Sunday 17 July 2016

Chapter II

I awoke to someone nudging me. Mum.

"Too early." I groaned. Why was she even up, anyway? I opened my eyes and remembered what happened. I was kidnapped and there was those creatures...

"The man said we will be landing soon." I turned to the boy sitting next to me. He seemed to be my age, if not a year or two younger. His blonde hair was a mess and his baby blue eyes seemed wary. Despite this, he gave me a warm smile. I noticed his creased top displayed the logo of a band I could vaguely remember. Seeing how bedraggled he looked, I became acutely aware of how awful I must've looked. My hair was all tangled, my leg was covered in dried blood.. I tried running my fingers through my hair but I couldn't sort the knots. "Don't worry, last night was rough for everyone." The boy chuckled. His accent was American, Texan. "My name is Sam, you?"

"I'm Phoenix, but Nix is fine."

"That's an unusual accent, where are you from?" Sam tilted his head, curious.

"Wales." Sam looked confused. "You know, next to England." He smiled. How could he smile at a time like this?

I looked around at everyone else. They all looked downtrodden. There were three other girls and another boy. The other guy next to Sam had a mass of ginger hair and was wearing only boxers. His face and bare chest were speckled with acne, despite him looking about twenty. One of the girls had blonde locks and was wearing a silk nightgown. She looked more annoyed than frightened. Opposite me was a girl who looked around my age. Her hair was dyed black and her makeup matched. She wore dark day clothes rather than night clothes. The girl next to her was definitely the youngest. She was Chinese and looked to be about thirteen, or maybe younger. Her dark sleek hair slid down and hung around her waist. Her eyes were big and the colour of chocolate. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"We are now landing." Our captor warned. I studied him. His skin was as white as snow, almost transparent. His eyes were bright red, contacts probably. There was a scar running down his right cheek. His long black hair was tied back but a few strands had escaped. He was handsome and I might have been attracted to him if he hadn't taken me away from my mother and actually smiled for once.

Suddenly, the carriage dropped and everyone except the man screamed in terror. I felt bile rise in my throat, but before I could vomit the carriage hit the ground with a crash. I glanced out of the window and gasped. Everything has far as the eye could see was covered in a thick blanket of snow. We were lucky to get a few inches of snow every few years. If we had this amount of snow Wales would surely shut down completely.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"In a land not known to most." The man answered.

"Take us home." I snapped, finding some courage.

"Why?" He looked genuinely confused. That made me even more angry.

"We have families! We can't just leave them!" Hot tears rolled down my cheeks before I had a chance to stop them. Suddenly, the man looked somewhat panicked, unsure of what to do.

"Don't do that!" He demanded.

"What?" I sniffled.

"Don't cry."

"No." I said partly out of spite. If it made him uncomfortable, good. Also, I wasn't sure if  I could stop.

"Stop bawling for Christ's sake!" The blonde girl snapped. "You'll get us bloody killed!" I stared at her stunned. There was something I disliked about her. The carriage came to a graceful halt outside a huge lodge that looked more like a millionaire's holiday getaway. There was a man waiting for us. He was tall and broadly built with a pot belly. His busy beard was as white as the snow and his eyes were kind and experienced. Our captor opened the door and stalked out.

"Alexei!" The Santa look-alike chuckled as he shook the mans hand ferociously. He too sounded Russian.

"I have returned safe and well, Dmitri." Alexei said, keeping his tone flat.

"I see you brought our new recruits." Recruits? Alexei nodded in reply and beckoned us out. The ginger guy left first, confidently followed by the Chinese girl who was more hesitant. As soon as I stepped out I wanted to crawl back into the carriage. It was freezing and my wounded leg began to ache. Dmitri noticed everyone shivering violently and cleared his throat.

"Follow me, introductions inside." He led us into the warmth of the main hall.

"This is one hell of a trip." The ginger guy muttered.

Friday 8 July 2016

Chapter I

Hey, so this is yet again another unfinished story of mine, but one I plan on working on over summer. Enjoy!

The first thing I heard when I woke up was blood curdling screaming. I assumed that it was just the remains of a dream, already fading from memory.

I was wrong, very wrong.

I looked around. My room had a reddish orange hue to it, the colour of dawn. I frowned, my clock read 3:00am. It must've been broken... it was dawn. I wiped my forehead, which was slick with sweat. Why was it so warm in the middle of January? The hair on the back of my neck rose.

Something was definetly up.

