Immortal Memory (Book One) (20 page)

Glass windows expanded across every
wall. A long wooden table stood in the center with stakes bound at
each corner. She held back a gasp of horror and disgust. Simra’s
wild heart jumped at the thought of what Tristan did in this
room.

She caught of glimpse of a large
opening in the shattered windows. Simra made a quick escape before
Tristan returned. She bolted from the house and never stopped
running. The ancient place was a white plantation house.

She turned to look at the street signs
and realized her location. Simra slid her trembling hand into her
pocket to grab her cell. Mandy needed to pick her up.

Simra started dialing her cousin's
number and continued running. She gazed in the direction of the
eerie home where Tristan would return soon to find her gone. Her
lips parted open to scream before she dialed the last digit. Simra
crashed into someone in front of her, and she stumbled
backward.

Her steady gaze traveled up the
familiar faded blue jeans and white t-shirt. There were the calm
blue eyes of the demon. Tristan reached his hand out for her. She
drew away from him and bolted up. Simra attempted to make another
run for it.

He caught her wrist behind her before
she got away. The demon pulled her so close that his lips were only
a cold breath away. “Don’t make this any more difficult on
yourself. It doesn’t matter how much you attempt to run or hide.
I’ll find and catch you. Give it up. Now then, I have news to give
you about your grandmother. Come.”

Simra struggled to free herself from
his tight grip and drew in a sharp breath when he picked her up.
Tristan carried her over his shoulder like a delicate feather. She
hammered her fists against his hard back, and her breathing became
weak. She would not give up that easily!

If Simra had found the sunroom in time,
she would’ve escaped. Tristan didn’t travel at the speed of light
back to the house. He set her on her feet and shut the front door
behind them.

“Why didn’t you carry me as fast as you
did when you brought me here? You took your time.” Simra glanced
from the entrance to him.

Tristan’s lips tugged into quick smile,
and he placed a cold hand to her cheek. “I enjoy holding you. I
just want to be close to you.”

She tried ignoring the unbearable
thought of never seeing Zach again. Then again, Tristan and his
brother were no good for her. But she fought back tears at the
thought of losing Zach. Regardless of what Tristan said about him,
she felt a difference in her heart for the angel than Tristan. Was
it true love?

Simra shifted her gaze away from him to
distract herself. “Did you hurt Grandmother?”

Tristan placed a hand on her shoulder
to soothe her and lifted Simra’s chin with a finger. “Lucinda's
resting at the nursing home. She appeared very calm in her sleep. I
give you my word, and I didn’t do anything to her. I only checked
on her for you.”

He paused and framed Simra's face in
his hands. “Just try to trust me. I know it’s difficult to believe
me because I’m a fallen angel. But I’m making changes beginning
now. I know what I did through the years and recently angered you.
But I want to start over. Just give me a chance.”

She'd given him one chance too many to
make things right, and he knew it. What a creep! Simra faked a
considerate smile. Her heart raced when an idea popped into her
head. After gaining the demon’s trust, she might be left alone
again at some point. Next time might be her final
escape.

Maybe he’d stop being so clingy. They
needed to burn Tristan’s body when she returned with someone. The
only problems were Quint and the demon.

“I’m considering it, Tristan, but you
need to treat me with perfection and nothing like you did in the
past. Thank you for checking on Grandmother for me. You’re showing
a little progress, but you must prove much more to me. It’ll take a
lot of time to show me how you’ve changed.”

He enveloped her in his embrace, and
his cold breath breathed into her hair. “I’ll do my best to please
you. You’re my world, but you won’t escape if you try.”

Simra shivered at his last words and
drew away from him with a fake smile. “Thank you, Tristan.” Her
gaze traveled up and down the staircase. “Why does this place seem
to hold such powers? What do these symbols represent?”

