Soul Dust by J. A., N. S. (best novels to read .txt) 📖

Prologue

Humans are the mightiest beings on earth. That’s all you know.

They consist of a body, mind and soul. That’s what you think.

There are more powerful beings, craving for souls. That’s what you didn’t know.

No one can take your body from you, or your mind. But your soul doesn’t actually belong to you. Without knowing it, you’re sharing it with us. You are keeping us alive with it.

Without you, there would be no ‘us’.

Now that you know about us, you have to be careful. A hunter might be coming after you right now. Maybe he is watching you right now.

Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.

 

Chapter 1

“One of us may not tell outsiders about us at any time. Violators must be punished. Grade 4.”

 

Even though it was only noon, big dark clouds on the sky darkened the streets. I was listening to loud rock music on my iPhone while I watched fat raindrops splash onto the windscreen. I felt uncomfortable in my black Armani suit, like I couldn’t breathe properly. A short glance at my dad who was sitting next to me in the driver’s seat was enough to see that he was feeling the opposite – he looked confident. He also had been smiling for the last few hours, telling me that today was a special day and how proud he was of me.

I had remained silent throughout the whole journey. Suddenly dad poked me in the shoulder, so I turned my music off and.

“Aren’t you looking forward to it?”, he asked without stopping to watch the streets.

“I am”, I replied honestly, “But I’m just not sure what to expect.”

“Oh”, he nodded, “So you’re nervous…”

I smiled. “Well… Maybe a little bit.”

For a minute, dad didn’t say anything. I was about to turn the music back on, when he suggested something incredible.

“Once we’re done with this”, he started, “I’ll probably be too excited to drive, so… Would you like to do me the honour?”

I was astonished for a few seconds. This was a Lamborghini Murcielago, My dad’s absolute favourite car. He wouldn’t even let our driver use it. It usually just stayed in the garage, but as today was a special occasion, dad had said that it was ‘only just good enough’.

“Yeah, I’d love to!”, I said quickly, “Thanks.”

I only just got my driving licence, but dad didn’t seem to care or consider that.

“No problem. Once this is over, you might need your own one anyway.”

I wasn’t sure whether he was joking or serious. I was such a lucky guy anyway.

“We’re here”, dad said seriously.

He parked directly in front of the main entrance. As soon as we got out, a valet came running towards us with obvious amazement in his eyes and a big smile on his lips.

“May I park your car, sir?”, he asked after taking a deep breath.

My dad tossed a brief smile at him. “Sure. One scratcher or one bump, and I’ll kill you. Don’t even breathe inside the car.”

The valet’s smile was suddenly wiped away. “I…”

We just moved on and dad chuckled quietly.

In front of us there was a huge skyscraper, with at least 50 storeys. Its windows were tinted dark so you couldn’t see inside. I had been here a few times before, but never actually been to the conference room or the higher storeys. Something was different today: Next to the front doors there were two security agents with black sunglasses. It was raining.

“The community seems to like their prestige”, I said amusedly.

The people who came inside this building didn’t really need any protection. They knew many ways how to defend themselves.

When the security agents spotted my dad, they both straightened their posture. I could see a mix between respect and fear. Even though they weren’t community members, they seemed to know who they were dealing with.

“Hello, sir”, said one of them and even held us the door open.

“Don’t you ever say your dad doesn’t have street cred”, he whispered entertained once we were inside.

I just rolled my eyes and kept following him. The entrance hall of the building was decorated with expensive paintings and glistening chandeliers. It looked so expensive and exaggerated, it was almost tacky.

We met several community members and they all came towards my dad and me with respect to greet us and congratulate. Some of the members were ranked really high and still seemed to be a bit scared.

“Dad?”, I asked, when we were alone again, “Do you already know which rank I’m going to be?”

He looked at me and smiled. “Yes. But it would ruin the surprise if I told you now.”

We arrived at a white, double-winged door. All of people were entering the room behind it which was already pretty full. Everyone was wearing black, which made it seem like a funeral, more than a celebratory occasion.

“Dad…”, I started, “I don’t really want to speak in front of all those people.”

He put a hand onto my shoulder. “I know you can do it. Now go inside, I’ll see you later, on the stage.”

With these words he left me standing.

I entered the room. It was enormous, with round walls, uncountable rows of seats and balconies in the upper floors for a better view. The most eye-catching thing in the room was the ten meter stage on the other side though. It seemed more like an opera house than a conference hall. I started to scan the room for people I knew, but I couldn’t see anyone. Instead, many people I didn’t even know approached me with questions.

“Are you Mr Kensington’s son?”, I was asked for the fourth time by a young woman with expensive looking jewellery.

