Chained (The Reaper Saga Book 1), page 1
CHAINED
THE REAPER SAGA
Book 1
K.H. KATE
CHAINED
Copyright © 2021 by K.H. Kate
All rights reserved.
First Edition: FEB 2021
All rights preserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
This is for those who believes in their own fairytale.
EMELINE
I wish I were blind, oblivious to the world.
Where I have always been the brave one, today I was anything but that. Even looking at myself in the mirror almost made me cringe. The fire in my eyes had been lost the moment they put me in a wedding dress.
“You look so beautiful, Emie.”
“Do I?” I fingered the sleeves of the black satin floor-length wedding gown with a scowl. Considering it was more of a sacrifice rather than a wedding, it was a bit ironic that they wanted me to look delicate.
Beautiful.
As if there was any beauty in bleeding flesh.
Belle’s smile vanished instantly. If I squinted too hard, I could even see the disappointment in her eyes. “You don’t believe me.”
“Believe you?” I wanted to laugh. “I believed you once, Belle, not again.”
“Stop calling me Belle! I’m your mother.”
Bitterness had crawled its way inside me a long time ago and still, I have learned to ignore its presence. But now? Now I wanted to feast on it. “Not a real one. Mr. Sullivan and you proved it over and over again that trusting either of you is a mistake.”
“Look at me, hun. I know you’re ready, you can do this.” Despite my anger over everything, she clutched my hands tightly as if it was her lifeline. “I don’t like this either. But do I have a choice? No, none of us do.”
“Let me run. You can do that for me. Just let me run.” If I wasn't bound to this territory I didn't even have to beg like this!
“I can’t do that. Not after last time.” Of course, merely asking for anything in this clan wasn’t going to work. What was I even expecting? “You look very upset-”
“You see this?” For emphasis, I rolled over my sleeves to reveal the triangle mark on my arm. “For years, I’ve been banned from casting any spells or learning them in the first place. Why me? What have I ever done to the clan? Why do I have to marry a man, oh, no, wait, a dead man who has been lying in a grave for God knows how many years? A Darkness!”
I could remember how I was in awe of the things they could do with their powers back when I was still a child. But the moment I tried to do the same thing, I was gifted with a mark that would never allow me to do magic.
Giving me a weak smile, she cleared her throat. “Emie, hun, we’ve been over this already. We need a pure soul to harness every bit of Darkness’s powers. This is a sacrifice worth dying for.”
Pure soul...I didn’t think of myself as a pure soul. Not when it cost my life.
“Would you say the same thing if I were your real child?” I wondered aloud, not caring the way she flinched.
A tear rolled down her cheeks at my admission. As much as I hated my step-parents, I couldn’t deny that Belle could almost pull off being a mother. Especially when she choked up. “Conrad may seem like he hates you but, know that, if he didn’t saw the scroll himself, he would never let it go so far. As for me, I love you as my own.”
My pretense slipped only for a second. “Not enough to save me.”
“I saved you once! And what did we get in return? People dying, disappearing, and all the bad things that could happen to us. The prophecy is real, we’ve all seen the consequences of ignoring it before. This whole year we’ve suffered because I stopped them from taking you. The nearby clans are breathing down our neck. You know that! Any moment they will attack and without Darkness’s help, we will all die.”
My chest tightened to the point that I couldn’t see through all the chaos around me. Nineteen years was hardly enough for me. I wanted to live...maybe even make a family of my own. And more of all, I wanted to cry out at the injustice happening to me but something held me back. I wanted to show them that they were wrong. Despite walking toward my death, I wasn’t weak. I was the strongest of them all.
I wanted them to know that breaking me was futile.
You can’t break someone who is already broken.
“Bring her.” Mr. Sullivan’s voice echoed through the cold haunted cemetery and immediately a chill went through my bones. I was thankful for the almighty that my whole body was supported by Belle as I could feel my knees buckle under my legs.
"Etsu ka ta ekram."I heard the High Priest whisper before snatching a talisman from his latest companion. Somewhere around the circle, one witch was making sure that the angry spirits stayed away from our business, and honestly, I wanted nothing more than to watch them get free just so these idiots could learn some lessons.
Wishful thinking...
Gathering some soils that have been tainted with mortal blood, Mr. Sullivan turned to the old witch. "Madam Florence, how much time till the wedding?"
Madam Florence, whose hair was brighter than my future only laughed in return. "Patience, my dear. We still need crow's blood to soak the ground, here-" Before I could blink, the poor crow's neck was snapped in half and added to the other ingredients they've managed to find from God knew where. "Now we can all proceed."
At once, everyone's eyes rolled over and even I was unable to stop the transformation. A quick look at the sky explained why. The witching hour was here.
It's time.
