Hey!
Thanks for visiting my blog =) Here's is where I'll post about my book
Erill. It's a book I've been working on for years (yes, years plural). It was finished at 75k words then cut down to 13k words. I hope you enjoy the changes and can give me some valuable advice along the way.
Again, thank you, and enjoy!
Have a Great Day,
Jesse
Erill
Prologue
“She’s the Catalyst,” a young blonde woman said as she looked down at the copper-haired newborn girl swaddled in a hospital blanket.
“Are you sure?” the girl’s mother asked. She looked down at her baby girl and kissed her forehead, tucking her own red hair behind her ear.
The blonde woman nodded, her stick straight hair bobbing around her heart shaped face.
“What about him?” The mother glanced to her newborn son, sleeping soundly in a bassinet next to the hospital bed.
“He will be important, but she is the catalyst.” The blonde woman’s face was a mask. Hard to read, but at times a flurry of emotions crossed her face, determination, pride, anger, hope, sorrow, happiness, but only for a fleeting moment.
The mother nodded, understanding what this would mean for her children, for her family, for their life.
The father of the twins, who was sitting quietly in a chair, rose. He looked at the young blonde woman, his piercing hazel eyes boring into her blue ones and said, “Then the plan has been enacted.” There was a hint of a question in his tone, but his resonant voice sounded sure and calm.
“Yes,” the woman said as she walked over to the sleeping baby boy. “I’m sorry this has happened to you.” She turned to face the parents. “Tess, Eric, I’m sorry, but it has been so long. You know what needs to be done.”
They both nodded. Eric gently lifted his son out of the bassinet. He stirred a little but soon nestled into his fathers arms. The tenderness with which Eric looked at his new son melted the blonde woman’s heart. She turned away in despair.
“I love you, Jackson,” Eric whispered as his wife, Tess, said, “I love you, Halle,” to their daughter.
“Those are their names, Halle and Jackson?” the blonde woman asked, turning back toward the new parents.
Eric nodded while Tess said, “We picked a boy’s names when we first found out we were having a baby, and a girl’s when we found out we were having twins.”
The blonde woman nodded.
“It could only mean one thing, Avye,” Tess said, looking at her daughter, the shock of red hair on her head, the pudgy little hands, the peaceful face. Tess looked resigned, and it saddened the blonde woman, Avye, to see the strong, sure woman with a distant look of mourning and loss on her face so soon after her children had been born.
Avye nodded looking what should be a happy family. “One thing indeed.” She paused, leaned against the wall, then asked, “Do you know what Halle means?”
Tess and Eric smiled at each other, each cradling a small bundle of blankets.
Eric turned to Avye and said, “Of course we know what it means, Avye. We know who she’ll be, what she means to our family. To the world.”
Avye nodded, for a moment her blue eyes sparkle and blonde hair glistens in the dim light of the room. “Of course you know.” She turned to leave, but before she did Tess stopped her.
“Avye?”
“Yes.” She turned back smiling at the new mother.
“How long?” Tess asked, a mixture of emotions in her eyes.
Avye took in the flurry of emotion in the new mother’s eyes. Fear, anxiety, apprehension, joy, pride, bust most importantly, hope. “Six years.” Avye bit her cheek, refusing to cry. She grimaced at the proud new parents of two healthy babies. “You have six years.”
Tess and Eric’s eyes met and the emotions that crossed each face made Avye ashamed to be the bearer of such bad news. She saw Tess’ jaw flex and Eric’s lips press into a line. Then they nodded to each other. Their resolves steeled.
Avye heaved a sigh and turned to leave. She paused, not looking back, but whispered, “Make the most of it.”
1
“Do we really have to go again?” Halle asked as she held a sparring sword loosely in her sweat slicked hand and pushed an errant strand of copper hair behind her ear.
“Practice makes perfect, Halle,” her grandpa encouraged. She just saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile as he motioned to the shelves lining the basement walls. They were packed with his old fencing medals and trophies. The two Olympic gold medals were showcased in the center with their own spotlights.
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” Halle mumbled under her breath.
Halle’s shoulders slump as she turned to face off with her taller, darker, smarter twin brother, Jackson. Halle readied her sword, facing Jackson, a foot taller than herself. They had been fencing for the past two hours. Her muscles screamed. Her copper hair stuck to her neck and forehead. Her gloved hands slipped on the leather-wrapped hilt.
She tried to loosen her shoulders and neck, but it was no use. “Grandpa, I’m too tense,” Halle glanced at the clock, which was sandwiched between fencing trophies and the olympic gold medals. She was looking for another excuse, “And I have cross country practice in twenty.”
Grandpa Joe glanced up at the clock in the basement of their house. His lips pressed into a line. “They run you too much,” he said, taking on his normal grandfatherly tone, but motioned toward the equipment rack hanging against the wall. “Go ahead.”
