*clears throat*
HELLO READERS! I am Abby, author of the ongoing series Identical Staffs, here with ANOTHER series because I'm just a volcano of ideas!
Things to know: This is in modern times, human AU, and I hope this turns out as well as IdentiStaffs.
Welp, that's my intro. Hope you like!
Prolouge
"JACKIE! JACKIE, FOLLOW ME!"
Jackson Overland, ten years old, mumbled from his spot on the couch. He laid face down, half-asleep. He grunted as a lightweight person threw themselves on top of his back. He rolled over, knocking the person off the couch and glaring down at her.
His little sister, Emma, glared back up at him, sitting on the ground. "Play with me!"
"I was asleep," he mumbled, closing his big brown eyes again. Emma poked and prodded at his cheeks, and he forced one eye open. She widened her eyes, staring up at him sadly. Her bedhead nest of brown hair fluffed around her head like a messy brown halo, and her bangs laid on top of her eyelids, but the puppy dog face still made its effect.
Jack chuckled, sitting up and fixing his long brown hair, tangled from his morning nap. "Well, I can't say no to that face," he joked, leaning over and brushing her hair with his fingers, trying to fix the mess. "Let's go."
"YAY!" Emma bounced off of the floor and rushed to the front door. "Mommy, we're going to play!"
"Be back in time for lunch!" the stereotypical mom voice called back, kind and happy.
This is a happy story, in case you haven't caught on yet. A ten year old with his six year old sister, off to play in the woods, while mommy stays home happily cooking and ironing and cleaning and daddy is off at work, only to return in the evening just in time to tuck his little 'uns into bed. There is nothing unhappy in this story. Welcome to your average Disney happy-ending fairytale.
At least, that's how Jack's life was supposed to turn out.
"Faster, Jackie, faster!" Emma giggled, half-skipping half-sprinting around trees, to their favorite lake to play at. Well, I wouldn't say it's a lake, more like a pond. But a ten and a six year old in their little town don't have an advanced vocabulary. And, of course, dear readers, 'pond' is a VERY advanced word. Emma had dubbed it Frost Lake after it had frozen over and Jack and her went skating. Even when it wasn't frozen, it was Frost Lake to them.
"Let's look for fairies!" Emma giggled, running circles around Frost Lake. Quite often, Jack let Emma look for fairies, telling her stories about how they live around the pond. Emma began to pluck berries from bushes and place them on a leaf. "This is their lunch," she explained, sprinkling grass on top of it.
"Fairies are also fans of nuts," Jack said, taking a comfortable seat at the base of a large tree with low-hanging branches. One branch fell into his face, curving at the end like a crook. Like a shepherd's staff. He tugged at the branch absentmindedly, watching his sister scavenge the ground for nuts.
"Walnut!" she lifted the small orb above her head like a trophy.
"That'll be their dessert, it's big enough to feed five fairies!" Jack encouraged as she placed it on the leaf with the berries and grass.
Quick question, reader. Have you ever read a zombie apocalypse story? Seen a movie? What do you think of when I ask you to picture a beginning of those stories? At midnight, in the spooky, leafless woods? Poke-y branches that look like skeleton arms reaching for the sky? How about a giant, yellow moon, peering down at unsuspecting first victims, wandering in the spooky woods at late? Maybe a wolf howling in the background? Snapping twigs and glowing eyes peering from under the shadows?
That's what one would expect from an apocalypse story.
Except this isn't a story.
But I never said this wasn't an apocalypse.
It was late morning/early afternoon, and the sun hasn't reached its peak in the sky QUITE yet. The back of Jack and Emma's necks were peeling from small sunburn, and the Frost Lake sparkled in the sunlight. Hummingbirds fluttered by, and flowers bloomed around the pond.
It was a perfect morning. And the sun on Jack's face felt nice. And his sister woke him up from his late morning nap. He felt a yawn stretch his cheeks painfully and for just a moment, sleep took over.
It wasn't even five minutes before Jack woke up again to the same scene. The same sun rested in the same place in the sky, the same hummingbird was buzzing around the same flower by the pond. The same tiny meal for the fairies waited, uneaten by the woodland fantasy creatures.
The one thing that was different was that his sister was gone.
"Emma?" Jack called out curiously. Not worriedly, for the boy didn't know what kind of day this was, and how drastically it will change his life.
