Hey guys, 

 Would love for yall to read the first 2 chapters of my new manuscript.  I haven't queried anyone about it yet and thought I would get some feedback before I did.  Any way here it is.

K

The Fallen Sacrifice

Chapter 1

    High pitch noises pulled me from the darkness. As I opened my eyes I realized that I was lost. Suddenly a pair of strong hands grasped my shoulders and pulled me up from the ground.

    "Are you completely insane! You're lucky I was here. What are you trying to do get yourself killed?"

    The voice was angry and impatient as he grasped my arm and pulled me against the wall. The sound grew louder as a long large object rushed before our faces. I leaned toward the object curiously and stretched out my hand.

    "You really are insane! Get over here."

    The angry voice pulled my arm back and wrapped his body around me. I realized for the first time that I was cold. His body was rough as it pressed against mine.

    The object disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. I looked at my surroundings. It was dark and damp wherever I was. The smell of urine and mold assaulted my nose as I took in a deep breath through it and I coughed loudly.

    "Not what you expected is it? They never tell anyone the whole truth about what it's like once you get here. I can't believe you would land here of all places though. Don't they at least point you in a direction before you jump nowadays? I thought you were supposed to have someone waiting for you on this side." He hesitated for a moment in the midst of his rant. "Here put this on."

    He removed a dark piece of cloth from his body and wrapped it around me forcefully.

    "We need to at least try to keep you warm."

    I looked up at the face of the voice for the first time and stared curiously at his irritated expression. He was nice looking to me. His eyes were kind and sparkled like blue diamonds beneath the faint light from above. His dark hair was pulled back loosely at the nape of his neck. I noticed dark markings along his neck. He was familiar to me and I couldn't figure out why. He noticed my staring and huffed loudly.

    "What's your name? Who were you supposed to meet? I might be able to point you in the right direction."

    I continued to look at him blankly.

    "My name?" I whispered as I clasped my hand across my mouth.

    The sound that came from my mouth startled me. I had never heard them before.

    "Yes. You know what did they call you? For instance my name is Eligor. You can call me Eli though."

    I continued to stare at Eli. I was still so confused. I didn't know where I was, much less who I was. I began to shake uncontrollably and looked to Eli with fear.

    "Oh ****! What's wrong with you girl?" He said as he pulled me close to his body.

    I could feel the strength in his arms as he tightened them around me. My stomach ached; I felt a sharp pain in my mouth as I continued to tremble in his arms.

    "We need to get you somewhere safe. Come on."

    He lifted me from the ground effortlessly and I felt the rush of the wind against my face. I clasped my eyes shut, as the light ahead grew brighter.

    "Keep your eyes closed and hold on to me." He whispered.

    I clamped my eyes tighter and squeezed my arms around his neck.

    "Damn! Not so tight."

    I couldn't understand why he was whispering. I could hear voices and movement all around me. The scents that filled my nose were inviting. I felt the pain in my mouth again as I cringed into his chest.

    "We're almost there." He whispered again.

    I heard new sounds now, animal sounds. Chirping and skittering all around me. A loud noise startled me and I jerked against his steel chest.

    "It's just a car. Relax, you're safe with me."

    I couldn't explain it but I did feel safe with him. His scent was calming to me  I felt his pace slow to a walk. His breathing never changed from the moment he had lifted me from the ground until now. His breaths were steady and precise, they clamed me with their rhythm.

    "Ok, you can open your eyes now." He said as he lowered me to the floor.

    I stood beside him and slowly opened my eyes. Glancing at my surroundings I noticed we were in a hallway full of doors. On each door was writing of some kind. I couldn't make out what it meant though. I heard a jingle like bells and a click.

    "Come on in. Excuse the mess. It's not like I was expecting anyone."

    He motioned inside the doorway to a room. It was dimly lit with a large lump of    cloth along the far wall. There were small empty boxes all around the floor of the room. I looked up at him and then back at the room.

    "Yeah, I know it's a mess. Like I said, I wasn't exactly expecting company. Get inside before someone sees you."

    He nudged my shoulder with his hand and I obeyed. As I looked back to the door I watched as he turned the multiple metal objects before finally placing a slim clear object through a holder of some kind that was mounted to the center of the door. Once it was in place the door was illuminated with a light blue glow. He turned to face me and looked me over.

