These Starcrossed Lives of Ours

These Starcrossed Lives of Ours

by Megan Linski

Copyright 2015 (C) Gryfyn Publishing

All Rights Reserved

Absolutely no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means including; electronic or mechanical, photocopying or recording, without the prior permission or written consent from the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Characters and events in this publication are fictional. Any resemblance to facts, events or persons is coincidental.

Cover Art by Najla Qambar

Other Books by Gryfyn Publishing:

Alora
by Megan Linski

Kingdom From Ashes
by Megan Linski

Kiatana’s Journey (Creatures of the Lands Book 1)
by Natalie Erin

Coming soon:
Vera’s Song (Creatures of the Lands Book 2)
by Natalie Erin

Prologue

Christine

“Do it Christie,” Annabelle said, a smile forming on her beautiful face. “If you want to be in, you have to prove it.”

My grip tightened on the knife in my hand. The girl below me on her knees was begging, tears pouring down her face. “Please,” she whimpered, her hands folded together in a prayer. “Please don’t do this. We went to school together, Christie! You know me! I promise I won’t do it again.”

“We don’t take traitors here,” Annabelle snarled, and she smacked the girl across the face. The girl let out a yell and went flying to the floor, her shoulders shaking in terrible sobs. “You tried to run away. This is the price you have to pay for trying to leave us.”

“Christie,” the girl said again. I looked at the knife, my brown eyes dancing on the reflection of the blade. I couldn’t do this. I wouldn’t. I had to tell Annabelle no. My whole body started shaking, in fear or in revulsion I didn’t know. I had just turned sixteen. Was this my birthday present? An innocent woman’s blood on my hands?

“Christine,” Annabelle said, and her melodic voice crawled over me, causing a shiver to run up my spine and my heart to do back flips at the same time. She put her manicured hands on my shoulders and kissed my cheek lightly, letting her lips linger for just a moment. “You know I love you. You’d do anything for someone you loved, wouldn’t you?”

“She’s trying to trick you. Don’t listen,” the girl wept. Her dirty hair fell in front of her eyes, and the rags she was wearing barely draped over her famished frame. She’d been down in this basement for over a year, with no light and little food on Annabelle’s orders. It had taken this long for Annabelle to decide what to do with her. And when she’d finally decided, she’d chosen me.

“You’re as good as dead already,” Annabelle hissed. “And Christie,” she said, and I instantly snapped to attention. “Don’t forget that if you don’t do the job, I’ll make sure to kill you next.”

Annabelle pulled her own knife out of her pocket and pointed its tip into my back, digging in ever so slightly so that I began to bleed. I glanced back at the crying girl, who was shaking her head frantically at me. I’d be more merciful than Annabelle...I’d make it quick.

“I’m so sorry, Faith,” I said, and tears formed in my own eyes. “I have no choice.” I sprung forward, and as I drove the knife into Faith’s stomach her screams rippled throughout the house so everyone above could hear. I winced as I felt her blood splatter across my face as I stabbed her again, the knife tearing across her middle. She fell to the floor, holding the place where I had cut open her insides. Annabelle watched the scene with a twisted smile.

When the screaming finally stopped I rose to my feet, suppressing the urge to vomit. I had just killed someone, all because Annabelle had asked me to. What was wrong with me?

“Well done, Christine,” Annabelle said, and from out of her pocket she pulled a five-pointed star necklace, looping it around my neck and fastening it lightly. “You’re one of us now.”

Chapter One

Christine

I had become Annabelle’s slave a long time ago, a time after drugs had taken my sister, but before the smell of alcohol spilled all over the kitchen floor replaced the memory of my mother. But ever since that night when I’d slaughtered Faith three years ago, I was unable to stop seeing her around every corner, unable to block out the screams that constantly rang in my ears.

There was only one reason why I had stayed for this long. I foolishly believed that Annabelle would take me back, that she hadn’t dumped me for good. But now it was apparent to me that all she cared about was the cult, and I wanted out.

I decided to chance it. I couldn’t go far. I had no money to pay for a taxi and there was less than five bucks left in my pocket, but I had little choice. I could no longer stand the thought of Faith’s blood dripping down my hands. I was careful to pack my few clothes before dinner. If anybody noticed that I was getting out, they’d tell her, and then I’d be punished. I couldn’t take any chances.

Ann Arbor is a very cultured town, known for its art, its university, and its free way of thinking. You would’ve never thought a cult would choose to take up residence here, but what people don’t realize is that they’re everywhere. It’s only the stupid ones that get caught. Annabelle’s intelligent, and she doesn’t mess around. The only people that get hurt are the homeless, and the ones without family.

The ones like me.

We lived relatively close to the U of M, in an old house that might have been a sorority’s long ago.  The building contained all ten of us crammed up in four bedrooms, with barely enough room to breathe. Annabelle, being the leader, was the only one that got her own. The rest of us all had to share. Gender wasn’t an issue. Since I was one of Annabelle's favorites, I got to share with only one other person, my friend Landon.

