Broken

By Sam Kelly

There is a battle that has been brewing for centuries. Between good and evil. Between Heaven and Hell. And Abigail Johns is about to find herself caught in the middle of it.

Eighteen-year-old Abigail has been bouncing around foster cares her whole life.
Never truly understanding who she is or where she came from. Things are finally looking up for her when she starts University. However, at night she has been having dreams of a blue-eyed stranger. Captivated and intrigued by him, she wonders who this stranger is? And why is she dreaming of him? Her questions are soon answered, when she comes face to face with him.

Gabriel has been watching Abigail from afar her whole life, waiting for the right moment so that he can explain her history and prepare Abigail for what lies ahead.
War.

Abigail is now thrust into a world full of angels, demons, shapeshifters and the supernatural. She must overcome her skepticism and put aside her growing feelings for Gabriel, to discover the inner strength and unlock her secret powers. For Abigail is the only one who can save the world from the rise of Lucifer.

Together, with help from their alliance, they will try and defeat Abaddon, the general of Hell, and Lucifer himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481711364

Sam Kelly

Sam Kelly grew up in Europe and in Canada as an army kid. She graduated from Carleton University with a degree in Film Studies. This is her second book, and the finale to Broken. Her first book was very successful. Sam currently resides in Ottawa, Canada with her husband and dog, Gunner. You can find her online at www.samkelly.ca

Book preview

© 2013 by Sam Kelly. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/16/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-4211-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-1136-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906906

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

PART I

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

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

PART II

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Acknowledgements

To my mom, dad and big brother, whose support,

encouragement and love have given me

the strength to pursue my dreams.

PART I

"The mind is its own place and in itself, can make

a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."

John Milton

Chapter 1

48517.jpg

Abigail

I OPENED MY eyes and felt a sudden chill run down my spine. I looked around the room and to my surprise it was empty. I glanced quickly at the clock and noticed that it was five thirty in the morning. Looking out the window I could see that dawn was about to break and the winds were picking up.

It was the third time this week that I’ve had the same dream; some would say it’s a nightmare. Everytime I close my eyes I see him, his beautiful face across a crowded room. He is staring at me, looking at me as though he can see right into my soul. It’s as if he can read my mind and knows all of my secrets. In the dream I always do the same thing. I head towards him wanting to touch him, talk to him, but as soon as I am near him he disappears, and then I wake up. I feel as if he knows me.

I placed my head down on the pillow and tried to close my eyes. I tried not to think about him, I tried not to think about those eyes that kept penetrating my dreams and thoughts. When I finally fall asleep, the buzzer on my alarm clock goes off and it’s time for class. It’s my first day of college and I’ve been pretty nervous about it. I have been wondering what to expect, I never had a family to tell me what the experience will be like. You see it in movies and read about it in books, but I assumed that college will be like everything else in my life, a let down. I arrived at Waverley University two days ago, so my room was pretty much set up. It was a small room, so it didn’t take long to unpack and it wasn’t like I had a lot of things to unpack, some clothes and toiletries. I would definitely have to buy some things to put on the bare white walls. However, I was lucky enough to get a single room. I had shared rooms my whole life and it would be nice to have my own space for a change. I had met a few people on my floor, they seemed nice and very excited to be here and free of their families, which made me laugh, because all I wanted in this world was a family. There was one girl that I liked, I can’t remember her name, but she seemed different, not your typical college student. Maybe I would talk to her sometime. Make a friend; it had been years since I had a real friend. The truth was I didn’t have friends because it was hard for me to trust people. As I tried to shake the negative thoughts away, I pulled on a pair of old ratty jeans and my favourite dark blue hoodie and left my safe haven behind.

