Wicked Amber

By Brandy Bryant

Does the supernatural really exist? Are there other species that walk the earth and live among us in the dark shadows or out in plain sight? The answers to those questions would soon be answered for a naive, bored housewife whose curiosity would eventually impact not only her own life but the lives of another species who chose to live their lives in obscurity.

Heathers encounter with Spenser, a handsome stranger on a desolate road, would prove to be either the biggest mistake of her life or that one thing that she so desperately needed in her life. She would soon find out who, or what, this handsome stranger would really turn out to be, and it would be more than she had bargained for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524528492

Brandy Bryant

I am an American author who enjoys writing novels as a hobby. Since childhood, I have been able to come up with wild and crazy stories. I put a lot of passion into what I am writing, and I don’t hold back. My true dream was to become a movie producer, but instead I settled into family life, and writing became a release for me. I don’t pretend to be someone I am not, and I do not believe in writing a certain way to fit in with the crowd. I have my own style of writing, and I will continue to write in the way that I feel comfortable. I hope others enjoy my imagination and will give my books a chance!

Book preview

Chapter 1

The warm August summer breeze blew through the small town of Bracket on that fateful early evening. The town was home to nearly 10,000 residents, sitting nearly two hours south of Indianapolis. There was little crime that happened here, except for the occasional blotter or drug felony charges. It felt safe enough to most of the residents that they didn’t deem it necessary to even lock their doors at night. The quaint Indiana town was also home to a thirty-six-year old married mother of two named Heather Staley. She was an attractive woman with shoulder length light blonde hair and blue eyes, clearly the looks of the usual girl next door. Nothing was particularly striking about her appearance, although she had always hoped there had been. She felt as though her looks were quite boring to the eyes of most handsome men. But, that still didn’t change the fact that several men would catch a quick glimpse of her when she would walk by them, not that she had ever noticed this. Self- esteem was never her strong suit. As Heather walked the aisles of the local super Wal-Mart super store, she was feeling as though her life was a boring movie playing over and over again. Her life didn’t feel as if it were her own. It was as if her life was already planned out for her by some other force, not of her own doing. Indeed, she was the one who had made the choices in her life, but still she felt as though her life could have taken a different path had she been more responsible. In fact, she wasn’t very vigilant with her studies in High School. She failed miserably and after admitting defeat acquired her G.E.D, but this didn’t dissuade her from chasing after her dream. She enrolled in an Indianapolis college, her major being professional photography. After working part time to pay her college fees and attending classes for six months she met a man named Chad. She fell head over hills in love with him. Her studies began to suffer, but Heather didn’t care. She loved Chad and he was her world at the time, nothing else existed. But after a year of dating, Chad had become addicted to powerful illegal drugs and treated Heather very poorly. At the age of 21 she realized she was pregnant with Chad’s baby, a mere three months before he was arrested on several drug charges. Heather ended the relationship, but decided to continue with the pregnancy. Abortion and adoption wasn’t an option for her. College was too rough to continue while trying to juggle her part time job and pregnancy, so she had to make a choice. It was one of the hardest decisions she would have to make, she turned her back on her own dreams of becoming a professional photographer and returned to her hometown of Bracket to give birth to her baby. Just as Heather turned 22 years old, her son Derek was born. Once she seen his adorable face she knew she had made the right decision. She never heard anything else from Chad, but she did read all about him in a newspaper article. He had received a fifteen- year sentence for theft, arson and drug trafficking. She knew she needed to shield Derek from who his father really was, not that it mattered too much. Chad could really care less if Derek had even been born. For the next few years Heather worked hard, forty-eight hours a week at an old rundown factory trying to make ends meet. She had no interest in men, her heart and dreams had been shattered. The only man in her life was Derek and that was good enough for her. But, once Derek was four years old he had noticed all of the other little kids at his daycare being picked up by their daddies. When Heather was driving him home after a long hard day at work he asked the question that all fatherless kids do, Mommy, why don’t I have a daddy? Heather glanced up into her rear view mirror and slowly said, Um, not every child has a mommy and daddy, Derek. This didn’t satisfy Derek’s curiosity. But, I want a daddy. It isn’t fair! Derek continue to repeat at the top of his lungs, It isn’t fair! It isn’t fair! Heather felt her head begin to pound as he screamed in the backseat. Derek could be a bit difficult at times with his temper and today wasn’t a good day for his attitude. Heather shouted back, I am not going to get into this