From the Vault: Peace
Every writer has a vault where they keep their unfinished, abandoned, and skill building stories. I'm currently going through mine to decide what I want to write for my next book.
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Here we have a brain dump of a story I can practically see in my head already. It's part summary, part outline, with all my ideas at the time of conception still in there. Please enjoy reading what I affectionately call Peace. Let me know what you think in the comments!
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Okay, hear me out...A half demon has to live the torment of hell from the sins of his father. His skin burns, and nerves flay, and static takes over, and he's barely holding it together, and then their eyes meet and he simply hears....nothing. It couldn't be her, so he brushes his arm against hers when he passes her in the hallway and for a few precious breaths the skin she touched doesn't hurt. So when she flirted with him he kissed her. For the first time since he could remember, he felt peace.
Where she was right out of a serious relationship and only went to the party because her friend wanted her to have a palate cleanser. No strings, one night, clear the muscle memory of the ex. Done. And he's...dark. But when he kisses her like he needs her, touches her like she's precious, breathing her in like she's air and he's drowning. She decides she needs that kind of attention for a night. And he puts his number in her phone before she can do the walk of shame. So when she's sitting in an apartment full of memories, craving the touch of someone who doesn’t love her anymore, she thinks of how he made her feel. And she calls him.
And he’s been practically glued to his phone since she left his apartment. He’d been able to sleep, and hadn’t had a single nightmare, and he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to sleep again if she doesn’t call him. No one holds any interest to him now that he knows what it means to feel. Now that he knows what it means to feel something other than pain? It goes off and he sees an unknown number, it’s gotta be her. But it’s just a scammer. Right before he chucks his phone at the wall it starts ringing again. It’s flying toward the wall and he sees that number. Her number. He’d tried calling himself with her phone to save it but had decided against it. So he wouldn’t scare her off. Using his demon powers he gets his phone before it smashes into drywall and answers. It’s her. She invites him over and he couldn’t possibly say no. Because even over the phone her voice soothes him, quiets the deranged whispers from his demon half.
If she’s not careful she’ll get addicted to how he looks at her. She was the only woman in the world when he looked at her. He was the only man in the world when he touched her. She needed to be careful not to love how he was always wound up when she showed up, and completely relaxed by the time she put her jacket down. He was meant to be a one night stand, then someone to call when she was lonely, then the only person who made her feel seen. So when he clears a drawer for her? Her friend tells her all the reasons it’s a bad idea to pursue this but she just can’t help it. This man drinks her in like he’s been lost in the desert and that’s worth a few fights with her friends.
He knew it was a risk when he started keeping his place more together so she was more comfortable coming over, and altogether too soon when he told her she could bring clothes over if she wanted. She looked at the drawer with fear in her eyes. But when she came over the next time it was with a suitcase. His life is starting to come together and it’s because of her. And he’s learning that the more time he spends with her, the longer he can go without his demon side torturing him. He doesn’t need her with him all the time but he’s come to love her. The way she smiles as she takes her first sip of coffee in the morning. How she never puts the towel back in the bathroom when she showers. How her throat feels when she moans his name. But her life is starting to fall apart. Her friends think he’s bad for her and they’re right. He has to stop this but he can’t. He can’t survive it if she leaves.
She just got fired because she was never on time anymore, and her boyfriend was keeping her long on her breaks and lunches, and everyone says he’s way too clingy but she didn’t mind it. Not when he made her feel so powerful, so vital, so seen. At first she’s angry because she was only five minutes late. The words “this time” forced her to relook at the last few months. Her friends are right, this guy is taking over her entire life. She has an entire afternoon before he’s off work and she decides to use it clearing her stuff out of his apartment. She reaches out to a friend because she knows if she goes home, he’ll come over, and she won’t be able to stop herself from answering.
He got home and all her things were gone. She was…gone? When she hadn’t been at work on her lunch break he discovered she’d been fired. He’d seen it coming but it didn’t stop him from making her late every day, for having lunch with her every day, for the peace she gave him. She was his salvation. His demon side had turned into an afterthought. Until he realized that if she’d really left him he’d go back to the torment. He goes straight to her apartment to beg her to come back, to make promises he was determined to fulfill, but not sure he will. And her bitchiest friend is there. Incidentally the one who took her to the party they met at. He knows his fate, and he knows there’s nothing he can say to convince the friend. So he leaves. He follows her on social media hoping her image will bring even a hint of the peace her presence does. He sees her on a date with some guy he’s never seen before. He sees it’s going well. And he decides she’s worth going through torment to keep her happy.
She’s on the best first date she’s been on in a while. It had taken forever to even want to. How was she going to find anyone who made her feel like HE made her feel? She realized the cost wasn't’ worth it. This guy, this guy was cute and funny and shy and the way he blushed when she tripped and he caught her? She’s giving this guy a chance, a real one. She can’t stop herself from making some comparisons, but she’s realizing that this guy wins in the most important comparisons.
