BlackThorn Read online

  BlackThorn

  J Asheley Brown

  Published by J Asheley Brown, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  BLACKTHORN

  First edition. March 25, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 J Asheley Brown.

  ISBN: 978-1386156468

  Written by J Asheley Brown.

  Also by J Asheley Brown

  Speaking My Truth

  Emotional Rain

  Standalone

  Poetry Is Light

  Something So Real

  The Poet

  Sailing Through Adversity Radiant

  Pressure

  Tricks Of The Heart

  Days Of Betrayal

  Encourage Yourself Again

  Different View

  No WIFI Before Christmas

  Dark Reality

  BlackThorn

  Significant Synopses

  In The Hidden Part

  Watch for more at J Asheley Brown’s site.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By J Asheley Brown

  Prologue

  Sign up for J Asheley Brown's Mailing List

  Further Reading: Encourage Yourself Again

  Also By J Asheley Brown

  About the Author

  Prologue

  If I could reach into my mind and pull out a rainbow, what kind of creature would that make me? Sometimes late at night I sit alone in my dark bedroom and gaze out the window at the familiar darkness outside. I wonder what it would feel like to be the black bird just posted up over there on the edge of the neighbor’s roof. Small beady eyes piercing the gloom and dark with super accuracy, head tilting and swerving at every sound in the night...never afraid but always watching...waiting.

  Everyone always said that I thought too much and I had my head in the clouds way more than a young lady should, filling it up with air and nothing else that would do me any good. I always laughed at that and shook my pretty little head. If they only knew...I slowly looked down at my right hand casually placed upon the frosty glass of the window and saw the soft currents of colored light moving up and down my hand and arm. I wasn’t alarmed at all. It did that from time to time and especially when I was moping around somewhere deeply thinking. It was all tied to my emotions or so I was taught. Keepers had to rein in their feelings at all times or else they could set off small power surges and affect their immediate surroundings in ways that would not be beneficial to others at all. I must admit it was kind of freaky and heart stopping the first night I saw it.

  On that night, I was fast asleep and I know I had to have been doing some serious snoring because I woke up with a start and a loud snort and I was instantly awake and fully aware of my surroundings. The room was completely dark except for the soft milky moonlight coming through the open blinds of the window. Well, actually it wasn’t the only light that was present. Amazingly my entire right arm was aflame with a sequence of rainbow colored lights. I was definitely thinking, “What the what?”

  As a matter of fact, believing that my arm was on fire, I jumped out of the bed and ran into my small bathroom that was connected to my room. With my hair standing up all disheveled on my head I quickly turned the faucet on and plunged my arm under the running water. I didn’t care if it was hot or cold, I just wanted the flames or whatever they were to be put out. After several minutes of vigorously rubbing my arm under the water nothing happened. I mean the rainbow lights did not go out or go away...if anything, they only got brighter. My heart was already beating a deep basso tune so I stopped splashing in the water and turned the faucet off. Standing at the sink with a puddle of water under my feet, I looked at my arm again but this time I looked with interest. The lights or flames were not hurting me and they kind of tickled a little as the colors seemed to chase one another around and around my arm. Now, that’s very curious indeed!

  That was four years ago...before I had a rather rude awakening and was introduced into the world of all things supernatural...that was before I encountered my first Deceiver.

  The day of my first Deceiver attack started like any other. Of course I woke up late with my Aunt beating on my bedroom door and commanding me to get up and get ready for school. It was an every day occurrence that was really getting old but I guess it wasn’t her fault. She was doing the best she could under the circumstances. I was a handful and just about as stubborn as anyone could get. Actually, she really was doing a swell job of raising me...considering. It wasn’t her fault that my parents were no longer around. It wasn’t her fault that I was a moody child by nature and just wanted to be left alone to do my own thing most of the time.

  Aunt Carolyn never talked much about my parents so I grew up knowing next to nothing about them, especially my mother, the one I wanted to learn of and be loved by so badly. It was because of that I went searching for any information I could scrap up about the two missing people in my life. One rainy day I found more than I had bargained for and my life was never the same.

  I was snooping around in the attic through some rusty trunks when I was supposed to be cleaning up the basement directly below. I could never really say what drew me upstairs to the attic that day. It was like a sudden urge that I had no choice but to follow. Of course I had searched through our large attic before (what small and curious child wouldn’t have?) but something was definitely different about that particular day.

  Dusty from head to toe and with a rag around my head tying my hair back, I had proceeded up the stairs and lightly pushed open the antique wooden door of the attic. It was never locked and I don’t believe it had ever been. The weathered knob was barely holding itself in place. Our attic wasn’t like a typical spooky one you would find in a rambling two or three story southern house. My Aunt believed that every room should be clean enough to dine in and that included our attic. Everything was in its place with several shelves lining the walls and stocked with various oddities of sentimentality and crisp, new boxes labeled and packed with past memorabilia were stacked in every corner.

