Black Earth: Dark Masquerade Is Off To My Editor!

Yes, I finished Black Earth: Dark Masquerade and sent it off to my editor yesterday. This is the first major manuscript goal I have achieved without having to extend my deadlines, and I'm quite proud of it. Now I have two months to finish Book 4 in the series - which I changed the title to. Instead of Bridge to Eternity, it was suggested by my lovely wife that the title be changed to Bridge to Anaisha, which actually makes more sense in regards to the story and the series as a whole, seeing how the book connects the Black Earth series to my Expired Reality series, which takes place mostly on Anaisha.

So, while Dark Masquerade is in the hands of my very capable, very talented editor, I've decided to compile a handy guide to what you can get your hands on in anticipation of the novel coming out this summer.

First, here's links to the draft excerpts I posted, all from Dark Masquerade:
Excerpt #1: Hortus Tenebris - The Dark Garden
Excerpt #2: The President's Dark Advisor
Excerpt #3: The Westgate Plaza Mall
Excerpt #4: Pearl's Sorrow
Excerpt #5: The Black Cathedral

Second, here are links to the first two books in the series -
End of the Innocence 
The Broken Daisy

Both are available in paperback and ebook, and both are reasonably priced. It is highly recommended that you brush up on both of them before picking up a copy of Dark Masquerade in a few months. For your convenience, there is a Double Pack that I created - only in ebook format - that contains both books for one low price.

Third, The Broken Daisy was just reviewed by Reader's Den creator, Tiffany Cole. She gave the book 4/5 stars and wrote a stellar review. There is also a giveaway going on at Reader's Den where you can win a copy of the aforementioned Black Earth Double Pack. Check it out here.

Fourth, since this blog has been running for a while, most of you probably didn't know there is a short Black Earth Christmas story that I posted a couple years ago, Do Demons Wear Santa Hats? Here's a link to the post. It's a bit humorous compared to the novels themselves, but I decided it was a nice change.

Fifth, there were three pieces of Black Earth short fiction that I wrote a while ago. All three took place at the same time and were told from three different character's POV. The stories describe the car accident Nathan and Heather got in that changed the future of Earth and eventually, all humanity. I am polishing them up to have them edited and I plan to release them sometime in the near future, either separately or in a short collection. Stay tuned for details on that.

Sixth, I also wrote a collection of flash fiction pieces that all take place before the series and give a glimpse into the lives of some of the major characters of Black Earth. I hope to re-release those in the near future as well.

Essentially, I have a lot of fiction laying around that needs to be polished and released. Great stuff coming up! Have a great Friday everyone!

Black Earth: Dark Masquerade Draft Excerpt #5 - The Black Cathedral

Wednesday. Middle of the week. Hump day. Just means another draft excerpt from the novel I'm currently working on - Black Earth: Dark Masquerade.

With Legion's presence flooding the earth, Cynthia Ruin seeks refuge with Petrina, a woman she rescued from a cult group taking refuge on a boardwalk along California's coastline. And so begins this week's excerpt.


And if you want to catch up on the other excerpts I've posted over the last few weeks, here's a handy list -

Excerpt #1: Hortus Tenebris - The Dark Garden
Excerpt #2: The President's Dark Advisor
Excerpt #3: The Westgate Plaza Mall
Excerpt #4: Pearl's Sorrow

This week's excerpt is intended for mature readers. Enjoy!

Excerpt from Black Earth: Dark Masquerade -

Cynthia’s arrow wound felt worse than it really was. The arrow had managed to miss her ankle bone, but she had lost a lot of blood. So much blood in fact, she was surprised she was still alive.

Petrina had Cynthia’s foot wrapped in gauze and fastened with medical tape. Petrina bandaged her own head with a strip of gauze as well, and both women received a mild dose of painkiller that Petrina had in her medicine cabinet. Petrina explained to Cynthia she was a nurse. Cynthia found this fact to be fortuitous.

Petrina got Cynthia settled in the guest bedroom of her two story beach home. It was a mansion compared to other houses Cynthia had been in, and she felt quite intimidated to be in such a place. Especially considering the condition of the world at the current moment.

They were both eating sandwiches Petrina made them from what was left in her refrigerator - ham and cheese.

“Why were you hiding out near the boardwalk instead of here?” Cynthia asked the woman.

“My husband was shot by looters once the stars fell. They tried to break in here and rob us, but my husband…he was a brave man. He defended our home, defended me. He became mortally wounded because of it. I didn’t have what I needed to treat him here, so I brought him into the city to see if I could find a doctor willing to mend him. That’s when things really got out of hand.” Petrina turned and stared out the tall window at the other end of the kitchen, overlooking a swimming pool out back. “A group of…of looters, I guess…they found my husband and me. They tried to take me…either to rape me, or…I don’t know.” She took a cautious sip of the fresh coffee she had just gotten finished brewing and turned her gaze toward the marble countertop Cynthia was eating her sandwich at. “We managed to find a hiding spot in one of the buildings near the boardwalk. Near that horrible boardwalk. We waited in that building for days, sure the looters were still searching for us. I left to find food at different times. My husband slowly died in the process.”

Cynthia decided she wasn’t hungry enough to finish her sandwich. She set what was left on the counter and felt tiredness sweeping over her like a flood.

“He died. I was left alone to hide and survive. It was horrible the first day. It got worse after that. I was captured at one point. Nobody did anything to me. I managed to escape. Then those fanatics…those carnival freaks out there…they got their filthy hands on me and that’s when you found me.”

Cynthia found herself staring out the window at the lit up pool outside.

“I was told you’d save me. A child of ruin.”

“Who told you that?”

Petrina pointed to the ceiling.

“Please,” Cynthia scoffed.

“You’re not the religious type, are you?”

