Red Legacy

By Justin Brown

Eden was once a peaceful town, filled with boisterous and bustling residents. Where the fauna stayed a constant green and birds sung melodies of songs. Twenty-three years later Eden had started to burn. The disease had gained a foothold on its population with deceitful intentions, with no cure in sight.

Evil had returned to claim its birthright, with the savior nowhere in sight.

Jaxon had a calling originating from deep within his soul while Sophie was lost on a path of self-discovery. Sam struggled with the past he was all too familiar with and Brian must face his fears, if he is to survive.

Jaxon must use every gift and helping hand if he is to save Eden from the legacy thrust upon it, from a time long before his. Does he have the strength and love from his companions to help him fulfill his destiny, or will he be persuaded by the evil that was passed down to him from the beginning.

One thing is known for sure. A battle of good and evil is about to take place ensuring that a time of ultimate confrontation is at hand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Oct 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479731824

Justin Brown

Justin Brown (@spridel11) is an Information Assurance Analyst at a large financial institution. Previously, Justin worked for as a consultant specializing in Open Source Intelligence. Through Google Hacking and dorks Justin has uncovered numerous troves of information leaks regarding his clients. Justin can usually be found at conferences volunteering with Hackers for Charity.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Justin Brown.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2012919045

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.Xlibris.com.au

[e-mail]

502391

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prelude

Twenty-Three Years Later . . .

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Acknowledgments

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To my brother, I share with you these few words of truth

‘Only with intense passion can true perfection prevail . . .’

To my mother, I share with you these few words of wisdom

‘Only with complete sacrifice can one know

their strength of conviction . . .’

To my father, I share with you these few words of Solace

‘A mans legacy is his final gift to humanity,

regardless of its final destiny . . .’

Last but not least, a special thanks to my publisher for their help in making this novel possible and to my friends and family for

supporting me through the entire process.

Prelude

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Mary burst through the door in a thick cloud of dust and door splinters, shattering the darkness as the sun quickly lit up the room, pouring in after her. ‘They’re dead, all of them,’ she thought as she struggled to stand. Sweat and grit ran quickly down her smooth, delicate brow, slowly dripping to the blood-red carpet. As she regained her balance, she glanced around the deserted room, looking for a hasty exit.

Her focus was shifted as a screech tore through the air towards her, signalling that the creature was close behind and closing in fast. She hurried across the room in a few short seconds, swaying slightly in an attempt to reach the safety of the shadows, which had yet to be breached by the sunlight. She slipped into the shadows as a hulking shape blocked out the suns rays, turning the room dark once more, while sheer terror rippled through her as the figure began to talk.

‘Your time is short, little one, and the shadows will not save you this time,’ said the monster as it slowly began to cross the room.

‘Why?’ screamed Mary, even though she already knew Jason’s answer.

‘Because I require a son, and I can’t think of anyone better to give me one,’ said Jason, flashing his sharp, bone-white teeth at her.

Mary was amused. Even though she was certain that these would be her very last moments of clear sanity, she thought of her mother telling her not to worry as she told her before she slipped off to sleep every night that the creatures of her mind only existed in her nightmares. ‘If only she could see this now!’ Mary thought as the creature used its grotesque arm to reach for her through the black darkness of the shadows.

Jason’s right hand found her neck and closed around it, using his razor-sharp claws to ensure she stayed in place. He reached up with his other, more human, hand to tear off her torn and filthy dress, which was once her favourite, and he threw it to the floor in disgust. Jason stared at her naked, swollen breasts and smiled at the sight of her trembling before him. ‘She would do very nicely,’ he thought to himself. Mary whimpered at the sight of his horribly disfigured body that seemed to pulse, changing from human to monster with a rhythm that could have been almost waltzed to.

Giving a final, howling scream, Mary’s mind went blank as she tried to block out the thoughts of what she knew were about to come true. As he forcibly entered her, slightly tearing at her flesh, her mind left her altogether. To never return!

Twenty-Three Years Later . . .

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My name is Jaxon Harper, and this particular story begins in the past. I was born in an asylum for the insane in the small town of Eden, so I guess you could call me crazy. If you do, I wouldn’t blame you, but that is where I began my life. My mother was admitted there in her early twenties. She was, by all accounts, completely and utterly deranged, but I wouldn’t say so now. Her name was Mary Harper, and she was enjoying the life in the university, with her friends, and even the odd fling here and there. Her reason for descending into irreparable madness was never fully uncovered. What little she could say was the one word. Over and over again she would repeat ‘Jason’, but no one ever understood what that meant to her. She died after giving birth to me, which I guess im grateful for it. You could say that her death only brought the end to her suffering and released her to a place of unbound freedom.