I walked along the dorm hall, headed to campus, and I could hear how excited everyone sounded. I wondered why I didn’t feel that way. My counsellor from the foster home had said that this would be a chance of a lifetime and that I should take in every minute of it, but all I could feel was sadness, like this was not the place for me. I didn’t belong here. I had always felt different from others, like I never quite fit in with those around me. I had lived in Waverley, Massachusetts my whole life, and for the last eighteen years I had been jumping from foster home to foster home, never quite able to make a true family. After a while I had become accustomed to moving on. I was never able to make a connection with neither the families I lived with, nor anyone else for that matter. I was always kept at a distance, whether that was of my choosing, or because I never really belonged anywhere.

Hey. I was so involved in my own thoughts, that I hadn’t even realized that the girl, who seemed nice, was walking beside me.

Oh. Hey, I quickly responded.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.

No, that’s okay; I was just lost in my thoughts, I said.

Yeah you looked pretty lost, she said with a giggle, I just wanted to say hi, we never really had a chance to talk the last few days. My name is Danene, and my room is a few down from you.

Danene, that was it. It was a weird name, that was why I couldn’t remember it.

I’m Abi.

Is that short for Abigail? she asked.

I hated when people asked me that.

Yeah, but I like Abi, I said, with a shrug.

Okay, Abi it is then. So what class you got now?

English Literature, then I have European History. You?

Hey that’s awesome; I think we have a class together. I have history today too. Who is your professor? Danene asked smiling; her teeth looked so white against her olive skin. She pushed her straight, jet black hair off her shoulders and giggled.

I pulled my schedule out of my side bag.

Professor Rueben. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at noon, I said.

Me too! That’s great. It’ll be nice to know someone. Well, I better be off to Art History, see you later, Abi, she said as she turned and hurried the other way. I liked her; she was friendly, but not overly.

When I reached the main campus, my heart instantly started to beat faster. I was really nervous because I needed to do well in order to keep my scholarships. I looked around the grounds and tried to familiarize myself with my surroundings. The campus was very beautiful, full of tress and old buildings. The Saugus River ran along the north road of the school; it seemed to be a popular place to hang out. When I finally made it to my English class I didn’t recognize a single person. As I took a seat near the front, I tried to remember why I was here. I mean I liked school, and I was always good at it, but meeting people, dealing with crowds, those were things I was never good at. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I listened to the professor and tried to concentrate, but my mind kept going over the dreams I had been having. I couldn’t get those eyes out of my mind, so blue, so breathtaking. When class ended, I realized I hadn’t remembered a single thing that the professor had said. I really hoped that History would be better.

I walked into the classroom; it was larger than my last. I looked around to see if I could find Danene, but she wasn’t here yet. I climbed the steps and took a seat in the middle of the row. When Danene came in, she immediately saw me, gave a quick wave, and came to sit with me.

Hey, how was English? she asked, a little out of breath. I couldn’t help but smile, she was very thin, but completely out of shape.

It was okay, I couldn’t focus though. That was weird of me, I usually would have lied.

Why? Is that thing that was on your mind this morning still on it? She was definitely not dim-witted.

Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about it. What was going on? I never spoke this much.

Well if you wanna talk about it, just let me know.

As Danene talked about her class, I couldn’t help but think about why I was so forthcoming with her. I had never shared like that. I had always been guarded and kept my thoughts to myself, but something about her was different. I wanted to talk to her, to share with her.

So this is what it felt like to have friend.

Danene was finishing telling me about the weird people in her art class, when the professor walked into the classroom. He was an older man, with a full grey beard, and he wore a brown tweed suit with a classic bow tie. He looked very old fashioned. I instantly liked him and apparently so did Danene.

He’s cute for a professor, she whispered.

He is old enough to be your grandfather, I whispered back and she laughed. He placed his brief case on the desk and removed the thick, black-framed glasses he wore.

