Writing Wednesday- Chapter 7- Love Blood.

Hi all! I'm gonna post the new chapter for Titanium, but first I'd like to give a warning. This chapter is very gory and intense. So it's not for any of the fainthearted. :-) So enjoy. (Those who aren't white faced scardey cats like me.) 

Chapter 7- Tara

Love blood

I fall asleep on the floor of the room, and wake up to sounds. Scary sounds that I always hated, but coming from someone I don’t know. Crying. I look up and see a horrific image. A girl, bloody and dying, is lying on the floor. I run over to her, gasping and crying, both of us. She grabs my face, and her hands are so cold I almost wrench my hands away. But I stay strong, and tense my muscles to keep me in place.

“They’ll kill you, t-they will.” She stammers, her face strewn with tears, blood and sweat. I’ve been like this so many times before, it seems. Maybe not as bloody as her, but I’ve seen pain, and I understand the pain she feels. I look at this woman, only a few years older than me, probably. She could have had such a life. Once again, for the millionth time in my life, I’m reminded how painful death is. Almost as painful as life. So when she tells me I’m going to die it’s all I can say to tell her;

“Not if I can help it.” I get down close to her face and whisper a lie. “I have a plan.” I feel my heartbeat quicken, telling someone dying a big lie, a painful lie. Her face relaxes and she takes her very last breath, her spirit leaving with it. I reach and take the corpses hand, crying and sobbing. “I don’t have one. Don’t have a plan.” A voice in my head, not my Brain Monkey, says,

Why would you lie?

I wanted her to die happy. If there was a way to do that, that was it.

But you can’t change what happened. Never.

I can’t change anything, ever, someone dying doesn’t change that. I nod, agreeing with myself.

If you do something wrong, and no one is there to see it, does that still make it wrong?

How does that matter? And who are you anyway? The voice continues to drone on. Droning on, until I realize whose voice it is. I stand up, letting the body drop onto the floor.

“You sleazy-” The door opens. “How are you in my head?” Joseph walks in.

“Like that? It’s a new trick we’ve been working on; most people don’t notice b that’s my voice. It’s too garbled for them. They say that’s a sign of weakness.” He almost smiles. “I guess you’re not weak.” I nod.

“Did you think I was? I just saw someone die. I’m still standing, aren’t I?” He sneers and sits on my mattresses bed frame, glancing at the mattress acctorss the room where I threw it last night.

“I suppose. But that’s nothing compared to what your father has done. Getting him to talk is quite hard.” Suddenly, I become a monster, not thinking, just trying to get into the sagging parts of his soul and make them bigger, and sinking my claws into him. I’m surprised when I don’t move. I just smile and say,

“Well, I just get it from him, I guess.” He smiles.

“Not from your mother?” I look down, struck down by how well he knows my dark spots. But then again, he is my father.

“I wouldn’t know.” I say. “She’s not able to tell me what she’s like.” Joseph raises his eyebrows, pleased to have struck a blow.

“Oh? And where is she?” I shrug.

“You tell me.” He smiles.

“Oh no, no, my dear. My Pearl died two years ago. I was wondering about your father’s Pearl.” I look at him, using all my willpower and energy to meet his eyes.

“She’s in a coma.” I say, by voice breaking at the end. He mock pouts.

“What. A. Shame. If she was dead, I would be able to help you. But alas, she’s not. How sad. But of course, you could always have my Pearl.” I frown.

“You said she was dead.” Joseph shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

“Ah, ah. But the bad guys lie, don’t they? Yes, they do.” He says. He grins with his, gets up, and leaves me alone, silenced. He won, and I lost.

As the days, hours, and even minutes, wear on, and I am tested constantly, but still telling him nothing about how I got here. I hear news of my father, but never see him. One day, Joseph shows me a picture of my father being tortured. I flip.