    "I must be out of my mind. I can't believe I actually brought you here of all places. If they find you here I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do. I'm not a Transitus. I really can't help you all that much."

    Eli was pacing the floor and looking at me as he rambled.

    "I mean, it's not like I could have just left you there right? The EL train would have squished you if I hadn't pulled you up. If they ask that's what I'll tell them. That's it, I was just trying to help you until we could find your Transitus."

    I reached my hand out to him and stopped his pacing.

    "Transitus?" I whispered.

    I was still in unaccustomed to the sound of my own voice. It was unsettling to me.

    "Your Transitus. You know the one who's supposed to help you with the... transition. They teach you how to survive and stay off the human's radar; go over all the rules you know? That kind of stuff."

    I turned my head to the side and looked at him and smiled. His eyes widened as he looked at my mouth.

    "You must be hungry. It was a long time ago for me but I still remember what it was like when I first jumped. I was starving when I landed. I bet that's why you've been shaking so much, you're hungry."

    He walked into another part of the large room. It was brightly lit and had a multitude of strange looking objects lining the walls. I thought about his word... 'Hungry'... I didn't think it fit for what I was feeling. I put my hand against my stomach and noticed it was bare. I looked down at myself and then at Eli. I wasn't wearing cloth like he was. Only the bulky thing he had placed over me earlier covered my skin. It hung lightly across my shoulders and down to the floor.

    I looked up at Eli as he stopped in front of me. He held a container in his hand. The liquid inside smelled delicious. It was dark and thick, he reached it toward me and I took it slowly into my hands. I noticed the rough skin along his fingers and hands as I touched them. Mine were light pink and smooth. I reached up and touched the leathery looking hand with my other hand again and smiled at the sensation his skin gave mine when I touched it.

    "Drink this, it'll help. It's not as good as fresh, but it should do just fine until we can find out where your Transitus is and why the hell they didn't meet you down there."

    I looked at the container and then at Eli. He huffed and moved his hand up to his mouth.

    "You drink it."

    He placed his hand around mine as it held the container and raised it to my mouth. The smell coming from the container made my mouth hurt as he touched my lips to it. The liquid was warm as it landed on my tongue. I swallowed instinctively and slowly began to feel calm. When the container was empty he moved his hand away from mine and removed the container from my hand. He walked back to the brightly-lit room and set the container down.

    "Feel better?" He asked as he turned a knob in front of him.

    I gasped and took a step back as clear liquid flowed from a shiny tube and into a basin of some kind.

    "It's just water... and this is a faucet."

    He pointed to the shiny tube. I nodded as I continued to look around the room. The walls were dark and bare. I noticed a few small holes in the wall near the glowing door. The strange cloth that seemed to cover most of the floor felt strange under my feet. I slowly walked over to the soft looking lump of cloth against the wall. I reached out and touched it cautiously unsure if there was something lying under it. Eli appeared at my side and sighed.

    "It's called a couch. You sit on it. See?"

    He plopped down onto the couch and I heard an unsightly squeaking sound erupt from beneath him. I covered my ears and frowned at him.

    "I know, it's kinda old."

    I watched as a new emotion crossed his face. One I had not seen on him yet. He looked down at the floor and cleared his throat.

    "I guess I should find something for you to wear. I think I might have some of Mastema's old clothes around here somewhere. You're a little smaller than her, but I think at this point anything would be better than that old trench coat."

    He got up from the couch and kept his eyes on the floor. I looked after him curiously, then at the trench coat that hung down my body. When I looked back up he was standing in front of me again. This time he was holding a brightly colored cloth in his hands. His eyes locked on mine and never moved as he spoke.

    "This dress should fit."

    I reached up and caressed the cloth. It was soft and reminded me of something. It bothered me that some things were familiar to me, like the cloth and the markings on Eli's neck, while others were completely foreign. I let out an exasperated breath as I tried to piece together the familiar things.

    "Here I'll try to help you put it on."

    He reached up with one hand and slowly pulled the trench coat off of my shoulders, all the while his eyes stayed locked on mine. Then he held the dress up to me.

    "Here, take the bottom of this and pull it over your head."

