Good morning all. Welcome to my little slice of virtual solace. I noticed that this thread had not been loved in a while so I thought I would resurrect it. Hope nobody minds.

This is a little non-star wars project that I have been working on. I will be delivering bite sized chunks over time and hoping to get a little feedback if possible. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are always appreciated.

WARNING: The following story contains adult themes, mild language and graphic violence. While inaccurate under modern "horror"definitions, I would strongly advise parents to preview the contents before allowing younger children to read. Thank you.

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Prologue:

Andre jammed the hand break locking his back tire. He planted a sneakered foot on the soft sod casting his bike in a wide arc through the thick carpet of wet leaves. Trailing behind, two other bicycles skidded to a halt tossing brown and golden tree stars into the air. They stopped just shy of a statuesque wrought iron fence. Shafts of drab metal jutted out of the ground blocking their path, their tips were barbed and hued red with rust like blood stained horns.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea.” Chuck wheezed, his breath misting in the autumn air. Despite the chill wind, pearls of beaded sweat trickled down his milk chocolate brow.

Three children gazed between the crossbeams of the main gate. Framed in the soft iridescent glow of the setting sun, the mansion beyond draped a shadow over the trio like a winter’s frost.

“What's the matter Chucky, scared?” Andre chided, dropping his bike on the ground with a muffled thud. “C’mon.” Being the eldest, Andre had orchestrated this little adventure.

Chuck shivered. “But...” He wiped away the tension from his forehead with the back of his hand. An uncomfortable tickle formed in the pit of his stomach.

“Don’t be such a scared-y-cat, brother.” Leaving her bike behind, the third child sidled up to Andre casting a defiant glare back at Chuck. “Andre knows what he's doing.” Though her voice sounded confident Natalie’s eyes betrayed glimmer of fear.

A rust encrusted chain held the iron guardians shut. Threaded between two of the links there hung an unlatched steal lock blackened with age. Andre dispensed the lock and cast the chain aside. They collected on the deadened ground echoing noiselessly. With a small grunt, Andre shoved one of the gates open and squeezed his callow body through the gap. Natalie shadowed him keeping a fist-full of his t-shirt as they went.

“Natalie, wait.” The tickling sensation in Chuck’s stomach grew more intense. He was acutely aware of the winged gargoyles perched atop the roof; their vapid gaze appraising every movement. The wind picked up howling a warning into his soul. Pushing his glasses onto the ridge of his nose with a trembling finger, Chuck gathered his courage and stepped cautiously through the gate.

Beyond the iron boundaries, a cobblestone walk lay bent and broken before them. Tufts of creeping ivy flourished between the joints; parasites feeding off the decay. Halfway between the gate and house, the path split to circumvent a three-tiered marble fountain, cracked from age and festered with moss. To either side of the footpath wild grass grew to their knees littered with ragweed and spent dandelion stalks. Chuck spied a small structure in the rear that may have once been a barn or large shed, now little more than busted planks encased in brier. The porch of the house wrapped around in old colonial fashion. Sculpted wooden posts supported a whitewashed handrail, the paint since peeled and weather stained. Vaporous threads curled up from the fibers creating a mist of charcoal smoke in the nearing twilight. The familiar scent of smoldering wood chips permeated the air.

Andre stumbled headlong across the jagged flagstone. He paused only a moment at the foot of the stairs before clambering his way to the top. The wooden planks protested his weight, moaning their execration with every step. Natalie drew in an uneasy breath, refusing to let it free. She envisioned him collapsing into the woodwork. When he crested the staircase Andre tested the porch calling back to the others, “It’s safe, see?”

...

Nice! You paint quite a picture. Great imagery and personification. I like your style of writing as well. Looking forward to seeing where this story takes Andre.

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Natalie let out her breath in a long relieved sigh. Turning to Chuck, she elbowed him in the ribs. “See.” Then she leapt up the staircase two at a time. Chuck tarried testing each plank under his big toe giving the unstable boards a wide birth.

"What luck," Andre called out in a harsh whisper, "there's a hole here." In truth, the entire door was missing. Pine boards had been hastily nailed in place to seal the original entrance, but had since fallen aside leaving a gap large enough for a grown man to pass without much effort. Andre peered through the planks; his gaze met with a wall of blackness beyond. "Chucky, grab me that flashlight, would ya?" He held out his hand expectantly. Chuck fumbled inside the deep pockets of his cargo pants producing a small canary yellow flashlight. Andre clicked it on and immediately crawled inside. Natalie followed on his heels leaving Chuck alone at the door. He toyed with the idea of waiting on the porch. From the top of the stairs he could see the collection of bikes just outside the gate. It would be easy to run down the cobblestone walkway and be done with this house forever.

