Recently I have begun to work on a new novel, so far I have dubbed it “The Creators” as a temporary title. I am working to make a section on this website dedicated solely to content on this story, and I hope you all enjoy it.

You can see all the information I have currently on the story here.

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Chapter 1

The rumbling noise of the car’s wheels over the sharp pebbles in the dirt road stirred Jordain from her slumber, her head jerking up as she felt the sharp turn of the vehicle and heard her mother curse under her breath. She blinked awake, the sunlight streaming through the window barely allowing her pupils time to adjust as she gazed at her surroundings. Trees lined the whole road, travelling outwards so nothing could be seen past the first few thick rows of pine and cedar. The road ahead dipped and turned off to places she had yet to see, but nothing was paved for seemingly ages away.

“When you said ‘middle-of-nowhere’ I didn’t know you were being serious.” Jordain muttered as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and straightened her posture.

“Well, now you know what I mean.” Her mother’s tone was tight, and the stress from driving for so long could be heard in her voice. She had never liked driving to begin with, and now with moving to a new town, she had a lot more driving to do in the coming years.

“It’s fine mom, I can take over if you want to sleep.”

“No it’s fine, we’re close anyways. I was planning on getting you up soon, need you to look alive for Thomas.”

Jordain rolled her eyes and rested her head back against the seat, letting the cool air from the fans let her relax and allow her mind to wander. She had never actually met this Thomas, all she knew was that he was supposedly in love with her mother and her mother in love with him. They had met long ago before they had gone their separate ways after an apparent fateful summer when they just couldn’t do it anymore. Jordain didn’t believe this, however whatever made her mother happy was the story she would stick to. So he would stay the long lost lover until Jordain could prove otherwise.

“Alright, this should be it.” Her mother muttered as she made a slow turn into a hidden driveway.

The sound of gravel under the car’s tires was almost therapeutic at this point. Jordain watched as the trees disappeared and revealed a small clearing where a tall wood cabin stood proudly with a small creek running alongside and a large truck parked in front of the house. Her mother parked the car behind the truck and climbed out. A taller, brown-haired man was coming out of the house and smiled as soon as he saw her mother. He opened his arms and embraced her, and Jordain rolled her eyes before climbing out of the car and tugging her long, bleached blonde hair back into a messy bun, wrapping a hair tie over and over until it held tight in place.

“Oh, Thomas this is my daughter Jordain.”

“Pleased to finally meet you.” His voice was a rich, deep tone and he offered a hand to the smaller form of Jordain. She shook it grudgingly then followed the pair inside. “Astrid! Come on down they’re here.”

Footsteps hammered down the stairs, a quick foot pattern that one would normally associate with excitement and a certain eagerness one could not always find in an everyday life. A flash of jet black hair and bright blue entered Jordain’s vision as the other resident of the house skidded to a halt next to Thomas.

“Hi.” The girl’s tone was flat, nothing matching the energy she had seemingly had coming down the stairs. “Ok, I did it. Bye.”

“No, Astrid.” Thomas held her arm tight and turned her to face Jordain. “Can you at least stay for a minute to talk?”

Now that Thomas had turned the girl, Jordain could get a better look at her. She had spiky black hair that stuck up in several different directions but still somehow managed to look fashionable. She wore a black tank top with severely ripped and bleached jeans, fishnets climbing their way up her legs under said jeans. The clear dark patterns of tattoos twisted around her ankle and up her neck, the dark ink spreading in intricate patterns. But what really caught Jordain’s attention was the girl’s eyes. One eye was a sharp but deep blue colour, the other an almost blood red.

“You know it’s rude to stare yeah?” Jordain blinked and realized Astrid had been talking to her. “Whatever, just don’t do it again. I don’t like staring.”

Jordain tried to apologize, but the smaller girl hurried away back up the stairs and she looked down at her shoes, defeated. Thomas and her mother had moved more into the house, and she made the easy decision to not follow them. Instead she took off her shoes and moved over to the intricate staircase. It was made of the same logs that the main structure of the house followed, however small images and sculptures were carved into the posts and railing which seemingly told the history in the house. The one that caught Jordain’s eye was the very beautiful raven that sat on the banister next to the first step.

“My mom carved that one.” Jordain’s head snapped up to see Astrid looking down at her from the top of the stairs. “She did most of these. She said it was important to keep the family history in our everyday lives, not stored on shelves or in books.” Astrid walked down the stairs slowly, her fingers tracing every divet and carving like a map she was very familiar with. “She was right…she always was.” The last few words barely escaped her lips, not much louder than a whisper.

“What happened to your mom?” Jordain asked, she barely knew anything about the family. Her mother refused to tell her.

“Well…let’s just say women don’t tend to last in my family. They normally live to have one child at least, to carry on the legacy, then they fade. For my mother it was depression, my grandmother was taken by cancer, my great-grandmother was in an accident.” She stopped and ran her fingers over a particular carving. “It’s all here, in symbols and words and shapes. Mother was very good at remembering the details.”

Jordain swallowed hard, gazing at everything written and displayed on the stairs. She felt awful for asking about anything, but it was too late.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-”

“Oh save it. I thought you were older than me, you should know that death is just a part of the circle. Round and round we go, life then death then life. It’s common sense.” Astrid paused, then turned around and began to walk up the stairs. “Are you coming? I’ll show you your room.”

Jordain followed in a rush, her footsteps pounding on the steps as they made their way to the second story. Astrid walked past a slightly ajar door to the next room which she opened and walked into. It was very plain, a tall window looking out over the clearing in front of the house took up most of the far wall. Soft white curtains covered the window, resting on a small bench built into the wall beneath. A bed and a chest of drawers covered most of the remaining space, with a small desk tucked into the corner close to the doorway. Another tall door stood at the side of the room, close to the headboard of the bed.

“That door goes into my room, try not to use it too much. I really don’t love visitors.”

Jordain nodded solemnly and sat on her bed, a soft silence fell over the room. Astrid sighed and walked into her own room, slamming the door shut behind her. Jordain fell back against her bedsheets and breathed in slowly, letting her body relax against the soft linen beneath her. She tugged her hair down from the bun atop her head and let it rest against her shoulders, tossing the hair tie to the small table next to her bed. The sunlight through the window sent shadows dancing across the room, shifting into different patterns and shapes that Jordain watched as her eyelids grew heavy, slowly falling into the darkness that enveloped her and let her body rest.

-EH