    I did as he instructed and wiggled the dress over my head and pulled my arms through the openings at the top. I felt his hands grasp the bottom of the cloth and pull it down over the rest of my body. The cloth felt nice against my skin. I ran my fingers across my stomach and looked happily at Eli.

    "When someone does something that's nice. It's polite to say 'thank you'." He said in an authoritative tone.

    I nodded and replied in a soft voice. "Thank you."

   I walked over to the couch and gently sat down. The squeaking noise was light as I relaxed into the cushions. I leaned my head against the back and closed my eyes.

    "Yeah, you're probably tired. I'll let you get some shut eye."

    I peeled one of my eyes open and looked at him. I wasn't sure what 'shut eye' was exactly, but I did know that my eyes were difficult to keep open at the moment.

    "Here."

    He reached onto the floor and picked up a piece of cloth and draped it over me. I pulled the cloth up to me and breathed in his familiar scent. I felt a smile cross my face as I drifted into darkness.　

Chapter 2

    I forced my eyes open as I sat up and looked around the room in a daze. It was still light outside, the brightness peeked from beneath a thick piece of cloth hung on one of the walls. I could hear the soft hum of something coming from the room where the faucet was.

    I slowly got up and searched the room for Eli. I noticed his scent wasn't as strong as before. I could feel my body begin to shake, as I looked frantically for him. My breathing increased and became loud as I felt my chest rise and fall with each breath.

    I was confused again. I knew where I was this time, but I didn't know where Eli was and that bothered me. I moved around the room searching the darkness for him. At the end of a hallway I found a closed door. I gently turned the knob and walked inside. Eli's scent was strong in this room, I felt instantly calmer.

    Fumbling through the darkness I felt a soft cushion against my leg. It moved slightly as I bumped against it. The room was instantly bright and I felt a cold object against my throat as something pulled my hair forcing my head to tilt back. I gasped loudly as the figure beside me let out a sigh.

    "Damnit girl I could have killed you! Never sneak up on me when I'm asleep!"

    Eli removed the cold object from my throat and sat down on the cushion in front of me. He shook his head and glared up at me.

    "What do you think you're doing in here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" He asked as he placed the shiny object on a flat surface beside him.

    He rubbed his temple and sighed loudly. I didn't know how to explain what I was doing there. I couldn't put into words the fear I felt when I thought he was gone. I stood there wide-eyed unable to speak.

    "What's wrong?" He asked as he noticed the expression on my face.

    I was staring at his exposed chest. The marks along his neck flowed onto his chest beautifully. I wanted to touch them and see what texture they held. As he continued to watch me carefully I took a step towards him.

    "What... are... these?" I asked.

    I gently traced the markings with my fingertips. I felt his body quiver beneath my touch as he grasped my wrist forcefully.

   "Stop that!" He growled.

    He reached behind himself and produced a piece of cloth. He forced it over his body concealing the beautiful marks. I looked at my fingers where they had touched his skin. They tingled as at the exact point they came into contact with him.

    He reached onto the flat surface and opened the small box and produced a thin white cylinder like object and placed it to his lips. I watched with fascination as he picked up a shiny rectangular object and flipped the top of it open producing a flame. He lit the end of the white cylinder and smoke puffed out of his mouth. He noticed my confused stare and laughed lightly.

    "It's called a cigarette."

    He held the white cylinder in between his fingers and placed it back between his lips. I watched the smoke trail from the end of the cigarette. It danced along the air as it made beautiful patterns.

    "Look, it's almost sunset and I've had a long ass day. Do you think you could let me sleep for a little while? Go watch TV or something."

    He motioned to the doorway as I turned my head to the side. I could tell that he was growing impatient with me but I had no idea what he was talking about.

    "TV?" I asked quietly.

    He huffed loudly and stood up. He brushed past me carefully avoiding any contact with my body. I looked around the room at the bare walls. There was a set of doors on one wall that were closed and I noticed a square brown object on the floor. It held cloth and other objects. I started to walk toward the box when he stuck his head back through the door.

    "Come on, I'll turn it on for you. Just sit on the couch and don't touch anything!"

    I followed him back to the couch and sat down. The room erupted with lights and sound as he picked up a rectangular object and pushed a button on it.

