I was alone in the forest with Samael, silently watching him live in his broken world. He sat shaded underneath an apple tree next to a pile of books. He scanned each one but grew exceedingly impatient as he failed to locate the answers he was searching for. That’s when he heard the rustling of the tree branches above him.
He lifted his head and nervously called out into the darkness, “Who’s there?”
A slithering creature scaled down the trunk of the tree. “I can help you with what you desire.”
“You know nothing of what I desire.” Samael responded to the insidious creature.
The snake slithered in between the branches and then hung its upper body down to Samael and hissed in his ear, “Her name is Eve and she will soon exit the gates.”
Samael jumped to his feet and grabbed the snake in a forceful grip. “Has my Father sent you?” He reached for his dagger and put it up to the snake’s belly. “I shall slice you open now and skin you for dinner, if you do not reveal your true form.”
“Very well.” The snake complied.
Samael let go of his terse grip and stepped back. He saw a cloud of black smoke and when it cleared, a tiny dark man appeared in its mist with a mouth full of more gaps than teeth.
“Samjaza. I should have known it was you.”
Everyone in the Garden knew him as the Snake because of the form he so often took, but his given name was Samjaza. He lived in a tiny, mud hut along the forest line and filled his hut with the carcasses of dead animals and decaying tree roots. He did not keep these beings for their meats and furs like most hunters, but instead collected them to be used in séances, magical potions and other sacrilegious activities. Most of the people in the Garden believed Samjaza to be an old man who had simply gone mad. But there were still a few who believed that the wizard practiced the dark arts and was truly to be feared.
Under normal conditions, Samael stayed clear of Samjaza, and avoided the possible evil that he possessed. But at this moment in time, Samael had hoped that just maybe he harbored a bit of magic in his old mind, and an ability to bring the woman he loved back to him. Samael was desperate and willing to try anything to be reunited with his lady.
“Tell me, Samjaza, did my father send you after me?”
“I work for no one,” replied the spiritually dark man, “’Twas not your father who sent me here. I came because I knew you to be in trouble.”
Samael looked away and turned his attention back to his studies. The two weeks were almost up and Samael was no closer to finding a way out of the Garden than he was the night his father brought down his verdict. He did not have time to entertain the enigmatic riddles of this loopy old man.
“The books you study will not give you the answers you seek.”
Samael bristled. “You know nothing of what I seek.”
“You need a way out of the gates. The answer is not in a book, but in the dagger you carry on your belt loop.”
Samael gripped his large knife and looked into the eyes of the wicked man. “How do you know so much?”
“’Tis my job. I search for those who need my help, and I offer it. Shall I offer the same to you?”
Samael was well aware of the help the Snake offered people. If the rumors of his magic were true, then this man was not a creation of God but rather the opposite. Samjaza was pure evil, but how could Samael refuse what he was offering? He was running out of time and Eve was to be wed in less than three days. He could not afford to turn the Snake away now.
“What price shall it cost?” Samael nervously inquired.
“For now, it shall cost the love of your sister. Later, there will be another price to pay, but we needn’t discuss it at present.”
Samael shook his head. He would do anything if he knew it would bring him to Eve. But harming his dear sister was out of the question. “I could never harm her.”
“Not even for dear Eve?” the Snake leered.
Samael sat and pondered this question. He made a promise to Eve that he would devote his life to finding her again, but he could not sacrifice his sister. She was the only one he had ever loved besides Eve.
“I will find another way,” he answered. “Thank you anyway for your help, kind sir.” With that he bowed gracefully, gathered his books, and began to depart.
The Snake proffered, “What if I was to tell you your dear sister has already betrayed your trust?”
“I shan’t believe it.”
Frozen in his steps by anger, he clenched his fists and felt the uncontrollable rage he had felt the day his father announced his plans of keeping him from Eve.
