The Sacrifice: Forbidden, Book 1

by Samantha Sommersby

  Katherine searched out my eyes. “I just know. You’re stronger than Damien. I have faith in you, in us. We’re going to get through this.”

  “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but Damien’s a big guy. I’m in good shape, and I’m scrappy. But if it comes down to a fight between us? I’m not sure I’ll win.”

  Katherine placed her hand over my heart. “I meant you’re stronger in here, where it counts. You love me. You really love me.”

  “Till the end of the world.” I sighed, then rested my forehead against hers. “I’m tired. I can’t stop thinking about all of this. There’s a part of me that just wants to pack a bag and take you away, far away. What if… What if I can’t protect you?”

  “I’ll still love you.” Tears spilled from her eyes and rolled down her face.

  I wiped them away with the pads of my thumbs and choked down my own. Katherine pulled away then sat down in front of my mum’s old dressing table and began to run a brush through her hair.

  “Let me do that.” I took the brush from her hand.

  “I’m sorry, Wesley. I’m sorry this is so hard and so crazy. No matter what happens I want you to know, with complete and utter certainty, that you’ve kept your promise to me.”

  I paused, our eyes connecting in the mirror.

  “I haven’t regretted getting back on that train. Not for a second,” she said.

  I leaned down and kissed her shoulder softly. “You are a crazy bint, Miss Lawson. Think we’re going to get our happily ever after, do you?”

  “Yes! All we have to do is figure out how to outsmart Death, right?”

  “Right. That’s all.”

  “Simple.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, how do we do it?”

  “Haven’t got a soddin’ clue, love,” I admitted, setting the brush down and shoving my hands into my pockets.

  “Did you speak to either Will or Jennifer today?”

  “We kept missing one another.”

  Katherine walked over to the dresser and pulled out fresh undergarments. “Maybe you should try again?” She stepped into her black lace knickers, then slid on the matching bra.

  “Are we okay?” I asked her.

  “More than okay.”

  I studied her for a moment, trying to commit every curve to memory. “Why ruin the effect with more clothes? I’m beginning to think my father was right. Clothes are terribly overrated. You should stop wearing them.”

  Katherine slipped on a red silk blouse and started to button it up. “Right!”

  I cupped her face in the palm of my hand and ran my thumb over her cheek. “You seem to glow more each day,” I said, then I bent toward her, brushing my lips across hers.

  The kiss started out sweet and soulful. Just as I started to deepen it, the bedroom phone rang. I pulled back and sighed.

  “Dessert will have to wait.” I nodded toward the desk. “That would have been Charles signaling us to come down for dinner.”

  “You go on, I’ll be right down.”

  Dinner passed quickly. As we sat down, Katherine asked me about the Medical Director appointment, and from there we went on to talk in detail about my meetings with the police, fire brigade and the vicar.

  Before I knew it, we’d finished our meal and Charles had cleared the table. I looked pointedly at Katherine and patted my right knee. “Come over here.”

  She stood up and walked toward me. As she positioned herself in my lap, I opened up my arms and wrapped them around her. “Was I too far away?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Now that I’ve bored you to death with the details of my day, tell me, what did you do? Charles said you were really busy.”

  Katherine smiled. “Well, you know how I didn’t have any luck with finding a dress the other day?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I decided to make one myself.”

  “A wedding dress?”

  “Yes, a wedding dress. Don’t look so shocked! I came here to do a fashion design internship, remember? I might not know how to cook, but I do know how to sew. My mother and George brought my machine over with some supplies, then we all did a bit of re-arranging in the conservatory so I could set up shop, so to speak.”

  “And Sara came through with just the perfect fabric,” added Charles as he started to pour coffee.

  “Sara?”

  “I called her,” he said.

  I was shocked. For years he’d pined after the elusive Miss Chase. She’d broken Charles’s heart more than once.