  As I stood in the center of the room I could feel a soft touch on my arm like someone lightly tapping it. With my heart jumping up into my throat, I quickly looked down at my arm and didn’t see a thing. But I did see a curious little light shining from somewhere in the right corner away from the window. There were about four medium sized boxes stacked on top of one another but the light wasn’t coming from them, it was coming from behind them. I naturally thought that maybe it was only a night light or something my Aunt placed back there when she was probably cleaning up one night. Whatever it was, it was softly throbbing and I couldn’t be sure but it was making a noise as well...like a quiet humming sound.

  Shaking my head, I gathered my courage and strength too and started pushing the boxes aside so I could take a look behind them. I found a long, rustic and ancient looking trunk. It had strange symbols running along the top length, nothing I had ever seen before but they were beautiful. I wasn’t sure but they looked like intersecting circles or ovals really (triangles?) enclosed within one big circle. The symbols were repeated on the sides of the trunk as well. The soft light I had seen earlier was actually coming from all the symbols, pulsing like a heartbeat. As I stood there gazing down at the trunk and its strangely beautiful artwork, I heard a quiet voice resounding in my head, “Welcome Light Warrior...your destiny begins...”

  As if that wasn’t weird enough, the top of the trunk popped open and a blinding light came forth causing me to shield my eyes. It only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like eternity. It was intrusive and elusive all at once. It was strawberry ice cream on a ho
t summer day...it was that first splash of hot water shooting out of the shower head when you first turn on the spout...it was a cool breeze on a weary traveler’s brow in a dry desert land...the light pierced right through my soul and opened up secret avenues I didn’t know I could walk down. I was undone. I fell to the floor and had to catch my breath.

  My eyes were closed tight and when I finally opened them I found that I was clutching the open trunk. To my surprise, my entire right arm was aflame with rainbow colored lights. They were pulsing with the same throbbing as the symbols were before. I looked into the trunk and saw a photo laying right on the top of a trove of weapons. It was a picture of a beautiful dark skinned woman with black jeans and a tight white shirt on. She was sitting under a huge oak tree with a handsome guy standing alert behind her. I couldn’t be sure but he looked like some type of soldier or warrior. It wasn’t that he carried any weapons or anything but it was the way he stood and the wary look on his face...he looked watchful and it was clear he was protective of the woman and what she was holding. I could see a baby in the woman’s lap, wrapped in a pink fluffy blanket. Without knowing how I could be certain of it, I knew absolutely that I was staring at my birth parents and essentially myself.

  CHAPTER 1

  I was told that Deceivers always attacked in force when they sensed a newbie warrior. I guess I qualified as one because my life was seriously being threatened. I had half a second to do a reverse backwards flip before the nasty creature’s claws could strike me down.

  With sweat pouring down my forehead, I quickly looked to my right and thrust my silver dagger into the Deceiver’s belly. The foul thing gave out an horrendous scream...at least that’s what I thought it was but I didn’t have the time to stand there and ponder. I was already running out of energy (slaying was not an easy task) and I couldn’t afford to miss a step because a small mistake out in the field could mean death, plain and simple, no points gained, end of the game.

  After pulling my dagger out of the monster’s belly and wiping it clean on the ground, I crouched down low and began to survey my surroundings. I felt foulness rolling over my skin like a grimy caress. Oh, yes, I knew there were more Deceivers out in the darkness so I had to be careful if I wanted to make it home...alive.

  I was a Remnant, a Light Keeper and I was training to be one of the best but I knew I wasn’t the best yet. I could not fight off a whole horde of Deceivers by myself. They were a mixed breed of dark nastiness, a cross between Vampires and Were beasts, plain old deceitful and gut wrenching demons. When I first learned of them I didn’t believe that such a thing could exist. I didn’t grow up dreaming of unicorns and rainbows...well, maybe just unicorns but I was not an ordinary girl. The very secret knowledge that bad things did go bump in the night wasn’t bred into my membrane at a really young age. My family’s history and secrets were revealed to me and all the purpose and power that was involved only a few years ago. My mission was simple; chances of survival, not guaranteed. But I was quickly trained to guard against the terrible things in the night so the rest of the world wouldn’t have to.

  As I slowly came up from my crouch, I began to take quiet but quick steps away from the dead body at my feet. Trying to be careful, I suddenly tripped over a branch hidden in the grass and I hit the ground hard in agonizing pain. Immediately on my left I could hear rustling and crashing through the trees and brush and what seemed like two heavy objects heading my way. Muttering under my breath, I jumped up, favoring my right ankle which I hoped I hadn’t broken.

  “Way to go, Mary!” I swore under my breath. What were the Elders thinking, sending me out here like this? This was my first solo mission and it didn’t seem like it was going very well.

  I spotted an old massive gray oak tree and veered right towards it. The crashing in the bushes became louder and something was definitely getting closer by the second. I had to reach that tree.

