Ryan had tried to catch it or kill it. The guy’s powers were strong, if a normal person tried to touch him, he would be deadly. Ryan had been hungry for more of a challenge, but the animal inside him had blocked his thinking. He was still nowhere ready to go on missions. His brother had been right.
Then Paul had died. He never really knew the guy, but it was hard for anyone here in such a small town not to mourn the death of an eighteen-year-old boy. It was such a shame, he’d been offered to be a part of their team. He could have helped them save lives but instead he’d chosen to run.
Ryan looked at Donna again, then saw Lynn give him the stare of death. He looked forward. He had gone to Donna’s house two days ago, just to make sure she was all right. She had been in her room, asleep and safe.
He looked at Lynn. She was almost everything any guy would ever want, and he cared about her. He understood his exact feelings for her. With her, he was Ryan Applegate, a 105 Biomax soldier, but with Donna things were complicated, never ending, and dangerous. She was the first girl he had ever liked and opened up to. She was absolutely beautiful in ways Lynn could never be to him. He had gone back and forth from liking her to just caring about her, or at least he’d made himself believe he just cared; her being a reminder that he’d never be able to be normal or more than a secret friend to her. Though it seemed he couldn’t even find ways to do that anymore, and it killed him worse then being shocked by the Electrolite.
Yet it had to be this way. Fighting the Electrolite proved his animal self and human self didn’t fully know each other well enough yet. If they had, he’d have beaten the electric intruder easily. He’d been made to do so much more than that.
“This was only the beginning,” his father’s words, yet he could feel in his skin they were true. He needed control. Control was the key, but he knew if anyone ever tried to hurt Donna the animal inside him would not be able to be controlled. He’d tear them to pieces …
* * *
Donna
That night the stage was lit, and most of the town was there to see the state gymnastics team, which went from school to school to show off and give an entertaining show. After that, all the people trying out would have one three-minute audition on the beam, the bars, or the horse, their choice. Donna watched Melissa perform, knowing she could do just as well now.
Brook had come into town to see her win this. She’d driven all the way from the city. She was sitting next to Spencer and Rebecca in the far right end of the bleachers. Brook smiled and screamed out Donna’s name. Donna pretended to smile shyly, and Brook mouthed “You can do this!”
Her routine was perfect, and seeing Melissa not go for the back handspring double back tuck, she now knew she had this. Here was her one chance to be free, far away from this nightmare of a place. She waved to her dad, who walked in late, of course, and went to sit by his best friend. Her stomach turned sour as Mr. Applegate, Ryan, and Lynn sat together with her father.
If I do this, and if they suspect what I am, Spencer, Rebecca, and I could die! Then my dad will be alone. She’d written that sentence down over and over again, but now it was time to act on what she, Spencer, and Rebecca had decided.
Donna walked out in her gymnastics uniform and took her beginning pose, staring at the audience. I could be free … The other voice in her head screamed at her against the logical one. The music started and Donna began her routine …
* * *
Unknown
Far away from East Applegate, across from America, in an ancient ruin lost to all but a select group trusted with its secrets, stood two men. One was old, withered, and wise looking, with something devious and misleading in his smile. The other was younger, in his twenties, and had blond hair and silver eyes, and the presence of a great knight or king. This young one looked troubled, angry, and confused. “You warned Paul Cohen the day before his death! It was you! You broke every one of the rules you taught me!” he accused the old man.
The old man made a humble, innocent face, making eye contact with the boy. “Yes, I’m afraid I did,” he said at last.
“You changed everything! The entire future, you—”
“We’ve all changed the future many times, isn’t that the point of our existence?” the old man reasoned calmly.
“Don’t try to manipulate me. We both know what the penalty is for this.”
“Yes, we both know,” the old man spoke as he took a step toward him. “And you, my young son, would be dead right now if such misunderstandings were put into action.”
They both looked at each other, a secret being understood only to them.
“I should have known they were right about you,” the young man said to the old man’s face at last.
“Maybe they were, from the old ways point of view, but the old times have passed. A new prelude is upon us. Yes, I changed the future. The boy was a necessary sacrifice in order to save a life, that, I thought you’d agree, should be saved among all else. After all, it was your promise to keep.”
“Don’t twist this!”
“There is nothing to twist.” The old man kept going, “Don’t you understand, son, that everything I do is for you? Paul Cohen would have grown up to be your biggest enemy, and the promise you made to Kalob would be unkept.”
“You know I’m forbidden to keep that promise,” the young man told him, looking down at the ground.
“I know that the future is in our hands now, it’s time to shape it. It’s time you go back to East Applegate. It’s time you return home, David Young.”
###
Shock Me is the first of five novels in The Shock Me series.
Written by Ashley C. Harris.
