The Countdown Has Begun

The Countdown Has Begun

By Susanna C. Mahoney

Copyright © 2013

Published by: Smashwords.com

ISBN: 9781310822162

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious and are products of the author's imagination, and resemblance to actual events, or locales, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

This story is supernatural, fantasy, and mystery with some light erotica. Mature audiences.

Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live. 

― Robert F. Kennedy

Chapter One

Cherie and Matthew were not friends, he seen Cherie walking in the high school halls and wanted to become acquainted with her. Especially after the day she stood up to the Popular Sixes, the VIP snobs, who lived off their parents’ charity, and believed they were superior to the rest of the student body. The lived in the mansions on the hill, wore the latest designed clothing and were the preppies and jocks of the Lincoln High School. They try to interact with Cherie as she too was born in a privileged family, everyone thought. Cherie’s trust fund would not be available until her 21st birthday, the one her grandparents left as an inheritance for her.

Her dad as legal guardian was dipping into her college fund and buying fancy cars, boats and other items that the well endowed have in their possession. He was planning to move the family into the abandoned some declared haunted mansion of top of Dead Man’s curve. She did not want her funds to be wasted, and her mother was agreeing with her. Dad was a hot tempered man, and he did not like authority or his family controlling his actions.

Their mother and father for the last several months had been arguing over the inheritance and that she declared Hank had no authority to spend it anyway he pleased. Slowly their relationship evolved in a moody loud shouting match or silent cranky confrontation; the fighting all night and the cold distant silence was taking its toll on Cherie and her twin brother Nick. They spoke about leaving home and moving in together. Meanwhile, she would need to hire a lawyer and fight for legal guardianship to be taken from her father, and given to her mother. .

She did have a on and off boyfriend Michael, lately he had been distant, and not paying attention to her needs. There was no talk of marriage just a romantic relationship; she was too busy with preparing for a career as a lawyer, and he was afraid of commitment. Michael could not cope with her needy personality lately and was tired of faking the relationship, as he wanted to be involved with her when she came into her inheritance. But two years were too long to wait.

Her old man appeared to spend the inheritance, like there was no tomorrow, and there would be none left when she turned 21 years old. He decided he would ignore all cell phone calls, texts and be a jerk to her so she could break up with him. The sudden break up may leave the door open for future reconciliation.

Behind closed doors, in Cherie’s well endowed family and another teenager, Matthew, who was poor on lived on the wrong side of the tracks. Cherie and Matthew, both came from dysfunctional families of closet abuse and alcoholics and wounded children with symptoms of post trauma syndrome. Yet, recklessly too, both destined to be together, as many battles were pending in their futures, and the two would faced surreal events, no one would believe unless they were witnessed to them.

They were two strangers in the night, living across the tracks and oblivious to each other. Due to fateful events, the two appointed warriors, 3-D Star Seed Children meet. Their choices would change the future of humankind forever..

Matthew was not a stranger to her, he had seen her around town and in the halls of their school and now she attended one class at the college he enrolled in. It seemed they were destined for the two to meet.

Their first meet, when they acknowledged each other was at the local Alcohol Anonymous meeting for Teens of Alcoholic parents. They first meet on a chilly starry Saturday night. Cherie exhausted from the fighting between her parents. Understood their relationship died out years ago. It was a fake competition no love involved, and she and her brother, Nick, the pawns. They no longer love each other, and mom wanted a divorce. She tried to stay out of the fights and tonight was a bad one. To escape she decided to go to the local Anon meeting. Nick a somber boy and a loner he did not interact with many peers. Except the dark clique at the high school.

In despair, she was hesitant to go, but it was time and decided to escape the suffocation of guilt of the dysfunctional relationship and something else was bothering her. She left the house walking the central streets, lost in her thoughts did not see the handsome stranger watching her, a tall lad. He had seen her in his high school, and now they attended the same community college for one class. He was attracted to her. Her feisty personality, her heart-shaped face and long flowing jet raven hair. The turned on were those eyes of emerald coloring; they shined like jewels of the Nile.

He would sneak peeks at her, Every time she would smile, his heart would thump faster. He enjoyed her dimples and how her nose wriggled when she laughed. To him, she was a cute pixie, and he desired to know her better. He watched as she looked at the crowd mingling in front of the St. John's Church waiting for the doors to open.