I heard glass shattering in the distance. Jumping out of bed, I ran to my window and gasped. All the houses were on fire! Was this an attack or just an accident that escalated quickly? A chorus of horns and the flash of sirens arrived on the scene. Firemen and women hopped out of the fire engines and pulled the massive hoses. All I do was stare. Was this all a dream? Everyone was huddled in small groups, scared.

The wail of crying children was drowned out by the crackle of the flames. Luckily I couldn't see any injured, though the were ambulances on sight. Then I realised, why wasn't my house on fire? What if it was? I had to get out now.

A screech from the sky caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks. I gawked at the sky. Creatures that were almost as dark as the night sky were circling the town from above. One breathed fire and set another house alight. This was a terrible nightmare, one it seemed I couldn't wake up from. My mind screamed run, but my feet were glued to the spot, paralysed by fear. How come no one else saw them? No one was screaming and gawking at the creatures like I was. Downstairs I heard a loud crash and my mother's scream.

"Mum!" My feet finally obeyed and I bolted for the door. However, before I got to it, it was bashed down and another creature entered my room. This was also almost pitch black like the flying monsters, except this one resembled a crocodile, or was it an alligator? Whatever it was, it snapped its jaws at me and I inched backwards slowly. I trembled with fear. This was seeming less like a dream. I knew I was going to die.

My window smashed, showering me in glass shards. I hissed in pain as one sliced my bare calf. I turned around slowly. Where my window had been stood a figure. I couldn't distinguish any facial features, though the person was obviously a man who stood at over six feet tall. In fact,
he could have easily been six foot six. His clothes from what I could tell consisted of a tunic that was out dated by a few centuries and baggy trousers. Behind him seemed to be a floating carriage drawn by more monsters that looked like horses. The mystery man jumped down and strode towards me. I stood still, knowing there was a deadly monster behind me.

"W who are you?" I whispered. The man didn't respond. instead, he grabbed my arm and forcefully dragged me towards the window. "Hey!" I yelled, trying to free myself, but it was no use. At the window, the man effortlessly scooped me up and jumped into the carriage. I screamed, trying to get people's attention, but no one noticed. My captor set me down.

"Sit." He demanded. His accent was thick and foreign. Russian maybe.

"Take me back." I  demanded.

"Sit!" The man roared. Wincing, I looked around and noticed that there were five other people in their night ware. The carriage was already in motion so I slid into the end seat.

"Where are you taking us?" I tried to keep the fear out of my voice, but it still trembled noticeably. The man remained silent. So did everyone else, probably sleeping. I shivered, cold and afraid. My injured calf felt especially cold. I prodded it with my fingers gently to inspect the damage. My leg was slick with blood. I hissed as I brushed the cut. The man turned to me. He stood up and stalked towards me. My heart began thumping violently, thinking he would kill me. I closed my eyes, awaiting death, but it didn't  come. Instead, the man lifted up my leg and inspected it. Then, he pulled a bandage out of a leather bag and wrapped it around my calf firmly.

"Thank you." I whispered as he returned to his seat. Of course, he didn't reply. I looked around at the others. There were a few candles dotted around, so I could inspect their faces. My eyes were heavy from a lack of sleep, but I refused to rest. I had too many questions that needed answering. Most revolved around my mother. What would she do without me? Would she be able to cope? Since the death of my father, my mother depended on alcohol. I was the only one to care for her.  Most days she was still in bed when I left for school and when I came back I would find her slumped over the kitchen table, empty bottle in hand. My mother lost her job due to her alcoholism and money was running low. I couldn't get a job because I had to take care of her. I had to go back, this carriage had to land, right? Then I would escape.

I begrudgingly fell asleep. I needed energy for my escape. I thought I would dream of those nightmarish creatures, but instead my sleep was dreamless.

That is Chapter I. Any constructive criticism would be well appreciated :)

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Prologue

Today had started out great, the sun was shining birds were singing happily. Mum had taken me out shopping this morning but now she was busy on the phone talking to a client. With dad working all day down the station, I was alone so I decided to start my homework. I didn't mind it, English was my favourite subject.

I was only a page into my analysis of  Shakespeare's 'Midsummer's Night Dream' when I heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" I heard my mother's sing-song voice. I looked down from my window. There were two men talking to my mother in hushed tones. I couldn't see what they looked like, for they were wrapped up as if it was freezing. They talked for quite a while. What could they be talking about? I crept downstairs, but the door slammed shut as I reached the bottom. My mother turned to me, as pale as a ghost, tears running down her face.

"Your father," She whispered. "He's been shot dead."