“You’ve suspected it all along, Samael. In your heart, you know I speak the truth.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I know all, including the actions of your sister. ’Twas her who spied you with Eve in the forest that day and ’twas her that ran to your father and revealed to him your affairs.”
Samael stood as still as a statue as he allowed every feeling of anger, betrayal, and resentment enter into his being and sadly come to rest in his bones. This family he had been cursed with had turned out to be no family at all. Even his dear sister, whom he felt was the only one that understood him, had betrayed him. He had no one in this land to turn to. Samael was alone with not one friend. He looked at the old man, and in a cold, unemotional voice, he sadly nodded his pledge. “I shall do it. My ties to my sister shall be severed the next time I see her…provided you allow a way out of this hell for me and guide me to my Eve.”
Samjaza exclaimed, “We have a deal.”
The Snake then instructed Samael that the gate would open once he completed all deeds required. The first would be his sister; he needed to sever their bond by blood.
Chapter 4
Empty With You
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Ray. He was hunched over my bed with his head resting in my lap. He was sleeping soundly. His hand was gripped tightly around mine, as if I were a valuable treasure. The thought made me smile.
I looked around at my surroundings and became aware that I was in a hospital room. Reaching up, I touched my head as I winced in pain. My fingers traced along the tiny pinpoints running along my hairline.
Stitches. More than a few too.
Lying back on my pillow, I closed my eyes. I was exhausted but going back to sleep wouldn’t help when these dreams were coming at me full force. I wondered if maybe the doctor could prescribe a medication that would lift my spirits and keep me awake at the same time.
Ray stirred next to me. His heavy lids lifted and his blue eyes beamed at me. “Sid, you're awake,” he mumbled as he sat up. He lifted his white hat and scratched his head. He looked as if hadn’t slept in two days. “How do you feel?”
I took his hand and pulled him onto me. He looked like he could use the bed more than me. He wrapped his arms around me and I nestled my head next to his chest, feeling the warmth of his body surround me. He smelled so good, like soap and cologne and…Ray.
“I'm so tired,” I purred.
“You’ve been asleep for nearly 24 hours.”
“Twenty-four hours…really?”
I looked at him with lazy puppy dog eyes. “It felt like I was just napping. Every time I closed my eyes I had those overwhelming dreams. It was mentally exhausting. Do you think Dr. Kyle would give me something to help me sleep better?”
Ray just looked at me in disbelief. “Sid, somebody just came into your backyard and smashed your face in with a shovel and you’re worried about getting a good night’s rest?”
He lay there ashen and more than a little shaken, trying to hide his fear from me, but I knew him too well and that look on his face brought me back to that day in my backyard.
He said somberly, “There was blood everywhere.”
I recalled the hazy image of him walking alongside my hospital gurney, his shirt and hands covered in blood. I was horrified at the memory. “Was that all my blood?”
Ray climbed out
of the bed and walked to the window. He kept his back to me so I couldn’t see his face.
“Ray, where did all of that blood come from?” I brought my hand to my face and felt the stitches again. From what I could feel, it didn’t seem like that many sutures. Surely all of that blood couldn’t have escaped from me.
Ignoring my question, Ray turned around and headed for the door. “The police are waiting in the hall. They asked to speak to you as soon as you woke up. I'll be back when they’re done.”
“Ray!” I yelled but he continued through the door, leaving me alone and confused.
A heavyset man wearing a black police uniform entered the room. He had strawberry blond curly hair and a round face.
“Sidney Sinclair? I’m Detective Albright with the Homicide unit.”
My mind picked up on the key word in his sentence.
Homicide? Why would the Homicide Department need to speak with me?
I weakly smiled up at him, “Isn’t it obvious that I’m not dead?”
Ignoring my logic, the detective took out a yellow notepad and pen from his front pocket and seated himself in the chair across from my bed.
“So your boyfriend didn’t tell you about his discovery then?”