Cynthia shook her head emphatically. “Thanks for patching me up. I need to go.”

Petrina reached out and took hold of her arm, gently, as her mother used to when she was younger. “Please…please keep me company a while. I have nobody out here.”

“If you stop talking about your god like he’s real. Deal?”

Petrina grinned. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“I’m not. I’ve seen enough proof there is no god. Take a look around. Look at all the darkness. Look at the fallen vessels, the destroyed cities, the President has -“

“She doesn’t control this world. She thinks she does. She’s being controlled herself.”

Cynthia huffed. “Well, I don’t doubt that. But there’s no way you can explain to me how your god exists and yet he sits up there in Heaven and does nothing about all of this. He just leaves you here to rot? Is that the way the caring, loving god I’ve heard so much about would act if he were real? This world is literally falling apart and I haven’t seen your god lift a finger to help us out of this mess.”

“Child, there are so many more worlds out there to explore. Mr. Silver…he found Anaisha. I have a ticket, you know, to get off this world and ride in one of his shuttles to Anaisha. A new world, a new start. I can buy you a ticket too if you wish to come with me.”

“You’re ignoring my question, as most people who believe in your god do.”

“I’m not ignoring it. If there are other planets, other worlds to explore, then we have other places to go. This may just be the end of the line for Earth.”

“Since you continually ignore my question about how you know your god exists, I’ll take that as an answer in itself. You don’t know that he exists. You believe in empty things and your faith is in a deity you wish existed because he sounds really merciful and loving. But he’s not, because he doesn’t even exist.”

“My God exists, and the proof is the fact that I’m still alive. Before being struck with that brick, I had prayed to God and He told me you would save me. A woman of ruin.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“Your name is Cynthia Ruin, is it not?”

Cynthia stood up from her barstool. “Are you a witch or something?”

Petrina shook  her head. “No.”

“How did you know my name? How did those men know I was pregnant?”

“You’re pregnant?”

“I’m out of here.” Cynthia turned to leave, stomping through the living room, not entirely sure where she was going to go once she left the security of the house. The clan of freaks from the boardwalk could have followed them here and could be waiting outside to ambush her. Cynthia stopped in the middle of the room, frightened at the thought of running into them again. She barely escaped once…she was certain she wouldn’t be able to again.

Petrina came up behind her and sighed. “If you’re going to leave, at least let me pack you a few things. Some food, maybe a weapon you can use in case you run into them again. You have a baby to protect, you know? I can’t let you just walk out there without some sort of protection.” She left the room, walking up the stairs toward the second floor.

Cynthia realized it might not be such a bad idea to stay here for a while. At least a day or two, let the boardwalk freaks get over their hang ups. Then she could travel safely to the next city. Set up shop there, find another apartment.

She stood near a large glass armoire full of miniature ceramic figurines and glass sculptures. Something in the case caught her attention and pulled it away from everything else around it - a statuette of a black cathedral. She drew closer to the case and gazed longingly at the statuette, realizing she had seen it somewhere before. In a dream.

“That was my husband's,” Petrina said, appearing behind her as if she had never left the room. “He purchased it at a swap mart a few days before the stars fell.”

Cynthia wasn’t sure why she asked the question, but her mouth blurted out, “May I hold it?”

Petrina glared suspiciously at her for a moment or two, and then opened the case, pulling out the statuette. “Please be careful with it.”

“I will,” Cynthia said, taking the object from her. Chills ran through her arms.

“I don’t have any idea where it originally came from,” Petrina explained, keeping a close eye on Cynthia and the statuette. “I just remember my husband being mesmerized by it. He was like a little kid in a candy store when he first saw it. An old woman - she looked like a gypsy with her rags and the way she was old and frail - was selling them at a little kiosk at the swap mart. I don’t usually like strange things like this in my home, but he had his little heart set on it so I couldn’t say no.”

Cynthia examined the statue. One tall tower that resembled a black spire was flanked by three - no four - smaller towers. It was the same tower from her dream of Ryn. She turned the tower over to reveal an etching, something done in a line of symbols that Cynthia didn’t understand.

Petrina reached out to take the statuette back, and Cynthia started to give it to her, but then her heart screamed at her not to. Something was strange about it, something about the way the black material it was made of shimmered in the lighting of the living area.  Something about the way the cathedral had been carved, with intricate lines and patterns embedded within the walls of the construct. And was that a small, stained glass window above the carved doorway?

The cathedral is Ryn’s world. The one he offered me to live in with him.

She noticed Petrina was pulling on the statuette now. “Do you mind putting that back now? It means a lot to me.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Excuse me?” Petrina grabbed hold of the statue and attempted to wrestle it from Cynthia’s grip, but
Cynthia wasn’t ready to give it up. Not yet. Not ever. She pushed Petrina and the older woman fell to the couch.

“This is mine now. I’m taking it with me.”

“With you?” Petrina got to her feet. “You’re stealing me from? Stealing the item my dead husband cherished so much?”

Cynthia’s eyes were glued onto the statue, studying every line, every detail. She closed her eyes and felt a strange bond with the statue, a synergy. It was as if the statue called to her, as if it was a living breathing entity. As if it were Ryn.

“Give it back!” Petrina shouted, grabbing Cynthia’s arm. Cynthia struggled with the woman, but Petrina made a wild swing, hitting Cynthia in the mouth. She stumbled back and her head went through the glass of the armoire. Her back arched, she stayed still and silent, feeling the sharp broken shards of glass cutting through her neck.

Petrina went to help Cynthia, but Cynthia swung the statuette at her, warning her to keep away, even though she could feel the warm blood streaming out of her wounds. She kicked Petrina in the stomach, sending her to the couch again.

“I can help you!” Petrina screamed.

