Homelessness, Abandonment, and The Supernatural

CHAPTER ONE: The Weird World We Live In

Lizzie ran as hard as she could to try and escape her pursuers. Where was everyone when she needed them? Luke always had a way out and would never fail to help Lizzie when she called for him. But this time, when Lizzie had spotted the patrols far too late, she realized that she had no time to waste in sending out the call for her brother.

Carving the old runes into the dirt with her finger, Lizzie had drawn a circle around the now meaningless (to all but her and those who still could read them) words before she had taken off. To the more ordinary folk, it would have seemed that she had just been doodling in the dirt on the side of the alley. But in reality, the words were special. They sent a message invisibly through the city to wherever Lizzie's brother Luke was hiding, telling him that she needed his help.

Being barefoot in such a rubbish-infested city meant that Lizzie had to watch carefully where she walked, but now she only thought to get away. The stabbing pains in her feet as she ran through sharp stones in the road kept her aware of things around her as she dashed down a gravelly alleyway. The desert sands that had mixed with the gravel when the winds had brought the sand from the beaches miles away made for a more comfortable path.

But Lizzie didn't even notice. There was a ramshackle driftwood fence that she had to scale and in seconds too, for she could almost feel the breath of her pursuers on the back of her neck.

Leaping up as high as she could, Lizzie felt herself crash right into the fence, knocking boards aside to trip up the patrols behind her. The rough splinters of the boards raked against her skin, making her unable to stifle a cry of pain as she landed unceremoniously in a tumbling heap on the other side.

She could hear the cursing and swearing of the patrols who had fallen upon being faced suddenly with flying boards. It almost made her smile, having at last gotten even with them. But Lizzie wasn't stupid. She didn't waste time gloating and instead, took off running to a place she knew was safe.

The town grew even more junky and windswept towards the outskirts of the city limits. As she ducked behind old overstuffed dumpsters and even hid in a few old empty rubbish bins, Lizzie kept a more careful watch for patrols. Just as she had been when the chase had begun, Lizzie was completely baffled as to why she was even being chased. She'd done nothing wrong and neither had her family, so what interest did the county or the council have in her?

Making a run for it, Lizzie disappeared into a cloud of dust as she bolted for the last row of homes on the city's edge. A fresh, cool breeze blew in off the ocean nearby and Lizzie already felt better. The thought of nearing the beaches made her feel so much safer, even though the waters beyond the sands and piers jutting out into the choppy, black waves were infested with the most horrifying sea creatures imagineable. Giant catfish big enough to swallow a six foot tall adult without any trouble at all. In some cases, sharks so big that no one had even seen the same creature's face and tail in the same day the it had been spotted. And a great many massive Octopuses and Squids were not uncommon either.

But all Lizzie had known before finding herself in the streets of this god-forsaken coastal city was gone, save a few memories she used to her advantage in her new life. She knew nothing beyond what she had to know to survive and that scared her terribly. Yet thankfully, Lizzie was happy to say that she was not alone in the strange world she had awakened in only weeks ago.

Her brother Luke--who was three years younger than her--lived in the same place as she did, providing company unless they were out trying to find food.

Thinking of Luke made Lizzie want to turn around and go back to look for him. She'd seen nothing of him all day, even when she called. And it was unlike him not to answer. The longest they had been seperated was eight hours and already, the first hour was drawing to a close. Lizzie knew that Luke was intelligent enough to survive on his own for a considerable time and that he would find his way home eventually.