Keep me on novel track! The real life novel of Tehra LeVerryn

[a91nicole]

Hello everyone at WTF. Some of you may have met my character Tehra in Until the Sun Turns Black, as well as Zodiac, although the real Tehra is Until the Sun Turns Black Tehra. I have been attempting to right an actual full length novel about her, and I have the entire plot laid out, but I cannot make myself sit down and actually write the chapters. So I've thought of an idea. I'm going to post chapters on here as I write them, and I want feedback as well as to amuse you guys, as well as PRESSURE TO KEEP WRITING. So please, if you guys have any interest in my writing or the character I invite you to keep an eye on this thread. Think of it as a free book! Sound Fair?

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

Chapter 1: An Evening Stroll

Elmsbury in autumn had a tendency to be cold, and tonight was no different. The leaves were flitting about the city, unaffected by the winter slowly setting in. It was dark, but the city lights made it impossible to see the stars. Stars were a luxury only those in the country had, but Tehra didn’t much mind not seeing the stars once she considered all the convenience a city had to offer. But the cold wind, as it blew her auburn curls about was certainly not her favorite thing.
So the young woman continued to walk, pulling her long black coat tighter around her. This wind was getting even colder, and Tehra couldn’t say she much liked it. She knew she should head back to her safe warm apartment, but this street felt so much more natural to her. Tehra sighed softly to herself, her blue green eyes cast to the ground—it was soggy from earlier rains. She had a habit of walking alone at night, a very stupid thing to do when considering she was a woman alone in her early twenties. But fear had never been Tehra’s style. It wasn’t so late that no one was around, but this street happened to be empty.

After far too long of this empty pacing, a sound caught the girl’s ears. It sounded like a fight- but not a fist fight. It sounded like metal on metal. The sound was coming from an alleyway nearby. Being a curious person as she was, Tehra wanted to simply peek into the alley—see what was happening. She inched up silently to the edge of the building bordering the alley, stepping softly so her boots would make no noise. When Tehra inched her way around the corner, she saw what looked like a scene shot straight from a movie.

There were two men fighting. One was a beautiful man, his hair dark black and long- reaching to the small of his back. He wore a white dress shirt and black slacks, but the shirt was torn in places. There were splotches of blood on his clothing, and he was battling it out with another beautiful man, a blonde, though the black haired one stood out against the blonde. Something about him drew her eyes towards him. Her instincts told her to look no further, to run as fast and as far as she could, but she didn’t listen to her instincts. Tehra inched ever closer, wanting a better look at the two men.

Before she could move, before she could even breathe, Tehra felt her arm grabbed by the blonde, and he pulled her in front of him in a split second. The last thing Tehra saw was the black haired man swinging his blade too quickly to stop, his eyes wide. Tehra felt the blade collide, sinking into the soft flesh of her stomach, right near her heart- the warm blood spread over her shirt. Tehra’s breath came in one staggered, painful gasp before her eyes fluttered closed and the man released her, her limp body falling to the cold, damp ground.
‘This is the end…’ Tehra thought to herself, seeing nothing with her eyes and her mind’s eye only saw a haze of the buildings around her. ‘It’s over, and I’ve done nothing with my life…’ The haze was fading quickly, into almost nothing. ‘Oh God this can’t be the end… the end? No…. yes…. It’s the end…’ And then there was nothing.
Another gasp- this one of life, and then she woke up. Tehra attempted to look around, but her eyes were not yet able to open. She could feel vaguely, however, and she felt arms cradling her. Tehra tried once more to open her eyes, finding them a bit more responsive now. She looked up to see crimson eyes staring down at her intently. Tehra was disoriented, confused. How was she staring up at someone when she could have sworn she had just died?
“I know you don’t understand…I hardly understand it myself.” A silken male voice said as those strangely beautiful eyes continued to stare at her. The man to whom the eyes belonged was the ebony haired man from before, the beautiful one who, if Tehra remembered correctly, had killed her. “And I know you must be scared, but I swear to you I’m not going to hurt you.”

Tehra wanted to believe the beautiful man with the beautiful voice, but she required more explanation than he had provided thus far. She hoped he would soon continue on with his words, telling her what exactly had happened. “E-explain…” Tehra said, nearly inaudibly, the only voice her body could muster at the present moment.

The man nodded as he continued to gaze down at her. “First off, my name is Damien Venecia, and I am not a human.” He said, though Tehra had already figured that out. “ I am what you would call a fallen angel.” Damien said, looking into her eyes. “What!?” She asked, suddenly feeling better as she sat up, staring at him in disbelief. “How could I possible be alive? I’m a human and then you… you killed me on accident. I shouldn’t be talking right now; I should be a bloody corpse…” Tehra looked down at her abdomen, seeing the large bloodstain on her shirt from the blade. It had definitely happened, but Tehra couldn’t feel the pain that she knew should be there. She looked up at Damien, her eyes searching for an answer. Her breath was coming in heavy gasps, something akin to a panic attack.

“Yes I know, you must be confused, look I’m even still in shock.” Damien responded, his voice gentle. “I killed you on accident as you know—and I am so sorry for that, I wish I could go back in time and not make that strike. I couldn’t have your blood on my hands. I couldn’t take someone as young as you out of this world so soon…” Damien said in that quiet tone he’d been using with her “So I did the only thing I could do. I killed the evil fallen angel who used you as a shield.”

“Okay that’s all good and fine but I still don’t understand why I’m talking now.” She said, crossing her arms across her chest as she set her gaze upon him.

