Night Stalker (Dead Loves Life Book 1), page 1
NIGHT STALKER
© Copyright R. L. Weeks 2017
All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and organizations are purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1974244393
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publisher.
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This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover design © Creative Covers
Editing by Emily Cargile
www.authorrlweeks.com
For Amy.
A blessed friend to walk through life with.
NIGHT
STALKER
Dead Loves Life
Book One
Prologue
Aokigahara was dead silent as we walked up the path between the trees. A chill washed over me as I noticed a sign reading: ‘Your family loves you.’ The forest was a common suicide spot in Japan, and therefore, according to my boyfriend, George, a hub for the supernatural due to the energy left over after the deaths.
I, of course, was skeptical about the whole thing. George turned to me after letting go of my hand. “Have you ever found anything curious about your past, though? I mean, about your ancestors?”
Here he went again. He was always delving into my family history, when there wasn’t much interesting about it.
My ancestors had been founders of our hometown, Pleasant Springs, a small town in Connecticut. They’d had a violent history, yet were always the heroes. I wasn’t a hero, but I was living in the 21st century – somewhere George wasn’t.
“There’s not much to look into,” I replied.
It was raining. I could see the grey clouds over the horizon, but the drizzle didn’t touch us through the canopy of leaves.
“Your ancestors are more interesting than you think.” I rolled my eyes and he sighed. “Really, Casey, they are. I wonder if you’re like them.”
I raised an eyebrow. “How do you mean?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
We turned around to head back before dark. I was worried about George. He hadn’t been himself recently.
We had run into something a couple of weeks ago in this forest. He had sworn he had seen a creature. I wasn’t sure what I had seen, but it could have just been a person or animal moving fast in the tree line. Either way, he had taken to going on little trips alone at night, much to my dismay, up into the forest.
The lovely ladies down in the cabins let us stay cheap. I wasn’t surprised; I mean, Aokigahara wasn’t exactly a tourist spot.
Yet, the forest had changed George. He seemed worried, stressed, as if he were being pulled him in two directions.
“Sweetie,” I said and grabbed his hand again. “Do you still love me?”
Usually, he’d snap right back with ‘of course,’ but he hesitated. It was only for a second, but I saw it, and then I was worried.
“I love you,” he said, without meaning.
My heart hammered away as we walked back, but I discounted his behavior. He was so busy researching the paranormal history of the area, his focus just wasn’t on me right now. It would be once we were home again.
We walked down the trail, and I shuddered, pulling my coat tighter. It was freezing.
Snap
A twig broke in the tree line to our left. We both stopped, observed, but shrugged it off. It was so quiet in the forest – no noise, birds, nothing – that every sound was echoed.
As we walked closer to the cabin more twigs snapped, and the sound of leaves crunching followed us back.
💀💀💀
It was four a.m. when I saw it for the first time. I’d woken to the strangest feeling – as if I was being watched.
Panicked, I looked around the dark room. Fortunately, I had always had excellent eyesight, even in the dark. Unfortunately, I was a coward, so if something was in the room with us, I didn’t want to see it.
I turned and looked at George while sliding further under the covers. He was asleep, but not snoring like he usually did.
That’s when I saw it: the thing that had been tracking us from Aokigahara Forest.
The silence was deafening as she smiled at me. She looked like a porcelain doll I’d had when I was a kid. Her teeth were pearly white, glistening in the darkness.
She looked at me with an icy cold gaze, bluer than the sea or sky, and that’s when I felt it. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t do anything but lie there as she approached.
The woman ran her hand through her wild black hair and leant over George.
My heart pounded loudly as she leant down and brushed her lips against his.
Was she going to rape him?
My eyes widened, but I couldn’t warn him. She placed her hand on his chest, and I felt his energy surge to her – at least some of it.
Then, his eyes slowly opened and he thrust his hips up.
That’s when I found my fight and sat up!
“George!” I screamed.
Shock flashed across the woman’s expression before she turned and disappeared out of the room.
George woke up, looking a little dazed, and glanced at me. I was as white as the sheets we were lying on.
“What happened, baby?”
I shivered. “Some woman broke in here and leant over you while you were sleeping. She put her hand on your chest and…”
I looked at the locked door and closed windows. Was I losing my mind?
“I must have been dreaming,” I added. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”
I tried to shake off the eeriness. He placed his hand on mine and nuzzled into my neck, kissing me softly. “It’s okay, baby. You’re okay. So, what happened?”
His breath sent pulses of pleasure through me.
“She kissed you.”
He laced his fingers down my neck. “It was just a dream, baby. What happened before you woke up?”
