Forsaken

by Jennifer Julie Miller

  Forsaken

  This book is more than it seems, this is a story about finding yourself and your own inner strength. No one was dealt the perfect set of cards and all of our lives have their ups and downs but in the end. It’s your own choices and your own strengths that pave your way.

  I want to dedicate this book to my husband Rick. There are no words to describe my love for you, but I want to say, Thank you, for WANTING me.

  Kindle & Paperback Edition:

  This is an original work of

  Jennifer Julie Miller.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever, electronically, in print, or otherwise, without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 Jennifer Julie Miller

  Cover Art by © Cover Me Pretty Designs

  Beta Readers: Lorene Palmer, Bambi Carpenter, Joann Herley, and Rebecca Miller.

  Editor: Randy & Brittany Henry

  Photographs: Brittany Henry, Rick Miller

  Books from the Author:

  The Water Skippers series

  Water Skippers

  A Dragonfly’s Whisper

  Earth Shadow

  Shadow Reborn

  Petal

  Coming (A Dragonfly King)

  Forsaken

  The Beginning:

  In all the years I have been here, I never once thought to fight back. I am the little girl that no one wanted. I had been forced upon the Cook of the manor when I was small and she has hated me from the very beginning. Nothing I have ever done or even thought about doing was right in her eyes. According to her, I’m a burden and I have been reminded that every day. She hated being forced to care for me. Her favorite name for me is Leach because I am sucking the life out of her, or so she always says.

  I honestly have never understood her hatred. I was just a little girl when I was brought here, but I learned quickly how to make myself invisible. I see no change in the life I have been given. I watch the other girls around me smile and giggle with each other, but I'm not welcome among them. I’m the outcast, the girl with no name, and of no worth in their eyes. I'm simply a set of hands, a slave for their wants and needs.

  I stand in the corner of the room wishing I could crawl away and hide. I knew Cook was going to be angry with me over messing up the stew, but I never thought her anger would turn into something else. She strides into the kitchen. The other girls quiet down immediately one by one, they start to leave. No one wanted to be noticed by her. We could all tell she is in one of her moods.

  She walks over to the large pot on the stove and lifts the lid. I hold my breath and try to back farther into the corner because I know she will instantly be looking for me. I had been day-dreaming and didn’t stir the soup enough, so it scorched on the bottom of the pan, ruining the whole thing. She turns with a snarl on her face and her soulless black eyes searching me out. Then she picks up the knife on the counter next to the pot. I couldn’t fathom the hate I was seeing on her face. It was just soup for heaven’s sake. I realize too late, that I was seeing my own death staring back at me. Something whispered to me, “You have no choice but to fight back.” This time my very life is going to depend on it, but before I could even put my arms up to hold her back. She grabbed my arms hard, holding me as she stabbed me in the side with the knife. I stagger back from the pain that had pierced my side and with strength, I didn’t know I possessed, I shove her. She stumbles back, but grabs for me before she starts to fall down. She twists in mid air throwing me to the floor. I hit hard on my side pushing the knife further in. I automatically reach over and jerk the knife out of my side. Black spots flash before my eyes. I didn’t even think about the damage I was doing to myself, until the instant warmth of my own blood starts rushing down my side.

  I look up and see that Cook had caught herself before she fell all the way to the floor and was now on steady feet again. She lurched towards me screeching like a woman possessed trying to grab the knife out of my hand. We wrestle with it back and forth. Her weight was against me since I was still in the floor, but the fear of dying was giving me strength I didn’t know I had. Each of us was sustaining multiple cut and wounds in the struggle. Then as quick as it started, it was over.

  Two seconds ago, I was fighting and screaming for my life. Now I'm lying on the floor looking up at the woman who had raised me, as the light in her eyes fades away along with all of her evilness. Her body drops all the way to the floor and I feel the knife pull out of my hand, as her body takes it with her. I had somehow turned it on her in those last few seconds. Her own weight helping me push it through her black heart. My hands are covered in blood. I try to wipe it away on what’s left of my tattered dress. I push her away and crawl back away from the scene in front of me. My feet started slipping on something. I look down only to realize I am surrounded by blood.

  My body begins to sway back and forth. I know I'm going in shock. I can feel the blood seeping out and running down my leg. I reach up and grab for the counter, but I'm moving in slow motion, still mesmerized by her lifeless eyes staring up at me. Now that the fight was over, the injuries she has caused me are so intense that I start to pant. My whole body is breaking out into a cold sweat and I'm trembling all over.

  I was trying to stand up when I heard the voices. Some of the men were coming downstairs for their lunch. I force myself to stand, their voices were getting closer. I look towards the stairs and then towards the back door of the kitchen. I know if they see me now, covered in blood and just a few inches away from her body in the floor. I'm dead for sure.

  No one would believe someone like me. That same small voice in my head whispers for me to “Run.” Fighting the pain, I struggle to stand, let alone run. I turn and stumble towards the back door, but my body does not want to respond. I just want to lie down under the stairs in my secret place and hide. I just clear the back door when I hear someone shout my name. I don’t think twice, I push the hurt away and start to run for my life.