When I was born, I was shuffled from foster home to foster home. Never really loved but more a reason to keep the cheques coming in for the families that were burdened with my presence.

I attended Eden’s local high school where I only achieved average grades to the sheer annoyance of my teachers. But I excelled at anything that was a physical challenge. I could still remember overhearing the gym teacher defending me in the teachers’ lounge at lunchtime as I walked past on the odd occasion.

By the time I was at the age of twenty-two, I had left them all behind and started my journey north to find my place in this big relentless world. Why north, you may ask? I honestly couldn’t tell you, but I knew to my core that it was the direction I had to travel.

For the rest of this story, I will have to fill you in as I go, but this brings me to the present day. The day I met my future, stars and flame!

Chapter 1

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Jaxon was sitting on the bus, contemplating his selection in music and decided he desperately needed a bigger collection. After he had left Eden, where he grew up, he had been travelling for the better part of the year, working odd jobs here and there to fund his search for the answers he didn’t know the questions to. But he had grown tired of the never-ending movement and was ready to rest for a while. Providing he could find some stable work in the town he once called home. The returning trip south from Sydney had all but exhausted what was left of his music choices, and he hoped that Eden finally had a decent music store.

The bus shook on the dirt road as it rumbled slowly towards Eden’s service depot. ‘Great,’ thought Jaxon. He hadn’t been able to stand for quite some time and was itching to stretch his sore legs. Although, he was slim, and he still had maintained a decent build for a guy who barely exercised. For Jax it was something that had never been on his list of up-most importance. It was the middle of summer, and the heat was still shimmering in the glow of the fading afternoon sun. He was wearing board shorts with just a flat grey singlet, bringing out his deep ocean green eyes to the comfort of any nearby girls that passed his way from time to time.

The bus had pulled into the last stop before Jaxon even realised, and he was startled to see the driver yelling at him from the front to get off. ‘Yeah yeah,’ said Jaxon to the driver, who merely gave him a disgusted look. ‘Kids these days have the attention span of gold fish, I swear sometimes,’ was all the driver said in response.

Stepping of the last step, his feet sunk into the soft dirt of the sidewalk and he quickly started walking into the town centre. Still enjoying the warm northern breeze that had picked up before his arrival, he glanced around in hope of finding some new tunes for his Walkman. Eden had changed while he had been gone. It had once been a small town but now had begun to grow into a thriving metropolitan area. His fortune didn’t make him walk for long, and he had quickly found what he was looking for. It was a small grey building that looked to be in serious need of condemning, with a big neon sign saying ‘Bobs Music Galore’ and hanging perilously from the storefront. Its metal chains squeaking softly in the warm breeze and as Jaxson strolled in; he was assaulted with a vast collection of new, old, and classic music, with every variation in-between. ‘Jackpot’ he whispered under his breath and hastily began to shuffle through the CD racks in the old-school rock section. Although he was very partial to anything that was new and upcoming he had retained a weakness for the classics, something he gained from his second foster family in his childhood years. While flipping through dusty CD cases, he smelled her long before he saw her. Jax was continuously amazed at his own body—his heightened sense of smell, eyesight, and sheer strength that normally would not be expected from a person of his size. She smelled of yellow roses and baby powder, bolstered with the hint of cleaning chemicals used for the customer’s convenience as they browsed throughout the store. Jax turned to the source of the airborne intoxication and saw a girl approaching him ever so gracefully from behind the counter at the rear of the shop. As she walked towards him, her long smooth legs carried her gracefully through the air. Jax took her in with a brief glance and suddenly felt a pulsating jolt, originate from his heart and travel up his spine, lighting up every receptor it passed on the way. She was tall, clearly athletic, with long jet-black hair, complemented with blue eyes and deeply tanned skin. By society’s standards, she was incredibly beautiful. He knew with certainty then that the last year had not have been in vain, and he realised that this was what he had been looking for. Ironically enough, he had found it in the one place he never thought possible—home!

Sophie was working her last shift for the week with little hope for