Authors: Randi Cooley Wilson
Revelation
REVELATION
THE REVELATION SERIES
VOLUME ONE
RANDI COOLEY WILSON
Copyright © 2014 by Randi Cooley Wilson.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author at the web address below.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Published By: Randi Cooley Wilson
Edited: Kris Kendall
at Final-Edits
Cover Design: © Phatpuppyart.com – Claudia McKinney
Revelation (The Revelation Series, Book #1)/ Randi Cooley Wilson
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition May 2014
For my daughter, husband, friend
s and family who always support and encourage me to follow my dreams.
“Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, in every gesture dignity and love.”
Contents
I'm running, and not very well might I add. My lungs
burn and my shallow breathing erratically bounces off the slick stonewalls. I keep moving forward, forcing myself further and further into the dark underground passage. It's cold, damp, and smells like musk.
“
What the hell is following me?” I ask myself as confusion sets in. The only thing I'm certain of is I'm bone chillingly terrified, down to the core of my very soul. I'm frightened that whatever is chasing me will catch me because when it does, there’s no doubt it will kill me. Its hatred and anger rolls off it in waves, crashing through me like a sharp gust of wind, suffocating me. I'm positive it's pure evil.
Just as I reach the end of the tunnel
, I hit a solid wall, ceasing my progress and ending my futile efforts of escape. "Shit," I whisper out loud while I strike my palms to the water slicked stones. Feeling defeated, I place my forehead to the damp wall and release a soft whimper.
I need to figure out my
options, quickly. I sense its presence closing in, dropping the tunnel’s temperature from cool and damp to downright frigid, the glacial air settling around the passageway. My breath comes out in solid cloud form in front of me. My heart rate increases as I stifle the gag reflexes being challenged by the rancid smell of sulfur and sour milk.
"Eeevee," it hisses, mocking me.
Sensing my deepest fears, it begins to play with me by using those emotions against me. "Oh God." I exhale as I close my eyes and rub my temples, trying to ease the dread rising in my throat.
Panicked
, I start talking to myself. "Think, Eve." I turn around, allowing my eyes to scan over the dark enclosed area. All I can see in front of me is black. Blowing out a harsh breath, I begin to pray for a miracle as I wait for it to manifest.
"Nope, nothing," I say
dejectedly to no one.
I
turn back to the wall. In a frantic state, I push and pound on the large, dark gray stones, trying anything. I'm desperate and there's an off chance that located somewhere within this wall is a hidden opening that could grant me freedom.
Then I hear it. The thing I fear most. I turn and freeze, fixed in my spot at the
hissing sound of slithering snakes. Oh shit, now I'm really afraid. My heartbeat echoes in my ears as a severe chill runs down the length of my spine. My lips force air out sharply in a frenzied state, causing strands of fallen hair to jump away from my face with each irregular breath.
Without warning
, the tunnel goes silent. The only sound ricocheting off the wet stones are of my strained breaths being forced into the dark abyss. I remind myself to inhale before I suffer from a full-blown panic attack. With great slowness, I turn to face my attacker. No one is there.
Swallowing hard
, my eyes shift down to the floor and take in the dark tendrils of smoke that crawl around my ankles, rooting me to the ground. What the hell? My eyes dart around wildly, searching for the point of origin of the wisp but there isn’t one.
With m
y back pressed flat against the cold concrete wall and the dampness seeping into my shirt, I've resigned myself to the fact that this is how I'm going to die. I close my eyes in acceptance and attempt to steady my breathing, listening to the droplets of water hitting the ground. Drip. Drip. Drip.
I try
to convince myself it will be okay as the dark cloud works its way up my body, wrapping forcefully around my neck and cutting off the oxygen supply sustaining me.
Black spots form behind my closed eyelids as
I become light headed and dizzy. The lack of oxygen begins to take hold of my body and I start to lose consciousness. Crap.
"
Dimittet eam, Nero," I hear a strong male voice order in a calm yet deadly tone. I can't see my savior as everything is shrouded in darkness. Maybe he isn't even here and I'm hallucinating in my final moments of life.
