The Girl From Above [Ground: Zero, Book 1]

1: The Road Less Traveled?

The locals of Novis, California avoided their own roads like the plague, and it was common knowledge in the nearby mountain towns that if someone wanted to disappear off the face of the Earth, Novis Valley was the place. As for Ryan, it was the perfect place to die.

As far as she could tell, the road was practically abandoned. It was lumpy with roots cracked along the asphalt. The air bit her nose and everything smelled burnt. There were no noises or signs of civilization besides the metal guardrail.

She hesitantly took a quick glance down. Her stomach fell, this wasn't a dream, this was real, and the only thing keeping her from the expanse of trees below her was her own willpower.

The wind howled and groaned, she fiddled with her fingers, they were numb and icy cold. She clenched her teeth, seeds of doubt crept up and clawed her stomach.

What other options were there?

Out of the corner of her eye she saw multicolored lights blaze down the pass. A loud hiss rang through the trees, shaking the ground.

Thoughts raced through her mind, had someone called the cops? No, the cops were faster than this. Whatever was down there was approaching at walking speed and it was taking its time. She backed into the barrier, the sea of trees pulled at her shirt, beckoning her closer.

She glanced back at the road, ready to climb over and run back into town. A lump formed in her throat as she glanced back at the trees, but before she could exhale, something clenched her shoulder with an iron grip.

A layered voice hissed into her ear, "You haven't happened to have seen a little boy around here, have you?"

"No." She answered abruptly. She tried to sound confident, but her teeth were chattering. "If a little boy was up here, he's long gone by now, probably dead or something."

Without warning, white hot pain flashed across her senses, nails dug into her shoulder, followed by a wave of panic. She tried to manage anything to get whatever it was off of her, but only squeaks came out.

She sealed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth together tightly. This wasn't happening, not today, of all times not today. Her palms shook. She gripped them tightly, trying to rub the cold sweat off.

A small whimper came from behind her.

"Please, leave the human alone." The new voice added, it brittle and paper thin.

"You aren't dead then? Splendid!" The layered voice mused.

The cool feeling on her shoulder quickly receded, Ryan put her hand on her shoulder to shake off the goosebumps.

Cautiously, she turned around. What she saw made her believe she had jumped off after all.

Two people stood before her, the furthest one was a boy, from what Ryan saw he didn't seem that impressive, he looked about her age: fourteen years old, maybe younger. His face was covered in freckles and shaggy orange hair covered his bulky brown glasses. He looked like he hadn't slept a day in his life, which might have been the case with his stained and ripped clothes.

Ryan couldn't focus on him very long, it was almost as if he would jump in and out of reality. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Why were cute things always so hard to see?

The other looked like a waitress from one of the pubs at Novis, with a standard cheesy uniform t-shirt and dark curly brown hair wrapped up into a ponytail. She smiled too widely. Occasionally Ryan could hear the sloshing of liquid that seemed to be coming from her skin. She shivered, the same pinpricks emanated from the waitress that she felt dig into her shoulder earlier.