Afterlife (Afterlife Saga)

Copyright

This
ebook
is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the author, as allowed under terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Copyright © Stephanie Hudson 2010

This book is a work or fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by: ©
thePaperface

www.thepaperface.co.uk

[email protected]

Dedication.

Afterlife is dedicated to my very dear fr
iend Faith Cottrell, who
s
e
unique humour and extreme kindness in life would have the Gods both laughing with joy and being thankful for such a pure soul.
And as I like to say...

“We all need a bit of Faith in our lives”

“What it means to have Faith”

All at once the world seems so small, lost in a vast space of endless doubts,

But beyond the sky full of clouds and dust is the light we see and the
Faith
in which we trust.

Friends’ tears will fall and crash and burn,

And rain to our feet with an unspeakable yearn,

Heavy hearts and unrelenting hope we hold on tight,

Not giving an inch, not with
Faith’s
strength and might.

Laughter, love and never fading warmth,

Is what your body
sings,

To our lives every damn day,

Is what a
Faith’s
soul brings.

To say we love you is just words on a page,

But to know we love you,

Is in
Faith’s
way to gauge,

And you know to your very core,

That we want nothing more,

Than that love to shine through, because
Faith
,

We will always have you.

By an everlasting friend

Stephanie Hudson

About the Author

Stephanie Hudson has dreamed of being a writer ever since her obsession with reading books at an early age. What first became a quest to overcome the boundaries set against her in the form of dyslexia has turned into a life's dream. She first started writing in the form of poetry and soon found a taste for horror and romance. Afterlife is her first book in the series of seven, with the story of Keira and Draven becoming ever more complicated in a world that sets them miles apart.

When not writing, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her very supportive family and friends, playing with her dopey deer hound Milo, who has a fondness for eating tennis balls, chatting for hours with her biggest fan, her sister Cathy who is utterly obsessed with one gorgeous Dominic Draven. And of course spending as much time with her wonderful husband Rob, who is her real life hero, one that swaps his shining armour for jeans and comic book t-shirts.

Also this year starts a new adventure for her in the form of motherhood as they both expect the first edition to their family in August 2012. 

Prologue

"Why are we afraid of the darkness when the light shows us more of the land of nightmares?"

I listened overhead as the footsteps grew nearer. My body convulsed as a natural reflex took over. Every fibre in my being was screaming as every sense told me danger was near. The smell of the damp space was flooding my nostrils as though a rotting corpse was sat in the corner. The palms of my hands bled from the nails I was imbedding into them, knuckles bone white until every finger ached.

I heard him now, those boots he always wore, as if all of hell dragged him closer to me using those boots as a mental torture. They were thick-soled like biker boots only every time he came to me I never heard the heavy roar of a bike's engine. I knew I didn’t have long now until the foul breath of a true monster was breathing down my ear explaining to me how the things hell created could feel, could love.

I didn't believe his lies...who could?

My breath caught in my chest as I had counted my time in the seconds I had left, was this finally the end, my end? The dark space flooded with unnatural light and a figure emerged like death's silhouette. No matter how many times he had come to me I still couldn't prevent the gasp that escaped my bitten lips, trembling, swollen and bloody. Fear gripped at them making them quiver uncontrollably, the way they always did every time I saw something I couldn't explain. I wanted to be strong enough. I needed to be or I would never be freed from this curse.

The time was now.

This time was at an end.

The sharp sides I gripped dug into my hands making them slick with my body's liquid. I heard one footstep but I wouldn't turn my head again. Facing away from him I did what I had to do.

"Goodbye" I said with my last breath before my vision filled with blood.

I opened my eyes with a start, alert and ready. It took me a moment to understand my surroundings and take in all the other passengers who were staring at my sudden actions. I guess on a long haul flight everyone was a little twitchy and the sight of me bolting upright gifted me with a few startled looks. It was fine; I was so used to those looks that it was like second nature to me now. I was a master at feeling numb and I stared ahead as if no one was around.

I scratched my arms out of sheer habit as the details of my recurring dream came back to me with a nauseating churn in my stomach. I tasted the familiar flavour of bile in my mouth, like the dark after taste my dreams always provided. I looked down at my arms and I released a sigh when I saw the long sleeves of cotton that covered them. Of course, the dream wasn't how it happened but it was always the same way
my mind played it, no matter how wrong the details were. 

"Did you have a nightmare, dearie?" I almost jumped as the first person in hours spoke to me. A plump, grey haired lady with a flower print top that looked like it was once curtains, smiled at me as she waited for the only words I could say.

"Something
like
that."

Chapter 1- New World

New sights.
New smells.
New life.

This was New England.

Man, it sure was cold here, but hell I guess I’d better get used to that now that my understatement of a “Crazy” life had brought me here. This was after all, my chance at a “new start” as my parents had been putting it for the last few weeks. But who could blame them, certainly not me. It wasn’t as if they wanted me to go but more like
needed
me to go for my own good. Of course like any good girl, I nodded and agreed with every word, so I soon found myself packed and on a plane before I knew that the summer was over. 

The whole journey from England had been a bit of a blur, the tears in my parents’ eyes however were still fresh in my mind. Saying goodbye to them was one of the hardest things I had ever done and knowing it was for the best didn't make it any easier on either part. My damp cheeks mirrored those of my loving parents as I tried not to notice the underlining doubt in their eyes. I knew what they were thinking but not saying…

“Would I be strong enough?”

I made my way through the crowded Portland International airport at the arrivals gate looking for my sister’s excited, yet anxious face and as expected, there she was, stood next to her huge husband Frank. They looked so perfect together. Frank’s strong arm around my sister’s shoulders, protecting her small frame from the rushing crowd of passengers fresh from my flight making their way to the arrivals lounge like cattle.

I had been so pleased that my big sister had met someone like Frank. With his heart warming smile and floppy, honey coloured hair that no matter how many times it was pushed back, still managed to make it into his chocolate coloured eyes. But for all of Frank’s soft, easy going features his massive muscular frame still proved him to be a man not to be messed with.