Three Worlds

Jennifer Loudon

Description

Gold grass glinted in the starlight as the waves hummed their gentle song. All was peaceful here, yet somewhere in the sky above him, just out of reach, lay a world full of nightmares. He could almost feel the creatures watching him, waiting to attack, longing for his blood. He was the cause of the battle after all, and he was the only one who could put things right. When Zygus' father disappears without a trace, the world as he knows it is about to change forever. Finding himself on a mysterious new planet, he is instantly welcomed into its community. As frightening creatures warn him to leave, Zygus discovers the world's gateways and learns of a terrifying third world, where creatures of nightmares lurk. His desire to return home soon vanishes when he is mistakenly blamed for the planet's recent attacks. Accepting the blame, he vows to do everything he can to save his new home, but not before a close friend's secret is revealed. Trapped between two worlds, and with countless enemies on his heels, does Zygus have what it takes to save his glorious new planet and learn the true fate of his father? Or will the world crumble beneath his feet?

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 août 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781528970044
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Three Worlds
Jennifer Loudon
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-08-30
The Three Worlds About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Epilogue
About The Author
Jennifer is an 18-year-old university student, she is currently studying biology with forensic investigation. She has always loved to write, and this second novel is the result of two summer breaks from high school. As a child, she loved the idea of creating stories and characters from scratch and was thrilled by the encouragement of relatives and teachers.
Dedication
For all the children (and adults) who still believe in fairy tales.
Copyright Information ©
Jennifer Loudon (2019)
The right of Jennifer Loudon to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528939713 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528970044 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
To my wonderful and supportive family – you are now free to read this book.
Chapter 1
“Zygus!” screamed the teacher from the classroom door. “You go out those doors and…” too late. He threw open the heavy doors and sprinted across the playground, before clambering over the gates to join the group of boys roaring with laughter. They had disappeared by the time Mr Helton could get outside.
After a long run from school, Zygus was finally home where he dumped his belongings and headed through the house to find his mum seated in the dining room. It was a bright and spacious room. The floor-to-ceiling windows at the far side allowed sunlight to pour over the walls, making their light cream colour appear a brilliant yellow which burned in his eyes. The various shelves which littered the walls held rows of neatly stacked law books, the proud souvenirs of his mum’s university studies. Scattered amongst them were several titles from his childhood, mostly bedtime stories and books he’d forgotten to take back to school. His mum sat in a leather chair by the window, its surface as cream as the walls and gleaming in the sun.
“How was school honey?” she asked without lifting her eyes from the computer screen.
“Fine,” Zygus muttered. The huge, black dog that had been asleep by the window, seemingly enjoying the sunshine, padded towards him as he took a seat at the table. He ruffled the dog’s long, shaggy coat under his fingers and was rewarded by the offer of a heavy paw. He couldn’t remember a time when Jasper wasn’t around, in fact he was sure his mum still kept videos of him as a toddler, struggling to keep up with Jasper on wobbly legs. He’d be fourteen this year, the same age as Zygus.
With her eyes still fixed on the screen, she asked, “What did you do today?” Made a teacher run, he thought, only half aware of the smile that crawled across his lips.
“Not much,” was all he said. “What are you doing?”
“Just some work stuff,” her short, brown hair fell over her face, the same colour as her son’s. Zygus had also inherited his mum’s ocean-blue eyes and honey-coloured skin.
“Can we take Jasper for a walk?” he asked. But just then, the phone rang and his mum grabbed it and threw it to her ear.
“Yes, just a minute,” she said addressing Zygus. “Why don’t you go and do your homework, honey?” The tone of her voice told him it wasn’t a question. Looking at Jasper, he sighed and headed for his room, picking up his discarded school bag on the way. That was the thing about having a lawyer for a mum, he thought, phone conversations were always confidential, which for him involved being kicked out of the room at least a dozen times per day.
Jasper followed him up the stairs as he always did, silently hoping for a treat. But Zygus had only time to throw himself down on his bed and switch on the TV before:
