Falling into Darkness

by Shania Tyler

  Meg nodded slowly, her dangling bead earrings bobbing with her head. Her red hair had been pulled into a high ponytail. True to Meg’s style, her outfit was as dressy as it was bohemian. The egg-shell white maxi dress was sleeveless and draped her body flatteringly. “Support is always good. Did you see my model?”

  “Not yet,” Ethan said. “I just got here.”

  Kelly had seen the model throughout the entire process of its creation, and it had sat in their room for the last week undisturbed on a high shelf. She knew its every detail.

  Meg’s eyes grew wide. “You have to see it,” she told Ethan and rushed ahead, her long dress flowing behind her.

  Kelly and Ethan followed Meg over to the diagram, and Meg launched into a speech about why she thought her idea the best.

  Ethan stepped closer to Meg to hear her over the crowd and Kelly, after seeing a flicker of light, moved to peer at Meg’s gazebo and vegetable garden from a lower angle.

  She smiled when she saw that Meg had added a final touch to the display. It was man in a Greek-style robe, and Kelly wondered what Greek fraternity she’d thought of when making it. It was no secret that the school’s new president, Ted Smith, had belonged to one of the houses. Every speech of his included several shout outs to Phi Kappa Tau.

  Kelly smiled and reached out to touch the figure, finding the wood smooth. She admired Meg’s craftsmanship and found herself looking into the statue’s eyes when something stung her finger. A rapid warmth passed through her, traveling up her hand, arm, chest, and then flooding every limb.

  She backed away from the model and looked at her finger. Surely it must just have been a splinter. She didn’t see a splinter, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one there. She pushed on her finger but there was no pain. Perhaps the splinter had fallen out already.

  Loud laughter caught her attention, and Kelly saw a group of Ethan’s fraternity brothers. All of them were dressed in their dark suits with their fraternity's pin stuck on their lapels.

  Ethan looked at her, and she patted him on the back. “Go have fun.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, stepping away. He scanned the room with watchful eyes. His forehead was creased and Kelly smiled, recognizing that look. Sometimes, dating him was like walking around with a Secret Service detail rather than a boyfriend.

  “We’re in a crowded room with half the school staff present. I’ll be fine.” He was very protective of her.

  “But that guy . . .” He looked at her for a long moment and the hesitation was there. “I think I should stay with you.”

  Kelly squeezed his hand. “Ethan, we’re not dating anymore. Go.”

  “I’ll watch her,” Meg said with a wink.

  Ethan’s gaze didn’t leave Kelly’s, though he spoke to Meg. “Thanks.” Then he left.

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kelly let out a breath.

  Meg came over and put a hand on her arm. “Don’t be so hard on him. He’s just really protective.”

  She shook her head. “Yeah, but more often than not, he acted like my babysitter and not a boyfriend while we were dating. He rarely touched me other than as a friend. I practically had to beg him to kiss me.”

  Meg frowned and whispered, “He seems to love you though. I mean, Ethan is a great looking guy. He could have any girl he wanted, but for the last four months, he’s been following you around like a lost puppy.”

  “Well, I don’t want a puppy, I want a man,” Kelly snapped, even though the subject was not one they usually discussed in public. “Am I crazy?”

  “No,” Meg quickly rushed to say. “Some people are simply more ready than others.”

  Kelly was ready. She’d been primed and ready for years, but Ethan never did more than kiss her, and even then, it wasn’t with passion. Half the time, it felt like a consolation prize, something to keep her happy enough to ensure she stuck around.

  And as often as she’d romanticized their first kiss, she had to say that the novelty of it died more every day.

  Kelly shook her head. “But it’s not just the sex . . . or the lack of it. Something is wrong. I can feel it when I’m with him. There is something he isn’t telling me.” And then she’d seen him look at another woman the way she’d always wanted him to look at her.

  That was what had pushed Kelly to end things with him.

  The pure animal desire she’d seen in Ethan’s eyes for another woman had been her breaking point. For a long time, she’d thought he simply had performance issues, but she was starting to believe this was not the case.

  He simply didn’t want Kelly, yet he wouldn’t leave her alone.

  “Let’s forget about Ethan.” Meg linked her arm with Kelly’s and pulled her along. “Come on, let’s go look at the competition.”

  They stopped at Kelly’s favorite.

  A simple flag.

  Meg scrunched up her nose. “That’s all you built?” she asked the guy who’d built it.

  Jax, like Meg, was an engineering major, and Kelly found his monotone hilarious . . . especially whenever he and Meg had to work on a project. The juxtaposition between Meg’s fiery nature and his cool head was charming.

  Jax wore a suit, but he’d left his collar open. He’d wasn’t the tie kind. His chestnut brown hair was pushed back from his face and his brown eyes said he was bored.

  He crossed his arms. “Simple is better. Leave the gazebos and gardens for Glory.” Glory was a quiet meditation place on campus that also held the school’s church.

