Otherworld: The Bloodfyre Chronicles, #1

By S.E. Wright

She's a college bound teen until a mist sets her on a journey 100 years into a post-apocalyptic future. Will she be able to save the planet before a powerful evil overtakes the world?

 

Jenna spends her summer counting down the days until she can get out of Kansas and start college. Summer ends abruptly when her parents whisk her off to an underground bunker as a deadly mist overtakes the world. As the world descends into chaos, conditions in the bunker become unstable, forcing Jenna and her family into stasis pods. She wakes up to utter chaos and the realization that she is something other than human.

 

She learns that she is a Bloodfyre who has a mysterious purpose with a low survival rate. Some legends say they have the power to transform the world. These legends draw to her many enemies. The greatest of these enemies are the Unseelie fae. The same Unseelie fae that have been trying to transform the Earth into a place of darkness and despair for the last 100 years.

 

As Jenna learns to survive in this new reality of monsters, science fiction and magic, she has something her enemies do not. A flash drive full of information that could turn the tide against the Unseelie.

 

With the Unseelie fae hunting her, the world falling further into chaos, will she be able to survive long enough to get the information to the Unseelie's sworn enemy in time?

 

Otherworld is the first action-packed epic in the Bloodfyre Chronicles. If you like quirky characters, and post-apocalyptic settings with a little bit of magic, then you'll love S.E. Wright's thrilling novel!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carduus Publishing
• Release date: Nov 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393478089

S.E. Wright

S.E. Wright is from Central New York, and studied Civil and Environmental Engineering at Clarkson University. She currently lives in Portland, Maine working as a full-time environmental engineer and dreaming up stories in her spare time. Visit www.sewrightauthor.com to get updated on what she's working on today, book releases and other news.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Just another boring Saturday at home.

Jenna sighed as she flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom.

I can’t wait till college starts, she said to the ceiling fan.

She sat up at the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut. Puzzled, she waited on the edge of the bed while footsteps thundered up the stairs. Her bedroom door burst open. She jumped to her feet and stared at her mom.

Jenna, you need to pack up some clothes for an extended time away from home. We need to leave.

Her mom left her doorway.

Jenna’s mouth hung open for half a second. She moved into the hallway where her mom was giving her sister Abby the same speech.

Jenna took a few slow steps forward. Mom? What’s going on?

Jenna, just do what I ask. We don’t have much time.

Her mom’s voice was scratchy. Jenna crinkled her brow, noticing her puffy, bloodshot eyes were surrounded by dark circles.

Mom? she whispered.

Her mom squeezed her eyes closed briefly before she opened them again. Jenna, please. We don’t have time.

Her mom turned and rushed to her room. Her dad was there, already packing.

Stunned, Jenna watched her parents throwing clothes and other stuff in a suitcase. Her dad dragged something out of their closet, a black duffel bag almost as big as he was. She turned at the sound of her sister sobbing. Abby was grabbing anything and everything and throwing it into her bag.

Abby? she whispered.

Jenna, you need to pack up your things, her dad said.

Jenna stiffened at his tone. She rarely ever heard him use the ‘you’re in trouble’ tone these days.

Now, he continued, tilting his head toward her room.

She walked back to her room, shaky from the inside out.

She’d never seen her parents like this before. They seemed both angry and scared, above all focused on getting them out of the house. It frightened her.

She grabbed her large duffel bag and a backpack. She packed something for each season, along with anything else that she thought she might need without knowing where they were going.

Her mom walked by the door and Jenna shouted, What am I packing for?

Make sure you pack a winter coat and a rain jacket. And lots of underwear, T-shirts, jeans and comfortable clothes. Anything that’ll last a long time.

Jenna’s hands began to shake. She lifted her head. Her room had suddenly become a little bit darker.

Mere seconds ago, it had been lit up by the bright sunshine of summer. Beyond her window, a dense fog had now appeared, and she could barely see past the fence that surrounded their yard. Although not common in Kansas in the summer, they did get fog every once in a while. But this was bizarre.

She zipped up her bag and went to the window. What the hell is happening now?

Let’s go, girls! her dad shouted at them from downstairs.

She and Abby made her way down. Their parents were opening and closing cupboards in the kitchen. Before Jenna could make out what they were grabbing, they were on the move again. Grabbing the sisters each by the hand, they hustled them out to the car.

