The Darkness Within (Sanguine Series: Awakening Book 1)

by H. M Reilly

  “How can I believe any of that, Dad? How do I know any of that is true?” She felt confused and angry over something that made absolutely no sense in her mind over two decades. He lifted his head and looked at her, his brows knitting into a frown.

  “You don’t have to believe anything I said, Charlotte, but do you really think I would make shit like that up? I raised you despite the evil surrounding that night.”

  “Oh, great. You raised a little demon spawn and didn’t tell her what she was for years letting Rachel and Uncle Jimmy hate me because they knew!”

  “You really think this is something to tell a little girl growing up?”

  “I dunno what to think right now, Dad!” she snapped. “I don’t even know how to take this!” The front door creaked open and shut. She heard Leila’s voice call out, and Charlotte turned to go, grabbing her purse on the way out. She ignored her sister as she went out the front door and went straight for her truck.

  The front door opened, and her dad crossed the front yard as Charlotte started up her truck. She barely noticed as he tried to get her attention. His voice was muffled by the truck, but she didn’t care. Charlotte felt like a freak growing up, and now she knew why. She wasn’t sure she wanted to accept a single word of it, but how could she not?

  Rain started to sprinkle on the windshield as she sped down the road, but she had nowhere to go. There was Hollow’s Creek, but she didn’t think it was such a good idea with the way she was feeling about her family. The anger barely started to dissipate as she drove, and still, she felt overwhelmed by the wealth of information her dad provided.

  Her cell phone started to ring, and she glanced over. It was her dad calling. He was the last person she wanted to talk to now, but she grabbed her phone. “What?”

  “You shouldn’t be on the road right now. A storm is coming, and it’s only gonna get worse on the way up the mountain.”

  “I don’t care. I need space right now.”

  “That’s fine, I get it. But…you should check out the house for yourself. I sent you a text with the address.”

  She ended the phone call when her dad said he loved her and tossed her phone over to the passenger’s side. She reached over and rolled the windows down, letting in letting in the sprinkling rain along with the cool breeze, hoping to keep herself calm as she drove up the mountain, headed towards Hollow’s Creek.

  CHAPTER 21

  The address her dad sent was located in Hollow’s Creek, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to go searching for it. Finding the house would make the story he told real. When she pulled up the address in maps, located off Forest Road 9, the house appeared in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the San Jose forest in an area that seemed familiar to her. She wondered if it was the same house she came across that night she wandered up the mountain on one of her late-night drives.

  She stopped at the gas station down the block, knowing it would be a while before she headed back into the city. As she crossed the pavement to make her way inside the small convenience store, a small clap of thunder broke the stillness of the night. Charlotte glanced over her shoulder, directing her gaze towards the clouds hanging off on the horizon.

  The clouds overhead seemed to hang heavily over the snow-capped mountains and were darker than any storm clouds she could recall ever having seen at least since she had been in Colorado. She had seen storm clouds before, but these looked all around menacing. She turned and headed inside.

  The inside of the convenience store was quiet except for the sound of the radio playing quietly off in the back room. She noticed a young man appear from the back with a rag he wiped his hands off with. Charlotte offered the pale-eyed man a smile and went to grab a bottle of tea from the drink coolers. She stepped over to the counter to pay for her drink, handing the cashier the rest of the cash in her wallet for gas.

  The electricity in the air seemed to rise the moment Charlotte stepped outside. She could feel it on her bare skin as she walked across the blacktop. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end from the energy.

  Climbing back into her truck, she pulled out her phone and opened the text her dad sent with the address. She zoomed in and stared at the map for a long moment, feeling a little more confident that she knew where this house was when she saw the river bordering the side of the mountain. She started up her truck and pulled out onto the highway, heading out of the city.

  The road was quiet, with only a couple of other vehicles on the road heading south. A pair of bright headlights appeared in her rearview mirror, catching up quickly to her truck. “Get off my ass,” Charlotte mumbled.

  That bright light truck still racing forward, Charlotte pulled over to the far-right lane and off the highway. She was still a little unfamiliar with the area between Sequoia and Hollow’s Creek, but she knew what she was looking for. She needed to find Mariposa road, which would lead her past the city limits and out to the bridge that crossed the river on the way to Hollow’s Creek.

  Charlotte drove forward when the light turned green. She didn’t notice another truck following until a block away from Mariposa. The bright headlights nearly blinded her, but she could see the bridge just up ahead. She glanced up in the rearview, wondering if the driver in the truck was the same one following her on the highway. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

  She glanced in her rearview mirror and turned off the main road on to Mariposa. The rain continued to fall from the dark clouds hanging in the sky, but the roads were otherwise quiet. Thankfully, the truck didn’t follow her down the road. A car or two appeared on the opposite side of the road just a few miles after crossing the bridge.

  She drove straight through Hollow’s Creek, passing a large cluster of homes, and noticed the area where her grandparents lived. Soon the trees began to take over the mountain, and the paved roads turned into dirt roads, rocks crunching beneath her tires. She switched to the car radio when her phone service finally cut out and kept the volume down, searching for the forest road.

