in front of me. They look as daunting as he is, but I don’t want him to throw me. I take a shaky step forward.
“You need to run,” he says, with that all too quiet voice again.
It looks like he’s going to take a step towards me and I run – to get away from him. I scream the second my feet leave the floor, until they touch the platform. But the platform is slippery and there is nothing to hold onto. Another scream tears through me as I slip off the scaffolding.
The floor crashes into me, or I crash into it – I don’t know. I only know it feels as if every bone in my body is crushed. I taste blood and when I open my eyes everything sways and spins.
Ruth (An Insensate Novella) (The Dissolute Trilogy Book 2) Page 1