Demonbane by MangaPanda (the little red hen ebook TXT) 📖

~PREFACE~
A shrill scream rang out through the Gates of Hell, echoing in ominous symphony. Thunder roared across the ashy sky. Moans escaped the throats of millions inside the burning lakes of fire and the air stank of blood, but many miles away, in a black onyx castle sitting atop a spindly mountain crag, there was much celebration. “A child is born!” “An heir is here!” “Let all the levels of Hades hear this news!” was shouted throughout the castle. Lying somewhere in the castle was a woman smiling down at her child sleeping peacefully in her arms. By her side was a towering, massive beast of a man. He had raven hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to sear into the depths of the soul and right now those eyes were looking down upon his son.
“What shall we name him?” he said in a deep, gravelly voice. The woman, a sweet faced woman with sad looking eyes, replied,
“Lucas. His name shall be Lucas.” The man nodded his head in approval.
“It suits him well. Now, my dear, I have much to attend to. Will you be alright by yourself?” The woman nodded her head, motioning towards the door.
“Yes, yes I am fine. Do not worry about me. Go do what you must.” She said, and with one last sweeping gaze towards the boy, the man left.

The man walked down the halls of his castle, energy crackling with each footstep. A dark aura seemed to cling to him and made anyone near him take a step back. He was ruler; he was in charge; he was Satan himself. All is well. He thought to himself with a smirk. He entered the throne room and sat in all of his splendor, looking down upon his deathly realm. Just as he reached for a glass of wine, a woman’s shriek rang through the halls and his heart stopped. He leapt up and ran to his wife’s room, fearing the worst. He stopped cold at the sight that met him. A wicked looking dagger protruded from the woman’s chest, her face fixed in an open-mouthed scream. Blood covered the fine sheets on the bed. As he approached the woman, his worst fears were confirmed. The child was nowhere to be found.

Demonbane Chapter 1 ~
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

My alarm went on endlessly, signaling the beginning of another day. I spun out of bed, ready to take on the world. As I landed, I banged my head against my bedside table. Or not…

“Luke! Get your butt out of bed and get ready for school! You’re going to miss the bus and I sure as heck ‘aint driving you there!” My foster mom, a feisty black priestess named Agatha called up to my room.
“What’s new?” I muttered under my breath and began the mind-numbing morning routine.

Yes, earlier you heard me right. I was adopted. The workers at the orphanage said I just one day popped up at their door, still a baby. I have no earthly idea who my real parents are and really don’t care. Although Agatha has quite a temper in the morning, to me she is my one and only mom. For as long as I can remember, it was just me and her. We’d seen the ugly side of life, but somehow we managed to squeeze through every sticky situation at the last moment. It was hard but it was life and I honestly wouldn’t trade it up for anything…except maybe an Xbox.

I pondered my non-existent gamer life as I walked the well-worn path to Richard Cox Highschool. As I rounded the curb and came in sight of the dreary prison c…erm…school building, I began to steel myself for what I knew was coming. And 3…2…

“LUCAS!” Right on time.

The biggest, meanest, smelliest boy in the whole state of Florida started sauntering towards me looking mad as a hornet! Oh boy. I took a deep breath and spoke before he could,
“What do you want this time, Pete?” His head looked ready to burst, it was so red!
“Oh nothing. Nothing at all, except that last paper I had you do for me for English got me in detention!” He fumed. I merely shrugged.
“You just said to do it. You really didn’t specify as to what I should write about.” Our assignment had been to write a paragraph about our favorite pastime. (I know; kindergarten much?) Pete bullied me into doing his homework. Who wouldn’t resist exacting a little revenge? I can honestly say it was the most fun I’ve had doing homework ever. I put on my puppy dog face. “You didn’t like it? I worked real hard.” Pete gripped the front of my shirt with his meaty fist.
“You think this is funny, eh?” He breathed in my face and it took every fiber of my being not to cringe. Please people of America, invest in some toothpaste! It makes a difference! Pete bore holes in my forehead with his stare.
“I’m gonna make you pay double for what you did to me, Trover.” He said in a deadly whisper. I gulped. This was going to hurt, a lot. Just as he raised his fist, the bell rang, sounding that we were officially late for first period. He gruffly pushed me away and began to stalk off.
“This ‘aint over kid.” He yelled, not bothering to turn around. I exhaled loudly. Talk about saved by the bell! Quickly grabbing my backpack from where it had fallen off, I raced through the doors and to my first class, math.
Why, I ask, must they put math at first period? We students have not yet awoken. Mix that with a subject that makes the average person want to conk out, and you’ve got a classroom full of sleeping people who end up flunking the class, that’s what! I’m pretty sure it’s all part of the Principals master plan to keep us in school forever. Why, I should—
“Well, how nice of you to join us, Mr. Trover.” A wily voice pierced through my daydreams, dripping in sarcasm. My math teacher, Mr. Deaveroux, stood tapping his foot while I stood outside his classroom, staring at nothingness like an idiot. What a great day this is turning out to be…

