The Green Blade

By M R Wright

Memories live like you and I...never truly dying, never truly forgotten, but always...immortal.


Meet 17 year old Sonny Jacobs and join him as he unravels a mystery before his very eyes...

When so much goes down in such a short amount of time the world needs a hero. Adventure, Secrets, Betrayal, and Death await Sonny...can he be the hero the world needs?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781365918124

M R Wright

Margaret R. Wright, University of St Andrews, UK

Book preview

The Green Blade

The Green Blade

M.R. Wright

Text Copyright © 2017 M.R. Wright.

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-365-91812-4

Second Paperback Edition: May 2017

This is for my family.

Without their never ending love and support this wouldn't be possible.

In Memory of:

Nanny

Grestine Jewel Montgomery Wright

Prologue

People everywhere in the universe, even all of the particles around us if you listen close enough to hear them, always talk about immortality. The thing about being immortal is that whether you are a spirit, a human being or some kind of alien life form outside of all we know about already, the thing is that all things are possible. However, the fact remains in this lifetime we're not immortal. In my life so far the one thing that seems to stand for more of the meaning behind immortality than anything else, other than God Himself, is my memories.

All of my memories are truly immortal and will live on long after I'm dead and gone, this I know for certain. Sometimes I sit back and reminisce on where I have been, what I have seen, and all that I have gone through, especially who I was then and am now. When I do that it only backs up my point all the more. I don't want to live forever and be immortal. At least not like this anyways...it is just too much sometimes, but then again that is life, right?

I guess what it really is, is that being the last of one species makes one feel that way at times. My name is Sonny Jacobs and I'm not your typical American male. At least if male is the word you want to use for what I am exactly. You see where I'm from we're all known as Lights. I am one of the last remaining Lights from a planet far away on the outer rim of the universe called Aurora. Enough of that, though, how about I start all the way back in the beginning.

You see the place I grew up was in modern day USA in a little shore side town known as Conway, South Carolina. It was that little tiny red dot on the map that you usually overlook, but sometimes feel the need to say, You know some day I'm going to go there just to see what it’s like. The town was right in the middle between Myrtle Beach and Georgetown. The beach was right along the Grand Strand of the Carolina's while Charleston was out further inland. Charleston was the city where my adoptive parents, my real Mom and Dad, found me at one rainy night in 1990.

Chapter 1. Fate

It was pouring down cats and dogs as the thunder clashed in the early hours of the morning. The rain just kept falling down harder and harder beneath the dark sky. Everything kept lighting up every time the lightning struck down somewhere in the city. The vinyl patio cloth that hung over the front step to the door at the home of Dave and Michelle Jacobs blew all over the place. It was colored in jade with red stripes on it in a constant pattern that dragged itself across the cloth vertically.

The front door had two large golden numbers on it that read, twenty-one. Those two numbers always stood out on that front door. The paint on the door was so worn out in red until Dad almost decided to paint over it once. Beside the door was a tall glass pane window that had curtains covering it from within. Their apartment was on a street named Dunlap Street right in the center of the northern part of town. Mom and Dad always talked about buying a house of their own someday, but for the time being that apartment, that one townhouse in the middle of town, was beautiful.

On that dark and stormy morning on their front door step laid a baby in a basket. As that tiny basket was laid down legend has it that some mysterious stranger slammed their fist on the door in hopes to wake the couple up.

Hang on I'm coming, Dave yelled from inside. He came hustling down the stairs dressed in a pair of gray colored sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He was tan, short, and his hair was light brown to match his brown eyes. Dave had a fresh coat of five o'clock shadow on his face that morning. Half asleep, Mr. Jacobs didn't have any care in the world what he looked like at three in the morning. To his surprise when he opened the front door there was nobody there except for the little basket and a little baby crying.

Dave who is it, Michelle hollered from their bedroom upstairs.