Click here to read the second novel in the series SPARKS.
Also By
Ashley C. Harris
THE SHOCK ME SERIES
Shock Me
Sparks
Collide
New Divide
Ignite
THE ONE NIGHT IN SERIES
One Night In Heated Snapshots
One Night In Close Exposure
THE LINES NOVELLAS SERIES
Lines Part One
Lines Part Two
Lines Part Three
For more information and news on Ashley C. Harris's upcoming books go to:
www.Ashleycharris.com
You can also find her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAshleyC.Harris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ashley_C_Harris
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AshleyCHarris
Tumblr: https://ashley-c-harris.tumblr.com/
Instigram: https://instagram.com/ashley_c_harris
Special Thanks From The Author:
Special thanks to Amber Harris, my parents David and Karen Harris, and everyone else that encouraged me to pursue publishing this book. To Cameron Yeager, the most amazing editor, and also to Molly Harris, Ariel Lepoff, and all the other proofreaders who helped me along the way. To my publicists Danielle Barclay, Anjana Vasan, and everyone else at Barclay Publicity. The adventure of this series has just started and I thank you all!
###
Behind The Shock Me Series
An additional note from author Ashley C. Harris.
SHOCK ME in my own words is a novel about a teenage girl who is viewed, and views herself, as someone not special or important. Yet when she discovers she has an extraordinary gift, it turns out she just may be the key to unlocking a hidden mystery about her town and the world around her, including a dark twist about the guy she used to be best friends with.
A message I wanted to convey in the novel to the readers is that as a teenager or a new adult, no matter what a person is going through and how awkward and impossible things get, you are still so special and have been put on earth with unique abilities to do great things. That it is possible to overcome anything and make a big difference. It only takes one person to change the scales of history.
Some people don’t know that
SHOCK ME was actually inspired by a dream I had when I was thirteen. In that dream, I saw a beautiful young women who was running through an open field while being chased by an enemy. She hit a giant fence in the dream right as her rival got closer, trapping her. I thought she was done for when suddenly I watched her body transform into something super alive and electric! This girl was actually able to run through the fence like an electric ghost unharmed. After I awoke from that dream I immediately wrote the whole thing down. Years later the book SHOCK ME came about and it’s my favorite thing I’ve written so far.
What’s coming next for the SHOCK ME series? After reading book one the readers can find SPARKS, the second installment in the series, and then COLLIDE the third novel. All three are available to download right away in ebook stores. In fall of 2015, an independent standalone novella titled NEW DIVIDE will be released that centers around one of the side characters in Shock Me. A big twist will be revealed in that novella that will impact all the characters including Donna’s survival and future decisions. Books four and five will be released in 2016 and I’m so excited to see what all the readers think of Donna’s complete story as a whole. I love everyone of these characters from Donna’s world and if you think you know them and what they are capable of from book one. . . think again.
Read a sneak peak of SPARKS bellow.
SPARKS
The Shock Me Series
Book Two
By
Ashley C. Harris
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2014 by Ashley C. Harris. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Author.
https://www.ashleycharris.com
Amazon Edition
The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademarked owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Nerd, Hummer, Dumpster, Syfy Channel, Ford Mustang, Walmart, Hick, Superman, Dazy Duke’s, Tiffany’s, Grinch, Linkin Park, Hummer limo, X-Files, Pop-Tart, Windows, Zoe Saldana, Carrie, Titanic, Mad Hatter.
Dedicated to:
Jesus Christ
“ … he (who) was wounded for our transgressions,
he (who) was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him,
and with his stripes we are (forever) healed.” Isaiah 53:5 (Old Testament)
&
Teenagers Everywhere:
“You have a future ... You’re dreams are not impossible. Don’t let the world’s negative words about this generation rob your destiny. You are special and wonderfully made to do great things.”
SPARKS
PART ONE
Picking Up The Pieces
Chapter One
Six Years Ago
Donna
Donna sat next to her dad in his old truck as he drove home to East Applegate from New York. She was twelve, and this had been her first summer in the big city. Unfortunately, her father hadn’t dragged her there for a vacation or excitement. No, New York had supposedly been the last place David, her older brother, had been spotted. Yet her dad had found nothing.
Donna was young and had been kept in the dark about all this. As the daughter of the once beloved town football hero now turned broke and falling apart handyman, Donna spent her days at her grandma’s or with her best friend and godbrother, Ryan Applegate. Ryan was the boy she told her every secret to, and who helped her escape from the middle school bullies that preyed on all the little kids; like Ryan’s older brother Randy.
Now it was time for Donna to begin middle school, yet that was far from her mind. Everything delicate and peaceful had been shaken within her, revealing a new grayness inside her mind: fear. Her childhood feelings of being protected and special had been stolen in the city, kidnapped by a creature with silver eyes.
