Aug. 12, 2008 - The World Beyond
Hey, here's the first chapter of my book . Tell me what you think.
Chapter 1
A piercing scream broke the sound of splashing rain.
No one stopped. No one listened. No one even cared.
Except Steven.
Steven clutched eight-year old Amanda’s hand tighter. He glanced in the direction of the scream. All he saw were buildings. Tall buildings lined up like tomb stones, throwing sinister shadows across the street. Someone is in trouble. Why doesn’t anyone try and help?
Streams of water ran down the street. People shoved, ran, and ducked. Anything to get out of the pounding rain. The scurry of the black raincoats and umbrellas melted into a wave of darkness.
Another scream.
A man with a dark blue raincoat stopped for a moment, then shrugged and continued on his way.
“Steven? Who’s screaming?”
The sixteen-year old boy looked down at his younger sister. Her blue eyes stared up at him pleadingly.
“I don’t know, Ami.”
“Is someone gonna help?”
“Yes, Ami,” Steven said. “Someone is going to help.”
Steven turned back toward the buildings. Yes. Someone was going to do something. Steven pulled his navy blue coat tighter around him. “Stay right beside me.”
“Where are you going? Home is the other way,” said Amanda.
Steven pushed past another raincoat. Why did he feel as though he knew the person screaming? Why did he feel like screaming himself?
“Steven! Look!”
Steven looked in the direction Ami was pointing.
Between two apartment buildings, and among piles of littered garbage, a huge shadow moved rapidly along the wall. The shadow shot up into the air and disappeared from sight.
Stomach churning, Steven inched his way forward. The tall buildings cast shadows that seemed to dance along the wall. “Hello?” Steven called from the corner of the building. “Is anyone there?”
Silence.
“Hello?”
Again his call was answered only by pounding rain on the gravel street.
Steven took a step closer, then another.
Ami clung to him, her small fingers shaking trembling.
A moan rose from behind a cardboard box.
“Ami, stay right here,” Steven whispered.
Ami didn’t respond, but stood frozen where she was.
Steven crept forward, stopping after every step to listen. A foul smell hung in the air. Something moved under a bag of garbage, a rat probably. Steven slowly pushed the cardboard box aside with his foot.
He froze. The blooded rush from his face. Steven saw the tangled image of a boy—a boy he knew. “Amanda, we need to leave!”
Steven grabbed Ami’s hand and ran back out into the busy street. He didn’t know where he was going; only that he had to get out of there.
Steven stumbled over a man’s foot. He let go of Ami’s hand and regained his balance.
“Careful, boy,” the man growled.
Steven mumbled a quick apology, then continued running. His feet splashed though puddles of water.
“Watch out!” a voice cried out. The call came just in time.
Steven stopped. A speeding car honked and raced by, splashing muddy water in his face.
“Buddy, you should be watchin’ where you’re going.” Someone in a dark green rain coat walked up. “What’s your hurry?” The figure threw back his hood. Revealing a boy probably a little older than Steven with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes.
StevenJake felt the urge to blurt out what he had seen and felt, but hesitated. His heart still pounded under his jacket. “I…you wouldn’t understand.”
The boy shrugged, but his face showed disappointment. Then giving a small smile, he walked away.
Steven sucked in a breath of air then looked both ways before crossing the busy street. Before stepping off the curb, he stopped and looked wildly around. “Ami!”
How had he lost her? She had been right beside him until- until he’d tripped! He rushed back across the street and searched through the mob of people, hoping to catch a glimpse of his curly haired sister. “Amanda!” His voice drowned into the noise of the driving rain and speeding cars.
A familiar dark shadow swept across the sky. No! Steven thought. This can’t be happening!
“Amandaaa!” he called again.
“Need help?”
Steven jumped and turned around. The boy in the green raincoat stood there.
“Yes!” Steven almost yelled. Something inside him said that this boy could be trusted. “That girl who was with me, have you seen her?!”
“No…”
“Help me find her. Please!”
Another shadow flew overhead.
Steven groaned. “We need to hurry. You look over that way and meet me back right here.”
The boy jogged off, calling Amanda’s name.
Steven glanced toward the direction of the buildings he had just left. A chill ran down his spine.
