IVITA

You only live…forever.

CHAPTER ONE.

Cameras, more cameras and then even more cameras.

Interviews, more interviews and then even more interviews.

I was finally glad to take a break from my new sort of celebrity life; I was the ‘Miracle Child’ – the sole survivor of the accident on the Betsy Ross Bridge that killed seventy-two people.

As an emancipated minor and a seventeen year old high school graduate, there was only so much I could do for money.

Surviving this tragedy was more than just a miracle; it was a blessing in disguise. I squeezed out as much money as I could from these interviews, what was a struggling girl like me supposed to do?

I walked home, a month after the accident, with my bag of groceries clutched to my chest. It was late and all I wanted to do was have dinner on my sofa while watching some terrible reality television show.

The usually crowded street that was on my way home was surprisingly empty that night; the night was quiet – no excessive honks or swearing taxi men within ear shots; the foggy street was eerie; the full moon was up.

“Ivita?”

I heard my name come out of what seemed to be the endless darkness of the night. At the moment, I realized I was the only one the street…then I wasn’t. Leaning against a car ahead of me was a young boy who appeared to be within my age bracket, he continuously flicked a lighter open and close – tormenting the fire with freedom and then having freedom elude the fire.

“Yes?” I answered cautiously.

I was used to people coming up to me on the street, people who recognized me from the TV, people who generally just wanted to congratulate on my second chance at life. He was not one of those people.

“Can I help you?” I asked him, standing at what I had believed was a safe distance away.

“I’ve seen you on TV. You’re a very lucky girl.”

I smiled nervously. “Thanks.”

He had not looked at me once.

Eventually, he finally stopped staring at his feet and looked up at me with piercing blue eyes; I stared curiously at the face I would later come to define as gorgeous.

“What do you want?” I asked finally, my fear giving way.

He put the lighter away, “I just have a few questions for you.”

This was the part where I was supposed to run, I knew I was definitely supposed to run but I couldn’t bring myself to move, I was immobilized by fear.

Run, he’s dangerous. My mind kept telling me, but all I could do was let my hands give way – letting the grocery bag fall to the ground- when I saw the silver gun come out from under his overcoat.

“This won’t hurt a bit.” He said slowly as he pointed the gun at me.

I stared blankly at him.

Scream, shout, duck, do something for chrissake, RUN!

I continued staring blankly at him, trying to figure what I had done to this person to make him want to kill me.

 “It’s okay,” He said “You’re already dead.”

Bang! Sounded the gun, ringing deadly through the silent night.

***

UNTITLED PROJECT...

 Vanessa Tilley. 19 years old. Private Investigator.

Vanessa lived alone in an apartment on the Upper East Side of New York; she had worked relentlessly after she graduated from school to afford the place, as far as she was concerned…she deserved it.

Vanessa walked out of her apartment that morning with a feeling of dread, a feeling she couldn’t shake off. Vanessa knew that no matter what she did, she was going to have an unusually bad day.

Vanessa had a gift, a special gift. Vanessa was able to see the whole picture vividly, more than anyone could. She was capable of solving every puzzle, even the ones with missing pieces.

The feeling of gloom that overshadowed her day was the first puzzle Vanessa met that she couldn’t solve. It bothered her relentlessly as she walked to her office that was just a few blocks away.

What was it about that day that gave her a bad feeling?

With that thought interrupting all her other thoughts, Vanessa walked into her office. Elmer, her assistant was already tapping away at her computer.

Elmer smiled when she saw Vanessa enter.

“You’re eleven o’clock rescheduled for one and…” she noticed Vanessa’s disturbed look. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t figure it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.”

Worry crossed Elmer’s face briefly, “Are you okay?”

“There’s something wrong but I don’t know what it is. I can’t see everything.”

Elmer smiled, “I’m sure it’s nothing. You’ve never met a puzzle that you couldn’t solve.”

Elmer, who was least ten years older than her employer, got up from behind her desk and helped Vanessa into her office.

“Just relax. I’ll hold all your calls till you feel better.”

Vanessa watched Elmer leave her office, she was probably right; maybe all she needed was rest. She had been buried in work more than usual, maybe – just maybe – that was what was wrong with her.

She let herself relax, it was much needed. She was about to drift into sleep when a static noise brought her back to reality.

Vanessa looked around anxiously as she covered her ears against the noise.

Suddenly…everything went black.

                                                *                      *                      *

Paige Baker, 18, Genius.

Paige was on her way to school when a young boy, who was probably her age mate, bumped into her.

Paige recognized his uniform; she had attended the same school as he did…years ago when she was in high school.

If she’d gone at the pace other teenagers did, Paige wondered if she would have been friends with the boy that had just bumped into her; she doubted it.

