Hallowed Awakening

Valerie began to undress very seductively, as she had done multiple times before. When she approached, he couldn't resist her. He took her in his arms and brought her down into the water. He made love to her, and knew he had given her a child. The idea of leaving a piece of himself in the mortal world appealed greatly to Demitri.

When Valerie awoke, she noticed that the sun had come up and knew she had fallen asleep. She began to panic and escaped his grasp quickly. She rushed to her clothes and began dressing frantically. When she left, he could sense where she was and what roads she had taken. He had left his seed inside of her. Their baby was his tracking system.

That's when things began to take a dark turn.

Excerpt:

Seclusion Lake was the perfect place for Phoenix Ashland to take Bailey, the woman he had fallen in love with. He had been her divorce attorney, and the two of them had just "clicked." They bonded over a cheesy mystery movie, and things had gone from there.

The decision to take Bailey to Morgrove may have been a bad idea, but Phoenix didn't know it at the time he asked her. He would never be the same after their visit.

One day, if all went well with Bailey, he hoped to raise a family in one of the mansions surrounding the lake, and he had his sights set on Gorgie Manor. Of the five mansions, Gorgie Manor was his favorite.

Phoenix and Bailey rented a car from the local airport, and while Phoenix sat in the back seat putting the final touches to some legal matters left over from work, Bailey struggled with the gears of the car.

"Phoenix, they gave you a piece of crap," she whined. "No one could get this thing out of second gear."

"You bet," he answered, clearly not listening.

"No one drives a stick shift these days, anyway."

After driving down the winding road to Seclusion Lake, Phoenix guided Bailey down a concrete path that led to the cabin. At the beginning of the path was a large wooden sign with the number one painted on it.

Each of the five houses surrounding Seclusion Lake had a wooden sign, and each with a different number… one through five. They drove down the path under lowered tree branches that hovered over the road, connecting haphazardly in the middle. The sunlight was hidden from them, the path becoming creepier as they went.

When Bailey stopped the car, the brakes made a high-pitched, screeching sound, and Phoenix cursed.

"Damn, Bailey."

"I told you this thing is crap!"

They arrived at a black iron gate, and under a black plastic cover on one of the brick pillars, Phoenix entered a code that would open the gate for sixty seconds before it locked again.

The gate opened and they made their final descent into the driveway. The dark, wooden, two-story cabin stood halfway between the rocky and sandy shore of the lake and the lawn that was plush with green grass. Bailey was awestruck. It was the first time she had seen what Phoenix had called the cabin and it took her breath away. It was so much more than a cabin.

Phoenix was finally home after being away for too long. Seeing the cabin always gave him a sense of peace, but this time was different. There was something that didn't feel right.