  It feels like I have been running for hours, but it hasn’t been long. The soles of my feet are on fire, every rock I step on, is digging into my flesh tearing me apart one piece at a time. I trip on a hidden root under the fallen leaves but manage to catch myself before falling all the way down. The darkness is the only cover I have now. I’m naked as the day I was born. What was left of my old dress has been torn away, piece by piece, as I run through the branches and thorns. I know between the blood dripping down my leg and the pieces of my dress tearing away, that I’m leaving an easy trail behind me. I slip again, but I can’t afford to fall down. I know I won’t have the strength to get back up if I do. I have to keep running. I grasp my side tighter trying to ignore the pain, the only warmth I have around me now is my own blood seeping through my fingers.

  There isn’t a place on my body that doesn’t feel raw or bruised. My skin has so many different shades of blue and green on it, that you can no longer tell the old injuries from the new. My mind tells me to stop, to turn around, and tell them my side of the story. Maybe they would understand that I was only trying to defend myself. But who would believe me, over the woman who had cooked their meals for years? I'm a worthless girl with no name. They would probably sell me to another household or Lord knows something worse. No, I tell myself to keep running; find a place to hide. I'm never going to be beaten, raped, or starved ever again. My mind would break this time. The
only relief I have is that Cook will never hurt me or anyone else ever again. I started to smile, but it hurts too much. I don’t really know how to feel. In the end, I got the last strike, but I believe it was still one stab too late. My time is near; I don’t even know why I'm still running. Maybe its instinct or desperation, I slow down trying to get my bearings. I need to find a place they won’t look for me because if I'm gonna die. I want to do it on my own terms, not theirs. So, I run towards one of my favorite places.

  Putting one foot in front of the other is all I can think of. No more cowering under the stairs or eating scraps out of the hog trough. Never again, will I be denied the warmth of a blanket at night. Nor, will I have my own choices taken away from me. To be treated like an animal without feelings or needs. I can choose to die where I want to, I’m finally free. No one can take that away from me; maybe someone will feel sorry for me when they find my body and shove me in a hole somewhere. Either way, this will be the last of the pain. My legs give out underneath me and I feel myself falling in slow motion towards the ground. I send up a small prayer, I don’t know why! He has never answered any of my prayers before, but I have never stopped asking. Maybe I'm already damned or maybe I was cursed as a child and that’s why none of my prayers have been answered.

  I feel my body hit the ground hard. I see stars as my head bounces off the unforgiving Earth beneath me. Immediately, I feel as if I'm standing outside of myself watching all of this in slow motion. I no longer feel like any of this is happening to me, but to someone else. I see my own head bounce hard and my own arms too weak to help catch my fall.

  I watch as I slide on my stomach, skidding right up to the base of a monument in the graveyard. As I stand above my broken and battered body, I can see just how puny and pathetic I really am. My long hair is matted with blood and dirt. My body is broken and bloody. The cuts and scrapes are freely oozing my life’s blood upon the ground. I'm a filthy, puny little thing lying there naked on the ground gasping for my last breath.

  I can hear the sound of dogs in the distance. They’re looking for me, but it won’t matter this time, they’re too late. I can see my body start to convulse as it’s shutting down, but I can die happily knowing, she can never hurt me or anyone else ever again. I feel the darkness settling in my mind. My body shudders as I take my last breath.

  Chapter One:

  Lucas was sitting in the corner of his personal library with a novel in his hand. Even though the book was one of his favorites, he couldn’t concentrate on a single word this evening. Lucas kept feeling like he was missing something or maybe he had forgotten to do something important today.

  Rage was lying at his feet, chewing on a bone that he wasn’t for sure. He wanted to know where it came from. “Rage, these four walls are closing in on me tonight. Let’s get out of here for a little while.”

  Rage looked up at him growling softly as he sits his bone down on the floor, tucking it under the cushion he was lying on. “You do know that you’re the only animal in this house? Nothing is going to get your bone.” Rage nudged him on the leg as he walked past him towards the door, growling under his breath the whole time. “Keep it up and I’ll replace you with a cat, hateful ass.”

  They walked through the darkness, two predators side by side. Animals cowardly hide in the bushes, or stop dead in their tracks hoping not to be noticed. Even the lighting bugs moved out of their way, they both pulsed with an all-consuming evilness. They were the monsters under your bed or lurking right out of sight. They are the things your mother warned you about in the dark.

  Tonight Lucas was more alert than usual, change was in the air. Rage stops bumping into his side, sniffing the air. They had hunted together for so many years, that they were in sync with each other’s emotions. Lucas immediately stops and starts looking around for the danger that Rage had scented on the wind.

  The smell of blood hit him right in the stomach. His fangs extend with the smell and that blood was running straight towards them. Rage growls, his eyes turn an eerie red the moment he sensed his prey ahead. Rage takes a step in front of Lucas, protecting his master as the footsteps draw nearer. Then he lets out a howl that would make your hair stand upon your head.

