Fury: The Awakening (The Scorned Series Book 1) Read online

  The scenery around her became familiar and as she got nearer to the house, she felt an excitement building up inside of her and feelings of peace entered her body one more time. She had to have this house. She just had to. She didn’t have any idea what she’d do if the man said no. She tried to prepare herself for that eventuality, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it.

  She rounded the last curve in the road, saw the house in the distance and she knew she was home. She hoped that somehow she could make it happen. The question was how?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Stephanie got out of her car, stopping as close to the house as she could. The tall, unruly weeds kept her from pulling into what used to be the driveway. She was glad that she was wearing jeans. She didn’t want her legs to get scratched up.

  Typically, she liked to wear shorts whenever she could get away with it. Even though there was a lot of rain where she lived, the sun did find its way out and she liked to contribute to the tan on her legs as much as possible. She enjoyed showing them off since they were slightly muscular and well-toned. Although hard to keep up with, she normally worked out three times a week at the gym to keep her body firm.

  The weeds clawed at her clothing as she made her way to the front porch. It creaked under her weight as she stepped onto the wood slats. The split wood was the victim of sun, rain and time. The deck would have to be completely torn up and redone, she noted. She tried not to just look at the work that needed doing, but at the potential the house held. The porch design was elegant and the hand-carved pillars appeared to be salvageable. As she looked up, she noticed the tall ceilings and the detailed crown molding that had surprisingly survived the elements. She was amazed at the architecture. She took out her phone and took pictures of the structure’s exterior.

  Taking in every detail she could, Stephanie made her way to the front door. It looked to be made out of a solid wood, but it was very beat up and splintered around where the latch used to be. It was missing the entire doorknob assembly and was hanging by just the bottom hinge. It stood slightly ajar, but she couldn’t see in through the crack. The many panes of small, square, windows on either side of the front door were broken out. Just the framework remained and even that was in poor shape.

  Stephanie noticed tattered remnants of curtains hanging from the top of the window frame. How there were any shards of material left after all of these years was a mystery.

  She subconsciously took a deep breath and pushed the front door open. It made an awful scraping noise as the bottom of the door rubbed along the floor. She looked at the room before her in amazement. It traveled the entire length of the house. She looked up and noticed the ceiling was two stories high and a winding staircase led from the vast chamber to the upper level. There were custom built-in bookcases traveling along half of the length of the room on both sides of a fireplace, which was big enough to stand in. The mantle on the fireplace was stone as was the hearth. The ceiling was grandiose, looking like something out of a ballroom.

  The house had ornate columns running up the wall to the ceiling in several spots around the room. There were even a few old pieces of furniture scattered around on the hardwood floor.

  Stephanie was in awe over the mammoth size of the room. She took in the excessive damage, wondering what she was getting herself into. About a fourth of the ceiling was hanging down where water had leaked through the roof. The furniture was trashed and Stephanie could tell that either some transients had, at one time, stayed there, or there was a wild party there a time or two. Probably high-school kids, she thought. The hardwood floor had held up fairly well except for the area where the rainwater had poured into the room. All the windows in the room were, of course, broken out and the walls had an occasional hole in the lath, probably from vandalism.

  While taking in all the details of the great room, as she took more pictures, Stephanie walked through the entire thing until she came to a doorway at the opposite side of the room. Stepping through it, Stephanie saw what used to be a formal dining room and beyond that was the kitchen.

  Peering through a doorway to her left, Stephanie noticed a laundry area and a screened back porch off the rear of the house. She decided to go investigate the kitchen. The major appliances were still there, but they were so old and antiquated that to her, they looked dangerous. The sink was a giant old porcelain thing. The kitchen, however, was huge and she knew it would make a gorgeous modern kitchen.

  Getting further and further intrigued with the house with every step she took, Stephanie ventured through the next door off of the kitchen. It was a bathroom, although it was missing half of its fixtures. On the opposite side of the bathroom was another door leading out. Stephanie entered through the door and saw that it led into a huge bedroom. As she entered it, she decided it would make a great office. When she exited the door on the other side of the bedroom, she found herself back by the entry hall near the front door. She’d toured the entire downstairs.

  Somewhat apprehensive of what would be upstairs, Stephanie paused before she started up the staircase.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The staircase was actually still solid and Stephanie was surprised as she climbed it that it didn’t seem rickety. That would be a bonus when it came time to restore it. Scenes of Tom Hank’s movie, The Money Pit played through her brain. She recalled the part of the movie where the staircase fell apart, step-by-step, as he climbed it. She was hoping she had a better experience than the characters played by Mr. Hanks and Shelley Long. She got to the top landing and looked down the extended hallway.

  The doors on either side of the hallway were closed, as was the one at the end. She hoped she didn’t come across a squatter sleeping in one of the rooms. The downstairs didn’t look like anyone had been there recently, so she was hopeful. The first bedroom she entered was no different than the downstairs. Debris was scattered around and there was some damage to the walls and the floor, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. She was surprised by the size of the room and the closet. They were very spacious.