“I broke out of the spell I was under, keeping me down, and she left.”
He perked up and smiled for the first time in days.
I raised an eyebrow, and he quickly leant in to kiss me. “Just a dream, baby.”
“Mmhmm.”
He grinned and looked at the clock. “We don’t have to leave for four hours,” he said. “And we’re already up.”
I smiled and kissed him.
He slid his hand up my pajama top. “God I love you, Casey,” he breathed.
I laid back and held back my moan as he brought his lips down between my legs.
Waves of pleasure surged through me, but I was distracted.
I couldn’t stop looking at the window. I still felt as if we were being watched. Something was still here; I could feel it.
My nightmare hadn’t quite left the room.
Weirdly, as George caressed me, his eyes kept darting to the window.
As if he knew a secret I didn’t.
As if he knew something was there, and he liked it.
💀💀💀
“Are you ready?” I asked excitedly, bouncing on the spot as we packed to go. I was excited to get the hell out of Japan.
George smiled, showing off his dimples. He always looked good no matter what. He could roll right out of bed and be ready for a photoshoot. He walked into the airport rolling his suitcase and flashed a smile to the girl behind the counter. Instantly, her resting bitch face was gone.
He checked us in, and I checked my bag in. I watched as he struck up a conversation with the couple next to us. I didn’t know how, but he always managed to disarm everyone around him.
“Casey, you ready?” he asked with a grin and looked up at the board. In five short hours we would be home, back at Pleasant Falls. I’d see my parents for the first time in six months.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. “I’m going to miss it here,” I lied.
“Me too, but home is where the heart is.” He pushed his sun-kissed brown hair back and kissed me lightly on the forehead. “Tomorrow we can go see Jay, Vicky, and Tom at the diner.”
I smiled. “Sure.”
I hated Vicky, but she’d been his best friend for years, so I wouldn’t tell him that. She was just too flirty for my liking, and I was sure she knew what she was doing. She’d push his hair back in front of me, and she hugged him like a billion times when we all hung out.
“I want to go to Romania later this year,” he said.
“Sure, but… why?”
His expression turned serious as he turned to me. “Because of all the folklore there. I mean, as long as everything takes as long as it does.”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
He had been acting weird since we had arrived in Japan.
He smiled again and walked toward security. “It’s amazing. So many vampires.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. When traveling around Japan, he had gone to
He was convinced that all those creatures of the night were out there, all because he had lost his brother at a young age to what he believed to be a ‘Night Stalker’– a soulless demon. He said he had seen it, and nothing anyone said could convince him otherwise – not even his parents.
I tried to dismiss it, because none of it could possibly be true. Yet every time I did, that woman’s face flashed across my memory, and the slither of doubt remained. Had it really just been a dream?
“We should go,” I said with a forced smile. “It’ll be fun.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And interesting… Could you imagine if we found something there? Like proof that they exist. I’m so close. I’ve found so many things, even links to our hometown. Don’t you realize, they’re everywhere, Casey? Even in Pleasant Falls. Maybe even more so.”
I pressed my lips together. “That is interesting,” was all I could manage.
The flight went fast. He stared out of the window the whole time, lost in thought.
When we arrived, we got off the plane and drove the two-hour drive home from the airport. When I say small, I mean ridiculously small, with a population of around a thousand.
It did have one advantage, though. We were the most interesting people there, the only ones our age who had traveled outside of the states.
The gray town came into view, and we passed the run-down sign reading ‘Pleasant Falls.’ We drove toward my parent’s home – a two-bed house with a small porch and windows that always let the cold in. We parked and my dad opened the door. In his hand, I was surprised to see, was a bottle of whisky.
“Sweetheart,” my dad said with open arms as we dragged our suitcases out of the trunk.
“Dad.” I ran over to him and hugged him, ignoring the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. “Where’s Mom?”
His expression darkened, and he took a swig from his bottle. “Arizona.”
“What? Why?”
George walked over and shook my dad’s hand. “Mr. Stark.”
My dad patted him on the back. “You know to call me Ian, son.”
“Excuse me,” I interjected. “Why is Mom in Arizona?”
My dad sighed. “We didn’t want to tell you while you were traveling and ruin your time away, but we are getting a divorce.”
My world darkened. “No! Why? When?”
George squeezed my hand while my dad explained. “She met some man when she went to visit her sister. Apparently, they were childhood sweethearts. She said we were only together because we had you, and if it wasn’t for that, she’d have left a long time ago.” He took a swig from his bottle. “I guess she wanted more than this.”
