Oleah Chronicles: Truth

By Michelle Johnson

What would you do if everything you thought to be true in your life was a lie?

Sixteen-year-old Angel Seriki must face overwhelming truths about her family when she meets Zander Black, a new student to her high school who is smart, charming and devastatingly beautiful. The revelations he uncovers to her about her family's past changes everything, and as her relationship and feelings for Zander deepen, so do the risks involved. She must now accept her fate and face the true reality of who and what she is. Even if that means giving up everything, including being human.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329139299

Michelle Johnson

Michelle Johnson is the writer, baker and voice behind www.DogTreatKitchen.com. An exceptional love of dogs has led her to create a website on how to spoil your dog with healthy homemade treats. She believes that all dogs, pure or mixed breed, puppy or senior, healthy or special needs dogs, deserve the very best homemade dog treats. She has been creating and testing original dog treat recipes for over 5 years. She lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest.

Book preview

Prologue

––––––––

This book is dedicated to Alana, Alicia, Lauryn, Natalie,

Peyton and Vanessa.

No dream is ever too small to reach for.

INTRO

Quick, this way! The tribal soldier yelled back over the sounding alarms. We must hurry, Coral can only hold the portal open for a few minutes. It’s our only chance to escape the Dark Seekers.

Where will we go? The tribal queen yelled as she hurried to gather the rest of her belongings. How do you know it’s safe? The panic was thick in her voice as she tied a knot over the opening of her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Her cappuccino colored skin blanched with anxiety.

The soldier quickly grabbed her hand and began to run, leading the way. Coral will explain everything, my Queen, the king is already there waiting with the princess, he said as he hastily led her through the back door of the palace which opened out to the path that would take them into the jungle.

It was sunset, the sky burned with deep oranges and fiery reds. Loud crashes and earth-shaking thuds boomed in the background. The crackling of fires roared, spreading its destruction as screams of panic echoed throughout the kingdom. It was chaos.

The planet Uforika was under attack from the sorceress, accompanied by thousands of creatures from Kindren, the Land of Darkness, to destroy one thing and one thing only: the princess.

As the two flew out into the jungle, they transformed into white lions, sprinting through the lush forestation without a second to spare.

This way! The lion instructed as he directed them onto the fork in the path that led to a waterfall, behind which they speedily entered a small opening into a secret tunnel. As soon as they were safely inside, they transformed back into their Oleah form.

An Oleah could be described as a creature with a combination of human and lion features. The top half of their faces resembled that of a lion, the bottom half human, along with a human torso and lion legs. They are known to be the most powerful mystical creatures throughout all of the galaxies.

Through the darkness, the queen could make out a green light ahead. As they came around the bend, there stood the tribal Oleah King, holding the two year old princess in his arms. They were accompanied by a cherub named Coral. Strawberry blond curls flowed down her back and over her blue satin robe while she stood in front of an oval-shaped portal that danced wildly in circles.

The moment they saw the queen and soldier enter, a look of relief swept over both of their faces. Coral’s pearl-white wings spread out from behind her back and fluttered with excitement as she glided into the air.

My Queen! She smiled brightly, revealing her angelic dimples.

You made it, thank heavens! The tribal king sighed and ran over to embrace the queen.

The little princess giggled as she reached out from in between her parents to grab her mother’s shell necklace with excitement. The queen smiled, looking down with adoration at her daughter and cupping her face gently as tears welled in her tawny eyes. My little cub. Mama’s here now.

The soldier grinned, pleased that he was able to successfully reunite the family, his tanned complexion flushed from the run. He gave a nod of greeting to Coral. She slightly smiled, returning the nod and promptly glided back to the ground in front of the portal.

She cleared her throat and began with urgency in her voice. There’s not much time, the portal will close in five minutes.

The king and queen anxiously acknowledged Coral’s statement with a nod and turned back to the soldier for their final goodbyes. The king pressed his forehead against the soldier’s as they firmly placed their right hands on the back of each other’s necks. The king’s voice was firm, but pained.

