Shivani Roy And The Demon King Of Lanka (A Plot Twist?)

Shivani stood in the empty hall, staring at Patrick.  What he was saying was impossible.

“If you want to help them, then you have to choose,” Patrick said, as pulled out a key from his pocket.  Shivani heard the click and he unlocked the door.  He held it open for her once it swung open.  “And it has to be your choice alone.”

“But, I’m not ready,” Shivani protested.  It was too soon.  Her mind still whirled from his revelation.  She needed more time to prepare.  Her stomach tightened as she followed him into the large dark room.  It looked like a library, with its shelves that spanned the walls from the floor to the ceiling.  “I didn’t even finish the school year.”

“I know.  I wish that we had more time,” Patrick said, frowning at her.  He flicked on the light switch.  His concern was obvious, as he placed his hands on her shoulders.  “I wouldn’t normally ask you to choose yet, but we need your help.”  He dropped his hands from her shoulders and walked over to a panel on the wall behind the desk.  “And we need it now.”

“Why can’t you come with me?” Shivani pleaded.  There was no way she could do this by herself.

“I wish I could go with you,” Patrick said.  A part of him was tempted to accompany her.  “I really do.  But I can’t.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

Patrick sighed.  There were two reasons, but he would only tell her what she needed to know.  “They know me.  As soon as I enter that realm, the energy will shift.  They have Seers who will recognize the change the minute I arrive.  But you have a chance to get in there undetected.”

“But you can disguise yourself,” Shivani protested.  There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she would lose this argument.  But she persisted.  “You can make them see what you want them to.”

“It’s not that simple,” Patrick replied, shaking his head.  “Humans in this realm are unaware.  It’s much easier for me to manipulate energy here.  But the Devas and Asuras aren’t so easily deceived.  It takes more energy to hide from them.”

Shivani couldn’t admit defeat so easily.  She needed Patrick by her side for her first trip to Bharat.  “What difference does it make if they do discover you?  They can’t hurt you.”

“No, they can’t hurt me,” Patrick replied, and looked her straight in the eye.  It was time to tell her the truth.  “But they can hurt your parents.”

Shivani started at his words.  “My parents?” she repeated, frowning.  “What does this have to do with my parents?  They’re dead.”

Patrick studied the emotions that flitted across her face.  He had to tell her.  It was the only way she would be ready to face the situation in Bharat.  “What do you know about your parents?”

“Well,” Shivani hesitated.  “Not a lot.  I mean, the people at the agency told me that I was left at an orphanage in India when I was a baby.”

“And?” Patrick tilted his head.  He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms.  “What else did they tell you?”

As Patrick’s gaze narrowed, it occurred to Shivani that she had never questioned the story.  “Not much more than that,” Shivani shrugged.  “Just that an American couple adopted me and brought me to this country.  But they were killed in a car accident when I was little.  No one else wanted to adopt me.  So I went back into the foster care system.”  Shivani studied the floor.  It sounded so much more pathetic when she said it out loud.  She didn’t like that at all.  “I’ve been there ever since then.”

“So, no one knew who left you at the orphanage?” Patrick persisted.  He suspected what her answer would be, but wanted to make sure.

“No,” Shivani whispered.  Was it possible that her parents were still alive?  That they were the ones who left her at the orphanage?  Her heart started beating wildly.

Patrick knew what she was thinking.  He hated to crush her hopes, but she had to know.  “They weren’t the ones who dropped you off at the orphanage,” he said softly.  He winced when he saw the light go out of her eyes.

Shivani’s shoulders slumped.  He was probably right, but that small sliver of hope prompted her to question him.  “How do you know that?  Did you see it?”

Patrick hesitated.  It didn’t take his Seer’s abilities to see that Shivani wasn’t going to respond well to the truth.  What was the best way to approach this revelation?  “I guess you could say that.”

“Oh,” Shivani muttered, disappointed.  Patrick’s visions were always accurate.  “Did you see what happened in a vision?”

“No,” Patrick replied.  “It wasn’t a vision.”  When Shivani looked at him with confusion, he gave up his feeble attempts at tactful disclosure.  “It was me, Shivani,” he stood up and looked into the golden eyes that reminded him so much of someone else he had once loved.  “I’m the one who left you at the orphanage in India.”

Shivani Roy and the Demon King of Lanka

So excited! An excerpt from a book that I’m working on has been published on a website called Nugget Tales! Please check it out! Any “Likes” would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Shivani Roy And The Demon King Of Lanka (Chapter 1?)

He’s coming for you.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. Shivani muttered an expletive and scrambled out of the shower.  She barely had time to throw on an oversized t-shirt and jeans before he barged into her bedroom.

Mick Anderson plopped himself on her bed.  The mattress bowed under his considerable weight.  “Hey, kid, where’ve you been?  I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

That’s because I’ve been avoiding you, Shivani thought as she reached for the towel on the dresser.  Her long dark hair was still dripping from the shower.  There was a wet spot on the front of her shirt.  She shrugged nonchalantly, despite the growing anxiety in the pit of her stomach.  “Oh, really?  I’ve been here the whole time.”

“You have?”  Mick stretched out on her bed and leaned his balding blond head against the headboard.  His pale blue eyes rested on her chest, as he patted the spot on the bed next to him.  “Well, why don’t you sit down and tell Uncle Mick what you’ve been up to all summer?”  

Shivani hunched her shoulders.  You are NOT my uncle, she thought viciously, and turned her back on him to face the mirror above her dresser.  The towel wasn’t drying her hair fast enough.  “Okay, just let me finish getting ready.”

