Waking Her Demon

Waking Her Demon STRANGE ROCKSTARS BOOK ONE ALEXIS PIERCE NATALIE BARRY Copyright © 2023 by Alexis Pierce and Natalie Barry All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For permissions contact: [email protected] [email protected] Cover Design by Kate Hall Interior Design by Kate Hall Contents Content Warning Before 1. Christine 2. Joseph 3. Christine 4. Christine 5. Joseph 6. Christine 7. Joseph 8. Christine 9. Joseph 10. Joseph 11. Christine 12. Joseph 13. Christine 14. Joseph 15. Christine 16. Christine 17. Joseph 18. Joseph 19. Christine 20. Joseph 21. Christine 22. Joseph 23. Christine 24. Christine 25. Christine 26. Joseph 27. Christine 28. Joseph 29. Christine 30. Christine Nell Also by Alexis Pierce About the Author For the readers who know that some demons are better than others… …and want to fuck the best ones. Content Warning This book is a work of fiction that contains a large amount of triggering material. ON PAGE: Throughout the book, Christine is plagued by the Phantom, a demon that’s possessed her since she was a child. This character is a metaphor for Christine being the victim of an emotionally and physically abusive relationship from a young age, and the content between the Phantom and Christine can be extremely triggering. He is never shown to be a positive or “sexy” figure in her life, as this is not that type of book. Christine’s manager Jason is also emotionally abusive. There are also depictions of an eating disorder toward the beginning of the book. Other on-page depictions include: Blood, torture, human death, animal death, and characters with anxiety and depression. There are also several spicy scenes in which Joseph and Christine participate in fairly heavy BDSM that involves a degradation kink (imagined), choking, chasing, SPOILER WARNING: At the end of the book, there is a scene in which Christine is physically injured by Joseph’s actions, although she is healed by him immediately afterwards. OFF PAGE, MENTIONED: Before the start of the book, Christine attempts suicide in order to escape her abuser. This is mentioned throughout the book, and is a major part of Christine’s character arc. It is also mentioned that Jason, one of Christine’s abusers, does not allow her to eat, although these actions are not directly depicted on-page. Before the events of this book, Christine’s mother passed away from cancer, which is mentioned a few times. Again, this book can be triggering for some people. Please use your best judgment when deciding if this is the right book for you, and don’t feel bad if you decide you cannot continue reading it. Your mental health is more important than reading this book. Breathe for me. Don't wake me from this slumber. Stay with me… BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Before The human’s body was flung from the vehicle into a ditch, the cargo van still steaming higher up on the interstate. I’m not the only creature here tonight, the scent of blood and death and alcohol drawing in all sorts of monsters. I have no interest in those in the van, though, nor do I care about the driver of the truck who fell asleep going seventy miles per hour down the interstate. A high-pitched whine comes from the man with distant eyes filled with glass, his lung punctured and collapsing in on itself as he tries to breathe. I rest a smoky hand on his cheek. I don’t have long in this world, not without a physical body to hold me here. I can’t go back, though, not when I have the chance to escape, to come to this world of light and color and feeling. “Chris,” he gasps, and I tilt my head. “No,” I say in his strange language. “No, I do not think that’s correct.” He tries to cough, but his body is too weak, and tears fall from his blinded eyes. “Please help me,” he says, the words straining to come out as he tries to sob from fear and pain, but the injuries are too great for even that. The empty space in my chest pulls toward him, desperate for his heart to become mine. I’ve been waiting so long for this opportunity. The chance to have my own body. “I cannot save your life,” I say honestly. I’m not strong enough to heal him from the outside, and by the time I can possess him, he’ll be dead. “Soon, your soul will go somewhere I cannot reach.” I cringe at my own words. I’m doing this all wrong. I’ve been told that these delicate creatures prefer comforting words, that it’s easier to convince them that way. “I can save your loved ones from pain, though,” I say. “If you gift your body to me, I can take care of it, care for those you love.” Before I’m even finished with the words, he gasps, “Yes. Do it. Please. Find…” He does one of his non-coughs again, and I wait patiently for his next words. “Just tell her I’m sorry.” The last words are barely audible, even to my sensitive receptors, his voice fading quickly. “Tell who you’re sorry?” I ask, but it’s too late. I watch as the wisp of silver floats from his body before floating up to the sky in a sprinkling of dust. He’s gone, and my soul aches at the loss of a soul from this world, but there’s nothing I could have done. From there, instinct takes over, the smoke of my body melting into him. For the first time in my long existence, I…feel. I feel everything. The agony of broken bones, the sadness he left behind, the longing for…someone. I don’t get to keep his memories, but there’s something far away that I can’t quite catch, a longing that I can’t fill. Slowly, I use