December 15By Joseph F.Excerpt From The Diary of Sheilan Rigeroth Graceheart- Princess, Knight of The Kingdom of Everlasting Graces’ Military
Due to these pages being the only companion that cannot judge me, I shall detail my brain swarming paranoias here. It feels as though there is a subtle rumbling underfoot of trouble to come. Small things that add to an ever growing tension. The events that I’ve witnessed, meaningless alone and terrifying when together. It been a week since the ironic death of Fear Leighis, Self Proclaimed Lord of the Necromancers. My older brother, Sir Elilkr, was the to slay him within the villain's castle walls while the rest of the military and I fought the unholy, rotting carcasses that Leighis formed to be his horde. Leighis was a thorn in every surrounding kingdom’s side, making the undead attack small villages rarely leaving survivors. He was difficult to find until his big plans and bigger ego got the best of him. Before the castle Leighis sent out his gluttonous flesh starved army from a remote area and then making a get away. After months of this the raids subsided for two days. An eerie quietness that was almost as blood curdling as when the hordes were active. Faint whispers and rumors spread in those two days. There was talk of a gathering of necromancers, a grand plot that was in motion to overthrow the very way of the current world. Low and behold, disrupting the very soil, the tower formed from broken bones and rotten flesh erupted from the ground. Growing higher with every passing second the tower touched the very heavens before halting. Exploding from the ground many species had their graves disturbed. Elves with now stumped decaying ears rattled off in broken elvish tongue. The very pride of the Goblins’ were defiled as their great tusks were now covered in wriggling maggots who hadn’t had their fill on the gums and were getting to work on the nose. The boasted ever present peace of the woodlands was destroyed as the grass eaters were reborn as carnivores and the nymphs polluted the rivers they onced loved with the blood of the friends they once knew. The newly made society of necromancers bent the trajectory of everyone’s warpath directly at themselves. After 14 days of long battle, as we threaded through hordes of rotting bodies and flesh munching fiends we reached the grand tower built on the resources of long dead family, friends and enemies. My brother ventured in alongside a large group of a 100. Though no one could see inside the tower, it was clear enough that it was dangerous from the screams that echoed from within. But their pain was not for naught as my brother returned without an arm but with the head of Fear. The weeks following were filled with tremendous ceremony and righteous execution. Yet my brother remained absent from most of them for reasons unknown. I brushed it off as mourning for his comrades as well as his lost ligament. On the now rare occasion that he actually leave his room I would observe him. His eyes carried bags underneath as though it were the help and dark shadows bordered his sockets. His spine was no crooked as if when born his given name was Igor. He spoke in dry mumbles of destiny and how he was going to “do the job right”. For those weeks I didn’t understand why he was acting in such a way. That was until I explored the dark cave known as my brother’s room. Though I have told no one of my discovery I presume it safe to tell these pages. In my brother’s room laid forbidden books of necromancy and end times. Littered within each of the many books I found were notes left by previous owners. I presumed my brother looted the tower as some of the notes were written by Fear. I would tell of its contents but I sensed an entrancing evil among the first page. The farthest I got into it was something about “instructions for the fall of man, the rise of a true lord, and the guide for a corpse ridden paradise before I slammed the book shut in an un-understandable fear that grasped my very soul. I was unable to look into the abyss for the fear it would look back. And though I am very fearful of my brother’s activities I have told no one as to not cause a panic. But I should tell soon. I feel a faint rumbling in the grounds below, dead strays have been sighted walking again, and I’m terrified of the maybe truth that my brother saw the eyes of the abyss. Joe F. is a sophomore at FHS. He is a self-described "lover of comics and competent writer." He enjoys creating comic books in his free time. Comics and candy are his forte.
