Home

By Catherine Holtschke

Seven school friends find themselves in a dark and evil world, where they encounter a dragon; the ruler of that world.

Their only hope for survival is to find a way out by discovering a different world called Home, which only few find.

The friends quickly begin their own journey, each believing their way is the right way.

But whose path leads to Home, and when they find it, how are their lives changed forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669830689

Catherine Holtschke

Catherine Holtschke works in Research & Development and is the author of HOME. Catherine found inspiration for HOME from a dream. Her dream was so vivid that she not only wrote it down, but it made a significant impact on her life. Catherine lives in Australia with her husband and son.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

This Dark World

The world where I found myself was dark and frightening. It was a place I didn’t recognize. The suffocating, foul smell in the air had an icy chill to it, and the grounds surrounding me were filthy and polluted. They were littered with rubbish, papers, bottles, and rubble. There was no light anywhere. It was as black as night, and it covered the place like a heavy blanket. I felt the presence of evil creeping around, ready to pounce everywhere I looked. Fear was lingering in the air, making it hard to breathe. I wasn’t safe being here. A pang of urgency deep down within me told me I had to find a way out – and find it quick.

I noticed that I was standing in an active warzone. I was surrounded by broken-down brick walls, which once must have been large and beautiful buildings and houses. It was a bomb site. Everywhere I looked, there was much devastation scattered all over from what appeared to be a previous explosion of brick, concrete, and trees.

Houses were collapsed to ruins. Streets were broken and uprooted with large potholes and piles of rubble. Everything was blackened with the mud from the dirt, the rubble, and the destruction. The once-recognized streets were dark with no streetlights. The chill in the air made my clothes feel damp and icy cold. My long brown hair that I liked to curl every day now hung straight down my back, wet and dirty. The smell in the air was mouldy with a rotten egg aroma. It made me want to vomit.

It was difficult to see anything through the thick fog of blackness covering this place, but I knew people lived here. I could hear loud, deafening screams coming from nearby. The screams were piercing to my ears, and the sounds were flooded with fear. There were other noises too, like that of beatings and whippings, which were torturous to hear. The terrifying sounds were not far away. The sounds grew louder and stronger with every minute that passed.

My emotions were running wild, with many questions in my mind. Where am I? How am I going to survive? What am I going to do? Could I even make it out alive? Did a haven exist anymore, or was this the end for me?

I called this world the Maze of Madness. There was no sense to this place. I didn’t belong here, and it wasn’t home – not the home I knew. The only comfort I took was that in this new, dark, and evil world, I wasn’t alone. I was accompanied by a few close friends.

My six friends from high school and I stood paralyzed by our surroundings, unable to speak, looks of sheer terror and disbelief on our faces. We were unable to move as we stared at the devastation before us, wondering where in the world we were. How did we get here, and how would we get out of here?

I looked over at my friends, and I saw despair written all over their faces. They looked defeated and somewhat aged in appearance, as if this place had added years to their lives. It appeared that being in this place had taken its toll on all of us, even though I wasn’t sure how long we had been here. I wondered, had we just arrived, or had we been here a while? I didn’t know the answers, but what I did know was this was now our horrifying new reality.

My eyes found it difficult adjusting to the darkness. I heard running feet and people screaming. I could only estimate where the noises were coming from, maybe only a block or two away, but wherever it was, we could all feel it, ready to pounce. I caught a glimpse of my friends. Jonah was trembling, biting his fingernails, while Clara was white as a ghost. They were all terrified.

No words needed to be spoken. We all knew there was an urgency to get out of this place and get out quick. None of us wanted an encounter with the dark presence of evil that lingered. None of us wanted to meet him or them or whatever they were face to face.

Suddenly, Nathaniel, the oldest in our friendship group, shouted, Let’s go! Come this way!

The seven of us followed Nathaniel, sprinting to find shelter, a haven, a place to escape the terrifying sounds. We ventured out in the opposite direction, away from the noise, and ran as fast as we could to find a place to hide.

We raced, puffing heavily, out of breath. Henry was lagging last, with sweat dripping down his round, plump face. We ran for at least twenty minutes without stopping, leaping over rubble, being careful not to trip over the obstacles lying all over the ground.

We finally came to a small village where there were houses still intact. These houses seemed untouched by the demolition that was prevalent in the city centre. These dwellings were on the outskirts, away from the main city, near the entrance of the Black Forest. We noticed that each one of the houses was securely locked. Each place had double, even triple locks on its iron doors and windows.

We could see people inside the houses, busily walking around, occupied by their day-to-day activities with dim candle lighting inside. We began to knock on one house, hoping for someone to open the door for us, but no one answered. No one came to our rescue. We tried another and then another. None were willing to open their homes to us.

I glanced through one window. I locked eyes with an older gentleman inside a house. He quickly looked away. These people knew we were outsiders, and no one was willing to help rescue us. They remained hidden away, safe behind their bolted doors. These people were familiar with the ever-present fear and evil that permeated the world we were in, but we were now left vulnerable, locked outside.

We didn’t know how or why we were here, but there seemed to be no escape. The fear in this place was real. It was tangible, like fear itself was a living being who could breathe and touch. The air was eerie and cold with a mist seeping through. We felt Fear’s presence wrapping around us like a blanket, wanting to pounce and take control of us. We knew we had to do something to escape it.

Panic started to set in. I looked over to see Ethan forcefully knocking on each house. I thought he was going to tear down the doors and break the windows with his brute strength, but we couldn’t find a house, a barn, or a shed to hide in. All around, people were closing their blinds and curtains as we knocked in desperation, pleading with anyone to open a door. There was no mercy.