“Yes”, I answered briefly.

When the woman was probably about to fire more questions at me, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Did I just hear Kensington?”, asked the voice.

I turned around and saw my three best friends, Alex, Matt and Riley. Alex had styled his blonde hair with too much hair gel, but for some reason it still looked good on him. They were all wearing black suits and shirts, apart from Riley, who was wearing a tank top in a neon blue colour.

“We’ve been looking for you for the last twenty minutes”, said Matt.

“I’m sorry… But what’s with Riley? Why aren’t you wearing a shirt, dude?”, I laughed.

“I hate suits… especially with shirts, it looks ridiculous”, he answered and shrugged.

“He’s such an attention whore”, said Alex and plucked on Riley’s shirt.

Suddenly the lights on the stage went on.

“We should really get to our seats now”, said Matt.

We had seats in the front row, as we would have to get up and come onto the stage later.

We slowly made our way through the crowd to the front rows. I could see some of the boys and girls I had spent the last few years with already sitting in their seats.

As soon as we sat down, the lights in the room were dimmed, only the stage lights were still bright. Immediately, silence came over the room.

“I’m so excited”, said Alex next to me quietly, “I want to get more awesome.”

Seconds later, my dad came onto the stage. Everyone clapped and curiously watched him go to the marble podium in the centre of the stage. It was funny how his charismatic smile was enough to influence the behaviour of every person in the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen”, he began when it was quiet again, “Thanks for coming by. Today we want to celebrate the initiation of 23 new members to the community. I’m proud to say that my own son, Joshua, is one of them.”

Almost everyone in the front rows turned their head to me and examined me jealously. It was only a little bit awkward…

“This only happens every 20 years and is therefore a moment to remember. Before we continue, I’d like to ask each new member to come to me onto the stage and answer me two questions… There are lots of middle names on this by the way…”, he said and held a sheet up in the air, “So let’s start alphabetically with Riley Jonathan Ashley Adams.”

Riley got up with an expressionless face. There were a few chuckles when he came onto the stage – probably about his long name – and stood straight in front of my dad.

“Tell me, Riley…”, my dad started, “Is your that your natural hair colour?”

Riley just grinned back at him. His hair was red, and he was proud of it.

“I’m just kidding, said dad, “My question is: How would you estimate your behaviour over the last four years?”

“Very good, sir... Apart from when I had an argument with someone and hit them…”, said Riley and looked to us.

I looked at Alex. “You provoked him that day, didn’t you…”, I whispered.

“It was all for a good purpose”, he replied amusedly.

My dad lifted up a pile of paperwork from the podium and smiled. “At least you’re honest”, he said to Riley, “I didn’t feel like reading all this out anyway. My second question: Which rank would you consider yourself?”

“Twelve”, Riley answered straight away.

“I like your modesty”, said dad, “The council decided to give you rank 14.”

Riley smiled. “Thanks, man.”

“You may go now, man”, said dad and smiled back at him.

After Riley, three other new members were called to my dad. They were less relaxed than Riley, because they had never met him before and had as much respect for him as the older community members. Then it was Matts – or should I say Matthew George Wallace Hawkins? – turn. These rich people really loved long names.

“Matthew… How was your weekend?”, asked my dad.

“Oh”, started Matt, “Very good, thanks. I had fries and a burger for breakfast.”

“Lucky you! Which rank would you consider yourself?”

“Twelve”, he answered, like Riley, but it sounded more like a question.

“Rank 14”, said dad and sent him back.

Matt came down the stairs with a happy grin.

It took a while until we had reached the letter K, so many fancy names were read out and so many scared people had to come up to the stage.

“Oh…”, my dad grinned, “Joshua Edward Henry Kensington.

I got up, readjusted my blazer and went to my dad. The spotlights were really bright so I couldn’t see the people watching me – which was a good thing.

“Joshua, do you who I am?”, he asked me with a grin.

“You’re the rank 20, the decision maker here, sir”, I said, even though he had probably expected me to say ‘you’re my dad’ to show how proud he was.

“And your dad”, he added smiling, “Which rank would you consider yourself?”

“I’ll be happy with whichever rank you give me, dad”, I replied impatiently.

“Well, sounds like low expectations…”, said dad, “For now you’re a rank 17.”

I left the stage as fast as I could. I just didn’t like the attention. Alex got up when my dad said “Alexander James Sterling Kingsley” straight after.

“Sterling”, I whispered and low-fived him when we met in the middle.

Alex stopped in front of my dad with his hands in his pockets. “How are you doing?”, he grinned.

Dad laughed. “I’m asking the questions here. So, what do you