Stolen Hearts: Book 1 (Grim's Labyrinth Series) (2 page)

“Yes, that’s it,” the voice hissed nearby. “Now finish it.”

Jessica closed her eyes for a moment as her conscious brain tried to look away, to do anything that would distract her from the rest of the dream. Instead, she was all too aware when her dream self held the warm heart close to her lips and let the blood run across her teeth before taking a bite of the hot muscle.

A sharp pain in Jessica’s ankle caused her to cry out, dropping the woman’s heart suddenly and watching in agony as it slid across the dark slate floor before moving out of sight in the shadows. She tried to grab her leg where the pain continued to increase, but she felt bound by miles of cloth, unable to do anything to stop the hurting.

When Jessica opened her eyes, she choked back a scream as she saw the woman was awake, her face hovering above her own, only inches from where she writhed. The pain in her ankle increased when the woman kicked again.

“I told you to get your ass out of bed,” the woman said, giving Jessica one final kick in the leg. “Get up, or you’re not getting anything for breakfast. And if you’re not downstairs in five minutes, I’ll make sure you don’t have lunch, either.”

Her stepmother turned and left the room, purposely leaving the door open just because she knew Jessica hated it. She stomped down the hardwood stairs before disappearing from sight, leaving Jessica to sort through one of the weirdest dreams she’d ever had.

She headed downstairs and snuck into the kitchen, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She’d once tried keeping a stash of food supplies in her room in order to avoid confrontations, but it only infuriated her stepmother for some reason.

Jessica silently reached for a bagel that had been left out on a plate for her, marveling for a moment at the thought that Faydra had actually done something halfway nice for her. The feeling was short-lived when she saw the mold that coated the underside of it, and the obvious dog hairs that meant the bagel had been dropped on the floor and quite possibly kicked across it before being retrieved from beneath the refrigerator. She picked the hairs off and tore away as much of the mold as she could before taking a bite of the cold bagel.

Chapter 2

School was particularly brutal that day, at least until mid-morning when she finally got to change for PE and go for a run. Despite her stepmother’s refusal to let her go out for cross-country, Jessica loved to run since it was practically the only time in her day when there was nothing else happening in her mind except the sound of her own breathing. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have real running shoes or even the kind of a bra that would hold her growing “assets” in place as she ran. She ran barefoot and wrapped an athletic bandage around her chest before welcoming the feel of the wet grass beneath her feet, warmed only slightly from the heat of a sun that was still trying to break through the fog of a New England springtime day.

During her run, the small crowd of other high school students who usually struggled to stay within a football field’s distance of her often chatted noisily behind her, gasping for breath while gossiping about the latest schoolwide scandal. When she bothered to listen, Jessica could sometimes hear them talking about her with a mixture of scorn for her sad lot in life and admiration for her abilities. During the second hour of PE, made possible by the blessed and sought-after position as teacher’s aide to the school’s coaches, it was more of the same. All told, it meant she was given two whole hours a day to herself, time in which she could think of absolutely nothing while moving under her own beautiful power.

“I heard she’s on all kinds of pills,” one girl directly in front of Jessica said loudly to her friends while gasping for air. The fact that the group was only ahead of her because Jessica was about to lap them should have explained the gasping. “Weren’t you there that day she practically had a seizure in the lunchroom? The kid who works in the nurse’s office said it had something to do with her medication.”

“That could have been anything, Brit,” one male in the group of runners said, also struggling to fill his lungs. “She could have diabetes for all you know.”

“Oh, so now you’re defending her? Go ahead, Josh, tell us what else you’d like to do to her.” Jessica watched as Josh shoved Brittany a little harder than a playful push should have felt, knowing that the fact that they were siblings made it okay in everyone’s eyes.

Jessica sidestepped the group and launched herself past them, calling over her shoulder, “You got passed. That means three more laps,” before surging forward.

The collective groans were only punctuated with one voice who said, “Do you think she heard us talking about her?”

“So what if she did?” Brit fired back. “It’s not like she can do anything about it. She’s such a loser.”

