This edition published in 2018 by Mayhem Pub
New York (USA)
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© S.L. Perrine - Author
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE______________________________
CHAPTER TWO_____________________________
CHAPTER THREE____________________________
CHAPTER FOUR_____________________________
CHAPTER FIVE_____________________________
CHAPTER SIX______________________________
CHAPTER SEVEN____________________________
THE RAVANA MOON SERIES
The Darker Side of Me
Hide & Seek
Dirty Little Secrets
Truth or Dare
RAVANA SHORT STORY SERIES
The Hunter’s Curse
Iron Maiden
Tangled Web
FEATURING RAVANA MOON
The Himalayan Files
Tundra Witch
More titles from S.L. Perrine
THE BEAST WITHIN SERIES
The Beast Within
The Curse of Ormshire
Maga’s a Beast
BLOOD RITES TRILOGY
Blood Rites
Turning the Stone
The Fate’s Seal
THE CRAWFORD WITCH CHRONICLES
Immortal Slumber
Power Surge
Collision of Fate
And many more
Chapter One
In a small town in the northeastern part of Ireland, darkness was the enemy. The value of life was more than any small errand needed to run. Loss of life had dwindled since those who ran the town put into effect, a curfew. Anyone caught outside after dark went unnoticed by town officials because even town officials valued life more than enforcing the rules.
The crunch of leaves filled the air, but no townspeople went near their windows to investigate. Cries for help erupted, murmurs and moans, a cackling laugh, knocks at doors, and yet no one came. Screams sounded in the night. Still, the houses remained stoic.
Light showed through a window of the house furthest from the others. A farm owned by a family of little means, yet they lived like kings. While the rest of the town stayed behind closed doors, this house, tucked beneath a bridle of trees had a door that never shut.
A small speck of a girl with almond-shaped eyes the color of emeralds ran from the house to the large barn behind it. Her tawny hair long and pin-straight flew behind her, only to catch her when she stopped in her tracks. She wore boy’s trousers and shirt with soft soled shoes, suitable for running, and carried a blade longer than her own arm.
“Anabelle, quick, this way,” her brother called to her from behind the building. She had two, twins that looked nothing alike. Both fair-haired and tall, but neither face resembled the other. One had green eyes, the other had blue, and together they looked like distant cousins. One had a too small nose, the other had a too squared chin. Both had speckled cheeks, though one had more than the other who’s was only visible when his face was kissed by the sun.
“Andrew! I heard it over there.” She called back around the building. Not wanting to move from her spot behind a bale of hay.
“Your losing touch with reality, little sister. I can see the shadow of it this way.” Andrew squawked.
“Andrew. Come now, you know your sister doesn’t miss a beat.” Clive said nearing his daughter. His strides were long, and he did not bother to run as the children had.
“But pa...”
“Come, brother. Whatever you see there, is baiting you.” Ashton moved to the side of the building next to his father.
The kiss-up, Annabelle liked to call him. Whatever Clive said, Ashton always agreed. Andrew was more likely to argue his point, but never in the dark, only in the light.
“Fine.” Andrew moved to the front of the barn, and the shadows in the woods moved as well.
Annabelle watched them as they joined the noises she heard in the direction she was poised to attack. Sure, they knew she was there. The monsters could hear far better than she and could see in the night. But one thing they were evenly matched in, was strength. The Preston children, just like their father, were born with the ability to see far better than any human in the world. They had terrific reflexes, exceptionable agility, and unfathomable strength. They were what the monsters in the night ran from, but Annabelle is what they feared. For she had been born with abilities far surpassing the others.
When she was younger, Annabelle didn’t understand her abilities. She knew she was different. Knew the other kids in the village feared her. She just wanted to run away, to escape her life and everyone in it. She never thought she was wanted let alone needed. Never thought those same kids that made fun of her, would begin to give her favors and gifts for the protection of their village. Once she knew what it was to be a part of her family, to be a hunter of the monsters that plagued them, she never wanted to leave again. Not until the day she could say the monsters no longer existed.
Even the eldest Preston, who wanted young men, and lots of them, didn’t realize it was never a male heir he was destined to receive, but a powerful daughter with more of what he had ever been given.
A rustling made Annabelle turn her head to the left, and her father watched her. The boys kept eyes on the rear as they moved alongside Annabelle as she started to prowl. Her blade held waist high, she grasped it with both hands.
“Make sure…” Ashton started but was quickly quieted by his father’s hand as it covered his mouth.
Clive put his finger in front of his lips to tell his sons to be quiet, then pointed two spread out fingers at Annabelle, signaling to them to watch and follow her. When she pounced on a moving figure, the boys took up her flanks. They were to make sure nothing attacked her from behind while she worked. The three strategized for years before they began hunting as a team. Clive kept watch of the surrounding area, and rarely interceded with the kill.
