Retriever of the Lost Souls (Retriever Series Book 1)

by Brian

  The next thing she was aware of was breathing deeply as clean, fresh air filled her lungs as she sat upright on her bed. She was still disoriented but made sure that her arms, fingers, legs, and toes were still working. She was breathing deep, trying to clear the awful smell from her body and tried to stand, but Shaymo told her to remain sitting.

  “You are now able to be with me when you choose. When your body finally ceases to live, you will come down and join me for always.”

  Lilith was scared but having her husband there was comforting, and she was at peace with her decision.

  “I am exhausted, is this normal?”

  “Yes, my love, it is. You shall rest here tonight, and then tomorrow we will talk some more.”

  “I want to be with you tonight.”

  “You must understand something. In my world, there is no sleep. If you need rest, it will have to be here. I’ll call for you tomorrow and answer all your questions. For now, I must go, and you must sleep.”

  Pouting, she knew he was right.

  “Okay, then. I’ll do as you say and will come to you then.”

  That night, during a fitful slumber, she dreamed of doors, death, and Shaymo. When she woke up in the morning, she hadn’t noticed anything different until she went outside. Suddenly, everybody had colors about them. She marveled at this when she heard her husband beside her.

  “It’s something, isn’t it?”

  “They are so beautiful! What are the colors? How come I never saw them until now?”

  “Before now, your eyes were not opened. However, now that you’ve ventured beyond the Fourth Door, you can see what you couldn’t see before.”

  He took her by the arm and escorted her inside.

  “My love, there is something I need you to do, and it won’t be pleasant.”

  “Of course, you know I’ll do anything you ask me to,” Lilith answered.

  “This is one of those times,” he said flatly. “I need you to get married.”

  “WHAT? You aren’t making any sense. I can’t marry anyone! I’m already married to you! Look what I just did for you!”

  “You are married to me in my world only. Not in your world above.”

  “I can’t! I don’t want to, and I WON’T!” She said defiantly.

  She came to him with her lips in a full pout.

  “I don’t want you to either, but this is something important. It will only be for a short while and will allow us to bring another to our cause.”

  Still pouting, she again looked him in the eyes and eventually gave in.

  “I’ll do anything for you.”

  “My love,” he said, “you will be starting a job soon.”

  She groaned. “A Job? What kind of job?”

  “There is a small company which has recently discovered the need for a new receptionist. The one they had, uh, met with an unfortunate accident.”

  She, of course, knew what he meant, and remained silent. Even though she loved Shaymo with all her heart, he sometimes scared her.

  A few weeks later, she met Derek, the man she would soon call her husband. He had bleach blonde hair, eyes almost as green as her own, and even though he was quite handsome, she had an instantly disliked him. He didn’t have the dark look of Shaymo and was much too clean cut for her taste. But she knew she had to do as her husband asked, however distasteful it might be.

  “Hello,” she purred at Derek.

  “Hey beautiful, where have you been all my life?” He smiled.

  “Waiting for you, sexy,” she played.

  “Then it’s my lucky day! How’d you like to have dinner with me after work?”

  Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, she managed to hide her disdain.

  She nearly had Derek frothing at the mouth that night, teasing him mercilessly and building his sexual tension almost to the breaking point. Try as he might get her into his bed, she kept him at bay with unspoken promises of things to come.

  One night, after she had been particularly hard on Derek, Shaymo came to her.

  “I know you don’t want to share your body with him, but it is the only way to cement his love for you. Please do this for me. For us.”

  With a heavy sigh, she finally acquiesced.

  The following night, she dressed as sexy as she dared. Derek had told her he would like to see her hair put up, so with painstaking care, she put her long hair up in a bun, leaving wisps of it hanging down on each side of her face. She completed her ensemble with a backless black dress and four-inch heels. Watching her get dressed, Shaymo became instantly aroused.

  “My darling, you are stunningly beautiful. Why don’t you stay home with me tonight instead?” He said with a wolfish grin.

  She sauntered over to him, kissing him with a fire that only burned for him.

  “Why don’t I?” She smiled. “I would rather be with you any day instead of this waste of human flesh!”

  Her hand slowly slid down his chest to his waist, where she was suddenly stopped. He swallowed the lust that grew within him as he removed her hand from his body.

  “As much as I want you to stay, alas, you must go. It is imperative that you marry this man. You must remember this.”

  “Why is this guy so important?”

  “Do you know of the prophecy?” he asked

  “No, tell me,” Lilith said.

  “Three hundred years ago, a prophecy was foretold that speaks of one who is meant to bring light into our world of Darkness, and pits a mother against father, a daughter against son, and a sister against sister,” he said. “If we can bring The One down below before he does this, the prophecy will remain unfulfilled, and our covens will be safe from those up above for many more centuries to come.”

  After that first night of intimacy, Derek followed her around like a puppy dog. Just a short month later, he presented her with a two-carat diamond ring, asking her to marry him by professing his undying love for her.

  The following month they were married in a small, simple wedding in front of a justice of the peace. It was not long, however before Lilith grew tired of this man she called her earthly husband.

