Souls Apart (Book 1 in the Lost Souls Trilogy)

Souls Apart

Lost
Souls Trilogy – Book 1

Anna Pescardot

Copyright
2011 Anna Pescardot

Amazon
Edition

Thank you for purchasing
this eBook.

This is a work of
fiction.
 
The names, characters, places
and events depicted are the product of the author’s imagination. Any
resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales are entirely
coincidental.
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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank
Dynamite imagery at freedigitalphotos.net for the wonderful cover image.

-1-

I pulled back the drapes and shuddered as I saw it; an
involuntary shudder. I averted my eyes quickly but I still couldn’t get the
image out of my head.
 
It stood at the
top of the hill opposite my window, casting dark shadows onto the village
below.
 
I was sure it was haunted; the
huge mansion house with crumbling walls and blackened window frames.
 
I remembered going up there when I was a
little girl. One of the boys had dared me. I’ll never forget the face of the
old woman with long grey hair who appeared at the window and sent me running
back down the hill again, fear etched on my face. Nobody knew who lived there
because we didn’t see any signs of life.
 
There were no lights on at night and the house looked as though it was
being left to rot. As I glanced at it again I noticed the ivy was getting out
of hand and there were more crows than normal, gathering on the roof.
 
I was so excited that today I would finally
get to know more about the house that had captured my imagination for so long;
my friend, Amber had texted me to tell me that there was going to be an attic
sale this morning and there were sure to be some bargains.
 
I was more interested in seeing who lived
there but Amber was more concerned with getting her hands on some retro
dresses.
 
She used to get picked on
because of here weird taste in clothes, but now that retro was actually in
fashion, the popular girls were starting to ask for her advice. It’s strange
how things can suddenly turn around like that.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about
fashion.
 
I preferred to dress in clothes
that were comfortable and yet didn’t make any sort of statement.
 
I liked to fade into the background.
 
I wasn’t interested in being popular but I
didn’t want to be bullied either. I pulled on my boyfriend jeans and a grey
hooded sweatshirt and pulled my blonde, shoulder-length curls into a
ponytail.
 
I applied some clear lip-gloss
and used the last dregs of mascara to darken my pale eyelashes.
 
I glanced at the house one last time and
noticed several people making their way up the hill, obviously eager to grab
some bargains; or more likely, to nosey at the people who were living in such a
scary building. I shuddered again. Something about that house wasn’t right.

***

Amber was early.
 
I’d not even finished tying my laces when she started banging on my
door.

“Be quiet; you’ll wake my mom,” I said, aware that it
was only just after seven.

“Hurry up, Charlie; all the good stuff will be gone.”
 
She started tapping her feet impatiently.

“Ok, Ok,” I said, grabbing my bag and locking the
front door.

We both walked up the hill, well I say we both did; Amber
practically ran up she was that eager for bargains.

As we came face to face with the huge wooden door I
felt a weird sense of unease.
 
I shouldn’t
go in there.
 
It was as though something
was trying to tell me to go back home.
 
Amber wasn’t having any of it though. She banged on the door with her
fist and a woman with long, blonde hair answered.
 
She looked about thirty and was quite pretty
and not in the least bit scary.

“Hi, are you here for the attic sale?”
 
she asked.

“We sure are,” Amber replied, pushing past the woman.

The woman looked at me and I felt a shiver as I gazed
into her clear, blue eyes. “Have we met?”
 
she asked.

“No,” I said, “but I’ve lived in the village all my
life so maybe you’ve seen me around.”

She pushed her hair behind her ears. “Yes, maybe that’s
it. Well, come in anyway.”

The inside of the house was in much better condition
than the outside, I noticed.
 
The hallway
was quite bright and a huge staircase led up to a balcony which stretched
across the width of the room.
 
There were
chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the whole place screamed out
wealth.
 
I walked into the hall and
noticed several tables all lay out with various artefacts. I saw Amber’s bright
red hair, right in the middle.
 
She had
several items thrown over her arm already; most of them clothes.

“You took your time,” she said before holding up a
long, black, gothic-style dress. “Don’t you just love this?”

“Yeah, it’s nice.”

Her eyes widened. “Nice? It’s out of this world.”
 
She took hold of another similar dress, which
was also long and made out of a gold fabric that, to me, looked like a pair of
drapes. “This would look great on you,” she said holding it up to me.

I felt the fabric.
 
The material was luxurious. It was an original dress too; you could tell
by the lining; a red, satin material.
 
An
elderly man stood behind the counter, watching us. “How much is this?”
 
I asked.

He looked disinterested. “Five dollars.”

I couldn’t leave it there for that price. “Great, I’ll
take it.”

Amber paid for her bargains and led me to another
table, which was covered in the most beautiful costume jewellery.
 
While Amber rummaged I felt an intense
burning in the back of my head.
 
Someone
was staring at me.
 
I turned around and
noticed the most amazing man I’d ever seen.
 
He had short, dirty-blond, dishevelled hair and the most intense blue
eyes.
 