  At the same time, they both hear the dogs in the distance. Lucas puts his hand down on top of Rage’s head. “Go on, turn them away, I think I need a snack this evening.” Rage lumbers off towards the woods. The dogs would sense him coming their way, but usually, the humans weren’t as smart. Lucas stands still watching the figure come closer. He could smell the blood running freely from the human. This was going to be an easy meal tonight.

  It stumbles just a few feet away. Lucas had been so focused on the smell of the blood. He almost missed that the human in front of him was a woman. His eyes ate her up, she was going to be a young morsel, but unfortunately, someone had starved her. Every bone in her body could be seen, her stomach is caved in making her small breast look to large for her starved body. She hits the ground hard in front of him, skidding to a stop a couple inches from his feet. Lucas stands there looking down at the pitiful creature in front of him. Her hair was so matted he couldn’t even make out the color, and she was filthy. Her breaths were labored and shallow. She had been bleeding for quite some time, so she wasn’t going to provide much of a meal tonight, even if he could get past the smell.

  Rage reappears within seconds, a dog’s leg in his mouth. Lucas laughs, “I see you needed another chew toy.” Rage drops the leg and snarls into the darkness. Men were coming this way; maybe dinner could be saved after all. They must have been chasing this pitiful creature lying on the ground in front of him. “Only a sick man would get a kick out of chasing something this pitiful. Rage, protect her.” Lucas turns away, but not before seeing Rage sniff her hair. Then he curled around the woman protectively. “Damnit, I shouldn’t have said it like that!” Shaking his head he turns from them and strolls silently towards the men. This was the first time in quite a while, he had felt alive and he was going to enjoy it. If they wanted something to hunt, then let the games begin. How well, will they do against something that can fight back? His haunting laughter floats through the night air.

  The second the men see him appear they scatter like flies. One of the men was holding a lantern and doesn’t notice Lucas right away. When the light of the lantern lands on Lucas’ face, the man starts to open his mouth. Whether it was to beg for his life, scream, or to pray, no one would ever know. Lucas calmly walks right past him; his claws rip the man’s throat out before he could speak. He never looks back as the man falls to the ground gasping his last breath.

  This was exactly what he had been missing this evening, nothing like the smell of fear and fresh blood in the evening air. Lucas knew he was a sight to behold when he was in his full vampire form. His facial feature sunk in, his large cheek-bones protruding under his blood red eyes. He had always been larger than most of his kind. At six foot five, he was massive. He blamed it on good genes.

  He could hear the other two men whispering to each other in the darkness. He drifts slowly through the woods listening to their conversation. They were terrified to go back without the girl. The Duke of Ione wanted her brought back for questioning. Apparently, she had killed someone important. Now they had his attention. How did anything that puny kill anybody? Lucas stood directly behind the men now, waiting for them to make a decision. If they went back to their homes he would let them go, but not if they went after the girl. He grinned into the darkness. He might need that snack after all. More than likely the girl would be dead before he returned and dead blood was nasty.

  The men turn back towards the graveyard. “Wrong decision boys,” Lucas thought, and then he flashed in front of them. He grabs both men by their necks yanking one close as he sank his fangs deep into the man’s artery. The man struggles for just a few seconds, then less and less as his body weakened from the blood loss. The other man clawed at Lucas’ hand trying to get free. Lucas throws the one he was feeding from on the
ground and turns his face towards the other man. When the man sees the horror in front of him, he squeals like a baby. This makes Lucas laugh, “Oh now, don’t be scared, this will only hurt for a moment.” The man thrashes about, kicking, and screaming, trying to get away from the monster holding him by the neck in the air. Lucas takes his free hand and slowly wipes the blood from his face. He was still holding the man up in the air like he was a small child, then he glances up at the man struggling to breathe. “Now you’re boring me!” Lucas reaches up and snaps the man’s neck, then throws him to the side.

  He flashes back to Rage, who has curled himself around the girl lying on the ground. Lucas could hear the faint beating of the girl’s heart. “Rage get away from that thing, you smell bad enough on your own.” Rage started to lick at one of the bloody wounds on her side when Lucas stops him. “Stop that, who knows what you will catch. The last thing we need is for you to form a bond with her. I believe rotted meat smells better than she does. Come on, leave her be. She doesn’t have long for this world anyway. Let her lie here and die in peace.”

  Rage looks up at Lucas, his eyes blood red and nudges the girl with his head. “No, I'm not taking her with us! She isn’t a damn pet, Rage!” Rage stands up and straddles the girl’s waist with his legs on both sides of her and growls menacingly at Lucas. Then she started convulsing a silent scream on her lips. Her heart stops, “Damn it,” Lucas thought to himself. He grabs her by her hair and sinks his fangs into his own wrist. He then forces the girl’s lips open, so his blood could drip into her mouth. His blood should give her a few more hours anyway.

  Lucas stands up after a minute, letting her head fall back to the ground then runs his bloody fingers through his hair. “What the Hell is wrong with you? Now, look what you made me do.” Then it hit him. “I did this to myself, didn’t I? When I told you to protect her, you took that as a command. Dammit, Rage what the Hell do you want me to do with her?” Rage refused to back down his growls getting louder.