He knew he had to prevent what was about to happen. What was about to happen to him. How he knew, he couldn’t say. Was looking for Ami the right thing to do right now? Or should he be running?
God help me!
Steven bit back the thought. What was asking God to help him going to do? God had never helped him before. Why should he expect him to start now?
For the next ten minutes Steven called out Amanda’s name. His clothes and hair were soaked.
He leaned wearily against the door of a noisy diner. He had to collect his thoughts. He glanced inside the diner. Suddenly people were everywhere, swarming the diner. Police officers shoved their way through. Where had everyone come from? What was happening?
Steven edged his way forward. He saw a lady sitting on a chair talking to a cop. Tears fell from her eyes and she shook violently. On the floor in front of her a gruesome sight could be seen. The victim was a young boy, probably only six or seven.
Steven felt sick. He looked around and noticed a dark shadow- one he had seen before. In the next second its was gone.
Then, everything else was gone. The people, the cops, the body; everything disappeared just as fast as it had appeared.
Then a loud screech split across the sky. Steven saw the shadow shoot through the diner. It passed so quickly, only a few people noticed. And they didn’t appear to care. Suddenly a child screamed.
It was happening. What he had seen was happening! He was seeing the future again! Steven saw the place fill with people once again, the same officers, the same women and the same boy. He had already seen it all. He had seen it before it happened.
Steven's mind spun with all he has seen.
“What’s going on?”
It was the boy in the green coat.
“Did you find Amanda?!”
“No, it’s almost impossible with all these people around. And I don’t really know what she looks like. Hey, you don’t look very good. Are you ok?”
“Not really. I need to find Amanda and I need to get out of here!”
Another screech.
“They’re after me! I need to get out of here…I…I have to find a phone!”
The boy handed a cell phone to Steven. While Steven dialed he looked up at the sky. “What is the noise?! It sounds like someone’s dying!”
Steven's stomach churned. Then he spoke into the phone. “Mom, Amanda’s missing. I’m on King Street.” Then he hung up.
Steven gave the phone back to the boy. “I need a ride.”
“To where?”
“Anywhere far away from here! Please! They’re after me!”
“What do you mean they?”
“I don’t have time to explain!”
The boy hesitanted.
“I’ll pay you!"
At this the boy agreed.
Once they were in the boy’s blue Toyota, hes said, “If this is gonna be a long drive we should get to know each other a little. I'm Tyler, Tyler Lakerson."
Steven took a deep breath. "I'm Steven."
"Ok, now can you tell me who they are and what the danger is?” asked Tyler.
“I saw…I saw the future.”
“What?!”
“I don’t know how. But I saw it. And I know it was the future.”
The rain turned to hail, Tyler turned on the windshield wipers. “So, what exactly did you see?”
Steven shut his eyes, remembering the horrid sight. “I heard screaming. I…I felt like it was coming from me. I had this strange feeling. Then I saw…me.”
“You saw yourself?”
“It doesn’t make sense, but yet it does. Some creature out there…I heard it, I saw its shadow. It killed me…in the future, I mean. I could feel the pain, but yet I couldn’t. I know it was the future, and I think…I think by running from that spot, I kept it from happening.”
"Is this the first time you've...'seen the future'?"
"About a week ago, I saw Amanda cut herself. I thought I was imagining it. Then, today, I saw myself be killed. And it happened again just a couple minutes ago. When I saw these creatures kill someone."
"You're really confu-"
Tyler's reply was broken off as a dark shadow flew over the truck. Steven cried out. Something smashed into the windshield.
Then everything went black.
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Aug. 11, 2008 - Another blog! lol
Well...I'm gonna post again! lol
Please post and tell me what you think of this. I'm working on my book right now...and this is sorta like
the thing that you would read on the back....tell me if it would make you want to read the book...and give me some pointers!
Amidst a battle against mysterious creatures ravaging New York, Steven faces his own nemesis. Bitter at
the murder of his father, he comes face to face with the killer. Angrey at God and people, he finds himself in
a war of revenge. As the world crumbles around him, he makes decisions that place those he loves in danger.
Can he let go of his own pain to save a life?
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 11, 2008 - First Blog Post!
Ok...this i'll be my first blog post! lol....
hmm....I have no clue what to write!
Well....I guess...yeah....lol
