I’m not going back. I won’t let the rain stop me.
The water falls heavier and heavier, until I can barely see or hear anything. I roll onto my stomach, and watch the wall, waiting for it to open.
If I can’t see through the rain, that means, they won’t be able to see through it either. Which means, they won’t notice me, not until they find the bed empty at sunrise. This is the most perfect chance for me to leave my life from behind the wall.
As I’m watching, the most amazing thing happens. Part of the wall slides aside, and reveals the huge hole. I want to stand and run, but I know Elder William will be on his way to the hole. If he sees me, I won’t get away. This is my only chance.
I wait.
And wait.
The rain gets heavier, eases, then gets heavier again. My clothes are soaked through to my skin. The rain is cold, and I shiver as I wait for Elder William to go through the hole first.
I can’t be seen. I need to hold strong, and wait.
From the corner of my eye, I see him. Elder William. He runs toward the wall with something over his head. I know it’s him by his body shape. He’s tall and wiry, but he still has broad shoulders. He’s not as tall as Elder Steven, nor as big as him. Elder Steven is much taller, and much thicker.
Elder William makes his way through the hole.
This is it. I won’t get a chance like this again.
I look around, careful to make sure the Elders aren’t near. None of them are out here. The rain must be keeping them in.
Standing, though still low to the ground, I run toward the hole.
I stay as close to the wall as I can, not be seen by Elder William, or anyone who may be watching. I peek out through the hole. Elder William gets into a little bus, a dark little bus. I wait.
This is happening too fast.
I should stay here. I shouldn’t leave, I don’t know what’s out there.
Hesitating, I watch as the dark little bus leaves. Getting smaller and smaller.
We are your family. Beyond the wall is death. Beyond the wall is evil. You will die if you leave. Only we can protect you.
Suddenly, the wall begins to slide back in place to close the hole. Slowly, the gap narrows.
We are your family. Beyond the wall is death. Beyond the wall is evil. You will die if you leave. Only we can protect you.
I don’t know what to do. If I step through the wall, then I’m leaving Cain behind.
I can’t leave him here, alone. I need to stay with Cain, protect him from them.
I take a step back, away from the wall.
The voice in my head keeps telling me how only they can protect me. I’m torn. I don’t know what to do.
The wall is closing.
I’m confused.
I have to go, I can’t stay.
Without thinking, I run toward the hole, slide through, and get out.
The hole is closing, and I hide against the wall. I did it.
I did it.
The wall makes a jarring movement as it closes, but surprisingly, it’s not loud. Maybe the rain is muffling the sound.
“Have I made a mistake?” I scold myself. Even if I have, there’s no way back. I have to keep moving forward.
The little bus is now gone, and I don’t know in which direction it’s gone. It doesn’t matter. I just need to make sure I don’t get caught. And if I do, plead for them to kill me.
I can do this. I can do this.
I will do this.
There’s no turning back.
The rain hasn’t stopped. The moon is moving across the land, and soon the sun will replace it.
I’m walking without a clue as to where I’m going. I hope to find the people I’ve found before. I try to walk where the trees are, but there’s nothing out here. No trees, nothing.
My mouth is parched, and my clothes are completely drenched through. My shoes make a squeaking sound as I walk along, and I wiggle my toes in the wet shoes. The back of my shoe is rubbing against my foot, and creating a blister. I can feel the pain as they continue to rub. I want to take my shoes off, but I don’t know what else I may encounter. I can’t risk hurting the bottom of my feet.
The sun rises, and hurts my eyes. My mouth is becoming drier, though my clothes are still wet. The rain is easing, only just. Opening my mouth, I try to get rainwater in so I can swallow. Anything has to be better than nothing. Bright colors cover the sky above me, and I try to walk toward the end of the beautiful colors.
My stomach rumbles.
I feel weak. Like I’ve walked for many sunrises and sunsets. Dragging my feet, I try to keep going.
Stumbling, I trip over something. I catch myself before I fall.
The sun is over the top of me again, the rain has now stopped, and I feel like every part of me is shutting down.
Ahead of me, I see a body of water, running toward it, it disappears before I get to it.
“What?” I ask myself as I collapse to the ground and try to drink from the water that’s not here now. “Get up,” I say to myself. “Keep moving.”
My body is giving up on me, but I will myself to keep going.
We are your family. Beyond the wall is death. Beyond the wall is evil. You will die if you leave. Only we can protect you. No, no you’re not. You will never protect me.
Luna, keep going, don’t stop.
Dragging my lethargic body up, I keep walking. Slowly.
Everything hurts.
And I’m so thirsty. I need water. I need water now. I’m not sure if I’m going to survive if I don’t get water soon. The sun is hot, but fading quickly. It disappears, and darkness rapidly overtakes the day.
I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where I’m going.
Did I imagine those people? Is there really nothing out here? Is there death and illness?
