Black Hollow: Reviving Love

  Reviving Love

  A Black Hollow Story

  By Cassidy K. O’Connor

  Cover Art by Crimson Phoenix Creations

  Copyright © 2018 Cassidy K. O’Connor

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

  Dedication

  I would like to thank Shawn Mendes, his latest song In My Blood was an inspiration to me while creating Adam’s character. I felt the pain in his song and knew it’s exactly how Adam would have felt.

  Welcome to Black Hollow, the most paranormal town in America. When your mayor is a Griffin and the local diner is run by mermaid's serving fish and chips, you know you’ll never have a mundane day.

  Sarah hasn’t been in a relationship since she left her abusive ex-husband. When her close friends invite her to a weekend in Black Hollow she takes her first step toward moving on. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a man or Frankenstein’s monster in Adam's case.

  Adam has lived his life hidden from the world, tired of the stares from strangers. He roamed for centuries tortured with not being able to age or die. He found solace in Black Hollow, it was the perfect place to be himself and forge friendships with other immortals. Until Sarah comes along and he finds the one thing he can’t live without. Complete acceptance and love.

  Nothing is ever as easy as that though, someone wants to keep humans out of Black Hollow and Sarah is the first victim. Can Adam save her and his future?

  Chapter One

  “It’s been two years Sarah, they locked Hank up and threw away the key. Asald and I love you and we want to see you happy. Even Alex is starting to question your lackluster love life.”

  Sarah scowled at her friend Penny, how dare she insinuate her little boy was thinking about her dating life.

  “All we’re saying is you could use a weekend of adult time. My parents are going to keep Christian for us and they’ve offered to keep Alex too. Come with us to Black Hollow, Asald promises his friends are awesome and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

  Sarah’s nails tapping in rhythm on the table seemed way more interesting than making eye contact with her best friend. She knew she was right, she had lived like a nun for so long now she didn’t know how to break out of the prison she had built around herself.

  “You trust Asald and me, believe me when I say Alex will be safe and you will have fun. Besides you know you’re as curious as I am to meet his friends. We’ve talked to them so many times on the phone, they’ll be offended if you snub them and don’t come.”

  “Well, that’s not fair, playing the guilt card on me.” Sarah sighed as Penny wiggled her eyebrows, smiling like a loon. “Fine, if I agree to go with you this weekend can we agree that I don’t have to be forced into another dating situation for at least six months?”

  “Six months! That’s crazy.” Penny exclaimed as Sarah quirked her eyebrow and leveled a hard stare that froze Penny in her place, before finally relenting. “Fine, six months free from our intervention into your sex life.”

  Satisfied with her agreement she gave in. “So, tell me about this grand weekend you have planned? What do I need to pack? Where do I call for a hotel room? And where the hell is Black Hollow, Massachusetts, I’ve never heard of it.”

  “I haven’t been there before either but I can’t wait to go. It’s a small coastal town just North of Salem. From what he’s told me they are even more eccentric than Salem and celebrate all kinds of paranormals not just witches. They throw this huge Halloween party every year that is by invitation only.” Sarah grabbed a towel and started drying the dishes Penny was washing. “We are staying at an Inn and I already booked you a room next to ours.”

  “Someone was confident I was going to cave.”

  “More like determined to hound you till you let me have my way. We’re also picking up costumes in town so don’t worry about packing anything special. All you have to do is meet me at my parents Thursday after work and we’ll drive up.”

  Childish laughter filled the room as Asald came into the kitchen with their son Christian on his shoulders and Alex wrapped around his leg being dragged.

  “Good news babe, she’s going with us this weekend.” Asald’s look of surprise meant he hadn’t expected his wife to be successful either.

  Asald pulled his leg forward so he could see Alex’s face. “I guess that means you are playing big brother to Christian this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa have lots of fun things planned and really want to you stay with them. What do you think?”

  Alex popped up off the ground and melted his mother’s heart with a huge smile. Two years ago they’d been living in a shelter, abused and alone. Now they had Asald and Penny and their entire family had adopted them. She would be forever grateful to Penny’s parents for treating him like any of their other grandchildren. Tears burned her eyes; she swallowed hard around the lump in her throat.

  “Can I stay with them, mom?”

  “Of course, you can. Now grab your backpack and let’s get home.”

  “Bye Birdman!”

  Sarah shook her head at Alex’s nickname for Asald and hugged everyone goodbye.

  ***

  As soon as the front door closed Asald gave Penny a look of concern. “Are you really sure you want to do this? Are you ready for her to know all about me and my world?”

  “For two years Alex has sworn you can fly and saved him on that roof. She has never believed him before so I don’t think she will suddenly figure things out after one party. However, I hate keeping this one huge part of our life a secret from her so I’m hoping to break it to her this weekend.”

  “I trust you so if you are ready for her to know the real me than so am I. Now, let’s get Christian in bed and go work on making him a little sister or brother.”