“A loser who can hear you,” she called back behind her. “That’ll be another two laps.”

Despite the smug grin she allowed herself, it really was strange that Jessica suddenly had the ability to hear them, given how far her tingling quads had already carried her. It wasn’t something she’d ever noticed before, and instead of feeling put out by the strange new sensory skill, she simply enjoyed the fact that the fates had aligned and let her tear down one of the up-and-coming queen bees in the school. Brittany was two years behind Jessica, but that didn’t stop the girl from taking the occasional stab when the rest of the popular crowd was there to back her up.

“That’s got to feel good,” her friend Tameka said with an easy laugh, falling into step beside her. Tameka was on the track team, and her events were shorter distances than Jessica’s two-hour overland route carried her. But the coaches were confident enough in both Tameka’s ability and Jessica’s demanding nature that they let Tameka skip practice twice a week to go to her after-school job. Anyone who could keep up with Jessica for even one class period didn’t need the extra practice time.

“Well, it’s what I’m supposed to do,” Jessica answered effortlessly, her blond curls pulled back in a ponytail that swung from side to side with each of her footfalls. She fought back a smile. Assigning laps was in her job description as teacher’s assistant, after all, even if handing them out as punishment wasn’t. Somehow she doubted the PE coaches would mind all that much that she’d made some of the more notorious whiners in the bunch run a little farther.

“I can’t swear that that’s what they meant by ‘keep ’em in line,’ but hey, I’m not complaining, girlfriend.”

They ran along for the rest of the class period without much conversation, both of them just enjoying the run. When the whistle blew signaling the end of the class period, they took several strides to slow down and walked it off, heading back inside to the locker room with a little less rush in their steps.

“Lookin’ good out there today, ladies,” Coach Miller called out, checking her clipboard for all of the students. “Tameka, good leg position on your front leg, but remember to really push off with your back leg through every stride. It’s where your power comes from, and it will take some of the work off your quads so you can finish strong.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tameka answered, her grin showing her perfect white teeth, offset by the caramel color of her skin. She was stunning, even if she’d never admit it, and her born-with-it running talent was just icing on the cake.

Coach Thompson, on the other hand, averted his gaze as Tameka walked in ahead of her friend, leaving Jessica to follow. He was still embarrassed about the ugly confrontation that had taken place with her stepmother when he’d showed up on their doorstep over a year ago, practically begging the monster that Jessica be allowed to go out for cross-country.

I tried to warn him, Jessica thought to herself with as much sympathy as she could muster. I didn’t know she was gonna go all “Exorcist” movie on him, but I knew it wasn’t going to go well.

Jessica and Tameka got dressed and said their goodbyes in the hallway as they headed in different directions. Jessica tried to walk confidently, knowing that she had absolutely nothing to be afraid of from these people. They might be petty or silly, but it wasn’t like she was their favorite victim. She knew better than that, and the truth—the reality that they left her alone because her father was dead and her stepmother made the term “abusive parent” look weak in comparison—was actually harder to swallow. She’d rather have been hated than pitied.

The rest of the day went well enough, if anyone could think of high school as a good thing. She wanted nothing more than to get through the day, get home unnoticed, and hide out in her room. Just like every other day.

Instead, Faydra had other plans for her, starting from the moment she stepped foot on the edge of their yard. It was like that woman had a sixth sense for when Jessica was close by. Surely to goodness she couldn’t actually smell Jessica, like some deranged watchdog.

Only today, Jessica was the one who could finally sense Faydra instead of the other way around. It wasn’t any kind of sensory experience she could pinpoint, more like she knew without even understanding it herself that Faydra was nearby and ready to pounce. Those seconds of warning gave her all the time she needed to prepare a defense, another skill she’d never known she needed.

Just as she rounded the mailbox at the edge of the street, a shove from her left—one that should have knocked her to the ground but instead barely moved her—made her wince before turning and blocking her stepmother’s slap with her forearm. The sudden motion dazed Faydra for a second. She stared at Jessica in wide-eyed disbelief before narrowing her eyes and letting her venom flow through her veins.