With a Ph. D under her belt; Paige had never had an alcoholic drink in her life, she had never been to a party that wasn’t hosted by her parents and she had no friends. For the first time in a life, Paige resented her intelligence; she believed it had ruined her life.

She walked into the University of California Institute of Technology where she was beginning her first day as part of a research team.

As she was shown to her office, she could see her co-workers stare at her; she knew what they were thinking, it was the same everyone thought when then they saw her…what is that kid doing here?

She stood in the center of her office wondering if the life she had worked so hard for was worth it. Did she really like the ring Dr Paige Baker had?

Everything suddenly went black causing her to lose her balance.

An intense static noise was the last thing she heard.

                                                *                      *                      *

Dylan ‘DJ’ Jones, 19. Student.

Ferociously DJ slapped her alarm clock, its chimes interrupted her sleep and fueled her hangover. Finally, she designed herself to her fate and got out of bed.

As she stood up to go to the bathroom, she heard a blaring static noise.

                                                *                      *                      *

I Do Not Have A Problem...

One more drink…One more glass…Just one more. I told myself.

The drinks kept on coming and somehow I didn’t realize the drinks had kept on coming.

I sat at the bar, made small talk with the bartender and before I knew it I asked him for one more drink, this was ‘definitely’ the last one I told myself. 

The bartender looked at me with questionable expression as if to say “Really?”, but he didn’t voice out his thoughts, he just made the drink.

I was about to ask for another drink when a thought occurred to me – I could have a problem, I might be an alcoholic. But I shook my head ‘no’…there was just no way.

With that thought, I knew it was time for me to leave, I checked my watch – time to get back to work, lunch break was almost over.

No problem at all.

GHOST TOWN

CHAPTER ONE

Nothing.

I saw nothing.

I felt nothing.

I was nothing.

Slowly, consciousness came to me and I began to develop a reality that I wanted to be something more, I willed myself to be something more…I didn’t care what, I just wanted to be. To exist.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was standing in the center of a living room of a rundown house with barely any furniture in sight. The house was dark, gloomy and broken in more ways than a house was supposed to be.

I walked over to the window and peered out, even though there were houses and shops everywhere, there was nobody in sight; if I didn’t know any better I’d say I was in a ghost town. But I knew better, ghost towns only existed in movies and books.

A chill ran straight through me as I tried to figure out how I got there. Was I kidnapped? Was I –

I couldn’t remember. I couldn’t remember anything.

“There you are.” A voice behind me said. “You’ve been drifting in and out so much that you’re spooking the whole town out…and that’s saying a lot.”

Standing there was a beautiful young girl. She had long wavy blonde hair that fell to the center of her back. A heart shaped face with big blue eyes that seemed to have a life of its own and flawless skin. Her skin was pale and smooth. Her lips were pink and perfect.  Her body was perfect. She was perfect. And for some reason, she was a familiar face.

“What do you want? Where am I? Have I been kidnapped?”

The perfect girl sighed, “You’re not going to wig out on me again, are you? If you just calm down, I’ll explain everything.”

I became very afraid. What was I doing in a place like that? Why couldn’t I remember anything?

A light wind seemed to enter the house from nowhere in particular and wrapped itself around me.

“Don’t…don’t do that again, do –”

I snapped my eyes and held them tightly together, when I opened my eyes – I was outside.

“I said don’t do that again.”

The girl said but she was nowhere in sight. Slowly from the legs up, she formed right in front of me.

What the fu–

“I know you have a lot of questions but if just calm down…I can explain.”

“Did you just…appear?”

“Like I said, I can explain everything. Do you remember anything, even your name?”

I shook my head vehemently and before long the water works came.

Crying, I said, “I don’t remember anything.”

“Oh God.”  The blonde said, moving to stand beside me. “Take a deep breath and close your eyes.”

I did as I was told.

I felt a light wind blow again; it seemed stronger this time around as it engulfed me, moved me. When I opened my eyes, I was in a room in a different building, it was a classroom.

“Did I do this? Am I a freak?” I cried.

“I thought I told you to calm down, there’s someone here that explain everything to you.”

“There’s no one here.”

“Lucas?” Blondie called out to empty room. “Don’t flake out on your duties Luc, you’ve got a new student.”

At the teacher’s desk, I saw a figure emerge from the wind and shadows. Sitting there, was a young boy – no more than my age – watching us. His skin was pale, just like Blondie’s and his hair was as black as the night, resting perfectly back with a stray lock falling over his face.

“Did he just…appear?” I asked shocked.

“No, he has been there the whole time.” Blondie answered. “She’s all yours.” She told Lucas.

Just like that, she was gone. Vanished into thin air.

I was no longer afraid, I was just angry. “What’s going on here? Is this some kind of prank? Special effects?”