Donna shuddered as a tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another and another. Her father was lost in his own misery of not finding her brother. It wasn’t till Donna’s crying made her shake that he noticed something was wrong.
“Honey, is everything all right?”
Donna bit her lip, unable to look at him. She wanted to tell her father what scary thing had happened to her in the city. Wanted a grown up to make her mind stop thinking about the grayness in her head. But her dad wasn’t strong enough. She could see the weight of sorrow her father bore, and she didn’t want to hurt him more with her story. But how could she stop the nightmares from coming? “Everything is fine, Daddy. I’m just cold.”
Donna continued to tremble as her father turned the heater on and patted her shoulder, pulling her in tight for a moment as if to warm her, and kissing her on the top of the head.
Ryan. I have to be strong till I get home to him.
She let go of her father’s embrace and buried her head into the seat. She believed more than anything her best friend would make her pain go away. When they were together, Donna could be strong.
* * *
Present Day: Somewhere In New York City
Jason
“What did the old man say?” Jason asked his cellmate as he watched him open his eyes to their dingy dark cell; his spooky silver irises practically glowed in the dark prison.
“That Paul Cohen’s death will trigger our freedom,” his cellmate whispered. Jason smiled, but his cellmate’s stress only seemed to grow heavier. Why? This was what they’d been waiting for. His cellmate jumped up and began doing pull ups.
“Meanwhile, you left me here in this bloody compound while you, lucky bloke, got to be in a trance seeing things that are halfway around the globe. I got to be stuck listening to the newest nutter they just moved back to our floor.” Jason nodded his head toward an isolated cell that was far away from the other Bios. Rumor had it the isolated creep was the first Biomax solider to have ever been created.
The weirdo laughed and sneered as he made eyes at Jason’s cellmate, this was going to be a long night. “Escape,” he called out, taunting them all. “When that day comes, and we all know it’s coming soon, and we’re let lose with all our abilities and power, where do you think I plan on heading, ladies and gentleman?” He continued to stare down at Jason’s cellmate, talking only to him. “Where do you think I’ll go … David Young? Isn’t that the name you’ve been trying to go by?”
David jumped down from his pull up bar and stared a deadly stare at the crazy Bio original.
“Don’t do it,” Jason tried to warn him. “If you project yourself into his cell you know what he’ll be able to do.”
The nutter kept talking, trying to egg them on. “The moment these bars shift open, I’ll be on my way back to East Applegate, to the clueless and pathetic Doug Young. I wonder if he still has that poor innocent daughter of his? They’ll be the first humans I plan on visiting. How else can we all make the Applegate’s pay?” And with that, everyone else in all the cells, except for Jason and his very angry cellmate, began to clap.
Freedom was around the corner, for everyone, and so was the unknown.
* * *
Donna
Donna made it home from school, shutting the door behind her. The walk home had been almost as awful as class itself. The moment she stepped one foot off campus, she had barely been able to hold her fears and nightmares in any longer. She was sure her pretending today hadn’t been good enough. Sure that Ryan or Randy or someone else had figured out what she really was and was following her, ready to take her down and destroy her, to kill her at the mere age of sixteen.
Now within the safety of her house, she could hold the urge to turn no longer. “Turn” was her only word to describe when her body did the unthinkable, unexplainable, most shocking transformation into some kind of government electrical solide
r. A solider unknown to the government somehow thanks to Paul Cohen’s death. He’d sacrificed himself for her. Why? Why did Donna’s existence cause so many bad things to happen?
Her body, charged with adrenalin, began to tingle, and she felt as if she was falling asleep from the top of her head down to her toes. Her skin changed, becoming transparent and see-through. She became a being made of pulsing electric light. So weightless, she felt lighter than a small animal. So alive, she felt like she wanted run out of town and never stop. She feared the shocking particles within her might explode with her increasing heartbeat.
“Donna, is that you?” her dad yelled from the kitchen.
Donna made a movement with her chest, as if she was taking a deep breath even though she wasn’t exactly sure if this electrical thing she was ever really needed oxygen. Then she closed her transparent eyes and pushed herself with all her might, forcing her body back to humanity.
Her flesh returned to normal right as her dad walked into the living room. He said something that she didn’t hear as she glanced down at herself to make sure she was fully dressed; that her electric skin hadn’t fried her clothes as it did fifty percent of the time when she transformed. Shirt, trousers, shoes … oh no. No shoes! Her dad didn’t seem to notice though. Donna moved past him, nodding her head to whatever he was saying as she made it to the kitchen.
She poured herself a glass of water, leaving the sink on as she let her hand stay under the running faucet.