Black 21: (Golden Hills Legacy of Black 21 Book 1) (5 page)

She was in a
tug-of-war, fighting something she couldn’t quite see. The flaps of huge wings
roared in her ears. Something breathed as if fire were roaring out. One side
was her Christian and the other...what? What was it? The cold air gave her
sweaty body the chills, causing her to shiver.

Something long
and hard slithered around her leg. She squeezed her eyes shut and did as
Christian told her to do. She said a prayer and caressed her cross. And then
whatever it was disappeared. The weight dissolved and she could breathe again.

Her heart
pounded hard against her chest. She was sure Christian could hear it. Turning
around, her arm flew out to punch whatever might still be there.

Nothing.

“You’re okay
now, Daisy. You did good." He wiped her tears away and kissed her wet
forehead. He grabbed one of the burlap blankets on the bench and wrapped it
around her.

She trembled in
his arms, afraid it might come back. The hayride lurched to a stop, jerking
them forward. Fog surrounded them, making it impossible to see a thing. Out of
nowhere, people wearing short, black-hooded cloaks walked through the hazy
smoke with what looked to be blood smeared on their faces. Daisy squeezed his
arm tighter, hiding behind him.

“It’s okay,
Daisy. Nothing to be afraid of,” he said.

They held out
their long-sleeved arms, holding hands, and began to circle around the hay
truck, chanting words Daisy couldn’t understand. The only thing she could hear
was “hail Prince Christian” over and over again.

She turned to
Christian, but he carried a look of defeat. “Christian...what is going on?”

“It’s a
celebration of our...kiss...our union,” he admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

“Celebration?”

He sighed and
looked into her eyes. “Something more happened here tonight, Daisy. I can’t
explain it now, but I will. This is all leading up to the ball,” he shared.

She surveyed
the crowd swinging their arms in a circle, orbiting them and chanting louder
than before. A girl sauntered over to the edge of the truck, and, with her
fingers, marked Daisy’s lips in the sign of the cross with what tasted like
blood. She then turned to Christian’s lips, repeating the ritual, chanting some
unknown words again.

The girl then
proceeded to kiss Daisy on the lips, swiping her tongue inside her mouth for a
flash second, causing her to jump back, and then the same to Christian.

Anger filled her
after watching another girl kiss Christian. Or was it jealousy? Whatever it
was, she hated the feeling. She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand,
some of it seeping into her mouth.

Before walking
away, the girl pulled the hood back a little so Daisy could see it was Lydia,
smiling and giving her a wink. Daisy’s eyes widened in surprise.

The group bowed
to both Christian and her and then turned, exiting to wherever they first came,
fog closing in around them. As they began to stand, a man stepped up on the
wooden plaque and moved toward them. A handsome man in blue, designer jeans and
a long-sleeved, buttoned-down, white shirt. His dark brown hair curled at the
ends over his shirt collar. He had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

A deep voice
resonated from this man. “Christian, always good to see you. And you must be
the Daisy Lock I’ve heard so much about." He bent and kissed her hand.

At the touch of
his hand, a vision flashed in her mind of an unknown woman screaming and
clawing at a car window in a fire. After the vision disappeared, she pulled her
hand back in fear. No words would come to her. She felt frozen to the wooden
seat. Something about his eyes...his eyes.

Christian broke
her trance. “Daisy, please meet Jack Red. He’s an old friend of the family,”
Christian added through gritted teeth.

“Hello, Mr.
Red,” she responded. A flicker of recognition ignited her face. He seemed so
familiar, but from where? Memories tried to form, but then they would
disappear. Something was stopping them.

He gave a wide,
bright smile. “Please, call me Jack. Everyone does. Well, I won’t keep you kids
long, just wanted to meet the beautiful Daisy myself. Christian’s a lucky
man." He bowed to them both and turned on his heel, walking off into the
darkness. “I’m sure to see you again very soon,” he added before disappearing.

She tried to
figure out where he departed, but he seemed to vanish. “Christian?”

“Yes, Daisy,”
he said dryly.

“There’s things
I need to know, aren’t there,” she stated.

“Yes. Let’s get
to the truck before you freeze to death.”

They walked at
a fast pace to Christian’s truck in silence, looking behind them every so
often. He tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it away. She didn’t know what
to think anymore or about these rituals and what else was expected of her.
Something dark was at play here.