Lucas got up from where he was seated and walked up to me. I knew I was supposed to be terrified at this point but I just couldn’t be, there was something about him that assured me that he wasn’t going to hurt me.

“How do I say this in a way that will not upset you?” He said lightly; his voice was velvety and thin. It completely enveloped me.

“Say what?” I asked

He stared confidently into my eyes. His eyes were pale brown and intense, they held mystery. I wondered what color my eyes were.

I jerked away when what felt like static passed from him into me.

“You really do need to calm down. Take a deep breath, try and relax.” He said.

“I’m relaxed.” I said.

As relaxed as I could be. What the hell was going on here?

“No, you’re not. Take another breath.”

“Just tell me.” I shouted.

At my voice, the room temperature seemed to drop.

I struggled to hold back tears, “Just tell me. Please just tell me.”

“You’re dead. I don’t know when you died but that’s why you’re here.”

“If I’m dead,” I laughed; it was a dry, humorless laugh. “How can I be here? I am here, you are here. We are both here.”

Lucas smiled lightly…barely, “I’m a ghost…so are you.”

“What?!” I said taking a step back from him and then another. I bumped into a desk behind me and laughed again at the absurdity of what he was telling me.

He wasn’t laughing with me, he just stood there waiting for me to come to the realization that he wasn’t joking.

I stopped laughing, there was no way I could be dead…there was no that I –

With a light wind, I was gone as well. Vanished into thin air.

Lucas shook his head. “That went well.”

***

15 RANDOM FACTS

1.      My name is Edidiong but everyone calls me either “Eddy” or “E”.

2.      There’s nothing special about me.

3.      The butterfly effect guides me in everything I do. Actions = consequences. Too many people don’t take it seriously enough.

4.      I have an interest in Greek mythologies, Egyptian history and hieroglyphics, psychology and mathematics.

5.      I consider myself “Alternative”, even though I don’t really know what that means.

6.      I’m not going to lie and say I don’t care about what people think of me cause I do…I just don’t let it guide me.

7.      My favorite book to read is the dictionary. Although, I read everything by Sidney Sheldon.

8.      My favorite word is “Serendipity”

9.      My life plan is to “party endlessly, live glamorously, age gracefully”. Every other aspect comes in between.

10.  I have never seen “the titanic” and “the notebook”…but I have seen “can’t buy me love”, “sixteen candles”, “breakfast club”, “pretty in pink” and the (original) karate kid countless times. Wax on, wax off.

11.  To me, first impressions don’t matter.

12.  I believe in second chances…and third and fourth and fifth chances as well. I would give as many chances as long as sincerity is a factor.

13.  I suck at words. I’m not very articulate and I’m mediocre at scrabble…but, I want a career as a writer.

14.  It took me a while to figure out but as it turns out…red bull doesn’t actually give wings.

15.  I would do anything to get out of school work, like now.

Art Is Stupid!!!

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" my friend, Sam, asked me.

"Art. I'm just trying to imagine a world where artists didn't exist. Such a world frightens me, it would be very bleak and very dark. I don't think I could survive in that kind of world."

Sam sat on my bed, beside me. "Really? Well, I don't like Artists, I find them to be very shady. Sure, some people can sing or paint or write or take a picture or whatever. But that is no excuse to exploit those less talented, for art to be truly appreciated...it should be free."

I was speechless so he kept on talking, "Shakespeare, Mozart, Salinger, Da vinci, Picasso, Eminem; I think they are all con artists. They all did it for the money not because they loved Art or wanted to be true artists." He sneered.

He looked at me, checking to see if his point had sunk in.

"I think Art is stupid."

I punched him in the face.

WOULD YOU READ THIS NOVEL?

Loving parents, a steady boyfriend and a wonderful best friend, Sasha Rose is just like any other teenager, or so she thinks, until her eighteenth birthday. Chilling nightmares, out-of-body experiences, powers she never imagined existed and supernatural strength sends her on a visit to her birth mother who reveals a shocking secret: Sasha is half demon. With her birth father being the ultimate demon, – the Devil–, her birth mother had no choice but to give her up for adoption to protect her.

Before she realizes it, Sasha’s life becomes a frantic chase with all kinds of demons on her tail; disrupting what is left of her once her peaceful, content life.  Sasha and her best friend, Zoë, decide to seek help from famed demon-hunter, Professor Rothchild.

Here, begins their journey to save their lives with Alex, professor’s son, joining them with hopes to understand his heritage, family background and his part in the cult– Diabolus Venatores.

The Trio soon realize that throwing the devil off their trail is not as easy as imagined, especially when he demands a grandson to enable him rise from the boundaries of his entrapment– hell. The good news, he wants Sasha alive. The bad news, there are others that want her dead.

“Devilish” is a thrilling novel which blends contemporary fiction with ancient legends and beliefs. What do you when the demon you dread is part of you?