  Chapter Two

  Sarah stood staring at her closet, it was hard to pack for the unexpected. At least she was used to Fall in New England so it wasn’t tough to throw in enough layers to make an outfit for any situation. Hoping she had grabbed enough choices she left to meet up with Penny at her parents’ house to drop the kids off. This was the first time she would be sleeping away from Alex and the idea paralyzed her. She was relieved that he was excited to be going, this meant his father hadn’t completely destroyed him.

  “I’m really doing this aren’t I?” Penny rolled her eyes at Sarah’s mumbled and repeated question.

  “Would you like some liquid courage to help calm you down? We can fill a thermos before we go?”

  “No it’s fine, I’ll be fine, let’s just get on the road so I can’t back out.” Sarah saw the compassion on her friend’s face, Penny had seen Sarah at her worst, her most broken and understood how big of a step this was for her.

  They pulled into Penny’s driveway as Asald was putting the last of their bags in the trunk. After a quick kiss for Penny, he grabbed her bags and moved them to his car. “Okay ladies, let’s do this.”

  He practically ran around the car to get going, he was meeting these friends for the first time as well. From what Penny told her, Asald had been doing some kind of genealogy research and found a group of people who were similar to him. She assumed that meant maybe their ancestors were from the same area or something? She wasn’t really sure when she pushed them for details they mumbled a bit then moved on. Was there a skeleton in his family tree he didn’t want to talk about? Either way, she was glad he was making new friends, like her, he was an orphan and had no family so she hoped these people would change all of that for him.

  She watched out the window as the miles went by, her mind wandered
until she jerked awake realizing she had fallen asleep.

  “Welcome back sleepy head, you were out for a while. We just got off the interstate, it won’t be too much longer now.”

  After a few turns, she noticed the beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows of the leaves had faded and everything was either brown or barren. It was actually breathtakingly beautiful seeing the naked branches reaching across the road towards each other almost like lovers reuniting. The buildings they passed weren’t shiny or new and the town all but took her breath away. She knew they catered to tourists by playing up the paranormal but this was amazing.

  The apothecary had signs in the window exclaiming a sale on love potions. The blood bank had fangs with dripping blood in their logo. Competing bars on the corner had signs listing who wasn’t allowed in their establishments. Stoney’s on the left didn’t allow witches, fairies, or any other creature that were not part animal. Thirst had one very clear rule: no animal shifters of any kind could enter.

  At the stop sign, she heard Penny gasp as a group of children crossed the street all holding brooms and each had an animal with them. One of the kids black cat was jumping towards another girl who had a Raven perched on her shoulder. The boy at the end was barely swinging his cauldron, probably because the largest toad in history was peeking outside of it.

  “When I fell asleep did we cross into another dimension? This is incredible. I’ve visited Salem, they have nothing on this town.” She couldn’t help the double take when she saw a perfectly normal looking girl serving coffee outside of ‘Hells Brew’. She didn’t seem fazed at all standing in front of two large men with black wings lightly fluttering while they sipped their coffee.

  “The guys said the town goes all out for the month of October. Everyone gets involved and plays up their characters, I guess they weren’t kidding.” Asald gave Penny a nervous glance. She thought it was cute, he seemed hesitant to meet his friends.

  They turned off the main road and followed a street around to a surprisingly quaint looking Inn that didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the town’s aesthetic.

  “The Daydreamer Inn, this looks pleasant.” Penny’s reassuring smiles gave away how nervous she was about their accommodations being a rundown looking motel.

  Penny and Sarah each grabbed a bag while Asald grabbed five. She was always surprised by his strength; she had seen him do some crazy stuff when he was working out or fixing things.

  Their attention was turned away from Asald’s bulging muscles when the door swung open, soft music reached their ears. No one came out to greet them, Asald looked at them, shrugged and went up the steps.

  The Inn was even more beautiful inside. She didn’t know if it was the music or the paint color but as soon as they entered a feeling of calm and safety washed over her. Behind the counter was an ancient looking man, his fine silk pajamas seemed like odd business attire till he introduced himself as Mr. Sandman. How was this town not a year-round theme park? His slow speech and deep rumble were relaxing as they followed him to their rooms.

  “We have very few rules here but they are important ones. Do not go into the cellar, the dragon who lives down there is a noisy fellow but he minds his business so I let him stay. The windows are never to be opened, even if you think you hear music, the banshees like to play with visitors and trust me you don’t want to get involved with them. Lastly, the sprites and brownies are excellent housekeepers but they can be naughty. If you leave them some chocolates, they will usually leave you alone.”

  If anyone else had been speaking that would have taken less than two minutes. With his slow drawl, it had been almost ten. He turned to leave them at their doors when she noticed he wasn’t wearing shoes, instead, he had a pair of thick socks on. “Oh, and if you should have trouble falling asleep call the desk, I have just the thing to help you.” With a slight bow to them, he turned and went back downstairs.

