Shattered Hope * Book 2, free, on going *

Epilogue for The Wrong Hope

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Please be aware that Shattered Hope is the second book in the series - read The Wrong Hope first. This book is rated +18, chapters that I believe to be violent or graphic beyond the base level of my content will be indicated with a 'v' in the chapter title.

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Here is the epilogue from 'The Wrong Hope' to remind you where we were at.

Roman

Year: 1984, 29th May, Tuesday, 10 AM, P.S.T, Spring.

My hands were tied. Metaphorically of course. There were agreements, contracts and treaties in place that stopped me from helping Sally-Anne as much as I wanted. That didn’t stop the guilt though. I felt it everyday. It was heavy on my soul.

I had given her the information that I thought would be most useful. There was more obviously but she was so young, so very new to it all and we had so little time; I hadn't wanted to overwhelm her.

There was something about her, something that drew me in - even before I knew she was a Brice.

That’s why I gave her a favour, a Demon seal on the back of the head hidden by her hair. Favours were interesting. Everyone was capable of them, even humans, although the magic involved in those transactions was a miniscule amount. Because of this no mark was left and the consequences of failing to honour one were small as well.

The pull from the seal was very weak when I first felt it. My heart fluttered hopefully. I had revisited the terms of all the agreements that had me tangled up, poured over them until I found a loophole and then I had set things in motion. It had only been a small thing that I could do but I had to try.

She was thinking of me. I was tempted to go right away, rush in like Prince Charming, but she was young and un-knowledgeable. I didn’t want to intrude, take the favour prematurely, so I waited where I was at my desk and continued sifting through my paperwork.

I had built a life here on earth. I enjoyed humans and their strange ways, the transient lives that they lead intrigued me. Some were volatile, desperate, squeezing every drop out of their existence, careless of others, often shortening both their own life as well as the life of those around them. Some were cautious, fraught with worry, gripping their existence tightly, clawing for one more day, hour, minute even, as though accruing time on this earth was the only goal and thus never really living. For most though there was just an oblivious business that kept them marching on, determined to cycle through what the collective deemed to be the correct path.

Humans would call me a Demon, a devil of sorts spawned from hell – a ridiculous notion. In truth there was no Heaven and no Hell as defined by their faiths and religions, small mindedness and blind egotistical self centric beliefs kept them ignorant of the truth. The places they called Heaven and Hell really had little to do with them, they were in fact just other worlds with their own populous, living their own lives; advanced societies of beings that humans explained as Demons and Angels. There were of course other races but they did not frequent Earth in the way my kind and ‘Angels’ did. Earth was a soft spot for slipping through the dimensions, so soft in fact that permanent portals had formed mostly to the dimensions the native folk called Heaven and Hell. One such portal was here, in my home. I had built around it, taking it for myself and becoming its keeper. Control brought me power and wealth but also danger. Wars had raged over the portals and many had changed hands but not mine. From the moment it had formed it had been mine.

Sally-Anne was still thinking of me and it was distracting me from the task at hand. I didn’t know exactly what those thoughts were; it wasn’t how the seal worked. Instead I could feel the tone of the thoughts and certainly the tone was warm. I could feel that she wanted something from me. I pulled at the front of my smart tailored pants giving myself more room where it had suddenly become... ‘ahem’ tight. Well this was a surprise. I had been blindsided by my encounter with Sally-Anne, my taste was for the consensual and this was a black spot on my record that I wished to reconcile. This was not the favour I’d had in mind when I gave her the seal but if that was what she truly wanted… I would speak to her first, be sure of it. I was not against gifting her another seal for use at a later time, or almost anything else she needed for that matter.

She was important to us all, a Brice, the last Brice, a heavy burden to which she seemed completely unaware. I knew the consequences if she were to die but still I had let her leave with Mr Murphy. I had put my own personal consequences ahead of her safety. I regretted it, especially after I had harmed her so ... intimately. It pained me to see her so lost and abandoned. Her family were arrogant, championing their men over their women despite the treaty never specifying gender. Humans, inwardly I rolled my eyes.

Another wave of pleasure rolled over me and I decided it was definitely time to go. With a lazy thought I slid across the earthly dimension to where the pull emanated. Certainly the situation was not what I had expected.

The house was on fire. Not a little fire. A full on floor to ceiling blaze, flames hungry and fierce reaching through the shattered windows and clawing up out of the roof with strident rage, billowing smoke poured out into the sky and the air was acrid. There was no panic along the seal, only pleasure; the juxtaposition of my fear for Sally-Anne against her feelings shooting down the seal was jarring. The pull was stronger now that I was in the vicinity and I focused on transporting myself closer.

Following the pull I found myself in a bedroom. It took me a moment to work out what was going on because it seemed so bizarre. The bedroom was perfectly neat, not at all how I would picture Mr Murphy keeping his home. It seemed he may have been using Miss Brice as a house slave, what an original use of the power he held over her, I thought sarcastically. The curtains were closed blocking out the sun, smoke rolled across the ceiling in angry black-grey clouds and flames were inching their way into the room via the open door. Sally-Anne was sat at the head of the bed with both her hands jammed awkwardly between her legs. Her beautiful face was scrunched up in concentration as she m*********d to thoughts of me. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind for the day I would see her free.