My eyes filled slowly, and tears crept down my cheeks. “She wouldn’t have done that.”
“I didn’t think so either. She asked me to get you to call her when you got home, so if you could give her a call…”
I clenched my teeth. “Oh, I will.”
George patted my dad’s shoulder. “When one door closes, another one opens.” He looked at the house. “Did you catch the game on Saturday?”
My dad cheered up. “Yeah, can you believe the last….”
I stopped listening and jumped as headlights lit up our porch.
I was hit and thrown to the grass.
When I awoke, my whole life had changed.
George was dead.
Chapter One
One Year Later
The wind pressed against the panes of the window as I stared out onto the unwashed town. I sucked in a deep breath and glanced at my suitcase. “One more day,” I said aloud, trying to calm the fear building in the pit of my stomach.
Finally, I’d see the sign whisk past me showing ‘Pleasant Falls’ in faded writing for the last time. Population 1000, would soon be 999.
I bit my lip as my phone rang, again. It was Vicky. She’d taken to trying to spend all of her free time with me since the accident – the accident that she kept talking about, the one I can’t even bring myself to think about without bursting into tears.
I had felt so lost since George’s death. My dad had gotten worse with his drinking, and no matter who I talked to, I saw George in them. Whether it was his carefree attitude, the way his hair fell, or the way his forehead creased when he was concentrating, I saw those in everyone, and it hurt my heart.
I let the phone ring out. I’d never liked her anyway, but she had taken George’s death badly. She was almost as heartbroken as me. She didn’t wash for about a week after she’d found out. Her blonde curls had gone limp, and she didn’t wear makeup for a whole month, which was shocking to everyone.
Everyone comforted her, as if she had been his girlfriend. I couldn’t help but resent her.
I threw my phone on the bed and stared out of the window. Ever since his death, I kept having strange nightmares. The doctor had said it was down to depression, but no amount of medication made them go away.
I hoped that I wouldn’t dream when I fell asleep that night. I had been pushing myself to stay awake for as long as I could, only giving into the blackness when my brain would force me to. If I could help it, I’d never sleep again.
I briefly closed my eyes and imagined a world outside of Pleasant Falls and away from him. I meant him figuratively – at least, I thought I did. Because him was just a figment of my unconscious imagination.
The nightmares – they were centered around this creepy guy. When I eventually gave into sleep, I fell into his embrace. His cold, thin arms held me until I couldn’t breathe. Everything was so cold there. I could hear the creaking of the gate closing in my mind and jolted myself to make sure I wasn’t falling asleep.
I was plagued by fear, and he liked it. He’d wait for me patiently, stalking me in the shadows until I was too scared to move. Then, when I would wake up, it was as if all the energy had been sucked out of me. Hell, everyone already thought I was a zombie due to the lack of sleep.
The iron tablets from the doctor didn’t help, nor did the exercise regimen, which I had been told would help me rest better. Nothing worked, so I had decided to leave.
The tiredness was too much. I decided to rest my head on my pillow just for five minutes. I closed my eyes to the light of my room and slowed my breathing. I thought about my new life, at least until I felt the shift. The moment in-between consciousness and unconsciousness. It was too late. I felt his cold fingers on my skin, pulling me from reality into another nightmare. I tried to jolt myself awake, but it was too late.
“I’ve missed you,” he said in a deadpan voice. I looked at his icy, blue eyes and closed mine.
“I haven’t missed you.” I looked around at the peeling flowery wallpaper and the light hanging with no shade. “I see we are in a different room than usual.”
He looked behind him as he heard a noise, then looked back at me with a nonchalant expression. “You are leaving,” he stated.
I shrugged.
“You can’t leave,” he said.
I laughed. “And why not?”
He shifted uncomfortably as we heard another voice. We moved into another room. “Because,” he said in a whisper, “I need your help.”
I looked around this new room. It looked like it had been in a fire. The wallpaper, which was patterned with yellow rubber ducks, was scorched. In the corner of the room was a crib, also blackened with ash. “Was this a baby’s room?’
He didn’t reply. Instead, he stared at the crib. “You can’t leave.”
“You sound like a broken record.”
He pushed his platinum-blond hair back, not like it did much good, as his fringe still covered one eye. “You have to save me.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“Then, at least save yourself.”
I lifted any eyebrow. “From who? You? You are the only one who hurts me, and I’m surprised you haven’t played any of your sick games with me this time. But then, it is early.”
He reached out and took my hand. I knew better than to pull away from him. I’d tried that before and had ended up having to pull my own eye out to save myself. Thank God they were only nightmares.
