Damned - By Brittany Booker

A BLACK OPAL BOOKS PUBLICATION

Excerpt

I knew what he was, so why did I want him to stay?

I finally got off the bed and went to my closet. I pulled on a wife beater and a pair of sweats. Darrton had his fingers interlaced and resting on his knee when I came back out. “Something’s wrong?”

He nodded.

I pushed my toe into the plush rug beside my bed. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, I guess, tell me anyway.”

“I found a trace of someone here. I sensed them again tonight at the game. They have all found each other. Now they’re here to retrieve me.” He twisted his ring. “This isn’t the first time they have visited, but this time they haven’t made themselves known. My brothers are checking on me.”

I pointed down to his ring. “What is that? Can I see?” Grabbing his hand I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn’t budge. “Have you gained weight?” I teased.

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not meant to come off. It’s forever there, engraved into me.”

“Is that how you know they are here?”

He nodded. “Yes and no. I feel them when one of them is near. Also, the ring has been weighing down on me lately. It also has been scorching me. It’s letting me know it’s time. They connect with me through the ring. We can communicate mentally.”

“Time to what?” He didn’t answer. But I knew. Kill. Destroy. Bring The Apocalypse. “Have you seen them? How many? Which ones?”

Darrton reached over and patted my hand, “Don’t you worry about it, okay?” he said, reassuring me. “I will make sure you and your family stay safe. You don’t deserve what they will try to make me do to you.”

I could see he was telling the truth this time. I didn’t know how but I knew. He left and I wanted to grab after him. Why, Lizzie? Why reach after...Death?

DEDICATION

To Austin. Without your help,

this book would have never happened.

I love you.

Revelation 6:7

THE FOURTH SEAL

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

CHAPTER 1

Lizzie

“This is a serious matter, Tommy,” my mother yelled.

Yes, yes it is, I thought as I leaned in closer to the mirror in my room, holding up a shirt to wear. Someone breaking into our house is a serious matter.

“I know it is, Jennifer. I said we would call the locksmith tomorrow,” my dad said, using his calm voice to try and soothe my mother. From upstairs, I could practically see him rubbing her arms to calm her down.

I had awakened this morning to my mother yelling like a banshee. The house had been broken into and my emotional mother was not going to stop nagging until my dad did something about it. I would have been more worried about the situation myself if Trevor hadn’t invited me to Aaron’s party. Trevor and I’d had a short summer romance and then he showed up at school with Rachel. After him begging and pleading for me to go out with him again, I’d said yes.

Sighing, I tried to tune out Mom and Dad’s conversation about the break-in. Nothing was taken by whoever broke in, but it still creeped the hell out of me. Throwing my shirt down, I picked up another one. Useless!

I heard a slight noise from my door and glanced over. “Get out.”

“Yeah, right. You need my help.” Samantha, my twelve-year-old sister marched into my room and rummaged around in my closet, throwing clothes everywhere. “I so lost ten dollars on a bet because of this. I just knew he would never ask you out again. Now, I’m not going to let you look stupid going to see him with your wanna’ be rocker shoes and grungy T-shirt.”

“I’m sorry did you not understand the meaning of get out?”

She sighed and turned to me, her dirty blonde hair swinging around her. “Here,” she said, handing me an outfit and leaving the room.

I glanced down at the black strapless shirt, blue jeans jacket, skinny jeans, and boots. Not too bad.

I was in the middle of changing when my cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Where the hades are you, comrade?” Millie, my best friend,