Read Arianna's Awakening (Arianna Rose Part 1 & The Awakening Part 2) Online
Authors: Jennifer Martucci,Christopher Martucci
Arianna's Awakening (Arianna Rose Part 1 & The Awakening Part 2) (26 page)
About the Authors
Jennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2010. To date, the jury is still out. But late one night, in January of 2010, the stay-at-home mom of three girls under the age of six had just picked up the last doll from the playroom floor and placed it in a bin when her husband startled her by declaring, “We should write a book,
together
!” Wearied from a day of shuttling the children to and from school, preschool and Daisy Scouts, laundry, cooking and cleaning, Jennifer simply stared blankly at her husband of fifteen years. After all, the idea of writing a book had been an individual dream each of them had possessed for much of their young adult lives. Both had written separately in their teens and early twenties, but without much success. They would write a dozen chapters here and there only to find that either the plot would fall apart, or characters would lose their zest, or the story would just fall flat. Christopher had always preferred penning science-fiction stories filled with monsters and diabolical villains, while Jennifer had favored venting personal experiences or writing about romance. Inevitably though, frustration and day-to-day life had placed writing on the back burner and for several years, each had pursued alternate (paying) careers. But the dream had never died. And Christopher suggested that their dream ought to be removed from the back burner for further examination. When he proposed that they author a book together on that cold January night, Jennifer was hesitant to reject the idea outright. His proposal sparked a discussion, and the discussion lasted deep into the night. By morning, the idea for the Dark Creations series was born.
The Dark Creations series, as well as the Arianna Rose series and the Planet Urth series, are works that were written while Jennifer and Christopher continued about with their daily activities and raised their young children. They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out each section. Life simply continued. And in some ways, their everyday lives were reflected in the characters of each series.
As the story line continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration. Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing. They hope that all enjoy reading their work as much as they enjoyed writing it.
Boo
ks by Jennifer and Christopher Martucci:
The Dark Creations Series
(A YA paranormal romance series)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 2)
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1&2)
Dark Creations: Resurrection (Part 3)
Dark Creations: The Hunted (Part 4)
Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5)
Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6)
The Arianna Rose Series
(A paranormal romance series)
Arianna Rose (Part 1)
Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2)
Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3)
Arianna Rose: The Arrival (Part 4)
Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5)
The Planet Urth series (A YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic series)
Planet Urth (Book 1)
Planet Urth: The Savage Lands (Book 2)
Coming Soon:
Planet Urth: The Underground City (Book 3)
Thank You So Much For Reading Our Book!
We deeply appreciate your readership and would love to hear from you!
For information about upcoming releases (or just to say hi!) please visit our website at
http://darkcreationssaga.com
or our Facebook page at
http://on.fb.me/1dlUUF5
.
To sign up for our mailing list and receive information about upcoming release and special promos, please visit
http://eepurl.com/Jp7yz
Thank you again for reading!
Love,
Jennifer and Christopher Martucci
Oh, One Last Thing Before You Go…
When you turn the page, you may be given the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically. If you enjoyed our book, would you take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it?
If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you, and we will be, too!
Thank you so much!
Love,
Jenny and Chris
Enjoy an excerpt from
Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising (Part 1)
Chapter 1
Melissa Martin paced about her room nervously until a trio of beeps startled her. She froze and looked in the direction of the sound. It had come from the cell phone in her purse, and had seemed far louder than usual. She rushed to her bed where her bag sat, hoping another set would not ring out, and quickly retrieved her phone. She pressed a single button and her display screen brightened. A small envelope icon in the lower left corner indicated that a message awaited her. She was fairly certain of who the message was from, but checked, nevertheless.
Kevin Anderson had sent two simple words to her via text message.
I’m here
was all it said. And with those two words, her plan had been set in motion.
She inhaled deeply and put her phone back in her bag before crossing her room and placing a hand on her doorknob. She turned it slowly, all the while willing it to twist silently. When it had rotated as far as it would go, she pulled it toward her and opened the door. She scanned the hallway beyond her room and found it dark and still, and saw that her father’s bedroom door was shut. Satisfied that he was sleeping, she closed her door, tiptoed to her bed and grabbed her purse. Her heart thundered in her ears and her hands shook as she moved to her window. She knew she ought to hurry, that Kevin was waiting for her, but paused briefly to consider what she was doing. She looked out, beyond the pane of glass she stood before, beyond her own reflection, into the blackened sky. The sky seemed darker than normal, foreboding, as if it wished to warn her to stop, to stay inside. She knew that was exactly what she should do, stay inside, and forget about Kevin. Her stomach ached and quivered. She knew what she was about to do was wrong, that the consequences could be devastating. She had a good sense of judgment, after all. But she ignored it, as well as the worry that teemed inside her.