  After falling three times in my desperation I finally came square with the tree. I gave a silent prayer too because one second later two huge Deceivers busted forth from the bushes and they each gave a mighty roar like shout when they cast their red pupils my way. I could see glistening venom dripping from fangs in the enormous crevices I guessed were their mouths. I knew I was brave; all Remnants had to be but I knew if those fangs and that deadly poison touched me then it would not turn out well at all.

  Backing up against the tree and turning to face my aggressors, I closed my eyes and placed my hands behind me onto the trunk of the silent sentinel. Instantly I felt the slow throbbing pulse of the oak like deep breaths inhaling and exhaling. I could sense the life force of the tree, brooding and ancient, mysteriously waiting and with a quiet yet resounding whisper in my head I heard a voice speak, “How may I assist you, Warrior?”

  Without wasting any time, I responded in like manner, “Please grant me aid, Brother of the Earth...”

  Immediately my hands began to warm and a soft golden glow appeared, running up and down my hands and arms like a river of fire. I felt it extend into my legs and a moment later my ankle began to tingle and soothe and heal. With a deep breath, I stepped away from the tree.

  “Come on, Thing One and Thing Two,” I spoke with power ringing in my voice, “Let’s send you back to the roughest part of the pit you crawled out of!”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Mary...Mary...Mary Blackthorn, are you listening?” With a start I sat up straight at my desk. My head felt foggy and my forehead was a little damp with sweat after resting on my arm. I guess I was napping in class again because when I looked around all I saw were the smirking faces of the other students and the irate one of Mrs. Mattherson.

  “I suggest you retire early at night, Miss Blackthorn, because my classroom is not a sleeping lounge,” Mrs. Mattherson fussed while pacing back and forth in front of the black smart board behind her desk.

  Oh no! She’s in one of her moods today! It never ends well for the student that manages to set her off. Feeling embarrassed, all I could say was, “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Mrs. Mattherson gave a slight stiff nod of her head as if saying the matter was settled and continued on lecturing in a monotonous voice about some facts from long ago that nobody cared about anymore.

  Slumping back down into my seat, I felt drained and defeated. My last mission had really taken a toll on my body and I was still trying to recover from it three days later. The last two Deceivers I had encountered gave me quite the workout. Without the help of the Tree Elemental I might not have survived the fight.

  “Training is everything...” my Level 1 instructor used to tell me over and over again. “We don’t train you so that you will never get hurt, because even the best of us will, but you are worked so hard to teach you to fight on through the pain. Remember, those monsters out there won’t let you pause and take a breath to baby your pain so why should we?”

  I could still hear the brittle voice of my old trainer barking out orders as I sweated and flipped and worked my muscles both physical and magical to the limits. While remembering the stiff soreness after past training exercises, the shrill sound of the school bell ringing woke me out of my daydream as I dragged my way through the bustling of the crowd of students rushing out of the classroom. I was so grateful that the last class of the day was over and I could head somewhere and finally rest my weary body. I hadn’t taken more than three steps out the classroom door before I smacked right into the back of a tall lean girl who was unfortunately and knowingly blocking the right exit to the school. Before I could offer an apology I could hear loud giggling coming from what appeared to be the tall girl’s entourage. Seriously....was Destiny’s Child being reborn?

  “Walk much?” asked the Head Girl who happened to have the unfortunate name of Wilomena. She was one of those tall blonde drops of awesomeness (well, at least that is what she believed) that every girl wanted to emulate and every guy wanted to date. Her freshly manicured fingers began to tap out a rapid staccato on the locker she was standing near while she s
tood with pursed red lips and a cold deadly look on her Maybelline face. The other three members of her group had various expressions on their faces ranging from mildly amused to outright nastiness. Other kids in the hallway gave them all a wide berth of space as they tried to steer clear of the inevitable showdown. Everyone knew that no one touched Wilomena unless she expressly permitted you to do so. To do otherwise was to risk becoming a social outcast, if you cared about such things. Fortunately, I did not.

  “You should watch where you place that wide back of yours...” I said while looking her straight in the eyes and not backing down. I had stared down and fought more vicious opponents than this self-righteous Barbie before me and I defeated them all. Wilomena had no idea what danger she was in!

  Feeling the banks of hot fiery magic within me stirring up, I bit down on my lips hard to calm myself and to stop the tide of power that was about to rush out and devour one simple minded girl. Selfish, arrogant....yes, that is what Wilomena was but even she didn’t deserve to be mowed down by magic. Pushing past an open mouthed Wilomena, I didn’t even wait for a response as I walked out the school entrance and went in search of my car.

  I faintly heard the first part of a word that clueless and vindictive people like Wilomena absolutely loved to throw my way...”Lesb....”. I just shook my head as I made my way around the school building and spotted my black 1999 Camaro sitting in the school’s student parking lot. I never thought much about what people called me; honestly I had been called worse on several occasions. It was bad enough that I felt like an outcast, a motherless child....Naw....I shook my head as if that could shake away the ugly half memories that always threatened to engulf me. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t go down the dark memory lane anymore. I didn’t exactly know what had happened to my parents but choices were made long before I came into the picture and now I had to live with that and make some choices of my own.