  “She brought it herself, Wes, and she looked at my design. Maybe she was just being polite, but she said she liked it. She said she couldn’t wait to see the finished product.”

  Charles set the pot on the table. “If Sara said she liked it, she did. She doesn’t normally trouble herself with being polite,” he said before leaving us alone.

  Katherine stood up, placed her hands at the base of her spine and arched her back, gently stretching.

  The soft black suede of her pants and the smooth silk of her red blouse posed an interesting contrast. The blouse was unbuttoned in front, revealing just a bit of cleavage. But that wasn’t where my eyes were really drawn; they were uncontrollably drawn to her neck, where a long strip of matching red fabric was tied. I pictured myself sitting astride her, her smooth unmarred body laid out before me on the black silk sheets, her wrists tied together with that red silk scarf as I leaned forward and…

  “Honey?”

  “What?” My attention was pulled back to the present.

  “I think I lost you for a minute.”

  Charles popped his head back in the dining room. “Excuse me, I need to step out for a few minutes. Laura’s on the line. It seems we’ve lost electricity over in the cottage.”

  “Why don’t you take the rest of the evening off? We’ll be heading upstairs shortly.”

  The dining room lights began to flicker.

  “Power outage?” asked Katherine.

  I stood up. “I don’t think so.”

  The sound of a distant scream pierced the air and we were plunged into darkness.

  “Laura? I’ve lost her!”

  “Go!” I shouted. I needn’t have bothered, Charles was already running toward the kitchen. “Come with me. I don’t have time to explain.” I jumped to my feet. By the time I walked the four quick strides to the wine cellar, the emergency lighting flickered on. It only dimly lit the various rooms of the house, but it was something. I unlocked the door to the wine cellar, walked to the back and gave the middle wine rack a strong pull. The back wall levered open exposing an expansive concealed room lined floor to ceiling with aging bottles. “Katherine, get inside! I want you to wait in here. Katherine?”

  “Here.” She was running back down the staircase. She’d pulled the late thirteenth century Wakizashi from its wall mount and was now holding it in her hands. What little light there was glinted off the polished Mino blade. “You aren’t going out there alone. It’s too dangerous.”

  She looked fierce, determined.

  “Best way to protect the baby is to not go in search of trouble. You get cornered, you do whatever you have to do. I’ll be fighting right alongside you. But for now? You stay right here! This could be nothing. It probably is nothing.”

  “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

  “Get inside!” I didn’t have time to argue. Katherine opened her mouth to protest, but I didn’t give her the chance. She was going to be royally brassed off when I let her out, but alive and angry is better than dead any day of the week. I reached for her arm and tugged on it firmly, pulling her into the wine cellar then pushing her into the concealed room. She stumbled backward. Before she regained her footing I had the door secure.

  I made my way quickly to the back of the house, following Charles out into the night. Pellets of hail stung my face as I ran across the courtyard toward the cottage.

  Suddenly, I was hit from behind with something, something hard. I would have fallen to the groun
d if it hadn’t been for the brick wall surrounding the perimeter of the property. For a moment I held onto it, blood running down the back of my head and into the collar of my shirt. Then I glimpsed a shadow behind me. I dropped and rolled just in time to avoid another blow, sweeping my attackers legs out from underneath him. But he was fast, inhumanly fast. Before I could recover, he was on his feet once again.

  “Wes! Drop!” yelled Charles. I heard the unmistakable sound of a chamber being loaded. When he’d gone back to check on Laura he’d obviously grabbed his hunting rifle.

  My attacker executed a powerful sidekick, propelling me back into Charles. The two of us fell to the ground. I watched, stunned, as the man, dressed in black, crouch down then sprang up onto the top of the six-foot wall before disappearing from sight.

  “Did you see what I just saw?” asked Charles.

  “Yeah.” I gingerly touched the cut on the back of my head.

  “He jumped over a six-foot wall from a standing position.”