Assuming that his sister was wanting to play hide and seek, a game frequently played in the forest, Jack grinned widely. "Where could she be?" he teased aloud, pushing back branches of bushes and looking behind fat trees. "Emma?" he called playfully.
A twig snapped behind him, and Jack spun around. His messy brown hair bounced around his head, his deep brown eyes searching the forest stretching out before him. "I heard you!" he laughed, creeping forward. He could hear deep breathing, but couldn't pinpoint where it's from. "I'm getting warmer," he giggled, peering behind trees. He looked up at the sky to study to the tops of the trees, knowing that branches were common hiding places for the two Overland siblings, natural tree climbers.
"Emma?" he called out, less carefree than before. Could she have fallen into the lake? No, that's not a possibility! Bad things don't happen to Jack.
Besides, he heard twigs snap. Obviously he's not alone. And who else would be out here other than-
"JAAAAAAAAAACK!" a shriek cut through the calm forest scene. Birds suddenly rose from the trees behind Jack, shadows against the sun.
All of a sudden, Jack's heart was pounding in his ears as he spun around and sprinted as hard as he could towards the sound of the scream.
"EMMA!" Jack screamed, the girl finally in his sights. She ran towards him, holding her arms out, pouncing into an embrace. She whimpered into Jack's chest as he held her close, stroking her hair and looking around at their surroundings.
"What was it?" he hissed worriedly, deep brown eyes darting about. "Why were you screaming?"
"A...horse," Emma gasped for breath, her grasp on her brother never loosening.
"Horse?" Jack pulled out of the hug, grabbing her shoulders and furrowing his eyebrows. "Jeez, Em, I thought you were being chased by a murderer or something!"
"It was scary!" Emma's bottom lip trembled as tears welled in her eyes.
"Hey, don't cry," Jack smiled as kindly as he could. His eyes wandered, and he finally noticed a pure black horse, slowly walking towards them. Jack's eyes widened, but he had no other reaction. Even in this day in age, horses were common, at least in the small country town the Overlands lived in. Jack whistled, impressed. "I don't see 'nothing to be scared of, Emma," he released his sister and slowly approached the horse. "She's a real beaut."
"Look at her eyes, Jack," Emma whispered from behind him.
"Don't be silly," Jack shook his head, slowly reaching out his hand. "You never look a horse in the eyes when you first meet it." The horse bowed it's head, nudging the little boy's hand. "See? She just wanted a friend."
"Okay, Jack," Emma's voice started to sound echo-y. Jack's eyebrows shot up. Was the heat getting to him?
"You're a nice girl, aren't you?" Jack rubbed the horses nose.
"Be careful, Jack," Emma's echo-y voice continued. "Don't let it bite you."
"Are you alright?" Jack asked, starting to turn around when the horse went to bite his hand. He quickly retracted it, stumbling and falling on his rear.
Emma giggled. "Watch out, Jack," she said in a sing-song voice. Two more horses approached on either side of the first one. Jack twisted his back to look at his little sister with surprise. Her lips were peeled back in a sinister sneer, but that's not what bothered Jack.
It was his sister's beautiful brown eyes. They were now a glowing yellow color. And not a pretty yellow, like the sun or a flower. It was a horrible golden gray, like the eclipse with her dilated pupils as the moon.
"E-Emma!" Jack gasped before turning to look at the horses. His breath hitched.
"WHERE DID THEY GO?!" he asked, staring at the now-empty space before him. "T-There were just three."
"On their way home," Emma answered, walking towards her sitting brother. "Or they'll be late for lunch."
"Be back in time for lunch!" his mother's voice echoed in his head. Jack's big brown eyes widened with fear.
"Let's go home," he quickly stated, unsure of what to do in this situation. With his perfect life, things like a scary sister were never taught in school. "We'll be late. Mom wants us home in time for lunch."
"I don't think she'll care," Emma's voice echoed.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your sis-"
"NO! Emma doesn't have those eyes!" Jack scrambled to his feet, backing up against the tree. The same tree he fell asleep under just moments ago. The same branch with the curved end hanging low, right by his shoulder.
"She does now," she reached out for Jack, and he gasped. Her hand was dripping with blood, mangled and broken. She was bit. By the horse. And when she grinned, all of her teeth were as sharp as a vampire's fangs. "COME HERE!" she hissed, lunging for him.
