First chapter of my book~By Kyle

Be sure to check below for an earlier post by Victoria!


Hi everyone! To celebrate (almost) finishing editing my book, I have posted below the first chapter of it. It should be err free since I have gone over it probably the most, but if you spot anything (much to my consternation) please let me know. Enjoy! Sorry that it is double-spaced! Too much time to fix it....

Chapter 1

Aaron and Amy

It was a warm afternoon, just the kind you would expect for the middle of September in Washington State. Aaron, a fifteen year old boy, walked out of his high school with his twin sister, Amy.

“Man, not a really nice day,” Aaron remarked as he walked down the street with his sister.

“It could have been worse,” Amy replied.

 “Okay, you call losing our last bible study member because he wants to watch some crazy movie with his friends,” Aaron said, “learning that dad is going on another international business trip so we will have to stay with Aunt Ruth a whole month, and on top of that both of us getting “C’s” on our geography tests, not so bad?”

 “Well, the bullies didn’t bother us today, they could have stolen our lunches again,” Amy replied almost sarcastically.

“The bullies” as every kid called them were a group of teens who seemed to delight in causing trouble . . . and seldom got punished for it. Aaron and Amy’s high school was a private school and the bullies’ parents were rich. Not only did the parents pay the heavy bill to have their kids in this school, but also they tended to be “generous” with their money in giving many donations. The school, afraid of losing this “funding”, tended to overlook some of the bullies pranks.

  “It seems like everything has gone wrong since mom died.” Aaron still tried to hide the moisture in his eyes that sprang up when he talked about his mom.

 “Well, we can’t really blame dad. He mourned mom even more, I think, than we did, and really just put us in private school because he didn’t know what to do,” Amy said quietly. "But, Oh!  Don’t you remember the days when mom homeschooled us?” 

“Yes, I do, Amy. Those were some of the best days! But let’s not talk about that anymore. When do you think we will leave for Aunt Ruth’s?"

“Oh, well I think dad leaves on the 28^th, so we will probably be dropped off on the 27^th.”

"Don’t you think we are old enough to take care of ourselves? I mean we both are 15." Aaron sounded exasperated.

 “Yes,” Amy agreed, “but I think he just wants us to be safe ever since we lost mom. But, Look!  There is Michael over there!" she exclaimed. “It looks like they haven’t left yet.”

“Yeah,” said Aaron, “but look at those kids he is with.”

Michael, the kid who attended Amy and Aaron’s Bible study, was standing with a group of teens dressed mainly in black. The teens were not "the bullies" themselves, but the type of kids who wanted and tried to be accepted into the group.

“Let’s go see if he has changed his mind,” Amy urged. The two quickly crossed the road and made their way to the group.

“Hi Michael,” Aaron said, trying to ignore the other glaring teens, “are you sure you don't want to come to our house for our Bible study?”

"Aaron,” Michael whispered, glancing back at the others, "you are going to really embarrass me!"

“What?" Amy stared at him.

Suddenly the oldest of the teens, a boy with ear piercings, stepped in front of Aaron. "And are you sure that you want to go home and read that six thousand year old pack of fairytales?" The boy scoffed. “You could come with us. The movie, I hear, has some great R-rated scenes."

 "Yeah, she would fit right in!” A girl in tight black jeans sneered, pointing at Amy's long skirt. A chorus of laughter backed the remark.

 
 "Come on, Amy." Aaron grabbed Amy's hand and led her away from the crowd.

 “What? Are you afraid?" The oldest teen laughed.

Aaron turned around, but looked not at the teens. His green-gray eyes searched Michael’s. "Michael, are you coming?"

Michael's eyes pleaded with Aaron to understand. "No," He said, turning away.

 Aaron turned and walked away with Amy. 

 “I can't believe that boy!" Amy said a few minutes later. "hanging out with those kinds of kids over going to a friendly Bible study at our house is crazy!"

“It is funny what people you get involved with when you want to “fit in” or prove you are not a wimp," Aaron said, shaking his head.

“Yes," Amy replied. ”Aaron, I want you to know that I am proud of you for the way you handled that situation."

“Thank you," Aaron opened their house gate for Amy, “and Amy, mom would be proud of the way you still wear long skirts.”

 Amy nodded unable to speak and passed into their house.

*****************************************************************

Next week a few days before Aaron and Amy's trip to Aunt Ruth's they were preparing for their Bible study. They had convinced (while nobody else was around) Michael to come.

Amy moved a lamp to the corner of the coffee table and set a candle in the center of it. “What if there was another world?" She asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?" Aaron replied, setting a Bible with the name Aaron J. Carpenter (Carpenter is Aaron and Amy's last name) on the sofa.

“Well, what if there was a way to travel into another world no one has ever been to before." Amy failed to light the candle the first time with a match.

"That's impossible!" Aaron called over his shoulder as he walked into another room.

"Yeah, probably . . .” Amy trailed off to herself finally getting the candle lit.

When Michael arrived he seemed rather stand-offish and embarrassed, but he was quickly put to ease by Amy and Aaron who did not bring up the event of last week.

 The three friends had just sat down and opened their Bibles when there was a loud crash.

“What was that?" Michael asked, looking towards the wall from where the sound had come, but before anyone could answer several things started happening at once. A Large crack suddenly appeared in one of the walls and grew wider and wider till it looked like invisible hands were tearing away the studs and drywall. Then, as if the hole in the wall was a great vacuum, things started being sucked into it.

The kids jumped to their feet in amazement.  Sofa pillows, lamp stands, and cabinets disappeared through the hole first. Then several chairs flew by them, and the sofa they had been sitting on slid along the floor and flew into the hole. All the furniture was swept away except the coffee table with the lamp and snuffed out candle that somehow miraculously still stood on its top. Then another strange thing started happening, the carpet started being ripped up by the wind and underneath it showed not the wood floor, but cold, black rock. The walls all around the teens grew growths of the same until all of the walls were covered with black rock.

Aaron stumbled forward and clutched at the coffee table which was the only thing left in the room. His hand closed over a small box, but suddenly he tripped and fell over the rock floor. A stalagmite grew out of the ground right in front of him, and suddenly the coffee table was swept away. The lamp on it was jerked away from its socket that was now disappearing into the rock, and the room went pitch black.