Retriever of the Lost Souls (Retriever Series Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Acknowledgements

  To my wife, and co-author Christina, thank you for countless and seemingly endless nights writing with me in various places, usually all-night restaurants! This could not have been finished without you and your ideas, and I love you very much.

  To my mother who gave us unconditional support throughout the writing of this book. Mom, we love you and THANK YOU for everything.

  To our family who put up with us, we say thank you! It’s your support that gave us the encouragement to continue, even on the days that were difficult.

  During the time we’ve spent writing this, countless people read the manuscript and gave advice, spending their personal time and efforts to help make this project the best it can be. Thank you so much for all you have done for us! You’re too numerous to list here, but you know who you are, and I’m eternally grateful.

  We also wish to acknowledge Michelle Lundy for permitting us to use the wedding ritual from her book Salvation: Inside A Vampire’s Mind. Your permission to modify and use this is greatly appreciated.

  Of course, none of this would have come to fruition without the assistance of an award-winning author and dear friend, Jodi Ann Fahey, who not only provided guidance and answered a thousand questions but created the cover for our book utilizing her God-given talents in graphic design, and then got me in touch with Hanleigh Bradley, who agreed to take on the editing of Retriever of the Lost Souls. Jodi, words cannot express my heart-felt thanks for all you have done for us.

  Finally, thank you to our editor, Hanleigh Bradley from Author Friends With Benefits. Your insights and assistance were invaluable to us and we are grateful for agreeing to take on this project. Thank you very much!

  Chapter 1

  One sunny, crisp fall day near the harvest, Preco, a stern young boy of 14 with long brown hair and green eyes, was just at the age when his body was starting to change into that of a man. He often wore a fitted tunic with tight leggings and shin high boots and was playing by the lake with both his younger siblings Jannel and Mengo. Being the oldest, he regularly imposed the rules for their games using his two-year seniority as a dictatorial authority, which held them in line—and in fear. Jannel, at 12 years of age was the middle child, was quite the beauty with long blond hair that hung in curls. Her dress was bright blue, with a fitted apron attached to it, and her shoes were made of bear skin to keep her feet warm. Her bright blue eyes matched her apron and fit nicely over her thin and curvy figure. She had learned to obey her brothers, because according to their father, men were the rulers of the house, and women were to be seen but not heard.

  They were playing with their sticks as swords, pretending to be part of the king’s army. Every now and then one would poke the other and cause a gasp pf pain to the inflected area. Being light on her feet, Jannel was able to dodge both her brothers strikes, but best of all she was able to catch them unaware most of the time, poking them and hitting them in the rear. When she did so she would laugh at her brothers, causing their Ire to raise.

  “Get out of the game, Jannel. You aren’t playing right,” Preco said.

  Jannel’s indignation rose to a new level as she stomped her food and spoke in a sassy voice. “You’re just mad because I’m better than you are!”

  Preco’s eyes widened at her audacity. He then forced Jannel to the ground and pressed his sharpened stick to her creamy white throat, bringing forth a modest dribble of blood.

  “Just wait till I tell Papa!”

  Mengo, a tall stocky boy of 11, had long brown hair and hazel eyes, that had a cruel, cold look to them, was always looking for trouble. He also wore a tunic and leggings only his boots were up to his knees, because he hated when his legs got scratched up.

  “Yeah, lets tell Papa, he’ll show her!” Mengo yelled with glee.

  Men didn’t tolerate women speaking to them in such a fashion, and Jannel knew the repercussions of being disrespectful toward Preco and shook with fear at the thought. She then begged Preco, “I’m sorry Preco. Please don’t tell Papa. I will play your way.”

  Preco grinned at his modest victory. “I won’t tell if you dive into the lake!”

  “No. I won’t! The water is nearly frozen!”

  “Okay. Let me go see if Papa is home yet.” He turned and started walking toward their home.

  “Ok, I’ll do it!” Jannel yelled, causing Preco to turn and smile. Getting up, she headed toward the lake, with Preco behind her, spurring her on with his stick.

  As she stepped on the soft brown muddy dirt, Jannel’s feet went out from under her. Seconds later, she was face first in the dank and murky waters. Jannel tried to stand but slid again powerless to secure her foothold. She hated hearing her brothers chortle at her misfortune.

  Jannel grabbed a few stalks of weeds, dragging herself up and out when she noticed a turtle on its back, most likely courtesy of her brothers, and set it on its feet.

  “There you are, Mr. Turtle,” she said as she finished climbing out, shivering from head to toe. Then, from out of nowhere, Mengo grabbed the stick from Preco and violently thrust it through the shell, staking it to the ground. Both of her brothers doubled up laughing as they saw its legs flail, then cease. Jannel was frozen with fear and offended at how little they thought of life and despised them more than ever.