  She drove past a farm or two, and a wave of déjà vu passed over her. The farther she drove, the more she realized she was heading into a familiar area sitting in the forest. She drove past the forest sign and over the bridge and spotted a familiar house on the other side of the waterfall. For a moment, she was confused, wondering if this house could really be where her life officially started. The house she’d stumbled across on one of her late-night walks many weeks before.

  She pulled over and exited her truck. She took a few steps forward and stopped, just looking at the house. She didn’t need to get any further to know her dad was probably telling her the truth. She could feel that same energy that she felt the last time she was here. That buzzing presence of something paranormal surrounding the house, which seemed to pull her forward.

  She stepped up to the small porch and sat on the stairs, feeling a strange heaviness over her. A strong pang throbbed in her chest when she realized the truth of her dad’s story. Her parentage would explain her reactions to strong emotions, especially anger and heartache. She lifted her elbow onto her knee and lowered her head into her hand, trying to process her dad’s story.

  The night’s silence spoke, helping to find her solace, but soon a hum floated in the air. She lifted her head and turned towards the entrance of the forest. She rose and started towards the entrance to the forest, the blood in her veins suddenly rushed to her legs, and a sense of dizziness washed over her.

  She entered the forest and slowly followed the path in front of her. That strange feeling was accompanied by a sense of déjà vu, which only grew stronger as she followed her feet wherever they would lead her. Nothing else seemed important. She turned, taking in the view of the forest surrounding her. Something was beckoning to her to continue.

  The snow continued to fall in a slow, steady pace, sticking to the ground up here in the mountains. The cold felt bitter against her face, but much of the wind floating through the air was swallowed by the nearby trees. The beckoning g
rew stronger, magnified as she walked along the path.

  She lifted her amber gaze and glanced around the forest. Much of the world seemed to be hibernating with naked branches and old, dry leaves scattered across the ground. The pine needles on the evergreen were still bold and full. For a moment, the forest made her feel safe and alive as if she were finally in a place she belonged.

  She continued along the forest path, the hum of familiarity still within her.

  A branch cracked underneath the heel of her boot, and she stopped in her tracks, thrown back into the real world. It was dark and quiet out, and it would have been easy to believe she was all alone. But Charlotte knew better. She was not alone.

  Another energy pulsed somewhere nearby, but as she looked around the dark forest, illuminated by the glow of the early snow, she did not see another living soul anywhere. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, frightened of what may be lurking around the trees.

  “Wh-who’s there?” she called. Charlotte held on to the thin layer of courage that pushed her to speak, but she was still afraid to face that something or someone silently keeping her company there in the forest. Her heart pounded in her chest. If this creature—whatever it may be—were going to attack, she would have to conquer her lingering fear of being helpless in the face of danger. “Show yourself! Come out!”

  She slowly turned around only to find she was still all alone on the forest path for as far as her eyes could see. Her heart still pounding in her chest, she felt a little more at ease, and she turned to continue down the forest path leading up the mountain, which forked up ahead. A tall, old tree with twisted branches, black from moisture, stood right in the middle. A rose bush hugged the tree trunk. Charlotte stopped, examining the tree in front of her as another, stronger sense of déjà vu passed over her.

  Things became much too familiar for her, and she took another cautious step forward. The rose bush seemed out of place with its large blooms of dark red petals. Another rose appeared from bud to flower, blooming before her very eyes. These dark flowers seemed to be at their peak, which was unusual for flowers as the temperature started to freeze. Yet, she knew these roses. She had picked one of them weeks ago when she first discovered the abandoned house that happened to be her place of birth. “What the fuck is going on around here?”

  Suddenly, a voice echoed through the voice. A voice that sent chills down her spine. A voice she had heard before. “I can tell you many things, Charlotte.”

  She spun around, trying to find the source. Her amber gaze darting all over until that voice came from a focused place a few feet behind her.

  “You know you shouldn’t turn your back so quickly. I can smell the fear on you, Charlotte.”

  Charlotte turned around to find a man standing on the path several feet away from her. He was a smudge of black against a canvas of snow—from the shirt on his back to his faded jeans to the leather jacket and boots. Even his hair looked black in the dark.

  “Wh-who are you? And how do you know my name?” Charlotte asked. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her lips trembled.

  Suddenly, the clouds above started to drift apart, and the night sky peeked through. A half-moon glowed against the dark azure above. The snowflakes falling from the sky started to slow.

  A smug grin appeared across the dark figure’s lips. She did her best to contain herself as she trembled, adrenaline still pumping through her veins, because she wasn’t going to let him think she was afraid.

  He took a couple of steps along the path in her direction, but she took a step back. Her breath hitched. The smirk never left his face.

  “I take it you don’t recognize me. I have come to you in many ways,” he said, his voice fading away to a whisper. His jade green eyes focused on her. “I can make you remember me, Charlotte. I can give that back to you.”