  Kelly inwardly agreed.

  Meg let go of Kelly. “There should be gazebos and gardens everywhere! We should be growing our own food.”

  With no enthusiasm at all, he said, “Then let’s skip the veggies and grow cattle. Steak’s more filling.”

  Meg, a diehard vegan, gasped. “Cows in the middle of campus?”

  Kelly slowly slipped away from the pair, walking backward until she bumped into a large form. “Oh, sorry.” She quickly turned around and was met once again with those hypnotic green eyes.

  Her stranger grinned. “I have been looking for you.”

  Kelly cleared her throat to relieve its tightness.

  “Looking for me?” she asked and took a small step back from him.

  He nodded slowly, his eyes steady on hers. An expression of wonder and understanding spread across his face. “And now . . . I’ve found you.” He made it sound as though he’d been searching for her his entire life.

  She froze for what seemed like a full minute, and then she looked around the room, but she didn’t see Ethan or his friends. She really shouldn’t be talking to this guy. Ethan would lose it, and she’d have to deal with his anger for the rest of the night. She really didn’t have the time for that. “Mm. I have to go.” She moved to edge by him.

  His hand came out and touched her arm. The air left Kelly’s lungs on contact and on her inhale, she became intoxicated with the smell of him. The woodsy spice, the scent of salty skin . . . an explosion went off in her head, and Kelly’s senses became heightened.

  His hand tightened, and a tingling sensation covered her arms while a comforting heat coated her, sweeping over every sensitive part of her body. She closed her eyes, but then quickly opened them to see what he was doing to her.

  His dark brows had pulled together and his breathing was heavy, and his eyes looked just as confused as she knew hers must appear.

  God, she needed to have sex . . . with Ethan. But Ethan didn’t want her. He wanted someone else, but was too afraid to say it.

  The stranger let her go, and Kelly felt her body settle back onto her feet. It was like, for a moment, gravity had stopped existing and only his hold on her could keep her anchored to the ground. But gravity, along with reality, came back all at once, taking her new awareness with it.

  She wanted to blame Ethan for this encounter. For the extreme sexual tension she’d just experience with this stranger. If only Ethan had wanted her and had fulfilled her needs, she was sure
she wouldn’t feel this way for a man whose name she didn’t even know. But to blame Ethan would be unfair. Her hormones were clearly in charge at the moment.

  She didn’t dare look at him again. “I have to go.”

  “Wait—”

  Kelly didn’t. Instead, she maneuvered her way through the throng of people, out the front door, down the flight of steps, and into the humid night.

  Guilt hit her quickly. Ethan wasn’t her boyfriend, but being with anyone else seemed like cheating . . . and it only made it worse that she wanted the stranger more than she’d ever wanted Ethan. She hadn’t known arousal could be that intense. If the touch of the stranger’s hand did that to her, what else was he capable of?

  She took a deep breath, but the smell of Morwen, which usually gave her comfort, didn’t now. The wind blew her forward, and she knew exactly where she needed to go to feel good.

  She crossed the car-lined street and, when she reached the other side, she took off her pumps and stepped into The Square.

  The feel of grass had always been blissful to Kelly, but tonight . . . She took in another breath and then another. She could almost taste the spring air like fresh herbs on her tongue. She moved her toes farther into the grass and felt each individual blade that touched her, forming a bed underneath her feet.

  She looked back at the administrative building, but saw no one else leave.

  Then she turned back around and stared at a figure on the other side of The Square, but the person was so far away that she couldn’t make out his face. He was also dressed in what looked like a black robe which covered his face.

  She shrugged, finding that strange, and looked over to the building on her left. The student theatre was open, though there was no show tonight, only practice. Perhaps the stranger was playing the Grim Reaper in the next production . . . though she couldn’t remember a Grim Reaper in The Sound of Music.

  He could be a frat brother who was taking part in some sort of initiation, but it was kind of late in the year for that.

  “Hey!” she called as he headed toward her. “What’s with the robe?”

  A strong gust pushed her dress backward. She looked over her shoulder at the administration building and then back at the stranger, who stood only a few yards away.

  He’d been so far away a moment ago.

  Kelly did a double take, noticing for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a robe. The black was like a shadow that floated around him. The image of Pig-Pen from the Peanuts comic strip—the little boy with the cloud of dirt always circling him—stopped her from totally freaking out.

  Then the image of Pig-Pen vanished and she freaked out.

  “Kelly!”

  She turned and saw the stranger from inside and frowned. How did he know her name?

  He held out his hand, his green eyes wide and his dark hair windblown. “Come to me.”

  She rushed to him, too afraid of the thing behind her to think about the consequences.

  A peacefulness fell over her at his touch and then she was flush against him, chest to chest and thigh to thigh. “I—” Her body jerked and a fast wind stung her eyes. Her hair whipped in her face, and it was only then that she realized they were moving.

