Arielle Immortal Awakening (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 1)

  Arielle Immortal

  Awakening

  Lilian Roberts

  Booktrope Editions

  Seattle, WA 2014

  COPYRIGHT 2012, 2014 LILIAN ROBERTS

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

  Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

  Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

  No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

  Inquiries about additional permissions

  should be directed to: info@booktrope.com

  Cover Design by Shari Ryan

  Edited by Janet Hulstrand

  Previously published as Arielle Immortal Awakening,

  Self-published, 2012

  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. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

  PRINT ISBN 978-1-62015-206-5

  EPUB ISBN 978-1-62015-302-4

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901473

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title page

  Copyright page

  Acknowledgments

  dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Preview of Arielle Immortal Seduction

  Note to Readers

  About the Author

  MORE GREAT READS FROM BOOKTROPE

  Acknowledgments

  I couldn’t have written this book without the endless wisdom and love of my mother, who raised me to believe that I could achieve anything in this life if I wanted it bad enough.

  To my so-incredible husband, my strong supporter through the countless hours that I spent in front of my computer working on this book. To the amazing editing of Proof Positive for the strong support and encouragement provided to me while I was working on the manuscript. To my incredible cover designer Tracey Stewart, who created the original design.

  Thank you to my Booktrope proofreader Katrina Randall and cover designer Shari Ryan.

  To my wonderful sister-in-law Janet Hulstrand for reassuring me and guiding me through the difficult parts of the manuscript.

  To my beautiful daughter Christy, who never stopped believing in me.

  To my wonderful niece Jiolanda, who has supported my ideas.

  To my lovely sister-in-law Leslie, who read the book and provided constructive criticism.

  And finally to my close friends, who believed in me and my dream.

  FOR MY MOTHER

  Thank you, Mom, for your unconditional love

  and support of my dreams, and for telling me to

  never judge my strength by comparison.

  Chapter 1

  ARIELLE WOKE UP with a feeling of extreme delight and stretched in a leisurely way, knowing it was Saturday and she had absolutely no plans at all.

  It was still dark in the room, but looking at the clock on the nightstand, she could see it was almost noon. She sat up and swung her feet to the floor. Standing up, she approached the window and drew the curtains open, letting the sunlight fill the room with its brilliant glow.

  She smiled happily as she stepped onto the balcony, and let her eyes wander along the beautiful landscape that stretched all the way to the ocean. The beach looked inviting, and the water was calm, with a light breeze moving across the waves, creating amazing shades of blue, green, and white. The sun was spreading a touch of glittery gold as far as her eyes could see.

  A few sailboats were lingering in the water, but they didn’t seem to be moving toward any specific destination. They seemed more like they belonged on a painter’s canvas.

  Arielle lived in Brighton, a small town on the southern coast of England. The house was located on Barrett Street, a stone’s throw from the ocean. The weather was less than desirable during much of the year, so days like today had to be enjoyed as much as possible.

  She got dressed slowly and walked down the hall and out into the garden. The air was fresh and the scent of freesia was everywhere. It was quiet except for the soft whisper of the gentle breeze blowing through the trees. She wanted to enjoy the morning and fill her mind with life and energy, before she made her plans for the day.

  Her father, James Lloyd, was a man of outstanding character, great humor, and pleasant manners. He was a businessman and the owner of a large manufacturing company. He had a chosen group of friends with whom he enjoyed spending time golfing or discussing matters of common interest. Sometimes the discussions in his study got heated, but even many intense exchanges of thoughts and ideas, he and his friends always ended up all laughing, showing how content they were just being together and doing exactly what made them happy.

  Arielle loved watching her father laugh. As a little girl, she used to hide behind the heavy curtains of his study and listen to his conversations with his friends. Often she fell asleep on the floor, and after everyone had gone home, her father, who was completely aware of her presence, would come to her hiding place, pick her up, and carry her to bed. Then, with a big hug and a kiss on her forehead, he‘d whisper how much he loved her.

  Her mother, Lady Danielle Lloyd, was a very beautiful woman who paid close attention to the way she looked. It was evident that she made every effort to look lovely at all times.

  She was a woman of many talents and many passions. Her mother’s piano passion was one of the many things that drew Arielle to begin piano lessons at a very young age. As a little girl she used to spend hours sitting on the piano bench next to her mother, watching her fingers glide effortlessly over the ebony and ivory keys in utter captivation. It didn’t take long for playing the piano to become Arielle’s private passion as well.

