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Firm hands grip me under my arms and yank me hard. Pinpricks of bright light still dart about in my field of vision, scattered like constellations in the night sky but moving like comets. I lift my chin and through the jumbled mess of speckled light, I can see my sister. June has me. She’s pulling me backward, dragging me toward the vehicle.
“Avery, come on!” she screams. Her voice is a frantic pitch, straining as she tries to drag my uncooperative body.
I clumsily shuffle my feet and position them beneath me, standing. I take unsteady steps, hurrying my pace until I reach the vehicle. I half-climb and am half-shoved into the front seat. Before the door is even closed, Sully shifts gears and stomps down on the gas pedal. The engine roars and we rocket forward.
Sully speaks to me, his voice is audible but rises and falls, swelling like a great tide and echoing at times as if I am underwater. What he’s saying is indecipherable. I struggle to keep my eyes open. The darkness encroaching on my sight seeks to snuff out the pinpricks of light and lull me to oblivion. The notion is tempting. If I just close my eyes, the white-hot pain in my skull will subside. The agonizing throb of pain at the bridge of my nose will cease. I’ll be able to rest. To be cradled in a warm, dark embrace of velvety silence.
I close my eyes for a moment, sampling the darkness. I open them but my lids are heavy. It is an effort to keep them open. My head feels as if it’s being drawn back into the headrest and my body feels as if it’s being gently rocked. I begin to fall away from myself. To fall away from the pain. I feel myself fade. Thick silence smothers all sound. Darkness encroaches at the edges of my vision, narrowing it until just a pinhole of light is visible. And soon, the pinhole fades to shadow. I’m submerged in complete and utter blackness, utter stillness.
“Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?” A familiar voice echoes through the darkness, reaching out to me and tracing the back of my neck with wispy, vaporous fingers. Nebulous at first, it grows louder and more panicked. It beckons me, transcending darkness so thick and stifling it smothers me. That voice...it is a part of me. Part of the essence of who I am. I feel a pull to return to it. It summons me, imparting me with a sense of peace and happiness so complete, so filling, tears glaze my eyes. I’ve never wanted anything more than to be closer to the voice. To return to it. Every cell in my body is warmed by it, pulled to it as though it is magnetic fire, heating me and drawing me simultaneously. I fight for it.
Resisting the part of me that’s lured by the peaceful oblivion, I push against it, raging with a part of me that isn’t tangible. A part of me that isn’t corporeal.
In an instant, my eyes open. Blinding light, vibrant and bold, floods my surroundings. Blurry and indistinct at first, the space in which I find myself is an eddying bombardment of movement, color and sound. But quickly, it comes into focus. The world explodes on a sonic boom. My son. My son, William. His voice called to me. I am in a vehicle with my children, Sully and June, the world beyond the windshield rushing at us.
With a whimper of pain trapped in the back of my throat, I turn in my seat and look at John and William. They both smile, their expressions as pure and radiant as sunlight from the sky. I smile back at them, knowing fully that mine is more of a blood-stained grimace. But I can’t help it. I love them and am grateful to see them. Chancing a look beyond them and beyond the back window, I expect to see a convoy of Urthmen vehicles pursuing us. To my surprise, there aren’t. There will be soon though, I’m sure of it.
I turn to face forward again. Sully is speeding toward the edge of Elian. As we approach the city limits, we see a gathering of Urthmen. They’re closing the gate to trap us inside Elian.
“Oh no,” Sully says,
June’s head pokes forward between the passenger and driver seats. “They’re going to lock us in the city,” she says.
“They aren’t closed all the way yet,” Sully says.
Turning suddenly, the Urthmen see us. They freeze as they realize we are racing toward them.
“Hold on!” Sully screams seconds before the front of the sturdy vehicle barrels into the partially-open gate. Wood explodes on impact. Instinctively, I cross my arms over my face, but still peek through the space between them in time to see an Urthman body land on the hood with a thud before rolling off onto the ground where it remains, unmoving.
Sully guides the truck-like vehicle over debris and bodies, shooting down the paved road without a destination as far as I know. A few times, his gaze leaves the road. His eyes link with mine and unspoken words are shared. We are reunited but the relief in his expression is fraught with worry. His smile is tight, still there’s warmth within it. Tenderness.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. Though my vision is blurry, I can see that his eyes shine with unshed tears. He reaches out and takes my hand in his. He lifts it to his lips and places a kiss upon it. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” A single tear slips down his cheek.
I am left without words. Overflowing with emotion and heart feeling so full my ribs struggle to contain it, I give his hand a gentle squeeze.
From the back seat, June returns once again. “Where are we headed?” she asks. “There isn’t a place left for us to go. All of our people have been killed.”
Her words are stark and true. Where will we go? No one is left with whom we could seek shelter. Every human city has been attacked.
“I know,” Sully replies solemnly. After a moment of driving, when all we hear is the hum of the engine and the roll of the tires passing over pavement and bits of rock, he says, “We could head to old Las Vegas.” His lips are pursed in thought for a moment. “There’s no way the Urthmen could’ve brought their army across the desert and through the Uganna Lands.” He looks at me, my hand still in his and resting on the console.
