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The Devils Woman

Copyright 2015 R.J. Adams - Smashwords Edition

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

## CHAPTER 1

"She never thought that her power came from there, that her destiny was not to enjoy life on earth but to destroy it, that she was destined to be with him, she was born for him. From the time she was very little she always knew that she was different than all the other children, although she thought that most children thought that at some point, but her differences were a little more, well... strange."

It was a normal life in the quiet suburbs of Lexington, Boston for Max and Olivia Gage who had recently had a baby girl, Holly. Max, who was a successful financial adviser and Olivia who was a nurse and both had a comfortable life.

Holly was the only child of her parents. Sadly they had been trying for a baby for seven years so Holly was their precious pride and joy. They doted on Holly, lavishing her with their love and attention and nothing, presents or otherwise was too big or too small.

They lived in a beautiful large, yet modest house at the end of their street which was decorated on the outside with a soft yellow colour walls and beaming white windows.

The lawn was always freshly cut so Holly could enjoy playing outside and the neighbours that surrounded them were very friendly and helpful.

Due to Olivia's health issues from an infection she had as a child, it was stated by doctors that this was the reason she could not conceive naturally.

Knowing this, they decided to seek fertility treatment which was costly but they believed that to have the child they longed for, that cost was not an issue plus they were financially ok to do this at least once.

They went to a clinic in the city where Olivia was cared for by a doctor who seemed very strange and over fascinated with Olivia; however, as he came highly recommended, they stuck with him for her treatment.

Olivia's doctor, Dr Matthews seemed caring and considerate of Olivia's needs. He even explained to her the pros and cons of fertility treatment and explained it only has a 25% chance of working, like all caring doctors do with their patients.

In the office, he gave her something to drink, some blue liquid he said would calm her nerves as she seemed to be shaking a little terrified of the procedure because she wanted a baby so bad.

Olivia knew the risks, as a nurse she had already done her research but nonetheless, she wanted it and without thinking she drunk the blue liquid.

Dr Matthews took Olivia into a private room, Max was in waiting room, he felt like something prevented him from entering the room where Olivia was and as he tried to follow her, but he felt like he was being guided to the waiting room.

Dr Matthews told Olivia to lie on the bed and put her legs in the stirrups ready. Olivia did as she was instructed and laid back on the bed waiting. Lying down, Olivia stared at the tiled ceiling, dreaming of her baby, praying to god that this treatment worked.

As she lay praying in her mind, she saw or it seemed to be that the lights in the room go dim, however, she was not sure, she felt light headed, spaced out and not in control of her own movements.

After thirty minutes Olivia woke up and Dr Matthews advised her that the process was done and she could go home and carry on as normal.

She got off the bed and her legs were a little shaky and she felt a bit went in her vagina, but she had just been inseminated so she thought nothing of it.

He gave her a prescription and told her to take them once a day without fail and to take a test in six weeks should she not have her normal period.

Olivia assumed she fell asleep during the insemination and thought nothing of it afterwards.

Surely, six weeks came and went and in their busy schedules at work, Max and Olivia had not noticed until week eight, when at work, Olivia was caring for a patient and during a routine examination, Olivia was sick at the patient's bedside.

A little reminder dawned in Olivia's brain and she rushed to paediatrics to her friend Charlotte. Charlotte listened to Olivia and then handed Olivia a pregnancy test and what Olivia had hoped for had come true, she was pregnant!

Exited and over-joyed at her news, Olivia text Max to tell him that he was going to be a father. Olivia contacted Dr Matthews and advised him of her positive test and he arranged for her to come back and meet with him the following day for a check-up and some prenatal vitamins.

On the way home, Olivia felt glowing with happiness, but the next ten months would not prove easy.

Olivia had a difficult pregnancy with Holly and relied heavily on the drugs provided to her by Dr Matthews.

Dr Matthews always reassured Olivia and stated it was down to her worry and stress which was not good for the baby.

During her pregnancy, Olivia felt weak and drained.

Although her body seemed strong enough to cope with this demanding foetus, it was as if the baby took everything she ate or drank.

Her morning sickness was quite severe and she had to be hospitalised to try and ease it however no medical treatment seemed to work, except for Dr Matthews's drugs.

Dr Matthews regularly visited her and told her she was special, only she could bring this baby to term, that only her body was able to carry this baby and that the drugs were to help the special baby grow, that she was bringing a beautiful baby into the world that would do extraordinary things.

Olivia believed him even though sometimes his words freaked her out, she thought her baby was going to be loved so much that of course she or he would grow up to do amazing things because she would have amazing parents that would teach her to be good, honest and caring.

Olivia was going to make sure her baby had the things she never had, a loving family. As the pregnancy progressed into the final months, Olivia started to feel much better during the end and felt as if she had an aura around her, felt like something was protecting her and her baby.

It wasn't a warm feeling, it felt cold but Olivia noticed things like one day, when she was cutting vegetables, the knife slipped and Olivia cut her finger.

She ran to get a plaster but suddenly the cut was gone and there was no blood at all. The cut had completely disappeared and in the final stages of her pregnancy this was seen a lot.

During the birth, Olivia felt the worse pain imaginable. Having never given birth before, Olivia felt like something was wrong.

At the hospital, doctors tried to relieve the pain but nothing seemed to work. This was strange to doctors and they had never seen a case like this before.

Epidurals didn't work; gas and air or pethidine, the only way was for Olivia to give birth naturally.

Dr Matthews was on hand, his soothing voice of words he whispered whilst holding Olivia's hand seemed to give her a sense of calm and she managed to push the baby out without any pain medication.

To Max's and Olivia's joy their baby was born, they looked at their beautiful daughter with love and joy and named her Holly, an image of Holy, after they believe she was sent to them by god.

After routine checks by Dr Matthews, they left the hospital and Olivia felt a strange feeling, she turned and noticed Dr Matthews watching her leave the hospital, as uneasy at it made her feel, she thought he had good intentions and was just making sure she left ok.

"We have a beautiful little girl Liv" Max said all mushy and soppy as he cradled his baby girl.

He couldn't stop staring at her, as baby she seemed beautiful.

She had mesmerising yellow and orange eyes, which was extremely rare and almost unheard of, but Holly had them and even her facial features were beautiful.

Whenever you looked at her you were captivated and were never able to take your eyes off her.

Their first night at home with baby Holly, they sat together watching her sleep on the baby monitor, cuddled up and hands entwined discussing how perfect their life was, how blessed they felt.

"You know how much I love you don't you" Olivia said to Max with tone so soft and sincere it made Max's heart melt.

She would always say this to him as if to make him never forget the love she felt for him.

"Of course I know, and now we are complete" he said smiling back at her as he pulled her close to kiss her.

He kissed her softly and slowly moved on top of her. Lying on the sofa with Max leaning over her she looked into his eyes with seduction, he gazed back at her with a flirtatious look. He kissed her again unbuttoning her blouse she was wearing still from the hospital and softly run his fingers down her body.

Aroused by his touch Olivia let out a moan, she softly slid her fingers down his back as they kissed and touched each other as they removed their clothes.

This wasn't a fuck on the sofa, this was gentle love, but as he couldn't make love to her due to just given birth, so he explored her body, kissing and touching all over, still sore from labour he avoided her vagina but touched everything else.

Olivia, who was turned on and could feel Max's hard erection pushing into her, she wanted to please him, he tried to stop her telling her as it wasn't about pleasing him but about feeling the pleasure between them, but Olivia pressed on that she wanted to.

She pushed him off her and sat him backwards on the sofa; she kissed down his body and listened to his groans.

Moving down his body slowly, she kissed across his hip line and moved down to his dick where she licked the tip, teasing him a bit until he was begging for her to suck it. Olivia took his hard erection and put it in her mouth, sucking slowly at first and then getting faster and faster.

Max was shaking, it was intense, she was so good at it, he couldn't hold it anymore, he cum all in her mouth and wanted to scream out but instead he grabbed her head as cum and closed his mouth groaning as he released.

Naked and relieved, Olivia got up and looked at him expressing complete happiness, he placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled her forward "Don't worry babe, I'll relieve you once you're all better" he said breathlessly whilst smiling at her.

"You already satisfy me" she smirked back. They lied on the sofa for a while but eventually they could not keep their eyes open anymore.

Checking on Holly before they went to bed, they walked up into her room and there lying peacefully was their beautiful baby girl.

As the months went by, things seemed happy, normal, like any other family would live.

Dr Matthews was a regular visitor at the house as Max and Olivia had befriended him over the years as Holly was continuing to grow.

When Holly was a toddler, she was a beautiful and smart little girl.

As any parents would be proud, Holly managed to walk before she was one, managed to speak clearly by two and although these stepping stones are a proud moment in a parent's life, Holly always seemed further ahead than most children.

Holly seemed like she had a connection and love for her parents, at the age of five she would tell them she loved them and regularly show affection in a way most children do with their parents at that age.

Holly's parents thought nothing of their gifted child and believed that her growing speech and achievements were nothing more than their smart daughter reaching the milestones as any normal toddler, just a little quicker.

As Holly reached the age of five, Olivia started to notice strange things about her child, and maybe not in the way a parent would like.

Things happened around Holly, if Holly was upset or angry, the ground would shake, doors would bang and Olivia will feel a pain in her chest as if being stood on.

Max would notice how his daughter would talk to herself in her bedroom, Dr Matthews would reassure him and advise this was deemed normal as most children have imaginary friends at a young age, however, Max couldn't help but feel a sense of worry that not all was as it seemed.

As time went on, Dr Matthews became their confident and eventually he was the only doctor that was allowed to treat Holly.

Whenever Holly went for her normal baby check-ups or toddler development checks, the doctors who treated her all mysteriously felt violently sick when near Holly, as this was never a feeling experienced by Dr Matthews, he was Hollys permanent physician and child minder when Max and Olivia were at work.

Time went on and they began to believe that the occurrences were in their head.

They worked hard and spent a lot of the time away from the family home whilst Holly was in the care of Dr Matthews.

They couldn't believe in their own mind that the horrible things were because of their daughter, she was very loving towards them, she loved to cuddle and watch films, and she loved to do jigsaws before bed and would always show affection to them. How could they believe that their beautiful little girl could be the cause of the weird and horrible things that happened around her, maybe coincidence?

Max and Olivia were sat in the kitchen cooking dinner; it had been a long week for them and they finally had a weekend off together. Stood in the kitchen cooking away, they were discussing the plans they wanted for the weekend.

"Babe, I think we should take Olivia to the zoo this weekend, you know, have some family time away from here, I think it will be good plus you know I think Dr Matthews has done enough, he hasn't left Holly's side for months." Max started at Olivia with a slight smile, he knew what she was talking about, the strange happenings in the house, Holly's random conversations with thin air, their daughters seemingly dark temper, people becoming ill if they touched her, Dr Matthews strange connection with her, and he agreed that getting away may do them some good.

"Sounds good to me Liv, why don't we make a day of it and I agree, maybe we should let Holly have a break from Dr Matthews, I mean, yeah he's nice and he helps and asks for nothing in return, Holly seems to trust him but I think we need some real family time" he said as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissing her on the neck.

Giggling at the romantic embrace, Olivia turned to face Max kissing him passionately "you know how much I love you don't you" she said softly smiling at him.

"Yes, I do, things will be ok, don't worry about Holly, I'm sure it's just us" he said reassuringly to her. Olivia loved her daughter more than anything in the world but couldn't help sometimes feel afraid of her. "Can we both be seeing the same things?" she questioned.

He turned her to face him and looked her right in the eye "We've been working a lot and not really been around, it's just stress which maybe affecting her, I know other strange things have happened but people get sick Liv, there could have been a bug going round or perhaps Holly just doesn't bond that well with other people, don't worry about it, we'll go out tomorrow and we'll have fun ok?" He kissed her on the forehead and carried on cooking.

But Olivia couldn't help but feel something else, it didn't explain all that had happened around their daughter, but she shrugged it off and carried on cooking settling down to a quiet evening whilst Holly slept.

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## CHAPTER 2

The next day everyone woke and had a family breakfast at the table.

Things seemed good; Holly was playing with her dolls and smiling, Max and Olivia were happy and they sat as a family eating and getting ready to leave for the day, it was an hour's drive to the zoo so they were making an early start.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was a nice mild spring morning in the beautiful suburbs of Lexington and they were ready for a lovely family day.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door; it was 8am, _who the hell could that be this early?_

Max went to open the door, to his surprise, it was Dr Matthews.

"Dr Matthews!" Max was a little shocked "What are you doing here? I thought Liv told you we didn't need you today, we're taking Holly out, you know, some family time" he stated as he went to close the door not allowing Dr Matthews through the door.

Dr Matthews put his foot in the way to obstruct the door being closed, "Uh yes she did mention that Max, I thought however Holly may need me, or, I don't know...."

He had a weird look on his face as he stared at Max, kind of intimidating.

Max felt uncomfortable, although he considered Dr Matthews to be his friend, this situation felt weird, _why would a doctor be this interested in his little girl?_

"Not today, Liv and I want to have some family time, I'm sorry, please let us be, we'll call you if we need you" Max said nervously whilst moving Dr Matthews foot from the doorway and trying to close the front door.

Dr Matthews looked annoyed. As he started to walk away from the house, he walked passed the kitchen window which could be seen from the street, he stopped and stared, to which point, Holly looked up, as if something caught her attention.

Olivia noticed Holly staring out the window, she glanced out and could see Dr Matthews stood there, but he was too far for Holly to see, how she could be looking at him when to see him you had to physically stand up and look over the counter was baffling, Holly was too small to do this.

Max returned to the kitchen and saw Olivia staring out of the window, "look, he's just stood there" Olivia said uneasy.

"Just ignore him Liv, we'll carry on with our day and when we come back we'll tell him we don't need him around anymore, fucking weirdo!" pulling Olivia away from the window.

They went over to Holly who was still fixed, staring towards the window, all of a sudden Holly screamed, but as she did, the light in the kitchen smashed.

Suddenly she stopped then looked at her parents and gave a creepy smile as if nothing happened, she left the table and went and grabbed her teddy quietly stood by the door.

Max thought it was just her throwing a tantrum, a creepy unnatural tantrum that made him scared to his bones, but after-all she had become quite close to Dr Matthews and maybe she was upset he was sent away, like upset as if someone was taking away her mummy!

They got their things together and left for the day. The journey seemed pleasant, Holly was giggling with Olivia in the car whilst they played car games as Max drove, it seemed like the perfect family setting, everything seemed normal, everything that had happened seemed to have gone away. Maybe it was the stress of working too many hours and not having family time, _who knows?_

They arrived at the Zoo, it was filled with all types of animals and caves for families to explore, learn and enjoy. Holly was pointing and acting excited "Mummy look tigers, I want to see the tiger's mummy please" she said excitedly tugging on Olivia's hand.

"Wait for daddy bubba, we have all day don't worry, you will see the tigers" she said happily smiling at her daughter as they started walking to the zoo.

"C'mon Max, she's not going to wait all day" Olivia shouted back as Max was lagging behind.

Just happily watching his family and realising that yes their family may have had some issues, but they were loving and caring and he loved his two girls more than anything in the world.

The family entered the Zoo; they walked around visiting the tigers, lions, the sea life aquarium, the monkeys and all animals you could think of. They had done almost the entire park and came across the snake cave, Olivia turned to Max "Let's not go in there, I bloody hate snakes" he body shivered with slight fear.

"Don't worry babe, I'm sure you'll be fine, besides, I think Holly wants to go in" he said looking down smiling at Holly who was pulling her mother into the cave.

Looking at Max unimpressed, "Max, You know I hate them, I tell you what, you go in there with her and I will just wait out here".

"Fine" Max said smirking "We'll go in you sissy and you can sit out here" he sarcastically smiled at her and took Holly into the cave.

The cave was dark, humid, with minimal lighting, snakes in their cages, some very small and some extremely large. Max walked round with Holly who was running to all the cages curious to see what was in them. It didn't seem to frighten or faze her.

On their way out, the last cage had cobra snake behind the glass. The snake seemed disinterested and just laid there doing nothing. Holly walked up to the glass cage, she peered through the glass, Max was stood next to her looking at the snake, he watched as the snake suddenly looked like something caught its attention.

It slithered to the edge of the glass and raised itself at the edge of the glass and appeared to be staring directly at Holly. Holly lifted her hand up to touch the glass, she run her fingers over the glass and the snake followed her movements.

It seemed as it if it was befriending her, as if it knew or trusted her. Max was amazed but confused by what he was seeing. Staring at the snake, Holly didn't even blink, she tapped the glass and the snake looked like it bowed to her, how strange! _What the hell was going on? How was she doing this?_

The snake then slithered away back up to the branch and Holly looked at Max "That snake is my friend daddy" it sent shivers down his spine.

"C'mon bubs, let's go see mummy" he led Holly out of the snake cave and decided not to tell Olivia about what he just saw, it had been a great day forgetting about events with Holly and he didn't want to freak her out even more.

The day ended happily, they had seen the Zoo, had lunch, and minus the encounter in the snake cave, the day was rather enjoyable.

Holly appeared tired. "Let's go home babe, our little girl is wiped out" Max said to Olivia as he carried Holly back to the car.

They drove home in silence, Max concentrating on driving whilst occasionally glances at his wife and daughter who had passed out sleeping on the drive home.

It was 7pm when they returned, still light outside as the sun was beginning to set; Olivia awoke as they pulled into the drive way "shit!" she let out sounding annoyed.

"What? What is it?" Max looked at her worryingly.

"I forgot to get Holly's breakfast for the morning, I was going to say stop at the shop but I fell asleep, its ok, you put Holly to bed and I'll nip to the shop to get some"

"But babe, its 7pm," Max said checking his watch.

"Yes I know that" she said sarcastically, "The shop is open until 10 anyway, there's that new one down by Eastern Avenue, it's 5 minutes away, I'll down and be back" she said as she started to walk off.

She waved at Max and carried on walking down the street, it was only two blocks away so not that far and Olivia walked to the shop regularly in the last few weeks, nothing out of the ordinary to her. There and back takes ten minutes. Not a problem.

On the way, she felt uneasy, she felt like someone was behind her, stopping to turn and look, she could see no-one. No-one was there.

Not that she could see. _Was she just being paranoid because the street was unusually quiet for that time of day?_

Normally there were a few people walking through the street, but nothing, no-one, so quiet.

She again turned to look behind her to try and reassure her mind, she saw no-one, sighing relief, she mumbled to herself "stop being an idiot" and she laughed at herself for feeling like an absolute muppet and then turned to carry on walking.

Then there in-front of her out of nowhere was Dr Matthews. She didn't even hear him walk up to her, she jumped, frightened and caught off guard. "Dr Matthews, you scared me, I didn't see you" her voice slightly low and scared.

"Not to worry Olivia, how was your day with Holly?" He questioned assertively.

Olivia stared at him, trying to cough up some words, she felt intimidated. _Why was he asking? What was it to him?_

Clearing her throat trying to sound positive and not afraid, "Yes was lovely thank you, ummm look" she stared at him as he started getting closer "Max and I ummm..., well, we know you have been great with Holly but we think it's now time you, uhhhh..." her voice sounding more unnerving, "let us be, you know, as a family, you have been great but we just want to be on our own, ummm, if you, understand?" she stared at him watching his movements, trying to judge what he was doing.

Dr Matthews started circling Olivia, talking to her, his tone, it was deep, assertive, dominant, controlling, and she felt like she couldn't move.

"You see, my dear Olivia, you do not get that choice, I gave you that baby, and that baby is mine to protect."

Confused Olivia stared back "what? Yours? How do you....." he cut her off rudely.

"You see, that girl is special, she is the one we have been waiting for, but we had to wait for the perfect woman, capable of carrying her to term, it couldn't just be anyone you know!" getting closer to her he appeared to sniff her hair, " you were chosen at birth my dear sweet Olivia" his tone becoming more dirty, but not nice dirty, sounded more creepy dirty, "you have no idea who that child is, neither does she, that's why she needs me, I have been chosen to be her guide."

Olivia snapped "her guide? What the fuck are you fucking crazy!" she tried to pull back but she was stopped, nothing was touching her but she could not move. It went dark. Quiet. She had blacked out.

Olivia woke in a strange room. The walls were bare bricks, her mind was racing _'what the? How did I get here? Where am I?'_ her mind questioned.

She couldn't move as she was tied to the wall, stood up hands above her head. She screamed but no-one could hear her.

"Keep screaming like that and I'll give you something to scream about" the voice said very stern and certain in his words.

Weeping, alone and scared she watched as the figure moved closer to her. It was Dr Matthews. "Please" she begged, "please let me go."

He looked at her, his eyes of no colour, just black and darkness. He walked up to Olivia and pushed his body against hers, rubbing her body and forcefully kissing her.

As she tried to turn away, he'd grab her head and make her kiss him. The kisses were hard, they hurt.

Getting turned on by Olivia he became breathless as he spoke "You see, you were just a body that we needed, but we needed a certain woman, a woman who bared the mark of the beast" pointing at her hand above her head and forcing her to look at the mark she was born with, which to her was nothing more than a birth mark.

Angrily she snarled back at him "what that? Are you insane, you crazy asshole that's my birth mark now let me go!"

Laughing at her Dr Matthews pulled away, "No, no, no my dear, it is the mark he gave you so we knew that you could only bare the one child we needed, we made sure you could only have one child, she was due to be reborn, she is a queen, I gave her to you and she will be his" pushing up against her he was getting sexual "don't you remember Liv, don't you remember how I fucked you, how good it felt when I fucked you, he entered my body, I was his vessel he needed someone to do the deed oh and I was more than happy, you see, he couldn't do it himself, he needed someone more human than he is, oh my sweet, we didn't want you to die from his fuckery, but you...you could with stand the essence of him, but maybe not his fuckery, so I fucked you Olivia, you drove me crazy, your scent and your warmth...Mmm...."

His actions and tone were vile and vulgar.

Looking at him scared and angry Olivia managed to speak as he had his hands around her neck "you're crazy" she let out with a restrained tone.

"Ahhh not crazy my dear, he needed a vessel, so he chose me, and you were so beautiful I was only willing to help, and he gave me everything I wanted, so I fucked you LIV! Don't you remember? I'll show you how good it was" he started ripping her clothes off.

Screaming in protest Olivia could do nothing to stop him; she was chained to a wall!

Holly started screaming, the screaming sounded violent, like she was in severe pain, the lights flashed on and off, inside the house the ground was shaking, glasses were breaking, trying to calm his daughter Max was terrified.

He picked up the phone and desperately tried to call Olivia, but there was no answer. Worried he cradled Holly, "where the fuck is your mother!" he screamed over the noise.

Dr Matthews had pulled all of Olivia's clothes off "I'm going to remind you of what we did" he grabbed her violently as her hands pulled on the chains they were tied to, cutting into her wrists, screaming out he pushed his hard dick inside her and began to fuck her hard. He moaned as he enjoyed it as all Olivia could do was scream and weep, he kept fucking her, grabbing her by the neck as he pushed hard in and out.

He pushed fast and as he exploded all his cum inside her, he squeezed her throat so tight she passed out. In a daze, still chained up and feeling weak.

Olivia started to have flash-backs; she started to remember what it was that happened to her that day in Dr Matthews's office:

_The lights started to fade in the doctor's office, she felt spaced out, she heard a voice, it was reassuring, "you're going to be her mother, only you can do this Olivia, you have been chosen, she will possess great power" She felt a hand run up her stomach onto her breasts, she remembered she didn't pass out, her mind had blocked the memory subconsciously. She remembered how he touched her, how wet she became, he entered her, he took her, it was fast, he pulled her up towards him, sat on top of him with him inside her he pulled her closer so she rode him, the sex was intense, slightly pleasurable, or was she too out of it to know? She felt him pushing faster inside her, and then.....she woke up. The doctor telling her...it was done!_

Olivia wept, Dr Matthews had sex with her in the office that day, and Max was not the father. He was. This man, this horrible vile man, who had raped and abused her and she was so out of it her mind had blocked the memory. He was her beautiful daughter's father. _How could this happen to her?_

"You...you are special" he said still pushed against her, "you gave us what we needed but now, we're going to make sure she follows her destiny, the one she was born to fulfil and with you around..." he laughed evilly as he pulled out a knife, it was long and sharp, he pushed his body against her sexually and started breathing heavy, "now you, my sweet, will do what you were born to do" he lifted her up so that her legs were wrapped round his waist.

"Please, please stop, let me go!" She screamed and tried to fight back, but her hands were tied, she moved her body but it made no difference, he had hold of her.

Olivia had lost the fight in her, she felt weak. Then, again he forced his dick inside her; she screamed in pain, it hurt so badly! She screamed in fear, she didn't want this.

He fucked her hard, fast, he wouldn't stop! "Now it's time for you LIV, it's time, meet your destiny you filthy whore!" he said loud, evilly and heavily as he fucked her. All of sudden he stabbed her, he didn't stop, the pain, the torture.

Holly was screaming, the house was breaking, and the inside was destroyed. "Please baby girl please stop tell me what's wrong" Max was terrified, _what the fuck was happening?_

"MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!" screamed Holly.

Dr Matthews has finished. His cum was dripping out of Olivia as she was hanging from the wall. She was blood stained and bruised but he smirked, his eyes filled with darkness.

It was done. She was dead in the most evil way. He dropped the knife and left, looking back he smiled at her, he told her "Your soul is tamed; I'll see you in hell." The door closed, her lifeless body was just left there to rot. 

## CHAPTER 3

Max was terrified. Shaking, he held Holly in his arms; she had stopped screaming. He looked around his house. It was destroyed.

Glass smashed all over the floor, cushions ripped with their feathers falling from the air where they had somehow flown up to the ceiling.

The furniture all thrown about the house. Breathing heavily and scared, he got up.

He put Holly down and walked around trying to contemplate what the fuck just happened in his house. _Did his daughter do this?_

He looked down at her, she sat so silent. So still. Her face was wet with tears but she made no sound. Then he thought _'Where the fuck is Liv'?_ His mind raced.

She had been gone for hours. She only went to the bloody shops. _'Where fuck is that woman?_ 'He didn't mean to sound angry at her in his mind, he was just terrified. He needed his wife, and clearly Holly needed her mother.

There was a knock at the door. It was a firm knock. "Mommy" Holly said quietly.

Looking at her confused, flabbergasted and panicking, Max was too afraid to open the door. If someone saw his house right now they would think he had been smashing it up.

"Sir, are you in there? Can you please come to the door?" A man's voice said very concerned.

Max picked up Holly, leaving the lights off so you could not really see inside, he went and opened the door, moving out onto the porch and closing the door behind him.

Holding Holly in his arms, he looked at the man in-front of him.

It was a policeman. He looked so sad. "Sir, can we confirm an Olivia Gage lives at this address?"

Looking at the officer confused, Max stumbled in his words, "Uhhh yes, yes uhh officer she does, she's uhh. She's my wife. Is everything ok?"

The officer looked sad, a little distressed if truth be told. "We...we have found her body Mr Gage, someone has murdered her, we found this," he handed Max her purse with her driving licence.

"What the....are you sure it's her because she could just have dropped this" Max started panicking "No....no....this is not true. No. You got the wrong woman, where? Where did you find this?" he wept and begged the officer to tell him it wasn't true. He dropped to his knees and put Holly down. Looking at Holly he cried and held her close.

"I'm so sorry sir, I'm so very sorry, we are sure it's her, her ID matches that of the body we found. I'm so very sorry sir, her body was found in a room down in the old warehouse, some kids were playing around and found her." The officer advised.

Max broke down. "I want to see her, I want to make sure you got the right woman" he demanded angrily and upset.

"Sir, you don't want to do that, I strongly suggest you do not do that yet, we will ask you to positively identify her tomorrow," the officer pleaded with him.

He would not like what he saw. His wife, tortured, cuts deep into her wrists, bruises from her brutal rape, blood soaked skin and numerous stab wounds.

"You come here, you tell me you have found my wife murdered and you ID'd her from a photograph in her purse, then you tell me to positively identify her tomorrow? No, I want to see her now" Max ran off leaving Holly stood frozen on the porch.

The police officer shouted after him but it didn't work. Max kept running.

It didn't take him long to reach the warehouse. He could see police and forensic officers everywhere. He didn't care who was in his way, he barged pass them.

They tried to stop him but he screamed "THAT'S MY WIFE!" and somehow he managed to get passed them all, he ran into the room.

He was stopped in his tracks. He looked around and saw his wife. Suspended from the wall, hands tied above her head. Her wrists were bleeding.

Slowly walking towards her in shock, he felt he was in a nightmare, the tears pouring down his face. His naked wife looked tortured. Abused.

He screamed and ran to her body. "Get her down, oh my god please, please someone save her" he screamed and pleaded as officers ran towards him.

"Sir, we will take her down I promise, sir please let go, sir please!" the office tried to pull him back.

He kept screaming "why the fuck are you people not helping her? Get her down!" he held onto his wife, frantically trying to unchain her.

The police finally managed to drag him away. So distraught by what he had seen, Max vomited.

It was the scene from a horror movie. Something you would never expect to see in reality.

The officer from the house caught up with him. He explained that the police had evidence to collect and they needed him to step outside. They led him outside away from the scene to calm down.

The sight he had just seen. That's enough to make anyone question humanity or turn you insane. His mind pondered. _How? Who would do this?_ His wife was a lovely person. She had no enemies. _How could someone be so sick?_

Then, SHIT! Holly. "My daughter, where is my daughter?" he asked panicking completely forgetting he had ran off and left her on the porch.

"She's safe sir, she's with our family liaison officer. Is it ok if I ask you a few questions?"

Clearing his throat, barely able to speak and still in shock, Max nodded at the question.

The officer asked him to explain the day to him and advised that any information he could give may help them catch the person.

Max started to reminisce over the day. Flashing back to the wonderful happy time they had shared at the Zoo.

How happy his wife was. Flashing back to images in his mind of her smiling and being with him and Holly.

"Uhh yeah sure, we uhh, got up this morning; we planned to go to the Zoo." Images flashed back of that morning, all happy sat around the table eating breakfast. "We'd been working a lot; we wanted some family time together. We took Holly to the Zoo and uhh......" he paused.

He shook his head in disbelief and put his face in hands weeping. "She was so happy this morning."

The officer sounded sincere, "was anyone else with you? Around you? Did you notice anything?" he questioned trying to pry some information out of him.

"No, was just us, families and people, it was a Zoo. There were people everywhere."

"That's good sir; can you explain what happened when you had got home?"

Max flashed back to Olivia telling him she had to go to the shop. Holly needed breakfast for the morning and they had run out. "Yeah, we arrived back at 7pm; I know this as I looked at my watch when she said she had to go to the shop. I even told her it was 7pm. Holly was tired. Liv.....Liv said she needed to go to the shop because Holly had no breakfast. We were meant to stop on the way home but they were exhausted, they were sleeping. She forgot to tell me. Oh my god, if she had told me I would have gone with her and none of this would have happened" he said biting his knuckles struggling to cope with the fact he could have saved her but didn't.

"This is not about blame sir, there's nothing you could have done."

"She went on her own, I told her it was 7pm but she done what she always did, she reassured me and went. Holly was......." He paused again.

He had a look of suppression on his face. He remembered how Holly suddenly started screaming. The state of the house. The things that happened.

_How would he explain that to the officer?_ _What would happen if he did?_ He'd sound insane! He had to think of something. Quick!

The officer was glaring at him. "You ok sir?" The officer looked suspicious. He noticed the look on his face. Like there was something he didn't want to say.

"Uhh yes I'm fine, my daughter, she uhh, she was acting up a bit. Sometimes she does that before bed. I hadn't noticed the time." He stumbled in his words trying to lie.

"Thank you sir, that does help our time line. I'm going to take you back to your daughter now." The officer guided him. He led him to Holly.

To his dismay, as he walked towards his house he could see a familiar person stood next to his daughter. Dr Matthews. He walked up to him. He did not look impressed. He frowned as he looked at him.

"Max!" Dr Matthews let out. "I'm so sorry, is it true?"

Max looked at him straight "What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing. Here? How do you even know?"

Confused as to how Dr Matthews was at the house in all the commotion, he snatched Holly from him. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he demanded again.

"Max, mate, my friend who's a policeman was next to me when the call came in of a body found. I heard it all. I heard the description, the place. I came with him. I wanted it not to be her. Plus I'm a doctor; I went to see if I was able to help. My friend took me. He came out and showed me the purse. I... I was in shock. I came here to look for you but you were not here. I saw Holly on her own with that woman; she seemed scared so I went to see if she was ok." He sounded so sincere.

However, it seemed odd to Max that Dr Matthews just happened to be there when the call came in.

That Dr Matthews just happened to be invited along. Nothing about this night made sense to him.

Dr Matthews's voice faded as he was talking, stating how sorry he was and he couldn't believe this was happening. Then Max remembered.

The morning; he was there. At the front door! The awkwardness and him staring at his house. Holly's weird moment! He came back around as Dr Matthews voice started to become clear. "If there's anything that I can do Max just let me know?"

Max just stared at him and started to walk away. He walked up to the police officer cradling Holly in his arms.

He told the officer he forgot something about that morning and explained how Dr Matthews turned up at his house unannounced and seemed angry he was sent away.

The police officer took his statement. They went to Dr Matthews who was detained for questioning. Dr Matthews looked up in disgust.

The look of evil on his face. Holly started to stare at him. They locked eyes with each-other much to Max's horror. He didn't want his daughter anywhere near this man anymore.

He was taken away as Max watched him leave, there was a staring standoff.

