Generation X: The Rising

Hey everyone!

As promised, below is the first TWO chapters of Generation X: The Rising

AS WELL as the book trailer and a giveaway!

I'm so excited about all of this, you have no idea!

I hope that you enjoy it, and look forward to seeing your guy's reactions!

xoxo,

The Confetti Queen

(aka Desiree DeOrto)

The Elder Race was a story told around campfires. Aliens, monsters, mad men. Those who believed were called insane, but they were right. They came from space, the seas, and below the earth. Turns out they were waiting, patiently waiting all this time. For what, no one knew, until now. They’re coming for what they think is rightfully theirs, the half-breeds that are part human, part Elder.

Once The Rising began, those who were different were gathered. Separated from the life they knew, those they loved, and moved into camps where they were tested and given the choice. But for Elizabeth, there was no choice at all. They meant to make super soldiers out of them. What they discovered instead was something that no one ever expected.

Sometimes monsters aren’t the things you can’t see, but rather, they’re the weapons of your own creation. When you’re part Elder, and part human, it’s hard to see which side of you is the true hero, and which side is the monster.  Everything Elizabeth thought she knew about herself and the world around her is changing, but will she be able to get through The Rising alive? Or will she become what the Government wants her to be: The ultimate weapon.

Chapter One

Green. Startling green shining out of the darkness. A face she couldn’t see no matter how hard she tried, how much she willed it.

A flash of white in the darkness, the beauty and texture reminded her of the silk of a spider’s web. 

Enchanting, ethereal…deadly.

She turned, trying to keep sight of those eyes. Those haunting, beautiful eyes.

The blare of the alarm clock woke her up from her dream, shattering the face that she had almost been able to finally see. Huffing, she turned over and swatted at it. It was the fifth night in a row with the same dream. Sighing, she moved her straggled bangs out of her eyes.

“Great, Mr. Perfect was a no-show again.” She had begun to think of him as that. All she could see in her dreams were his eyes. Shockingly green that seemed to see deep into her, to the darkest parts of her that she didn’t even let herself see. A shiver broke across her skin, raising goose bumps as those eyes flashed through her mind. A pull seemed to gather in her chest when she thought of them, of him. She rubbed her chest wearily and sat up.

“Elizabeth! Get up! You’re going to be late!” She rolled her eyes at the sound of her dad’s voice. He thoroughly dispersed the eyes, his eyes. Laughing, she stomped across the floor in their two story walk up, letting him know that she had already beat him to it. For being a single dad, she didn’t think he was doing a bad job. Sure, he was crazy and annoying, but that was just him. Just Dad.

“You have breakfast ready yet?” she yelled down to him.

“Oh yeah, sure Princess. We have a feast awaiting you!” She rolled her eyes as she sorted through her clothes.

“That mean I’m having cereal again?”

“You bet your pretty butt you are! Now come on! You’ve got to go to school and I’ve got to get some beauty sleep.”

“Beauty. Yeah, that’s the first word I think of when describing you, dad.” She turned the corner into the kitchen and got an eyeful of her dad. A part of her felt bad as she took him in with his bleary eyes and filthy uniform. Her dad had worked a nightshift factory job at the local power plant since she could remember. He was always exhausted, and she knew that if it weren’t for her, that he would have had a hell of an easier time in life. Biting back a sense of self-loathing, she walked over and gave him a short kiss on his dirty hair.

“Come on, now. I’m filthy.” Blushing, he whipped the newspaper up, grumbling under his breath.                      

Grinning, she walked to the cabinets, looking for the last box of captain crunch. “You’re always filthy.”

“And you’re always cute, so don’t get dirty by loving on the old man.”

“You’ve got it!”

Her smile fell as she finally found the box she’d hidden in the back of the cabinet. She loved her dad, but didn’t trust him with her cereal. He could go ahead and eat Cheerios, he’d last longer that way.

It had just been the two of them since she was born. As Elizabeth got older and understood that her mother had actually been ripped apart by her at birth, she figured that her dad would hate her. He should hate her. Because of her, his wife wasn’t here anymore. But to her shock and everyday amazement, he loved her. Adored her. Some of Elizabeth’s friends weren’t so lucky.

Shaking her head, she thought of them. Of her little group of misfits. Of how they used to be. Brian and Micah, the two boys who were raised by single fathers too. All three of them had similar horror stories, and all three shared the same birthday, with Micah’s the only one being a year different. They used to be close, really close while they were young, until they hit middle school. Then everything had changed. The three of them split, each falling into their own categories.

