Hey everyone, today is the day when I post a teaser chapter for my book.
To refresh your memory, Bleeding Truth follows the experiences of 17 year-old Alexander Arlington as he begins to rediscover his past and fend of his personal demons (Sadism/Lies, Grief/Violence, and Anger/Rage/Fate) in physical form, along with his questionable past and the hands of death. The novel is meant to ask the question: "Are we alone at the end of the day?" without ever truly answering it.
Below is a large excerpt from the first chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading.
Bleeding Truth
Darkness
1
According to Alex’s watch, midnight is upon the world.
Wearing only a light, blue jacket, black t-shirt, faded blue denim jeans, and
black running shoes he sits alone atop a tree stump, two feet above the snapped
twigs and pine cones which litter the forest clearing before him. His main
purpose in such an isolated place is to meet his girlfriend, Summer.
Unfortunately, she’s late to the meeting, and Alex’s butt starts to complain of
numbness.
Tiredness starts at his nerves equally as fast. Each moment
that passes causes his exhausted mind to view the trees around the clearing as dancing
in a nightmarish fashion at even the slightest of breezes. Illogical fear creeps
into his consciousness as the darkness persuades him into feeling the threat of
eyes upon the back of his neck. Alex’s eyes dash back and forth about the
clearing, expecting to find a shadowy caper amongst the woodland debris around
him as the source of the hallucinated sounds and movements. The night has
officially begun to claim his senses.
“Where could she be?” Alex thinks aloud. “I’m not gonna just
sit here all night, am I? I’ll bet she forgot about m—” His words are cut short
by a rustling sound in the trees across the clearing from him. “Summer?” he
asks, his question posed to the darkness. Fear creeps from his mind to his
vocal cords. His voice strains to seem calm upon collision with the cold air.
“Is that you?” No answer arises to his query. He continues regardless, forcing
a smile on his face to contradict with what he’s truly feeling. “I almost
thought you’d forgotten.”
The rustling stops abruptly, causing Alex’s heart to jump and
flutter. Only silence remains in the absence of the sound. Timidly, Alex rises
from his stumpy throne and crosses the clearing in the direction of the
previous rustling. Terror has gripped him in its pensive jaws, forcing his mind
to race and his heart to pound audibly.
What if it wasn’t her? What if it’s someone else, something
else? Reaching
the bush, he pauses and takes a deep breath to calm himself. I have to do
this… Adrenaline pumping, Alex moves between the trees, peering out into
the darkness. After a frenzied glance, he realizes that nothing exists beyond
the border but the emptiness of the woods.
Letting out a large sigh of relief, he steps back into the
clearing. His heart still pounds heavily inside his chest. Am I that stupid?
Why the hell would anyone be there? Why would Summer be here? He shakes
his head sadly. What am I doing here? Why couldn’t I have just met
her in the morning? Behind him, the sound of twigs snapping punctures the
air. New thoughts enthrall him too much to give any alert to the odd noise. I’m
so stupid. I should just go home— A hand touches his shoulder, gripping it
tightly. Alex screams outward in surprise. Another hand reaches around quickly
to muffle the sound of his terrified voice.
“Stop freaking screaming, I’m not going to hurt you!” yells
a female voice. Her words are forceful and reinforced extensively by the
tightening grip of her hand upon his shoulder. Alex becomes silent. For minutes
they stand in silence as he catches his breath and calms the beating of his
heart. The wind rises to a slight breeze. After a few calm moments, the girl
removes her hand from Alex’s mouth.
“You’re not going to
scream any more, right?” she asks calmly. Alex remains silent. “Okay…I suppose
silence means ‘yes.’” At a calm pace, she steps around to his front, facing him.
With the subtle aide of the ambient light of the environment, Alex scans her
body from head to toe.