Pushing the worry to the back of her mind, she swallowed hard, placed both hands on the sill of her window and raised the pane first, then the screen. A gust of cold air rushed in. She hadn’t seen the treetops stir, didn’t know it would be a windy night, yet a strong blast of air had sent her lavender curtains fluttering and billowing so wildly, they had covered her face and temporarily obscured her vision with their flimsy fabric. The unexpected squall ended as mysteriously as it had begun, however, and left her wondering whether it, like the unusually dark sky, sought to convey some cosmic message.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the thought of cosmic messages, and guessed that nerves, and nerves alone, were responsible for such thoughts. After all, neither the elements nor the cosmos cared whether she went or not. Her father would, though. She was sure he would not appreciate her skulking off in the middle of the night to meet Kevin. And if she were caught doing so, he would not trust her again anytime soon.
The thought of losing her father’s trust halted her, but not for long. Her phone beeped again as if impatiently urging her on. Without further thought and despite her reservations, she climbed out of her second-story window out onto the frost-coated roof of the garage. She slid down its length on her backside until she reached the edge. After carefully avoiding contact with debris in the gutter, she grabbed hold of an outstretched tree limb. The limb belonged to an old oak that grew alongside her house. She climbed onto it and began carefully navigating the network of branches deep within the tree until she reached the lowest branch and dropped to the frozen grass below
She took a few timid steps and looked over her shoulder at her house. Save for the faint glow her nightlight radiated in her window, the house, and the tree, were enveloped in darkness. Cold crept up her body from the icy lawn. She turned from her house, wrapped her arms around her shoulders and wished she’d worn a heavier jacket, or perhaps had forgone the meeting entirely. Either way, she was out already and she did not turn back. Instead, she stole across her lawn and rushed down her street. She moved so quickly, she hardly noticed the humble, uniform houses on Blackstone Drive. Her own home, small and modest like the ones it neighbored, grew smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappeared. She neared the edge of her neighborhood in the unassuming community of Harbingers Falls, New York and immediately saw Kevin’s car.
His sleek, black Infiniti G37 Sport Coupe was unmistakable. Undoubtedly freshly washed and waxed, she reached out for the passenger side lever, careful not to mar the flawless finish, and the internal lights illuminated the interior. For most, the overhead lighting would have been unflattering, but not Kevin. Kevin was arguably the most popular boy at Harbingers High School, and for good reason. He captained both the basketball and football teams, maintained a solid B plus average in his academic studies and was charming beyond his years. Women of all ages swooned and fawned over him. He was beautiful. He towered at six-foot-four-inches tall and weighed a substantial two hundred and twenty-five pounds. But despite his powerful physique, he was wide-eyed and fine-featured with looks that flirted with feminine prettiness. His eyes were a deep, chocolate brown and fringed with long lashes. He wore his sandy-blond hair styled expertly into a spiky faux-hawk. His face rivaled any movie star she had ever seen. And if his face and body were not enough to frenzy the women around him, his unique smile put them over the edge. When he spread his full lips and showed his blindingly white teeth, his smile revealed a single dimple in the center of his right cheek. This anomaly provided genuine character to his near-perfect appearance.
He flashed his signature smile at her as she seated herself in the passenger side of his car. But something about the way that he smiled seemed forced, phony even. For reasons that were unclear, she found it cocky.
Her guess was that his womanizing career had entitled him to that cocky smile. His reputation was no secret to her, or anyone else for that matter. But she had long since considered herself invulnerable to his lures, to his charm. Yet, she was sitting with him in his car on a school night when she should have been home sleeping. And she had defied her father. Her temples began to pound and she replayed his courtship of her, how he’d been so polite and sincere. He’d said all the right things, had expressed interest in her interests. He had sought her out, selected her over the multitudes jockeying for his attention. He had made her feel special. But she did not feel special any more. In fact, as he smiled at her, he seemed smug, and she felt certain she had manufactured most, if not all, of his sincerity.
“Hey,” he said cheerfully. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”
A moment of pure panic seized her. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to slip out of the car and teleport back to her house. Of course, neither was an option. Instead she muttered, “Yep. Me, too,” and stared at the clock mounted on the dashboard. It read 12:08 p.m. Her stomach sank to her feet.
“You look hot. And you smell phenomenal,” he said and raised his eyebrows mischievously. He then surprised her by leaning
across the center console and brushing his nose against the nape of her neck. He inhaled the sweet blend of vanilla, caramel and coconut, her signature fragrance, that she had applied perhaps a bit too generously. She supposed his gesture was meant to be some kind of seductive move to entice her. But she did not feel roused in the least. Rather, the fluid, flagrant way he flirted annoyed her. He was smooth, too smooth.