“How dare you! You can lie to me, torture me, and hurt my father, but do not, DO NOT! Dare to throw it back in my face. You are a disgraceful human being.” Then I turn around and refuse to talk him until he leaves. I’m not sure what his “Testing” Is for, maybe the human breaking point, but I do not cooperate whenever possible. He gets inside my head. I yell for him to go away, or don’t even talk to him. When I see someone die, I pray over their body and bury them in my food. They give me food, but I don’t take it. One day, I smudge the cameras with Mayo and stuff a piece of bread into my mouth before cleaning them off. When blood gets on my floor, I clean it up. When someone in my head, I show them the door. I have no breaking point. Until one day. They give me dreams. Horrible dreams. Thumping. Gasping. Crying. Bleeding. I never see much, but the images are horrible. My father eating a beating heart while my mother lies bloody and dead beside him. my mother breaking my head open, laughing as she does so. My father grinning at the graves of all my loved ones. James sticking a knife into someone’s throat. I wake up sweaty and crying. I grab my chair and throw it at the camera, screaming.

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO HORRIBLE? I GAVE WHAT I HAD FOR EVERYTHING! EVERYONE! NOTHING EVER CAME BACK TO ME! NOTHING!!!!I WAS LEFT, BROKEN AND BLOODY, IN ALLEYS AND GRAVEYARDS, LEFT TO BURY MY OWN! TO BURY MY SELF! YOU CAN’T GIVE ME WHAT I NEED? WHAT I TRUELY DESERVE? YOU-” I break off to sob. “YOU GIVE ME BACK MY FATHER!!! AND THEN YOU CAN SEE WHEN MY BREAKING POINT IS! BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T FOUND IT!” I drop to the ground. “You haven’t found it.” I whisper. I don’t look up, I refuse to look up. I hear screaming and crying, my mother back from the dead, everything I want and everything I hate. I don’t look at anything, I just let tears come down, down, making the ground around me wet. I don’t look up. Until I hear one tired, dry, loving voice. I look up and see him, He smiles at me.

“Tara.” Is all he says. I sob, but don’t have any tears left. Nothing comes out when I try to tell him how glad I am to see. Him. Finally I choke out one word. The word I have wanted to say for the longest time.

“Father.”

Writing Wednesday- Titanium, Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Tara

Scared out of my mind

Is life supposed to be so scary? Are we all supposed to live in fear of another horrible thing happening to you? I used to lived in fear that my father would lose his job, the only thing that seemed to work for us. He is and was an amazing scientist. I learned from him, and we bonded. My father used to be only thing in my life that wasn’t tainted. The only thing that made sense. My father, who always knew what to do, my father, who was always able to laugh in the face of death. I hope that his talent for that carried as well as I think it did. Anyway, James and J convinced me that I should get some sleep before I have to be taken. So I lie down on J’s thin pillow and cover myself with James’s jacket. They promised they would wake me and wouldn’t go instead of me. So, I sleep. And I dream. I dream of my parents.

We all sit outside on the hill beside My Aunt’s house, just me, my father, and my mother. For some reason I can’t quite identify, I feel like I need to be somewhere. But we have a picnic lunch with us, so we all get our sandwiches out and eat, my father telling jokes and my mother laughing so hard I should worry. But I don’t. instead I say,

“Mom? You’re okay, right?” She looks at me, frowning.

“Of course I am, dear. Why wouldn’t I be?” Her voice is just the way it should be. Caring, happy, and safe. I shake my head.

“I don’t know. Of course you're fine. I love you mom.” My mother laughs and takes my hand, my father taking my other. They join hands together and we just sit there, smiling. Suddenly, a dark light passes over us, red so bright, I’m almost blinded, and a black so dark, I want to curl up into a ball and hide myself from it. I am crying, screaming, yelling, and I don’t even know what’s going on. Then, my father grows up to a huge size and crushes my mother in his hands. I continue to scream until I hear James’s voice calling my name,

“Tara? It’s James. Wake up!” I open my eyes and see James and J standing over me.

“It’s time.” J says, pointing at the sky. It’s starting to turn red, and there's an unsettling purple in the background. I stand up, drinking in the wonderful moment on the ground.Then, I shake away the image of my father grabbing up my mother’s body and crushing it and replace it with an image of all of us together. Me, James, My parents, and I’m surprised to see J in that image too. I preserve the image, smile at my friends, and run towards the high mountain where I am most likely to be chosen to for the Taking. I dare to take a look behind me. It doesn’t help. I see James and J embrace for a single second then watch me walk away, trying not to make me come back. I don't know what’s going to happen to them, or to me, but it occurs to me that I have as way to get away from danger. With my phone. They don’t have anything. You should have left it with them. I nod, not in the mood to have an argument with myself. I curse under my breath, Then close my eyes to clear the tears that plague them and continue running up the hill. The sky took longer to change this time, and I’m not sure what that means. Maybe that their power is going towards something bigger? Something that might be able to hurt my father. I see a beam of light coming closer to me and stop. I know that I’m the one that will be chosen. It’s not stoppable. I close my eyes, and pray for the safety of my friends, my father, and the earth in general, and let the beam take me.

