Changeling (Book 1) Rated R

Chapter 28

There was a lounge at the Villa Rafaello that was still adorned by a Christmas tree, left over from the December festivities.

This is where I found myself in the middle of the night.

My feet carried me, zombie-like, across the room where the clock over the fire place read 3:07 am.

Several arm chairs littered the lounge but they were all empty this time of night.

The night shift employee at the front desk was skimming through a magazine but he didn't even look at me as I coasted right past him, past the fireplace which was still going despite having died down to only a few embers, and finally arrived at the front door.

My hand wrapped around the handle and pushed it open.

A cool yet tempered breeze immediately struck me across the face.

I stepped outside and was deposited onto a narrow road where a few mopeds took up most of the street space. I continued on past them, gravel crunching beneath my feet until I'd arrived between two buildings, one a burnt orange, the other a faded yellow, both adorned by wrought iron balconies.

"Ally, stop it." I hissed once I'd managed to gain control back of my voice.

She was a heavy presence in my chest, like a paper weight, lying over my breastbone.

The tiny hairs on my arms rose, remaining this way for as long as Ally was within me.

I took a sharp left onto a narrow alleyway where the light was nearly nonexistent.

"Please, why are you doing this to me?"

I'm leading you to safety.

There was a rustle of movement straight ahead.

I could see the other end of the alley where it opened up into an arched entryway, leading onto the next street over where the faint glow of a lamppost tried but failed to quite reach all the way.

A cat meowed and something shifted out of the shadows.

It was the dark figure of a man, dressed in a long brown coat.

My mouth grew dry as if I'd stuffed cotton into it and my heart kicked into motion and my palms began to sweat.

I tried to turn back but my feet remained glued to the brick path beneath them.

"I'll be killed." I pled. "This isn't a game, Ally. That could be a monster."

"Not a monster, Amelia. Your father sent me."

"M—my father?" I stuttered.

The figure drew closer while I remained paralyzed.

He stepped out from out of the shadow and was dressed humanly enough but it was the red eyes that gave it away.

He was a soulsucker.

He was tall and lean, his face hard and set as if finely chiseled out of a slab of marble.

A soulsucker? How is a soulsucker safety? Ally, please. Release me.

I tried to warn you. Ally's voice was but a mere whisper in the depths of my mind.

Weather it was sheer terror or if I was simply growing stronger, my legs twitched, one falling behind the other as I took a single step back.

"Yes, Amelia, your father." The Soulsucker repeated.

"My father is dead."

"I can assure you Stefan is not dead."

"S-Stefan is not my father." I stuttered.