The Soul's Mark: FOUND
Read The Soul's Mark: FOUND Online
Authors: Ashley Stoyanoff
The Soul’s Mark: FOUND
Book 1 of The Soul’s
Mark Series
By Ashley Stoyanoff
By Ashley
Stoyanoff
Published by Ashley
Stoyanoff Books
Copyright 2012 Ashley Stoyanoff
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 it and purchase your own
copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard
work of the author.
Edited by Kathryn
Calvert
Cover design by
Liudmyla
Supynska
I would like to thank
a number of people who have encouraged me to write this book, including the
following: my mother Jo-Anne, my sister
Jonel
, and my
good friend Angelle—sounding boards—without their emotional support and
feedback The Soul’s Mark: FOUND would still be stuck on the drawing board.
Special thanks to my
brother Cody for his early help in the outlining process and to my father
Nelson, for all his support.
Further thanks to my editor Kathryn, without her technical support the
book would not have been finished.
And
finally, I would like to thank my husband, Jordan, for his patience while I
have spent hundreds of hours working on it!
Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
Racing through the dense woodland, a heavy
cloud of smoke billowed upwards, cresting above the herbaceous border and
confirming his soundless fears.
Still
miles away, he could already smell the pungent curdling of her blood as it
began to boil, and the vile stench of searing flesh.
Undeniably, the firestorm was spreading, and
he struggled to drive out the image of the flames reaching up her body.
He cursed his heightened senses, wishing he
could block out the ruthless chanting, “Burn the Witch!”
The unyielding voices only helped his psyche
run wild, and the graphic image of her tied to a post and set ablaze etched
itself in his vision.
Her fear consumed him, rupturing their bond
like a sudden cloudburst, and his body threatened to surrender to the
inevitable fate marked for his soul.
Regardless, the chain around his heart yanked him forwards.
You
need to save her,
he told himself over and over, battling his body’s
attempts to give up and abandon the rescue.
He pushed on, raw adrenaline propelling him forward.
But even with the unparalleled velocity and power
of a vampire, his limbs would not move fast enough.
The smoke cloud rose mercilessly, thick and
black and punctuated by the sparks of glowing embers as he broke into the
clearing at Salem Commons.
A mob of
several hundred onlookers cheered for her execution.
He watched in horror as they tossed books,
chairs, and brush onto the fire that was licking up her dress.
Their eyes met, and the look of pure hatred
that contorted her face was agonizing.
His knees buckled, and he plunged to the ground.
He focused all of his energy on pulling her
spirit to him but it was futile: no matter what he tried, she would not let him
ease her pain.
The congregation’s savage chanting became
deafening.
The flames licked at her
cheeks, and her long, curly locks were set ablaze, melting and sparking, but
she did not howl from the pain.
Silently, her gray-blue eyes remained fixed on his, and flared with
accusation.
At that moment, he knew
without a doubt that she blamed him, solely and entirely, for her cold-blooded
death sentence.
His tortured wails were scarcely heard over
the fevered roars of the mob.
He
watched, powerless, as one of the very few things that could kill him—the
blazing inferno—devoured her body and his soul, turning her into nothing more
than ash.
The Greyhound bus pulled into the
Willowberg station with a sucking pneumatic hiss.
Amelia Caldwell shuddered as the driver
announced the arrival and wondered if she could just stay on the bus.
She hated moving.
And she really hated change.
It seemed as if that was all she had ever
done.
On the ten-hour ride, she had almost
convinced herself that this time would be different.
This time she would make friends.
She would not be the sad girl who lost her
parents or the girl that no one wanted.
No one would know her story; she could just start over.
A clean slate.
But now that the doors clicked open and she
was actually here, her resolve was fading fast.
Amelia wrapped her arms around herself and
looked down at her lap, hugging tightly and trying to stop the trembles that
vibrated through her.
She could feel the
other passengers staring at her as they retrieved their belongings and made
their way off the bus.
People always
seemed to stare.
She never really understood why she
couldn’t just blend into the crowd.
At
five foot four, she wasn’t tall.
With a
slim figure, curly brown hair and blue-gray eyes, she felt average.
Definitely not
eye-catching.
But there was just
something about her, something she did not understand that made people notice
her.
It was like they just couldn’t help
but stare.
Amelia kept her head down, waiting for the
other passengers to leave.
