“Becca,where are you?” Rachel pulled her dark grey coat tighter against her,staring around the empty cemetery.
The sky was darkening and thunder rumbled in the distance.Where was everyone?Did they leave without her?
She hesitantly advanced to the open grave as the first drops fell from the sky.She peered in,sucking air into her lungs as the smell of burning wood and scorched flesh assailed her senses,causing her to sink to her knees and gag.
“Rachel….”
Dear God,Galen’s voice…
“Rachel,why did you leave me to die?”
Frozen with fear,Rachel stared into the open grave again.The remnants of the casket began to move and sickeningly,she saw Galen’s charred remains begin to move.Screaming didn’t help.She was trapped in a nightmare.
Inch by inch he beg
The phone rang just as Galen plopped himself down behind his cluttered desk. In the months since moving in with Rachel,his cottage had become the unofficial headquarters of the asylum’s renovations and was now in use solely for that. Glancing at his phone, he was surprised to see Enid Morris’ number. She didn’t phone often, having complete trust in him and his team to get things done, so this was quite piquing his interest. Ever since they succeeded in crossing over her mother and ridding the asylum of the dark spirit, the old lady had spent most of her time travelling, leaving the majority of her day to day business dealings to Anita to see to. “Mrs Morris,” he answered,”so nice to get a call from you.” “Galen,my dear. It’s been too long. How have you been? And Rachel? I do miss you so much. I know I have been tardy when it comes to checking in on you.” “We’re al
Black candles flared into life as Rachel walked into the darkened cave. Her feet were bare,taking in the sensation of utter cold from the harsh stone floor.“Where am I?” she whispered into the darkness. What was this place? So cold, so forbidding…“Rachel…”The voice which spoke her name was female,guttural and filled with malice. Dear God, what was this nightmare? Her body tensed and she felt her breath coming in short gasps. It was almost as if she could no longer move of her own free will.“Who are you?” Rachel asked, trying her best to keep her voice steady. She shouldn’t show her fear, that was what all darkness fed upon. “Why have you brought me to this place?”“To watch him die,” the voice said spitefully. “To have our revenge.”Galen….no…Before her eyes, a stone altar rose from the floor, spikes protruding from its surface.“He will die Rachel…And you will be the one who delivers him unto us…”Rachel was still visibly shaken from her vision, as Becca handed her a cup of tea.
Rachel’s interest was piqued by what Becca said. If they could find a spirit to carry a message to Gabi wherever she was, it would make things so much easier. Gabi risked a lot coming to her in the first place and was surely keeping a low profile until the dust settled. Reprisals were surely at the top of her list of things to worry about. As an angel of death it was her duty to keep the cosmic balance in the cycle of life and death, not to pass on warnings to her mortal friends. “Gabi might be difficult to track down, Becca. She broke a lot of rules to warn me in the first place.” “I know Rachel, but this is our only option. To send a spirit after her. It’s not like we can just lift the veil and find her ourselves.” “And the spirit you think can help us? Can they be trusted with this?” The momentary look of concern on her sister’s face wasn’t lost on Rachel. It almost seemed as if Becca was hiding something from her about the spirit she wanted to use
She was falling… She was floating… A downward spiral into the open grave… Midway down, Rachel was overtaken by a sense of hesitant peace. The fall down was not what she expected. She’d envisioned herself making a swift fall and an even more swift connection with the cold, hard earth waiting for her below. Instead she found herself floating gently, with no fear, no trepidation and absolutely no horror to speak of. Some dark spirit had pushed her into an open grave. Was this how it would end for her? With no one around her to say a final goodbye? No Mom, no Becca, no Buck and no Galen? Her heart wrenched at the thought of her loved ones, left behind once the spirit killed her. Would she not even hold Galen one last time? Rachel closed her eyes and fell deeper into the waiting abyss… When she opened her eyes, she found herself laying flat on her back, on a marble floor, in a cold empty room. She sat up, stretching and trying
Black widow… Rachel braced herself against the accusing tone in the spirit’s voice as she pulled her gaze away from Galen’s animated corpse. This was a trick, nothing more, designed to throw her off guard. “I know none of this is real,” Rachel said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. “I grow tired of your games.” Her words were met with a bitter peal of laughter as the doll looked at Galen and reached out its fingerless, stitched hand, to smear the bloody tears across his face. “Perhaps,” it answered, “or maybe a foretaste of what’s to come. Watching your life fall apart is almost more pleasurable than killing the wolf.” Enraged, Rachel reached out to grab it, but it was lightening fast. It was out of her reach in a split second. “Twisted bitch! What do you want from us?” Rachel spun around at the sound of its almost maniacal laughter. It was sitting in the front pew, intently gazing at her. When its laughter final
Their voices, sounding slightly disorientated, came through to her as if from the depths of a cold fog, sweeping some desolate countryside. Odd, but comforting. “Fucking hell, how did this happen? And why isn’t she waking up?”Galen …“I had no idea leaving her there would lead to this.”Becca…“The spirit wanted her life. It wanted my baby’s life…”Her mother…Rachel wanted to open her eyes, wanted to see them, but her eyelids felt heavy, as if opening them would be the most monumental of achievements. What happened? Why was she feeling so powerless?Slowly, her fragmented memories became whole while listening to them. The dark spirit attacked her, trapped her in some vile illusion, using her father’s memory as a weapon to attack her and make her lose her mind. She heard the heaviness of her breathing, felt the heightened racing of her heart as she recalled every moment of its demented plan. What did it want? Why torment her in this way?“How did you know Liz?” Galen asked, the angu
Waking up, Rachel smiled contentedly, knowing she was in her own bed. She rubbed her eyes and stretched , trying to remember the dream she had. Why did it seem so fuzzy? She recalled falling asleep while everyone was in the room, and then she remembered speaking to someone in her dream, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think who it could be. Turning, she found Galen asleep beside her. His chest rose with each breath and she gently placed her hand over his heart, his closeness giving her comfort. His eyes opened and when he saw her, he pulled her into a tender embrace, kissing her and holding her close to him. She rested her head on his bare chest, the sound of his heartbeat in her ear. Was this man, this wonderful man, really the target of a dark faction, all because of her? How could anyone even dream of hurting him? “You scared me,” he whispered into the darkness. “I would not make it in this world without you. Do you know that?” She inhaled his scent, and held him tigh
It was raining, when Galen arrived at the Bruce Compound, the following morning. He zipped up his jacket as he made his way to the front door. In light of Enid's death, Sophia Bruce had sent him a text the previous evening, requesting to see him. Inwardly, he wondered if the Alpha had plans to fire him, but he remembered Enid saying she was a good person. Perhaps this meeting was just a formality for them to officially meet? Other than that night, when she'd saved his life, he'd never had any contact with her again.The door was opened before he could even knock. From the looks of the man, who introduced himself as Stefano, Galen surmised he had to be of high rank, within the pack. The fading scars on the left side of his face and the deeper scars in his neck, surely from a wolf bite, indicated he was either a warrior wolf, or perhaps even a Beta."I am her second in command and her highest ranking general," Stefano said. "Guard your mind, Mr Munroe. I can read your thoughts."Galen c