Seconds Before Sunrise (The Timely Death Trilogy) Read online

  SECONDS BEFORE SUNRISE

  Book 2

  The Timely Death Trilogy

  SHANNON A. THOMPSON

  This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-10: 1940820049

  ISBN-13: 978-1-940820-04-0

  Copyright 2014 Shannon A. Thompson

  Published by AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc.

  Cover art by Viola Estrella, www.EstrellaCoverArt.com

  Dedication

  To Calone – for showing how the darkness can be brighter than the light.

  Acknowledgements

  After a series of terrifying dreams, I found comfort in a notebook. I picked up a black, G-2 pen, and The Timely Death Trilogy was born. It would be seven years before the first novel was ever printed, but those seven years led me the dedicated team that turned my nightmares into a story to be shared. For that reason, I want to thank Raymond Vogel, Heather Hebert, and Ky Grabowski at AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc. for believing in my visions – past and future. I also want to thank Viola Estrella, my cover artist, for morphing an idea into a lovely design.

  Beyond my team is a cast of characters I could have never created on my own. I am grateful for my family, and I want to thank them for accepting me, even during the most peculiar moments that come with any artist. I also want to express my gratitude to my helpful friends, my loyal cat, and my laptop for enduring a writer’s dedication.

  An artist’s life has many ups and downs, so thank you to all of the writers, readers, and dreamers for their timeless encouragement and inspiration on ShannonAThompson.com. With all of your love, the future will be filled with art.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 Chapter 30

  Chapter 2 Chapter 31

  Chapter 3 Chapter 32

  Chapter 4 Chapter 33

  Chapter 5 Chapter 34

  Chapter 6 Chapter 35

  Chapter 7 Chapter 36

  Chapter 8 Chapter 37

  Chapter 9 Chapter 38

  Chapter 10 Chapter 39

  Chapter 11 Chapter 40

  Chapter 12 Chapter 41

  Chapter 13 Chapter 42

  Chapter 14 Chapter 43

  Chapter 15 Chapter 44

  Chapter 16 Chapter 45

  Chapter 17 Chapter 46

  Chapter 18 Chapter 47

  Chapter 19 Chapter 48

  Chapter 20 Chapter 49

  Chapter 21 Chapter 50

  Chapter 22 Chapter 51

  Chapter 23 Chapter 52

  Chapter 24 Chapter 53

  Chapter 25 Chapter 54

  Chapter 26 Chapter 55

  Chapter 27 Chapter 56

  Chapter 28 Chapter 57

  Chapter 29 Chapter 58

  Jessica

  It was a humid night in August, and the river trickled past us as if most of the water had disintegrated during the previous months. It skimmed over the rocks, and I hesitated to add to the collection by tossing pebbles across the already waning surface. The darkness was enough.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Crystal leaned against my arm, and I nodded because it was.

  The park was secluded, hanging onto the edge of Hayworth, but it seemed to stretch for miles, past Hayworth, past Kansas, and past wherever my thoughts could take me.

  “I knew you’d like it, Jess,” Robb said, plopping down next to me. “Too bad we can’t come here all of the time.”

  I wanted to ask why, but I already knew the answer.

  Trespassing signs littered the sidewalks surrounding it. I understood the legal ramifications, but it seemed pointless to contain such a consoling place to a single family—the Welborns.

  “I’m surprised more kids don’t break in,” I admitted.

  “I’m not,” Crystal said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. The forest was a cluster of shadows behind her. “That’s where she did it.”

  “Where who did what?”

  Crystal’s bottom lip fell open, but she didn’t speak. Robb straightened up, cleared his throat, and explained instead. “Welborn’s mom,” he said. “She killed herself in there.”

  My eyes shot over Crystal’s bleached hair and focused on the looming trees. They were dark, but they weren’t eerie. They swayed just like any trees would do, but I felt as if I’d seen them before.

  Goose bumps cascaded over my body, and I jumped to my feet, rubbing my arms. I stepped away from my friends, but I didn’t move forward. I should’ve wanted to run away, but I didn’t. I wanted to go toward it.

  “Creepy, isn’t it?” Robb’s voice crawled over the back of my neck as I turned to him. When I met his eyes, he ran a hand through his hair. “We used to dare one another to spend the night in there,” he continued. “I did it once. It about killed me.”

  Crystal sprung up and smacked his arm, waltzing past us. “You big baby,” she said, smirking as she caught my eye. “Zac and him didn’t even stay in there for an entire night. They ran out crying.”

  “We were seven,” Robb argued.

  Crystal giggled. “And afraid of the dark.”

  He folded his arms across his plaid shirt. “I’m not afraid of the dark,” he grumbled as if he were stuck in his childhood. His eye contact was absent, and his confident demeanor had shattered.

  Crystal ignored him as she stretched her palm out. “Give me the keys,” she ordered, and Robb, without question, gave up his Suburban’s keys. It was dark, and we had school in the morning. Summer vacation was over, and our parents would want us home.

  “I’ll pull it up to the sidewalk,” Crystal said, walking along the river. “You guys better be ready in ten minutes,” she shouted, knowing the car was yards away. She disappeared around the corner before Robb spoke again.