It’s not fair
, a voice in her head
bellowed.
It was supposed to be
different this time, better somehow.
Her
eyes burned, she was shaking, and she knew she was going to cry.
Willowberg
was supposed to be her new start at life.
Despite all her fears of moving, she had been
so sure that she was making the right decision.
It had seemed like a dream come true.
A full scholarship, housing arranged and paid for, and the University of
Willowberg
was
even providing a basic living allowance
so that she wouldn’t have to work.
Amelia sighed, scrubbing furiously at her
puffy, pink eyes.
Gulping down a few
breaths, she wondered why she had accepted the scholarship.
Especially after she found out she would be
living off campus, in a house with roommates.
If they didn’t like her, just as she knew they wouldn’t, she would be
alone.
Completely
alone.
There would not be dorm
advisors that would have to be nice to her or other nerdy girls to study
with.
It would just be her and the
roommates who thought she was a freak.
You
can do this,
Amelia told herself sternly, swallowing
the prickly lump in her throat and stretching her cheeks into a forced—and she
hoped—realistic smile.
She picked up her
backpack and padded her way off the bus.
Amelia had just stepped onto the platform,
into the bright sun, when a clear, musical voice called her name.
“Amelia?
Amelia Caldwell?”
She looked up to see a stunningly beautiful
girl walking towards her.
Nearly six
feet tall, with silky auburn hair and big brown eyes, highlighted with a touch
of liner and mascara.
She looked a bit
older, maybe twenty, Amelia guessed.
And
she was all legs, eyes and pouty lips: the perfect supermodel body.
Completely dumbfounded, Amelia just stood
and stared at this gorgeous girl, who was smiling at her, talking to her.
She looked friendly and, though Amelia could
not be sure, almost appeared as if she was genuinely happy to see her.
“I was getting worried you didn’t catch the
bus on time,” the girl said, her big childlike brown eyes wide with
concern.
She rushed over, throwing her
arms around Amelia, crushing her in a big bear hug.
“I’m so glad you’re finally here.”
Amelia dropped her bag, landing with a thud
on the ground and stood stiff and rigid, not returning the embrace.
Affection was foreign to her.
People didn’t usually touch her, not like
this.
It took her a moment, but once the
initial shock passed, she wiggled her way out of the girl’s arms and took a
step back.
“My, where are my manners.
You must think I’m crazy!” the musical voice
sang out and the girl extended her hand to Amelia.
“I’m Angelle O’Connor, your new roommate.”
With a shaky, unsure hand, Amelia accepted
the shake, pumping it twice in a quick, fluid motion, cleared her throat and
said, “Um... Hi.
It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh honey, you look as scared as a deer
caught in headlights.
Are you okay?”
Angelle asked, giving Amelia a concerned look.
Amelia had not noticed how scared she truly
was until Angelle said it.
She could
feel her body shaking and the all too familiar prickly feeling in her eyes
warned her she was about to cry again.
She sucked in a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and attempted to
smile, trying to conceal how much she wanted to run away and hide, and then she
lied,
“
I’m okay.
I’m just tired.
It was a really
long trip.”
“Well then, let’s get you home,” Angelle
said.
Her big brown eyes glanced around,
settling on Amelia’s backpack.
Surprised, she asked, “Is this all you brought?”
Amelia bit her lip for a scared second and
a nervous knot emerged deep in her gut.
She remembered the last time she had moved and the reaction from the
other kids.
They had teased her and
called her names, treating her like a bum, an outcast.
And for some reason, which she just did not
understand, Amelia knew she would just die if Angelle treated her the same
way.
She dropped her head, shuffling her
feet, because she really could not stand it if the girl looked at her the way
others had.
Kids could be just so…
mean.
Hesitantly, she nodded.
Angelle let out a little squeal and Amelia
snapped her eyes up.
“That’s wonderful,”
she said, clapping her hands and doing a little hop.
“I need a shopping trip and I’ve always
wanted a little sister to dress up.”
She
scooped up Amelia’s backpack, “Are you coming?”
Little sister?
Amelia wondered.
She watched Angelle for just a second before
she returned the smile and nodded shyly.
Angelle seemed so excited.
That
was a good thing, right?
But even if it
was good it seemed… odd… and it made her feel crazy with a whole lot of
uncertainty.
Angelle put a secure arm around Amelia’s
shoulders and steered her towards the parking lot.