Nobody...uh, hey Michelle I need you down here. Hurry! He did all he could just to fathom up the words. Hey there it's okay...shh, shh, no...it’s going to be okay, Dave spoke gently to the little infant who lay awake and upset in the basket he held in his bare hands. The wooden basket was dry and untouched by the rain except for the bottom rim where it was wet from the cement step.

In the basket the little baby was well wrapped up with several blankets well suited for an infant. On the baby's small left forearm was a chain bracelet. The chain was made from fine silver and only hung about from each end of the actual object that was hooked onto it. The object was a flat piece of shiny silver that had a sun inscribed onto it on the left side with the moon at its crescent form on the right. In the middle of each was a heart with three stars over it.

What's the matter? Mrs. Jacobs was wearing her dark purple night gown that had little stars all over it here and there. She made sure to come downstairs in her pink bunny slippers to keep her feet warm. Michelle was Latina and had long dark hair that was so dark until it looked black almost. Her hair hung down to the middle of her back it was just so long. It was very beautiful and suited her well with her deep blue eyes.

Look. Michelle looked confused as she gazed at the precious baby unknowing just what to say. She looked up to Dave and didn't know how to react. Without allowing any more time to pass Michelle lifted the baby from the basket. She held the baby in her arms as if she had never held anything like it before. Careful and cautious, but very sweet with a mother's love and nurturing.

Where did he come from, Michelle asked.

How do you know it's a boy?

Dave I looked just to be sure honey.

Oh, Dave shrugged.

So where did he come from?

I don't know. I mean you heard the door, it sounded like someone was about to break it down as hard as they were knocking on it.

Yeah well they probably had to so we could hear them over the storm, they both paused momentarily. Now then what is your name baby?

Look on that bracelet; I saw it on his left arm. Both of the Jacobs unhooked the bracelet from the baby's arm and examined it closely. Whenever they were done checking out the front they looked on the back side of the flattened piece of silver that had all of the inscriptions and found a name.

Sonny Time-gazer, Dave said aloud.

So your name is Sonny huh? Well Mr. Time-gazer would you like to be a part of our family?

Enough with the questions Michelle, God knows your probably scaring him all the more.

Jeez Dave do you always have to make me sound so harsh, she said to Dave vaguely.

No. I'm just saying it has probably been a rough night for the little guy. Let's try to get him to take a nap and I'll go see whose open this late.

Wait.

What darling?

I think that Sonny was left on our door step for a reason this morning. Baby I don't want to hand him over to the authorities just so they can take him away.

But Michelle he isn't even ours, Dave had nothing more than pure concern in his eyes for the well being of everyone in the room.

Then we should adopt him. Michelle kept staring at Sonny and smiling like she had never seen anything more precious than him in all of her life. At that moment in time Sonny was more important to them than anything else.

Okay, but we still have to contact someone to let them know the situation and that we want to adopt him.

I love you.

And I you. The Jacobs kissed and both entangled the newest member to their family with their total undying love. Who could have expected two complete strangers to be so welcome to an innocent young soul left crying on their front door step one stormy morning? The point is nobody could have predicted it, but somehow they loved me right on the spot. That shows me each and every time I look back and remember everything I was told about that memory just how blessed I really am.

Chapter 2. 18 Years Later

The year was 2008 and I was going to turn eighteen that summer. For the moment, though, I was still seventeen. Sadly my parents somehow managed to grow apart and for the longest time I struggled with accepting that. Of course when Mom got remarried to her second husband that didn't help one bit. It only allowed our relationship to go down the drain so much. My Dad has never dated anyone ever since him and Mom split up.

The year their divorce became final was in the April of 2001. That happened right after my Dad's father passed away. He was like my best friend growing up as a child. Following the divorce that stunned my life ever so much came a world disaster in the country that broke the hearts and saddened millions. One day singled out by a very controversial terrorist attack on the world trade center in New York City up north. Nine-eleven.

It seemed like the world as I knew it was falling apart all around me as those events began to take the stage. That winter right before 2008 when I was saved I finally let go of a six year long battle with depression and so many other personal issues I dealt with on a daily basis. That was no easy task, but I had several people above and around to help me along the way.