He yelped as her teeth latched onto his left hand. He tripped and swung, causing Emma to smash against the tree and release his hand. He stumbled backwards, clutching his bleeding hand.
"YOU BIT ME!" he gasped.
"Time to turn, Jackie," she hissed, crouching and looking ready to pounce again. "Join us."
But nothing happened. Well, except for the blood gushing out of his hand. He didn't turn into a sharp-toothed, yellow-eyed demon like the one in front of him.
Instead, he followed his instincts and grabbed the hanging branch, the one that curved at the end, and brought it down on the girl's head.
There was a terrible CRACK, and the girl fell backwards, into the Frost Lake with a SPLASH! Jack held the giant branch in his arms, hugging it. He realized his own, ten-year-old strength (or lack thereof) and quickly let the end of the branch land on the ground, still hugging it to himself. It was much taller than the short little boy, curving over his head like a too-big shepherd's staff. Blood dripped down its wood as the adrenaline lowered and the pain in Jack's hand finally showed.
"AHHHH!" he screeched, falling to his knees and dropping the giant branch, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest. The red blood flowed down his brown shirt as tears flowed down his cheeks.
"EMMA!" he screamed to the lake, crawling over and looking down into it. "EMMA! EMMA!"
Don't be ridiculous, a voice in his head scolded. That wasn't your sister. It COULDN'T have been. That would mean that-
Jack, unwilling to let the sentence finish, scrambled to his feet and grabbed his weapon, the giant staff. He rushed back to his house, the branch dragging behind him in the dirt. It was hard to carry for the boy, but it was all he had to fight off those horses and protect his mom and, hopefully, his little sister (assuming she's safe at home).
"MOM!" he called, knocking on the door before entering. "Mom! Do you see any horses?"
"Horses, dear?" the kind voice came from a few rooms down. "No, of course not. There was a bird, though."
"A bird?" Jack whispered as his mother walked in with a broom, eyes wandering.
"A little black one. I can't seem to find where it went though. Won't you help me look?"
Jack nodded but then realized that his mother never questioned the gushing blood from his hand, or the large branch, or the absence of his sister. "Mom, can I see your eyes?"
"Help me look for the bird, dear," was his mother's response, her back to him.
"Mom," he said as strictly as a little boy could to his mommy. "Let me see your eyes."
The woman slowed down, lowering her broom. She turned her head slightly, not enough for Jack to be able to see her eyes. However, he was able to see the snarling smile of sharpened fangs.
"No..."Jack's good hand tightened around his branch. It weighed him down as he backed up.
His mother turned all the way around, revealing teeth marks on her forehead, and eclipse-like eyes that Jack's demon-sister had. His mom giggled, twisting her head at an unnatural angle and staring down at her son.
"You were bit," she giggled.
"You're not my mom!" Jack yelled.
"Oh?" the woman lunged for him, and his instincts popped in again, giving him just enough strength for the moment to lift his mighty staff and bring it down on the monster's head. Unlike his sister's little body, his mother just fell against the wall. Blood dripped down her forehead, but her fearsome smile never faltered.
"Remember this, boy," she hissed, giggling wildly. "You killed your sister and your mother." She grabbed the kitchen knife and pointed it at him, licking the blood from her lips as it dripped down from the top of her head. "The sand will be back for you."
"Mom! MOMMY?!" Jack backed up, dragging his staff.
"Your eyes," she slid the knife across the room so the blunt end hit Jack's worn boot harmlessly. Jack picked it up and gasped at his reflection.
Two bright blue eyes, replacing his brown ones, stared right back at him.
He gasped, dropping the knife and staring up at his mother as she wiped the blood from her forehead and fainted.
Terrified, the little boy ran, forgetting to drop the slowing staff.
It wasn't a dark and stormy night when the apocalypse came. The moon wasn't a glowing yellow, there weren't any glowing eyes in the shadows of spooky trees. It was a sunny summer morning, and it came with no warning. It hit everywhere in the world at once. The army, the government, the people were not ready.
Just a regular day.
On the regular day, Jack Overland ran, his blue eyes turning back to brown as the blood from his hand began to subside.
So that's the prologue! What do you guys think? Please review, so I know what you guys want and can make myself better n.n
Also, check out Identical Staffs! It's my other series.
Thanks for reading, guys!