Hello class, my name is Professor Rueben and welcome to European History. My goal is to have you leave here at the end of the year with a thorough understanding of history throughout Europe. Today we are just going to go over the course outline and assignments. On Thursday your teaching assistant will be joining us and we will begin with the Medieval Ages. As you can hear, I am British. I was born in a small town in Sussex, called Crawley, and have travelled the world many times over, but for the last few years I have come to make Waverley my home. This is just a little bit of my history. Your assignment for tonight is to write a paragraph explaining your history. Does anyone have any questions? There was a long pause. Good, well class is dismissed and I will see you on Thursday.

Danene turned to me. That’s great, we have the whole day off now. It’s only twelve fifteen. You got any plans? Or do you wanna hang out?

Um, sure, what do you have in mind? I asked.

I don’t know we could go explore campus, look for cute boys. What do you feel like doing? Danene enquired.

We can explore the campus, I’m not really interested in looking for boys.

That’s cool, we’ll probably see them as we explore the campus anyways.

You’re a little boy crazy, you know that? I said with a smile.

Yeah, so I’ve been told, she laughed as we headed out onto campus.

We walked around for hours, going into every building, looking down every hall. We saw the cafeteria, the library, the theatre, the entertainment lounge, and we quickly saw the bar, before they kicked us out. Danene thought that was hilarious, but I was just embarrassed. All in all, it was a pretty fun afternoon. I couldn’t remember ever having that much fun. As we headed back to our dorm, my mind drifted back to those eyes.

A penny for your thoughts? Danene asked.

Oh, I’m sorry, I must have zoned out, I responded, glancing over at her.

That’s okay, what does that even mean anyway? she questioned.

What are you talking about?

A penny for your thoughts. I mean, one penny, really? What if it was a really good thought, then it should at least be worth a dollar.

You’re a very strange girl, Danene. But I really did like her, she was fun and silly, and considering how gorgeous she was, she didn’t take herself too seriously.

When we reached my room, I wasn’t ready for her to come inside and see my life yet. So I paused. She must have understood because she just kept walking to her room.

Abi, c’mon. I have the best chocolate chip cookies in my room. I followed her down the hall to her room, she was about five rooms away. When I entered her room it was not what I had expected. It was very cluttered, there were clothes everywhere, and I couldn’t even see the ground. She threw some more onto the floor, revealing a nice big blue chair. She went and sat on her bed, which was not made. I headed to the chair as she reached into her nightstand for the cookies.

Sorry it’s such a mess, I have a problem, she said giggling and passing me the cookies.

That’s okay, I just haven’t seen a room so… messy, I responded as she started to laugh.

Really? That’s weird, so you’re telling me that you always make your bed and keep your clothes off your floor?

Yep. We always had to have our beds made, and our clothes had to be hung up, or else we got in a lot of trouble.

Oh. Sorry. I grew up with two older brothers, who believe it or not, were ten times worse than this. I guess it must have rubbed off on me. I just hope you’re not offended?

No, not at all, it’s kind of nice. I looked around her room and saw that she had posters of bands on the walls, and pictures of what I assumed to be her family.

That’s my family, she said, taking the picture off the dresser.

I looked down at the picture and saw what I had always wanted, a complete family. Danene went on to tell me about her life. She was born and raised in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a nurse. Danene was half Native American; her mom was part of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and had been born on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, where she had met Danene’s father one day while he was helping to build houses on the Reserve. They fell in love instantly and were married a week later. Her family did not approve of their marriage, so they left the Reserve and moved to Ipswich were his family lived and they started their own lives. They had twin sons, Henry and Albert, and a few years later they had Danene. They never saw her mother’s family again, but their mother always made sure they knew where they came from and what their heritage was.

Danene told me her whole life story, which I found to be very interesting, since it was so different from mine. She was so different from everyone I had ever met. Danene shared her life with me and was happy with it. She was so full of love and joy, I envied her.

So now that I have officially bored you to death with my whole life, tell me about yours.

I knew that was coming.

Well there’s not much to tell, and if you don’t mind can we actually just call it a night? I glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was already seven.