Micah became a jock and turned to football. He was the fastest on the entire team and that was saying something. Since he was one of the ‘popular’ kids, he couldn’t hang out with Brian anymore, who was a nerd for the lack of a better word. It wasn’t just that he was smart, but he was too smart, almost like his intelligence somehow interfered with how he was socially. He didn’t have any social experience. He didn’t understand how people acted and reacted to each other, and sometimes when Elizabeth would catch him studying people, she thought that he was running some type of mad experiment in his head.

She shivered at the thought, at the intensity that he’d look at people. It was eerily similar to how Mr. Perfect looked at her in her dreams. But where Brian was hard, cynical, Mr. Perfect’s gaze pierced her with a fire that she hadn’t seen anywhere, from anyone.

“Shit!” Milk spilled over the rim of the bowl onto the counter, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Thinking again? I told you, thinking is dangerous.”

“Haha, Dad. I wasn’t thinking, I was just…remembering.”

“Ah, thinking of the boys again?” She nodded as she turned with her too full bowl.

“Yeah. I was thinking of how things used to be.”

“You know, you’re a junior now. You should have forgotten about them a long time ago. It was what, the beginning of sixth grade when it all fell apart?” She nodded and sat at the table, unable to meet her dad’s eyes.

He dropped the paper and leaned forward, resting his head against his hands. “Hunny, friends don’t last forever. It’s been years since those boys even talked to you, and you’re still hurt over it. I don’t think that’s a good thing. And, honestly? I’m glad they’re not around anymore. It gives me less to worry about.”

A smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “Yeah, without guys around there shouldn’t be a need to worry about teenage pregnancy, eh?” She raised an eyebrow and stared him down. Without a second thought, his face flushed red as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, practically sputtering on the words he wanted to say.

“You…don’t tell me you’re…Elizabeth. Elizabeth, you better still be…” She burst out laughing, practically knocking over her bowl of cereal at his half-horror, half-irate expression.

“Oh, you’re in so much trouble. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Sorry, Dad. I couldn’t help it. And yes, I’m still a…” With a smirk she stood and rinsed her bowl out in the sink while her dad grumbled behind her. She pecked him quickly on the top of his head where his bald spot was as she hurried past him. “I’ve gotta go, old man.  Get some sleep, okay? You’re looking kind of haggard.”

 “Will do, princess. Be careful out there. Things are starting to get weird.”

“Dad, everything is weird to you.” With a wave she turned away and closed the door behind her. A sense of pleasure hit her as his eyes came back as soon as she closed the door, almost like he was respecting her father. She shook her head and walked to the car. “Weird. If you only knew dad, if you only knew.”

*****

“Don’t you hear that fucking alarm, idiot! Get the hell up before I get you up!”

Slapping his hand blearily around the alarm, Micah finally silenced it, and silenced his drunkard of a father in the process. You’d think that being a deputy of the town would make his dad somewhat representable, but as soon as he put the badge down, the bottle went up. Micah rubbed his face as he sat up and looked around the room. He needed to clean. Hell, he needed to do a lot of things, and the first thing he needed to do was to stop thinking and dreaming about her.

Throwing his head back, he nearly smacked it against the wall as he slumped. “God, Lizzie, what have you done to me?” Her smiling face flashed through his mind, haunting him. She haunted him every day, but he’d never tell her. He brushed his hair out of his face and threw his legs over the side of the bed, disturbing dust bunnies as he did. He looked around his ratty room that resided in a ratty house, in a shoddy neighborhood. He hated it. Hated his house, his room, the state. But most of all, he hated his dad for hating him, and hated the fear that he felt every day that he’d turn into exactly what he hated most: his father.

Stretching, Micah stood and shuffled to his closet. There wasn’t much there, but for what was there it was pricey. Micah worked a part-time job just to keep up appearances. He could go naked to school, for all his father would care, but even though Micah couldn’t be friends with Elizabeth anymore, he still wanted to be near her. He smirked as he threw on his clothes and headed out of the house. He didn’t stop to say goodbye to his father, couldn’t stand to. All he cared about was that in about thirty minutes he’d be able to see her again. And Brian, the brain.

A frown crossed his face as he opened up his car door, ignoring it as it creaked in protest and hopped in. They were always together, the three of them. Until that night when Micah and Brian discovered something about themselves that they didn’t want Elizabeth to know. Couldn’t let her know. It was bad enough that both Brian and Micah were in love with her, but add to it that both of them were special and could kill her made everything impossible. He shook his head and started the car, a grin forming as the engine purred to life.

Chapter Two

The parking lot was slammed full of student loitering around, talking, throwing things with the few odd students actually doing homework.

