Demon Possession

by Kiersten Fay

  DEMON POSSESSION

  by

  Kiersten Fay

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Kiersten Fay

  Copyright 2010 byKiersten Fay

  www.kierstenfay.com

  Al rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Al of the characters, names, and events portrayed in this novel are productions of the author’s imagination.

  License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, andmay not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,recommend them to Kiersten Fay’s website above, where they can purchase a copy for themselves.

  Thank you for respecting the author’shardwork,

  And please enjoy.

  Chapter 1

  Analia crouched in the shadows of the docking bay—shaking with fear, anticipation—hidden behind a large pile of cargo. Heavy adrenaline coursed through her body. Damp blond curls tangled around her face, hanging toward her ragged excuse for clothing and dirty bare feet. She struggled to steady her breathing, afraid someone would hear her. Her body threatened to col apse under the weight of the ship’s artificial gravity, as fatigue began to set in.

  The sounds of the ship, like a living thing, enveloped her, embracingher both as an old friend andhated foe.

  Soon she would be free.She hoped. It was the only thing that drove her on.

  Analia had known that a merchant ship would be docking today. Two or three ships were scheduled every few days, in order to maintain a variety of stock.

  In space, no two ships offered the same supplies, which meant many ships were often commissioned simultaneously.She watched the blond guard with frustration as she retraced her steps, hoping she hadn’t left traces of her spontaneous and unplanned escape.

  As usual, she’d been in the middle of a punishment. Locked in a room for two weeks—no food, and little water—with another week of the same to look forward to. The punishment had been the result of trying, and failing, again, to refuse Darius’s advances—Captain Darius of theExtarga, a.k.a The Hel Ship. He’d become ful of rage at her continued resistance and ordered her locked away until she couldaccept her lot… accept him. Something she would never do.

  She could never give herself—heart, body, and soul—to someone like Darius. He was heartless and brutal.

  A man had entered her cel , she’d seen him before, he’d tended to her many times, each time she’d attempted a conversation with no reciprocation.

  Darius strove to keep her isolated onExtarga, hidden away from most of the crew. Those who had come into her presence—to bring her food or a fresh change of clothes, or perform a variety of tedious tasks—were ordered not to speak with her, or bedisciplined. None had risked themselves for her conversation, not that she didn’t try. She’d always been desperate for communication; speaking to anyone who entered her room, babbling about nothing if she had to.“How is your day”she would say as they performed whichever task they were meant for. It was a phrase she’d heard spoken before, through stolen moments from the ship’s surveil ance.“What is your name?”She would ask, hopeful for a response. When they ignored her she would only continue as if the conversation were two-sided instead of one, tel ing them anything that popped into her head. Her thoughts of whatever room she was in at the time. How she missed the view of space, she hadn’t been al owed to see it in decades. She drewsomesatisfaction from the one-sided conversation, if only a little. It always meant something to her when they lingered slightly, as though they were listening.

  But at that moment she wasn’t interested in conversation, eyeing the scraps of foodthe man hadbrought for her. Scraps of food not even fit for an animal, but she’d take it. She was growing thin from hunger.

  Though he hadn’t said a word, he had watched her as she ravaged the scraps. The first bit of food she’d eaten in a week and it was not enough to fil her bel y. She’d barely tasted it, which, by the looks of itwasn’t a bad thing.

  When she finished she looked up at the man, expecting him to walk away as quickly as he had come, but he remained. There was something in his expression she had never seen before. Was it sorrow? Shame?Did he pity her? Probably. Who wouldn’t?

  Analia wondered what she must look like in her tattered dress, and unwashed state. Her feet were bare, her nails were dirty and bitten, and her lengthy blond hair hadn’t been brushed in a week.

  Whenthe man turned to leavethe room he hadn’t left as normal, by closing the door tight and double-checking that it was locked. Instead, he opened the door wide, and withdrew in a rush, without a backward glance, al owing the heavy door to fal closed from its own weight.

  Analiadidn’t know what had compel ed her to act in that moment, just that she did. Rushing forward Analia inserted her fingers in the doorframe, just before it shut her in for another lonely week or more.

  Stifling a scream when the hard door came crashing down on her, she had to resist the strong urge to remove her hand and cradle it to her chest.

  Grinding her teeth she waited.

  One heartbeat. Two. Three. Her breathing was labored. The first rush of adrenaline entered her system, and the spark of an idea. Her heart began to race at the possibilities. The man hadn’t returned to make sure the door was ful y closed and locked behind him. She was alone.

  Think. What do I do now?

  Then she’d remembered that several merchant ships were scheduled to dock. Perhaps … if she were lucky. If she could only make it to the docking bay. If a ship was even there, it was possible she could escapeExtarga.

  That’s a lot of ifs.

  She thought of the consequences if she went through with this. A stream of horrific images entered her mind. She would suffer for days, weeks, maybe longer this time if she were caught. Never had she done anything so bold as to try to escape. But if she didn’t at least try, she knew she would regret it for the rest of her life, no matter the consequences. There may never be an opportunity like this again.