After getting
inside the warm cab, Christian turned to her. “Please forgive me for not
warning you first, Daisy. But would you have gone through with it if I had told
you what would happen?" He grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth of the
blood and then his.

“Of course not!
This is crazy, Christian! Some...whatever that was attacking me, all to
celebrate you and our kiss? What exactly is going on in this town? If my father
even knew–”

“He does.”

“Wait...what?

“He’s always
known." He grabbed her hand and rubbed it against his cheek. “Don’t you
see, Daisy? You’re part of a bigger plan.”

“No! I don’t
believe you,” she said, pulling her hand back. “I’m going home and calling my
father. He’ll be so angry about this, I just know it,” she cried.

“Is there
anything else that bothered you about tonight you want to tell me? I feel a
distance between us now.”

“No,” she lied,
turning away and chewing on her nail.

He turned her
face back to his. “I’m sorry about Lydia and what she did, but it’s been done a
thousand times before–”

“With you?”

“No, with other
birthdays.”

“You seemed to
enjoy her kiss. And the way she kissed me...this is all so strange!”

“The only kiss
I enjoyed was yours, sweet Daisy. Only yours, I swear. I think Lydia likes
you.”

“Yeah, I could
see that.”

“No, not like
that. She likes you for me. She knows what I’ve been through and wants to see
me happy. That was her way of saying she approves.”

“Christian,
that thing that was behind me, what was that?" Her voice cracked. “And who
was that man?”

“We can’t talk
here. It needs to be somewhere...safe.”

“You’ll tell me
everything that’s going on, everything?”

“Yes, I will.
But it has to be somewhere private. I’ll pick you up in the morning, say around
nine, and we’ll talk,” he promised.

She let out a
sigh and slunk down in her seat. He grabbed her hand and she allowed it this
time.

After pulling
into her driveway, she kissed his cheek and jumped out. She ran up the stairs
and into the house, shutting off the porch light after closing the door.

Uncle Joe
waited up for her and asked about the big event. Then she remembered
Christian’s words of how she was part of a big plan, and said it was a
wonderful night. He seemed satisfied with that and let her go to bed.

She closed her
bedroom door and took her sweater off, stifling a scream when she saw the back
of it.

It was shredded
to pieces.

“Where’re you
going this early, Daisy?” Aunt Betty asked with concern in her voice. She stood
over the stove, cooking bacon and eggs while looking at her for answers.

Daisy picked at
her fingertips where there had been nails, not knowing what to say. “Um, just
for a ride around town. He never really showed me, so today’s my lucky day, I
guess,” she lied. Her stomach grumbled. She pulled her blue baseball cap with a
big C on it for Chicago Cubs. Her hair stuck through the hole in the back in a
ponytail.

She stood and
poured coffee into her flowery ceramic mug, added cream and five spoonfuls of
sugar. No Splenda here. After stirring it, she sat back down and looked at her
phone, waiting for Christian’s text.

Aunt Betty sat
in the chair next to her. “But why today...why now?”

“Don’t worry so
much, Aunt Betty." She comforted her aunt, reaching out to touch her hand.

But Daisy saw
something flicker in her aunt’s otherwise pretty brown eyes, something dark.
Part of a big plan was what Christian had said. She snatched her hand away and
finished her coffee without another word. Her aunt just sat there watching her
with a smile that never reached her eyes.

“Aunt Betty,
your bacon will burn,” she reminded her.

“It never
burns, Daisy. I cook sometimes at Jack’s Den because I don’t burn food. That’s
my specialty, you know,” she snipped.

Jack’s Den. Was
Jack’s Den named after Jack Red, she wondered? “Really? Wow, that’s great…oh,
there’s Christian now,” she lied again. It was eight-fifty, but nine couldn’t
come faster. “I’ll meet him outside,” she said after washing out her mug and
setting it in the sink rack.

“But your
breakfast, Daisy. Aren’t you…”

Daisy bolted
for the door. “I’m good for now. See you later,” she yelled from the door and
closed it behind her. The sun blinded her, forcing her to tug her cap lower
over her eyes. Her pink purse bag hung over her shoulder.

Christian’s
shiny, black truck raced down the street and into her driveway. He rolled down
the window to greet her, “Morning, beautiful.”

As soon as she
jumped in her side, she pulled her sweater out of her bag and held it out for
him to see.

“Like I said last
night, we need to talk,” he responded, eyeing the torn, pretty sweater. He
grabbed her hand and kissed it to try to ease some of her discomfort.