  “Yup.” I started to climb to my feet. I felt a little dizzy and slightly nauseous. Charles offered me a steady hand.

  “But that’s impossible!”

  I smiled. “You saw it, Charles. I saw it. It’s not impossible.”

  “We should call the police. All these months the house was standing empty. Someone decides to break in now?”

  “It’s not the police we need. Call Will Carlton. Tell him what’s happened. Tell him I need him and Jennifer both out here.”

  “Jennifer? Carlton I understand. He’s a security expert, right? Why the girl?”

  “She knows things, Charles.”

  “What do you mean she knows things?”

  “Bring Laura to the main house. The two of you should stay with me tonight. There’s too much at stake.”

  “I don’t understand! What’s at stake?” Charles shouted over the now-roaring wind.

  I glanced down at the blood staining my hand, then looked Charles in the eye.

  “Everything.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Laura, you sure you don’t remember what he looked like?”

  “No. It happened too fast. The instant I noticed the face in the window, it seemed the lights went out.”

  “Maybe if you saw a photograph?”

  “Maybe. I don’t think so.” Laura tied off the last stitch. “You’re probably going to have a whopper of a headache.”

  “I’ve already got a whopper of a headache. At least the bleeding’s stopped.”

  Katherine knelt down in front of me, concern marring her brow. “You realize that if I wasn’t so worried about you, I’d be furious right now.”

  “Absolutely. What is it they say? Every cloud has a silver lining?”

  I managed to make her smile.

  She stood up and kissed me on the cheek. “Can I get you some aspirin?”

  “Paracetamol and an ice pack. You’ll find both in the cabinet closest to the pantry.”

  “Will do.”

  “I’ll get it,” offered Charles.

  Katherine stood up. “Please, let me. I feel useless.”

  Thankfully, a knock at the door seemed to stem any further debate.

  Charles nodded. “I’ll get the door then. I wager it’s the Carltons.”

  Charles entered the room with Will, Jennifer and a man that I hadn’t met before.

  I stood up and extended my hand.

  “Stanley Houghton. We’ll need to see everything you have on the current security system.”

  Stanley was tall and rugged looking. The expression on his face was neutral, his gaze unnervingly penetrating, his grip firm.

  “Wesley Atherton. This is Laura Stanton, a friend of mine.”

  Stanley nodded, then he pulled a laptop from the black bag he’d carried inside. “How many are in the house?”

  “Four, not counting the three of you.”

  “You have the security system on?”

  “Yes. When the power was cut it went down, but only for a few seconds. The generator kicks on if we aren’t back on line in ten seconds.”

  “Is anyone armed?”

  “Not at the moment. Why?”

  He smiled. “Because I detest getting shot or stabbed.” He turned toward Will. “Time me.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to poke as many holes as I can in your security system.”

  “Stanley’s a penetration expert,” announced Jennifer.

  “A what?” asked Laura.

  “A penetration expert,” repeated Will. “He’s going to help evaluate your current vulnerabilities. While Stanley’s doing that, you can bring me up to speed on what happened.”

  “Fine.”

  Katherine entered the room. She had her coat in one hand and her purse in the other. “I’m leaving,” she said.

  “What?”

  “I can’t do this, Wes. I’m in love with Damien. We’re having a child together.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head.

  “Wes? Honey, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”

  When I opened my eyes, Katherine was standing before me, an icepack in one hand, a glass of water in the other.

  “Are you feeling dizzy?” She set the glass of water down on a nearby table. “Maybe you should sit.”

  The baby will always tie them together. It’ll never be yours. She’ll never be yours. You know what you have to do, the voice hissed inside my head.

  “I’m fine. It’s nothing. Too much talk of fire and brimstone. That’s all.” I nervously ran my hand through my hair. “My headache’s a bit worse.”

  “Here, take these.” Katherine handed me a couple painkillers and the glass of water. I swallowed them gratefully.