  “What if I don’t want to remember? I don’t even know who the hell you are,” she said.

  “But you do, Charlotte. You know me just like I know you. All you need to do is let me closer. I will make you remember me.”

  Charlotte was hesitant. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, but she felt a sense of intrigue. She kept her eyes on him as he stepped closer to her, but she did not move. The moonlight cast shadows across his face, and she caught a glimpse of a pair of fangs.

  Charlotte stretched her neck, her heart pounding in her chest. Somehow though, she kept control of herself well as she faced the nameless man before her.

  Once again, the snow started to fall harder and collect on the frozen ground below. As he stepped forward, the forest was quiet enough for her to hear the snow crunch beneath his boots. She focused on her breathing, keeping it steady as it misted into the air. Her heart still pounded in her ears, racing in her chest.

  “Are you afraid of me?” he asked. His voice was hardly a whisper. He stepped closer, closing the gap between the two of them, and she lifted her gaze.

  Finally, she whispered back, “I don’t know what I should be anymore.”

  “Embrace yourself, Charlotte.”

  “How?” She had a faint recollection that she’d heard him say that before. Maybe it was in a dream she heard those words, but he brought a sense of familiarity and calmed the uncertainty she felt.

  She looked up into his eyes, and before long, oblivion greeted her like an old friend. Staring up into his eyes felt like home, a place where there was no more room for judgment. Only acceptance. The world she knew and lived in no longer made sense when she faced a calm understanding hidden in oblivion. Yet she felt completely ignorant all the same. “Show me.”

  He only smiled, his lips curling over his teeth to reveal the pair of fangs she noticed earlier. She stared into his face as it contorted into that of a monster, both rows of teeth extending into fangs, and his jade green eyes were swallowed by a void of black. If Charlotte was looking death in the face, she only hoped for it to be painless.

  He seized her, and before she even knew what was happening, she felt the pain of his fangs piercing into her skin. She let out a moan, feeling his strong, solid frame keeping her in place., She closed her eyes, fighting against the agony of her life flowing into him. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders, and her head fell back.

  Charlotte let out another moan, almost mournful as he continued to feed from her. A drop of blood dripped down her neck. His voice echoed in her mind.

  I’m not going to hurt you. Just give yourself to me, dark beauty. Just like you did that night I first met you. That night you became mine.

  She slipped into a dream state. Only he knew where her conscious mind escaped to as she gave over completely, but she saw everything through his eyes.

  Her heels clicked across the parking lot. He wrapped his arm across her waist and held her right against him. Others could become drunk off the thick saturation of alcohol fumes radiating from her, but he was drunk as her. It was not alcohol he wanted, though. No. He yearned for the crimson that pumped through her veins.

  Ramsey wanted to taste her blood on his tongue, and he knew she would be sweet; he could sense the demon in her, and her energy darkened as the night went on.

  Ramsey knew she was only a half breed, but he wanted to taste her, nonetheless. He wanted to make her his own, and it would be easy to win the affection of a succubus as young as she. He had come across other demons in the past and nearly had himself killed. As much as he loved the bloodshed and the sheer sensuality of these unnatural creatures, he valued his immortality more. This one though…this dark-haired beauty with a confidence unlike any other succubus he crossed paths with…he wanted her all to himself.

  Ramsey did not live anywhere near Hollow’s Creek, but he took her to the nicest hotel he could afford, far as he could from prying eyes. He saw the lust in her eyes as they turned black, and the demon within her surfaced, but she was still just as beautiful as when he met her at the bar, sitting there with a glass of bourbon and coke. Her teeth and nails elongated, but she was still only a half breed.

/>   He easily got her to shed her clothing. She danced for him, wearing only a lacy pair of panties and a bra to match. Her tits were perky, and her nipples were hard as rocks, poking right through the thin purple fabric. If he had not been a dead bloodsucker, he would have taken her right there standing, but he could only enjoy the curves of her body, her sensuality the way an ancient vampire knew how.

  He pulled her close to him as she danced in the dimly lit room. Ramsey insisted on nothing more than a few candles spread throughout the room. To him, the way the light threw shadows across her body made her even more enticing. Her long hair flowed down her back as he held her close. He discarded his shirt to the floor, and she reached forward to unbuckle his leather belt, popping the button on his jeans, but he drew her focus onto him, pleasing her.

  “No, my dark beauty. Tonight is all about you,” he whispered against her ear as she fumbled with the zipper on his jeans, writhing against him. He pushed her hands aside, and his fangs elongated, aching to sink into her neck. Mmm. If only he were a mortal man.

  The fabric of her bra ripped easily from her body as he tore it in half to reveal her full breasts. Oh, how fucking perfect she was. She truly was a seductive creature. His lips claimed her hard nipples. His hands roamed over her soft curves, keeping them close to his face. Her soft cries of pleasure only made him ache more for her blood and for her body, yet he restrained himself.