WWC: The Traveler teaser

[Smashboy]

Unedited/unrevised first draft teaser for my book, The Traveler. Hope you guys enjoy it, I enjoy writing it!


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"Hurry up, Clyde!" shouted a short brunette, tripping over her own heels as they clacked along the littered pavement. "We're going to miss it!"

"Relax," I assured her as Clyde handed me a small stack of blue and green bills. "He's right behind you."

Clyde smirked, letting out a breathy chuckle watching Jalina fume. He flipped back his straggly black hair, revealing several piercings along his right ear and down his jaw. After I handed him the small golden box I retrieved from my jeans pocket, he opened it hurriedly, retrieving a long brown stick of rolled paper.

"Awesome," he laughed, pressing one end to his lips. I brought a long blue lighter to his face and helped him light it as he cupped his hands over the flame. He drew deeply, then let the smoke waft up his face and along with the high breeze of the night.

"Don't forget your flyer," Jalina said, pointing to the ground.

I looked down, noticing the bunched up piece of maroon paper that was supposed to be in my pocket. "Damn, thanks."

"They're having some kind of surprise, right?" Clyde asked, taking another drag.

"Yeah," I answered, unfolding it for a moment to look over the flyer. "Leave your parents at home, come see the show!" it said in bold print, as well as the names of several hot bands down the margins. At the bottom, it mentioned a secret prize for the lucky random drawing winner, with the code "RGD17" in a small black box just below.

"Can you puff black later, please?" squealed Jalina, her face riddled with impatience. "It starts in fifteen minutes!"

"Will you shut up? It's just up the road."

Clyde pointed up the bar strip, beyond the many dives lining the empty street and toward the massive park at the city's apex. The outdoor amphitheatre had been set up for days, but it was finally brimming with activity, with literally tens of thousands of people milling about, smoking black and enjoying the live music. Blinding spotlights of various color cast up the half-circle stage from the front row, making it easy to see the seven-man band and all their pyrotechnics in its fullest amazement.

"We're missin' all the hard stuff, though!" she whined, straightening out her short brown miniskirt.

"Why don't we just go?" I said, folding the flyer back up and placing it back into my jean pocket.

"Fine," Clyde huffed, turning toward the park, shoving Jalina as he strode past her.

"God, you catcher!" she screamed, fighting to retain her balance.

"Your friend, Carrem, thinks I pitch pretty good."

She bolted to catch up, pushing him wildly with both hands. "Grow up!"

I grabbed a hold of Jalina before she fell over, and she struggled with me, flailing her arms and hands about the air. Clyde just walked on, laughing and sucking on his cigar.

"Let it go," I admonished, hoping Jalina would cool off.

She finally tore herself loose from me, then fidgeted with her white and black blouse. Realigning the white purse strap over her shoulder, she added, "I don't know why I put up with him."

"Probably because you have to," I reminded her.

"You know, I'm almost fifteen! I shouldn't have to."

"What's age have to do with it?" I said, smiling. "I'm thirteen!"

"Yeah, well, you don't have a crappy family, either."

I sighed as she walked away. "At least you have a family," I muttered under my breath.

We caught up to Clyde at the corner of Frye Lane and Bender Avenue, just a short distance from the brightly-lit park entrance. Vehicles of various shape and design lined the many lots and curbs along the way, all the way up to the front gate. Usually, there were guards or ticketmasters standing watch, but for some reason, this event was free to the entire city. Though everyone knew what musicians would be playing, no one seemed to know the purpose of the concert. We didn't care; loud music and great riffs were my thing, and Jalina enjoyed drinking with her friends.

As we made our way through the gate, Jalina grabbed my shoulder. "Look!" she screamed, pointing at the sky. I looked up, but could barely make anything out through the overwhelming glare. I put my hands over my eyes, and I could barely make out three quick streaks of light blazing through the twilight sky.

"That's pretty cool," I said. "But I thought there was a comet, not a meteor shower?"

"Who cares!" she giggled excitedly as Clyde strode off into the crowd. "My dumb brother's gone and we can party in peace."

Jalina and I made our way toward the crowd as loud cheering and whooping emitted from it. "Thank you!" rang through the many speakers hanging around the open courtyard as the band bowed out, and a single figure stepped out onto the stage. A tall, slender woman with flowing silver hair and a white-and-beige uniform took the center stage microphone in hand and paced with her free hand held palm-out, informing the crowd to quiet down so she could speak.

"I would like to thank Blended for coming out tonight and putting on a great show."

Loud whistling and screaming ensued for a few moments, at which time, she continued.

"And I'd also like to thank all of you for coming out to enjoy the passing comet with us."

Jalina joined the audience in yelling and raising her fist to the sky, then proceeded to wrap her arms around me from my right side.

"I hope that you have a great time. I know that most of you kids came out here against your parents' best wishes, but tonight is your night!"

Jalina took the flyer out from a small white organizer she kept in her purse, then unfolded it. "I think they're about to have the drawing!"