  Mrs. Lloyd always kept busy by volunteering for organizations that needed the help and money. This type of work was in high demand in her circles. She often held small parties for the ladies who volunteered with her, serving them cake and tea and spending time playing cards and chatting. Although this kind of life seemed to be enough to keep her happy when Arielle’s father was away on business, it was not the life Arielle wanted for herself.

  Their home was comfortable, with large manicured gardens and plenty of rooms in which a young child could create her own fascinating world.

  Arielle did plenty of that while she was growing up. She made up amazing, mythical friends and spent most of her time daydreaming and carrying on imaginary conversations with the characters she created in her mind. She kept a journal in which she noted her innermost thoughts and the significant events in her life.

  She knew that the house she lived in was not the only inspiration for her exceptional creativity. Ever since she was a little girl she’d known there was something different going on in her mind.


  Strange things were always happening around her, making her thoughts ricochet between confusion and fear. Some of the people she saw on the street as well as some of the kids and teachers in school had an unusual effect on her. The thing was, she was able to hear people’s thoughts, and she could see their pain and feel their anxieties too.

  At first she thought it was fun, having a big secret that was totally her own, and she created a special place in her head for that group of people. But as time went by and she started to mature, she became more and more tired of the constant hubbub that occupied that part of her mind. There was nothing she could do to block any of the thoughts from coming in. She wanted to just cover her ears and run away.

  It was a difficult burden, hearing other people’s thoughts while walking down the street or being in class, and it was a very scary thing to feel like she could see right through people’s souls. She learned to live with the nonstop talk in her head, but not without considerable difficulty.

  Some nights, worrying about this would keep her awake, but she was afraid to talk to her parents about it.

  She couldn’t talk to her friends about it either; she was afraid they would think she was a freak. Many times she was unwilling to meet new people for fear that they would join that special group in her head and make her thoughts even more crowded.

  She began to feel that what she had was some kind of dreadful gift that would eventually drive her mad. Trying to drown out the information she was constantly receiving was difficult and exhausting.

  In primary school she met two very special girls, Eva Winters and Gabrielle Taylor. These two girls were to become her lifelong friends. Gabrielle and Eva both belonged to the special group of people in Arielle’s head, but with them, knowing their thoughts never felt like a burden. As they grew older she was happy to find out that they were friends she could trust with her life.

  Arielle loved taking long walks in the garden with her father after breakfast. During those walks she tried to remember how far back she had started hearing people’s voices. She couldn’t remember for sure, but it seemed to her it was around the time she turned six. She remembered saying something about her gift to her mother when she was nine years old, but her mum just smiled at her and told her that dreaming was a wonderful thing “for a child’s imagination,” but that she should be careful not to “take it too far.”

  She started to believe that if someone really knew the truth about her they would think she was crazy, and that maybe nobody would ever see her as a normal human being. She desperately wanted to discover who she really was and why this was happening to her. She wanted to search for peace and contentment in herself and find joy without interference from the outside thoughts that kept pouring into her head every day. After the day she mentioned it to her mother, she never brought the topic up with anyone else again for a very long time.

  As they grew older Gabrielle, Eva, and Arielle were inseparable. Their parents also became best friends. The friendship between their parents made the girls’ friendships, in turn, much stronger. They were more like sisters than friends.

  Gabrielle was a happy, energetic girl of small stature. She was very slim with light brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. Arielle knew that “Gabby” loved her beyond any doubt and had never had any bad thoughts about their friendship. Gabby’s thoughts were crystal clear and Arielle never had a problem in knowing what was going on in her life.

  Eva had long blond hair and blue eyes that glowed with a kind of inner joy. She never made a big deal about her looks, but she could take a person’s breath away just by standing next to them.

  Eva’s thoughts were not as clear to read as Gabrielle’s, and Arielle had no idea why. Some days she could see unmistakably what Eva was thinking or feeling, and other days her thoughts were very imprecise. This made Arielle feel that there was something very unique about Eva. She seemed to have premonitions, often seemed to know what was going to happen before it did. This ability sometimes seemed almost freaky to Gabrielle and Arielle, but on the other hand it was a pretty cool ability to possess.