  You know what you have to do. The voice came from just behind me. I spun around, searching out its origin and in the process spilling some of the water.

  Clock’s ticking. Time’s running out.

  “Wes?” Laura took the glass from me. “Maybe sitting down is a good idea.”

  I shook my head. “I can hear him. It. Clock’s ticking. Time’s running out.”

  “Who?”

  “Abaddon.” I turned to Jennifer. “Can you hear him?”

  “No.”

  Laura picked up the flashlight and shined it in my eyes. “I think we should get you to a hospital.”

  I pushed her hands away. “I’m not hallucinating.”

  She frowned.

  Jennifer looked about the room. “You can hear him now?”

  “Yes. Right now. Right here. You can’t? He’s laughing, mocking me. How do I control it?”

  “Psychiatrist Goes Crazy. I can see the headlines now. Ironic, don’t you think?”

  The laughter was getting louder. Jennifer was saying something, only I couldn’t hear what it was.

  “Piss off! I’m trying to have a conversation here!” I yelled.

  Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Silence.

  “The blighter’s finally come out of the woodwork!” said Jennifer. “He’s playing with you. Thinks he’ll get you wrapped up in his mind games.”

  Charles reached for my arm and led me to a chair. “Wes, perhaps you’re just tired. What with all that went on last night you didn’t get much rest. Come to think of it, since the accident you’ve been under a lot of strain.”

  “He doesn’t get it. You don’t get it. But you will. There’s only one way for this to end. You need to finish it. You know what you have to do. You know what you have to give me.”

  It came from the corner of the room, from deep in the shadows. I squinted my eyes, straining to see into the darkness.

  “I’m not giving you jack.”

  The laughter returned. Laura knelt in front of me. She was asking me something, only I couldn’t focus on what it was.

  “You speak as if you have a choice. You have no choice.”

  “Oh! I have a choice!”

  I pushed Laura aside and went after Jennife
r. She was the key. “How do I control it?”

  “You can’t,” she said, backing away from me until she reached the wall.

  “Wes! You’re not alone. We’ll help you through this,” said Will.

  “Stupid boy. Don’t listen to him. In the end we’re all alone. You know that. Right, Wesley? You can feel it. Can’t you? Can’t you?”

  The voice was echoing so loudly inside my head that my ears were ringing. I cupped my hands over them. “Will you stop yelling at me? I can hear you!”

  “This is just the beginning. I’m going to consume you. Death. Horror. It’s coming. I’m coming.”

  “Well, then, bring it on!”

  I was plunged into complete darkness. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.

  I could feel it, inside. Worming its way into my mind. Probing. Rifling through my memories. Searching for a way to hurt me, to shake my foundation. In the darkness my foot bumped up against something. There was a moan. It sounded like Katherine.

  I dropped to my knees. “Katherine?”

  “You have to help me, Wes! I’m in pain. Something’s wrong.”

  I was momentarily blinded as a light snapped on overhead. I shielded my eyes, giving them a moment to adjust.

  Katherine’s stomach was swollen with child. She threw her head back and screamed, a contraction hitting hard. Blood began to pool between her legs. She was sweating profusely, writhing on the floor, pain etched clearly on her face.

  “Do something!” she sobbed.

  “They’re both going to die.”

  “No. They won’t.”

  “Yes. They will. You’re going to have to make a choice, Wesley.”

  “Bloody right, I will.”

  “The time is coming. The choice is inevitable.”

  “Nothing is inevitable.”

  “Death is inevitable.”

  “Yeah? Well I choose not to die today, so sod off and get out of my head!”

  “You think this is about you? It’s not about you. It’s about them. I’m taking one of them. Choose. Now.”

  “Piss off. This isn’t real. It’s not even remotely real. You have no power over me. You have no power over my friends.”

  “We’ll see about that. You pose an interesting challenge.”

  “Don’t you have more important things to do? Or, is it not time yet? Just when is that apocalypse due to happen?”