Becoming Valkyrie (Pyralis Book 1) Read online

  BECOMING VALKYRIE

  PYRALIS: BOOK ONE

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  Brandy L Cunningham

  Copyright © Brandy L Cunningham 2018.

  All rights reserved.

  February 2018 Edition

  No part of this book shall be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission from its author, except for the use of mention or brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover art Copyright © MIBLart.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my husband. You have always been supportive of my dreams and proud of me. Thank you for listening to my late night ramblings, and giving me feedback through this long process. Words cannot express how much you mean to me.

  And to my children. You are the inspiration for all I do. When I look at you, I remember why I never give up.

  Books By Brandy L Cunningham

  The Five Droids Series

  Dragonfly’s Mist

  Dragonfly’s Mist: Awakening

  Southern Wind

  Laying Down Roots

  The Pyralis Series

  Becoming Valkyrie

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A huge thank you to Catherine Rupke and Literally Perfect Editing for your excellent editing and all your great suggestions!

  To MIBL Art Studio, The cover is amazing and I cannot thank you enough!

  1

  Halloween

  Darkness filled my mind. Wings flapped in the void, and desolation rose up in my soul to fill every part of me. I had been blind and dumb. Betrayal was a finicky thing. Love was brutal and cruel. What was a heart without blood? What was a soul without morals? I had no blood left; they had starved me. My soul was as shattered and splintered as my heart. Metal dug into my wrists, where I hung suspended from a shaft. I could see nothing, for it was as though my body had ceased.

  All that was left of me was my mind. Stuck in an eternal damnation of thoughts and voices and visions, I was unable to look around myself. There was no quiet here in the recesses of my ever-waking mind. I was anger with no outlet. I was depression with no end. Whispers came to me in my darkest hours. My body needed light. It needed the sun and the moon. I needed blood. I felt myself withering like a fruit that has no water.

  My mind strayed to times past as I struggled to fight the cage of darkness my consciousness was trapped inside. I remembered Halloween, the day of my birth. The memory of that day brought both happiness and sorrow to me, but as the images flooded my restless mind, I allowed them to overtake me, to drown me in the memories of my past and how I had gotten to this pivotal place in my life.

  My story was not about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was exactly where I was meant to be, at the exact moment in time this particular event was fated to happen. The world as I knew it changed dramatically the night of my nineteenth Halloween. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this was both the day of my birth and the day of my death. The day started out entirely ordinary, like every other October thirtyfirst I had ever experienced, or so I thought. Sometimes, things do not go as we plan. Often, your life doesn’t turn out as expected, and occasionally, you have a past you don’t even remember…

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  Walking to Vanessa’s house, I had decided to take the long way. Cutting through the town square, I admired all the Halloween decorations the community club and senior center were working on. Smiling to myself, I couldn’t imagine living in a better town. Every year, the downtown streets and the town square were transformed into a magical Halloween celebration for the entire town to partake in.

  Every shop in town would close its doors at four p.m. on Halloween night to meet in the town square for the annual All Hallows Eve celebration. There would be music, games, vendors, costume competitions, and, of course, the Halloween party and haunted house. All of that was followed up with the annual Middletown Dance. It was the most exciting day of the year.

  I loved it. All of it. I loved the way the community came together to celebrate this day. I loved the colors of the autumn holiday, the scent of pumpkins and snicker doodle cookies. Having been born and raised in this town, I never missed it. The fact that both of my parents worked for the city and were on the Halloween committee insured that I always attend.

  Walking along the cobblestone paths, admiring the giant pumpkins lined up along one side of the park, I shook my head. I couldn’t wait to see the costumes Vanessa was making. It would certainly be different than the ones my mom and I always threw together.

  “Valkyrie Walker, are you really just going to walk right past your mom and dad and not say a word!”

  Coming to a halt at the sound of my mom’s voice, I cringed. “Mom, how many times have I asked you not to call me that in public? Geez!”

