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This is a "book" I've been working on over the past few weeks. Enjoy.

Chpt. 1
THE BETTLETON CASE

The stars twinkled brightly and seemed to hang low that night while a thick blanket of drowsy fog settled over the town of Bettleton. The fog was cut through with harsh orange fluorescence from the street lights, but they shed the only light throughout the city. Everyone was sound asleep.

Just a couple of miles south in a desolate prairie a large building stood. It was constructed of dull gray concrete and no windows interrupted its thick outer shell. Behind the building were over twenty vast satellite dishes surrounded by a menacing barbed wire fence. The immense bowls of the dishes swiveled in unison, their lunar surfaces refracting the moonlight that was so tangible that night.

The building’s interior was lit dimly by unsteady flickering fluorescent lights, and in a squeaky office chair sat a disgruntled Amy Cherin. Her tired blue eyes stared at a black-green computer monitor that hadn’t altered in over an hour. Loose strands of her hair hung over her face, and her breathing was low and exhausted. She was praying silently for the screen to change, for the satellites to receive a coded signal from beyond the atmosphere.

Glancing at the digital clock by her elbow, she saw that the time read 1:17 a.m. “Thirteen more minutes of this monotonous madness,” she thought.

The remaining minutes passed quickly, and soon Amy found herself eagerly scooping up her jacket that was draped on the back of the chair. Heading for the door, she threw the jacket on when she heard a series of short beeps. She ran over to the monitor enthusiastically to find that the green cursor was blinking and twitching erratically. Soon, jagged characters blipped onto the screen.

“In all of these years-,” Amy whispered, as more palpable letters made themselves visible. When the phrase was completed she read it aloud:

Our planet has been decimated. We are coming for yours.

Amy’s grin shattered as her jaw dropped in horror and confusion.

In an attempt to push the pair of sentences out of her mind, she flipped of the monitor and walked to the door quickly, pulling her jacket tighter around her due to an irrational chill that had crashed over her. The satellites continued to twist as she locked the door behind her.

Her black SUV sat on the side of the unkempt dirt path, and she
climbed inside, placing her hands over her distraught face. “That was not
the message I wanted,” she said to herself, jamming the keys into the ignition.

She shook her head as she tried to place it into the recesses of her mind. Mustering alertness with a sharp, deep breath, she drove off to the town of Bettleton where she knew a warm bed waited in her cozy apartment.


In the distance, Amy could see the electric glow that she associated with Bettleton. As she drove further into the town she noticed a small sphere of swirling light up ahead. At first she thought it was the glare from her filthy glasses, so she opened the glove compartment and grabbed the lens cleaner and a soft cloth. But when she was about to pull off her glasses she found that the ball was gone. There was something in its place though.

She couldn’t see the road beyond the point where the sphere used to be. She noticed that the town around her was becoming more twisted, more distorted. Soon, she felt every individual cell in her body being stretched toward the darkness.

“There’s nothing ahead but blackness!” she cried, as her eyes grew wider and the horror grew to a boiling point in her stomach.

Limbs of the maple trees that lined the street snapped and disappeared into the rift. A streetlight shattered and what looked like light particles ribboned into the gaping hole in reality along with razor shards of glass. Amy lifted her foot from the gas pedal but the car skidded forward without the engine. The windshield stretched like elastic until it gave way. Amy tightened the seatbelt but she new it was useless. All too soon the car lurched into the void, and Amy screamed, but not a sound came out. She whipped her head around to catch a glimpse of the last bit of reality, but it zipped shut, and she was gone, completely and utterly gone.



Somewhere in space, an ominous craft floated among the stars. It was completely silver with a handful of windows scattered across it gleaming surface. Inside, on one of the many floors of the spacecraft, sat a curious creature. It was identical to a human except for razor sharp teeth and different colored eyes, one a deep, bloody scarlet and the other a neon blue. Comparable to an apple with a worm inside: the same as any other apple, but upon closer inspection, vulgar and disgusting. In his pale hand was a microphone which he flipped on.

Raising the microphone up to his mouth he spoke into it, “One down, over six billion to go..."

Dang dude. The first couple of sentences I read, it was just- WOW! This is the kind of story the portal has been looking for!

Keep up the good work!
Master 1.0

Thanks!! I'm still perfecting Chpt. 2....ugh

2
AN UNSEEN INTRUDER

Charlie sat in his pale desk, waiting for Mrs. Wells to stroll in. His green eyes, flecked with gray, wandered toward a pencil sitting on the carpet, and he picked it up, fidgeting with it between his index and middle fingers.

