《Hallowed》


 Chapter 1

    When you¡¯re trapped in a diner that is full of empty space, what are you meant to do? Try to act all proper in hopes that a customer will walk through the door? Or sit on a stool by the counter and complain to the cook who isn¡¯t even paying attention to you to begin with?


    Well, Alice Greycraft was stuck in this dilemma. She could just go home and have that shower she¡¯s been longing for all day, but that would mean losing out on half her pay check, and that was one thing she couldn¡¯t afford. It was inevitable that she was going to have to lounge around and mope for the night. Or so she thought.


    As if by magic, a customer walked into the diner, and Alice couldn¡¯t help but be relieved. He made his way over to a corner booth and sat down. Alice gave herself a minute before walking over to take his order. When she was standing at the edge of the booth, she put on a fake smile and tried to sound as cheerful as she could.


    ¡°Hello, and welcome to Harry¡¯s,¡± Alice said.


    ¡°May I take your order?¡±


    The man thought for a moment before answering.


    ¡°Just coffer please,¡± He said.


    ¡°Black, if you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    Alice jotted down ¡®Black coffee¡¯ hastily onto the notepad she had taken out of her apron and walked back to the diner counter. She gave the order to the cook before sitting back down on the stool. Once the coffee was brewed, she poured it into a Styrofoam cup and brought it over to the customer.


    ¡°Here you go sir,¡± Alice said daintily.


    ¡°Black coffee, freshly brewed.¡±


    The man let a crooked smirk come onto his lips.


    ¡°I never would have been able to guess that,¡± He said.


    ¡° ¡®Specially after waiting for it to brew.¡±


    Alice smirked back at him before asking if he wanted anything else with his coffee. When he answered her, she nearly did a double take.


    ¡°Can I get a bit of you with this coffee miss?¡± He questioned.


    ¡°Course you can, if you took me out for dinner first.¡± Alice replied.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The fact of the matter is, Alice was secretly hoping he would say yes because she hadn¡¯t eaten since her shift started, and that was about four hours ago. However, the man just chuckled and started drinking his coffee.


    Just about when Alice was about to go back towards the counter, the man asked her for her name, when she gave it to him, he smiled and gave his name back.


    ¡°My name is Jason, Jason Maxson.¡±


    Alice tried to make a note about remembering his name, but realised that she would probably never see him again after tonight.


    After he had finished his coffee, he left ten dollars on the table. Alice started smiling like an idiot to herself once she figured out that he left an eight dollar tip for her to keep. Alice grinded through the last few hours of her shift before clocking out and going home. She walked the normal way back to her apartment, which involved walking through a couple of alleys, and past abandoned shops and boarded up houses. Once she got to her apartment block, Alice rooted through her bag and grabbed her keys to her apartment.


    Once inside, the first thing Alice did was walk to her bathroom, strip naked and jump into a shower. She let out a gasp once the cold water hit her back, but the water started to warm up soon after. After her shower, Alice got out of the shower and started to dry herself off. Once she was relatively dry, Alice looked herself in the mirror and let out a small sigh.


    ¡°Someday, you¡¯ll be able to get out of here,¡± Alice said to herself.


    ¡°Just you wait and see.¡±


    Now that she was looking at herself, Alice realised that she didn¡¯t like her blonde hair, and was contemplating whether or not to dye it a different colour, and she noticed that her eyes were darker than usual. Normally, her eyes are a pale green shade, but tonight they are almost like a shade of emerald. Alice thought that she was just imagining things and went to her room to dry hair properly and get into her pyjamas. Once she was dressed, Alice panned out across her bed.


    Alice drifted out of consciousness and fell to sleep before being awoken by a loud banging noise. Alice sprung straight into attention and slide off her bed. She kept in a crouched position and crept into her sitting room. The room was pitch black but there was crashing sounds coming from her kitchen which was only four feet away from her.


    Alice grabbed the vase that was on the coffee table and continue to creep towards the sounds in her kitchen.


    ¡°What the fuck am I doing?¡± Alice whispered to herself.


    Alice reached the counter in her kitchen and saw the outline of the figure that was standing at her refrigerator and swung the glass vase against the back of his skull. The figure dropped like a cinder block and Alice went to turn on the lights. Once she had the lights turned on, she gasped as she looked at who the figure was. It just happened to be her last customer, Jason Maxson, except, his face was now covered in scared and strange markings. Alice grabbed the telephone that was mounted to the wall and dialled 911.