Annabelle stood with her feet apart, bent at the waist slightly with her blade in front of her. She squared her shoulders at her opponent who looked at her and smiled. He looked like a man in his twenties. His hair was long like Annabelle’s and close to the same color. His eyes were round and big, but the irises were how she could tell he was not a man at all, but something different. A monster that hunts in the night, and feeds on the blood of humans. A demon.
“Sending a girl to do a man’s job?” Her enemy spoke over her to Clive standing in the background.
Nothing bothered her more than being looked over. She furrowed her brows and stomped her foot to get his attention. “I’m more than just a mere girl.”
“You’re a shrimp.” He yelled at her between elongated teeth at the corners of his mo
uth. “A tasty delicacy for my kind that we rarely have the pleasure of acquiring. How I’m going to savor you before I get to the others.” He licked his lips.
“Then come and get me.” Her small stature allowed her to move more quickly than the boys. They had reached their teens, and though she was only two years their junior, she was more reserved. Whereas Ashton and Andrew would have moved in on their opponent, Annabelle waited, not making the first move.
The red-eyed figure moved quick, in a blur of color in the night. Before the children blinked the monster was holding Annabelle from behind, her arms pinned to her sides by her elbows. Her blade fell to the ground and she quivered under his touch, but nobody moved to help her.
“Please,” she protested as sweetly as possible. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
“What happened little shrimp? For such a cocky little thing, you sure have had a change of heart.”
“I know. I just wanted my papa to be proud of me for standing up to you. You see, he made me come out here. I don’t want to be like the boys. I’m a girl.”
“Yes, I see. Little girls should be in doors wearing cute little aprons, learning to cook, and how not to injure one’s self on sharp knives. Not out amongst the monsters. However, as I said. I rarely get the sweet blood of one so young. And, you did come out here willingly. Even better.” He said as he bared his fangs and lowered his mouth to her pulsating throat, turning her slightly in his grip.
Before the points of his teeth could pierce her flesh, he stopped. His mouth wide. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he dropped to the ground turning to ash from the wound in his chest outward. His body was gone before he landed in the grass.
“This little girl already knows how not to injure herself.” She said as an array of monsters flew out at them from the cover of the trees.
War screams were yelled as men and women of all ages attacked the Preston’s. Each with their fangs and nails poised to kill. Annabelle ducked to the ground as a woman with long black hair came at her with claws like a wild animal. She retrieved her sword and sheathed her dagger back into the belt on her waist. The woman flinched when she missed her mark and swung back around aiming at the young girl once again.
As she had done with the other one, Annabelle squared her shoulders and planted herself firmly. With a full swing of her sword and a last-minute sidestep, the woman was relieved of an arm. She screamed in terror as the stump that remained started to decompose, and Annabelle moved on to the next target.
Her blade, pure silver, soaked in holy water, and rubbed down with garlic was the best weapon Annabelle had. Her father used to question her for it, but when he saw the effects, began to do the same thing with all the family’s weapons.
“Five.”
“Four.” The twins called out, counting the number of kills they each had.
“Boys, I’ve told you. This is not a game.” Clive yelled at his sons. Then after slicing off a head of another enemy, he yelled at them once more. “Seven. I win.” He stopped moving and looked around at the ash settling over the cover of leaves and twigs laying about. It would mix in with the earth in a matter of hours.
Clive looked further into the woods, breaking out in a run to do so. “Annabelle!” He yelled, unable to see where his youngest child had gone.
“I’m here, Pa.” She came into view some short ways away. “Twelve. I win.” She said, a big grin spreading over her face.
“The first one doesn’t count, Bell. We all help with the first one.” Andrew yelled.
“I don’t see you nearly getting eaten. I get to count it.”
Annabelle passed them all by, walking in the direction of the house. Her mother, Melody, waiting just inside the screen door of the back entrance.
“How did you do?”
“Twelve, counting the first.”
“Foot stomp?”
“No, ma’am. Dagger from my belt. He never saw me carrying it. You were right, the puffy sleeves do serve a purpose, though I can’t tell what it would be for the boys. They just look silly.” She laughed her way through the house, all the way to the washroom.
With the night’s events over with, the children were all tucked into bed. Annabelle could hear the twin’s snores coming from down the hall. Her parents remained up, settling in next to the fire in the parlor. She could picture the two of them as they spoke. Her mother’s round belly bouncing as she laughed, and her father’s brows furrowing whenever his wife told him something he did not want to hear. It was the same every evening. Annabelle laid in bed and listened to their conversation. The same topic seemed to be on their minds for a month or more.