“Are you who
you say you are? Am I in some sort of danger, Christian?”

“Maybe.”

They drove in
silence, only occasionally looking at each other. He glimpsed at her long legs
being shown off by red shorts and just a hint of sun to her pale skin. He slid
his hand into hers after she finally opened it for him.

She crossed her
legs and turned to face him. “I know I should be more scared, but I feel safe
with you,” she confessed.

“Daisy, you do
realize you’re in danger because of me?”

She shot him a
worried glance and then looked away. Her face softened, and she squeezed his
hand. “I can take care of myself.”

They drove up
to black ornate gates. Christian punched a code in the box next to his window.
The gates swung open. “Welcome to my home.”

Daisy gazed in
wonder. They drove down a circular driveway built for thirty cars. Gargoyles
surrounded a fountain as well as perch atop the mansion and the porch.

Christian
parked by the curb and helped her out. He took her hand and guided her up the
steps. The double doors opened and a butler greeted them, wearing a uniform
from the 1920s. He bowed to Christian and smiled at Daisy.

Christian
introduced them. “This is James – been with us forever. James – Daisy.”

“Honor to meet
you, Madam,” James said.

“Hello, James.”

Christian
guided her through the foyer to the modern kitchen and out through the French
doors that led to a private patio garden. A black wrought-iron bench nestled in
a colorful garden near a fountain encasing a sculpted naked woman.

“That’s my
mother,” he said, glancing at the sculpture.

She took off
her cap out of respect. “What a lovely tribute.”

Taking her
hand, he sat her on the bench and gazed at the statue. “It’s safe to talk here.
That fountain guards.”

“You’re scaring
me, Christian.”

“You should be
terrified.”

“I’m
listening.”

Birds that sang
and cawed now scattered out of the trees, causing a whooshing sound and then
silence. She looked around, afraid to speak.

“It all began
in the year 1879. Basically, my ancestor, William Stone, was poor but greedy.
He wanted it all but owned nothing of true value. He went to church on Sundays,
and whipped his three boys when they misbehaved except for the one girl, his
sweet Suzanna.

“Suzanna was
like a beautiful doll, and at thirteen, the town boys all wanted to court her.
One day, he saw a stranger staring at his daughter and confronted him. The man
told William he could have anything he wanted in exchange for his daughter,”
Christian explained.

Daisy gasped
and knew where this was going. She felt the blood drain out of her.

He continued.
“William looked at his daughter who stood there believing her father would
never give her up, much less to this stranger, for money. He asked him exactly
what would he get out of this. ‘Unlimited funds for the rest of your life,’
this man had said.

The fountain
turned off and stopped pouring water. Daisy stared at it before slowly returning
to Christian. “Go on.”

“So, William
closed his eyes and did some thinking. His daughter began to cry knowing what
her father wanted more. He asked this man if he would care for her like his
own, to which the man said yes…she would be his bride. Suzanna screamed then
and shook her head, but he asked what else was involved.

“The man told
him that he would have power and glory if he and his kin would pray to only
him, to let their Christian ways go and to make a church dedicated to him. All the
men in his lineage would have this power when they turned twenty-one. The women
would also have power and get to enjoy all the benefits of these men.

“He asked what
kind of power, and the man smiled and said he would feel the blood of the beast
running through his veins. He would know certain things humans could not know,”
he paused, giving her time to hear him. “He then asked him to remove the cross
around his neck and to burn it.”

Clutching her
cross on her chest, she drew her brows up and had to ask it. “How do you know
all these things, Christian?”

He hesitated
before taking a deep breath. “William is my father. He’s still alive and well,
Daisy,” he responded in a low tone.

“But that’s
impossible! He would have to be...”

“Immortal?
Exactly,” he answered for her.

It took her a
moment to digest this and then it came. “So what does that make you,
Christian?”

“If I take the
next step of becoming the master at my birthday ball, I will also become
immortal. I have some powers now, and the beast fights within me all the time.
It’s a war inside me, Daisy,” he admitted.

“You don’t want
this status?”

“No. My mother
named me Christian to try to keep God in me. She would sneak me off to her
church and teach me all the prayers and to love God, but every day this beast,
or that man I spoke of, tries to control me and turn me against the good,” he
said.

The fountain
turned back on. Water splashed in the base. Their eyes drifted to it and then
back to each other.

