Prologue and Chapter One

This is the prologue and Chapter One.

PROLOGUE

Be careful what you wish for.

 

  I picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Sam?” It was Dale, my best friend.

  “What?” I asked a little harsher than I meant. I was kind of grumpy today, since my sixteen-year-old life was pretty boring. So, so boring.

  “You sound mad at the world. What’s up?” asked Dale. That was the best thing about him. He knew exactly how I felt. Most of the time it made me feel a bit better when I told him what was going on. I said most. Not always. Hopefully it would work today.

  “It’s just that I feel useless in this world. I can’t do anything to help anyone. I mean, community service is good and all, but I mean, like, really helping the world. Like stopping the war. Like saving people from a huge threat. Something big, you know?”

  “Yeah, I get it. So, um, do you want to go to the new amusement park today?” he asked.

  “You know I hate roller coasters,” I protested.

  “There’s other things at amusement parks beside roller coasters, Sam,” Dale pointed out.

  “Like what?”

 

  “Like… Uh… Just…Will you go with me?”

  “Well, since I’ve got nothing else to do today, yes. But can I bring Jaida with me?”

  “Yeah, sure. Whatever. I’ll pick you guys up at twelve-thirty, okay? Just call me and tell me where you are.”

  “You got it.” I hung up the phone and dialed Jaida’s number.

  After a short conversation, we agreed to meet at Earth Shakes at noon. I grabbed my purse off the hook in the closet and stepped outside. I closed the front door behind me, locked it with the key, and started walking. A cool summer breeze played with my hair as it blew it from side to side.

  When I was no more than fifty feet away from our meeting place, my gut feeling began to tell me that I shouldn’t be going to the park.

  I told myself I was just being silly because of my roller coaster phobia. As I opened the door to Earth Shakes, all I saw were demon-looking animals you only find in movies or books or legends or myths. I stared then blinked just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. After the blink, they were all were human again. When I blinked twice more, they changed back into the demons. What the heck was going on here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART ONE

 

KIDNAPPED

I

Think before you act.

 

  I sat on the cold stone floor and looked up at the dark warehouse ceiling. Moonlight streamed through the barred window, and the coldness sent shivers up my spine. I wearily picked myself up and strode over to the light. My dark brown hair tumbled down my shoulders to the middle of my back. For once, my hands weren’t chained to the floor, like they had been for the past four hours. How come I was so calm about this whole situation? A random normal girl would be screaming her head off. Why wasn’t I? I was normal, right? Then again, normal girls didn’t get kidnapped at an amusement park in Manhattan.

  What in the world had I done to get myself stuck in this mess?

 

  “Let’s go on that one, Sam,” Dale said. He was so excited to be at the new amusement park here in Manhattan. He wanted to go on every ride. Dale pulled me towards the crazy looking roller coaster with twists and turns that made me sick just looking at it. “Come on, it’ll be fun!” he exclaimed. I had no idea why my best friend wanted to go on the “Flying Raccoon,” but I was stuck with him (meaning I had to go with him wherever he wanted to go). He was crazy. I could only imagine Jaida’s reaction if she knew I was about to go on the “Death By Raccoon,” but she’d already left to babysit her neighbor’s kid. Perfect timing.

 

  Yes, I had two best friends, and no, I did not have a crush on the one that was a boy (Okay, maybe just a little).

 

 We launched forward, and my stomach jolted. We turned, looped, went upside down, and spun in circles. By the time the coaster stopped, I felt like I was going to puke. I absolutely hated roller coasters. I had since...well, as far back as I could remember.

  Dale had a silly grin on his face and offered his hand. His dark brown hair was tousled from the bumpy ride. I took it gratefully and ran over to a small red concession stand. I paid for two bottles of water and drank half of mine in less than ten seconds.

  “Here, I want you to have these,” Dale said. He took a small velvet bag out of his pocket, and handed me two earrings. “I thought you’d like them, since your two favorite colors are red and green. He must have noticed that I didn’t have earrings on.

  There was some sort of green gem in the middle and red cabochons around the sides. The earrings looked really expensive, and I wondered where he’d gotten them.

  “I’m going to throw this away.” I held my empty Poland Springs water bottle up. “I’ll be right back,” I told him. I spotted a trash can in back of the stand and threw the clear plastic bottle out. I peered around the corner and saw Dale leaning against the side of the small concession stand. I crept around the other side, planning to scare him. I was about to jump out at Dale, when someone suddenly came up from behind. They gagged my mouth and used their fist to knock me unconscious.

