Works By Brandy Sullivan
Single Works
Stolen Lives: The Heart Breaking Story of a Trafficking Victim
The Devil Came a Knockin’
The Cannibal Inside
A Series of Horribly and Unbearably GRIMM Tales
Eternally Blooded Series
To Hell and Back
Coming Soon: Halfway to Hell
TO HELL
AND
BACK
_______
Eternally Blooded Series
Brandy Sullivan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Sullivan Publishing House
8 Union street
Windsor, VT 05089
www.brandysullivan.com
Copyright © 2014 Brandy Sullivan
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1495499753
ISBN-10: 1495499758
Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction, entirely the product of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, places and events is purely coincidental.
DEDICATION
Danny, Korbin, Brady, Ethan, Isabelle
Part 1
Love Everlasting
Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service.
(The Tempest, 3.1)
CHAPTER ONE
Valerie laid in the dark silently breathing as her eyes blinked open slowly. She was disoriented and groggy. It took a few minutes for her to remember where she was. Panic began to set in as she sat up quickly only to find she had to lie back down. The pain in her head was excruciating. She listened for sounds of footsteps chasing her above but could hear nothing. The things pursuing her must have fled.
She remembered going out to the bar with her friends to have a few drinks, she remembered feeling a bit tipsy and telling her friends she was going to walk home to clear her head, she remembered the things that she mistook for men cornering her in an alley. It was completely by luck that she fell through the door at the end of the alley leading into an abandoned warehouse. The pursuers were stunned and she took the second they hesitated as an opportunity to run. The warehouse must've been abandoned for a while; the floor was completely dry rotted. At some point she fell through crashing to the dirt floor of the basement below painfully.
She didn’t know how long she'd been lying there or how long she'd been passed out. She only knew that she had to get home and that for now she was mostly okay. Valerie decided to try to sit up again but when she did the pain came back followed by dizziness. Her vision clouded over and her head fell back to rest in the dirt and she passed out once more.
chapter two
When Valerie woke up again she felt like she had been run over by a Mack truck. There was not an inch of her body that didn't seem to be in pain. As her eyes blinked open she realized she wasn't staring at darkness this time. Her eyes were assaulted by bright light streaming in through windows. No matter how painful it was to move around she had to figure out where she was. Obviously she was no longer lying in a dirt basement but on a soft bed and her body was covered up with a white sheet and blanket. She reached up to touch her head and felt a bandage just above her left eye. She began taking inventory of herself. Her toes wiggled. She could move her legs around. All of her fingers still seem to be intact, and she still had both arms. All in all she felt she was in pretty good shape.
The light pouring in the Windows and the comfortable bed gave Valerie a reassuring feeling that she was safe. Safe or not she needed to know where she was. Was this a hospital? Had those things kidnapped her after all? She peered around the room and took in the plush tan carpeting on the floor, the cranberry wallpapered walls, and the antique wood furniture. Besides the queen-size bed she was lying in there were also two bureaus, a vanity, and a desk with a small chair underneath the window. It was a very pleasant room but it definitely wasn't a hospital. She slowly struggled to sit up, swinging her legs to the side of the bed as she threw the covers back. She glanced down noticing that she was in fuzzy pink pajamas. She rolled her eyes and gave an audible groan. Valerie detested pink. Just as she was getting ready to stand up and see if her feet would hold her a voice startled her.
"James will be so happy to see that you're awake!"
Turning to gaze at the door she saw a tiny little blonde woman had entered. She couldn't have stood more than 5'2" tall. Her blonde hair was cut into a stylish bob but her eyes are what had Valerie transfixed. They were a deep violet color, a color that was definitely not natural. Valerie assumed they must be contacts.
"Oh I am sorry. My name is Linda. I guess I should've said that before just barging in and startling you. I suppose knocking first might have been polite as well but I assumed you were still sleeping."
Valerie realized that she was staring at Linda with her mouth open and not saying a word. She probably appeared very rude and slow.
"Hi. I'm Valerie. Could you tell me where... What I mean to say is... well where am I?"
As she spoke Valerie realized that she didn't sound nearly as nonchalant or brave as she was trying to. Her voice came out in kind of a cracked whisper.
"Don't you worry. You're safe here. Perfectly and totally safe. James would never have brought you anywhere that wasn't safe." Linda said as if that explained everything.
"James? Who is James?"
The two women looked at each other with equally confused expressions until Linda realized that Valerie hadn't actually met James. She had blacked out before James found her and had been asleep ever since.
"Well James rescued you. He brought you here to recuperate and to keep you safe from the men who were after you."