"Hold tight for just a few more minutes, and the show will begin. We have one more live performance coming to you, but first, we will be selecting one among you to join us backstage for a front row seat to the events."

Jalina bounced up and down with excitement. "Here it comes!"

The woman's assistants rolled out five small machines, sporting large plastic spheres with a number of white balls in them. She pressed a small button, and the balls began bouncing around madly, until each machine spat one out through a long tube.

"Get out your flyers," she advised as flickers of light continued to burst in the sky. "Here are the winning digits."

Pausing momentarily between each machine, she took out each ball and rolled it between her fingers until she could read the print. "R" came the first letter, followed by "G". I swallowed hard, taking out my flyer upon hearing "D" and "1" trailing after. I looked on, amazed, as she read the final number.

"And seven!" she shouted, holding the ball over her head. "Where is our winner?"

A single white spotlight played over the crowd, but no one responded, including me. I froze for a moment, until Jalina ripped the flyer from my hand and waved it in the air. "Here! Here!" she screamed, hopping up and down holding the purple paper aloft. As the spotlight came over us, she got behind me and forced me toward the stage. Once I arrived, the announcer's assistants helped me onto the stage, and the crowd burst into cheering.

"Congratulations, son!" the woman said, shaking my hand. "What's your name?"

She held the microphone out to my lips, but the best I could muster was a barely audible "um".

"Let's hear it for Um!" she cried out, clapping her hands.

Jalina tried climbing up onto the stage, but the men atop refused her passage.

"She's my girlfriend," I said, trying to assist her, but they pulled me away, dragging me toward the back of the stage.

I cast my eyes onto the crowd, lights dancing atop the thousands of heads therein, fists held tightly overhead. A sinking feeling burrowed into my stomach as my eyes met with the sparkling browns of Jalina's, blowing a kiss to me as I was carted away.

Four large men in long black trenchcoats and large-brimmed fedoras grappled my arms and forced me into some kind of jet behind the amphitheatre, belting me into the plush seating at the back. I struggled for a few moments, but to no avail; the straps were made of something so strong, it seemed they would crush me under their weight. Two small viewports could be seen, one at either side of the vehicle, but I couldn't make much out from them. I looked on into the darkness, the image of a young short-haired blond being reflected back at me.

A fair brown-skinned man matching my height sat directly across from me, strapping himself in. Hypnotic black eyes pierced through my soul as he stared at me, grinding his large square jaws while assessing me. He breathed deeply through his nose, his nostrils growing wide with the force of his inhales. He opened his mouth, and let out a moderate snarl with his first words.

"What's your name, sapien?"

"Wh-why do you want to know? Who the hell are you?"

Though unmoving due to the securely fastened straps over my shoulders and chest, I could feel motion as the craft began ascending. I looked out through the viewport to see the city, then the state, then the entire planet, shrink away into the distance.

"I know this may be hard to accept," he growled as a gargantuan metal machine came into view, entirely round except for several prongs at its base. "Your world is on the brink of ultimate ruin."

"That's the comet?" I gasped, my eyes growing wide.

"We wanted your people to believe it was."

"What's happening?" I questioned, my voice growing louder as fear boiled below the surface. "What ruin?"

"You know of what I speak. You know all those little countries that starve and suffer every single day, while the people of countries like yours get fat on its wealth, letting the rest of the world rot."

"What?" I demanded as I watched the machine's spires open, thick bolts of electricity encircling them. "No, that's not true!"

"Yes, it is, kid. Your governments destroy those smaller than themselves, and you are in the middle of several senseless wars that are about to blow up into a major world war that will change the face of history for your people."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Because," he said as a thick white beam screamed out from the machine, cutting straight through the surface of my home, tearing large chunks of earth away. "That's what we do."

I was mortified looking on, several other machines becoming visible as the planet's surface dwindled into nothingness through the destructive beams. My heartbeat grew unstable, and was about to pass out when a cold sting entered my right arm. I glanced down to see a long needle pushing a strange violet substance into my body, and before I knew it, I was covered from head to toe with a scary flush.

"You'll be alright, now, kid," the creepy little man said, withdrawing the needle from my arm. "You're one of us."

"Us?" I gulped, tears streaming down my face, darting my eyes out the viewport to see nothing but a ball of flame and swirling fragments of earth where once my world was. "Who are you?"

"We're the Collective," he said. Even though he was smiling, his warmth gave me chills.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're an immortal space traveler, like the rest of us."

It was just too much for me to process. I tried to say something, but instead, my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and consciousness abandoned me.

[flozz]

wow that look good have you written the whole book if so how long is it

what does wwc mean i think c is collective
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[flozz]

wow that look good have you written the whole book if so how long is it

what does wwc mean i think c is collective
_________________

[flozz]

wow that look good have you written the whole book if so how long is it

what does wwc mean i think c is collective
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[Smashboy]

[flozz]

awesome sound like a good book even by it name i like any Chronicles lol
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[flozz]

awesome sound like a good book even by it name i like any Chronicles lol
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[flozz]

awesome sound like a good book even by it name i like any Chronicles lol
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