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I feel the pressure on my body release, and feel the ground underneath my feet. I sigh and drop to the ground, exhausted. I sit halfway up, one foot on the ground, both my hands out to steady myself. I look around. I’m in a ship, I know because I can see the sky turning back to its wonderful blue outside the window. I look behind me and see that I’m being watched. There’s a camera in the corner, and on the bed beside a window. A projector screen comes down and I see My father there, reading off a script.

“I am Joseph Lexton. You know me as your ruler. I am now your fellow scientist, and then, If you live, your executioner.” I look at his face, exactly the same face I saw one day ago. I stare at him as he drones on about my death, my testing, and the like. I think, look up. See me. Remember who you are. Finally he looks up from his paper and drops his pen. I gasp. This is not my father. He has a scar down the left side of his face, making his un-fatherly sneer look more evil.

“You...” He stammers. “You’re dead.” I stumble over to the bed.

“No... I’m not. Who are you? What have you done with my father?” He frowns.

“You are my daughter. You died 3 year ago, when your mother did.”He looks horrified and on the verge of tears, and he has another look in his eyes that I can’t quite place, but I know it scares me. I shake my head.

“This is impossible. “ I whisper breathlessly. The man who is and isn’t my father nods. Then sudden realization dawns on his face.

You’re Tara Pearl Lexton?” I nod. He narrows his eyes. “Do you have a childhood scar in your right eyebrow?” I shake my head.

“It’s on my left eyebrow.” The man shakes his head and swears loudly.

“You’re my daughter! No...” He nods. “You’re my alternate dimension daughter. I frown.

“You’re...” I begin. He swears again. I raise my eyebrows, then let them drop again, not understanding. “You... Have my father! You... took him!” I scream. “You’re the him from here!” I say, realizing what’s going on and hating it. I open my mouth, letting my jaw hung there, suspended in the air.

What’re you going to do now, Genius? I try and push my stupid Brain Monkey’s comments away and look at the retrieving screen. I look around the room and see a table rising from the ground with sandwich fixings on it. I walk over to it and take out some bread. I lay it on the napkin and spin the top off of the mayo. I dip a spoon deep into it and scrape it across the bread. I lay the ham and turkey on the bread and put another piece on top of that. Then, I take up the sandwich and throw it on the ground.

“I refuse to eat this. I don’t care what you want with me, I won’t do a thing until I get my father back and leave.” I walk over to the bed and tip it over, sitting where it used to be. I wait for what feels like forever, but I probably closer to five minutes, then the door closest to me opens. I don’t look up to see who it is, because I know. It’s him.

“You’re quite the rebel.” I look up and see that his face is not quite at scary when it’s normally sized. I meet his eye with what I hope is a defiant glare. He frowns. “Since you know your father as Dad, if you wish you may call me that as well.” I shake my head.

“You’re nothing like my father.” I sneer. He laughs bitterly.

“I would think quite the opposite, my dear. I am your father. I have the same mind and body. However, who are you? Why would you be here?” He’s challenging me, but I don’t have time for this. I take it.

“I am Tara. I am the only Tara, apparently, who had the guts to live.” Now it’s his turn to be challenged. He opens his mouth and closes it several times before settling on just sneering at me. After a moment, He roars at me;

“She was full of life, you swine!” I gasp. “She had more life than you even could! The worst thing that ever happened to me was losing her.” I stand up, feeling taller than I ever have.

“First of all, I am as full of life as her. I do recall you saying, ‘I have the same mind and body’, but I could be wrong. And second of all, the worst mistake you ever made was bringing me here!” I say, my voice rising with every word I say. He scoffs again and looks at me with hard eyes.