Angelle had a black Hummer.
In the car, all Amelia could do was gawk at
her new roommate.
There was something
almost hypnotic about the girl.
It was
as if Amelia couldn’t help but be drawn into her beauty.
Her skin, pale and milky, seemed to glow with
perfection.
Her shiny hair cascading
down her shoulders looked so soft, like silk.
Entranced, Amelia wanted to reach out and
touch it.
She could see her hand
reaching out but somehow, with great restraint, she stopped herself.
Instead, she forced her eyes away, looking
out the window and tried to listen to what Angelle was saying.
She was
saying something important, something about books?
“You don’t mind, do you?” Angelle asked.
Amelia racked her brain, trying to piece
together the few words that popped out to her, but she was just drawing a
blank.
Something about books, that was it.
That was all she could figure out.
She realized they were stopped at a red
light when Angelle snapped her fingers in front of Amelia’s eyes.
“Earth to Amelia!
Gosh, have you been listening to anything I
just said?”
Amelia flushed, frustrated and
embarrassed.
She really hoped that
Angelle did not know she had missed the whole conversation because she had been
marveling at her hair.
God, she really
hoped not.
“Sorry.”
When the light turned green, Angelle made a
left onto a street filled with cute little cafes and overly expensive looking
boutiques. Everything looked clean, almost too clean.
There was no garbage floating around, the
grassy areas lining the sidewalk were manicured to perfection, even the small
trees were trimmed and pruned.
“No need to be sorry.
How long were you on that horrid bus
anyways?”
“Ten hours,” Amelia groaned.
Angelle gave her a sideways look.
“Wow, that’s nuts.
Anyways, I was saying that I picked up your
textbooks and computer so at least you won’t have to worry about that.
It’s all part of your scholarship.
I know I should have waited for you but I
kinda have a teeny, tiny shopping problem.”
She rambled on so fast and with such a high, cheery energy, that Amelia
struggled to follow it all.
“I just
couldn’t resist the chance to spend some money,” she giggled.
Angelle made a quick right, heading away
from the beautiful area.
“Okay, I’m
completely lost.
Why did you buy my
books and computer?
How do you even know
what I need?”
“It’s my job to know,” Angelle replied,
waving a dismissive hand.
“Didn’t the
school tell you anything?
They should
have mailed you all the information last month.
Oh, and speaking of the school, there it is.”
She pointed off to the right, but Amelia
barely noticed the large buildings.
She was just so confused. “Um, I didn’t get
anything in the mail,” Amelia stammered.
“Just a phone call telling me that I’d won a scholarship.
All they told me was that it included
tuition, housing and a basic living allowance.
Then there was an email a couple days ago with the bus details.”
Amelia felt a rush of pure adrenaline and
her heart rate picked up, pounding loudly in her ears.
Oh God
,
she panicked.
Why am I telling her all this?
And why does she already know so much?
She had so desperately wanted to keep
everything quiet.
No one needed to know
about her past or that she was poor.
All
she wanted was to just move on, start a new life, be… happy.
“Seriously?”
Angelle said.
“That’s all
they told you?
That’s ridiculous.
I’m going to have to have a little chat with
the administration office about that.
Oh
well, it will all just be a big surprise then.
That’s even better.”
Amelia wanted to grill her with questions
but suddenly, Angelle was making another right and pulling the car up to a
gate.
She rolled down her window and
smiled at a portly, balding guard in full uniform.
“Good afternoon, Ms. O’Conner,” he said with
an easy smile.
“Hi, Joe,” Angelle said, smiling at him,
and then she gestured towards Amelia.
“This
is Amelia, she’s moving in with us today.
I’ll come by tomorrow with a picture you can post until everyone gets to
know her.”
Amelia gave Joe an awkward wave and said,
“Hi.”
An uneasy feeling grew in the pit
of her stomach as she realized this was her street.
The school had told her she would be staying
on Bankdale Ridge, a gated complex, but she had assumed that meant a new
housing development, like the ones that seemed to be popping up everywhere with
the little stone fences that surrounded a dozen or so normal houses.
She had never imagined it was a gated
complex, the kind with security guards and an actual gate.
“Nice to meet you Amelia,” Joe said, nodding
towards her.
He had a nice voice, Amelia
thought.
Not quite deep but not high—a
comforting kind of timbre.