Kovu, you have been loyal to me and my family, I shall not forget you.

The princess giggled as she reached up for Kovu. Ko-Ko!

Kovu forced a smile despite his sadness and leaned down to press his forehead onto the princess’. He cleared his throat to try and dispel the lump that sat heavily in it.

Little Princess Angel, I will miss you. May the strength of the lioness within protect you, little cub.

Princess Angel’s bright lion-like eyes looked back at him with a mixture of confusion and playfulness. Kovu bowed his head to remove one of his many necklaces filled with lion claws and feathers and placed it delicately around the princess’ neck.

Moved by Kovu’s gift, the king held back tears as a grin lifted the corners of his lips. He walked back over to Coral with the little princess in his arms.

The queen then approached Kovu, embracing him in the same way. "Protect what’s left of our people. You will be their leader until it is safe for us to return so Angel can fulfill her destiny. Give them hope, be kind but firm and assure them that we will live in peace again."

The queen let go of Kovu and gave him one last look. Her face warm, but her tawny eyes were anguished as the portal glowed against her cappuccino skin and long black curly hair.

Kovu tried to give a reassuring grin. Your legacy will live on in our new Kingdom, that I promise you ... His voice broke, emotions too thick to continue. He gestured towards the portal. You must go, my Queen.

The queen briskly walked with a heavy heart over to stand with her family.

Coral looked up at them and spoke clearly but quickly, "This portal leads to the planet Earth. You will become human and lose all powers on this planet, but you will be safe. We’ve gotten everything set up there so that you can enter their world unnoticed and live among them without suspicion. You will not be able to contact our world. However, I will have the power to speak to you and update you through signs in the stars. Look for them when the moon is full, only then will you regain the power to hear my thoughts. If danger from Kindren is near, you will be able to access your powers, but in small doses. Its best if the princess has no knowledge of our world and lives her life as a regular human. From what I know, I am the only cherub with access to this portal. The Sorceress has not figured out the formula to replicate a cherub’s wing glitter and hopefully it will stay that way. She flapped her wings and glided swiftly into the air above the portal. Now hurry, once you’re through the portal my wing glitter will close it behind you. Peace be with you."

The king bowed his head in appreciation to Coral, gave a final glance back at Kovu and went through the portal with Princess Angel smiling and waving, BYE-BYE!

The queen hesitated, looking up to Coral, What if Angel is found? I won’t have my full power to protect her?

Coral looked warily at the queen with her childlike features. "My Queen, you will regain your full powers only if the Sorceress takes a portal to Earth. Let us pray to the heavens that it does not come to that. I give you my word, I will protect Princess Angel." Her words were full of conviction, filling the tribal queen with a peace that tingled throughout her body.

The queen smiled softly for the last time at Coral, Peace be with you.

She took in a deep breath, and walked through the portal.

1

Hello Stranger

The treacherous buzzing sound of my alarm clock startled me out of sleep. Per usual, it was greeted by my palm forcefully smashing it into silence.

OK, OK, I’m up, I mumbled, my voice still groggy from sleep as I plopped myself back on my pillow. I absolutely hated early mornings, particularly Monday mornings. Having to leave the warmth of my cozy bed to get up for school after weekends of sleeping in and staying up late, was always brutal. In fact, it was pretty much a guarantee that I’d hit snooze at least two to three times on a regular basis. Today however, I had en English test – meaning my snoozing would be cut short.

Angel, you up, sweetie? Dad’s voice whispered loudly from behind my door – just on time.

Ummhmm.  I forced myself to sit up, dangling my legs over the edge of the bed. Just about to get in the shower.

Ok, well get a move on, you don’t want to be late. He stressed before making his way down the hall.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Test days were always the same, Dad would come knocking on the door to make sure I actually woke up, then tell Mom to get a bowl of cereal ready for me downstairs before bombarding me with a bunch of test questions. All because of that one time I overslept and bombed my test – well to be fair, I oversleep everyday, but it’s rare for me to actually epically fail anything academically.