  Watching as my mom and dad exchanged amused glances, I sighed. “Sorry, Mom. It’s just, my name is super weird.”

  My mother, Serena Walker, sighed. “Val, honey, your name is very important. How many times do I have to remind you that it should be an honor to be named after the very first member of our family? At least we changed it, made it a feminine version.” She smiled brightly, as though that had fixed everything.

  I grimaced. Yes. My mother had a point. Valkyrian would have been much worse. As it was, most of the kids at school just teased me about being a character from a video game. Still, my name had always given me the chills. I didn’t understand why my mom had chosen to name her only child after the long-dead ancestor we had never known, and who no one in our family seemed to know a thing about.

  For all we knew, the man could have been a sociopath. I shook my head at the thought. I didn’t even want to entertain the notion that I had been named after that type of person. Giving each of my parents a hug, I smiled.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Mom. It could always be worse. The place looks great, by the way. Can’t wait for the big event tonight!”

  “Oh, just wait honey. It’s going to be even more spectacular this year. Janet found the most awesome zombie band to play at the dance. All their songs are completely new, and all about Halloween! It’s going to be rad!”

  Smiling, I watched my dad nodding his head enthusiastically in that tall thin nerdy way of his. Shaking my head, I laughed. “It sounds awesome. I better get going. Vanessa will have a cow if she doesn’t have enough time to complete our costumes. Love you guys!”

  Along the way to my friend’s house, I couldn’t help laughing and shaking my head again. My parents really were unusual. Completely unaware of social etiquette, and blind to anything that cast you out of the popular crowd. I loved them, though. I didn’t care if I was popular or not. I had grown up with two of the coolest girls I knew, and we had been best friends since toddlerhood. I was confident I would never make the vote for prom queen. But you know what? That was fine with me. I was going places in life.

  I had a three-point-four G.P.A. through high school, and I was awaiting responses from several colleges. In my mind, life was good. I loved my life. I loved my parents, despite their geeky demeanors, and I loved my friends. There were no doubts in my mind it could only get better from here. Sure, I’d had a hiccup when I was a child, but that was nothing a few visits to the shrink didn’t cure. The dreams may not have stopped, but after a few sessions with the creepy man in a suit drilling me for my deepest darkest fears, even my eight-year-old mind knew to shut it down and pretend nothing was unusual. I was so not going to the insane asylum.

  Fortunately for me, the dreams had tapered off as I’d gotten older, and now they were so infrequent I hardly ever thought of them. Sure, when I
was a child they had scared the hell out of me. I mean, what child wouldn’t freak out if they dreamed about Vampires, Werewolves, and death every time they went to sleep? I don’t think it’s so abnormal that I got a little overwhelmed. The smell of ashes still bothered me, though. There was something unusual about the scent, whenever I caught a whiff of it, that left me feeling chilled and unnerved.

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  Full of nerves and excitement, Emily and I waited impatiently for Vanessa to uncover the mirror in her room. Two hours we had been painstakingly awaiting the final efforts our friend had put into these costumes. She had done it all. Costumes, hair makeup, special effects, everything. The pair of us still had no idea what we were, with only the image of each other to go on. I could tell Emily wore a Victorian-style gown, but we kept our mouths shut, not wanting to ruin the surprise. The anticipation hung heavily in the air.

  When Vanessa pressed something onto my teeth, I had the sneaky suspicion I was a Vampire. The thought stirred unwanted chills in me, but I was quick to push the less than desirable thoughts away.

  “Oh, come on, Nessa! You’re killing me with all this suspense! Just let us see ourselves already!” My friend Emily practically shrieked.

  Vanessa laughed. “All right, all right. I think you guys are officially ready. You had better appreciate all the effort I’ve put into this, too.”

  I waited impatiently as Vanessa slowly pulled the bed sheets off of the full-length mirror in front of her. The moment the mirror was visible, Emily and I studied ourselves in silent awe. Neither of us were even remotely recognizable. Emily wore an ancient looking Marie Antoinette style gown. Her light blonde hair had been coiffed into ringlet curls, complete with powder.

