“Hello?” I ask as I sit up from the muddy forest floor. “Is anybody there?”
Dying leaves crunch under my bare feet as I stand. The mud gets in between my toes. I turn around when a rustling comes from behind me.
“I know someone’s there, so come out!”
I walk a little closer, stopping abruptly when a little girl walks out.
I stumble backwards when the girl’s face shines under what little light the moon provided.
“I said, what are you doing?” The small but firm voice of my ten-year-old self echoes around me once again.
“I-I don’t understand. What’s going on? Where am I?” My head starts to ache as I try to remember what happened.
She giggled and walked even closer. “We’re in your head, silly.”
She lifts up the little panda I used to carry around; my little Hoshi. She picks off little clumps of dirt as she hums to herself. “Don’t you remember? We’re Celeste. We protect people, but we can’t do that when you’re sleeping.” She looks back up. “They’re here with us, you know, our parents. They are the ones who told Alpha Foster what we were.”
“What are we?” I ask quietly.
“A demon. We’re the chosen one according to our dear old pop-pop.”
I scrunch my face. “Pop-pop? We have a grandfather?”
“Oh yes, we do. His name is Zeke, and he’s looking for us as we speak, but he’ll find us dead if you don’t wake up and fight.”
My heart speeds up, and the color drains from my face. “We’re going to die? W-why? We haven’t done anything.”
She sighs impatiently, and with the flick of her wrist, I’m on my knees and clutching my head as memories flood through.
“Cat needs to stop blocking your memory. She thinks she’s helping us, but she isn’t.”
My ears start to ring as blood drips down on the side of my face.
“The pain will leave soon.” She sits on the floor and watches me. “For now, I need you to listen.”
My heavy breathing is the only thing I can hear around us as I slowly look towards her.
“Foster thinks you won’t wake for a while because of the drugs pumping through your system, so you need to work harder than ever to fight it. Once you’re awake, you’ll have to act fast because someone checks on you every hour and that hour is almost up. Do you understand so far?”
I slowly nod my head so she can continue.
“Good. Once you’re awake, you’ll need to undo the knotted rope around your wrists. It’ll burn, so you’ll have to do your best not to scream. Since you can’t use your claws, you’ll burn your fingers and Austin will feel bits of your pain through the bond, but you’ll have to ignore that fact and completely shut down your emotions or else you’re not going to make it.”
“What do they want with me? Foster already knows I won’t work for him no matter how much he tortures me.” My voice is weak and cracked as I try to speak through the soreness.
“Our mother has given him a way to control your demon. It’s a spell. He’s hoping he’ll be able to convince you to join his side without having to resort to magic. What he doesn’t know is that she is going to double-cross him and use you for her own gain. So, we need to kill them before they can kill us.”
The ground begins to rumble, and my child form begins to fade in and out. She looks up, her eyes wide before they turn back to me.
“Cat’s fighting the drug. You’ll wake soon.” Her voice is panicked as she runs up to me and lifts me from the ground. “Before you go, I have to tell you: save Austin.”
She starts to fade some more, her body becoming translucent. “What do you mean? I thought they couldn’t find me.”
She starts leading me through the dark woods. “I said Zeke will find you dead if you don’t fight,” she reminds me, “but Austin will be first if you’re not gone within the next two hours. Once he arrives, he has no chance of getting out alive. You need to get out and stop him from raiding the house that you’re being held up in.”
Light starts to flood through the forest, a clearing appearing ahead of us. She pushes me forward into the light and I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the blaring white light.
“And remember,” she says, “you promised that boy you’d help his little brother too.”
After that, she disappears, and I’m lifted from the ground.
My eyes snap open, and my breathing picks up slightly as I look around the room. It’s the same one I was held in when I was younger.
I twist my wrists and hiss in pain when the silver rope pushes itself deeper into my skin. My gaze snaps down to the ties, remembering my dream. I turn to the door as I hear the sound of footsteps coming from someone walking back and forth in front of the door, keeping me locked in here. I start to take deep breaths, slowing down my rapidly beating heart as I stare back down at my hands.
I dip my head down and start tugging at the knots with my teeth, wincing and swallowing cries of pain as the silver digs in deeper and burns my lips. As I pull, the knot slowly starts to come undone until I’m finally able to grab hold of it and pull it loose. Using my one free hand, I undo my other one and free my feet. I rub the stiffness out of them before pulling out the IV drip that was keeping me sedated
I head towards the door. I make sure to keep my movements as quiet as I can so the person outside can’t hear me.
I press my ear to the door, and I only pick up one heartbeat. I sigh in relief since I won’t have to fight more than one person right off the bat. I am still a little sluggish and weak from the drugs. I turn back around, scanning the room for a weapon. Knowing Foster, there ought to be some weapon of torture here.
I smile happily when I see the familiar drawers of weaponry. I never thought I’d be happy to see these tools again.
“You know, you really should keep those out of the room. Someone can use them against you.” I smile sarcastically up at him as blood drips from my mouth and down my chin. He laughs a humorless chuckle before another punch landed against my cheek.