They’ve never let me live it down. I got to school late and only had a half hour to finish the test that I was totally not prepared for. The result was a big fat F. Thus, causing the parentals to forbid me from watching TV for a week – which sucked, I was already behind on all my shows. Mom claimed that if I hadn’t stayed up marathoning Teen Wolf the night before, I would’ve had more time to study and passed. Whatever. My teacher has had it out for me since day one, so studying wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway.

Staggering sleepily with my towel in hand, I walked down the hall into the bright sun-filled bathroom. Looking out the window, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was going to be a decent day in Toronto. Being mid-May, the weather was still bipolar, teasing us with warm sunny days before reverting back to cold, grey, wet ones.

I stood at the window letting the sun warm my face before I hung up my towel and got the water going. My morning ritual involved a full inspection - zits had the tendency to always show up unannounced. Leaning in to the mirror with a yawn, I wiped the sleep out of my eyes to get a closer look. Sure enough, I was a mess. White crust rested beside my mouth from last night’s drool, my bun had become a matted hairball and my eyes were still puffy from sleep. Against my cappuccino complexion, the contrast of my golden, hazel eyes always made them stand out – more so than usual.

My whole family; that being Mom, Dad and me, had the same eye colour. With it consisting of more gold than hazel, they came across very cat-like, and quite dramatic. Too many times I’ve had people approach me at school just to tell me how cool my eyes are. It drove me nuts. Especially since I’ve never seen anyone, with our particular eye colour, it made me ‘the girl with the yellow eyes’ at school.

I absolutely hated the attention. After a while, I just blocked it out whenever someone would notice and comment. Can’t a girl just blend in with everyone else? It’s stressful enough being sixteen, dealing with exams, being forced to think ahead to which University I want to go - ugh it’s enough to break me out in hives.

Although, I’ve managed to get through high school up to this point, with my little successes along the way. Like finally making peace with my curvy medium build after years of hiding behind oversized clothes. I’m pretty sure every teenager goes through that ‘awkward phase’, mine just lasted a little longer than average.

Angel, you’ve got twenty minutes! Mom yelled from downstairs.

With an annoyed grumble, I got in the shower.

After freshening up, I got dressed and pulled my damp curly hair into a high ponytail. Determining I was decent enough for public, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen and took a seat at the table in front of my huge bowl of Golden Grahams.

Mom stood on the other side of the counter pouring herself a cup of coffee. Her long, curly, black hair was pulled back with a white headband emphasizing her braided sandy blond highlights. She loved intertwining little shells into her braids. She said it gave her a piece of the village where she grew up, off the coast of Africa. That’s where she met and married my dad, before riots forced them to become refugees. I don’t remember anything about the village or the tribe we were a part of, I was only two when they came to Canada. I don’t even recall other family members, it’s always just been the three of us.

Mom always looked so professional and powerful. It came naturally to her, like she was born to lead. Not to mention, her fashion sense was always on point – unlike my usual jeans and tee. This morning she wore brown dress pants with a white-collared buttoned up shirt. Simple and elegant, accentuating her exotic looks. Anywhere we went people would notice her, craning their necks just to look her way. It was common to hear how much I resemble her from neighbors or friends, and trust me, I was definitely flattered by their compliments - but I never saw it. She was gorgeous, and I was just – me. Our skin tones were very similar though, except I had more of my dad’s lighter complexion while she was more caramel.

As she stirred cream and sugar into her coffee, she turned to me with her classic you-better-know-the-answers-to-these-questions look. With another quick sip of her coffee the interrogation began.

Did you have a chance to review last night for your English test today?

Struggling to talk through a mouthful of cereal, I managed to respond. Yup. Here we go.

Good. So, what was the name of Juliet’s cousin whom Romeo murdered?

Tybalt.

Her eyebrow raised skeptically. Who was Mercutio?

Easy, Romeo’s best friend. C’mon Mom, you can do better than that. I teased, taking another bite of cereal.

With a mischievous smile, she continued, Where did Juliet get the idea to fake her death?

The Priest.

With another sip of coffee, she folded her arms in a calculating manner.

