Prelude (An Alec Winters Series, Book 1) Read online

  “You’re right. That’s a great idea and I’ll do it, but I’ll be back as quickly as I can,” Alec promised before kissing Sabrina once more. Chaz kicked at imaginary debris on the sidewalk, waiting patiently for the couples evening ritual to end.

  “Great,” Chaz commented with only a tiny bit of ire even though Sabrina shot him a cross glare. “What?” Chaz exhaled, looking surprised at her reprimand. “That gives us a few more minutes to study for this massive chemistry exam. This new teacher is kicking our butts.”

  “Oh, and Alec,” Sabrina added, “If you need the entire evening with Cat, that’s fine too. Chaz and I will study until ten o’clock, but I have to be in bed by eleven. I have to be up extra early tomorrow to get everything ready for Mother’s birthday. I love you. If I miss you tonight, know how happy I’ll be to see you tomorrow.”

  Business at the market was unusually slow that evening. There was very little for Alec to do. In all reality, he would rather stay busy while working. It didn’t matter to him whether he bagged groceries, stocked shelves, swept and mopped aisles, or did any other number of odd jobs at the family owned grocery. He simply liked to work and keep his body moving.

  The simple tasks kept his mind occupied and held the normal worries about his sister and mother at bay. It kept him from thinking too much about the problems at home. Cat’s unidentified fears and Cassidy’s unrelenting lethargy worried him often. Overall, the busy-work calmed him.

  Knowledge that the grocery store had been in operation for four generations gave Alec a sense of permanence and belonging. It was something he really needed. He’d often felt different, as if he didn’t quite fit in or belong, as if he was born during the wrong era. Places and things that had been around for a long time seemed to balance the scales and even out those unsteady emotions.

  Intellectually, he knew that the feelings of being different were normal teenage-angst. Catalina, now thirteen, was going through that troubling time also and he sympathized with her. It was rare for any adolescent to feel a true connection because each was still trying to figure things out and find his or her way. Alec realized that the years between thirteen and nineteen were often both scary and exciting. They certainly were for him. He also understood that those who did associate with like-minded friends or beliefs would tenaciously cling to their group throughout high school and on into adulthood. It provided a much-needed safety net for them.

  Still, the longevity of his workplace was an added bonus. It was the same with the home on Carrollton Avenue. It had been in his family for more than five generations. How much more, he wasn’t sure. He only knew it was a safe haven for his family, or was it. Cat’s fearful expression loomed in the back of his mind. Her tear-streaked face ripped the ideal of happy home to shreds. Within seconds, the notion was gone.

  Such an ideal of happy home was an illusion anyway, he bitterly acknowledged.

  Alec recalled that the crying and objections about being home alone with their parents had started the previous year and continued into the current year. Cat had even put away her drawing supplies as if the art she’d once loved no longer gave her any joy. Feeling overwhelmed, and that there wasn’t anything he could do anyway, Alec had ignored all of it. Even now, unsure how to process the emotions he felt when he thought about his sister’s unhappiness, he shoved the images and the guilt away. Although it still percolated on the back burner of his mind, Alec forced himself to concentrate on the more pleasant thoughts of Sabrina.

  My God, but she’s beautiful, Alec silently acknowledged as he shelved a box of canned soup and allowed Sabrina to take over his thoughts. I can’t imagine a more enjoyable life than one where I’m wrapped in her welcoming and loving arms every night.

  Alec had first met Sabrina when the freshmen of several area middle schools converged into one central high school where he was already a sophomore. Sabrina had attended Catholic school until the end of eighth grade, and even though she’d been friends with Chaz through church and other neighborhood affiliations, Alec had never met her.

  Even at fourteen years of age, Sabrina was the epitome of a desirable French-Cajun beauty with dark hair, olive eyes, and a creamy, flawless complexion. She was five feet eight inches tall with a slender, yoga body. She fit into his arms perfectly, and while holding her close, he always felt as if he was the luckiest person alive. The combination of her confidence, intellect, and appearance was exceptional. In fact, she was the entire package, and as such, she intimidated both male and female students alike.

  She is too beautiful, Alec silently realized.

