Chapter 1: The Last Sunrise

Jade goes to hang out with her best friend, whom in turn drags her to a party. Nothing is out of the usual, until Jade meets a strange boy who gives her a tip that leads to some nasty results...

Summer was passing in a daze, a slow and sluggish daze that seemed to never end. It was sickening, I hated being cooped up here all of my life. I hated this little town with every fiber of my being. Not only was it in the middle of nowhere, but there also wasn’t anybody worth mentioning here. My best friend lived in the big city of Lacey, while I was rotting away here in Elma. The only reason this town exists in the first place is because it serves as a rest stop on the way to Aberdeen. It was always boiling hot over here and it was painfully quiet. The only thing we had to look forward to was the Blackberry festival, but even then, it was a bit boring too.

I sat in my room, glaring up at the ceiling, waiting for a phone call that would probably never come. It was August twelfth, my three-month anniversary with my supposed boyfriend. He preferred texting, for some reason, but rarely ever called. I always felt like some desperate dumbass whenever I called him. Even when I did, our conversations were always short. Recently when I called him though, he wouldn’t even return my calls. It really sucked because I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I already liked him… a lot even though I’ve only known him for about four months. I liked talking with him, he was entertaining and fun. When I did get to see him, I always took him to concerts and other stuff like that. I always had fun. I wish I were closer by, so I could visit him whenever I pleased.

More reason why I hate living in a small town.

I wanted to live in the big city, in Olympia or Lacey, or something like that.

I wanted excitement, some noise in my life, not the dull noise of crickets or the Jerry Springer show downstairs.

My eyes fell to the side, hearing the phone ring. I picked it up, looking at the caller ID.

No, it wasn’t Tyler.

But it was Alyssa.

I clicked the talk button, wondering what she wanted.

"Wie Gebts?"

"English, Jade," she said darkly.

"What’s up?" A bad habit I had developed, speaking German. I only took a year of it, but I caught on pretty quickly.

"Mm, wondering if you want to come over," she replied brightly. "Tyler’s been anxious to see you,"

"Could’ve fooled me. He hardly even calls me," I said.

"That’s right! Its your three month anniversary isn’t it? Get your clothes packed up. You’re coming to my house,"

"How strange. Alyssa being demanding? I didn’t find it possible," I said in mock shock.

"Hurry up; I’ll be there in an hour,"

"Alright, talk to you later I guess…"

Odd. I wonder what she wants? Usually she didn’t invite me over like that. Usually we talked for about a half hour, then she invited me over.

I shoved my entire wardrobe into my messenger bag, not really sure for how long I was staying. I also packed my cell phone, my mp3 player, and my DS, simply cause I wanted something to do. Other necessities were packed of course, but I don’t think I really need to tell what they are now do I?

I still looked at the phone, waiting for the call. No. He wouldn’t call. Why keep hoping?

I bounced down the stairs, and told my parents my plans. They didn’t argue, in fact, they were downright happy. Of course, why wouldn’t they be? The bad-luck charm was leaving.

Bad things only happen when I’m around. Nothing disastrous like the house catching on fire, but what could go wrong, goes wrong. Like the checks bounce, the milk for some reason goes rotten two weeks earlier then it should. The cat dies. Stuff like that. Alyssa’s life suddenly got a helluva lot easier ever since she left Elma. I once hoped that it was just Elma that sucked, that it was the bad luck town, but nope. When we were going to Disneyland, we missed the plane because we apparently received the wrong time.

But that’s beside the point. Point is that I was leaving to Alyssa’s and my parents didn’t give a rat’s a*s.

I lounged around the living room, awaiting for that familiar little brown truck to pull into the driveway.

Thirty minutes passed, and I was watching the Maury show, and how a man denied the baby as his, even though they had the same friggin’ face shape and eye color. I heard the truck pull in, and I bounced outside, Alyssa grinning like an idiot.

Alyssa was always pretty. Anybody who says otherwise is both blind and dumb. Granted, she didn’t look like a supermodel or anything, but she had a beauty to her that couldn’t be found in a photoshopped magazine. Her long brown her shined golden in the light, and her eyes were a pretty green color. Her skin was a soft golden color all year long. I always felt a little jealous of her, and it was quite clear too. But I never let the jealousy never intervene our friendship.