We lived in Conway at the time. It was mossy green in every direction as we were surrounded by the woods. No matter which way you looked there were trees everywhere. Sometimes I’d joke around with everyone and tell them that it was the boondocks. Whatever the case Conway was the home away from home. Conway was the home I never wanted, but grew to love.

That morning everything was warm and humid. The weather was beginning to change for the summer that year. Ever since I was a little boy I have always loved the summer time. Whether the weather outside was hot or just plain warm, it is this time of year I can actually go outside and just be myself. The season with all the green grass that is covered by the fresh wet mildew of the mornings.

The time when the blue skies filled with endless shapes created by the clouds. When you are bored it is just pleasant to stare at. That moment in time when everyone is hanging out by the ocean or just chilling up at the boardwalk to get something cold to drink, just to cool off. Simply put, it was about to be summertime and I was so happy. I was attending the final days of my high school career that spring. Four long years in one school and here my friends and I finally were at the brink of forever after.

The house we lived in was actually a trailer out in the country in the part of town that was the boonies. At least that's what everyone around the beach called it. Before I could leave that morning I had to take Stormy out. She was my little jack-Russell terrier with her white fur coat full of splashes of light brown all around her face. That year Stormy was just three, but she was supposed to turn four years old that September.

That morning I decided to wear my dark denim jeans with a white t-shirt that was beneath my faded out brown button up shirt. Usually I would wear my button up shirts over some t-shirt as a jacket. It felt comfy and free to me and I liked that. My hair was dirty blonde colored and always messy looking, my skin was white and tan somewhat, and I had brown eyes to top it all off.

Esperanza on the other hand wore her simple sundress. This one was black colored with shades of blue on it all over. The blue was in the form of large petals from off of some Hawaiian looking plant or tree perhaps. Anyways it really looked good on her. Altogether Esperanza always had a fantastic fashion sense. I had always assumed she got that from Mom.

As soon as I had brought Stormy back in, my little sister, Esperanza and I left to head out for the bus stop. Although I owned my own truck I chose to ride the bus to save gas. Esperanza was never really too happy about that, but she got over it.

I still don't see why we can't just take the truck. Esperanza was the spitting image of our mother. She had deep blue eyes and long dark brown hair that looked like it was black colored it was just so dark.

Because it helps me save the gas in it when we can just take the bus to school.

Yeah I know, but still.

You know what, you're so stubborn girl.

Ha, ha, ha! You know it, she smiled at me with that same gorgeous smile she always had on her face. The sun had not fully risen yet and the road we had to walk down was a long dirt road covered in sand and rocks everywhere. It wasn't all that bad unless you just never went out walking a lot really.

Sonny was that you?

What?

I heard footsteps, but louder than usual like there was a third set.

Esperanza if this is one of your little games then this isn’t the time for it…not this early on. I was cut short before I could even finish my sentence when all of a sudden I heard the same footsteps that Esperanza had overheard too.

See I told you. It sounds like someone keeps running up on us from the bushes or something. I could tell Esperanza felt uncomfortable just by the way she was acting right then and there. She never really did like walking anywhere on her own she felt uneasy. In other words she just wasn't a loner in anyway at all while I was in some ways of my own. All I could manage to do was look around the area from where we stood as carefully as possible. That didn't make too much of a difference because from where we stood in the road, we were like two sitting ducks.

Is anyone there? On each side of the road there was nothing but tall trees and bushes everywhere. In the corner of one of the trees was an old pathway I cut down and created as a little boy when I wanted to go on an adventure once. It was still there, but just more covered. Time allowed stuff to grow so that the overgrowth recovered the path I made.

Do you see anyone Sonny, Esperanza asked. In her voice I could tell she was becoming kind of scared and confused. She was letting her guard down and allowing herself to become vulnerable.

No. Esperanza stay right here for a minute and I'll be right back and...

