Cast & Fall

Cast
& Fall

JANICE HADDEN

Kindle Edition

copyright
©
2012 by

Janice Hadden

Cover Art by:
Michael Armado

All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or
transmitted in any way or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopy, recording or otherwise without prior permission or consent
from the author.

This novel is a
work of fiction. Names, descriptions, entities and incidents included
in the story are products of the author's imagination. Any
resemblance to actual persons, events, and entities are entirely
coincidental.

Table
of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

1. Glass Of
Silence

2. Innocence

3. Lost For
Words

4. Blazing
Hot, Ice Cold Eyes

5. Past
Shadows

6. Crossing
The Line

7. Falling To
Pieces

8. Soul
Searching

9. Hiding in
the Wings

10. Bullies

11. Cash

12. New Light

13. Choosing
Confessions

14. Death Of
Me

15. Truth Or
Consequence

16. Masquerade
Ball:
The Beautiful Stranger

17. The Fall

18. Torment

19. Krystal
Clear

20. Slice Of
Heaven

21. Here In
Your Perfect Eyes

22. Kiss Of
Death

23. Buried
Lies Within

24. Legion

25. Breathless

DEDICATION

A
BIG Thank You to my daughters: For all your support and love—for
when I asked, whether to—a. write a book or b. something
else…you undoubtedly but unknowingly signed up for a long year
of my crazy writing process. For nagging, so that I had no choice but
to finally finish
this book.

To my son who
expresses love,
louder
than all the words combined and who has
given me more hugs than I can ever count.

You’re my
Sunshine.

To my husband,
Troy who lets me do what I want and whose belief and support allowed
me to spread my wings even on uncharted territories. Thank you for a
year of patience.

An ocean of
gratitude to the mentioned above
—
my true
cheerleaders. You have given me support when it mattered the
most—during my toiling process. No one had been more excited
about my work than you
—
it means a lot.

To Tristan and
Katheryna and all my favorite characters in the book who felt so
alive in my mind and had fallen dearly in love with.

“
And
I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it
was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my
belly was bitter.”

Revelation
10:1
0

Cast
& Fall

P
reface

H
ot,
flaming streaks of fiery red bled and swallowed the light of the sky.
A thin veil of misty fog slowly hovered, eclipsing the pale lit moon
as the sea rippled to a dull shimmer, illuminating the deep, dark,
blue waters on the horizon.

He
swept the somber
gray in front of him; everything hung in anticipation as the last
hour bid its final goodbye, his thoughts—weighing on everything
he must do.

He
had been
waiting—his hands steady but anxious. He wore a long and thick
charcoal coat, with a black, perfectly pressed collared shirt
underneath.

His
face was
unreadable as he gazed out to the thin line of the horizon—admiring
what he could. The reflection of light and dark on water was calming,
the echoes of the sea—soothing. Endless.

He
held on to the cold railing with both hands—his grip strong.

Closing
his eyes, he breathed the air, as if somehow imagining what it would
be like to be consumed by it. He imagined the smell of the ocean
breeze—the feeling against his skin—the beauty still a
mystery
.

The
longing rang through his ears—loud and unforgiving. He had been
preparing for this, but somehow he wasn’t at peace with
himself.

Finally.

“
You
came!” his voice ecstatic but edgy. Out in the vast blanket of
the stars, his face lit brighter than the night sky.

T
he
darkness of the sea was no match to her long dark hair, flowing as
the breeze gently stroked its soft strands. It draped over her
shoulders down to her waist.

Her
shoulders
were bare, soft and smooth.
Her
face glimmered as
the cast of light illuminated her skin. She wore a long and richly
lavish black gown, fitted perfectly on her chest and traced all the
way down—cinched at her waist; It cascaded, bloomed and skirted
down to the sole. The back flowed as she glided toward him; the long
skirted lacy train, sweeping smoothly behind her.

He
couldn’t
help but be mesmerized by her presence; she was alluring—in his
eyes,
no
one could ever be—
her
.