Oh wow! I didn’t know how late it had gotten, of course. Do you wanna go for supper?

If it’s okay, I’m just going to go back to my room. I’m exhausted.

Oh yeah, that’s cool, but I’ll be in the cafeteria if you change your mind.

I’ll see you tomorrow. I headed back towards my room thinking about the day that I had just had. It was much better than I thought it was going to be, I had lasted the whole day without feeling worthless. More importantly I had made a friend. I climbed into me bed and tried to get a start on the history assignment, the only problem was I didn’t have a history. I was an orphan, who knew nothing of her past, so I did what anybody would do, I made one up.

Chapter 2

48520.jpg

Abigail

THE NEXT MORNING I awoke from my usual dream. However, this time I had a feeling of dread, as if something awful was about to happen. I tried to shake the thoughts off as I headed down the hall to the girls bathroom. I had my head down wondering what this feeling was when I heard my name called.

Abi, right?

I looked up to see three bleach blond girls, all in pink, looking at me. Danene stood off to the side; she looked embarrassed as she mouthed ‘Sorry’ to me.

Yes, I responded.

Hi, I’m Lucy and these are my sisters Kim and Veronica. We were just talking to Danene here about Sorority Week. It starts next week, and we would be honoured if the two of you would come to our party tonight as guests of Kappa Alpha Theta and possible pledges.

Shock ran through my body and then a quick fit of laughter. Were these girls trying to recruit me as a Sorority Sister?

So what do you say, Abi, can we see you there tonight? Lucy asked.

I don’t know. I wasn’t looking into sororities, I more just want to focus on my studies, I responded, looking over at Danene, who glanced away.

Oh, us too. That’s why we think you’re a perfect match for our sisterhood, Kim, the closest one to Lucy, said.

I glanced back over at Danene whose long black hair was pulled up into a pony tail, her eyes met mine and she gave a quick smile.

I really appreciate the interest in me, but I really don’t think this is the right place for me.

Well, Abi, you will only know if you come out tonight and experience it for yourself, Lucy said, tucking her medium length blond hair behind her ears. The party starts at eight, we’ll see you then. Tata for now, she said as her and the other two blonds walked away.

I’m so sorry. They ambushed me too on my way to the washroom, Danene said as she rushed towards me.

Are you going to pledge? I asked.

God no! But I was hoping that we could go to the party.

What? Was she being serious?

Are you being serious? I asked out loud.

Yeah, I think there will be a lot of cute guys there, and it would be our first college party, Danene suggested.

I don’t know, Danene, that’s not really my scene and those girls really give me the creeps, I said, starting to walk to my first class.

I know right? With their matching pink outfits and bleach blond hair. It’s as if they shared one brain, Danene responded.

I had to laugh, she was funny.

But I do think we’d have fun, Danene suggested again.

I really didn’t want to go to the Kappa Theta or whatever they were called party, but Danene seemed keen on going and I was trying to be a friend.

Alright, on one condition, if it’s awful we leave, I said.

Deal, she said, extending her hand, I’ll come by your room around eight.

Okay, but feel free to forget if you want. Danene smiled at me and ran down the hallway to her room.

Oh I won’t, she yelled back.

What worried me was… I knew she meant it.

Right on the dot, at eight o’clock, Danene banged on my door. As we headed to the Theta house I couldn’t get the image of those blue eyes out of my head. I also couldn’t shake the horrible feeling I had deep down in my stomach that something bad was approaching.

Danene talked about her day and how she hated girls like the ones we were going to see. However, all I could focus on was my own thoughts and feelings, which had nothing to do with this stupid party.

As we approached the house, I started to get butterflies and my palms became sweaty. This was my first party, ever. Lucy opened the door in a revealing outfit, one I could never even look at without blushing. She wore a tight pink dress that hugged her body and revealed far too much. I couldn’t help but wonder if she bent over what the outcome would be. As we entered the sorority house I noticed that all the girls were dressed the same. They all wore dresses that were way too small, it made Danene and I look like boys in our jeans and t-shirt combos.

