viper: By crowdstar
Viper. Who is she? She's a new superhero to Los Angeles who can morph into a snake. She's attractive, flexible, strong, can turn invisible (blends in with surroundings), and is very venomous and aggressive. She's a ninja! Who is Viper really? High school junior Amber Jackson; a weekend superhero. She was 17 riding on a tour bus through the jungles of Brazil on summer vacation. Well, not exactly. We'll have Kella Starlux interview Amber. Kella is a famous reporter in the book (She doesn't actually know Amber's Viper, I'm just using Kella for the previews).This is how Amber tells the story: " I was riding through a bumpy road on an old tourist bus. It's muggy, hot, and sticky. I'm miserable. My dad is a herpetologist, which is an expert on reptiles. There has been a newly dicovered specie men of the South American Vancrovler Viper. The only way for my dad to persuade my mom to go, who was journalist, was to convince her how much of a newsworthy story it was. My mom was thrilled. She packed her crap, and drug me down from LA to Brazil, while my just-graduated sister sat in a spa in Paris. Then I was..." You'll have to wait until the first chapter comes out to see what happens to Amber Jackson!
real: by crowdstar
Previews
Falicity is just a normal teenager girl who dreams of summer. It's the end of school and there's plenty to be excited about for Falicity Patterson and her little sister Alice. Prank calling people, hanging out at the mall with friends, tanning at the beach, and watching cute surfer boys all at their home in, Malibu, California. Falicity and Alice are going into 8th and 10th grade at age 13 and 16. When school finally comes to an end, their mom, Mrs. Patterson, has to break the terrible news to them. Her reporter job is taking the whole family where they've never experienced before. London, England, is their destination. The Patterson family moves to an old, expensive, boring mansion that's been standing since the 1500's. Always kept in repair, supply, and clean, the mansion was in good condition. Falicity and Alice explore the mansion for days, but find nothing that interests them. Alice gives up and says their luck has ran out, or has it? Falicity still explores the mansion until she finds a secret entrance to the attic. In the center of the attic, she sees an old, locked up chest. Within time, Falicity isn't so normal anymore....
born from the sea: in the depths of crystalline lake
chapter 1: my life
I was staring at my light, shimmery, purple, painted toenails. My feet were floating in the cool water of Crystalline Lake. The skin on my feet was pale, like the rest of me. It was the second week of June and it was the beginning of summer vacation. The water hasn't finished warming up yet so it was still too cool to swim in. My long, inky black hair hung in my face. I was going into my freshman year and my fourteenth birthday was coming up. There was a lot of things to be excited about. Maybe me and my family would be ableI looked at the old dock. You could see a glympse of it across the lake. Grandmpa told me not to walk on it because it was built in the 1930's or 40's or something like that. I picked up a smooth, flat, stone. It was silver and gleamed in the early morning sun. The perfect stone to toss across the water, but instead, I tucked it into my pouch for safekeeping. The pouch was sort of like a purse, only it hung on a long strap across my neck and shoulder. It was faded yellow, and if you looked closely, you could see some white polka dots. The sweet, morning breeze blew my hair out of my face and into the wind. Nearby, a water bug was skating on top of the surface of the lake. I loved to collect rocks. I knew how to weave string around them and to turn them into a charm. I glanced at the bracelet on my wrist. My grandpa could take a special drill and make a hole through any stone I would like. I turned them into beads and made a bracelet. It was patterned with brown and jade- colored stones. I jumped to my feet and ran on my path to the woods. I was