Callie - An Enchantress Novel - Book 1

Chapter 1

Dedicated to @Demelza Carlton for her awesome editing skills. She's taught me so much.

Callie's hand shot out from under the duvet and pummelled the alarm until the incessant beeping stopped, only for it to be replaced by the pounding on her bedroom door. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the duvet over her head to muffle the noise.

"Just another five minutes please!" she begged.

"Get up lazy bones, it's the first day of your new job and you can't be late," Adrianne hollered through the closed door.

She'd had the nightmare again last night, the same one she'd had every night for the last twelve years - George creeping into her room to laughingly tell her that her parents were dead and she was finally all his. The imprint of his repulsive, wandering hands touching her skin that first night were firmly etched in her mind and she could still see the look of lust that would cross his face when they entered a room he happened to be in. The look of horror on Adie's face when he tied her to the bedposts and made her watch him rape her, would stay with her for an eternity.

The nightmare, although over now in reality and in sleep, was a vivid reminder of his torment from the first night he dragged Adie into her room to partake in his fun. Only too willing to take on two troubled pre-teen girls, he'd been dreaming about getting them alone for years before that. Imagining how they would feel beneath him and he praised the fates that brought him his greatest wish. To everyone else he was a saint, a hero who stepped up to the mark. They'd tried to tell a social worker not long after it started but she had flirted with George, accusing them of being attention-seeking, little misfits and told them, in no uncertain terms, that their uncle was making a huge sacrifice by giving up his life to look after them.

Their schoolteachers had failed to notice bruises marring their bodies on a daily basis, and parents of friends never questioned George's reasons for not allowing them to sleep over. Callie was eternally grateful that Adie had the foresight to convince their doctor to put them on the contraceptive pill under the pretence of 'excruciatingly painful cramps'.

Adrianne, Callie's twin sister, older by 4 minutes but more like forty years in terms of her maturity, continued to pound on the door. "I'm not leaving until you show yourself!"

Adie had pretty much taken over the run of the household when they turned seventeen, the day they finally found the strength to fight back and kick out their abusive uncle. Now, three long years after they had shut the door on Uncle George's bleeding and swelling nose, the dedication and single-mindedness Callie had put into her schoolwork after her one failed attempt at a relationship had finally paid off. She graduated with honours. Today she would take the first step to her dream job.

She'd be an assistant to some big-shot reporter, a gopher really, but Callie didn't mind as long as she was allowed to tag along to the headline stories. She got the job because her English professor saw a spark of talent in her that was seriously lacking in her classmates, so he had recommended her for the position.

"Cal, come on! Get your butt in gear. You have to leave in like an hour!" Adie continued to pound on the door until Callie finally threw the duvet off and got out of bed, staggering on her way to open the door.

Adie took in the dishevelled appearance of her sister. From her ebony hair, normally glossy in slight, sleek waves, now looked like something a crow would use for a nest. Her shortie P.J's had ridden up and were presently poking out of Callie's backside.

"Oh my God!" Adie chuckled. "Look at the state of your hair. Get in the shower and I'll put breakfast out, then I'll fix it for you. Do you even know what you're wearing yet?"