Forever Between – First Chapter Sneak Peek of Book Two

Book one, The In-Betweener, isn’t even at the editor yet and I’m almost done with the first draft of book two!

The cover is right there–and isn’t is gorgeous!–and I’ve decided there needs to be some sneaky peekies of the first chapter.

Would you like that?

Today – The Girl in the Cage

Noise. Why was there always so much noise?

The girl turns in a slow half-circle, seeking the source of the noise, but everything seems hazy and disordered, as if nothing is in its proper place. The place is familiar, yet odd and somehow incorrect. And the noise! It makes her want to squeeze her fists into her ears. Or around the head of whoever is making the noise.

It’s silent again for a moment, then the harsh clanking returns as she moves toward the edge of her enclosure–though even the idea of the enclosure doesn’t quite sink all the way into her muddled thoughts, only the idea of being in some way restrained. Then a sharp tug brings her up short.

When she can’t lift her hands, she finally puts the noise and the chains around her wrists together, almost into their proper perspectives. Chains. Chains are for holding things down. These chains are holding me.

She lets her hands drop again and it’s a relief. One side of her feels almost too heavy to move and she’s listing toward the wall. A sound escapes her that doesn’t sound right and she lets herself lean against the cold wall. More relief. Less clanking.

A scent reaches her nostrils. It’s tantalizing and she wants it, wants to get near it. Wants to put it in her mouth. Her head follows the direction her nose instructs and even though her eyes don’t want to work properly, the flash of movement through a slit in a metal wall gives her a focal point. She can’t seem to stop herself and a snarl escapes her. The feeling of saliva filling her mouth is disturbing, the taste metallic.

People, there are people behind there. Why are they hiding?

The vagueness returns, which is in its way, a relief as well. No more confusion or muddled thoughts. Different sounds break through the haze. Groans and the snapping of teeth. In the next cage the girl sees the sources of these new and bothersome noises. All across the floor are men laid out on boards. They aren’t just chained, they are strapped down. Even their heads. But they must smell that delicious smell as well as she does.

Maybe they are as hungry as she is.

Movement draws her eyes again and this time, some quirk of physiology allows her to focus a little better on the slit. There are eyes there. Familiar eyes. The hunger is so strong the girl finds herself straining against the chains once more, the clanking paining her ears.

Then the eyes change somehow–some change in the way the light hits them or some subtle alteration in the muscles around them–and the girl recognizes the eyes, knows the face those eyes belong to. The name attached to the eyes appears in her mind in one brief burst of clarity.

Veronica.

The girls sees her hands finally as they truly appear, the bits of gore and the blackened lines of older filth under the nails, the dirt ground into her skin, the matted bits of feather clinging to her sleeves.

Oh no. No.

Behind the slit, the eyes disappear and through it, the girl can now see nothing but light.