He’s slightly surprised by the odd familiarity of her
appearance. She’s slightly shorter than him, around five-foot-ten. Her hair’s
set ablaze by a darkened scarlet fury that shines slightly under the light of the
overhead moon. Each strand hangs slightly below her shoulders in a neat fashion
befitting a girl her age. A solemn expression shows upon her face, but the
seriousness exists with underlying tones of a less serious person. Her skin,
pure white in color, only enhances her dark attire.
The entirety of her wardrobe consists of the darkest shade
of black. A strapless, laced corset covers her abdomen and leaves very little
of her feminine physique to the imagination. The revealing top follows the
curves of her body and ends just above her belly button—which Alex can see
clearly. At her waist hangs a black sheath carrying a large knife that clings
to her right thigh with the aid of a thin, leather belt tied tightly around her
hips. A dark skirt flows downward from her waist and ends well above her knees.
Then, at the base of her knees, begins tall, black boots bearing a white star
as an emblem.
How the hell can she wear only that in the winter? Alex smirks lightly.
“Excuse me.” She catches Alex staring. “Dude, look at my
face, not my damn chest!”
“What? Wait…no, I wasn’t! I swear,” he lies in surprise.
“Uh-huh…sure…” she rolls her eyes.
“I wasn’t! I wouldn’t! I have a girlfriend!”
“They all say that, and, yet, I catch them all staring.” She
points at her chest, and Alex blushes, flustered by her constant, playful
accusations.
He speaks quickly, “Do you mind telling me who the hell you
are?” A surprising sense of anger and confusion creeps into his voice. “I mean,
I thought I was an idiot for being out here to meet my girlfriend, but what
would a girl like you be doing out here so late. I mean—”
“So
you really are the guy I’m looking
for…” she mumbles under her breath, cutting him off casually.
“What?”
“Nothing…err,
there was this girl I met, back in the woods. She was kinda bleeding and dying,
blah blah blah…” Her hands sarcastically follow her words. Alex stares at her
confusedly, unsure of how he should react. “…Anyways,” she rolls her eyes, “she
started talking to me about her boyfriend like I actually cared or something.
‘Please go to my boyfriend,’ she said.” She mocks an annoying, high-pitched
voice. “He’s like somewhere in this weird place waiting for me. I’m like kinda
worried about him.’ So I say to her, ‘Ummm…Why the hell are you worried about
him when you’re coughing up blood and lying in your own shit?’ She got kinda
quiet for a little bit. I was about to go, but, unfortunately, she continued,
‘Just, can you make sure to tell him I won’t make it. His name’s Alex, he
shouldn’t really be all that hard to…’ After that, she spat up a little blood,
which almost got on me, and stopped breathing.” Alex becomes filled with
uncertainty. “You know how expensive my fuckin’ corset is? She almost ruined it
with her gross-ass blood, can you believe that? If only—”
“You’re
lying. You have to be…” He tries hard to remain calm and pretends to shrug off
what she’s said as if it were a casual lie he’d expected. An unexpected, deeper
sense of anger seems to creep into his mind without previous thought.
“Hm?”
“You’re lying…about everything.
There’s no way what you’re talking about could’ve happened. It’s not possible.”
How do I know she’s wrong? “You can’t be telling the truth.” The girl
frowns at him angrily.
“So,
you think I’m a liar, huh?” She scowls, driving her hand forward and gaining a
death grip on his shirt. “Well, then let me show you just how deep my lies are
currently running!” Violently, she pulls him into the trees.
2
After several minutes of rushed and angry movement, Alex and
his strange acquaintance stand atop a bed of rotting leaves. Both stare at the
red mass of flesh which once lived as a teenage girl. Darkness fills every direction,
but Alex’s eyes can’t be fooled. Lacerations encase her naked body, from the
top of her breasts to the bottom of her abdomen in the gruesome form of a
scarlet heart. Her body shimmers as the light from the full moon reflects
carelessly off of her blood.
Alex stands over the body, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. In a
heated battle, his eyes argue with his mind over the scene before him. This
can’t be true. It can’t be her… She may look like her…but it can’t be her. That
girl couldn’t’ve been telling the truth…This couldn’t be happening…It’s all a lie!
