Conceived
Horror
Stephen Kingston
Contents
Copyright
About the Author
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
BONUS
Serial Killer
Still Birth
Possessed
The Shadow Man
Missing Hearts
Crossover
Copyright © Lovy Books Ltd, 2016
Stephen Kingston has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Lovy Books Ltd
20-22 Wenlock Road
London N1 7GU
About the Author
Stephen Kingston is a British horror writer who currently resides in England with her wife. They live a simple life with their dog in the countryside. His stories are now available for your reading pleasure on Amazon Kindle.
Part 1
About the Book
It all began with a young woman desperate to be blessed with a child. But no one could have foretold of the evil that would be unleashed when a desperate woman decided to take a shortcut to happiness.
Kira Reid heard about The Miracle Man from a television commercial. He was said to do the impossible: he healed the sick, he pulled the poor out of the depths of poverty—he could give you anything you needed. So when Kira hears on TV that he is coming to her hometown she knows that he is the answer to her prayers.
For years Kira and her husband, Chuck, have been cursed with the inability to have children. The first two pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Kira knows the toll the grief has taken on her marriage. Her husband hardly looks at her anymore. The only thing keeping him from leaving her is his strict religious upbringing.
But she is going to change all that. She knows that The Miracle Man can help her.
She knows that if anyone can answer her prayers, it is him.
But the answers she goes looking for are not without a price and this price is going to be far more than she bargained for. Kira has disturbed the natural order of things and set in motion events that may bring about The Apocalypse.
Can she stop it before it’s too late?
Chapter One
Kira Reid took a deep breath and stepped out of her car. The large conference center loomed in front of her, casting a huge shadow over everything. The bright May sunshine was temporarily blocked out by the grand old building. The building was old and majestic, but standing in front of it right now Kira felt a jolt of nervous energy that she had not been feeling until just then. She felt silly for feeling this way, but it was almost like she was being warned not to step foot inside. Something was telling her to turn back; this was a stupid idea. What would Chuck say if he knew that she was here right now? He would probably divorce her. They were strong God fearing Christians and this was going against everything her religion had ever taught her about the sanctity of life.
Kira somehow found the strength to place one foot in front of the other and began moving toward the large doors at the entrance about a hundred yards away from her, across the parking lot. The air began to whirl around her intensely creating almost a miniature dust storm that was just moving around her body. The Arizona sky suddenly seemed angry, but it was far from Monsoon season, so this was very typical. May was usually just a constant pattern of sunny skies and ninety degree temperatures, often dipping over the one hundred mark—which was still just a prelude of the constant triple digit temperatures that would characterize the next four months.
Her mind continued to dwell on the magnitude of what she was about to do. She and Chuck had tried for five years to have a child, from when they were first married. Their first child Abby was miscarried during the fifth month of her pregnancy. After a long battle with depression where she constantly asked God why he had put her and Chuck through such torture she had been elated when He had given them another chance, blessing them with another pregnancy two years later. But then the unthinkable happened—she miscarried again during the fourth month. The doctors could not figure out why this had happened either time; her body was perfectly capable of supporting a child to term.
Chuck and Kira had been devastated by this to the point that Kira had almost quit being a Christian. She had never told Chuck this—he was from a profoundly religious family and he had turned to God both times to help him get through his grief instead of placing blame as Kira silently did. She hated that she was unable to give Chuck the child that he wanted and after each miscarriage she saw a bit of light dim inside his eyes when he looked at her. She knew that Chuck would never leave her for such a thing. He didn’t believe in divorce, but she saw the way he looked at her and the fact that they rarely ever made love clinched the idea that he resented her for not being able to give him a son.
Kira had hit the bottle fairly hard during the last year or so; she had been at her wits end and she just didn’t know what to do. She wanted a child so badly and she wanted to give Chuck a son more than anything. She wanted him to be happy again; she wanted her husband back. She was tired of watching him fall asleep in front of the television every night instead of coming to bed with her. She was tired of him spending all his time in the garage doing God knows what. It was obvious that he tried to avoid her as much as he could.
So when she heard the announcement on the television that The Miracle Man was coming to town she jumped at the chance to meet him. He was her only hope. If anyone could help her it was him.
The Miracle Man was a Native American Shaman—one of the last remaining in the country. He was said to possess a third sight and an affinity with the spirits. They would grant wishes to those who he deemed worthy of it and there had been much documentation about his miracles and the people he had helped.