    "This is the remote."

    He held the rectangular object in front of me.

    "That's the TV."

    He pointed to a large box that was the source of the lights and sounds around me.

    "You push these buttons here to watch something different."

    He motioned to the remote as he placed it into my hands. I turned the remote over in my hand and looked at the buttons. Some of them had the same writing I had seen on the doors in the hallway earlier. I looked up at him awaiting further instructions on the remote.

    "Now I'm going back to bed. Try to keep it down I gotta go into work tonight. I also gotta figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with you while I'm gone. I don't know I'm too tired to think right now. Good night."

    I watched him leave and turned my attention to the TV. The pictures were foreign to me. The movements and sounds that came from it intrigued me though. I watched as the figures on the TV spoke and moved. I mimicked their gestures and watched in awe as they interacted with one another.

    The picture changed suddenly into one that frightened me. I watched as a young girl ran along a dark street; something was chasing her. I reached out to the girl on the TV. I wanted to help her. I felt an uncontrollable urge to help her. She ran into the arms of another figure, he was handsome and seemed to comfort her as the creature following her approached. I covered my face with my hands.

    I was afraid to see what would happen. I listened to the grunts and screams as they erupted from the TV. I couldn't take it I covered my ears with my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. The violence was too much for me. I wanted it to stop. I felt my body rock back and forth as I sat on the couch. Suddenly I felt warmth all around me; there was a loud sound and the violent screams stopped. Eli was instantly in the room.

    "What the hell!! What did you do to the TV?"

    I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the TV. There was a light trail of smoke     drifting up from the top. I looked at Eli and cringed into the couch away from the angry expression on his face.

    "Did you throw something at it?"

    I looked at the TV again and shook my head. I didn't know what happened. All I knew was that I didn't like the violent sounds that were coming from it so I wanted them to stop. I didn't know how to answer him.

    "My god girl, you're like a walking disaster. That TV is gonna cost like $400.00 for me to replace, and I don't have that kind of money just laying around."

    I watched as he walked over to the TV and looked it over as he shook his head.

    "I knew this was a bad idea. I should have just left you in the subway where I found you." He mumbled.

    I felt hurt by his words. My eyes began to overflow with liquid. I raised my finger to my face and touched the liquid. Eli turned and sighed as he sat down beside me.

    "I'm sorry, I know it's not your fault."

    He placed his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into his cool chest. I felt better suddenly, like every bad thing was gone and I was safe. I nuzzled my face closer to his exposed chest. The tingles raced across my cheek as he suddenly pulled away.

    "Don't... please." He said as he stood up.

    I looked at him with confusion again. There was something about my skin against his that bothered him. I liked the way it felt and wanted to feel it again, but apparently he didn't so I sat there staring at him. He ran his fingers through his dark hair; it tumbled down across his muscular shoulders. He let out a sigh as I stared at him.

    "Look, I remember what it was like to be ...new... but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let myself take advantage of you. I understand what you're... feeling, but you need to realize that you should be more careful about the whole touching thing. If I were any other Fallen you wouldn't have a prayer. I guess you're lucky I was the one who found you. Anyone else would have given in by now."

    He turned and left the room. I stared after him intrigued by his words. When he reappeared I noticed he had put the cloth back over his chest.

    "What's a Fallen?" I asked quietly as he sat down beside me.

    I was careful not to touch is arm with mine. I didn't want to make him angry again.

    "That's what we are. We're known as The Fallen Ones."

    He pulled a thin object from around his wrist and placed his hands in his hair, pulling it through the object. I watched with awe as his muscles flexed with every twist of his wrist. The desire to reach out and touch his arm was strong. I fought against it and folded my arms across my chest. I frowned as he finished pulling his hair through the object. I liked it better the other way. I wanted to take it down but was afraid he would become angry again.

    "I can't believe you don't remember anything. Normally we remember some things, like the trial or at least what we did to become Fallen. Don't you have any memories?"

    I shrugged my shoulders. Talking was one of the many things I didn't remember how to do well so I was uncomfortable doing it.

    "I remember certain things, but most of everything here is new to me. This sound is new to me."   I pointed to my mouth. 

   "But the marks on your neck are familiar. What are they?"  I asked as I forced my hand to stay where it was and not reach out to trace them.