  Her beauty caused girls to hate her and boys to feel as if they didn’t have a chance with her. She had acquired the nickname of ‘tutu’ because she was too smart, too beautiful, too much. Because of her positive attributes, Sabrina didn’t fit in either. Alec shared that bond with her as well. The feelings of exclusion and separation from the other students had bound their hearts even more closely together.

  As far as he was concerned, she was miles ahead of the other female students who threw themselves in his path, begging to be his girl. Alec wasn’t blind. He knew they wanted him to choose one of them. However, from the day he first met Sabrina, he’d only had eyes for her. A fleeting glimpse of Danaé popped into his mind, but he easily brushed the unbidden thought aside.

  When he’d first seen Sabrina, he’d felt an overwhelming desire to take her arm and to look into her eyes. Instead, the thought of talking to her made him feel shy and awkward which was unusual for his natural self-assuredness. A slight blush had crept up his face as he tried to gather the courage to introduce himself. He wrestled with the idea while she took the initiative.

  “You’re Alec Winters. My good friend Chaz Lambert talks about you all the time. I think you’d like to walk me home today,” she’d said with a smile as she unflinchingly gazed into his clear blue eyes. He walked her home after practice that day and the connection between them felt instant.

  They talked too long and time raced by making him late for his shift at the grocery store. To him, it felt as if he could talk to her for hours on end. Silences were never empty with Sabrina. Somehow, the conversation continued on some other plane as if their hearts already knew the story. They were inseparable and in love from that moment on.

  No one thought their love would last, not even Chaz. They were on divergent paths for the future. Well-meaning parents and school advisors cautioned that young love couldn’t last, that it burned too brightly and quickly, but they were wrong. The love Alec and Sabrina shared was committed; their bond was enduring and everlasting. They were completely, utterly in love. More importantly, they shared a ‘first love.’

  First love, that first experience of sharing heart and soul with another, is the strongest. The heart is fresh and open to possibilities. The soul is eager to intertwine. The flame of first love is the brightest and most intense. Nothing can ever compare to it. Never having felt the sting of disappointment or betrayal, first love has its own energy and beauty…a magical quality that can’t be dampened, dispelled, or discredited. Alec knew that Sabrina was the one for him. He was ever aware that she was all he’d ever want or desire in a woman.

  As the woman of his dreams, Alec had their immediate future carefully planned out. He’d spent countless hours planning a life that would benefit each of them. He’d attend LSU while Sabrina went to Tulane. After graduation from college, he’d get a good job while she continued medical school. They’d marry and have their own home, living anywhere she wanted. It was a great plan. One that kept his mind occupied while working part time at Lang’s Market.

  “Hey Alec!” Johnson, the store manager called out. The booming voice startled him out of the reverie. “Quit daydreaming about that pretty little girlfriend and pack up dinner for the family. It’s nearly closing time, but it’s slow tonight and I need to get out of here a few minutes early. My wife has plans for this big, beautiful brown body of mine.” Johnson chuckled softly before adding, “It’s our annivers
ary.”

  Alec selected small deli items that he knew Cat would enjoy and packed up half a stroganoff for his own dinner. He boxed two brownies separately to complete the meal. He knew that Cassidy wouldn’t eat anything and that his dad often ate at the bar or drank his dinner. There was no need to pack anything for either of them. Although Alec usually had something to eat at Sabrina’s home, tonight he’d have dinner with Cat. Then, if that didn’t take too long, he’d visit Sabrina before she went to bed at eleven.

  It was a good plan, and he was satisfied with it, but the well-worn routine unwittingly had become a rut. Same old, same old wouldn’t cut it anymore. The quarterback of life’s big game was about to change Alec’s life forever.

  Chapter 6

  Fully expecting his parents to be asleep, Alec was eager to spend quality time with Catalina. Dinner with his sister was long overdue and he was grateful to Sabrina for suggesting it. As he hurried home, he carried a plastic bag of boxed food from the deli. The handles were looped over his right arm and he kept it balanced as he sprinted down Carrollton Avenue. The sooner he fulfilled that obligation to Cat, the sooner he could head to Sabrina’s home, hopefully to spend at least an hour with her. However, only half a block away, he was shocked to hear the wild commotion going on inside the solidly built manor. It was unusual for the sound of any voices to be heard outside.