Cynthia’s body hung from the door of the armoire, her neck bleeding out across the furniture and the carpet. She cradled the statue as she would a baby…her baby…her precious little one whom she loved more than anyone - anything. She rubbed the statue and droplets of her blood stained the shimmering surface.

Petrina was shouting at the top of her lungs, scrambling to get off the couch. Her words came to Cynthia in fragments, and Cynthia kept kicking at her, cursing her, warning her to stay away from her cathedral. In a deep part of her mind and soul, Cynthia knew she was dying, bleeding out here in the living room of the woman she had rescued from the clutches of evil. Was there really anything special about this statue, about this inanimate object? It was a carving, of a cathedral. That was all. Nothing special. Nothing but the shimmering surface, the attention to detail in the stained glass window which depicted three colorful spheres. Nothing special.

Cynthia’s body finally fell to the floor. She took the statue with her and then cradled it as she felt her neck become lighter and the moisture in the carpet grow under her head. Petrina was at her side now, pressing towels to Cynthia’s neck, attempting to save the girl’s life.

But it was too late.

Her heart slowed and she found she couldn’t hold her eyes open any longer. It was the end. The end of the dark road to redemption. She had done her part, saving Petrina. But was it only to steal from her, to take the one token she had left of her deceased companion? Them’s the breaks, Cynthia thought. Them’s the breaks.

Will you come to me now? Will you be my dark princess?

She smiled. Yes, she answered the voice in her spirit. Yes, I’ll come to you now. I’m sorry I ran, I’m sorry I resisted.

She felt a tender embrace tug at every inch of her skin.

Come to me. I’ve been waiting for you.

Cynthia Scarlet Ruin felt darkness wrap around her. An energy or a pulse of some sort beat within the statue, within the dark cathedral, and she knew somehow that it was taking her life. Taking the breath from her lungs, the beat from her heart, the life from her bones. It was turning her into a shell, into a casing, empty and lifeless.

But the insides of that shell were going to someplace so much greater than this dark world.

Petrina’s voice could no longer be heard. Nothing could be heard but silence. Long silence.

Copyright © 2012 David N. Alderman 

Black Earth: Dark Masquerade Draft Excerpt #4 - Pearl's Sorrow

It's Wednesday, which means another excerpt from my draft of Black Earth: Dark Masquerade, the third installment in my edgy Christian speculative fiction series, Black Earth.

This scene finds Nathan Pierce, Macayle Harper, and Pear in a medical clinic somewhere in California. Macayle makes it clear he is distrustful of the vagabond they picked up - Ed, and Pearl has a heart wrenching interaction with Nathan.

And if you want to catch up on the other excerpts I've posted over the last few weeks, here's a handy list -

Excerpt #1: Hortus Tenebris - The Dark Garden
Excerpt #2: The President's Dark Advisor
Excerpt #3: The Westgate Plaza Mall


Excerpt from Black Earth: Dark Masquerade -

Macayle stood up. “Let’s grab Pearl and go, kid.”

“What?” Nathan asked.

“I’m not sticking around to see how this all ends.”

“What are you talking about? She said in a half hour a flare is going to go up and we can just follow it to the man who knows where my sister is.”

“Okay. You, me, and Pearl will look for that flare a half hour from now. Right now, we need to get as far away from here as possible. My gut tells me Ed is trouble.”

“We can’t just leave him and Ginger alone. Not with the demon horde scouring the city.”

Macayle turned and pointed at Nathan. “I told you we could get him somewhere where he could get medical attention. That’s this place. He’s all healed up and ready to explore the darkening world…without us.”

Nathan sighed. Macayle had a point about the boy arousing their suspicions. Something about Ed didn’t feel right, but Nathan couldn’t pinpoint what. “Fine. I’ll go get Pearl.”

Macayle nodded. “We’ll tell Ginger she can join us if she wants.”

“Leave Ed here to fend for himself?”

“Everyone is fending for themselves, Nathan. Everyone. He’s no different.”

Nathan made his way to the back room where Pearl was resting and was surprised to find her awake in the dark room, staring out one of the open windows into the residential neighborhood across the street.

“Hey,” he whispered.

She didn’t answer beyond a sigh.

Nathan took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She flinched ever so slightly, causing him to retract his embrace. “Sorry.”

“I’m not upset with you, Nathan. I’m upset with myself.”

“Why?”

“What happened back there? What happened at the mall? I was used, Nathan. Used.” She lifted the hem of her dress, revealing the black key mark on her thigh. “I’m a key, Nathan. That’s all I am. That’s all I was created for.”

“Pearl -“

“Where is Serenity and Katt? Where are the others who were in the mall with us? Where are we, and what did I unleash in from that portal?”

“I don’t know where Serenity and Katt are. I’m not sure they’re even alive. And I don’t know where we are beyond that we’re in a medical clinic. That portal your body unlocked…something…people came out of it. People in masks…”

Pearl broke out in tears.

Macayle entered the room, whispering a comment under his breath about it being so dark. “You guys ready?”

Pearl turned toward him. “Ready?”

“Macayle says we should leave. That man who claims he was run over can’t be trusted.”

Pearl sniffled and visibly fought to hold back more tears. “Macayle, can you give us a minute?”

He sighed, loud and obvious. “I’ll give you guys five minutes. After that, we need to leave.”

“Fine,” Nathan agreed. Macayle left and Nathan took hold of Pearl’s hand. Her skin was cold. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You know that I was created by Evanescence, that she’s my mother, right?”

“Yes, I know. But you’re nothing like her. You -“

“Stop. I’m not looking for reassurance.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“She claims she created me. Formed me in her womb, like I was some sort of pet project. I was. I was branded with this stupid mark,” Pearl scratched at the birthmark as if it was a lottery ticket. “It’s a part of me, Nathan. Who I am. She created me to be a key to unleash the fury of the Depths upon Earth. And not just Earth…all over the galaxy. She’s still alive, Nathan.” She gazed dreamily out the window. “I can feel her here, and she won’t stop until I do what she created me to do. Stand by her side and wreak destruction upon the universe.