The smell of sea salt overwhelmed Jenna as they jogged the short distance to the car. Uh…

She touched her face. The fog was as wet as it was dense.

Her hair was damp by the time she got to the car. Uh, Mom? What is...?

Girls, quickly now. No time for questions.

Her mom hustled Abby into the backseat and kissed the top of her head. Jenna threw her and Abby’s bags into the trunk and made her way around to the other side of the car.

Her mom was coming around the front. Her skin glowed for the slightest moment. Jenna shook her head. When her mom came around the passenger-side door, she looked completely normal.

Jenna slid into the backseat.

Mom, where are we going? Abby asked. I’m scared.

It’ll be okay, sweetheart. We’re going someplace safe, okay?

Abby just nodded, tears falling down her face.

From the backseat, Jenna could see that the entire town was covered in this mist. She could see some of their neighbors out on their lawns, looking around, clearly puzzled. Her parents gave each other a look and her dad slammed his palm against the steering wheel. Jenna jumped and reached for Abby’s hand.

The entire car was silent. Jenna watched her parents, then their neighbors.

Their dad went to open the car door.

David! Don’t. Her mom grabbed her dad’s arm. We don’t have time. You know we have to leave. Right now.

Her mom’s forehead was wrinkled and her mouth was pinched.

Mom, Dad, what is going on? Jenna asked, her voice rising. Why does it smell like we’re at the ocean?

Abby squeezed Jenna’s hand.

We’ll talk about that when we get where we’re going. Where it’s safe, said her mom.

The neighbors waved good-naturedly as they drove by, but her parents kept their eyes straight ahead on the road. Her dad wiped at his wet face.

Jenna sat farther back in her seat. Something really bad must be happening if her dad was crying.

Her mom, on the other hand, stared straight ahead. Normally, on road trips, Mom would be chatty. She would try to draw everyone into singing games. This was a version of her mom that she had never seen before.

She felt Abby squeeze her hand again.

Jenna leaned over and whispered, Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see. They know what they’re doing. They always do.

I sure hope they know what they’re doing.

They drove clear out of the state, barely stopping for those three hours. When they did have to go to the bathroom, her dad would pull off onto some side road and they had to do their business in the woods.

As they drove, the mist became somewhat patchy. Every time it cleared, Jenna could feel the relief in the car, but then they’d hit another dense batch of the stuff.

Eventually, they stopped at a Casey’s for gas and pizza.

While they were standing in line to pay, the news reported that the odd, sea-smelling fog wasn’t just appearing locally. It was appearing all over the world. They kept calling it a ‘phenomenon’ as it didn’t fit any known weather patterns.

Their parents hustled them out of the store and back into the car.

Mom? Dad? What is going on? Did something happen at the lab today? asked Jenna, her voice trembling.

She swallowed.

The main employer in Manhattan, Kansas was LightStar Labs. They studied everything, from plant genetics to the fringe sciences. Jenna told all her friends that her parents were in the energy department, but everybody knew they were really studying whether or not ley lines were real. They researched the stories surrounding ley lines and whether what was unexplained could have a real explanation today.

To be honest, Jenna was embarrassed to talk about what they did, and she avoided it as much as she could. All her friends’ parents were involved in real sciences and getting published in journals. Her parents? They talked about fairies, or the Fae as they called them, and monsters at the dinner table.

Her expectation of them being involved in anything important was pretty low.

Her dad caught her eye in the rearview mirror. The car was dead silent.

Without speaking, her dad tore his eyes away from the mirror and sped out of Casey’s lot.

They drove in silence after that, except for the sound of her mom getting text messages on her phone. Every so often, her parents would look at each other in some meaningful way, but she had stopped asking what was going on after the first hour.

It was almost dusk when they suddenly stopped in the middle of a dirt road somewhere in Iowa.

Her dad jumped out with a device in his hand. He paced in front of the car for just a moment before coming back.

He popped his head through the window. This is it. Everyone out.

Abby and Jenna gave each other a look. Abby had stopped crying an hour into the ride and seemed to be resigned to being pulled along.

They got out of the car and grabbed their bags out of the trunk. Their parents extracted the large, black duffel bag that Jenna had seen them grab from the house. The sisters gave each other another puzzled look. Before they could ask any questions, their parents were already walking through a burgeoning, green cornfield at a quick pace.