“Emeline, come closer.” I glanced at Mr. Sullivan who looked anything but remorseful. He couldn’t bother to see that my hands were trembling. No, my stepfather didn’t think about me at all.
“It’s time to break her pledge from us, from the Red clan, from our God.” His voice didn’t waver at once, his steps confident when picking up the knife from the High Priest to make a cut on his palm.
“Do you, Emeline Sullivan, the daughter of the clan leader, Conrad Sullivan, agree to break your pledge to the Red clan willingly?”
“Yes,” My icy response could have frozen the whole clan.
Nodding, he handed me the knife for me to shed some blood. Mixing my blood with his, I broke the pledge by chanting the vow. “In birth, in life, and in death. Now I, Emeline Deshayes, willingly break the pledge to honor and be loyal to my afterlife.”
Immediately, I could feel both the effect of that namesake and the emptiness engulfing my heart, confirming that I’ve done something they didn’t expect me to do.
“Emeline!” Mr. Sullivan grabbed my hand in warning. “Don’t ever speak of that name.”
I found myself staring at him, this man, who had always been a stranger to me. People might fear him for being a clan leader but there was someone who they feared more.
Me.
My bloodline.
“Let go, Conrad. She’s a child.” Despite knowing that she was embarrassing Mr. Sullivan, Belle spoke up with a hesitant smile on her face.
“She’s right. Besides, Emeline’s free from our clan. We all feel it. Just get to the wedding part already.” Where Belle’s smile was real, the High Priest’s smile was a practiced one. I would know cause that’s how he looked at me when he draped the talisman on my neck.
“Fine. Start the wedding.” I didn’t know what was more annoying. The fact that Mr. Sullivan left an ugly mark on my hands or the High Priest’s hungry eyes looking over his grimoire.
Before I could scoff at both of them, the High Priest finally closed the book on his hands, seemingly found what he was looking for. “Everyone, take their place. Emeline, listen to me carefully. Do you, the clan leader’s daughter Emeline Sullivan, take this grave’s owner, the darkest soul, also known as the King of Shadows, Darkness, as your lawfully wedded husband?”
There was it.
I knew it was coming.
Yet something unsettling crept into my mind as I looked around. Would it be too painful? Or would I be erased from earth just like that?
God, I hoped at least my spirit was harder to get rid of. That way I could just haunt the cemetery and be a pain in their ass. With that thought in my mind, I flashed them a wicked grin. “I do.”
The smile on the High Priest’s lips brightened. “Now do you, Darkness, the King of Shadows, take Emeline to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
A low hum followed, everyone's call for Darkness bouncing off the circle I was in. The words didn’t terrify me as much as the knife in Mr. Sullivan’s hands did.
I remembered vividly the rumors they used to spread about how the pure soul would be handed over to the Darkness, the sleepless nights I spent hearing about the strange knife. Only this time it wasn’t a rumor but a reality. A shiver went through me seeing him coming closer without a care in the world.
“Shh...Just relax and let it happen.” Mr. Sullivan whispered in my ears, positioning me in a way that one small push was enough to make me stumble into the grave. I wanted nothing but to
But it never did.
Just when I was about to open my eyes in confusion, a loud buzz filled my ears and I hissed. What the hell? Looking down, I noticed thick red blood drops making their way to the valley of my breasts, making my dress wet with it but still, there was no pain.
What’s happening?
My confusion didn’t linger much longer as the pain exploded everywhere in my body, making me scream. Even trying to inhale and exhale felt tiring. Loud chanting filled the air around me, making it worse. Like rain, the blood kept soaking me where I could barely recognize myself.
Make it stop! My whole body screamed in agony.
Out of nowhere, I could hear a loud animistic snarl which startled me to the point of making me push whoever was holding me. All I could hear was cries and grunts. I might not be still connected to them but I could feel the pain and agony in their voices.
Somewhere in the middle of this massacre, I must have dropped on the ground as I felt someone trying to shake me. From what I could see with my blurred vision, I noticed it was Belle, blood covering half of her face.
“Run, Emie, run.”
Despite the pain, I forced my feet to move forward. My black satin wedding dress was torn in the process but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. After a while, I could feel exhaustion creep in, making my eyes close against my will.
If only I knew what was waiting for me when I woke up...I’d prefer to fulfill the prophecy than dealing with the casualties of my failure.
EMELINE
I woke up gasping for air.
For a second, I couldn't remember what happened or how did I end up lying in the middle of the woods. My throat was too dry, making it hurt to take any kind of air. The moment my eyes took in the torn dress, my breath stopped.
The wedding.
I remembered.
I remembered the pain and the aftermath of it. So how could I be alive? With the memories back, my hands immediately went to my throat to feel that it was covered with dry blood. Shaking in the cold, I took the time to look around me again. To my surprise, I noticed that where I landed was pretty far from the town. Trying to move, I let out a whimper. My ankle was probably sprained, I had scratch marks on my arms and shoulder from where Mr. Sullivan tried to grab me.