We are your family. Beyond the wall is death. Beyond the wall is evil. You will die if you leave. Only we can protect you. The voice in my head keeps repeating as Elder Steven stands over me and beats me. I’m not sure I can keep going. I don’t know where I am. There is nothing around me. Nothing. I should’ve stayed behind the wall. I shouldn’t have left.
I should’ve stayed to wed Elder Steven. He’s a nasty Elder, but…
No, no ‘buts.’ Keep going. You’ll find something.
The moon is rising again, this time full and bright. Elder Steven would be telling me his vows, and Elder William would be standing in the room, watching us wed.
No, that can’t be all I’m made for. To bear Elder Steven’s young, to be nothing more than a girl. I have to be more. All the whippings, all the questions, everything I’ve seen and had happen to me, they have to be for a reason.
Elder William leaves by going through the hole in the wall, he must be going somewhere. But, where? I’m searching for the ‘where.’
I don’t know if I can do this. With hunger and thirst circling my already exhausted body, my steps slow. But I can’t let them find me. If they do, they’ll take me back to behind the wall.
We are your family. Beyond the wall is death. Beyond the wall is evil. You will die if you leave. Only we can protect you.
“No! No, you’re not. You were never my family,” I yell and try to hit the side of my head, hoping to dislodge the voice.
You can’t do this.
“Yes, I can.” I grab at my hair, and try to pull. The voice is of Elder Steven. His cruel eyes taunt me.
You won’t survive without me.
“Get out of my head!” I scream at him again.
The moon is high above me, but I’m determined to keep going. I need to get somewhere. I need to find something that tells me this wasn’t the wrong decision.
I hear something. “What’s that?” I ask as I try to run toward the noise. It’s close, but not close enough for me to see what’s making the sound.
My throat is dry and sore, and my feet are dragging. But I need to get to where the noise is.
“Little busses,” I
say as I see so many of them going back and forth. I don’t understand them. What are they doing?
I walk toward them. They’re going fast, much faster than I can run. Even faster than Cain can run.
The moon is concealing me, but I need to see what these little busses are. What they’re doing. There are so many. I don’t understand.
I step closer to them.
Suddenly, my mouth isn’t dry anymore. It’s wet from all the saliva pooling in it. My eyes are wide open, and my pulse rapidly hammers inside my body. This is it. It’s here I’ll find the diseased and dead.
The tortured souls the Elders tell us about.
I make my way even closer.
Little busses zoom past so fast, the wind from their passing blows my hair up around my face.
I step even closer.
A little bus swerves around me, and someone yells something.
Another little bus does the same thing. “Get off the road you idiot,” they scream. Road? Idiot? Frustration is building. They’re saying words and I don’t understand what they mean.
As I keep walking, more little buses zoom past me. All are swerving. What’s happening? What are they doing? Do they think I’m one of the diseased? Are they trying to get away from the tortured? From death?
Bright lights shine in my face. A blue light, and a red light.
There’s lots of noise. I don’t know where it’s coming from. A little bus with the red and blue lights stops next to me.
I stand, watching the red and blue lights. It’s mesmerizing. It goes around and around. But the noise hurts my ears. I put my hands over my ears, but can’t seem to close my eyes. The lights are so pretty. So beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like them before. I want to touch them, but the noise is deafening and I don’t dare uncover my ears. Suddenly, the noise stops.
“Are you okay?” A girl gets out of the little bus. She walks toward me, carefully.
I step back when she comes closer. She has strange eyes. “Are you sick?” I ask.
She looks over her shoulder, and I notice there’s a man standing beside her. Is he an Elder? Is she a Momma? “What?” the girl asks.
“Are you sick?” I point to her eyes. “Your eyes are different. Is that from disease?”
“What?” the man asks.
I look at him, and notice how black he is. It frightens me. “Are you burned? Did you burn in a fire?” I step back, not sure what’s wrong with them. I don’t want to get sick. I cover my mouth with my hand so I don’t get what they have.
They look at each other. Then back to me. “What’s your name?” the man asks.
“Are you an Elder? Are you a Momma? You’re wearing matching clothes.” I point to their clothes and can’t help but wonder why she’s allowed to wear pants.
“What’s your name?” the girl asks as she steps closer to me. But her eyes scare me. I don’t want her disease. I don’t want to get sick.
“Luna,” I reply. “Are you sick?” I point again to her eyes and the man’s black skin.
The girl looks over at the black man. She shakes her head at me. “I’m half-Chinese,” she says.
“And I’m African-American,” he replies.
“What’s that?” I ask.
They look to each other with raised brows. Both turn and stare at me. “Where are you from, Luna?” the man asks, slowly.
“I’m calling this in. Something’s wrong,” the girl says. I don’t understand what she’s saying, but my skin raises goosebumps in response.
“Luna?” the girl says. I look to her. “What’s your surname?”
I tilt my head. “My what?”
“Your last name. Your first name is Luna, and your last name is what?”
“My name is Luna.” The man steps forward, and I step back. He notices my uneasiness around him. Can I catch the black off his skin? Can it rub off? “Did it hurt?”