I swallowed hard and shook my head. Thinking of Ray, I remembered the way he looked both in the backyard and in the ambulance, then again just a few moments ago in the hospital bed with me. He had looked so shaken—I had never seen him that scared before. But what was most unsettling were his eyes. They were cold and emotionless as he attempted to shield himself from what he’d seen. Those blue oceans were now a heavy pool of emptiness.
“There was so much blood,” I recalled out loud. “It was on his shirt and his hands. Was that all from me?”
Again the detective ignored my question as he jotted down notes in his yellow notepad. As the seconds crept by, feeling more like hours, the detective finally spoke and what he said shocked me beyond anything I had ever heard in my young life.
“The blood belonged to your grandmother’s nurse. She was found dead inside of the home. Blunt force trauma to the head. Do you recall any details during the moments prior to your injuries?”
“Nouri’s dead?” I wailed, unable to contain my sobs.
The way the detective told me was so cold, unsettling, and unfeeling. He dismissed her death as if she was nothing more than an immigrant nurse to some elderly woman on her way out of this world. Nouri was so much more than just my grandmother’s nurse, she was my friend. She was my family.
“Oh my God,” I cried. The tears poured from my eyes and my head began to throb.
“Sidney.” The unemotional cop continued, “I need you to focus here while I ask you these questions. Is there anything you remember that can assist us with our investigation?”
I shook my head as I reached over to the bedside table and took a piece of tissue. “No. I don’t know who was in the backyard with me. One minute I was planting some flowers and the next thing I knew, someone was bringing down a shovel on me. That’s the last thing I remember.”
I brought my knees up to my chest and sobbed loudly into my tissue. My beloved Nouri was gone.
“Well, whoever it was whacked you pretty good with that shovel, and then proceeded into the house to attack the nurse. You’re lucky to be alive, Sidney. It appears that you were their target.”
I blinked in surprise and brushed the tears away with the back of my hand. Every bone in my body seemed to be vibrating like a semi-truck crossing a drawbridge. All I could think about was my mother’s warning.
It was just a foolish dream, Sidney. Your mother can’t communicate with you from beyond the grave.
“What makes you think that? If they wanted me dead, they could have very well killed me in the backyard.”
He nodded laconically. “You’re right. They could have. But I don’t believe that was their intent. They wanted to send you some kind of warning. Your boyfriend found a note on the kitchen table. It was addressed to you.”
The detective reached into his pocket and pulled out a zip lock bag. Handing it to me, I turned it over to find a handwritten note sealed inside. It read:
Sidney,
Stay where you belong. Next time it might be Granny.
My hands began to tremble as I read those sinister words. I understood exactly what the person was demanding. Nouri died because I had planned to leave Noddington Heights on Friday. The note clearly said, “Stay where you belong…”
Slowly my mind began to creep into a terrifying space as I pictured Granny lying helpless and alone in her bed.
“Granny,” I whispered to the cop, “Is my granny okay?”
The detective nodded his head in exasperation as I detoured his thoughts and ran him off-track of the subject at hand.
“She’s fine, Sidney. Do you have any idea what this note means?”
I slowly handed the zip lock bag back to Detective Albright and nodded my head. “Yes,” I whispered as the tears slid down my cheeks and my heart broke all over again. “Nouri agreed to stay here and take care of my granny full time while I moved to Los Angeles with my boyfriend, Ray. Whoever wrote that note clearly doesn’t want me to go.”
“How many people knew that you were moving?”
“I told my best friend, Chrissy Kyle, this morning. Then of course, Ray, and…that’s it.” I didn’t know why, but I decided not to tell Detective Albright about Adrian. It would just get back to Ray and cause problems. Besides, it’s not like Adrian would hurt me.
But who would?
Just as I thought about her, the detective asked, “Your boyfriend Ray. Does he have any jealous ex-girlfriends that may feel threatened by you moving in with him?”
I swallowed hard and nodded my head. The detective waited for me to elaborate. “Yes, Lilly Lavelle. You’d have to talk to Ray about her, though. He tells me he no longer has any contact with her.”