“She’s improving, still?” Her mother asked.
“Yes, but to what extent, I do not know. I don’t even think Annabelle is aware of it. Her reflexes are astounding.” He stopped to sip his hot cider.
“She will. One day. Then she will know why she was born, and what it is to mean for her. She will be like non-other.”
“She will. There is no doubt about that, mama. However, we mustn’t let her know until she’s older. She would be too upset by it at this age.”
“Agreed. Now, old man. How about we go to bed, and you can rest your tired bones.”
The chairs moved slightly scrapping against the floor as they stood to retire to their room, and Annabelle let her mind wander as to the possibilities of what their words meant. What was it she was going to be upset by? Why would she be any different than her brothers? She had not noticed much difference in more than a year. However her father was not one to give praise unless it was warranted.
Chapter Two
Ten Years Later
Copper hair curled into ringlets, rouge on her cheeks and cherry blossoms coated her lips. She wore a large sun hat to shade her face, which matched the light blue dress she wore to town. Once she hit sixteen, her mother insisted she wear dresses whenever they were in the public eye. Though she still wore her trousers and blouse, no longer borrowed from her brother’s closet, but a set of her own, after hours.
When she turned eighteen, her mother insisted she start looking for a husband, but she wasn’t interested. Annabelle was more concerned with training and bettering her skills. She was waiting for the day her parents would tell her what she was meant for.
When she turned twenty, her father told her it would be best for her to marry young so she would be able to train her own children. She had to continue the Preston line. Hunters needed to be preserved. So, she allowed her brother, Andrew to introduce her to a few of his friends.
“He’s here, mama.” Annabelle smiled giddily, then hid her face behind a pretty blue paper fan.
“Annabelle, stop fidgeting.” Her mother slapped her other hand, which was pulling at the waist of her dress. A nervous habit she rarely knew she did.
Liam Cortland was the mayor’s son, and within the small town they lived in he was the most eligible bachelor. It was still a mystery to Annabelle how he found her attractive enough to pick her over all the other girls in town. She was hardly the prettiest. Her hair was always a mess, and she was usually covered in mud from training and mucking around in the animal’s pens. Compared to Liam’s dark hair and alabaster skin, she looked like a ragdoll.
The sun bounced on a stray curl that had fallen from under her hat, and a steady hand reached up to push it back behind her ear. Annabelle froze in place. Give her a sword and a vampire, and she could move with quick agility like she was gliding to the waltz. Once Liam was near Annabelle was just a girl. She was clumsy, stuttered, shied away from eye contact, and even giggled uncontrollably.
“Hello, Liam. How…how are you today?”
“I’m doing great, now that I’ve seen you, Annabelle.”
“Isn’t he so sweet.”
“Mama.” Annabella chided.
“Oh, hush. A mother has the right to be happy for such a lovely couple.”
“May I escort you home, ladies.”
“Oh, goodness no. You two young ones need some
time together. I insist. Here,” Melody handed Liam the basket she’d been carrying. “Enjoy a nice picnic in the park.”
“Mama, did you plan this?”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant. Andrew. Ashton. See your mother home, would you please?” She reached out for her sons to take her arm and left Annabelle staring at Liam’s dark eyes before he looked back at her, diverting her gaze to the picnic basket in Liam’s hand.
“Shall we?”
“I suppose we should, though it does look like it’s going to rain.” Annabelle pointed out the dark cover of clouds forming.
“I see that. Surely we can sit for a few minutes.”
Nodding once she took his arm and let him lead her across the street to the park. An old wooden bench was placed on the edge of the path and Liam led her there to have a seat and look through the basket for drinks. Pulling out a pitcher of sun tea, he poured them both a glass after locating them wrapped in a cloth napkin at the bottom of the basket.
“Looks like your mother thought of everything. A sizable lunch for two is in here.”
“Well, I tend to eat more than the average girl, I suppose.”
She couldn’t believe she had said that. She thought Liam would make fun of the comment, but he just gave her a knowing smile. She blushed and looked over her shoulder at children playing in a fountain. The water darkened their clothes wherever it landed, and their mothers yelled at them to get out.
“Bell, I know.” He began but stopped to guide her eyes back to him with a gentle touch of her chin. He stared into her eyes and lost all thought for a moment.
“You know…?”
“Sorry. I know you have an important roll in our community. You save lives. I know that any children you have in the future will also be responsible for the lives of others. I’m prepared to help in any way I can.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. So much so, that I’ve asked your father if I may start training with you.”
Tangled Web (Ravana Moon #2.5) Page 1