  “Here’s to the summer.” He chucked a rock at the river. It splashed, ripples waving against the riverbank, and I cringed. The water moved tiny twigs and shifted the dirt, covering patches of grass with brown dew. The ripples were more like tidal waves against the shore, violent and fast.

  “Jess?” Robb’s thick, brown hair looked black in the night’s shadows. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I breathed, hesitating to pull my eyes away from him to stare at the river. My gut was contorting with nerves. I glanced to the forest, to the river, and back to the forest again. Everything looked familiar.

  “We should probably start walking,” Robb said, heading toward the sidewalk, but I held him back.

  “Are there any other rumors about the forest?” I asked. “Other than the suicide, I mean.”

  Robb didn’t move. “What’s bothering you, Jess?”

  I held my hands in front of me and dug my nails into my palms. “I’ve been here before,” I admitted.

  He chuckled. “Come on, Jess.”

  “I’m serious, Robb.” I waved my hands around. “It’s too familiar.”

  His laughter was replaced with a grimace. “Are you sure it wasn’t a different park, somewhere you used to live?” he suggested.

  I hugged myself. He could be right. It’d only been eight months since I moved to Hayworth, and it was impossible that I’d walked into the park by myself. Crystal, Robb, and I went everywhere together.

  “You’re probably right,” I sighed, and he started walking again. I followed him past the river and ignored my nostalgic feelings until we reached the river’s guardrail.

  I froze, gripping the cooling metal, and my blood turned into chilled water within my veins. I stared
at my shivering hands and slowly brought my eyes up to the forest. The entrance was right in front of me, opening up to darkened brush and thickened ground. I only saw shadows, but I believed I could see more. A figure lingered in my memory, a vanishing outline in the darkness, even though no one was there. I fought the urge to shout at the trees.

  Robb touched my shoulder, and I jumped. He stepped back, his eyes widened, and Crystal honked from the street.

  “Jess?”

  “I’m fine,” I repeated, brushing him off as I rushed past him. I didn’t want him to see my face. I felt like I was crumbling, and I didn’t want my friends, or anyone, to know it. My confusion was mine, even if it was bordering on insanity.

  Jessica

  “Run.”

  The sudden voice was barely audible. My heart was racing as fast as my legs were. I leapt over torn up brush and twisted past trees at speeds I couldn’t comprehend. The darkness blended together.

  The ground was rigid beneath my feet, and I stumbled as I looked over my shoulder. They were after us. I could feel them, their heat and their strength. The suffocating air was filled with electricity, and it burned against my exposed flesh. As suddenly as it had touched me, it was around my neck.

  Her black eyes were boundless, and I lost myself in them before she tossed my body. I flew over her shoulder, easily and helplessly, and collided with wet leaves. My limbs flayed, and I clawed at the ground, attempting to stop my momentum − but it was too late.

  My head cracked against a rock, and the sound shuddered through my body. Light consumed my vision before it was replaced with blackness, and then I was awake again.

  I saw his eyes first, crystal-blue but clouded with concern. When he met my gaze, he dropped the cold rag he had brushed across my face. The condensation awoke my consciousness.

  I gasped, trying to sit up, but his hand pressed my shoulders down. My body reacted to his touch, and his fingers lingered as if he couldn’t let go.

  He spoke, but I didn’t hear him, and time blurred like the night had moments before. He moved too quickly, and I couldn’t follow him. He was by the window, and my legs burned as if I’d stood moments before. But I was still in bed, and he spoke by the window.

  I couldn’t hear him, but I knew what was happening. He was leaving, and he wouldn’t be back. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and I screamed.

  …

  My shout echoed against my bedroom walls as I sat up, clutching my blanket. My chest was pounding, but it felt like my entire body. I gasped, surveying my empty bedroom, and shuddered when my eyes flew over my window. No one stood in front of me.

  It was only a dream.

  I climbed out of my bed and walked over to the glass. I moved the blinds over and gazed across our front yard. It was nighttime, but the road glistened from the streetlamps. I pressed my heated forehead against it and breathed. Despite the dream, my head felt as if it had smacked into the rock, and it wasn’t the only part of my body that hurt.

  Everything did. My arms, my legs, my chest. It burned and shook, but my unscathed skin proved the lack of reality. I was perfectly fine.

  “It was just a nightmare, Jess,” I whispered to myself, turning away. I snatched up my blanket, wrapped it around my shoulders, and walked downstairs. I needed to get out of my room, even if it were only for a minute.

  I walked past my parent’s room and went downstairs. The house was quiet, and lingering nighttime comforted my sudden fears. I’d always been a night person, but it felt more essential to my wellbeing tonight than any other night I could recall. The shadows felt right.

  I twisted through the kitchen, the living room, and into my father’s study. The computer buzzed, revealing my father’s late night of work, and I turned it off. It shut down, and the only light I had dissipated.

  Breathing was easier now, and the nightmare was beginning to make sense. It’d only been hours since I’d been in the forest with Robb and Crystal. Even if it were just a cluster of trees with a dark history, I’d dreamt I was almost killed in it.