“My goodness,” he drawled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.  When he leaned forward, his bulbous gut hung over the waist of his tight pants.  “You certainly have grown a lot over the summer.  What are you?  Eighteen now?”

“I’m fourteen,” Shivani replied uneasily.  The room felt too hot.  Rivulets of sweat trickled down her back.  Both of her foster parents were still at work.  It would be a few hours before they returned home.  Her large brown eyes scanned the project cluttering the top of her desk as she walked over and placed the towel on the chair beside it.

Mick’s gaze swept her young, athletic body from head to toe, before traveling back up and finally settling on her full lips.  “Really?  You look like an eighteen year old,” he grinned at her, revealing pointed, yellow teeth.  “A really hot eighteen year old.”

Something in her head screamed at her to get out of the room.  The door was only a few steps away, but before Shivani could make a move, Mick heaved his mass off from the bed and lumbered towards her.  “You seem tense,” he commented.  “Do you want me to rub your back?”   He leaned over and rested his hands on the desk behind her.  Mick pressed his mouth to her ear.  “Or anything else?”

“Um, no, thank you,” Shivani replied.  The bile in her stomach rose as his hot, fetid breathe swept across her cheek.  She was trapped between Mick and the desk.  Maybe if she threw up on him, he would go away.  A part of her knew that this wasn’t true.  Mick didn’t care.  He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.  Shivani slipped under his arm, hoping to reach the bedroom door before he did.

For a large man, Mick moved fast.  He reached the door first.  His big body blocked her escape route.  “Where do you think you’re going?”

Shivani took a few deep breathes.  Was this really happening?  Her mind whirled, desperate for some excuse to leave.  Anything to just get away from this horrible man.  “Uh, I’ve got to get back to school.”

“It’s in the middle of summer.  Are you lying to me?”  Mick’s voice was suddenly quiet.  He stared at her as his frown deepened into a scowl.

Shivani backed away from him until she bumped against her desk.  Her hands rested on the craft materials on her desk.  “N-No,” she stammered.  “I’m taking summer classes.”

“I don’t believe you,” Mick said, moving until he stood inches away from her.  “A girl like you should be nice to me,” he said softly, as he leaned over and grabbed a fistful of dark hair from the back of her head.  Mick tugged on it until Shivani winced.  “Very nice to me.  Especially after everything my brother and his wife are doing for you.”

“You’re hurting me,” Shivani whispered, fighting back tears.  She closed her eyes.  “Please stop hurting me.”

Mick smiled, pleased.  “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?  Being nice?  All I ask is that you be polite to me.”  He released his grip on her hair, but continued to pin her against the desk.  “Now, you were going to fill me in on what you’ve done all summer.  Do you have a boyfriend?”  He traced her cheek with one pudgy finger.

“No,” Shivani replied, trying not to visibly cringe.

“Really? A pretty girl like you?” His index finger rested under her chin as he stroked her lower lip with his thumb.  “I guess that’s good news for me.”

When one of Mick’s hands moved to her jeans, Shivani froze.  She remained immobilized with fear until a flurry of images flooded her mind.  Countless young girls struggling against Mick.  And losing.

Not this time.  As Shivani’s gaze narrowed, the color of her eyes changed from brown to liquid gold.  An inexplicable surge of energy shot through her body, tempering her fear.  Shivani squared her shoulders, as some primitive instinct took control of her body.

“It’s good news for me too,” Shivani said softly, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.  She looked at him through lowered lashes.  “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since the first time I saw you.”

Mick’s hands stopped moving.  His eyes widened in disbelief.  “What?”

“I can’t believe this is finally going to happen.”  Shivani’s voice was breathy.  Her fingers ran through Mick’s thinning hair.  “We’ll have to be quick, before your brother gets home.”

For one moment, Mick looked confused.  This obviously wasn’t playing out the way he had planned it.  “Really?”

“But, why don’t I take care of you first? You work so hard,” Shivani continued, cooing.   She licked her lips.  “Just close your eyes and relax.  I’ll handle everything.”

When Shivani pushed him back from the desk and started to unbutton his pants, Mick wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or excited.  Normally, it was the struggle that turned him on.  But the thought of Shivani’s lips on him was too much to resist.  “Oh, yeah,” he squeezed her shoulder and grinned at her.  “Thanks, baby.  That sounds good.”

Just as he tilted his head back and relaxed, Mick felt something press against his crotch.  When he opened his eyes, it was too late.  A loud noise cracked across the room.  Mick howled in pain.

Shivani continued to point and shoot the staple gun from her desk at his testicles.  After four more shots, Mick hunched over and grabbed his crotch in agony.  “You little bitch,” he gasped, “I’m going to kill you.”

When Mick lunged at her, Shivani sidestepped his reach and grabbed his hair.  She slammed his head into her desk repeatedly.  Just before he lost consciousness, Shivani smiled at him.  “I don’t think so.”

Shivani let go of Mick’s hair and watched his body crumple to the floor.  As blood trickled from his injuries and pooled on the floor, Shivani stared at the scene in a daze.

It felt as if she was just waking up from a dream.  Her eye color reverted to brown.  Panic set in when she realized what had happened.  They won’t believe me, she thought.  People never did.  After checking Mick’s pulse to make sure he was still alive, Shivani knelt beside his head.  She gingerly placed her hands on his temples.  Warmth seeped from her fingertips into his scalp.  The majority of the damaged vessels in his head healed.  But Mick remained unconscious while Shivani quickly threw some of her belongings into a bag and ran out the front door.