Kira had never taken faith healers seriously, but if there was even a chance that this man was the real deal then she had no choice but to meet with him. She had to explain to him why she needed his help and he had to help her. There was no other alternative. She was going to get the help that she and Chuck needed. Her damaged uterus was going to be healed and they were going to be blessed with a child.
She entered the building where she was greeted by several women at a large table. It was covered in a dark cloth with a strange logo on the front of it. The women were all Native American and dressed in ritualistic clothing. They smiled at her with a gleam in their eyes as if they were really excited to see her. Kira was usually pretty perceptive at spotting phony promises and sales pitches, but the feeling she received from this greeting put her instantly at ease. She had been a bit of a nervous wreck just seconds ago and had almost stumbled three times just walking across the parking lot, but now she felt calm and in control; she belonged here. She had made the right decision. She was sure of it.
“Hello and welcome!” The woman in the center said.
Kira noticed, standing in front of the woman, how strik
ingly beautiful she was. The woman stood up wrapping Kira’s right hand in both of hers. The touch was warm and inviting, spreading warmth through Kira’s palms as her eyes were being held in a gaze with the woman. The woman’s eyes were sparkling blue like the bluest ocean Kira had ever seen. It was hypnotic and beautiful. Her long, straight, jet black hair sparkled under the lights and sat softly on her shoulders.
“Thank you,” Kira responded.
“I am Whispering Wind Walker,” the woman said.
“My name is Kira Reid.”
“Kira, it is so nice to have you here. Have you been to one of Mr. Clearwater’s sessions before? “
“Mr. Clearwater?”
“Yes—The Miracle Man as he is affectionately known.”
“Oh, no. I haven’t.”
Whispering Wind came out from behind the table and began to escort Kira toward a room at the end of a long corridor. Kira was a bit confused since she did not see the other women taking such an active interest in any of the other patrons who were signing in and walking through the double doors behind the table.
“Where are we going?” Kira asked.
“You are about to experience something wonderful,” Whispering Wind said as she led Kira through a doorway into a dimly lit room.
In the center of the room was a round table covered with a black cloth. The strange insignia she had seen earlier was on the center of the cloth. It was an upside down triangle and a right side up triangle interlocked with an eye in the middle and the whole thing was spread across the chest of an intense looking eagle with its wings spreading wide behind it.
Ceremonial candles lit the room lining up from wall to wall along the perimeter. Kira was getting an eerie feeling, but Whispering Wind began to put her at ease.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be alright,” she said. Her voice was soft and somewhat sensual. It lent a credibility to every word she uttered.
“Why am I here? I came to see the seminar. I have to meet with him.”
“You will. That is why you are here. You have been chosen, Kira.”
“Chosen for what?”
“At all of our shows thousands show up and they all want to meet with Mr. Clearwater, but most are not worthy. What I mean by that is most do not really need his help. Many people think they do but really their demons are of their own doing and their own design. They drink too much, they gamble, they abuse those they love, and they make constant poor choices in their lives. But then someone like you comes along. There is usually only a few of you in each crowd that Mr. Clearwater speaks to. You have real problems. You have been targeted by darkness and you have done nothing to invite it into your life. Do you see?”
Kira thought a moment. She understood what Whispering Wind was saying, but it was hard to concentrate fully on anything at the moment. Her head was starting to feel a bit dizzy and she could see the drowsiness beginning to target her.
“I understand,” Kira uttered.
“My job is to see in you what no one else does. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were one of The Chosen. You were meant to meet Mr. Clearwater.”
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Kira replied. She was feeling rather tongue tied and the dizziness that had come over her was now flashing through her in waves of alternating nausea. She wanted to lie down and she didn’t know why she wasn’t making her condition known to Whispering Wind. It was as if she was almost embarrassed by it all and the way she was being daunted over. She felt an overwhelming feeling of disorientation as if she was being pulled in several different directions at once.
“You will see how everything is going to be alright for you,” Whispering Wind said as she guided Kira, gently taking her by the hand, to the table. She motioned for Kira to lie down on the table.
The table felt cool and hard beneath her back but the moment she lay down on the hard surface the nausea and the impending panic attack she had been dealing with vanished. Her mind was peaceful then, becoming one with the shadows dancing on the walls behind the glow of the candles. She stared up at the ceiling and listened to Whispering Wind’s voice, slow and soothing, the words echoing in her ears but muddying together into a cacophony of droning noise, the meaning of the words all blurring together into a collage of moans.
“Rise my dear. Rise...”