 

  I woke up in a warehouse. The person who abducted me was a large guy (not in a fat kind of way, but more like the tough, scary, muscly kind of way) who looked like he was in his early twenties and had ridiculously strong fighting skills. His hair was a caramel brown and his eyes were emerald green. He had an ear piercing on the right and wore a black mask. I know the black mask thing sounds kind of cheesy, but he looked really horrifying. His voice wasn’t the most pleasant sound. It had a slight rasp to it and a whisper was like thunder. I’d experienced his rage just a few hours ago, and it was still burning in the back of my mind. Stuff like that never went away. Like watching the Exorcist for the first time. Not that I’d ever seen that movie.

 

    “Where is he?” he yelled. The moonlight was just bright enough so that I could see the mask over his face.

    “Where’s who?” I asked, confused.

  “Don’t play stupid, Samantha Evermay Greenhallow! You know exactly whom I’m talking about!” he spat. His green eyes sparked with rage.

  “I’m not playing stupid!” I screamed. How did he know my name? Hardly anyone knew my full name. How did this stranger know it?

  I felt him punch my left cheek really hard. Surprisingly, it felt like a poke. I reached up to touch it, but he slapped my hand away. “Tell me where he is!” he roared.

  “I have no idea who you’re talking about. Now put me down!” I shrieked. He let go of me and kicked my stomach. That felt like a tickle. Why didn’t it hurt?

  “I’ll stop hitting you when you tell me where he is!” He slapped my right cheek. My white shirt was stained with a few drops of my silver blood. “Good thing this guy can’t see my blood. He’d want it in a split second,” I thought. “For once, I’m glad it’s dark.”

 

  I’d always remembered my blood being silver, which was why I was careful not to cut myself, scraped myself, or fall in public. Not even in front of my cousins, aunts, or uncles. Just my immediate family and my grandma knew my secret. They had told me (when I had first scraped my knee at five years old) never to let anyone see my blood. No one. I could never go to the doctor like normal people because they might have thought I had some kind of a disease. My mom also told me that my blood was liquid silver, not red blood like normal people. Kind of like an angel’s golden ichor, except mine was silver. Dad told me that I was just born that way, and I was special. That was it. End of conversation. So nobody knew. Not even Dale or Jaida.

 

  “Who are you talking about?”  I vociferated as he twisted my arm.

  “Maybe she’s not the right girl.” It was someone different this time.

  “Don’t be stupid. She’s the one we saw with Dale Macoy, right?” The other man screeched, and I guessed the guy who had been screaming at me a minute ago hit the other guy. Looked like I wasn’t the only one getting pummeled.

  They were talking about Dale! I had to warn him. Dale was being tracked down like an animal with rabies. That was the only way to describe it. Only problem was, I was sitting here doing nothing. I couldn’t get out of this place. I heard another voice. How many people were in here?

  “If I may ask, why are we trying to find Dale Macoy?” It was a girl with a British accent. I wondered how she ended up working for this jerk. Her voice sounded somewhat familiar to me. Could she be...no. I shuddered at the thought. My mind was playing tricks on me.

  “You are so stupid, Eleanor. He has the earrings with the jadeite and red diamond!” The man’s voice was on the verge of being as loud as a plane engine from one hundred feet away.

  “Are those the pretty green and red earrings that are worth a lot of money, Kevin?” Eleanor asked. So the girl with the British accent’s name was Eleanor. I had the first two names of my kidnappers. Eleanor and Kevin. Those names would be of use if I ever got out of here.

  “Yes, you imbecile.”  Kevin rolled his eyes. That black mask was really starting to annoy me now. “Dale Macoy’s primogenitor kept those stones when my ancestor was supposed to keep them! We have been searching for the Macoy family for generations. Every person who went on an expedition never came back. I was the first one to find out that the earrings were in Manhattan, under the care of Dale Macoy, an irresponsible seventeen-year-old, who knows nothing about money and million dollar jewels!” Kevin raged.

  Kevin obviously knew nothing about Dale. Dale had been the school fundraising treasurer and gotten the only A plus in the class on the incredibly hard “Rocks, Gems, and Minerals” test.

  Only then did I realize that Dale had given me what they were looking for. Thank God Kevin couldn’t see me. Someone new spoke. How many people were hiding in here? Did Kevin have a big bully gang or something? A bunch of evil, creepy, crazy criminals? Kevin was certainly an evil creepy criminal if he thought getting me would lead him to Dale. After all, Dale and I had been best friends since we were two.