“I was going to offer you a place, a chance for life, even with your father, but you have shown yourself to be unworthy. I thought you would remind me of my daughter, but you don’t. You are a despicable person, Tara. You don’t deserve to own a name.” He stands up slowly, brushing off the dust in his lap that doesn’t exist, and walks out the door while I scream horrible, horrible, awful things at him. And then, after I’m sure he’s out of hearing range, I drop down to the floor and cry. Sobbing, crying, thinking of nothing. Because I know. I know that what I did was stupid and rash, and I am a despicable human being.

Writing Wednesday- An update and a chapter.

Hey hey all! Elsie here! Thanks for reading this week! :-) First, I'm gonna update you on what's going on with writing this week, and this month. 
This month, I'm starting a novel called Mirror. I really like this one, and I'm gonna post the synopsis in a minute. I may even take a break from Titanium for a while to post, but not yet. I need to keep up with this. 

Crystal has a secret. One she's ben hiding all her life. But when her father, the king, becomes fatally ill, and she needs to take over the throne, everything goes wrong, and all she wants is to be free.When the only person she's ever told her secret is gone She runs away, killing all in her wake, and lives alone for too long. But you can't be alone forever. She finds some friends, and learns to control the feeling of darkness she has inside.

So I might mention this now and again on Wednesdays, because that's what Im working on. but now, without furthur ado, I present, Titanium, Chapter 5.

Chapter 5-J

Decisions

At this point, the only feeling I could conjure up was confusion. Tara’s father? Gone. Then… find out he’s on the top of your most hated list, which by the way, right underneath that, is your parents’ names. So… I feel sad. And confused. And not much else.

“J?” Tara asks me, her eyes empty but trying hard to care. “Are you okay?” I nod and shake my head at the same time. Tara nods, her dark, chapped lips pursed in a thin, concentrated line. I look down at her, seeing how upset she is. My Brain Monkey decides to tell me what he thinks of this.

How can you care so much about this girl you barely know? She’s just a random girl from another place.

A random girl that cares about me. Me.  not who my parents are, or whether I live in a house or on the street in an alley. So, Brian Monkey, that is why. That is why I care.

“How ‘bout you, Tara? Are you okay?” I ask. She shakes her head, glances at James, and looks to the ground. James and I both step forward at the same time and give her a hug, sandwiching her between us. Remember, I tell myself. The two of us are the only ones who know about all this. Her only friends right now. Only. Keep her safe, dummy. These people are the chance you have for a life. I nod in agreement with myself.

“I’ll keep you safe, Tara. We’ll figure this out.” I say, and James nods.

“You can tell us anything. We boys don’t know anything, except that you’re basically the only thing in life that’s worth it.” James says, and Tara nods, takes a deep breath and pushes all of us apart.

“Alright.” She grins, trying to lighten the heavy air.“You guys are extremely poetic all of a sudden.” I shrug, and James just shakes his head, making an odd face. Then, all of us get our game faces on, and put our arms up for a huddle. James has a few tears on his face, complimenting his set jaw and determined eyes. From the moment I saw him, he became the person I had wanted to be when I was 13. And it’s amazing. These people who haven’t gotten along in years, or barely know each other, are uniting to save someone. I wipe my first tear away and face my new team.

“Joseph lives in a ship in the sky, high in security. He conducts all his experiments and has all his meetings up there. Let’s just say he never leaves. What’s the plan?” James looks at me then over at Tara. Tara looks back at him then over to me.

“Okay. No plan, then. Want to just jump in, then?” I say, trying for a laugh. But apparently, it’s not time for that, because Tara hides her face and James purses his lips. “Apparently not.” I mutter. “We have to do something.” Tara and James nod.

“Is there any way we can get in? Any way at all?”I start to shake my head, then stop short. “Well…” I say. “It’s…” James leans forward on his heels, anticipating something. “It won’t be easy to pull off, and if we can, it won’t be fun.” James nods, and Tara looks like she knows where this is going. “What needs to happen is one of us needs to be taken.” Tara looks faint.

“You mean the sky… and…” I nod. She swallows hard. “When is the next one?” I shake my head.

“You can never know.” James frowns.

“Um, hi. I kind of need to know what’s going on…” He says, looking a bit terrified. He has a right to it, of course. Given the situation, I think we can all be a bit terrified.