“They run you in circles no less,” Jackson said, taking his helmet off and tucking it in the crutch of his arm. “Running in circles.” His long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck, and hazel eyes lit up as he poked fun at his sister’s favorite past-time, running.
Halle rolled her eyes. “Maybe you run too little,” she said taking her gear off, “the both of you.” Halle unbraided her copper hair and pulled it into a messy bun. She hung up her gear, thinking about her brother’s past time, reading philosophy.
Grandpa Joe sat on the stairs waiting for Halle and Jackson. “The older I get, the slower you two get.” He sighed and shook his head.
“What do you mean?” Halle asked after putting her and Jackson’s swords away.
“You used to run and run. I could never keep up with either of you.” His eyes took on a distant, dreamy look. “Now, I can beat both of you in fencing.”
Halle raised her eyebrows in incredulity. “I’ve never won against you,” she said to Grandpa Joe.
Jackson shook his head and hung his helmet up. “Neither of us have, Grandpa.”
“That’s right,” he said smiling. “You will soon enough.” Grandpa Joe winked and Halle rolled her eyes at him.
“Sometimes soon enough can’t come soon enough!” Halle said shaking her head.
“Driving?” Grandpa Joe asked.
Halle nodded and Jackson shrugged as they walked toward the stairs.
“Soon enough will come soon enough.” He patted Halle’s shoulder, then climbed the stairs. “You’ll be sixteen in no time. And right after that you’ll be sixty.”
“If we make it that far,” Jackson said. “After the drills you had us do today I would think you were preparing us for war.”
Halle nodded her agreement, but Grandpa Joe continued to walk up the stairs, looking ahead, and said nothing.
Halle made practice on time, barely, what with Grandma Elaine stuffing a freshly baked strawberry muffin into her hand, Jackson’s snarky comments about being really smart to run in circles, and Grandpa Joe’s slow driving habits.
Reese, Halle’s best friend, was waiting for her in their normal spot at the bleachers. Halle set her things down and smiled at Reese.
“You made it,” Reese said, beaming with joy. Halle promised Reese she would come to all the captain’s practices in the summer. Reese said she needed the support because her current crush was the new captain, Derek.
Reese hugged Halle briefly, then pulled away, her shiny black hair bobbing around her heart shaped face. “He’ll probably make you take that off,” Reese said pointing to the pearl necklace she’d worn since her parents disappeared.
“I never take it off,” Halle said, playing with the pearls, “you of all people should know that.”
Reese gave Halle one of those enormous, brown-eyed, please-I-want-to-make-a-really-good-impression-on-the-guy-I’m-in-love-with-right-now kind of looks, so Halle rolled her and took the necklace off.
Halle turned to set her necklace down, glanced up the stands and saw a guy in a weathered bomber jacket sitting on the top row. “Who’s he?”
“Who?” Reese asked, turning around.
Halle turned to Reese and nodded to the guy in the stands. Even from a distance Halle could tell he had bright blue eyes and reddish blond hair, and he was handsome.
“A scout maybe?” Reese’s attention was elsewhere as Derek, walked onto the track.
“Maybe,” Halle said curling her necklace around her water bottle. For some reason the presence of the guy in the bomber jacket perplexed Halle. It was summer, most graduates had already gotten scholarships, and she could almost sense him tracking her as she walked toward the group congregated around Derek, the dark eyed, blond haired captain. Something was out of place.
Practice went smoothly, it was even boring. Halle could imagine her brother saying something like “How hard can running in circles be?” So, during the last five minutes of practice Derek called for an all-out race.
The entire team lined up while Lenny, the statistician, hobbled to the start line on his crutches and yelled, “Five minutes on the clock. Whoever runs the farthest in five gets to keep my cast when it comes off!” Grumbles and chuckles ran through the team. “On your mark,” everyone was ready, “get set,” he drew out the pause so the team was twitching on the balls of their feet, “Go!”
The team raced ahead, Derek, was the clear leader, but he wasn’t chosen for the captainship just because he’s charismatic and smart, he’s the fastest runner too. Halle lagged back with Reese, because even though Reese is a good few inches taller than Halle she has this shuffling run that the team nick-named the grandpa shuffle.
Reese glanced at Halle, who was clearly not running as fast as she could and said, “Go.”
“You sure?” Halle asked.
Reese rolled her eyes. Of course, “Go!”
Halle smiled at her best friend then sprinted ahead. She passed a group of her teammates who were sprinting flat out. A few of them turned to stare as she passed, but tried to run faster. Sooner than she realized, Halle was gaining on Derek, and quickly.
She was running next to him when he did a double-take.
He smiled at Halle. “When did you get so fast?”
She smiled back. “When did you get so slow?” Then Halle sprinted ahead, outpacing Derek with each step.
Halle had outpaced Derek when she began lapping her teammates. To Halle, running in circles was never about being fast, being the best, or beating anyone, it was about escaping. She remembered her parents taking her and Jackson on long runs when they were little kids, running 5k’s with them in the tandem stroller, and running in the yard. Whenever Halle ran she felt like her mom was running next to her. She was in each stride, each strike, each recovery, and Halle’s parents had been gone for almost ten years now.
