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  Awakened

  The Lilith Chronicles: Book One

  Author: D. L. Harrison

  Copyright 2019. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other books by D. L. Harrison:

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  The chill gust blew up the street and into Lily’s back. It was after midnight, dark, and freezing on the streets of Chicago that night. Her legs felt like they were going to freeze off, and she bundled up into her coat wishing she hadn’t worn a damn skirt that night.

  Lily had been invited out for a night of drinks and music by her new friends at work. She didn’t really have old friends, or at least, if she did she had no idea who they might be. She’d jumped at the chance to get out and have some fun, the last six months of her life hadn’t exactly been fun. It was also all she knew about her life. Her life was complicated, and strange.

  She shivered, as another frozen breeze slammed into her back, at least it wasn’t snowing. Just one more block and she’d make it to her apartment building. It wasn’t the nicest place in Chicago, but it was warm, and private. She mocked herself in her mind, she was the one that wanted to look good, but a skirt had sounded far more reasonable in her head just four hours ago. She needed to go shopping, but her budget was tight.

  She felt a shiver go down her spine as she approached the alley. All she had to do was cross it to reach her apartment building. She had the strangest foreboding, as if not quite sure her last shiver had been about the sub-freezing cold of February in Chicago at all.

  “Good evening,” said a soft tenor mesmerizing voice from the darkness, as she crossed the small alley.

  She froze. Her mind told her she was safe out on the main street, even as her blood started to race in her veins, and she felt anything but safe. The male voice had been soothing, and quite alluring, as well as terrifying. Her fight and flight instincts were fighting, she wanted to run but was frozen in dread. There was something else there as well, rising from deep inside her. An excitement she’d never felt before, or at least, not in her recent memory, her only memory.

  She’d woken up in a hospital six months ago with amnesia, a survivor of a massacre. Except, it’d been even stranger than that. There were things she couldn’t account for or explain. She’d lost her life, her identity, but had retained her knowledge of other things, like walking, eating, and cleaning. Except language. She didn’t think she’d forgotten English, she’d just never known it. How did that make sense?

  There were other things as well, all electronics had seemed unfamiliar to her. The police also had trouble identifying her, the detective hadn’t liked that at all given she was the only survivor and couldn’t remember anything. Finally, it had taken a court to resolve the identity question, at least, settled until her memories returned. She was now Lily Smith, she was fairly sure her first name was right, and the last was not.

  A man stepped out of the alley with a slight smile on his face. That smile was a little wicked and a little amused at the same time as his hungry gaze took her in. He was dressed well, business casual, with a long coat that looked far too light for these temperatures. She knew it should be the last thing to worry about, but why wasn’t the man freezing his ass off, he looked comfortable.

  He also had muddy red eyes.

  “You poor thing, you look cold. Let me warm you up, follow me.”

  His words were mesmerizing, alluring, reassuring, and she felt a pressure on her mind. A false sense of safety, and as if all she had to do was follow him and everything would be okay. At the same time, she knew that was a lie, and resisted the compulsion to obey. The man was evil, and terrifying.

  Her heart raced, and despite the cold she started to sweat, and her body heated up as the adrenaline shot into her veins. She felt relief when her entrapped gaze was freed, which was why it was so shocking when she stepped toward the man and the dark alley. She was terrified, she was also far too excited. Worse, this all felt somehow familiar to her, as if she should know what was going on. Not the man himself, but what he was, and the situation itself.

  She was a mix of fear and excitement, and she vaguely wondered why she wasn’t running, as she followed the beckoning red-eyed man into the alley. It was insane, and she wondered at herself, even as she couldn’t get her feet to run the other way. Strangely, outside of the fear it was a little like the memory of the first time she’d eaten steak after she woke up in that hospital. A feeling of anticipation, and knowledge that she’d love it, even if she couldn’t remember the taste at all before she’d taken her first bite.

  As soon as they were in the alley the man gripped her arm and pushed her against the stone wall faster than she could track. His other hand moved around her neck, and she felt that same pressure in her mind from earlier but much stronger, as fear and anticipation fought in her mind.

  She wondered if she was crazy, and then the pain hit. It was excruciating, as if every nerve in her body was being set afire at once.

  The man sighed in sick relief, his wicked smile widened, as her fear ballooned and seemed to win the contest inside her. She felt the pressure in her mind and started to grow weak. It was as if he were sucking the very life force from her body. No, she decided it was exactly that, she’d been temporizing because the idea was just insane. The creature pulled her life force from her body, through her fear and pain.

  She started to panic then, why hadn’t she run? Then she started to fight through the pain of it, she’d resisted his allure earlier, maybe she could fight this too. It was a desperate thought, as her heart fluttered inside her chest like a hummingbird.