  Hope flooded her, made her feel light. The idea of freedom, a better life, possibly being within her reach, was a heady thought.

  What if I do get free and it’s worse out there?

  The idea spread through her like a poison. If she did escape,and found herself ona merchant ship, what if the people on board were worse than Darius?

  She pushed the thought from her mind. It couldn’t be possible. Could it? Dark images swirled in her mind picking at her resolve.Or, what if they found out about her gift? Perhaps her unusual pointed ears were a clear sign of what she was.

  Maybe under different circumstances she would have embraced her ability, but for so long she had suffered because of it and only wished it gone.

  Unfortunately, as far as she knew, that was impossible. It was a part of her, through and through, blood and bone.And it was the reason Darius kept her as isolated as he did.To him she was just an object, a piece of machinery.

  Perhapsher giftwas a normal trait of her people. If so, it was the only connection she had to them. She had no ideawhat she was or where she came from.

  No memory of her people.Analia had been a child when Darius had claimed her.

  Analiaknew what awaited her hereon The Hel Ship—a lifetime of suffering until Darius had siphoned every last drop of her wil in his attempt to break her.

  Eventual y he would succeed.

  WhenAnaliawas sure that the man had truly gone, she braved a peek.

  The hal way was empty, almost void of al sound. It wasn’t unusual, the ship was a huge beast.Some hal ways less traveled were left abandoned for days at a time. Hopeful y this was one of those days.

  Before Analia moved through the door, and al owed it to close behind her, she prayed for the
luck of the gods. Easing the door shut she heard the soft click of the lock move into place. Any decision she might have made to turn back was destroyed in that moment.

  Analia easily glided through the corridors, toward the docking bay.Her bare feet made little to no noise as she went.She knew this ship better than anyone. She knew it better than Darius himself—a benefit of her gift.

  When Darius had her hooked up to the ship, Analia had the ability totap into the ship’s heavy surveil ance system. It was as though the imagesfrom the cameraswere displayed directly into her mind and she could see everything al at once.

  The pain of being hooked up to the ship was nearly blinding. The feel of her energy being drawn out of her and into the ships power storage system was agony. To take her mind off thepain she distracted herself bywatchingthe crew through the cameras, envying them their freedom. It was her only joy, but right now it was her greatest enemy. The surveil ance systemwould need to be taken care of.

  Making her way to a smal control panel—for once her ability would benefit her—she went to work, using it to infiltrate the surveil ance system.

  Being hooked up to the ship, it was as if she were part of it, like one colossal machine working in unison.

  Analia shook her head and frowned in disgust. She real y was a piece of equipment.

  Everything that was in the ships database was her playground. Every piece of information, every secret, and every code belonged to her.If Darius ever found out about the extent of her gift he wouldsurelyuse her to spy on his crew.There were not many under Darius’s command who spoke highly of him in tete-a-tete.

  With the ship at her command she proceeded first to clear an easy path to the docking bay,by unlocking any door that might be locked, and checking to see if any crew members would be in her way. After ensuring she had astraight path, Analia erased two solid weeks of recorded surveil ance. Then she shut it down completely and locked the system, changing the codes before continuingtoward the docking bay.

  The system was only checked once every few months, and anything recorded was only viewed when there was a discrepancy. No one would think to check it until long after she’d gone and if they wanted,in they were going to have to hack the system in order to gain access. And because shewasthe system she knew they would have a hel of a time of it.

  Only once, as she careful y traversed the maze of passageways, did she come across trouble—a couple of crew members, advancing toward her. She heard them before she saw them. Their footsteps were not intended to be hidden like hers. They walked confident and loud, boots thudding on the hard shiny floor.

  Dread engulfed her, almost overtaking her senses. After a moment of pure panic she was able to calm her emotions, knowing she needed to find a place to hide. The voices were close, laughing and talking with ease. Just before they entered the corridor she dove for a door to her right, propel ing her body through it. Inside, the room was smal and dark like a closet, but empty and unused. Her body had begun to tremble with worry; her hands were the worst, shaking uncontrol ably. Opening, closing, and rubbing them she tried to relieve the tremors.

  The voices became loud, just outside the door. She froze, her breathing stopped. Only when the voices and footsteps continued past the door did her body relax. She was tired, so tired. The couple of weeks without food had greatly weakened her. And with nothing soft to sleep on or cover her chil ed body, she had slept badly on the cold iron floor, sometimes only fal ing asleep when exhaustion overruled the chil in her bones.

  She pushed into the now emptycorridorand continuedwith caution. The hal ways remained absent of life. The path she had hacked al owed doors to open at her approach. With each threshold her anxiety was reborn. Her feet, numb from cold, were quiet against the hard floor. Each hal way was like a repetition of the first, there was nothing distinguishing, nothing but gray wal s il uminated by dim overhead lights.

  With her nerves grated she had final y made it to the docking bay.

  Yes!A merchant ship was indeed docked, both ships connected and open to each other. She’d almost cried out with a surge of an unfamiliar mixture of emotions.

  Joy. Relief. Anticipation.