We high-fived, and I tossed my little messenger bag into the bed of the pick-up truck.

"Is that all you brought?" she asked, planting a hand on her hip.

"Well, my entire wardrobe is in there, why?" I looked at her as we dove into the cab.

"That’s it. Before we go anywhere near the Pit, we’re going to get you a new outfit. Face it Jay, you look like crap," The pit, as in, the place where we go to party, and Jay, as in, my name shortened because people are sometimes too lazy to fully pronounce ‘Jade’.

Also, there is another ridiculous difference between Alyssa and me.

Alyssa was filthy rich.

I rolled my eyes. "We don’t have too. I can fix myself up in the mirror,."

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes.

"Your make-up is fine, as always. You just need a new outfit. That Green-Day T-shirt has a huge hole in the hip and your jeans look a little ragged,"

"Hey! This outfit is incredibly durable. You wouldn’t believe the stuff I went through in this thing," No lie. I wore this outfit when I had a Roman Candle war with my acquaintances at a Bonfire, and when I went Gravel sledding out of sheer boredom, and when I got chased by a rabid herd of cows. And when I rode my motorcycle for the first time.

"I know. I can tell just by looking at you," she stated.

I huffed, now pouting. "Fine. Have it your way,"

She was being stubborn. Which meant something was up. I glanced at her, watching her facial expressions. She was still grinning. So either it was something really good or really not good for me and absolutely hilarious for her. I really hoped for the former.

"So. Whats with your sudden urge for me to come over anyways?" I asked her.

"Mmm, no reason," she replied. I knew I wouldn’t have gotten a real response, but it was worth a shot anyways.

The miles flew by, the trees whizzing past in a single green mass of ugliness. The air conditioner was blowing in my face, but it still didn’t help the muggy heat. Thanks to the whole global warming thing, Washington, normally cold and rainy, was stifling and difficult to breathe in, I remembered a time when it would rain all year round. Most people hate it, because it pours during the winter and it freezes up but we never get any snow, but I loved it.

"Olympia ho!" she chimed.

I hadn’t even realized that we were passing the familiar Lumbermens building. Hm. Could’ve sworn it took longer then that to get to Oly.

"To the Pit!" I cheered, hoping she had forgotten.

"No… to Shay‘s!" she chimed.

I looked at her and quirked a brow. "Shay’s?" Shay’s was an expensive, no, really expensive store with sort of rock clothing items. Like Hot Topic, but better. And my older cousin worked there.

"Oops, said too much," she snickered.

"Don’t make me jump the car," I warned, my eyes widening.

"You wouldn’t," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You have a low tolerance for pain and I know you wouldn’t do that to your parents or to Tyler,"

I muttered German curses, but she only grinned wider.

We sped along the high-way. Me brooding against the door while Alyssa was singing along to the radio. I was awaiting my fate, and my stomach dropped to the floor as we slowly pulled into the little parking lot of Shay’s. I was secretly hoping my bad-luck would kick in, but of course, it did, but not exactly what I was hoping. It was open, and my cousin Kayla was in the parking lot, puffing a cigarette, still in uniform. I looked at my cell phone. It was only four o’clock. I rolled down my window as Kayla walked towards us.

Kayla leaned down into the window, putting out her cigarette on the asphalt. "Well, we ready to get started?" she asked Alyssa more then me.

"Yup," Alyssa grinned. "Come Jade, we’ve much work to do," she said in a melodramatic tone.

I unwillingly followed them inside. They sorted through cloths on the racks while I listened to a generic rock band on the store speakers. I silently mouthed the words as I browsed the trinkets and make-up aisles, the only stuff that I could afford. Kayla and Alyssa were exchanging ideas about how I should dress for tonight. Lord knows what’s so special about tonight, but whatever. Fact was that I was going to be working my a*s off for the next month or two in attempts to pay Lyssa back for the outfit. Kayla and Alyssa were good friends as well, considering they’re next-door neighbors.

"Jade!"

I sighed heavily, and quickly looked for them before they decided to use the intercom.

"What?"

"We found a couple of outfits for you! Quick! Try them on!" Alyssa squealed.

