Hunted...

You thought I forgot, didn't you?  I could NEVER forget Teaser Tuesday!!  I've just been busy getting ready for my bi-annual writing retreat which I leave for in like less than two hours now!!  Woohoo!!  Can you guess what I'm going to be doing?  Finishing up the final touches on Metamorphosis!!!  Now that my friends is something to celebrate!!
     In the meantime, a teaser awaits your reading pleasure...


                                Skyla

              Boom.  Boom.  Boom.

 Jey shoots up from the ground.  “What was that?”

Crossing my arms, I give him a bitter stare.  Too bad it’s too dark for him to get the full effect.  “I told you I heard something.”

“Shhhh,” he cautions, slowly pulling himself up to a crouching position. 

I follow his lead, raising myself up onto the balls of my feet, my fingers digging into the earth below.  About a mile away from us there’s something glowing, turning the golden grass into eerie, neon green.  Behind the glow is a large metallic structure that I instantly recognize.  It’s the Striker.  Bile rises slowly in my throat and I swallow it back, trying not to let my fear disable me completely. 

“We’ve got to go.”  I pull on Jey’s sleeve trying to persuade him to run.

“Wait,” he says, shaking his arm free.  “Something’s happening.”

I’m pretty sure I don’t want to see what’s happening, but I don’t want to get separated from Jey either.

We watch the green light as it flickers in and out.  Finally, it splits into three separate beams and moves away from the base of the Striker.

“What is it?” I whisper.

“I’m not sure.  It looks like a search party or something,” Jey says. 

“All the more reason for us to leave,” I reiterate. 

Suddenly, the lights break away from each other completely.  One’s on the left, one is on the right and one is directly center.  It only takes a moment for me to realize the shift in direction.  The lights are gaining speed and they’re headed straight for us. 

We are being hunted.

     Crazy!!  Well, I'm off to write, write, write!!  See you guys on the flip side...oh, and Happy Reading!!

A

Parched...

     Have you ever been thirsty?  Not like I need a swig of water thirsty, but like your mouth is made of cotton thirsty?  Nothing seems to satisfy.  You chug water.  You down a pop.  Even day old milk sounds good...well, maybe not that good, but you get my point.  :)  Skyla and Jey have a similar situation to deal with.  Let's see how they handle it.

    

                                       Jey

Whoever said that truth is beautiful is an idiot.  Truth can be brutal, unforgiving.  One glance at where we’ve come from is enough to make the strongest person quit.  I shudder to even think about what waits ahead of us. 

Shading my eyes from the sun, I glance into the distance.  All I can see is an endless field of rocks teetering on the parched earth.  Cracks litter the surface of the dry ground like veins.  Just looking at it makes me long for the lake that’s directly behind us.  Even though the water is deadly, at least there is the visual of liquid to keep you sustained. 

Skyla breathes out a sigh beside me. 

“You ready?” I ask, springing to my feet.  It’s not that I’m excited about the prospect of moving forward.  I just know that if we don’t move now, we’ll give up. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she responds, pushing herself up off the ground.

For a moment we both silently stare out over the next leg of our journey.  The sight before me sucks the moisture right out of my mouth.  I lick my lips and swallow, subconsciously trying to convince myself I’m not thirsty. 

“We’re going to have to find water soon,” I say.

“Yep.”

“I bet there’s not any out there.”

“Yep.”

“We could kiss,” I suggest.  “That might produce some…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence.”

My lips curl upwards into a smirk.  “It was worth a try,” I call over my shoulder as I jog into the rocky terrain.

A small growl sounds behind me, followed by the shuffle of shoes against dirt.  “One of these days, Jey,” Skyla grumbles.

“Let’s concentrate on getting off this island first, Sky.  Then, you can take all the time you want to plan my demise.”

“I think I will,” Skyla responds.  “In fact, that’s going to be at the top of my list.” 

A loud bark of laughter escapes me.  “I’ll hold you to that.”

    
     Hahahaha...Jey's definitely an opportunist.  I hope you enjoyed this week's snippet!  Happy Reading!


A

Countdowns...

     There are few things in this world that I enjoy more than a countdown.  Fifteen minutes till the end of work, ten minutes till the end of the game, four more days until that book or movie you want to see comes out.  You get my drift.  Countdowns can be marvelous, wonderful, stupendous...or they can be positively frightening!  Skyla and Jey have a countdown of their own in Metamorphosis.  I can't say that it's exciting, but it will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat.  Let's take a peek!


                                        Skyla

He gently takes my arm and examines the small screen on the back of my cuff.  “Seventy two,” Jey mumbles under his breath.  Whipping me around, he locks eyes with me.  “Skyla, now you check mine,” he pleads urgently.  “Tell me what it says.”

“Seventy two,” I answer after examining his cuff.  “It says seventy two.  What does that mean?”

Another loud beep sounds through the air and I search frantically for the noise.  Slowly, realization dawns on me.  The beeping is coming from our tracker cuffs.  Grabbing Jey’s arm roughly, I glance at the tracker again.  The numbers are moving now.  Seventy-one fifty-nine and forty…thirty-nine…thirty-eight.  Green digits flash by at a staggering pace. 

“The numbers are moving now.”

Jey rubs his hands over his face.  “They’re counting," he states, his voice strangely void of emotion. 