“I know. Let me continue. As I stated before, I am a fallen angel, which means God and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms. I’ve spent many years trying to repent for my sins against Him and humanity by saving lives from fallens like that blonde man. When I killed you, I did the only thing I knew to do and I prayed. I know I am not supposed to speak to God, but I begged him to save your life.”

“And he did?” Tehra questioned, eyebrows raised in surprise. Why would he save her?

“Yes. He did. He heard me. And it made me cry from happiness. But there is a condition.” The fallen angel spoke, looking at his charge.

“A condition? Is there something wrong with me?” She was slightly alarmed, hoping she wasn’t some sort of phantom that couldn’t truly live.

“I wouldn’t say wrong so much as different. You are no longer a human Tehra. You are a fallen angel like me. God only brought you back on the condition that you use your second life for good, and to ensure that he gave you special abilities, and it is my job to make sure you use them properly. This also means you cannot die like a normal human, and I don’t know if heaven is an option for you if you ever do die. I’m sorry, but it was the only way.” His eyes were downcast, he hated what he’d done to her, but her couldn’t stand having her blood on his hands.

Tehra was silent for a few moments, letting all he had told her truly sink in. “So I have wings and red eyes now too….? Why are fallen angel eyes red?” She asked softly, unsure of what to say, it was all so new “and I won’t die?”

“Yes, and you are stronger, faster, more durable than a human. And they are red because it marks us as a creature outside of God’s grace. Demons and vampires have red eyes too. You have an indefinite life span; really you will live until you are killed. You won’t age past your age now—well, perhaps maybe a few years, but fallens are forever young…” Damien brushed a stray auburn ringlet from her face, placing it gently behind her ear “You are no longer of this world…”

Tehra held his gaze as he told her of her new ‘abilities’. She had to say she did like the idea of being able to fly and run and survive. “How do I fly, Damien…?” Tehra asked, wanting to try it out as soon as possible. She had always wanted wings, ever since she was a child, and now she had them.

“Just think about it. Think about your wings, and they will summon forth. There is not really a learning process to this…” He smiled ever so slightly, at least she was trying to welcome the changes rather than deny them. “But don’t forgot the conditions of your revival.”

“What are they…?” She asked, a bit wary of him telling her what to do. What could he possibly want to require of her? Her crimson eyes narrowed at him slightly as she watched his face for his answer.

“Simple really- don’t use your new gifts to hurt innocent people. I used to do that, I used to be like the man that caused your death, and now I can’t stand the sight of myself sometimes because of what I’ve done. You’ve been given a gift of this new life, don’t use it to hurt people. Use it to save. Kill the evil fallens that only want to hurt and destroy, kill vampires and demons if you can. They all exist, and they do a lot of bad in this world…” Damien said, his tone very serious as he intently held her in his gaze, refusing to let her move from it. “If you cannot fight or kill the bad entities in this world, then all I ask is that you don’t become one. Live your life like normal, just don’t hurt people without cause…”

Tehra listened closely, finding no qualms in doing as he asked. She didn’t want to be evil; she didn’t want to hurt people. If anything, she hoped to be able to fight the wretched creatures that plagued mankind. “Damien, I swear I won’t harm innocent lives… I could never- would never hurt someone that was just trying to survive. I died because of someone like that, and I’m not going to kill and bring that fate upon someone else. I’ve been given a second chance, and I intend to use it.”

Damien’s face seemed to relax a little, as if he was afraid she would argue with him. The fact that she agreed made him feel a bit better about his decision to turn her into a fallen angel. “Good… I was so worried you would want to go crazy…. Oh and here…” He reached down beside himself and picked up the blade he had been using earlier. It was long and jagged, sharp and very dangerous looking. No wonder it had worked so well in slashing the life from her young body.
“Keep this…it is the blade that killed you, and being the blade that took your life, it has tasted your blood and will serve you well. This blade will aid you in fighting; you will simply know what to do. But if you lose it, you will not be as powerful as you are used to. It should be yours, I will find something new.”

Tehra nodded as she took the blade from him, sheathing it in the leather case he had handed to her. “Thank you Damien for giving me a life, and trying to help me live it well…” She said as she met his eyes, hers deep with emotions unknown even to herself. “Oh, and my name is Tehra LeVerryn… I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”

“Thank Him, He gave me the power to give you this life.” the impossibly beautiful man said as he watched her eyes. “Nice to meet you though Tehra… oh and one more thing-“

“Yes?” she asked, still refusing to look away.

“Please be careful, the evil fallens will pursue you and try to get you to join them with some of the loveliest temptations. When you refuse them, they will hunt you, as they hunt me- as that blonde fallen was hunting me earlier. Don’t let them get you, Tehra…” Damien said as he placed his hand on her cheek in a protective manner “I don’t want you to lose the life you’ve been given; I could never stand them killing you or worse after I put you in that danger in the first place by making you a fallen angel…”

Tehra nodded, placing her hand atop his in a reassuring manner. “I will Damien; I’ll watch my back and keep the blade with me…”

He held her gaze for a moment longer then dropped his hand. “I’ll be checking up on you now and then, to make sure you are alright and to warn you if I discover something being amiss.”

“Okay Damien, I will keep an eye out for you. I don’t feel prepared for this at all…” Tehra met his gaze for a long moment.

“You’ll be okay. Your instincts will be your guide, and I’ll be close by for the first while. I’m not going to just throw you out there on your own.” Damien spoke with a smile, pulling Tehra into a brotherly hug “I’m watching over you.” And with that, he realeased her and flew off into the night sky.