  Now, the shrillness of an argument trickled out onto the front stoop, growing louder the closer he got. Nosy neighbors, standing outside on their lawns, listened intently. It seemed every person’s eye was trained on the Saguache home. Some simply stared and muttered unintelligible comments while others looked up at Catalina’s bedroom window. He knew something was terribly wrong before he ever entered the two-story home.

  “What the hell!” he gasped as he opened the front door. The shopping bag slipped off his arm, the Styrofoam containers burst, and the food spilled out onto the floor. Alec cursed again under his breath, but he paid no attention to the self-made mess. Instead, he quickly searched the room, taking in everything. No one was there to explain. All the noise came from upstairs, from his sister’s bedroom.

  On this particular night, their father had come home drunk again. Rather than stumble to the master bedroom to watch television or collapse in a recliner until he passed out, Buck Winters had gone to Catalina’s room. Once inside, Alec could distinctly hear the unpleasant ruckus of Cat’s shrill crying and Buck’s slurred threats. The sound of his sister’s hysterical screams chilled his blood.

  “What the hell is he doing to her!” he stormed again as he swiftly took in the scene downstairs.

  Cassidy, who had passed out from prescription sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications, lay prostrate on the sofa. An empty wine bottle stood beside overturned pill bottles. She didn’t bother to stir when Alec opened the door. She didn’t react when Cat’s loud screams penetrated the room below. Alec suddenly realized that his mother might be too intoxicated to help, but that didn’t excuse him. He couldn’t bear the thought of his little sister’s suffering.

  Although some small part of him wanted to turn around and run away, he couldn’t abandon Catalina. He dreaded the confrontation he knew would follow, but he felt compelled to intervene. He couldn’t ignore the situation any longer. He had to do something to save both his sister and his mother.

  Assessing the state of affairs and coming to that conclusion occurred within milliseconds of his entrance into the home. However, making the decision to intervene caused an unspecified ‘thing’ to snap like a dry twig inside him. It was an unusual experience for the young man. He felt as if something had awakened from its sleep, something that had been there all along. Out of the crack left behind, a sprig of surreal and unknown origin sprang forth. It was a new growth, a bursting evolution, but Alec didn’t have the words to describe or name the transformation. He only knew that it happened.

  It was one of those life-changing moments. A moment that would forevermore be defined by ‘before’ and ‘after.’ Imbued with extra fortitude, and maybe even a little bravado, Alec bounded up the stairs to Cat’s aid. Even with the determination to protect her, he was still shocked and unprepared when he opened the door.

  The scene was bizarre and disturbing. Alec immediately wanted to close the door, to erase the horrific scene from his memory. The last thing he wanted to do was to put himself in the middle of whatever was happening, however, that wasn’t an option. He couldn’t ‘unsee’ the horrible images.

  How long has this been going on? He wondered as a multitude of alarming and distressing thoughts quickly traveled through his mind. How long have I been blind to Cat’s pain and misery? Didn’t she try to tell me? Didn’t her tears and fears express this pain and confusion? Have I been so busy with my own inane routine, that I’ve been blind to her suffering? What the hell is the matter with me? What the hell is wrong with my father?

  Alec felt sickened and nauseated. The reality of the scene washed over him. Oh, my God! I knew this all along, didn’t I? He silently raged. How could I be so callous, so blind? How could I have left Cat alone to suffer this appalling abuse? God forgive me for my neglect! He mentally ranted. Unprepared for the enormity of what he witnessed, he silently continued, what the hell am I supposed to do with this information? How am I supposed to handle this situation?

  At that moment, he had little choice in the matter. He had to face the harsh reality and do something about it. Buck Winters was a disturbed and evil man, violating the innocence of his own young daughter. That knowledge stoked the fires of Alec’s indignation. His rage about the scene before him caused the new sprout to grow even faster. Like Jack’s beanstalk, it climbed upwards, stretching towards truth, climbing faster and faster as it took in a multitude of factors that had been there all along even though Alec had refused to see them. Those facts led to one conclusion and one alone.

