Hey everyone! I have gone back and rewritten the beginning of A New Sky and figured I should Include the first draft (Amazon policy) for anyone that has also purchased my book. Let me know what you think!
This is unedited, so there will be flaws. Due to being enrolled in kindle unlimited, I can not post the final draft of what will be in the published book.
Chapter 1:
"I'm back... and i'm naked"
Derrick looked up as the sun shinned through the trees surrounding him. He looked down and smiled at the tortoiseshell cat meowing at him.
"Thank goodness you know where we are, because I have no idea" he said as he bent over to pick the cat up.
"Miaow!"
"You bit me!" Derrick yelled.
The cat jumped from his arms and hissed as it backed away from him.
"Alright alright, i'll put some clothes on Ashes, calm down." he said as he waved his right hand over his genitals.
A thick black smoke enveloped his entire body as Ashes sat and starred at him. As the smoke disapated, Derrick looked down and admired his new blue suit.
"Dammit, I wanted it to be purple." He scoffed.
Derrick bent over to pick Ashes up.
"Alright cat, let's go find my father"
Derricks legs began to disappear as a thick black smoke began to shoot from the lower half of his body. Within an instant he flew straight up and over the trees.
"Ah, so we are in Canada at least" he said as he placed Ashes on his shoulder.
"But still, this is Nunavut... My how the great white north has changed"
"Meow"
Derrick looked at the cat on his shoulder, instantly decended back into the forest and solidified his legs. He bent over and grabbed a handful of dirt and put it in his mouth.
"Shit, it's January... The Targouls" he said as he panicked and took off full speed towards Ontario.
***
Derrick sighed as he flew over Ottawa stopping mid-air to observe the city, once the Capitol of one of the most powerful nations on earth. The City lay in ruin and nature had overtaken it. This was the case with every city in the world after the Targhoul outbreak, the only evidence that humanity ever occupied Earth, was the still maintained military facilities and power plants. Turning to face the cat on his shoulder, Derrick smiled nervously.
"Can I trust those masked kids to honer their word?" he asked.
"Meow"
"I'll take your word for it then. Let's go save humanity."
Derrick flew west as he made his way to Kingston, hoping to make it to his fathers house before the sun set.
"I really hoped this times me isn't there." he chuckled nerviously as him and ashes accelerated towards humanities last city.
Chapter 2:
"We made it just in time" Derrick said while the setting sun could be seen setting in the distance. Derrick came to an abrupt stop and looked down at a small blue house in the middle of the forest on the outskirts of Kingston. He laughed as he looked around and saw nothing a barrier surrounding his yard but not protecting any other homes.
"You never did like people, did you Richard? you truly are a dick" he smiled and decended to the pale blue house below. He paused as he looked around the yard. Everything was exactly as he remembered it. The swings that him and his sister used to play on as kids sat in the front yard, the big blue house with the bright yellow door and the trees that lined the winding driveway. Derrick sighed as he walked up the steps and knocked on the front door.
"Go away, I'm not interested in your little book club" a mans voice said fron behind the door. Derrick laughed as he cupped his hands over his mouth.
"Sir, if you have a moment, I'd like to talk to you about our lord and saviour, Justin Trudeau"
After a brief moment of silence, Derrick flinched as he heard glass shatter from inside the house. Frantic footsteps echoed and came to a stop as the door slowly crept open. A man in his early sixties poked his head out.
"Are you really my Derrick?" the man said.
"Yes Dad, it's the future me. Where is mom"
The man paused for a moment before swinging the door open and turning back into the house.
"She got infected last night so she's locked up downstairs." he said, pointing to the basement as he climed up the stairs.
"Mom..."
"We don't have time to mourn Derrick, get in the kitchen" the man barked.
Derrick shook his head as he climbed the steps and followed after his father. When Derrick entered the kitchen, he froze when he noticed the room was full of weapons, computers and gas powered generators. He suddenly remembered what their original plan was.
"How are we going to do this without mom" he asked.
Derricks father just grabbed a severed hand off the kitchen table and waved it at him.
"Ok Richard, have you sent the rest of humanity? or do we need to do that now?" Derrick scoffed, fighting the urge to call out his fathers cold indifference.
"The younger you is currently doing that, what you need to do is go find your sister and get her on the Packrat without him."
Derrick raised his eyebrow as he looked at his dad.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"She is in Trenton."
Derrick nodded. "Why don't we just send them? Why do I have to lie and make Sabrina and the others go to space?"
"It's a failsafe my boy, don't forget, it was your idea to split humanity up to increase the chances of us surviving."
Derrick bowed his head in shame.
"I know, but everything I did to her just seemed cruel."
Richard walked towards Derrick and placed a hand on his right shoulder.
"Listen son, it's easier to not have to explain why killing every human will save them, I love your sister, but she is as stubborn as her mother and time is of the esscence."
"Shit, I forgot about mom... Can we save her?"
Richard just shook his head as he turned away from Derrick.
"No idea, you'd have to ask your new friend" he said.
"Meow"
Richard jumped back as smoke began to eminate from Derricks chest and a tortoiseshell cat jumped out and onto the floor between the two men.
"Meow, Miaow Meow"
Derrick bent over and picked the cat up.
"Seriously?, you're the best Ashes"
Richard just starred at Derrick as he danced around the room with the cat.
"What is happening Derrick? he mumbled.
"Oh yeah... I speak catonise now" Derrick said proudly as a smile crept across his face.
Richard just rolled his eyes and gave Derrick the finger.
"I'm the dad kid, awful jokes belong to me."
"Well accordind to my feline friend, the Kaigens can bring mom back... sort of."
"What the hell does sort of mean?" Richard yelled.
"If we take mom to-" Richard got right in Derricks face as he extended his index finger.
"No, your mother and I will stay here. Once you send your sister off, I will end her suffering and join her."
Derrick slowly reached his hand towards his father and flicked his forehead.
"Mom is coming with me, don't like it then you'll just have to come with" he said as his body turned to smoke and began sinking through the floor.
Chapter 3:
"Hey mom, your mangled face actually makes you look a little prettier" Derrick said as he decended from the cieling in the unfinished basement.
Derricks mother jumped to her feet to face him and lunged towards him. As soon as she made it about half way across the room, the chains tied around her left arm, legs and neck tightened as sent her flying back. When she landed on the cold concrete floor, a the chains holding her started violently electrocuting her. Derrick winced as he looked down at his mother, covered in cuts and bruises. Her skin was a pale grey and her eyes were a piercing yellow but bloodshot. He calmly walked up to her as her swings passed right through his gaseous body. Derrick held his hand out as a thick black smoke began to swirl in the palm of his hand. He reached into the smoke with his other hand and pulled out a white pocelin mask with and ominous smile on it.
"Goodbye mom." he said as he placed the mask on her face.
The mask began to fuse to the skin of his mothers face and a thick black smoke started shooting out of the eyes and mouth of the mask.
"Derrick, what have you done?" Richard yelled, bursting through the vault door leading out of the basement.
Within the blink of an eye, Derrick disappeared and reappeared behind his father and placed another white mask over his face. Smoke began shooting out of his mask as he started screaming in agony. Derrick watched as his mother and father turned to gas. After a minute, the smoke had cleared and both the masks floated over to him. With a wave of his hand, the masks turned to smoke and Derrick began to float through the house until he was back outside.
"You Turlews really messed things up" He said as he started flying towards his sister. Ashes poked her head out of his chect and meowed softly.
"It's okay, we are here now he said, as he sped off into the distance at lightning speed.
"Let's complete the cycle and get humanity out of this dimention."