Nighthawks
by Jeremy Flagg
GENRE: Sci-Fi (Dystopian)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His debut exhibit
features the transformation of his high school friend, Sarah, as she went from
a shy, soft-spoken girl to a Child of Nostradamus—an individual gifted with
extraordinary abilities. Living in a society where the Children of Nostradamus
are captured by the government, Conthan’s exhibit draws attention from
officials and protesters alike.
A government psychic
may be dead, but that doesn’t stop her from manipulating the future…
The deceased White
House aide is only remembered for her failed assassination attempt on the
president decades before Conthan was born. Foreseeing her own death, she
scribed letters to bring together specific Children of Nostradamus on a mission
that will change the world.
On the night of the
gallery exhibition, Conthan receives one of those letters…
Whispers from the past
direct him to visit Sarah, the subject of his paintings, who like many Children
of Nostradamus, is being detained in a government research facility. It’s there
he finds himself aligned with a rogue group of Children on a mission to prevent
a dark future.
As a dark future
unfolds, there's only one hope to stop the destruction of the world...
The Children of
Nostradamus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
“Class I identified,” said the Corps soldier. “Immediate
termination.”
Conthan looked up, confused, and realized that the gun was
pointing directly at his face. He watched as the soldier pulled the trigger and
the pain surged through his brain.
“Not today.” It was his voice, but he wasn’t speaking.
He realized he wasn’t in control of his actions as he held
up his hand and pushed the pain through his body to his palms. The black spot
returned and he watched as the laser emerged from the gun and vanished into
another dark hole. He could see a similar spot appear just to the side of the
soldier. The laser projected outward from the darkness, searing through the
soldier’s head.
Conthan felt the pain release his body. He fell to the
ground. He lay next to a gasping Jed Zappens. Conthan turned his head to see
the man. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
Jed sucked in a ragged breath and blinked several times,
tears beginning to stream down his face. He reached into his breast pocket and
dragged out an old folded envelope. “For you,” he said through clenched teeth.
Conthan voice had left him. He wanted to scream for a medic
but he couldn’t find air enough to fill his lungs. He started to reach for the
envelope but hesitated before snatching it from the dead man’s hands. He
crushed it in his grasp as he watched the light vanish from the artist’s eyes.
“Run,” said a voice.
Conthan rolled his head to see that there was nobody left
standing in the alley. He sucked in air and tried to sit upright. “Hello?”
“Run!”
He had killed a Corps soldier. He was now marked for death.
As he ran, he could hear the echo of the soldier’s words. “Class I,” he had
said. Conthan couldn’t shake the feeling that life as he knew it was over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m high school
graphic design and marketing teacher, at a large suburban high school in
Massachusetts. Working as a high school educator and observing the outlandish
world of adolescence was the inspiration for my first young adult novel,
“Suburban Zombie High.”
My inspiration
for writing stems from being a youth who struggled with reading in school.
While I found school assigned novels incredibly difficult to digest, I devoured
comics and later fantasy novels. Their influences can be seen in the tall tales
I spin.
I took the long
route to becoming a writer. For a brief time, I majored in Creative Writing but
exchanged one passion for another as I switched to Art and Design. My passion for reading about
superheroes, fantastical worlds, and panic-stricken situations would become the
foundation of my writing career.
I participated
in my first NaNoWriMo in 2006 and continue to write an entire novel every
November. Now I am the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison to the Massachusetts
Metrowest Region. I also belong the New England Horror Writer’s Association and
to a weekly writing group, the Metrowest Writers.
LINKS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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ReplyDeleteI love everything I have read so far. I can't wait to read the rest. A must have summer read. (jozywails@gmail.com)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Thanks for sharing the excerpt :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the release!
ReplyDelete--Trix
Enjoyed the excerpt, sounds like an interesting read. Entering under the name of Virginia
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very intriguing, looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. Can't wait to read this book!
ReplyDelete