A young girl covered in dirt stood shivering near a tree, a look of sheer terror on her face. I ran up to her and asked, Do you know where my friends and I can hide?

You need to get out of here now! She replied with haste.

Where are you going? I asked hoping she would provide us a safe direction to follow.

I don’t know where to run anymore, she said with tears in her eyes. This world never used to be this way when I was a kid. It was never this dark. There was joy and safety in this world before this terrible evil entered this place and changed everything for everyone.

Wow, what evil is that? When did that happen? I asked wanting to know more.

Before I could hear my answers, once again, I began to hear terrifying noises around me. They began to get louder and louder. My friends and I couldn’t see anyone on the streets except for this young girl. There was an uneasy emptiness before the silence in the air was replaced with screams, running feet, and explosions. We had no other choice; we had to keep running. We had to find shelter, a refuge, a place to hide.

The girl shouted at us, Run, run away as fast as you can.

Come with us, I said to the girl, but she didn’t move.

Once again, Nathaniel led the way. Let’s go. Follow me.

We ran for about fifteen minutes before stopping at a broken-down house. Nathaniel’s athletic abilities made him fast. He was the first to reach the house. He quickly waved us over.

Let’s hide behind this brick wall, keep low to the ground, and keep still, he said with urgency.

The seven of us scrambled quickly and hid, seating ourselves in the mud with our backs against the wall, hoping it would provide enough shelter to protect us. We huddled closely together, side by side, clasping hands so tightly, with drops of fear falling from our brows.

Jonah whispered, I’m scared as he rolled himself up into a ball.

Ethan spoke up, How are we going to escape this place? We shouldn’t stay here; we need to keep running.

Nathaniel snapped back, Be quiet everyone and let’s hide here for now.

The seven of us decided to stay where we were. However, we realized soon after we placed ourselves behind the wall, that the terrifying noise had followed us. It was now just in front, in full view on the other side of the broken-down brick wall we were all behind. No one said a word. Evil now roamed these streets. We could hear it roaring loudly like a lion, hunting its prey, and devouring anyone that was in its sights.

Nathaniel, Matilda, and I carefully peered over this broken wall to see what was happening on the other side, while Clara, Henry, Ethan, and Jonah remained seated on the ground as they were too afraid to look.

We saw a few people on the street. They were bolting down the road to get away from this current danger. We noticed the people in their locked-down houses were now hiding within their homes in darkness. They had snuffed out their candles. No one opened their doors. The people found out on the streets were locked out and left out, now vulnerable to this evil presence.

The smell of death flooded the streets. It was putrid and stung our nostrils. As we listened to the shrieks of terror, the cries for help, and the screaming on the streets, fear gripped us once again, paralyzing us. We felt helpless, powerless, and inferior to this evil that resided here. The fear in this place was so real that it began to consume us all. It was all around us. We had no other choice but to keep silent, stay where we were, and hope this horror would pass.

CHAPTER 2

The Invasion

As we sat behind the broken wall in sheer terror, I heard terrifying noises of death and destruction all around me. It was one of the most horrifying and scariest experiences of my life. I tried to block out the screaming, which was coming from the people left abandoned, exposed on the street. I tried to mute the noise of the loud, active warzone I was presently in by thinking about the good old days; the days when we were young. I tried to escape this current situation by reflecting on my peaceful childhood days, when I was safe, playing and having fun with my six friends, who were here with me now. They were good memories, full of laughter and joy. However, my escape was short-lived as the noise on the street was overpowering and kept snapping me back to reality.

Reflecting on those good old days brought me a little comfort as I sat silently behind the broken-down brick wall. My friends and I had all grown up happily together, playing at one another’s houses when we were young. We used to love climbing my neighbour’s large apple tree. We would sit on the tallest branch for hours, talk, and eat delicious, juicy, ripe red apples, passing the time away together.

In those days, there was laughter, bright lights, sunshine, safety, and peace. We had our beautiful houses we lived in with our parents. We all went to school together during the week, and on the weekends, we would meet up at my house. Those days were fun.

I also remembered the times when the seven of us would dress up in costumes, pretending that we were superheroes. We felt strong and mighty in the costumes, conquering our big made-up world. However, at this moment, I didn’t feel like a superhero at all; nor did I have any ounce of power or courage in me to take on what was before me on the other side of this wall. None of us did.

I looked over at Nathaniel, the extrovert amongst us. Usually, Nathaniel was the outspoken one, always having a word to say. He held his own in a conversation and could easily persuade others to see his point of view. Now, not a word was on his lips. None of us could speak.

Nathaniel usually stood tall. He was solid and strong. He had a strength about him, both physically and emotionally. One could say that he was the leader of the group – or so he thought. He was blessed with good looks and kept himself fit. His blond locks, blue eyes, and big bright smile were always nice on the eyes, but this world had made him look dull, small, and weak. It was like looking through a distorted pair of glasses in this place. We knew who we were on the inside; however, this world had aged us all and distorted our appearances. We looked unclean, and dirt covered our clothes and faces. Wrinkles appeared where there were none before. Our bright smiles were now replaced with fear and no confidence.

Jonah, seated next to me, was quite the opposite to Nathaniel. He was the introvert of the group. He was half the size of Nathaniel in shape and build. Petite and thin, with short dark brown hair, he was the timid one amongst us all; shy and lacking confidence. He did, however, have an ease and a kindness about him which was attractive. Still, he tended to wander off from time to time and do his own thing. We would often find him reading a book behind the shelter shed at school alone.

On my other side was Matilda. She was a good friend to us all. She had a grace and a strength about her, a strong-willed girl. She was not easily swayed to form a different opinion. She and Nathaniel often butted