“There’s something else, something I haven’t told you yet. I killed someone, a human, back in Tucson. I killed him in cold blood. Even though he was trying to kill me, it was because I was robbing his house. I didn’t know he was there, I didn’t think anyone was there. But he attacked, and I killed him. And it wasn’t just his murder that bothers me, it’s the pride I felt when I killed him. Pride of being an immortal. Pride of being who I am. I succumbed to that pride and I killed one of your kind, Nathan.” She broke out in tears again.

Nathan took hold of her and rocked her in his arms, wishing he could take away her sins. He couldn’t, but he could tell her he accepted her for who she was and even what she did. He didn’t care that she had killed someone. He just wanted to be with her. To love her. To spend the rest of his days with her.

“The humans you saw…the ones with the masks. They are from Legion’s world.”

Nathan took a moment to let her comment sink in. “Legion’s world?”

She nodded.

“You opened a portal to Legion’s world? I thought your mother…I thought she came from the Depths.”

“She does. But an alliance was created long ago, between Legion and my mother’s throng of evil. The portals my key mark opens…they traverse the space between this world - or any other world in the galaxy - and Legion’s home world. Specifically to the Hopeless Bastille. The place where Legion’s prisoners are held.”

“What ? Legion is taking prisoners?”

She nodded. “Most of the human race is being killed off here on Earth.” Pearl started crying again, this time letting it turn more into a muffled sob. When she finally collected herself, she took a deep breath and continued. “Most humans are killed by Legion. But a decent percentage of them - the ones Legion seeks to enslave - are teleported somehow to Legion’s home world. Not just humans either, but dozens of different species from all over the galaxy.”

Nathan let the information process in his mind for a moment before even trying to respond. Words came to his lips, but he couldn’t speak them before Pearl spoke up more.

“Those people you saw with the masks…they are humans, but not in the form you are used to seeing them in. The masks contain their souls, and the body the masks are on are simple vessels to fight for Legion. The bodies can’t feel pain, but instead distribute the pain into the soul trapped within the mask. If the body is destroyed, the soul will feel pain like you could never even imagine…and will continue to be trapped in the mask.”

“A creature came out of the portal too…”

Pearl nodded, glancing down at the key mark on her thigh. “A Taskmaster. They lead the Masqueraders into battle. When their job is done, the Taskmaster will bring them back to Legion’s home world. Back to the Hopeless Bastille.”

“Why are you necessary for the opening of these portals?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Legion may have given my mother a key and she may have set it within me, for safekeeping. I don’t have any idea. Once the portal is opened, it stays open until the Taskmaster brings the Masqueraders back through, then it closes.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“My mother explained all of it to me shortly after I was born. Before I escaped her grasp. I didn’t know exactly who - or what - Legion was when she told me these things. It wasn’t until Phoenix, when I was consumed by Legion and trapped in that awful box, that I realized what you humans were up against.” She pulled down the hem of her dress to cover the birth mark and then looked him straight in the eyes. “My God will save you, Nathan. He won’t abandon the humans to this…to this unholy alliance.”

Nathan nodded, unsure what the right response would be. He did believe God would come through, but he was forced to wonder when. The earth was covered in darkness, people were murdering people because of the lighthouses, and Legion and demons were scouring the land, destroying all human life they came across. Or, now Nathan knew, enslaving human life .

Pearl took a deep breath and straightened up. “We need to find your sister. That’s the most important thing to you right now, and I want to help you. I don’t care if my mother is still alive. She won’t win over me. She won’t force me to unlock these hideous portals.”

“Pearl, I…”

She put a finger to his lips. “I love you, Nathan. I love you with everything inside me. The love God gave me for you, the love the Creator gave for a human man, you, is greater than anything else I have ever felt…or known. You are my purpose.” She kissed him madly, passionately, and for a moment, the world stopped and Nathan left the darkness of Earth and rose to the heights of his dreams.

Macayle’s disgruntled grumbling broke him out of his fantasy world and pulled him back into darkness. “Are you two done? We need to leave.”

Nathan nodded. “Fine. Let’s get going. How much longer until the flare goes up?”

Macayle checked his watch. “About twenty minutes, maybe less. Ginger said she would come with us. But that means we need to leave discretely, so the other one doesn’t follow us.”

Pearl stood and walked out of the room with Macayle. Nathan continued to stare out the window for a moment, trying to think of how they were going to shake Ed.

Something cold and hard pressed into the back of his skull.

“Keep quiet or I’ll blow your brains all over that window.”

Copyright © 2012 David N. Alderman

The Westgate Plaza Mall

Another week, another excerpt from my draft of Black Earth: Dark Masquerade. This scene takes place near the beginning of the book and introduces us to the situation Nathan Pierce - the main character of the series - finds himself in weeks after the events of the second book in the series, The Broken Daisy. Serenity March, one of Absolute's rebellion leaders, makes her appearance, and a new character, Katt, is introduced. The setting is the ruins of the Westgate Plaza Mall, somewhere in California.

This scene does have some mild language in it, and please keep in mind it's a draft, so it hasn't been professionally edited yet.As always, I would love to hear what you think!

Enjoy!

Excerpt from Black Earth: Dark Masquerade -

Serenity March took a sip of her coffee and set the mug on the saucer, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes. The benchmarks that graced her beauty less than two weeks earlier when Nathan first met her - her emerald eyes, her enduringly freckled face, her energetic and confident demeanor - were replaced with darkened eyes clasping tightly to black bags underneath, dirt smudged complexion, and a waning energy like that of a toy whose batteries are on the verge of dying. Her hair, which as far as Nathan could tell hadn’t been washed in a long while, refused to hold its framework around her once young-looking face, succumbing now to tangles and frizz.

