Touched by Darkness (Young Creator Trilogy) Read online

  Touched by Darkness

  (Young Creator Trilogy Book 2)

  Christiane Shoenhair

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Touched by Darkness (Book 2 Young Creator Trilogy)

  Copyrights © 2014 Shoenhair

  Edited by: There for You Editing Services https://www.facebook.com/ThereForYouEditing

  Front Cover Design by: Mary Whitten All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied for reviews.

  Published by: Christiane Shoenhair

  Acknowledgments

  A special thanks to all of those who supported me from the very beginning. Thank you Miss. E, Tina, Anne, Sheri, Kristina, Liam, and Tracy. You all have supported me from the beginning and never get tiered of me telling you about my story. Thank you for giving me advice when I needed it and believing in me. Y’all don’t know how much I appreciate it . I also want to say thank you to all of the people that have given advice to me since I have fist published my book. Thank you Lisa, Sharon, Donna, Marinda and Robin. I’ve never met any of y’all but all of your support and advice is greatly appreciated, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first hit publish on Imagine.

  Mary, my book fairy . You won, I’ll admit it! I’m so happy that we got stationed together, I mean what are the chances? You have become one of my closest friends and I’m so happy to have you in my life so that we can talk about the hot janitor (just kidding), and our books.

  Thank you Mom for all of your support and always being there, you are definitely the strongest woman that I know. Finally thank you Nick for being the wonderful husband and father that you are, I love our family! Christiane

  Prologue: Keagan There’s wet stuff hitting my nose, causing me to open my eyes. I squint into the bright light, which really hurts, and quickly shut them again. I try once more, this time slowly, letting my eyes adjust. When I can finally focus, I notice that the wetness on my nose is coming from a face hovering above me.

  I concentrate on the face. There is something vaguely familiar about it, but I can’t place it … it’s as if I should know her. Her,it’s a girl. I take in her features; she has pale, creamy skin, high cheekbones, and wavy red hair. There is a black streak that stands out from the otherwise bright hair. When she opens her eyes and looks at me, I notice that her eyes are green with flecks of gold. We stare at each other for what feels like forever.

  “Keagan?” she utters in a soft , breathless whisper, breaking the spell that has been cast over me. She smiles, and it is as if all the sadness dissolves from her face, which brings this overwhelming joy to me that Idon’t understand. Who is this girl?

  I slowly get up, but before I can get far she has thrown herself into my arms and is squeezing me as if her life depends on it. I hug her back because it feels right, like she belongs there. Slowly glancing around, I find myself surrounded by the people that I came here with. Oddly, all of them have tears in their eyes, telling me that something bad must have happened. I have no ideawhat’s going on. The last thing that I remember is confronting Haddie, the evil Young Creator that was trying to flood San Francisco. I don’t remember what happened after that, but I do remember that there was a lot of pain… and then nothing. That is until now, until I find this girl that I don’t know hovering above me, causing all of these weird emotions in me. WHO IS SHE

  Chapter 1

  Touched by Hope I throw myself at Keagan, unable to believe that he is alive. I really thought that he was dead, that I would never get to talk to him or touch him again. After everything that has happened, this is truly a miracle.It’s what makes the past not matter. Everything seems so insignificant; all I want is Keagan. I know this now and my heart swells with happiness at the realization. Pulling away, I gaze into Keagan eyes; he is smiling at me, but something is off and I can’t quite figure it out. His eyes seem distant.

  Separating himself from me, Keagan slowly gets up. He gives me a quick smile before walking toward Riley. After embracing his sister in a tight hug, they walk away, in deep conversation.

  I take a deep breath, steadying myself, and look around. The Golden Gate Bridge is severely damaged, large chunks have fallen and are now scattered all over. Thick steel wires are loosely swinging back and forth, and a section of the bridge has collapsed. I really hope that no cars or people were close by, and fell to their death in the cool, deep blue water hundreds of feet below.

  Taking in all of the carnage that has been left by the fight, I can’t believe that this all started when I made a broom hit my mom in the head because she was annoying the crap outta me. I was just using my imagination, which resulted in this crazy adventure that I now call my life. Being the daughter of one of the three Furies definitely changes things. I feel like the stuff that I used to worry about, like making friends and getting good grades, are nothing compared to what I deal with now.

  Watching Keagan and Riley walking side by side, talking and laughing, brings a smile to my face. I’m filled with excitement and relieved to see Keagan alive. I need to talk to someone; I’m unable to contain all of this happiness. Not only did we beat Allecto and Haddie—my crazy twin sister whoI didn’t even know existed until a few days ago—at their own game, but Keagan is somehow alive. I just can’t say it enough … he’s alive. Looking around, I see Chelsey off in the distance.

  I make my way over to her. Just like everyone else, she had given us some space once they realized Keagan was alive. She immediately gives me a huge hug, setting the rest of my world back on its axis. Now I know that everything will be all right; Keagan is alive and safe, and I have Chelsey by my side. When we part and I look into her face, I notice that some of the tiredness and exhaustion I noticed earlier have disappeared. Even though still skinnier than last time I saw her, Chelsey looks more like herself, eyes sparkling with mischief. “So, that was a crazy adventure. You better tell me everything, you totally owe me, and I really want to know what’s going on between you and Keagan!” I can’t help but laugh at her. Out of everything that she could ask me about, she wants to know about my relationship. I really want to ask her about her time as Haddie’s captive, but figure that she will fill me in whenever she is ready.