  Her pale skin was touched-up with makeup to make her seem even paler. The gash across her throat made me want to squirm. The blood looked real, and I had to admit, Emily looked like a walking-dead Marie Antoinette. Shaking my head, I grinned.

  “Holy Shit, Vanessa, you seriously are amazing. Emily looks freaking intense!” Turning toward the mirror, I tried to steel my nerves to see myself. What I saw standing in the mirror looked nothing like me. The face that stared back at me was not the face of a teenager. It was the face of a woman. Crystal clear gold eyes stood out with the dark eyeliner in a face with high cheekbones and a strong nose.

  My dark hair was piled atop my head in a messy way that looked both sexy and sophisticated. The bright red shade of my lipstick contrasted with the dark makeup around my eyes and the paleness of my skin. The blood-red dress I wore was unlike anything I had ever seen. The dress looked like it belonged in a ballroom from the seventeenth century.

  “Oh, my, gosh, Vanessa! Where on earth did you find these dresses? Seriously, I feel like I’m about to step into some fancy castle from the seventeenth century. This is totally freaking wicked!”

  “I made them. I looked up examples of materials to use, and designs to follow. Aren’t they awesome?”

  Frowning, I asked, “What am I supposed to be anyway? I mean, I get that Em’s a dead Marie Antoinette, but I get the feeling I’m a Vampire?” As I spoke, I was reminded of the objects Vanessa had placed on my teeth.

  Grinning, Vanessa nodded toward the mirror. “Look again. Look a little closer. Tell me what you see.”

  I turned to survey myself again. At first, I could see nothing, but then I noticed the red stain on my neck. Stepping closer, I grinned. On the left side of my throat, I could see a bite wound. Two puncture marks and a trail of blood. Opening my mouth, I wasn’t surprised to see the pair of fangs I had already guessed were there. Laughing, I shook my head in disbelief at how great the costumes had turned out. I would keep the unsettling feeling about being a Vampire to myself.

  “This is awesome. It’s so subtle I almost didn’t notice the bite. And the fangs, they look so real. You’re going to be the best costume designer the big screens have ever seen!”

  Vanessa laughed. “Thanks. I know you don’t like Vampires much, Val, but with your looks, I just couldn’t help myself. All right, it’s my turn. You two go ahead. I will meet you in the town square at five o’clock.”

  Walking into the middle of town together, Emily and I felt our nerves tingling. We had never looked so fantastic in our entire lives. I still couldn’t believe what our friend had done to the two of us. The closer we came to town, the louder the music became until I could hear the creepy words of the songs. Glancing at Emily, I lifted my brows at her.

  Emily also stared at the zombie band on top of the stage in the center of the town square. “Wow. Those zombie costumes look almost real. Kind of creepy.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they are, and their voices sound like I would imagine the undead to sound.” When Emily gave me a look, we both erupted into laughter.

  The men in the band swayed stiffly, their long hair hung in mats around their shoulders, and dark circles ringed their eyes. Their skin was pale, with an almost pasty look to it. Their clothes hung in tatters on them, and their voices had this undertone of creepiness that gave me goosebumps. Even though they left me feeling sick to my stomach, I had to admit, their costumes rocked.

  Making our way toward the center of the square, I looked around trying to find my parents. I glanced again at the zombie band on top of the stage, and the creepy feeling came over me again. The main singer seemed to be staring right at us, and I decided we needed some space from the all too realistic dead guys.

  Pulling Emily cautiously away from the zombie band, I shook off the heebie-jeebies. Seeing my parents ahead, I hurried to catch up with them. “Mom! Dad! Hey!”

  Seeing my parents turn, I caught sight of the people they were with. Nearly tripping, I stopped walking. The two men standing beside my parents were…spine-chilling, to say the least. I didn’t know if they just had a professional makeup artist, or if they were the real deal. Their skin was so pale it was spooky. Both had dark hair and eerie blue eyes.