Her
eyes mirrored the
fullness of the moon.
Her
lashes
were thick and soft—
fanning
out
from her iris.
Her
elegant arched
eyebrows—like softly curved wings, matched her flowing hair—the
truest black he‘d ever seen.
Her
lips
curved
in
ruby red. Her cheeks tinted with a hint of rose, blushed as it always
did when she was around him.

“
I
see you wore my favorite color,” he whispered. He brushed her
cheek with his finger softly, and pressed his against hers. Then his
lips traced down—and found hers—eager and thirsty.

The
touch of his lips was warm, his breath intoxicating, cool and
exhilarating—his scent,
heavenly
.

She
looked deeply into his eyes, elated from the reunion she’d been
longing for. He wrapped his arms around her. It was familiar like
always—like she’d been held by him a thousand times
before.

Glass
of
Silence

L
oud
voices echoed through my head, a hundred—a thousand times
before. It rang through my ears like wildfire, relentless and
chaotic. As I drowned from the crowd of whispers, under the sea of
voices, I heard a piercing sound of colliding, scraping
metals—
shrieking
to
the kind of horror that I have heard many times before.

I
gasped.

It
was dark. At the end of the tunnel I saw a bright light. I walked
toward the beam of sunlight. My eyes automatically focused on a sharp
object. It gleamed spectacularly before it came down on me with an
unbelievable force. I heard a loud scream mimicking the sound in my
mind—fear building, storming in my chest. I gasped a few
suffocating breaths as I try to unravel the mysteries before me;
waiting for
death
to claim—it's
destiny.

A
strong grip dragged me away from the voices. It held me tight and
fast. I found myself running; I was running for my life—running
to the unknown while passing dark shadows in my path—rushing to
escape the wrath that surrounded me. Billows of smoke and the smell
of doom left me no clues to the horror that was laid in my path; I
needed to leave—to escape. But it was no use—there was no
way out.

I
stopped in my tracks at the sight of an enclosed door. I felt the
shiver and coldness of death coming for me; a certainty that I never
once doubted. In an invisible moment, a strange presence braced me,
protecting me from something so horrific that my body went numb and
my mind went blank. Streaks of light flooded my vision. My body was
pulled into a tunnel of fog—whipping through me like a violent
wind.

Then,
there was an eternity of silence before an eerie quiet rang so loud
it made me almost deaf. My father disappeared from where I was
sitting on the swings. I looked for him in earnestness. I couldn’t
speak nor yell. Even if I could, I was too weak.

My
father was gone. I was alone. I was abandoned.

A
large, black, ferocious animal—the size of several men, came
out of nowhere; thick black fur covered its body, and dark, sharp,
dagger-like claws left it’s paw prints on the dusty ground. As
I looked into its eyes, cold and hate radiated from it with searing
heat.

I
shuddered—unable to control the deep shiver that permeated deep
within me. I stared from a distance as it circled around very slowly
like a vulture about to attack its prey.

The
animal growled baring the jagged edges of its teeth. It drooled with
hunger for my life. It continued on its path with a purpose of
certainty
.
I waited—all my
strength
had vanished. I was frozen. In an invisible speed, the animal was
inches from my face. I could feel it’s breathing. It’s
hunger. It’s rage. It’s eyes were dark. Crystal. Glass.
It’s heart cold. I saw the reflection of someone unrecognizable
staring back at me—there was no fear in her.

I
shut my eyes for what seemed like eternity and when I opened them—the
animal was gone. I heard my father’s voice calling out to me,
but I was too weak to answer. My fingers clawed on the thick steel
chains of the swings.
He
found me
trembling.

My
eyes flapped open. My throat dry. My eyes wide. My heart too fast. I
was shaking. I was breathless. I stared blankly at the smoky gray
pane of my window as the vivid pictures continued to vanish along
with the fragments of my broken memories. For a beat of a moment, my
thoughts were entangled between reality and nightmare, unable to
distinguish between the gasping feeling and the familiar, bright
burst of colors that suddenly flooded my eyes.