with you today! Mommy is tired and we both could use a nap! We will talk about daddies another time! Derek’s bottom lip began to quiver and he began to sob. Heather rubbed her forehead and said in a sad voice, I am sorry, baby. Mommy isn’t mad at you. I am just so damn tired. Derek sobbed quietly in his car seat as it occurred to Heather that maybe Derek was right, maybe she could use the help of someone else. That evening, she put it into her mind that Derek needed that wonderful father figure in his life and that is exactly what he would get if it killed her! She put an ad on several online dating websites and for the next few months she would always be horribly disappointed with whomever she would meet. One day she confessed to her friend Melissa who worked with her at the factory, I feel like I am going insane. All of these men, they just want to get a girl into bed and I am so sick of it. It isn’t worth it if that is all they want. Besides I don’t want to fall in love with them anyhow. I don’t trust men. Melissa giggled over her lunch, Oh come on… it can’t be that bad. Heather raised her eyebrows and said, It is that bad? Melissa thought for a moment and said, Well, there is this guy named Brian Staley who lives down the street from me. He is a very nice guy, not bad looking and from what I hear he has a job in the IT field. Heather stared at her feeling a bit skeptical and said, If he is so good, then why don’t you go after him? Because, I have my eyes set on someone else in the parts department here. He looks like he may have an impressive package, Melissa replied with a giggle. Heather rolled her eyes and said, Okay, set me up then. What do I have to lose, right? Melissa wasn’t lying about Brian, he was a good looking man with beautiful teeth and he always kept himself cleanly shaven. He had brown hair and hazel eyes, stood about five foot eight inches. It wasn’t love at first sight, but then again Heather refused to open her heart up to another man out of fear. After several dates and after seeing how well Brian treated Derek, they decided to make the big move and rented an apartment together. Everything moved at lightning speed and then they were married on March 1st, 2002. The wedding wasn’t a huge affair, her parents were very happy that she had met such a wonderful man with a big heart for Derek and a decent paying job. Heather was able to quit her dead-end job and be a full time mom to Derek, she had even planned on returning to college to acquire that dream degree she had always wanted sometime in the near future. Life, it seemed, was good. Until one day when Derek was nine years old, Heather discovered that she was two months pregnant. Everything came to a halt for her, there wouldn’t be enough time in a day to tend to Derek, go to college plus have a baby. Once again, her dreams were put on hold. Brian worked too many long hours to be of much help and with the cost of a new mouth to feed, college needed to be the last thing on her list. She continued on with the pregnancy and tried to keep a spark going with Brian, but it already felt as though the damage had been done. It felt to her like she was doing all of the sacrificing while Brian lived the life he had always wanted. He had made it clear to her that he wanted a family and a wife who could stay at home to raise the children. But, Heather’s career choice wouldn’t have allowed that if she pursued her photography degree. Heather gave birth to a daughter in 2007, whom she named Brooke. Heather realized that her life was going down a different road than she had planned and for the longest time she had accepted that fact, but the year before her 36th birthday something happened. It suddenly hit her hard that this wasn’t the life that she had hoped for. Brian was an amazing husband, but she still refused to open herself up to him. There was always distance in their marriage on both parts, but Heather chalked that up to being an old married couple. Brian wasn’t the romantic type, if anything, he was a silly man at heart who could always find the bright side of every situation. Everything he had set out to do in his life he had accomplished, whereas Heather felt as though everything she had wanted was so hard to attain. Everything came so fluidly and without difficulty to Brian, it made her feel envious inside. It seemed as though they were both from two different worlds. Heather would lock her emotions away where nobody else could see them. They felt wrong and it made her feel terribly ashamed every time she would look at Brian. She tried to tell herself that opposites do attract after all and things would eventually turn around, maybe get better for them. Although, he did try so hard to please her, nothing he would do seemed to help. She continued to slip down into the abyss of self-loathing and depressed chaos. It was now 2011 and the resentment inside of her was coming to a head in her mind on that dreadful day at the grocery store. She knew it wasn’t all on Brian’s shoulders. She had made those decisions in her life, but it still felt so unfair. It was as if someone else had decided that her life would go a certain way and she should follow suit with no argument. She felt so guilty and angry for her disdain with how her life was turning out. It just seemed so hopeless that she would ever attain her dreams now that she was already 36 years old. Derek was fourteen years old and Brooke was only four, changing her life would be a huge mistake. But, sometimes things happen in life out of our control that changes fate all on its own. And on this particular night, this would happen for Heather.