running and stopped. There were big boulders that were covered with old, forest green vines. I remember spending days when I was younger trying to roll smaller boulders over, so I could make stairs. I climbed up the stone stairs, and up a ladder on an elder willow tree, where one of the boulders rested on. Over the years, I pulled supplies on a wagon through my secret "deer" trails.I nailed a ladder on the willow and over six years, I had a big, hidden fort in the tree. In the summer, the leaves did a great job of hiding it. In the winter, I was lucky my stupid big brother thought it was too cold to come into the woods. I climbed up all the ladders that I nailed on the thickest branches. I knew which branch was the weakest to strongest, and I never fell. I had a big roof that was some thick cedar boards lying across nailed on some thick branches on top of an area. I even had cushions under the roof, and a broom somewhere (so I could keep fallen leaves and bugs swept off of the floor). I had some carpeting in places, a bird feeder hanging somewhere, and even had a cupboard or two. Sometimes I spent the night here, so that's why there's some lanterns hanging around. I also had wind chimes. Nobody knew about this place. Nobody except me. Then I heard someone shouting my name. "Timber! TIMBER!!!" My head whipped around. I swung down a rope tied around a tree branch (in case I was in a hurry, like now). "Where are you, you little brat?!!" I ran down a new trail I've been marking. I broke some random twigs reaching out to me from bushes and trees, in order to keep track of where I've been. "TIM-" "ber," I finished. My big brother scowled at me. "Where were you, you little dweeb?" I threw my hands in the air. "The world may never know," I replied. Braxton rolled his eyes at me. "It's lunch time you derp!" "No duh!" I said. I crossed my arms. We ran back to Grandpa and Grandma's house. Braxton kept hitting his face in unexpected tree branches. "How do you even get through here?," He snapped. "You better stop coming back here, because Grandma keeps making me come back and get you. Got that?" "Or else what?" I challenged. "Or when your gone, I swear I'll go through your room and read your diary. ALL of it!" I glared at him. "You're sick! And besides if you DO go through my room I will-" "You'll what?" He interrupted. "Kill you!" Okay, that was totally not true. But hey! What else could I say? Braxton was laughing really hard. "Like you could pull that off! You're such a twig that you could blow away in the wind. I bet I could easily knock you out in one punch!" "You wanna bet? Grandma would hit you with an iron skillet in the back of your head if she found out. She's very nosy you know. If you had the chance, you'd chicken out anyway." My brother shoved his finger in my face. "Even if I WAS chicken, which I'm not, you'd be twenty times more chicken than me. You wanna bet?" I narrowed my eyes at him. I tried to tower myself over him, but I couldn't. "Yes! I SO would wanna bet! Do you wanna bet money?" He shrugged, then thought for a while. "We'll leave money out of this one. But it has to be a creepy, scary bet. You know, to see who's most scared. It'll be tomorrow night, at 11:00, in the WOODS." I started laughing. "What does it look like to you? Winter?! It's not even completely dark at 11:00! Make it midnight! And the woods aren't even scary at night! Make it at Crystalline lake! Some kind of dive! Especially if the water is cool!" Braxton's lips curved into a smile. Uh-oh. My brother was up to something. "Fine. But Pete's coming." "No way!" I protested. "This is a bet between US!" Braxton turned his head and put his hand out and said,"Talk to the hand! " "Fine! If that's the way you want it. No bet then." Wow! He really WAS chickening out! He was bringing Pete the pest with him, and if I wouldn't let him he would cancel the bet! What a jerk! "Fine! Then I'm bringing Alicia!" I said. Braxton smacked his forehead. He groaned. I got him this time. If he was bringing Pete, I was bringing my best friend Alicia.
