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Hey, Nevah.
How is the writing going?
Well, my readers, thank you for asking, let me just tell you how the writing is going! With the publication of Mine back in October. I have been busy working on editing Knowing, which will be the next book to be published later in 2025. I also have been writing a few things.
My main focus has been on "Where Will You Go" which is the first in the series, Secrets of Darkness. I also have been writing "Theirs" which is the second story of Mine. There is no release date for this one as of yet, but I am hoping for 2026.
While you wait for Knowing coming sometime in early 2025. Let me give you a sneak peek of Where Will You Go. (For a Sneak Peek of Knowing check out the blog What's Next?)
Where Will You Go Chapter One
This is not my bedroom. Not the light blue colored walls with the lights strung from the ceiling. There is no high-tech M&M dispenser that took hours to install.
I am no longer in Paris.
Instead, I am standing under a cloudless sky with a too bright sun. A sea of houses spread in front of me. They are all the same with their identical thatched roofs, and brown wood sidings. Completing the picture-perfect houses are identical muck-brown doors. There are only minor differences, like personal touches. A potted plant here, a bed of flowers there. The dirt road is covered with hoof prints, with no horses in sight.
I don’t know where I am, or how I got here. I glance around, gaze skimming for any clue.
“Hey!” A tiny voice calls. I glance over as a girl with short brown hair darts over. I bend down to her height. “Mom wants you to pick up dinner.” She wraps her arms around my neck, kisses my cheek.
Mom? There is no picture for mom. No images that come to mind. But the sound is sweet, a longing pulls me. The girl climbs onto my back, her fingers brush through my hair. “How come you dyed your hair again?”
I get to my feet and begin to walk. They seem to know the way. “I like it this color.” I’m unsure where the words come from. My hair is burgundy with deep blue bangs. It’s been this way since I can remember.
“I want to dye my hair.” She giggles, lays her head against my shoulder, her arms dangle loose around my neck, encases me in love.
“Don’t. I love your hair and think of what mom would say.” The words come from somewhere unknown.
The girl sits up, her voice dropping to a perfect mother tone. “What have you done? You had such beautiful brown hair that matches your lovely brown eyes.” It sounds right. Authentic. She lays back against me. “You should dye your hair green, like your eyes.”
“I’d never be able to find the right shade.”
I stop outside of a house. The same as all the others, only different. A bed of blue/purple flowers grow in front of the window. Home, something far off says. I set the girl down and pat her head. “Go play.” She needs no other encouragement. I open the door. The living room is beautiful. Chocolate carpet and tan color walls. A large card table in front of a couch.
Images fill my head. Four people, me and the girl, a man and woman. Laughter. They are gone, fluttering away to an unknown place.
“There you are.” The woman from the table comes from another room, a smile spreads across her face. “Can you run to market and grab dinner?”
Mom. I blink. A flood of emotions fills me. Love. Sadness. Joy. Pain. Mom. This is mom. I don’t know her, but I do.
“Ok.” I give a nod and step forward. I long to touch her. To feel her soft and smooth skin. To smell vanilla and roses.
She holds out a roll of bills. I reach for it, my fingers brush against hers.
My last time. This will be the last time I see her. Touch her.
Don’t go. I want to call. I want to plead. I don’t want to go.
“Hurry now.” She says. “It’s supposed to rain.”
My feet move on their own. Away from mom. Away from home. I want to cry, to beg for just one more time to see her. Just a little longer to hold her.
But I’m gone. Outside. Up a hill and down to a market. Large stalls and people bustling around. I stop outside of one.
“There you are.” A long-haired woman smiles. She holds a bag out. The smells of food mingle together. I pass the money over and take the bag. “Hurry now, before it rains.”
Why do my feet keep moving? Know the way and walk themselves? I start for the houses, back for home. I won’t make it. I don’t know why… but I won’t.
Rain.
I hate the rain. It starts as I near the bottom of the hill. Brings with it a chill, a wind and a rush of black smoke.
Smoke? I frown.
Mom.
Home.
I cry, drop the food and rush up the hill. The houses burn. Big billows of black smoke pour from the roofs. Flames lick the sides. People rush around. Blood flows.