“Zygus!” yelled his mum, anger flickering in her tone. Great, he thought dragging himself up, he knew what was coming. “Get down here!” He had barely reached the top of the stairs when his mum appeared at the bottom holding the phone. “What have you been up to this time?” she balled. Zygus shrugged, this had happened far too many times for him to care. “They said you played football in the yard during class time and wrote over the lesson on the board!”
He couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Well, you’ve got to get your fun somehow,” he muttered, as his mum rambled on.
“We think you’ve turned a corner and then we get another one of these calls!” she yelled waving the phone around in the air.
Say nothing, Zygus thought , there’s no point.
“I have to go up to that school to discuss your behaviour, again! ”
Don’t say anything! The anger was fizzing up in his stomach. “I have to put my work on hold, again! ” He glanced at Jasper’s worried expression, apparently fearful of all the yelling, and simply couldn’t stay quiet any longer.
“Don’t you care about anything else except your work!” he balled, hearing his voice as though it belonged to someone else.
“What?” his mum asked, suddenly frowning.
“Nothing else matters to you! You don’t want anything to do with me, or even Jasper anymore! Just your stupid work!” he yelled.
“Well,” she sighed, anger sown into every word. “Let’s just see what Jordan thinks about that,” and with that, she walked out of sight.
“He doesn’t care!” he yelled, hoping she was still close enough to hear, before marching into his bedroom and throwing the door closed with a thud.
Zygus lay on his bed, his stomach swirling with guilt. A part of him wanted to apologise to his mum, he hated arguing with her. But he had meant every word he’d said, though he could have put it a little nicer. Despite what he’d said, he knew Jordan would care. He cared for him a great deal. Jordan was his stepfather. He and his mum had married two years ago, after his dad had gone missing. He had only been gone a month when they deemed him dead and stopped the search. His mum had been able to accept that, but Zygus certainly couldn’t. He could only pray that he’d come sauntering through the front door one day like he used to. But he was alone in his hope. His mum had remarried soon after and forced him to move from their glorious pent house in London’s city centre to the quiet suburbs in the west. He had to admit though, his mum was right: Jordan was nice and he got along with him just fine. But the truth was he missed his dad more and more every day. He thought of that stupid phone call from the school. He hadn’t even considered the trouble it would cause. I was just having a little fun, he thought miserably. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He was in the school grounds again, sauntering along with his friends. Cheery grins were plastered on their faces, despite the crowd of angry teachers running towards them, he wondered vaguely why they weren’t running too. Then, as swiftly as blinking, he was surrounded by darkness. Fear crept into his foggy mind as he glanced wearily around, seeing only small streaks of white light in the distance, which he recognised to be shooting stars. Then as quickly as it had come, the fear vanished and was replaced by a feeling of glee, so wonderful that it almost distracted him from the giant planets which sped past. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He watched as planets of every colour zoomed in and out of view. His attention was quickly pulled to one purple planet which rolled in from the distance, like a mighty bowling ball rolling across a wooden floor. Panic consumed him as it got closer and he realised it was hurtling straight for him. His blood ran cold. He was going to crash!
Gasping, he threw himself into a sitting position, his eyes darting around the now dark room. Relief poured through every muscle in his body, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. His bedroom was the way it had been when he’d fallen asleep; school bag lying on the floor next to his trainers; curtains still open though a clear, blue sky had been replaced by a black starry one. That stupid dream again, he thought angrily. It was always that same dream, ever since he could remember. As terrifying as it was, he’d always wished he could keep dreaming long enough to find out what happened when he landed in that bizarre purple planet. He knew it was only a dream, but that didn’t stop his curiosity. There was a gentle tapping on the door that pulled him from his chain of thoughts. The door creaked open.
“Did I wake you?” It was Jordan’s voice.
“No,” he said, trying to sound casual.
“Your mum told me you two had been arguing, I came up to see you earlier but you were asleep.” He felt instantly sick with guilt, as he was reminded of the argument. “Anyway, I just remembered, there’s a meteor shower on tonight, thought you might want to go and see it?”
“Really?” His heart leapt, he’d been expecting another row. “I’d love to!”
“Great! Get ready.”
“Jordan,” Zygus muttered quickly before he left the room, “About that argument—”
“That’s between you and your mum,” he interrupted, holding up a hand before slipping out the room, leaving him alone in the darkness. Zygus felt like he didn’t deserve this, but he wasn’t going to say no to stargazing on the night of a meteor shower. Jordan had b