To the simple onlooker, she was tired. But Nathan knew the core of her being was more than tired. It was worn out, discouraged, ravaged by doubt and the onslaught of world events. Much like the rest of the rebels and outcasts occupying the Westgate Plaza Mall.

Serenity glanced up from her mug. Her eyes reminded him of witch’s eyes, full of seemingly endless darkness. He took the seat across from her at the little round table. The small café they sat in had once been a busy, bustling coffee house. Now it was a somewhat haunted relic of an age quickly passing them by.

“Hey,” Serenity mumbled before taking another sip of coffee.

“Hey.”

“Want something?” She started to get up from her chair. “Katt’s in the back, organizing supplies. I can -“

Nathan motioned for her to sit back down. “I’m good.” One of the many reasons Serenity was so tired and worn out was because she was a woman who tried to do everything. “I can get her if I need to.”

She gave him a fake grin and went back to sipping her coffee.

Nathan glanced up at the counter behind Serenity. The menu items on the chalkboards above seemed like cave paintings or ancient hieroglyphics. When they - Absolute’s Rebellion - first arrived at the mall, the building had been mostly intact, yet deserted. A Legion vessel had crashed into one of  mall’s adjacent buildings, but a close inspection into the debris surrounding it told them there were no seals that the vessel had broken, meaning demons wouldn’t be swarming the mall…as far as they knew.

He kept his observations about the vessel to himself, but Nathan grew a bit uneasy when he saw that the Legion vessel hadn’t created a crater like the other vessels he had seen. No crater, no wipe-out of entire square blocks. The vessel simply crashed through the roof of the building and sunk deep into the surface of the mall floor, so far in fact that the tip of the vessel fell barely below the ground. It was unusual, compared to what Nathan had seen of Legion’s vessels, and it was something he decided to keep tabs on.

Nathan also had to wonder, upon closer inspection of the place, if Legion had come through at some point - possibly from the rogue vessel - and killed off those who were still standing. It could have been his imagination, but the same dust - the red and black particles he and his sister had ingested in the outskirts of downtown Phoenix - had been lingering in the air in very small quantities. It was a sign that Legion’s vessels - or Legion itself - had vaporized someone…or many someones.

Nathan leaned back in the chair and studied Serenity as she sipped warily from the steaming mug. For the last few days, he found himself growing increasingly worried for her well-being. She was their leader - according to Absolute anyway - and she had done a great job of leading them, up until a few days ago, when the signs of exhaustion had begun to settle in. Nathan would admit to anyone that he too was tired and worn, but he was already taking steps to keep himself together. A good nap every few hours, four meals a day - regardless if he had an appetite or not, and plenty of water.

Serenity stuck a hand in her bangs and fumbled with her decaying hair. “Do you know if the reinforced metal has been installed in the doors at the southern end of the mall yet?”

“Yes. A few hours ago.”

She sighed. “What about the skylights?”

“The last of them are being boarded up right now.”

She closed her eyes in a long blink. When she opened them, they looked darker than before. “What about the parking lot?”

“The vehicles in your schematics have been mined, like you suggested.”

“Suggested? I ordered it. Has it been done?”

Nathan took a deep breath. Dealing with Serenity’s constant mood swings - an obvious side effect of her fatigue - weren’t too bad, until she started crossing the line into a power trip. “It’s been done.”

She leaned back in her chair and sighed again before staring at the ceiling. “Legion’s coming for us. I know it. I can feel it.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I just did.” Her dark eyes looked straight at him. “I’ve been having…I’ve been having dreams. Nightmares. They keep me awake at night.” She looked down at her mug. “It’s why I can’t take naps during the day. It’s why I can’t sleep at night. All I dream of is Legion. The black swarm of -“

“Stop!” Nathan felt somewhat surprised at the tone of his voice. But it was a necessary evil. He didn’t want to think anymore about Legion than absolutely necessary and he didn’t want Serenity spreading her fears through the rest of the rebellion. “You need to stop.”

“Did you just yell at me?”

“I didn’t yell. I shouted. There’s a difference. You need to stop talking about Legion. We all know Legion is out there. All too well. But we need to focus on other things right now.”

“What other things? You mean your God, don’t you? We need to focus on the God who’s let this whole world go to shit?”

“I meant we need to focus on securing the mall, on -“

“Finding your sister?”

“Yes. My sister.”

“Geez, you should just count her as dead, Nathan. Haven’t I told you that before? If I haven’t, you need to hear it at least once, from me. She’s one person. This whole world is collapsing on itself and you’re worried about one person.”

“She’s my sister.”

“You have Pearl, right?”

“You hate Pearl, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. But you have her. Can’t she be enough?”

Nathan leaned over the table, making sure he had direct eye contact with Serenity. “Until I receive proof that my sister is dead, I won’t stop looking for her.”

“Whatever,” Serenity scoffed.

A young woman in a black apron came out of the back room  carrying a large cardboard box, which she set on the counter. “Hi Nathan,” she chimed.

He nodded. Katt was as cheerful as she had been the day they found her hiding in the backroom when they first searched the mall for survivors. She claimed to know nothing about what had happened to those in the mall. She just remembered mass panic flooding the mall when the stars - Legion’s vessels - began to crash into Earth. When she tried to escape the mall and witnessed a vessel crashing into the mall’s adjacent building - the rogue vessel that had Nathan worried - she locked herself in the backroom until Serenity, Nathan and the rest of Absolute’s  Rebellion came around. It was ironic, at least Nathan thought it was, that the woman who once worked as a barista in this same coffee shop was working in it again, in the same capacity, just under completely different circumstances.