Stalking is a strong word, but one he was starting to realize was the right word for what he was doing. He’d seen the new boyfriend on his way to her house. How could he not climb the tree in her yard and sit in it where he could hear everything from the living room window of her apartment? This was the closest he could get to her now that she’d moved on. But it may have hurt worse when he heard her tell the new boyfriend about him. The last boyfriend. How he made sex the center of the relationship, and smothered her, and was so intense her real life seemed boring. He was his most human with her, but she described him as the very thing he was trying to escape. His demon half. And he was stalking her now too. He decides to vanish. Lean into the coping mechanisms that just felt like they didn’t measure up. But he didn’t deserve his cure.
She’s getting ready to move in with the new boyfriend and they’re renovating the house they bought together. She’s helping him install baseboards and she’s covered in dust after cutting the board she’s about to nail into the wall, and he looks at her. For a moment that look made her feel everything he made her feel. It’s the first time she’s thought about him in a long time. New boyfriend proposes with a beautiful ring. She can’t say no, because the only thing she thought was missing was exactly what he’d given her. A look that told her she was the queen of his universe. She immediately calls all of her friends to see who’s interested in helping her plan the wedding.
He hasn’t stopped thinking about her, not for a single moment, but he also hasn’t seen anything of her since that night. Until he happens to run into one of her friends. He can’t help himself, he asks about her. He needs to know that she, at least, is happy. He finds out she’s getting married in less than a week. He immediately runs to her apartment and bangs on the door. No one answered, so he decides he has to wait. Because she would have moved in with the new guy if she was serious about him right?
She’s just picked up her wedding dress from the tailor. She’s taking it to her apartment so she can try it on and her fiance won’t see her. But as she turns the last set of stairs she sees…him. He’s sitting in front of her door, head dipped so his hair is falling over his face. It’s longer since she left him. Then again, it’s also been a couple years. And he looks at her. She can’t tell him no when he asks to talk, because he’s looking at her like that. And she can’t push him away when he begs her to choose him instead and leans in for a kiss. And she can’t get her door open fast enough so she can drag him inside. Finally they’re in her living room, the door is locked behind them, and the dress is left on the floor, just inside.
He didn’t actually believe when she said she’d break off her engagement for him. He believed it more when her phone started going off the handles because she missed her rehearsal dinner. One of her friends showed up, THAT friend, the one who hated me all along and kept me from seeing her after she left. I’m not going to do the same thing to her. It’s a risk to let the friend try to talk her out of choosing me. I don’t know if I can give up this peace, the silence, not again. I’ll never live in the pain she healed for me again.
Where she was right out of a serious relationship and only went to the party because her friend wanted her to have a palate cleanser. No strings, one night, clear the muscle memory of the ex. Done. And he's...dark. But when he kisses her like he needs her, touches her like she's precious, breathing her in like she's air and he's drowning. She decides she needs that kind of attention for a night. And he puts his number in her phone before she can do the walk of shame. So when she's sitting in an apartment full of memories, craving the touch of someone who doesn’t love her anymore, she thinks of how he made her feel. And she calls him.
And he’s been practically glued to his phone since she left his apartment. He’d been able to sleep, and hadn’t had a single nightmare, and he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to sleep again if she doesn’t call him. No one holds any interest to him now that he knows what it means to feel. Now that he knows what it means to feel something other than pain? It goes off and he sees an unknown number, it’s gotta be her. But it’s just a scammer. Right before he chucks his phone at the wall it starts ringing again. It’s flying toward the wall and he sees that number. Her number. He’d tried calling himself with her phone to save it but had decided against it. So he wouldn’t scare her off. Using his demon powers he gets his phone before it smashes into drywall and answers. It’s her. She invites him over and he couldn’t possibly say no. Because even over the phone her voice soothes him, quiets the deranged whispers from his demon half.
If she’s not careful she’ll get addicted to how he looks at her. She was the only woman in the world when he looked at her. He was the only man in the world when he touched her. She needed to be careful not to love how he was always wound up when she showed up, and completely relaxed by the time she put her jacket down. He was meant to be a one night stand, then someone to call when she was lonely, then the only person who made her feel seen. So when he clears a drawer for her? Her friend tells her all the reasons it’s a bad idea to pursue this but she just can’t help it. This man drinks her in like he’s been lost in the desert and that’s worth a few fights with her friends.