“Mom!” I scream. My legs carry me to the middle of the chaos. To the fighting. “Mom!” The smoke fills my eyes. I can’t breathe.
“There you are.” The man from the table comes behind me and grabs my arm. “We have to go.”
Dad. This unknown is dad.
“Where’s mom?” I ask, spotting the girl on his shoulders. The brown-haired girl. Sister? Is this sister?
“We can’t get to her.” He pulls me towards a gate, away from the burning city. Away from mom.
“We have to.” We can’t leave her. Another person blocks our path. He flashes sharp fangs.
Vampire.
This I know. This creature I remember. It stalks forward. His eyes shift between the three of us as he licks his lips. Dad puts the girl down, pulls a sword from his side.
Then they are together. A crash of bodies and steel. I reach for my side, for my own blade, but there is nothing there.
Red splatters along dad’s clothes. It streaks with the rain and stains the ground. The vampire shoves dad away, his gaze locking on my sister.
Not her.
I pick up a rock and throw it. It hits him in the shoulder. He turns his attention to me. I stumble back. Fear overtakes me.
“Stupid boy.” The vampire licks his fangs. He inches toward me. “Come little one.”
Dad slams into the vampire, tackling him to the ground. He slashes the blade across the vampire’s neck. The creature chokes. Dad stumbles toward me, scoops me into his arms and limps to the gates.
“Wait!” I cry, reaching back toward the houses, toward my abandon sister. Toward my mom. “Don’t go. We can’t leave them.”
Dad continues on. Leaving them behind.
“No.” I wail. Smoke fills my sight, blinds me. I can’t see. I can’t breathe.
***
I jerk awake with a start. My eyes sting. The nightmare washes away like rain.
Rain. There was rain and flowers… blue/purple flowers in front of a… of something. I sit up and rub my eyes, the light blue colored walls coming into focus. I check my phone. It’s four in the morning in Utah. The meeting isn’t until eight. I climb from the bed and move to the lights, flipping them on as I make my way to the kitchen.
Living Room light, flip.
Hall light, flip.
Kitchen light, flip.
I open the fridge and stare at the bottles of water and the bag of M&Ms. “I should go shopping.” I mutter to the empty kitchen. I grab a bottle and the pills from the counter. I shake two into my hand and toss them into my mouth before downing the water.
“Only three hours and fifty-five minutes to go.” I sigh.
Leaving the kitchen. I make my way to the pool.
Hallway light. Still On.
Gym light. Flip.
Pool light. Flip.
I wiggle out of my shorts and jump into the water. The warmth swallows me. I come up shuddering, eyes darting to the thermometer on the side. Sixty? My cooler must be broken. I make a mental note to buy another before starting my laps.
Ten instead of twenty. The warm water speeds me up but drains my energy faster. I climb out, mad for not being able to finish more. Grabbing my discarded shorts, I walk back to the bedroom and jump in the shower. The icy water helps.
Once out and dressed I check my phone again. Five-thirty. Only two and a half hours to go. Maybe I should go hunting. I collect my weapons, tuck my phone in my pocket and teleport to the street above me.
I’m happy for the cloudy sky. It blocks the afternoon sun. I teleport to the city only several miles from my home. I love Paris. Have since the day I arrived. I roam the streets, eyes scanning the afternoon crowd.
Some of the people stare. The red/blue hair catching their attention. I lower my eyes and ignore them. At least the air is chilled. I wonder if the looks are for my short sleeves. It’s not my fault everyone believes fourteen is too cold, and that’s not even in Fahrenheit which would be even better.
A scream catches my attention. I quicken my pace and slip into the alley. A woman backs against the wall. The man continues to close the distance between them.
“Hey.” I slip a knife into my hand as I approach. The man turns, flashes his fangs. He’s taller than me by at least a foot. Broader too. He gives me a dismissive glance and turns back to the woman. “I’m trying to find the Idiots Convention.” I move closer and brush my finger against the hilt.
“Get lost, kid.” The man snarls, flashing fangs in my direction. I hate being called kid. Sure, I’m fifteen, and maybe a hundred pounds once I get out of the pool, but I’m no fuckin’ kid.