The bl
ack mist loosens its chokehold on my neck while hissing angrily. "Deus tuus, ibi est filia eius."
A
putrid gust of air blankets my face with each seething mock. Changing its mind, the evil smoke cackles, rewrapping my throat and gripping firmly, causing me to wheeze. What the fuck?
"
Dixit mittam tibi pergat ad profundum inferni, sive," my liberator says heatedly in Latin.
Nero releases me then turns to my rescue
r, morphing into the outline of a man. At the discharge of its hold, my body slides down the slick wall, landing harshly on the glacial,water-soaked stone floor. I begin coughing and gasping for air as I place my head between my legs, willing air into my lungs.
"
Et subdit quod me putesssss?" Nero hisses.
"Yes
, you repulsive excuse of an existence, I do think I can send you back to the depths of Hell," my protector replies calmly, yet cocky.
"
Et veniunt ad me ut gurgulio
,
" Nero states in a final slithery tone. At that command, my rescuer pulls out a long, black, granite sword that reflects the water cascading down the passage walls.
"
Delectabiliter," the dark knight replies coldly before he attacks.
Even wrapped in blackness
, I can sense he's a trained warrior. His body moves with ease and agility as he engages Nero. I hear each whoosh the sword makes as it slices effortlessly through the air, making contact with each thrust.
I can't make out any of the warrior
’s facial features but I know he's large and moves fast and efficiently. I close my eyes for a brief second, only to throw them open in alarm at the high-pitched shriek coming from the thing called Nero as it bursts into blue flames and vanishes.
That’s when I officially lose control over my emotions
and begin to shake uncontrollably with tears flowing down my pale cheeks. The blackness engulfs me, choking me. I shut my eyes, wishing everything would just stop and I was anywhere else.
All of
a sudden, I feel warmth and calm flow through my veins as my savior kneels down next to me and pulls me into his safe embrace with gentleness. He strokes my hair, trying to pacify me as I cling to him for life. The masculine scent of smoky wood and leather fills my nose, as his deep voice whispers in my ear.
“Hu
sh. It’s all right. You’re safe. No harm will come to you. I’ve got you.” His tone is slow and soft as if speaking to a wounded animal, lulling me into a state of calmness.
With great tenderness
, his large, warm hands cup my cheeks and lift my face to meet his, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. A pointless effort since the flow increases with the kind gesture.
My eyes lift and connect with a pair of glowing indigo eyes. They’re staring at me with such intensity and affection that his look creates an ache deep within my chest as my body draws itself to his of its own accord, like it knows him.
The voice belonging to those eyes speaks
with a firm vow. “I will protect you...always.”
Gasping for air, I
abruptly sit up in bed and swallow down a scream. My fists clutch my blanket in a severe death grip as pieces of my light brown hair fall from my ponytail and stick to the sweat on my face and neck.
I drop my head
into my waiting hands and realize my cheeks are wet, most likely from the tears that escaped my hazel eyes during my nightmare. The dampness causes my long, dark lashes to stick to one another as I rub them. The lids open then close again as I order myself to take even breaths to calm my erratic heartbeat. As I slowly open them for the final time, my heart rate picks up once more at the realization of what's coming next.
I turn to my left and steel myself.
"What. The. Hell. Eve!" Aria, my roommate and self-appointed best friend, screeches as I wince from the high-pitched octave. Crap. I woke her up, again.
She's sitting on her bed, looking like a pissed off fairy. Her normally cute pixie pink hair is suffering a major case of bed head, sticking up in all directions.
"Are you okay?" Aria asks with irritated concern laced in her voice and her petite hands on her curvy hips. She’s staring at me, waiting for an explanation as I open and close my mouth like a gaping fish, trying to form intelligent words.
"Sorry, I um, bad dream," I mutter inarticulately.
"No shit," she says with sarcasm dripping from her lips. "Same one?" The question is thrown out along with some serious stink eye radiating from her round chocolate orbs.
