Caught Between Worlds

By Harrison Pope

Jake a lonely young gay teen finds his world turned upside down after his parents are brutally murdered. Jake hides a dark power within that society shuns him for. Can he rise up to take revenge or will he fall to the wrath of conformity?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781312542372

Book preview

Caught Between Worlds

Caught Between Worlds

By Harrison Pope

Copyright © 2015, Harrison Pope

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-312-54237-2

Chapter 1

A plume of smoke was rising over the night sky and Jake knew it was time to get to work. Jake was what society called a soul ripper. There were many derogatory terms such as soulless monster, angel of pain etc.,but they all fell fairly flat in comparison to the term soul ripper. Studies had shown that only about twenty percent of the population were soul rippers. They were not widely accepted by most people and when their secret was discovered many were forced into hiding.

The younger generation has started a small revolution, but it was quickly crushed by the government and covered up. Soul rippers had the ability to rip the souls out of a human being. (Hence the name soul ripper) In effect this would kill the man,woman or animal because you no longer are alive if you lose your soul. It was a strange genetic mutation that society never saw coming and they were far from ready for it. Humans tend to alienate what they don’t understand,but our story starts with someone much smaller. A boy named Jake and his life starts off in the small town of Oakland Park.

My name is Jake i’m just your average teenager and this is where my story starts off. I went off to school today and just as I approached my first class of the day and soon enough a man walked about to me. He was no stranger to me his name was Tank Fisher. He yelled Get over here faggot! Tank came closer every second I waited and I sat in silence waiting for what would happen next. Tank grabbed me and pushed me up into the locker. His hand gripped my shirt collar tighter than a python’s hold on it’s prey. He yelled once more You fucking piece of gay trash and you disgusting soul ripper. His spit splattered all over me face and I wiped it off with disgust. He landed three punches on my face and then threw me to the ground.

Now bleeding I lay senseless as Tank walked off to his class. I heard the eerie sound of the school bell ringing and a rush of sadness fell over me as I knew I was late to class. The halls were now deathly silent and empty. Everyone had gone to class and I just lay there. I began to pick myself up and wiped the dripping blood from my nose. The blood stained my knuckles a bright red the type of color that you would see in some sort of fantasy world. I stumbled off to my class and as soon as I walked in teacher was first to scold me for my tardiness. She yelled Jake! Where were you? Class started twenty minutes ago! I drowned out the rest of her speech about being tardy and found my seat.

The rest of the day was just about the same. I struggled to move on past this chain of events that took place everyday,but I learned that it was better to cope with it than to move on from it. I walked out to my car in the parking lot only to find that it too had been vandalized with derogatory terms and defaced with a key. I opened the door and sat for a second. I began to think about what had happened today and I soon found myself crying. Soon, another figure was approaching my car and I soon became alert. The car was covered with paint and permanent marker so it was impossible for me to make out the figure.

The mysterious person opened the passenger door and then got in the vehicle. There sat a tall, strong, brown haired boy named Ryan. Ryan was my boyfriend and long time partner. Ryan said Hey, love you look horrible. What happened to your car? I sadly opened my mouth to say ‘Well Tank beat me up and then somebody defaced me car. I’m sure Tank was responsible for this too. Ryan sighed and then said Why don’t you go tell someone about this? You can stop it. You deserve so much better than this. I smiled and said I really wish I could,but i’m a soul ripper. You know how they treat people like us. It’s already bad enough having people bullying me for loving you. I don’t need someone bullying me for being a soul ripper as well. Ryan smiled and then said Well, OK then if you say so. I’ve got to go home. I’ll talk to you later. I smiled and then said Bye babe." Ryan smiled back and then got out of the car.

I took a few odd turns and found myself at home. My sadness had returned as soon as Ryan left. I walked upstairs and waved at my parents. They asked how my day was and I sadly lied by saying that it was fine. I walked upstairs and found the gun I had stashed under my bed. I picked it up and felt the cold steel against my hands. I pushed a cartridge into the gun and held it to my temple. I shoved the circular muzzle as far as it would go into my temple and then held it there. I thought about what I would be leaving behind if I took my life such as my wonderful boyfriend and my family. I couldn’t find the courage to pull the trigger and dropped the gun on the floor. I began to tear up knowing that I would be facing the same pain tomorrow.

I pulled the curtains closed and let darkness consume my room. I awoke the next morning to find that I felt better than the night before. I walked downstairs to fix myself breakfast, today I felt it was necessary to pursue something different. I fixed myself some extra food today to make sure I broke up my average routine. I got in my car and drove off to school. I pulled into one of the few open spots that were left in the parking lot. Most of the students with early classes got the best spots,but it just was what was left.

