Ruby Rose Publishing
Amazon PAPERBACK
© Copyright 2020
A. L. Frances
The right of A.L Frances to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All Rights Reserved
No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication
may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,
copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions
of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal
prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is
available from the American/British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-9601051-6-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-9601051-7-5 (ebook)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Amazon is an imprint of
Ruby Rose Publishing House.
Morrisville, PA
www.RubyRosePublishingHouse.com
First Published in 2020
Amazon
Printed & Bound in United States of America
Author’s Note
Seeing as this is my final author’s note, I would like to make the following statement:
Young people are the very core of purity and innocence.
Young people do not create childhood trauma.
Adult corruption does.
Do not let anyone tell you any different.
It does not matter what role or stance they believe they have in your life.
You will always be the innocent one in my eyes.
Dedication
I wrote this for you…
A. L. Frances
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1:“What is Happening to Me?”
Chapter 2:“The Man”
Chapter 3:“Gehenna.”
Chapter 4:“Father, say it isn’t true.”
Chapter 5:“Collect their souls!”
Chapter 6:“You Were with My Daughter?”
Chapter 7:“Why Are You Following Me?”
Chapter 8:“Suspicious”
Chapter 9:“You Belong to Me.”
Chapter 10:“Acting Crazy.”
Chapter 11:“More Bad News.”
Chapter 12:“Research.”
Chapter 13:“Bravery or Stupidity?”
Chapter 14:“What’s the Truth and What’s the Lie?”
Chapter 15:“We’ve Arrived.”
Chapter 16:“You Will Obey Me.”
Chapter 17:“Blood Must be Sacrificed.”
Chapter 18:“Get Ready! Bring Forth the Plan.”
Chapter 19:“See, I Told You.”
Chapter 20:“They’ve Been Found.”
Chapter 21:“Strange Goings-on.”
Chapter 22:“Less Than Forty-Eight Hours and Counting…”
Chapter 23:“We’re Finally on Our Way.”
Chapter 24:“Terror.”
Chapter 25:“It’s Happening.”
Chapter 26:“Twelve Hours and Counting…”
Chapter 27:“We Meet at Last.”
Chapter 28:“He’s here.”
Chapter 29:“The Terrible Twosome!”
Chapter 30:“Midnight.”
Chapter 31:“Showtime!”
The Final Chapter!
Prologue
Life, the one thing that has the residents of the world wound uptight. Some individuals believe their lives are much more valuable than others. They walk around with their heads held high, as though superior to the rest of the world, doing as they please with seemingly no repercussions, their power and authority over other people having gone to their heads. And where does this notion come from? Generations of history teaching us about hierarchy.
When you read books in school, you learn about your place on the planet and who is untouchable, and get the distinct feeling that you are not. You feel as though your low ranking in this life has left you open to all sorts of abuse by others. After all, who is going to listen to you with your tiny voice?
Let me ask you this, have you ever been aggrieved so badly that you held the firm belief that you were the only person on the planet who could truly get justice for the wrongdoing against you? You are filled with hate, anger and frustration, and deep down you know the legal system isn’t powerful enough to dispense justice to the one who mistreated you. The punishment of prison would be too kind, given the level of poison they have injected into your mind, causing you unspeakable pain. The aftermath of this disgusting individual’s actions has left you feeling as though they have wrapped their hands around your throat. And with every second, they’re squeezing tighter and tighter, slowly draining the life from your body. You’re consumed by an overpowering sense of suffocation. Anxiety and fear have set in. Just knowing that this individual is walking around free and could strike again at any moment has you locked away. A prisoner inside your own mind. You know, this person believes they are exempt when it comes to the law of the land. Well, not anymore! You have officially had enough. A decision has been made. You want vengeance upon their soul. You want to know that they are going to suffer just like you have. You want justice!
Now, with this newfound strength, you begin to ask yourself just how far you are willing to go, in order to take control of your life and seek the revenge you so desperately crave. Questions circulate at a rapid rate. Are you willing to bare your soul and potentially leave behind the life you have built for yourself? Huh, maybe you do want to go to the lengths of committing the ultimate sin and take the last breath from their body… maybe, just maybe, the scars run so deep that you wish to crush them with every part of your existence?
And just like that, once you begin to consider committing the ultimate sin, you can no longer stop yourself from obsessing and visualising the process. A process which thrills you immensely. You take great pleasure as you see yourself smothering the repulsive person with the same evil that they have suffocated you with for so many years. You get them whilst they’re sleeping peacefully in their bed at night. Finally, you’re winning. Overpowering them by placing your knees upon their shoulders, you then begin pressing with such force that you know they stand no chance of freeing themselves from the destiny you have chosen for them. Once you have reigned supreme over the situation, you become their fate as you place your bare hands around their neck. And, as your fingers feel the warmth of their skin, you begin to squeeze. You squeeze so tightly, you can feel every thud from their pulse. It’s gone from rushing like a racehorse competing against its biggest rival, to the slow tempo of a snail trying to move its way across the stone-cold path. With every second that passes, their pulse grows weaker and a rush of ecstasy surges through your veins. You see the life beginning to drain from their body as their eyes roll back and turn bloodshot from the pressure, and you savour every sweet moment for its beauty.