    He put his hand to his neck and smiled.

    "They're Glyphs, you know angelic lettering. That's why they're familiar. The reason your voice isn't familiar is because before now you didn't need to use it. Here you have to use it if you want something."

    I watched as he reached over to a flat surface to his side and opened another cigarette box. He lit the cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. I watched curiously as the end of the cigarette glowed red in the dim light of the room. I slowly reached my hand toward it.

    "Hey, don't touch that." He said as he jerked the cigarette out of my reach.

    "It's like you're a child or something. This is weird. First of all you didn't have a Transitus waiting for you, and second you're a complete blank slate. You don't remember anything really. Look, it's gonna be dark soon and I have to get ready for work. Do you think you can sit here and stay out of trouble for like ten minutes?"

    I nodded my head as I watched him stand and leave the room. On the far side of the room I could see the outside world peeking at me from under a long piece of cloth. I got up and walked over. Looking out I noticed there was a clear piece of something keeping me from leaning out into the air. I could see the buildings around me and figures moved on the ground below.

    Suddenly I heard a new sound. It reminded me of something. Curious I turned and followed the sound through the apartment. I came to a door in the hallway. The sound was louder here, slowly I opened the door and the sound was gone. Confused I stepped through the doorway. Eli was standing with his back to me. I noticed the Glyphs were along the back of his right shoulder just like they were on his chest. I felt the same need to touch them. He was facing a reflective surface. When he noticed me in the doorway he reached for a fluffy piece of cloth.

    "Hey! Knock much!"

    He wrapped the cloth around his waist covering the lower half of his body. I turned my head to the side and looked around the room curiously.

    "What happened to the sound?" I asked as he continued to tuck the cloth around his waist.

    "What sound? Oh, you mean the shower?" He said as I stepped closer to him.

    He noticed my casual advance and took a step away from me.

    "What's a 'shower'?"

    He reached behind a sheer piece of cloth and the sound appeared again. I peeked behind the cloth and jumped back with a squeal as my head was pelted with liquid. A strange loud sound came from his mouth as he stopped the liquid from flowing.

    "You recognize the sound right?" He said in an amused tone.

    "Yes."

    I reached my hand up to my hair and touched the liquid as it formed droplets along my shoulder.

    "You're remembering the Great Falls. It's the last place we see before we land here. It's one of the reasons we're called Fallen. We come through the falls and end up here on earth."

    "Water?" I said as I continued to stare at the liquid on my hand.

    He nodded as he moved around the room.

    "Yeah, it's called water. It falls from the sky here sometimes. That's called rain. Hey you think you can give me a little privacy? I need to put some clothes on for work."

    I looked at the cloth that was folded and laying on a flat surface on the other side of the room.

    "Clothes?" I pointed to the folded pile and smiled at him.

    "Yeah. We have to wear clothes here when we go out in public. Everyone does, well not everyone, but the ones that don't end up in a lot of trouble. We also wear shoes."

    He walked past me and down the hallway. I followed closely behind him. I was eager to learn as much as he was willing to teach me. I wanted to know everything I could.

    "These are shoes, well boots to be exact, but you get the idea. They go on our feet to protect them."

    I reached out and took the boots in my hands. They were heavy and made a loud thump as they fell out of my grip. I frowned at them as they lay on the floor. He made the strange sound again, softly this time and leaned over to pick them up.

    "Not your style I guess. Well in my line of work they're a necessity." He placed them against the wall and looked at me curiously.

    "I guess I'm gonna have to find you some shoes."

    He walked over to a door and opened it. I saw more clothes hanging from a pole in the wall. On the floor were different types of shoes. He produced a strange looking pair of and dangled them from his fingers.

    "Mastema left them behind when she decided I wasn't good enough for her."

    I could sense the hostility in his voice when he spoke her name. It was the second time I had heard him say it. There was something about that name was familiar to me. I tried to put it out of my mind while I focused on Eli and tried to pay attention to my current lesson.

    "They'll probably take some getting used to though. Here put em' on."

    He tossed the shoes at my feet and I looked down at them. I moved my foot to the shoes and touched them gently with my toes.

    "Sit down on the bed girl. I'll help you." he said as he sat down on the corner of the bed.