And God knew Nathan and the rest of them needed someone who knew how to brew a decent cup of coffee.

“I’m sorry,” Serenity whispered. “I didn’t mean to attack you like that.”

“You need rest. Even if it’s not sleep, you should lay off the coffee and go lay down.”

She took another sip from her mug, glaring at him as if to say, “You can’t tell me what to do.” “How about I just let this whole operation go to hell, huh?”

“These people, this mall, this isn’t all your responsibility. We all take responsibility for ourselves. You’re not a babysitter. Why don’t you leave someone else in command for a bit while you rest? You’re going to wear yourself too thin and then you’ll be no good to anyone.”

Serenity stood up abruptly, almost knocking her mug off the ridiculously small table. “Mind your own damn business, Nathan. Since when do you have it all together? You were a shaking, fearful kid when I met you and now you’re trying to hold me up as if you were an unshakeable crutch. Just do what you’re told and stay out of my way.” She stormed off, exiting the café and wandering into the mall.

“Another day, another bitch session,” Katt said, setting a steaming mug of dark roast in front of Nathan. “Just how you like it.”

The aroma of the coffee was just how he liked it. Thank God for baristas. “She’s just tired.”

“As is everyone else around here. I didn’t sleep too well last night thanks to those strange noises again, but you don’t see me acting like that.”

Strange noises again? For the past few  nights, many of the occupants of the Westgate Plaza Mall had complained to Serenity and her circle - including Nathan - of strange  noises coming from the parking lot surrounding the mall. The noises had been described as loud whispers, the wording of which couldn’t be understood by any of the witnesses. At first, Nathan  had been sure the ‘whispers’ were simply wind currents moving through the abandoned lot of cars and trees, but with so many reports stating the sounds were actual whispers - most in low manly tones, aside from the high pitched woman’s screech Katt swore she heard - Nathan couldn’t pass it off as the wind.

Yesterday he took it upon himself to take a stroll around the mall, checking the lot for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. He even went as far as the main street, but nothing struck him as odd. He came across a sunspot during his minor trek - many sunspots had broken through the dark ceiling Legion had made of the sky and brought rare warmth to the otherwise chilling air - and spent some time basking in it. During that time, he conversed with God.

Nathan’s dealings with God were growing more commonplace than they had been during his journey to Los Angeles to find his sister. His encounters were full blown discussions with the Creator of the Earth. They were also incredibly private, conversations he only shared with one other person - Pearl. Nathan found himself talking to God about almost everything - the condition of the planet, the darkness engulfing the land, the purpose of Absolute’s Rebellion. He even pressed the subject of his sister many times, asking God where she was and if she was still alive. He gave Nathan the same answer each time, the same answer he gave Nathan when he almost drowned - or technically did drown - in the waters on the way to the lighthouse: You will mount a rescue effort to save her.

The answer was somewhat vague. God didn’t - and wouldn’t - specify if Daisy Pierce was still alive, nor would He specify she would be rescued. Just that Nathan would mount a rescue effort.

The rest of his conversations with God were more than a little interesting and pleasant, if not sometimes cryptic. God wouldn’t give too many details about Legion, except that Legion was an evil as ancient - if not more than - the creation of the Earth. A very grim answer came to Nathan one day when he asked God if the Earth was going to perish: Yes.

Nathan had been so stunned by this answer that he found himself asking the question two more times, with the same answer being given before he finally conceded. The Earth would be destroyed. But not yet. The ‘not yet’ was enough to give Nathan hope that he might find his sister and they would have the chance to escape the planet together.

“Hey, you okay?”

Nathan snapped out of his reverie and looked up at Katt. Her mouth curved into a worried grin. “Just…thinking.”

“Any luck finding out what those noises are?”

He shook his head and took a cautious sip of coffee. “I went around the lot yesterday but didn’t find anything.”

“Someone said they saw you sitting out in one of the sunspots, talking to yourself.”

He didn’t answer the accusation. Not many people understood what he meant when he told them he heard from God.

Katt returned to the counter and started pulling out sealed bags of coffee grounds from the box. “Anyway, I think Serenity needs to lighten up a bit. Especially on you. And what’s she got against Pearl?”

“It’s a long story.” He stood with his mug in hand. “Thanks for the coffee. I have to go check on some things.”

Katt smiled warmly at him. “Anytime, Nathan. Let me know if you find out what those strange noises are. They’re starting to give me the creeps.”

Copyright © 2012 David N. Alderman

The President's Dark Advisor

In my efforts to be more transparent with my writing process, I've decided that from now on, each week I will post an excerpt of draft work from something I'm currently working on. I am going to try my best to make this a weekly occurrence, that way you can all get a taste of my writing style and, at the same time, I can showcase some of my work before it goes to the presses.

Last week I posted an excerpt entitled Hortus Tenebris - The Dark Garden. In it, I gave a sneak peak to the third book in my Black Earth series - Dark Masquerade - and gave you a feel for Daisy Pierce's plight and the surreal, horrific world she's been thrust into.

This week's scene comes from the same project and finds the President of the United States, Amanda Stone, in a conversation with her dark advisor, or the Man of Shadows, as she calls him. This advisor was first seen in the second book of my Black Earth series, The Broken Daisy, and will be fleshed out more in this installment of the series.

Please keep in mind this is draft work, meaning it hasn't been professionally edited yet. And being draft work, it may/may not change depending on how I feel the story is flowing as I edit the manuscript as a whole.

As always, I would love for you to drop me a comment and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Excerpt from Black Earth: Dark Masquerade - 

President Amanda Stone breathed in the musty air of her underground bunker and missed the fresh air from above ground. She had been hiding - rather strategically positioning herself - underground for a little over a week now. Claustrophobia was beginning to sink in. She hadn’t been able to sleep more than two hours at a time, and when she awoke, she awoke to a nightmare of a world that she was finding it harder and harder to get a grasp on.