Elizabeth pulled into her usual spot, and fought back a grin as Micah pulled up beside her. Even though they weren’t technically ‘friends’ anymore and hadn’t said more than a word to each other throughout all the years, the three of them still parked next to each other. A full smile bloomed on her face as she heard Brian’s car pull up on her other side. Ignoring the urge to turn and look at him, acknowledge him in some way, she dug around the passenger side for her backpack and got out, composing her face as she did.

She wasn’t the one who ended their friendship, they did, and she still didn’t understand why. Pushing her long, dark brown hair behind her ear, she got out and slung her backpack across one shoulder, nodding silently to Micah, and completely ignoring Brian as she headed toward the school. People called from across the lot, and she forced a smile and waved back to them as she walked stiffly forward. She couldn’t relax until she felt Micah and Brian move away, no longer following her.

She breathed out and pushed the school doors open, almost slamming to a stand-still. Her classmates and other students stopped dead in the hallway, each of them craning their heads up and looking at the TV that was mounted against the wall. She worked her way around them, catching the reporter’s words in the almost silent hallway.

“Reports are coming in from across the world on an almost global natural disaster area. Tycoons, hurricanes, and earthquakes are just some of the terrors that are hitting areas all across the globe from the United States to Malaysia and everywhere in between…”

She slowed down as the words reverberated in her ears. Stopping, she turned and stared at the TV too. Clips were playing at almost blinding speeds of places she’d never been to, but hoped to one day go. They were almost completely destroyed. Families were crying, woman carrying dead infants through rubble that used to be towns. Tears filled her eyes. She could almost feel their pain. Their horror. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart raced in her ears. Her dad was right, something was very, very wrong.

“Incoming reports from Yellowstone and the Arctic Circle report that all geysers are active, signifying that the volcano’s that have laid dormant underneath through the generations are becoming active. Large pieces of the Arctic Circle are breaking apart, causing waters to rise all around the world and Tsunamis to hit. Scientists from across the globe still don’t have any information or reasoning for why this is happening at this time. We’ll report more as more information comes in. God save us all.”

A tremor rocked through the school, making the students bump into each other and pictures to tilt in their frames. Trophies in the schools trophy case rocked, some falling over. It felt like the entire school was holding its breath, waiting for what would happen next. Elizabeth’s blue eyes widened as she felt the panic in the students increase.  She sent a silent prayer up as she backed away from the mass, right before the next wave hit.

Screaming erupted as students were thrown violently around. Walls cracked and pieces of ceiling tile fell as the earthquake rocked through the school, heavy masses of destruction in their wake. Elizabeth’s scream mixed in with the screams of other students as full panic hit the mass, making them run blindly into each other. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as she was knocked to the ground, pain shooting through her ribs as she tried to catch her breath.

Horror filled her eyes as she saw the mass of students swarm towards her, and they weren’t stopping. Bracing herself, she closed her eyes and waited for the pain of being trampled to hit.

Powerful hands gripped her beneath her knees and under her shoulders, easily lifting her up. A small oomph escaped her as she slammed against a chest. Micah’s chest. She didn’t need to look up to know that it was him. She remembered his scent, the feel of him almost more than she remember Mr. Perfect’s eyes.

“Around!” Her head snapped up at the sound of Brian’s voice. That one word seemed to seep into the students, making them scurry, separate themselves like water around them. She stared at him. She knew his voice, knew him just as she knew Micah, but she’d never heard him speak like that. Then again, she’d never known Micah to lift her like she weighed nothing, or to get to her within an instant. The remaining panic showed itself as tears filled her eyes, falling from her horror stricken face. The tremors died down, leaving an eerie silence in the hallways as the last of the students fled to the outside, the sound of sobbing being abruptly cut off as the door slammed shut between them and the outside world.

“Lizzie, are you okay?” Micah’s warm, worried voice shattered her panic. She looked up at him through her mangled hair, tears falling heedlessly unchecked.

“She’s fine. The velocity of her fall wouldn’t harm her more than getting the air knocked out of her, and none of the students got to her so she’s unharmed.” Brian’s almost robotic voice cut coldly through the halls. Elizabeth’s mind swirled as confusion hit her, battling with the remaining emotions from the student body. She could still feel them, as if she was feeling them herself.

“I’m not asking your thoughts, Brian! I’m talking to Lizzie!”

“I’m just stating the facts. If she were to be hurt I’d know in an instant.”

“Yes because you’re so damn smart, right?”

“I don’t comprehend why you’re so angry. You should be elated that she’s unharmed. Your emotional anxiety is unneeded at this point.”

“No, you wouldn’t understand, would you?”