But Sonny!

Esperanza it'll be okay just stay here and if anything happens run home. She nodded her head signaling to me that she understood just what I was about to do. Carefully I approached the bushes going as slow as I could possibly go just to be sure I didn't get caught or scare off whatever it was that was following us. I put my hands forward to move some of the bristles aside from the large green bushes. Once I pulled them out of my way I went through the bristles only to have them scratch up my side through my shirt.

My button up shirt hung over all the bushes on one side while the other drug right against me like as if it were attached to my bare skin. Behind that set of bushes lay more and then there was an open gap in between two or three trees hidden in the background. The trees left a fence like stature around the meadow and gave off several rays of sunlight through the treetops. I had never really noticed this part of the woods before. It was just down a foot of two from the pathway I made as a child.

It's strange how we overlook the tiny things in life. Before I made any further movement to step out into the sunlight I noticed something. Standing hunched over in the meadow was a little baby deer. I didn't want to disturb it, but I figured that was all that we had been hearing walking over our footsteps. That deer must have been pretty smart to wait until we moved to make any sound so that it went unnoticed. It tried to go unnoticed at least.

Slowly and without any haste whatsoever I approached the babe and came up along the side of the small creature. It had four legs and a regular face for a deer of its size. The baby deer looked up and faced me and I didn't make any sudden movement. All I wanted to do was pet the deer, but not to scare it off so quickly. When I moved I knew I had to do it slowly and take my time like way more than usual or else it would run off. So I gently put my hand out so that it could smell me.

The babe sniffed at my palm and then continued chewing whatever it was eating on the ground below. I figured it must have been okay to pet it since it wasn't running away or anything so I grazed my hand on its back once before it stood back up. It stood up straight like it knew something was coming. Now what that little deer sensed I have no idea, but I know it heard something from just the way it raised its ears and turned its head from left to right quickly.

Sonny are you okay? Esperanza had made her way up to the bushes more enough where I could hear her right at my back almost. Sonny? I knew she was just concerned and didn't know what was happening. Before I had a chance to speak at all Esperanza pushed through the bushes more roughly than I did. That’s when the little deer ran off hopping through the woods back to wherever it came from.

Yeah I'm okay Esperanza. It was just a baby deer that was following us.

That's strange.

Yeah for real. Oh well its gone now, you scared it off. Let’s get on down to the bus stop before the bus leaves us behind and I end up having to drive us this morning.

Alright. And then we were back on our regular routine heading down to the bus stop from the dirt road. Little did we know that we were being watched…

Phew! That was close. Some stranger stood staring off at us right from the edges of the bushes. He stood not even three feet away from the bushes that Esperanza and I had gone exploring through. He was tall and well built.

**********

It was an average day at school for everyone that day except for some new kid who we had all noticed. He did his best to blend in and it seemed like he kept trying to play the role of the loner type. The only problem was that little act didn't go so well. Everyone who had already seen him since school started that morning already had plenty of speculations about him. One of the main reasons for that other than how he acted were the strange crescent moon tattoos he had on each arm around the upper part that connected to the shoulders. Some kids at school had already attempted to make new friends with him from what I had heard already, but all he did was avoid everyone.

The name of our high school was Mossy Woods High School. Most people around the beach thought of our school as the most lame and disturbing. That was either because someone always died there every year or because we had the strictest rules out of all of the schools around the tri-state area. Our school colors were black, silver, and green the colors of the Mossy Woods Jaguars. The school seemed so big my first year back when I was in the ninth grade that I even compared it to a college at one point. Honestly it was just that big of a school.

Hey Sonny are you ready for spring break? This girls name was Brittany Brooks she was one of my best friends growing up. Brittany had bright blonde hair, a great tan, and big brown eyes. That morning she was wearing jeans and a short sleeved shirt. The shirt was black colored and had some design on it representing some band she was madly in love with. We always picked at her about her fantasies of her and the lead singer hooking up someday.

