1Deep Ties Prologue

Prologue by ©CA Michaels

Prologue

Starling, Michigan April 12, 2021, 7:00 PM

Darkness of the night, mixed with some haze and stars, draped over Starling, Michigan. Samantha Peterson leaned over; she kissed her boyfriend goodnight. A warm smile went to her ears as she saw his famous EFHL (Eight Force Hockey League), Starling Wolves, hockey jersey hanging on the closet door handle across from his side of the bed. She rolled over to her other side, placed her hand under her head and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, loud pop whipped her head up as she turned to eye the source of the noise. As she checked the entire room, she figured the noise came from the house settling. But then, her eyes widened. She stared at a ghostly being dressed in all black. The face covered, along with any other skin, who stood in the doorjamb of her bedroom. Unable to make out the being, she attempted to rush her hand under her pillow to grab the Ruger .22 she slept with, but her entire body stiffened. When you’re one of the world’s best Hackers, plus a Demon-Vampire Hunter, you tend to make more enemies than friends.

She watched in utter horror as the being pulled out a silenced pistol. She saw the pistol being aimed at David. Before Sam could react, a loud bang echoed in the darkness and dampened her hearing a bit. Sam forced her mouth open, but as she attempted to scream, her throat tightened. The being moved their hand that was also covered in black, toward her tuxedo cat, who lay at the end of her feet on a fleece blanket. Another loud bang went off. Unable to move her body at all, the sheer shock of the events unfolding before her eyes left her entire body lifeless for the first time in her life.


Samantha Peterson’s eyes snapped open in a wave of fury. She heard her own heartbeat and finally heard her nervous breaths. A sudden wave of warmth flashed through her entire upper body. Heavy sweat dripped from her face. Her head moved left and right. Her eyes darted to the door to her room. No one was with her. She blew a sigh of relief that the imagery she saw was just another nightmare.

She didn’t know the being in her dreams. Every night the dream occurred; the face of the perpetrator was never revealed. There was nothing to go on. She couldn’t even make out the branded weapon the being carried. This had been occurring ever since she started dating David, four years ago. Of course, she never told anyone about this dream. It sounded unbelievable to her.

Her raspy eyes stung. When she moved her hands to rub them, she realized her wrists were cuffed to a hospital bed. She pulled and pulled on each wrist to break the cuffs, but it was no use.
How the hell did she end up here?

Her eyes closed again but she forced them open. After taking stock of her new surroundings, she saw the intravenous drip to her right along with the heart monitor and another monitor she was unsure of.
So, what did happen to her? And why was she cuffed to the rails of this bed? The last she remembered; was, chasing a woman from a house where her nemesis, Tommy Welsh held her and her brother Reese. Every time she got just a little closer, there was nothing to go on. Not even a fingerprint. Nothing. Ever.

The door to her room thrust open as it bounced off the doorjamb. Sam frantically pulled and pulled on the cuffs she was attached to. Her heart pounding hard in her chest, she saw a man. This time their face wasn’t covered. He wore amber hair that appeared to be ratted out of control. She noticed he wore a long-sleeved black top that sported fire graphics rising up from the bottom. He also wore long bell bottom like blue jeans. He snarled at her, and she gasped harshly at the site of his fangs.

Sam’s heart continued to race as she tried to mouth a word. Any word. Her breath slowly began to choke her, but she finally managed to say something. “Who the hell are you?”

She saw him pull a long needle out from his back pants pocket. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. Before he could jab the needle into her neck, Sam saw her best friend from when she arrived on the Earth realm back in two-thousand-six. Lucy thrust herself through the opened door with her tazer drawn.

“Freeze!” Lucy yelled.

The man thrust his hand that held the needle toward Sam once more. Lucy dropped him to the ground with the tazer. As the man lay on the ground spazing, Lucy checked on Sam. Other agents hurried in along with the hospital personnel.

“This man was trying to kill her. Take him away!” Lucy ordered. She returned her focus back on Sam. “Are you okay?”

“No! That man was trying to kill me! Dude, he had fangs!”

“What?”

“He had fangs. And what the fuck am I doing cuffed to this bed?” Sam screamed.

“We need to move stat!” Lucy ordered.

“Luc, what’s going on here?” Sam rasped.

“No time to talk. We need to move you.”

Lucy unlocked Sam’s bed and began to wheel her out. But as Lucy’s Section Chief entered, they both witnessed his chest burst with crimson. The blood splattered onto them both.

“What the hell?” Sam asked.

Another man stood in place of Lucy’s boss. This man wore all black and had long platinum blond hair. Sam recognized this man. Oh shit. She screamed in her mind.

“The Hellshire brothers!” Sam yelled.

Against orders from her now dead Section Chief, Lucy removed Sam’s cuffs. Sam crawled out of the bed, hopped down, winced from the pain of her ankle and upper left arm. Lucy cringed with her.
“Give it up Samantha. The chase is finally over. You will be ours!” Deacon stated.

Sam trembled. Lucy glared to her wanting answers. But Sam’s memory was still a bit foggy. Why would the Hellshire brothers be wanting her?

“Sam, what is this all about?” Lucy asked.

“I truly have no idea.”

Lucy turned and placed both hands on the square leather chair next to her. With a white knuckled grip, she hurled it to the window. The window shattered.

“Come on Sam. We’re getting out of here!” Lucy stated.

Deacon walked further into the room. “I smell you, Samantha! You can run, but you’ll never hide from us!”
Sam cupped her mouth with her trembling hand. Few things made Sam tremble. But the Hellshire brothers made the entire of realm of Zentara tremble. Her body stiffened even tighter as she was powerless to her heavy, harsh breathing.

Lucy crawled over to her, grabbed her hand, and they leapt to the ledge. While they stood on the ledge, Sam noticed they were two floors up.

“I can’t!” Sam told her.

“There you are you!” Deacon smiled.

Deacon tossed his axe at her. But missed. Anden came in firing at Lucy and Sam after breaking away from the officer holding him. However, Deacon shook his head at his older brother.

“You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn little brother!”

Deacon grabbed the gun.

Lucy turned to Sam with wide eyes. “Yes, you can, come on!” Lucy yelled.

They jumped from the window and rolled their bodies. They lay on the grass for many moments gathering their senses. As they finally came around, more gunshots rang out around them. Lucy rose to her feet, grabbed Sam’s hand and they ran toward the parking lot. They made it to Lucy’s car as two other men were firing at them. Lucy and Sam climbed in her car and Lucy drove like a bat out of hell out of the parking lot.

“Okay Luc, I need answers! What the heck is going on?” Sam demanded. “Why was I in the hospital and cuffed to the bed!” Sam stated.

“You really can’t remember, can you?”

“No.”

“There’s a lot to explain. We’re going somewhere safe. Trust me,” Lucy said.

Sam smiled. “So, what the hell is going on?”

“Too much to explain, we need to get out of the city!”

Sam nodded.

“Can you tell me, are David and Burby safe?” Sam asked.

“You really can’t remember, can you?”

“No. I remember some things, but the current events are a bit foggy. Are they safe Luc?”

Lucy sighed. She ached hard for her best friend. She didn’t have it in her heart to tell her that her and David were over.

“He’s dead, is he dead?” Sam cried.

“No. He’s not dead.”

Sam sighed in relief. “So, then what, why won’t you tell me?”

Lucy just patted Sam’s thigh and continued to keep her eyes on the road. Sam cursed at the current situation. She kept believing David and Burby were safe. She had to because the alternative was just to unbearable.