The lights faded away, the people faded, the street went quiet. Max felt drained. He took Holly inside and went to put her to bed.

Tucking her in, he looked at his daughter puzzled. When the policeman knocked on the door, she said Mommy. _How did she know?_

He seemed confused, puzzled, strained and tired. He couldn't think anymore. He just wanted to sleep. The night had been exhausting.

He went into his bedroom staring at the bed side where Olivia would normally be sleeping. He went into their bathroom and pulled her dressing gown off the back off the door.

He laid it on the bed where she would sleep and lied next to it, grabbing hold of it. It smelt of her. He cried and cried until eventually he fell asleep.

_"Mommy, Mommy" her voice in the distance in-front of him, he can't see her, he runs towards her. "Holly?" "Mommy, Daddy help Mommy." The blood pours from her face. The man behind her laughs as he stabs her. She pleads to be saved but he cannot get to her. She falls to floor. Lifeless. The walls soaked in blood. Holly looks up. "Daddy...he's coming for me!"_ Max jumped up.

Sweat was dripping from his face and he was short of breath. The nightmare, the horror! _Why couldn't he save her?_ He ran to Holly's room terrified of what he saw in his dream.

She was sleeping peacefully unaware of what had happened to her mother. She was so small and so beautiful.

Max couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes that night, he could see those images of Olivia. He kept dreaming the same dream. He didn't want to sleep.

He didn't want to see that. He decided to go downstairs and clean up the mess that had been left. It took all night to clean up this mess.

Bags and bags of rubbish started to pile up, in his mind he remembered what happened but he refused to believe it.

Someone else hurt his wife. Not Holly, but that does not explain what happened here.

He tried to keep his mind busy so he couldn't think of anything bad. It was late. He glanced at the clock. It was 5am. His eyes were red, so tired he couldn't fight it no longer and passed out on the floor.

It was now 9am Sunday morning. The sun was shining through the living room window. Groggy and dazed, Max rolled over, forcing his eyes open, the sun shining bright. Holly came downstairs. The place now almost tidy she saw Max lying on the floor.

"Daddy get up" she said, her little sweet voice so soft, "C'mon daddy, I'll help you." He looked at her and smiled.

He sat up looking around thinking about what needed to be done. Holly needed breakfast; his family had to be told what had happened.

Funeral planning. There was so much. Olivia had no family. Her mother gave her up at birth and she was put into foster care as they were never able to trace her father.

There was no record of him. She moved around a lot when she was a kid, being placed with different families, so she never really got connected to anyone or had any permanent ties.

All she really had was friends where she worked. Max's family was her family now and that is all she had, she didn't even have aunts or uncles and she was never ever able to trace anyone she was related to.

He looked at Holly; she was eating her breakfast, smiling as normal. He had to tell her Mummy was never coming back. _How do you do that to a five year old?_ _How do you make them understand?_ Olivia was normally best at these things, explaining bad situations.

He sat next to Holly at the table and smiled at her, he calmly spoke to her, trying to be strong, "You know last night bubba, when the policeman came to the house?"

"Yes daddy" her voice so innocent.

"Well, umm, he came to tell daddy that uhhh...." A lump formed in his throat, he was holding back the tears, the hurt, and he didn't want his daughter to see him break, "uhhh he came to tell Daddy that Mummy will not be coming home anymore."

Holly looked up at him, her expression calm, and her eyes peering through his. Her expression changed, it was serious, dark. "The man took her daddy, he will take me too."

He jumped back, "what? No...no bubba no-one is going to take you away from me you hear, daddy is going to look after you" his voice was trembling.

He couldn't believe what he heard. Holly looked at him; he looked into her eyes, so pure, _why would she say that?_

The phone rang. It was the officer advising they had let Dr Matthews go, they had no evidence it done anything and he was seen with an officer at the time the murder approximately took place.

Max slammed the phone down in horror. He knew Dr Matthews would head to his house so he decided he wasn't going to sit there and wait for him to show up.

That's it, he was packing up their things and he was leaving. 

## CHAPTER 4

Max packed up Hollys clothes and some toys. He packed up what he could fit in his car. As he drove an SUV he could fit the essentials in.

He took Holly locked up and left. Driving away he looked out of the rear view mirror.

The children behind him playing in the street having no idea of what horrible things happened the night before.

The quiet, peaceful and friendly neighbourhood he had spent many years with, now just a fading background as he drove off.

Firstly Max headed to the bank. As a financial adviser, he made good money and he had opened up a separate account, putting money away for Holly's future.

It was to be a surprise on her 18th birthday and by then he would have been able to give her some thousand dollars as a comfortable start into college. So far he had saved ten grand. He withdrew all the funds.

The bank manager was happy to assist. Max insisted he did not want to close the account; he just needed the funds for now and would put them back in due course.

The bank had done much business with Max and did not question his reason for a large withdrawal. Max left the bank and headed to his parents.

Word of the murder was soon on the news with Olivia's picture being shown as the victim. Max was listening to the radio, the horrid details of his wife's murder being publicised all over the news.

He felt sick as he arrived at his mum and dads house.

Pulling up at the drive he saw his mother appear through the blinds at the window. She went and opened the door for him, tears coming down her face.

"Oh my boy" she said with such sorrow. "I was watching the news, I heard it all, and I saw her picture, is it true?" she didn't want to believe what she had seen.

Nodding to her answer, he broke down in his mums arms. She comforted him as he explained he was taking Holly away from it all and asked if she could help with the selling of the house and funeral arrangements for Olivia.

His mother was happy to help. She saw distraught her son was, she didn't want him feeling anymore pressure or pain and as families do, she stepped in to help.

"Judy" a voice shouted from inside the house.

"Tim...we're out here". Max's father came out of the house.

He was a military man; he walked with a straight posture, a very manly sort of man, never really showed a sensitive side.

He walked up to Max and put his hand on his shoulder, he was not an affectionate man in the sense of giving hugs but he showed his love in a more manly way.

"Son, I am so sorry, your mother and I saw it on the news this morning. Disgusting. Where's Holly?"

"She's in the car, I'm taking her away from all this, I just asked mum to help with the selling of the house and funeral arrangements."

"Well if there's anything you need we'll be here to help"

"Thanks dad, I just think Holly needs to be away from all this. It's not good for her."

"No, it's not, your mother and I will take care of things here and we will ring you if we need any information"

"Here's the number of an estate agent I normally deal with for clients, give them a call and tell them what's happened please, I cannot face it, speak to Zoe, and she'll help you. Oh and here is some money for the funeral. I have my cell if you need me, call me when everything is set up, we'll come back then"

"Not to worry son, take care of that little girl, she needs you more than ever right now"

"I know dad, I'll do my best"

"Son, you always do" Seeing the tears in his son's bloodshot eyes, he gave him a look of sympathy.

His mother sill weeping, not able to control her emotions, held her son close and gave him a long tight hug. They said their goodbyes and Max got back in the car and drove off. He was heading to New York; he decided that was going to be there new home. He had contacts up there. As he was driving he rang J.P Finance, a big time finance company with whom he had dealings with. He managed to set up an interview. He was keeping himself busy. Concentrating on setting up a new life so he didn't have to think about what he had seen.

He didn't want to think or picture those horrid scenes. He wanted to be strong for Holly. He arrived in New York only four hours later. Holly, exhausted from the drive was sleeping in the back. She looked so peaceful. She would never know what happened to her mother. He would never tell her. When he told her Mummy wasn't coming back, he had explained that Mummy had died in a car accident, something Holly knew was a bad thing, and he would never ever tell her truth. He looked at her sleeping and pulled over at a nearby store to get a paper and check for apartment rentals. He had the interview lined up the next day and with lots of things to sort out and keep him busy, he got on it, trying not to think.

Back in Boston, Dr Matthews arrived at Max's house. He was banging on the door, trying to peer inside.

He couldn't see anyone. No car on the driveway. He was getting annoyed and pissed off so he started kicking and shouting. His loud mouth caught the attention of one of the neighbours.

"Excuse me Mr, Can I help you?" a ladies voice asked being nosey in the background.

He looked at the neighbour and demanded to know where they had gone. Walking up to her and grabbing her arm "where are they" he spat at her.

"Let go of me," she pulled her arm back and looked at him is disgust.

"Where did he go?" he demanded again.

"Uhh I don't know, he left this morning, he took off, it was all over the news, that someone murdered his wife. He just left. He hasn't spoken to anyone."

"He thinks he can hide from me," Dr Matthews stated to himself.

"Who?" The neighbour asked looking at him confused as the neighbour started to feel a bit on edge. "No-one, go back your business you nosey bitch" he snarled at her.

In disgust the neighbour walked away. Furious that Max had left with Holly, Dr Matthew got in his vehicle and sped off.

Driving down the freeway his blood was boiling. He had failed in his task to stay close to Holly. That was his job.

He heard a voice as he was driving but he couldn't see anyone in the car with him.

He knew it was him speaking. Dr Matthews knew he had failed. He was coming for him; he was going to receive punishment for failing.

"I will make it right!" he shouted but as soon as he did Dr Matthews car hit a lorry on the freeway.

The car was crushed by the lorry and completely destroyed. Dr Matthews killed and died instantly.

A black cloud of smoke filled the air as the car blew up, cars slamming on their breaks and avoiding the collision, horror from onlookers as they could see the man die in a fatal accident.

The fire was angry, not normal. It was as if it was spiralling into the heavens. The dark force that had killed Dr Matthews was extremely fucked off.

The girl he needed and wanted had vanished. He now needed someone else to help find her and guide her. _Who was this girl that was so sought after?_

Holly suddenly shot up in the back of the car. She was awoken by something. She leant forward and pressed the button on the radio which turned on automatically to the news.

Helicopters were above the scene in Boston as rescue crews tried to put the fire out in the amid chaos on the freeway.

Details of the crash were being told. Reports of a man in the car burnt alive in a fatal car crash.

Max was horrified and tried to turn it over, he didn't want his daughter listening to this, but as he went to push the button Holly shot him a look that made him stop what he was doing.

She was listening for a reason; he didn't know or even try to understand what the reason was.

They listened for 30 minutes as the emergencies responders crammed through the fire and wreckage.

Then suddenly a report came in from an eye witness who was the car behind, the reports read out the number plate of the man in the vehicle who had died as a result of the incident, the number plate belonged to a Dr Aaron Matthews of Boston and that it was possible he was the one driving the vehicle. In shock Max dropped the paper.

Did he really just hear that? How the fuck did Holly know to turn the radio on? What the fuck made her jump up from her sleep? Was there more of a connection between them that he ever realised?

But then, a look of relief came over his face. Dr Matthews was gone out their lives for good.

Death was supposed to show your sympathetic side but he was happy, he was relieved. He turned the radio off and looked at his daughter who was silent and staring out of the front windscreen.

"C'mon bubba, we're going to see a man and then we can get you settled" he smiled softly at her and set off.

Tim and Judy were busy sorting the sale of the house and arranging Olivia's funeral.

It had been the strangest 24 hours. Olivia was brutally murdered. Then the news coverage of the fatal accident of Dr Matthews, their son running away. _Surely this is all too much for one day?_ Even they thought _'Jesus Christ.'_

They had contacted Zoe at the estate agents and arranged for the house to go up for sale. They had contacted a removal company to arrange moving the stuff to New York which was in process and they had spoken to the funeral director. The funeral was planned for two weeks.

The police were holding the body for further investigation and to try and obtain forensic evidence.

Not that they would find anything. The guy who raped and tortured her was burnt to smithereens and had no criminal record so none of his DNA would be anywhere on any system. He was a follower of something sinister, all his DNA and crimes were untraceable due to the help of his master. For two weeks they searched her body for anything left by the suspect.

Her body was so badly bruised it was hard to believe that this type of torture was done in just a few hours.

They believed the man to be very strong to have carried her to the room and suspend her from the ceiling.

They found semen in her vagina, bite marks on her face, she was bruised from head to toe, she had thirteen stab wounds all on the front of her body, internally she was bruised and her inner thighs were black and blue.

This woman was a mess. The medical examiner looked disgusted. Some man did this. He done this job day in and day out but it never ceased to shock or disgust him by the things he saw.

Detailing the findings onto the report he noted her strange mark on the palm of her hand. It was weird, black almost, some sort of symbol appeared to be seen.

He looked at it closely but determined it was simply nothing more than a birth mark.

All listed in her autopsy report, the medical examiner ruled that her death was caused by a fatal stabbing to the organs in her abdomen which caused her to bleed internally and externally and eventually her heart gave in.

The report was handed to the police with all the notes of the type of killer they were looking for. The medical examiner determined that the killer was right handed and used some type of carving knife.

The report was detailed and the police looked into Max's statement. They checked his card statements and can see that yes he was at the Zoo which confirmed that part of his story.

They spoke to neighbours who confirmed their arrival home and verified that they saw Olivia walking off alone. As the neighbourhood was a neighbourhood watch area, some CCTV cameras were installed. They reviewed the footage and could see

Olivia in some parts alone and footage from a camera across from Max's house showed him walking into his house and not leaving until the policeman knocked on the door.

His story was solid. Behavioural specialists studied Max at the time the murder was announced and concluded he was not the person they were looking for.

The police were at a dead end. No witnesses to the murder, no CCTV in the area she was taken, no DNA matches to the semen found in Olivia, they had no option but to release the body to the family and provide an order for burial.

Tim and Judy went to the medical examiner's office to collect the death certificate and arranged collection of Olivia's body to be transported to the funeral home.

The funeral was scheduled for two days' time. It had been a long two weeks. Judy contacted Max.

He had settled in to New York, placed Holly in a new school, managed to get the job at the finance company and seemed like he was starting a fresh all in the short time of two weeks.

Talking to her son on the phone Judy could tell by the tremble in voice that the looming day of the funeral to bury his wife was a little too much to bear.

He didn't want to believe she had actually gone. They spent some time on the phone; she comforted him and reassured him she would be there by his side holding his hand.

The ceremony was to be an outdoor ceremony at their family church but on the grounds. Olivia was not really much a believer in God or religious in any other way, so having it outside with their family priest would be what Olivia would agree to, to keep his family happy.

Max hung up the phone and packed some things for him and Holly; they were getting ready to leave to go back to Boston for a few days until after the funeral.

He couldn't contemplate the idea of going back to the house so he made arrangements to stay with his mother.

He glanced at a photo on the wall of all them, happy, he sobbed into his hands, and they packed up and left. 

## CHAPTER 5

Max arrived back in Boston with Holly and they went straight to his mum and dads. He didn't want to be seen with people still curious as to what happened to Olivia he didn't want to face the questions. _What the hell would he say to them?_ People could be so nosey!

It was a Friday evening, the funeral was on Sunday. It was late, Max was exhausted. He went inside his mum and dads and put Holly in her room and then he went into his room. Sat on the edge of the bed, he peered over the bedside table where there was a photo of him and Oliva back when they were dating.

Flashing back to the images in his head of their happy time together before they were married, they were so carefree and in love. The passion between them was always intense and could be felt by everyone around them.

His mother knocked on the door, he snapped back into the room as he could hear her talking through the door, he decided to ignore her, not out of spite or to be cruel but because he just couldn't face talking to anyone, being here was bringing back too many memories, the good, the bad and the very awful.

He lied on his bed staring at the ceiling, his eyes began to feel heavy, and he couldn't fight the sleep any longer and nodded off.

_'Daddy, Daddy, come find me Daddy, you need to help me..." "Holly? Holly where are you" he cried for her but he could not see her, it's a long corridor with white walls, there is a door at the end, its grey "Holly!" he screamed but she could not hear him. He heard her crying, he heard her calling, he saw blood everywhere, it's dripping down the walls, where is his baby? Then a whisper "He's coming for me daddy" He looks, but he doesn't see Holly, he sees Olivia covered in blood, she screamed out loud...'_ Max shot up out of bed, he was having another nightmare.

He went into Holly's room but she was fast asleep as usual. The sweat was dripping from his body and he was breathless again. _When will the nightmares end?_

Its 6:30am, he could not go back to sleep so instead he showered and started laying his out his clothes ready for the day.

At 8am he woke up Holly, looking at her face and trying to control his emotions, his little girl did not really understand what was going on.

They were saying goodbye today, they were putting her to rest, _but how do you explain that to a five year old?_

With her beautiful eyes she looks at her father and places her hand on his face, "its ok Daddy, Mummy is safe now" she smiles at him tenderly.

Confused he stares at her, _how does she come out with this stuff?_ She's five!

Most five year old girl's dream of being a princess, they do not know the horrible things that go on in the world. Max had seen far too much weirdness around Holly, he loved her so much he just didn't care anymore, and he decided to embrace it rather than fight it.

The family were sat in the living room, all dressed in their black dresses and suits having small talk waiting for the funeral cars to arrive.

"Are you ok son" Tim asked Max in his assertive yet sympathetic voice.

"Yeah dad, I'll be fine, just the day, Holly is too young to be going through this" he looks over at his daughter who was sat on her nans lap just smiling and poking her in the nose playfully. She wasn't sad, she's just being Holly.

He smiled slightly; his daughter gave him the reason to keep on being here.

The funeral cars arrived. The family all got up to leave to get in the vehicles that were behind Olivia's coffin.

The flowers on the side display 'wife' and 'mum' picked out by Judy. They are a beautiful arrangement of pink, yellow and white roses.

Max was staring at her coffin; he could not take his eyes off it. The clouds suddenly went dark; suddenly he saw Olivia's face next to glass. He jumped. _What the fuck was that?_

Scared and emotional he started thinking _'You fool, you're just stressed.'_ It was bright again, a beautiful sunny day. The funeral took place on the grounds as arranged. It was a lovely ceremony with small religious detail.

The ceremony mainly spoke about her life, the type of wife and mother that Olivia was and how she was full of life, sweet, kind and caring.

That she dedicated her life and love to her friends and family and worked hard at her job. Finally, they began to lay her body to rest.

Lowering her coffin into the ground, Max looked up, he could feel someone's eyes watching him, they felt cold, he looked around, everyone was crying, saying their goodbyes, Holly was staring into the air directly in front of her.

All the sounds of the voices had faded out and things seemed to be moving in slow motion. He looked, there she was, a beautiful red head staring at him with piercing eyes.

Her eyes were dark but seductive, they seemed cold but he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Daddy lets go" Holly said as he suddenly felt her tug on his hand.

He looked up again as everything started to go back normal, but she had gone, _where was she? Who was she?_ He felt an urge. Wait a minute!

His gut was telling him no, ' _you just buried your wife you selfish bastard and your daughter needs you and your head is telling you to look at some woman you saw at your wife's funeral, you sick bastard!'_

The thoughts were just rolling round in his head, as if his inner self was talking to him telling him he was being a bit of a douche right now. He was so confused.

At home, the family gathered at the wake, talking about Olivia, Holly was happily sat there with her doll that Judy had always kept at the house for her. Everything seemed, well... normal.

"Hey there, I'm so sorry to hear about your wife" a sexy female voice stated behind him.

Max turned and looked. There she was. Looking at her he could feel his heart pounding.

She was beautiful. She had red flowing hair, her eyes were dark, no colour, not normal but sexy. Her figure was slim and toned. She wore a long black dress with red, sparkly straps.

Her boobs were perfect; her ass was grab-able. This woman, _who was she?_

"Uhhh thank you" he replied not taking his eyes off her whilst trying to contain the lump of lust in his throat.

Was it just because he was horny and this woman was so attractive? How could he be attracted to a woman at his wife's funeral?

He couldn't understand why he was so drawn to her. He felt the lust for her as his dick twitched.

The smell of her perfume was intoxicating. The more he smelt the more he wanted her.

Smiling at him and staring with her flirtatious eyes, he wanted to rip her clothes off there and then. This sexual urge had come on so suddenly.

Max and Olivia always had sex that was sensual, deep, loving and caring. It always felt amazing, it always felt so good, but the more he looked at this woman, he didn't want that, he just wanted to fuck her, and he could see in her eyes, she wanted him to fuck her.

"Daddy" a voice said in the distance, "Daddy I want to go home now," Holly said looking up at her father who was stood next to this woman. Holly stared at her. Their eyes engaged in one another.

This woman, so persuasive, smiled at Holly, Holly smirked back. It was as if Holly knew who she was, that she was there for her, and her father.

The wake started coming to an end. Family said their goodbyes, shared hugs and kisses on the cheek and then the house was empty.

It was all over. Olivia was buried and gone and Max knew that tomorrow, he would be driving back to New York and returning to work and Holly would be returning to her new school and their new life would begin.

It was hard, the pain, the things he saw, but Max knew, Olivia would want him to move on for the sake of Holly.

The family said their goodnights and they all retired to bed. Max, lying on his bed, eyes wide open in the dark, had flashing images of that woman.

He didn't even get her name. He couldn't help but think. _What had come over him?_ He had never had thoughts like this before.

He drifted to sleep; it was a long drive back tomorrow. _'The walls were dripping with blood but there is no sound. There she was. She was looking at him. She walked over to him, her smell is inviting. "I'm here for you" she whispered "I know you want me" she told him. He kissed her, her mouth, she tasted so sweet, he pushed up her dress, he rubbed her vagina with his fingers, he felt how wet she was, she was moaning at him, she wanted more, more and more.'_ Max opened his eyes, it wasn't a bad dream but it was not a good dream. _How could he dream that? How had this woman captured him so?_ His erection was hard, raising the covers slightly.

He wanted this woman and he didn't know why. He grabbed his dick. Images of this woman in mind, his dream, her wetness, her taste, he rubbed his dick, he rubbed it hard and fast, moaning quietly, he rubbed, oh it felt good.

He cum so hard all over himself the release of it felt more than pleasurable. Sitting up he couldn't believe what he had done. He had never ever been like this before. He composed himself and cleaned up his mess.

He lied back down and decided to go back to sleep, trying to forget what had just happened.

The next morning, Judy, Tim and Holly were already around the kitchen table when Max came downstairs. "Would you like breakfast my dear" his mum said glaring at him with still a saddened face.

"No we're going to be heading back now. Holly, please go and get your things..."

"You can't drive on an empty stomach son!" his dad being actually concerned.

"I'll be fine dad honestly; I don't really have much of an appetite this morning."

"Well Holly has eaten and here are the letters from the estate agents, you will need to sign them to release the sale of the house."

His mum hands him some documents, the house sold quicker than expected.

"I'll sign these now; no point taking them back with me is there!" Max seemed rude and cold.

"Very well, come here my girl and give nanny a hug" she turned to Holly, her face filled with love and emotion. She hugged Holly goodbye and said goodbye to Max.

They loaded up their car and drove off. Again looking through his rear-view mirror, he watched the street as he drove away, he looked forward, it was all over and time for a new start.

Arriving back in New York five hours later, the traffic getting home was a nightmare. The apartment was clean and the windows were overlooking the city.

Glad to be away from it all! Max got stuck in to sorting out bits and bobs ready for work and school for the next day. It was Monday, normally he would be in work right now, but he was enjoying his day off and with it being around 3pm that afternoon, he decided to take Holly to the park.

On his way to the park he felt like someone was there, someone was following him; he looked behind him all the time but saw nothing, just lots of people walking around going about their day in busy New York.

The park was not that far from his apartment.

Holly was playing happily, they seemed like they were returning to normal life, and yes it was rather quick after the murder and people would have thought he had a part to play in it as he seemed cold and happy to move on, but he was doing all this for Holly.

What child wanted a mess of parent when they only had one and the other was gone for good?

He went to get Holly an ice-cream, but when he returned; Holly was talking to someone in the park. He could not see clearly who it was, only the back of them.

He walked closer getting concerned and then he saw it. That long red flowing hair.

She stood up and turned to him. "Hello Max" she said with a smile.

This woman! Here she was in New York. "I didn't get chance to properly introduce myself last time," she extended her hand to shake his "I'm Belladonna" she said smirking at him.

He looked back at her, "Uhhh, Belladonna? Strange name".

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she shrugged.

"Isn't Belladonna a drug?" Max asked about her strange name.

"Ha-ha, yes, what can I say, the man who named me thought me intoxicating, I guess that's how I got my name?" She looked wicked and seductive as she spoke.

"The man who named you? You mean you're father?" his eyes lowered towards her.

"No, but let's not discuss families" her manner was seemingly avoiding the topic.

"Umm, so what are you doing here" confused as to how she was suddenly at the same place.

"Oh I live here; I work for C&E Construction." She replied.

"Big time firm" Max was impressed.

"Yeah, I like power" she said looking at him with her seductive eyes.

Holly came running back to Max after playing but she looked at Belladonna.

"You have a beautiful little girl" she was looking straight at Holly.

Holly was taken by this woman.

They carried on talking for a while and Max invited her over for dinner. Holly was not interested in their conversation.

She was more concerned about the man across the road. Belladonna seemed to take all of Max's attention; he didn't notice that Holly was no longer stood beside him and that she had wandered off to the man who had captured her attention.

"Who are you?" Holly's voice asked curiously as she stared at the man looking back at her but he didn't reply. He just looked at her and smiled.

He held out his hand. Holly reached out to touch his hand. The world around them slowed down.

She stared at him as he stared at her, holding hands and not letting go. There was fire around them, but no-one else stopped in shock, they couldn't see what Holly could see.

They didn't notice, to them, a little girl was just holding a man's hand. These apparitions could only be seen by them two.

"Holly!" a voice shouted in background. Holly looked, Max was calling for her.

The man looked up and then looked back at Holly; she looked at her father and then looked back at the man.

He smiled at her as he turned her hand around to reveal her palm, Max looking over was getting worried and started walking towards her calling her name but Holly didn't move.

He could see a shadow next to her, _how could he see it but no-one else walking passed could?_

The man revealed a symbol on her palm; it was dark and burnt in, kind of like Olivia's but more prominent, more evil looking. She had always had the mark since birth.

She tried to show Olivia once when she was three and she was asking what the _'dirt'_ was on her hands, but Olivia was never able to see anything, only what she mistook for a birth mark, that's all it appeared to be to people.

Holly knew this man could see what it really was, the shape, the image on her palm, she trusted him. He looked at her, observing her face and spoke only two words, "One day!"

Max tried to get to her but he was cut off, traffic in the way, but when it cleared. Holly was stood there.

Alone. He grabbed her and told her off for walking away looking around as the man and the shadow had disappeared from sight. He had made plans with Belladonna so he took Holly home not letting her out of his sight. 

## CHAPTER 6

The evening approached and table place settings were all laid out. Max had bathed Holly and was putting her to bed. He felt guilty for shouting at her in the street. He tucked her in bed and sat on the edge as Holly looked up at him.

"You know why Daddy was mad don't you" a mushy sound in his voice. Holly nodded at him in agreement.

"You don't talk to stranger's bubba, Daddy doesn't want a bad man to take you away and Daddy just got a little scared." He told her as he stroked her cheek.

She smiled at him and he kissed her on the forehead goodnight. Leaving her room, he glanced back to watch her roll over and cuddle into her doll.

As he closed the door, he heard the door buzzer sound, he went over and pressed the button to see the CCTV image to the entrance, he saw is was Belladonna and buzzed her in. He opened his apartment door.

There stood before his eyes as he opened the door was a beautiful and seductive woman. She was wearing a tight black dress, her boobs pushed up like a supermodel poster and her ass so fine you would want to bite it.

Her legs were long and sexy; her skin looked soft without a mark or imperfection on her. Wearing little make-up as she was so beautiful, Max felt his dick twitch.

She wasn't even wearing a coat even though there was a chill in the air that night.

Max led her into the living room where they sat and discussed their lives. Getting to know each other Max discussed work and Holly and completely avoided talking about Olivia.

Belladonna discussed how she worked for the construction company as their company appointed lawyer and they got lost in their conversation.

Talking away, she was sat there, legs crossed over the other staring at Max. Max couldn't take his eyes off her. She pulled herself forward and got close to Max. He could feel her breathing on him.

She put the wine down on the table and started unbuttoning his shirt. Max was shocked, she had been there barely an hour and already she was undressing him.

He pulled back looking at her, he didn't know what to do, his mind said no but his dick said yes. Calmly she moved closer, her scent was too inviting.

Unable to resist anymore he leant forward and kissed her passionately. The kisses were deep as she bit his lip and he grabbed her hair.

It was intense but it wasn't loving act. He looked at her and could see in her eyes she wanted a fuck. Ripping her dress off to reveal her toned body, he kissed and bit her neck as she enjoyed it.

He pushed her down on the sofa; she was inviting, laughing and smiling at his roughness. She ripped his shirt open and run her finger nails into his skin, he grinded his teeth together as she hurt him but he couldn't stop.

He quickly got his dick out of his pants unable to hold back anymore and he forcefully pushed it inside her, it was so hard it should have hurt, but she loved it.

He grabbed her neck as she begged him to punish her so he fucked her hard.

His dick was pushing in and out of her as she wrapped her legs around him and dug her nails in. She bit him and he bit her. The feel of her wet juices dripping down his dick got him so excited he her fucked fast. She was smiling at someone behind him.

There was what appeared to be a man there watching. Max could feel him but he wanted more of Belladonna so he didn't stop.

She looked at the man as she was being fucked; she was encouraging Max to lose himself in her darkness. The heat was intense. The fuck was powerful. He fucked her harder and harder until he released inside her. She smiled as Max looked behind him but there was no-one there.

She looked at him, his dick was still inside her, his body was trembling, and his heart was beating fast. She had an evil look in her eyes with a devilish smile on her face. "I have you now" she whispered.

He started to feel light headed, the room looked disorientated. He fell down on top of her; her face was still smiling back at him. He heard voices but when he opened his eyes, the images were all distorted.

"I need you to control him, he will be a great asset in time when I need to take her, did he cum inside you" a deep voice stated in the background.

"Yes sir" she replied.

"Good, did you cut him?" the deep voice asked.

"Yes sir" she replied again

"Good, now, he will bend to your will!" The voice was dark, deep and beastly, but Max could not see who it was. Lying on the floor Max was not able to see clearly, _was he dreaming?_

"My girl will need your guidance, you best please me. I do not tolerate failures" the voice demanded.

"Yes sir" Belladonna was so obedient

"Do you want to satisfy me, do you want to please me?" he asked in a low seductive voice.

"Yes sir" her voice high pitched and willing.

Slightly seeing someone he watched as what looked like a woman, being bent over and fucked roughly by a huge man with wings and horns that bent over the back of his head, but the image was too tainted. He had no control over his body, and he could not move.

"Fuck me sir, fuck me." The woman cried out.

Max was watching, _or was he?_ He didn't know if what he was seeing was real or just a fucked up dream, when his eyes glazed around he saw feet in the distance.

They were small feet. It appeared to be Holly's feet. She was stood on the side in the hallway watching this man fuck this woman. _What the fuck?_

He tried to call out but nothing came out of his mouth, he tried to move but his body remained still. He drifted back into unconsciousness.

The next morning, Max awoke at 7:30am with his alarm sounding off. He was in his bed with no memory of how he got there.

Dazed and confused he stumbled and got up walking to the living room. He saw the empty bottle of wine and two glasses on the table, he remembered drinking, and he remembered Belladonna being there. _What the hell happened?_

He went into Holly's room to wake her; sleeping peacefully he leant over and kissed her on the forehead. Sat at the breakfast table, Max turned and looks at Holly who was already dressed and ready for school.

He heard the door buzzer go; it was Holly's ride for school. Holly picked up her bag and went to leave but Max had an unnerving feeling about last night.

"Wait, Holly, come back a second..." he shouted after her.

"Yes daddy..." Holly stopped and turned to face Max who was looking nervous.

"Did you wake up last night? Or get out of bed?" he asked very concerned.

"No daddy," Holly had no facial expressions and a sure tone in her voice.

"No worries" He kissed her on the forehead, "Have a good day at school bubba."

Holly left with a smile. Max knew Belladonna was over last night but what the fuck happened?

The last thing he remembered was her unbuttoning his shirt. His mind flashed back over the night, they talked and laughed and she made a move on him.

The massive blur in his head of the sex and the man, _was it just a dream?_ He felt confused.

He walked over to the cupboard and took out the whiskey; he took a shot of it and then headed off to work. Whilst in work all day his mind was elsewhere, he could only think about Belladonna. _Did they have sex last night?_

He wasn't too sure. The boss came over and asked if he was ok. Max's boss was a very controlling man. He seemed very powerful and dark and he always had a slight interest in Max.

He didn't mix with other staff but often women were called to his office and would be in there for hours, then after a while the women would no longer be seen in the office.

Max only ever referred to him as 'his boss' and never his name, some people in office weren't even sure what it was, they just called him 'sir.' He regularly disappeared for days at a time and the office was always left to run either on its own or by senior staff members who seemed to happily do as his boss wished.

Everyone in the office knew what had happened to Max and the reason he left the office for a few days but no-one discussed it. They just allowed Max to have alone time in the office and they got on with things as not to offend him.

Lunch time Max called Belladonna; he had to know he wasn't going insane. He rung her and it seemed to ring for ages, just as he was about to hang up she answered; "Hello," _oh that voice...._

"Hey, it's uh, it's Max" he waited for her response biting his lip nervously unsure of what to expect.

"Well hey, I was wondering when you were going to call" she sounded happy to hear from him.

"I uh wanted to talk about last night." he sounded embarrassed.

"Mmm you were so good Max; my pussy is still wet from what you did to me" she said with a little girlie giggle.

"What I did?" his voice unsure

"Yeah, you fucked me, you wanted it so bad, and you dominated me Max." She told him.

At that moment images flashed back into his head of the sex he had with her.