Valerie's first instinct was to tell Linda that they were not men. They were things, something unnatural, men's faces didn't twist and warp the way that theirs did. She stopped herself before she got a chance to say anything. She realized that she would sound crazy and she didn't want this stranger thinking she belonged in a loony bin.
"Why did he bring me here instead of to the hospital or the police station?" Valerie asked instead "or is he an officer?"
"Well... He's kind of like an officer. More like secret police." Linda replied seeming flustered all of a sudden. She sat down on the bed next to Valerie and began inspecting the wound under the bandage on Valerie's forehead.
"You must feel very safe being married to an officer." Was all Valerie could think of to say. She was still trying to make sense of all the pieces of information in her head. Linda surprised her by laughing.
"I'm not married to James. James wasn't meant to be mine. He has been desperately waiting for the one who is meant for him. Your head wound looks good, it wasn't very deep and didn't need any stitches. Let's get you to the bathroom you can take a shower and then you can meet us downstairs in the kitchen to have a bite to eat."
"A shower would be great." Valerie said feeling a bit uncomfortable around Linda. The small woman didn’t scare her, heck she seemed to be an extremely cheerful person. While they were talking the smile on Linda’s face hadn’t wavered once.
"Then allow me to escort you to the humble facilities." Linda said heading for a door
on the other side of the bedroom the Valerie hadn't noticed.
Valerie nodded in response and stood up, feeling a bit shaky on her legs but not too bad. She figured after shower and a little bit of food she would probably feel much better. On the way to the bathroom she thought she might be able to get a few more questions in.
"So is this your home?"
"Yes this is my home, well in the summertime this is my home. I love New Hampshire in the summertime but in the winter I spend my days out west in California."
Valerie was still a bit confused, "So does the police department like rent this house out to you or something?"
Linda gave a small chuckle "My husband works with James. They handle all the special cases in the area and our home by default must be used at times."
"Well I promise I won't stay long, actually I'd like to go home today if possible." Valerie said feeling a bit uncomfortable again. She didn’t want to impose on anybody.
"Oh don't be silly, and besides you can't go home today those men are still looking for you. You might be here for months. I really don't mind, I don't get out much and it's always nice to have another female in the house. James and Mathius, Mathius is my husband, can get tiresome. It will be nice having a female around."
Valerie suddenly felt very alarmed. A few months seemed like a very long time to be away from her life. She made a mental note to discuss the situation further after she had a shower.
Linda pushed open the door to the bathroom and marched in grabbing towels out of the cupboard and clothes out of the basket that was on the counter.
"These should be your size." She said handing Valerie the items. "When you're done just come down the stairs and to the right and you will find us in the kitchen. If you need anything just holler." With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the door closing it behind her.
Valerie carefully inspected the clothes. A pair of jeans, a white cotton T-shirt, and a bra and underwear set. They were all new, they still had the tags on them, and somehow they were just her size. For some reason the gesture of being bought clothes by complete strangers made her feel odd but she definitely appreciated it. A quick sniff of her armpit told her that she definitely needed a shower and clean clothes.
Valerie felt like she hadn’t eaten in days and as much as she was enjoying the hot water pouring over her sore body she rushed through her shower at the demands of her growling stomach. Drying off and running a quick brush through her hair Valerie threw on the clothes that Linda had given her. As she rushed down the stairs she didn't have to worry about remembering where Linda said the kitchen was because the smells of hot stew cooking led the way.
When she walked into the kitchen Linda was standing at the breakfast bar taking out bowls and spoons from the cupboard. She was setting them down in front of the bar stools and getting ready to ladle the hot stew into them. Valerie was about to say hello but her voice caught in her throat. She caught sight of the tall man who was dressed in blue jeans and a black T-shirt.
She watched him with a sense of longing she hadn’t felt since high school as he pulled warm bread from the oven and began carving it on the counter. His waist was slim and judging by the tight T-shirt his stomach was toned. His arms and chest were making the black material bulge at the seams. She suddenly had visions of him sprawled out on her bed at home, his mouth upturned in a come-hither smile. Valerie felt herself blush as she shook her head to clear the visions.
She assumed that this man must be Linda's husband and that he had been lucky enough to hit the lottery with his gene pool.
"Welcome to the land of the living." Linda said before Valerie got a chance to say anything.
Valerie nodded and smiled, for some reason she still couldn't find her voice to say anything. As she made her way over to one the bar stools her eyes kept darting over to the man who was cutting the bread. Linda smiled at her with a knowing twinkle in her eye; Valerie's blush hadn't gone unnoticed.
"This is James." Linda said as she slid the full bowls of stew in front of each stool.
Valerie smiled at him and nodded her head in a silent greeting. Nobody said anything for a few moments. Something the awkward silence Linda spoke first.
"We should eat while it’s still hot."
