Girl Possessed (Book 1 of The Girl Trilogy) (13 page)

“
Why?” I shook my head and
laughed lightly. “If I don’t have you for a friend, I would be
completely alone. Doesn’t it bother you being all alone in this
dungeon?”

“
Sometimes it’s better to
be by yourself than to put others in danger.”

“
Are you a danger to me?” I
asked, wondering how that could be.

“
Yes, Cordellia,” his voice
was tense. “I am a danger to you.”

The way he said my name caused
electricity to shoot though my body. “Should I be afraid?” I asked
facetiously hoping he wasn’t serious even though I intuited he
meant what he said.

“
You definitely should.” He
paused. “I just can’t control myself anymore. I have to be with
you.”

My heart fluttered. “With me?” I
sounded surprised.

He didn’t say anything.

“
Could you make one of
those balls of light so that I can see you?”

“
Hmmn.” He was silent for a
moment. I figured he was making a decision. “I could do that.” His
voice was serious.

At once, a ball of light lit in the
air between us.

“
It’s beautiful,” I
whispered feeling amazed.

“
You’re beautiful,” he had
a crooked grin on his gorgeous face.

I laughed. “Me?”

“
Don’t you know?” He looked
surprised.

I shook my head smiling. “I’m anything
but attractive.”

“
Before your birthday,
before the changes, you were pretty—very pretty. But, now you are
unbelievable.”

I was so embarrassed. “I don’t have a
mirror, but I see that my body is different.” I regretted saying
that, afraid to draw attention to myself.

“
Mermaids and fairies are
beautiful and you are both. What do you think that means?” He
looked down and then gazed up at me through his dark
eyelashes.

“
I can’t see my wings very
well because they are on my back. But, you saw them.”

He smiled wickedly. There was a
mischievous look on his face.

“
Why are you looking at me
like that?”

“
It’s nothing.” It looked
like he was holding in laughter. “I’m just remembering seeing you
with wings and a tail fluttering above the bathtub when I entered
your cell.”

Frustrated, I got the feeling he was
thinking about seeing me naked, but I wasn’t going to say anything
about that. “I just want to know what my wings look like exactly.”
I rolled my eyes.

His eyes smoldered at me. “They look
like a sheer red flower in bloom with very long petals. There are
tiny sparkling stars twinkling in the back center and partway up
the petals.”

I felt a rush of excitement within.
“They sound so gorgeous.”

“
They are,” he murmured,
running his hands through his shiny black hair.

I wondered if he knew how mesmerizing
his voice was. The music rattled through my being. I tried to
regain focus. “I want to know why your body exuded red light that
time I came into your cell.”

“
What do you mean?” He
frowned slightly as he spoke.

“
You were angry at me and
red light surrounded you.”

He shook his head and then looked off
toward the corner of the cell. “I could never be angry at you,
Cordellia.” His expression was sincere. “Sometimes trying to
control myself is overwhelming. That’s why we shouldn’t be
together.”

Neither of us said anything for a long
time. The ball of light twinkled between us. It was splendorous. I
had never seen anything like it.

“
Why is there a hologram of
an apple in the light?”

“
You can see that?” He
seemed surprised.

“
Yes. Should I not be able
to see it?”

He was contemplative. “I guess you
should.” He raised an eyebrow. “Remember how your mother and I were
talking about the bible story of Adam and Eve while we were driving
the speed wave to Seneca Mountains?”

“
Vaguely. I know my
mother’s always talking about the bible. Sorry about that. She
hates the serpent people and says they are the descendants of
original serpent from the Garden of Eden. I don’t remember the
bible story so well.”

Shaul gazed into the ball of light
above us. “That is true what you said.” He looked at me seriously.
“Let me refresh your memory about the story.”

“
Ok, Mom.”

He smirked, shook his head, and then
continued, “Well, there was a man and a woman named Adam and Eve.
They lived in the Garden of Eden.”

“
I’ve heard that. Wasn’t
the garden supposed to be like paradise?”

“
Yes, it was paradise on
earth. There was only good there. Evil did not exist conceptually
yet.”

“
Ok, go on.”

“
The story is layered, but
here is the gist of it.” He looked at me for a moment, but I
couldn’t read his face. Then he continued, “After the earth was
created, God tested Adam and Eve saying that they could not eat
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they passed the
test, the world would become completely good. Evil would not
exist.”

“
That sure would be nice to
have a perfect world.”

“
I guess that’s a matter of
opinion,” he grinned slyly.

I laughed, but my eyes opened wide
with indignation.

“
Well, anyway…” he
continued. “…a cunning serpent tricked Eve into eating an apple
from the tree. Then Eve fed the apple to Adam. Because they did not
pass God’s test, they were all banished from the garden. Now
because Eve ate from the tree, there was both good and evil in the
world.”

I nodded my head. “Ok, now I remember
the story. So, why are you telling me this?”

“
I’m trying to tell you why
I can produce balls of light with a hologram of an apple within.”
He smiled shaking his head in amusement.

“
Oh, yeah.” I felt stupid.
“Go on.”

“
There are two serpent
people alive now who are the direct decedents and the reincarnation
of the original serpent. They are slightly different than the other
serpent people.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
The soul of the original
serpent split in two and entered two brothers’ bodies.” He seemed
uncomfortable as he explained.

“
How are these brothers
different than the other serpent people? You said they are
different.”

“
Well, they’re different
because they possess the soul of the devil and they are direct
decedents of him.”

“
Oh. You said that.” I
gulped, thinking about the horrible serpent people who have killed
and enslaved so many Americans.