Jenna and Abby both watched their parents walk a fair distance before they grasped hands and followed.

They had been walking for a good thirty minutes when they came upon a rectangular block of concrete jutting up in the middle of the cornfield. The concrete block was complete with a door, a digital panel to the right of it.

What the hell? whispered Jenna.

Jenna. Language, please, said her mom.

What a second. Is this an underground bunker? she asked.

Her parents turned, looked at her and nodded.

Holy shit, she whispered. Fear bubbled in her belly and she found herself shouting. What is going on? You two need to tell us right now!

There’s no time for that now, Jenna. We can talk about everything when we get inside, said her mom.

Jenna started to get that shaky feeling on the inside again. She looked down as Abby squeezed her hand. She took a deep breath and watched her dad work the digital panel.

Once he punched in a code, the panel slid back and another panel slid into its place. He entered another code, which turned into a retina scan, then a palm scan. Once her dad’s hand was scanned, the metal door jerked slightly. There was a whooshing sound before the door slowly peeled back enough to fit them through. The metal door was at least six inches thick. Once it was fully opened, she could see the top of a landing leading to a spiral staircase that disappeared into the darkness below.

Inside the stairwell were more digital controls that she assumed were just more locks. There were other emergency paraphernalia like gas masks, gas suits, oxygen tanks, water barrels and some military-looking food rations. Once her dad stepped through the threshold, the lights came on to illuminate the platform. A series of lights started to turn on all the way down to the bottom.

Peeking over the rail, Jenna raised her eyebrows. It was a long way down. She felt a little nauseated.

Once they were all inside, the door closed behind them. With a couple of clicks on the keypad from her mom, she could hear a mechanism locking the door. Her dad had already started down the stairs. She followed him, Abby close behind. As they were making their way down the tight, circular staircase, Jenna looked up. Her mom was still at the top of the stairs.

Mom? said Abby.

Don’t worry. I’ll be down in a few minutes.

The staircase was one solid piece of concrete the whole way down. When they reached the bottom, the stairwell opened up into a big, open chamber.

Lights came on as they walked until their dad stopped and opened up double doors via another set of digital security locks, just like at the bunker opening.

Once the doors swung open, they made their way into a spacious room. Off to one side was a big lab behind some clear glass walls. There was a kitchen and a dining area on the opposite side.

Jenna paced around the room while her dad put the large, black duffel bag in the lab. The open chamber appeared to be the main room. It had four hallways leading off it. She stood at the beginning of one hallway and stared. At its end was another chamber. From where she stood, it looked like it could be a living room.

There’s a pool table and games in there. And all kinds of movies to watch and books too, her dad said right behind her.

She crinkled her brow. She was about to ask how long they planned on staying here when she heard her mom come into the room, accompanied by another set of footsteps. The familiar pace of the other steps made her stiffen before she turned. She froze.

She stared at her mom’s smiling face.

It’s Joshua. He made it, she said.

She seemed so relieved and happy. Her dad had grown a little taut, but he walked over and gave her older brother a hug.

Jenna’s head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as she turned it toward Abby. Abby had shrunk back and seemed to be using the wall for support.

Her brother was sporting the goth look these days, apparently. All black clothes and piercings all over his ears, nose and eyebrows. A black tattoo completely covered the lower half of his face.

I didn’t realize they let you wear that kind of stuff in a mental institution, she finally said.

Joshua grinned. Nice to see you too, sis.

Mom, whimpered Abby.

Oh, honey. Their mom left Joshua and went over to Abby, hugging her pretty hard. Joshua has been working really hard to get better. You’ll see. He never meant to hurt those animals, sweetheart. He was ill. He won’t hurt you or anyone here. We’re family. He loves us and we love him. Right, Joshua?

She beckoned Joshua over.

Joshua walked over to Abby. He didn’t sport his usual, predator-stalking-an-animal gait, and he seemed pretty calm. Jenna crossed her arms over her chest as she watched him walk by.

He stood by their mom. I’m so sorry I scared you, Abby. I wasn’t well. I’m on good medicine now and I feel much better. I would never hurt you, okay?

Abby just stared at him and whimpered when he leaned in for a hug. She slid sideways along the wall and then ran down the hallway.