“They can’t start the convention without the president.” I give myself enough distance to move if he comes for me. I’m hoping he does. I hate vampires.
“Are you calling yourself an idiot?” He eyes me.
“No. I was calling you an idiot.” Jeez. Can’t he even understand an insult.
“But you are looking for the Idiot’s Conventions and they can’t start without the president, which I’m guessing is you.” He smirks. The woman in his arm whimpers.
I tip my head. Shit. I did say that wrong. “Wait, I meant to ask if you got lost looking for the Idiot’s Convention.”
The vampire chuckles. “Run home before you get hurt, kid.”
“I am not a kid.” I lunge. He doesn’t expect it. I swipe the blade across his neck, going for the quick kill.
He stumbles and presses his hands into the wound. His eyes narrow. “Someone’s going to die.”
I don’t give him a chance to move, instead I move forward and shove my knife into his chest, finishing the job. I glance at the woman, as I wipe the steel against my pants.
Her eyes are wide. She stumbles away from me. “Are you ok?” I ask, sheathing the blade and stepping toward her. She screams and runs past. I stop. “Bitch.” I call after her. “A thank you is always nice. Next time he can eat you!”
***
Even being awake four hours early, I’m half an hour late to the meeting. My boss, Kadin, is in the middle of some boring talk. I slip in and drop in the chair next to Bliss. She’s one of my favorite people. She flashes me a smile. The others just stare a moment before turning their attention back. Except Vince. As always, he watches, his cold green eyes judging. I hate him because he’s a vampire. The enemy we are hunting.
Kadin talks for several minutes more before turning back. His gaze lands on me and he stops mid-sentence. “Happy you can join us, Ace.”
“I went hunting.” I lean back in the chair.
“You are still late.” Kadin slides over a packet. “You’re paired with Vince today.”
“No.” I slam my fist on the table and get to my feet. What’s the point of being the team leader if I can’t divide my own people?
“Sit down.” Kadin orders, his eyes narrowing. We fight about this all the time. We fought when I joined him. When I lived with him. We still fight now.
“I should be able to decide who goes with who.” I snap. “You picked me to run this team, so let me run it.”
“This assignment needs you and Vince working on it.” Kadin stabs his finger at the chair. “Sit. Down.”
I huff but sit. “I can do the assignment on my own and put Vince on something else.” Anything else. Working on a project far away in some god awful place like, the Bahamas, or Fiji.
“This assignment is for you both.” Kadin glares. “End of discussion.” He turns back to the board and continues his talk. I tune him out. Instead, I smile at Bliss, which she returns.
The meeting continues forever. Or it feels like forever. Finally, Kadin releases us. I head out before he can call me back. Vince stops me in the hall and holds out a manila file. “Do you want to see the folder?”
“No.” I take the file from him. “You can go home.”
“He said--”
“I was there.” I watch Bliss head out with Angel.
“Great, then you know all about the assignment.” Vice snatches the folder back and heads for the door.
Fucken jerk. I glare at his back before following. I don’t understand why Kadin allows the enemy to work with us.
“We can go to both places together like Kadin wants, or you can take one and I take the other and we finish faster.” Vice was leaning on the wall just outside of the base.
I have no idea what he’s talking about since he took the file back before I could look at it, “I like the idea of not being anywhere near you.”
“Perfect.” He straightens, his black trench coat falling along his side. He takes out a piece of paper and holds it out. “We need to collect a drive from someone whose been selling on Gantos land. Kadin wants to know who their buyers are so he can give the list to Kyler.”
“And the other job?” I take the paper from him, looking it over.
“Watch a few people and see if they are trying to start another group on Gantos land.”
The drive Kadin wanted was located at a small store north of one of the smaller bases. It sounded more fun than watching people. “I’ll get the drive.”
“Sure. Whatever you want kid.”
My head snaps up. “I’m not a ki-“ He’s already teleported. “Asshole!” I scream at the empty sidewalk in front of me.
Here is a picture of Ace - Done by the talented Ally (Remember her from Middle School Stories?)
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