It has to be a lie… Gradually Alex lowers himself to his knees
beside the dead girl. While staring at her, his body trembles from fear that
slowly becomes reality. Black hair, matted with blood, covers the girl’s face,
acting as the only form of censorship towards the ultimate truth. What will
I do if…? What can I do…? Reaching out with his trembling right
hand, he moves his digits towards the girl’s hairy mask. Simultaneously they
touch the cold, blood-matted mess.
Grudgingly, Alex pulls back the hair. A pale face reveals
itself, marked only by two small scratches on the right cheek—the only sense of
color present in her seventeen year-old face. “Holy shit…” The words fly from
his mouth as his mind begins to process the body of his dead girlfriend lying
in the shimmering, scarlet pond before him.
3
Tears
mix with blood, as Alex weeps over his dead love. The mysterious girl who’d dragged
him to the bloody site stands behind him with an impatient look of annoyance
upon her face. At the sight of him crying, she rolls her eyes. “Oh c’mon!” she
exclaims. “This isn’t the end of the world. Stop crying you stupid—”
“Shut the fuck up!”
Standing up, he retaliates while hysteria saturates his voice. “She may have
not meant a single, fucking thing to you, but she was my life. Now she’s
dead…No, not just dead. She was slashed to fucking pieces! You wanna
tell me why the hell I should stop crying?!” His voice cracks upon his final
words, as if to signify total loss of control over himself. Teardrops fall
rapidly from his eyes.
“Oh please! Stop you’re fucking crying, it makes you look
like a pussy,” she smirks, averting her eyes. Alex’s right fist connects with
her jaw, causing her teeth to sink partially into her tongue and a small stream
of blood to escape from her mouth. The force of the strike drives her body
backwards into the ground. The harsh sound of crunching leaves and smashed
forest debris echo into the trees. A sadistic smile forms on his face as he
moves forward quickly. Before the girl can push herself off the ground, his
hand tightly grasps the laces of her corset and yanks her upwards to eye-level.
He
speaks quickly, overwhelmed by anger, “Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!”
The volume of Alex’s voice rises to a violent yell. “I’ve had enough of all
your pessimistic bullshit!” She stares back at him—pain held blatantly in her
eyes and vicious rage held within his. “Now, I want some goddamn answers. I want
the truth!” His fist clenches tighter upon the laces, causing the corset to
tighten against the girl’s chest. “Tell me right now, who the hell are you, and
why the hell do you feel the need to be such a bitch!?”
She
remains silent, with a look of dismay upon her face.
“Answer me goddamnit!” He
shakes her violently to emphasize his words, causing her head to jolt back and
forth.
“I…”
her voice came out in a whisper, “…can’t…” He stops shaking her, bringing her
closer to his face.
“You ‘can’t’ what?”
“…breathe…” her words force Alex to
realize the tightness of his grip. He releases her corset, quickly moving both
of his hands to her shoulders. His grip returns.
“You
should have no trouble breathing now, should you?” he squeezes her shoulders
tighter, forcing her to wince with pain as she attempts to regain a normal
breathing pattern. “Now, let’s try this again. Who the hell are you and what
are you doing out here at,” with a quick glance, his eyes fall upon his watch’s
glowing numerals, then back upon the slightly frightened girl, “midnight?”
A
crooked smile has formed on Alex’s face, emphasizing the sheer madness in his
eyes as they look upon her. He can see the fear avidly pushing its way into her
mind.
“My
name…” her voice is breathless, yet strangely calm, “…is Audrey, and…” A
rustling noise rises in a crescendo not far behind her.
“‘And’
what?” The noise grows louder, forcing Alex to look towards the source of the
sound. His sight connects with bloodshot eyes staring out from between the
trees.
“…and
I think we should run.”
~Chris
1 comment:
This story sounds like the shit....
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