Chapter 2

Heather pushed the grocery cart out to her car with a melancholy attitude. She tossed the grocery bags into the back of her SUV and threw the basket into the cart bin. She started on her fifteen-minute journey back to her house, about twelve miles from town. The sky was turning to dusk as she drove through the hills and hollers of the countryside. Approaching the long bridge over Duck Creek, she quickly pulled her car over to the side of the road. The feelings of hopelessness were extremely overwhelming inside of her. She stepped onto the bridge and placed her hands on the rail as she looked at the flowing creek water below. Woods surrounded the whole area, being here was so peaceful. She needed something to calm the many debilitating thoughts reminding her of her failure. As she stared down into the creek, tears gently ran down her cheeks. She wasn’t aware that she was being watched. In fact, her presence had made itself known to a handsome dark figure deep in the woods. He sniffed the air and pushed his way through the tree branches and thorns, trying to get a better look at the scent that grabbed his attention. He glanced up to see a blonde hair female, obviously distressed looking out into the wilderness. He perked up his ears as he listened to the whimpers she let slip under her breath. He gave a smirk as he made his way over to the opposite side of the bridge. Being as quiet as he could, he began to take his clothing off as he ascended the hill near the bridge. She snorted her nose and bit her lip as she tried to swallow back the flood of emotions that was rolling up inside of her, completely unaware of the danger she was in. As he made his way to the bridge railing, he tossed all of his clothing onto the ground and he started to approach her from behind. He felt his stomach growl and sweat begin to form all over his body. She suddenly heard the sound of the gravel crunching behind her and she quickly spun around, catching him by surprise. He stared deeply into her eyes as she looked back into his eyes, terrified as to why this man was standing in front of her buck naked. She gasped, Oh my god! Who… who are you… what do you want? He stared at her stunned, not really sure what to do in that moment. For he had never been caught in this way before by any of his victims. He quickly covered the front of himself and rushed away to grab his clothing. He didn’t bother looking back as he made his way frantically down the hillside. She tried to catch her breath as she rushed to her car just as quickly as he stammered away. She sped across the bridge at lightning speed, continually checking her rear view mirror as if he was going to come running up behind her car. She quickly made her way home and rushed inside, Brian! Brian, where are you? Brian came running out of the living room carrying Brooke on his back, What is it? Heather placed her hand over her racing heart and breathlessly tried to explain to him what had just happened to her. There… there was a man, on Duck Creek Bridge and he was nude! He… he was really creepy. He just stood there staring at me! Heather shouted terrified, still trying to catch her breath. Brian gently allowed Brooke to slip off of his back as he stared at Heather surprised, What? Then, why did you stop then? Heather took in a breath and replied, Well, I didn’t stop for him! I didn’t even know he was there! I just thought I would make a short stop to get some air and look at the creek… and then he came up behind me… Brian began to laugh hysterically as Heather shouted, Brian, this isn’t funny! Why are you laughing? Derek walked into the room and curiously asked, What is going on? Brian tried to collect himself from his amusement at the situation and said, Your mom, she seen this naked man at the side of the road and it just freaked her out is all. Heather stared at him angrily and said, It wasn’t funny, Brian, this man was weird. He felt threatening! Derek looked at Brian with a smile on his face as Brian whispered, He probably was just a little hot from the weather lately. Heather gasped, What? How can you make light of this? Brian blew off her uneasiness of the situation and said to Derek, Go ahead and get the groceries out of the car. As Derek left the room Brian walked up to Heather and kissed her on the cheek before he said, Don’t worry about it honey. I am sure this guy was just hot and wanted to take a dip in the creek. It has been 90 degrees almost all summer, don’t worry about it. Everything will be okay. Heather gave him a disapproving glare as he walked away. She glanced down at Brooke playing on the floor and she had made up her mind that she was going to do something about this. The next morning was a Saturday. She called up Melissa to have a coffee and to explain what had happened to her the previous night. Melissa’s eyes became huge as she said, Oh my god! What did he look like? Heather thought for a moment and then she tried to explain, Well, it was starting to get dark so I couldn’t really see his eye color or much of anything in detail. But, he had kind of short, sandy blonde hair that looked to be a messy sort of hair style. His hair kind of came down his neck and around his ears. He didn’t look like a homeless man, his face looked to be well shaven. I think he may have had a mustache and a goatee. And what about his body? Melissa asked quickly. Heather looked at her as she snapped out of her daydream, What? Well, what did he look like body wise? Was he short and fat or tall and skinny? Melissa asked as Heather thought to herself. She picked at her fingernails as she remembered seeing his nude body in her mind, Well, he looked to be maybe six foot with a muscular build, not too muscular though like a wrestler or anything… But, he had a nice body? Melissa asked raising her eyebrows. Yeah, I mean, yeah I guess so. He just looked like a nice clean man, but he felt threatening. The way he was looking at me and he didn’t say anything to me. When I caught him he just ran off, Heather explained as Melissa took a sip of her coffee. Well, I think Brian may be right, he was probably just hot and took a quick dip in the creek. You surprised him that is all. Yeah, but why did he try to approach me? I didn’t see any other cars anywhere near that bridge. What if he is some kind of pervert? I don’t want a man like that hanging around only five miles from my house. What about my kids? Heather asked nervously. Heather, you are putting way too much thought into this. