Belief (The Hunter Diaries)

by Serena Zane

  Belief The Hunter Diaries Book 3

  Serena Zane

  BELIEF

  A Books to Go Now Publication

  Copyright © Serena Zane 2012

  Books to Go Now

  For information on the cover illustration and design, contact bookstogonow@gmail.com

  First eBook Edition –May 2012

  Printed in the United States of America

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.

  If you are interested in purchasing more works of this nature, please stop by

  www.bookstogonow.com

  Look for Serena Zane’s other stories

  The Christmas Present Book 1 The Hunter Diaries series

  Snow Beast Book 1 The Dark Warrior series

  Moonlight In a Pickup Truck

  Bite Me Book 2 The Hunter Diaries

  Follow the Heart

  Coming Soon Cross to Bare Book 2 The Dark Warrior Series

  Chapter 1

  A soft glow filled the room. Candles sat around the circle that honored the four elements, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. A fifth sat directly in front of the Medium symbolizing Spirit. Her eyes rolled back in her head leaving only the whites. The woman shook and her skin shone with a light sheen of sweat.

  Ami rolled her eyes, and her best friend, Beth, jabbed her in the side. She grunted as the sharp pain hit her rib. Beth had really bony elbows.

  Together, they ran a New Age Wiccan shop. A little oak sign hung above their door proclaiming The Broom Closet, proprietors Beth Stark and Ami Sherridon. Beth held a firm belief that all things magical or supernatural were real, and had instigated the shop.

  Ami reserved judgment. She found it difficult to believe in things that she couldn’t see, or things that were obviously contrived, much like the woman sitting in front of them. The Medium could fit into the Disney version of a gypsy fortune teller, with her bright scarves and shiny jewelry. One word: tacky.

  Suddenly, the shaking stopped and the woman looked at them through glazed eyes. Her parchment-like wrinkled skin stretched as she pointed a finger straight at Ami.

  “You begin an adventure. But beware-- dark and powerful forces threaten you.” Her tone turned raspy, “Look for the one who hides in shadow, for he shall be your undoing.” The woman stilled. “A life exceeds the boundary of time, a knife to cut one short; two lives become one when through the dark path they walk and appear on the other side. Beware! Beware the darkness!” The gypsy’s eyes grew wide, and a wind whipped up from nowhere. All the candles blew out at once. The room went black. Boy, she was good.

  A cold hand landed on Ami’s arm, and she jumped. A loud snap sounded. The lights came on in an instant. The old woman across from them looked at Ami with an intense stare. She suppressed a shudder, and glanced down at Beth’s death grip on her arm.

  Beth made a sheepish face and released her, shrugging it off with a smile. “Sorry.”

  Ami let out a laugh hoping to relieve some of the tension in the room. “It’s okay. That was intense.” Ami stood and stretched, her muscles sore from sitting cross-legged too long.

  The old fortune teller got up quickly for a woman who appeared as though she would blow away with a stiff wind, and grabbed Ami’s arm, her grip strong. “Young lady, be careful you do not mess with forces that you don’t understand.”

  Beth stepped between them. Firmly, she took the old lady’s hand in hers. “I want to thank you for everything, Gizelda. We do appreciate your advice; I’m sure she will take it to heart. Now, we have to run. Blessed be.” Beth leaned forward and pecked the old woman on the cheek.

  “Blessed be, Beth. Remember my warning; dark forces are in your path Ami. Best take care.”

  Beth pulled on Ami’s arm and they exited the confining shop with its cloying aroma of cloves.

  A cold blast hit her as Ami stumbled down the stoop. Attempting to catch her balance, she teetered on the edge of the sidewalk. A huge SUV splashed through a puddle right in front of them. Great! Just what I need! She grimaced at her slacks, which were soaked through. Cold and wet against her skin, she tried to shake out the offending water. No such luck.

  Giving up she looked around for the nearest restaurant. The lights from Baskin Robbins across the street called to her.

  “Come on,” Ami motioned for Beth to follow. “I need to dry off, and I need a scoop of caramel praline ice cream after that reading.” She started across the street. “Make that two scoops, in a waffle cone.”

  Beth laughed, the sound like little bells in the wind, as she trotted after Ami.

  She dried her pants with the hand dryers in the restroom. Letting the heat of the forced air pass down the material as she stood there repeatedly hitting the button. Several patrons passed by, and the women looked at her with amused faces, but no one said anything. When her pants were completely dry, Ami and Beth lined up at the counter and placed their order.

  The attendant passed them their cones and they took a seat in a booth next to the window. The ice cream seemed to be just the thing Ami needed. She reveled in the taste of the caramel praline and enjoyed the way the material of her pants pressed against her skin, toasty warm as she ate.

  Ami shoved the last little bite of waffle cone into her mouth, “We need to pack. Our flight leaves at ten a.m. and we have to be there at eight to get through security.”

  Beth spooned up the last of her chocolate sundae and stood to follow. “You okay with everything? I mean, I believe in all of the magic, but even that was a bit much for me.”