  That evening, Jannel and Mengo sat at the dinner table. Preco, as customary, had over-filled his plate. Jannel stuck out her foot as Preco walked past, causing him to stumble and fall into his meal. He scowled at her as he rose.

  Gorb laughed as he saw Preco’s face covered with potatoes.

  “Watch your feet, boy!”

  When Jannel flashed her brother a smug expression, Preco’s anger got the best of him.

  “Papa, I have something to report.”

  Jannel’s face emptied of color.

  “What’s that?”

  “Jannel did not listen today. She shrieked and yelled at me, and even though I ordered her to shut up, she didn’t obey!”

&n
bsp; Gorb stood up so quick his chair fell. His eyes narrowed until they were virtually closed.

  “Is that so, Jannel?”

  Jannel’s quiet fear spoke more than words.

  “I’ve warned you before not to talk to a man of this house that way! Get over here now!”

  Jannel tried to withdraw, but her father’s icy gaze caused her to tremble with fear.

  She stepped toward her father more frightened than ever. Gorb picked her up by the scruff of her dress and hurled her against the wall where she buckled to a heap on the floor. Trying to rise but hardly making it to her knees, a savage uppercut suddenly caused her two front teeth to go flying across the room, leaving her face bloodied, and her mouth disfigured.

  “Gorb, please. Leave the girl alone.”

  Gorb gave a contemptable look at his wife, and with his giant fist sent her flying toward the opposite wall.

  “Get your face out of here; this doesn’t involve you.”

  For the next few nights, Preco regretted having said anything, and whenever his father wasn’t around, he would take some soup and spoon feed Jannel through her swollen lips. His mother, who was used to this type of abuse, continued her chores despite her own swollen face.

  Two weeks later, Jannel was finally well enough to go outside to play, but she was wary of displeasing her brothers further. One night at dinner, Mengo suddenly announced that Jannel had shrieked at him. As Gorb rose and approached Jannel, Preco spoke up. “Father, Mengo is lying. Jannel was not disrespectful toward anyone. Once again Gorb’s eyes narrowed, this time fixating on his youngest boy.

  “Are you lying boy? You better not be lying.” His threat hung in the air.

  If Mengo was startled, he didn’t show it. He just stood up and faced his father.

  “I am lying. Women need a regular beating, and I wished to watch it again.”

  Gorb stared at him for a moment before throwing his head back, howling with amusement.

  “That’s my boy! Don’t you ever lie to me again, understand?”

  “Yes, Father. I won’t,” he said, as his father walked away laughing.

  As the three were preparing for bed that evening, Preco pinned Mengo against the wall and throttled him.

  “If you ever do that again, you will die at my hands. Do you hear me?”

  Mengo’s face turned rosy crimson and his lips blue. He could hear an intense buzzing in his ears, and for the first time in his life, his brother truly scared him. He could merely acknowledge his affirmative answer. Preco then released him, punching him before walking away.

  That night as everyone slept, Mengo lay wide-awake, as the rage he had inherited from his father ran through his veins. He wanted to get even with Preco for humiliating him, and for preventing his chances of having his sister beaten. He started to put plans together and by the time dawn broke he had formulated a foolproof idea, so deviant, that his head was buzzing with excitement.

  Later that morning, near the lake, he motioned to both Preco and Jannel to follow him to the far end. After playing for a while, Mengo considered ending his idea, but when he noticed that Jannel and Preco had moved away from him and were whispering to each other, his anger came back full force. He called Preco over and asked him to get the rocks from the edge of the lake. When he leaned over to get them, Mengo pushed him into the water.

  Since it was now the winter solstice, the freezing water immobilized his muscles, preventing Preco from swimming back to shore. His body stiffened, then disappeared. He came up for air and gasped, trying to yell for help, but unable to due to his body shivering from the icy water.

  Jannel grabbed a branch and yelled, “what are you doing?” She then offered Preco the branch to save him.

  Preco tried to grab it, but Mengo snuck up behind Jannel and pushed her into the lake as well.

  “Aargh! Help!”

  Mengo laughed as he watched them both struggle. Then, without warning, Preco went under, and Jannel, being the weaker swimmer of the two, screamed as she tried to keep him afloat, but was too cold and weak to support them both.

  “Help me,” she cried with a slurred speech, her muscles also becoming rigid.

  Then, Mengo had an even better idea and helped Jannel out. She was crying, shivering, and could not speak above a whisper.

  “Preco,” she cried as her teeth chattered. She turned to Mengo and stammered, “Why did you do that?

  “Keep your mouth shut girl.” Mengo, although he was younger, already towered over his intimidated sister. “Girls that talk, die early.”

  Jannel knew he wasn’t kidding. “I won’t tell anybody,” she said, searching the water for her brother. There wasn’t even a ripple or movement anywhere. Preco was in his watery grave.