I found her very attractive and there was a deep seated feeling of desire and possessiveness that I had towards her, it was unlike anything I had felt towards another.

I decided to let her, well, finish. After all I was here and in the barest blink of an eye could whisk her away to safety, it would be effortless. I casually leant against a portion of the wall where there weren’t any flames not for concern of being burnt, the flames couldn’t hurt me, but I was rather partial to my tailored outfit. It could be easily dry-cleaned to remove the smell of smoke but a stray ember would ruin it. It was difficult with the arousal pouring into the room but I refrained from joining Sally-Anne on the bed, instead I chose to stare at the floor and wait either for her to notice my presence, for her to finish her activity or for the danger to be too close for me not to make myself known. If it was truly what she wanted from the favour, then it would be hers.

A small pained noise escaped her lips and desperate forceful tug reverberated along the seal, the strength of the pull surprised me. I glanced at Sally-Anne, her limbs were tense, back arched, face turned to the ceiling. She was trying very hard to reach her apex, too hard, she needed to relax a little. I made a split second decision to give her a little push before the taste of her emotions in the air caused me to lose control. Closing my eyes I reached for the feeling of completion within my own mind. With great skill and immense effort I pinched stopping everything she was pouring out and sending the tiniest bead of my own desire back to her. Just enough to tip her over. A moment later I heard a soft grunt of satisfaction. I let go of her emotions, opening my eyes as soon as I felt the pull was gone.

Her head was bowed forward, limp black hair covering her face from view. Clearly she was still starved and it pained me. She swayed slightly, oddly, as though she were dizzy. When she removed her hands from between her legs I could see dark blood on some of her fingers. Sadness pinched at my heart, she had hurt herself. A few moments later she still hadn’t moved except for that strange sway. The flames were now snaking across the ceiling, time to go.

“Miss Brice?” I called gently. She looked at me, her head turning slowly to look at me, with unfocused eyes she gave me a curious look.

“Time to come with me, Miss Brice.” I put my arms out palms open gesturing for her to come to me. If she didn’t want to, I would leave, I told myself. I wouldn’t force her no matter the consequence. I felt relief when she got off the bed quickly followed by surprise. She flash stepped without warning into my open arms, her hand on my cheek, bright green eyes soft and distant looked into mine.

“Are you ready to go?” I whispered quietly, concerned over the way she looked and how unsteady she seemed. She looked at the doorway and I felt a twinge of want ping in the air. I looked where she was looking. “Is there something you want to get?” I guessed hopefully. Sally-Anne took my hand in hers and began shakily pulling me to the flame filled doorway. I read her intent just in time summoning power to quell the flames. She didn’t seem to notice her path was now clear of fire or if she did she was unfazed simply continuing to her destination, the room across the hall.

A jolt of fear and disgust sparked in the air; I took a small step back from the sheer strength of it. Fear, pain, guilt, these were the emotions I was most sensitive to, the ones I fed from, I wasn’t looking to feed right now but somehow she was managing to drive her feelings right into me. We were in the bathroom. Mr Murphy was sprawled across the floor on his back, a small smear of blood and flesh and hair clung to the white porcelain toilet bowl and a pool of blood circled his head. Lines of coke had been cut next to the sink and I could see the white powder dusting the underneath of his nose, a rolled up bill was still clutched in his right hand. Satisfaction pulled at my lips bringing a small smile. My little loophole had been a success. Once I knew I could do it, it had been easy to pay off the local dealer; get him to trade the usual packet for something a little special. She didn’t need to know. I didn’t want her in any way shape or form to think this was her fault.

Sally-Anne took a hesitant step forward but didn’t go any further, she moaned a low pained noise, bringing her hands to her mouth and clutching her throat. For a moment I had thought she was grieving but the pain that flowed across the room wasn’t of mourning. It wasn’t grief that pained her, it was the need to feed. I placed a protective hand on her shoulder; I couldn’t let her stoop that low, to feed off the corpse of her captor. She flinched.

“Tell me what you need Miss Brice. Let me help you.” I refrained from touching her further even though I wanted to. I wanted to hold her, to soothe her pain, to make her whole but she wasn’t ready for that so I would do what I could now which was getting whatever she had come in here for.

She raised a trembling hand and pointed at his right ankle. Deftly stepping around her I reached down and pulled up his pants leg. There was a holster there with a small hunting knife. The handle was wrapped in leather, the guard was small, the blade was dull and in need of sharpening, Mr Murphy it seems was not good at taking care of things; it made me angry. Livid. He had no concept of value and no respect for what he had. Cautiously I held the knife out to her, concerned that she might try to hurt herself, but she simply took it and held it close to her naked chest as though she were comforting a friend.

“Shall we go now, Miss Brice?” I looked into her eyes, they seemed clouded and distant as she nodded. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with her, it couldn’t just be the thirst. As soon as I had her back I would get her checked out. “Miss Brice this is going to feel a little strange but you are safe with me I promise. May I put my arms around you?” I didn’t have to hold her to teleport her –the barest of touches would serve but ... well I had no excuse; I just wanted to hold her. I couldn’t help but be delighted when she simply leant into me; her head resting against my chest. With my arms enfolding her quivering frame I slipped across the dimension, bringing Sally-Anne home.