“Did what hurt?” his voice is gentler.
“When you were burned. Did it hurt?”
“I’ve never been burned.”
“But, your skin is all black. Is that not from being in a fire?”
“Luna, where did you say you came from?” he asks again.
I point behind me. He looks over my shoulder. “From behind the wall,” I say.
The girl with the funny eyes, and the black man stare at me, then each other.
“The wall?” the girl with the strange eyes asks.
I nod my head. “Yes, God’s Haven.” She’s staring at me, like I’ve said something wrong. The man’s mouth is open, and his eyes are narrow. They make him look like the girl with the funny eyes. Neither says anything. I nod and point again, before I repeat, “I came from behind the wall.”
Luna is no longer caged behind the wall. But, what happens now she’s out?
Addiction
Drugs ruin people’s lives.
I should know, they destroyed mine.
I’m Hannah and I got hooked on ice. What started as a trickle, ended with a tsunami washing everything away; my family, my life.
I’m not sure you’re ready to read my story; it’s real and confronting.
Open the book, read the pages and see how easy it is for anyone to get addicted.
Ice affects all types of people. It doesn’t discriminate.
It will SCREW. YOU. UP.
Drowning
I’m a cutter.
I cut because I find solace in it.
I cut because it helps calm my frantic mind.
I cut because the voice inside my head tells me to.
I cut because this is the only way I know how to handle life.
The Gift
I have something people want. I have something they cannot take or steal. I have something they'd kill for.
The something I have, isn't a possession, it's more.
Much, much more.
It's a gift.
It's part of me.
The Curse
It's been the butterfly effect.
I changed the course of my life because I warned a man.
I thought what I had was a gift, but it's quickly turning into my curse.
Now I realize I'm much more than a girl with an ability.
Because now... I'm becoming a weapon.
Dying Wish
I have three major loves in my life: my family, my best friend Becky, and ballet. Elijah Turner is quickly becoming the fourth.
He's been around as long as I can remember. But now he's much more than just the annoying guy at school.
My life was working out perfectly...until it got turned upside down.
Mistrust
I’m the popular girl at school.
The one everyone wants to be friends with.
I have the best boyfriend in the world, who’s on the basketball team.
My parents adore me, and I absolutely love them. My sister and I have a great relationship too.
I’m a cheerleader, I have a high GPA and I’m liked even by the teachers.
It was a night which promised to be filled with love and fun until…something happened which changed everything.
Ugly
*This is a dark YA/NA standalone, full-length novel. Contains violence and some explicit language*
If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to see.
If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to feel.
If I were dead, he'd never raise his hand to me again.
If I were dead, his words wouldn't cut as deep as they do.
If I were dead, I'd be beautiful and I wouldn't be so...ugly.
I'm not dead...but I wish I was.
Chef Pierre
Holly Walker had everything she’d ever dreamed about – a happy marriage and being mum to beautiful brown-eyed Emma - until an accident nineteen months ago tore her world apart. Now she's a widow and single mother to a boisterous little 7-year-old girl, looking for a new start. Ready to take the next step, Holly has found herself a job as a maître d' at Table One, a once-acclaimed
restaurant in the heart of Sydney. But one extremely arrogant Frenchman isn't going to be easy to work with...
Twenty years ago, Pierre LeRoux came to Australia, following the stunning Aussie girl he'd fallen in love with and married. He and his wife put their personal lives on hold, determined for Pierre to take Sydney's culinary society by storm. Just as his bright star was on the upswing, tragedy claimed the woman he was hopelessly in love with. He had been known as a Master Chef, but since his wife’s death he has become known as a monster chef.
Can two broken people rebuild their lives and find happiness once more?
Smoke and Mirrors
Words can trick us.
Smoke obscures objects on the edge of our vision.
A mirror may reflect, but the eye sees what it wants.
A delicate scent can evoke another time and place, a memory from the past.
And a sentence can deceive you, even as you read it.
Grit
***Recommended for 18 years and over***
Alpha MC Prez Jaeger Dalton wants the land that was promised to him.
Sassy Phoenix Ward isn’t about to let anyone take Freedom Run away from her.
He’ll protect what’s his.
She’ll protect what’s hers.
Jaeger is an arrogant ass, but he wants nothing more than Phoenix.
Phoenix is stubborn and headstrong, and she wants Jaeger out of her life.
Her father lost the family farm to gambling debts, but Jaeger isn’t the only one who has a claim to the property.
Sometimes it’s best to let things go.
But sometimes it’s better to fight until the very end.
Yes, Master
**** THIS PROLOGUE CONTAINS DISTRESSING CONTENT. IT IS ONLY SUITED FOR READERS OVER 18. ****
ALSO CONTAINS M/M, M/M/F, M/F AND F/F SCENES.
My uncle abused me.
I was 10 years old when it started.
At 13 he told me I was no longer wanted because I had started to develop.
At 16 I was ready to kill him.
Today, I’m broken.
Luna Caged: Behind the Wall Page 15