Chapter 1: Discovery
Kai grew up thinking he was a normal 16-year-old, but all that changed very quickly. He had green eyes and dark brown hair, he was tall and athletic. He grew up with his Mum, Clair and Dad, Richard, in Bognor Regis, England. He loved football and gaming like any teenager but he never quite felt like he fitted in. “Kai wake UP!”Clair shouted from the kitchen. “I am, Mum,” replied Kai. And he got up and dressed and headed out to school, his school was a large one and was Catholic, even though Kai was an atheist.
He didn’t have many friends and didn’t mind, his best friend in the whole world was his Grandfather, John. John was a tall, athletic-looking man who was 83 years old and when Kai was younger he would always get told stories by his grandfather about certain families having special abilities and about women who could manipulate time, they could make certain areas unaffected by time but only those with abilities could enter and became immortal while they were in the zone. And about his friends in the Isle of Wight, who are still children if his grandfather’s stories were true.
And about the monsters. His grandfather said they were black or dark purple, 7ft tall minimum, resembling a human, with 4 long tongues, jaws elongated up to 12 inches, 6-inch claws and black saliva dripping from their gaping mouths, They had the strength to lift a car with ease and run as fast as lightning, their eyes filled with a tangible hunger and a hatred, a hatred for all life except who they serve, invisible to all but a rare few, they also could turn their limbs into a metal-like substance, sharper than a blade, stronger than a diamond. Some even had multiple arms.
Kai was infatuated with the stories as a child but as he grew up he quickly disbelieved his Grandfather's tales, leaving his Grandfather hurt and upset at being called a liar, making him decide to never tell him about that world again.
One day when Kai was working a night shift, as a waiter at a Café, he got a call from his Grandfather, “Kai, Kai, KAI, can you hear me!” his Grandfather said urgently, his voice sounded strained and wheezing as if he were out of breath. “Yes, yes I can hear you, what’s going on are you alright?” Kai said a sense of dread flooding his body, his spine-tingling and a knot forming in his stomach. “I am fine, at the moment,” his Grandfather replied “The monsters, they are here for me.” He repeated, whispering now. “What monsters Grandad?” Kai said starting to panic. “I tried to protect you, find the children back in the Isle, Kai I love y-.” His grandfather's words were cut off by a guttural grown and his screams echoing, the sound of ripping flesh. Then the line disconnected.
Crying now, Kai rang the police and told them what his Grandfather said, They took Kai to his grandfather’s house, and the front door was ripped open, with a wide gash through the centre. They searched the whole house thoroughly - no sign of his Grandfather - “Over here!” One of the police officers called out - the back door was wide open, and his grandfather’s pistol from when he was back in the army was missing along with all the ammo, Kai was hyperventilating now, tears and snot streaming down his face, pooling at his feet, as he look down he noticed something - Blood. They followed the trail of blood out into the woods - a good mile and a half away, there they found his body, heart missing, eyes tongue and fingertips as well, every wound covered in black saliva, the police said it was clear but they could see it was darkening by the second.
A few hours later a professional at a morgue said it was a dog with an undiscovered type of rabies, but Kai felt something wasn’t right, he thought of his Grandfather’s words “Find the kids on the Isle.” He had said. Kai tried to forget but as he got dropped home by a neighbour of his Grandfather his mind wouldn’t stop thinking about it. The grief Kai felt was crushing, so much so that his parents took him to a therapist called Dr Merit, Dr Merit had lifeless, brown eyes and deathly-pale skin he was an average height and was a bit overweight, in one of his sessions Kai told Dr Merit about the feeling he was being watched and the eyes outside his bedroom window but Dr Merit said it was normal when minds were dealing with trauma.
As the weeks and months continued he still couldn’t stop thinking about his grandfather's words. Then one day, he got the confidence to ask his Father to take him to the Isle of Wight but his Father said that they would have to ask Dr Merit if he thought it was a good idea, Luckily for Kai, Dr. Merit agreed and said it would be a good idea and may help Kai to separate reality from his Grandfather’s stories. The next day at breakfast his father called him into the living room with 2 ferry tickets in hand, “Kai, I’ve got the tickets, We are staying for 2 weeks, we leave tomorrow.” His Dad explained. “Thanks, Dad,” Kai said gratefully, then he turned and ran upstairs to go and pack.
That night the feeling of being watched was more prominent than ever before. But Kai eventually got to sleep. A nightmare, a similar one, he’d had as a child when his Grandfather told him the stories about the monsters, he dreamed he was running, a black lumbering beast hovered over him, 2 of its tongues shot out and grabbed his face, squeezing Kai’s skull so hard he thought it might break, its other 2 tongues were entwined like a massive fist punched his stomach so hard he couldn’t breathe, then as the beast was about to snap his neck he woke to the sound of rain and his alarm.
He had to leave in an hour, he got up in the shower, he looked down and where the beast had punched him in his dream the area was an ugly purple colour. He came out and got dressed then closed his suitcase, took his phone off charge, and stuffed the charger into a rucksack he brought. Then he put his stuff in his dad's car. The journey to Portsmouth was the longest 45 minutes of Kai’s life, his body shook with anticipation. His Father parked and got in the line where the man checked the ticket and told us to enter, We walked on the dock and got a seat on the ferry. The motor started and the boat sailed forward.