I was shoved into the changing room before I completely understood.

I was shoved into five different outfits, until Alyssa decided on a fitted black shirt with a large red lily flower taking up the lower half of my shirt and a pair of black colored jeans. Kayla found a pair of simple black converse and helped me with my hair, smoothing it’s normal dull black-ness, letting it wave and curl to frame my face. I was told to do the best job ever on my eye make-up. Apparently I was good at make-up, even though I hated it. I did what they asked, and bought myself some new mascara and eye-liner. Both were black, of course, blue eye-liner clashed badly with my murky eyes, they were the color of polluted waters. I tried out the smoky-effect with the eye-shadow, using soft shades of gray. It sort of failed, not looking too good on my dark skin. I’m half native-american you see, but more often then not I’m mistaken as a Mexican.

"There! You’re decent!" Alyssa cheered. "Not bad for improvising, ya?"

I sighed heavily, cinching my studded belt around my waist. I looked like a demented Goth girl.

"Wait…" Kayla sorted through the jewelry racks, then found several black-bracelets that looked like barbed wire, she tossed them to me, and she found a thick wrist band that was also studded, echoing my belt. Finally, she found a thick silver ring. She looked at it curiously. "Huh, never seen this here before," said. "Oh well, take it, it looks bad-a*s,"

Indeed it did. It was silver, as I already said, and the metal was twisted into intricate lines, surrounding a dark, blood-red gem. Faintly I could see a little snow-flake like thing inside of it, as if they lasered it in there or something. It looked pricey, yet I saw no price-tag on it.

"Okay, phase one is complete. We’ve managed to get Jay look like a complete and total bad-a*s, but a sexy bad-a*s none the less,"

I opened my mouth to disagree, when Alyssa placed her hand over my face. "You’re not saying anything, until we get to the Pit, you’ll thank me for this later,"

There was an ominous feeling about all this to me.

Overall, this outfit cost one-hundred and fifty dollars. I got the ring for free, because they didn’t know the price of it.

All three of us left, Kayla’s shift ending.

"There, now lets go and get you to Tyler," Alyssa smiled.

Kayla lifted her lip slightly, and probably assumed I didn’t noticed. But I did. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but when I did figure it out…

We were in the Pit, Alyssa taking her truck down gravel road until they came to a gravel pit in the middle of a gorge. That was the real Pit. Twilight had set in, and already the bonfires were aroar.

Trees surrounded us, the Pit deeply sunk into the ground and there were three fires formed in a triangle. Already a bunch of teenagers ranging from fifteen to nineteen were gathered there, most drinking, some talking, some dancing to the booming music of the giant boom-boxes. My adrenaline was already shooting skyward.

Apparently the party really began when Alyssa and Kayla arrived. The rowdy bunch of teenagers cheered as they pulled into the gravel pit.

I cheerfully bounced out, my body pulsating with the music. But my eyes weren’t for the fire, I was looking for Tyler.

For a long while, I didn’t see him. I joined in one pit, reacquainting myself with some of my old friends. Josh, Roy, Alex..

"Jade!"

A kid I didn’t know.

He was a sort of Goth boy, with a lip ring and eye-liner and golden eye-shadow. His reddish-brown hair had golden high-lights, and was brushed over his left topaz-colored eye. He wore a black chocker that had a cross on it, and a black short-sleeved collared shirt that had white along the hems. He also wore a white coat with a black fur trim, though it wasn’t even all the way on, exposing his shoulders. His lower-half in a pair of black, tighter fitting jeans and white tennis shoes. His large hands had fingerless black gloves, with several black and white jelly bracelets around his left wrist, his fingernails also black. He was tall, and looked muscular. He was almost as cute as Tyler, but in a different sort of way.

"Um, hi?" I said, raising a brow. "Do I know you?"

He grinned. "Nope. But Tyler does. He told me to keep an eye out for ya. I’m Dalton. Nice to meet’cha," he thrust his hand out, and I clasped it, shaking it as I beamed back.

"Speaking of Tyler, where is he?" I asked.

"Last I saw, he was out in his truck," Dalton stuck his thumb out towards the make-shift parking lot.

"Thanks," I said, "Catch’ya later?"