  “You could be a little nicer, Kevin. Eleanor is new to our business. You can’t expect her to know everything. And try not to yell. I think there are night guards patrolling the park. Anyone can hear you from a thousand miles away,” said the one who had made the comment about me not being the right girl.

  I had to start thinking of a plan soon or Dale would be dead meat. If he said he didn’t have the earrings, Kevin would surely abuse him just like he did to me.

  “Well, she is in the business. She should know what we’re after. You hired her, didn’t you, Weston? You know better than to hire someone stupid,” said Kevin, and rose to his feet. “You know, Weston, you’re not always right. That’s why I’m the one in charge, not you. I’m the one that’s always right.”

  “Eleanor’s not stupid. She’s the one who came up with the idea to get Samantha Greenhallow. She was right. If Dale Macoy really cares about her, he’ll fall right into our trap. He doesn’t know any better. He’s only seventeen. Anyone can outsmart him,” Weston explained.

  “Let’s go. I’m tired of you people. Jacob and Cole, guard the door.” Kevin and his gang exited the warehouse, leaving me helpless and chained to the floor. They probably thought I was asleep. I had to warn Dale. I had to warn him. I had to warn-

 

  My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a figure on the other side of the warehouse. I froze, not turning from the window. I didn’t have to look behind me to figure out who was there. The door slammed shut, and somehow, I knew I was stuck with Kevin.

 

  “You,” I hissed.

  “What do you mean, ‘you?’”

  I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God it wasn’t Kevin. It was Jaida. How had she found me? Who told her?

  “Jaida! Thank goodness it’s you. For a moment I thought it was this kidnapper named Kevin. How did you find me? Did Dale tell you I was missing? Is he here with you? What time is it? Why are you here?”

  “Whoa, slow down, Sam.”

 “Sorry. Kevin is an evil criminal who’s looking for a pair of earrings that Dale has and he’s looking for Dale. I have to warn Dale. How did you get in here?” I stopped for breath. There were so many questions to ask.

  “Dale is fine. I saw him this afternoon. Don’t worry about Dale, Sam. Anyway, I was wandering around the amusement park, saw this warehouse, thought it was cool and found guards outside the door. They threatened to shoot me, so I knocked them out. Then I came inside and found you,” Jaida explained. “And I’m sure Kevin didn’t mean to hurt you. I know he’s not like that.”

  “How do you know he’s not like that?” I asked. I thought I thought I heard a muffled cry, but decided it was just my imagination. Jaida was here, and she would save me. I didn’t tell her about the earrings, though. Something inside me told me not to, in case Kevin was around. “How do you know Kevin wasn’t going to hurt me?” I asked when Jaida didn’t answer. “He abducted me!”

  She hesitated. “I just think that. So, does Dale have the earrings?”

  “I don’t know,” I lied. I couldn’t tell her. I had to keep Dale’s secret between him and me.

  “Oh. Well, I’ll come back tomorrow and bring Dale with me. We’ll help you escape from this place.”

  “Wait!” I shrieked, but I was too late. The door had clicked shut. Why had she left me here, in this dark warehouse? Did she even care about me? I hoped Jaida would come with Dale soon, because I didn’t think I would last another day in this terrible warehouse. I was starving. I hadn’t eaten anything since that morning.

  I lay down on the hard cement floor and drifted in to a restless sleep.

 

  “Look at this seashell, Sam.” Dale offered me the beautiful conch shell, and I put my ear to it.

  “I hear the ocean,” I said. He smiled at me, and took my hand. Out in the distance, I thought I saw someone waving to me. I raced across the sand towards the waving hand. Dale caught up to me, out of breath. As I came closer, I saw that Jaida was the one who had been waving at me. Next to Jaida was Kevin. He grabbed my arms and twisted effortlessly. I screamed and yelled, pretending to be in pain even though it only felt like a finger prick you would get at the doctor’s office.

  There were people all around us, but no one seemed to hear my screams. Dale tried to wrench him off of me, but Kevin pushed him away as if he were a leftover crumb on the breakfast table. Dale stumbled back, and Jaida wrapped her arm around his throat. I shrieked as my vision blurred to blackness...

 

  I woke up, my shirt damp with sweat. I looked up and saw Jaida leaning over me. It was morning, probably around five thirty.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Bad dream. Hey, I thought you were coming tonight.”

  “I decided to come a little early.”

  “You have to get out of here. Kevin will find you. You’ll get tortured like me.”