“How dare you raise your hand to me, you little bitch!” Faydra screamed for the sake of the neighborhood. She lunged at Jessica again, her arms outstretched to grab her by the back of her sweatshirt, but once again the younger girl was too fast for her, staying one move ahead. Faydra couldn’t help but show her surprise.

“Get away from me, Faydra. I’m not putting up with you right now!” Jessica turned to go in the house, ignoring the painful tingling running up her neck that reminded her how foolish it was to turn her back on Faydra. Her instincts were once again right. Her stepmother kicked her legs out from under her, gloating for only a second as she stood over Jessica before finally straddling her and looking down on her.

“Get up!” she hissed, grabbing Jessica by her backpack strap and pulling her up before tossing her aside with more force than a woman her age should have been able to. But instead of rolling to the ground and trying to scramble away from another barrage of abuse like she usually did, Jessica moved through her stepmother’s violent shove and continued forward until she was standing, turning defiantly and shoving her hands down at her sides as she glared.

“I told you I’m not in the mood for this! Now I’m going inside!” Jessica heard her voice come out of her mouth but didn’t recognize it. The anger at having taken the years of abuse without stepping up to defend herself fueled her fury even more. “Don’t even think about putting your hands on me again, either, because I’ll make sure you’re sorry!”

Jessica stormed towards the house, the strange sensation of warning absent this time. Sure enough, when she reached the front walk and turned towards the front door, she could see Faydra still standing where Jessica had left her, her hands on her hips, pure rage plainly distorting her face even from this distance.

Chapter 3

Dinner would be the real test. Faydra had always insisted Jessica cook them dinner as part of her daily chores, but maybe the woman had finally gotten smart enough to realize that she was done pushing the girl around. Or maybe she was actually afraid of being poisoned by whatever Jessica did to her food. It would serve her right for the furry bagel that had been breakfast.

I can’t even hope that she’s not sitting in the living room, plotting her revenge, Jessica thought to herself. Instead of misery, though, a new feeling had replaced all the hurt that she’d felt for the past six years, the agonizing time span since her father had died. Not that Faydra had ever been loving towards her—it had been a shock to everyone involved when Faydra had first suggested that she adopt Jessica, saying that it was the only way to ensure the girl didn’t go to foster care if something should happen to her dad—but every day had been miserable since that premonition had come true and Faydra had been stuck with a barely preteen girl.

She stopped crying herself to sleep at night years ago, mostly because there was no point. For someone to hear her muffled sobs and come running to comfort her, someone first had to care.

But not tonight. Whether it was the better day at school and the validation of a good friend, or just finally having had enough and standing up to Faydra afterwards she didn’t know, but either way, it was a mixture of thrilling power and shocking fear. She had no idea what had come over her, but she liked it .

The dream.

Jessica sat upright in her bed, staring around her room with new eyes. Everything looked the same, her room, her clothes, her backpack, all the same as always. But something was different. She was different.

And the only thing that had changed was the dream, the one that had woken her up in the middle of the night thousands of times drenched in a pool of her own sweat—and a different bodily liquid back when she was in kindergarten, if she wasn’t too ashamed to admit it. Only this time, the whole thing had changed at the end until she was in control, she was the one to be feared.

I hope I didn’t turn a stupid dream into an excuse for Faydra to punish me tonight. Like I would ever eat someone’s heart. Gross, she thought, flopping back against her pillows and picking at the edge of her sweatshirt mindlessly, a whole new worry creasing her forehead. What if I’m not such a badass after all? She’s probably in the living room right now, plotting her revenge.

Instead, the house was silent, so quiet that Jessica had to wonder if she was finally home alone. When the gnawing in her stomach couldn’t be silenced with any more sips of water from her bathroom, she opened the door a crack and listened for a long few minutes. There was definitely a voice speaking somewhere in the house, but she couldn’t tell if it was Faydra or the television left on downstairs.