He saw how rough he was, he remembers going hard, grabbing her, the feeling of wanting more and not being able to stop.

"Max...you there?" a voice sounded in the background.

He came back around as he heard her calling on the phone "Uhh yeah, I'm here, I'm sorry if I hurt you, must have been the wine, I don't normally do that." He put his head in his hands, he felt ashamed of himself.

"Oh Maxy don't be sorry, I enjoyed it and don't worry, I think you and I are going to be great" she sounded certain and happy.

He continued to talk to her for a bit and then agreed for her to come over that evening.

When they hung up he still felt ashamed of himself even though she said she enjoyed it and her tone and happiness on the phone would imply she definitely did, _why was he feeling so ashamed?_

He went across the road to the bar and had a whiskey. He wanted to take the edge off. He couldn't understand what was happening.

He went back to work and carried on with his day as he normally would. It was approaching 5pm and the day was almost over, _thank fuck for that_. He just wanted to go home and lie down. His boss called him into the room.

It was never a good thing when the boss called you in after two weeks on the job. He started walking to his bosses' office. He started thinking _'for fuck sake what the hell now, just be calm, stay cool'._

He knocked on the door; "You wanted to see me?" he peeped his head round and was feeling a little anxious.

"Yes Max, please come in sit down," his boss was demanding rather than happily inviting.

Max took a seat in the office, he felt a little nervous as to what the boss wanted.

"You know Max, I have been watching you, you've been here two weeks but your financial reports are excellent, you have built up some nice clients already and although you have you personal issues, your work ethic, is, well... impressive!" his boss told Max.

Shocked at what he was hearing, frowning and slightly puzzled he replied the only words his brain would think of, "Uh, thank you sir".

His boss continued, "I need people like you, some of them fuckwits out there are fucking useless, but you, you I like, you do a good job, so this is what I'm going to do, as from now you will get your own office and you will become manager of your department" smirking at him with a smile Max had seen before Max felt even more uneasy.

"But sir, excuse me, isn't Tony the current manager of my department?" Max asked thinking _what the fuck is this man on?_ "I don't really want to screw him over if I'm honest and I've only been here two weeks" he said brushing off trying to dissuade him from making the decision he knew he was leading to.

"Ahh fuck Tony, you know what they say kid, you got to walk over some fuckers to get to the top" the boss looked at him.

Max was feeling uncomfortable; his mouth was all dry as his boss leant over him. "C'mon Max, the devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape with pointy horns, he comes as everything you ever wished for," his voice is deep and beastly.

_What a weird ass thing to say! No-one even mentioned the devil._ Max looked at him, bewildered by his words. _What was he asking? Did he want him to shit on colleagues to get to the top?_

Max wasn't like that, he was a nice a guy. He would always go out of his way to help others, not shit all over them.

His boss kept talking, his voice in the background, trying to manipulate Max in to screwing over someone in the office.

Max however, deep down inside, did feel the need to want more. He wanted the money, the power, _but why?_

He was earning a nice decent wage, he had replaced Holly's ten grand in the bank and the money from the sale of the house was more than enough.

He was living comfortably in a nice apartment with beautiful views. But thinking about what more he could have, it was as if he had a new sudden desire, greed!

Max looked at his boss, he didn't know what to do; his heart and mind were saying two different things. "But isn't that greedy...." he blurted out the words from his mind without thinking.

He expected a decent response from his boss.

But his boss just looked at him with a cold smile "There's nothing wrong with a little greed!" His expression was so reserved yet cold.

Max agreed to take the manager position but he was told it would be him that would need to tell Tony he was no longer in that position.

Max knew that was not going to be a conversation that was going to go well. Max left the office thinking about what had just happened and went to collect Holly from the Nanny's house.

To his horror, she was not there.

Panicking he grabbed the Nanny and demanded to know where his daughter went. Anger enraged him, frightened of his actions the Nanny explained she was collected by a woman about an hour or so prior and that Holly went home.

He rushed home panicking, _who the fuck had Holly?_ He drove so fast he almost hit someone, but he didn't care, he wanted to get home as quick as he could.

He got in the apartment block and gunned towards his apartment door. He bashed open the door only to find Holly sat there with Belladonna.

She turned in shock as the door banged open. He flew into a rage at her grabbing her off the sofa and throwing her across the room.

"What the fuck are you doing? How the fuck did you get in here? You took my daughter from school how fucking dare you!" He screamed into a fit of rage unaware that his daughter was stood behind him watching.

Composed and unaffected by his rage or the fact that he just threw her across the room, Belladonna calmly got up and turned to face him.

Her face was smirking; her eyes were piercing at him. He stood looking at her, his face red with anger, his body was shaking, and his chest was moving in and out where he was breathing so hard.

She walked towards him until she was in his face; she pressed her lips against his ear and whispered something on he could hear.

Holly looked on wondering what was happening, she heard nothing but saw her father suddenly and calmly walk into his bedroom down the hall.

Turning to Holly, Belladonna smiled and attended to her. She was very attentive, feeding her whatever she asked for, confining to her every need without question.

She put Holly to bed and told Holly she was going to be around for a long time, to look after her, to serve her, to make sure she did what she was born to do.

Holly did not care, she was five years old. She just smiled because she was starting to trust Belladonna and liked the fact she was in her life.

Holly turned over to go to sleep, Belladonna looked at her and whispered in her ear "et paulatim crescat malum mea absconderis penes te regina," she then smirked and left the room.

Max heard as he was eavesdropping by the door, he heard Belladonna walking towards the bedroom door to leave the room so he quickly moved back into his bedroom. Belladonna walked into Max's bedroom.

She took all her clothes off to reveal her naked body. She stood in-front of Max looking down at him as he sat on the bed in-front of her.

She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, he looked directly in her eyes, they were black, no colour.

"You" she demanded "I'm going to show you why you shouldn't treat me that way" she said coldly and dominantly.

Max felt all his inhibitions' leave his body. _How did she control him like this?_

His body was pushed down on the bed, his hands flung above his head. _What the fuck was happening?_ She wasn't even touching him; her eyes were no longer black but red.

They were blood red. She climbed on top of him and ran her nails down his chest; they were cutting into him as she did. "You will obey me" she said in demand.

Her voice was so strong and fierce. Her eyes flicked and his jeans flew off underneath her. She started grinding on his dick, her evil way to control him was through sex, but he wanted it! The more she gave the less he could resist. She slid his dick inside her and fucked him.

She was riding that dick so good he felt pleasure in the pain she was causing. "You like that don't you!" she told him.

She rode him hard and fast, her cum was dripping down his dick; he could feel her exploding on him. "Cum for me baby" she screamed as he discharged his cum inside her.

Again he felt weak and dazed; she had taken all his energy. Tied up to the bed he couldn't move.

Whilst he was spaced out, again he saw the figure of the man. This figure was talking to Belladonna but Max was too dazed out to hear what they were saying, he could just hear the slight mumbles of their voices.

He blinked trying to regain some straight sight but it didn't work, the images were blurry, Belladonna stood there naked talking to this beastly man, again he had wings and a horn.

Max tried to pull himself free but he was cuffed, he wasn't going anywhere, he tried to focus on her, _what was she doing?_

She was rubbing this enormous dick. _Surely that wasn't real?_ It was too big to be real, as much as men like to pretend they are big, _no-one is that big surely?_

She was bent over and fucked hard, however Max was getting weaker and weaker and eventually he passed out.

_'Mommy, Mommy" her voice in the distance in-front of him, he can't see her, he runs towards her. "Holly?" "Daddy you need to help Mommy" the innocent voice shouts faded in the background. The blood pours from her face. The man behind her laughs as he stabs her. She pleads to be saved but he cannot get to her. She falls to floor, lifeless. The walls soaked in blood. Holly looks up. "Daddy, he's coming for me." There he is, the demon man'_ Max awoke shaken by the dream.

He looked over as he tried to control his breathing and could see Belladonna was asleep beside him. He got out of bed and went to check on Holly, she was fast asleep.

_Was just another nightmare, the same nightmare as before 'What's happening to me'_ he cried to himself.

Tired and weak, he went back to bed, Belladonna not even flinching at his movements and not even noticing he had a nightmare.

## CHAPTER 7

Max awoke the next morning and was still shaken from his dream the night before. Belladonna and Holly were already awake and eating breakfast in the kitchen. Max felt weak and drained still.

Belladonna looked at him "Breakfast?" she asked politely.

He nodded; he couldn't speak very well, his throat seemed very dry.

"You must eat something, big day at work today...." there was a sure tone in her voice.

_How did she know it was a big day for him?_ He had to tell Tony that he's taking his job, but he couldn't face it. He looked up at the calendar. It was Holly's birthday on the Thursday coming and today was Wednesday, _shit! It is her birthday tomorrow_. He had completely forgotten.

Her first birthday without her mother and yet somehow she seemed to be happy with Belladonna and not missing her mother at all.

Could he believe that a five year old would not show any signs of sadness when they lose mother?

His mind came back into the room as he was staring at the calendar.

"Belladonna I need....." he started talking

But she cut him off quickly "Please Max start calling me Belle and I know what you're going to say, I'll have a look in town today."

His look dumbfounded, _how the fuck did she even know what he was going to say?_

"I'll take Holly to school today" she stated looking at Holly who seems more than happy for this to happen.

"Its ok Bella.......Belle" he corrected himself quickly when noticing her evil glance, "You don't have to do that, she has a car come and collect her."

"I'm happy to; besides, Holly and I are great friends. I'll look after her" she said happily.

"Listen Belle," he pulled her aside not wanting Holly to hear their discussion. "What happened last night?" He looked at her puzzled, confused.

"We had sex Max, why?" her expression says _'uhhh duh'_

"Well, you've been here twice, and uhhh, well I just felt a bit weird how you know, we've had this much sex" he seemed uncomfortable and agitated.

"Oh Max, you worry too much," she stroked his face and looked into his eyes "you need me here, you want me here and I am not going anywhere" she said assertively.

He couldn't argue with her, she had a power over him he didn't know how to brush off. Waving goodbye to Holly he headed off to work feeling extremely fucked up.

He dreaded the discussion he now had to have with Tony. Arriving at his office, he walked through the main office where all the 'minion' workers were working and noticed across the room that Tony's private office already had his name on it.

He could see Tony arguing in his bosses' office but the boss didn't look like he gave a shit!

Tony pointed outside his boss's office and Max could hear the screaming. Tony stormed out of the office and started heading towards Max.

Max knew this was not going to go down well so he prepared himself. As Tony made a pun for him, Max punched him in the face knocking him to the floor.

His boss applauded him as he laughed, as if this type of behaviour was acceptable!

The people around him looked at him, they were all shocked. Max quickly walked into his new office and shut the door.

Not wanting to see or hear what his colleagues had to say about him he sat in there all day doing his work and not moving.

Belladonna didn't go into work. She spent the day with Holly. Seeing if Holly really was the person she was born to be as Belladonna deep down hoped she wasn't, she wanted the man that was after Holly for herself, secretly she wanted to be who Holly was destined to be which is why she always insisted on pleasuring this man with vigorous and rough sex, she knew that's how he liked it, but she did actually like Holly and aimed to make this particular man happy.

Belladonna took Holly to a graveyard. There in the graveyard was a church, however this wasn't a normal church where people would go to praise god.

This was a dark church, only seen by those who were meant to see. To others it looked like a rusty old building, but to the right people, you could see the crows and bats flying above the tower and the fire at the open gates. Holly looked as she saw was Belladonna was looking at.

"Do you know where we are Holly?" she looked down at Holly's expression.

"No" Holly seemed a little taken back.

"This is where you will get married one day..." Belladonna stated looking over at the church

"Married? But I'm only five Belle" Holly replied in her little innocent voice.

She didn't understand. Belladonna laughed slightly kneeling down to Holly's line of sight "I know you are, but one day when you're a very big girl..."

Holly smiled "A BIG, BIG girl," Holly replied emphasising on what Belladonna was telling her.

She started telling her how she was special and that one day her life will be full of power.

Laughing and giggling together Holly stopped suddenly, she turned to look and in the doorway of the fiery entrance was a man.

A man she hadn't seen before, he had horns sprouting from his head and large wings that appeared from behind. He was staring at Holly and Holly could feel his stare on her.

Belladonna observed Holly to see her reaction. Holly wasn't afraid but instead started walking towards this weird and strange man. He held his hand out for her and again without fear she reached out for his.

The mark on the palm of her hand changed. One year older tomorrow the man would have to wait to have her. He faded into the building as Holly watched on. She smiled at him.

Evilly happy at what she had observed, Belladonna knew that Holly was the right one. But time was needed before anything could be done.

Holly came back to Belladonna and began giggling; knowing that there was true evil in this girl Belladonna was to remain at her side and help raise her making sure Olivia and Max's love was soon washed from her soul.

Belladonna felt a hand on her shoulder so she turned around and saw the man was back in the doorway.

Being summoned towards him by his request she was suddenly in-front of him. He grabbed her neck as she smiled at him and he smiled at her. Her efforts were paying off. She was doing a very good job.

She was draining Max of his sanity and love, she was turning his soul so dark he would sin and his affect would rub off on Holly.

The love and goodness that he once shared with Holly would be tainted by Belladonna. His soul would be dark and lost and Holly's evil would be able to flourish inside her.

Holding her by the neck he pulled her towards him "Well, well, aren't you turning out to be a good little slave"

She stared back at him, she smirked at his evilness.

"She will learn great things from you" he snarled through his pointy teeth.

Bewitched by his power, Belladonna succumbed to his every will and desire. He lifted her off the floor with his hands around her neck and pushed his hand up her skirt.

His fingers slid inside as he finger fucked her until she cum. Looking at her biting his lips, he forced her to lick her cum from his fingers and then he dropped her to the floor. Laughing she got up and walked away.

Holly was waiting by a tree; she did not see any of that. "C'mon your highness" she said smirking knowing the truth to a confused child.

They headed into town to buy presents and goods for a party Belladonna was going to throw for Holly. In work, Max received a phone call. It was Holly's school.

They were calling to see where Holly was as she had not been in for registration that day. Confused, Max questioned them, Belladonna had stated that she was taking her, it was now after lunch and only now they had called him to say his daughter wasn't at school.

Ecstatic at the whereabouts of his daughter, he started screaming at the woman on the phone, only to then look up and see Holly and Belladonna standing in his office. Max then changed his tune and said there was a family emergency and

Holly had been with him, he stated he had forgotten to call them and put the phone down.

He opened his office door to have Holly run up to him and embrace him with a huge hug.

Belladonna soon followed after her. He dragged her into his office with Holly in his arms and demanded to know where they had been all morning and why Holly was not at school.

Belladonna quickly stared him down to a point where he bended to her will and was no longer angry with her. He could not control himself around her.

Holly started to tell him about the party she was going to have. She was so excited she couldn't contain her excitement at the thought of her first ever party with her school friends. Watching her movements and facial expressions Max started to think of Olivia.

She looked like her mother, so pure, so innocent. Holly played in his office for a while as he spoke to Belladonna about the recent events.

It had been 3 days since his wife's funeral and already he had slept with someone else who was making herself comfortable in his home.

The more he tried to question her motives the more she distracted him with her looks or sex, but he knew she couldn't have sex with him here.

He always felt the need to satisfy her and do whatever it was she said. The day went by and now it was 5pm and he had been discussing stuff with Belladonna for hours. Holly had been sat playing in his office. He had not noticed the time.

Suddenly Belladonna was called to his bosses' office. He had no idea they even knew each-other.

With a grin on her face she walked into his office and closed the door. Curious as to what was being said Max tried to listen against the wall.

He missed what they were discussing as Holly was distracting him for the first part. He listened as hard as he could.

His bosses' voice deep "So, I see you followed my instruction and took her there, she seen me?"

"Yes, she wasn't afraid of what she saw..." Belladonna's voice could barely be heard.

"I know that, why would she be afraid? It is who she is!" his boss stated back.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to sound unsure..." Belladonna continued to talk and the conversation continued.

"I know my girl; you will know what to do when the music is heard but we have years for that yet"

"What music sir?"

"Ahh, the music only she can hear"

"But sir, I thought..."

"You thought what, that she would just willingly come to me?"

"No I...."

"Don't be such a fool Belladonna, she's too young, but when she hears the music it will lead her to me, only she can hear the music. But, we have to wait and be patient.

It cannot happen until she is eighteen, when her power has fully grown within. Until then, you have the job of making sure that she is not tainted by love or good. Living in this realm can play on one's soul...."

Just then, Max knocked the table knocking over the stuff on top and making a loud bang.

He started trying to put things back as quickly as he could but it was loud enough that his boss and Belladonna come into his office. He looked up and began thinking he had been caught listening.

Instead he thought quickly as Holly was stood beside him and he said Holly had been playing and she knocked over some things over.

His boss looked straight at Holly, who looked up at him and smiled. Having been a long day and not liking the look his boss was giving his daughter; he took her hand and led her out of the office.

Belladonna followed suit but not just before stopping to look back, as did Holly also, and smile at Max's boss.

Back home, they settled down for the evening. They had dinner and Belladonna had given Holly her bath.

Tomorrow was her birthday and after school she was going to have a big party with all of her friends. Confused Max looked at Belladonna wondering how the fuck she had managed to organise a party and invite guests in less than a day.

She told him not to question her that she had ways of making things go her way. Knowing where the night was leading by the look in Belladonna's eyes, he didn't want to have sex and wake up missing part of his memory.

He lied there on the sofa complaining he wasn't feeling too well. Noticing his pale face, Belladonna attended to Holly and put her to bed.

When she came back, Max was asleep, or at least appeared so. Belladonna left him to it on the sofa and retired to the bedroom to watch TV in bed.

Hearing the sound of the telly, he patiently waited on the sofa for her to fall asleep.

After a few hours he plucked up the courage to move and go check.

There, she was sleeping soundly on the bed, Belladonna was completely comatose. He checked on Holly and she was the same, sound asleep.

He went and climbed in next to Belladonna, trying not to wake her afraid she'd want sex. Lying beside her he rolled over and nodded off to sleep.

_'The door is open, he walks through the door. He sees her. He sees her having sex with a man. The man's face cannot be seen. She is enjoying it, he hears her moaning. Her back towards him but he cannot see her face. The pleasure this woman is feeling. She's enjoying it. Every thrust the man gives her. The man leans her back; she opens her eyes and looks at him behind her. It's Liv. The blood drips from her eyes; the man fucks her and looks at up at him "Your daughter is mine."_ Max wakes up shaking.

He looked over to the other side of the bed and could see that Belladonna was not next to him. Hearing a muffled sound he got up and walked towards the living room.

There on the sofa Belladonna was sat in the room lit only by candlelight. He walked closer and saw her lying on the sofa. She was rubbing her vagina and pleasuring herself.

He stopped and stared at her thinking she was oblivious to the fact he was there but she knew he was stood there. She looked at him and was enticing him over to her.

He knew he did not want to but he was drawn to her. He walked over to her dropping his shorts as he reached her. He watched her rub her vagina, his dick hardened but she would not let him enter her.

She made him watch until he begged her.

"Please Belle, please" she leant up and stuck her fingers in his mouth.

He tasted her and to him she tasted good. She turned around so her back was touching his chest and she slowly lowered herself onto his dick.

The groan he let out told her he wanted her so she pushed up and down as he went in and out of her vagina.

"You feel that baby, you feel how much you like being inside me" she said as she gasped for air.

She pushed down hard as his groans got more intense.

"You. Need. Me. Fuck me Max, fuck me like a dirty bad girl" she demanded.

Taking her instruction and feeling a sense of power, he forced her down on to her knees and grabbed her hair with one hand.

Digging his fingers into her hips he pulled her back hard on to his dick and fucked her roughly.

She was screaming out with pleasure as she was telling him more, more, And MORE!

He gave her more like a lion ripping the meat off his prey. She was laughing as he fucked her, he dug his fingers in so hard her hip started to bleed but she continued to beg for more. He fucked her; his dick was solid inside her.

"Give it to me Max, fill me up like a dirty whore" and as she used those demanding words he came inside her.

He fell to the sofa as he saw the blood dripping from her hips.

Ashamed at what he had done he ran to the bedroom and held his head in shame. _'What's happening to me?'_ he questioned himself.

He didn't know what he had become. Sat on the sofa Belladonna licked her own blood until she was clean. 

## CHAPTER 8

It was the day of Holly's birthday and party. She woke up feeling all excited and happy sat eating her breakfast as she opened presents from Max, Belladonna and some strange mystery person who had given her a box, Belladonna instructed Holly to keep the box safe.

Max looked at Belladonna at the breakfast table. She was not showing any cuts, there was no blood stains or anything to show where Max had dug in his fingers.

_Maybe he didn't hurt her as much as he thought._ Smiling at the happiness on his daughters face, his mind started to wander on to her and not what happened the night before. The phone rang as he was staring at Holly.

It was his mum, "My boy, I called to speak to the birthday girl."

"She's here mum hang on." He calls out for Holly who was prancing around like an excited six year old little girl after opening all her presents, she had been well and truly spoilt.

His mother spoke to Holly on the phone and it was observed quite closely by a watching Belladonna.

Holly told her Nan what she had for her birthday and about the party she was having after school.

Max hurried her along as she had to get going for school, her lift arrived as normal and Belladonna headed out at the same time.

Holding the phone in his hand he waved and kissed them both as they say goodbye. He carried on speaking to his mother. "Sorry mum, she's gone now, school ride is here"

"Its ok son, it's nice to hear your voice, haven't heard from you since the funeral."

"I know mum things have been..." He paused for a second, his mother's voice was in the background calling him, and he came back around.

"...sorry mum, things have been little mad here, it's a lot to explain but I uhh got a promotion at work and stuff," he was trying not to give anything away and he tried to sound upbeat.

His mother was happy to hear his voice. They spoke for a while but Max had to cut her off as he needed to go to work.

He made a promise to go visit them at some point. Judy hung up but she could tell there was something different about her son.

She knew him to well for him to be able to hide anything from her. The police were still looking into Olivia's murder but were coming up empty handed.

She had already told Max this on the phone but he didn't seem too bothered by it, like his mind was elsewhere. Concerned, she told Tim she wanted to go visit him this weekend.

They had the sale of the house documents to give him and a piece of paper confirming the proceeds of the sale had been transferred to his bank account, which Max knew as his bank balance was nice and high and also Holly's presents.

Sensing this, Belladonna couldn't let his parents come to New York and make his heart ponder for Olivia. She couldn't risk the goodness and love they would bring.

Family bonds were always very strong and sometimes in the past Belladonna had a hard job breaking them, but right now she had Max right where she needed him and she had to keep control as she had promised, she knew she needed to do something to stop them.

In her conniving evil ways, she would surely make sure that they never reached New York.

She couldn't go near the office without being seen by Max, but the man, who was also his boss in many disguises, had ways of making it appear he was in one place when really he would be in another.

She met him at the church in the cemetery. She gave him the details that she had foreseen Tim and Judy's plans to visit Max in New York for what she referred to as 'family time'.

He was furious. Holly's soul could not be tainted with good; he needed the goodness in her soul to be gone so he ordered Belladonna to deal with it.

With a tainted soul from evil to good, she would never willingly go to him or never accept who she was truly meant to be. Belladonna assured the man she would do everything in her power and that they would never reach New York that weekend.

Pleased with her efforts he gave her a pendant. He told her she needed more control over Max, that his downfall would in time be there gain. She would do what she needed to do.

She left church and carried on with her day arranging a plan in her mind.

The working day was over and it was time for Holly's party. The apartment was full of screaming unruly children.

The children ran about like crazy who were getting high off sugar. Max suddenly heard his name being called in the distance.

The children were playing, they couldn't hear anything, some of the children's parents were sat laughing and watching them play.

He looked at them; they weren't noticing the sound of someone calling his name. He got up and walked down the corridor, his name still being called. He turned and saw Belladonna standing in the bathroom. He walked in and she shut the door.

"You want me Max?" She questioned him as she stood there taking her clothes off.

He looked at her disgusted and shocked; he pushed her backwards and quietly snarled at her. "What are you doing? We have a house full of children and guests."

She smirked at him with a dirty look in her eyes as she brushed back up against him, slowly taking his clothes of. He became breathless. He stared at her with a frown on his face.

_Why was she doing this now?_ Holly's party was taking place, there were loads of people in the house but she persisted on turning him on.

He knew when it came to her advances he couldn't say no. She had a power over him he wasn't able to control or shake off. Standing there naked in the bathroom, she got down on her knees and started sucking his dick.

She took him all into her mouth. She made him so hard he couldn't bare it any longer.

He brought her up to her feet and pushed her against the sink, the rougher he was with her the more she encouraged him and liked it. He pulled her panties to one side and slid inside her.

The warmth he felt was so inviting. He thrusted fast and hard, she spurned him on.

He let out a groan "ahhh fuck.me.yes.I'm cumming" he gritted through his teeth so the guests wouldn't hear.

With cum dripping from her vagina and her legs wide open, she looked up at Max, with a twisted evil smile she looked up at him with a wicked smile on her face "It's done."

Breathless and confused he looked back at her, his face frowning as he stared at her, _what was she on about it's done?_ They cleaned themselves up and quickly got dressed before re-joining the party.

At that moment, a man was in a dark room. The walls were black and the only light was a red beam on the ceiling that barely made any difference.

With a corrupt smile on his face, he placed a drop of blood on a picture of Max. Looking up at the barely lit light, he laughed wickedly speaking to himself "It's done."

At that moment, Max felt a twinge in his stomach as he looked over to see Belladonna's iniquitous smile and by now the party was coming to an end.

The children were all sugared out and the parents were worn out. Max and Belladonna said their goodbyes and Holly thanked all of her friends as she was always taught to be polite and grateful.

The parents commented on how Holly was a beautiful and intelligent little girl, much to Max's delight. It had been a long evening.

They were all exhausted and even though the apartment was a mess from the party, Max, Holly and Belladonna decided to go to bed and deal with it tomorrow.

Tomorrow was Friday, Belladonna could sense that Tim and Judy were packing their bags ready to leave and head to New York to visit Max.

The man's words were clear to her, she was not to allow this to happen, but for now she would go to sleep. It was Friday morning; Max was already up cleaning while the girls were still in bed. It was still early, the sun had just started coming up and the air was still fresh and crisp.

He cleaned up, put all the rubbish in the bins, sprayed all the services and the air freshened the room just as the girls were getting out of bed.

Belladonna looked different this morning. "Something on your mind?" he questioned her wondering what the look on her face was.

"No Max," she said with a simper smile.

Shrugging his shoulders, they carried on with their morning and left to go about their day.

Tim and Judy were packing up the car and getting ready to leave Boston. Judy stopped suddenly as they were packing the car and started rubbing her stomach and expressed and uncomfortable look.

Tim, noticing his wife looking a little worried questioned her on what was wrong. She didn't say much to worry him, only that she felt a bit queasy, but that was nothing new, Judy always felt queasy when it came to long car rides.

But to her this wasn't her normal queasiness. She felt butterflies in her stomach. The kind that tell you not to do something, instinct, like when you go to walk down a dark lane in the middle of the night but something in your gut tells you it's dangerous and not to walk down there.

Ignoring her gut instinct and thinking she was just nervous about the state she would find her son and grand-daughter, Judy ignored this and they got in the car and set off.

On the journey, the feeling just wouldn't go away. Tim and Judy discussed Max and Holly on the way and started talking about Olivia.

They decided when they arrived at New York to see Max that it would be best not to discuss Olivia in-front him. They didn't want to upset him after it seemed he was moving on with his life.

They didn't want to discuss the police investigation either, Judy had already discussed parts of this with Max on the phone and she didn't want to upset him further.

As Max had been living in New York for a few weeks, almost a month, he didn't know that the detectives were still around trying to gather information and that they were coming up with nothing.

Belladonna had returned to the apartment and had walked over the long windows in the lounge area.

The windows went from the roof to the floor; she was looking out over the city of New York. With a devilish smile on her face, she started chanting quietly to herself.

She cut the palm of her hand and smeared the blood on the window.

There in the smudge was a small image of a car. Still chanting, Belladonna put a cross through the smeared blood stain on the window.

Tim and Judy's car suddenly flipped at high speed on the freeway.

Their car tumbled over the lanes causing other cars to swerve out of the way.

Tim and Judy were killed instantly. Onlookers got out of their vehicles with horror on their faces as they looked at the damage and destruction of the vehicle smashed up on the side of the freeway.

Emergency responders were quickly at the scene and news reporters had caught wind of the accident.

Belladonna's job was done.

The devastation this would cause to Max would make him spiral further down where his soul would be defiled and the love and pureness in his heart would start to weaken, giving the man easier access to Holly.

The news coverage of the crash was on all the channels. The freeway had completely come to a stop as rescuers and emergency responders tried to pull the lifeless bodies from the wreckage.

The cars that had swerved to avoid the danger were all spread out and traffic was tailing for miles back. It was lunch time in the office so Max had gone to the staff room where the majority of the staff were watching the news.

As it was the weekend, some of them had family coming to visit who were using the same freeway and some others had planned to go away so they knew there were going to be severe delays.

The story detailed the crash and devastation of two lives lost in a terrible crash. Max, who was observing the sound of the TV in background was only slightly listening but carried on reading the paper left from the morning and eating a sandwich.

Then in the background he heard the news reporter tell the bodies had been identified has Tim and Judy Gage.

He dropped his sandwich and looked up. There on screen were the images of a fatal crash and there across the bottom of the screen, the names of the crash victims. The screen read:

_*BREAKING NEWS, TWO VICTIMS OF FATAL CRASH IDENTIFIED AS TIM AND JUDY GAGE*_

He felt sick, his stomach was turning into knots, the room was spinning around him as three of his colleagues looked at him knowing that those were his parents.

Max collapsed to the floor as his colleagues rushed over to him. Lying on the floor, slowly coming round he could hear the voices of his colleagues asking if he was ok.

All worried they were trying to assist him. Max came around and sat up staring at the wall ahead of him, his mind was racing.

_How could this happen? Olivia first and now them, he wondered did God hate him?_ He had so many questions in his head but he had no answers to go with them.

Looking around at his colleagues concerned faces all staring at him, he got up and rushed back to his office and slamming the door behind him.

Breathless, panicking and his heart racing he tried to compose himself. There was a knock on the door and a voice on the other side.

"Max, are you alright? I just seen the news" he opened the door to be greeted by his boss.

His face had no sympathy no concern, it was expressionless yet his wording sounded like he was trying to act concerned.

He told Max to take the rest of the day off and go home to grieve. Max took up his offer and left the office immediately.

He first went by the school and took Holly out early and explained to her teachers what had happened.

Then he headed to the police station and advised he had heard the news the identification of the bodies found in the freeway crash. The police officer confirmed that two bodies were found and identified at the scene due to drivers licence in the wallets.

Breaking down, a family liaison officer came out to speak to him. To her surprise, she had met him before, at the murder scene of his wife.

"Mr Gage," she said shocked.

He looked up, tears streaming down his eyes, "what are you doing here?"

"I work here; I was on assignment when the call came in about......"

He cut her off before she could finish "My wife?"

Hesitant she replied "Yes, I was dealing with another case and well, my skills, they thought I would be best to handle the uhh, situation there at the time"

He looked up; a disgusted look was on his face "Situation? My wife's murder was a situation?"

She looked back knowing she should have better worded that sentence, she apologised.

She didn't mean to offend him. The officer took him and Holly into a private room to provide support and inform him of the information she had received regarding the crash.

She was shocked to see how one man had received so much bad luck. She was compassionate and friendly and asked him questions, but the investigation did not require information from him.

The scene was obvious, they had been driving at high speeds and had lost control of the vehicle, and this is how it clearly appeared.

The officer then explained to Holly in a sensitive way to make her understand why Daddy was upset. Holly stared at the officer; she didn't move or make a sound.

The officer tried to talking to her but Holly refused to speak back. It was late, it had been another awful day and Max just wanted to go home.

He thanked the officer for her compassion and left. Max arrived home to find Belladonna cleaning excessively.

As soon as she saw him she ran over to him looking very concerned, holding him tight she said how she saw the news report and tried to ring his office and his phone but didn't get an answer on either.

Max put Holly on the sofa; she was still fixated into staring at thin air. He tried to comfort and speak to her but he also got nothing.

He kept talking and talking, suddenly, Holly started screaming, tears were streaming down her face.

Max rushed to try and calm her down but he wasn't able to, the walls and floors were shaking as paintings and pictures fall off the wall fixtures.

The doors were banging open and shut; the windows were going up and down opening and closing. He tried his hardest but his efforts did not prevail.

Belladonna stood up in-front of Holly and shouted in a terrifying deep voice "HOLLY GAGE CONTROL YOURSELF!" Her voice was forceful. Powerful. Frightening!

Holly suddenly stopped and looked at Belladonna who was looking her right in the eye.

Holly looked at Max who had fear in his expression and in his eyes. Holly then walked away, taking herself to her room and helped herself to bed.

Max could barely move. What he had witnessed before, Belladonna just saw so he knew he wasn't going crazy, well, not about that anyway, but Belladonna had managed to stop it.

_How did she do that? What the fuck was that belting sound that came out of her mouth?_

Belladonna looked at Max who could barely speak; she smiled at him and then made her way to Holly's room.

Entering the room, Holly was lying still in the bed staring at the ceiling cuddling into her favourite doll. Sitting on the side of the bed, Belladonna calmly leaned over and started speaking to Holly in hushed tones.