"Thank you, I'm starved. If I didn't know any better I could swear I hadn't had a bite to eat and days." Valerie said addressing Linda and avoiding eye contact with James.
James made a slight grunt and gave Linda sideways glance.
Clearing her throat Linda spoke, "Well this is the first time you've eaten in three days."
Valerie almost fell off her stool as she choked on her first spoonful of stew. "Three days? What do you mean three days? I couldn't have been asleep for three days!"
James responded first. His voice was like a throaty growl and Valerie found it deliciously sexy. "You had a minor concussion, and had gone into shock. One of our private doctors treated you and we knew you would be okay and that you would wake up in due time."
Valerie knew what he was saying should alarm her and that she should have a gazillion questions in response but all she could think about was his voice. What was the matter with her? She had never been one of the sappy girls who drooled over the men around her. She was too grounded and focused for that, but something about the stranger captivated her. She felt drawn to him.
"If you two don't mind I'm going to devour the stew and quiet my stomach. While I'm eating if you wouldn't mind explaining why Linda seems to think I'm going to be here for a few months, that would be much appreciated. If it's all the same to you I would like to go home today, so I hope there's a darn good reason. Not that I don't appreciate you bringing me here or looking out for my safety, it's just that I have to get back to my own life, especially now that I know I've already been here for three days."
Valerie noticed that neither Linda nor James seemed eager to speak first, odd considering Linda seemed like a talker. She began shoveling mouthfuls of stew into her mouth and savoring the taste as they each exchanged a glance.
Clearing his throat James stared at his bowl of untouched stew as he began to explain, “Valerie the guys who were chasing you…They found you, while you were passed out. They tied you up and were carrying you out of the warehouse when I found you.”
Valerie set her spoon down. Suddenly she wasn’t very hungry, her stomach lurched and she had to will what she had already eaten to stay down. “They had me? Oh my god! They were going to kill me weren’t they?”
Linda reached across the bar and placed a warm hand on Valerie’s trembling arm. “Eventually yes. There is no easy way to tell you these things, so I think it is best if we just spit it out. The men, well they are part of a weird cult. Every year they look for victims to sacrifice to their blood god. The sacrifice has to be pure of heart and pure of body.”
“A virgin.” James stated staring into his bowl again. Valerie felt her skin burn red.
“How would they know I was a…a virgin?” Valerie stammered not knowing why being a virgin was embarrassing her. She had always been proud of it before.
“Well it is easy really considering…” Linda began but James interrupted her.
“We are not sure exactly, but they know. Maybe they follow the girls; maybe they just truly know how to do their research. Whatever the case may be we were following them, we knew it was almost time for them to abduct another girl. Actually I thought we had a few more days, but it was lucky we started tailing them early.”
Valerie was even more confused. “If you know them, if you were following them, then why didn’t you just arrest them?”
“Simple really,” Linda said after swallowing a mouthful of stew. “The guys who do the abducting are just small time. They should lead us, I mean the police, to the bigger fish so to speak.”
“So you guys think they are still looking for me?” Valerie directed her question to James who was looking more uncomfortable by the minute; he barely made eye contact with her and seemed lost
in thought.
Clearing his throat James solemnly nodded his head, “Yes, they are still looking for you. When we swung by your house one of them was waiting there and fled.”
“My house? You went to my house?” Valerie didn’t understand.
“Yes. I got your address off your driver’s license. Valerie Myers, 22 East Street, Claremont NH. We knew then that we would have to put you in protective custody, so we took the liberty of making sure the house was secure and obtaining a pass for you to take the rest of the semester off from your classes at university.”
Valerie felt her eyes begin to tear up. She wanted to stop them before they spilled onto her cheeks, but she couldn’t. All the emotion just welled up at once and refused to be kept in anymore. She stared down at her hands and decided to let herself have a good cry. She was almost kidnapped to be sacrificed, she had been asleep for days, woke up in a strange house, and now she would have to stay cut off from her life because some crazy, psycho, blood god worshiping, people-things were after her. Maybe she was going crazy, she still hadn’t said anything to James or Linda about her would-be captors not being human.
Valerie was lost in her own sorrow when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew instantly it was James before she even looked up to meet his eyes full of concern and affection. The look, his sincerity with it caught her so off guard she froze for a moment stunned.
“It is okay to cry, it is expected in situations like these.” He whispered to her, wishing he had something more profound to say.
James gently stood her up from the stool. He knew he had to go slow with her, she had no idea what he really was and on top of it they met in such a traumatic situation he didn’t have the faintest idea how he would break the news to her. He knew the moment he saw her that she was his blood mate. Now he had to figure out how to ease her into the truth.
To Hell and Back (Eternally Blooded) Page 1