When Legion’s vessels fell, when she enacted the Falling Star Directives, she did so thinking it would be her one chance to create alliances with the rest of the world’s superpowers and build herself into someone bigger than just the President of the United States. Someone bigger than a dictator, better than a queen.

Her talks with the leaders of other countries proved unfruitful so far. Most countries were still reeling from Legion’s attacks, and a good portion of those President Stone did contact wanted nothing to do with creating alliance. They simply wanted to survive and contain the mess that was forming in their own lands. It seemed, at least to her, that she was the only one with power on her mind. But that could - would - work to her benefit.

The Man of Shadows - her own nickname for him - had promised her it would. Her dark advisor, a man who had no face and could turn to vapor and move through walls, continued to visit her multiple times a day both to bring his cooling touch to her sick and frail flesh, and to instruct her on what to do next. He breathed life into her, gave her purpose, kept her going, like an owner would keep his favorite wind-up toy wound and on a straight path to avoid having it fall off the edge of the table.

Healing is exactly what President Amanda Stone needed. She was growing weaker every day, and on some days she felt it would be better to end her miserable life and meet whatever deity was waiting to punch her number - if there was one. But instead of ending her life, instead of bringing an anticlimactic end to her pathetic existence, she held on for one more day, for one more soothing touch from the Man of Shadows. His healing touch gave her a reason to get out of bed each day.

A mirror on her desk allowed her reflection to look out upon her. Her cheeks were sunk in like potholes and her eyes…her eyes were once green. Right? But now they were void of color, not pure black, but milky black like coffee with creamer in it. She turned away from her reflection, disgusted with herself. Her neck hurt with the movement. It took effort nowadays to move, effort to breathe, effort to even think clearly. She couldn’t remember anything that had happened months ago, and was having a hard time keeping track of what was occurring now. She knew vessels had fallen…vessels from space. Legion’s vessels. Something from Star Wars, something alien had come to their planet and decided to wreak havoc upon it, to wrap it in darkness. But why? Had she somehow been responsible for their presence here?

Of course, the Man of Shadows constantly told her everything was under control. Everything. He promised her the world would be hers, soon. It was a sobering thought, to know she would soon have her insatiable desire for power satisfied. The sanctuary zones, the bar codes, the credit system - all set up long ago and initiated, fueled even, by the fallen vessels. By the darkness sweeping the globe.

I just have to keep it together long enough to enjoy it.

She leaned back in the leather chair and closed her eyes. She longed for his touch. She always longed for it shortly before he arrived to give it. Although worry plagued her jubilant anticipation - she knew he was still mad that they had lost track of the reporter, Ericka Shane. After the woman aired the vile video proving President Stone had helped to kill the Vice President, the riots began. Many of them broke out within the sanctuary zones, however there were rumors of intense violence outside the zones, in the Broken Lands. Many of the President’s supports had been slaughtered by those who felt it was a travesty to have Amanda Stone in the seat of the President.

And that was enough to allow her to initiate another part of her Falling Star Directives. Sentries. Machines - rather mechanical marines - created by SilverTech Industries to keep the peace around the country. Confined mainly to the sanctuary zones, President Stone would make sure some units of these Sentries, all under her command, performed patrols around the outer rims of the zones, just to make sure no…disturbances…interfered with her perfect little sanctuaries. They were necessary, she reminded the public on a newscast to introduce them, seeing how a good percentage of the United States Armed Forces were counted as casualties of the invasion.

The door to her office opened and a Secret Service agent stepped into the room. “Madame President. The Speaker would like to see you.”

She stared at the agent for a moment, another man she didn’t recognize. The last few days - weeks - had been a blur, but it seemed each time she turned around, another agent she didn’t recognize was there to greet her. And they were so mechanical, showing little to no emotion, moving like the sentries she was dumping into the sanctuary zones. Either she was losing her memory - her mind - day by day, or the Man of Shadows - the Speaker as her agents called him - was bringing them in.

“Did you hear me, Madame President?”

She wiped the blurriness from her eyes and nodded half-heartedly. The agent left, closing the door behind him, leaving her to her isolation. Fear filled her insides, making her feel somewhat bloated and nauseous. She didn’t want to see the Man of Shadows . His touch cooled her aches, filled her with calm to ease the pain, but when he left she always felt emptier than before he came.

“Amanda.”

She looked up from her desk and watched as a black mist passed through the wall on the far end of the office. It moved through the air like dark oil, gliding through the empty space on sheets of silk across an icy pond.

Her anticipation grew as the black mist came together in front of her desk and materialized into a man dressed in a black trench coat, black fedora. Her body trembled and her lips quivered. She fought to control the shakes, grabbing hold of the arms of the leather chair, gripping tightly, yelling at herself to keep control of her body.

The man who had no face - it was hidden beneath the strange shadows the fedora spread across his body, tipped said hat at her. She gripped the chair arms tighter, nearly unable to control herself. Cold sweat broke out across her flesh, pulling her clothes tighter against her form.

“Amanda, why do you fight it so much? I come here bringing a gift for you…”

“Your touch.”

He nodded. “Why do you fight it? You remind me of many other humans I have had the misfortune of stumbling across. So sure of yourself, aren’t you? Full of courage - or what you think is courage. It’s really just stubbornness. It’s really just frailty.”

She gripped the arms of the chair even tighter, sure her fingernails were going to break off at any moment, saying nothing, simply staring at the man.