“You’d better hurry up Christine, dinner is ready,” Landon said from the door. I got up from my mattress, where I had been staring at patterns in the moldy ceiling. Was I sure I wanted to do this? Being in the cult was safety, in a perverted sort of way. I was fed, sheltered. Annabelle had taken me in three years ago as a skinny kid of sixteen when nobody else had, when there was no choice but to leave my childhood home. Was it wrong to betray her now? But I’d already made up my mind. Annabelle had betrayed me by promising to love me and then tossing me to the side like a used doll after playtime. It was time to get even, and the best way to do that was to stop playing her game. I was nineteen now. If I was going to make it to twenty I had to get away from her.

“Just a minute Landon,” I said. “I need to ask you something.”

Landon turned to look at me. “What is it?”

I always thought Landon beautiful, with his dark black hair and blue eyes, but there was always something in him that was a little...well, dangerous. He was the only one of our cult who had joined by choice, not for survival, and that part of him always scared me. But he was the only one I trusted in the group, and his help tonight could make the difference between whether I made it a few days or a few weeks.

I didn’t waste time in asking. “I need the three hundred dollars that I loaned you,” I said in a whisper. “Tonight, after dinner.”

“What for?” he asked, glancing towards the door. We weren’t allowed to have our own money, although most of us like me had a secret hoard that we kept hidden.

“None of your business,” I answered, a little too quickly.

“Christie.” Landon rolled his eyes.

“What do you expect me to do? Live here forever?” I replied, more harshly than I’d intended to.

“If she catches you you’re done for,” he said, grabbing my shoulders. “You can’t run until she lets you go.”

“That’s the problem,” I said. “You know she never will.”

“She did it with...”

“Barbara was different. She was a liability. The cops were bound to catch us with her hanging around. But not me.” I didn’t take my brown eyes off of his. I was leaving tonight, with my three hundred dollars or without, and I would beg, borrow and steal if Landon couldn’t pay me back immediately just to be able to get out of here and away from her.              

He hesitated before reaching under his mattress, and several bugs crawled out from under it as he did so. “I won’t be able to help you after this. You’re on your own.”

“Thank you.” I held out my hand and he put a mass of twenties into it. I counted quickly.

“This is only two hundred,” I said. “Is this all you have?”

He closed the door before answering. “I loaned it to a guy at Necto. I owed him a favor and he promised to pay me back tonight. If you want the money you’re going to have to wait.”

“I can’t linger around here a long time. They’ll figure out something’s up,” I said. “Take me with you tonight and I’ll help you get the money back, then I can just leave.”

He swallowed before answering. “Deal.”

We walked down the broken stairs and went to the table, where Annabelle was sitting at its head. Being her right hand I sat at her side, and she gave a smile that made my insides shutter.

At first glance you’d think Annabelle was a cheerleader, which made everything easier for her to get away with. She had it all...big boobs, bouncy, platinum blonde hair, and a killer smile behind cherry red lips. When around us she wore her favorite color, black, but when she was in public she wore preppy, expensive clothing as to not attract suspicion.

The people around the table were nothing like their leader. Whereas Annabelle glowed, these children had no cheeriness in them. It was as if she took all of their light. Teenagers, with clothes as baggy and worn as their eyes. I wondered if I looked the same way.

Dinner was tasteless. I didn’t even realize what I was eating, for the weight of what I was about to do practically suffocated me. I had to keep up appearances, so I made sure to keep putting food in my mouth, eyes flashing down to the tablecloth.

When Annabelle put her fork down, everyone snapped to attention. “I thought that we should all go out to the club tonight,” she said in a soothing voice, and my stomach flipped. “We haven’t been out in awhile, and I thought that we should go looking for some more...recruits. We could use some new family members.”

We weren’t a family. I knew that no matter what Annabelle called it, we were a cult, and a cult we would always be. The only reason I understood that was because my heartbreak had caused me to see things for what they were, not for what everyone around me wanted to see.             

A few people laughed, but most kept silent. Annabelle took another bite and said, “Christie, are you excited to meet some new people tonight?”

She knows,
I thought, and a bead of sweat appeared at my hairline.
She knows I’m abandoning her.
I couldn’t take my time responding, or else she’d know for sure. “We could always use the young ones,” I said in a joking manner. “Easier to boss around.”

She smiled at me as she stared, but her smile didn’t meet her cold eyes. “That’s true. Though it seems the younger they are, the shorter they last. Whatever. After dinner we’ll go. It’ll be wonderful.”

Her choice of words sounded more like a teacher’s than anything else’s, but that was one thing that was comforting about Annabelle. She used soft, kind words that lured you into her trap. I was wise enough not to fall for it anymore, but there were a lot of people around this table that weren’t. Ghost smiles appeared on their faces at the thought of a little fun for a change. I took a chance of glancing at Landon and he looked just about as scared as I was.