"You bet," he smiled, and then I bounced off.

The music pulsated even from the parking lot as I silently drifted among the cars. I spotted his little black Chevy. The fires roared and some kids cheered as someone tossed more gasoline into the closest fire-pit. I heard Tyler’s voice in the back of his truck. I grinned.

"Hey Ty-"

I stopped in mid-sentence.

Tyler was straddled over another girl, his lips on her neck. She was shirtless, he was working on pants-less. I didn’t move for a long time. They didn’t notice me though, the girl giggled and cooed his name, he continued kissing along her neck.

My heart felt like it stopped.

My throat tightened, my head started to feel like it hurt. The wind felt like it was knocked clean out of me.

That was Alyssa who was beneath him, shirtless and cooing.

"Over…" I muttered.

They finally noticed me, Alyssa gasped and pulled her shirt over her chest and Tyler quickly started putting his pants back on.

"Jade! Oh, I- um.." Alyssa stuttered. Tyler looked at me with startled brown eyes, his face flushed.

"Its over!" I yelled at them.

"Wait! Jade-" Tyler raised a hand at me, but I was long gone.

I ran.

Again, stupid, huh? I was only dating the guy for a few months. But like I already said, I thought that we at least had a connection. Still, it hurt. Worst of all, though, was the fact that it was Alyssa beneath him. It was my best friend who he was cheating on me with.

That, more then anything, hurt most of all.

I ran into the woods, as fast as my legs could carry me. My heart was pounding, my throat still felt dry and tight. I felt like I was going to hurl as I saw the image of the two flash over and over before my eyes.

I suddenly came to a stop, my breathing ragged and harsh. This wierded me out for two reasons. One, I can normally run for a lot longer then that. It must have been maybe three minutes at the most. Two, I didn’t feel good. I have runner’s high, running makes me feel good. So why was I still pissed and upset?

I still don’t know. But I knew that my breathing was acting up. My body felt weird, it hurt, aching all over. Not because of my emotional trauma, but because of actual pain. I felt like I was going to hurl.

My breathing suddenly stopped, and my body throbbed all over.

I buckled to the floor, my back arching as I tried to breath. I could manage little gasps, but not enough to satisfy my lungs. My body felt as if someone had turned up the base really loud, the vibrating feeling one gets when the speakers are about to bust from the sheer loudness. Why couldn’t I breathe?

"There, delivered, just as I promised,"

I recognized that voice.

"Hmph, is she really the one though?"

Another voice, this one I didn’t recognize.

"Yup, look how she’s reacting. All it took was a little trauma and we’ve got our selves a little Funnel," the voice I recognized laughed.

I slowly looked up, and Dalton was sitting on a log a good ten feet away from me, his head in his hands. A violet moon hung high above him, and he had a pleasant smile on his features.

The man beside him though, I had no clue.

His white hair was shaggy, and his dark blue eyes looked at me like I was scum. His tanned skin contrasted sharply with his white hair. Though shorter then Dalton, he looked more… powerful? Then the brunette. His features were sharp, sort of foxish. He looked dangerous, my inner instincts told me to run. If I could, that is.

"You’re sure then? She really is a Funnel?"

"You see the ring, she’s defiantly one," Dalton said. "And because she’s been emotionally traumatized by her… ex now I’m assuming and her former best-friend, she’s defiantly going to be overflowing with the Mezreaz. The perfect amount we need in order to open the gate. Then bam! We’ve got the Rot-eater-god back!"

What was he talking about? The ring?

I jerkily turned my head. And my red ring was glowing. The snowflake shape inside of it was suddenly very visible. What was happening? He said a word, Mezreaz, what was that? Rot-eater-god? I was frustrated, I felt my anger boiling as they continued to chatter away about things I didn’t know.

"What…" I wheezed. "Are you talking… about?"

It was as if a sudden shock ran through me. It felt like an explosion burst from me, because for a moment, I whited out before my vision returned. Dalton’s eyes widened, as did the white-haired man’s.

In my peripheral vision, I saw flecks rising towards the sky. It was like little snow-flakes were falling up instead of down, or like they were made of paper or something. One minute they were black and the next they were white. My breathing returned to normal. I curled up into a ball, a cold film of sweat covered my skin. What happened?