“James, I’m going to tell you what a Taking is, and you need to promise not to freak out.” ,James nods. I decide not to waste time. “Three times a week, our lovely ruler abducts someone and experiments on them. If they don’t survive that, and the chances are less than none he kills them afterward. That is the only way someone he doesn’t know gets on that ship.” Tara reaches over and takes James’s hand, both of them looking completely frightened.. I look at them both square in the eye.

“I’ll go.” I say flatly. Tara shakes her head.

“You can’t! You might get hurt!” I look at her.

“Then who should go? You? James?” I yell. I can’t take this anymore, feeling useless. ”What did you do to deserve that? I don’t have anything or anyone to go back to! The least I can do is give you the family I never had!” Tara looks at me, her eyes hollow and full of so many emotions, as if deciding whether I’m a monster or a saint. Finally, after a painful question and a heavy breath from James, Tara sits up tall.

“Who do you think you are? Some kind of knight in shining armor come to save me? I can do things myself!” She stands up and walks up to me, looking into my eyes. “All my life, I’ve made it alone!” Tara continues. “My mother- In a hospital since I was just a little kid, my father, never the same since! I don’t think that I need you, of all people to save me!” Then, I pop. A scoff breaks out of me, and I feel like it doesn’t belong.

“Of all people? Me? So, after telling me that even know you don’t know me, AT ALL! You say that I’m so evil! No one would want to know Jahleel Clark! He’s-” I let a sob break out, just this once. “He’s no one.” Tara narrows her eyes at me. She’s in no mood to sympathize.

“No.” She says simply, her eyes empty and begging for me to hurt her, begging for me to throw a punch, but knowing I never will. “You’re not anyone. You have nothing.” Tara walks backwards, looking right at me. “And I don’t need you. Not any-” James steps in between us, interrupting Tara.

“I’ll do it.” He turns around, begging Tara to challenge him. “I’ll do it.” Tara shakes her head, not meeting anyone’s eyes. No one says anything. I really don’t know what to do. I am really willing to do this. Tara looks at me, over to James, and stands up, looking more composed than she should be.

“No.” She looks back and forth between the two of us. “I know you want to do something for me, but he’s my father. It’s very important that I do this on my own.” I don’t know what to say.

“I-” James starts. “I just... I just got to be your friend again. How can you just leave?” Tara takes her cousins hand and looks at him sadly.

“That’s exactly why. Because I love you. You need to be there for your brothers. Your sisters. You got a whole lot more life to live. I have no idea what I’m going to find up there, but know, that I wouldn’t change this. I have my best friend back, even if it’s only for a little while.” James nods, a new respect in his eyes. They hug, and I feel like I’m reading a novel, her words so poetic. She breaks away, they tap their thumbs against each other, and she walks over to me.

“Jahleel, huh?” I nod.

“The secrets out, I guess.” I say feebly, knowing this joking is only to forget for a simple second. She smiles at me.

“It’s a nice name, J.” I manage to smile. “Just so you know J, you are someone. I was in trouble, and you saved me. It was amazing. You’ve been a good friend. Just promise me you’ll be a good friend to James while I’m gone.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He’s a great kid, from what I see.” Tara nods, and then looks deeply into my eyes. I look at hers, a browning green, and seething with rage. With their wonderful green middle, and a brown ring mingling together in a beautiful gradient, with a dark, thin, navy ring around it all, framing them in wonder. I smile at her, and she back at me. I hear James groan and I grin. Tara grins back at me and kisses me on the cheek. James steps in between us, pushing our hands apart. I hadn’t noticed that she had intertwined her fingers with mine, but now my hand feels cold and tingles from her touch.

“Enough affection for now, alright?” James looks at me with eyebrows raised. I nod.

“Yes, Sir.” We all laugh, knowing that there might be little time to so later.

Writing Wednesday!