  I glance around to make sure that nobody is within ear shot. When I spot a few members of our group close by, I grab Chelsey and lead her over to a private area that has not been destroyed.

  “Chelsey , I know that this may be hard to believe, but I think that I’m falling for Keagan … and I know that he wants to be with me,too.” Chelsey’s eyes get huge and she hugs me tightly. I honestly was not expecting this from her since she was around for Haven and what went down there between Keagan and me.

  “Aww , Trish,I’m so happy for you! You and Keagan are perfect for each other. I think the only time I saw you both truly happy was when you were together and getting along. I know you and Keagan went through a lot together, but I’m glad that y’all worked it out.”

  “So how about you, how are you holding up? Sam told me how Haddie and Allecto treated Kiawhen they had her. I was hoping that it wasn’t like that for you.” I know that I had told myself not to bring it up, but I just have to make sure that she is all right, and let her know that she can talk to me.

  Chelsey, who just a moment before looked happy and excited, cringes and draws into herself. “Trish, I lov
e you and will always be your best friend, but I do not ever want to talk about what happened. So pleasedon’t ask,” she pleads.

  That’s when we hear a scream filled with so much pain and heartache the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. Turning around I see Sam kneeling over his sister’s decapitated body, shaking uncontrollably while tears stream down his face. I can’t believe that I completely forgot about what happened to Kia. All my thoughts were consumed with Keagan. I was so overcome with grief when I thought I had lost him, and then joy when I found that he was alive. But now the reality sinks in. Sam loves Kia, and regardless of what she did she was his little sister.

  I walk over to Sam and kneel next to him. I want to give him a hug, wanting to comfort him, but decide to give him his space. I just want him to know that I’m here for him. It seems that the rest of the group has the same idea and surround Sam in a semi-circle. Sam shakes and sobs over his sister’s mutilated body, Ican’t imagine the feeling of loss that he must feel. He eventually calms down and looks around the semi-circle until his bloodshot eyes land on me.

  “Please , Trish, please bring her back. I’m begging you bring my little sister back to me. I promise if you do this I will never ask for anything else. I saw you do it for Keagan. I know she did some horrible things, but I know that we can fix her. Please do it for me.” I glance at Aunt Tisi for some sort of guidance.

  “Trish, you know I do not have any experience with this sort of thing . You can make the decision, and whatever you decide we will all support you.” I have no idea how Keagan is alive, or if I actually had anything to do with it… much less if I did, how I accomplished it. Sam is staring at me with pleading eyes, and I want to do this for him but I don’t know if I can.

  “Look ,Sam, I don’t know how Keagan is alive and I reallydon’t know if I had anything to do with it, but I will try for you. You are my friend and I care about you. I know how much Kia means to you, so let’s see what happens.” I kneel next to Sam and take Kia’s hand, which is surprisingly still warm, and I find it totally creepy. I don’t really think that this is going to work; at least Keagan still had a head. At the same time, his wounds were completely healed when he got up.

  I close my eyes, and instead of focusing on my dislike for Kia because of her betrayal, I picture Sam and Kia together. I bring forth the conversations Sam and I had about their childhood and every interaction that I have seen them have since I met them. The only thing that I can’t do is have any sort of personal investment or emotion of sadness come forth. After all, Kia did betray all of us when she choose to attack Keagan, Maximus, and Sam and once my protective field was down take my powers from me. One more mystery to what I call my life nowadays, apparently all Young Creators have an ability to cast a protective shield that allows for some self-defense. Strangely enough, I don’t control my force field… Keagan does. I try to refocus on Kia and that her hand is growing colder. Her body is slowly getting rigor mortis, which I learned in my biology class is one of the signs of death. It is caused by chemical changes in the body, but I could have sworn that it is supposed to happen about three hours after death. However, it seems that Kia’s rigor mortis is kicking in much faster.

  I try to put myself is Sam’s shoes and feel the pain of losing a sister.I don’t have any siblings and my mom is the only person that I consider my family, but I remember the feeling of loss and hopelessness when I thought Keagan was dead. I imagine Kia alive, but instead of the sad, hopeless girl that I have come to know, I picture her full of life and joy, a big smile on her face as she rushes over to Sam to share some sisterly secret with him.

  I open my eyes and look at Kia. Unfortunately, instead of seeing a smile on her face and sparkle in her eye, all I see is her decapitated body in front of me.

  “I’m sorry, Sam,I really tried I don’t know why it’s not working.”

  Chapter 2

  Touched by Loss Sam pleaded and begged for me to bring Kia back, holding on to me and looking at me with his big, sad eyes. I had never seen such grief, and after a while started feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation, especially since I could not do anything to make him whole again. After what felt like forever, Sam somewhat regained his composure and released my hand. He even apologized for putting me in such an uncomfortable position, saying he knew that I did everything within my power to bring Kia back to him.