"You have a fiery temper, you need to learn to control that, there will be a time and place to unleash all that within you but for now, your highness, you need to be careful so that people don't see your wonderful gift, otherwise, you may be taken away" she smirked at Holly and was running her fingers through Holly's hair gaining every inch of her trust.

Holly snapped out of her stiff stare and smiled back at her "Ok Belle, I will try and be nice for you and Daddy" Holly's tone quiet and soft.

Belladonna gave her an appealing look. She could see that Holly would accept and listen to her guidance and that her plan, as ordered, seemed to be coming together well. However, sensing she was being watched by Max, she kissed Holly goodnight and left the room.

Feeling a sense of evil pride as she left the room, the havoc and destruction she had caused, she had made herself proud. She wanted a reward. She looked down on her arm and rubbed the mark that was distorted across her wrist.

The mark was similar to Dr Matthews; he had one on his wrist too, which she remembered as she was rubbing it, she knew him as they came from the same place.

Looking up, Max was standing in the kitchen, just leaning over the sink, she told him to go to bed.

Her face looked pleased, amused somehow. Too fragile to question her, Max went to bed, unbeknown to him that Belladonna had caused all of this and her reward?

Well, of course, this was sex from the man. It was going to be a good night for her as he would fuck her roughly and the next day would be the beginning of Max Gage's downfall. 

## CHAPTER 9

_"Max, Max" he heard his name being called but he couldn't see. It was dark. There was a light in-front of him but around him it was pitch black. Where was he? What was happening? "Don't come here, you need to run Max, save yourself, save Holly" the voice was sincere. There was a figure in the distance, he ran towards it but he still could not see. It was too dark. The figure turned, the face is red and full of blood, and it let out a scream...'_ Max awoke from another nightmare.

Each one seemed different but they all had the same scary features, the darkness, the blood, the stabbings, the sex, the torture, it was all in his dreams.

Belladonna was asleep next to him; he stared at the clock and was 3am, it was far too early to get up. He lied back down, still slightly panting and started to go back off to sleep feeling worried he is going to have another dream.

The next morning was a struggle for Max. It was a Saturday which is normally when he would do something fun with Holly but this time he was in no mood to play happy Daddy.

He had, had a shit night's sleep, he woke up knowing that his wife was murdered and his mum and dad had died in a car accident, he'd screwed over a guy at work for no reason other than his own greed, he was having rough animal sex with a woman who he had barely known a month and she was also currently living with him, his daughter seemed to have what can only be described as demonic episodes and he could feel himself falling to pieces.

He had no words to explain to anyone what the fuck had been happening to him. He hadn't spoken to his friends since he moved to New York and since Belladonna had come into his life.

His mind was seriously fucked up but he didn't have time to think about what was going wrong with him, he had two funerals to arrange, he could barely face arranging his wife's, _how the fuck did he think he was going to do this?_

Of course, Belladonna acting all caring and sincere, offered to help him arrange everything right down to the finest details of the flowers. _Wow this bitch was manipulative!_

He could see it but he couldn't control anything that she did to him. They sat down for the day calling around funeral homes, florists, family and friends.

Holly stayed in her room the entire time; she didn't come out for breakfast and would only speak to Belladonna.

Max could feel the tie he had with her slipping away and although he wanted to grab onto her and stop her slipping through his fingers, there was simply far too much shit going on at the moment for him to be able to control that.

He knew that Holly had grown close to Belladonna and saw that Holly regularly sought comfort in her. As manipulative as she was over him, he believed Belladonna had the best intentions for Holly and thought that if he let them get close, Holly wouldn't slip that far away.

Yes, Belladonna did have intentions for Holly, but not the best intentions he was thinking of. The funeral was all planned in one day, Max was actually confused by Belladonna's eagerness to help him sort the arrangements, after all, she never even knew his parents, _what the fuck would she care how they were buried?_

He didn't want to question her now, he needed to try and spend time with Holly, so he decided to put a film on and see if this would make Holly come cuddle in like she used to.

It didn't. Max felt hurt but he didn't know what to do. His daughter was pulling away and he was losing those around him that he loved.

He went to the kitchen and reached into the cupboard for the bottle of whiskey. Feeling depressed, he sat in the kitchen and downed the whole bottle, then another, and then another. Soon he was paralytic falling from the chair onto the kitchen floor.

Belladonna watched in amusement as she observed him losing himself. Her smile was wicked and her laugh was cruel. She turned to Holly and focused her attention on her.

Locking eyes, she was seeing if Holly could read her without her even saying a word. Hollys smile proved that she could.

At the age of six, Hollys mind was more developed than most and she stood out from the other children her age in school, she was very advanced and acted like she was in a class for ten year olds, not six year olds, it was all for a special reason that Belladonna was told she needed to help her.

Belladonna tended to Holly all day and throughout the evening whilst Max was passed out on the kitchen floor, drunk!

Holly trusted Belladonna completely, even though Holly's conception was technically rape and the heart of the man who was her real father was evil, the love that she was showered with by Olivia and Max was imbedded in her own heart and it was proving difficult to shift, even though Holly and Max seemed to drift apart, Holly still showed care and love.

She already possessed great dark power which could be seen when she was upset or angry, but her she would never truly commit to her destiny when she still had some goodness in her heart. Belladonna needed Holly's trust as the good in her would see the bad things and although she may not be afraid of them, it would still cause her to pull away.

There was so much more that needed to be done with Holly that only time would reveal.

Belladonna bathed and put Holly to bed. Tucking her in she showed minimal affection as Holly didn't need to be showered with love; she needed her heart to grow cold.

Walking back into the hallway she saw a stumbling Max trying to come to his feet, still partially drunk and not in control of himself, he was trying to make his way to the living room.

With a smile from ear to ear and eyes firing blood red, Belladonna was going to make another move at destroying him. In his weakened state she walked over to him and threw him across the room.

He flew up against the wall which quickly brought him round. He looked up at Belladonna; his eyesight still a little fuzzy he could make out that Belladonna was walking towards him.

Screaming and shouting at her he was very angry "What the fuck are you doing to me woman!" Rubbing his eyes to try and gain some clear sight but he suddenly felt her body against him and she instantly ripped his clothes off.

With a raspy sensual voice, she pushed her lips up against his ear "I'm going to fuck you Maxy, and show you what a naughty boy you have been, then, when I'm done with you, I'm going to let you in on a little secret" then with a malevolent smile, she forced his dick inside her, he was still slightly soft so she rubbed backwards and forwards until she could feel him hard inside her.

Trying to fight back, she overpowered him and pinned him down by placing her hands over his neck and fucking him to the point he couldn't resist any longer and started to enjoy it.

His eyes were fixated on hers, he could see how red they were as she moaned, she was enjoying the pain and pleasure she was inflicting on him.

He started to see flashes of his parent's car crash, _was he was losing it?_

She fucked him faster, riding his dick back and forth "This is what you get when your soul is beyond saving" she roared at him whilst laughing knowing he was seeing the images of his parents death as they fucked.

He started to feel himself lift up; she fucked and fucked him as it appeared as so they were floating. Her words become coarser but he couldn't stop her "fucking cum inside my dirty pussy you bastard, I fucking own you" with those words he let go and released all inside her.

She bit her lip in and tilted her head back in satisfaction as he suddenly felt them drop down to the sofa. She looked at him and leaned down over him "Oh Maxy."

He looked up at her disinclined; she was biting her lip, "What are you doing to me Belle?"

With a sinful look in her eyes she laughed and responded "Oh Max, you are going to be my pet, well, until I'm done with you at least, you and I are going to have a baby, just like he said we would" she sits up and puts her hands on her stomach, caressing it. "You see, that day in the bathroom I knew I needed you to fuck me so this could happen" she says with pleasure.

He looked stumped, now he was no doctor but surely it takes more than a few days to know you're pregnant and surely if she was that certain that she was then he couldn't possibly be the father.

Gathering some strength to question her "How the hell are you pregnant, it's impossible to ever know you are pregnant this early after what, two days? We had sex in the bathroom two bloody days ago and now you're trying to tell me you're fucking pregnant, I mean, are you fucking kidding me" he lashes out whilst she was still sat on top of him.

Looking amused she stared directly at him, deep into his eyes where he could not pull and look away, "ha-ha, oh Max, this is your baby, you see, it was special, now, in a few months, our little boy will be here, oh Max feel him inside me" she pulled his hands up and placed them on her stomach, her voice was becoming more sexy and more seductive as she started to again to push back and forth.

As his dick was still inside her, he began to groan "can you feel him baby, oh yes, you and me can you feel him, he knows I'm fucking you, his daddy," she sounded sick and disgusting, _how could a mother say that?_

This woman was evil and why would she want a baby with him? Whilst the thoughts were rolling about in his head she was fucking him again, he lost his train of thought and could do nothing but enjoy the sexual pleasure she was giving him, within minutes he had cum inside her again.

She slightly giggled as she climbed off him and stood there with his cum dripping down her leg.

Power tripping and acting strange she walked to bedroom rubbing her body as if she was putting on a sexy show for someone.

Max couldn't move, he was just lying there, no energy as he hadn't eaten all day and had been heavily drinking, drained from the vigorous sex and dripping with her juices all over him. He started to cry, _what was happening to him?_

He could hear Belladonna humming in the bedroom and then he thought, _'shit, did Holly hear all that?'_ _How the fuck was he going to explain to her that he was having a baby with a woman he barely even knows not long after her mother had died? How the fuck would he explain this to everyone else?_

With his mind wandering with so many questions he broke down, not being able to move he cried himself to sleep on the sofa.

The sun shone through the window on a bright and sunny Sunday. Max opened his eyes, still on the sofa, his voice all dry he forced himself to get up.

With his pants still around his ankles he stumbled to the kitchen to poor a glass of water. Feeling groggy, he tip-toed to the bathroom as he didn't want to wake anyone up, he went in and closed the door walking over the sink.

Looking up at the mirror in-front of him, he noticed how he was looking thin and gaunt in the face, he looked down at his body, and his once slightly toned physic was now thin, _what was happening?_ He didn't have a clue.

_Belladonna was happening that's what!_ How had this woman come into his life so easily and managed to wear him down without a care in the world?

He looked up to suddenly see Olivia's face behind him in the mirror. He turned quickly but she wasn't there, he looked back in the mirror and there she was, he lifted his arm to touch her but again when he turned she was not there. He couldn't trust his own mind anymore, he needed help.

He had no-one in the city to turn to, mainly his friends lived in Boston and they had not bothered to speak or try to contact him since he moved away, and with his parents now gone, Max started to feel very alone.

He then heard the church bells outside in the distance. Never really believing in God after being with Olivia, he needed something; he chucked on some clothes and headed over to the church. When he arrived outside, the sermon had already started.

Before he could enter he heard familiar voice "what you going in there for bud?" he turned to be confronted by no-one other than his boss.

"I don't know, just uhh....I don't know to be honest" he sounded confused and unsure of what the hell he was doing.

With a friendly pat on the back and slight distraction, his boss managed to deter him away from the church and they took a walk in a nearby park.

There was just general chit chat at first, talking about his mum and dad's pending funeral and life with Holly, work and life at the firm. For a minute, Max started to feel normal.

He felt like maybe he was under too much pressure, and of course no-one would blame him for thinking or believing that, he had gone through so much in such a short space of time it would be enough for any man to crack surely.

After a long talk with his boss who seemed to have helped, he headed home, as he walked away he looked back to see his boss stood there grinning at him, as the traffic went passed he was then gone, quicker than Max could blink.

Max needed to get home to Holly. Upon entering the apartment, there was a smell of roses, Olivia liked roses, they were her favourite, the smell consumed the hallway and as he made his way to the living room the smell was stronger.

There, sat on the sofa watching TV was Belladonna and Holly, he leaned down to give Holly a kiss but she wasn't interested, she looked up, smiled slightly and said hello but then went back to watching TV.

Remembering the events from the night before, he pulled Belladonna to one side and discussed what had happened; he needed her to explain what he thought he remembered.

"Belle, last night..." he struggled to speak thinking about it in his head.

"Yes Max, what about it?" she answered.

"You and I...we uhh, we had sex yes?"

"Yes of course we did Max," her smile beaming across her face and her body language was seducing.

"You said something to me" he whispered trying to not let Holly overhear.

"Yes, I told you I was pregnant and you made love to me" she tried to sound convincing.

She would always manipulate him with sex or brush him off with her seductive and cruel ways.

She had confirmed it, she was pregnant, he was going to be a father again and there was pretty much fuck all he could do about it.

He went and sat down on the sofa next to Holly, he put his arm around her and pulled her close to cuddle in, for a brief moment, she showed him a little affection back, but then she moved away and went to sit back with Belladonna, although Holly loved her father dearly, her bond was now with Belladonna. 

## CHAPTER 10

It was the day of Tim and Judy's funeral. Max, Holly and Belladonna were all at his parents' house in Boston waiting for the funeral cars to arrive.

Max was wearing his dad's wedding suit, he felt close to him and that it would make his father proud, Holly was wearing a black dress, her hair tied into a pony with a simple black ribbon around it.

Belladonna was wearing a tight short black dress which emphasised her sexy body. Her lips were glossy red and her shoes were three inch high heels.

The dress also showed off something Max didn't want his family seeing, especially not today, it showed off a slight baby bump!

Max never understood how this was possible, technically she would only be at two weeks' gestation but she was showing more like sixteen weeks.

He tried to get her to cover it but she was having none of it, she was proud to show her baby bump and Max knew there would be questions.

He thought to himself _'what the fuck people were going to say_ 'but he couldn't think right now, right now he had to concentrate on burying his parents.

The funeral cars arrived and they made their way to the same church where Olivia's service was held.

All of the family and friends of Tim and Judy were gathered outside observing the arrival of the hearses which held a coffin each one.

It was not a service like Olivia's, Max's parents were indeed religious, not strictly, but they made it clear that when they died they wanted a proper church service, which is what Max and Belladonna had planned, which Belladonna didn't realise when she was helping, she just assumed she was arranging an outdoor burial like Olivia's.

As Belladonna had been so mixed up in her evil doings and trying to show Holly evil things, she had not noticed that in the planning with Max he had planned a church service, she was just running around, arranging flowers and informing guests, how could she have missed that?

She couldn't allow Holly to go into the church and as Belladonna was not exactly, well...human!

She couldn't enter the church without suffering great pain. She tried to think fast, if the man knew that she had allowed Holly to go into the church, the place where her family are full of love and where someone can look down on her and try and infect her heart like before, then the man was going to go berserk and it wasn't pretty when he went berserk.

Belladonna turned but Holly was already moving into the church with Max's family.

Trying quickly to push through people she was calling for Holly, Holly, hearing her name being called looked up but couldn't see Belladonna; Holly proceeded to walk into the church holding Max's hand.

Belladonna was too late. She couldn't enter the church without feeling pain, a pain she had no power to withstand. The sun disappeared from the sky and dark clouds loomed over her, she looked up, she knew he was here and he was extremely pissed off.

Up until now, she had followed his orders at every point, she had begun corrupting the soul of Max and the heart of Holly, she had destroyed those around him who may influence him or help bring him back on track, but this one little slip had allowed Holly to enter into the house of god and be surrounded by love and light.

Belladonna turned, even though she was evil herself she was scared at the large demon figure stood behind her, not afraid of him, but afraid of the impending pain he was about to inflict on her.

An eternity of torture awaited her in the darkness for her failure; he didn't take kind to failures!

"You failed me!" the loathsome voice shouted and with one blink, Belladonna's body was engulfed in painful flames.

Her screams made no difference, her pleadings went unheard, his fire of anger consumed her, and then black shadows appeared in the flames dragging her burning body under the ground.

Not long after, the sun reappeared and people started exiting the church following the service and burial of Max's parents.

Max looked around for Belladonna but he realised he had not seen her since they arrived at the church.

Feeling a sense of release in his stomach, something told him she had gone, he didn't know what it was but as he turned to look back at the church, there in the doorway he saw apparitions of his parents.

He believed things were going to be ok from this moment on, as he looked down at Holly, he saw a smile on her face he had not seen for what seemed like a lifetime, she hugged him tight and they carried on the rest of the day as a family celebrating the life of his parent's at the wake held at his parents' house.

Back in the office, his boss was growing increasingly angry, having inputted these certain people into Max's and Holly's life and assuring her conception was done under strict unpleasant circumstances, he was beginning to lose his grip on the one child he knew was destined to be with him when she was older.

Going towards a small cupboard in his office, he got out a book; the book was large and had a Baphomet symbol on the front.

Opening the book to the middle page, he read out an inscription, it was too early for this but he felt he had no choice, he needed her to come willingly but in the meantime, he could plant evil and vile images in her head that would in turn consume her to do the most horrid things and taint her soul permanently, allowing her to fulfil the destiny she was born to do.

"Quaeso sermones meos quos loquor hic noster semper consanguinitatis propinquitate iungantur animi requiram"

The words echoed through the air which Holly heard from the house, she looked around but no-one noticed.

She walked outside to see dark clouds overhanging in the sky. There in the cloud she saw the man's face, he was looking down at her with a grin that seemed dark and sinister.

Backing towards the front door, she felt scared but curious, _how was it she could see this but no-one else could?_

His voice echoed through the clouds, "Loco quocumque audieritis clangorem musicam ad me."

Holly only spoke English and she was only six, she had no idea what the voice was saying to her but it sounded familiar.

As her curiosity grew within her, she started to walk towards the face in the cloud, feeling a twitch in her hand she looked down to see the mark had darkened, when she looked up, the face smiled and disappeared.

Max came outside to see Holly staring at the sky, thinking she was looking up to heaven he smiled softly believing that with all the strange things that had happened, his daughter was looking up to heaven for her beloved and departed family.

The day was over, the wake had reached an end and all the family and friends started to say their goodbyes to Max and Holly.

Max decided it was too late to drive back so he decided to stay at his mums before heading back the next day.

The house had been sold, it was a very popular area and Max wasted no time in selling the house once the funeral was arranged.

He wanted to leave Boston behind and remember Olivia and his parents for the happy times they all shared, not the tragedy that ended their lives so early.

Tomorrow was going to be a fresh start again and Max felt confident that things were finally going to get better for both him and Holly.

The house was quiet, Holly and Max were sleeping and for the first time in a long time Max hadn't been woken up by a nightmare. In Holly's room, he was there, leaning over her. At six years old he could sense the power she held in her, he had lost her once centuries ago and he was not willing to lose her again.

This time he wouldn't have a minion watching over her, he would be the one to do so until the time came for him to reveal himself with a little help from his loyal followers.

Looking in the mirror as he mixed his blood in a vile with some weird colourless liquid, he looked in the mirror at the body he had chosen.

He had indeed taken the form of Max's boss as he needed someone who was able to get close to Max and oversee his actions.

This was not his true self and only by touching the mirror would his true form reveal itself.

As it he was about to, Holly stirred; he turned quickly to look at her as she was not yet ready to see the true him.

He finished mixing the stuff in the vile and walked over to Holly's bed, he leaned over her stroking her hair in her sleep, pouring the mixture into her mouth.

The liquid flowed into her body, this would help her powers develop in her small body as she seemed to be born with part of them whereas before they bestowed upon her at eighteen.

It would also allow him to share his mind with hers and show her things children shouldn't see, scary things, evil things.

As they say, conscience of children is formed by the influences that surround them; their notions of good and evil are the result of the moral atmosphere they breathe!

Once she realised who she was and their history, he was sure she would willingly surrender herself to him.

He left the room but not before placing a pendant around Holly's neck.

The pendant was a long silver chain and hanging from the chain was a beautiful red diamond with what appeared like a very small eye.

In her ear he whispered in a language he knew subconsciously she would understand "Iste, quod numquam tua removetur infernum sint oculi tui custodiam" he left knowing that he had concealed in her subconscious his words of evil.

Holly woke the next morning and went to find her father, he was already dressed and ready waiting for her in the kitchen because he didn't want to wake her this morning as she was sleeping so peacefully.

"Daddy are we going home today?" he heard a sweet voice behind him, as he turned with a smile a look of wonder came across his face.

He noticed a slight red mark next to Holly's eye which appeared to be small, stained tear drop.

Looking more closely and trying to remove it, he noticed this mark was a permanent mark he wasn't going to be able to remove.

Puzzled as to where it came from he looked down and saw the pendant Holly was wearing.

Looking at her looking straight back at him she didn't seem fazed or bothered, "where did you get that?" he questioned pointing at the beautiful but weird pendant hanging from her neck, but Holly didn't answer, "Here let me see it" he tried to remove but Holly grabbed hold it tight and let out a scream to which made the house shake.

Not wanting this to continue for fear of destruction as done so previously, he quickly let go and told her she could keep it.

He didn't know where it had come from but as long as Holly was happy that's all he really cared about, so he never thought another thing of it.

Later on that afternoon, Max had finished packing up the interior of the house, the furniture collectors had come and everything else that no-one else had wanted went in the skip.

The house was empty and Max looked around and remembered good times in that house.

Images in his head showed the family time they had together, the laughs, him living there with Olivia before they got their house, Holly being a baby, the house full of fun and laughter, but this was it, it was time to let go and start a fresh in New York, just him and Holly.

This was the moment he thought all was ok, he thought all was happy, he turned to leave with a smile on his but his face quickly turned to shock when an image of Olivia appeared in the doorway, covered in blood and nodding no.

Closing his eyes quickly and taking deep breathes he wished for the image to go away, he opened his eyes and there was nothing there.

He decided that as part of his fresh start, he would seek help in a psychiatrist who would help him with his nightmares and hallucinations.

Max and Holly got in the car and left Boston for good. 

## CHAPTER 11

It had been ten months since their return to New York and things appeared to be going seemingly well.

Max had settled in to his new role at the office, doing very well under the watchful eye of his boss who by now, had become close to Max and Holly.

Holly had settled into her new school and made some friends and the episodes she used to have seemed to have stopped.

Max hadn't heard from Belladonna and knew that she had left his life and he was currently in therapy discussing the nightmares and hallucinations he was still having, even though his life appeared to be going well.

The therapist had prescribed him medication, clozapine, also known as an antipsychotic drug that was normally provided to patients who suffered with schizophrenia but they seemed to be helping Max cope with his nightmares and delusions.

The therapist was suggested to him by his boss and was a close personal friend of his. To the outside world, friends and colleagues, Max seemed to be happy, leading a normal life with his daughter and finally moving on.

However, at home, behind those closed doors things were not all as they seemed. Although Holly had not had a frightening episode in a while, at home, Max was mixing his medication with alcohol as he had become dependent on whiskey, he couldn't go a day without drinking it, no other alcohol was nice to him, just the same bottle of whiskey every night for the past few months.

This was having a serious effect on his health and his relationship at home with Holly.

At six years old, she watched her father drink himself to sleep every night and wake up in the morning feeling like shit, screaming at the mirror in the bathroom "GO AWAY!" and then washing pills down his throat.

He had become distant from his daughter but as soon as they left the house, things appeared good and normal again, both seemed happy, but it was all for show.

Holly didn't know what to do, she was alone and scared and only trusted her teacher at school, Mr Peters.

He was a kind caring teacher and always paid special attention to Holly.

He was also good friends with Max's boss and showed an unusual interest in Holly at school.

It was Friday, Max dropped Holly off at school as they now did as part of their new routine and carried off going to work.

Driving along, he smiled at passing cars, nodding at those who looked over, seemingly normal.

He arrived at work on time as per usual and pulled up into the company car park. Nothing about this day seemed out of the ordinary.

The car park was dark as it was under the building and had minimal lighting. Gathering his things he turned towards the passenger side to collect the paperwork he had taken home, and not finished.

There, on the passenger seat he saw blood, it was dripping from the inside roof. Putting his hand up to touch it, it felt real as he rubbed his fingers together, he sat back in his chair and there in his rear view mirror was a rotting, bloody evil image of Olivia.

Taken back by what he saw and frightened by his own mind he quickly got out of the car but the corpse followed him and tried to grab him, panicking he fought himself free scuffled his way to the elevator and managed to get in and the doors closed. Panting heavily and heart beating really fast, he wrangled through his bag looking for his pills but he couldn't find them.

The lift door opened and Max was scrambling through his bag on the floor, his colleagues who were waiting at the lift opening looked at him weirdly wondering what the hell he was doing?

They tried to help him but he furiously pushed them away got his feet and ran into his office slamming the door behind him.

His boss came into the room; Max had a look of panic on his face. Looking at his boss Max's hallucinations were starting to appear, his eyes were telling him that what stood before him was a monster; he started to panic and became hysterical.

His boss walked over to him and handed him a pill that was laying around on his desk smirking at his apparent distress. Max gulped down the pill so quickly he choked for a second.

Taking in deep breathes as the room around him and his boss came into focus, he started to calm down.

His boss stared at him with indulgence, he appeared to enjoy Max's mini breakdown.

His boss kneeled down as Max was sitting slouched on the floor.

"Oh Max, Max, Max" his voice said with slight amusement, "self-destructing are we" picking up his things on the floor and looking at them with delight "Max, you need to control yourself" however he didn't look concerned, he looked like he was gloating, "Your sins will catch up with you eventually."

He stood up and looked at Max who looked dismayed, but his boss showed no concern or empathy, he just slightly laughed and left the office. Composing himself, he got up off the floor and picked up the mess where he had thrown things out his bag.

He went straight to the phone to call his therapist. The therapist brushed off his delusions and told Max to calm down, that it was all in head caused by too much stress.

Speaking to his therapist for some time Max had calmed down and managed to find his pills, they were in his bag all along, through sheer panic and terror; he had not noticed them just sat there in the bottom of bag.

The working day continued as normal but Max had become the topic of conversation amongst his colleagues.

They started to notice the strange behaviour and although all his tasks and targets were always met, he appeared happy, his behaviour and actions told them different.

Holly was at school, she was very bright and done well in her studies. It was recess and all the children were playing outside. Holly however, was sat in the class room with Mr Peters talking and painting pictures.

He sat next to her as he stroked and played with her hair. This was not normal behaviour for a teacher but Holly didn't understand this, she just thought he was friendly, a confidant she could rely on.

He would always spend his free time with her, learning more and more about her every day. _Who was this man and why was he so interested in her?_

The class room door opened and in the doorway was Max's boss; he had come to see Holly. Holly was always taught by her mother and her father never to walk off with strangers but to her he was no stranger and they regularly spent time together in the previous months since him and her father had become sort of close.

He called Holly and they left the class, but Mr Peters did nothing. Surely a teacher would stop a child leaving the classroom with a person who was not their registered guardian or not on the register to collect the child from school?

Nonetheless he stood there and allowed Max's boss to take her as they exchanged a look of mutual understanding.

Max's boss took Holly back to the church she had once visited with Belladonna.

Holly wasn't afraid, she felt like she belonged in such a place. Holding his hand they walked in together and sat down.

"How are you feeling today precious" he looked at her with devotion.

"I'm ok, did Daddy go to work today," she asks looking at him.

"Yes precious he did, I would like you to do me a favour,"

"What?" she replied curiously?

"I would like it if you could hang around with Mr Peters for me, can you do that?" he looked very persuasive.

Holly looked at him puzzled "I always see Mr Peters, he is my teacher and he is very nice, he gives me presents and looks after me at school, he told me I was a good girl" her innocent voice talking away like a six year old does.

He smiled at her; the smile is dirty and crude. "Good, he is your friend you know?"

She nodded to his question. They spoke for a while but his plan was not to have a nice, good-looking and friendly teacher look after Holly for his own sake, he obviously had a hidden agenda.

You see, Mr Peters was a paedophile; he liked girls but wouldn't touch them until they were in their teens, he would groom them first and gain their trust, he would then show them affection and it was always the ones who had issues at home as they were more susceptible to him.

Once they reached their teens he would take them back to his house, where he was still kind and gentle until they felt like they wanted and loved him, then at that stage, he would make his move and abuse them, telling them they were special that they wanted this and it felt right.

He had done this with many girls, he had been caught previously and arrested a few times but every-time a trial went ahead, he was found not guilty.

He moved around then to different schools where he was unknown and would start on a new girl, sometimes he was never caught which allowed him to abuse as many girls as he could. But in this school, he was ordered to bond with Holly, he had is play of other girls in the school sure, but they had since left.

His target and instruction was Holly and he was already close with gaining her trust.

She was six and most six year old's talk about anything, they hear something on the street, on the TV and they repeat it, it's what children do.

Holly always told him about her life at home and what Daddy was like, but whatever happened between them he had managed to persuade Holly that it was their little secret and no-one was allowed to know because if she did tell anyone, then Daddy wouldn't let them see each-other anymore and she would lose all her friends and Daddy's boss would be angry.

Not wanting to be in trouble and knowing she didn't want to leave here, Holly never spoke a word to anyone. It was about frightening her into keeping quiet, it was about manipulating her.

Max's boss knew that abused children lost the goodness in their souls; they lose their innocence and are prone to committing violent and evil acts.

His previous attempts had failed and this was a sure way to get Holly on his side.

With goodness in her heart, the events that occurred in another lifetime may happen again and he couldn't take that chance.

Max's boss delivered Holly back to school before the end of the day bell rings and appeared back in his office as if he never left.

Mr Peters attended to Holly until the end of the day when Max arrived to collect her. He escorted the children out his class and took them outside where all the parents and school buses were waiting.

Max it sat in his car pulled up on the sidewalk, he noticed Holly coming out hand in hand with her teacher.

Not looking very amused he shouts from his car and demanded Holly got in straight away, Holly ran to the car and got in as Max went to pull off but not before giving a look of disgust at her teacher.

At home, Holly was colouring in after dinner and they were settling down for evening before he put Holly to bed, she was humming to herself, a tune that sounded familiar to him and he tried to think where he had heard that tune before.

Then he realised, his boss hummed that same tune in work regularly, and he had only ever heard him hum that tune in the office, never when he came to visit, _but how would Holly know that tune if he only hummed it at work?_

She had been to his office but he didn't do that when she was there. He walked over to her and sat beside her, she seemed calm, collected and happy.

She looked up at her father, no expression on her face, she just stared, and he slightly smiled at her.

"Where did you hear that tune?" he questioned her.

She smiled back at him "Lucian sings it to me Daddy."

He looked at her dismayed by what he had heard, "Lucian?" he repeated,

"Lucian as in Daddy's boss?" he pursued to question her, but she carried on calmly colouring.

"Yes Daddy, he sings it to me when he visits me because it makes me happy" she remarks.

"When was the last time Lucian sang that to you?" he pursued.

"Today Daddy" she returns back at him not flinching at her answers.

He began to get angry with her, "do not lie to me Holly, he was at work with me all day, I saw him now tell Daddy the truth!" He grabbed her and turned her towards him "tell me!" he demanded.

She looked back at his face and responded calmly and surely "I am telling you the truth Daddy..."

"No you're not because I saw him at my office!" he spat back.

Holly screamed at him "I AM TELLING YOU THE TRUTH DADDY" and at that instant he felt the ground shake below him as he looked at Holly who had an evil look on her face, a look he was frightened to see in his daughter as she carried on telling him "I do not lie Daddy, lying is naughty."

Worried of where this was leading he quickly agreed with her and told her he believed her.

"Take a breath bubba its ok, I'm sorry, Daddy must have not seen him leave today, Daddy was really busy, it's ok, I believe you" he pleaded and reassured her then the shaking stopped.

Holly calmly sat back down and carried on colouring in. Max's heart was beating fast, these episodes had not occurred for some months and then it dawned on him that they only happened when she was upset, angry or hurting.

He was frightened of his daughter but deep down he loved her so much he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. He thought to himself the best way to handle this was not to get her angry and if she told him something he would state he believed her although he would check the information afterwards.

He knew he saw his boss in the office all day. Their offices are right next to each-other, they can one another from the window that is in-between them, he's adamant he would have seen his boss leave the office. _And how did Holly know his name?_

Whenever he was introduced he was always referred to as 'the boss' and even when he visited Max would never ever call him by name, neither did those around him at work.

He put Holly to bed and decided to ask his boss about it tomorrow, but for now, it had been a horrible long day and he needed to sleep.

He took his pill and went to bed with his head all in a muddle. 

## CHAPTER 12

Max was at work, he was typing away watching his boss who was on the phone through the glass partition.

He couldn't help but stare and wonder how the fuck he managed to be with his daughter when he knew for sure he saw him in his office all day. Lucian got up and headed towards Max's office.

He opened the door and peered in "I'm having a party tonight at my house it starts at nine so be there" he commanded not asked!

"Uhhh sorry no can do, I have Holly to look after and besides I'm really not in the mood" he tried politely to brush him off but his boss was having none of it.

"Don't worry about Holly, I have arranged a babysitter and regardless of whether you are in the mood or not, you need it so shut the fuck up and be there" he's was so domineering with his words.

Max got up and chased after him as his boss was walking off and called him back, he caught up with him and spoke with a lull tone "Who have you got to look after Holly, she is my daughter surely I should know or at least sort it myself" he asked frowning annoyed at his boss

But he just looked back at him and smirked. "Oh Max, you need to learn to trust me, I know you better than you know yourself, now don't worry, she will be picked up after school by a very, very dear friend," he sounded sarcastic.

Max was still looking at him, his mind was thinking 'w _hat the fuck dickhead, what are you on about?'_ but no words came out of his mouth and his boss was still talking. "...and anyway, I've looked after you and I'm definitely not going to let anything happen to Holly now am I, so trust me, so go home after work and shit, shower and shave and be at mine for nine," he walked off he turned back "oh and uhh, don't worry about getting home to Holly, she is in safe hands tonight" he smirked in a creepy way.