“…like last
night at the hayride? I felt something behind me, breathing in my ear.”

“Yes. He wants
you, Daisy. And he knows I want you, too,” he said.

“Who is Jack
Red?”

He looked her
straight in the eye. “That’s the man, Daisy...the beast.”

Her mouth
dropped open and she shook her head. “I’m not strong for this, Christian. I’m
just not,” she cried. Her face dropped into her hands. “There’s still so many
questions!”

“The thing you
need to know for now is that he wants to impregnate you with his son at my
birthday ball. I am supposed to bring you to him in front of his congregation.
Then you’ll be given back to me to be by my side for eternity. You’ll not just
be my date for a dance, but a high priestess,” he paused, seeing the fear in
her eyes. “It’s a gift from my father for all that he’s done for him, all his lives
he has lived on this earth and the families he has created.

“The other men
in this town are related to my father one way or another, so they get to sample
the riches as well, and their sons get privileges, like Dane. This is why I
wanted to just leave and not have a ball. I don’t want this...life, if you call
it that. But I do fight this darkness in me every day, every moment. I’m good
at hiding it,” he admitted.

She wiped her
tears away and looked at him. “So why are you more special than any other son
your father has sired? Where are they now?”

“The first
three tried to kill my father when they heard what he did to their sister, so
he had no choice but to kill them – slashed their throats. His wife soon died
after seeing her daughter about town on the arm of this
man
, dead in the
eyes with no joy. She hanged herself.”

“Like your
mother,” she stated, feeling numb.

“Yes. He
married again and had three girls of which Jack came and possessed. He didn’t
have a son again until around 1920. On his twenty-first birthday, he brought a
date, his long-time girlfriend, Bessie York, knowing what would happen to her.
She had no idea.

“After their
first dance, he ushered her up to the altar and shook hands with the man who
then morphed into the beast he really is. She screamed and begged for Leon to
save her.

“He ran up
there and tried to grab her, but Jack scorched him to ashes right on the spot,
before he could get his full power an hour later.”

“Did you say
Leon?”

“Yes, why?”

“Just continue.
What happened to Bessie?”

“He had his way
with her in front of everyone cheering and clapping, his anatomy tearing her
apart that she had to be sewn back up by the town doctor right then or she
would have bled to death.

“He then sprouted
wings and flew off with her into the night, and the crowd continued dancing and
laughing the night away,” he added with disgust. “It’s all written in a journal
at the library.”

“What did she
look like?”

“She had short
blonde hair, very small. Why?”

“I think I
dreamed of her or saw something. She was running through a forest in a
nightgown, but that couldn’t have been her,” she shook her head. “She asked me
where Leon was,” she added.

He looked her
in the eye and said, “It was, but not the way you think it was. It was her
tortured soul that is kept imprisoned there for eternity. She wants to find
Leon and get away from the man...from Jack.”

Daisy wiped
another tear away and closed her eyes to pray for that soul. Then she had a
thought. “Why is this different with me? I’m confused.”

“The difference
is you were promised to me after he has his way with you, to get you pregnant,
so that we can raise his child together. My father asked that of him, and he
granted it,” he sighed.

“Oh, my God.
I’m gonna be sick.” 

“I’m so sorry,
honey. I hate this so much. This was why I didn’t want to care for you, but,
damn it, you made me, and now what?" He ran his hands through his hair and
tried to think. “I’m getting you out of here before this ever happens,” he
insisted.

“But they’ll
find me! What about their power? Your power?” she whispered.

He thought
about it. “I’ll tell my father you’re not a virgin. Jack only wants a virgin.
He’ll be angry but will get over it,” he said. “There’s other virgins he can
have.”

She shook her
head. “I’m not a virgin, Christian.”

He stared at
her in shock. “What?”

“That’s the
reason I came out here, at least I thought, because of what happened to me at
home,” she said, wiping another tear away. “I was raped in my room, Christian.
My father just thought there was a burglary scare while he was out, but it was
much more,” she paused, remembering the day clearly. “When the guy with the
black ski mask came into my room where I was sleeping, he raped me,” she said,
now wiping away the tears that lived in her heart for all that time.

Christian
grabbed her and held her, staring off into the trees.

***

Across the
city, on the North side of Chicago, a white-haired priest sat up in his bed,
frantic. He produced an old picture of a woman with her baby girl. He silently
said a prayer and lay back down, holding the frayed picture next to his heart,
fear residing there.