  She didn’t even remember making the decision, but suddenly her hand was around his throat. Her mind fought his hold on hers, but it was obvious after a few moments what she was trying wouldn’t work. She was getting weaker, and it was hard to concentrate at all.

  In a last ditch effort to survive, her mind aggressively surged up and out, through the hooks the man had in her mind, and followed them to the other side. Struck out at his mind, ripped in, and pulled.

  No one was more surprised than her, when the man screamed in agony and the pressure in her mind broke.

  Her whole body shook with adrenaline, and she laughed in delight as her body was energized by a wave of power. She felt a little lost in it, his screams, and her pleasure, as she feasted. She felt him fighting back, but he was far too weak. It felt both wonderful and horribly wrong at the same time.

  She reached up with her other hand, and tore his hand from her throat, then twisted as she spun around and slammed him into the wall. That, more than whatever the weird mind stuff was, felt even more surreal. She was in shape, athletic even, but she was a lissome five foot seven, she shouldn’t have the strength to do what she’d just done.
>
  The man was pinned against the wall, a foot off the ground, as she fed.

  Her mind was spinning with the wonder of it, and the feeling of his… life force? That was the best she could come up with, as her body was flooded by power.

  It was the low growl that broke her out of her out of her unreal seeming reverie, as she realized it was her growl. It took her partially out of the bliss of feeding. Her mind faltered completely, and she felt disgust and horror as she clearly saw her hand that was wrapped around the monster’s throat.

  Except, it wasn’t a hand, not any longer. It was changed, furred, with four two-inch black claws on the end. The tips were digging into the monster’s neck, little beads of blood beneath them. She was killing him, feeding from his very lifeforce somehow, like he’d been feeding from her. Her mind shut down at that point, and she recoiled in horror releasing his neck, and she took several steps back from the monster.

  Monster? She was the monster. What the hell was he. What was she? She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know, and for the first time wondered if losing her memories wasn’t a blessing.

  The man dropped to his feet, and he didn’t hesitate to run down the alley. She could still feel his terror, as if her invasion into his mind hadn’t quite broken yet. She felt a certainty, that if she wished it he would never escape her.

  She shivered, were her soft brown eyes red in that moment, like his had been?

  A glint of silver passed by her face, and she heard the man cry out.

  She turned her head, only to see him go down, with a dagger stuck in his back that glinted in the poor light of the alley. Her mind froze for a split second again, what light in the alley? It’d been pitch dark earlier.

  Then she felt the spot between her shoulder blades itch, and she turned to the direction the throwing dagger had come from.

  She froze again, not sure what to do. Shockingly, she felt safe for some reason, but she really wasn’t sure if she could trust that feeling, especially given what she was looking at.

  The woman looked young, about her age, twenty-four or so. She was petite, three inches shorter than herself at five foot four. She had lightly tanned skin, and she looked attractive. She was wearing a long black wool trench coat and had a pair of calf high red leather boots on. She also had ochre eyes, that seemed to be glowing, but might have just been highly reflecting the low light. Lastly, she had huge canines like a vampire out of a story. Except, she knew the woman wasn’t a vampire. She wasn’t sure what she was, but it wasn’t that.

  The woman gestured, “You’re not supposed to let them get away. Fucking parasites.”

  She said in the calm of shock, “Umm, hi. I’m Lily.”

  She cringed. It seemed asinine to introduce herself like that, but she was kind of at a loss. That was the one thing she’d remembered about herself, her name. At least, she was pretty sure it was her real name, if not it was her name now.

  The young lady smirked, “I’m Meri, nice to meet you. Now, what the hell are you, exactly? I saw your shift, but I also saw you feed on that leech. Normally, I’d kill you for that second part, but you’ve got me curious.”

  She was at a total loss, and just shrugged helplessly. She had no clue what she was, and she was shocked to see her normal petite hand at the end of her arm when she checked. What the hell was going on?

  Meri rolled her eyes, “Fine, the hard way it is, but don’t say I didn’t ask nicely first.”

  She opened her mouth to object, to explain she truly didn’t know, but didn’t get the chance.

  Meri drew a Taser pistol, and shot it at her.

  Her hand whipped through the air and caught the darts. Not that it did her any good, they dug into her palm and sent electricity through her body.

  Meri smirked as she fell to the ground.

  “Nice reflexes. A little advice, Lily. Dodge next time.”

  She was shaking from the charge, and Meri easily cuffed her, gagged her, and threw her over Meri’s shoulder. The petite woman seemed to have no trouble at all carrying her like a sack of grain.

  Her eyes widened as she was thrown into a trunk, and then she started to panic a bit as Meri pulled out a syringe from her coat pocket. She’d felt safe earlier? Well, in truth she still kind of did. Clearly, she was insane.

  Meri stuck her with the business end of the hypodermic, and the world started to spin shortly before she passed out.

