Darkness Within

by Carli Castle

  Darkness Within

  By Carli Castle

  Copyright 2015 Carli Castle

  Smashwords Edition

  Thank you for downloading this e-book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and my not be reproduced or distributed for commercial, or non-commercial purposes without written consent from the author. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

  Table of Contents

  About Darkness Within

  Note from the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  ABOUT DARKNESS WITHIN

  For as long as he could remember, Lucas Ferrin had magical powers he couldn’t control. Aside from that, he had a pretty normal, boring life, except for the fact that his powers surfaced when he became emotional in any way.

  When he stumbles upon a dead body on his way to work, he immediately knows there is something very sinister going on. First, the feeling inside him told him something was very wrong, and then there was the fact that the young woman's soul never returned to say who had killed her—as was customary in the United Realms of Esmeralda.

  As a series of strange, events begin to unfold, Lucas finds himself fighting something inside him that makes him want to do terrible things, something darker and much scarier than the creatures that have begun to roam the night in search for their next kill. It is a darkness he can't keep away; that talks to him in his most vulnerable moments.

  Can Lucas hold off darkness long enough to find out his destiny, or will he give into its dark, but satisfying, desire?

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  First of all, I really want to thank you for giving this book a chance. Darkness Within was born many years ago, and it was something completely different than what it is today. I am very proud of this novel, and I have learned a lot from this journey.

  As this is my first book, I really appreciate the feedback and look forward to reading what you have to say about it. I do hope it’s all good, but if it’s not your cup of tea, that’s okay, too. I appreciate you anyway.

  I am now working on the sequel for this novel, which will be released in the near future. I will be updating my progress via my Facebook page and my website.

  Thank you for reading!

  Love,

  Carli

  Chapter One

  Lucas Ferrin was bored.

  Actually, he wasn’t bored, there was not a word to describe what he felt. How he felt about the direction his life had taken.

  Once upon a time, he had been full of plans. Like most seventeen year olds, he had finished secondary school and had planned on going out into the world and living a life of excitement. Finding himself, learning new things.

  Instead, he was going through the motions, like the people he had always criticized. The ones that woke up, went to work, went home, slept, and woke up to do it over again. And that was exactly what he was doing, going through a list of things to do, as if he were on autopilot.

  And his job wasn’t just any ordinary job, even if it sounded like it was because of his attitude. And he knew he had a crappy attitude about it.

  Lucas was a member of the grand council of the United Realms of Esmeralda. When he had been chosen for the job, he had been quite surprised, if not shocked, mostly because he didn’t really have very many talents that would warrant him a position in the council. Not that his position was all that important or necessary; he was the secretary to the president, who just happened to be his brother, Caleb.

  The truth was, Lucas knew nothing about politics. He wasn’t interested in any of it, so long as the people in charge were being equally fair to everyone. He didn’t know how to do anything that could contribute to the safety of the people in any way. And to top that, he didn’t even know how to talk in front of people at all, or to them, for that matter. The amount of anxiety he went through when he had to introduce himself to someone was agonizing, and here he was in the position where he had to do that for a living. It made for interesting days at work, with people thinking he was just rude, when in fact, he was just painfully introverted.

  He had talents. He knew it, and he wasn’t just trying to be modest about them.

  He could draw anything. Just show him something or someone, and he could replicate them almost identically on paper. He became alive when he picked up a sketch book and a pencil. It was natural to him, like walking, or breathing.

  The other thing he liked was alchemy, which he was plenty good at, but it wasn’t something he felt he wanted to do for the rest of his life. For the most part, all he did with it was make inanimate objects do what he wanted them to do, like make buckets fill up with water by themselves whenever he wanted them to, or make a lighter, a little non-magical device to light things up on fire, not actually burn things. So far, he had just made things disappear with it, but he hadn’t yet figured out where they’d gone.

  Either way, those talents did nothing to make his job any easier. If there was a conflict, or a dispute, or even a war, he could do nothing with them to make the situation any better. What was he going to do, sketch his enemy to death?

  Oh, and then there was the biggest problem of all, at least according to the rest of Esmeralda. Lucas was interested in sleeper (non-magical) humans. He was not only interested in them, he loved anything that had to do with them. He liked how they could live without magic, though to him, their inventions were nothing short of magic. They had invented a steel bird that flew across the sky so they could travel from one land to the other!

  Steel flying across the sky!

  If that wasn’t magic, then his entire life was a lie.

  Still, people didn’t think they were so great, because sleeper humans were a little weird when it came to magic. Not many sleepers knew of the existence of Esmeralda, but the ones that had inexplicably been born with magic in their veins tended to get a little greedy with their powers. Esmeraldans didn’t take kindly to it, or to people who sympathized with them. To say Lucas found their attitude a little disgusting was an understatement. He was not one to condemn an entire group because of the actions of a few.