Arian
na “Aria” Donovan dislikes being woken up in the middle of the night. I know this because we’ve been college roommates for all of one month now. Which means, I’ve woken her up more times than I care to count.
We met over the summer during freshman orientation
, and according to Aria, it was ‘friendship at first sight.’ As new students, we were placed into groups of ten and forced to play this ridiculous get-to-know-you game where each person had a photo of a particular cartoon character taped to their back. The goal was to ask the group questions in an attempt to gain enough information to guess who your character was so you could partner up with your match for the rest of orientation.
Aria was
Bert
and I was
Ernie.
We’ve been inseparable ever since, even requesting to room together this semester. Well, in truth, Aria demanded we room together, and since I’m pretty easy going, I didn’t put up a fight, figuring it would be nice to know someone. At the moment, I’m thinking she’s second-guessing her choice in roommates.
She sighs and prowls to the mini fridge,
grabbing a bottle of water and shoving it in my hand before turning on the crystal-embellished lamp on the pink thrift store revived table in between our beds.
Our dorm room is a decent size. We got lucky with the housing lottery and managed to snag a suite
. Unfortunately, that means we share it with two other roommates. The suite consists of two shared bedrooms, a common area lounge, and an attached bathroom. Overall, it’s your typical college dorm room, amped up with Aria’s thrift store finds reincarnated into amazing pieces of art because she is an eternal optimist and believes everything can be redeemed.
Her décor
style matches her schizophrenic personality to perfection. A combination of Barbie meets Marilyn Manson. She’s the only person I know who can pull off pink combat boots, black nail polish, and dark black smoky eyeliner with a pink sundress and have it look adorably sexy.
I like her one-of-a-
kind style. It offsets my average, girl-next-door fashion sense, which usually consists of skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and a cotton long sleeved t-shirt. I suppose it’s what originally drew me to her, opposites attract. I also presume that’s what makes our friendship fun. Now the cousins, our other two dorm mates, they’re a different story. Speaking of, I need to take cover as the door to our room crashes open in dramatic fashion and both Abby and McKenna enter the room like a Victoria’s Secret pajama commercial.
Abby, the younger of the two cousins by
only a few months, smiles with her delicate arms folded, allowing her long red hair to cascade over her refined shoulders. “You okay, Eve?” she asks with concern.
Even at three in the morning, Abigail “Abby” Connor is ethereal looking. She’s wearing her black flannel pajama bottoms and a cute green t-shirt that says,
“Kiss Me I’m Irish.”
The green brings out the flecks of shimmer in her crystal blue eyes.
“Yeah.
Just another bad dream. Sorry to wake you guys up again.” I force a casual shrug.
She
responds with a warm smile. On the other hand, McKenna just grunts. I’ve deduced it’s simply because she hates talking to people. Now that I think about it, McKenna “Kenna” McIntyre just dislikes people in general. She’s always ranting about the ‘human race’ being inferior. Substandard to whom, she’s never clarified. Most of the time, her off-handed comments go in one ear and out the other because they’re so frequent. I exhale and take a sip of water, the cool liquid hydrating my dry throat.
McKenna narrows her sapphire eyes
, outlined with lush black lashes, at me. “Seriously, Eve. I’m tired of waking up to your fucking screaming every night,” she comments in a harsh tone.
I grimace. “Was I screaming? Sorry, I had no idea,” I offer.
Of course, I was screaming. I was being choked to death for god’s sake. The shrieking might also be why my throat feels like sandpaper, making it painful to swallow or talk.
Turning like a graceful
, but angry swan, McKenna heads toward the doorway, stopping just before making her dramatic exit. “You look like shit, by the way.” She snarls and flicks her long, platinum blonde hair over her shoulder to enhance her point. With that, she storms out, fuzzy slippers and all.
Most of the student body on campus is terrified of McKenna. Wishful thinking would be they’re put off by her ‘sass’ and ‘straight shooting’ attitude. I think she just gets off on intimidating people. She also has no filter, a vocabulary rivaling any truck driver
, and can make even the strongest person fold into her or himself with her malevolent stare.