  Her stranger, with his arm around her waist, held her with her feet off the ground and was running faster than humanly possible. “Hold onto me.”

  Kelly’s jaw dropped, but her arms went around his neck to hold onto him for fear of being dropped; she could feel the strength in his body and knew he wouldn’t let her go.

  What was happening to her?

  Maybe she’d been drugged.

  She tried to remember everything that had happened. Had she even attended the event? What if she was dreaming? It was the only explanation for the fact that she was being carried by a man who was speeding past buildings and trees like some sort of superhero. The street lamps’ rays splashed onto the sidewalk in quick patterns and everything about the dream felt real.

  The man holding her certainly felt real. His thick muscles and the coolness of his leather jacket under her hands all felt real.

  But then she looked up and saw they were being chased by the shadow. She thought it a dream again, especially as the shadow seemed to spread into the darkness around them, turning the already dark night into a blackness she’d never seen.

  She closed her eyes and, like she did with any nightmare she’d found herself stuck in, told herself to wake up.

  Her body jerked when they turned, and she heard the opening of a door before her body jolted again when they came to a complete stop.

  The stranger set her down on her feet and then turned to close the door.

  Kelly looked around and recognized the president’s house. She’d attended a few dinners at the house last year with her friend Amity, who’d been part of every major organization on campus.

  “Come on,” the stranger said, holding out his hand.

  She didn’t move. “What is going on?”

  Something flickered in his green eyes, anger she thought, before he smoothed it away and said, “We have to go.”

  “No.” Kelly shook her head. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  The front door began to rattle, and she jumped.

  “Come on!” the stranger shouted.

  Kelly pressed her fingers to her temples. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

  He grabbed her arms.

  She looked up into the stranger’s eyes and the intricate shades of green began to dance.

  “Ote-oun’a.”

  Kelly blinked as a heaviness settled in her head and over her eyes. She grew tired instantly and the stranger wrapped his arms around her.

  “Ote-oun’a,” he whispered again. His eyes held a touch of tenderness and then darkness claimed her. “Sleep,” she heard him whisper, before there was nothing.

  * * *

  Chapter Glossary;

  Ote-oun’a — Sleep

  It is currently priced at $0.99 (around 330 pages)

  Find out soon To See How The Story Ends . . .

  ColleenNorman Publishing House

  ALSO BY SHANIA TYLER

  A War of Asea Book

  Standalone Novella : Falling into Darkness

  ^ Story of : Amity and Ronan

  LINK: Standalone Novella : Falling into Darkness

  * * *

  Blackness Falls

  ( Series Part 01)

  Book 1 : Lord of Shadows

  ^ Story of : Kelly and Mason

  LINK: Book 1 - Lord of Shadows

  Map of ASEA

  “the further west one goes, the more savage it gets.”

  Eastern World

  2 ~~ Ucrary:

  Windy city. Gets extreme colds.

  3 ~~ Corena:

  Vast hills and open fields, country

  4 ~~ Ember’s Woods:

  Named after the god, it’s a magical forest of nymphs.

  5 ~~ Morwen:

  Hideout in the mountains in of Asea. Mountainous.

  6 ~~ Pria:

  The capital of the Eastern World. Holds court, offices, assembly rooms, and stadiums. Each royal household also has a house in the city.

  7 ~~ Estain:

  Seaport, city on the sea side

  * * *

  Middle World

  1 ~~ Talon Island:

  Island of the Gods. Protected by the giants of Glonn, the fairies in Shadesea, and the dragons of Mezzin.

  8 ~~ Glonn:

  Land of giants

  9 ~~ Darcee:

  Country, crops.

  10 ~~ Trasco:

  Jungle paradise.

  * * *

  Western World

  11 ~~ Shadesa Forest:

  Forbidden fortress of the Fairies. Rumored to hold the Eternal Pool.

  12 ~~ Chakra:

  Once a part of the larger Hatash. Strong oil economy.

  13 ~~ Hatash:

  Dry and hot. Ruled by men. Use to be the leader of the west, but now is is not.
Trades on metal and stone. Holds little oil.

  14 ~~ Salani:

  Like Hatash, it is dry. Kingdom ruled by a queen with a quick temper. Once tired to Hatash, but no anymore. Trades on metal and stone. Holds little oil.

  15 ~~ Mezzin:

  Volcanic, tropical, Polynesian style homes. Known to be the home of the dragons.

  This book is copyright © 2017 by

  Shania Tyler

  and

  ColleenNorman Publishing House LLC

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All rights reserved.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

  Published by: ReedFoster Press HOUSE LLC

  40 E MAIN ST, #1156

  NEWARK, DELAWARE 19711

  Cover Designed by: Mia Kinsey

  Digital Edition

  Manufactured in the United States of America