The demon sat in one of the chairs near
the edge of the wall. He motioned for her to take a seat in the
other one next to him. “This house was abandoned years ago but in
much better condition. I discovered the place, and Lucinda and I
decided to begin our lives together here. We came here, but Zach
ruined it. The symbols protect us.” He spoke like Lucinda willingly
came with him here. If liars' pants really caught on fire, his
pants would cause a big flaming explosion!

Disgust coursed through Simra's veins
when she remembered the sunroom. What did Tristan do to her
precious grandmother in there? “What happened? Did you and Zach
occupy different human forms then?”

“We’re thousands of years old. Although
our bodies look young and appear human, our actual forms look very
different. We were still in the Hanley generation during your
grandmother's time. Our mortal forms looked the same as
now.

"I left when Lucinda made it clear that
she didn't want to marry me. She decided that she wanted Zach.
Then, Zach broke her heart. I placed a spell on her so she wouldn't
remember me. But it got out of hand. Then, you came along years
later, and I returned by another Hanley down the line. I fell even
more in love with you. But Zach wanted you too.”

Simra hid her anger. Two could play at
this game of tricks. “Where'd you and Zach go after Grandmother
rejected you?”

“We returned to the other side and
waited. I knew you'd come along soon.”

Shifting in her seat, Simra grew
uncomfortable in the hard chair. This led to such a bizarre
conversation with her ex-fiancé. “Why'd you choose me and
Grandmother?”

Tristan framed her face in
his hands. “You're the most beautiful and caring woman I've ever
known. Most importantly, you don't desire things of the world.
You're not worldly like other mortal women. I want to marry
you
, and I want us to
have many children. Our family will be very powerful. We’ll be
happy, and I promise to treat you right. If you marry me, I’ll give
you everything your heart’s ever desired. You’re like an angel who
fell from heaven by accident. Your innocence and beauty can’t be
described.”

His astounding description of her stole
Simra’s breath away. At loss for words, she fought becoming lost in
his eyes. She remembered how he lied to her so many times. Her
breath caught in her throat when he pulled her close. His cold lips
met hers in a lingering kiss.

Their memories together unraveled
through her mind when they were happy and carefree. Tears filled
her eyes when she realized how much she loved him then. Simra also
remembered how he destroyed her love for him. Regardless of what he
tried to prove, their relationship would never be
revived.

Tristen jerked away from her, and his
furious eyes glowed like flames. “Someone’s up to trouble. I’m
tending to it. Stay here. I’ll come back.” He fled the house and
slammed the door behind him.

She broke down in hysterical
sobs from the haunted memories. She held her head in her hands and
gathered all the strength within her to pray. Surely God could hear
her in this evil, dirty place. “
Lord,
please give me the strength to overcome this and fill my heart with
the truth. Thank You for helping me throughout my life.
Amen.”

Simra brushed the warm tears away with
her hand and sighed when warmth filled her soul. She squared her
shoulders in determination to escape once more. Maybe Tristan
wouldn’t catch her and bring her back to this place
again.

Shivers of dread slithered down her
spine to think about what the demon may do to her if he caught her
again. Someone must have really angered her ex-fiancé. Although her
stomach twisted in revulsion to think of returning, Simra knew she
must. Tristan’s corpse needed to be destroyed.

Chapter 25

"But the Lord is faithful.
He will establish you and guard you against the evil one." - II
Thessalonians 3:3

Simra ran as fast as possible from the
dreary old home until she made it to the courthouse. She leaned
against the brick wall to catch her breath. She already called
Mandy to pick her up at the courthouse. Expecting Tristan to appear
any moment, a cold fear enveloped her. Simra’s heart pounded when
her cousin’s tires squealed into the parking lot.

Mandy jumped out of the car and reached
down to frame Simra's face. Mandy’s eyes were wide with panic, and
her gaze raked over Simra. “Did he hurt you?”

Simra drew away from her cousin and
hurried into the vehicle as Mandy followed her. “I’m fine. He
didn’t harm me, but I think he’s hurting someone else we know. You
called Jeff recently?”