    After calling the emergency services, Alice kept looking back at Jason.


    ¡°Why would he be here?¡± She asked herself.


    ¡°How did he know where I lived? Did he follow me home?¡±


    A million and one thoughts were spinning through Alice¡¯s mind. Whatever his reasons for breaking into her house, he definitely had planned it in advance. That thought alone sent a chill down Alice¡¯s spine.

 Chapter 2

    Alice continued to stare at the body that was lying on her kitchen floor. Did this person that she had just served a few hours ago break into her house? Why would he do that? How did he know where she lived? Did he follow me home? That last thought of hers sent a shiver down her spine. The thought of someone following her through the roughest part of Boston and breaking into her apartment was too much for her to handle. Alice stepped closer towards the unconscious man and lowered herself onto her knees to see if he was okay.


    ¡°Well..¡± Alice said out loud with a sigh of relief


    ¡°He still has a pulse, so I guess that¡¯s a good sign.¡±


    Just as she said this, Alice felt a strange burning and stabbing sensation spanning across her shoulder blade and down her left arm. The pain was so great that Alice buckled completely and fell flat onto the floor. Next thing she knew, she had passed out. When she woke up, her eyes felt like they were being stabbed. Everything was white. White walls, white lights, white ceiling. Everything was white.


    ¡°Where am I..?¡± Alice questioned.


    The moments these words left her lips, a man walked in through the door opposite her bed and greeted her.


    ¡°Good morning Ms. Greycraft,¡± He said politely.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    Alice took a second to think before answering.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­ But where am I?¡± She asked. She was glad the horrible pain in her shoulder was gone.


    ¡°You are in the downtown Boston Hospital.¡±


    ¡®The hospital¡­¡¯ Alice thought to herself.


    ¡°What about that man? Jason?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Jason?¡± The doctor questioned.


    ¡°Ms, I¡¯m sorry to say, but you were the only one that was in the apartment when the ambulance arrived.¡±


    Alice lowered her head and began to think to herself. Was she imagining the whole thing? Or did Jason simply wake up and leave her apartment? Whichever the answer was, Alice didn¡¯t really want to find out the answer. All she wanted to do, was go back to her apartment and sleep. Later on that day, the hospital discharged Alice from the hospital. Once she stepped out from the hospital, she hailed a cab to take her home. While she was in the cab, Alice realised that her little overnight stay in the hospital would set her back in terms of finances. She would have to work a lot of overtime to make up for it.


    After paying for her cab and making her way back into her apartment, Alice let out a massive sigh.


    ¡°This has been the start of a horrible week.¡± Alice moaned to herself.


    ¡°Well, you could say that again.¡± A voice said in response.


    Alice almost put herself through her own skin when she heard the voice of someone else in her apartment. Quickly, Alice ran into her kitchen and grabbed a knife out of the top drawer and held it outright in the direction of the voice.


    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Alice shouted.


    ¡°Calm down, I¡¯m not here to hurt you.¡± The voice said calmly.


    Alice looked at the stranger. It was just a girl sprawled across Alice¡¯s sofa. It almost looked like she lived in the apartment along with Alice.


    ¡°My name is Jasmine. Jasmine Crosswell. I¡¯m here to talk to you about what happened last night.¡±


    ¡°Last night?¡± Alice questioned. All of a sudden, the memories from last night came flooding back and the stabbing pain came back across her shoulder.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Alice buckled again onto her knees and started clutching at her shoulder. What Alice didn¡¯t know is that Jasmine had made her way over behind her and place a hand where the pain was. The next thing Alice knew, the pain was gone and she could stand up again. Jasmine was now standing in front of her.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t feel like a knife is being thrusted into my shoulder anymore.¡± Alice replied.


    ¡°That normally tends to be a good sign,¡± Jasmine paused for a second.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a first..¡±


    ¡°What is?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a half-Hallowed before..¡±


    Alice just stared at Jasmine with a blank expression. She thought that she had misheard Jasmine and put her pinkie finger in her ear and wiggled it around.


    ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± Alice asked innocently.


    ¡°You are a half-Hallowed,¡± Jasmine started to explain.