Yeah. What about you? We were standing outside near the cafeteria. We stood by the benches and red poles that aligned each side of the path. The path itself was covered by a metallic roof that the red poles held up. The metallic roof and red poles aligned all the way up to the cafeteria and then around the side of the building. Where the side of the building ended the path ended and from there it was just plain cement.

Same here. I think Kelly and I are going to Florida for the week.

Why there? I couldn't help, but to smile at her plans. She came off so funny.

Because Sonny, Britt's favorite band is coming to town, Kelly made her eyes get all big on her face the way she raised them when she said that. Kelly was Brittany's little sister who was still just a junior at the school that year. She came walking up to us from somewhere behind me. She had brown eyes just like her sister, she was kind of pale, and had auburn colored hair.

Different from Brittany, Kelly was a lot skinnier, but taller than her big sister. If you stared at both of the Brooks' girl's in the face you would almost say they were twins. Their faces were just that similar. Yet they were two different people completely connected only by their family blood line.

Haven't you noticed the shirt Britt's been wearing all day Sonny?

Not really.

Well since Kelly had to give it away, yeah their coming to Orlando this April. That's the whole reason we're driving all the way down there just to go see them.

Do you think this is the time you're going to get to go backstage and talk to him? Kelly and I couldn't help, but to laugh.

Maybe. I really hope so, Brittany had plenty of enthusiasm and that was one of the things that made her a remarkable girl.

Hey do y’all know who that kid over there is? I tried my best to keep any of us from pointing at him to single him out, but we all looked at him like we were about to mug him or something.

I don't know. He keeps avoiding everybody from what I've seen all day, Brittany said.

Yeah. Nobody can get a word out of him except for when a teacher asks him something, Kelly concluded.

I've noticed that. Did either of you have any classes with him yet? I couldn't help, but to ask. It was like I had to find out who he really was. The way he stared at me from time to time all day was just creeping me out on several different levels.

I did in first period this morning in my news and broadcasting class. Sonny why are you so interested in this guy’s business anyways? Brittany acted like she was being suspicious of me. The way both of the girls looked at me made me feel like the cards on the table had turned around. Now I was the one being singled out.

All day ever since I got off of the bus when I first noticed him walking around I noticed that he is always watching me. Look there he is doing it again! Neither of the girls noticed since they were each facing me. But over both of their shoulders I saw him staring at me over and over again.

Are you sure you're okay Sonny, Kelly asked me. She looked at me like I was going crazy. What was going on today? Why was everyone being suspicious towards everyone else?

Yes I'm positive Kelly. I'm just saying every time everyone looks away and I look over there I catch that kid watching me. Is he stalking me or something? I never meant to sound so accusing, but from my point of view I couldn't help, but to be defensive. It was creeping me out that this random guy who showed up right near the end of the year was just watching me like a hawk.

Look I want the both of you to just look at him and look at what he keeps doing. I'm telling you he will do it again watch.

Okay, okay, Brittany proclaimed. Then both of the girls turned around to face the place by the red colored poles where the new kid stood. He didn't go inside the cafeteria at all. By the time we returned back outside he still stood staring at us off and on all lunch. The only difference is that when we came back outside he had moved to a different spot along the path. Did he have nothing better to do or was he just trying to say he wanted to be friends with us?

Sonny he isn't standing there anymore, Brittany said.

He moved so y’all wouldn't catch him. Kelly turned back and looked at me all suspicious again. Whether she thought I was making all of that up or not I didn't care. When did I ever lie to them before? Well except for once when we were younger, but that was back in middle school.

Okay Sonny sure, Kelly said. Suddenly the bell rang and lunch for our building was over. Everybody began heading back to class and getting ready for the end of the day to come already. All we had left was just two more classes and then our spring break would begin. It was the last spring break for all of us seniors that year. I mean the last spring break we would spend while we were still in high school.

We'll see you later Sonny, both of the Brooks' girl's called out to me as they went into their class just minutes before the