_What does he mean safe?_ Max had no idea where she was staying and no idea who she was with but he was cowardly and he would never confront his boss no matter how much he really, really wanted to.

Max carried on with his day, millions of thoughts running through his head but he didn't know how to control the situation. He worked hard all day and headed home afterwards.

School had finished and Holly was with Mr Peters in his house.

He sat her on his lap and proceeded to stroke and play with her hair, she sat their comfortably watching TV not minding what he was doing.

He knew he had her complete trust; he leant over the side of the chair and pulled up a box which he opened.

"You know what's in here Holly?"

She shook her head but she was excited.

"It's a present for you, would you like it?" turning the opening of the box to face her Holly looked inside and saw a crucifix, her face turned sour and she pushed the box away.

"I DON'T WANT THAT" she yelled at him, "I DON'T LIKE THEM" she let out as the ground started to shake.

Smiling at her he clapped his hands and called her a good girl, he told her that such omens were bad and that he was happy she didn't like them, the shaking stopped and he knew he had control of her.

They continued to sit there and watch the TV as he played with her hair.

Max arrived at his boss's apartment block. He walked in through the foyer and to the guard who directed him to the penthouse advising that was his apartment.

_Of course it was, rich and powerful man living in a block of swag and fancy apartments, of course he had the penthouse!_

The lift opened up directly into a grand reception room, there were about twenty or so people there all stood around chatting in their best formal wear.

Max noticed his therapist stood talking to a woman; he walked over to say and hello and tried to blend in.

"Hey, Walter, I didn't know you would be here." He said as he shuffled through the group of people to get to him.

"Of course, Lucian has one of these gatherings every year, as I have worked beside him for many years I am always invited, and you?" the therapist replied happily.

"Uhhh, he just said he was having a party and to come over, well actually he demanded that I be here..." Max stated unhappily and they engaged in conversation.

"Ha-ha yes, he has his ways or persuasion doesn't he?"

"Yeah, I uhh, guess he does, speaking if which, where is he?"

"I believe he is in the bedroom, by all means help yourself..." Walter pointed him in the direction of the bedroom and encouraged Max to go.

Excusing himself Max left to go and see his boss, he knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

The room was dark, the lights were out and there was some light coming in through the window.

He walked in looking around calling out but there was no response, he saw a figure sat on the bed, it stood up, it was slim, sexy, and vibrant, this defiantly was not his boss. He moved closer and saw it was a woman who was getting dressed sat on the bed, she was wearing red lace bra and panties and she was putting on black stockings.

His mouth was suddenly very dry, he couldn't help but stare at the woman, he cleared his throat which caught her attention and she turned and stared at him.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you, I was looking for Lucian" he quickly let out.

"Oh he's here somewhere, can I help you?" she stood up, her body language was screaming sex, she was enticing him to come over, suddenly then in the corner of his eye he saw someone, he looked, it was Lucian, he walked over the woman and stood behind her, he slid his hands around her waist and onto her stomach as she leant back on him, lifting up her arms over his shoulders, he stared at Max and started kissing her neck.

"She's beautiful isn't she Max..."

Max stared at him kissing her "Uhh yes, yes she's beautiful," he responded, his heart pounding.

Lucian whispered something in her ear and then turned her around; he kissed the woman and looked at Max as he did.

"You should taste her Max, she tastes so good!" he said sounding perverse.

She walked over to Max and kissed him, Lucian was right, she did taste good and he couldn't stop, his dick had started twitching, he wanted her now here and he didn't care who is watching. This was pure lust.

Max was kissing and caressing her beautiful body as he noticed Lucian watching with infatuation.

Lucian walked over grabbed the woman and turned her to face him, he took control of her hand and placed it on his dick, he forcefully kissed her but she was enjoying it. He was looking at Max as this woman was sexually touching him and making his dick go hard, he had his one hand on her throat keeping her still and his other hand manoeuvring the one she has on his dick.

"C'mon Max, touch her, take her, you know you want to," he lured Max closer as she reached behind her with her free arm and unzipped his trousers and started rubbing Max's dick.

In no time he was very hard. Encouraging him, Lucian told him to take her whilst he still had hold of her; Max looked as she dropped her panties to the floor, he moved closer behind her and pushed his dick in her pussy as Lucian smiled with ecstasy.

Max was fucking her and listening to her moan, it felt so good; Lucian was being tossed off by her as she was fucked by Max.

"That's it Max, fuck the filthy whore she fucking loves it" he let out with evil vulgarity.

Outside the room, Lucians guests were all taking part in a huge orgy, everyone was spread out fucking each-other viciously. The more Lucian encouraged Max, the more rough the sex was between guests.

Max was groaning, extremely aroused by the threesome, the lustful look in his eyes pleased Lucian, he fucked her faster, she screamed as she enjoyed it.

"That's it Max, fuck the dirty bitch" his words encouraged him on, he started to feel he was going to cum, he could feel his balls tighten as he was ready to explode.

"Cum in the bitch" Lucian roared at him.

As Max released his cum deep in her vagina and Lucian came all over her hands, Lucian stabbed her in the stomach repeatedly with a sharp blade.

Revelling in the moment and taking pleasure from her pain, he watched as she died, whilst Max was still inside her.

Her lifeless body dropped to the floor. In that moment, everyone in the other room released themselves in satisfaction.

Max looked down, horrified at what at just happened and the fact he did nothing to stop Lucian from killing her.

Her blood was all over Lucian's body, he was panting; he had a look of thrill and delight on his face.

Max ran into the en-suite bathroom and threw up. He shut the door and quickly cleaned himself up, his boss had just murdered a woman right in-front of him and he did nothing to stop it, he would be implicated in the murder and there were several witnesses that watched him walk in that room.

Max was chilled to his bone, he became hysterical and couldn't breathe, he started to have a panic attack as he washed and washed trying to get clean.

He dried himself off and looked in the mirror, _what the fuck? How the fuck could he do that to someone? What a fucking monster!_

The thoughts were running rife in his head. He heard laughter coming from the party, had they known what had just happened they wouldn't be laughing, they would be horrified! Max left the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom.

To his dismay, the room was clean; there was no blood on the floor where she had dropped, there was no body anywhere, he looked around, confused and panicking he thought _where the hell has the body gone?_

Composing himself and trying to act normal, he opened the bedroom door and saw everyone just stood there, as if the lovely sophisticated party had continued, ignorant to what had just happened; but he was unaware of what took place whilst he was in the bedroom.

He could see Lucian standing by Walter having polite conversation; he was acting as if nothing happened.

He was cold and careless but then again, looking around at everyone, they hadn't flinched at the screaming sounds of the woman coming from the bedroom and her body had obviously been moved and with only one exit out of the bedroom, _how come no-one saw anything?_

Max decided he needed to leave, looking to see if his boss had eyes on him, he quietly slipped back towards the lift down and out of the building.

However, Lucian did see, and he had a devilish grin on his face. Arriving home, Max went straight to his bathroom, sweat dripping from his body as he was losing his composure, he was afraid someone would find out what happened and he would lose everything.

He opened the mirror cupboard and pulled out the container of his tablets. He took one and downed a bottle of whiskey at the same time.

Not feeling the effects, he downed another bottle. Afterwards, feeling slightly dazed and disoriented, Max stumbled to the living room and fell on the sofa.

Drunk, he stared up at the ceiling as he watched the room spin around him in a big blur. Too drunk to keep his eyes open Max drifted off into a deep sleep.

_'He saw her, she was laughing, she was happy, he walked towards her but something stopped him, he's behind a cage, or a prison? Where was he? What was this? He saw the back of her head and heard her laugh, she lied down, there in-front of her was a man, he was handsome, dark, muscly and toned, he had horns coming out of his and he was naked, who was he? What was he going to do to her? They started to have sex, it seemed passionate, she seemed to be enjoying it, and this man stared at him and grins, he felt a tug on his hand, he looked down, Holly is there, she looked up at him as she pointed to the man having sex with the woman "He's coming for me Daddy..."_ Max awoke from his dream up dripping with sweat.

Another dream but different, there was no violence, no blood. He needed to go see his therapist, the tablets he was taking he felt simply were not working.

He needed to go back to sleep but he was too shaken, so he reached for the bottle and drunk more until he again passed out.

It was 4pm the next day and he could hear the buzzer going into his apartment.

Someone was clearly trying to get in, this woke him up; Max had been sleeping all day. He had not gone to work, not taken Holly to school or collected her, he stumbled over the receiver and buzzed in whoever was pressing the button, not giving a shit who it was, the door opened as he always left it unlocked and in came Holly.

She looked at her father who was quite clearly still partially drunk and showed signs of a hangover. He looked at her with sadness, he was disgusted with himself that he allowed his daughter to walk in and see him like this.

Holly started crying, he knew he had hurt her and that he was falling apart. No matter how hard he tried to pretend he was moving on, the truth is he was hurting, fragile, scared and losing his mind.

He got up and told Holly to go to her room. He cooked her some pizza and took it to her and left her in the room for the evening. Holly sat on the bed read a book, well....it was a partial book, some pages were quite clearly missing, and it was a book that Lucian had given to her.

The symbol on the index matched that on her hand. The book was all in Latin but she seemed to understand what she was reading.

Max called Walter and begged him to come to the apartment as he couldn't leave Holly alone. Walter agreed and an hour later he arrived and was sat on the couch talking to Max. "

What is it Max, you look a right mess might I say" Walter asked as a 'concerned' therapist.

"Walter I need to tell you something, I have been going out of mind with this and I cannot, I cannot keep it inside me," he was crying as he tried to explain acting fidgety on the couch.

"What is it Max?" Walter pressed for some answers, "You can tell me anything" he reassured him.

After calming himself down, Max started to tell the story of the night before events; "Last night, I went into the bedroom where I saw a woman in Lucian's room, he was there also, we uhhh... we had sex with her, it was quite forceful but she seemed to be enjoying it, to be honest so was I, we uhhh, we....had her pretty good, both of us but when we finished, he stabbed her, he stabbed her loads I mean, I watched him, I did nothing" putting his head in his hand Max broke down into tears, "how could I let him do that? I stood there and did nothing and he didn't care, he acted like nothing happened," sniffing and shaking Max tried to explain.

Walter was shaking his head in disbelief, he didn't even look like be believed him at all. Shocked by his response Max questioned him "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Max..." Walter tutted and started talking, "Lucian is a well-respected man in his profession and the community, he is liked by many of us and if you start telling people lies then you are going to ruin his reputation, your delusions are more extreme than I first thought," he was brushing off Max's story as complete fiction and was not even willing to accept that there was possible truth behind it.

"Walter I swear I'm telling the truth" he tried to sound convincing but Walter was having none of it.

_Why wouldn't he believe him?_ Then he thought to himself, _would anyone actually believe a man who was alcohol dependant and on antipsychotic mediation?_

Maybe this was all in head; maybe he was having a complete breakdown and losing his sanity. Walter suggested Max start taking a stronger drug which would also help with blocking out his nightmares.

Max agreed without hesitation, for the sake of his sanity and his daughter he would do anything to make it go away. Max carried on talking as Walter filled out a prescription.

He said he first felt a sense of pride that he had achieved so much since the bad things had happened to him and that he felt like he would push to have it all but seeing a beautiful woman all he could do was lust after her until she gave him sex.

Walter laughed slightly and got up to leave but just before he left he turned to Max "You know, lust and pride are two of the seven deadly sins," and with a wicked smile he left the apartment.

Max went and checked on Holly who had fallen asleep on the floor, he lifted her up and put her to bed, looking down he noticed she was still wearing that pendant, he tried to lift it off her but even in her sleep Holly clung to it and wouldn't allow him to take it from her.

He went and sat on the sofa, his eyes were bloodshot red from the crying and he was feeling a sense of disgrace within himself. He swore he would try and better himself, for his sake and for Holly's. 

## CHAPTER 13

Max had been taking his new pills for a few months now but his life was still spiralling out of control.

He had carried on drinking excessively and frequently passed out at home.

He hadn't been noticing his own daughter or that she was spending more and more time at Mr Peters' house.

He had fallen into a different world, a world of sex, prostitutes and crime.

He regularly went to brothels and had rough sex with women, even allowed prostitutes to give him oral sex in the street whilst he was drunk.

When he was at home, he often saw visions of blood, hell, Olivia or his parents. He had stopped taking his medication and solely relied on the bottles of whiskey that he gulped down per day.

The apartment was in a state and Holly was now going to school looking thinner and dirty where he had generally had forgotten to feed or bathe her.

Holly was now seven and he hadn't even noticed he had missed her birthday which was held at Mr Peters' house.

Max had stopped going to work and was using the funds left from the sale of both his house and his parent's house.

One day, Max was spread out on the sofa watching TV drinking a bottle of whiskey when the apartment buzzer started going, forcing himself to his feet he went over and granted entry.

Then there was a knock on the door. He opened it to be confronted by two police officers and social services.

Max had been reported for neglecting Holly and they were there under court order to have her removed and put into care. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Social services went and collected Holly from her bedroom.

Max tried to get her, he was agitated and angry "what...what are you doing? You cannot take my daughter from me, I'm her father, and she lives here with me!" he started screaming.

The officers had to grab hold of him to calm him down but he was fighting back as he watched the social workers escort Holly from his apartment.

"Sir Calm down" the police officer persisted as Max was fighting with them trying to get Holly as they tried to restrain him. Holly was lead out of the building and put in a car.

Max managed to get free and ran after her with the policeman chasing him, he got to the car and started banging on the window but the police caught up to him and wrestled him to the ground. He was cuffed and put in the back of the police car.

Looking out of the window he looked across the road and saw Lucian; he was standing there just staring at him.

Screaming in the police car he was out of control, kicking and trying to fight his way free "he fucking did this to me, the bastard, I'm going to kill the motherfucker, I want my fucking daughter back, LET ME OUT OF HERE THE BASTARD HAS TAKEN MY FUCKING DAUGHTER AWAY FROM ME!"

The police didn't listen and carted him off to the station. He was put in an interview room where the police and behavioural experts watched him through the two way glass.

Walter was in the room with them discussing Max's mental state. "I believe he has had a psychotic breakdown, he has been suffering with severe hallucinations and delusions since the death of his wife and parent's" Walter explained.

"Was he a suspect?" the experts question.

"No..." Walter continues, "He was proven to have no involvement in either case."

The police and the experts read over the case files detailing Olivia's unsolved murder and the fatal crash that killed his parents'.

"What would you suggest doctor?" the captain asked.

"Well, he's not hurt anyone yet but it is in my professional opinion that Max should be put into psychiatric care for full evaluation and treatment of his illness." The doctor's words were final.

Max was later put into a cell whilst police and the law prepared for him to be sectioned and put onto a special ward at the New York Psychiatric Hospital.

It was a well-known hospital that housed patients from small things like depression to the criminally insane or those who were a danger to themselves and others.

Holly meanwhile was in the offices at the social services. Her mother had no family she could go to and her father's relatives did not meet the requirements for them to look after her as they lived in Boston and the idea was to keep Holly in New York.

They were going to put Holly in the foster system when Lucian turned up.

A man of persuasion in any situation he advised the social workers that Max had a dear friend who was also Holly's teacher and he was able to look after her in the meantime whilst they found a permanent foster home for her.

Agreeing to his suggestion which seemed to please Holly, it was arranged she would live with Mr Peters. Paperwork was filled out detailing where Holly was currently residing so that when a permanent home was found for her, they would be able to trace her and move her.

But Lucian was cunning. He waited for to social worker to place Holly's files away and when Holly was safely in his car, the filing cabinet that held her records suddenly caught on fire and everything in it now destroyed.

Social workers now had no way of tracing Holly and Lucian was free to do with her as he pleased.

He couldn't have Holly live with him as he didn't want to form a bond of him being her father figure.

He was not meant to be this to her so his plan was for her to live with Mr Peters until she was eighteen at which point, his actions would have stripped her of her innocence and her soul would be beyond saving so she would be susceptible to go to him willingly and fulfil her destiny.

They drove to Mr Peters' house with him looking extremely amused at his accomplished victory.

Max was being made ready to be transported from the cells to the hospital.

He didn't speak a word as they were changing his clothes into the hospital patient uniform. He had become mute and limp, to the police and doctor's it looked like his breakdown had consumed him.

Arriving at the hospital, the relevant paperwork and documents were produced and he was taken to a private room. He would now spend his days here being fed drugs to help his apparent psychosis and to keep him calm and compliant. He looked around his room.

It was bare, just a bed, a sink and a toilet. The room had windows but there were bars on them and there were no mirrors or sharp objects of any kind.

The door had a glass panel but again this was also covered with bars. Max had flashbacks of his life over the past year, Belladonna, his work, Holly and then images of Lucian, the violence, the sex and the things he had done.

He broke down, he didn't know how he was going to get out of this, although he knew in his heart Lucian was to blame for all of this, no matter how hard he could try and tell someone, no-one would believe a person who was deemed mentally unstable.

The days in the hospital started off with breakfast being served with plastic spoons whilst Max was chained to a chair, he would then have to take his pills and he would be then be escorted back to his room.

There he would alone for a few hours before a doctor would come in and aim to have discussion with him about things and try to help him recover, but Max never responded.

Then Max would be taken outside, accompanied by a uniformed officer where he would be allowed to sit in the garden.

As Max was classed as high risk of endangering himself or others, he was monitored 24/7 whether it be when he was showering, which he often had help with, using the toilet, eating or even sleeping.

The aim was to help Max recover from the stressors that had caused him to have a breakdown, but it would seem that someone would try and stop this from happening.

Back at Mr Peters' house, Holly was allowed to call him by his first name, David, but he warned in school she was under strict instruction to call him Mr Peters in school, which she easily complied with.

Holly seemed to be settling in nicely, it had only been a week but the adjustment of her life had not fazed her.

She was still doing well at school and Lucian visited every day he took her to the graveyard church throughout the week. There, in the evenings, she would listen to sermons being read in Latin. Although she did not speak Latin and had never been taught, her subconscious picked up the words and somehow she understood what they were saying.

Holly came home from school one day and asked David if she could see her Daddy, deep down something inside her missed him and even though she was happy in her new life, she yearned to see her father.

David agreed; he knew that Max was in a bad place and seeing someone like that was never good for anyone, especially a child. He discussed it with Lucian who agreed she should go see her father so Lucian called the hospital and arranged for Holly to go see him that Saturday.

She seemed pleased although questions wandered her little mind. Sat on David's lap as she did every night watching TV whilst he stroked her hair and read books to her in Latin, she sighed.

David looked at her "what's wrong Holly? He asked seemingly concerned.

She sighed again and turned to look at him "is my Daddy sick?" she questioned.

David tried to hide his smirk "Yes, your father is very sick my sweet but not to worry, you will see him Saturday won't you?"

She nodded in agreement with him and carried on watching the telly, he kissed her head and laid her backwards onto him and he continued to play with her hair.

Saturday approached and Lucian drove Holly to the hospital. He didn't go in with her so the officers led her to a secure room where Max was waiting handcuffed to a chair.

He looked up and saw Holly and there was a glimpse of a smile in his face. She sat down on the opposite side of the table whilst guards kept watch outside the door, he was chained to the table and the chair so he wasn't able to reach for or harm her.

"Daddy...are you ok?" her voice so full of worry and sadness.

"Yes I'm ok bubba" he spoke, his voice a little groggy where he hadn't spoken since he was placed in there.

The conversation carried on as Holly showed she still had love in her heart for her father.

"Are you coming home?"

"No bubba, I'm not coming home, I have to stay here and get better. Are you ok?"

"Yeah Daddy, I live with David now and he's nice to me but I miss you" her words touched his heart but who was she on about?

"Uhhh who's David?"

"My teacher Daddy, Lucian said he would look after me because he is my friend and Lucian is my friend" she stated so calmly.

Max flew into a rage, wriggling about on his chair as he was screaming.

The man he believed put him there had now control of his daughter and had placed her with a man he did not like, he saw the way Mr Peters used to look at her, he was so angry.

Screaming in fear Holly ran towards the door banging as the officers guarding hurried to open the door and let her out.

Nurses entered quickly and injected Max with tranquilizer to calm him down. He slumped in his chair as he watched Holly walk away, he wanted to call out for her but he was to out of it to speak.

Escorted back to his room, Max was tied to bed so he was unable to hurt himself when he came round.

Lying on the bed in daze, drugged up and no-way out, Max started thinking about Holly, he wanted to save her but _how was he going to get out of this mess?_

His mind flashed to the happy times with him and Olivia and then the day Holly was born, they were happy times and he wanted them back, but being declared a mental and insane person was not going to make this easy! 

## CHAPTER 14

Holly arrived home to Mr Peters' house confused and scared about the reaction she had seen in her father.

It was hard to explain to any seven year old what was happening but Holly always seemed more clued on than most.

Mr Peters welcome her home with open arms as he always done when she walked through the door. Looking behind her, Lucian was stood in the doorway giving Mr Peters a stern look and made a gesture to him to tell him to come to him.

Mr Peters sent Holly in the room to watch TV and approached Lucian.

"I know you want something David, so I brought you something, come with me" Lucian's voice strict.

Without hesitation, Mr Peters followed Lucian to his car where Lucian opened the boot.

There tied up in the back was a teenage girl all tied up and blindfolded.

This wasn't Mr Peters' usual style, he liked to earn their trust first but Lucian was callous and evil. He knew he could tempt him with a pretty girl and could urge him to fulfil his sick sexual desires as Lucian had ordered him not to touch Holly yet, it wasn't the right time.

Lucian was always correct, Mr Peters look was elevated, and he was clearly aroused by this young terrified girl. Lucian shut the boot and told Mr Peters' to go back in the house and have fun.

Holly was sat on the sofa happily watching Saturday TV. Mr Peters' monitored her movements for a bit but she seemed content and wasn't doing much, so he snuck upstairs to the attic.

There, the girl from Lucian's boot was tied to a chair. He was smiling; Lucian certainly had his ways of making things happen. The girl was crying, shaking and scared. Mr Peters walked over to her and started sniffing her hair; she jumped back as she couldn't see who he was or where she was.

He kneeled down and spoke sleazy in her ear "shhh, don't cry my sweet girl, no-one is going to harm you, I'm going to take good care of you, hush now, it's going to be alright," he stipulated in her ear whilst stroking her.

The girl was shaking, crying as he tried to comfort her in his perverted ways.

He sniffed her hair and told her he would be back later before leaving the room and locking the door. Holly was still sat on the sofa; she was oblivious to what was happening upstairs.

Mr Peters entered with a sickening grin on his face, he sat with Holly and she climbed on his lap and he played with her hair as they did all the time.

It was comforting for her and he got a sexy thrill out of knowing that one day he would take her and he would forever hold her virtue that he would have stolen.

Later that evening, after he had bathed and fed Holly her supper, he put her to bed reading to her from the books provided to him by Lucian until Holly eventually fell asleep, as he went to leave, he watched her sleeping for a few seconds, he was so tempted but knew he couldn't touch her yet, if he did, he would face Lucian's wrath for disobeying him and everyone who had ever dealt with Lucian knows they would not like the consequences of what would happen to them for going against him.

He sat downstairs for a while, drinking a glass of wine whilst he prepared a small box of items.

When he was done he headed up to the attic and opened the door where the girl appeared to have fallen asleep, she was still tied but her head had lowered. He snapped his fingers and she shot up, still blindfolded she was terrified, he walked over to her and plonked down his box next to the chair.

"Your smell is intoxicating, what's your name?" his voice dirty and creepy.

Sniffling where she had been crying she responded "Umm, its Emily, please don't hurt me, please," she begged, he put his hands on her face.

"Oh my sweet girl, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to adore you, you are very special you know" his creepy dirty voice whispered back to her.

He untied her hands and taking a firm grip of her, he escorted her to the bed.

He laid Emily down and chained her hands above her head to the bed posts.

He went to get his box and returned to her pulling out a whip, a piece of rope and some condoms. These items were for his own sickening pleasure.

He was aroused by this girl. Mr Peters then leaned down and pressed himself against her so she could feel how much she thrilled him. He was oblivious to the tears streaming down her face in distress.

This is what he did, he fully believed they wanted him and that the enjoyed it. He was sick and disgusting but in his own mind this was right, other people just simply did not understand.

All prepared, around and sexually charged, he proceeded to sexually abuse Emily throughout the night and when he was finished, he would leave her lying there with no dignity, tied up, ashamed and broken.

The days thereafter continued in Mr Peters' household as normal. He and Holly would head off to school in the weekday; Holly would continue her visits with Lucian and in the evening he would sit with Holly before putting her to bed and continuing his abuse with Emily.

One evening, whilst Mr Peters was in the attic with Emily, Holly awoke after having a dream about a man coming for her, feeling upset she left her room looking for Mr Peters but she couldn't see him anywhere.

She called out but got no response. She heard clatter coming from the ceiling, Holly had never ventured to the attic before, she had no need to, but as she wanted Mr Peters and couldn't find him she decided to make her way up their stairs leading to the attic door.

She could hear a slight mumble of a voice. She pushed open the door slowly, and to her horror, there was Mr Peters abusing a young girl.

She screamed which startled Mr Peters as he had not noticed she was there and Holly ran downstairs and out the front door onto the street and carried on running down the road.

Mr Peters quickly got dressed and ran after but by the time he could Holly was nowhere to be seen.

In his home at that moment Lucian felt something change; angry he left his apartment and headed towards his church.

Mr Peters was searching for Holly but he didn't know where to look so he went back to the house to call Lucian, but Lucian was already ringing him.

"You fucking idiot, I will bring her back, you stay there you fucking stupid prick and I'll deal with you later" is harsh words roared down the phone.

Mr Peters knew that Lucian was not one to mess with so he did as instructed and waited in the house.

Lucian found Holly outside the church in the graveyard. Stood behind her from the gates he saw blood dripping down her hands, trees had fallen and gravestones had cracks in them.

Looking amused he approached Holly observing the mess around her and the dead bird at her feet.

"What happened precious?" he asked smiling.

"I got mad..." Her voice monotone as she stared into the church.

"You got mad?" he repeated back to her.

"Yes, I got mad, the bird flew at me when I was mad so I grabbed him and squeezed him and then he died and then I got more madder and the stones broke and the trees fell" there was slight uneasiness in her voice, as if she was concerned about what her actions had just caused.

Lucian smiled devilishly, he could see her power was quite strong already at a young age and she was showing signs of the person she used to be.

He moved in-front of her and she looked up at him, he smiled at her "Oh my dear princess, your gift is very powerful, what made you so angry?"

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, images of what she saw flashed through her mind, she opened them and looked into Lucians eyes "David, he was, I saw him, he was naked, I saw him I did, he had no clothes on doing rude things to a girl" her voice was trembling and eyes started to fill with tears but they didn't drip down her face, she managed to hold them back.

Lucian looked at her, "My dear girl, David was doing what he does, he likes to do that, the girl wanted him to..." manipulating her into believing the evil and disgusting act was the norm and the killing of the bird was normal too.

Holly started to believe him. Her face softened towards him as he spoke. _Had he corrupted her so much that she couldn't tell the difference anymore between right and wrong?_

She had witnessed her father fall into a cycle of drink and depression, her mother was murdered, which she was not yet aware of, only that she had died in an accident, her grandparents were dead and the man she lived with touched young girls, the life she was now living was surely putting her on the edge of evil and swaying away her from the goodness her parents had put in her heart and soul.

Lucian returned back to Mr Peters' house with Holly, she looked at him cold then walked straight passed him and went to bed on Lucian's instruction.

Turning his attention to Mr Peters, he smiled at him with a cunning expression. This was not the reaction Mr Peters was expecting from Lucian.

Normally when someone disobeyed him or fucked things up he showed his true temper and fiery side, but it appeared as if he was happy and not mad, not mad in the slightest.

"You have awoken something in her I did not expect" he said his voice sound surprised.

"I did? What did I do?" Mr Peters stared at him confused by the situation.

"Never you mind, let me just say to you, carry on with her as normal" he goes to leave but stops and turns back "and David, be careful..." he tone sarcastic with his evil smile as he left the house and left

Mr Peters was wondering what the hell happened. Mr Peters went to Holly's room; she was sat on the bed very stiff and staring at the wall. He approached her with caution and sat beside her, she looked as if she was not breathing. She was so still, so quiet.

Before he could speak Holly looked at him with disgust, for a seven year old her expression was scary "I'm tired David, I'm going to sleep now."

Confused by her cold actions, he agreed and tucked in giving her a kiss goodnight. She rolled onto her side and proceeded to give him the cold shoulder.

The next day at school, Holly was cold and distant, not just with Mr Peters but with her usual group of friends also. Instead of playing with them, she decided to talk to Andrew, the child in the class with apparent deep psychological issues.

His father was an abusive alcoholic single parent who would regularly beat Andrew or lock him in a cupboard under the stairs for punishment.

Andrew was quite a dark child and often caused issues in class by beating up other children or vandalising school property.

Andrew was nine and the year above Holly but they would see each-other on the school grounds during time between classes, and when Holly started to befriend him, he took an instant liking to her.

Throughout the day she hung round with him and played with him only.

Mr Peters was wary of this, he had a task to fulfil and Holly's attitude towards him had changed worrying him that he may not be able to do the job Lucian had ordered him to do and as such would face the severe consequences.

Mr Peters' tried to keep them apart but Holly stared at him with evil in her eyes every time forcing him to allow her to do as she pleases.

Over the next few weeks Holly and Andrew had formed a bond. They would go off together during recess and sit next to each other during school assembly.

Over the following months, Holly isolated herself from her classmates to only be with Andrew and at home she was cold with Mr Peters however she still continued to sit on his lap in the evening, but her body language towards him was negative.

One night at home, Holly was playing in her room. Alone, Holly was pulling the heads off her dolls and drawing images of hell on pieces of paper.

Mr Peters caught her doing this and knew that Lucian had corrupted her soul and the evil within her was beginning to take over. 

## CHAPTER 15

At the psychiatric ward, Max had been receiving months of treatment for his hallucinations and delusions. It was assessment day for Max to see if he was making any progress and recovering from his ordeal.

Lucian however wanted Max to stay put. He didn't want him gone just yet, he wanted Max to see who Holly really was so then they would watch him crumble and eventually commit suicide so he could claim his soul and have control over him with Holly by his side.

Sat in his office appearing to be typing at his desk, Lucian was actually imbedding obscene images into Max's mind just for fun. Max was fidgeting in his chair in the assessment room.

"STOP IT, STOP IT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? SOMEONE STOP HIM, HE HAS MY FUCKING DAUGHTER YOU CUNTS STOP HIM!" He started screaming as he tried to free himself from his cuffs.

The nurses ran in as Walter watched in amusement when they sedated him to calm him down. Writing down notes on a notepad, he was looking at Max relishing in his pain.

Walter entered the office of the physician in charge of the hospital and gave his up to date diagnoses.

"I have been sat with Max Gage, his hallucinations are dominating him" he sounded certain trying to contain his wicked smile.

"Really?" the physician looked shocked "I thought he was making progress?"

"So did I but unfortunately it was too soon to judge, he's just had another episode during the assessment and needed to be sedated, I believe he is now suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and should be placed in the Personal Safety Room for his own security".

The physician agreed and signed off Walters's documentation.

Max was moved into a padded room where he would remain and only approached when he was given food or washed. He was kept heavily sedated and in straitjacket for fear of harming himself any way he could.

Lucian received a phone call at that moment, his expression was cunning; he smiled, hung up the phone and lied back finishing his cigar.

He felt a sense or victory. He got up from his chair and waked to his window in his office where he looked out and up at the sky, with a villainous look on his face he opened his mouth "I'm going to win this time you son of a bitch and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

He wanted a prize, his desire and objection was Holly, so he ordered Sophie, one of the employees to come into his office. Sophie was similar to Holly but she was an older version.

In-fact she had similar facial features, similar skin tone and hair colour, and Lucian loved this, he wanted to act out his sexual desire for Holly on her, the woman who looked like an older version of his true desire.

The door knocked, "come in" he said smoothly. "You called for me sir?" she said peeping around the door.

"Yes, please come here Sophie, I want to show you something" his eyes fixated on her.

She looked at him, she walked over slowly, his body language and expressions were enticing.

She got closer and he pulled her towards him and sat her on the desk in-front of him. She heard the door lock behind her and the blinds were closed so no-one could see in. She felt agitated but his caressing of her thighs was swaying her. He pushed her legs open as he kissed up her thighs.

His eyes turned pure black as he looked up at her "will you do as I ask?" he questioned her.

She was aroused "yes" she replied breathlessly and seemed to be under some sort of hypnosis.

He worked his way up her body to her lips as he pushed her panties aside and slid his fingers inside her.

She was wet; her vagina was throbbing on his fingers. He moved his fingers in and out of her as his dick hardened, when he stopped he pulled her off the table and looked at her, she was stood before him, horny and wanting more.

"Will you do as I ask?" his voice seductive.

"Yes sir" her voice was low.

"Then turn around" he demanded.

She turned around and he bended her over his desk, he slipped her underwear off and pulled his dick out of his trousers.

Sophie was lying across the desk face down panting waiting for him; he entered her hard, as his horns sprouted from his forehead and his skins darkened to an almost dark red colour. He fucked her hard imagining her to be Holly and the time in another life they used to fuck and enjoy it.

She was screaming so he bent down and covered her mouth with his hand telling her to be quiet or he will punish her. She complied with his demand as he started speaking dirty to her but he became more vulgar

"You like me fucking that tight cunt don't you Holly" he roared as he pushed harder.

