Authors: Shannon Morton,Amber Lynn Natusch
Tempted by Evil
Tempted by Evil
By
Shannon Morton
&
Amber Lynn Natusch
Version 1
Copyright
© 2012 Shannon Morton and Amber Lynn Natusch
All
rights reserved.
This
book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9849464-8-8
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, businesses, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
Published by Shannon Morton and Amber Lynn Natusch Cover Design and Photography by Dannielle Gleim - Vella Photography Cover Model: Jennifer Gleim
Edited by Jennifer Ryan and Kristen Bronner
www.redheadsread.com www.amberlynnnatusch.com
The Light and Shadow Trilogy (YA Fantasy)
By Shannon Morton and Amber Lynn Natusch
Tempted by Evil Tried by Fire Tested by Faith
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facebook.com/shannonmortonwrites
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To the crazy people that love us.
We aren't quite sure why you do, but we'll take it anyway.
Sister Mary Constance
,
I miss you terribly.
I need your soothing words of wisdom now more than ever before. You always encouraged me to listen to my heart and believed that it would guide me, but I am afraid my heart and my mind are leading me astray. I am not the girl you once knew.
If only this were a dream from which I could awaken . . . but dreams are for children, and I am not a child anymore. You've long told me that we have nothing to fear in death, for the Father so loves us, that He will welcome us with open arms into His kingdom one day. But it is not death I fear, Constance.
I fear my own failing mind
. . .
I found myself, once again, perched on a wood and wrought iron bench outside a little café called Holy Grounds. Not having enough money to actually go inside, I’d spent the majority of my time for the past two days reading and people-watching from my lovely outdoor spot. Placing a bookmark near the end of
Great Expectations
, the only book I still had in my possession, I thought about what a disappointment it was that reality could never be as colorful in real life as it was in literature.
Sitting there silently, I would watch people for what seemed like hours. The older couples who walked hand in hand, the middle-aged businesspeople with their technologically advanced cell phones and laptop computers, the young people on their lunch break between classes, and the mothers with babies and young children in strollers. All of them were taking a brief respite from their day-to-day drudgery and mundane lives within the solid walls of the café while I, ever the outsider, pondered the small adrenaline rush that came with sitting still. The nuns had always forbidden idleness.
I was occupying my familiar space on the bench when
he
approached.
I’d always been a smart girl and took for granted that I possessed a clever mind, the ability to formulate a coherent sentence, and a more than adequate vocabulary with which to express myself―all of which abandoned me the instant I laid eyes on
him
.
Instinctively, I knew he was one of the most beautiful people in existence. He was certainly the most beautiful person I’d ever seen, and he was walking toward
me
. I looked around to see if he could possibly be headed toward someone else and then began to stare at my feet while nervously biting my lower lip. Certainly a being as magnificent as he was would completely overlook a girl as plain as I.
The butterflies in my stomach began to fly around in wild circles, and I heard the faint sound of someone clearing his throat. Realizing that I probably looked ridiculous staring at the ground, I turned my gaze upward to discover the most stunning blue eyes I’d ever seen.
“Hi.” His voice was low and warm, like an old fire with only the embers remaining, making even that ordinary word sound heavenly. “I’m Julian.”
“Um, hello,” I stammered, so focused on his perfectly sculptured face that I was having difficulty remembering my own name.
He raised an eyebrow expectantly and tilted his head in my direction.
“Oh, I’m Aspen,” I nearly whispered, unable to catch my breath.
“Nice to meet you, Aspen,” Julian continued in that glorious voice. I couldn’t believe this god-like stranger was actually going out of his way to speak to me. “Mind if I join you?” He was serious, though still smiling.
“Why?” I blurted in disbelief.
He raised both eyebrows this time, seeming surprised by my response, and started to chuckle. “I dunno. You just looked a little . . .
lost,
and I thought you might need a friend, or at least someone to talk to.”