I shake the memory from my head as I stumble towards the little desk.
I pick up a silver-coated blade and walk back to the door, listening once again for more people. His footsteps follow a familiar pace―ten steps to one side and other another to the opposite side―until he stops right in front of the door. This is similar to the last time I escaped, except this time I actually have something besides my hands to defend myself. Fosters forgot my warning.
I pull the door open a little bit to peek once there’s no more movement. The man outside is about 6′4 and completely frozen in place, his body tense. Someone must be mind-linking him. I wait a few seconds for him to stop talking to the other person, watching as he shakes his head clear. I take that as my opportunity to swing the door fully open and plunge the knife into his back. I put my hand over his mouth so he can’t make a noise.
I drag his heavy body into the room with much effort. Once done, I poke my head back out and search the hallway for more people. I tiptoe out of the room, making sure to shut the door to my personal hell. I go right. My memory decides not to fail me for once. When I reach the end of the hall, I rest my back against the wall and peek over. I get a view of one of the main rooms. About five people are sitting and roaming the room as they chat and watch TV.
I curse silently to myself, knowing I can’t take them all and make my way back down the hall. I head left instead. I walk quickly before I hear two voices coming from the turn up ahead, one being a voice I recognize quite well. Drawing in a sharp breath, I duck into the first room I can and quietly shut the door and lock it. When the footsteps get closer, I slow down my breathing so they can’t hear my erratic heart.
They pass and I release my breath, finally taking the chance to look at my surroundings. In front of me is a large desk sitting in front of two floor-to-ceiling windows. There are a couple couches and a few bookshelves. It’s probably the nicest room in the whole house. I walk forward cautiously to t
he windows. Looking down, I can see I’m on the fourth floor which means no jumping from here without injuring myself.
Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring around the house and I’m forced to cover my sensitive ears.
“ATTENTION, PRISONER ON THE LOOSE. IF SEEN, DO NOT KILL. SHE IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.” A voice comes in through a speaker and I huff in frustration.
They must’ve beefed up security since the last time I was here. The sound of marching feet comes from up and down the halls as the wolves of this ‘pack’ bust down doors and check rooms. The knob of the office door starts to turn but stops as the lock keeps it in place.
“Over here! I think we’ve got something!”
More marching can be heard, and it stops right outside the door. The sound of so many heartbeats coming from the hall is too much. It’s too many to count.
“Knock down the door.” Foster angry voice comes from behind the piece of wood, the sounds of guns cocking following after.
“Yes, sir. Everybody step back.” There’s a small shuffling noise before a foot crashes against the door, sending it flying open. People invade the large office, and they point their guns at me.
“You’re cornered Celeste, give up.” Foster calls from next to his top warrior, Alex.
“Hello Alex. How’s the leg?” I ask sarcastically as I watch him lessen the pressure on his right leg. It was the same leg I stabbed and nearly ripped off the last time I escaped.
“Fine. No thanks to you.” He gives a low growl while Foster steps forward.
“No banter, Celeste. I know you’re just stalling to find a way out, but we both know there isn’t one.”
He’s right. I am stalling.
“Tell me, how’s my mother and father?”
He looks a little taken aback by my question. I guess I’m supposed to know they’re here.
“Did my mother tell you she was going to betray you and kill you once I was under that spell of hers? Seeing how she only needed you to track me down and capture me that should be happening soon.”
Two new sets of footsteps sound down the hall. The crowd splits apart for the unknown people to pass through.
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling. He’s my partner, and I don’t betray my partners.” A familiar posh British accent comes from behind Foster.
“No, you just save the backstabbing for your family, right?” I turn towards the woman, taking in how much she’s aged before turning to the man behind her.
“Hello mother, father.”
CHAPTER 37
|austin|
“Celeste?” My voice echoes around the dark room. The steady rhythm of water drips as flows from a rusty pipe.
“Austin…”
It’s a ghostly whisper that comes from all around.
“Over here, Austin…”
I twist and turn, looking for the source of the voice.
“Celeste!” I call again.
A loud whimpering begins as lights slowly flicker on. The first thing I see is a girl huddled in the corner. Her black hair drapes over her face, but I know who it is.
A smile spreads across my face as I sprint towards her.
“I found you...” I fall down next to her shivering form and pull her onto my lap.
As I clutch her form to me, her shivering begins to stop, and her whimpers soon turn to low chuckles.
“Celeste…” I slightly pull away from her and move the hair from her face. The sight in front of me scares me as I push the cackling girl off my lap and scurry backwards.
This wasn’t my Celeste.
Her eyes are crazed and wild as I pull away from her. She slowly stands while I climb to my feet and walk backwards.
“Who are you? Where’s Celeste?” I yell as I bare my canines at her.
Her face distorts into something unrecognizable. The cackling grows louder as more of her appears in a circle around me. They start to come closer and I try to get away until it all just stops.
It goes dark as the cackling ends and the creepy beings disappear.
“Hello?” I call out.
