Sacrifice: Beyond Series, Book 2

Chapter 1

Eve

The ice in my veins matches the coldness of my heart. Damion draws near. I turn to see him carrying the lifeless young girl into the woods, he places her lifeless body into the grave I dug.

"Are you sure this will work?" I ask.

"The Creator said to eliminate the distractions. Love is a distraction," Damion says.

"But she was only a child."

"Don't be getting soft on me now, Princess." He sneers.

"If I was soft, I wouldn't have killed the girl." I turn away from him and begin filling the hole in with dirt. "I don't like taking lives, especially innocent ones."
"Orders are orders," he says.

"Wonderful, the deed is done," the creator's voice rings out, stinging the guilt that riddles me.

I cringe at the sound of his voice as I turn to see his shadowed figure standing a few feet from me.

"Thank you, my child." He moves closer to me. Gliding over the ground effortlessly. "You've done well."

I swallow my emotions. Knowing it won't do any good to express them. If anything, I'll be given more gruesome assignments to harden my mind and to push the thought of good further out of my reach. We were designed to be evil. To relish in the darkness, but it has always been difficult for me.

X X X X

I awake suddenly, in a cold sweat, jolting myself up, ready to fight. Allie stares blankly back at me from the kitchen. I glance at the clock on the wall above her. It's late afternoon, but I've not been sleeping well. Little cat naps are all I've been able to manage. The recurring dream keeps me from getting much rest.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

I nod, rubbing my tired eyes as I sit back on the couch. I've kept my nightmare from her for the last few months. My secret may be out now. Allie walks over and sits beside me, taking my hand in hers. She lays her head on my shoulder. I kiss her temple before resting my head against hers.

"Did you have a bad dream?" she asks.

"I have them from time to time, but it's just a dream," I say.

"My haunting dream wasn't that way."

"Baby, your dream was a memory with a touch of intuition," I say, staring out of the big picture window. I wince at the thought of mine being for the same reason. "Sometimes our dreams foretell what is to come, what has been, and what may be. Other times, they're just our subconscious telling us stories using different bits of detail that we have weighing on our minds."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks, tilting her head up to look at me. "You can tell me, you know."

I smile. "It's nothing more than my mind playing games with me."

Allie smiles, understandingly.

For now, I hope she believes my story enough to let it go.

"I love you, angel."

"I love you too, baby."

X X X X

Allie sleeps peacefully, snuggled up against me. I brush my fingers through her hair, how she likes. It keeps her asleep and unaware of my troubled mind. She officially moved into my apartment four months ago after our run-in with my creator. The memory still vivid in my mind. With him gone. I know Allie is safer than she was, but I'd be dumb to believe her safe forever. There are other creators and once they figure out how special she is, they will come for her too. I've not spoken of this to her. I want her to have peace for as long as she can.