  “Oh my god guys, thank you so much for forcing me to come along. This place is amazing.”

  “I admit it is so much more than I expected as well. Get settled in and we’ll leave for dinner at seven.”

  Sarah gave Asald a mock salute and unlocked her room with the real, iron key Mr. Sandman had given her. Like the rest of the Inn, her room was beautiful and comfortable looking. She was surprised to see a definite lack of technology. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be in the room much, she wasn’t sure she knew how to occupy herself without a T.V.

  As soon as she closed the door she couldn’t help but jog over and do a back flop onto the giant marshmallow mountain of a bed. The satin sheets were more luxurious than anything she had ever owned. She was grateful the Innkeeper took such great care to make sure they had the best sleep possible.

  After a quick phone call to check in with Alex she closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence. She hadn’t been alone in years; the lack of noise was surprisingly deafening.

  A knock on the door broke her focus, “It’s just me.” Penny’s face appeared upside down over hers. “You look comfortable, explains why you didn’t realize what time it was.”

  “I can’t leave now, the bed has accepted me as part of it and I don’t want to move.”

  “Ladies, let’s go. We’re going to be late.”

  “I know you love your new bed but Asald is getting antsy so up you go.”

  With a heavy sigh, she raised her hands. Penny walked around the bed and yanked her up. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”

  Chapter Three

  A short drive back through town took them to a restaurant set back from the main road. The stonework of the building gave it a medieval feel. Large lanterns hanging every few feet put off a tremendous amount of heat from the flames within. They were greeted by a hostess wearing a corset dress made out of large scales. She would hate to see the alligator those must have come from.

  Sitting around a large round table were three giant men, she had thought Asald was big but he was average sized compared to them. Smiles instantly transformed their faces as they saw them and jumped up to crush them each in hugs.

  “Finally, we meet!” Two of the giants looked alike, she assumed they were the brothers Pascal and Toussaint. The third man was calmer, standing back watching everyone, it was safe to assume this was Aristide, the one who owned a bookstore.

  “We’re so glad you all finally came up here. This is the best week of the entire year so you are in for a real treat.” The brothers held out chairs for Penny and Sarah to sit in.

  “There is no seat for Sebastian, is he not coming?” Asald looked between the three friends curiously.

  After a couple of odd looks between them, Aristide made an excuse that he had to work. You would think being the Chief of Police would let you take time off when you wanted to.

  A waitress dressed like the hostess passed out menus and took their drink orders. After ordering, Sarah excused herself to the restroom. At the back of the restaurant, her attention was caught by voices coming from behind a partition. Always more curious than she should be she peeked behind the temporary barrier.

  She had never seen such beauty before, the man sitting at a table deep in conversation stole her breath away. Tiny silver lines crisscrossed every inch of skin she could see. They shined with his movement, it was a beautiful sight.

  She must have gasped, his head turned sharply and their eyes met. Seeing his face filled with anger didn’t penetrate her thoughts as his beauty sent a shiver down her spine. Her fingers itched to trace the tiny scars running across his forehead and cheeks.

  “Ma’am, may I help you with something?” Her transfixion was broken by the deeply tan man with black piercing eyes standing next to her in the hallway. “That is a private party, can I help you find your way back to your table?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I was actually looking for the restroom.”

  “You are in luck; one more left turn and you will be at your destination.”

  Embarrassed at being caught she nodded and scurried away without a backward glance at
the man who was sure to take over her every thought. Deep in her stomach, she felt a burning need to know who he was and what happened to him.

  ***

  “Dinner was amazing, the charring on my steak was perfect.” Asald leaned back and rubbed his still completely flat stomach.

  “I agree, the smoky flavor of my chicken was excellent.” Pascal set his napkin aside and waved over the waitress. “Can you let Pietr know we are ready for dessert.”

  Sarah’s plate was removed as she spied the dark stranger from the hallway approaching their table.

  “Pietr, so good to see you again. Did you enjoy that book I sent over last week?” Aristide talked more animatedly than he had all evening, it was obvious books brought him to life.

  “Thank you for finding that for me, it is definitely a rare treasure.” Intense black eyes found hers and smiled. “I see you found your way back to your party?”

  Sarah couldn’t help the blush she felt burning her cheeks.

  “I heard you all are ready for dessert, allow me.” Pietr leaned in and removed the center of the table which turned out to be a cover for a large burner. With a cheeky smile and a wink to Penny, he put his hands to his mouth and blew fire into the burner igniting it immediately.

  Penny grabbed Sarah’s arm as they both let out a gasp. “How did you do that?” Sarah couldn’t help but laugh with excitement and intrigue.

  “A little dragon fire to make your dessert more luscious.” With another wink and a small bow, she watched as he went to the back and disappeared behind the temporary wall.

  What she wouldn’t give to follow him and see the sexy stranger again.

  “That was incredible, how did he do it?” All four men at the table shrugged, fat lot of good they were.