“Thanks,” she replied halfheartedly. “So, where are we going,” she asked hoping to change the subject to a platonic topic.
“I was thinking we would go over to the Rec Center and hang out, you know, and get to know each other better.”
She shuttered at the thought of going there. By day, the East Fallkill Recreation Center was a designated area for activities.
At night, however, it was a popular haunt for local teenagers. Beer and various other alcoholic drinks were brought and consumed in abundance, and sexual intercourse, in all its forms, invariably occurred. Melissa guessed that talking was the last thing that he wanted to do. She immediately tried to rebuff his invitation.
“Why don’t we go to the diner in town? We can talk there
, and eat. I’m starved,” she suggested.
Kevin tipped his head imploringly in Melissa’s direction and pushed out his lower lip in exaggerated disappointment.
“I was really hoping we could talk privately
.
You know, just the two of us. I want to be with just you.”
He reached his right hand over the center console and gently squeezed her knee. Instead of promptly removing it though, he let his hand linger a moment too long.
She felt her stomach churn nervously. She wanted to tell him to forget about it, that it was the diner or home for her, but felt powerless to reject him outright. Doing so would instigate social repercussions she did not want to endure. His reputation for womanizing went hand in hand with one that was less familiar, and not discussed as often. His penchant for revenge was eclipsed only slightly by his flirtatious ways. She felt compelled to agree with him.
“Fine, I mean, whatever,” she heard herself say. “The Rec Center it is. But I can’t stay long. If my dad gets up and sees that I’m gone, he’ll ground me until graduation.”
“Wow. He sounds tough.”
“You have no idea.
Since my mom died, he takes the whole parenting thing
way
too seriously,” she chattered nervously. “I mean, it’s like extreme parenting or something. He has to know where I am every minute of the day. He worries so much.”
She felt like she had to exaggerate her father’s protectiveness to set some kind of time constraint on their time together at the Rec Center. Her father was a perfect excuse.
“I’m surprised you came out tonight. All the other times I asked, you said no,” he said ignoring the comments about her father.
“You can thank Daniella for that. She talked me into it.”
Daniella, one of Melissa’s best friends, was largely responsible for her agreeing to meet Kevin. Daniella, ever the romantic, had helped convince her that Kevin was something he was not. She would not blame her friend in the morning, but intended to dispute her every fanciful idealization of him.
Thoughts of the next morning, and yearning for the evening to end already, swirled in her head. She did not dare speak of them. Instead, she
sat quietly as he drove, and became increasingly uneasy as they approached their destination. When he finally pulled his car into the driveway of the East Fallkill Recreation Center, her stomach roiled anxiously. He tested the engine of his sports car and sped down the long pathway past tennis courts, baseball fields, a stout concession building and a football field, before reaching a play area. Just beyond the playground, the pavement extended into an expansive lot. Both the lot and the playground were poorly lit and provided little exposure during the infrequent police patrol spotlight searches.
He slowed then stopped and
shifted the car into park before switching off the headlamps. She felt nauseated and dizzy, and contemplated calling it a night when he leaned toward her without warning. She did not know if he was moving in for a kiss, but was relieved when he rested his elbow on her arm rest. He touched his index finger to her chin and smiled his blindingly white, single-dimpled smile, then said, “Hey, I’m sorry about your mom. How old were you when she died?”
She stiffened
at his touch, at his mention of her mother. Her mother was not a subject she was comfortable discussing in general, much less with someone unfamiliar. She reluctantly answered, “I was seven.”
“
Huh. That must have been rough. I bet she was as beautiful as you are.”
Melissa
felt her cheeks flush and was grateful for the extraordinarily dark night sky. She did not like shameless flattery together with mention of her mother. She contemplated a curt response, but came up empty. Try as she may, the words she longed for, ones that would put him in his place, would not come. As she tried to formulate a retort, Kevin surprised her. Without warning, he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.
At first his kiss was confident and gentle. Quickly, however, it transformed from being
unexpected to offensive. His lips began crushing hers. His tongue probed for hers as his hands seemed to multiply, and explore intimate parts of her.
Her
body went rigid. He was advancing on her too quickly, and without permission.
“Hey! Quit
it, Kevin!” she exclaimed and pulled away from him.
He backed off
, but only slightly. He leaned in to kiss her again and cupped her breast in his hand.
“I’m serious! Get off!” she continued more forcefully.
“I just find you so beautiful. I have a hard time behaving myself,” Kevin argued impishly and made no effort to remove his hand.
“I want to go home! Now!” she yelled
and shoved his hand off her.
“Are you kidding me? What are you some kind of tease? You come here in the middle of the night with me, looking the way you do and smelling the way you do and expect me to act like a saint?” he accused.