  Ami hugged her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Besides, when you agree to close the shop a week early on what could easily have been our biggest sale day of the year to come with me to Romania-- you more than made up for dragging me to that Medium. One little prophecy isn’t going to ruin my experience.” She shrugged. “Besides, I think it set the tone. What better way to start a trip to the infamous Festival of Blood than with a spooky dark prophecy? Thanks.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure.” She stood and smoothed down her purple brush skirt. The color promoted serenity, but Ami wasn’t feeling very serene at the moment. In fact, she couldn’t be more keyed up.

  The Festival of Blood purported to be the largest gothic faire ever, was held in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. Ami, well aware that vampires were not real, still loved to read about them, and play the occasional role-playing game. Her favorite author would be there, and Ami had every one of her Dark series books packed and ready to be signed. Everything else was just a bonus.

  They grabbed their purses and left the ice cream shop. Ami’s old Honda was parked right next to Beth’s Prius.

  “See ya at seven!” Beth called.

  “Right, let’s make it six-thirty; I don’t want to miss our plane. Those security lines can be brutal.” Ami pulled open her door kicking slightly at the base. It popped open with a groan.

  “Just make sure that the coffee’s ready.”

  “Will do. See ya tomorrow.” Ami slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. The fan belt screeched to life. She grimaced, but pulled out of the
parking spot and slammed it into drive. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, she was excited. She’d never be able to sleep tonight.

  Chapter 2

  Ami stretched and reached out slamming her hand down on the snooze button. She groaned in protest-- five thirty a.m. Too damn early. Forcing herself to get up, Ami popped one eye open. Still dark out, her gaze fell over the shadow of her bookshelf by the bed. A large empty spot gaped at her where she’d kept all her favorite books, The Dark Series. A smile spread across her face. Her spirits picked up immediately as she realized what day it was. I’m headed to Romania! Yes!

  Infused with energy, she rolled out of bed. Hopping into her jeans and pulling her favorite t-shirt that read, I’m a keeper, over her head, Ami made her way downstairs to the coffee machine. Beth would kill her if the coffee wasn’t ready when she got there. Besides, Ami didn’t want the massive migraine that always happened whenever she skipped her morning cup of java.

  Ami dropped in the filter and breathed in the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee beans. She inhaled deeply taking in the rich scent of dark roast coffee with vanilla flavoring. There was nothing quite like it. She dished out several heaping scoops of coffee into the filter, added water, and then flipped the go switch. The back gurgled as the water started to heat, and she smiled when the drip began.

  With a glance at the clock, Ami noticed she had only twenty minutes left before Beth would appear at her door. Slapping an Everything bagel into the toaster, she anticipated biting into the flavorful goodness. She pulled out the cream cheese. Ami made her breakfast with record speed. She got her suitcases ready, shoving bites of bagel into her mouth. She scarfed down the last bite as Beth’s knock sounded on her door.

  Coffee cup in hand, Ami opened it wide to allow her friend to enter.

  “Morning.”

  “Hi, I listened to the news on the radio. It’s a good thing you wanted to start early. Evidently, traffic is already backed up on I-5 and we’ll be pushing it to make our eight o’clock deadline that you set in order to get to Seatac in time.”

  Ami groaned, “That’s what I thought. Well, I’m ready. Let’s do this.” She leaned down and grabbed the two cases awaiting her in the hall. Passing them to Beth, she moved to run up the stairs. “Just a minute. I have to check and make sure everything’s locked up tight and all the lights are turned off.”

  Beth nodded with a look of approval. Ami knew that her friend didn’t like the way she kept the lights on in the house. She was a firm believer in conserving energy; hence the Prius, but Ami just couldn’t help herself. She didn’t like dark rooms, hadn’t since she was a kid. It only took a minute. Ami ran back down the stairs, grabbed her own coffee mug, locked the door and headed out to meet Beth, who had already loaded her cases into the trunk of her tiny car.

  The drive wasn’t too bad. They arrived at the airport before they knew it. After they checked their bags and went through airport security, they headed to their terminal. The wait in the lobby was actually longer than the whole time it took to get through security. Ami wondered if maybe the terrifying stories of passengers having all sorts of issues getting through weren’t some sort of bad propaganda for the airports designed to create more jobs.

  Before long, Ami found herself sandwiched between Beth, and a chubby man in a suit. She hated flying coach. As she leaned her head back into the seat, she pushed it back as far as it could go, trying to relax. Things would be fine. What fun, she’d get her books signed, and Beth would gain invaluable networking and make some great contacts. No need to worry.

  Chapter 3

  Someone nudged her in the shoulder. Ami’s eyelids opened just a bit, and her hand went to the crick in her neck. Apparently, she’d been out for some time. With a yawn, she turned to Beth as she rubbed out the sore spot. “What time is it?”

  “Our time? Or Romanian time? We’re almost there. The captain just announced that we will be landing in about fifteen minutes.” She pointed out the small portal, “Look, you can see the mountains.”