A nervous ache spreads across my chest.  “What are they counting?  Who are they, Jey?”

Jey scrunches his face together and punches the air angrily.  “The stupid System!  Who else?”

My stomach drops.  “But we’re gone from there.  We’re not in the System anymore,” I reason.

“I tried to tell you,” Jey says, turning to face me.  He smiles sadly, his eyes lacking their usual luster.  “We’re not in the Nothing.  Not yet.  We’re in a Sip training facility and apparently, we’ve only got seventy-two hours till…”

“Till what, Jey?” I whisper, afraid of what his answer will be.

Jey doesn’t speak.  He just pops his hands open and makes a booming noise.  My stomach lurches at the display. 

“No,” I gasp.  “You can’t be serious.”  I suck in air, shallow and fast.  “Why didn’t they just kill us before then?”

Jey shakes his head.  “You don’t get it yet?  That would be too easy.  Don’t you know how the System works by now?  They thought they couldn’t use us in the Guild, so now, we are target practice.”

“I don’t understand.”

“This whole island is one big hunting ground for the Sips,” Jey pauses, “and we just became the prey.”

     Wow!  That's a scary conclusion to come to but, did we really expect less from the System?  I sure hope Skyla and Jey can figure a way out of this particular countdown.  See you guys next week.  Happy Reading!!


A

We All Fall Down...

      Wow!  Has it been a whole week already?  That flew by.  And now, here we are again, ready and raring for Teaser Tuesday! 
     Last week, I finally introduced you to the inner workings of Jey's mind.  Did you like it?  If you're not quite sure yet, don't fret.  I've got plenty more than that to share.  But for this week let's go back to our lovely, kick-butt heroine, Skyla.  Did you guys miss her?  I know I did!! 
     So, this time when we meet up with Skyla, she's in a little bit of peril.  Shocker!  She's always getting into some form of trouble or another. :) Let's join up with her and see what she's up to.


                                          Skyla

There’s no air.  Here in the sky, where there should be an abundance of it, there isn’t any.  My chest contracts, the force of the wind sucking all the oxygen out of my lungs.  I can’t even scream.  I just fall, helplessly, my life ticking away like seconds on a clock.

Clouds whiz by me, their wet fog brushing harshly against my skin.  Every touch is like ice, stinging painfully against my flesh.  Instinctively, I curl myself into a ball, trying to avoid their sharp fingers.

For years, I’ve dreamt of this, wished for this.  Now, in a cruel twist of fate, I would rather be anywhere than here. 

My body shudders from lack of oxygen.  The world blurs into a haze of blue and black and gray.  I try to remember how I got here in this place of pain, but nothing makes sense.  The only thing that is real is the torment as my lungs slowly cave in on themselves.

In the distance, I see a light amongst the clouds, a hairline fracture in the white fluff.  It calls to me, like a siren, beckoning me to come near.  I reach out with a shaky hand, trying to grasp the warmth that is just barely out my grasp.

Without warning, my throat closes violently.  I choke on a last burst of air, convulsing like I’ve been electrocuted, and then, there is nothing…

     Intense, right?  I'm so glad I'm not her right now!!  Anyways, have a good week guys!  I'll see you next week when I'll be back with a new snippet.  Happy Reading!!!


A

And so it begins again...

    Hello Readers!!!  You cannot even begin to know how excited I am to start up Teaser Tuesdays again!  I've been waiting and waiting and waiting...oh, how good it feels to be done with waiting.

     So, before we begin, I must put a warning up for those of you who have yet to read Skyla.  DO NOT read the excerpt below.  It does contain spoilers and all around information that you should not know before you read the first book.  If you've read Skyla and you're back for more - read on.

     Two things before the first excerpt.  One, if you didn't already know, I'll tell you now, Metamorphosis is a dual point of view book.  What does that mean?  Not only will you hear from Skyla, you'll also get to hear from Jey.  :)  Can I get an amen?  It's about time we get to see what's going on inside that boy's head!!  The second thing - I start book two back toward the end of book 1.  So, the first couple of chapters are the end of Skyla through Jey's point of view. 

     Now, before you go crazy on me, settle down.  Grab a cup of tea or whatever soothes you and sit back down in that computer chair.  I absolutely promise you are going to love rereading those last few chapters through his point of view.  Why?  Because, I have to admit, they're kind some of my favorite chapters.  You are going to love getting to know Jey.  He is chuck full of information!  And just so you know I'm not lying, today's teaser is coming from good 'ol Jey.  Dig in!!

    

Jey

Skyla Deep is a legend and she doesn’t even know it.  How could she know?  She’s never been to the Nothing.  She doesn’t even know she’s not really a Defective.  Skyla’s clueless about so many things.

From the corner of my eye, I watch Skyla’s face as Dr. Smith breaks the news about me and her breeding.  Her face turns pink, then all out red.  Then, she’s glaring, first at him, then at me. 

Nope. 

She’s totally oblivious. 

But, I’m not.  I know exactly what’s going on.  Who she is.  What she is, really.  Skyla’s the hope for the future.  She’s the cure for the most deadly virus mankind has ever known.  And I’m here for one reason only - to bring her home. 

     Yeah - remember me saying he's chuck full of information?  Well, if that didn't prove it, I don't know what will!  Come back next week for the next teaser and as always, Happy Reading!


A