“A-austin?” A light flickered behind me, and I freeze when I see Celeste on the floor with cuts and bruises on her body.
“Celeste!”
She gets up and starts running to me. As I open up my arms for her to run into, a shot echoes around the dark and dusty room. Her face contorts into one of pain as she freezes and blood forms on her shirt.
“Austin?” She whimpers before falling to the ground as I stare on in horror.
Blinking out of my dazed state, I fall down next to her and clutch her cold body to mine.
“No, no, no, no. This isn’t happening.” My voice cracks as my eyes begin to water.
“Wake up. Celeste. Please, wake up.”
I cry as my hope grows a little when her eye lids flutter open slowly. Her chapped lips crack open ever so slightly as blood drops out and her hoarse voice filters through.
“Y-Your fault,” she whispered. “This is your fault.” She pulled in a strangled breath. “I’ll never forgive you, Austin.”
She chockes on the blood coming from her mouth before her eyes closes once again.
“What? No, Celeste, wake up.” I pull her flush against me as I cry against her shoulder. “Please.”
I gasp in shock as I shot up from my huddled position on my desk.
“Celeste!” I call as I try to catch my breath. Before I could even collect my thoughts from the horrific nightmare, Aston bursts through my door, sweating and panting.
“Alpha,” he yells. “We found her!” he shouts happily as I jump up from my chair and run out of my office.
|celeste|
“So,” I say as I look around the office I’ve been cornered in. I am trying to distract them; long enough for the drugs to leave my system. By then, I’ll have a better chance of fighting off these mutts.
“How long before you actually kill Alpha Foster, mother?” I smile a sickly sweet one as I watch her every move.
“My darling daughter, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She spits back in an equally sarcastic tone.
“So, Alpha Foster, do you really believe she won’t turn on you?” I direct my attention to the douche that got me into this whole mess. “I mean, I’m her own flesh and blood, and she discarded me like trash without hesitation when she found out I was of no use to her.”
I smirk on the inside as I watch his attention perk at my words.
I continue, “I’m surprised she hasn’t snapped your neck yet since you’ve already done your part.”
“ENOUGH!” My mother calls as she flicks her hand, sending me flying into the wall behind me.
I groan as my back aches and I push myself up from the floor.
“You know, it’s quite cowardly to hurt someone who can’t fight back. How ‘bout we wait till I get my powers and wolf back? Then we’ll see who’ll bleed.” I growl at her as I spit out a glob of blood from my mouth.
I force my nails to extend into claws as I stand and face her. It hurts at first since the medicine is quite strong and laced with wolfsbane, but I fight it.
“Go ahead. Fight me. Even if you were to somehow defeat me, you’ll still have to face this whole pack of wolves.”
“I can take this pathetic excuse for a pack.” I snarl at her before I jump and aim for her throat.
CHAPTER 38
|dean|
“Attack,” she says to me and my body moves to stand in front of her on its own accord, knocking the familiar-looking girl down to the ground. I had long ago given up on fighting this weird pull that makes me do everything she says.
Fighting always ended up in either me or Celeste getting hurt anyways. Oh, my poor Celeste. I wonder how she is? Lilith always swears she’s safe. She even promises to let me see her once we get this girl to do what she wants. I wonder how many years it’s been since we left Celeste in the woods for my brother to take. Is she still just a little girl or has she grown old enough to find her mate?
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Her mate…I can’t wait to scare the shit out of him.
I’ll always protect my little girl.
I snap out of my thoughts when the girl scratches down my face. Stupid girl. Why can’t she just do what we want so I can see my daughter? I growl out at her, surprising myself. My body actually responded to my thoughts. I wish I could take control when I actually want it.
I look back at the girl, growing confused. Why does she look so familiar?
“Think, think, think!” I yell at myself mentally, willing my brain and body to do as I please for once.
My body reacts and backhands her, sending her back to the floor. She’s still weak from the drugs Lilith gave her.
“Dad…” the girl cries. “Why won’t you fight her?”
Her voice…it’s so vulnerable.
My eyebrows scrunch in confusion as my body freezes. Then the first words I’ve ever spoken on my own in years left my lips.
“Celeste?”
CHAPTER 39
|celeste|
His eyebrows scrunch together as he looms over me.
“Celeste?” he whispers in shock.
“Yes, it’s me. Fight her dad. She doesn’t have to control you anymore.”
Something flashes in his eyes before he hunches over in pain, only to stand back up again with the same dead look from before.
“Face it, darling. Your father is gone.” Lilith steps forward, resting a perfectly manicured hand on his shoulder. “I’m in his head, and all he knows is you are still a little girl living happily with her uncle until we return home to get you.”
A wicked smile takes over her features as I spit blood out on the floor and look up at her.
“You won’t get away with this. I’ll get my wolf back at some point and when I do, you’re dead.” I growl out.
She scoffs and turns to look at the closest soldier. “Take her to the basement and chain her to the wall. We won’t be needing her until her precious little mate comes anyways.”
The Devil's Daughter: A Paranormal Romance Page 16