    ¡°That means you have a mixture of hallowed blood and mortal blood running through your body.¡±


    ¡°What is ¡®Hallowed¡¯ blood?¡± Alice questioned, sceptical at what Jasmine was saying.


    ¡°To put it simply, Hallowed blood is essentially the blood of an angel, though not as potent.¡±


    Alice couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. Surely there wasn¡¯t such a thing as angels, was there, and if there was, how was she part of that?


    ¡°Surely you¡¯re joking?¡± Alice asked.


    Jasmine stayed quiet and instead pointed behind Alice. Alice turned around to see that there was a pile of feathers and droplets of blood on the floor. Shock took over Alice¡¯s body and she spun back around towards Jasmine.


    ¡°Why the hell is there blood and feathers on my apartment floor?!¡± Alice asked shocked.


    ¡°Take a look in the mirror.¡± Jasmine said in short reply.


    Alice ran in the direction of her bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, she screamed.


    ¡°WHAT THE FUUCK!!¡±


    Alice just stared at the lone wing that was protruding from her shoulder. She reached around and started to run her fingers along the feathers. At this point, Jasmine made her way up the hall and leaned against the door of the bathroom.


    ¡°Why the fuck do I have a wing coming out of my shoulder?!¡± Alice shouted, expressing her shock and anger in the one sentence.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you are a half-Hallowed,¡± Jasmine said.


    ¡°Full Hallowed have two wings, you just have one.¡±


    Jasmine took of her leather jacket and closed her eyes. A second later, two beautiful and magnificent white wings were spreading from Jasmine¡¯s back. Alice stared in awe, not sure if she should say something or not. Instead, Alice just took in Jasmine¡¯s presence. Her tanned skin, black silky hair, and her contrasting white wings. It was truly a sight to behold for Alice.


    ¡°So beautiful..¡± Alice whispered.


    ¡°Well, you aren¡¯t too bad yourself.¡± Jasmine laughed.


    Alice realised that she let her words slip out and she started blushing in embarrassment. Still, that didn¡¯t change the fact that an angel was standing in front of her, and she somehow a part of this. This life that she didn¡¯t know existed. Alice always thought that she was just another boring soul who had tough breaks in her life. She grew up mistreated in an orphanage, she had no idea on whether her parents were alive or dead. As far as Alice knew, she had always been on her own, but from what she was seeing here, there could be more people like her. Jasmine put away her wings and put back on her jacket, and told Alice to close her eyes. When Alice asked why, Jasmine said that she was going to help Alice draw back in her wing.


    ¡°Why are you here anyways?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Like I said earlier, I¡¯m here to talk to you about last night.¡± Jasmine said.


    ¡°Okay, I get that much, but why?¡±


    ¡°Because you are special Alice.¡±


    ¡°Me? Special? I think you might have the wrong person.¡±


    Jasmine shot Alice with a look that said ¡®do you really think you¡¯re kidding anyone with that?¡¯ Alice just sighed.


    ¡°I swear I¡¯m just a normal girl,¡± Alice said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing special about me.¡±


    ¡°Well, I just happen to know someone who would beg to differ,¡±


    ¡°Come on, follow me.¡±


    Jasmine walked through the apartment and out in the hallway and Alice followed. They continued to walk up to the roof of the apartment block and when they got up there, Jasmine stopped walking. Alice stared at her. Jasmine raised her arm and began to speak in a language that Alice had never heard before. Once she finished speaking, Jasmine lowered her arm. Suddenly a bright light flooded Alice¡¯s eyes, and once the light died down, Alice stood in disbelief.


    ¡°What is this?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a portal to Axenal.¡± Jasmine answered.


    ¡°Axenal?¡±


    ¡°I keep forgetting that you don¡¯t know this stuff, sorry. Axenal is my home place, the home place of all Hallowed.¡±


    ¡°The home place of all Hallowed eh?¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s more people like you then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah there is, and when we get there, keep quiet about the fact that you¡¯re a half Hallowed.¡±


    Alice nodded. Jasmine took hold of Alice¡¯s hand and the both of them stepped through the portal to Axenal.

 Chapter 3

    After stepping into the portal that led to Axenal, Alice felt weightless. Then it occurred to her that she was in a freefall. She let out an ear-piercing scream. Where was Jasmine? Did she get left behind? How was she going to stop her freefall? Thousands of thoughts were clouding Alice¡¯s mind. Suddenly she felt a hand on her stomach and her velocity had slowed down dramatically.