  “Derek is a moron,” she said one night while in the arms of Shaymo. “He disgusts me.”

  Shaymo remained unusually quiet, fidgeting slightly.

  “My dear, I have some news that might bring you some angst.”

  “Tell me,” she said as she prepared herself for the worst.

  “We have determined that your earthly husband isn’t The One after all. We had thought he was, as all signs but one pointed to it.”

  Lilith stayed quiet. Seething with anger, she spoke in an ominous tone.

  “And what is that one sign?” She said trying to maintain control of the anger building within her.

  “The part about pitting “sister against sister,” he said nervously. He knew she had grown powerful and was concerned.

  She exploded with rage.

  “I can’t believe I wasted so much time with that idiot! How could you misread the prophecy! You knew that Derek HAS NO SISTER!”

  Her body was shaking as she screamed “IDIOT! I have THREE sisters!” She said, tapping her right index finger into her chest.

  Shaymo wanted to laugh at Lilith’s ire. He suddenly took her in his arms.

  “I am sorry my love.”

  “Let go of me!” she cried in anger as she began hitting him on his arms and chest with her tiny fists.

  He saw her eyes flashing red, startling even him. He had never seen her like this and was pleased that she was becoming one of them. His body became enflamed by her anger, making him want her more than he already did. He threw her onto the bed and used her with the fury of a storm long held back. She was angry and fought him at first. However, her body began to respond with a fire of her own. She dug her nails deeply into his back, causing him to wince, spurring his passion. They were so entrenched in their frenzy that they failed to hear the front door open and the footsteps that ascended the staircas
e. When the door flew open, Derek’s eyes opened to the spirit world.

  “What in the HELL is going on?” Derek yelled.

  Startled by this outburst, Shaymo and Lilith quickly separated their bodies.

  “Who the hell are you, and why are you fucking with my wife? You have the count of three to get out of my house, before I call the police!”

  Derek was incensed at this man violating his wife.

  “Derek, please honey, you don’t want to threaten him. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

  Shaymo slowly got up and even more slowly got dressed, causing Derek’s anger to grow to a crescendo, and he heard a voice within his head say, “Come on pretty boy, come and get me.”

  Startled, he turned to Shaymo whose eyes had narrowed to slits and lunged at him. The last intelligent thing he heard was, “DEREK, DON’T--” Then all went black.

  After a few anxious moments, Lilith broke the silence.

  “What are we going to do now?” she asked her husband with panic in her voice.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he does not die. I’ll destroy his mind but leave the body alive.”

  Lilith was scared now.

  “What do you mean by ‘destroy his mind’?”

  “The Seed of Confusion will wither his mind away to almost nothing, leaving him in a persistent vegetative state. Then, you can apply for an annulment of your marriage.”

  To plant the Seed of Confusion, Shaymo sent Lilith out of the room. When the door was closed, Shaymo took his right hand and placed it on Derek’s temple, closed his eyes and uttered some words to have it take hold. A few minutes later, he called Lilith back to the room.

  “You must follow my instructions very carefully. I want you to call an ambulance and tell them your husband collapsed and is unconscious. It will look like he had a brain hemorrhage and suffered irreversible brain damage. I’ll make sure there are no suspicions.”

  Lilith was still shaking as Shaymo left but followed his instructions to the letter. The ambulance took him to the hospital. After a battery of test in the neurological unit, the doctors told Lilith they could do nothing for him further. They gave her a choice of pulling the wires off him and end his life or discharging him to a mental institution. After speaking with her in-laws, they made the decision to send him to the sanitarium in the hopes that a miracle would happen.

  Two years later, after showing herself as the dutiful wife, she approached her in-laws and told them that she couldn’t live this way and wanted a divorce. They were understanding and gave her their blessing.

  Chapter 33

  Several months after her divorce, Shaymo approached Lilith once again with another request as he sidled up and caressed her.

  “Hello, my darling, sweet, beautiful wife.”

  Knowing he was going to ask her something unpleasant, Lilith smiled at him.

  “Okay my wonderful husband, what is it that you are seeking from me?”

  “I have grown weary of finding someone new every time I wish to be with you. I think that it is time we find you another husband, one who must be open to my presence.”

  “You want me to have another husband?” She groaned. “Have you forgotten the debacle with Derek?”

  Ignoring her ire, he continued.

  “This one will be different and won’t be here for anything other than to be a host for me. Perhaps, we can also use him, so that you and I may procreate, bringing more into the fold of our lives.”

  “So how do we find this person, or do you already have someone in mind?”

  “We already have someone in mind who isn’t committed to our ways yet but is very weak minded and can be easily swayed. You will meet Mark at your new job, this coming week.” Shaymo said offhandedly.

  “You know how I feel about working,” she complained.

  She had hated working the receptionist job and didn’t relish the thought of working again, and the only time she had to do so was when Shaymo gave her a task to complete.

  The following week, Lilith was training for her new job, and with some help from Shaymo, she was able to breeze through all the required tests. One night, shortly after graduation, she began “having trouble” with her computer. Knowing that Mark was the only IT guy there at night, she made a phone call and reported the problem.