Hey all! This week for Writing Wednesday, I'm going to post a chapter of  Titanium, and I'm also going to talk about my writing this year for a teeny bit.
First of all, please note on the side bar that I changed the schedule for the blog. Please comment if anything is unclear about it.
This year, I made a very specific goal about my writing. I get bored easily, and my family can vouch for this. So each month, I decided to write 10,000 words. but after the month is over, I switch to a new novel and write 10,000 words on that. But before you say "Silly Elsie, by the end of the year, you'll have 12 unfinished novels." I'm going to stop you there. I'm not stupid. In January, I'm going to be working a book called Questions, about a girl named Carissa, and a boy who's been haunting her dreams for all her life, Liam, and a courious place called the Nothing. This next month, February, I'm going to work on a novel called Mirror. It's about a girl named Crystal, a princess, and her emotional fight with her magical powers and her father. THen in March, I'll write in a book called Names, and I'll post a synopsis later. Then in April I'll go back to Questions again, and the story will be fresh. Then the month after that on the Mirror again. And so on. But now, with no further ado, Chapter 4 of Titanium. :-)

Chapter 4- Tara

Back Home

We continue to fall through the darkness, and this time I’m more aware of what is happening. The fall isn't actually falling, really. It’s hard to explain, more like floating. But really, really fast. Slowly, the black turns to brown. And the brown to blue. And the blue separates into green, forming the grass. Then, in the time it takes for me to blink, I hit the ground. Luckily, J breaks my fall. I look up, roll off J, and see I’m on the little hill behind Aunt Lillian’s house. The very same one I called my father from only a few hours ago. I take in a deep breath, my heart beating fast and my head feeling light. Incredibly cliché, but it seems like ages ago. I sit on the green, green grass and look at J.

“This is your house?” He asks in marvel, rubbing his probably sore neck. I shake my head.

“Um, No.” THe thought of only me and my father living in this big farmhouse seems so unreal and scary.
This is my cousin’s house.” I gesture to the property, then put my hands firmly back in my lap.“I live in an apartment in Minnesota.” J frowns. “You have no idea where that is.” I realize, thinking how weird that is. He nods and I try to latch on the a thought.

“What do we need to do next?” J asks, sounding as lost as I am.

“I don’t know. My aunt will tell me I’m crazy, or worse, believe me. She’s probably worried enough as it is.” J nods.

“You have a cousin, or…?” He sounds really lost, almost like he’s regretting helping me, like he wants to go back home to whatever home and life he had. I nod, very slowly.

“I-um, don’t know if he would believe me.” J put his hand on my shoulder, looking like he’s hoping what he’s going to say is right.

“You can make him believe you.” He sounds so sure it hurts my heart. How could someone I don’t even really know have more faith in me then I do?

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I stand in front of the door, my knuckles all ready to knock on James’s door. Less than  a centimeter from the door, they stop.

“I can’t do it.” I whisper. “Brain Monkey? Now would be a good time to call me stupid and tell me what to do.” I wait a second. “Nothing.” I take a deep breath and knock. In a moment, James opens the door, his eyes widening when he sees me.

“You!” He exclaims. “Where were you? Where’s Uncle- er, your dad?” He rushes to assure me he wasn't worried. “Not that I care, but mom was freaked out.” I nod, trying not to get mad or cry.

“’Course not. James, I need your help. It’s important.” James frowns so deep he looks 5 years older.

“With what?” His voice has an edge, but he sounds kind of scared.

“Um, I can’t tell you. I have to show you.” James mouth opens to deny my favor, but I cut him off. “James, I need you to trust me. Please. I know you have no reason to trust me at all. I know I was a jerk to you, just for something you didn't do, but I was foolish and mean. I’m sorry. ” I hold up my thumb for a ‘Thumb Tap’ like we used to when we were kids. He stares at my thumb, sitting there in the air, looking ridiculous and sad, the empty space between our friendship. Then he brings the space to a close. I let out a shaky breath and wipe an idle tear from my eye, trying not to let more tears break out.

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“So, when you call your dad’s number, it will bring us to an alternate dimension?” James asks skeptically. I nod. He opens his mouth, looking at me like I’m crazy.

“Before you deny it, I’m just going to dial.” I say, opening up my phone to my contact list. James nods.

“Wait. But who is this guy?” He asks, pointing at J. “Your boyfriend?” I blush and shake my head.