    ¡°I forgot to warn you,¡± Jasmine shouted at Alice.


    ¡°You kinda need to know how to fly to actually survive entry into Axenal.¡±


    ¡°You forget a lot of things don¡¯t you?!¡± Alice screamed. Tears were running down her face.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s easy to forget the little things.¡±


    Alice couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. The fact that you need to know how to fly to survive is considered a small thing by her. Alice also couldn¡¯t believe that she wasn¡¯t in Boston anymore. She was in Axenal, a land home to the Hallowed. A race of Angels, and Alice was tied to them somehow. After floating through the air for a couple of minutes, Jasmine and Alice reached solid ground again and Alice couldn¡¯t have been anymore relieved.


    ¡°Well, how do you feel?¡± Jasmine asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been better,¡± Alice said in between sniffles.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe how much you forget.¡±


    ¡°Only here a few minutes and you¡¯re already making the poor girl cry.¡± A new voice said, it¡¯s sound was coming towards them.


    ¡°Relax Stephen, she¡¯s okay, isn¡¯t she?¡± Jasmine said.


    Alice looked up and saw a man standing in front of both herself and Jasmine. He was tall and had broad shoulders. He had brown hair which was shaved in at the sides and back and well kept on top. He also had a small scar on the left side of his upper lip. Jasmine let go of Alice and stood up to fix her clothes. Stephen offered Alice a hand up.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re the half-Hallowed?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess I am..¡± Alice said as she took his hand and stood herself up.


    ¡°I take it that you¡¯re still a bit suspicious as to what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Suspicious wouldn¡¯t be the right word, more like surprised and scared out of my wits.¡±


    Stephen smiled and let out a small chuckle.


    ¡°Well, no need to worry, anyways my name is Stephen. Stephen Lithgow.¡±


    ¡°Alice Greycraft, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Since the introductions are out of the way, let¡¯s go to the Hall of Consolidation. I say we¡¯re being waited on.¡± Jasmine said.


    Once Alice regained her composure, she followed Jasmine and Stephen to wherever this Hall of Consolidation was. As they started walking through a bustling town, she kept quiet and was thinking to herself. She still couldn¡¯t wrap her head around everything. Jasmine told her that she was a half-Hallowed, but what did that mean? What¡¯s so significant about it? Alice was too busy with her thoughts that she didn¡¯t even notice that Stephen had slowed down to walk beside her.


    ¡°What¡¯re you thinking about?¡± He asked.


    Alice snapped back to reality and stared blankly at Stephen for a second before realising that he had asked her something.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She said.


    ¡°Nothing too important.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you have anything you want to ask, just ask away.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about me?¡±


    Stephen paused for a moment before answering.


    ¡°You¡¯re a half-Hallowed,¡± Stephen said after he finished thinking.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°And the fact that you¡¯re a half-Hallowed is significant because half-Hallowed tend to be very rare.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Because for a half-Hallowed to exist, a Hallowed must reproduce with a mortal, and that almost never happens.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°If a situation like that ever does happen, it doesn¡¯t end well. Normally, the mortal and the offspring die and the Hallowed is excommunicated.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re excommunicated?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Hallowed are not meant to have any sort of involvements with mortals.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m the result of this forbidden love, which means one of my parents is dead and the other is excommunicated,¡± Alice said to herself.


    ¡°That¡¯s fantastic to know.¡±


    Alice¡¯s words felt bitter now that she knew the truth, but what did that mean for her now? She had the answer as to why she had no family, but she felt even more alone now that she did know.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re here,¡± Jasmine said as she turned around.


    ¡°Alice, welcome to the Hall of Consolidations.¡±


    Alice looked up and stared in awe. What stood before her was a colossal building that looked like a giant mirror that reflected the city of Axenal which they had just walked through and the beautiful landscape that went beyond it. The three of them walked up to the entrance where a guard was stationed.


    ¡°State your business.¡± The guard said firmly.


    ¡°We are here to attend the consul.¡± Jasmine said.


    The guard eyed up the three of them and nodded. He opened the entrance and let them pass before closing it back up again. Once it was closed, they were submerged into darkness for a moment before sconces on the walls burst into life. Jasmine and Stephen led the way through the hallway and Alice followed. After about a minute of walking, the three of them came to a wooden door.