“Speechless. You have come a long way, Amanda. You used to speak, to spew forth words like a sewer spews its filth. Now you sit before me, frozen in fear, encased in your own sweat. It is insulting.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yes, an apology. Apologizing is all you humans know how to do once you’re faced with someone greater than yourself. Your women apologize to the men who beat them. Your parents apologize to the children they want to discipline. These are things I don’t understand, but they make some sense to me because I understand you are a weak sentient, strong and courageous, so ready to face the odds until one comes along who is stronger than you. Then you yield, you give up, you offer your loyalty to the tall and the proud.

“The greatest travesty I have witnessed from your species is the pathetic way you apologize to your false gods, especially to the Invisible One, requesting forgiveness for your human nature. If you believe in this god, this one who doesn’t show his face to your dying world, and you believe he’s the creator of your species, of the galaxy as a whole, then why would you apologize for the human nature he instilled within you? It doesn’t make sense to me. And things that don’t make sense to me upset me.”

Amanda released her grip on the chair and let her hands scratch at her knees. She couldn’t remember him ever being in such a foul mood before.

“Look at yourself. Glance upon yourself in the mirror.” He reached over the desk and shoved the mirror in her face. She turned away, disgusted. “You can’t, can you? You can’t because you hate what you see. You are weak, and you don’t want to be weak. But human nature is weak. It was made to be weak so you would be forced to worship the ones who created you.”

Amanda felt her lungs collapsing upon themselves, the breath leaving her body at a rapid pace. She was hyperventilating and the world was blacking out around her. The Man of Shadows touched her with his gloved hand, blanketing her in his soothing darkness. She closed her eyes and felt her body melt in the chair. The pain - the soreness in her neck, the crushing in her lungs, the dizziness - it was all carried away along the current of his cool touch.

The room came back into focus. She was sitting tall in the chair, her hands on the surface of the desk, her head clear.

He stared at her as if she owed him money for the experience. “We have issues to discuss.”

She straightened out her pantsuit and took a deep breath, feeling somewhat foolish. There was a strange awkwardness that accompanied his ‘healing sessions’.

“It is pathetic how you crave my touch to this extreme. It only further proves my observations about how frail you humans truly are.”

She heard what he said, but she didn’t care. The echoes of his touch melted into her muscles, slid across her bones and traveled through her bloodstream. She felt his presence, dark and soothing, swimming through her like a drug.

He huffed and turned away from the desk. When President Stone looked up, she found him staring at the antique bookshelf housing priceless volumes on American history.

“What issues?” she asked, more to prove to him that she was listening than her taking any real interest in what he had to say.

“You ask, yet you don’t care.” He picked up an old hardcover volume on World War 2. He paged through the book, stopping every few seconds to glance at the information inside. “Do you know why Hitler was so successful?”

She sighed. She hated talking about the past. She wanted to talk about the future. Her future.

“Hitler was successful because he was hungry for power and he didn’t let anything stand in his way of getting it. You…” He closed the book and set it back on the shelf. “You allow too many things - too many people - to get in the way. Right now, the world is yours for the taking. Yet your Achilles’ heel is about to be cut by your inability to follow through.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know.” He made his way back to the desk. “Ericka Shane has been found. Nathan Pierce is building a rebellion. Daisy Pierce is about to be executed.”

“I know. I have teams looking for Nathan as we speak. Same with Ericka. And I plan to have the execution televised for the entire world to see.”

The Man of Shadows slammed his gloved fists on the surface of the desk. “Your present efforts are not good enough to yield the results we need. You must find Nathan - you must crush his rebellion before it can get any stronger. You must find Ericka Shane and murder her in the streets for the world to see. Everyone under you, those who worship and serve you loyally, and those who oppose you, must see your hands while they are covered in blood so they know who they’re dealing with.”

“I am doing everything I can! I have limited power and most of that limited power is being used to run the sanctuary zones.”

“That is not good enough. Those who oppose you are in the wilderness, underground, hiding out, forging their power into a weapon they will one day very soon use against you. You must strike them now, abort them while they are weak.”

“How do I do that? How the hell do I do that?!” President Stone took a deep breath and calmed herself. Yelling at the Man of Shadows would do her no good. She needed him, needed his touch. The last thing she wanted was to turn him away.

The man’s voice came down and he suddenly sounded overly calm, as if the outburst moments earlier had never occurred. “I have sent out…reinforcements…to find and kill your enemies. All of them. Including Nathan and his rebellion.”

“His rebellion isn’t even a threat. His sister will be killed, soon, and there’s nothing he will be able to do to stop that.”

“Hitler was successful because he did not underestimate his enemies. He knew who they were, what they were possibly capable of, and he worked his terror based on those possibilities.”

“Enough about Hitler. What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to focus your efforts on Ericka Shane. Draw her out by any means necessary. When she crawls out of her dark corner, cut off her head and let it roll in front of those who have chosen to turn against you.”

“What about Nathan?”

“He will be found and dealt with by my hand. You worry about finding Ericka and making sure this execution takes place.”

“Fine.”

The Man of Shadows made his way to the bookshelf again and stood in front of it, scanning the volumes on the shelves. “I’m sure it would be much easier to incinerate this world. Its time has certainly come. But not yet, I suppose. No…everything has a time and a season. Now is the Season of Shadow. Next will be the Season of Blood.”

President Stone had no idea what he was referring to in regards to the seasons. She would do as he asked and bring Ericka Shane out of hiding. The woman had eluded President Stone long enough. Now it was time for her to pay for her defiance. As far as Nathan was concerned, she would have liked to have found the boy herself and deal with him accordingly, but she could only stretch her efforts and resources so far. She had entire sanctuary zones, entire cities, to bring under control. Her control.

The Man of Shadows started walking toward the wall at the far end of the office, the same wall he entered the room through. “I will see you again soon, Amanda. Make sure I have reason to return in a less foul mood.”

She watched him break into black mist and pass through the wall, leaving her there alone to find a way to lure Ericka Shane under the guillotine.

Copyright © David N. Alderman 2012