A loud sob left from my lips even before noticing it was me that cried out. The pain in my body was nothing compared to the joy in my heart. I lied on the cold ground, crying in happiness. They expected me to be dead.
Gone.
But I was that awesome to be alive...
After staring blankly at the morning sky for hours, I tried to stand again only to hear a scream tearing through my lips as soon as my swollen legs touched the ground. God...if only I had magic then I could easily just heal myself.
I needed something to support myself.
Thankfully there were some broken long barks that could be used as a crutch which I took to finally stand up. I could feel my legs scream to rest but I had to keep moving. Keep running. But to where?
Out of town would be the best choice. But I've never been to anywhere but Natchitoches. My stomach lurched in uneasiness as I registered where I was going. No matter what they've done to me, I could never seem to hate them enough to not care. Also, I left Belle there. She let me escape, even with the risk of Conrad finding out. By the time I reached the cemetery, I had to close my mouth with my hands to stop myself from screaming.
Bodies everywhere.
Like someone painted the whole place in red.
"Enjoying the view?"
Someone gritted out. I turned my head to the right to where the sound was coming from only to see Belle looking down at the ground. I wanted to say so many things but the only question I could ask was. "What happened?"
"What you've done to us, Emie." She might refuse to look me in the eyes but the core of her anger lied deeper than me or the prophecy. She was angry at the entire clan by the way her whole body shook in violence. They mirrored mine when I noticed the familiar bodies I have grown up with.
Even Madam Florence laid there on her own blood with one of her eyes missing. Looking closely, I noticed the talisman I was wearing was on her hands now, gripped tightly as if she was trying to warn something off with it.
"You didn't answer my question," I repeated because I was addicted to misery. Or maybe I truly wanted to know. "Bel-Mom, please."
"Maybe the prophecy was wrong. He didn't give us any power, he gave us death instead. You did something, tell me, were you learning magic without our knowing?" Before I could anticipate any attack, her hands reached out to shake my shoulder. To my shock, the moment she touched me, the pain in my legs disappeared leaving only an uncomfortable ache. Swallowing down the knot that formed in my throat, I took a step away from her.
How on earth was that possible?
"This mark would not let me do anything, you know that!" Even if I didn't have the mark, I had to learn the spells to do anything she accused me of doing. I did neither so how could she-
"But the mark is not there anymore." She snatched my wrist before I could hide it. "What have you done?"
"Kill her."
"Burn her. She killed them!"
"Don't let her inside of your house! She's satan's child, she'll kill your children!"
"There's a bounty on her head. Bring her to us and we'll give you plenty of money to live."
The loud commotion startled us so much that Belle let me go immediately. I looked around in despair to see angry mobs everywhere. Seeing the running crowd, the cold realization hit me hard on the head. By now every clan near our town knew what happened last night. Just because by some miracle I survived, I would be foolish to think that they'd throw this thing under the rug so easily.
I was never going to be safe.
"I didn't kill them, I don't know how the mark disappeared. Please believe me." No matter how many times I begged, Belle kept her eyes on a particular body in the grave as if I haven't spoken at all.
Near the grave...
The cry after I pushed someone away from me.
Flinching at the memory, I finally understood why Belle was acting like everything was my fault. When the massacre started, the person holding me was Mr. Sullivan and unknowingly I've pushed him to his death.
I've killed a clan leader.
Before I could apologize more, the air turned colder and the clouds in the sky darkened, making me freeze. That's how the horror started last night. This time my mind thought faster than me as I realized I was already pushing past Belle to get away from everything. To my utter surprise, there was something following me in the wind.
A shadow?
"Corium!"
I screamed out, hoping that now that I didn't have the mark, it'd work. But I still could very much be seen and I wanted to cry out in frustration when I had to stop abruptly because I was stuck near the cliff. I wanted to blame someone, anyone, so I could get rid of the evil thoughts that were running through my veins.
Wiping the stupid tears that decided to finally come, I was just about to say to hell with it when someone grabbed my arm to shove me away from the edge. Struggling to push myself away from the creature, I turned around with half the mind to do something, anything to get away. But with bewilderment, I realized, no, it wasn't a creature or a shadow...
It was a man?
"What have you done to me?"
EMELINE
"What have you done to me? Why do I speak like that?"
The mysterious man in front of me demanded again with a voice I couldn't ignore. Rich and with an accent I wasn't familiar with. I could ask what was wrong with him but there was an angry mob behind me and I was barely holding onto my sanity as it was.
"You know me, you had to be. I'm remembering-" He snapped his fingers with an alarmingly fast motion. "You were going to embrace my friend also known as death. But given the consequences, you woke me up-you, you are my bride."
No, God, no.