  Ami turned slightly in her seat and gazed out the window in wonder. Even with the crick in her neck. She wanted to see the land below. Someone could be inspired to write great stories about land like this. Snow capped the mountains, and Ami could see little villages as the plane passed overhead. Many of the villages had a large manor or castle at the top; some in disrepair. It reminded her of her friend Ralph’s Warhammer collection with all the tiny buildings, and meadows. He was going to be so jealous. Ralph was the Game Master of their little RPG, but she was the one who got to play at the Festival of Blood. He’d be so jealous.

  She could feel excitement start to build. “This is awesome. If I forget to tell you later, thanks for coming with me.”

  “No problem. Hey, it’s a good business opportunity. I thought we might want to go international with our web sales.”

  “Great idea. We could hit up some of the larger vendors at the fair and see what they think about the market. It has to be huge over here.”

  The plane started to bank, making it’s last decent. Ami leaned back in her chair. Her tummy tightened and she felt the pull of gravity as she became weightless for a moment. It was her favorite part of flying; that feeling like you’re on a roller coaster and completely out of control.

  Tires hit the tarmac, and the plane slowed to a halt. Ami jumped up and down in her seat ready to disembark. As soon as the signal was given that the passengers could unbuckle their safety belts, Ami hopped up and grabbed her case from overhead. Beth had to move fast to get out of her way. Ami almost bumped Beth in the head in her excitement as she pulled down her carry-on.

  “Oops, sorry Beth.”

  “No problem. I know you’re thrilled. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited since we were sixteen and went to that Candlebox concert. Hmmm.” Her friend had a speculative look on her face.

  Ami brushed it off, “Oh stop. That’s only because I had a crush on the lead guitarist. This is totally different.”

  “Sure it is.”

  “It is!”

  “Okay.”

  Ami gave up. The line moved, and she didn’t want to bump into anyone else. The airport wasn’t spectacular. Drab grey walls, and sections that were cordoned off to steer passengers in the right direction met them as they disembarked. Ami assumed that by the number of people dressed in Gothic clothing, the festival would be a huge hit. They pushed through the throng, and made their way to the luggage retrieval area. Thank the Goddess that everything listed on the signs were in both English and Romanian, otherwise they’d be totally lost. Once they had their bags, they went over to the car rental station.

  The man behind the desk perked up as they stepped to the counter.

  Ami spoke before he had a chance to start, “I’m sorry sir, but do you speak English? We don’t know any Romanian.”

  “Yes Miss, I do. What can I help you with today?”

  Ami pulled out their vouchers. “We have a car rental waiting for us.”

  The man took her voucher and typed a few things into the system at his desk. He smiled and handed it back to her. “Please sign here, and here.” He pulled a contract out and flipped to the last page of the terms and conditions to the signature line.

  “Okay.” Ami took the clipboard and the pen that the man offered,. She signed the document wanting to be on her way. When she handed him back the papers, the man grinned, dimples showing in his cheeks.

  “Your car will be waiting for you in lot D.” He handed her a set of keys. “Ivan will be more than happy to escort you ladies. I do want to thank you for choosing us.” Another guy came up driving a little golf cart tram for airport passengers. “Ah, here he is now. Ivan, these lovely women need to be taken to lot D, for getting their vehicle. Here’s the one.” He handed Ivan a copy of the documents.

  The man looked briefly over the papers, and gestured for them to get into the cart. “Please, it would be my pleasure to show you to your car.”

  Ami and Be
th both hopped onto the tram, more than happy not to carry their bags a long distance. Ami wasn’t sure about Beth, but one of her cases held nothing but books and the damn thing was heavy. It didn’t take long to get to lot D, since there were only four lots anyway, and lot D held all the rental cars. Ivan drove up to a little sporty two-seater and stopped.

  “Here we are. You ladies have a nice trip, yes?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Ami grabbed her bags and scrambled off the tram. Beth followed with a much more graceful exit.

  “Yes, thank you Ivan.”

  With a nod, the man turned and drove off, leaving them with the little car.

  Ami’s lips turned up in a grin, “So, who gets to drive?”

  “I think maybe I’d better. You’d get us a speeding ticket our first day here.” Beth had a quirky grin on her face.

  “No I wouldn’t.”

  Beth tilted her head to the side, and Ami acquiesced. Sometimes it was just easier to give in.

  As they drove the winding roads towards the tiny village where the festival would take place, the trees grew thicker, and the colors more lush. Dragomirsti was a small village in Romania that, just recently, was declared a town by local government. The town was small by most standards, but Ami enjoyed the atmosphere. Only one inn remained that was not already booked solid when she’d called to make their reservations a few weeks ago. As they pulled up to it, Ami could see why.

  The place just looked creepy. Right across the street from a local cemetery, the inn had a well used appearance. Old timber framed the structure, and the roof seemed to sag on one side. Ami gave Beth an apprehensive glance, but then shrugged her shoulder and popped open the trunk. Everywhere else was booked, and they’d come too far to turn back now. She grabbed their bags, and closed the hatch with a decided thump.

  “Well, looks like we’re here.”

  “Yup.” Beth stood staring up at the structure like it would eat her whole. “This better be worth it Ami. No mites in my bed.” Rounding the car she pulled her cases from Ami’s grip, and proceeded to tromp into the inn.