Her head whipped between the two of them, Micah’s building anger reflecting through her, almost as if she was the one that was confused, hurt. “I’m fine. Really, I am.”

His steady blue eyes were laced with worry as he looked down at her. “Are you sure? You’re pale.”

“Of course she would be. That’s a natural reaction to an event of this magnitude.”

“Jesus, Brian, would you just shut the hell up?” Micah’s roar echoed throughout the empty hallways, the sound of plaster falling from the ceiling the only sound to compete with it besides Elizabeth’s almost frantic breathing.

“Fine. Be illogical.”

A burst of laughter escaped her, the panicky sound falling all around them.

“God, Lizzie. You’re not okay.”

She pushed against his chest, making him lower her unsteadily. She paused for a second and made sure that she could stand on her shaking legs. When she knew she could, she let go, stepping forward slowly.

“Am I hurt? No, I’m not. Am I okay? I am the farthest from okay that I can even think of right now. What the hell is going on? How did you get here so fast, Micah? And Brian, what was up with that? You just said a word and parted people like the Red Sea!” Panic mixed with a healthy dose of fear washed over her, a cold sweat broke out across her forehead as bile rose swiftly in her throat. She didn’t understand any of it. Didn’t understand why she was feeling the emotions from other people, how her best friends, her ex best friends could do something so humanly impossible.

“It’s simple really, though I haven’t been able to fully experiment, I do have some ideas.”

“Experiment? Ideas? What are you?”

“Lizzie, you need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! A freaking earthquake just ripped through our school and I just saw something that shouldn’t have been able to happen! Tell me how to calm down! You calm down!”

“Elizabeth, listen. I know that you’re confused and you don’t understand, but if you would just listen…”

Fear built through her in rising waves, her thoughts were flowing through her quicker than she could keep a hold of. “No. I don’t want to listen. You guys didn’t explain anything to me in sixth grade. What makes you think that I should listen to you now?” Static built underneath her skin, making her fidget. She couldn’t keep still as she rubbed her shaking hands on her arms, almost holding herself, trying to keep herself together.

“Lizzie, please.” Micah stepped forward, his arm outstretched as if he was going to comfort her. The sight of his hand, his strong hand that had saved her with super human strength pushed her emotional limit over the edge.

“Don’t touch me!” His eyes widened as his body went flying backwards, smacking into the concrete walls, dust and rubble flinging out around him as his body and the force of the hit punched a hole through it.

Brian watched it all calmly, a small frown marring his face as he looked back and forth between Elizabeth and the hole that Micah’s body put through the wall. Elizabeth froze, her mind blanking as she shook her head in denial.

“Well, it looks like you’re one of us too.” She looked into Brian’s calm, calculating brown eyes and broke.

Sobs built in her chest as she stepped backwards. She killed him. She didn’t know how she did it, but she killed Micah. Her best friend. She couldn’t stop her body from shaking or terror from overtaking her as she walked backwards faster. “No. No, no, no.” The denial burst from her lips even as she heard the sound of Micah moving. She thought her eyes would pop out of her head as a very dusty Micah stepped through the hole, shaking rubble from his hair as he looked at her in complete shock.

“What the hell was that?”

Without a word she turned, sprinting with everything she had to the doors and flinging them open. She squinted into the light and ran blindly out of the school, not even stopping as hands from the other students reached out toward her, trying to see if she was alright. She wasn’t alright, and didn’t know if she ever would be alright again.

Brian and Micah stared after her, looking away only as the doors slammed shut behind her.

“This isn’t possible.” Micah muttered as he stood shocked beside Brian.

“Technically, it is possible, but I would have never guessed that it was probable.”

He ignored Brian’s robotic comment. “Did you see her eyes?” He shook his head, the sight of the almost neon green flashing through his mind. “Our eyes don’t change when we use our powers.”

“That’s because she’s not like us. She’s different.”

“Different, yeah you could say that. But how is she different? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know.”

Micah looked up at Brian, completely shocked. “You don’t know? How do you not know? You know everything.”

He frowned and moved towards the door, leaving Micah to follow behind. “Obviously not. This is quite a predicament.”

Micah followed, kicking pieces of debris out of his way. “Why is it a predicament?”

He turned around and stared Micah down, his soft brown eyes clashing with Micah’s violently blue ones. “It’s a predicament because we hurt her all those years ago because we thought we’d hurt her. And now we know that she was never in any danger, but we were.”

Micah stood still as Brian walked away from him, muttering under his breath. He didn’t think of that. If she was more powerful than him and Brian in her own way then she could, in fact, be the one to hurt them instead. “I guess we we’re really saving ourselves.”

AND NOW,

I present to you the book trailer!

Enjoy!

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