COPYRIGHT
©2020 BY JERUBEL KEZIAH
This book is a work of fiction and the sole product of the author’s imagination. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), incidents, business establishments, or locales is completely coincidental. Only the locations are real but are still used fictitiously.
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Neither translation in any language/dialect nor fanfiction of this book without the author’s permission is allowed. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Any frequently asked question that cannot be answered immediately would be answered at the end of a particular chapter.
Don’t forget to feel free to comment, but not to the extent of insulting. There are nicer ways to criticize a book; I simply need a constructive criticism.
Only important author’s note would be found at the end or beginning of a chapter where necessary.
Also, if you find any grammatical or word error, a sentence that wasn’t well constructed, or a sentence where a word is missing, don’t hesitate to let me know. I want the book to be good and understandable to the reader.
Just a heads-up: this book is written in third person point of view and with American English.
I also want you to know that I will update every Monday to Friday.
I’ll also be adding songs and/or quotes at the beginning of any chapter that I think deserves so. If you have any song and/or quote in mind while reading a particular chapter, you can comment at the end of the chapter, and I’ll be sure to give you a shout out.
For those of you who are not reading for the first time, please, please, and please, do not post spoilers in the comment section, otherwise I would mute you. Also, in case you’ve read the previous draft, note that there’re changes in this draft.
Have fun reading, and I hope you learn something as you vote, comment, and not be a silent reader.
AVAThis was absolutely the perfect thing to ruin the trip: Ava’s gray Toyota Corolla stopped in the middle of a narrow trunk road with nothing but trees around. Of all places, why did it have to be where there didn’t seem to be any form of life around except the forest around them?Ava tied her honey blonde hair in a rough bun with a scrunchie, got down from the car, and headed for the hood to check what had caused the car to halt. After realizing that the battery was dead, she shut the hood and went back to the driver’s seat.Just then the teenage redhead who was sleeping on the passenger’s seat stirred before opening her eyes. Anna rubbed her eyes. “Have we reached?”“No,” Ava answered, staring at her sister and frowning. She was sure they should have reached Raleigh by that time but they hadn’t.Anna turned to look out the window. She faced Ava again. “Where are we?”Ava huffed
AVAAftera long walk under the rain, the three of them finally approached a huge cabin. The man was upfront while Anna and Ava trailed behind him. The rain, at the moment, was drizzling.During the walk, Ava thought several times about running back to her car with Anna. That might have been possible if there weren’t dark clouds and the downpour of the heavens. The trees, also, formed a canopy, which made the forest almost pitch black. If it wasn’t for the dim flashlight the man used, she, Anna, and the man would have groped in the darkness.“Welcome to my humble abode,” the man said, gesturing to the cabin.“Is this where you live?” Anna asked once they stopped in front of the cabin.He turned around to glance at them. “Yes.”Ava examined the cabin and its surrounding. It seemed like there were no people living close by except the trees. She looked back at the man. “You live i
BECKBeck,Ava, and Anna were seated in the living room as the rain poured heavily once more. Anna and Ava were still seated at their position while Beck was seated on a wooden chair across Ava and beside Anna. They had been getting to know each other in the last hour or twain while eating dinner prepared by Beck.Anna was a thirteen-year-old still in middle school. Her school had just gone on spring break which was why she was on the road with her sister. They were going to spend the holiday at Charlotte. They always went there every summer. Being there at spring would be the first.Ava was a twenty-six-year-old nurse. Because their parents were no more, she was Anna’s guardian as well as her brother’s. She provided their needs and did everything she could within her power to ensure Anna wasn’t taken away from her by the government of North Carolina.Beck, well according to what he told them, was a twenty-seve
BECKDrip,drop, drip, drop,sounded the rain on the roof. In the last thirty minutes, that had been one of the things keeping Beck awake. The other was the fact he hadn’t said the part of the story that would really trigger them to get back on the road, only for them to walk right into the trap.Deciding to tell at least one of them, he got out of bed and exited the room.Stealthily, he opened a door, hoping it was Ava’s room. In the room, there was no light; the only form was that of moonlight through the window, which was faint. He tiptoed to the bed and lied beside the girl, leaning on his elbow. He stroked her hair away from her face, and with the moonlight he saw it was the one he wanted to see.He stared at her profile, admiring her set jaw and smooth cheek. He wished the light was bright so he could register more of her features in his mind.Remembering that he came for something e
ANNAAnothermorning in the cabin had Anna woken up to. A frown found its way on her face when she realized Ava had nothing to do with her getting up. She got down from her bed and without haste, advanced to leave the room to search for her sister.As she stepped out of her room, Beck, who was well shaven and whose hair was neatly and nicely cut, appeared in front of her.They exchanged pleasantries before he said, “You’re up early, again.”“I already told you,” said she impassively, “this is time Ava wakes me up. My body’s used to it.”He glanced at Anna’s door. “Is she in there?”“No.”He looked back at her. “She’s still asleep?”“I think so. I haven’t checked for her in her room yet.”
ANNAAnna and Avawere seated in the living room, reading the novels they had started the first night they arrived the cabin. Anna wasn’t particularly interested in her novel as she wasn’t a fan of reading. Unlike her, Ava was so engrossed in her book.Anna was completely bored. She wanted to move about and do something much more fun than reading a novel. She threw her book on the table, seeking Ava’s attention.She succeeded as Ava gave her a questioning look. “What’s the matter?”“I’m bored.”“You’re bored?”Anna nodded.Ava pointed at the book on the table. “Aren’t you enjoying the book? The title makes it seem like it’s interesting.”She shook her head. “I’m not really interested in reading like you, Ava; you know that.” She rocked the chair she sat on and sighed. “I wish Beck was here. The boredom would have been less.”Sh
ANNAThe walk to wherever the pale man with different colored eyes was taking Anna to would have been enduring if he hadn’t been talking throughout. She was more annoyed than earlier when she met him.He constantly went on and on of how he was at the cabin, eavesdropping on hers and Ava’s conversation before they left. He also didn’t stop talking about how Ava and she weren’t the first people to considered sacrifices to break the curse, which she had no idea of. He basically talked in circles.Soon, buildings and people were in sight. However, the buildings didn’t look like modern ones; they seemed old. She didn’t know how old they could be but based on what she’d seen in the movies, she thought to be the twentieth century kind of old.As she and the pale man got closer, she noticed everyone were just as pale as him but no paler than him—no matter their
AVAAvawas seated on a wooden chair in the living room. Her elbows were on her knees and her palms were rested on her head in a frustrated manner. She was muddling over the fact that she searched for Anna, for perhaps an hour, and she still didn’t find the redhead.Ava was still deep in her thoughts of how to find her until she heard a deep voice say, “Hey, Ava.”She raised her head only for her to see—with the help of the candle, which lit the room—Beck at the door with a gorgeous smile on his handsome face.Your sister’s missing,a part of her berated,and here you are mooning over a man. That part rolled her eyes.She dismissed the thought of how beautiful Beck was and stood up to help him with the big basket and car battery in both his hands.She stretched out her hand to collect the basket first. “Welcome, Beck.” She forced a smile. “How was your walk?”