He felt uncomfortable peeking, as if he was a stalker watching his prey. Yet he could not kept his eyes off her. He observed she was wearing a light-weather jacket. Not thick enough to keep the chill at bay. She stared longingly at the snack truck. She pivoted towards the truck. Thought a hot coffee would be the ticket to chase away the chill of the night; would warm the bones. She walked towards the coffee truck.

Matthew was her secret admirer. He watched her walked over to the coffee truck, he knew this was his opportunity to meet her. He planned to intentionally to bump into her, it was an intentional bump, but he wanted to claim it was an accident.

He sauntered directly at her. She laughed at his comic approach, she side stepped not to bump into him, but he fake a trip and fell and catch his step yet bumped into her. To apologized he extended his hand to her. Replied to call him Mat short for Matthew, he apologized and offers to buy a steaming cup of Joe. He bowed, After you milady.They both laughed. She thought he appeared puppy playful, with his wild hair falling into his gorgeous brown eyes.

He scanned her face features; he observed the dark shadows under her eyes, and the moist eyes. He saw she under distress, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and makes her smile. A twinkling spark light her emerald eyes, he decided could become lost in the light of her eyes. They both stared at each other and felt an instant connection. She did not sleep the last 48 hours and the exhaustion caught up. She became dizzy, her head hurt, and she swoons towards him, almost falling down, and he extends strong arms and his catches her before she fell and injured herself..

He steady her balance, and pointed over the empty spot on the wall of the Baptist Church, he helped her as they walked over and he sat down her down, and she appeared pale. He told her to lower her head and take deep breaths.

She inhaled slowly and pulled in oxygen and started to feel better, raised her head. Reassured him she was okay. He reassured, Okay then I will go get us the coffee; it will help you feel better. He asked her if she needed sugar in her coffee, Yes two packages of Sweet and Low would be fine. Excuse me, mi lady, be right back.

She sat watching him walking, his fine built body filled out his jeans nicely, he walked on the black ice in his steel toe shoes with a light steady step, confident. On his way, he stopped to talk to his friends. Saw the line was long and he mingled around with them waiting for the line to move along. Everyone around them was in reflective moods, some silent, others laughing. He was a regular at the meeting for teenagers of Alcoholic and drugs parents.

He never had seen Cherie at the meeting before. He looked over at her, with a sigh and indicated with hands the line was slow as molasses. She half perched on the wall as if she were thinking of leaving. In her eyes, he saw the hesitant of revealing her darkest secrets to a bunch of strangers. She was weighing the decision of going in the building or walking away.

He too knew the feelings she was battling, the demons all teenagers hold deep within themselves. Debating if it was time to let the world know her sanctuary and her home were not as stable as she pretended it to be. She was afraid of what will her friends and the other students would say about her seen entering the meeting. He waved his fingers to come over to the line, to wait with him. She a dancer by nature, walked as if she were gliding. He thought she was the most beautiful gal in the world. He asked her, If she was better and if she was staying? She lifted her head and flicked her long hair out of her eyes. He gasped realizing the true hidden beauty held in her eyes of magic. He could not breathe, as he scanned her lips and visualized kissing her smooth ruby lips and tangling his hands in her hair.

She was shocked that Matthew Mat the rebel of the school was talking to her. The guys were all scumbags as far as she is concern; most them were perverts always competing with each other whom would get the most belt notches of sleeping with virgins.

Matthew’s crowd, his friends were a group of nomads and sort of a cult the way. They dressed in black with long coats. Every time they passed her in the school hallways she would get chills down her spine and needed desperately to get away from them. They were like psychic vampires; some of the girls were brainwashed by their good look and charms. Like sheep to the slaughter, they are persuaded to go out on a date with a popular peer, and when the date became rough, the innocent are placed in difficult situations, and had no one to rescue them.

Some gals who interacted with the vampires, the rumors began, and the next day would be label sluts and whores. Others became pregnant and left town overnight only not come home for a year at times. Others just fell off the earth, never to be heard or seen from again.

She was told by her grandmother she was an empathic individual, a person who could sense good and bad energies in a person, empathizes with their pain and try to help them through. She experienced both realms of positive and negative vibes from friends and strangers. She did not know if she like that she would be able to walk into a room full of individuals and right away knew whom she was attracted to and whom to stay away from.

The hot girls were snobs, and she knew this. She was leery of them. They desired to know her and tried numerous times to have Cherie come to a party or event their hosted.

The motive was to quizzed her and see why she did not want to mingle with them; she was a perfect fit, she would fit in as the sixth member. Since Christina disappeared one night, and no one knew