  My father is a pedophile!

  Alec’s assessment took only seconds, but everything in the bedroom seemed to move in slow motion. His sister, small and helpless, fought Buck with all her strength, struggling to get free from his grasp. Buck didn’t even notice her resistance. Although he was too drunk to accomplish the attempted rape, especially with Catalina’s struggles, Buck kept trying. “Come on, baby, you know you want what papa has. Don’t fight it. Give it to me,” Buck slurred out, deluded as well as drunk.

  “Let me go!” Cat squealed. “I hate you! Let me go! No daughter wants such filthy wickedness from her father! Let me go!”

  It was more reality that the youth didn’t want to face. Too caught up in the struggle, neither Cat nor Buck seemed to notice Alec’s presence. He studied his father more closely, trying to ascertain the root of such transgressions and evil. He couldn’t imagine the depths of Buck’s moral corruption. However, there was an obvious sign right before him and Alec couldn’t ignore the ugly, reddish-orange cloud that surrounded the drunkard. It permeated and darkened the room. The strange haze was alarming. Alec batted at the mass of particles, but his gesture had no effect. Although he’d never before seen such a thing, the image stayed with him. His new eyes opened a little wider and the fire growing inside him began to understand everything he saw, heard, and felt.

  Unsure whether he’d imagined the color around his father, Alec glanced at Cat. He saw that a yellow-golden cloud surrounded her. It was delicate and beautiful. Then, Alec noticed that each time Buck grabbed for Catalina, his orange-red cloud grew bigger and more intense while Cat’s golden-haze grew more faint, smaller and weaker.

  Alec wondered if the individual clouds of color indicated some kind of spiritual energy. He wondered if what he witnessed was spiritual warfare. Was this a battle between good and evil? Suddenly, he understood. Alec’s heightened instincts instantly made sense out of everything he saw.

  He’s ripping the life force from her! He’s killing her!

  Now, he had only one thought: stop the threat. With that in mind, Alec jumped onto his father’s back, grabbing him around
the throat. Alec squeezed with all his might, hoping to cut off his father’s wind. He quickly rationalized the situation. If Buck passed out, Alec would drag him to the master bedroom and leave him to sleep off his drunken state. Then, he’d figure out how to keep Catalina safe from further attacks. He briefly considered that his sister could stay with an aunt that lived in Birmingham, but that’s as far as he got with the idea.

  It was a good plan that might work, but Buck didn’t go down easily. He was a large man with a thick, bullish neck. He turned loose of Cat to fight off his attacker. At six feet two inches and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, there was little contest. Buck, unaware that it was his own son who tried to stop him, threw his attacker aside. He swatted at Alec as if he was merely a fly. Alec’s lip burst from the blow and began to bleed.

  Undeterred, Alec leaped onto his father’s back again, this time securing his arms tightly around the beefy throat. Locking his wrists with renewed determination and vigor, Alec again tried his best to choke out the bastard. He wanted to stop his father from stealing his sister’s precious energy, from destroying her, but it was all he could do to hold on. Alec stubbornly and doggedly clung to his perch on Buck’s back as the struggle continued.

  Buck, not to be outdone or bested, swung around in circles. It was an attempt to knock his attacker off again. He slammed against the walls and bedposts in an effort to peel off his assailant, but Alec refused to let go.

  All the while, Cat stood against the wall with both fists tightly clenched to her chin, looking on in horror. She’d never seen Alec angry and she’d never imagined what it would take to stop her father. She feared that Buck might kill her brother and the very thought of losing Alec terrified her. Cat wanted to help, but she wasn’t sure what to do.

  Furniture overturned, glass lamp globes shattered, while books and art supplies flew off their shelves. Each time Buck smashed into a wall, pictures rattled and fell to the floor. Cat’s charcoals, pens, and drawing pencils were crushed underfoot…all while Alec rode his father’s back…all while Cassidy slept on…all while Buck cursed at the top of his lungs. His loud voice alerted the neighbors that the commotion was seriously out of hand. Someone called the police, and still, Cassidy never awakened from the medicated state of denial and escape where she unconsciously drifted.