  Stephanie left the room and continued down the hall, checking behind each door. She explored two bedrooms and a hallway bathroom before coming to the door at the end of the hall. She was hoping that behind it would be a master bedroom. It was. The room was the largest out of all of the bedrooms and seemed to be about half as big as her entire apartment. It had the usual damage that she was used to seeing throughout the house, but no major surprises. The closet wasn’t a walk-in and seemed rather small. She walked over to a set of French doors that faced the end of the house and found that they opened up onto the top deck. The weathered wood looked suspect and she decided not to press her luck.

  As she turned and saw the doorway to the bathroom, she wondered how bad it was going to be. The crust on the fixtures was enough to make her wrinkle up her nose in disgust and the room felt cramped.

  The master bedroom was the last room in the house. There was no garage or storage area that she noticed, although there was plenty of land to build something.

  Stephanie scrolled through the pictures on her phone, making sure she got good shots of everything. The pictures would help her to remember details when it came time to figuring out the scope of work to be done. Satisfied, she walked back out to the porch and scanned the landscape.

  As before, she was amazed by the tranquility of the area. She saw no signs of anyone else or any other buildings. She couldn’t place her finger on why she felt so calm there, but she once again knew that she had to get the house.

  It was Friday afternoon and the day was slipping away, yet she had no answers and wouldn’t be able to get any traction over the weekend. Stephanie felt disappointed that the day wasn’t as productive as she’d hoped. She stepped off the porch and headed back to her car. There was really nothing she could do but wait at this point. She started her car and headed back towards town. The drive was a blur as she couldn’t concentrate on anything. Not knowing where to go and not w
anting to go home, she passed a Home Depot and decided to stop in and get some ideas for the house. She knew she was putting the cart before the horse, but she could think of nothing else.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Stephanie walked through the store with her phone in her hand. She’d always loved home improvement stores, but never had much opportunity to shop at one. The array of items was a wonderful distraction and she wandered around, aisle by aisle, making a mental list of things she might need for the house, if she were lucky enough to be able to buy it. Additionally, she took pictures of items she wanted to remember later. Luckily, her iPhone still had a pretty good charge on it.

  As she made her way through the store, the nagging feeling of doubt in the back of her mind chipped away at her euphoria of making plans for the new house. The shopping trip, which was really just a discovery trip, was fun, but Stephanie wished she could commit to buying some of the items.

  She knew that the things she’d just picked out were going to be expensive, and she also knew the house and all of the renovations were going to be costly as well, but she had a plan partially formulated in her head. She’d need some real numbers to work with before she could come up with a more solid plan. The information she was gathering would help.

  Stephanie yawned and realized that she’d been at the store for a few hours. With an overload of information clouding her thoughts, she decided to go home. At thirty-one, she felt old. She had no plans and no life. She knew what she wanted, but it was beyond her grasp. She walked out to her car, got in and sat down and closed her eyes for a second. Her eyes snapped open fifteen minutes later when her phone rang. She saw it was a California number and her heart skipped a beat.

  “Hello?”

  “Ms. Duran?”

  “Yes, hi!”

  “This is John Sitgrieves calling again.”

  Stephanie could barely contain herself. She was hoping for the best, but feared the worst.

  “Thanks for calling me back, Mr. Sitgrieves.”

  “You’re welcome. I thought I’d get back to you before I got too busy and forgot. My old brain has a habit of doing that sometimes.”

  “I appreciate it!” Did she dare to hope?

  “I’ve given your offer quite a bit of thought today. After all, the house is certainly a burden to me and I’ve never really known what to do with it. That’s why it has sat there all these years in the condition it’s in. I wish my client hadn’t left it to me, but he did. It was his wish that no one ever live in that house again. I don’t know why, but that was his wish. Now I’m stuck with it, because I can’t sell it.”

  Stephanie’s heart started to sink. “Sir, I know it’s a burden to you. Let me take that burden off your shoulders. Your client would understand. You kept his wishes for all of these years.”

  There was a pause on the line. “I’m sorry, Ms. Duran. He didn’t want anyone else living in that house. I’m a man of integrity. I won’t be able to sell it to you.”

  Stephanie decided to try using a loophole. “Mr. Sitgrieves, I understand your client didn’t want anyone else to live in the house, but he never said anything about someone living on the property. The house is in pretty bad shape anyway. Won’t you please consider selling me the property? A new house would look fantastic in the same spot.”

  “You make a very valid point, Ms. Duran; however, I’m sorry, but I just can’t sell. I’m sure you understand.”