Joshua moved to go after her, but their mom grabbed his arm. It’s too soon, honey. Give her some space and be respectful. We knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

Jenna just shook her head and followed her sister to the game room at the end of the hall.

CHAPTER 2

A bby! Wait up!

Following Abby down the hall, Jenna paused when she entered the room, taking in the amount of stuff in the large, cavernous space. There was a massive plasma television that took up an entire wall, comfortable couches, a game center, another dining-room table and a bar, along with a pool table.

Jenna heard muffled sobbing somewhere off to her left. Following the sound, she went past the gaming chairs and around the pool table. She found her sister sitting in a corner, arms wrapped around her knees and her head down. When she heard Jenna approach, she looked up and stared around her toward the hallway. Not seeing anyone behind her, Abby shrunk back quickly but kept her head up. Jenna scrunched her brow; the motion was odd for Abby. She crouched down so they were eye level.

Abby was looking at her, but it felt like she was looking right through her. The tears on her face were still wet but she had stopped crying and seemed completely calm.

You okay, Abby? Jenna asked.

They say that things are going to be different soon. They say that I’m going to be different too, Abby responded in a whisper.

She sounded strange. Like she was much older than her fourteen years.

Wondering if her sister was having a mental breakdown, Jenna leaned forward. Abby, who’s ‘they’? What are you talking about?

She leaned forward and placed her hand on her sister’s head to check for fever.

As soon as Jenna touched her skin, Abby jumped as though coming out of a trance. She stared at Jenna as if she were seeing her for the first time. Her eyes still had a far-away look to them.

Abby?

Jenna slid her hand down to Abby’s chin. With the motion, Abby exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for too long.

In a whisper, she said, I know what you are. You’ll change everything.

Jenna leaned forward, wondering if she’d heard her right. Abby sighed as though it came from the deepest part of her being and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was focusing on Jenna finally. Jenna, where did you come from?

Concerned, Jenna sat on the floor. Her sister sat cross-legged across from her.

You just said something, but I don’t think I heard you right. Can you repeat it for me?

Abby crinkled her forehead and shook her head. Mmm…I don’t know what I just said. That’s weird.

At Jenna’s confused look, Abby smiled and came to her feet, bringing Jenna up with her.

She grabbed Jenna’s other hand. Things will be okay. I promise. I have a really good feeling. At this, her sister’s face seemed to crumple slightly before she brightened back up again and continued. You’ll see. We’ll be brave and do what we must.

Jenna harrumphed and started to shake her head. I don’t know what mom was thinking inviting him here. Feeling guilty, she shook it off. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. He deserves to be here too. I just hope it’s like Mom said. He can’t walk out into the woods to find small animals to torture and I just don’t want him to occupy his time with either of us instead.

Abby smiled. The scared girl who’d run down the hallway just moments ago was completely gone. Everything is going to change. I can just feel it.

She spoke with a confidence that Jenna had never heard from her before. What a transformation.

Jenna stared at her. You just said something like that a moment ago. Are you sure you’re alright? You’re acting a little off.

I did? Well, I’m fine. We’ll all be fine.

Her sister smiled and stood up.

Jenna had the distinct feeling that she was being lied to, but Abby gave her a hug and they made their way back out to the main hub. Their brother was nowhere to be found but they could see their parents behind the glass walls in the lab. Every single piece of equipment was on. A glass screen that took up an entire wall showed some kind of software program running a routine of sequences and numbers. Some stuff in there looked somewhat familiar, like what she’d find in her chemistry or physics lab at school. But some of the lab equipment looked like it should be on the set of a science-fiction film.

Curious, Jenna had taken a couple steps forward to get a closer look when the glass partition suddenly darkened. Huh?

She stumbled backward just as the door to the lab swished open and her mom appeared.

Sorry, girls, but we’ve made some adjustments to the lab walls. There are some things that we’re studying that we don’t want to share yet. We don’t want to upset any of you unnecessarily.

Jenna wrinkled her brow. What could possibly upset us about what they’re studying?

The door swished open again and her dad joined them.

I just called Joshua to join us, he said.

Joshua came striding down the hall as if everything were perfectly fine. What’s up?

Her parents glanced at each other.

Her mom smiled tightly. We promised an explanation when we got here so we are going to do that now. Follow me.