  That is, until she spotted the guard blocking her path. A large, strong looking male, a boredscowl etched in his features. Spiky blond hair framed his face and a black short-sleeved shirt revealed his muscular arms and chest. Black pants and a pair of black boots covered his lower half. Watchful, he leaned against the wal of the ship, wearing an aura of danger. Like he could rip you apart with his bare hands, while maintaining that look of boredom.

  Luckily he hadn’t seen her. She was already halfway hidden behind large piles of cargo. The stack of boxes was large enough to hide a body three times her size. She had to hold her nose to contain a building sneeze as she caught a whiff of spices.

  Analia didn’t know how much time had passed in her semi-hiddenposition. Any minute now the docking bay would be flooded with workers, sent to gather the goods. She could only wait and hope for an opportunity, the perfect moment when no one was watching so she could hide herself away on the merchant ship. She prayed for a distraction.

  The docking bay was huge. The ceiling stretched far above Analia’s head, the wal s covered in white. Three floors tiered around the great round room.

  Massive machines used for lifting heavy cargo loomed above her, bolted to the thick retaining wal s. No one was currently manning them.

  Usual y a slave or two was brought with each delivery, though Analia didn’t see any this time. Darius liked to acquire things, people included. Though most of the crew were free, many, like her, were slaves, most of them women. And though they were treated just as poorly, they were rarely keptasisolated as shewas.

  Each crew member, slave or not, was handpicked by Darius, selected for their great strength, knowledge, or beauty. Darius demanded only the best at his command. However, slave or free they al had one thing in common, they feared their leader.

  Darius was a ruthless tyrant, and wasn’t afraid to dole out pain whenever he pleased. When he wasn’t punishing her for some perceived infraction, he often forced her to watch—what he referred to asdiscipline—as someone else suffered. In order—she suspected—to frighten her into submission. It worked.

  She was once forced to witness a group, made up of one female and three males, beingdisciplined. One of the men had been condemned to death, the other three were ordered to take his life or die themselves. Analia never learned what they did to deserve such a punishment. They were given no weapons to carry out the act. Horrorstruck, Analia watched as they pounded at the condemned man with only hands and feet, to save their own lives. If she didn’t watch, if she closed her eyes, then she knew she would be on the receiving end of her own punishment.

  Analia shook the memory away. This was her first real attempt at escape.She’d thought ofitmany times before, dreamt of what it would be like to be in possession of her own life. To do what she wanted when she wanted. Oh, how she craved freedom.To think, act, and speak with no fear of consequence.

  No one forcing her to use her ability until her body—drained of almost al its essence—gives out in exhaustion. No man to encroach on her body, when she hadn’t the energy to fight him off. She shook her head.

  Focus.

  She peeked from behind her hiding spot. The guard was stil there, blocking her escape. He hadn’t moved from his position since she last chanced a look. She’d never seen the man before, which meant he was a member of the merchant ship, and was there for thesolepurpose of keeping people,such as her,from trespassing.

  Her plan had been simple, wel … in theory. She planned to sneak onto the merchant ship, hide until it next docked, and then sneak off the ship, disappearing forever from Darius’reach.Easy right?

  She just needed a little more luck, just a little to get her on that ship, one step closer to freedom. She deserved it, dammit! How much more should she be made to suffer? How much more could she take?

  “Calic!�
�� a male voice shouted. Analia jumped at the sound. She peeked to see the guard’s attention diverted to something inside the other ship.

  “What?” was the blond guard’s clipped reply.

  “The last load is stuck!” A voice yel ed. “We can’t get it through the doorway! It won’t fit!”

  “It helps if you’re smarter than the door,” The blond guard muttered under his breath before yel ing back, “We got it in there didn’t we?” He sighed before disappearing into the ship and out of Analia’s view.

  Her heart beat heavy in her chest. She waited a few seconds expecting him to quickly return. When he didn’t she sucked in a breath and moved forward, hesitant at first, and then dashed for the opening. She could hear nothing but the rush of blood in her ears and the quick thud of her wild heart.

  Closer. Closer.

  When she crossed the threshold onto the other ship her breath caught. No sign of the blond guard. Immediately she took in her new surroundings. The room was significantly smal er than the large one at her back, suggesting that the merchant ship as a whole was a fraction the size of The Hel Ship.

  There were two doorways to choose, one to her front and one to her right. When voices came from the right she sprang for the opening to her front.

  Spying ahead first, she moved through the door and into a long hal way. The air was warmer here, and a soft tan carpet tickled her feet. She was shocked by the sight of color on the wal s, a mocha brown warmed by the touch of soft overhead light.

  Ignoring the exhaustion and hunger that loomed over her she moved quickly, seeing no promise of shelter. She was exposed and if anyone spotted her now al would be lost.

  After passing through a few empty corridors, guided by instinct alone, she spotted an open doorway. From her position she could see the hint of a window, beyond it,a sight she hadn’t seen for a very long time. Disbelieving, she was drawn forward. The room was rounded with computer consoles wrapped around the edge of the room, a center console near the back wal to her left stood alone. A large window blanketing more than half the room and revealed a sight she’d cal ously been deprived of, a sight she had longed for. Awe overpowered her as she gazed through it.