  Stephanie’s heart fell. Not knowing what else she could say, she thanked him and hung up. It appeared that her new-found dream was over. She was in shock. Even though Mr. Sitgrieves gave her no reason to think he’d sell it, in the back of her mind, she hadn’t accepted that reality. Now she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. This house was a distraction from everything that had happened in the last day and a half. It made her feel alive again. There seemed to be some inner motivation that she didn’t understand, but she was grateful for the escape from reality. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. Stephanie started the car and headed towards the apartment. She arrived there without remembering the drive home.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Stephanie woke up around noon on Saturday. When she’d arrived home the night before, she’d eaten something and gone straight to bed. Her brain was in a fog and she felt lost again. She was alone in the same apartment that her fiancé had cheated on her in. Her new adventure had fizzled before it even began.

  A dull, rhythmic pattering filled her apartment as heavy droplets of rain pelted the roof. She looked through the front window and saw a gray rain-soaked day. She decided to stay inside, curl up in bed and watch television. There didn’t seem much else for her to do. Her motivation level was nonexistent and she felt empty inside.

  She went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A brunch seemed in order and she brought out the eggs, bacon, cheese, milk and other ingredients she’d need. As she whipped up the scrambled eggs and bacon, her mind started playing over the conversation she had with the lawyer the day before. She wondered if she had missed an angle that would’ve changed his mind, but could think of no other way to convince him to sell.

  As she ate, she noticed the food was tasteless. She scraped the remnants from her plate into the trash and placed the plate in the sink. While she typically kept a tidy house, instead of cleaning, she crawled into bed and curled around one of her pillows. The TV show that served as background noise played, yet she paid no attention to the content. Her daze was interrupted by the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Ms. Duran. John Sitgrieves calling.”

  Stephanie was confused. It seemed like they’d already said everything there was to say.

  “Hello, Mr. Sitgrieves.”

  “Sorry to bother you on a Saturday. Do you have a moment?”

  “Of course. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m hoping I can do something for you. Are you still interested in the property?”

  Stephanie tensed up. “Of course!”

  “I thought about our conversation yesterday all night. I promised my client that no one would live in the house ever again, but he never told me I couldn’t sell the property. Is it just the property you want and not the house?”

  “Yes,” Stephanie lied. “Just the property.”

  “I’ll sell you the property for three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars if you promise to tear the house down. Are you interested?”

  “Very! What time frame are you looking at?”

  “I can do thirty to forty-five days if that helps. I’m just happy to be getting rid of it. We don’t need any real estate brokers involved if you’re good with that. I can draw up the paperwork.”

  “That sounds good, but let’s make it ten days and I’ll come to close with cash.”

  “Perfect, Ms. Duran. I’ll get started on the paperwork on Monday. I’ll reach out to you next week with more details.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Sitgrieves. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. You just made my day… actually my year!”

  “Well I appreciate you reaching out to me. Talk to you soon.”

  They said their goodbyes and hung up. Stephanie’s mind was racing. What just happened? Was she really going to be a homeowner? She struggled to organize her thoughts as she started to make plans for the house. Her lie about not wanting the house itself came back into her mind. She felt terrible for lying, but she figured that the lawyer would never know the difference since he’d never even come out to look at the house before. He’d asked her to promise to tear down the house and then asked if she was interested in it. She’d not actually promised to do so. She laughed out loud at her semantics, as she usually got frustrated with others who played the same game.

  Stephanie pulled her mind back to what was most important. She’d just committed to pay someone $350,000 for a house and property that she couldn’t live on yet. It was time to start scraping up the money to buy the house. She’d worry about the renovations when the time came. She wasn’t to
o worried about making it happen.

  Stephanie booted up her laptop and connected to one of her online accounts to look at the balance. When she was twelve, her aunt had passed away, just three short months after her uncle had passed, from a heart attack. Her aunt and uncle had no children of their own, so her aunt had left half of their estate to Stephanie’s parents and had put the other half in a trust for Stephanie. It was a fairly substantial amount after the life insurance had paid out for both of them. She hadn’t been able to touch it until she was twenty-five. When that time had come and gone, she decided to leave it alone and save it for something big, like a home purchase. When she met her husband years earlier, he already had a house, so she kept her trust fund a secret and never brought it up. Likewise, Jeff hadn’t known about it either. She wasn’t sure what she’d been saving it for, but when she first saw the house and property, she finally knew.

  The account had grown considerably over the last nineteen years. Her current balance was a little over $458,000, so she knew she had enough to buy the place and do some of the remodel, but she knew she’d run out of money before she finished it. Even then, she wasn’t worried about it as she was paying rent now for an apartment, so she wouldn’t mind putting that amount towards a smaller house payment.

  Stephanie opened a spreadsheet and began to type. She was an organized person and liked to make lists and spreadsheets to keep things in order. She started to organize her thoughts on what she needed to accomplish and by when and made a list of things that needed to be done to the house. She added estimated costs for everything and when she was done, totaled it. She blinked when she looked at the total. She definitely needed more money.