chapter 2: girl talk
By the time we got to our house, we were starving. After I got some of my grandma's famous home made lemonade, a hot dog, and French fries, I ran upstairs to my room. My room was mostly pale colors, like the way I dressed. I was wearing a sky blue, summer, tank-top dress that went down to my knees. I set my food down on my white dresser. I looked in the mirror. Why did I have to look so ghostly? My long black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. My eyes are not like bright blue eyes, they're like a grayish blue eyes. I was very thin (but not too thin). I wish I was like the other girls. I can't ever get a tan if I stay in the sun too long. I'll just get burnt badly, then when my burn is gone, I'm back to pale skin. If I eat all I can I will not gain weight. Not an ounce. Alicia says I'm lucky and that I should be glad. I guess she's right. Speaking of Alicia, I need to call her and let her know about the bet. I bounced on my bed and picked up my white telephone and dialed her number. "Anderson residence. How may I help you?" The thing about Alicia that I like most is that she ALWAYS answers her telephone. Me and Alicia are like the only teenagers that don't have our own cellphones. Alicia and I have a code word, so if you want to talk to Alicia on your phone, you have to know the code word. "SAPPHIRES are such a beautiful gem, don't you think?" I said. "I know right?" She replied. "Hey, me and Braxton are having a bet tomorrow night. Wanna come?" She sighed. "You guys are having ANOTHER bet?" So I said," Hey! This one is serious, okay?" "You say that every time. So what's the bet?" I rolled my eyes. "Well it's tomorrow night at midnight. We're going to Crystalline Lake, you know." I'm nervously twirling the telephone wire around my finger. I could just see her smirking on the other side. "You're scared aren't you! I could tell you're the one who decided it." I blushed. "Well I DID make that part of the bet up, but I'm not scared. Braxton is though. And he's bringing Pete." I could hear her gasp on the other line. "That little two- faced jerk! So I'm guessing that's why you're asking ME to come, huh?" I nodded. Well she couldn't SEE me nod, but I did. "So what'll it be?" I asked. "Sure, but I have to ask my parents. And NO, I'm not tellin them where I'm going. I'll just say I'm spending the night at your house tomorrow," said Alicia. "I'll still be telling the truth won't I?" I nodded. "Hello? Timber, are you nodding again?" I snapped out of it. "Oh! Yeah, sorry." "You're daydreaming about Trevor again, aren't you?!" My face was turning beet red. "You know I'm not!" I snapped. "He has a girlfriend now. I haven't had a crush on him for three months now! It's a new record." I bet she was rolling her eyes right now. "Is that all it's about to you these days? Records, bets, and dares?" She asked. "Not really," I shrugged. "It's just that I'm really adventurous and daring. I'm not like those stupid, teenage, girly girls who lie around their room ALL day painting their nails, while reading those dumb gossip magazines. You know, the ones with Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez's next break up, Nikki Monash and Brittany Spears. They just don't stop drooling over that crap! Okay, I admit it that I LOVE playing truth or dare. But not daring girls to backstab and to pull mean pranks on other people". I sighed and gazed out my window. A chipmunk ran on a tree branch near my window and jumped into my room. I beamed. "Hey Pipsqueak!" I said happily. I almost forgot that I was still on the phone. "Did you just call me a Pipsqueak?!" Alicia shrieked. "Um, no! I was talking to someone else. Look, I gotta go. Just call me back when you have an answer, if you can come tomorrow night. Adios amiga!" "Au revoir, mon ami!" She replied. I hung up. Pipsqueak, my friend the chipmunk, started squeaking a bunch of gibberish. The weird thing was that he seemed to understand everything that I said. He signaled for me to follow him. He was so cute! He scampered across my bedroom, hopped out my window and onto the tree branch. I followed. I climbed out my window and crawled on the branch. I went down the tree and ran after him as he ran out into the woods. He stopped at the dock of Crystalline lake. He was nodding toward the water as if he wanted me to put my hand in. I waved my hand through the water. It was warm! But was really cool an hour ago! And I mean it was REALLY warm! I always keep my bathing suit underneath my clothes just incase. I never need goggles, because Crystalline lake is VERY clean. You can see through the water crystal clear. That's why they named it Crystalline lake. I slipped off my dress and pouch. Then I slipped right into the water. Ahhhhh..... It was so clean and warm that I could take a bath. I was swimming around the bottom. My highest record for holding my breath while swimming was 3:42 minutes. I was looking for rocks and came across a bunch of fish. They used to be scared, but later got used to me. Bluegill and sunfish were swimming around. I dragged my hands on the sandy bottom, then felt something sharp. I was really deep now, but sunlight still shone through. I was used to the pressure and was almost out of breath. I looked at the shining crystal and picked it up from the sand. I gasped for air at the surface, and looked at my lime green, water proof watch. I broke my record! "Yes!!" I shouted and pulled my hand into a fist. My new record was 3:56! So close to four minutes! I was 40 feet away from the dock. After I caught my breath, I studied that crystal that I snatched. It was gleaming in the sunlight, and was crystal clear, but was sparkling like a diamond. I put it my pouch for later. I just HAD to make necklace out of this! After I swam back to the dock and put my dress back on, I picked up pipsqueak and set him in my pouch. He peeked out as I sprinted back to my fort. I went to a small table desk and teared out a page out of a white, spiral notebook. I took my favorite purple ink pen, and started scribbling a note.