They followed her down yet another hallway that opened up into a whole other room. The room was a typical office conference room, complete with a large table at its center with at least twenty chairs around it.

Jenna raised an eyebrow. Why would we need twenty chairs?

There was a slew of audiovisual controls set in the table at one end. A glass screen at the end of the room took up the entire wall. A bank of computers sat along another wall. Her parents were turning them on, typing on the keyboards and tapping on the screens.

The glass screen at the front of the room came to life, showing a satellite image of a planet completely covered in a grey, cloud-like substance.

What planet is that, Dad? asked Jenna. It doesn’t look familiar.

It’s planet Earth, he replied, standing next to the computers. You all might want to sit down for this.

They all found a chair at the table, the only sound that of the electronics in the room. Jenna was shaking slightly. She gripped her hands tightly in her lap.

Her dad moved to the front of the room to stand next to the large screen. Her mom nodded at him as she sat at the conference table. The table lit up when she pressed her hands on the glass.

Her dad cleared his throat. So, you all know what we study at the lab.

Abby smiled. Fairies!

Her mom smirked and her dad gave a lopsided grin. Yes and no. What we’ve been looking at really is the nature of energy, how it has left its mark, or pathways, in the past. Energy paths have been documented, in fantastical stories sometimes. And we’ve been looking at whether that energy is still viable today.

Her mom tapped the table as buttons lit up under fingers and the screen changed. The entire Earth was crisscrossed with golden lines.

These lines, continued her father, represent those ley lines we talk about so much. These intersections fall at significant historical markers. This was the map as of last week.

Her mom tapped the table again and the screen changed to show the Earth with far fewer lines.

The planet looks…off, said Jenna.

Her dad smiled. Very good, Jenna. This is a depiction of the Earth around six million years ago. The lines are much wider and there are far fewer. Then, about 400,000 years ago, the screen changed to show more lines, not so far apart, the lines looked like this.

That’s humans, like us. We’re walking the planet, right? offered Joshua.

Their mom smiled, although her smile was strained when she looked at her son. You got it.

Then again 100,000 years ago, and then 2,000 years ago and then now, said her dad as her mom changed the screens.

With each screen change, more ley lines appeared.

Jenna started shaking her head. Okay. Can we get to the real story, please? This is neat ‘n all but what does your fantasy research project have to do with reality?

Her dad grimaced. Fair enough. We’ve come to find out that these ley lines are real. All the measuring points that we’ve placed all over the world lit up this morning and the world looked like this.

The entire world looked like a ball of string there were so many lines.

Whoa. Those are your readings? How many devices do you guys have out there? said Jenna, her back smacking into the back of her chair.

Not enough, replied her mom as she stared at the screen. As we were watching our monitors return all kinds of data, this started to happen.

She tapped the glass table and the lines started to disappear, one by one. The pace started to pick up as more lines disappeared. A hole in the line network appeared in the Gulf of Mexico, underneath the panhandle of Florida.

Abby pointed at the screen. What’s that, Mom?

That is where the mist is coming from. We started to look at news reports as soon as we saw that the ley lines were disappearing from there, and we saw this. Her mom’s finger hovered over the touchscreen in the table. She made a fist and turned toward them instead. What you’re going to see next is why you’re sitting down. It’ll be upsetting and disturbing.

She turned back to the screen and tapped the table.

The blaring noise of sirens sounded as a news reporter followed some EMTs unloading someone from a stretcher. The mist was so thick there, Jenna could barely make out the hospital building in the view.

The reporter was peppering the EMTs and any medical people with questions. Do the doctors think this is a disease? Do you know if it’s caused by this fog? What are the early symptoms? Do you have any information you can share with us?

The EMTs were silent, as were the nurses, as they entered the chaos of the hospital. The reporter continued to talk and ask questions, but Jenna could barely hear him. The lights were flickering and there was screaming. It was complete chaos, with people everywhere, yelling incoherently. Some people were wandering around like they didn’t know where they were.

A patient caused a commotion down one of the hallways. The reporter and cameraman ran to the patient, as did several doctors and nurses. They tried to give the person a shot of something while they flailed around on the bed.

Jenna scooted forward in her chair; she had her hands over her mouth at this point. The noise in the hospital was awful. The reporter continued to ask questions while the medical staff tried to help this person.

Then the patient exploded.

Jenna jumped.