The detective displayed no intention of moving and continued to stare at me, pen in hand. “But you’re not buying it, are you? You suspect he’s still in contact with her?”
I was beginning to see why this man decided to go into this line of work. Detective Albright nailed it, but I didn’t want to allow him the satisfaction of being right. Or maybe I just wanted to remain blind to my hopeless situation. “I don’t know, Detective. My boyfriend says he’s ended the relationship and I believe him.”
The detective wrote down a few more notes before standing. “Okay, Ms. Sinclair. Thank you very much for your time. If we get any leads, I’ll be sure to contact you.”
After the police left I stared at the doorway waiting for Ray to come back. That’s when the blonde princess strolled through the doors. Even in the wake of a tragedy, Chrissy looked as if she’d just stepped out of the summer edition of a Victoria’s Secret catalog, wearing a blue halter top and white shorts.
“Sidney. Oh my God, what happened?”
She gripped my hands, and despite my anger with her earlier, my happiness outweighed the more primitive emotion. Besides, this was a time for healing, not hurtful feelings.
“Chrissy, I’m so glad you're here.”
She frowned. “Your head looks awful. I hope that doesn’t leave a scar. Who would do this to you?”
Pushing away the ominous warning my dead mother gave me in my last dream, I answered with the next logical explanation. “It had to be Lilly.”
Once I said it, I knew she wasn’t buying it. She raised one eyebrow as she looked at me skeptically. “Ray’s little play thing back in L.A.? Why?”
“Whoever did this left a note threatening that if I left with Ray, they would kill Granny. Whoever did this wanted to stop me from leaving. It had to be Lilly,” I reasoned. “If Ray was still sleeping with her, then of course she wouldn’t want me going back to L.A.”
Chrissy shrugged her shoulders, “Well yeah, but he’s not. How would she even know about you moving back with Ray or where you live, for that matter? She wouldn’t.”
“Unless Ray was still talking to her,” I pushed back, fighting hard to make Chrissy see my reasoning.
It had to be Lilly, because the only other answer I could come up with left me thinking that I belonged in a nut house. I couldn’t let go of my mother’s warning.
Samael’s coming for you, Sidney. Don’t let the dreams or his charm fool you. It’s all lies.
Chrissy still wasn’t convinced. “It just doesn’t make sense, Sidney. Why would Ray come home and spend all of this time begging you to come back just to throw it all away again? He may be an ass, but he’s not an idiot. Who else knew you were leaving?”
Besides Chrissy, Adrian was the only one that I told. I didn’t want my best friend to jump to any conclusions, but I couldn’t lie to her, either. I decided to tell Chrissy about Adrian.
“Do you remember Green Eyes McGee from the bar?”
“Um, the guy that finally made you realize there are way hotter guys than Ray out there? How can I forget?”
Ignoring Chrissy’s crudeness, I continued. “The night of my birthday, after I left the bar I met up with him. We ended up hanging out pretty late and when I got home, Ray was there. We fought. I tried to break up with him, and long story short, we made up and then Ray made me promise that I wouldn’t see Adrian again.”
“Okay, back up. I don’t want the short story, gimme the long drawn out, point to point novel. Beginning with Adrian?”
“That’s green-eyed guy’s name. Anyway, I promised I wouldn’t see him but I didn’t keep my word. I saw him again and we spent last Sunday together.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Chrissy blurted out, her eyes as big as half-dollars, gleaming with excitement.
“Of course not, Chrissy, I barely know the guy!”
She shrugged nonchalantly and waved her hand, as if telling me to go on.
“So on Sunday, I told him I was moving and that we wouldn’t be able to see each other again. Like I said, I hardly know the guy. It’s not like he’s going to hit me over the head with a shovel, kill my nurse, and leave a threatening note just to keep me here. He hardly blinked when I told him I was leaving.”
Between Loves (The Pendant Series Book 2) Page 2