Dark clouds rolled over the courtyard bringing with them all manner of hideous incarnations. Shadows seeped from the ground like a dense fog. Creatures sprung from his imagination pacing just beyond the safety of the porch. Despair gripped his belly wringing out any lingering desire to stay where he was. Chuck choked down his fear and followed the others.

The first room was covered in overlapping layers of dust and darkness. Chuck strained to filter the dim light. Andre and Natalie moved forward through the main room taking the flashlight, leaving Chuck in the dusky foyer. His body shuddered. Tingles curled up and down his spine forcing his muscles to twitch. He hurried to catch up, feeling the hardwood creak beneath his sneakers. “This is great, isn’t it?” Andre was saying, excitement raising his whispered voice into an eerie crescendo. “I bet no one’s been here for years.” Chuck reached out and grabbed for his sister. Her shoulder jerked reflexively at his touch. The three continued in single file through the main floor, each child linked to the one before. Andre led the way with the flashlight darting from one shadowy recess to the next. They passed through looming archways and spacious halls. A grand emblazoned staircase led upwards to a balcony on the second floor. The rooms were sparsely furnished, just a few undistinguishable masses covered in mouse-grey sheets.

A glimmer of light caught Chuck’s eye. “Hey, sis, wait up.” he called breaking his connection with Natalie, curiosity dwarfing his fear. Chuck crossed the floor of a rounded room, past what appeared to be a large piano peeking from under its musty shroud. The light flashed again reflecting off the polished brass finish of a candlestick. Chuck held the solid metal turning it over in his palm testing the heft. The handle was scaled in the visage of an Asian dragon. Even in the shadows he could see that no dust disturbed its surface. “Bring that light over here, I think I found something.”

“That’s nothing, doofus. It’s just an old cand. . .” Andre’s voice was cut short by a hollowed scream in the distance. The sound pierced the air, seeming to come from the very walls themselves, and then died out instantly. In the feint glow of the flashlight, Andre’s eyes grew wide. Natalie clutched tightly at Andre's shirt with both hands. Chuck’s mind exploded with images of spectral mutations. Three children stood motionless.

...

...

The hallowed scream returned this time accompanied with a dull sepulchral throb of the floorboards. “That came from downstairs.” Andre hissed. The flashlight trembled in his hand. Rays of artificial light conjured dancing ghosts on the wall.

The scream died down to a tortured moan. Chuck opened his mouth to protest, his voice strangling him. Swallowing hard, he tried again, “I think it’s time to go now.”

“What if there is someone down there?”

“Yes.” Chuck said, his voice cracking with tension. “There’s someone down there.”

“What if he’s hurt? We have to try and help.” Andre spun around, nearly knocking Natalie to the ground in his haste. The jolt broke her free of the mechanized stupor she had been lost in. She looked up at her brother misty eyed and unable to speak. The color had washed from her dark skin.

“C’mon.” Andre grabbed her by the wrist and started off down a hall. Chuck stood awestruck watching his sister being drug out of sight by his best friend. The icky feeling in his stomach returned eating away at his ribs. A demur voice inside his head told him to run. The candlestick felt cool, its weight oddly comforting in his hand. He turned it over in the darkness remembering its chiseled details. Grasping it firmly about the dragon’s neck, Chuck took a deep breath and followed the last shards of dancing light.

He came to the pair crouched by a door cracked slightly ajar. Soft emerald light seeped through the opening, bathing the kids in a pale green glow. The deep moaning sound became clearer in that direction broken by manly sobs. Andre put a finger to his lips as Chuck approached. Through the crack, Chuck eyed a long descending staircase ending in a large basement that bent sternly to the right. Firelight flickered from around the corner.

Chuck jabbed his friend on the shoulder motioning for them to leave. Andre passed the doused flashlight back to him and shook his head. “I’m going down for a better look.” Natalie reached for his belt to pull him back but Andre brushed her hand aside. “I’m not going in, I just want to see.” He pushed the door wider. Chuck cringed at the near deafening noise that creaked from the hinges. His heart pounded like a man in a coffin being buried alive.

Using the wall as leverage, Andre lowered himself down the first couple stairs, listening for a change from the room below. The moaning continued. Reduced now, it was the faint sound of a man grasping for life but praying for death. Natalie flung her arms around her brother. Chuck could feel her body shivering against him. He watched his friend descend the staircase. Crossing over a plank that had fallen away, Andre crept closer to the edge. Reaching the bottom of the stairs he peered around the corner. The deep, monotonous tone coming from the basement rose to an elegy of sorrow and then died quickly replaced by a labored gasp.

Andre’s knees buckled without warning.

...

