Forgivingthe Beas Penelope Rivers.PDF

Forgiving the Beast

Cover art designed by Fiona Jayde © May 2013

Amira Press

Charlotte, NC 28227

www.amirapress.com

ISBN: 978-1-937394-95-0

No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or

mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail,

without prior written permission from Amira Press.

Dedication

For Damien, who calls me beautiful every day.

Forgiving the Beast

Penelope Rivers

Prologue

The sound of a loud, piercing wail woke six-year-old Asher from a sound

sleep. With his heart thundering, he sat up in bed and glanced in horror

around the dark room. The place was foreign and confusing to him. The

darkness was like a blanket that concealed whatever monsters could be

prowling. It took Asher a moment to realize where he was. He was in a hotel

room in Maple Falls, Washington, with his parents.

Knees clacking together, Asher jumped off his bed. A door adjoined his

own room to his parents’ and was partially ajar. Another scream came from

there, followed by harsh grunting, heavy breaths, and then fierce, low

growling.

“Mom?” Asher asked as he peered, trembling, through the slit in the

door.

When Asher gazed through the gap between the door and the jamb, he

didn’t immediately recognize what was happening on the other side. His

parents’ room was dark like his own. The corpse of his mom, Rose, lay

spread-eagle on the bed with her throat gushing blood. A river of crimson

ran down her cheek and trickled onto the cream hotel pillow. At her side, his

dad lay, partially concealed by a mountainous black shape.

Asher felt urine drench his pants and dribble down his leg as he focused

on the massive figure in the darkness. The black mountain had large, pointed

ears, a long snout, glistening white teeth partially coated in his dad’s red

blood, and an eye that glowed crimson. Mom. Dad.

His gaze once again fastened on his mom’s blank face as she stared at the

ceiling. Those weren’t the eyes he remembered. He remembered her sweet,

kind face as she sang him to sleep or brushed hair from his forehead. And his

dad…his dad had always been the first to help him with his homework or to

play basketball with him, even though he was terrible at it.

Finally, what he was seeing sunk in. The monster his parents had told

him did not exist was real, and it had eaten his family. He would never see his

mom and dad alive again. Tears filled his eyes as he trembled with fear.

“Mom,” he whimpered.

Forgiving the Beast

Penelope Rivers

The monster let out a monstrous growl, then whipped around and faced

the door. Asher screamed and fell on his butt, gaping openmouthed at the

creature. He realized now only one of the monster’s eyes was red. The other

eye, the left one, was half-closed, and a white scar mingled with the creature’s

thick black coat.

“Mom,” Asher yelled, though he knew there was no way she could get

off the bed to help him, no way she could save him like she had a million

times before.

Once again, the monster growled. The beast swiped at the ajar door with

banana-sized claws. When the door hit the opposing wall, it crumbled

beneath the force of the blow. The monster loomed over him, seemingly ten

feet tall, and deadly. Asher stared right into the creature’s glowing crimson

eye and let out another earsplitting wail of terror. The creature opened its

mouth and breathed sour-smelling breath all over him.

Right before the monster leaned down to rip his throat out, the sound of

high-pitched sirens filled the night. Bright multicolored lights danced beneath

the heavy maroon bedroom curtains as cars screeched and parked. The

monster gazed at him with a menacing eye for just a moment longer before

whirling around and leaving the room.

Asher watched, horrified, as with each step the monster became smaller

and smaller. The hunched, furry back became a toned, muscular one. Four

legs became two legs and a pair of arms as the monster straightened up. The

man became human, but he was too far away for Asher to see any identifying

feature besides the red hair.

The monster man opened the door and stepped out into the flashing

lights. The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the room, and Asher

screamed, covered his head, and ducked. When he looked up again, the man

was gone, leaving only the bloody corpses of his parents in his wake.

Forgiving the Beast

Penelope Rivers

Chapter One

Thirty-one-year-old Asher sat at his grandma Lulu’s table with his legs

crossed. The kitchen was painted a light rose and had a dusting of floral

designs. The door to the backyard was partially ajar, and he could hear Lulu’s

soft whistling from outside. The smell of sweet smoke wafted over to him as

his grandpa, Louis, sat with a cigarette in his hand. His grandpa grinned at

him with yellowing teeth and scratched at his wrinkled skin.

“You really should quit that habit, Gramps.” Asher shook his head. “It’s

bad for your lungs. Heaven help me, I’m surprised I passed any of my

employment drug tests with you smoking like you do and me inhaling it all

the time.”

“I’ll tell you what I’ve told you every day for the past God knows how

many years.” Louis slammed his shriveled fist against the table, causing it to

vibrate and his mug of coffee to wobble dangerously. “I was put—”

Lulu’s voice carried in from the outside. “I was put on this earth to do as

I damn well please, and heaven help anyone who tries to take the simple

pleasures of life away from me. Yada, yada, yada.”

A grin crossed Asher’s face as Grandma Lulu stood at the door holding a

screwdriver in her hand. A smear of grease cut across her right cheek. Her

hair had been dyed a flaming red, and she wore denim pants and a short-

sleeved T-shirt. Her ears were pierced, and she had a dolphin tattoo across

her massive but shriveled bosom. Even at ninety-two, the only thing

grandmother-like about Lulu was the fact the dentist had forced her to wear

dentures, not that anyone could tell.

“Oh, woman, you vex me so.” Grandpa Louis took another drag.

“Put that damn thing away before the neighbors smell it.” Grandma Lulu

glared at him. “I think we should draw the line at getting the cops called once

a month.”

“Your grandmother exasperates me, Asher,” Grandpa Louis said, staring

pointedly at him even as he placed his cigarette on the ashtray in the middle

of the table.

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