The Heinous Prodigies Book One: The Lost Dreamer

Chapter 1: Sparks Fly and Burns

Eden fell right off her bed. She landed on a hard pillow that squeaked in surprise. She groaned and rolled off as the pillow whimpered in pain. Eden glanced at it and saw that it wasn’t her pillow.

“Max.” She raised her husky above her, his purple collar dangling on him. She eyed the dog in a scolding manner. She’d ordered Max more than thrice already to sleep on his bed and not beside her. “I told you to sleep on your basket. You know what happens when I—”

Her cell phone rang. She quickly placed Max down and rushed before he cancelled the call. “Hello?” Eden greeted, trying to hide the sleep from her voice.

“Three rings,” replied Alex teasingly. “Any sooner and I would’ve hung up.”

Eden brushed her hair back while gazing at her room. She grew up living at unnecessarily large mansions. Her room was smaller than her old one in L.A. but she liked it better though. The day she came in here, it was all white except for the wood. The pillows, the wallpapers, the sheets, everything covered in white. The way she liked it. She had the habit of posting quotes from her favourite books or ideas for her written ones on the walls. Sometimes, she’d post pictures on the wall. Most of them had Alex in it, considering they went everywhere together. The rest were of the four of them, Daren, Amelia, her and Alex. Her dad was scarcely ever in the pictures; her mom was on none of them. She wanted to avoid seeing her mom’s face as much as possible.

Her mother was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen. Her face was always coloured with delight and hope as if nothing in the world could taint her opinion about it. Eden had aspired once to become like her and now, it just hurt.

“Let me guess,” said Alex, snapping her back to her senses. “You had that dream again? I wish I saw that man’s face. It would’ve been priceless in a museum. A true work of art.”

Eden pursed her lips. “Yeah.” It had been a month after that incident: her time at the Public Library, attacked by a black cloaked boy, chasing a deformed faced human and passing out after hitting a wall. It haunted her still especially in her dreams. The first ones were a little bit far off than what really happened but as it went on, it got more and more livid. She dreaded to go back there and search for them but of course, they wouldn’t be there.

The minute she regained consciousness, she was back at the library. The librarian had already snatched the book from her hand and reprimanded her, “You’re sure fire lucky I’m in a good mood or I’d have banned you from the Public Library already.”

Her sister picked Eden up on her new Mercedes-Benz after an hour of interrogation. The guards still didn’t believe her even as she pleaded that what she was saying was true and told her that she could’ve been sued for theft, if it weren’t for the librarian’s leniency.

Alex sighed. “At the rate you’re going, you’re going to start to need a therapist.”

Eden tightened her fist on her pajama. She was not delusional. She had not imagine the cloaked people and the deformed faced man. The pain the bump on the wall had caused was real. She was a little bit annoyed that her own best friend wouldn’t believe her. Why had she been the only one who saw them? “I—”

An auburn head, beaded with sweat, peered into her room. Hazel eyes met Eden’s dark blue ones. “Do you two seriously have to talk 24/7?” asked her brother.

Eden sighed in exasperation. “Could you please knock on the door like a normal person, Dare?” Her brother stepped into her room. He smelled of sweat and smoke. His shirt was wet all over. She pinched her nose and moved away from him. She was still getting used to her brother’s height height. She wasn’t used to having him so taller than her even though he was seventeen.