  Also, the fact that he was the brother to the president didn’t help his case, because most of Esmeralda was not happy that he had a job in the council when it wasn’t really needed. In the history of the council, there had never been a secretary serving right under the president. There hadn’t been any need for it. However, almost eighteen months before, Caleb had decided he absolutely needed a secretary and Lucas was the one for the job.

  But his current boredom wasn’t the biggest issue at all for Lucas. It was his powers.

  Ever since he could remember, he had strange powers that no one else had. They came whenever he was exposed to high emotions and he had no control whatsoever over them. It scared the living daylights out of him. And then there were the feelings that came over him whenever it happened, particularly when fire exploded out of his hands, a hunger so dark it made him feel dirty long after it was gone. It happened every time, and if that wasn’t an incentive to never want the power
s to surface again, he didn’t know what was.

  The only people that knew about his powers were his family, including Caleb, which was why Lucas had often wondered if his brother was right in the head, because choosing someone who had unstable powers to work with him in a place where they were to keep people safe was not only reckless, it was downright stupid.

  So there he was, in a lather-rinse-repeat cycle.

  He was a robot.

  Before, when he still had dreams for his future, Lucas always thought he would move away from home after school was over, which was right when he turned seventeen. He would have gone out in the world, have an exciting life where he could meet interesting people of all creeds, personalities, races. He would venture deep into the sleeper realm on a regular basis so he could feed his intense and ever present curiosity of its people. It was not encouraged to leave Esmeralda for the sleeper realm, but Lucas didn’t care. He needed to know more, he needed to see more. But that had not worked out for him. It was interesting how you could dream of something for so long, envision it, almost taste it, and then life took it away like it was nothing.

  That spring, it had been one year, seven months, and two days since he had been called to serve in the council. For some reason, he was always aware of the exact amount of time he had been working there. Caleb always pointed out it was because of his bad attitude about it, but Lucas had long ago decided he could not sit back and be complacent about it.

  There were days when he stood above his cliff, looking over the shimmering blue water of the sea to the west, to the majestic green mountains to the east, and thought that maybe he should just pack his bags and leave Esmeralda for good. That way, maybe he would actually be doing something with his time, like learning a new language, or cooking, or a martial art. He could be learning to defend himself. Against what, he didn’t know for sure, but he still would have liked to have the option of being able to do it.

  Despite having the attitude of an old man whose hopes and dreams had been shattered, Lucas didn’t look very different from other young men his age. The soft, morning wind ruffled his hair which was an average kind of dark brown. He had to shave that morning, he remembered with a grimace. He wished that part of him had remained a boy so he didn’t have to deal with it. Not that he could grow a full beard, but it was still quite a nuisance. His face, and it was a nice face, still had the remnants of a fitful night of sleep.

  His skin was still just a little bit pale from a long, cold winter. His eyes, which were currently narrowed as he gazed upon the vast canyon below him, were as turquoise as the waters of a tropical sea. His nose was straight and narrow, his face a little bit thin.

  There were hollows in his cheeks that tended to become more pronounced when he was stressed, and his mouth still smiled easily, even on his worst days. He was tall, maybe a little on the thin side, but he prided himself on always staying active and being strong.

  Working out to stay fit and drawing were the only things that kept him a little sane.

  That morning, he was tired. He was sure that most of his misgivings about his job came from the fact that he had to read letters from people complaining about him. He was also pretty sure the people that took time out of their day to tell him of his utter lack of use to the council just had too much time in their hands. Still, that didn’t make it any easier to read their harsh words.

  Most of the Esmeraldan citizens that wrote to the council were truly indignant that he held a position in the council only because he was Caleb’s brother. Not that they knew that was the reason why he had the post. Lucas didn’t even know it himself, if that were the case.

  It didn’t really matter how much or how little he did; these people were mostly unhappy he was being paid to be there and take notes. It was as if the people of Esmeralda expected him to perform miracles or something of the sort. And it was utterly unfair, because he still worked hard, despite disliking the job itself.

  Half the time he wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he was great at following instructions, and he was quite organized, which came in handy. Caleb and King Patrick, the King of Esmeralda, continuously told him he was where he belonged, and he trusted those two with everything he had. That was why he didn’t actually run away, abandoning them.

  As he often did in the morning, he drank his tea standing over the cliff where his house stood alone and proud. He’d long ago begun to think of the cliff as his, looking over the canyon, which still had snow in it from the last storm. The mountains were still white, but the air smelled of spring. It had become a bit warmer as the month went by, though it was still chilly. He loved the contrast of the mountains and sea as they stood so close together, giving him the views he loved.