  “No, I won’t. Kevin won’t hurt me. He wants nothing to do with me. I can’t blame him. After all, I am a helpless girl who can’t fight, aren’t I? That’s what you think, isn’t it?” She got up and stalked out of the warehouse. Kevin wants nothing to do with her, I thought. What if Kevin did want something to do with her?

 

  Kevin entered the warehouse with his arms beating an invisible punching bag. His gang trailed behind him. I knew what he was going to say. I would never tell him, for my sake and Dale’s, even if it killed me. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I certainly didn’t want to die. I leaned my head down so my chained hands could reach the sides of my head. I hurriedly rubbed my ears, slipping the earrings off at the same time. I stuck them in a hidden pocket in my jeans. The pocket was on the inside of my jeans, instead of on the outside. I put the jewelry there, just in case he checked my pockets for the earrings. I jumped when Kevin shrieked.

  “Where is he? Tell me now or you’ll be sorry!”

  “I’d rather be sorry than tell you where Dale is!” I spat.

  “See, I told you she was the one, Weston. So you don’t deny you know were Dale Macoy is?” He eyed me suspiciously.

  “I never said that.”

  “I know you know where he is. If you don’t tell me, I’ll put you through so much pain you’ll be begging to tell me.”

  Eleanor piped up. “Um, Kevin, if you put her through too much pain, she could go unconscious. It will take days or even weeks for her to be conscious again. She could even die.”

  “Again, she has a point, Kevin,” Weston remarked.

  “Be quiet. I’m trying to get this vacuous kid to talk!” Kevin snapped.

  “Well, sorry, ‘cause this stupid kid’s talking mode button is turned off,” I spat.

  “Well, I guess I’d better turn it on, then.” Kevin punched my face. No blood this time. I faked a cry and pretended to choke on tears, just to make the scene more dramatic. I was very good at that.

  “Aw, did that hurt, Sammy? Well, if you don’t speak up, I’ll do it again!”

  I was powerless. I was chained against the stone floor and couldn’t move my hands. But I could move my feet.

  I kicked him in the shin as hard as I could.

  He didn’t even flinch. “Nice try, pip squeak. Better luck next time.” Kevin slapped my left cheek hard.

  Jaida is coming tonight. She’ll save me, I reassured myself. I couldn’t back down now. If I told Kevin where Dale was, the starvation was so not worth it. I had the earrings, but Dale was the one they were after. They would kill him eventually, and I couldn’t let that happen. Dale would not die because of me

   My mother was probably worrying her head off right now. Poor her. I hoped Dale was comforting even though he had no idea where I was.

  “We’re definitely splitting the money. I know that. Vince said he would pay us $10 million. Each of us will get $2 million. That’s for sure,” Weston said.   

  Vince. Vince. They were selling the earrings to someone named Vince? Who in the world was Vince? There were probably a million people named Vince. Couldn’t they be more specific? Like, Vince Whatever-his-last-name-is?

  “I’m in charge of this operation. I get $5 million,” Kevin growled, still glaring at me. He slammed his fist down on the table. It shook as if Thor’s hammer slammed down on it. Good thing that fist wasn’t aimed at my stomach.

  “Everyone gets their fair share, all right? We work in this together.” Eleanor smiled sheepishly at him.

  “Together. That’s kid’s stuff. I don’t care about being together. I want the money. I want to avenge my ancestor. You people make me sick.” Kevin stood up abruptly and came over to me.

  “I’ll get it out of you soon enough,” he hissed.

  I saw Kevin move his arm and punch me in the gut. I felt no excruciating pain, but I didn’t see his face when I went unconscious. Maybe punches that didn’t hurt could still knock you out.

 

  “You know, you don’t have to do this alone,” I said to Dale. He looked at the Eiffel Tower with a sad expression. We sat, dangling our feet over the edge of a rooftop. The Seine was shimmering down below.

  “Yes, I do. I don’t want to put you in any more danger than you already are. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” he said, and smiled. If only that smile could be real. I knew he wasn’t the happy Dale he used to be. I missed that happy person, and the times when we were the best of friends. But I knew that would never happen again. Things were different now, and times had changed.

  “I want to do this with you. We’re friends, remember? Friends are always there for each other. If you die, I will never forgive myself. I’d rather die with you than without you. You’re my best friend. We do this together. Not alone, but together,” I told him. He laughed, but his tone was grim.

  I whispered one of my deepest secrets into his ear, and he smiled. Dale began to talk about the journey ahead of him when he was abruptly cut off in mid sentence. His eyes widened in surprise and fell face first down into the river below. I jumped up and turned around, but it was too late. Jaida had already plunged the bloody blade into my heart.