He knew it was a risk when he started keeping his place more together so she was more comfortable coming over, and altogether too soon when he told her she could bring clothes over if she wanted. She looked at the drawer with fear in her eyes. But when she came over the next time it was with a suitcase. His life is starting to come together and it’s because of her. And he’s learning that the more time he spends with her, the longer he can go without his demon side torturing him. He doesn’t need her with him all the time but he’s come to love her. The way she smiles as she takes her first sip of coffee in the morning. How she never puts the towel back in the bathroom when she showers. How her throat feels when she moans his name. But her life is starting to fall apart. Her friends think he’s bad for her and they’re right. He has to stop this but he can’t. He can’t survive it if she leaves.
She just got fired because she was never on time anymore, and her boyfriend was keeping her long on her breaks and lunches, and everyone says he’s way too clingy but she didn’t mind it. Not when he made her feel so powerful, so vital, so seen. At first she’s angry because she was only five minutes late. The words “this time” forced her to relook at the last few months. Her friends are right, this guy is taking over her entire life. She has an entire afternoon before he’s off work and she decides to use it clearing her stuff out of his apartment. She reaches out to a friend because she knows if she goes home, he’ll come over, and she won’t be able to stop herself from answering.
He got home and all her things were gone. She was…gone? When she hadn’t been at work on her lunch break he discovered she’d been fired. He’d seen it coming but it didn’t stop him from making her late every day, for having lunch with her every day, for the peace she gave him. She was his salvation. His demon side had turned into an afterthought. Until he realized that if she’d really left him he’d go back to the torment. He goes straight to her apartment to beg her to come back, to make promises he was determined to fulfill, but not sure he will. And her bitchiest friend is there. Incidentally the one who took her to the party they met at. He knows his fate, and he knows there’s nothing he can say to convince the friend. So he leaves. He follows her on social media hoping her image will bring even a hint of the peace her presence does. He sees her on a date with some guy he’s never seen before. He sees it’s going well. And he decides she’s worth going through torment to keep her happy.
She’s on the best first date she’s been on in a while. It had taken forever to even want to. How was she going to find anyone who made her feel like HE made her feel? She realized the cost wasn't’ worth it. This guy, this guy was cute and funny and shy and the way he blushed when she tripped and he caught her? She’s giving this guy a chance, a real one. She can’t stop herself from making some comparisons, but she’s realizing that this guy wins in the most important comparisons.
Stalking is a strong word, but one he was starting to realize was the right word for what he was doing. He’d seen the new boyfriend on his way to her house. How could he not climb the tree in her yard and sit in it where he could hear everything from the living room window of her apartment? This was the closest he could get to her now that she’d moved on. But it may have hurt worse when he heard her tell the new boyfriend about him. The last boyfriend. How he made sex the center of the relationship, and smothered her, and was so intense her real life seemed boring. He was his most human with her, but she described him as the very thing he was trying to escape. His demon half. And he was stalking her now too. He decides to vanish. Lean into the coping mechanisms that just felt like they didn’t measure up. But he didn’t deserve his cure.
She’s getting ready to move in with the new boyfriend and they’re renovating the house they bought together. She’s helping him install baseboards and she’s covered in dust after cutting the board she’s about to nail into the wall, and he looks at her. For a moment that look made her feel everything he made her feel. It’s the first time she’s thought about him in a long time. New boyfriend proposes with a beautiful ring. She can’t say no, because the only thing she thought was missing was exactly what he’d given her. A look that told her she was the queen of his universe. She immediately calls all of her friends to see who’s interested in helping her plan the wedding.
He hasn’t stopped thinking about her, not for a single moment, but he also hasn’t seen anything of her since that night. Until he happens to run into one of her friends. He can’t help himself, he asks about her. He needs to know that she, at least, is happy. He finds out she’s getting married in less than a week. He immediately runs to her apartment and bangs on the door. No one answered, so he decides he has to wait. Because she would have moved in with the new guy if she was serious about him right?
She’s just picked up her wedding dress from the tailor. She’s taking it to her apartment so she can try it on and her fiance won’t see her. But as she turns the last set of stairs she sees…him. He’s sitting in front of her door, head dipped so his hair is falling over his face. It’s longer since she left him. Then again, it’s also been a couple years. And he looks at her. She can’t tell him no when he asks to talk, because he’s looking at her like that. And she can’t push him away when he begs her to choose him instead and leans in for a kiss. And she can’t get her door open fast enough so she can drag him inside. Finally they’re in her living room, the door is locked behind them, and the dress is left on the floor, just inside.
He didn’t actually believe when she said she’d break off her engagement for him. He believed it more when her phone started going off the handles because she missed her rehearsal dinner. One of her friends showed up, THAT friend, the one who hated me all along and kept me from seeing her after she left. I’m not going to do the same thing to her. It’s a risk to let the friend try to talk her out of choosing me. I don’t know if I can give up this peace, the silence, not again. I’ll never live in the pain she healed for me again.
If you like this, you'll love my book. If you love this, let me know in the comments and it might just be the basis for my next book.
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