  When I finally separated myself from the situation and took a step back, I realized that the regular people who were on the bridge seemed aware of the destruction to the Golden Gate Bridge, but not the loss of Kia’s life or why the bridge had been destroyed.

  I walk over to Aunt Tisi, asking, “Why does it seem like no one is aware of Kia’s dead body?”

  “It’s one of my gifts, I can changehow humans see the things around them.”

  “Wow, that’s really neat! Canyou teach me how to do that?”

  “I don’t know, Trish. We can definitely try,but I don’t know the full scale of your powers. However, it does seem that you bringing Keagan back cost you,” she says while picking up a strand of my hair.

  “What do you mean,Aunt Tisi?”

  “This black streak represents the darkness that you pulled from Keagan and will now forever be a part of you.” Her words scare me.

  “How is this going to affect me?”

  “I’m not sure, we will have to see. Prepare yourself, for darkness can show its face in many ways. Now that you have it inside of you, it is going to try to bring you down and make you weak.” No longer wanting to talk about it, I change the subject.

  “Any idea why I wasn’t able to bring Kia back?”

  “You are the only person I know that has that ability, so I have absolutely no experience with this. We will have to experiment around with your powers when we get back to camp. I have a feeling this will not be the last we see of Allecto and Haddie, and this battle definitely surprised me. It was completely out of control and shows that we really need to be prepared for anything. I was overly confident, and it cost us.”

  “Aunt Tisi, no one could have ever guessed that Kia was going to turn on us. Please, don’t blame yourself for what happened.” She gives me a sad smile and I decide to change the subject. “So we’re going back to the rebelcamp?”

  “For now, yes. Once we get there,we are going to have to figure out what to do next.”

  What to do next. I have no idea what they have planned for us, but am glad thatit’s something that they are dealing with. I don’t want to make any decisions; instead, I’ll leave it up to the adults. With reassurance that a plan is underway, I decide to go looking for Keagan. I see Chelsey standing by herself and join her.

  “Chelsey, let’s go find Keagan.” She smiles at me, following me in the direction that I saw Riley and Keagan walk. We make our way through the crowd of tourists who are busily snapping pictures of the crumbling Golden Gate Bridge. It seems now that people are realizing the immediate danger has passed, they are amazed by the destruction. Stopping, I stand on my tiptoes, trying to find Keagan. When I can’t spot him in the crowd, I decide to go for higher ground by climbing one of the fallen bridge pieces. Chelsey tells me to be careful, but I wave her concern away, steady on my feet. I smile and point in his direction when I finally spot him. His back is facing me, and he’s talking to Riley a few feet away. Jumping down, I grab Chelsey’s hand, pulling her toward Keagan and Riley. I stop in my tracks when I hear the words coming out of Keagan’s mouth.

  “I’m telling you, Riley,I don’t have anything going with that chick. For you to say that I have some sort of thing going with a Young Creator is disgusting. It’s not like they are human. Not only that, but even though I know not all of them are evil, I could never truly trust any of them. I don’t know why you’re insisting that she means anything to me.I’m telling you, I have no feelings whatsoever for that thing.” I’m completely crushed; his words feel like a knife to my back. What does he mean, he has no feelings for me and hecan’t trust me? I though
t that we were past the no trust issue; him kissing me earlier this morning sure doesn’t coincide with what he is telling Riley.

  Riley must have spotted us, because her eyes got really large as Keagan was finishing his rampage and began shifting around nervously on her feet. Keagan notices the change in Riley’s behavior and spins around. His eyes land on Chelsey first and he gives her an unsure smile, but when his gaze shifts to me, his smile turns into a scowl.

  “What?” he shouts at me, throwing his arms up in frustration. As I stare at him, my eyes start to water, tears threatening to spill forth.

  “I don’t understand.” I forget that Riley and Chelsey are watching us. Taking a step toward Keagan, I feel crushed when he steps back, a look of disgust crossing his face.

  “What do you not understand?I don’t want anything to do with you! Your kind is the last cruel joke that the ancient gods decided to play on us. I’m not interested in having anything to do with you, or anyone like you. You need to leave me the hell alone and stop bothering me. Do you understand that?” He says the last sentence slowly, enunciating the words likeI’m a small child that has a hard time comprehending the meaning of what he said.

  I don’t understand what is happening. I justcan’t deal with anything else today. It was supposed to be a special day, it’s my 18th birthday after all, but instead of celebrating I get stuck having to fight for humanity. Now,I’m being completely crushed by the guy that holds my heart in his grasp. Chelsey decides to try to save me from this horrible situation, and guides me away. While walking away, I glance over my shoulder for one last look at Keagan. He is standing with his arms crossed in front of him a look of disgust on his face.

  When I turn back around, I notice a couple of girls giggling and casting glances in my direction. I figure they must have overheard what Keagan said to me. Whatever, I don’t care.I’m too miserable, everything just seems to keep rolling downhill. Seriously,don’t I deserve a break? Did I not just do the world a major service by kicking some Allecto booty?