Ready for page 4!!! For some reason, I read this in an English accent

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Watching him crumble, something snapped inside Natalie. She leapt from her brother’s arms and dove down the stairs, knocking the door wide as she passed. Chuck reached out to grab his sister, dropping both flashlight and candlestick in the attempt. Both went tumbling down the wooden staircase. Chuck managed to catch himself on the doorframe before plummeting after them.

At the commotion Andre sprung back to life. He turned and caught Natalie just as she reached the base of the stairs. Her momentum flung them both fully into the room. Sprawled together on the floor, the two children tangled in each other’s limbs. An abysmal roar exploded from inside the room. Andre scrambled to his feet. Fear paled his features. Looking up, Natalie’s eyes met the scene beyond. Her stomached churned retching bile over the floorboards. Andre tore at her trying to get her on her feet. Natalie managed hands and knees still heaving uncontrollably. Shadows grew on the wall behind them. Andre grabbed for the fallen candlestick and flung it into the darkness. Emerald candlelight flared from inside the room, then snuffed out. With one last effort, he grabbed Natalie’s shoulders dragging her to her feet. Slipping in a pool of her own vomit, she collapsed into his arms. The two fumbled for the staircase.

“Go!” He shouted. With a heave, Andre pushed Natalie toward the exit. She clamored up the steps on all fours.

Andre hit the ground before his voice reached her ears. A monstrous hand gripped his leg, pulling him from the base of the stairs. The air repelled from his lungs at the sudden blow. Andre gripped at the floorboards. His nails dug into the wood against the force, tearing and bleeding through the cracks. He managed breath enough breath for one more curdled scream before his body disappeared into the darkness. Andre’s scream died suddenly with the sound of splintering bones.

Chuck had been yelling from the doorway. He reached out his hand grabbing his sister and pulling her up the last four stairs. Natalie muttered incoherently, her voice quivering. The dim emerald light from below was eclipsed by a ghastly figure. Cloaked in a gossamer mantle, he climbed the steps two at a time. Arms spread wide, fresh blood dripped in viscous streams from his splayed fingers. The still air was speared by a resonating voice. Chuck reached in and slammed the door as best he could to wipe away the image. The air crackled with energy. His mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening. Before he could pick a direction to run, the door shattered. Searing heat engulfed the hall. A thousand jagged shards showered the children. Natalie screamed.

Draping his sister’s arm over his shoulders, Chuck pulled her limp body down the hall. Scorched and wounded, they hobbled into the unknown. Natalie jutted a wobbly finger behind them. Turbid black mist rose from the basement doorway. Through the smoke and smoldering wood stepped the demonic form. Three creatures emerged, squat and chiseled like freshly carved gargoyles. They stood to about his knee, slinking around his ankles. Gnashing and snarling, the beasts spied their prey through golden slits that pierced the infernal darkness. At a command, all three tore down the hall on four stout legs.

Into the darkness they ran. The beasts pursued. Chuck picked a door finding what he guessed to be the kitchen and pushed his sister through it. He slammed the door behind them and threw the steel latch. The walls resounded with a crash as the monsters rammed the door. Natalie crouched at the far end near the fireplace, sobbing. She covered her ears against the riot. Using their thick bodies the imps splintered the aged wood on the second try.

...

Dude, are you making this up as you go, or are you stealing from Steven King's unpublished vault?

Nice Work!

...

The sun had set leaving only pale moonlight streaming through the kitchen windows. Chuck found a door leading outside. The brass knob turned effortlessly in his hand but refused to lend passage. Another crash at the main door; more wood chips littered the floor. Finding an iron poker near the fireplace he swung it hard against the window pane. Glass fell in large chunks. He pulled back for another swing when the kitchen door was breeched. Natalie screamed again, sinking to the floor in a huddled mass. Chuck gripped the iron rod tightly with two shaking hands.

The three creatures fanned out blocking the entrance. One spread a pair of leathery wings and leapt to the top of a nearby cutting table. They moved awkwardly, he noticed, balanced like a bird by their long slender tails. He swung the rod in a wide arc hoping to scare them away. Their piggish faces curled into a mocking sneer showing several angled rows of serrated teeth. Chuck inched closer to his sister, putting himself between her and them. Two of the horrors puffed up, spreading their wings wide. Combined, they took up nearly half of the spacious kitchen.

The table imp hunkered down, charging his thick hind legs for an elevated pounce. Chuck waited until he saw the spring release and then swung his weapon with all his might. Fear lent him strength and luck landed a solid blow to the side of its piggish snout. Chuck felt the force of the strike down his entire spine. The creature toppled to the ground dazed.