Lucinda was in the backseat with her
eyes wide and mumbled unclear words. Simra reached to squeeze her
close. Warmth enveloped Simra's heart to know they were all right.
Whoever distracted Tristan must have made him very angry. That
person was in great danger. Simra prayed it wasn’t Jeff or anyone
else she loved.

“Yeah, I just spoke to him. You think
Zach’s okay? Where should we go?”

“Zach would’ve come for me much sooner
if he was still here.” Tears misted Simra’s eyes to think of never
seeing him again. “Take us to the lake house. We’ll be safe there
until I can retrieve matches and gasoline.”

“Oh my, Sim! What are you
planning?”

“I’m going back to that house, finding
Tristan’s body, and destroying it. I’m talking to Pastor Mervin
again too. I know those bones were there because I smelled
something rotting.”

Mandy almost swerved off the road and
turned to her cousin with her mouth agape. “Sim, no! You can’t go
back! Tristan might hurt or kill you, and we'll never see you
again. Are you insane?”

“I need to destroy him once and for
all. It’s the only way everything will return to normal. Sometimes,
we have to take risks to overcome the evil in our lives. With God’s
help, it can be done.”

Mandy raked her fingers through her
short burgundy hair reaching her neck. She took several glances
from the road to Simra. “You’ve got a point, but you shouldn’t go
back to that house. Tristan's dangerous. He’ll kill
you.”

“I know the risks, Mandy, but he has to
be stopped. God will protect us. It must be done, and I’ll need
your help.” Simra had to obtain the ingredients tonight.

“I’ll do anything you ask,
Cousin. But
I
would much rather do everything
for
you than allow you to be in
danger.” Mandy pulled into the driveway of the lake house and
parked the car. “What should we do now?”

Simra remained motionless for a moment
and gazed up at the house. “I’m taking a warm shower to wash this
awful stench off me. We have to find gasoline and matches
somewhere.”

“Great. You clean up, and I’ll get the
ingredients. Grandma can stay here with you and Ms.
Hanley.”

Simra placed a hand on her cousin’s
shoulder. “No, that isn’t wise. We should get them
together.”

“Sim, no, you're not coming with me
regardless of what you say. Your only part is destroying the body,
and I really don’t approve of you doing that. But I know no one
else can, except you. Go take a shower, and pray for my
protection.”

Realizing she would get nowhere by
arguing with her stubborn cousin, Simra sighed in frustration. “Oh
alright, but please be careful. Be quick about it, and hurry
back.”

“Cousin, don’t worry. You’re the one
he’s chasing. Trust in God.” Mandy seemed to force a
smile.

Simra opened the car door, got out,
helped their grandmother from the vehicle, and turned to Mandy.
“I’ll pray and have faith. Call me if you run into any trouble.”
She shut the door and walked inside the house with
Lucinda.

Ms. Hanley rushed toward Simra and
Lucinda with tears in her eyes. "Simra! Are you all right? We've
been so worried. Did Tristan hurt you?"

Simra squeezed Ms. Hanley with an
affectionate hug and couldn't control her own tears. "He didn't
hurt me. I'm just so tired and dirty. I was afraid I'd never see
any of you again. I need a shower."

Ms. Hanley rested a hand on Simra's
cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay. Of course, dear. I'll cook you up
something. I bet you're starved."

Simra's mouth watered at the thought of
a delicious home-cooked meal. "That sounds great! Zach has such a
wonderful mom. Thank you so much."

Ms. Hanley smiled as Simra took Lucinda
in the den and turned on the television to occupy her. Her
grandmother sat on the couch with her eyes wide. Simra gave her a
gentle pat on the shoulder. She tried avoiding the unbearable pain
in her heart to know what her grandmother endured.

Wiping away a few tears, Simra
straightened herself up. She grabbed some clean clothes from her
suitcase and walked into the bathroom. She took a relaxing hot
shower to overcome the troubling thoughts of what could have
happened to Zach. Guilt would plague her forever to know that
Tristan sent him back. Tears fell from her eyes at the thought of
never seeing Zach again.