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Authors: Annalynne Thorne
Book of the Hidden
Book of the Hidden
Annalynne Thorne
Copyright © 2012 Annalynne Thorne
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Book Of The Hidden
Young Adult - Fantasy Romance
By Annalynne Thorne
Out Of The Norm
It was a small town, the kind where all the houses look alike except for the array of colors. Everyone knows their neighbors, and old ladies gather at the local beauty shop to discuss the latest gossip while trying to push the young ones into marriage and children. A typical friendly place, the one anyone would find in a laid back romance movie but on this night it wasn't so typical, and it wasn't a movie.
Smoke and sirens wreaked the night air, and a lady covered in soot and grime was carried out of her house in the arms of a fireman. All the neighbors gathered around the many cars and trucks to watch the house ablaze, the lights and fire reflecting in their teary eyes.
The story of the lady was the most interesting though. She went to the basement to do her nightly exercise when a fire started on the top floor in the kitchen. All she could remember was the clouding smoke and heat that caught her attention, but before she could reach the door, the top floor had caved in. The fireman probed for more information as she sat on the edge of the emergency vehicle wrapped tightly in a rough wool blanket, but they were convinced she must have inhaled too much smoke. No one could survive that, there had to be a reasonable explanation.
Mutterings passed around that sounded like it must have been a "miracle" but the lady considered it luck, and vowed to get another smoke alarm once she was out of the hospital. For her, it was a second chance.
In the rush not one of the police officers, paramedics, firemen, or crying family members noticed past the black smoke, a dark figure silhouetted against the midnight sky.
Some people called them miracles, angels or fate. Others ignored the fact that any of those things could be real. If they ever knew the truth, they wouldn’t believe it, denying like they do everything out of the realm of "norm." But if any of them looked past their fear to something different, beyond the disaster, they could see them.
Angel Boy
Tonight the air was cool, and sprinkling with rain. The soft pattering against the roof and windows. A comforting sound for sleeping. Vivian Evans loved the fall weather, especially at night. The leaves were growing dead, and falling, cracklin beneath the feet of walking adults, kids, and couples. Not cold, nor hot.
“Hun, I wish you wouldn’t leave in this weather,” Vivian’s mother, Julie Evans appeared by the door separating the kitchen from the living room. It was a small wooden house with no upstairs or basement, and one hallway with three tiny rooms, one of them being Vivian’s when she was younger. Wow, that made her sound old. She was only nineteen.
She pulled on her light-weight jacket that whistled annoyingly whenever she moved her arms. “Mom, it’s not pouring down rain! There’s barely wind out there!”
Outside the windows the night could clearly be seen. The leaves from the old oak tree in the front yard didn’t budge and the dirt road was light brown, not yet entirely darkened by the rain. Tiny drops of water from the shower fell from her light brown hair that reached slightly below her shoulders. It would chill her tonight.
Mrs. Evans picked tiny pieces of lint off of her daughter’s jacket. “Why don’t you spend the night?”
Vivian had to smile. It was just like her mother, not wanting to let her leave. Ever since Vivian became…. Different than she used to be, her mom always worried.
“I have to get back to the Underground. I’ll be fine! Promise.” she hugged her, kissing her on the cheek, and turned around to leave.
Right when she grasped the doorknob her mother spoke again.
“I left you something from them on the passenger side.”
“Okay….” Vivian slammed the door behind her.
She didn’t bother looking in the passenger side, instead she got in the car and pushed the key in the ignition. She let the wind numb her face as she drove in her metallic blue jeep along the empty roadway, the dust flying up beside the doors. Every now and then she would glance up at the full moon hiding behind some trees. It almost looked as though claws had slashed across the moon leaving black streaks behind.