Sophie turned confused and dazed, panting she quietly let out "I'm not Holly, I'm Sophie sir" but he pushed her head on table, grabbed her hips and pushed up harder.

"You'll be what I want you to be and right now you're fucking Holly" his groan intensified as he moaned out "tell me you want me Holly!"

"I want you sir"

"Yes, that's it, take my fucking cock in your filthy cunt, take it all" he pushed faster, grabbing her and pulling her head back. She closed her lips tight to stop from screaming but she was humming a moan.

He became more violet and bent over her wrapping his hands around her neck, squeezing as he savagely fucked her vagina.

Her lips were turning blue and she tried to pull his hands away but he carried on with his strong pulses, in and out he pushed inside until he let out an almighty roar as he exploded inside her, squeezing her throat so tight as he released.

Sophie passed out. In-haling heavily and panting, he looked down at Sophie passed out face down on his desk. Laughing he lifted her up and placed her on his chair, he didn't bother to tidy her up, her shirt was open, her skirt was torn and she had no panties on.

Walking over to a cabinet in his office he pulled out a vile and proceeded to force the liquid down Sophie's throat whilst she was unconscious.

This was because human's normally died from him fucking them; this liquid was so that she didn't die just feel very sore. He pulled his pants back on as his horns retracted, combing his hair in the mirror, pleased and satisfied with his violent fuck.

Sophie started to come round, she looked bewildered and confused. She looked down at herself, her clothes in disarray, no underwear on and a sore neck.

She looked at Lucian who was still combing in hair in the mirror. Stumbling to her feet, her legs were a little shaky, she tried to compose herself, he turned to her and made out this was all her doing.

"Are you ok Sophie? You came into my office and started taking your pants off I tried to stop you but you persisted" he explained quite rudely.

Sophie couldn't remember, she had no recollection of even entering his office let alone taking her clothes off or attempting to seduce her boss "I uhh, I don't know what happened sir" she mumbled as she quickly tried to conform herself.

Lucian looked at her, one eyebrow raised in amusement, "Oh Sophie its ok, go back to your desk and we will forget the whole thing."

"Oh ok, thank you sir thank you" she left the office and sat at her desk not moving for the rest of the day.

At Mr Peters' house, he began to feel frustrated. He wanted Holly so bad he was beginning to act like a drug addict who was having withdrawal symptoms.

Whenever he felt the urge for Holly, he would go to the attic and sexually abuse Emily, who by now, was extremely weak and her health was deteriorating.

Mr Peters' had become bored with her. She was no longer fulfilling his needs, so as usual, when one of his subjects started to become like this, he would discard them.

Emily had never seen Mr Peters, she had been kept blindfolded and chained and given basic food and water but her abuse resulted in her fragile state and poor health.

That night, he unchained Emily and drove her to a nearby wooded area where he threw her out of the car and left her to die.

When he returned, Holly was asleep in bed. After almost a year of grooming Holly and getting close to her, although she was not yet of the right age, his impulses were getting stronger and he could bare it no longer.

He walked into her bedroom and quietly took off her nightgown. He placed his hand over her mouth and sexually abused her at the tender age of seven.

He couldn't help himself, he was enjoying every moment until suddenly Lucian was in the doorway of Holly's bedroom and with a roar with the fire burns of hell he unleased extreme fury and Mr Peters' was flung across the room.

Holly awoke and didn't see Lucian as his normal self; she saw a dark evil like figure with horns and fiery red skin and wings standing there, she didn't realise it was Lucian but she knew she had seen that figure before.

Holly looked down at her blood stained bed and realised what Mr Peters' had done to her. Holly became furious, not because she thought what he had done was wrong because in her mind the difference between right and wrong was now warped, she was furious that he had taken something from her she had not given permission to take, the whole building started shaking as Holly's anger enraged inside her.

It was so powerful her body levitated from the ground. Staring at Mr Peters' fire burned in her eyes as she stared directly into his. Lucian stood and watched as Holly took matters into her own hands and killed Mr Peters' by making his body explode from the inside out.

Blood burst all over the walls as his body became nothing but bits scattered all over Holly's bedroom.

Lucian looked at Holly, impressed by the evil that grown within her in only a short time, even though he knew she was not yet meant to be this powerful.

Holly's feet came back to the ground and she stared at the figure in the doorway, still not noticing it was Lucian, he smiled at her with his approval and then disappeared, hoping Holly would follow him, but she didn't, she didn't know how.

Holly just stood there, disgusted by what had happened she changed her clothes and left the house. A few hours later, Holly was found wandering the streets by a passing police officer, concerned for the little girl; he took her to the police station where he attempted to contact her family.

After several hours of trying they came up empty handed and Holly was put into the care of social workers who were going to put her into the care system.

Lucian went back to the house to see if he could pick up Hollys scent and see where she went but he found nothing, only scent of evil left by Holly after her destruction and the necklace he had given her on the floor which fell off during abolition of Mr Peters.

He knew he couldn't force her to come to him, she had to do so willingly, but he didn't want to lose sight of her as his manipulation of her was working so well when she turned eighteen she would happily surrender to him, but she had gone.

A furious Lucian stormed through the house ripping it to shreds until finally engulfing the building in flames destroying all inside and outside it.

Walking through the flames to leave the house he heard the fire engine sounds, he took a look at his destruction as disappeared just as the fire engines pulled up outside.

What happened to Holly in the next few years would change her in a way he didn't know would be for him or for the greater good.

He had to find her and make sure his plan would be fulfilled; he was not willing to live without her again.

## CHAPTER 16

### 7 Years Later...

It was Holly's 14th birthday and she was now in a different foster home and had moved foster homes frequently since the age of seven as she was a troublesome child. Her new foster parents were strict however.

In the past year since having her they would beat her if she disobeyed them.

Holly had resorted to sneaking out of her room at night to see friends and she would regularly engage in under age sex with boys older than her.

However, even with her troubles, Holly was still an exceptional student at school and received very good grades, but she was never rewarded.

Her foster family were devout Christians and believed what they did they done in the name of God.

On her birthday her foster parents gave her one present, a small cupcake with a candle in it and stated she should be grateful as most children had nothing.

Holly followed the normal morning ritual in their house and then headed off to school.

Her birthday wasn't celebrated and when she returned home it was just another normal day.

They would force Holly to pray with them every morning with her foster siblings, who were also unhappy living there, they would always eat together and the mother would carry a key to the cupboards around her neck so that the children could not just take things without asking.

Her reasoning behind was if you did not control them, they would eat you out of house and home!

One night, Holly heard stones at her window; she looked out to see Andrew standing outside.

Andrew was now sixteen and had been in trouble with the law. He had been caught shoplifting and had been done for anti-social behaviour.

He wasn't evil as such, just a troubled young man born into a family that didn't care about him, he was the one however who was sleeping with Holly on a regular basis, even though it was illegal, he believed he loved her and there was nothing wrong with what he was doing even though she was only fourteen.

Back in the psychiatric ward, Max had been subjected to almost eight years of torture and sedation drugs as Walter had successfully convinced them he was seriously mentally ill. But things would soon change for Max.

It was another assessment day, the same one he had every year to see if there was any progress in his mental health. Max never said a word anymore during his assessment, he knew he could not convince them what he believed was true so he thought ' _fuck it'_ , he thought he had no reason to live anymore so he began to give up, but this was about to change.

During the assessment, cocky Walter was stating the same old thing when suddenly he stopped speaking.

Max looked up to see him struggling to breath with his hand over his chest.

"Help me!" Walter mouthed as he tried to speak but Max just stared on.

Walter was having a heart attack, he may have been on the side of evil but even humans can't live forever.

Max did nothing to help, first of all he couldn't; he was hand cuffed to the chair and secondly, he didn't want to.

Walter fell to the floor clearly in pain but Max did nothing to call out for help.

He just watched him then he noticed the CCTV camera in the room, he knew that someone would come running in to help him but he prayed in his head for them to be too late to save him.

The nurses shortly entered the room with doctors, but Walter had already gone into cardiac arrest.

Watching and hoping he would die, Max stared at the doctors trying to revive him, to Max's merriment, the doctors were unable to bring him back and Walter died that day on the floor in the assessment room.

Max was taken back to his padded cell and did not kick up a fuss or start screaming, the nurses were shocked at how easy he went and co-operated when normally he had to be sedated, they placed him in his cell and looked at him confused as he stared back at the nurse with a smile of pleasure.

Walter had gone, no-one was there to tell them he was insane, he now how to work out a plan to get out of their so he could trace down his daughter and help her.

Lucian had been searching for Holly for all these years but as she had not gone back to their church, she had not had an angry episode and she no longer had the necklace he gave her, due to being moved place to place, he wasn't able to sense where she was.

This made him angry and he regularly took this out on Sophie. He would entice her into his office, have rough sex with her and then drug her so she wouldn't remember and she wouldn't die, she would always believe she had tried to come on to him and he would make her feel ashamed of himself.

Sat in his office with Sophie propped up in the chair after being seduced and in a mess, Lucian's office phone rang. It was the hospital; Walter had listed him as a contact in case of death.

The nurse was sympathetic "Hello is this Mr Malum?"

"Yes it is,"

"Hi sir this is Dr Richards from New York Psychiatric Hospital, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

Lucian was intrigued, he believed she was going to tell him Max had died, he smiled "Oh...what is it?"

"I'm afraid Mr Graves passed away today, he suffered a heart attack, I'm so sorry sir" her voice sincere and sad.

"Wait! Walter is dead?" shocked he sat up in his chair.

He wasn't at all sad, of course he wasn't, he was more than annoyed, Walter was doing a good job and he had no other allies in the hospital at that time. "What about his patients, I know he had patients" he rambled on trying to get information.

"I'm afraid I cannot discuss those with you sir, he had some belongings here if you would like to come and collect them..."

He wasn't interested in what she had to say, he slammed the phone down and got angry again, his entire plan was falling apart, Max was meant to severely deranged already with the shit they had done to him but he was finding the strength to hold on. He turned to Sophie, frustrated and angry he was suddenly by her side, he picked her up and held her in the air with one hand as he tore her clothes off with the other.

In his rage, he forcefully had sex with her, going deep and hard as he let out his frustration.

When he was done, he let her drop to the floor, bruised and dripping cum from her vagina; he left her there and left the office forgetting to give her the liquid he always gave her.

Angry, Lucian went through the town speeding in his car as he thought of ways to get back in touch with Holly.

He knew he couldn't sense her without her unleashing evil or without the enchantment of the necklace and at the moment this was not going to happen as she lived in a strict Christian household.

Or the other way was if she set foot back in New York, he would sense her like a wolf seeking out its prey. He had four years until she was eighteen and without his influence on her she may sway to the other side like she did all those centuries ago.

Holly and Andrew were lying on the bed talking quietly about their future.

Holly wanted out of that house and she wanted to be with Andrew forever.

She was still only just a child, she didn't know what love was but she believed Andrew would be the one to save her and she couldn't live without him.

They were so deep in conversation they didn't notice her foster parents walking around on the landing area, they had heard Holly talking to someone and burst into her room to find her cuddled up in Andrew's arms.

"What the hell is going on in here!" her stepfather roared with anger as he grabbed Andrew off the bed and pulled him away from Holly.

"No please stop, he's my friend we were just talking..." Holly tried to plead with them but they were not interested.

Her foster father dragged Andrew down the stairs and called the police.

When the police arrived her foster father stated he wanted him done for having sexual relations with a minor.

The police arrested Andrew and took him away for questioning.

Holly stood there in shock; the boy she counted on had gone, he was her best friend, her ally. Her foster father walked up to her and looked at her in disgust and then slapped her across the face.

"How dare you commit sin under my roof, you will be judged one day my girl, you disgust me, you are bloody fourteen years old, you have disgraced yourself and in the name of the lord I will make sure you never step out of line again, now get up the stairs and wash the vile disgusting man essence from you and you do not come out until you have cleansed your soul!" he heckled at her.

She ran upstairs in tears and he shouted up the stairs after her "Only the devil likes whores, you clean yourself girl!"

Holly stood in the bathroom crying, she wasn't angry, she was hurt, Andrew was the only one who made her feel safe and loved and although only fourteen, she had not had the best life so far. She stared at herself in the mirror; she remembered something, a memory of Olivia and Max, the day at the Zoo, vivid happy images ran through her mind of the love and affection they gave her and the happiness of the family that was shared that day.

Then there was a knock on the door, Holly snapped out of day dreaming and opened it to be greeted by one of the other children in the house.

"Are you ok Holly?" a sweet voice whispered.

Her foster sibling stood looking at her, "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry, go back to your room before you get into trouble" she smiled at him softly and closed the door; she got in the shower and washed as instructed.

Holly wanted to find her father, she didn't remember much about him, just random flash backs she had of him, his face, the good and the bad times.

She was only seven when she left and she had some awful times with him which her memory has blocked out in time. She got dressed and went to her bedroom to reflect on her sins as instructed by her foster father.

The next morning, Holly came down the table to join the rest of the family for breakfast. Nobody spoke at the table, it was considered bad manners.

Once breakfast was done, the foster children all did their chores and cleaned up. Holly approached her foster father and looked at him; he looked up at her with a firm look on his face.

"What? You look like you have something to say" clearly he wasn't interested.

She hesitated for a few seconds, she was going to say she wanted to find her father but from the look on his face she could tell he would not approve so she quickly thought of something else, "I just want to say thank you for showing me my sinful ways and I hope that god will forgive me" her head lowered as if in shame.

Her foster father seemed pleased with her slight confession and patted her on the shoulder "good girl, now go get your things for school."

Holly complied as she was coming up with a different plan; she was going to do this without their permission.

At school, Holly had to devise a plan, she knew she was never going to see Andrew again, she had not heard what had happened to him since last night and with the control of her foster father she would never be allowed near him, after-all sex with a minor was illegal and Andrew had no shame in hiding this, he was going to go to prison for some time.

In class, she knew that she would be expected home straight after school and sometimes her foster father would collect them at school without warning; it was to keep them on their toes and catch them out if they were naughty so he could punish them at home.

Holly decided that she would leave during lunch time, she had money that she had received back in New York before she bounced from foster house to foster house.

She had always hidden the money and knew it was given to her for emergencies, as we all knew, Holly was a very smart little girl and her mind was more developed in most ways but still naive in others.

Holly remembered that Lucian, her dad's boss, was always a good friend to her so she thought she would maybe seek him out and request his help, unbeknown to her that that's exactly what he wanted.

She didn't have his contact number and couldn't remember where the offices were, as she had blocked the bad bits of her memory from the child abuse to the father who went insane, she only had vivid memories of her past, and she didn't know his last name. Holly left school at lunch time, went into town and bought a bus ticket to New York.

She had somehow convinced the station attendant she was with her parents and she had lost her ticket so her daddy sent her to get another one, pointing to the crowd she pointed out a couple and he took her word for it, she was very convincing, she boarded the bus to New York all by herself and started to think about how she was going to get back in contact with her dad, Max. 

## CHAPTER 17

Max was lying in bed staring at the ceiling; he had not received any drugs since Walter's passing.

As he had been compliant at meal times and done as he was ordered, they did not feel the need to sedate him.

Thoughts were running through Max's head, he hadn't had a nightmare in a while but that was because the drugs stopped that, he didn't know what his daughter looked like as he hadn't seen her in seven years, he wondered how life would be if Olivia was still here and he wondered how it was he would get out of here.

He only had an assessment yearly and the last one he just had, the doctor died there on the floor and with his history, they decided they would not let him go just yet, so he had a year to prove he was much better.

He had received no visitors in the years he was there, his friends from Boston were scared when they knew he had been declared insane and rumours started that he killed his wife after having an affair and tampered with his parents car as they found out he murdered Olivia and he wanted to make sure they couldn't tell anyone.

Neighbours loved a good gossip, they all gathered round and made up stories as to what happened, after-all, the police never caught or arrested anyone for Olivia's murder; they never had any suspects, except for Max who was then exonerated from the investigation.

The case had gone cold which lead the neighbours to make up their own stories.

Lucian's plan with Holly may not have gone how he wanted it to but he was successful in getting rid of every person in Max's life. The nurse entered the room to give Max his dinner, he was always supervised when eating and restrained so he couldn't lean forward and attack anyone.

The officers chained him first and then the nurse placed his food on the table in front.

She then took a step back in the safe zone, an area of distance they had to be for dangerous patients, and supervised his eating of his lunch.

To her surprise, he ate normally, no sitting there staring at the walls, no arguments like he normally did, he just picked up the spoon and started eating.

She looked in shock and spoke even though she was not meant to speak to the patients.

"Well done Mr Gage, no arguments" she smiled softly.

He looked at her and smiled back "No nurse Collings, I believe you will see a lot of changes in me" he carries on eating his food and they engaged in conversation.

"Change for the better I hope Mr Gage, you have not exactly been compliant..."

"Yes nurse Collings, for the better, so many years in here will give you time to think..."

"Think? About what?" she was curious.

"Things..."

"What things?"

"Well, I had a mental breakdown, I guess there's only so much a man can deal with, I have a daughter, and I need to get better for her."

"You only realise this now?"

"No, I realised this a long time ago, but I guess my mind and my heart had to heal first" he finished his food and places his spoon down gently on the plate.

The nurse was impressed, she felt sad for him before after what he had been through and she had always wanted him to get better.

She took the tray away and looked back before leaving "You know Mr Gage, the heart can play tricks on you, you do what's best for your daughter and remember you have support here" she smiled at him softly with kindness in her eyes.

He thought _'wow, she's on my side, I can actually do this, I can, I will get there, watch me'_ and with those thoughts he laid back smiling at the possibilities, something he had not done in a very long time.

Holly finally arrived in New York, it had been a long bus ride and it was now dark in the streets of New York City.

First things first, she needed a place to stay; with her smart mind she approached a nice hotel where she believed she would be safe.

She called the reservation line from the hotel lobby and reserved a room.

Her voice didn't sound child-like; Holly was very clever and knew what she was doing.

The woman at the front desk made the reservation and advised what she thought was a woman that payment must be made on check-in.

Knowing she would have to go alone and questions would be raised she told the woman that she was a mother in town on business and did not have time to do all of this so her daughter would arrive in a car and she would check them in on their behalf and stated she would have the cash.

Holly gave a fake surname so that her foster family could not find her. Holly then snuck back out and came in pretending to look all confused. She was very smartly dressed and presented; she could have easily been the daughter of someone with lots of money.

She was approached by one of the luggage boys and then the lady from the counter approached.

"Hi there, my name is Carolyn, are you Miss Jones" the woman was friendly.

"Yes, my mother told me to ask for a lady at the desk, my car just dropped me off but he had to leave" she was sticking with the story and doing so convincingly.

"Yes sweetheart that's myself, now let's get you all checked in and we'll have someone escort you to your room, we understand you are paying for the room but please remind your mother when she comes in she has some paperwork to sign little darling ok" the woman seemed very polite and overly friendly but Holly didn't mind, made her giggle a bit.

Holly was then shown to her room. She lied on the bed smiling at the stunt she had just pulled off and started to realise how clever she actually was.

She felt deep down inside she was going to find Max and she was determined to have a better future for herself.

You would think she was eighteen already with her mind but she was still only a child. There was only one problem, they needed paperwork signing, _and how was she going to pull that off?_

Now she needed to think of another plan so she could stay in the hotel and try and find her father, she had plenty of money to spend a year at the hotel if she wanted.

The money she had been stashing all these years was more than a fourteen year old should have but someone sent it to her and wanted her to have it, this was what it was for, to help her in her time of need.

Lucian was driving around the city then suddenly he sensed something.

His car came to a screeching halt as he pulled up on the sidewalk.

He looked around, hundreds of people staring at the crazy man who was glaring into the air.

Normal people going about their everyday lives and then suddenly, Lucian knew Holly was back in New York. He could sense the darkness within her, her scent, her soul.

He had lost the connection with her to find her but he knew she was there.

She may have not done anything bad but the evil that was dormant within her he could still sniff out.

He got back in his car and sped off driving fast the church he used to go with Holly.

This was the church of evil and he needed the priests help to plant things in Holly's mind so she would willingly go to him.

They needed the book with all the evil chants, spells and dark magic, but then Lucian remembered he gave part of the book to Holly when she was a small girl to read. _Fuck!_ How was he going to get that back?

The priest warned Lucian "My lord, without that book, I cannot perform the ritual needed for her birth right when the time has come, we have the beginning part here but the end part is in that book, you need to find this" his voice concerned.

The priest was a dedicated follower and had been for centuries, he was around when Lucian and Holly were first together and at the end.

Holly left the hotel and went to the library. She called the hotel from the library, pretending to be the mother she had formulated a good plan.

"Oh hi this is uhh Mrs Jones, I called today and my daughter is currently at your hotel," her posh voice fooled them.

"Yes Miss Jones," the receptionist listened.

Still continuing with her disguise "my daughter advises me you need me to sign some paperwork, I'm a very busy woman you know, can you fax them to my office and I will sign whatever it is and fax them back to you?"

The hotel were more than happy to oblige, after all, for what it appeared, the Jones's were wealthy and hotel personnel were always happy and helpful with wealthy hotel guests.

Holly carried on and received the fax whilst on the phone; she scribbled a signature and faxed it back, which was one problem sorted.

She then spent most of the afternoon in the library looking at old news articles from around the time she was taken from her father and she was going backwards to see if she could find anything that may help find him.

She came across an article which caught her eye;

*TWO DIE ON IMPACT IN FATAL CAR ACCIDENT*

With images of the wreckage. This seemed familiar to her, she read the article: _'_

Two people died on the freeway crash with injured others and stopped traffic for several hours. The victims of this terrible accident were identified as Tim and Judy Gage. No-one knows exactly what caused the accident however police are still investigating. The terrible images from the crash...'

Flashback in Holly's mind remembered she went to a funeral as a child, and then she remembered Tim and Judy and had realised they were her grandparents.

She printed that newspaper article and kept looking, then suddenly she came across something she didn't want to know about that had been hidden from her, she was always told her mother had died in a car accident, that much she remembered, but there is was in the newspaper, a whole two page article with her mother's picture, a picture of Holly, her mother and her father all smiling.

She read the article:

* _COLD MURDER OF A LOVING MOTHER AND POLICE HAVE NO LEADS*_

_'A body of a local woman was found brutally stabbed yesterday evening. Police have yet to arrest a suspect. The woman was found in an old warehouse not far from her home here in Boston. The woman was stabbed multiple times and was sexually assaulted. Police have no witnesses in what they described as 'absolutely disgusting...'_

Tears streamed down Hollys face, someone had murdered her mother and she had to find out the truth by reading about it in an old archived online paper, she printed this story too, she wanted answers when she found her father.

She carried on scrolling through; finally, she saw an article about her father.

It was horrible, there was an image of him being carted off whilst what look like he was fighting policemen.

She read:

* _HUSBAND OF MURDERED WIFE INSTITUTIONALISED*_

_'Max Gage, the husband of murdered Olivia Gage was yesterday detained by police for serious concerns over his mental status. Doctors say Mr Gage, who was recently seen with several prostitutes, has had a complete psychological breakdown after the murder of his with and death of his parents. Over growing concern for his daughter Holly, doctors made the choice to commit Mr Gage into the New York Psychiatric Hospital whilst his young daughter has been placed in foster care...'_

The article read about how Max was questioned about his wife's murder and how neighbours had given statements on his behaviour at both funerals.

She printed out the copies she needed and placed them in her bag. She was upset and distraught by what she had read. She kept scrolling through and saw a picture of a woman that was familiar to her. Belladonna.

Flashbacks in her mind reminded her of things she and Belladonna used to do when she was small. She never knew what happened to her and she couldn't even remember her name, except it was 'B' something.

She looked up the address for the hospital, copied it down and left.

As she walked out of the library she felt a sense of hope that she would be able to see her father and all would be ok, but as she looked up, dark clouds loomed over the streets of New York, she could see that face appear in the cloud, the wind picked up blowing her hair everywhere, she didn't like what she saw.

Holly ran back to the hotel and stayed there for the remainder of the evening.

By now, Holly's foster parents were becoming frantic at Holly's whereabouts.

They had called the police and reported her missing and they were currently in their house taking statements.

The police noticed the locked cupboards and the key around the foster mother's neck and noticed all the children had been sent to their rooms.

The police were gathering information: "Ma'am, sir, can you provide me a picture of Holly..." requested the officer.

Her foster father handed him a picture of Holly taken by the school a few weeks prior "this is her, she was wearing her school uniform and when I rang the school this morning they stated she was there."

"You rung the school?" the officer was taken back by this.

"Oh yes, I always ring the school to check the children have arrived, we don't want them bunking off now do we..." he replied looking very authoritative.

"Ok, well is there anywhere Holly would go? Someone she knows?" the policeman sounded concerned.

The foster mother stepped up, "Not at all, Holly knows not to talk to strangers and she has no family around her officer, her father has been institutionalised and her mother died when she was very young, she knows better than to go wandering off..." there was no sympathy in her voice that a normal mother would have, she sounded more annoyed than caring.

The officer finished and left with some of Holly's things for the police dogs. The next day, the police went to Holly's school and reviewed the CCTV footage.

They saw Holly arriving and walking into school and they see Holly leaving alone at lunch time and she never came back.

Police called in the FBI Behavioural Team who also reviewed the footage and went to interview the foster parents.

It was their belief that Holly had not been abducted but had walked away alone, they had yet to discover why she done this but believe that things in this Christian home were not as good as they were perceived, and Holly didn't want to come back here.

In New York, Holly awoke in the hotel room late morning, she felt happy, normally she was forced to wake up very early and have breakfast but here, she felt so free.

She ordered breakfast and ate in peace and quiet. She was calm relaxed. She called the hospital where her father was staying and asked if she could visit him, she didn't say she was his daughter, she said she was his niece, if someone was following or looking for her, she didn't want to give away any information that may lead people to her.

She got dressed and headed off to the hospital. On the way, she wondered what her father would look like or even if he would be happy to see her.

She hadn't seen him in so long and the last memory she has was him being a bad dad.

It worried her a bit, she began to feel nauseous but she was strong and would not give in until she had seen him. 

## CHAPTER 18

Arriving at the hospital, she was checked through security and under supervision of a nurse and officer Holly was led to a secure room.

Looking through the glass she could see her father sitting there handcuffed to a chair. He didn't know it was Holly who was coming to see him.

"We'll be right outside if you need us OK" the nurse said reassuringly, "just call out and knock on the door and we will be right in" she gave her a warm smile and opened the door.

Max looked up, there in-front him was a beautiful little girl who looked like Olivia with that stain below her eye.

"Holly?" he said is surprise and smiled.

"Yes Daddy, it's me" she said back her voice low and soft still worried about what was going to happen.

He moved to give her a hug and then remembered he was tied to a chair. Holly sat on the chair adjacent to his on the other side of the table. They stared at each other for a while and then Max started weeping.

"My bubba, how are you here? Are you ok? Where have you been?" Max poured out with questions, his heart beating so fast.

"Woah slow down Dad, yes I'm fine...I've been living with a foster family, actually, a few foster families..." she started to engage in conversation with Max, it flowed, and it felt natural.

"Dad, the reason I'm here is because, well, you're my dad and I have some questions I need answered, there are parts of my memory I don't quite recall" she pulled out all the newspaper articles she had printed in the library and showed her dad the one of Tim and Judy, "firstly, can you explain this?"

Max took a deep breath "Uhhh yeah, those were my parents, they were coming to visit us I believe, they probably thought we could use them after your mum died and I hadn't spoken to them in a while, I didn't even know they were coming, I was at work when I heard the news report, they died instantly," the sadness in his voice and on his face.

Holly looked at him, she could see just by telling her that he was reliving the pain "I can go if this is too much for you" she said as she didn't want to cause him pain.

He insisted she stayed "No, please don't leave; what else do you want to know?"

Holly put out another article, this one was the day he was taken away "what about this?" she questioned.

"Well it's nice to know your whole life tragedies are in the paper"" he voice low and sarcastic, "This was the day Holly that they took you away from me and to be honest with you, Daddy lost his shit" his words shocked her. "I done some things I'm not proud of and after everything I felt like someone was getting into my mind and the only way to stop the nightmares and all that shit was to dive down into another world, in the end though, it cost me you and all the years we have missed together" he longed for those years and showed so much regret for his actions.

Holly's heart sank. She saw the love in her father's eyes for her. This is what she wanted, someone to love and care for her, she began to think of Andrew in that moment, he had been so kind to her.

She looked at Max," Dad, I have one article left and I won't show you if you don't want me to," but he insisted, he wanted to help his daughter remember anything as long as he got her love back.

Holly put in-front of him the article about Olivia's murder. This made Max pant and inhale, kind of panicky and upset all at the same time, images flashed back through his mind of the crime scene, her bloody body and blood everywhere, Holly saw the horror and upset on his face, she pulled the article away but Max insisted on telling her the truth, he started explaining with lump in his throat holding back the tears.

"That day, we all went to the Zoo, it was a lovely family day..." as he spoke Holly started having slight flash backs as Max continued..."on our way home your mother was so tired she forgot to stop at the shop, when we got home she remembered you had no breakfast for the morning, you only liked a certain one" he smiled at the memory..."she insisted she would go, your mother was stubborn like that, she had been gone for hours and you and I were at home," he stopped, he remembered the incident of Holly's furious screaming which destroyed some interior features of the house.

He didn't know if she knew all of that or if anything like that had happened whilst she has been without him, he looked at Holly as she is listening intensively but she speaks before he restarts.

"Yes, the walls shook..." her face puzzled as if she was looking in her head for the broken memory.

Max started again, scared a little "Yes, the police came and told me about your mother, I went to see for myself, I don't know why, I guess I didn't believe it, the horror that I saw" images flash in his mind like a photograph being taken, "I'm sorry I lied to you, I didn't want you to know how your mother was taken from us that night..." he was cut off by Holly.

"I was with a man, I remember he held my hand and told me he was going to look after me" Holly stated as she remember parts of the night.

Max knew she was talking about Dr Matthews. "Uhhh yes, that was Dr Matthews, you remember him?"

"I think so, wasn't he always at our house?"

"Yeah, he was, he was an old friend" Max felt disgusted.

"What about the woman Dad?" Holly questioned.

"Woman? What woman?"

"Bev, uhhh, Bey, ummm something, oh wait I have a picture of her..." she pulled out an article which showed Belladonna's picture, "Her, I remember her face and I have memories with her but what was her name?"

Max gasped for air, his chest breathing deeply "That was uhh Belladonna, she lived with us for a while" his body shudders at the memory.

The officer interrupts, they had been talking for a whole hour and now Holly had to leave. She walked over to Max and hugged him tight, to officers and nurses' surprise, Max was calm and sad, not violent as they normally expected.

Holly looked up at her father with love and compassion in her eyes.

She whispered to him "Don't worry Dad; everything is going to be ok now."

Holly left the hospital and got the bus back to the city. She felt happy knowing her dad was safe and that she could see he still loved and cared for her.

The longing for her in his eyes pulled at her heart strings. She was calmly daydreaming when suddenly the dark cloud came over the skies again and there was that face that Holly felt was looking for and following her.

At that moment, the bus suffered a flat tyre and the bus had to pull over. The bus driver reassured the passengers and called for help as changing a bus wheel was not as easy as the car.

Holly felt like someone was watching her; she got off the bus and looked up at the clouds.

Whoever was looking at her wasn't making her feel comfortable, she felt uneasy and worried. The bus was fixed and the passengers got on their way.

The face in the clouds followed Holly back to the city. She ran all the way back to the hotel as fast as she could, her heart was pumping.

She got in and shut the hotel door behind her trying to catch her breath. In her mind she thought _'what is that'_ she could feel something after her she just didn't know what.

Lucian knew Holly was in the city and it was he who sent the storm clouds up to see her.

He could see where she was and where she was going just by overlooking the sky. A nice little spell he learnt many centuries ago.

He wanted to get Holly curious as to what the clouds were and where they came from so that she would come to him, he could go to her if she wanted but losing that connection meant she may not go with him voluntarily, which is what he needed her to do.

Over the next few weeks, Holly visited Max regularly as his health both body and mind improved. This was picked up by the doctors who noticed that whatever trauma had put him there in the first place, he was beginning to get over this and Holly was the biggest help.

She began to bond with her father again and her heart started to beat like it hadn't done in many years. She told her father stories of going from foster home to foster home and what her new foster parents were like.

Max was not impressed by this to say the least, his daughter was not a virgin, she had been in more homes than the president and from the sounds of it her current ones were child abusers.

He thought he would dig deeper and see how much Holly would tell him. "

So, that's where you live now? They sound absolutely vile, what happened to Mr Peters," as he asked

Holly froze, memories flashed back to the time when he sexually abused her, the pain she felt, her innocence being stolen from her and how she had killed him, she suddenly remembered a power she had within her that she had suppressed for years.

Then she remembered the church, Lucian was there, the dead bird. She didn't want her father to know that, he may be disgusted with her as many foster parents' were.

She decided to tell a lie, "Oh Mr Peters? He looked after me for a while and then I went to live with another family, no biggy..." she shrugged off the question.

Holly remembered Lucian, she quickly said goodbye to her dad and told him she would be back the next day to see him. Holly set off and went looking for Lucian.

At home, her foster parents and stopped worrying about Holly, they had carried on with their normal lives. Police and FBI had come up empty handed, there were no card trails, no phone calls no nothing to tell them of Holly's possible whereabouts.

It had been several weeks and the police were beginning to feel that Holly didn't want to be found, when the visited her foster parents and could see they had no concern, they took the decision to stop looking for Holly and they fully believed, she was not abducted, she was out on her own, a runaway from the house they felt she hated.