    "I really wish you would tell me your name. I need to call you something besides 'girl' you know? Can you at least remember that much?"

    I shrugged my shoulders.

    "Why don't you pick one. Since you don't like 'girl'." I replied as I sat down on the bed beside him.

    He carefully lifted my foot up to his lap. I reveled in the feel of his hand on my bare skin. His body shivered slightly as he rested his fingertips on my calf.

    "Just sit still and I'll slide them on." He whispered.

    I could sense he felt the same intense feeling I did. As I watched his eyes move from my feet up my legs to my thigh. His breath caught as he slid the shoe onto my foot. He looked disapprovingly at it as it hung off of my foot.

    "Guess they won't work. Maybe I've got some flip flops in here that'll do." He said as he pulled the shoe off.

    His hand lingered on my heel for a moment as he gently ran his finger across the bottom of my foot. My leg jerked as a strange sound similar to the one I had been hearing him make broke through my lips. I covered my mouth with my hand. The sound was high in tone and made my whole stomach move.

    "Ticklish Hua?" He asked with an amusing smile on his face.

    "Guess so."

    I looked deep into his eyes as his smile turned into an expression I didn't recognize on him. His hand found its way back to my leg as he gently moved my foot off of his lap.

    "I should go get dressed. You stay here ok?" He finally said as he swallowed hard and got up from the bed.

    I watched him leave the room and lay back onto the bed. It was comfortable and smelled strongly of Eli. I pulled the black pillow to my nose and breathed deeply. I let the smell fill my whole body. I memorized it; I wanted to remember his smell forever. The pillow was soft against my cheek as I held it tightly. I felt his presence as I peeked from underneath the pillow. A small smile crossed my face as I moved the pillow to the side and sat up.

    "I don't even want to know." He said as he sat down and slid his feet into his boots.

    His hair was still wet as it clung to his face. I leaned over and looked up at him.

    "Have you found me a name yet?"

    He sat up abruptly and cleared his throat. I noticed that he did that when he was uncomfortable. I was sad that I had made him uncomfortable.

    "No, but I have decided that I can't leave you alone in here. I've only got one more TV and I don't want you destroying it."

    He stood up and headed back to the room of clothes. He mumbled to himself as he dug through the floor of the closet.

    "Here. Slip these on your feet."

    He tossed a pair of blue shoes toward the bed. I reached down and slowly slid my feet into them; they were uncomfortable between my toes. I wiggled my toes and made the strange sound again as I watched the way my toes moved in the shoes. I stopped abruptly and looked at Eli as I pursed my lips together.

    "It's called laughter. We do it when something is funny to us. It's normal."

    I nodded and stood up slowly I looked down at my feet and realized these shoes were too big and swallowed my foot like the other ones had.

    "So ... what's work?"

    "We need money to buy stuff here and so we have to work. It's also called having a job. You'll have to get one eventually. I work at a club downtown. I guess if I ask Jude he'll keep an eye on you at the bar. You think you can keep out of trouble for one night if I bring you with me?"

    I shrugged my shoulders. I was still unclear as to what 'trouble' was but apparently I was getting into it a lot.

    "Guess we'll find out... I will have to give you a name before we get there though. I doubt calling you 'girl' will go over too well with the locals." He snickered as he led me to the front door.

    "We'll see about getting you some clothes and shoes of your own tomorrow. There's a store around the corner from here."

    He pulled the clear object out of the holder in the center of the door and I noticed the blue light disappeared and door took on a darker appearance.

    "It's an enchanted lock. No magikal being can pass through the door as long as it's in place. You can never be too careful around here. You'd be surprised how many dangerous magikal beings live in this city."

    I watched carefully as he turned the other locks. I wondered about magikal beings.

    "Am I a... magikal being?" I asked as he opened the door.

    "Yeah, we both are. There are lots of different kinds though. We're what's called Fallen; the humans have other names for us though. You'll probably run into a few of the others tonight at the club. Come on I'm gonna be late."

    He placed a thin object into the holes on the door and I heard a clicking sound come from each one as he turned it. He noticed the way I watched his movements and smiled.

    "We have to lock the humans out too. They tend to steal things around here if I leave the door unlocked."