  That evening Shayla wept with sorrow over her lost son, and Gorb paced the floor seething in anger, yelling and screaming at both of his children. Fearful of the expression in her brother’s eyes, Jannel stayed quiet until Mengo pointed to his sister.

  “I tried to stop her father, but I couldn’t. Jannel is the one who pushed Preco into the water and held him there. She killed my brother!”

  Jannel turned pale. “No, I didn’t. You did.”

  Gorb turned on Jannel.

  “So, you think you can kill my son and get away with it?”

  “No! It was Mengo.”

  SLAM! Her head exploded in pain, and her left eye became disengaged. Through her other eye, she could see him approaching her again.

  “It wasn’t me, father,” Jannel implored again.

  WHAM! Blood gushed from her mouth, and more of her already missing teeth disappeared.

  “Gorb, no. Please stop. I don’t want to lose another child,” Shayla cried.

  Gorb then turned on his wife and lifted her off the ground, his massive hand wrapped around her throat.

  “You should have been near them; it’s your fault my son is dead!”

  Shayla’s eyes bulged as her face turned purple and her lips blue. He shook her until her neck snapped, then dropped her lifeless body to the ground. Although this was not part of Mengo’s original plan, he was ecstatic that it had turned out better than he imagined.

  “Get your arse over here!” Gorb said.

  He walked over to his father’s side, unsteady on his feet.

  “Yes, Father?”

  “It’s your turn. You’re the man now, remember that.”

  Mengo breathed a sigh of relief and kicked Jannel in her stomach and ribs, each time eliciting a moan. Falling on his knees, he put his hands around Jannel’s throat.

  “That’s it, my boy. Make sure she doesn’t hurt any of us again.”

  Mengo watched Jannel’s chest as her life ebbed away and she no longer gasped for air. His manhood responded to the rush of taking a life, and the sight of blood leaking from her still warm body was too much for him. Unable to control himself, he tore the dress from Jannel and raped her, not stopping until he spilled his seed into her lifeless body as his father looked on with a smug expression.

  Chapter 2

  Knowing the townspeople would come after them for killing his family, Gorb immediately packed what they needed and they hurriedly left town, seeking refuge in a town many miles away where nobody would know them.

  Over the course of the next few years Mengo watched his father carefully. He idolized Gorb for he saw the fear people had of him and he craved being able to scare a person just by staring him down He watched as the local merchants got swindled because they were too scared to fight back or laughing as his father would grab a girl off the street and take her innocence in the closest alleyway he could find, because he had, “a man’s need”. He learned how to treat people one way to make them believe he was a good man, only to learn a while later that he could be meaner than sin itself.

  Finally, the night came when had grown tired of his father coming home intoxicated and mean. He had received more beatings then he could count, since there was no one left to blame for his troubles. His father would take a
ll Mengo’s spoils, and never gave him the credit he felt he deserved, so one night, Mengo had arranged for several men to attack Gorb as he left the tavern. He wanted to watch as his father breathed his last. A few minutes later Mengo watched with glee from his vantage point as a horde of men came up behind Gorb and dropped an axe on his head, killing him instantly. They all let out a roar of laughter, knowing that they no longer had to deal with this man.

  A few days later, Mengo saw a notice on the public bulletin board stating that the Royal Crown was searching good men to became Royal Guardsmen. He fancied the idea that he would be looked upon with envy if he was able to guard the ‘royals’ as he called them. He quickly made his way to the tournament in which the man with the most prowess would be chosen. Having learned how to fight and how to and protect himself at a very young age, Mengo was able to easily beat all the other challengers and was quickly chosen to be part of the special service in protecting the king himself.

  Soon enough the royal guard was inundated with unsolved deaths. It was either another guard who was killed, or it was a local girl getting raped, and often sodomized, then killed. Mengo was proud of the fact that he was never questioned, for when Mengo chose to feed his appetite for killing, he did so carefully. But like his father, he became over-confidant that he would never be suspected, and became sloppy. He was discovered when he tried to kill one of his fellow guardsmen and left him lying for dead in an old abandoned barn, having believed he had killed the man. The guard, barely able to crawl, managed to get to the armory and reported him instantly. That night a detachment of guards made their way to his bunk and arrested him. Mengo knew that if he did not escape, he would be hanging from the gallows. Two nights later, as his food was brought to him, he managed to catch the guard unaware, and stole his armor, along with his gauntlets he loved using, then and ran as fast and as far as he could, just as he and his father had done many years back.

  Chapter 3

  Her back ached. The stabbing, burning labor pains had taken up residence in her belly along with her unborn baby. She needed to hurry because her husband expected supper to be on the table the moment he returned home from work. Her right eye twitched as she recalled the last time he corrected her for being late with supper.