Kira woke to the sound of an old man’s voice purring in her ear. She jerked herself awake with the realization that she had been asleep and she was now in a very strange place with a man she didn’t know. Her body was frozen in place, bouncing against the ropes that held her arms firmly at the corners of the table she was lying on. As she struggled the ropes cut deeply into her wrists and she felt the first trickles of blood oozing out of her wrists beneath the tightening ropes.
She tried to scream but the gag in her mouth began to choke her. It was then that she was able to taste the sickening latex of the ball gag that had been forced hard into her mouth. With every breath and every exasperated attempt at a scream the ball moved farther into her mouth, blocking her airway.
“Don’t struggle, my dear. It is all going to be fine,” The old man spoke. He was a Native American man with long silver hair braided on both sides. His skin looked leathery and without any hint of moisture. His eyes were blank saucers that reflected her terrified face in their blackness shining right back at her.
What was going on? Was he The Miracle Man? What in the hell had she gotten herself into? She just wanted to run away and never look back. She should have listened to her gut when she was driving down here. These people were crazy; there was no doubt. She was in real trouble here.
There was movement in the corner of her eye just then. She was not able to turn her head but a fraction of an inch, but her eyes darted as far to her left as possible.
She was not alone.
There were two other tables in the room just like this one with two women tied to them just like her. They were all covered with sheets but she knew that the other women were naked beneath the sheet just as she was. What the hell was going on here?
Whispering Wind appeared right then beside Mr. Clearwater. She was dressed in a ceremonial gown. It was a black and silk gown that cupped her curvy body perfectly, dragging on the ground behind her feet. It looked like something a female vampire might wear in a late night horror movie on the Chiller channel.
“You are all wondering why you are here and I’m sure you are very frightened. But you have nothing to be frightened of. The truth is you have each come to me searching for the same thing. I am going to make your dream come true.”
The old man spoke slowly with an accent that made his words sound choppy as if he was speaking over a microphone that kept cutting out. He paced around the room slowly as he spoke, taking a moment to kneel closely to each woman as if topping off a point in his speech that was extra important.
His breath smelled of smoke and spice. He had obviously not brushed his teeth in days and the smell lingered in front of Kira’s face as he kneeled down closely, placing his face only inches from hers. At first she thought he might be about to kiss her and she was thankful for the ball gag that would have prevented this action. The stench blasting out of his mouth was the vilest thing she had ever smelled. Her stomach turned over and over threatening to spill its contents out of her mouth, ball gag or not.
“You have all been denied the blessings of children. Whispering Wind knew the moment she laid eyes on you that you three were special. Usually we don’t get true people who really need my assistance. We never have three exceptions like you who have the same problem. That is why she has rounded you up and brought you here. We will unite the life forces inside of all three of you and the results will be amazing!”
The old man shouted the last words, his voice echoing off the walls rattling inside of Kira’s ears. Tears rolled down her face as she struggled again to free herself. The pain from the ropes was intense, but she did not stop this time. She knew that if she struggled enough she would be a
ble to break free. She just wasn’t sure it would be in time.
She was able to see the other two women a bit better now that she was finally able to turn her head slightly. She had already loosened one rope and this gave her the inspiration she needed to double her efforts. The old man seemed oblivious to this as he continued to speak.
The other two women were both about her age. One was a red head and the other was a blond. Kira was a brunette. She thought it odd that they all had different color hair and she wondered if that had anything to do with why they were chosen. She didn’t know if this man was a real shaman or not or if he was actually part of some Satanic cult. This was the most bizarre thing she had ever seen, let alone been a part of. The shock was starting to wear off of her a bit and she was able to think a bit more clearly. She kept picturing Chuck waiting on her to come home and never finding her. She would not let that happen to him. She was going to make it home to her husband.
The other two women were both crying and sobbing. Kira could see the tears streaming down their cheeks as well. They just needed to hang on. She knew that there had to be some way out of this.
But then everything changed.
Whispering Wind was suddenly beside her. Kira had been so focused on the ropes and the possibility of escape that she had not been paying attention to this psycho bitch. The woman began to stroke the sides of Kira’s face, moving her hands downward. At first Kira thought the woman was going to molest her but then she quickly ripped the sheet off of Kira’s body. The air was cold against her. She felt her nipples begin to harden as goose bumps rolled over her flesh in response to the cold.
Thriller: Horror: Conceived (Mystery Suspense Thrillers) (Haunted Paranormal Short Story) Page 1