Dalton suddenly leapt to his feet. The man too stood up, but Dalton came towards me, then turned to the man. "Do you see that? Do you know what type of Mezreaz that is?" Dalton asked him.

I remained curled in a ball, my chest rising up and down. Breathe in, breath out. Deal with Dalton later, keep self alive. Breathe in, breathe out.

"She’s more then just a Funnel, it seems," I heard the man say. "She’s a full fledged Wielder,"

"She’s more then just a Wielder, Roka. She’s a Demon,"

I laughed slightly at that, recalling what my parents and friends would say. ‘Jade you little demon!’ ‘Jade, I swear you’re a demon or something!’

"Pick her up, lets go, we can’t stay too long, they’re come looking for her," the man, apparently called Roka, stated.

My eyes widened in panic, and I looked up when Dalton towered over me suddenly.

"Hey there, Jade," he grinned cheerfully. "We meet again, a lot sooner then you thought, huh?"

"What do you want with me?" I asked, looking up at him. "What’s happening to me?"

His eyes softened. "I’ll tell you everything in a few moments, right now, we need to get you out of here,"

He slowly picked me up. I could still see the black and white snowflakes drifting upwards. They were pretty, I wanted to touch them but I suppose I was too feeble to reach out to them. For some reason, my body wouldn’t do as I commanded it.

Dalton held me bridle-style, making sure I was comfortable. My head rested on his shoulder, I still wheezed, and I felt sort of bad. I was all sweaty and gross.

Funny, I should’ve cared where they were taking me. After all, I didn’t know Dalton all that well. I only spoke with him for… oh… five seconds? I didn’t even know who the hell Roka was.

It felt like we walked for hours, but I could still hear the beat of the Pit. The sky was still in twilight, painted a light violet and orange. The trees were filled with their leaves, though painted black from the lack of sun in the sky. I could see the moon, its pale surface beaming happily down at us, mocking me. She was the witness to my shame. And I wondered if Tyler and Alyssa were still f*****g each other or actually trying to look for me. My chest felt hollow, the image popping into my mind again. I felt sick.

"Ssh, just think of something else," Dalton murmured, as if he guessed my thoughts.

Suddenly there was a huge blaring noise filling my ears. I gasped out in pain, my hands coming to my ears. Dalton quickly put me down and backed away. A pain filled my head and I cried out. It hurt, it was sharp and it was like someone stabbed me in the skull, and twisted the knife.

"Make it stop!" I wailed. "Make the pain stop!" The shock filled my body again, the internal explosion vibrated around me. Only after ten minutes did the pain go away. My harsh panting returned, and I collapsed onto the ground.

"Shalim be damned! What did you do, Dalton!?" Roka yelled.

"I accidentally read her mind! I didn’t realize it would have that effect on her," Dalton returned, peeking out from over the log. He rose to his feet, hesitantly coming towards me.

"Whats… going on? What the hell is happening to me!?" I cried out. There were more snow-flakes now, black and white specks drifting up towards the sky. I saw some rise from my arm and my clothes. Weird.

"Well, its not that easy to explain right here. We’re going to a place called Agartha, ever heard of it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. Well, yes? I read on wikipedia that its like a city beneath the surface of the earth," I said, my voice sounding harsh. "Something about a freakishly advanced civilization that lived in it…" He picked me up, and him and Roka started off again. I knew that I should care about where I was going, I should’ve, but I didn’t. Not anymore. All I knew was that I was tired, and that I wanted to sleep.

"That’s partially right. It is underground, but its not what you’re thinking,"

"I’ll take your word for it. I don’t really care anymore," I murmured.

"Good, cuz’ I really wasn’t too sure as to how I should explain it," he smiled and gave a fake laugh.

I sighed heavily, my eyes feeling like lead.

"Look, just wake me up when we get there, mmkay?" I yawned. "I’m exhausted,"

He chuckled. "Sure thing, Miss Jade,"

I let my eyes slowly fall down, the last thing I saw was Dalton framed by a bright scarlet moon.

Author's Note

Nng, I don't really have much to say this time around. Shocking, no?

Reviews

[mirui]

This story is amazing, I can not wait to read more of it. Keep up the really good work.