“Have a seat, but this is my last warning. Late again, and I will have you cleaning my room for the next two weeks in detention.” He said with a sigh of exasperation. I nodded and began walking backwards to my seat.

Why me?

The thought resounded through my head and pounded in my ears. A wise hobbit once said,
“Keep your nose out of trouble and no trouble will come to you!” Well see, Mr. Hobbit sir, I’ve tried that and it really just doesn’t work. It’s as if I’m a magnet for doom and gloom without even trying! I brush my teeth! I clean behind my ears! Why does fate keep acting as if I’m on the naughty list? The answer is simple: Life just isn’t fair. Period.
I heard someone clear their throats and snapped out of my inner thoughts, finding myself face to face with Mr. Deaveroux. With a scowl he said,
“Since you seem to be paying rapt attention, Mr. Trover, why don’t you tell us what the answer is to the question I just asked?” I gulped.
“Erm…God only knows?” I said with a nervous laugh. He turned to face the class.
“Well can ‘god’ please give us the answer then?” Mr. Deaveroux said with a bored tone. A taunting laugh rang through the room and one of the girls in the front of the class answered.
“The square root of 23 plus or minus 5 is as low as we can simplify it.” The girl said with a smug grin, looking back at me. Someone muttered,
“Lord help us if she’s god…” And more snickers filled the room. I almost felt bad for the girl. Then she promptly turned around her chair to face me and flipped me off. Almost, but not quite. Sighing, I tuned out of the lesson and waited for the class to end.
After what seemed like years, the bell finally rang and I raced out of the room. I shoved and scrambled to get to my locker. Obviously, someone stupid had designed the halls for an urban race of midget students. There was never enough room to get to where you needed to go and there were always clogs in the halls. It was utter mayhem! My next period was a study hall, so I decided to request permission to study in the library. Nappy time… Once I got the OK and got to the library, I promptly pulled out my IPod and began flipping through songs. Why do today what you can put off ‘till tomorrow, I always say. Well, as I was sitting there, listening to my tunes and minding my own business, I heard the library door open. I turned to see who it was…and froze!
T-this was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in my life! She hopped through the doors with a bounce in her step her long, dark hair complimenting her ivory skin. She had the biggest, most adorable smile on her face. It was so infectious, I couldn’t help grinning back. She had on a shirt that said ‘I don’t suck, I bite!’ with fangs at the bottom and was wearing a pair of those fake nerdy glasses. Adorable… She caught me staring and started walking over. I quickly averted my eyes and went back to my music. She stopped at the table where I was sitting and pulled out a chair. I looked up at her and pulled out an ear bud.
“Hi there,” she said with a little wave, “I’m Amanda Paige!” I was tempted to wave back. Instead, I replied,
“Lucas Trover.” She smiled and extended her hand out towards me. We shook hands, as if sealing a deal.
“It’s nice to meet you Lucas. Can I just call you Luke? It’s so much shorter! Anywho, so I’m new here and I have no clue where anything is. I’ve gathered,” she stopped and gestured to the books surrounding us, “that we are now in the library but honestly, I don’t know where anything else is. Could you help me out here?” I found myself nodding my head before I could stop myself. She gave me another one of those sunshine smiles and said, “Great! If it’s not too much trouble, could you point out where these classes are?” A paper was slid across the table. I looked down to see that it was her schedule. Looking back up at her, I smiled,
“We share first, fourth, and fifth period.” I said, inwardly cheering. So that must mean…
“We’re in the same grade then!” She exclaimed, before clamping her hands over her mouth as the librarian shushed her. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“C’mon, I’ll show you around.” I said, getting up.

After an extensive tour of the school grounds, I heard the bell ring. It was the saddest sound I had ever heard.
“I guess this is where we must part.” I said forlornly, “Do you remember how to get to the room I showed you for third period?” She nodded. After a moment, she stuck out her hand for me to shake.
“It was nice meeting you, Lucas. See you next period?” Amanda asked with