 

  I opened my eyes, and there was Jaida’s face in front of me. Sweat rolled down my forehead and onto my eyebrows. Jaida‘s face was illuminated in the glowing moonlight.

  “Jaida,” I breathed.

  “I brought Dale,” she whispered, “but we have to be quick. Up with you.”

  “I can’t. I’m chained to the floor.”

  “Hmm. Well then, Dale and I will have to come back tomorrow with the right tools to cut the chain.” With that said, she got up and silently left. Was she abandoning me again? What was up with her? She kept leaving me here. Third time! Was Jaida truly not my friend anymore?

  Dale barreled through the doors and hugged me to death. He squeezed me so hard I could barely breathe.

  “You’re alive!” he whispered. Suddenly, Jacob and Cole were upon him, wrestling him to the ground. Kevin had chosen good guards for my warehouse prison. Jacob pinned Dale to the stone floor while Cole ran out the door, probably to get Kevin. Dale’s breath was heavy every time his chest rose and fell. Why? Why does Dale have to be so stupid sometimes? Kevin will surely hurt him, I thought. I hated to admit it, but Kevin was a smart man.

   “Where’s the kid?” Kevin’s whip made a cracking sound on his palm.

  “Over here, Kevin. He’s chained to the floor, just like you wanted,” replied Jacob.

 The echoes of Kevin’s footsteps bounced through the air as he got closer to Dale and me. His body tensed beside me.

  “We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Your choice, Macoy.”

  “What are my options?” Dale asked.

  “You can tell me where the earrings are and give them to me. Then I’ll let you go without hurting you. Or, if you want to do it the hard way, you can keep your little secret until I beat the answer out of you.”

  “Well buddy, looks like you’re out of luck ‘cause you’re not getting the answer either way.”

  “So you don’t deny that you know where they are?”

  “I don’t deny it,” replied Dale.

  “Shouldn’t the earrings belong to your father, or did you ‘inherit’ them?” Kevin asked, making finger quotations around the word ‘inherit.’ I couldn’t believe he’d just asked that question like it was no biggie. I swallowed. Kevin certainly knew how to get to people.

  “My father’s dead.”

  “So he was a drunk?” Kevin smiled under the black cloth that covered his face.

  “You know he was killed by one of your idiot relatives!” Dale’s voice was rising by the minute.

  “Give them to me!”

  “No.” Dale crossed his arms over his chest.

  Kevin kicked Dale in the gut and punched his eye.

  I couldn’t bear the sight of Dale getting hurt. I would not be the cause of Dale’s death. I’d be guilty for the rest of my life. If I even had a life after this week.

  “Stop! Here! Have them! But leave us alone!” I pulled the stupid earrings out of my pocket and thrust them at him.

  Kevin mouth twitched upward, his gold tooth glittering in the sun. He slipped the earrings into a black satin pouch and put it in his pocket with a look of satisfaction on his face.

  “Now let us go and don’t bother us again.” I narrowed my eyes at him. I hated him so much. I wanted to punch his stomach and kick his gut until he fell to the ground, begging for mercy.

  All of a sudden, just like magic, Kevin fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. “Stop! Stop! Okay!” he screamed to no one in particular.

  I was in awe, but recovered quickly. “Now you know how we feel!” I said. “You make me sick. Your life isn’t even worth a cent. I couldn’t care less about you or your stupid little group of bandits. Treating people like animals.”

  Kevin got up and let go of his stomach, trying to regain his senses. I could tell he was still weak. “You are an animal, which means I have every right to treat you the way I want. My life is going to be glorious. I’ll have everything I could possibly want. My hard work has finally payed off. I’ll be a millionaire! And you could be my little pets, obeying my every command.”

  Kevin came up to Dale and me and slapped us both squarely across the face. “I think I’ll keep you a little while longer. You’re very amusing.”

  Jacob, Cole, Eleanor, and Weston left the warehouse, and Kevin followed behind. Before he closed the door, he paused for just a moment.

  “See you tomorrow.” Kevin shut the door behind him, and I heard the lock click. Never had those three words been so terrifying to me.

  I screamed until my voice box couldn’t take any more.

  “Samantha Evermay Greenhallow,” Dale said, his face flushed from Kevin’s slap. “What did you do?”

Author's Note

This the prologue and the first chapter to my first novel, Silver. The actual book you can buy on Amazon.com. Just look up 'Sophia Garbarino' and you'll find it! :)