They were focused directly at
me.
 
I felt that weird shiver again and
my heart started to beat faster; I had to grip hold of the table to steady
myself.
 
I had never felt like this
before.
 
What was happening? Was this
what they meant by love at first sight? I was compelled to walk over to him; my
legs were moving as though an unseen force was either pushing or pulling me to
him. Once I’d gotten as near to him as I could without us actually touching I
gave him, what I hoped, was a winning smile.

“Hi,” he said grabbing hold of my hands, “I’ve been
waiting for you.”

His voice was amazing, soft and deep with no hint of
any accent. It was the sort of voice that could hypnotize people.

“I’m
Charlotte,” I said.

He grinned. “I know.”

I felt uneasy.
 
How did he know me? What was happening? “How do you know who I am?”
 
I asked.

He picked up my hands and kissed both of them.
 
I glanced back to see if Amber was watching
but she was too busy grabbing as much as she could before anyone else got
there. I turned back to him and felt my heartbeat speeding up again. “I’ve seen
you around the village,” he replied, “You get the right answers if you ask the
right questions.”

“Oh,” I said. “So do you live in this house? I’ve not
seen you before.”

He quickly let go of my hands and pushed me away. His
eyes seemed to turn a dark shade of grey. “No, I don’t live here. I live in the
village.
 
Not far from you.”

“I haven’t seen you before, that’s all.
 
I’m
sure
I’d have remembered you.”

He smiled again and his eyes returned to normal. “I
don’t get out much. I’ m too busy working.”

“Where do you work?”

“I work from home.
 
I’m a writer.”

“Wow, that’s exciting.”

“Not really.
 
Anyway, I’ve been waiting such a long time to take you to dinner.
 
Are you free tonight?”

“I’d love to come out with you,” I said, excitement
welling up inside.

“Great, I’ll meet you here at eight?”

“Ok.”

It was only when I’d gone back to Amber that I started
to think it was weird that he wanted to meet back at the house. Her reaction
told me she hadn’t even noticed I’d gone. “Aren’t these just divine,” she said,
holding up a pair of crystal earrings in the shape of crosses.

“Yeah, they’re gorgeous.
 
I can’t believe you didn’t see that guy.
 
He was out of this world.”

“You know me, Charlie, once I get near clothes and
jewellery…”

I tried to point him out to her but he’d gone.
 
And I didn’t even get his name.

-2-

My mom was dishing out the lunch when I got home.
 
It was meat loaf; my favourite.
 
I just loved inhaling the smell of it.
 

“So? Did you get anything nice from the attic sale?”
 
she asked, placing my food in front of me.

“I did. Look.”
 
I showed her the gold dress. She reached out
her hand to touch the fabric and then she gave a sniff. “It’s not the sort of
thing you usually wear, is it?”

“It was only five dollars.
 
I couldn’t leave it there at that price. I
may never wear it. It’s an investment piece.”

“Well, I don’t really like it. It gives me a weird
feeling.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.
 
It’s just a bit creepy, that’s all.”

“It’s not for you, it’s for me.”

She placed her own plate down at the table and sat
down. “I know that.
 
I thought that house
gave you the creeps too.
 
So what was it
like inside?”

I waited until I’d finished chewing a delicious
mouthful of meat and then I told her what a magnificent place it was and how it
wasn’t scary at all once you were inside. I also told her about the guy I’d met
and how I was meeting him again tonight.
 
She wasn’t pleased but, as I was seventeen and old enough to look after
myself, she didn’t bother to argue too much.

***

I felt like a different person in the golden dress;
like a princess from the olden days.
 
It
seemed to reflect into my hair, making it seem even more golden blonde than it
was already.
 
It also brought out the
small, golden flecks inside my blue eyes.
 
It fitted like a glove, too.
 
The
neckline was square at my chest and made me look as though I had cleavage, for
once and it fitted snug against my waist, before flaring out over my hips,
giving me an hour-glass figure.
 
I
started to think about who’d worn it before me.
 
Did it used to belong to the blonde woman who’d answered the door? If it
did, then why did she want to sell it? The woman would have easily fitted into
it and I’m sure she would have looked gorgeous in it.
 
It was certainly making me look more gorgeous
than usual.
 
I couldn’t stop staring at
myself. Normally I’d try and do everything I could to avoid seeing my
reflection.
 
I used to envy vampires; it
was something they never had to worry about.
 
I sat down at my dressing table and started to apply my lip-gloss and
mascara.
 
The wand was becoming really
clumpy now and the lip-gloss was too pale to compete with the drama of the
dress.
 
I went into my mom’s bedroom and
borrowed some of her stuff.
 
She always
looked glam; she was a waitress at the nearby rock café and she always made
sure she looked the part.
 
It was like
staring at somebody else entirely once I’d finished applying bright red
lipstick and smoky grey eye shadow.
 
My
mom almost fainted when she saw me.

“Oh my,” she said.

“Do you like it? You don’t think it’s a bit over the
top for a first date do you?”

She shook her head; her mouth open.