“
There’s something else
that makes them different than the other serpent people also.” He
hesitated as if he didn’t want to continue.

“
What’s that?” I asked
curiously.

He studied me for a moment and then
continued, “They can produce balls of light with the DNA of the
original apple from the Tree of Knowledge.”

I think my face must have turned white
because Shaul tensed up and looked worried about me. It took me a
while to speak, but I finally managed to ask, “Are you telling me
that you are one of the brothers?”

His silver eyes stayed fixed on my
face. “Yes.”

21

It felt good to be in the cool,
refreshing water. Watching my flamboyant red tail flap beneath the
surface was actually kind of humorous. I was getting used to my
newly transformed self. Having a mermaid tail was kind of glamorous
in a sense. I just wished I could try it out in the forbidden lake
that beckoned me. There I could swim freely and explore the
depths.

Now that I was in the tub relaxing, I
could ponder all that Shaul had told me the night before. I didn’t
know what to make of Shaul being a serpent person, the devil
incarnate, to be more specific.

How could I be so utterly drawn to the
most evil of beings that have existed since the dawn of man? But,
Shaul didn’t seem evil at all. In fact, he seemed good and heroic.
Oh, it made no sense.

My mother would be devastated if she
knew I was associating with a serpent person. She would never allow
it. If I insisted on seeing Shaul, knowing what I know now, she
would have no choice but to disown me. As much as she loved me, she
couldn’t tolerate such a contradiction to her ideological make
up.

Serpent people were the cause of all
chaos and destruction in the world. Spiritually, Satan is the
enticer of each and every person’s evil inclinations. If the
serpent didn’t exist, then the world would be a perfect place.
Considering all that, I really couldn’t blame my mother for not
tolerating a relationship between the two of us.

The more I thought about everything,
the more I realized I should stay away from Shaul. Even he said he
was dangerous. He was probably full of tricks and manipulations
like what one would expect of the devil himself. How could I ever
trust a serpent? Everyone knows they are a brutal
species.

I slid my head down into the water. My
hair fanned out above my face. I concentrated on relaxing. As I did
this, my instincts took over and I began to breathe. My mind was
tortured.

I remained submersed under the water
for quite a long time. When I finally lifted my head out, I saw
Shaul leaning against the wall. From where he was at, I don’t think
he couldn’t see my nakedness, but now that my head was out, he
could see my face.

Lightheadedness overtook me—just
seeing Shaul put me in a trance. “I wasn’t expecting to see you
during the day.” I could barely get the words out of my mouth. I
felt so tongue tied.

His silver eyes glistened as he
chuckled wryly. “I like surprising you.” He started to walk toward
me.

“
Whoa there.” I lifted my
red mermaid tail out of the water and splashed him in the
face.

He laughed, surprised at my
facetiousness. “Better watch out or I’ll climb in there with
you.”

I blushed as red as my
tail.

“
I’ll let you take your
bath. Don’t think I can handle talking with you, knowing you’re
naked in there though.”

My face must have turned redder
because he looked at me sideways as that mesmerizing crooked grin
surfaced on his gorgeous profile.

I didn’t say anything. Out of nervous
habit, I twisted a long strand of my black hair.

He rolled his head against the wall in
frustration. Then he turned to me and gazed into my eyes
confidently. “Do you have any idea what you look like in
there?”

“
Slimy?” I
asked.

He shook his head as if waking from a
dream. “Hardly.”

I looked away, trying to control my
heart that was beating so fast I thought it might pop out of my
chest.

“
I gotta go,” he said
abruptly. “But, come to my cell tonight. I have a surprise for
you.”

My face lit up. “What?”

“
Remember I’m the devil, so
I can create wonders.”

With that, he crawled back through the
wall.

The rest of the day all I could do was
think about Shaul Hainsworth. It was like I was lost in a dreamy
haze and hardly anything existed in the world aside from him and my
desire for him.

As much as I shouldn’t have been, I
was so excited to go to him that night. I was desperately curious
about the surprise he had for me.

I spent most of the day fiddling with
my hair. I wanted to look beautiful for him. I knew I was far from
pretty, but my hair was enticing so I laid my focus there. With my
fingers, I divided my locks into many strands and twisted them in
tight curls, setting them to dry.

When evening came, I brushed through
the curls. My hair felt silky and full to the touch. Occasionally,
I used to style my hair that way before the Economy Crash and when
I did, I received many compliments. So, even though I didn’t have a
mirror to assess the do, I had a pretty good idea what it looked
like.

When night came, I removed the stones
and crawled through the wall. A symphony was dancing in my mind and
I felt more alive than I had in a long time. My heart beat fast as
I entered Shaul’s cell.

22

When I stepped into Shaul’s cell, I
was shocked—the room was beautiful. Shaul sat upon a shaggy white
fur rug that rested luxuriously upon the floor. There was a lit
fire before him in a charming fireplace that lit up the room.
Beside him were ornate gold trays topped with succulent delicacies
and exotic drinks. The walls were lined in red velvet with gold
crown moldings. The ambiance of the room was sensual and
inviting.

Euphoric thoughts fluttered in my head
when I saw the artwork on the walls. Each painting was of me. I had
never imagined myself portrayed in such a romantic fashion. In one
painting, I sat gracefully on a boulder overlooking the ocean with
my red mermaid tail glistening in the sunlight. In another, I
fluttered in a sheer red faerie gown with red wings over a
breathtaking flowerbed of many colors. Pixy dust trailed behind
me.