Charlie, an “A” student with bright orange hair that contrasted with his eyes, was one of the most miniscule characters in Harley Middle School, in both height and popularity. He, however, did not mind the taunting from others, or what those particular individuals thought of him. He was always the first to arrive in homeroom, his first class where he got his thoughts together and occasionally drew on the board. Charlie thoroughly enjoyed art, how his thoughts, personality, ideas, and feelings could be so easily portrayed on something inanimate.

Today was one of those occasional days. He pushed the chair out from behind him and walked to the chalkboard while the ideas coursed through his mind. He picked up a fairly substantial piece of chalk and pondered. Then, the thoughts shot through his veins into his hand, and he began to sketch. A gargantuan spacecraft erupted from the piece of chalk and in Charlie’s mind it was a shining silver with a few portholes on its surface. He drew stars, many, many stars, and not the kind you used to draw in kindergarten that had five points and criss-crossed lines. No these were realistic.

Then he drew Earth on the far side of the board which signified the light years of distance between the two. Earth he drew with perfection, equally emphasizing its oceans, continents, mountains, and seas. Then he paused.

His mind continued to race as he thought, “Where did this craft come from?” Then, uncannily and without hesitation, an idea flashed to brilliant life in his mind, and he began to draw again. From the diminishing stick of chalk came a giant planet with vast landmasses and even larger oceans! It looked habitable and in Charlie’s busy head it was utterly gigantic. It took up so much space that Charlie had to use the second board in Mrs. Well’s room. But something wasn’t right.
Charlie drew a sloppy X over the planet just when the bell rang. He quickly grabbed the eraser and extinguished his beloved brainchild. It was always hard for Charlie to just get rid of his art. He had never gotten so enveloped in the ecstasy of drawing before.

He took his place in his desk in the middle of the room before the students began to pour in. They gave him suspicious glances, wondering what occupies him in the mornings when he’s isolated in homeroom. But of course, they could care less when their friends arrived.



The school day passed by in a sleep-deprived haze as it usually did on Mondays. And soon Charlie found himself stuffing his backpack to full capacity and strolling out into the warm summer sun that shrouded the lush grass in a shimmering blanket. He squinted in the sunlight and strolled down the sidewalk, heading for his home buried deep in the town of Harley.

Harley was one of those common towns where businesses and homes were abundant near the center but more scattered in the outskirts. Charlie lived in the core of this peaceful little town. In fact, hardly any crime occurred in Harley – regarding the misdemeanors such as playful vandalism and traceable theft. Everybody knew everyone and usually there was not a frown in town. If there was such a thing as a utopia, Harley would come the closest.

Charlie soon reached the welcome mat and knocked sternly on the oak door. After a minute of waiting, he ran to the garage door which was locked and secure. Peering in through the thin windows on the door, he looked for a vehicle. Nothing.
Then he remembered what his father had told him the day before. His father and mother were going to Aunt Amy’s funeral today. Charlie was not so familiar with his young aunt. She was the irritable 20 year-old who seemed to be sleep-walking most of the time who didn’t have time to give him a real gift on his birthday; usually he received a last-minute 10 dollar bill slipped into a last-minute one dollar card. But yet he felt grief about her disappearance because she left without a trace.
Charlie recalled his father yelling the day before about how the police could’ve searched harder to find his beloved sister. All they found was a broken streetlight on a strip of the main road in Bettleton.

Charlie ran to the back of the house and found that the back door was unlocked so he opened it and ran inside. Traversing through the kitchen, he tossed his backpack on the linoleum and walked into the living room. He immediately flopped onto the sofa and began his after school routine.

After finding the remote, Charlie flipped on the television and scrolled through the channels for a while. Nothing too interesting was playing on his favorite stations so he shut it of and scooted to the kitchen for a snack. Following some copious searching, he uncovered a red delicious and nabbed it from the refrigerator. The shatter of glass came from the living room just as he took the first bite of his apple and an instinctive shock ran down Charlie’s spine. Quickly and with unsteady hands, he opened the back door and ran from the house a substantial distance.

He slinked into the house after a few minutes, shivering with the aftereffects of a panic attack, to find the living room bare. With a muffled thump, Charlie’s apple hit the floor where the sofa used to be.

The first oblivious idea that groped his mind was the common question: “What am I going to tell my parents? ‘I went to get a snack, and 5 minutes later, everything in the living room disappeared.’ No, I highly doubt that they’ll believe any excuse I can come up with.”

He paced the empty room, but soon he just accepted his abominable fate. He went in his room to vent out his emotions. Through his eyes, he never got what he wanted, and every time he came close, his hopes were snapped by an outside force. Charlie didn’t stay in his room long, however, for he was never one to show emotion.