Dear Grandma,
The water is REALLY warm at Crystalline lake. I'm camping in the woods tonight. Don't worry because I'm completely prepared. I'll be back by noon tomorrow so please DON'T send Braxton out to get me.
Sincerely,
Timber.
I carefully folded the note up, and handed it to pipsqueak. And NO, he wasn't going to eat it. If I ever handed a piece of paper to pipsqueak, he always knew to set it on my dresser in my bedroom. If my window wasn't open, he would just have to go through the kitty door. IF he's not my cat's lunch. But I made sure to leave my window open. As I expected, he took off with my note through the woods. I slid down a metal pole and landed on the soft grass. I shone the crystal in sunlight again. It looked really valuable and rare. I've never seen such a beautiful gem in my entire life, and I know all my rocks and minerals. Partially explains why I love science, and why I'm a straight A student in science, chemistry, and biology. I wondered if I found part of a treasure! Well, the lake DOES flow into a river that leads to the Atlantic Ocean. Okay, probably NOT a treasure. I climbed back up the willow tree and rummaged through a cupboard until I found some soft brown string. I spent some time on carefully weaving the string around the crystal, in order to make a necklace. Soon I was finished, and tied it around my neck. After I went searching for more stones, I played tic tac toe with pipsqueak (the only game I could teach him). Pipsqueak is always the x's because they're easier to draw for him than o's. His x's are more like a scribble, but he's working on it. I even taught him how to drink with a straw! Then we found flat stones and tried to make them skip across the lake. It was easy for me, but pip just threw them into the water making splashes. After we did more things, it was nearly 10:00 p.m. so I got dressed for bed and slept on a hammock hanging up higher in the tree. I gazed up at the stars with pipsqueak nuzzled up next to me. Soon, my eyes grew heavy, and eventually fluttered shut.
Dear Grandma,
The water is REALLY warm at Crystalline lake. I'm camping in the woods tonight. Don't worry because I'm completely prepared. I'll be back by noon tomorrow so please DON'T send Braxton out to get me.
Sincerely,
Timber.
I carefully folded the note up, and handed it to pipsqueak. And NO, he wasn't going to eat it. If I ever handed a piece of paper to pipsqueak, he always knew to set it on my dresser in my bedroom. If my window wasn't open, he would just have to go through the kitty door. IF he's not my cat's lunch. But I made sure to leave my window open. As I expected, he took off with my note through the woods. I slid down a metal pole and landed on the soft grass. I shone the crystal in sunlight again. It looked really valuable and rare. I've never seen such a beautiful gem in my entire life, and I know all my rocks and minerals. Partially explains why I love science, and why I'm a straight A student in science, chemistry, and biology. I wondered if I found part of a treasure! Well, the lake DOES flow into a river that leads to the Atlantic Ocean. Okay, probably NOT a treasure. I climbed back up the willow tree and rummaged through a cupboard until I found some soft brown string. I spent some time on carefully weaving the string around the crystal, in order to make a necklace. Soon I was finished, and tied it around my neck. After I went searching for more stones, I played tic tac toe with pipsqueak (the only game I could teach him). Pipsqueak is always the x's because they're easier to draw for him than o's. His x's are more like a scribble, but he's working on it. I even taught him how to drink with a straw! Then we found flat stones and tried to make them skip across the lake. It was easy for me, but pip just threw them into the water making splashes. After we did more things, it was nearly 10:00 p.m. so I got dressed for bed and slept on a hammock hanging up higher in the tree. I gazed up at the stars with pipsqueak nuzzled up next to me. Soon, my eyes grew heavy, and eventually fluttered shut.