I entered the school to find Tank waiting for me by my locker. He said Hey, faggot ready for your daily beating? I nodded my head in displeasure and appeasement,but Tank didn’t seem to care. He landed a hard punch on my face and he watched in extreme pleasure as I fell to the floor. I felt inside of myself and realized that I refused to be treated this way anymore. I stood back and then something strange happened. I felt a fire in my gut and it shot up through my body soon after. I then looked down at my hands and noticed that they had energy running through them. I soon realized that this was part of my soul ripper repertoire. I decided to try out my new ability on Tank.  I reached into his empty body and pulled out a stringy white substance.

I looked at the strange substance for a few seconds and then looked back up at Tank. His eyes had rolled back behind his head and he fell to the ground. I held the substance in my hand and then stood in shock. It took a minute for me to realize what had just happened.  I realized that I had just killed Tank. I began to panic and started talking to myself outloud. I didn’t mean to do this. Why did I do this? Why me? My head was spinning and I fell to the floor next to Tank. I stared into his now pale,lifeless eyes and felt a pit in my stomach begin to open up. I threw up in disgust the yellowish vomit fell over Tank’s body coating it in a gross mess. I got up and looked around. It appeared that nobody had seen the event take place.

I sighed a sigh of relief,but then I realized that the school had invested in security cameras. The whole ordeal would be caught on tape and I was sure to be caught. I watched as a campus security member turned the corner and saw the mess. He screamed and then called in the event to the office. He ordered me to get on the cart and he soon drove me to the office. I was sitting in the principal's office now awaiting my punishment. He said I know it was you,but I don’t have the proof for it yet so you are just going to sit and wait for now. I sat there for close to six hours while he filled out paperwork. Around five thirty in the evening he said Now i’m going to call your parents. I became very anxious and then bolted out of the room. He yelled for me,but I was already out of the office on my way home.

They cops were looking for me,but I was able to evade them luckily. My parents received the call describing what had happened. I ran out of the principals office as soon as he called them. I returned to my home by now it was around six at night. Soon, after I arrived home I realized I couldn’t stay here anymore. I snuck out of the window. I had nowhere to go at the moment and that meant that there was plenty of room for stupid ideas. One of those extremely stupid ideas was trying to pursue criminals,but I had nothing else to live for anymore.

So, under a moonlit sky I went in search of crime. I realized that if I am going to jail when they catch me. Why not make a difference now?  I walked down the street and a few blocks later I found what appeared to be a criminal act. A woman was screaming Joe get your filthy hands off of me! I turned into the alley where I saw a man grasping the women and basically raping her. He stuck his filthy parts into this poor, helpless woman and I had to help her. The man appeared to be drunk and he yelled Da fuck you want boy? I yelled back Let go of her you sick freak! He laughed and then puked a bit,but soon said Fat chance and he continued on. I knew I had to do something so I did.  I gave the man a demented smile and then pulled his soul out. The stringy substance fell to the floor.

I never really understood what happened to the souls when I ripped them out. I had heard some people say that they go up the astral planes of existence,but of course that was just a rumor. If the person was dead then I could care less where their soul went in my opinion. I looked up at the strange girl and she just stood there in shock. I told her He’s dead you don’t have to worry anymore She just ran off in fear I guess or to get the police. Either way it was time for me to go.

I got home and tried to find out who the man I killed was. It turns out he was one of the lead smugglers for the soul eaters. The soul eaters are a gang of soul rippers that banded together to terrorize the general public. They are the equivalent of the mob with super powers. It could have been anyone in the city, but it just had to be him. The soul eaters were harsh on punishment of people who messed with them they will torture and kill everyone you have ever loved family, friends, all gone in a flash.

I tried to sleep that night,but it wasn’t the same lying out on the street. I had left my home because I realized I could never go back since the police would be searching for me. I thought about my mom and how the tears must be flowing down her face right now,but I had to move on. I became worried about Ryan since he could easily be a target for bullying or even worse a target for the soul eaters. I knew I couldn’t let that happen so I ignored all the warning signs and went to school in search of Ryan.

I found him sifting through his locker. I told him everything that had happened. and he jokingly said Baby it will be OK if I die I know you will avenge me. He chuckled as if it were a Joke. Ryan knew I was a soul ripper,but he just took the news in such a sarcastic manner.I just ran off and hoped that he believed me. I was hoping I could stop this, but there may be no chance. I went home and I thought I should  help Ryan. I had to devise a plan on how to take care of these goons. I could use my gift and take down their whole organization, but I would need help.

It was a big job and I would need more people. More of my people, the ones with the gift. I went home for dinner and my Mom seemed less upset today after she heard the whole story. She said The police are coming for you, but not this second. She