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Just take a breath and forget about it. I am sure you will never see that man again, Melissa said with a small smile. After they finished their coffee, Heather jumped into her car and stared at the steering wheel for a moment. She muttered out loud, Well, I am going to do something about this. She drove to the police station and asked to speak to an officer. The officer threw down a pad of paper and said, State your business. Heather looked at him aggravated by his cold demeanor and said, Well, I think there is a man who may be some kind of a pervert hanging around Duck Creek Bridge. He was naked and standing by the bridge… The officer wrote what she was saying and quickly interrupted her, And did this man assault you in any way? She made a confused face and said, No, but he doesn’t have to does he? He was buck ass naked standing about as far from me as you are right now. The officer sat his pen down and asked, But, he didn’t try to grab you or ask you to do anything to him? Heather let out an aggravated sigh and responded, No, but he was very threatening feeling… The policeman interrupted once again, I am sorry, ma’am, but I can’t file any type of report if the man didn’t assault you in any way. Did you get his name? She looked down at her nervous clinched hands and replied with a whisper, No, but I know what he looks like if that helps. You see I have a little girl and… The officer interrupted once again, Look, ma’am, there really isn’t anything I can do if you don’t even have a name for this man. Now if you see this man again and if he assaults you in anyway then I can do something, but with what you have told me my hands are tied. I can’t go around arresting a man for being nude near a bridge. For all I know he could have just taken a swim. Heather rolled her eyes and stood up angrily as she said, Fine. Thanks for nothing, jerk. The officer barely heard the name she had called him as she stomped out of the room. When she left the police station she wondered why the police wouldn’t even check out her claim on the grounds of indecent exposure at the very least. She flopped down in her car seat and stared at her cell phone. It occurred to her that she could do something if the police wouldn’t. She would try to catch him around the bridge in the nude on her cell phone. This way she would have proof that she wasn’t making the whole thing up. The thought of this man possibly doing something to her daughter made her absolutely sick to her stomach. On her way back home, she slowed her car down as she neared the Duck Creek Bridge. Her heart began to pound as she looked around for any sign of the handsome man who had approached her. She looked around as she drove slowly across the bridge, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. She made her way back home and walked into the house feeling angry with the police. Brian was playing a card game with Brooke when he noticed Heather walk inside. He glanced up at her and couldn’t help himself. With a giggled he asked, So was there any sign of the streaker? Heather hatefully looked over her shoulder at him and mumbled, Go to hell. Brian giggled louder as she walked on into the kitchen to get herself something to drink. She felt humiliated not only by the police, but by Melissa and Brian as well. Why couldn’t her own husband or best friend take her seriously at least? She had made up her mind that she would find out who this man was, even if it took all week she would find out. But, every day for the next two weeks Heather drove slowly over the bridge, hoping to catch a glimpse of this strange exhibitionist type of man to no avail. There was never ever another sign of him. She began questioning her own sanity, did he even exist at all? Maybe she had imagined all of this. After all, she was having a very bad evening that particular day and just maybe, she was overreacting like everyone else were thinking. Perhaps, he was a man who had taken a quick dip in the creek and felt completely embarrassed by her presence. She finally started to accept that it was a silly misunderstanding and Brian finally stopped teasing her about the whole incident. As the August month passed, the heat wave continued. The weather was perfect for Heather’s taste. After having her hair trimmed, she started home once again from Bracket, taking that same old road she was accustomed to. As she started to cross the bridge, something had caught her eye near the creek. She slammed on her car brakes and grabbed her cell phone. She quickly jumped out of her car and rushed to the railing of the bridge. She looked at the flowing creek down below, but nothing was there. She knew she had seen something, but where was it now? She rubbed her face and asked herself out loud, What in the hell is wrong with me? I have become obsessed with this. Just as she muttered those words she could see the figure of a man standing in the wood line next to the creek water. She felt choked up at first, as though she couldn’t breathe or speak. He looked up at her as she stared down at him, still unable to speak. She wanted to shout out to him, but the words wouldn’t come to her. He turned around and disappeared into the thick woods as she continued to watch mystified. She finally found the words to shout, Stop! Wait a minute! Without thinking she quickly ran down the steep hill next to the bridge. Once she made her way down to the creek, her breathing had become labored from the long run and from the fear of what she was doing. All she had was a phone on her and no weapon. She breathed the words, Oh my god. What in the hell am I doing?