So, did I pass?

Let’s hope so. She failed at hiding the grin that was spreading wider each second on her face.

Picking a soggy square out of my bowl, I flicked it at her with my spoon. When it successfully met its target, landing on the same hand she held her mug with, I practically snorted milk out my nose, bursting into laughter.

Her head shook with disapproval as she slowly peeled it off. Very funny. C’mon finish up, we’re leaving in three minutes.

With one last sip of coffee, she fluidly placed the cup in the sink, grabbed the keys that hung off the wall and headed for the front door.

Honey, don’t forget to pick up some steaks for dinner tonight! She called out to my dad up the stairs.

Knowing that was my cue to hurry up, I took one last gigantic mouthful, rushing to put my bowl in the sink. Grabbing my backpack off the stairs, I quickly yelled goodbye to Dad before scrambling out the door.

Dad was lucky; he got to go back to bed after his usual wake-up duties. The benefits of being an artist. He owned a gallery a couple blocks over, so he pretty much made his own hours.

He was extremely talented. All his work looked so realistic you constantly had to do a double take. He specialized in wildlife canvases, particularly lions. It was his way of paying tribute to the tribe we were a part of back in Africa.

According to Dad, legend was that our tribe were descendants of lions and had special powers. I think that’s why they were his favorite. He painted this amazing picture that hung in the master bedroom of two white lions and their cub. The detail that he put into each painting always took my breath away.

As we pulled up in front of the school, per usual Julie - my best friend - was waiting for me on the steps. She always asked to get dropped off early, knowing that two minutes later I’d be there.

Today she was wearing her favorite dark red sweater that perfectly complemented her alabaster skin, piercing ocean blue eyes, and wavy, jet black hair. I always called it her man-magnet. It fit her hour glass curves like a second skin, giving her the looks she loved to receive from guys at school.

Watching us get closer, she waved before beginning to make faces through the window. She was always such a clown, constantly cracking me up.

Hey Mrs. Seriki, she beamed as I got out of the car.

Good morning, Julie. All prepared for the test I assume?

Because I’ve known Julie since kindergarten, she’s become an honorary member of the family, which basically means she gets the same lectures as I do.

I snorted a laugh as she nudged me with her elbow before giving my mom her

Reviews for Oleah Chronicles

[courtneygiraldo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Life seems pretty normal for 16 year old Angel Seriki; school, friends, gossiping about boys. That is until the mysterious Zander Black shows up. A transfer student from a prestigious private school, Angel seems to form a strange connection with him immediately. The two are drawn to one another in a way Angel cannot explain. Ever since his arrival at school, Angel has been plagued by nightmares and strange hallucinations, and her seemingly normal life begins to get a whole lot more complicated. As details from hers and her parents past come unraveled and brought to light, Angel finds herself squaring off against an unimaginable foe and a decision that may result in her leaving her life as she knew it behind forever. Pretty solid read! You all know I enjoy a good contemporary fantasy/supernatural book and this one definitely scratched that itch for me. Johnson builds a pretty unique world in Angels backstory and I am looking forward to seeing even more of that in book 2 (which thankfully I have handy to dive into!). The Oleah are a unique race and I enjoyed the feline shapeshifting aspect. They ooze a certain regal strength that played well in the plot of the book. The characters were all pretty likable including Angels best friend, Julie. She was the perfect sidekick, spunky and loyal- we all need a Julie in our life! I did find myself slipping into swoon mode, like Angel, the more I read about Zander. He has the strong yet gentle charisma that really makes for a perfect love interest of a character. Despite having her life turned upside down, Angel seemed strong and brave in a way that I feel will only continue to grow as the series (and her character) develops further. My only drawbacks to the book were that I could have done with a little bit more plot development in the building of Zander and Angels relationship, it seemed a tad rushed at times as was the build up with our villain. I would have enjoyed more cat and mouse between the two factions, really building that tension and anxiety. I’m hoping the remainder of the series can do that for me.Overall a good read- one that I would recommend to my middle grade readers and up!