Before Halle knew it Lenny yelled, “Time!” across the track.
Halle jogged to a stop, still lost in her own thoughts when she heard, Wow, and, I’ve never seen anyone run like that. She looked up just in time to see Derek consult with Lenny.
“Hal?” Lenny called.
“Yeah?” she asked jogging over.
“Did you run six laps?” he asked looking at his clipboard.
“I think so, why?” Halle asked as she walked up to Lenny and Derek, Reese walking up behind them.
“That’s amazing,” Derek said, slapping Halle on the back.
“Hey,” Halle said looking baffled. “What’s so amazing?”
“You can run fast. Really fast.”
“Yeah?” Halle asked looking at Reese, who shrugged.
“Yeah?” Derek asked, amused. “You’re so short. I never knew you could run that fast.”
Halle glanced at Reese who smiled back. “I just like running with Reese. I’d rather do that than run alone.”
Derek and Lenny looked completely baffled, as if they didn’t understand camaraderie and only understood winning. “You could score this team so many points!”
Lenny looked at Halle and said, “You could race in the Olympics some day!”
“Okay, well,” Halle said turning away, “I have to go home now, so I’ll see you later.”
“Fine,” Lenny yelled after her, “but when I get this cast taken off, it’s yours!”
“Oh joy,” Halle mumbled.
Reese and Halle turned and walked back to the bleachers. On the way there many people stopped to tell Halle how fast or inspiring she was. Halle tried to sound genuine and thank every person, but she didn’t see the point in getting so excited about being fast.
At the bleachers Reese said, “I didn’t know you were so fast.”
“Yeah,” Halle said shrugging, then took a drink of water. “I never really run as fast as I can, I just want to hang out with you and talk.” Halle smiled at Reese.
“I guess,” Reese said looking a bit disappointed.
“What’s up?”
Reese looked down at the water bottle in her hands then sighed. “So much for my crush on Derek.”
“What do you mean?” Halle asked, worried about her friend. She’d never given up on a crush this easily.
Reese laughed nervously. “He’s going to be obsessed with you from now on. You’re like his golden ticket.”
“Yeah, but I’m not interested in him.”
“You say that now, but-”
“Halle!” Grandpa Joe shouted from the parking lot.
She looked up at Grandpa Joe and waived. “But what Reese?”
“Halle,” Grandpa Joe leaned out of the car window, “get in the car.”
“I’ll be right there!” Halle said, then turned back to Reese.
“Hurry up!” Halle frowned at Grandpa Joe, he was never this impatient.
“Okay!” Halle shouted. “Sorry Reese, I guess we’ll have to talk later.
“That’s okay,” Reese said grabbing her stuff and picking Halle’s up for her.
Halle took it smiling. “I promise, I’ll call you and we can talk.” Halle looked through her things and stuffed them in her bag, then paused. “Hey, is my necklace over there?”
Reese looked on the bleachers and under them, but shook her head. “I don’t see anything. You sure it’s not in your bag?”
Halle dumped her bag on the track and rifled through the contents. “It’s not in here.”
“Halle! Come on!” Grandpa Joe shouted, now standing outside of the car.
“But I can’t find mom’s necklace,” Halle shouted, the first tears spilling down her face.
“We’ll look later, now come on!”
Reese turned to Halle. “I’ll keep looking. I’m sure it will turn up soon enough. Besides, anyone would know that necklace is yours.”
Halle gave Reese a quick hug. “Thanks, Reese. I’ll see you soon.” Halle flashed Reese a smile as she jogged to the car.
“I can’t believe I can’t find mom’s necklace,” Halle said as Grandpa Joe put her bag in the trunk. There were three suitcases in there already.
“That’s the least of you problem right now,” Grandpa Joe said harshly. “Get in.”
“Where are we going?” Halle said from the passenger side of the car, her hand on the door handle.
“Honey, please get in the car,” Grandma Elaine said, leaning out the window.
Jackson was crammed in the back seat. “What’s going on?” Halle asked him as she slid in.
Jackson shook his head.
“We’re going to see an old family friend,” Grandma Elaine said as Grandpa Joe got in the car, blustered and impatient. Sweet, silvery haired Grandma Elaine usually had a calming effect on Grandpa Joe, but not today.
“Does he have a name?” Halle asked.
“She,” Grandpa Joe snapped. “Her name is Avye.”
“What’s going on?” Jackson asked, trying to adjust so his legs fit in the back seat of the car.
“We’re going to see her.”
“I get that,” Halle said. “What I don’t get is why.”
“Halle, that’s enough of your attitude.”
“Sorry,” Halle said, her cheeks flushing.
Grandma Elaine shook her head at Grandpa Joe. “I’m sorry honey, he’s just a bit agitated.”
“Why?” Halle asked again.
“Avye thinks your parents are still alive.”
to be continued...