Charlie walked to the window and looked up at the clouds, wispy and thin in front of a background as clear as the ocean. It hit him so suddenly, causing him to drop his jaw and grasp his head, as he thought it might burst. The images from earlier in the day flickered through his secular mind. This time, they were much more vivid and focused, as if he was seeing through someone’s eyes. There was no chalk, no paper, no pens, nor markers now, though. Something had kept Charlie’s feet glued to the area of carpet.

Charlie’s pupils dilated to an immense size. He saw the planet, the ships, and now he saw a new creature, one that looked dubiously similar to the ones that inhabit his planet. Through an alien’s eyes he watched it, as clear as one of his own memories…

This is a shorter chapter than the others...

3
BURNING MEMORIES & SUB-SPACE

It’s as if it was just yesterday that our planet was destroyed in a twist of the most unlucky fate. It’s been over 4 years now…since we’ve began sailing in this unforgiving blackness. I was merely a child of 10 when we were forced off of our planet by the government. Two nights before the evacuation, an alarm sounded around the world.

With a harsh voice, I remember the emperor’s feeble words, “It’s coming. What we have worried about for so long is about to happen. The dying star in the Quardin Stratic solar system is about to implode. The gamma rays released have been predicted to protrude straight into Garinmon. Evacuation starts tomorrow.”

My family packed up our belongings and loaded them onto one of the smaller ships. My older sister, Fewins, was in tears from the time of the announcement till the time she finally drowned herself in the nearby lake. There was no time for mourning, although we all cried for hours on the ship. My baby brother, as clueless as babies are, just stared at whoever held him.

When the ships took off, people crowded around the thick windows to catch a last glimpse of their homeland. And all of us saw the planet be incinerated in a flash of light. I cried the entire night in my bunk…I missed the oceans and the cities, the meadows and the rivers.

I awoke to screaming the next morning, the source of it being my mother.

“We left Seraph on Garinmon!” she exclaimed. The thought of my brother being burned to death almost ruined me. I haven’t talked for days. I don’t feel alive, in fact…I’m jealous of my siblings. Why hadn’t I just ended it the day before? Why hadn’t I just left myself on Garinmon?

The captain of the mothership proclaims that he has spotted a planet with very similar living conditions named “Earth”. The people there look almost exactly like us…although their technology is extremely underdeveloped. The void cannons have been tested and proven a reliable resource for the extermination. I hate that we must do this to the inhabitants. I still do not understand why we could not just live in harmony with them…

The days drag on and I’m all alone here. Mother has been admitted to the psychiatric ward because since the death of Seraph, she has thrown tumultuous fits. The only thing I have left to hold onto are memories. Harsh, burning memories…




She knew nothing of where she was. She was unconscious, but able to think aloud it seemed. The feeling of weightlessness was extremely present.

“Where is this?” Amy thought. “It’s not heaven…that’s for sure. It’s completely dark except for those two pinpoints of light." She was referring to the two wormholes at the end this dark tunnel. Each lead to a separate dimension.

Was she alive? No, at least not in Dimension Three. Where was she? She was in Sub-Space, the place between places. Specifically, the place between the 4th and 5th dimensions.

Suddenly, Amy heard a suction-like noise coming from her right. “What was that?” she thought. What entered through the void was a sofa, a broken TV, and other household items that the darkness prevented her from seeing. She didn’t really care, though. The zero-gravity felt oddly serene, but she was extremely lonely. Little did she know how crowded Sub-Space would become.

:O Amazing.


My Ratings:

Chapter 1: 9/10....It's really good, just 1 typo and the rest is pretty good. I just don't seem to find it super infinitely amazing.
Chapter 2: 9.999999/10.... Woah. Great ending, and great everything else. Maybe a tiny, puny bit short.
Chapter 3: 8.5/10....Coolness. I like it, but for some reason short chapters seem kind of annoying to me... But, everything else is excellent.
Overall (So far): 9.3/10, I guess.....I likes it.

I read the first chapter so far, and I want to say to anyone passing by-

At first glance this seems like it'd be a poor story from a new member, considering the reputation newer members have with stories. I urge everyone to read through this, this is insanely well done. Great writing, chilling plot and just... awesome.

All I can say is-
Damn.
Again, amazing story. I love it. You deserve a Runouw Vote for this story.

P.S. I would have to rate a 9 for chapter 1, a 12/10 for chapter 2, and a 9.5 for chapter 3.
Keep up the good work!

Master who's his name.

Great story jello u is awesome! I give chapter 1. 9.5 chapter 2 10 chapter 3 8.5 Keep going

I stand in the presence of the master. D: