An Eternity of Eclipse

An Eternity of Eclipse

Con Template

Also by Con Template:

Welcome to the Underworld, Book 1

The Fall of Gods, Book 2

The War of Gods, Book 3

The End of Gods, Book 4

Copyright © 2015 Con Template

All rights reserved.

Cover Illustration Design by: Abie

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the Author.

Dedicated to
Kevin N.

There is a not a day that passes where I don’t miss you.

Happy Belated Birthday, little brother. I love you so much.

This one is for you.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, the creation of this published book would not have been possible without all the love and support from my incredibly wonderful beta-readers.

To my amazing
Beta-Readers
: As I expressed in my emails to you, none of this would have been possible without all your hard work, dedication, and love. You are my rocks when the stress of writing got to me, you kept me smiling during some of the most exhausting periods of publishing, and you kept me inspired with your touching words of encouragement and excitement. I always look forward to receiving an email from all of you and feel so fortunate to have you all in my life. Thank you—once again—for doing something so kind for me and my work. You’re all once-in-a-lifetime gems—truly. I love you so much and look forward to more adventures with you.

I would also like to extend a big “Thank You” to
Abie
for creating the breathtaking book cover for An Eternity of Eclipse and for being an all-around incredible soul. Your patience knows no bounds, your kindness is inspiring, and your talent leaves me in awe. Thank you for working so hard to create such gorgeous work for my story and for always,
always
being such a genuinely kind and sweet person. I’m so lucky to have you in my life.

No acknowledgement page would be complete without a shout-out to my beautiful family as well.

Mommy and Daddy:
Big thanks to you for being super inspiring and amazing human beings. The fact that you two make me laugh like no other makes you champions in my book too.

Sister:
Big thanks to you for being my best friend in the whole world and for always having my back. You’re a superwoman and definitely my biggest hero.

Werner Gang
: Thanks for being there since the goldfishes. Enough said.

Last but never least, my biggest gratitude goes to
My
Readers.
Thank you for all your beautiful messages, for believing in me, for spoiling me with so much love, and most simply, thank you for being the most wonderful readers I could ever ask for. I look forward to giving you one hell of a ride with this new series and I look forward to “breaking Eternity” with all of you. Thank you for joining me in this new adventure.

CONTENTS

The End of Forever

What do you do when the end of your forever approaches?

Do you think about the beginning while holding on to the end?
Do you allow tears to form in your eyes while death beckons you with the waves of its oceans?
Do you breathe in agony as the finalities of your heartbeats begin to diminish in numbers?
Do you embrace the remainder of your life with all your dying soul while the tremors of death overtake you?
Do you allow the shadows of your oblivion to wash over you . . .
. . . or do you beg the Heavens for one more thought?

One more thought for your life to flash before your eyes, one more remembrance of the moment your life went above and beyond, and one more opportunity to cherish the most important thought of all:
The memory of how one performs the impossible, the remembrance of when the impossible occurred, and the recollection of how your life changed when an
Eternity
was broken and the end of your forever began . . .

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Breaking News:
6-Year-Old Slays Entire Family

December 26th, 1996

 
    At midnight, police officers responded to numerous calls from residents in Serenity, a prosperous gated community in the heart of the country. Neighbors reported hearing numerous gunshots from the Hwang home, a wealthy family known for their endless fortune that derived from owning some of the best-known luxury hotels in the world. When police officers arrived at the estate, they were greeted with a horrific scene fit for a scary movie.
“It was terrible,” Officer Joo stated as his men carried out four body bags from the home. “As soon as we walked in, the smell of death just permeated the room.”

Mr. Hwang, Mrs. Hwang, and both of their older children (15-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son) were all shot and stabbed to death. The only survivor was their youngest, a 6-year-old daughter. Found covered in blood with a gun and knife in hand, officers were horrified to find that the sole survivor was also a likely suspect in the murders of the Hwang family. The child was taken into custody for psychological evaluations and a full investigation is underway. 
Brought to you by
THE-SERENITY-CHRONICLES

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“Something big is coming . . .”
0
0: Genesis

December 26
th
, 1996 – 3:33am
 

The interrogation room at Seoul’s Police Station was cold, much colder than any room I had ever been in.

Sitting on the icy metal chair with my back pressed against the rusted frame, I felt the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand as I quivered against the frigidness of the room. It was so cold I felt as if I was sitting in the middle of Antarctica rather than a confined interrogation room. 

Though the dim lighting and freezing temperature of the room intimidated every atom within my small body, it did little to hide the vacant emotions emitting from my tired brown eyes. It was painstakingly
obvious
 in my gaze that I didn’t want to be there. 

With a lawyer sitting by my side, Officer Joo sitting across from me, and a small dainty desk separating us, I waited with bated breath as Officer Joo recounted words that would forever haunt my young existence.

“The gun and knife were in your hands when we walked in,” Officer Joo said warily, a stream of warm breath escaping from his chapped lips.

Officer Joo spared an uneasy glance at my lawyer, who subtly flinched at the officer’s words. My lawyer uncomfortably readjusted the gold rim of his glasses over the bridge of his nose. It was undeniable that he was also disturbed with this revelation. They were both disturbed. The only person who wasn’t disturbed with this revelation was me. 

Officer Joo’s focus returned to me. His dark brown eyes glowed under the flickering illumination of the lone, battery-powered desk lamp sitting on the table. The bags of age under his eyes became darker, if not more visible under the dim lighting.

My silence persisted under his expectant and scrutinizing stare.
I felt no need to respond to his troubling words because there was no point; I felt 
nothing
 when he said it anyway.

Finding it redundant to keep my focus on his eyes, I lowered my apathetic gaze onto the gold cross pendant he wore around his neck
.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I started to shift awkwardly at the sight. I didn’t know what it was about cross pendants—
or crosses in general
—that always left me feeling unsettled. I didn’t like them nor did I despise them. There was just something about the religious symbol that held a captive audience of me; something about the symbolic mark that bated my breath and commanded my unwavering attention.

I only stopped staring when I saw that Officer Joo was growing uncomfortable with my focused silence on his cross. Soon, I returned my vacant eyes to him. I addressed his accusations with a simple shake of the head. Whether I was too tired to speak or didn’t care enough to speak, I wasn’t sure. I only knew that I didn’t want to hear my own voice in that moment. 

“Grace, why did you do it?” he asked again. His voice was no longer gentle. It was now firm, unbending, and accusing.

It was when I heard these underlying tones that it occurred to me 
what
he was trying to get out of me. 
Of course, why didn’t I see this before?
 Officer Joo wasn’t trying to get a statement of conviction from me because from what they told me, they already had all the evidence they needed. They knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was the one who murdered my family. It wasn’t a confession to the crime that he wanted. He wanted a confession to my emotions—a confession to my guilt. He wanted me to openly express all those emotions to him so that he could find any humanity left within me.

I shook my head at him, disappointed with his unspoken request. He didn’t get it. How could I give him remorse for something that I felt no guilt for? How could I give emotions for something that I didn’t give a damn about? His last question lingered in my head.

Why did I do it? 

Do what? Killed my parents? My brother and sister?
My 
family
? 

I wasn’t sure that I did. 

The blunt truth was: I couldn’t recall anything that happened.

All that I remembered was waking up underneath my parents’ bed with their blood all over me. Everything that took place prior to that moment was a big mystery to me. For all I knew, a serial killer could have broken into our home, killed everyone while they were sleeping, and bolted out before the cops came. Just because I woke up covered in blood and had the knife and gun in my hands, the cops automatically assumed that I was the culprit?