The First Touch
Authors: Alice Sweet
The First Touch
By Alice Sweet
Copyright 2012Alice Schneider
Smashwords
Edition
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Alice Sweet
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Table of C
ontents
I would
like to dedicate this book to
Nancy
Schneider
. Your encoura
gement made this book possible
,
thank you for
being so awesome!
The First
Autumn stepped out of
the overgrown jungle,
to
where the sky opened up, greeting her
with the
white
sandy beach
of her dreams
. She came out to watch
the sun set
,
as it almost always did, when she found herself here. Th
e feeling of familiarity flooding
her senses,
as the light warmed her skin,
and
the sand danced on
the tops of her
feet, ticking her toes
with
scratchy
delight
. This
was a special spot
for her
,
this place where light and dark danced together, unseen by so many others
,
making
her feel at
once,
home
.
Unexpectedly though
,
anxiety crept in
,
as
she
spot
ted
a large black shape in the watery distance
, interrupting
her
temporary
reprieve
. She tried
to push it from her mind
,
and enjoy the fleeting
moment in front of her,
even
turned
away from the blight
i
n the
water
,
hoping to return
her
sense of
calm
.
H
er
mind
however, would
not listen
,
stubbornly
drift
ing
back to the approaching vessel
.
T
he sun
,
meanwhile
set
, sending
out its final warning,
night approaches
,
as it filled
the
skies with
amber
light.
Tonight,
she knew she should be lis
tening, but
she needed to see
something
…
.
Ultimately
,
t
he
precious
light
disappeared
over the horizon
, leaving nothing but the beginn
ings of starlight to sooth her
nerves
.
Autumn frowned t
hen; turning her attention
to the
ever
darkening waters and noted that the
black
shape
on the horizon
was getting closer now. Her chest
tightened
, as h
er
anxiety
grew
,
forcing
her off the beach and back to
the safety of the dense
vegetation
behind her.
When
she stepped
backward though, she
bumped into a solid figure
, which
seemingly
appeared out of thin air. Somehow
though
, she was not surprised, or alarmed by the a
ppearance of her newest visitor. He was
a tall
sturdy
looking male
with a commanding presence, and even though he
did not even
glance at her
, she knew he was a good man
.
Autumn blinked
,
and instantly four more silhouettes came out to join hi
m
on the
sand
. They,
like him
, seemed completely focused on the boat that was heading towards their sh
ores. She looked out at the water
again and found that it was much closer than she thought possible
, given the short passage of time
.
Immediately,
she turned back to see if her companions had noticed t
he same discrepancy
,
they had.
A
t least she thought so,
they had
changed, their eyes
,
black
pits
of loathing
,
and their
skin…
cold
. She knew the last
bit,
because she felt
it
as well, and
suspected that her eyes
might be like theirs
, except
that
she
was
straining in the
ever
dimming
light. They however seemed
comforted, by this limiting factor
, as if it was a more natural state for
them, lightless wonderment, easing
their shinning black orbs.
Her hands felt tight
now
and she looked down at them, flexing them
cautiously before looking
up again
t
o find a line of rowboats, amazingly
, already
moored on the shores
in front of her
. Cloaked figures stepped out
at once
,
moving swiftly towards the group on the beach
, unnaturally so
in
her eyes
.
The gr
owls that escaped the
lips
of her companions
echoed her own misgivings
about these visitors. They
were uninvited
, unwelcome by the people
who
lived
here. Autumn felt compelled to step closer
and investigate further
but she was frightened since she was unsure of her eyes
appearance
at
the moment
, a valuable piece of information. Important
to her
alone
b
ecause she knew that it c
ould mean
the difference between life and death
…
in this place.
Hesitantly
,
she stepped forward, and cringed as a
stick under
her
foot snappe
d
,
sending all eyes to her. Hisses instantly
rose up from the cloaked f
igures
.
Autumn turned sprinting
fro
m
the
beach
,
while
h
orrifying images
,
pounded
her skull as she
fled.
The next thing she knew
,
she was zooming thr
ough the brush,
her
exposed skin, stinging as
it
struck
every vine,
branch
, and thorny patch
that she passed
in her rush
to flee
.
Most importantly, l
eaving
blood sign
on
everything that she touched,
send
ing a wave of panic through her. W
hat
would
they
do
to her
when they found her
?
S
he zigzagged
frantically
,
feeling them at her heels, her h
eart racing in her chest
all the while
. D
esper
ation hit her then;
she could not outrun them
,
not them
.
When she made it into a small clearing ahead
,
she
stopped turning to
face
them
,
screaming into the darkness
, maddeni
ngly
swinging
behind closed lids
, hoping to bring on a quick
death.
When she struck nothing, she
squeezed
her eyes
tighter
,
tensing
in preparation
for a
deadly
response
.
Instead though, m
om
ents
of
troubling quiet passed
, waiting for her
,
she guessed
,
to unfurl
…and
then
…nothing happened.
S
he slowly open
ed her eyes, peeking out
from behind her lashes
to see
the
reason for the delay
, but found
none
.
It was a miracle
. N
o one was standing there
, not a soul
.