  I was tempted to turn away, all those old fears from my childhood awakening to haunt me, but since my mother and father had already seen me, I discarded the temptation. Approaching them, I smiled, revealing my fake fangs.

  My mother gasped. “Oh geez, is that you, Val? I nearly didn’t recognize you. Wow. Vanessa really outdid herself. You two look terrific!”

  I smiled at my mom, still eyeing the strange men wearily. One of them stepped forward, bowing to me. “So, this is the infamous Valkyrie Walker. It is a pleasure, Madam.”

  Staring at the man, I thought he sounded like he was from the eighteenth century, maybe even further back. My mother giggled, causing me to sigh. “Uh, I’m sorry, I don’t know you. Who are you?”

  My mom nodded. “Oh, but you do, honey. This is your cousin, once or twice removed, of course. Anyway, you two met when you were still very small. I’m sure he looks much older with all the makeup off.”

  The man, my cousin apparently, smiled. He, too, had sharp teeth, but his looked much more realistic. I thought it was a bit weird that we had both dressed as Vampires. Extending a hand, he said, “I am Dominique La Belle. It is a pleasure to see you again, Valkyrie.”

  The way he said my name caused me to shiver. There was something really creepy about this guy. I studied the man. He looked slightly older than me, but there was something unsettling about him and his old-world mannerism. His blue eyes seemed too perfect, as though they had light reflectors within.

  “So, if you are my cousin, however distant, why is it you have not come around more often?” Glancing at my mother, I continued, “And why have you not mentioned him to me all these years?”

  My mother had a slightly confused look for a moment. Shaking her head, she smiled. “Sorry, that was odd. Anyway, you know how it is, baby. You grow apart, lose touch. Dominique came all the way out from New Orleans to spend tonight with us. After all, it’s not every day your little baby turns eighteen.”

  The man named Dominique smiled, and it reminded me of a predator, right before they go for the kill.<
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  “Yes, my dear Valkyrie, it is not every day that you turn eighteen. I most definitely would not miss it for anything.” There was a devious sparkle in his eyes.

  I eyed him wearily. Weird. The way he had worded that sentence was just…weird. I didn’t trust something about this guy or his friend. All this time my mother had never uttered a word about him, and yet here he was, supposedly to celebrate my birthday with me.

  “Well, it was nice meeting you and all, but I’ve got to go look for a friend. See you later.”

  My mom shook her head. “Val, darling, I promised your cousin you would show him around. Do be a good girl and keep an eye on him.”

  I stared at my mom’s back as she and my father trotted merrily off. Did they really not think this guy was a little strange? Glancing at my so-called cousin, I smiled nervously. Turning toward Emily, I noticed she hadn’t moved or said a word. This night seemed to get odder by the minute.

  “Emily, hey Em, you all right?” Waving a hand in front of my friend’s face, I watched as Emily shook her head. Her expression frozen and dazed. She looked around, confused.

  “Hey, who are these guys?” Emily waved at them before looking back at me.

  Staring at her, I stood silent for several long moments. Finally turning toward the eerie pair of Vampires, I indicated the one who was supposed to be my cousin. “Uh, this is my cousin, Dominique La Belle. And this is….”

  I turned to lift an eyebrow at Dominique. After a moment, he seemed to understand the question. “Ah, yes. This is my friend, Anthony St. Ive.”

  Staring at him for a long moment, I thought, yeah, they are both strange as hell. “Okay. This is my friend Emily. How was it that we are related again?”

  Dominque studied me for a long moment. “Your father’s side. My father and he were distant cousins. Very distant.”

  I nodded again. Sure. It made no sense to me at all. Momentarily distracted, I noticed Vanessa making her way toward us, already drawing a crowd. Of course. Shaking my head, I glanced at Emily and we shared a silent laugh. Forgotten was my strange cousin and his strange friend as we excitedly stalked forward to greet our friend.