The Leather Satchel Paranormal Romance Series - Books 1 to 6

Chapter One NOT EVERYONE was given a second chance, especially after failing so many times before. Valtina was among the lucky few who got a real opportunity to redeem themselves. She was a spirit trapped in Middle World: a place filled with souls who have gone astray and were not granted entrance into The Afterlife until they have learned a few lessons and found their place. These were lost souls in a way, and Valtina was most likely just a lifetime away from discovering her true identity. Right now, however, she was summoned by Ladaya to discuss a task that may grant her access to The Afterlife if she can complete it successfully. Valtina waited hopefully for her to arrive. Ladaya has already perfected her soul. She has earned her place in The Afterlife, but she has also learned what it means to help others, and so she returned regularly to guide souls through their journey and to help them succeed on their own paths. Now, she coalesced out of the gray fog surrounding them. Valtina’s face lit up with excitement and a hint of nervousness. Thoughts flooded her mind of the different jobs she may be asked to complete, and she was worried that they may not be things she herself can do. Nevertheless, she held her composure, hopeful that she might be reunited with her family and lovers in The Afterlife. “Hello, Valtina,” Ladaya smiled warmly at her. “Hello.” “Thank you for agreeing to meet me today... I really need your help. If you can do this successfully, I’ll reward you in the fullest. It will be worth it in more ways than one, trust me.” “I’m happy to help, but what exactly do you want me to do?” “Given the grave matter we are dealing with, I am going to need to leave a lot of the decision making to you. But I’ll give you a bit of background information to get you started. As you may have noticed in your last life, the world is on a decline, especially in the area of love. Couples are no longer able to love each other the way that they should. Cheating is becoming a normal thing—many partners are having extramarital affairs and sleeping with multiple women while trying to keep up the appearance that they are ‘dedicated’ to their wives or girlfriend. Even more couples are only staying together because of l**t, and no other attraction towards the other person. They don’t love each other and their relationships are meaningless. “This might not seem like a huge problem at first, but the entire universe is based on love and human compassion. That’s something that we can’t survive without, and evil is tempting people away from their core values. It won’t take long before the world is in tatters and everything will fall apart. Now, this is where you come in.” “I’m going to need you to help breathe life and passion back into relationships that have gone stale and started to fall apart. Over the centuries, I’ve seen how you are in each life that you have lived. You are dripping with s****l energy and you have had some of the most successful relationships that I’ve ever seen. I know that you can do this job. I need you to do this for me.” Valtina pondered this for a few moments, doubting whether or not she would be able to successfully do the task expected of her. Even though she may have been able to understand everything in the world, she had always been successful in her love life, in every life. She felt confident with the idea that she won’t have to save any lives or stop a bombing or anything complicated like that. She smiled as she realized that this could actually be a fun thing for her and she was practically beaming as she started to speak, “All right, I’ll do it. Where should I start?” “Well, to begin with, there’s a couple that we know who are truly meant to be together. Their names are Samantha and Joshua. They recently got married—only 4 years ago. Already, their s*x lives are deteriorating. I want you to fix this. They haven’t been intimate in months. Although I’m not entirely sure why this is, I know that they both would be interested in trying some light b*****e and they’ll be much better off with a change of pace.” She smiled more, realizing that she would be in her element throughout this job. “Sounds good... I can do that, no problem.” “For you to use, I want you to take this leather satchel. It contains some of the most important things that will help you work with these couples. I’m also going to give you some basic abilities that will help you read their minds or redirect their thoughts; inspire them though, don’t take control.” “Sure thing.” “I believe in you, Valtina. I know that you will save us.” >> Valtina dissolved into the fog and reappeared in a modest apartment. The room was filled with photographs and cozy-looking furniture. In an armchair, Joshua was sitting on his own while his wife was curled up on the couch at the other side of the living room. Valtina stood there taking in the scene, saddened to see a married couple sitting apart when they would obviously be more comfortable sitting together. A few moments after Valtina got there, as she continued taking in her surroundings, the man stood up and stretched. He yawned, “Honey, I’m going to bed. Are you coming with me?” It took a moment for Samantha to answer. She was zoned out, staring blankly at the television. “Oh, no, not right now. I think I’m going to read for a while and take a shower first. Have a good night.” As she talked, she leaned forward and opened up a book from the coffee table. “All right, have a good night. I love you.” She didn’t answer; she was already pretending to be absorbed in the words on the page in front of her. Even Joshua knew that she heard but chose to ignore him. Valtina was already starting to worry that this job might be harder than she expected as she watched Joshua walk slowly to the bedroom and Samantha sit on the couch, resolved to making him miserable and prolonging her misery. This brief scene was an obvious representation of the heartache that was here. It was clear that all Joshua wanted was to be closer to this wife, and that was understandable. After all, who wouldn’t? With the abilities that Valtina had, she knew that he had been trying for months to improve things with her, but Samantha wasn’t willing to do anything else. She was bored and it was clear that things needed to change. Valtina understood both sides of the situation. Joshua loved his wife and he wanted to make her happy, but he clearly didn’t know how. Samantha still loved her husband, but after doing the exact same thing for so long, it was hard to be passionate about vanilla s*x. As she considered this, Valtina decided that she will have to start work first thing in the morning. In the meantime, she reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, a blindfold, and some candles. That should be enough to get them started, although it will take some more work from Valtina to set Samantha up in a way that she would be willing to give it a shot with Joshua. She placed the items on one of the side tables by the bed.