“That’s, uh, J. I met him in Arret.” I say. James opens his mouth, grinning slyly. “He’s not my boyfriend.” James closes his mouth and shakes his head like he wasn't going to say anything. I roll my eyes, but secretly grin inside, because James and I are getting along. We are. “Alright.” I say, taking James’s hand and preparing to take J’s. I take a deep breath and press Send. I grab J’s hand, and with the phone between our palms. And I turn to look at James just in time to see his terrified face. Then, we fall into the portal. Falling for the first time is so much more terrifying than the third. In fact, to me, it’s even almost beautiful. But James looks frozen in fear, his body tense and rigid, and his face with so much terror that it scares me whether he’ll be okay. I can only imagine what J felt when he found me. So when we land, I don’t even look at J. I look over at James to see if he’s alright. When he sees me looking at him, all he says is;

“You were right.” Some color returns to his face, enough to make him look alive. “You were right.” I nod and stand up, reaching my hand out to help him up. As he stands, pull him into a hug. I don’t look at him, but I hear quiet sobs into my shoulder. I know we should be doing something, anything, but I don't. I just stand there. After James composes himself, I look at J for what I guess the first time since we landed.

“Alright, James. This is J.” James sticks his hand out and J shakes it. James gives J the evil eye.

“You taking care of my cousin?” J frowns.

“I hope so, James. I don’t really know her.”

“Uh-huh. Is that what Tara would say?” J’s frown deepens, and then he breaks out laughing. James nods approvingly, and then laughs along with him. I just stand there, very confused.

“Uh, hello? Hate to interrupt your bro moment, but I need info.” Both of the boys stop smiling and stand up straight, back in business, these two. My cousin, and I, newly united, and a new friend, giving up anything he ever had.

“Right… so where are we?” James asks.

“Arret.” J answers right away. “My home.” I nod.

“My guess is an alternate dimension.” I say. “I somehow got here when I called dad, err, Uncle Joseph, err... Never mind. Everyone knows.” James nods.

“So, what need so happen?" He asks. "And J,” James turns to J, frowning. “Where do come in? What do you get out of this?” J shrugs.

“I don’t- don't, um, have anything, and Tara needed help. I figure the least I can do is help. My parents-" he stops short, his eyes empty yet full of pain. “My parents were… not nice people.” J swallows. “And…” I shake my head.

“You don’t have to tell us anything else if you don’t want to.” J nods and rubs his neck. I shake my head and look at James, marveled beyond marvel at how he’s keeping his cool.

“So… J? Weird but probably helpful question.” James says suddenly. J nods. “Who is the most… evil person… yes I know that sounds weird… the most evil person in Arret?” J looks perplexed.

“Our ruler, killer, and torturer.” James shudders. I nod.

“It’s as good a lead as any. What’s his name?” J looks at me.

“Joseph Lexton.” All of a sudden I feel faint.

“No, no, no.” I whisper. I look up at James’s face. He looks black and white, as if my vision is breaking. “This can’t be.” Then, I can’t speak anymore. It can’t be possible. And it can’t. I know it can't. Nothing is able to make this possible. Because I know that name. I know it better then anything else in the world. I know it because Joseph Lexton is my father.

Chapter three!

Chapter three of my book, Titanium is ready! I only did a quick edit job because I was short on time, but I hope you enjoy...

Chapter 3- Tara

New Friends (I think.)

“I’m scared.” I whisper, admitting to myself, having no one else to admit it to.” I don’t know what to do.” My father is gone, maybe even dead. Somehow I got put into this strange world, made to trust someone who turned out to be unworthy of the trust that I put in him. I may as well just kill myself now. I think, as that boy, J shows up in the doorway. I turn away and look for another exit. He just stands there for a minute, as if he’s not sure what to do. After I give up my search for an exit and sit back in my chair, he takes a step forward.

“Look, I-“

“I don’t want to hear it.” I say coldly,I turning away and staring at the wall. I don’t care what he’s going to, he hurt me. Both physically, and mentally. I don’t know kind of person would just drag another person they just insulted into a café. I can’t do anything, with or without him. So why do anything with him? You’re being to sensitive, My Brain monkey, the little voice in my head that’s always telling me what I’m doing wrong.

“Tara.” He puts his hand on my shoulder, his voice intense. “I saved your life. That… um, sky? It might have taken you. And you don’t want to know what would happen to you if it did.” I don’t say anything, so he just says, “I can help you. If you want it, let me know.” Then he just walks out, through the front room, onto street. As he goes out the door, I jump up.