    ¡°Alice, right now you¡¯re going to be attending a consul,¡± Jasmine started to explain. Her tone was serious and Alice tensed up a little bit.


    ¡°At this consul, you will be standing before the leading Hallowed elders, and they will ask you questions concerning you. All you have to do is answer them.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Alice said, her voice quivering slightly.


    ¡°I think I can do that.¡±


    Stephen turned to Alice and gave her another smile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± He said in a reassuring voice.


    ¡°Everything will be okay.¡±


    They waited for a moment to let Alice set herself and then Stephen opened the wooden door. Stephen walked through first, then Jasmine, and finally Alice. They walked towards the centre of what seemed to be a court room of sorts. Only this court room seemed a bit like Congress. Jasmine and Stephen led Alice to a podium before they made their way towards a set of seats that were a few feet away from her. Alice looked around the room and saw that there was roughly sixty people in the seats above her. She felt like she had to deliver an important speech to the UN and felt like she was going to throw up. The fact that she realised that she was still in her pyjamas didn¡¯t help her confidence.


    All of a sudden, a booming voice started talking and Alice jumped a little bit.


    ¡°Are you Alice Greycraft?¡± The voice asked.


    ¡°Yes I am.¡± Alice replied.


    ¡°Okay Alice, from our records, you are a half-Hallowed, is this correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is correct.¡± Alice eased up slightly. It almost felt like she was taking part in an interview.


    ¡°In order to prove to the consul that you are indeed a half-Hallowed, can you show us your wing?¡±


    Alice froze for a second, she didn¡¯t know how to spread her wing. She looked over at Jasmine and Stephen in hopes that they might be able to rescue her, instead they just kept sat back on their chairs.


    ¡°Umm..¡± Alice began


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to..¡±


    ¡°In order to spread your wing, you must first concentrate.¡±


    Alice closed her eyes and started to focus. She concentrated all her energy into her back and she began to get the same burning sensation that she felt earlier before Jasmine helped her. Alice tried to imagine the process of a bird spreading its wing in hopes that it might help her, and it did. When Alice opened her eyes, a lone wing was fluttering from her shoulder. One thing she did notice is that her wing is silver, compared to Jasmine¡¯s white wings.


    ¡°So, you do indeed have Hallowed blood in you,¡± The voice said through the gasps and the murmuring of the elders that were sitting in the seats above.


    ¡°Last night, you had a dealing with a Sentinel, is this true?¡±


    Alice thought for a moment. She didn¡¯t know what a Sentinel was, but then she had a flashback of Jason lying on her kitchen floor.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s one of these ¡®Sentinels¡¯ but I a man named Jason Maxson broke into my apartment, his face was covered in strange markings and scarred all over.¡±


    ¡°That man you ran into was a known to be involved with the Sentinels,¡± The voice stated.


    ¡°Stephen Lithgow, Jasmine Crosswell, please escort Alice Greycraft where she shall be staying for the foreseeable future.¡±


    At the sound of this request, Jasmine and Stephen started to move like robots. They stood up and walked over to Alice and brought her out of the consul room. Once they were outside, both Jasmine and Stephen let out a sigh of apparent relief.


    ¡°I think they like you Alice,¡± Jasmine said.


    ¡°Why makes you think that?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Well, they didn¡¯t have you executed on the spot once you showed them that you were a half-Hallowed.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare her Jasmine,¡± Stephen said.


    ¡°Come on Alice, we¡¯ll bring you to where you¡¯re gonna be staying.¡±

 Taking a little break

    Hey guys and girls, I just want to start off by apologising because I know I haven''t been on this site writing my story for very long, but I''m going to have to take a little break from writing and posting chapters, because I''m suffering from a really bad cold. I know you''re all probably thinking that it isn''t a big deal, but I''ve had this cold for the last few days and it isn''t getting better, so I''m going to be taking a little break just until I feel better, because I don''t want to be writing a chapter for the sake of just writing it, I actually want to give you guys a good chapter to read and enjoy.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Anyways yeah, I just wanted to explain that, I know you probably just see this as a waste of your time, but I just wanted to let you know why I won''t be writing for the next few days. Anyhow, that''s all I have to say for now, so sorry again, and thank you guys so much for leaving comments and following and reading my story, it really means a lot to me.


    Apologies again,


    Sincerly,


    OriginalFox17