  “I'll be right down,” Mark said. He had heard of her beauty from many of his friends and was anxious to see her for himself.

  “You cal – whoa. Hello.” Her beauty stopped him mid-sentence.

  She giggled and smiled seductively. Mark inspected her computer and quickly fixed what had been the problem. Luckily for him, it had been a very basic problem.

  “Would you like to have coffee with me after work?”

  “Um, I’d love to,” He said turning bright red.

  “I want to thank you for helping me,” she cooed. “I’ll wait for you at the diner just around the corner.”

  Lilith smiled to herself. “This will be too easy,” she thought.

  Over the next few nights, they went out after work, drinking coffee and talking long into the night, two weeks later, she allowed him to take her home.

  She had been teasing him by doing things such as leaning over and allowing her blouse to hang open, giving a hint of cleavage of her breasts. At other times, she would wear see-through skirts and stand with light behind her, showing the silhouette of her lace panties. But, Mark’s favorite outfit of hers was her black mini skirt, black stockings, and what he called her “come fuck me heels.”

  That night, there was a hint of things to come, leaving him nervous since he had never been with a woman as beautiful as Lilith. She smiled at him over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom to “freshen up.”

  Mark watched the door close, then, without warning, he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

  Calling Lilith out of the bathroom, Shaymo spoke to his wife.

  “I believe he will be perfect for our plans, my dear.”

  He then grabbed Lilith and passionately used her.

  “Now what will happen?” Lilith asked afterward.

  “I’ll leave him the memories of our time together until he is completely and utterly in love with you. Then you and I will come to him in his sleep. If he is agreeable, we will continue with our plan. If he isn’t, we will wipe his memory and begin anew.”

  Over the next few nights, Shaymo would make love to Lilith using Mark’s body, and when Mark began telling Lilith how much he had fallen in love with her, they knew the time was ripe to tell him.

  The next night, Mark had taken Lilith out to a nice restaurant where they had a romantic dinner on the patio under a clear, star-filled sky. He gave her a bouquet of flowers and ordered a large bottle of wine. She looked at him with lust in her eyes and she spoke in a husky voice.

  “Tonight, will be a night of new awakenings. I have a surprise for you, and I promise it will be a night you will never forget.”

  Mark couldn’t believe his eyes and wanted her so badly that he was ready to take her right there at the table, and when the meal arrived, he was hardly aware of eating it. After paying the bill, he asked if she was ready to go.

  “I’m ready. I hope you are.” She laughed.

  He had so much lust and desire within him that he had difficulty driving home because all he could think of was making love to her. When they got there, Lilith grabbed her overnight bag and excused herself into the bathroom, where a few moments later, she emerged in a flowing negligee. She knew full well the effect she was having on him as she sashayed toward him, the soft, silky, see-through material flowing behind her. She gave him a long, slow, lingering kiss, with her tongue, she traced the outline of his lips, slipping her tongue in and out of his mouth. Her hands slowly and sensually moved down his body, strategically touching him, inflaming his desire even more.

  Suddenly, she stopped, causing Mark to whimper.

  “That was just a preview of things to come,” Lilith said in a breathy whi
sper. “I need to finish up in the bathroom. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?”

  She slowly stood up and leaned forward, allowing him to get a good look at her breasts. His body was flushed with desire.

  He watched her walk into the bathroom and wanted her more than he’d wanted anyone or anything else. Lying down on the bed, he fell into a heavy slumber. Shaymo called to Lilith to come out of the bathroom.

  “For you to come into his mind, you must come to me, my love.”

  She felt the swirling sensation as she went below with Shaymo.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Tell me what to do. I have never delved into another person’s mind before.”

  He told her to hold on to him and think about Mark’s mind. Doing so, she suddenly could see herself peering into his mind.

  “MARK! MARK! Can you hear me?” Shaymo spoke.

  “Yes,” Mark muttered. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Shaymo. Listen to what we have to say.”

  He looked at Lilith and motioned for her to speak.

  “Mark, this is Lilith. You must listen very carefully to what Shaymo has to say if you want me in your life.”

  “I do want you in my life. I’ll listen,” Mark uttered. “Who is he? Why are you both in my dreams?”

  “This isn’t a dream Mark. This is real,” Shaymo said.

  “Fine, not a dream, but who are you? What do you want with me?”

  “Mark, I am from below. I am one of the leaders of the forces of Darkness. I come to you for one reason only. I need your body to host me. You will have the pleasure of being the husband of Lilith, and you will be able to give her the children she craves. However, when I need a body, I’ll come to you, and you will let me in. Do you understand me?”

  “Below? Darkness? Is it hell?” Mark asked, now scared. He squirmed in his unconscious frame of mind.

  “In accepting this proposal, when you die, you will come down below and become one of us.”

  “I don’t understand. I don’t want to go to hell!”

  Although Mark had had a Protestant upbringing, he wasn’t an active member, forsaking all its teachings when he had started college.