The second attack was quicker and caught Chuck unprepared. A titanic force barreled into his side. His glasses were flung from his face by the impact. Claws ripped at his shirt, tearing gashes into his flesh. Chuck hit the floor clawing and scrapping at the beast. Its hardened hide felt more like stone than skin. Under its upturned snout, a pair of ragged tusks bit down into his arm. Chuck let out a mortal scream. Tears filled his eyes blurring his vision. His own blood flowed freely onto the kitchen floor.

Through the tears and the blood he could see Natalie pinned by terror. Her leg dangled lifeless from her exposed knee. One of the creatures had begun tearing off scraps of her flesh as she lay there. It chewed on the morsels as she watched in horror.

Chuck’s assailant reared for another attack. He saw his moment and seized it. Inverting the iron rod he thrust its shaft down the creature’s throat feeling it catch deep inside. Pushing up on the lever he forced the imp back to the floor. Straddling the creature’s neck, Chuck let out a primal yell. The stony beast writhed beneath him. Seizing the rod in both hands, he pulled upwards with all his might until he heard the creature’s jawbone crack. After a moment, its hideous screams died out in a gurgling of its own blood. Chuck ripped the poker from its gaping mouth tearing large chunks of flesh.

...

...


Content to gnaw on bits of Natalie’s flesh, the imp had ignored the scuffle behind him. Chuck raised his iron staff and brought it down on the imp’s back hearing the hardened armor crack under his barrage. The beast lifted its wings to ward off another attack, iron slicing through leather with each strike.

Pain tore through Chuck’s spine as the third imp bore down on him. Claws ripped through his shoulder blades, fresh blood cascading down his back. He lost hold of his weapon, hearing it clatter across the kitchen floor out of reach. Hot breath washed against his neck and he imagined the razor filled mouth inches from his skin. Grabbing wildly, his hands brushed a dry scaly tail. As his fingers closed around the foreign texture he felt his own muscles tingling. Adrenaline coursed through his body. His grip tightened with a new found strength. Pulling it across his torso, Chuck began to spin. The force rent the creature from his back and in one more turn he slammed the imp against the stone hearth shattering pieces of rock and mortar.

The creatures retreated hissing and snarling, shaking off their wounds, their bodies puffed and bloated. Wings held high, their teeth gnashing, both imps backed away into the shadows. From the doorway a new figure immerged standing tall. A thin sheet of vapor drifted from the man’s clothing creating a mist about him. He stood at the entrance, surveying the room.

Natalie’s cries ebbed to a whimper as she lay clutching her mangled limb. Chuck retrieved the iron rod on the floor. Sweat stung his eyes. Without his glasses he could see only darkened blurs. Gripping the rod in his blood soaked hands, chuck moved between his sister and the fiend. His muscled ached; his bones throbbed. Fear and determination were the only forces keeping him on his feet.

Turning his attention to the boy with the iron poker, the specter raised a frail arm and extended a single bony finger. Chuck flinched as if to ward off a physical blow. The iron in his hand began to smolder. Before he could react, the room erupted in a crackle of light as bolts of electricity arced from the man’s fingertip into Chuck’s lightning rod. His fingers seized. His body convulsed with the pulsing energy. Unable to release the rod, he watched helplessly as his skin began to boil before his eyes. Lightning danced between them for what seemed like an eternity.

Chuck felt his legs collapse beneath him. The floor rose up to meet him but he felt no impact. The vibrant light slowly faded to darkness leaving only a silhouette of the man in the gossamer mantle, two cackling imps turning circles around his feet.


... (End Prologue)

Fan’s Choice Cameo Appearance!

Good morning. Some of you may already know, but for those of you who do not, I am working on a writing project that has been in production for many years. Now that it is nearing its completion I have decided to open up and include some of my friends and family in the final stages. Currently, I have reserved a character slot at the end of my novel for a cameo appearance and would like to auction that opportunity to one of you!

This contest is NOT open to the general public! I am limiting valid entries to friends and family of the 501st Legion or those who have access to my personal Facebook page.

The challenge: If you could have any one super power, what would it be?

There is no right or wrong answer. I am looking for something unique, fresh, and imaginative. Submissions will be judged according to originality, usefulness and adaptability to my current super hero storyline. Feel free to be as vague or as descriptive as you would like. Multiple submissions are welcome but please do not duplicate someone else’s answer.

One lucky challenger will receive a named cameo in my upcoming story along with their submitted superhero power (I reserve the right to modify said ability to fit the motif and storyline as appropriate for this character and scene). I am hoping to have this particular scene completed by the end of summer so all entries must be submitted to me no later than July 31st either by posting here, PM or private E-mail. Once completed, I intend to post the scene in its entirety for a limited preview before the novel is officially published.

Thanks for reading and good luck!