Finally, they’ve gone quiet. They’re no longer pleading for you to spare them their life. No longer pleading f
or you to let them go and forgive them for the evil which they have inflicted upon you. Instead, they’ve gone limp and their pulse is no more. They’re dead, and it’s all because of you. A pure toxic substance is now racing throughout your body and the power feels orgasmic and real. You throw yourself back as you rejoice in the righteousness you have just received. Closing your eyes, you smile because you’ve won the hierarchy war. You’ve taken the most precious thing away from them: their life.
Then, as you open your eyes and wake in your bed, you realise it was only a dream. You lay gazing at the ceiling, confused, pondering whether the dream is merely a fantasy that lives inside of you, or is it something more sinister and real? You begin questioning your abilities – is the power truly within you to take the life of another?
As your sadness grows deeper, you hang your head in shame and admit defeat. This vision is, in fact, nothing more than a fantasy. You hold back for one very valid reason. You might have poison surging through your veins for that one individual, but you are not them. You don’t have the power within you to take the action required to complete such a toxic task. Not only this, you feel the legal system will be too kind to them and yet highly stressful for you, so you don’t even try to reach out and get justice by way of the law. You sit quietly and try to live your life with the pain held deep inside you, as hard as that may be.
Unlike you, Matthew Honey is prepared to do anything he can to get the justice he believes he deserves. Even if this results in his own death. A man on a mission, Matthew is ready to take vengeance upon the individual who has stolen his daughter’s soul. His time is now! And he’s ready to commit the ultimate sin by any means possible. And yet, the question remains: will Matthew live to see the day, or will the evil lurking amongst us devour his soul before he can complete his purpose? Well, there’s only one way to find out. It’s time for Matthew to meet his daughter’s captor. And let it be known: there can only be one victor.
Chapter One
“What is Happening to Me?”
“Please, no, not again…” Eve whispers tiredly.
Alone, exhausted and surrounded by energies unknown, Eve is standing completely still. Her eyes are the only part of her that are moving. As far as her sight can stretch, she sees nothing but a blanket of black. Desperate to break free from the entrapment that she has once again been very cunningly thrown into, Eve shouts, “Hello?”
A brief silence. Then a quiet repetitive reply travels through her eardrums. Unfortunately for Eve, this reply is not from another person, it’s the echo of her own voice. Taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes, she is about to shout again when a bright beam of green light appears from a great distance above her head. Peering up, Eve places her hands above her brow and squints. An instant stabbing pain shoots through her eyeballs as the light permeates through. It’s so vibrant it’s impossible for Eve to look directly at it. Quickly accepting defeat, she looks away.
The light casts a green tinge on Eve’s hair, which is dark brown, bone straight and hangs heavy past her hips. Her feet are bare and grubby looking, as if she had just ran through the depths of a forest with no shoes on. She looks down and sees she’s wearing an unfamiliar long, discoloured white cotton gown, which is also tinted green by the light. Frills have been neatly sown around the neck, wrists and hemline. She touches the gown and her fingertips become sensitive as a wet, sticky substance squelches and begins to absorb into her skin. Confused, she looks at her hands and is horrified as they now appear to be covered in a thick, gloopy, bloody substance. Jumping back, Eve gasps. She has no clue where the blood has come from. Checking her body, Eve sees that she isn’t the wounded one, and so this can mean one thing! The blood on her hands must belong to someone else. Tears form in her eyes as she whispers to herself, “What have I done?”
Panicked, Eve desperately tries to wipe the blood off her hands onto the gown. She wipes harder and harder, until her hands feel raw, but the bloody substance is getting thicker and is now staining her skin. The more she wipes, the stodgier it becomes. Holding out her hands and watching it develop at a rapid rate, Eve’s eyes widen with panic. The substance, which hangs heavy from her fingers, has the consistency of slime. It gradually drips onto her bare feet. Looking around once more, Eve again sees nothing and no one.
“Please, someone help me,” she whispers.
She is caught off guard by a swirling sensation, and her head becomes fuzzy, her sight hazy. An intense, gut-wrenching pain rips through the centre of her chest, directly into her heart. Eve falls to the ground. She lies on her side, her mouth wide. The pain is real. She tries to scream out loud, but she cannot. She closes her eyes as tears stream down her face and fluid gushes from her nose. Feeling as though someone is standing over her pouring litres of acid directly onto her chest, Eve curls up into the foetal position and begins rocking back and forth. Resembling a small child, Eve desperately tries to soothe herself. Deep rips tear their way through her chest. The pain becomes unbearable. Eve opens her eyes. “I’ll do anything. Please,” she mouths.