  Through the years Eva warned both of them to stay away from certain places or events, only to find out later that her advice had kept them out of danger. Arielle remembered one time when they had bought tickets months in advance to attend a concert at Hyde Park, but Eva had a premonition of something bad happening during the concert. She said she wasn’t going to go, and begged Arielle and Gabby not to go either. They stayed away, disappointed, but also having complete faith in Eva’s intuition. The next morning it was all over the news that three different gangs had attended the concert on the same night. Dreadful brawls had broken out, leaving a couple of innocent bystanders dead, and many more had to be transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds. The concert was cancelled and there was complete chaos for several hours following the incident.

  So when Eva warned them about something, they listened.

  Eva believed that she was psychic, and always complained about having a hard time sleeping because of disturbing patterns in her head.

  She believed that spirits were naturally attracted to her. Gabrielle was very intrigued by the whole spiritual world that Eva was experiencing, but Arielle wasn’t sure that she was ready to accept the idea of ghosts. She felt like she had enough to deal with in her own dreadful gift.

  When they were about thirteen, Eva had a terrible premonition that something horrible was going to change her life forever. Gabrielle and Arielle wanted to believe that she was wrong, but in the back of their minds they couldn’t help but believe that something was about to happen, and, unfortunately, it did.

  It was the year they all turned fourteen when Mr. Winters, Eva’s father, was killed in a car accident. Eva was shattered and completely heartbroken; her father was her best friend, the man who had supported every dream she ever had. He was a wonderful man and they had all loved him. During that time, Arielle remembered seeing confusion and anxiety in Eva’s beautiful eyes, a perplexed look that never seemed to go away.

  Of course Arielle wanted to believe that Mr. Winters’s death had nothing to do with Eva’s premonition and that it was all just a weird coincidence. But she could see that Eva’s thoughts were darker now. They invaded her mind spontaneously and she never knew what to make of them.

  A couple of months following her father’s death Eva started to drift away in the middle of their conversations and decline invitations to go out. Arielle was worried about her, but she couldn’t understand what was going on in her head since she couldn’t see her thoughts very clearly. She noticed other peculiar changes in Eva’s personality, too. Some of Eva’s thoughts were really dark and disturbing, though still hard to distinguish. Some of the apprehensive emotions coming from Eva made Arielle think that she was afraid of something or someone.

  By now they were in secondary school, and Arielle thought they should be having a great time, but it wasn’t happening. Gabrielle and Arielle tried hard to get Eva to spend time with them, to try to clear the air and get back to the happy threesome they had once been, but their pleading was to no avail.

  The year they turned sixteen, to their surprise Eva suddenly accepted an invitation to spend the whole day with them at the beach. This would be the first time in a very long time that she had gone somewhere with them for the whole day. They went to the same beautiful spot ever since they were seven years old because it was private. A place where they could swim, play ball, and get a great tan with no intrusions.

  It was now more than two years since Eva’s father had passed away and she had become a complete mystery to her two best friends. There was something inexplicable in her actions, and sometimes Eva would disappear for hours at a time and nobody knew where she was.

  Arielle and Gabrielle loved her like a sister and they were very concerned as they watched her become increasingly withdrawn. They decided to find out what was going on inside her. However, they never imagined that what they were about to find out wou
ld shock them to their very cores.

  When they arrived at the beach, they spread their beach towels and lay down to enjoy the sunny day. Long minutes passed in silence before Arielle cleared her throat and released a long breath.

  “Eva,” she said urgently.

  “What?” Eva’s voice was hesitant.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  “What do you mean?” Eva countered rapidly, feigning surprise. She knew exactly what Arielle was asking.

  “We never see you anymore,” Arielle continued. “Our outings have become fewer and fewer, and it seems like there is never a good time to talk anymore. What do you do with your time?” Arielle’s voice hardened. “You don’t even answer your mobile. So what’s going on?”

  Eva shrugged. “Oh, I’ve just been busy,” she muttered, but her voice came out all quivery, giving away the lie in her casual answer. She could no more control the trembling in her hands than she could the nauseating feeling in the pit of her stomach. She remained quiet, but she could feel the weight of her friends’ gazes on her.

  “Come on, Eva, really,” Gabrielle said in frustration. “We’ve been friends forever and we’ve never kept any secrets from each other. Something is wrong, you’re keeping us at arm’s length. What’s going on? Spit it out!” Gabrielle and Arielle were now sitting up on their beach towels. Silence fell between them as they both stared down at Eva and watched her face twist with grief and sadness.

  “Eva, what is it?” Gabrielle asked again with great concern in her voice.

  “Oh, God!” Eva shouted, and pushed herself upright. Her head dropped and her body began to shake uncontrollably as she started to sob.