So glad you guys came. I was just telling Veronica about you both, Lucy said ushering us into the house.

Thanks. I guess, Danene said, looking around the room

Well, come on, the party’s this way. As we walked deeper into the old house, I glanced around making note of all the exits. It was a habit I had picked up from needing to know how to escape a bad situation. I looked at the pictures on the wall of women who had come before them and I had to smile, they all looked the same, happy. This was certainly not the place for me. We reached a large room that contained an even larger party.

Everyone this is Danene and Abi. Danene, Abi, this is everyone, Lucy said, announcing us to the massive party at the back of the house.

Alright ladies, mingle, drink, eat, and do whatever you like. I will come back to check on you in a few, Lucy declared as she walked away.

Do you want a drink? Danene yelled over the music, as we walked through the hoards of people.

Nah, I’m good. We finally found a spot near the food table to stand without getting completely squashed.

There are definitely some cute boys here, Danene said, looking around at the people.

How can you tell? They are all mashed together, I asked.

Trust me, she said, with her trade mark smile. I’m gonna go to the washroom quickly, will you be okay?

Oh yeah, I’ll be fine. I said, in my most sarcastic voice.

I’ll make it quick, she said, turning and wondering off through the mass of dancers.

I gazed around at all the people who were at the party, they were all dancing and singing and drunk, having a great time. The more I stared at these people the more I knew I was different. I didn’t belong here.

Hi. I’m Nick. A large guy in a varsity jacket came over and stood beside me.

Hi.

What’s your name? he asked.

Abi, I said, trying not to make eye contact.

So, you pledging Theta?

Nope, I responded.

How come? he prodded.

Not my thing, I said quickly, scanning the room for Danene.

So… why are you here? Nick, the jock, asked.

My thoughts exactly, Nick started to laugh. Why are you here?

I play on the football team and we’re supposed to come to these things.

Ahh. I looked over at him and I had to admit, for a big jock, he was handsome. He had short blond hair and brown eyes, they were nice eyes, but they were not the eyes I wanted to see.

Why don’t we leave? Nick suggested.

What?

Me and you, we could leave and I could show you a really good time, he said, touching my hair.

I’m here with my friend. She just went to the bathroom, I responded, hoping Danene would show up.

She could come too, there’s plenty of me to go around, Nick interjected.

I’m not interested, I replied.

Abi, don’t be such a wet blanket, Nick said inching closer.

Excuse me?

I’m just trying to show you a good time.

And I said, no thanks, so please leave. This guys was really starting to make me uncomfortable, from the way he looked at me, to the way he kept trying to touch me.

Abi, come on, don’t make me beg, Nick whispered grabbing my arm.

In that moment I could feel something in me shift. Something dark was inside me and it wanted to come out. My heart started to pound and my blood started to boil, I wanted to hurt him. I could feel a darkness taking over me and it wanted to be unleashed. My head started to thump and I knew I needed to leave this place immediately.

I scanned the crowd looking for Danene, but what I saw instead was more shocking. I saw the guy from my dreams. His blue eyes staring at me, but as I blinked to make sure it was him, he disappeared. I shook my head and looked again, but he was gone, there was nothing. My head started to pound harder, realizing I must have imagined him.

Abi, you okay? Is this guy bothering you? Danene asked.

She’s fine, we were just talking, Nick said to Danene, as I stared into the crowd of people hoping to see that face again.

I don’t think so. Why don’t you beat it, before I tell every girl in here what a pathetic loser you are.

Whatever, you girls aren’t my type anyways, he mumbled sulking off into the crowd.

I looked over at Danene, who was staring at me.

Let’s go Danene, I’ve had enough.

She nodded.

We waded through the party and found the exit, when we reached the outside I took a deep breath. I needed the air.

"That guy was a jerk.