Holly found Lucian's offices where Max once worked. A tall building in New York that look it went into the sky.

Smart business men and women going in and out of the building, Holly just stood outside staring.

She remembered Lucian being friendly and that he was there for her but there's parts missing, _the church? The bird? The night Mr Peters abused her? How did he fit into all of this?_

She walked into the building, across the marble floor in the huge grand lobby and over to reception.

The woman the desk looked at her "are you lost little girl?" she questioned.

Holly tried to sound confidant but her voice crackled a little "I'm looking for Lucian, does he still work here?"

The woman was dumbfounded, "Lucian? You mean the man who owns this company, of course he still works here but he doesn't see visitors without an appointment" the woman rudely replied.

She was extremely snotty and she was one of those women who was up her own ass and not really fond of children.

"But I need....." but before Holly could finish speaking she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

Turning to look, there was Lucian stood in the lobby, he hadn't changed a bit, he was still dark hair and handsome with his amazing physique.

She smiled and took a deep breath, Lucian approached the counter and leant over whispering in the woman's ear, she looked terrified and looked down at Holly with a distressed look and as Lucian moved away the woman carried on with her work immediately.

Lucian took Holly and led her to his office. Lucian was beaming with delight and happiness all the way up.

Holly looked around as she remembered coming here as a child, flash images went through her mind. _How could she have forgotten so much of her childhood?_

She sat in Lucian's office looking around at familiar things.

He observed her reaction "how are you feeling Holly" his voice sounded pleasing.

Holly looked at him and frowned, not in a mean way, just in a way that she wasn't really sure, "Lucian, I don't remember much from my childhood, some of it is a blur, Dad has been helping me bridge some of the gaps but I can't help feeling that something is missing" she seemed sad.

Confused, Lucian looked, he did not look too impressed, "you have been visiting your father?" he asked disappointedly.

"Yes, I found him by going through old paper clippings in the library" she seemed pleased with her efforts.

"Where have you been staying since you arrived?" Lucian was getting inquisitive. "

"I'm staying the Plaza Hotel..." she told him.

"The Plaza, how did you manage to get to stay in the Plaza?" he's thinking she's fourteen, how has she pulled this off?

"Yeah, I had a lot of money sent to me before I moved away and I have been carrying it with me ever since, no-one knows I have it but it's really good because it has kept me going..."

Confused even more, Lucian looks at her "but Holly, you're fourteen, how have you managed to check-in, stay, work out costs and whatever?"

"Oh, well I was always good with Maths at school so I know how to work out the cost of a room per night to the money I have and I just made a story and called them before I went, the staff are friendly but not so bright" she smiled very pleased with herself.

Lucian looked back at her, he was very impressed, she's very intelligent and cunning for her age, well after-all; she is a very special girl.

They spoke for a while, the more his voice echoed in her mind the more flashbacks went through her head.

She started to remember the church, the dead bird again, the chanting from the priest in church, going there with Belladonna, the fiery entrance, the grand detail only she and Belladonna could see.

She jumped up, all her memories were coming back at once, she looked down at her hands, and she thought _'who was she?'_

## 

## CHAPTER 19

It was late evening and Holly was back at the hotel room with Lucian. He had gone with her and pretended to be her father so they wouldn't get any more suspicious. They sat watching TV and Holly was a bit distant, quiet, withdrawn.

Lucian looked "Holly, are you ok?" he genuinely seemed concerned for her, but he got no response, she just stared the TV, "I'm going to go now Holly but you know where I am if you need me" he got up to take his leave, before his departure she looked at him and smiled softly. _Could evil really show love?_

Only time would tell. Holly was lying still on the bed; in her mind all her memories were coming back, her anger that caused destruction, Dr Matthews, Mr Peters, meeting Andrew, Emily, Olivia, Max, everything. It was too much to cope with all at once,

Holly broke down into tears. She decided the next day she was going to go back to her father and put the pieces together once and for all.

Lucian returned home, his lounge area was dark with only the lights of the city coming through the window. He felt a sense of pleasure, happiness, Holly was back, and he could start to manipulate her all over again.

The shadows in the dark approached Lucian, but they seemed to be waiting for instruction, not there to hurt or cause harm.

He stared out of the long glass mirrors overlooking the city, a smirk appeared on his face, the shadows were all around him, like creepy followers, he breathed in "tell them the queen has returned and the plan will continue, as she is mine to be it is I that will follow her closely but do not take that as a reason not to watch her you all understand me?"

A dark deep pile of muffled voices seemed to agree, "if she disappears again, those who fail me will be punished, you must guard the queen at all times," Lucian looked around for their acknowledgement and smiled

"Right, now we have sorted that will one of you bring Sophie here, I'm in the mood for a little treat" his evil smile went from ear to ear as he sent the shadows away to do his bidding and he went to the bathroom.

He stood there naked, admiring the body he had chosen to cover who he was, talking to himself in the mirror "well, you're not a bad looking lad are you, would be a shame to kill you completely, I may use you" he was feeling the body he had possession of "yes, I think I can find a place for you when Holly learns the...."

There was a knock at the door, he winked at himself and went to answer it.

Stood there, fragile and scared was Sophie. She no longer looked like an older version of Holly, she was skinny, frail, her hair was weak and her skin was pale.

The months of sex and him cumming inside her that was afflicted on her by Lucian had taken its toll, but of course she had no memory of their sexual encounters.

"Hi Sophie" he pretended to act surprised, "would you like to come in?" he opened the door and gestured inviting her into his home, she obliged, she didn't want to but something was forcing her in, something inside her made her go inside.

Lucian wasted no time; he grabbed Sophie and lifted her up so her legs were wrapped round his waist.

He walked over to the grand piano and sat her on top of it. He pushed her back so she was lying down and he lifted her skirt ripping off her panties, he was never gentle. Sophie looked limp, lying there like a dull dud, she just didn't have the energy anymore, he leaned over her, his breath felt on her body "I'm going to fuck you Sophie, and you're going to fucking enjoy it" he hissed at her with his beastly dense voice.

Tears appeared to drip down her face, she didn't want this but she felt like she had no control. "You ready" he shouted and with a hard thrust he pushed his dick inside so hard it took her breath away.

He grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him, thrusting harder with every inch of him entering her. "You dirty filthy whore" he uttered as he fucked her hard; he kept speaking to her with vulgar words as he enjoyed what he was doing.

"Yes you filthy fucking bitch, take my cock, take it, take all of it ahhhhhh" the lighting outside was flashing repeatedly, thunder and torrential rain loomed outside, to Sophie, this went on for hours but to Lucian, it was quick, pleasurable, with one final thrust he cum inside her letting out a powerful scream and grabbing her hips very hard.

Sophie's body was not able to cope with the amount of times he had exploded in her, that's why Lucian gave her the liquid after every time, but he had forgotten to the last time. His demonic sperm run wild inside her eating at her insides every time, the liquid would slow this process down, normally women died straight after sex with Lucian.

With this last lot, he released so much that her insides collapsed as soon as it hit her.

There, on the piano, with his dick still inside her, lied the lifeless body of Sophie, so thin, so weak, his fucking her had destroyed her. He pulled out, he looked satisfied with himself.

"Come and take her away and be discreet, I don't want attention..." he was talking to the shadows that were always waiting for his commands.

One spoke in the darkness, "my lord, it appears your fuckery has had a serious effect on this human, your size has torn them, my lord but this human is bleeding" he floated in the background.

Lucian smiled "yes, I suppose it has had an effect, humans cannot take my dick or sperm my loyal friend, mortal men have miniature tools compared to me..."

The shadow turned to him "and what of your queen my lord, will this have the same consequence?" the shadow questioned.

Lucian's smile grew, "no, the queen was mine and will be mine again, she is the only one who can accept this and in turn she will conceive an heir," he sounded sure.

The shadow was confused, "but my lord, her mother was a mortal!"

Lucian snapped at the shadow, "how dare you question me, her mother was no mortal and the queen, she was born to be with me, don't you ever question me again, now dispose of her at once" the anger and force of his voice caused the shadow to back off quickly and within a blink of an eye, Sophie's body had gone.

Lucian went and cleaned himself up. His wicked ways had caused death in so many people but he didn't care, he revelled in the thought, he pictured his future with his queen by his side and an heir, he believed Holly would come to him when the time was right.

Holly returned to the hospital to see her father. He looked much healthier and had made significant improvements over the weeks since Holly had been visiting him. He was no longer in chains when she visited and he was even moved out of the padded room into a normal room with windows.

He beamed every time Holly walked in the room "There is my beautiful little girl" he would say with pride and delight.

"Dad, I'm fourteen, I'm not little" she would state back with a bit of teen attitude but still playful.

"What are you doing here today?" he wondered.

"Umm, just a few more things I need to ask you, I kind of starting remembering lots of things" she sounded shady.

"Sure..." he was afraid of what she would ask him. "Well, I remember shaking, the house, the furniture, being destroyed, my screaming did that didn't it" her worried voice, she was scared of the answer.

Max looked at her, his eyes were low, tears filled up, "yes baby-girl" he whispered back.

Holly burst into tears "I'm a monster" she cried out.

Max jumped to her defence, "no, no bubba you're not a monster, you just have a special gift" his voice lowers as for people not to hear "but listen, we will control and I will be there to help you, if you start talking about this people in here will think you're insane and you'll be locked up Holly you understand?"

She tried to control her tears and hold back composing herself as t not draw attention, her voice low she spoke soft and quiet "Daddy, I can get you out of here... do you trust me?"

Confused he nodded yes and with an almighty scream the entire hospital shook, walls crumbled, people fell over as the ground below them rumbled, Max covered his ears, the scream was like a roar of evil, not a fourteen year old girls scream.

The wall behind him blew out like a bomb exploded leaving an exit for them to escape from.

Max looked at Holly in shock, "RUN DAD!" she shouted and without hesitation Max grabbed Holly's hand and they ran through the whole in the wall and out of the grounds of the hospital. The fled before hospital staff could realise what happened.

Stopping to catch their breath they sat under a bridge as the rain hammered down. Speaking breathlessly "Holly, what the fuck was that?"

She looked back at him trying to catch her breath, "I told you Dad, I remembered everything, and well, I thought that if I could do that and destroy the house why not do it to set you free?"

Still gasping for air as they had run so far so fast, he looked at Holly and embraced her tight "oh my dear sweet girl, but wait...what are we going to do now?"

She smiles, it was reassuring, "Don't worry dad, I'm sure we'll figure something out..."

Then Max has a bright idea, "Holly how much money do you have left?"

"Quite a bit dad why?"

He looked happy. "We can go to Mexico, they won't be able to do anything if we are there, and when we are there I will transfer my funds from my account and we can live there and be free," he grabs Holly in excitement, "what do you say bubba?" he eagerly awaits her response.

"Yes dad yes" she smiles and they head back to the hotel and Max sneaks in, they gather Holly's things and money and sneak back out.

They couldn't fly so they decided to drive; luckily Max's old car was still in storage so they took it and drove to the Mexico border.

Their plan was to wait until dark and then sneak in across the border. By now police would be looking for them, they would have believed Max broke out of the hospital and kidnapped Holly.

All of their efforts were under way to try and find him. It was a thirty seven hour drive and they headed off quickly to avoid the authorities.

The next evening, after sleeping all day, Lucian woke. He felt something leave his body, it was like a punch to the gut and then something left, and he knew something was wrong.

He raced to Holly's hotel room and within a flash of light he was there inside the room, no using the door just suddenly in there. He looked around searching for her but there was no sign of her.

He accidently stood on the remote which switched the TV on, there was a news report currently advising of a father and his missing daughter;

*B _REAKING NEWS - MENTALLY UNSTABLE FATHER ESCAPES INSTITUTION AND KIDNAPS DAUGHTER*_

He looked at the TV with fire in his eyes and the volume rose so he could hear the news reporter speak.

_"Police are searching for a man who today escaped from New Your Psychiatric Hospital taking his teenage daughter. The police have released an image of the man and the name of the runaway, Max Gage. Police believe the man to be dangerous and unstable. The runaway also has with him his fourteen year old daughter and police are asking if anyone has any information or a sighting then to contact them immediately, the number is....."_

Max's face was all over the news, it wasn't a nice photo either, and it was one taken of him in the hospital. It made him look like a crazed psychopath.

As Lucian turned the volume down he flew into a fit of rage which is felt all over the city.

Trees fell down in the park; the ground rumbled beneath their feet, ornaments fall off the shelves in people's houses, dark black clouds hung in the sky as thunder and lightning crashed down onto the city.

The weather is violent and frightening causing millions of people in the city to run for shelter. Lucian is beyond pissed off.

The shadows formed in the hotel room as Lucian's fire and anger engulfs the Plaza Hotel, his hellish voice roars through the flames "I WANT HER FOUND NOW!"

As Lucian flew off into the darkness of the clouds, the shadows divided themselves and head off in all directions over the city looking for Holly.

The Plaza was on fire and started to crumble as shocked and petrified New Yorkers stood observing the devastation. Rain poured down heavily as fire fighters tried to stop the blaze, but as it was fuelled by Lucian's anger, this was not proving easy.

Max's car at that moment lost control just as they are reaching the Mexican border; he swerved off the road and tumbled down the grass almost hitting a tree until he managed to stop the car.

Terrified Holly looked at him; Max saw the look on her face "what's wrong?" he looks at her concerned.

Worried, Holly looked out of the window, she saw the violent weather and the dark clouds which had begun to cover all of America, and then she looked back at Max.

"Dad, they're looking for me." Lucian's fury was felt in all states; he wanted Holly to know that he was coming for her.

## 

## CHAPTER 20

Max tried to restart the car but it wasn't working, Holly was sat in the car shivering, without the engine on there was no heating and the rain and thunder didn't help. Holly sat getting impatient.

"Dad hurry" she begged.

"I'm trying Holly but it's not fucking starting!" He screamed at her

"Don't shout at me, I want to go..................NOW" and with her hellish evil voice the car started.

It would appear Holly was more powerful than she realised, the things she was capable of went above what she even believed she could do.

With the car running Max got back in and in the silence of the night, they drove into Mexico without being seen.

They drove for hours and hours, stopping to refuel and buy food only. They kept driving until they reached a small village in the city of Puebla.

This small tiny village was quite poor which was perfect for them as Max and Holly wanted to live under the radar.

They rented a small two bedroom apartment which was done within a few hours and went shopping to furnish their new home.

Max felt a sigh of relief, he was free and he had waited to be with his daughter for years and here they were, starting a new life.

Wrapping his arms around Holly "I think things will be a lot better now..." he said happily and they spent the day shopping.

They returned to their apartment, it wasn't what they were used to, it was rundown with poor decoration, the landlord clearly had not kept its upkeep but it was cheap and amongst the other apartments in the little square block all facing each other, it was all they needed.

They furnished and decorated making t their own, nothing too lavish but something they could call home. They had a laugh and giggle and things were just perfect.

After a long day of shopping, decoration and playing, they were watching TV when Max realised he needed to talk to Holly. He sat up and looked over "Holly..." he called out gently, "this power that you have, you need to control it, or suppress it, whoever is after you, I bet that when you use it, they know where you are." His fatherly instincts took over and he was acting very protective and caring.

She sighed, "I know Dad, and I know how to suppress them, I done it before when I moved around a lot, I didn't remember I had it," she looks at her father, her eyes are black, sad, "daddy..." she whispers, "am I evil?"

He goes and kneels before her, "no sweetheart, you asked me this before remember." Her head nods in agreement. "You're just special and if you don't use this gift then we'll be free." He always had a way of explaining things to her and making her feel calm, even after years of them not being together.

She placed her hands in his and agrees, "Ok daddy, I won't use them anymore, I will control myself."

He smiled at her as he was pleased. They sat on the floor and Max taught Holly how to count when she is angry, a couple of times she got a bit too angry and the ground shook but through the night he showed her how to control her dark power.

He told her to stop and count and whenever she gets to ten then the anger should pass and always walk away, never engage. She agreed with her father, she didn't want to disappoint him or destroy their happiness and they continued watching TV for the remainder of the evening.

Lucian's fury was growing worse. The shadows returned to his apartment but with bad news. "My lord..." the voice was timid "we searched for the queen but she is nowhere to be found, we searched for hours my Lord but nothing" the shadow was cowering behind Lucian.

The anger expressed across his face was terrifying. "My lord...?" the shadow prompted as Lucian hadn't responded.

Lucian turned, the demon shadows cowered before him, with his authoritative frightening voice he looked down on them all "I told you not to fail me, you, all of you were supposed to keep watch of her and be my fucking eyes and now all of you have failed me you scum sucking rodents of hell, by the power with all that I am if I do not get her back and my plan fails I will banish you to the depths of hell where you will all suffer until the end of time DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

All shadows agreed with fear running through them. Lucian turned back and walked towards the window, he looked over the city, the storm still raging through "get out there and find her and DO NOT return until you have" he commanded.

All shadows scarpered and went off looking for Holly. Lucian went to the church, the priest was stood there waiting for his arrival; the fiery entrance was burning fiercely, the priest looked at Lucian "My lord, you have lost the queen?" he probed with a concerning look on his face.

Lucian didn't answer, he just shot the priest a look, a look that sort of read _'what the fuck do you think you asshole,'_ the priest sighed with worry, "my lord, if she does not come back, her soul may regain the good she was born with, her evil side is only as strong when she is with us, she may not come to you willingly, remember who she was originally, she has both sides in her...my lord" he finished by bowing his head showing he had respect for his master but he needed to warn him.

They sat in-front of their sacred alter and tried to form a plan to get her back: "Can you sense her my lord" the priest asked.

"No, I can't" Lucian was agitated.

"Be calm my lord," the priest was one of his loyal and closest followers, his voice soothed Lucian.

Lucian took a breath "Ok, what are we going to do?"

"We will send something to her she cannot stray from" he said acting all shifty.

Lucian looked confused, "and what is it she cannot stray from exactly?"

"A child, no-one can deny an innocent little child..." The priest voice was leery.

They sat in-front of the alter and read allowed a spell from the priests book, they still had not gotten the other book back from Holly so the priests charms and spells were limited, chanting away the smoke in the fire lifted into the air:

'Puer daemonum supra terram sine indigentia invenitur illa ad investigandum, uti eam hic malum malo animo fatorum possit impleri'.

The ground in the church cracked through the marble, fire broke through in red and yellow flames, up rose a shadow as dark as night, out of the fire came the demon child with an evil soul.

This child was manipulative, it would trick adults into believing she was sweet and innocent to lure them into doom and upon their death she would claim their souls and take them to the gates of hell and present them to her god who would then reward her for her effort and loyalty.

As she entered the church and the flames disappeared, she looked at Lucian, her devotion to him showed in her eyes. She was born and bred in the depths of hell.

She was always a child for centuries and had never grown, this was Lucian's intentions with the evil child, he needed someone liked her who could easily get him what he wanted.

She walked over, she was small, tiny, and she looked about seven or eight, an innocent beautiful little girl.

"Do you know what I want you do to Raven?" he asked of her.

She nodded in understanding; she didn't speak unless she needed to as her voice was very child-like, it didn't sound like a woman or monstrous in any way.

She stood before Lucian as he gave her a look of support and the little devil girl disappeared from sight.

The priest turned to Lucian "you best hope my lord that Raven finds her" and the priest calmly walked away.

Lucian looked up at the windows that reflected his home; he wanted Holly back so bad inside him was raging at the thought of this plan that had been planned for centuries could possibly go wrong.

He and Holly were together before the war, they used to be strong until she was persuaded to turn which ultimately led to her doom, and he refused to live without her. He would put everything he had into trying to make sure Holly returned home with him.

A few weeks had passed and Holly and Max were settling in nicely into their new lives together.

Holly had been taking Max's advice and learnt to control her 'episodes' and Max started working in one of the local village shops, they had plenty of money of course but they wanted a normal life. Holly attended the village school which had as much as 150 children of all different ages and she would go here until she went on to High School. It was a small community but it was quiet and tight and that was all they needed.

Holly was walking home from school when across the street she spotted a crying child, a little girl that everyone walked passed and ignored.

Holly wanted to help the child so she crossed over but then she couldn't see anyone, so she carried on walking home, she looked back to check but still there was no-one there.

That evening, Max and Holly enjoyed their normal night in; they ate food, done homework and watched TV.

After Holly went to bed and fell asleep, she was woken by the sounds of a child crying.

She went to the window and looked down in the courtyard and again she saw the same girl from earlier crying, she assumed it must be one of the neighbours children and she was locked out and scared, so Holly went outside to help her.

Max slept so soundly he didn't hear her leave the apartment. When Holly got outside, she approached the crying child; the child had a bonnet like hat on so she couldn't see her face, the little girl got up and ran down the street, Holly ran after her worried for the little girls' safety and followed her to a nearby park.

The little girl was on the swings just rocking back and forth, Holly sat on the swing next to her and swung with her and the sounds of crying soon turned to sounds of laughter.

The little girl reached out her hand and Holly extended hers the same; they held hands and played on the swings.

They seemed to be having fun and Holly forgot that it was the middle of the night. This little girl seemed to have captivated her. Then the little girl stopped and pointed towards the sky, there shining brightly was an odd red star, Holly gazed at the unusual star, as she turned back, the girl had disappeared. Holly looked around the whole park but she could not be seen.

Feeling a little uneasy and scared Holly quickly returned to the apartment, the glowing red star was watching over her. Raven returned to Lucian after she had found Holly.

Raven was very good and managed to seek her out quickly, Raven reported things back to Lucian and where Holly was, he needed a plan to get her back to New York and it was Raven's task to entice her. But this was not going to be easy, Raven informed Lucian of her observation, looking into each other's eyes, they spoke through the mind.

*What do you mean she seems good?*

*My lord, she has a slight glow above her head and warmth in her heart, I saw the look in her eyes also, good, but not pure*

*She cannot be pure, we took that away* Lucian was becoming anxious.

*My lord, the queen has bonded with her father, after observation, they are acting like a father and daughter would of this world*

*Then you must drive a wedge between them, make her use her gift*

*First my lord she must trust me, I will get back to you when I have more information, I will not fail you* Raven looked and smiled with evil intent in her eyes and disappeared.

Lucian seemed hopeful now, he knew Raven was very good at getting him what he wanted or needed; he ordered his shadows to find him some slave girls, his sexual needs were starting to kick in and these needed satisfying, he wanted a few girls to play with this time so the shadows went and done as they were instructed.

Over the next few weeks, Holly saw and followed the little crying girl played games and then she would laugh, and slowly a bond between them was growing.

Raven knew that Holly trusted her and was not afraid, after-all, Raven passed as a sweet and innocent child, _what was there to be afraid of?_

Raven believed that when Raven wanted Holly to do something evil she would do so without hesitation due to her evil past.

One night, as Raven and Holly normally done, they went to the playground and played on the swings admiring the unique glowing red star in the sky.

Raven jumped off the swing and walked to the edge of the playground, intrigued, Holly followed her, as Raven went down into the woods, Holly's curiosity took over and she followed Raven deep in the dark woods at the edge of the park.

No-one really ever went down there, local villagers heard that a monster lived in the woods and evil resided there, it was a story told by many parents to their children and Holly had heard the story in school but dismissed the story believing it was parents way of scaring their children into not going in the woods.

Upon entering the woods, Raven lead Holly to a clearing, a flat surface in the middle of the woods with no trees, only the trees that circled them.

They could see the sky above clearly as the trees made a circle around them, they looked up and again Raven pointed to the bright red star shining down on them.

The Holly heard a voice, "can you hear me?"

She looked around, it was just her and Raven, getting a little freaked out Holly took a step back away from Raven as she began to question who this little girl was.

"Who are you?" Holly demanded to know

Raven's head lifted and finally after so many weeks Holly saw what was underneath the bonnet, it was a dark black face with piercing orange eyes, she had no nose and her mouth was merely a black open hole to speak from.

Holly was terrified and as she started to panic she forgot all the things Max had taught her to control her anger or episodes, Holly screamed in terror and as she did the trees came crumbling down around her.

Raven, who was watching, lifted into the air, levitating above ground as Holly's fear over-took her causing destruction of the woods around them.

The shockwaves of the woods crumbling were felt back in the village, villagers believed the evil within the woods was causing it and quickly retreated into homes to feel safe, people at the local late night bars ran through the streets panic-stricken by the sounds and the earth shaking.

Max felt the apartment shake and immediately jumped out of bed, thinking they had been hit by an earthquake he ran into Holly's room but to his dismay he saw Holly was not there. Watching the buildings shake through the window he realised that this wasn't an earth-quake, this was Holly.

He ran outside still in his pyjamas and ran into the street where some people were still running away fearing for their lives, he stopped a man and tried to question him.

Speaking very little Spanish he tried to ask why people running, using one word sentences he asked the man "¿dónde? Uhh, el terror? ¿Asustado?" and in English he shouted "WHERE?"

The scared man pointed towards the direction of the park, Max looked over, the man looked at him with fear in his eyes, the man just shouted 'MAL, MAL!'

Max looked over and knew that Holly was down there, he had to try and stop her so he ran as fast as he could to the woods where children feared entering.

Raven and Holly were in the forest, Raven was engulfed in flames but her body was not burning. Holly screamed louder losing control as the destruction continued, Max ran into the woods, he saw the flames and the trees falling.

He could hear Holly screaming, he ran following the sounds of her voice. He found Holly on the floor screaming, the trees were falling around her, trying not to get hit by one he ran towards her and grabbed, he looked up and saw a little girl surrounded by flames, her body not burning, looking down at Holly as if for encouragement.

He put his arms around her and shouted over the noise "HOLLY, HOLLY STOP, AND LISTEN TO ME BREATHE HOLLY STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING PLEASE!!" as he tried to get her to calm down.

Raven spoke, her voice still childlike, "she is one of us, you will never stop that which is meant to be."

Max cradled Holly begging her to stop. He looked into her eyes and as her eyes caught his looking at her, Holly snapped out of the terrified trance.

The wind stopped, the trees and leaves that had lifted into the air had fallen to the ground and the havoc and ruin could be seen. Raven returned to the ground, she looked upon Max with disgust; Holly looked at her and suddenly passed out in Max's arms.

Raven leaned over them as Max was on the ground cradling an unconscious Holly, her childlike evil voice told him "she belongs to us, you cannot deny who she is and one day you will see what truly lies in her heart" and with an unpleasant smirk on her face she disappeared.

Max turned his attentions to Holly, he looked around and couldn't contain the terror that was running through his body, he carried Holly back to the apartment, luckily, all the villagers had run inside so no-one saw that it was Holly or that he was carrying her home.

He placed her in her bed and covered her over. He noticed since Holly had grown from the last time he saw her, the devastation and destruction she could cause was beyond belief and with her fifteenth birthday approaching, he started to dread how strong her power would be come in the future.

Lucian was at his apartment surrounded by women chosen by his loyal shadows that they had been bringing to him for weeks.

Different women each week as Lucian managed to kill them each time. There were six women all lying on Lucian's extremely large bed, they seemed sedated and drowsy, and this was due to the shadows and their evil presence which made the women compliant and under some sort of hypnosis.

Each woman took turns to pleasure Lucian orally and when one was pleasuring Lucian, the others were pleasuring each other.

"That's it, suck my dick" Lucian commanded obscenely.

He pushed his dick in and out of the woman's mouth as he watched the other women lick each other's genitals and then fuck each other lesbian style. It turned it him on, looking down at the woman sucking his dick he lifted her up without struggle, threw her on the bed and bent her over.

Lucian forcefully pushed his dick inside her which made her scream out in pain. One woman climbed under her and started sucking her nipples, one woman got in front of her and forced her to lick her vagina, one woman started kissing Lucian as he fucked and the other two fucked each other.

It was a huge orgy and the women were moaning with pleasure, except the one being fucked by Lucian, his dick was so beastly and big he began to tear her as he was being too rough and she started bleeding.

Lucian fucked and fucked her until she passed out, as he hadn't cum yet, he pushed the collapsed woman off the bed and let her drop to the floor, he had torn her vagina and she was laying there bleeding to death.

The other women had not noticed, they were caught in a sexual trance, the woman that was lying down he pulled up, still on his knees he lifted her so her legs were around his waist then, he fucked her, she screamed, she too was in pain.

"That's it scream for me you filthy whore..." he fucked her harder and harder until she tore also and passed out.

He discarded her on the floor with the other and made his way through the women until he was with his last one, this one though he wasn't just going to fuck, he wanted the sex him and Holly used to have in the depths of hell.

He pushed her up against the wall and wrapped her legs around him, he bit her neck and drew blood, and he then pushed his dick inside her, as he fucked her his horns sprouted from his head.

"Feel me, feel all of me" he roared with pleasure.

He then grabbed her by the neck and threw her on the bed, he bent her over and shoved his dick up her ass, it was very tight, it added to his thrill.

He was tearing her open with every hard thrust but he didn't care, he enjoyed it, he loved it, he pushed more and more with exhilaration until finally he exploded inside her. His cum filled her body, her anus dripped with blood and cum, he pulled out and she too fell to the floor collapsed in pain as his sperm ran through her body it ate her insides and killed her.

Lucian proceeded to clean himself up and at his demand; the shadows removed the bodies and disposed of them. Lucian's sexual need was fulfilled for now, but the more he craved Holly the more his desire deepened and the more he would have to continue fucking mortal women until Holly was able to come to him and be his...forever. 

## CHAPTER 21

The next day after the commotion in the woods, Holly woke to find Max sleeping on the chair in her room. She was disconcerted and confused.

"Daddy" her voice was groggy from just waking up.

Max opened his eyes and looked at her. Holly looked at him, her eyes still sleepy "Daddy, I think I did something bad last night, I'm not sure though if it was a dream" her voice although groggy and sleepy, sounded shaky and nervous.

Max went and sat on the edge of the bed, he moved the hair from Holly's eyes and tried to offer a comforting smile, but you could see the apprehension in his face.

"What is it Dad?" noticing the distressing look.

Max sighed, "Well..." he paused, he wanted to lie but couldn't, she would find out, "umm, last night sweetheart you kind of had one of your episodes, but this time it was different, stronger."

He saw the distressed look on Holly's face as she started crying, she closed her eyes and remembered the woods, the park, the little girl, the destruction.

She got out of bed and walked over to look out her window "do they know it was me?" she asked as she watched her neighbours in the courtyard.

Max stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, a loving fatherly reassuring gesture, "No sweetie, they don't they shouted mal to me and pointed so I knew where to find you but when I come back everyone had ran and hid in their homes..." his voice was calm and quiet.

Holly and Max continued to watch their neighbours going about their routines, playing cards, doing laundry, "in school, they told us a story of the monster in the woods, I didn't listen..." she looks up "mal is their word for evil daddy, they believe evil lives in those woods, and I guess I have just made that a lot worse haven't I" she signs as realised she couldn't easily escape her demons inside her as much as she wanted to.

Max pulled her way from the window "Holly, who were you with?" he asked worryingly.

"Umm I don't know, a little girl I have been following to the park for weeks now..." Holly shrugged her shoulders.

"A few weeks? You haven't mentioned anything?" he began to think she was keeping secrets from him which seemed to worry him even more.

"I didn't think to mention it..." she looks at Max, her face alarmed and apprehensive "they've found me haven't they?"

Max grabbed her hand "no, I will not let them hurt you, we just need to stick together ok, they will not take you away you hear me, now it's your birthday in a few days let's look forward to that and forget about last night, we'll go shopping today and forget ok?"

Holly nodded in agreement. They went about their morning normally, shower, breakfast etc. and headed out into town.

The villagers were all discussing the night before and how they believed evil was in their town, they were strong believers in god and the devil and feared the devil coming to their village.

Max spoke very little Spanish and couldn't only make out bits and pieces of what they were saying, Holly approached one of the elderly women and asked what the issue was, the woman told her but they spoke all in Spanish, Max was shocked to see Holly could fluently speak and understand Spanish.

When Holly returned to Max, he was curious what the old woman had said to her and what the village people thought.

Holly told him "they said that the woods is a dark place to go and evil dwells there, she said that we should start praying because the devil is coming and he only comes for those he wants so if we were good then he would have no reason to claim us."

Holly stared at the old woman as she spoke, although it seemed farfetched, Holly did however understand what the old woman meant and believed her. Arriving home, the apartment seemed cold and gloomy.

Holly was exhausted, she felt like someone had drained all the energy out of her, she put it down to shopping all day and went for a nap while Max prepared food.

_'She saw him, he was staring at her, his face was hidden but she saw those glaring eyes, he walked towards her and kissed her, his kiss was powerful, she didn't want it to stop, he touched her and turned her, there he was stood behind her in the mirror, she looked....was that her? She was not sure, the light in the room was too dark, where was she? Who was the man? She turned around, he was gone, she ran through the hallway, and it seemed long, too long, she ran and ran but it got longer, she saw flames at the end, there was a shadow in the flames, she ran towards it, she finally reached it, the man grabbed her......'_

Holly suddenly woke up, panting and sweating about the dream she just had.

She had never had dreams before, in-fact; she couldn't remember any dream she had ever had before.

She got up and went to the mirror, sweat was dripping from her forehead down her face, her breathing was deep and heavy, "what was that?" she said to herself in the mirror, "get a hold of yourself Holly" then she heard a knock on the door.

Max opened and peaked his head round, "Dinner is ready Holly, come."

She nodded her head and looked back in the mirror; she quickly tied her hair up and wiped her face and then went and joined Max at the table.