  Esmeralda was a truly magnificent place. Every island in the United Realms had its inherent charm, but Esmeralda was the most beautiful of all, in his opinion. The rolling hills, the meadows, the mountains, and the deep forests were what gave it its incredible appeal. Esmeralda had it all.

  He loved his home, which was the other reason why he didn’t pack up and leave. It made him grateful just to be able to stand there and look at it in all its glory. It also made him thankful the house was where it was and that he’d been able to move there when he’d graduated. He was a fortunate guy.

  The mountains would turn green soon as the snow melted off the caps, and the sea would finally lose that gray hue it took on when it was cold. He really enjoyed being able to listen to the crash of the waves as he went to bed, just as much as he enjoyed going on runs, or walking on the beach. Many times he went down and sat on a rock, trying to spot a particularly interesting shell, or a rebel mermaid breaking the surface that he could draw.

  I could never say goodbye to this place, he thought, soaking in the morning dew off the cool rock where he stood. His feet were bare and he was wearing his favorite gray sweatpants that had a rip on the left knee. The black shirt covering his top half wasn’t all the way black anymore, but that was mostly because of a mishap with a cleaning potion meant just for whites. He kind of looked like a weird Dalmatian because of it, but he didn’t care.

  He welcomed the cold on his skin, goose-bumps running up and down his back and on his exposed arms, and making his ears numb at the tips. It helped him to finish waking up, especially the fact that his feet had gone numb. His mother would have gone bonkers, berating him for not wearing something warm and shoes on his feet, and telling him he was just going to end up sick and she would have to take time out of her day to take care of him. She liked to act like she hated that part, but he knew better. His mother was still having a hard time with the fact that he and Caleb grew up and moved away. She found every excuse in the book to do things for them. Lucas especially loved the fact that she made food and sent it to him every week. He was not a good cook.

  As he turned to go back into the house to start getting ready for his day, he decided to try and turn around his mood. He had to stop acting like he had the worst deal in the world. So work was boring, at least he had a job. He needed to focus on that fact. He had somewhere to be every day, he got paid for it every week, and he got to be independent. What wasn’t good about that?

  On that note, he got into the shower. He let the warm water relax him as it pounded over his head and down his body. When he finished, he stepped outside, wrapped a towel on his lean hips, and stood in front of the mirror. He even looked rested, which was interesting, since he had not gotten much sleep. As he dressed, he noticed the absolute quiet of the house and realized it unnerved him that morning more than any other time. If he were at home, his two brothers would be bothering him somehow, trying to play pranks on him.

  Suppressing memories of Caleb and Noah making fun of him about something, Lucas conjured clothes from his closet, having them appear right in front of him, ready to put on his body. As soon as he was finished dressing, he grabbed his briefcase, which contained nothing more than a few sheets of paper, too many pens, a few pencils, and a sketchbook, and stepped outsid
e onto the porch.

  Taking a deep breath, he began to walk down the slight hill as the sun got higher in the sky. He could have just teleported straight from the porch, but he wanted to walk, maybe continue working on his lousy mood.

  He strode down the hill, into the forest, through a clear and defined path in the trees. Weak rays of sunshine were piercing through the deep green leaves, circles of light forming on the ground. He admired the play of light and shadows and thought of what technique he could use to get the same effect to come across paper.

  “Look out,” came a feminine voice from behind him. He pivoted just in time for a young fairy to breeze past him without bumping into him. Her arms were completely full of green pouches, which he knew were filled with pixie dust. “You really don’t want to get hit with this stuff.”

  “What’s it for?” He stopped momentarily to watch what she was doing. She was wearing a little blue dress that reached about mid-thigh, a pair of calf length leggings, and flat shoes that looked more comfortable than they were fashionable. But what did he know about fashion? He barely knew how to dress himself decently to go to work.

  She was a little thing, about five feet tall, her reddish-blond hair cut short and spiky.

  “It’s for dragon berry sprouts. We have bushes around here that are not growing any. The demand for them is high right now, what with the huge spread of dragon pox we just had.”

  “No wonder I haven’t been able to make my favorite tea lately.” He responded and she threw him a smirk.

  “If your tea were the only problem, we wouldn’t be working so hard to get them back, now, would we,” she said in a haughty tone.

  “Not at all,” he murmured and she waved her hand vaguely at him.

  He’d dealt with dragon berries very little but for using them to make tea. They were curious plants, dragon berries. You could pick them at different times in the day and they would perform differently depending on what time you picked them off their bush. Dragon berries picked in the morning were used mainly for tea if used right away. If used at night, berries picked in the morning would be good for various different potions used to cure ailments of all kinds. When picked at night, they would be used for a whole other group of illnesses and could be poisonous if used straight away and not in broad daylight. They were really sweet, but had a bit of a tang, which was why Lucas liked tea made with them.