“J!” I yell, but he doesn’t hear me. That was dumb. I don’t even know what just happened, but that was an apology, and an offer for help. And you just sat there like an idiot. For once, I don’t say anything to my Brain Monkey, because it’s right. I am an idiot. This person who you don’t know, who you just told you wanted nothing to do with them, ever, just told you if you wanted to, he could help. Then he walked away. He didn’t push you one way or another, just let you be. I jump up and run out the door. I run down the sidewalk to where he stands. He just looks at me, not saying anything. I look deep into his eyes and see that they are purple. But not a girly purple, it’s purple closer to red. They seen to move and shift like a portal, like the sky that he saved me from.

Um, Tara? You were in the middle of accepting his apology. The voice comes back.

Fine. I tell my Brain Monkey.

“I forgive you.” I say. He just looks at me, staring intensely and confusedly. “And I trust you.” He nods.

“Thank you.” When he says it he gets a look on his face I’ve seen on my own many times before. The look that says; ‘I actually did something’ I could make a difference for once. And it makes me happy. He loves that he did something for me. And so do I.

“I should probably tell you… you know what I need help with.”

“Your father is missing.” He says, blushing a little. I frown.

“How do you know that?” I ask harshly. J blushes even more.

“You um, mumble real loud.” Now it’s my turn to blush.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” We stand there for a moment, letting my troubles seep back into me. How am I, along with a boy I barely know, supposed to save my father? Maybe I could get James to help me… But how can I get back?

“Even know I know the problem, it would be nice if you could, um, tell me how you got here and why you can’t get back.” I nod.

“Yeah. I can do that.” I feel tears coming. “I was in South Dakota, and…” I stop short when I see his bewildered look. He notices me noticing him and blushes.

“Sorry. Continue.” He says.

“Sure…” I take a deep breath. “I was um, there, and my dad had been gone all day. So I called him and left a message. Right after I hung up, I felt a weird sensation.” Tears fall down my cheeks, flooding my dry, worried, skin. “Then I was falling, and it was so dark.” Reliving the moment in my head burns like fire. “I fell for a long time, and then landed on the ground, knocked out. When I woke up, I was in this, um, field of ashes.” J takes a sharp breath in through the mouth, almost gasping. “Then I walked and walked and walked until I bumped into you.” J nods, looking worried. I don’t say anything, because I don’t know what I could say. So I just sit there. After a long time, he just says,

“Okay.” I frown.

“Okay?” He nods.

“Yeah.” He looks confused, like I’m crazy. I jump up.

“My father could be dead, and the only person I have to help me is you. And all you can is ‘Okay’?” J nods.

“I was just saying a general ‘okay’, as in, okay I understand this.”

Tara. Stop being so… prone to freak out.

Fine.

I nod my head and give a little smile.

“Okay.” I say. J grins.

“Okay?” He’s got one eyebrow raised, and he looks so amused and silly I can’t help but laugh. We both laugh for a while. He stops laughing first, and I follow soon after.

“Look, Tara.” J smiles a little at me. “I know you’re having a hard time, and you’re trusting someone you barely know. I’m glad you can laugh. Your laugh is beautiful.” How did this guy suddenly get so poetic?

You know nothing about him. Stop it.

I know, but I don’t have a choice but to trust him. What else can I do?

Nothing, I guess. but don’t judge him. Maybe he’s always very poetic.

I guess you're right, but I feel like I know him better than I normally do for someone I just met.

Are you saying this is fate?

Shut up.

“Thank you, J.” I sit down next to him. “So… plan?” J sits up and turns towards me. Oh my, Tara. My Brain Monkey says. The two of you, alone, sitting on a park bench. Alone. Be quiet, Brain Monkey. I say to myself.

“So you had just called your father… right?” J ventures. I nod. “After he had been gone all day?” I nod again, not sure what to say.

“So I called him on my phone… and left a message. After I left it, I started to hang up.” J massages his temples as if that will help him think. Right as I hung up… Right as…

“Right as I hung up!” I yell, my heart beating fast. J looks at me weird.

“What do you mean?”

“The phone!” I yell, jumping up and down. J’s face slowly breaks into a grin, and he too jumps up. He picks me up and spins me around yelling.

“It was the phone! It was the phone!” He puts my down and I reach into my pocket and grab my phone. I flip it open and press the redial button. My dad’s number shows up on the screen and a portal the same color as J’s eyes appears beneath my feet. I grab J’s hand, and together we fall into the darkness. Nothingness. All I feel is nothingness. But this time I’m not alone.