Conquer (Control) (34 page)

I saluted my approval and watched as they walked out to pose for Ava.  My eyes were heavy as I started to doze off in the warmth of the Florida summer.  The sound of the breeze was my lullaby as a blanket of contentment covered me.  The added sound of laughter comforted me into a blissful sleep.   I awoke to Daemon’s hand on my cheek, his dimples poking out from the smile that graced his handsome face.

“Rise and shine, beautiful.  The food’s ready and you need to eat.”

My eyes peaked open and I squinted against the sunlight that backlit Daemon’s face.  Memories surged forth of a small blond boy who smiled down at me years before.   Pushing myself up, I stretched before taking Daemon’s hand to follow him to sit down at the tables my parents had set up within the veranda.

Eventually we were all seated, laughing at jokes being told, small bits of food being thrown across the table at each other.  Every face was lit up with a smile, every person was strengthened by the family we had become. 

Just like any story, ours wasn’t perfect.  We weren’t all born into lives of comfort and happiness.  We had to fight to find that joy that we’d gained.  Our lives had been bent up and altered by the circumstances and events that plagued us, but, more importantly, we’d endured and survived the battles that we’d fought.  Hatred, anger, abuse; those three things had spread out into each of our lives, like a disease that slowly infected every person it contacted.  Some of us were the recipients of the abuse…Daemon and Chris especially.   I often wondered if someone had taken the time to love Chris like Frank had loved Daemon, if his life would have turned out differently.  But there was no one to stick up for Chris, no one to finally reach out and stop what was being done to him.  Despite his actions, my heart broke for him as I wondered about the person he could have become had his circumstances been different.

However, the effects of the actions of both Chris’ and Daemon’s parents had continued to spread beyond the children they were enacted against.  I was affected, my parents, Alex and Annie; on and on down the line of lives until even strangers weren’t immune to it.  I thought about Amanda Cleary, about her parents and loved ones, about the people at Tomb who’d almost lost their lives when the building caught fire.  Those people would never understand the truth about why they were hurt and why their lives were forever changed.

I looked up at Alex as he tormented David about, once again, being sucked into the swamp.  Even though his words were directed at David, Alex’ eyes never left Ava.  A smile peaked out from my lips to realize that he’d found love, regardless of what it had been done to him in his relationship with me, he’d found it again.  I was damaged when he met me, and I left him a damaged person when we parted.   Ava had no idea how much I appreciated her at this moment.  She’d mended the broken heart I’d left in my wake.

A knee brushed against mine and I turned to look up into the smiling eyes of Daemon.  His brow arched above his eye as his hand wrapped around mine.  He’d noticed my distant thoughts and silently questioned whether I was alright.   I smiled up at him in response when I realized I was better than alright.  I was strong, I was happy, and once again, the empty space within my soul had been filled by a blue eyed boy, in a magical yard, surrounded by the people who loved us.

We were finally free.   We could breathe again.  Above all, we had prevailed in the face of adversity and, together, we had conquered the demons that haunted us.

The End

Future books in this series will be:

“Captured” – Alex and Ava’s story

and

“Changed” – Annie and Logan’s story

Anticipated release: early 2014

M.S. Willis

If you are interested in reading additional books by M.S. Willis or would like to know when new books are being released, M.S. Willis can be found at:

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http://www.mswillisbooks.com

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