I shake my head. Crossing the country would be hard. Next to impossible. But entering Uganna Territory? That would be suicide. I remember the Uganna well. Remember that their viciousness exceeded any creature I have ever come across to date. No, we aren’t going there. We need to stay here, to find whoever is still alive and fight.
“We can’t do that.” I turn my head so that I’m facing him. The movement makes the world around me spin. “We have to see if any of our people are alive,” I say.
“I thought they’re all gone,” he says.
“There must be some left.” I say. I have to believe. I have to have hope. “Riley, Oliver and Lark may be somewhere out there. Alive.” I look past Sully to the world rushing by beyond the windshield. Though humans lived without worry for the better part of the ten years of peace, they still possess the will to survive. Some could’ve escaped and relied upon that will. And instinct. Many of us avoided the Urthmen all of our lives up until the Peace Treaty was signed. “We have to search for them. Search for Prince Garan. And fight for our right to exist.”
Sully nods soberly. “You’re right. We do need to find Prince Garan and any other survivors.” His eyes flicker from the rearview mirror to the road ahead. He depresses the accelerator, flattening it to the floor. “But first we need to get out of this area. We need to live to fight.”
Twisting in my seat, I turn and see dozens of vehicles in the distance behind us. “Oh my gosh,” I breathe. Then I look to my sons. I force a smile. I try to feign calm when I do not feel it. I turn back.
Sully rounds a bend, following a sharp curve in the road, then suddenly jerks the steering wheel to the right. He pulls on to the shoulder and stops abruptly. “Out. All of you,” he commands.
Shocked and reeling from his sudden stop and brusk orders, I stare at him blankly. “What?”
“Just go! Hide in the woods here. I’ll lead them away then come back for you,” he replies. “Stay here, right off the road.” He points to the dense edge of the Great Forest and I wonder whether he’s lost his mind.
“No. We aren’t leaving,” I say. I search his face for an answer. For a reason for his madness.
“Avery, I can’t risk losing you and the boys!” he shouts. “I thought I lost you once. I can’t handle the thought of it again!” His lower lip trembles and in his eyes I see the unfathomable fear I felt. “I can’t lead them away and worry about losing my world,” he says in a softer tone as his gaze flickers to the rearview mirror. To our children. “Please. Go,” he pleads. “We don’t have time to spare.”
With tears muddling my already-blurred vision, I open the passenger-side door and climb out. June and the children slide out of the back seat. Sully says, “I love you,” to the boys before looking at me. My stomach dips. His warm brown gaze locks on mine. We do not speak a single word. We do not say goodbye. I love him with all of my heart and every fiber of my being. I don’t want to be without him but I understand why he’s going. My battered face is the last image he sees before he speeds off, away from the coming Urthmen convoy.
He leaves with a big part of me. I hope for his safe return as June, the children and I run for cover, diving into a thick coppice as the sound of approaching vehicles rumbles toward us. We stand in time to watch as dozens of vehicles fly by after Sully. My heart twists painfully in my chest. June places a comforting hand on my back. I straighten my posture, staring down at my two young children. “He will make it. Sully will make it and he will come back for us.” I say to June. Then to my boys I say, “Daddy will be okay.” I say the words for them as much as I say them for myself.
“I know he will,” June agrees, her gaze as bright and clear as malachite.
I nod. To John and William I say, “Come here,” and open my arms wide. They rush to me, falling into my arms. With my boys’ heads upon my heart, I am home. In the wooded area off the side of the road with my head shaven, a brand upon my forehead, a broken nose and Urthmen out for our blood, I am home. “I love you,” I say into their hair as I breathe in their scent. My fingers bunch in the backs of their shirts as I tighten my embrace. June joins in, hugging us, as well. And for a fleeting moment, the chaos that has erupted is calm.
The world as I knew it is gone. Friends who were like family have been struck down. Cities burned. But from the ashes, we will rise again. We will rise, and I will find a way to reclaim our corner of the planet once called Earth. The people who are most important to me are still with me. I am grateful. Together, we will find a way. We will avoid extinction.
Books 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’s Awakening (Part 1 & 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 science-fiction/futuristic series)
Planet Urth: (Book 1)
Planet Urth: The Savage Lands (Book 2)
Planet Urth: The Underground City (Book 3)
Planet Urth: The Rise of Azlyn (Book 4)
Planet Urth: The Fate of Urth (Book 5)
Planet Urth: Extinction (Book 6)
The Demon Hunter series
The Demon Hunter: Rise of the Hunter (Book 1)
The Demon Hunter: The Dark One (Book 2)
The Demon Hunter: Hunter of the Damned (Book 3)
Remains of Urth Series
Remains of Urth (Book 1)
Remains of Urth: The Black Forest (Book 2)
Remains of Urth: Sin City (Book 3)
The Vampire Extinction Series
The Vampire Extinction: Greyson Undead (Book 1)
The Vampire Extinction: Alex Undead (Book 2)
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, please 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
About the Authors
Jennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2009. To date, the jury is still out. But late one night, in January of 2009, 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 Vampire Extinction series, the Planet Urth series, the Remains of Urth series, The Demon Hunter series, as well as the Arianna Rose series and the Dark Creations 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.
As the storyline 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.