Chapter 3

Heather turned around to look towards the bridge, her car still sat running at the side of the road. She looked over her shoulder into the wilderness as she heard a twig snap. She quickly ran towards the bridge, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t aware of the man nearly on her heels, following her through the brush. He could hear her heart beating rapidly as she ushered up the hill to her car. She made it to her car and quickly drove away without even glancing back. The man watched her speed away down the street, he lunged up the hill and stepped out into the street. She glanced up into her mirror and she noticed him standing in the middle of the road. She started to gasp for air as she whispered repeatedly, Oh god. Oh my god. What was I thinking? Heather returned home in a hurry, she knew it was for the best that she didn’t tell Brian about what she had done that morning. Brian and Heather spent the day together with the kids, the same usual. It was a wonderful day of going to the movies and watching Brooke play at the park. Derek had noticed Heather’s detached interest that afternoon. Hey mom, what is up? You are acting kind of funny lately, he asked with a nosy but caring tone. I am fine. I am just a little tired, she said, hoping that it would be a good enough reply to satisfy his curiosity. Nobody could know how stupid she had been that day. On their way home as they crossed Duck Creek Bridge, Heather glanced out of the car window and down at the creek. It was quiet and empty. Heather bit on her fingernail nervously when Brian asked in a loud goofy voice, Hey wake up! Are you still looking for that nude fellow? Brian and Derek bellowed in laughter as she rolled her eyes. Why don’t you let that go already? I have… she said looking back out the window. Derek leaned forward and interrupted, So mom if you ever see any naked chicks out here you have got to let me know about it! Heather pushed Derek’s face back and said, Oh hush and sit back! There is no naked people out here so let it go already! Derek and Brian still continued to smirk the rest of the way home, leaving Heather to feel angry and silly. After everyone had gone to bed, Heather laid awake staring at the ceiling. She listened to Brian snore loudly in his sleep as she thought about that strange man. It unnerved her knowing this odd scary man was so close to her home and nobody believed her. What could she do? It occurred to her that Brian had a handgun that he kept at the top of the closet in the bedroom. She drifted off to sleep and started to dream. That night, she had a horrific dream that the handsome strange man had broken into their home. He brutally assaulted her daughter and then he murdered the whole family. Her terrifying dream caused her to jerk awake the next morning to the sound of Brian’s alarm. Brian quickly rolled over and shut off the alarm. He put his arms around Heather and asked, How did you sleep, honey? She laid terrified in his arms and lied, I slept well. Brian kissed the top of her head and rolled out of bed to take his morning shower. She jumped out of bed and started to prepare breakfast for the kids. After wrestling Derek and Brooke out of bed for school, she sat all of their breakfast onto the table. As they all sat down to eat their pancakes, nobody had any idea what Heather had planned for that morning. Once everyone was gone to school and work, Heather walked to the closet and pulled out Brian’s Colt handgun. She made sure the gun was loaded before she stomped out the door and jumped into her car. She couldn’t eat much at breakfast that morning, her stomach felt very sick from her nerves as she pulled her car to a stop near the bridge. She took the gun into her hand and slipped down the hillside near the creek. She looked at the thick wooded forestry and glanced back at the bridge, hesitating to walk inside. She took in a deep breath and entered the thick brush. Pushing her way through all of the thorns and thick foliage she looked around for any signs of the creepy man who invaded her dreams. After walking for what seemed to be a half hour she realized she was lost. Her heart began to thump and her mouth felt dry. She looked around the woods unsure of how to get out of the mess she had put herself in. Her cell phone still sat in the front seat of her car and was of no help. She held the gun tightly in her hand as she trembled with fear. The morning was muggy and hot, the typical late August weather in Indiana. Sweat started to roll down her face as she began to panic. Her heartbeat was getting faster and faster when she heard the sounds of snapping twigs in the distance. She took off running to get farther away from the sound, but she ran deeper into the woods. She started to cry