Eve glances down at her body. The gown is soaked in deep red blood. As the seconds pass, the bloodstains turn black. Her pleas not met, Eve’s hands shake as she is filled with apprehension and fear. Gently pulling the frills on the collar of the gown, Eve peers underneath it at her naked body. A wound gapes between her breasts. Layers of skin, muscle and bone have peeled back to expose her heart, and with every thud it pumps out an immense amount of the thick substance. This vital organ is becoming tired. Each thump gets slower than the last one. Nauseous, faint and highly panicked, Eve attempts to shout for help once more. “Help. Please, somebody help me.” But again, no sound leaves her mouth. Releasing the gown, Eve curls back into the foetal position.
Her face is bright red and the veins on her forehead begin popping through. Her energy levels are depleting rapidly.
“I’m sorry,” she mimes, as her eyes drift closed.
Eve lies flat on her back with her arms spread out either side of her body. She has made the mental transition and has surrendered to the torments. Her consciousness has detached itself from her physical form, and Eve’s soul is now floating outside of her body. The sight is horrific. Her white gown is covered in blood and her skin is turning pale. A tinge of grey takes over her once pink lips. Drifting down and kneeling at the side of her own head, Eve attempts to stroke her hair. Seeing her body lie still, she doesn’t know whether to feel relieved that she is no longer suffering the cruel torments that continue to tease her daily or to fight for her life.
Then she hears the innocent giggle of her daughter. “Mama.”
Stunned, Eve’s soul looks around. “Honey, where are you?”
“Mama.”
“My baby, where are you?” She looks back at her lifeless body. “No, it can’t end like this. Eve, wake up! Your daughter needs you,” she cries, desperately attempting to shake her own her body to bring herself back to life. “You can’t just quit like this. Please, Eve, you have to wake up!”
But, yet again, her body doesn’t so much as flinch. Looking up high, Eve begs, “Please, you have to let me return to my body. Please, it’s not our time yet. Please, let me return. I’ll do anything you want!”
A sudden force drags Eve back into her physical form. Coughing, she thankfully opens her eyes and pushes her upper body up using what small amount of strength she has. Looking straight ahead, Eve searches for her daughter in the darkness. Her breathing is heavy and she feels as if, at any moment, her ability to expand her lungs will once again be no more. Gasping for air, with her hand to her throat, Eve whispers, “Honey. Where. Are.” She takes a deep inhale of oxygen and continues, “You?” Her head slumps to the ground.
Crawling towards her, wearing a cream-coloured onesie, with a full head of golden-tipped curly brown hair and brown eyes, is her beautiful, bonny, nine-month-old daughter, Honey. Tears fill her eyes. She looks on in admiration as her da
ughter places one hand and one knee in front of the other. Smiling, Eve doesn’t feel the pain that is ripping its way through her chest. She doesn’t see the blood gushing from her body. In this moment, she’s connected with her one true love, her daughter, and that is all. Reaching out her arms, still fighting for her life, Eve whispers, “Come here, my darling.”
Arriving with a cheeky grin upon her face, Honey nestles her way into her mother’s bloody chest. Embracing her daughter’s love, Eve wraps her arms around her. The thick black substance smears all over Honey’s clothes and body. Not caring about this, Eve savours her daughter’s touch. The pair close their eyes. There is now nothing or no one in sight. No blood, no pain, no measurement of time, just a blanket of black and peace.
“I love you,” Eve whispers.
Content with her daughter’s affection, Eve is ready to submit herself to the entrapment and be devoured by the dark abyss. But she is suddenly woken by multiple voices whispering at a fast frequency. Looking into her arms, she sees her daughter sleeping peacefully, as if not affected by the noise, yet for her, the continuous sound is becoming louder and louder. Covering her ears and closing her eyes once more, Eve realises that she’s powerless. The persistent whispering transitions into an almighty ringing, which travels directly through her eardrum. On top of this sound, Eve hears every mother’s nightmare: her daughter screaming at the top of her lungs. Opening her eyes, Eve is horrified to see a tall, grey, shadowy figure dragging Honey by her legs.
Reaching out, Eve screams “Nooooo!” as she helplessly watches her daughter disappear into the darkness.
She attempts to stand, but is immediately thrown back to the ground by an invisible force.
“Stop! Please, just stop. I’ll do anything. Take me, I don’t care, just please do not hurt my daughter.”
The ringing stops immediately, and in its place is a whisper from an unknown, yet familiar female voice, “Eve, is that you, darling?”
The Broken IV: Vengeance Page 1