“I’m not lost, exactly.” I mentally crossed myself while rationalizing that I wasn’t
completely
lying. “I guess you could say I’m stuck.” The words just fell out of my mouth while my mind mulled over the events of the past couple of days.
“Wow, I’m not sure if anyone has ever used
that
word to describe sitting with me,” he said incredulously, with a hint of false pain and a grin that caused my previously erratic heart to suddenly stop beating altogether.
“No,” I corrected, a bit late for having been struck with the force of Julian’s grin. “Not stuck with
you,
just stuck here, in this town.”
In this life,
my mind continued.
“I don’t mean to pry. Well, actually, I guess I do,” Julian smirked, “but how old are you?”
“Eighteen, two days ago.” I forced a half smile.
“Happy belated birthday.” He grinned again, and I was only slightly less affected. “And it’s exactly what I thought―you’re too young to feel stuck anywhere. You can do anything, go anywhere, be anyone.” I was struck by the confidence in his tone. But then, I knew he was confident because he sat and started a conversation with a total stranger outside a café. I found myself wondering what it would feel like to have the kind of confidence that Julian possessed―to be so self-assured that every word from my mouth sounded like truth. I wanted to know what that felt like.
I let Julian’s words run through my head like an untamed jungle cat, allowing myself to ponder 'doing anything and going anywhere' and being someone completely different. I saw myself as the main character in every story I’d ever read and felt truly free, if for only a moment.
Julian shifted in his chair, drawing my attention and making me realize that he was staring at me with a curious expression. Feeling slightly embarrassed once again, I lowered my head quickly, bit my lower lip, and began to fidget with the edge of my scarf. It didn’t seem to discourage Julian’s examination of me―I could still feel the weight of his gaze upon me.
“What were you just thinking about?” he asked as if he were sincerely interested in the daydreams of a silly girl.
I knew I would sound ridiculous attempting to explain to him that I was imagining myself rafting down the Mississippi
with Huck Finn or picking apples with Anne and Diana at Green Gables. Giggling to myself at my own lack of actual human experience, I replied with a less than believable “Nothing.” He squinted his eyes in disbelief, but thankfully didn’t force the issue. I could see a million unasked questions in his eyes.
“So where ya from?” he asked after a short pause, seeming satisfied with his choice of topic.
“Not far from here, actually. I was raised by the nuns at the Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent just outside of town,” I replied with a nostalgic tone in my voice. I was convinced that anyone could recognize the wistful look on my face as I remembered the place and people I’d always considered ‘home.’ Still, it somehow seemed like make-believe as the words tumbled out of my mouth.
Julian’s expression was still curious, and I knew that he expected me to continue.
Drawing a hurried gulp of air into my lungs, I exhaled with what must have sounded an awful lot like a sigh. “I’m an orphan,” I began. “My parents died when I was so young that I have no memories of them.” I paused to gauge his reaction to my tale; his face was a study in calm, but his ocean-blue eyes darkened with an emotion I desperately hoped was not pity. “The nuns took me in because I hadn’t any other family, or any family that they could find, in any case.”
Julian shifted slightly in his seat, and I looked up from the captivating pattern of my worn-out jeans, immediately regretting my decision to do so as I noticed a strange look in his eyes. The look made me feel like I was drowning in his gaze, as if each second spent looking into his eyes stole yet another breath from my lungs, but at the same time, made my heart believe that drowning in Julian’s eyes was the absolute safest place I could possibly be.
Drawing another shaky breath, I broke eye contact with him, allowing my tortured brain to form yet another coherent sentence. “So, um, since the sisters couldn’t find any relatives, I was raised at the convent.”
“You lived with nuns all your life?” Julian broke in incredulously.
I looked at him with what must have been surprise or exasperation because he smirked as I answered, “Is there something wrong with that?” He shook his head slowly, pondering my question, just as an elderly couple walked by hand in hand. “Nooo . . .” He trailed off slightly until the couple was out of earshot. “It's just . . . well, kinda weird. I’ve never met someone who’d been raised by nuns before. What could you do for fun in a convent?”