We didn’t walk together down the street for obvious reasons. The ten of us all together looks suspicious. If we’re spaced out in groups of twos or threes, we’re more approachable. We’re supposed to look friendly, kind and happy to lonely people so they’ll want to be near us, but tonight I can’t bring a smile to my face. Not that I don’t know the rules. Appear successful, and make it look like you have what everyone else wants. If there’s one person who knows how to drag people into this situation better than me, it’s Annabelle. Half of the people in this group I inducted myself, but that’s basically because I’ve been here the longest and know how to play the game. Everyone I used to know was killed under Annabelle’s tender, loving care. I’m the only one left from the old days.

The line outside the door to get in is a mile long, but Annabelle owns this town. All she has to do is smile at the bouncer standing at the backdoor and he lets all of us in without ID, money or passes.

Hazy purple fog shrouds the room as light bounces off a disco ball upon hundreds of people crammed so tightly together that I’m surprised that half of them don’t get pregnant on the dance floor. There’s a loft where people are drinking, and the DJ has the music up full blast. This is the hottest nightclub in Ann Arbor. Normally Annabelle wouldn’t search here for new members. She prefers homeless shelters, back alleys, places where lonely and miserable people are normally found. But she doesn’t really want to recruit. She wants to show off. Annabelle always needs to be the center of attention, and there’s no better place for her to be than out on the dance floor in a dress that nearly shows her ass.

“Have fun,” she said to the group at large, winking. “I’ll be back at 3. Stay out of trouble, and make sure you make some new friends.” Without a moment’s hesitation she heads off towards the bar.  Annabelle knows that she can get anyone to buy her a couple of drinks.

Glad to be free of her for once, everyone scatters. Landon and I gravitated towards each other and he said, “Let’s go. He’s tonight’s DJ.”

“I don’t want her to see,” I said, looking around for Annabelle.

“She won’t. There’s too many people.”

“Let’s wait until she’s drunk,” I protested.

“No! The longer you wait the better chance he’ll slip away. He has a habit of doing that when I’m around,” Landon grumbled.

We pushed our way through the crowd to get to the DJ, who was bouncing enthusiastically behind his stereo. As soon as the DJ recognized Landon, his eyes contracted. “Landon!” he said, his voice full of fake surprise. “What...uh...what brings you here?”

“We had a deal, Daren. I need my money.” Landon held out his hand.

The DJ spun a disk casually. “What if I told you I don’t have it?”

“I’d say you were lying. You make more of that in tips in one night. Pay up.”

The DJ continued to ignore him. “You’re not getting anything out of me tonight, Landon. Wait until next week.”

“I’ll
make
you pay, then.” Landon put his hand on the DJ’s arm and my heart began pounding. “Landon, don’t make a scene,” I whispered.

“I’ll call security,” the DJ threatened.

Landon’s lips were so tight I’m surprised he got the words out of them. “I’ll call
her,”
he said, and his eyes shifted towards the bar. “And you don’t want to deal with that.”

The DJ’s face went pale. “You didn’t bring her along, did you?”

“Yeah, I did. You give me the money and we’ll act like strangers from now on. You don’t...well, security or not, I’ll make sure to let Annabelle know exactly where her ex-boyfriend has gotten off to.

I was taken back in surprise. This man had been Annabelle’s boyfriend? But when? It was surely before I had arrived...she must’ve found me after he left. Annabelle was only four years older than I, which meant that she must’ve had nothing when this guy left her. She must be furious with him. I almost felt sorry for the guy.

“Why do you need it so badly?” he snarled. “Are you going to give it to that bitch? I’d almost rather die than see her get that money.”

“It’s for her,” Landon said, looking at me. “She needs it. To get out.”

The DJ turned to look at me and I tried to put the most innocent, precious look on my face. I wasn’t exactly a drop dead beauty like Annabelle was, but I was decent. I had only two pairs of jeans to my name and a couple of Aeropostale tops, but they fit me well and made me look more well endowed than I was. I was supposed to be curvy like my mother, but lack of eating from stress had made me thin. Because of this, my porcelain skin caused me to look sickly. My eyes were a dark, deep brown, and my thick brunette hair rolled in waves past my shoulders. I hoped I was as pretty as I’d been in my younger years.

It worked. The man reached in his pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill, handing it to me. “Take it and run. Don’t ever go back, not ever. If I had more I’d give it to you, but I’m barely making my rent as it is.”

“Thank you,” I breathe out in relief. Landon and I then run back into the camouflage of the crowd, snaking our way out the front door.

“I wish I could do more,” Landon said.

“You’ve done everything you can.” I embraced him tightly, rocking back and forth. 

“Good luck out there. It can get nasty,” he reminds me.

I feel incredibly lonely. I don’t want to do this alone. “Come with me, Landon,” I said, almost begging him. “We can escape together.”

He nearly laughs. “Two of us gone in one night? Annabelle would never rest until she found us. And what makes you think I want to leave?”

“Why
wouldn’t
you want to leave?” I ask, hardly able to believe his response.