She felt awkward, she kept thinking to herself about how she had never had a dream before or at least if she had she didn't remember them and now she was dreaming of a man in fire, a man who she didn't fear but wanted.

She sat and ate her dinner in silence, she didn't look at Max or speak to him, and he noticed her quiet behaviour but put it down to tiredness as she had just woken from a nap.

When dinner was finished they sat down to watch TV, just another normal night in but they were soon disrupted, there was a knock at their door, _knock, knock, knock_.

"It's late, who the hell could that be" Max asked Holly as he got up to look out the peep hole, but he saw no-one, he assumed was some kids messing about so he went and sat back down.

Then a knock come again, _knock, knock, knock_ , this time slow and hard. Max got up and went to check the peep hole but again saw no-one.

Holly looked, her face frowning with confusion. Max didn't sit down this time, he waited by the door as he thought he definitely heard someone knock the door and so did Holly, so he knew that both of them could not be imagining the same sound.

Max had a feeling it would happen again and with that thought in his head, the door knocked once.

Max pulled the door open quickly before it could reach the second or third knock but there was nothing there, he looked outside along the outside balcony but it was quiet, no-one either up or down the balcony.

He shut the door and turned, Holly was sat on sofa looking confused and getting rather worried, _were they coming for her?_ All of a sudden a shadow appeared in the room and swooped down to take Holly, Max tried to run to her rescue but he was flown across the room by something, Holly fought to try and get free but this shadow was strong, as he went to leave Holly looked into the shadow, she was wriggling and kicking but it did nothing to make the shadow let go of her.

Her eyes filled with anger and fire, the shadow started to weaken in fear and as Holly's fire in her eyes become disturbing, the shadow dropped her to the floor and fled. Holly ran to Max who had been knocked unconscious and started to shake him.

"Dad wake up, daddy please wake up," she begged scared as he lied there.

When he came round he looked at Holly who was full of fear and sadness. They held each other "Daddy they found me, what do they want from me?" she sobbed in his arms.

Max held her close "shhh its ok sweetie, you're still here...where did he go?"

Max looked around for the shadow but couldn't see him, he also realised nothing was broken which was a first, "what happened?"

Holly looked at him and around the room, not even she knew how she done it, "Uhh I don't know, I didn't scream, I kicked but it didn't work, I shouted but it didn't work, then I just looked at him, I stared at him and he then he just looked scared himself and left."

Both Holly and Max were a mixture of scared and confused so they decided to sleep in the living room that night with the TV on keeping a watchful eye for anything sinister. Holly fell asleep and Max watched her, a million things ran through his mind as he wondered how he was going to keep his daughter safe, regardless of who she was, he loved her and he would die protecting her.

Lucian was sat in his apartment listening to the music of Mozart, he enjoyed this music, it felt powerful to him but then he was disturbed, without looking he could feel someone lurking in the background. "And what is the reason you come here to disturb me when you are not needed right now" Lucian's voice was demanding and forceful.

"My lord..." the quivering shadow spoke, "I tried to please you, I found the queen, I...I...I followed Raven, I tried to take her but she..."

Lucian rose and shot towards the shadow who was cowering before him, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he shouted with such force the room slightly shook.

The shadow's voice was shaky, a sort of gutless, "I just tried to please you..."

In fury, Lucian launched the shadow across the room, nobody could really touch the shadows, after-all, they were shadows, but Lucian could certainly inflict pain on them.

The shadow was apologetic, "I apologise my lord, and she would be here if it wasn't for her eyes..."

Lucian turned quickly and looked at the shadow cutting him off mid-sentence, "what about....her eyes?" his eyes penetrated the shadow.

"They...they were full of fire my lord, fire burned within her eyes" the shadow was still cowering.

Lucian laughed and turned to look out of his window "so, it has begun, the queen is coming into all her powers quicker than she should be, she is but only fifteen, not yet eighteen but still, her powers come to her," he rubs his hands together in delight.

Holly was getting stronger and although just about to turn fifteen, to Lucian she already was as he wanted her to be eighteen already, and yet the power that would consume her when she was eighteen was already beginning to show.

Lucian got dressed and made his way down to the church to see the priest, as always, the priest expected his arrival, he usually sensed when Lucian was on his way.

"And what do I owe the honour of your visit my lord, you are not expected here for weeks" the priest asked with curiosity.

Lucian was excited, "the queen, she is receiving her powers" his voice ecstatic.

"But my lord, this should not happen until she is eighteen, that is how it is written, that is how it was always meant to be" the priest concerned.

Not only was Holly's powers coming early but this completely changed the way their destiny was written, "My lord..." the priest began to speak but Lucian cut him off.

"Who cares what was written, she is mine all mine and with her powers coming early she'll come to me I know it," Lucian was a bit over excited.

Nothing the priest would say at this moment would make a difference to Lucian's thoughts. The priest as always was loyal and offered his support to Lucian, they exchanged some talk about the future of the queen and then Lucian left feeling happy. The concerned priest went over to his book, in there was a little paragraph on the queen and her power, it had a warning, the book was all in Latin, and it read:

_The queen is a powerful ally of the evil Lord and together they will dominate the realms. The queen has great power which was given to her at eighteen by the almighty as her birth rite and to join with her father, during the war; her power remained and grew stronger. They would not allow her power to be given sooner, if the queen receives her powers earlier than eighteen years, her powers will grow more powerful than the lord himself which may in turn cause his destruction, the lord must keep his queen by his side as for not to over-rule him, once her power is received, it cannot be taken away unless she wills it so..._

The priest closed the book and knew he must warn Lucian but this was extremely difficult, when it came to advice about the queen it was very difficult to get him to listen, he knew he must tell him and tell him he would.

The next day Lucian returned to his office, he had been gone for some time but on his return, staff seemed miserable and grieved, looking around there were flowers on what was Sophie's desk.

Lucian approached one of his staff "would someone like to tell me what is going on?"

The staff member looked at Lucian with sorrow in her eyes "Sophie has been missing, the police have searched but she has been presumed dead sir, it's just so sad" tears welled up in her eyes.

Lucian tried to sound concerned but it came out more dry than concerned "oh no, that's just such a tragedy isn't it."

The staff member had noticed his lack of empathy and just stared at him.

Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine, anyway, life moves on" Lucian patted her on the back shrugged his shoulders and went to his office.

The staff member looked in disgust, what man has no sympathy for a missing woman presumed dead?

Lucian carried on with his day in an ecstatic mood. His queen was coming into her powers and together they would be the most powerful couple in all the realms, heaven, earth and hell, they would be feared by the above and would claim the souls of many.

Lucian hoped that together they would finally be able to tip the balance in their favour and in turn they would be the dominant ones, the more lives that were evil meant the more souls they would gain. 

## CHAPTER 22

It had been a few months since the shadow and Raven had visited Holly. Holly was now fifteen, doing really well at school and her teachers proposed to Max that Holly should go to High School a year earlier, at the moment she was in 10th grade.

Pleased with Holly's progress and spectacular mind he agreed and Holly was moved forward in the year above. Holly quickly made friends, her attractive beauty caught the eyes of not only the boys but the girls also and she was soon within the popular crowd, even though she was technically a 10th grader.

By now Holly had come to be one the most beautiful girls in school, she had long flowing auburn coloured hair, her eyes were a seductive shade of orange and yellow which was never seen before in any human, her body was athletic, trim and toned nicely, her boobs were pert and of a nice size and she had an ass to die for, on top of her looks she had the brains too and still that little teardrop stain by her eye, her qualities made her attractive for the seniors and the juniors in the school, she had a large group of friends and seemed to be happy with life.

Although they spoke English and Spanish in school, Holly was now fluent in Spanish, and French, Latin and Greek. Holly had caught the eye of one boy who had also caught hers, his name was Ben and he was a junior.

They stared at each other in class making slight smiles and winks to each other across the class room. As weeks went by, Holly plucked up the courage to talk to him, she wasn't one for shyness normally, but there was something about this guy that made her withdraw slightly.

She approached him at his locker in the hallway. "Hi" her voice very quiet.

"Well hey there" Ben's voice more confident and happy, "how's your day beautiful" he was quite positive and self-assured.

Holly giggled slightly like any school-girl does when they have a crush but she decided to keep talking and at least try to seem confident, "uhh nothing, just wondering what you are doing later."

He looked at her "you asking me out Holly Gage?"

She smiled at him "well yes I am Ben Lopez..." they stared at each other for a bit and then the school bell went.

"I'll catch you later senorita, meet me outside" he shouted as he walked to class.

Holly was happy, biting her lip and leaning against the locker she daydreamed for a while until she realised she was late for class, but then as she blinked, she was at her desk, in class watching the teacher writing literature on the board.

Her mind was wandering, she looked around and no-one had flinched or looked at her as if to say _'where the fuck did you come from?_

_'_ Not even she knew how she got there, she didn't remember walking or running to class or even walking in the room.

She knew she had something in her that could make her do things but this was something else; her 'gift' as her father would say was growing and becoming stronger. Holly kept quiet in school about her girt; she didn't want anyone thinking she was a freak or the devil, something they truly believed in, in this village.

She had decided to always do her best to control herself at all times and not lose control.

The school day continued as normal and then finally, the last bell of the day went and all the students ran out of school. Holly went outside but Ben wasn't there, she waited a few minutes but she still couldn't see him, she felt blue, she thought he had stood her up until suddenly; hands appeared around her eyes to cover them up.

A gentle man's voice whispered in her ear "guess who?"

Being sarcastic she replied "umm Ben?" and then she laughed as she removed his hands and turned to see him.

They left school together and went for a walk, the conversation was flowing nicely, and he was clearly interested in her and her in him.

"So where you from?" Ben was keeping the conversation wanting to know all about her.

"Well uhh, originally from Boston but then we moved to New York, you? Have you always lived here?" Holly was being quite girlie and still a bit shy.

"Yeah, lived in this village all my life, I want to move to Salem though and be a doctor..."

"Salem..." Holly was baffled, "why would you want to live in Salem, bit of a strange place to want to live...don't you think?"

He looked at Holly amused "haha no, it's a beautiful place surrounded by history, I think it would be rather interesting."

They talked and talked and walked for ages, Holly didn't realise they had walked to the park near her house. Laughing and joking Holly looked in-front to suddenly see the park and destroyed woods; she froze in her tracks, she looked on in horror, Ben noticed her expression and looked over at the devastation of the woods.

"Wow, this must have been from that earthquake or something" Ben said as he was completely unaware of the events.

"Yeah something like that I guess..." Holly looked fearful, "Look Ben...I uhhh, I don't want to go down there" she looked at him, her voice antsy; she pulled on his arm and started to walk away.

Ben noticed her pale expression, "you ok Holly, you look like you seen a ghost?"

She plucked up a smile to reassure him she was fine. They carried on talking and Ben walked Holly home.

They walked into the courtyard and Max could hear muttered voices, he went to look out the window as Holly was normally home ages ago, peering through the curtain he saw Holly talking to a boy, her face was lit up, her cheeks were blushed, she seemed happy.

Max watched for a little while and then saw them hug and say goodbye, seeing Holly come towards the balcony he quickly ran and sat down as if he didn't know anything.

Holly walked in floating on air, this was the happiest Max had ever seen her, _aww, a young teenager in love, how sweet_.

"How was your day?" he asked pretending not to know anything but with an amusing look on his face.

Holly sighed, "It was lovely dad" a smiled beamed across her face.

She walked over and kissed Max on the forehead and then headed straight to her room.

Closing the door behind her Holly leaned back on it daydreaming about Ben, he was just perfect, sweet, kind and caring, she had completely forgot all the bad stuff but then something caught her eye, there was a small box on her dresser, a box she had never seen before.

She knew it wasn't hers, she hadn't left it there and it's not something Max would have bought her, it was a plain black box with the symbol from the palm of her hand, it was glowing red from the inside. Holly slowly approached it, she was curious as to what was in the box but also sceptical, _how did it get there? More to the point, who put it there in the first place?_

Holly reached her dresser and slowly opened the lid of the box, there inside shone a red light, Holly reached her hand inside the box and touched the red light, it shot into her body, and up her arm glowing under skin as she could see it running threw her veins.

Holly tried to stop it as she panicked but she kept quiet as not to disturb Max so he wouldn't run into her room, as it coursed through her body Holly passed out on the floor.

Waking up in a daze Holly saw fire above her and a child leaning over her, she was lying on a very warm floor that looked like a floor of lava but it didn't faze or hurt her, her vision was slightly blurred and she couldn't make out much to see where she was.

The little girl leaned over her "now you are here, now you see home" she giggled and walked away. Holly stumbled to her feet trying to balance herself as her head was spinning. Her eyes started to come into focus, she saw above her burning red and orange flames, she worked out she was below some sort of fire, she was stood on a long walkway that was made from what appeared to be hot lava, but her feet didn't burn, below her was pure darkness with a red shining light at the bottom, she started to walk forward and there she saw the little girl, then she realised, it's Raven!

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHERE AM I?" Holly shouted through the loud noises of screams and fire burning.

Raven smiled and shouted back for Holly to hear "I'M SHOWING YOU YOUR HOME, THIS IS WHERE YOU BELONG, FEEL THE ENERGY," her hands rose above her head as if to touch something in the air.

Holly started panicking "THIS IS NOT MY HOME" she screamed.

But Raven just laughed at her, Holly looked down and there by her feet was a bracelet, it seemed familiar to her, she lifted it up and held it admiring how beautiful it was.

It was beautiful silver bracelet with the words inscribed in Latin that read 'Eternity with you my love.'

This seemed familiar to her but she couldn't think with the flames that burned around her and the souls that screamed below her.

Raven was dancing in the fire at the end of the walk way, Holly went to walk towards her as she was suddenly tempted but then she stopped, she started panicking, she looked around at this dark and fiery place, she didn't want to be there, shaking all over she stood frozen on the lava walk way and screamed "I WANT TO GO HOME NOW!" and then Holly awoke on her bedroom floor.

She looked up on her dresser and there was no sight of the box, she looked around her room but everything was normal. Her breathing was heavy and her thoughts a little fuzzy, _where had she gone? Was it a dream?_

She was thinking to herself, her mind going crazy, and then, at that moment Max popped his head round the door "Dinner is done sweetie."

She looked at him and managed to look like all was OK, "I'll be there in a sec dad" she shot him a smile and he left the room.

She got to her feet and still looked around, _did she just dream that? Had she fallen asleep and had a nightmare?_

She went to leave the room and stood on something "owww" she let out as something dug into the bottom of her foot. She looked down, there under her foot was the bracelet, the bottom of her feet was black, and then she realised... _it wasn't a dream!_ B _ut how did she get there and back?_ It was too much to think about so she went and had dinner with Max and kept what had happened to her to herself, she didn't want him freaking out.

It was 12pm in New York and Lucian was sat in his office looking at Max's old apartment online, the apartment was up for rent but inside the apartment was the book he gave Holly, he remembered she had hid it from her father but he knew she didn't take it with her as he was there the day Max was carted off to the hospital. He needed to get that book. As the apartment was empty, Lucian knew he could get in and out without being seen, the joys of dark magic.

Within minutes he was in the apartment, with his hell fury eyes he looked through the apartment for that book. Surely within minutes, he saw a red glow from Holly's old room. Underneath the floor boards was the book Lucian had given Holly, the book he needed to complete the ritual that would commit them to each other for all eternity.

"Our future will be complete once we walk through the flames and dance on the bed of souls," Lucian said talking to himself about Holly.

He took the book and fled to the church. The priest was currently giving a sermon on the Lord Lucian and how to be a great follower and encouraging them to be true to him and the faith that would see them reap many rewards. Lucian looked on impressed with the powerful words given to the congregation of him.

The priest noticed Lucian hovering in the background, he ended his sermon and the followers thanked and praised him in the name of Lucian, although they praised Lucian in a different name.

"To what do I owe the honour again my lord" the priest said to Lucian, surprised by his visit.

"I found the book," Lucian hands him the book the priest needed to complete the all-important ritual; however the priest did not seem happy upon receipt of this book.

He took the book from Lucian and placed it on the table next to him, "may I speak freely my lord" he asked Lucian sounding slightly concerned.

Curious Lucian granted his wish and allowed him to speak. The priest walked Lucian over to the other book he had read and showed him the paragraph on the queen he read when Lucian left previously without reading;

The queen is a powerful ally of the evil Lord and together they will dominate the realms. The queen has great power which was given to her at eighteen by the almighty as her birth rite and to join with her father, during the war; her power remained and grew stronger. They would not allow her power to be given sooner, if the queen receives her powers earlier than eighteen years, her powers will grow more powerful than the lord himself which may in turn cause his destruction, the lord must keep his queen by his side as for not to over-rule him, once her power is received, it cannot be taken away unless she wills it so...

Lucian slammed the book shut, "this is utter nonsense, the queen was tricked into leaving my side which lead to her death, I will not let that happen again, and what the fuck? Destroy me? She fucking loves me, we were..."

The priest cut him off "do not be so foolish my lord, this book was written by those wiser than ourselves, by our fathers, be cautious my lord and make sure that this time the queen is totally devoted to you" he placed his hand on Lucian's showing that he was completely devoted to him.

The fathers were the names given to the elder angels before Holly and Lucian were created or born in their original life, as Lucian was once an angel he knew that they could manipulate fact to suit their own truths. He didn't believe it and told the priest to put the books safe ready for the ritual that would take place when he had Holly.

Lucian left the church feeling a bit angry that his trusted priest doubted him and his queen. Although he was evil, he loved and adored Holly many centuries ago and when the war began and Holly was lost to him, he never stopped loving or wanting her and spent centuries waiting for Olivia to be born so that she could bring Holly into the world.

It was Friday a few weeks later, Holly was in school doing her normal everyday thing, but something was on her mind. She was distracted throughout the day and was keeping her distance from her friends and from Ben.

She kept thinking over and over again about the place she had been to and wondered why Raven had told her it was home.

Holly felt she belonged with Max, he was her father, her family, _and how could she belong anywhere else but there?_

With all the things that happened to her as a child, _was there some sort of reason for this?_

She had so much evil in her life but things at the moment were very good. She couldn't believe this was happening to her now, she had gotten rid of so many bad people in her life, well in all fairness some of them were killed but still, she didn't want to feel this way anymore, she had now started to feel something wasn't right in her life.

Ben had tried getting Holly's attention all day, he and Holly had grown quite close in the short space of time they had known each other, he could see something was bothering her, so at lunch he approached her and persuaded her to go for a walk down to end of the school field.

Sat on the grass, Holly was picking flowers and throwing them, she seemed in a world of her own, Ben as curious as to what was wrong with her.

"Holly, I know I've only known you a few weeks but I can see it in your face, something is wrong, talk to me" his voice filled with genuine concern for her.

Holly looked at him and could see the look in his eyes that he was really worried about her. She hesitated; "I'm afraid if I tell you then you will never look at me the same way ever again" she looked rattled.

He placed his arms around to comfort her, he told Holly she could trust him and nothing would make him think any different of her. She had never had a friend to talk to about this stuff before.

Agreeing to open up after some persuasion Holly began to talk "well, when I was a kid, my mother was murdered, the police never caught the man and not long after my grandparents were killed in a car accident," her voice starts to get croaky where she is holding back tears, "my dad couldn't handle it so he went off the rails and when I was seven, I think, he was put into a special hospital after he had a breakdown, I was sent to live with my teacher as he offered to care for me, but, even as nice as he was in school, he wasn't the same at home.

He uhhh..." she paused, she felt ashamed and found it hard to get the words out.

Ben didn't let go off her and gave her his complete attention and she felt she could trust him.

"...He abused me, he raped me is the only word I could use to describe what he did, he also raped another little girl, so I was sent away, I did some things I'm not proud of to say the least and I moved around a lot between foster families and the last one I lived with were rather mean, so I went looking for my father and to escape the evil's in our lives and then we came here," Holly took a deep breath.

Holly looked at Ben waiting to see disgust on his face but instead he showed sadness.

He hugged her tight "don't worry about your past, it doesn't define who you are, you are an amazing person Holly Gage and whatever happened to you has made you stronger," he smiled and comforted her.

Holly was amazed by his reaction, she honestly thought he would run a mile, of course she hadn't told him the whole truth but she had opened up about the stuff that would normally disgust people, instead of scaring him away it seemed to bring them closer together.

They didn't return to school that afternoon, they spent the afternoon talking and lying on the grass.

The end of the day bell went and they checked the time on their watches, jumping up in shock they had not actually realised they had spent so much time on the grass, they hadn't actually noticed that they didn't even bother going back to school, they got lost in each other and they hadn't heard anything but their own voices until that point in the day.

As all the students started to leave, they stayed on the grass, Holly in Ben's arms. "I'd like you to come to mine tonight" Ben suggested.

"I don't know. I'd have to check with my dad, he's kind of protective." Holly told him.

Ben gave her a look of understanding, of course her father would be protective after all she had been through, so they made their way to Holly's house to check if it was ok that she stayed. Max looked over Ben, up and down, weary of him as he knew of the men in Holly's life before and the things they had done to her.

"So, you want Holly to stay at yours? Tell about yourself first my boy..." Max was rather intimidating.

Ben gulped down a huge lump in his throat, "well uhh sir, I uhhh live just two streets away, I'm a junior in high school, I'm at the top in all my studies and I uhh want to be a doctor" Ben as clicking his fingers and all fidgety as he tried to big himself up to Max.

Max looked at him, his eyes tried to peer through him to see if he was lying, as he turned, Holly was stood in the doorway, he could see the begging look on her face, she really desperately wanted to stay over Ben's house. Seeing the look and pleading in his daughters eyes, Max agreed.

Ben sighed with relief, he thought Max was going to give him a hard time but he did the normal dad thing that dad's do when boys want to date or have their daughter's go over their houses. They left Max's together holding hands with Max watching their departure out of the window, he was happy but sad all the same time; his daughter was growing up and slowly becoming a woman. 

## CHAPTER 23

Ben had introduced Holly to his parents and they were now chilling in his bedroom cuddled up watching a DVD.

The DVD they had chosen was a horror, Nightmare on Elm Street, classic, Freddy Krueger, the man who plagued your dreams. Some bits made Holly jump which Ben found amusing as she clenched her arms around him or covered her face.

When the film finished Ben got up to change the DVD but Holly pulled him back down, feeling nervous and excited she leant forward, she kissed him softly, he was sort of taken by her affection but he kissed her back and they locked in a passionate smooch.

Ben pulled back "Holly..." he uttered "I don't want to take advantage of you, you're fifteen," he said kindly as he softly stroked her cheek.

She smiled at him, gazing at him lovingly "you're not taking advantage; I know I'm fifteen, but...this is what I want and I want it with you," she pulled him closer to her.

He wanted to but a part of him kept telling him that this was wrong, she was only fifteen, and technically she's a minor. Ben wasn't the type to take advantage of a young girl, he was a gentleman but Holly persisted, she took her top off, her body stunned him, she was beautiful.

"Are you sure?" he questioned checking she wasn't pressured.

She gave him reassuring nod. He slowly moved towards her, face to face they were kneeling up on the bed, embraced in a passionate kiss. Ben was gentle with her, he kissed her face which made her giggle, and then he kissed down her body and laid her down so he was on top of her. Slowly and tenderly they kissed and touched each other whilst they removed their clothes. Then, when all the clothes were off and Holly was ready, he slid a condom onto his large erection, and then Ben entered her slowly; he made love to her with passion, care and love.

She was a drug to him, he wanted to feel her, caress her and keep her, he lost himself in her as he pushed himself in and out of her slowly, she gave herself to him, she pushed up and met every thrust he made, the sex they had was electrifying and sensual.

They moaned with pleasure and passion, Ben could feel himself about to climax so he wrapped his arms around Holly. Holly could feel herself beginning to climax too so she wrapped her legs around him and they came together.

He leant up on his arms and kissed Holly, he looked into her eyes, she was satisfied, without thinking he let out "I love you" which prompted Holly's eyes to widen in shock.

But then her face softened and she stroked his face, smiling she replied "I love you too" and the rest of the night they spent watching films in each-other's arms.

At that moment Lucian felt a pain to his chest which made him collapse on the floor, he knew that pain, Holly had willingly given herself to another, he had felt it before when she left him many centuries ago.

Furious, Lucian lashed and trashed his apartment, the lurking shadows watched in fear afraid to move or say anything.

Outraged Lucian demanded "WHERE IS SHE, WHERE IS THAT FAILURE OF A DEMON, COME TO ME NOW AND ANSWER YOURSELF YOU SPAWN!" and at that moment Raven appeared.

This time she wasn't so confident and cold, she was afraid and weary as Lucian's wrath could be felt by everyone in the room.

He conveyed towards her and grabbed her by the throat lifting her off the floor, she started to choke "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR REASON FOR YOUR FAILURE IS BUT WHATEVER SHE HAS DONE, WHOEVER SHE HAS GIVEN HERSELF TO, MAKE SURE YOU FUCKING DESTROY THEM AND IF YOU FAIL ME I WILL CHAIN YOUR SOUL IN THE BLACKNESS.....DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" his words were terrifying.

Raven shook her head, she understood perfectly, the blackness was the dark place under the walk way Holly had been on, it was a painful place where banished souls were tortured for eternity and as evil as she may be, Raven didn't want that, no-one who visited there wanted that, no matter how evil they may be, so she quickly set off to take care of Lucian's request.

The next day, Holly woke to find Ben watching her; he had deep devotion and love in his eyes.

He kissed her softly and showed the breakfast on the table at the bottom of the bed.

This was perfect. They shared the morning together and made a plan for the day. Ben's parents liked Holly and her unusual look also caught their attention, as it did many others.

They set out for the day with Ben taking her to the city to show her some historical buildings. Holly started to have an uneasy feeling in her tummy, she didn't know what it was but she felt something was not quite right. She was having a lovely day so she decided to ignore it, things were perfect, these two people in love with other, and it was sweet young love.

After all day being out Holly returned home to Max after being walked home by Ben.

She gushed to her father about her new boyfriend and Max could see all over her face that he made her happy. Max looked a bit saddened however, noticing his expression Holly approached him.

"Dad, what's wrong?" her voice was a little nervous.

Max looked at her and smiled "nothing sweetie it's just, you're growing up and it upsets me because we missed out on so much together when you were a child," he tells her with a lump in his throat.

"Oh daddy, don't be so soft, we have a great life now, yes ok we're hiding from people in New York but we are here and it's amazing and no matter what, I'm still going to be your girl" she reassured him with a witty grin on her face.

Max laughed and Holly laughed, technically yes they were on the run and with no-one to update them on the situation in New York, they had no idea what was happening there.

It was Sunday; Holly woke in her bed feeling rested. Ben and his family went to church in the morning so she had to wait until the afternoon to see him.

She wasn't really religious as you could imagine and for some reason she did not understand, churches made her feel uneasy.

She always felt like she should go in one when she walked passed, as if it were inviting but then something else always made her not want to and she tended to feel nauseous.

Carrying on with her normal routine on a Sunday, she still couldn't shake this nervous feeling that something bad was going to happen.

She checked her room for anything suspicious and made sure Max was ok, he had no plans, he was going to have a lazy day in the house watching TV, so if he was ok and she was ok, why couldn't she help but feel something was not quite right?

It was late afternoon and finally Ben arrived to see her, he embraced her with loving hug and he took Holly for a walk.

They went for some food in the village went to see some of their friends; she still couldn't shake the feeling even though all around her seemed perfectly normal.

Then it started to get dark but they didn't mind, they were not far from home and were hanging around outside a church on the steps chatting and laughing.

Something distracted Ben, he heard a crying child. He looked back at the group but it would appear they could hear nothing; he got up and followed the sound concerned for a child that may need help, he didn't know why he was going to look, something inside him told him he had to.

Holly was more concerned about the looming dark clouds and hadn't heard the child crying as she normally would have. Holly hadn't noticed him leave, but then a gust of wind came by, it made her feel something weird inside and she turned to speak to Ben but he had gone, worried she left the group and went after him, then she also heard the crying child, inside she knew this was not a good thing, she had followed the same sound before.

Holly knew instantly what that was and where Ben was heading so she ran after him.

Getting close to the park, the wind was picking up and there was quite a force behind it, her hair blew everywhere, leaves and bits flew into the air.

She saw Ben in the distance "BEN!" she shouted but he didn't hear her, he just carried on walking into the destroyed forest as if in a trance, bewitched by something that appeared to control him.

She ran after him but felt something forcing her back, she really didn't want to get mad and use her power but she didn't have a choice, she could see the red glowing star above and she knew what Ben was walking to meet.

With the fire burning in her eyes Holly screamed and as the ground shook and the trees floated above the ground, she managed to break through the force holding her back.

Ben had disappeared from her sight but she knew where he was going. Villagers saw from a distance what was happening; the skies above the park became grey and white shooting bolts of lightning were shooting down to the ground, they could see the trees in their air with ash and bits of earth.

They ran into their homes and Max could hear the screaming, fearing the worst he ran outside and looked over in the parks direction, he knew Holly was in trouble so he ran towards the issue, however villagers tried to stop him fearing his safety but he knew he had to save his daughter.

Holly finally reached where the clearing used to be to find Raven levitated above the ground, fire surrounding her with Ben in her grasp, but before Holly could do anything about it a hole opened up below them, Raven looked at Holly with an evil smile. Holly went to go through the flames but Max grabbed her and held her back.

"LET ME GO" she demanded and the flames grew bigger with Holly's anger.

Raven laughed, "HE ALWAYS WIN'S" she said with her malicious voice and with one blink Raven took Ben into the hole. Ben was gone.

A distraught Holly collapsed in Max's arms as everything around them came crashing to the ground with huge bangs.

She looked at Max as she sobbed uncontrollably, "It's my fault, why are they doing this to me?"

Max held her as he looked around, the villagers saw him running there this time, they would soon figure out Holly was there so he quickly grabbed her and headed home. They got back in the apartment, shut the door and closed the windows.

"What the hell are you doing, we have to go out there we have to find him," Holly sobbed.

Max looked at Holly, his face was angry "Look Holly, Ben has gone and whoever took him is not exactly just going to let you have him are they, don't you get it? I ran after you and with the superstitions in this town people are going to know you were and then what Holly, how are you going to explain all of this and the fact that now a student will be reported missing, what the fuck Holly!" he didn't mean to lose his rag with her, was just worried about what may to happen to her.

She ran off into her room crying and shut the door. Max knew his harsh words and shouting had upset her, it was like he blamed all this on her. He needed to make amends and come up with a plan on how to approach the awkward situation they were in.

Raven arrived back at Lucian's apartment where he was sat waiting impatiently, she dropped Ben on the floor at his feet. Ben, who was unconscious on arrival, started to come around. He woke and was terrified by what he saw, a horned man, with the horns curing around the back of his head and an evil face, his body was big and muscly with pointy nails on his fingers and huge black wings sprouting from his back, ghostly shadows and a demon looking child.

Lucian gave Raven a slight kiss on the forehead, pleased with her efforts she had not failed him and brought to him the one who he believed had stolen his queen. Lucian tied him to the wall and looked him up and down.

"What great power do you possess?" he demanded to know.

Ben was confused "power? I possess no power you freak now let me go" he snarled at the horned beast.

"Ahh but power you must possess to tempt the queen" his tone was sarcastic.

"Queen? What bloody queen? What you on about" Ben wriggled to try and free himself but the ties that held him to the wall were strong.

"Holly..." Lucian mentioned looking at Ben with hate.

Ben looked back, "what do you want with her, you leave her alone you hear me!"

Lucian laughed at his words, "oh dear boy, Holly will come to me willingly, you have no idea who she is do you?" his eyes glared at him, they were full of evil.

Ben didn't answer he just stared.

"What little boy, cat got your tongue?" Lucian was teasing Ben now, "You tell me what happened between you boy or I swear to you that your soul will be ripped in two by my faithful servants" his voice was forceful as Raven and the shadows started to get closer to him.

Scared, Ben quickly shouted "WE MADE LOVE, WE LOVE EACH OTHER!"

Lucian stopped in his tracks "I. Beg. Your. Pardon?" his voice deep, he was by now getting extremely pissed off.

Taking a deep breath, Ben plucked up the courage to tell the horned man the truth, he told him how he and Holly were brought together and that they fell in love and embraced that love in sex.

Lucian's anger rumbled the building "TAKE HIM TO THE CHAMBERS WHERE HE WILL STAY UNTIL I DECIDE WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH HIM" Lucian demanded and even though Ben begged and pleaded for his life, the loyal followers didn't listen and took Ben away.

Lucian headed to the church. There the priest was waiting for his arrival "my lord, something is troubling you" he stated with a troubled voice.

"Priest, the teenage queen foolishly gave herself to another," Lucian explained.

The priests face turned from troubled to extreme worry and he led Lucian to the book and the book told many things of the queen but this the priest insisted Lucian read:

If the queen voluntarily gives herself to another, then her legions towards the lord may change and it is not likely she will come willingly should her soul begin to feel some light and warmth from the love of a true heart. Should the lord wish to have her fully commit to him, then the queen must destroy that which she has already given herself to. By doing so, the ties are broken and strong bond is formed between the lord and the queen.

Lucian shut the book and looked at the priest, "that's what we must do, I will keep him, tortured and chained and will again attempt to taint her soul, when the time comes, she will have to kill him to prove her devotion, if not.....I will kill her..." he looked down on the book.

It was now a fight for Holly's heart between Lucian and Ben, but who would Holly choose?

##

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer?

##

Please keep an eye out for part two of this book to see how it ends.

Thanks!

R.J. Adams (author)