  Chapter Two

  It’d obviously just been another nightmare.

  At least, that was her first thought when she woke up. She’d had a lot of nightmares the last six months. Impossible things, horrible things, and things that couldn’t possibly be real.

  Except, when she opened her eyes and looked at her unfamiliar surroundings, she started to wonder if it wasn’t all true. Her back hurt from hitting the wall, her throat was sore from the monster’s hand, and her right hand stung where the taser darts had gone in. That… terrified her, and that made her angry. How could any of this be real?

  She was in a bedroom, on a queen-sized bed. The window drapes were closed, and the door was closed. There were two night-tables, a dresser, and an open walk in closet. There were no wall decorations or accents at all.

  She tried to get up, and that’s when she realized she was tied down. There were straps on her wrists, ankles, and over her waist.

  “Shit.”

  In her defense for not noticing sooner, she still felt a little woozy from whatever had been in that shot. She was also pissed, and at the same time wondering why she wasn’t terrified.

  Oh, she was scared. She was frightened about what she was, and how the dreams could be real. She scared herself. The situation she found herself in though, merely annoyed her, which was confusing. Shouldn’t she be terrified? She’d been fed on by a monster, shot, drugged, and kidnapped by a woman with huge fangs and claws.

  That really should be alarming.

  She giggled a little hysterically.

  Her head snapped toward the door when it opened.

  Meri walked in, and the first thing she noticed was the woman’s eyes were a warm hazel, not ochre at all. Not anymore. Those long teethe seemed to be absent as well.

  “You woke up fast. Faster than a shifter would’ve, which is curious isn’t it? Are you ready to talk?”

  She’d never been resistant to drugs, at least not in the hospital. Of course, she still had a buzz going from what she’d done to that thing in the alley, whatever it was.

  She replied, “I have amnesia, I don’t know what I am.”

  She still felt safe, a feeling which defied analysis. She was getting good vibes from Meri, even though that made no sense.

  Meri sighed, and shook her head in disbelief, “I’m pretty nice. I kill the leeches, save the humans, everyone is happy. You’re a mystery though. I suppose it’s going to have to wait until Jacob gets back. If I were you, I’d start talking before he starts in on the questions, he’s not as nice as I am.”

  She frowned, “Leeches?”

  Meri snickered, “They hate that shit. They really do. Pop culture vampires drive them crazy. I got into the habit of calling the Edax Animae that a long time ago, it pisses them off and makes them stupid.”

  “Soul eater?”

  Meri froze, and lifted an eyebrow, “Amnesia girl knows Latin, how interesting. I’m not buying the act. I suggest you take the easy way, who knows, we may even become friends. I get a good vibe off of you, your scent is… pleasant, good I mean.”

  Know Latin? It was the only language she knew when she woke up in the hospital, which was definitely weird. It’d taken her at least a month to learn enough English to even talk to the authorities. Luckily, at the confused looks of the nurses and doctors, she’d stopped speaking it long before the cops had tried to interview her.

  “Because they eat life force?”

  Meri frowned.

  “What?” she asked.

  Meri shook her head, and her voice was accusing, “I can’t scent a lie, what
the hell are you?”

  She shrugged helplessly, “Who is Jacob?”

  Meri said, “Our leader, the oldest of us. He’ll be back soon, if you won’t talk to him, you will talk to Caroline. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Caroline is… unpleasant.”

  Meri looked like she doubted her own words, as she got up and left the room.

  She wasn’t sure what to make of any of this, and her mind shied away from the dreams, the nightmares, even though she suspected she could find some answers there. If that was true, the answers would be terrible. She also hoped Jacob got back soon, she was hungry, and could really use a restroom…

  That strange feeling of safety or not, she started to feel very irritated. The curtains were drawn, but that didn’t stop her from noticing dawn come and go as the sun rose. She needed a shower, she felt slimy and sweaty after her encounter. She was also hungry, for food, and she needed to be at work in just a few hours.

  It wasn’t the best job, house and office cleaning, but it was all she could get with no memory and no experience, and it paid the bills, barely. She’d lose her job if she didn’t show, and this Jacob still hadn’t shown up yet. She’d been staring at the ceiling for a couple of hours now.

  She heard voices, and she held her breath and strained to hear better.

  “Emil got away?” Meri asked.

  A deep male growly and frustrated voice replied, “Yes. Again. I lost his trail, and Allison wasn’t able to get it back. The bastard must have a witch working for him.”

  Meri replied, “Well, I have a mystery guest for you to see. She shifted like one of us, but also fed on a leech. She claims to have no memory, and as far as I can tell she isn’t lying.”

  He asked, “Are you sure?”

  Meri shrugged, “No. Her scent is all wrong, but not evil. I don’t know what she is.”

  He grumbled, “Fine, where is she?”