  “Jessie?”

  I spun around, facing the high-pitched voice that broke through my train of thought. My mother, dressed in a pink robe, fiddled with her blond ponytail.

  “Mom,” I exhaled, praying my adrenaline would calm down. “What are you doing up?” Unlike me, she was a morning person.

  She smirked as she sat down in the computer chair, rotating it to face me. “I could ask you the same thing,” she said. “You have school in the morning.”

  “I know,” I said, tightening my blanket’s embrace. “I’ll go back to bed soon.”

  Her round face tilted. “Are you alright, sweetie?”

  “I’m fine.” The words were beginning to feel repetitively empty. “I had a nightmare,” I elaborated, knowing she would ask more questions.

  She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. “What was it about?” she asked.

  I pressed my toes against the wooden floor. “I don’t really know,” I admitted, hoping to forget the scene as quickly as it came, but it echoed through me, refusing to leave. “It’s just a dream.”

  “If it was, you would’ve stayed in bed.” She raised her thin eyebrows. “You used to have really bad nightmares as a child.”

  “I did?” I couldn’t remember.

  “All the time, but you grew out of them.” Her face tilted to the other side, and her ponytail waved over her shoulder. “They were really confusing for you.”

  “Why?”

  She bobbed her foot up and down. “You thought they were real.”

  I couldn’t breathe.

  “I thought it was entirely probable they were caused from trauma—”

  She stopped because she didn’t have to explain.

  “They were fleeing, you know,” I said, recalling the newspaper article about my parents’ untimely death.

  “I wish you wouldn’t take Crystal so seriously, Jessie,” she dropped her tone into a scorn. We had the conversation numerous times during the summer, but she wasn’t budging. “She doesn’t know any more than the police do.”

  I bit my lip and looked away. The lack of information had been the most aggravating part of my adoption. Even with months of researching, I couldn’t find extended family. It was as if my parents had only existed to bring my life into the world, nothing more. I couldn’t even find people who remembered them, and residents rarely left Hayworth. It seemed impossible, but it was the truth, and I didn’t like it.

  “Is that what you’re dreaming about?” my mother guessed. “The car wreck?”

  “No,” I said, fighting the flashing forest as it burned into my mind like a memory.

  She ignored my answer. “What’s done is done, Jessie,” she said. “There’s no worth in losing sleep over it.”

  “They were my parents,” I argued quietly.

  “And they still are,” she agreed. “But death doesn’t mean they aren’t around you.”

  I groaned. “You sound like a Disney movie.”

  “I’m old. I’m allowed to,” she said, standing up to approach me. She opened up her arms, and I fell into her embrace, closing my eyes. She smelt like lavender. “Get some sleep. You have school in the morning,” she whispered.

  I stepped away. “Thanks for the reminder.”

  “Goodnight,” she said. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too, Mom,” I said.

  She left the room, her robe dragging behind, and disappeared around the corner. I collapsed in her chair, unable to settle down. While some of her words had been comforting, the others disturbed me. As a child, I thought my dreams were real, and despite the illogical notion, I saw the truth in it.

  My dream had felt more like living than my current life did. Every part of me wanted it as a memory instead of a nightmare.

  Eric

  I shoved my head into my locker and breathed hoarsely. It was the first day of school and sitting next to Jessica was already killing me. I wanted to talk to her, hold
her, be with her − anything really − but I couldn’t. If the Light realized who or what we were, she’d be killed, and there was nothing I could do except stay away.

  “You okay?” Jonathon asked, his voice squeaking through the slits of my locker.

  I leaned back to stare at the blind artist. I wouldn’t believe he was Pierce, a powerful shade, if I hadn’t known his identities myself.

  “I’m dealing,” I grumbled, unable to keep eye contact as Jessica passed us.

  She flipped her brunette curls as she playfully hit Robb McLain’s arm. Robb McLain with his sparkling teeth, gelled hair, and playboy personality was the perfect jerk.

  Robb slipped his arm over Jessica’s petite shoulders, and I gripped my locker.

  “I am this close to killing him.”

  Jonathon chuckled. “I’d like to see that.”

  “This isn’t funny.”

  Jonathon’s hands struck straight up. “No. No. Of course not.” He tried to smother his laughter. “Not funny at all.”

  I ignored his humor and uncurled my hand from the locker. “This is a lot harder than I thought it’d be,” I said.

  Jonathon gestured to the bent door I’d practically destroyed. “I can tell.”

  I pushed it back into place, cringing at the sharp noise.

  “You have other things you should fix, too,” he said, pointing to my face.

  I knew what had happened. My eyes were ice blue, not green.

  I rubbed the partial transformation away. “Great,” I muttered. I couldn’t even control myself during the day.

  “Why don’t you go home already?” Jonathon knew my schedule better than most. Homeroom was over and so was my day at school, but I hadn’t gone straight to my car. I was too aggravated to drive.

  “Are they dating?” I asked Jonathon, pointing my thumb over my shoulder. I knew Jessica and Robb hadn’t moved. I could still hear her giggles, and I knew Jonathon was more in tune with gossip than I’d ever be.