Only Fools Walk Free - Sandra R Neeley Page 0,7

a heap on her floor. But she didn’t. All she felt was the crushing sadness and desperation of knowing that she’d never again hold her sweet son.

‘Vangeline looked around her home, remnants of the evil the girl and her demon had brought into her house still littered her home. All she could think of was getting to Samuel as quickly as possible. She needed to see for herself that he’d truly been cursed to the place she thought he had. Her feet started toward her front door, but she stopped again and glanced around her small living room. Holding back a sob of heartbreak, she turned back to her living room and set about removing the girl from her floor, the sprinklings of evil from the corners and securing all as it should be, lest she come home to more than she planned. Then she’d go in search of Samuel’s resting place.

Chapter 3

“Samuel, are you here?”

There was no response, so she tried again.

“Samuel? It’s Maman, are you here?”

Samuel opened his eyes, vaguely becoming aware of a sound in the void of silence he’d been locked in.

“Samuel?!”

There it was again. A voice. A soft voice, calling his name. He sat up and looked around himself. He’d no idea of the time that had passed, there was no marking of time in the realm he now inhabited.

“Samuel, can you hear me?”

“Maman?” he called.

“Yes! Samuel, it’s Maman. Can you come to me?”

“I don’t know. How?”

“Just concentrate on the sound of my voice, follow it. Imagine yourself lifting off the ground and following it.”

‘Vangeline kept talking, and Samuel did what she said, following her voice, and to his surprise, exactly as she’d said, he lifted up off the floor of the crypt, moved right through the wall, and was soon standing — more or less, in front of her.

“Maman!” he cried, heartbreak clear in his eyes, his voice and the translucent mists that loosely represented his face.

“Samuel,” ‘Vangeline sobbed. “My sweet boy. What has happened to you?”

“It was Clarice’s father. I waited for her as we planned. Only he came in her stead. He had me beaten and dumped here,” he answered, his face a mask of anguish. “I knew you’d come, Maman. I prayed you’d find me!”

“Of course I came. I would never stop until I found you.”

“There’s more, Maman. Before I…” he started. Then he gulped and tried again. “A woman, like you only younger, offered to watch over Clarice, but wanted payment. I gave her Clarice’s ring and asked her to go to you. Is that how you found me?” he asked. “I know I shouldn’t have, but it was the only chance I had to let you know what had happened and to protect Clarice,” he explained, his sad eyes dropping down to the ground.

“It matters not, Samuel. She came to me, and I found you.”

“Is she keeping watch over Clarice?” he asked, hopeful.

‘Vangeline shook her head, “No, my sweet boy. She’s not. The girl was possessed, beyond saving. I released her from her possession once I learned all I needed to find you.”

“But Clarice! Maman! I must save Clarice! What can I do?”

With tears in her eyes ‘Vangeline explained to her beloved son what he might not have understood before now. “Nothing, my son. You can’t leave here. Until I find a way to break the bargain the demon tricked you into, you can’t leave, or you’ll lose your soul.”

Samuel watched her, wide-eyed. “But, I don’t understand. I tricked the demon. I sent the girl to you so you could find me and free me.”

Maman shook her head sadly. “You cannot leave this crypt. This wrought iron fencing is your boundary. You cannot leave here. If you do, you will be lost forever, your soul forfeited to another.”

“Maman!” he whispered.

‘Vangeline stood strong, she shook her head and raised her delicate chin. “I will not rest until you are freed. Fear not, Samuel. I am not without my own prowess, and my strengths are so much more powerful than that the girl and her demon carried. They bound you here by bargain with you. I simply need to study the bargain. Find the loophole they left as a way to free you. I will find a way. And have no doubt, I will make them pay. All who had a hand in stealing your life from you will pay.”

“I have faith, Maman. I know you’ll find a way to break the bargain I made,” Samuel said quietly. “But I worry