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Chapter 1
by Joseph F. Timothy Norque was rarely confused. He was a world-renowned detective who had solved an unnatural amount of cases. People called it luck when he solved 50 and called it genius at 300. The last time he was confused, Norque started to turn back time with his impeccable memory, was when he was at the age of five. He had lost his favorite toy. He at one moment had it and the next didn’t. He cried for days upon weeks because he couldn’t find it. It wasn’t a very good memory. However, on that day Norque told himself that he would lose anything again. From that day on he would never succumb to confusion. Yet, here it was again. The pit in his stomach. The pain in his brain. No, this feeling wasn’t very welcome. Before Norque laid a corpse. Beaten and battered, almost to a pulp. No officer around him could stand to look it for more than 5 seconds. “I’m going to be sick.” One moaned. Truly it was a horrific scene. What confused Norque was not the body, but all the things that surrounded it. Footprints the size of a hound rested on the sidewalk. Witnesses around the murder claimed they heard a loud roar at 3am. What Norque was dealing with was abnormal. There was something unnatural at work, something inhuman. Norque decided that it would be best to ponder in his office. He looked over photos and accounts but couldn’t make sense of it. What the photos displayed was an attack that required tremendous strength. Yet there was no trace of weapons at the scene. Accounts state that they heard horrendous roars and terrible stomping. However no one even caught a glimpse of the scene. This case was an anomaly onto itself. At 7am Norque decided to take a break, he needed fresh air from his stuffy office. His head thumped and thumped as he sat inside the diner. “Excuse me sir, what will you be having?” The waitress asked, interrupting his train of thought. As he rubbed his temple he ordered, “A dark roast, 5 sugars, no cream.” *ruuuummmmble* Norque considered his stomach, “And a stack of buttermilk pancakes.” It was 9am when he left the diner. Rejuvenated he walked back towards his office. He could feel the morning winter breeze brush his skin. He pushed into the main entrance. “Clear your head?” The secretary asked. “Of course, Janice, of course.” Norque replied. But when he entered his office once more. The wave of worrying confusion hit him once more. Truly this was the mystery of the century. Joseph F. is a freshman at FHS. He is a self-described "lover of comics and competent writer." He enjoys creating comic books in his free time. Two Faced:The First Face
By: J.Z.S. Lucy “Lucy, and no headache either. I don’t think I’ll need a note for myself, just the usual for Lucas,” I state as I open one of the two dressers in my--our room. I may be the dominant one for now but Lucas hates when I say ‘my room’. I take a moment to look at his bed already made even though it was only 8 o’clock in the morning. How he manages to get up so early just to go back to sleep is beyond me. “ Don’t forget if anyone asks about your brother tell them-” I cut her off before she can lecture me yet again. “-His COPD is acting up again. Seriously Mom, are you ok. You told me all this on Monday”, my mother must be really nervous if she’s repeating the rules so many times. But she doesn’t answer just leaves the room. I continue my search for the really pretty crop-top I just bought. It says ‘Thing 1’ on it, and Lucas has the tee that reads ‘Thing 2’. Though it's not like we’ll ever wear them at the same time. Our COPD is always acting up and only on rare occasions does it let up enough for us to do our after school activities, cheerleading for me and Mathletes for Lucas, and we do a lot of our school work from home. Mom works too hard to homeschool us so we’re forced to go to public school. Lucas God, I hate being stuck in here. Lucy is so annoying, and I hate having to listen to her constant squealing and terrible façade. She acts like an empty headed idiot at school. She’s really very smart and is really just as good as me, but she refuses to look like, and I quote, “A Smarty-Pants”. And don’t get me started on her constant crush on Noah, this guy she won’t stop imagining shirtless. It’s quite ridiculous that she wants him to ask her out, but everytime they see each other she just blushes and stands there. Although I get the silence part because, if she tries to make real human conversation, she just ends up saying something embarrassing. I cannot wait for tomorrow to come. I have a Mathlete competition, so Lucy will have to stay, while I go to school. Serves her right, maybe she can stew over her crush and find a way to have a conversation with Noah. Hunter I knew there was something wrong with the Insana twins just a few days after looking at their attendance records. It was strange, like, whenever Lucy was at home, Lucas was here and vice versa. I’ve heard about COPD, but from what I found on the internet, COPD wasn’t so sporadic as to cause one to have it every other day. Most symptoms last for 2 to 5 days at a time, almost never for just a day. After taking a closer look at everything I noticed something strange about the signatures on the medical forms and excuse notes. One said Jerry Tomlinson, the twins “doctor”, another was signed by the mother, Jamie Insana. Both of the ‘J’s look exactly the same, making it obvious that the doctor's’ signature was plagiarized. The doctor probably didn’t even exist. So, being the person I am, I start investigating the twins. I’ll start with Lucy, today, in English. Lucy Ugh, I can’t believe I have to take AP English. Why do I have to be in all the same classes as Lucas, he’s too much of a do gooder. I mean, I don’t have anything against him being smart, but why must he drag me down with him? Like, yesterday, Alice asked him about me and he was all ‘Oh, we have this rare condition’ and started babbling. Although there are some bright sides to this whole ordeal. Noah. Mmmh, just saying his name gives me shivers. He’s in this class, but just barely passing, so every once in a while he’ll ask me to tutor him just before a test. There are plenty of cute guys in this class actually, but Noah takes first any day. Hunter Whittemore is in here too, and he takes the close second. “Hey. Uhh, Lucy, right?” a soft voice says from behind me. “Depends, who’s asking”, I respond, not bothering to look up from my phone. “Why don’t you try looking up to see”. “I think that’s a waste of time, as is this conversation”, I snap. “People who think they know everything, annoy those of us who do. So, pick your words carefully.” the person snapped right back. “Ooo, Isaac Asimov, good one. Although I prefer his ‘Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.’ It holds a certain truth to it, especially to those boys on the football team”, I dare to look up. Hunter Whittemore's eyes and pale face stare back at me. “I know you're not who you say you are, nor is your brother”, he whispers, silently grabbing my hand flipping it over to reveal the white scar that Lucas inflicted upon us. “Funny, Lucas has a scar on this same hand, same place, same size. His was from a science experiment gone wrong at the Science Fair last month. Where did you get yours?”, he asks, frowning, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. Oh. My. G- Lucas Shit. Lucy’s losing her nerve. Oh God. Oh God. She’s gonna ruin everything, and we’re so clo- Hunter I panicked. I know that I went too far the second Lucy starts gasping. Gently, I hoist her up and into my arms. I can hear the complaint of the teacher, but I ignore her, busting open the basement door. She’s having spasms and heating up like crazy. Finally she stills, breathing at an uneven pace. Then she turned to face me. I watched as her face contorted and her eyes took on a certain depth that wasn’t there before. She straightened , and surveys the surroundings, eyes pausing on the tool box at her side. Turning around I stare at the door and ask, “You o.k?” It takes a second but I hear her sigh. “I’m sorry” she whispers. But wait, her voice has changed; deeper, sounding almost exactly like- Lucy It was like a dream. I didn’t realize what Lucas was gonna do until he did it. Normally we can tell what's going on in our head, but I didn’t sense this. He really did all of that; for me, for US. It’s scary to know what he’ll do in order for us to have a normal life. So that HE can have a normal life. I mean I want that too, but not if people are gonna get hurt. I don’t wanna be a recluse like the others. I want to be with Lucas forever. No one will stop us. Lucas I did what I had to do to keep our secret , and more importantly us, safe. I’ve heard of people like us being put away in mental institutions, locked up in white rooms, alone and scared. I can’t- I won’t allow that to happen to us. Can’t let them erase me and leave Lucy all by herself. I will do whatever it takes to keep us together, forever. No one will know that we’re a two faced killer. J.Z.S., or Johany, is a 9th grader at FHS. She is an aspiring author currently working on short stories, poems, and a novel. Her love for works expands towards all types of literature, but especially classic novels. Excerpt from Golden Eyes By Nia A. Dinah Matthews moves to Whitefish, Montana, discovering she is The Chosen Vampire to solve the mystery of missing girls. She becomes apart of a coven with four other vampires: Hillary, Blake, Jake, and Kenya. In this scene, Dinah is getting her first taste of blood. Hillary turns up the the radio, music blasting through the speakers. “What…?” Jake scoffs. “What kind of song is this?” “It’s called Dracula’s Wedding.” Hillary laughs. “Ironic.” I give Jake a look full of caution. “This doesn’t feel very good.” I frown, looking down and folding my arms. “Relax. That’s what you should do.” Jake’s hand rest in mine, sending a tingle of comfort down my spine. I look up to smile at him, his spirit was nice and kind. Blake stops the car abruptly. “Ok get out my car. We are here.” I get out, the smell of pine surrounds me like a blanket. Coming from South Carolina, there were no wooded areas like this. Mostly on drives my mom and I would notice farmland and long winded roads. I look around in wonder; the last experience here gave me negative associations with the woods. I didn’t want to think about the fangs or the pain. Like a little girl, I allow my eyes to wander various places where the light shone and my hands to touch everything in sight. “You’ve never seen a tree?” Blake removes my hand from the tree and stares at me. “I’m from South Carolina. Let me live ok?” Hillary clutches onto her handbag, Kenya invading her personal space to reach inside her blood. “I want blood. I’ve been dying all day. Where is it?” Hillary slaps her hand. “Patient.” She tosses Jake a pink plastic container. Blake sits on the hood of his car, sipping out of the purple bottle from earlier. He acts as if this “blood” thing is not new to him. Jake takes long swigs from the container. After he finishes wiping his mouth with satisfaction, he passes it to Kenya. She hungrily drinks the blood. Hillary slaps Blake, taking his bottle. “Ok your turn, Newbie.” Blake looks at me, his voice full of caution. “You’ll need to drink slow your first time. You could get carried away,” Hillary says, handing me blood. “That would be super duper bad,” Kenya adds. I nod, putting my lips to the plastic. Slowly, I raise the bottle, the blood rushes into my mouth. With each swallow, a savory taste fills my mouth. I close my eyes, maintaining a slow drinking pace. “She definitely is the Chosen One,” I hear Blake whisper to Kenya. She nods, looking at me in amazement. I remove my lips from the top, swallowing my last bit on blood. I wipe my mouth, revealing my fresh set of fangs. “That was perfect,” I say softly. “Perfection, my dear.” Kenya claps. “I’ve been a vampire my whole life, and I still get excited by the taste of blood.” I smile, glad to be approved by my new friends. Especially Blake. Jake and Hillary glance at each other. “Well, I think that’s all for today. Just go home today. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Hillary says. I laugh. “Doesn’t Blake have to drive us home?” Kenya shakes her head. “Well I am going to go wander in the woods like I normally do, and Jake and Hillary go off and do...I’m not actually sure.” “So looks like you’re just stuck with me,” Blake says edging closer to me. After a few minutes of saying goodbye, I sit in the passenger seat of Blake’s car. He starts the engine slowly, his eyes peeking my my direction constantly. I pretend not to notice. “I feel your anxiety.” Blake breathes, his voice low. “You know. From being in the car.” I look out the window. “Ok? What’s your point?” I turn to face him, but when he looks at me, I look away. Sometimes I found it hard to believe that he was real. “I’m sorry about it.” Blake starts to drive, the scenery moving fast through the window. “It doesn’t feel pleasant.” I nod. “It’s hard enough to feel my pain, but to have someone else feel it, too?” I scoff and let out a low laugh. “Do you want me to suppress my pain?” “Is that an option?” “No.” “I knew it.” Blake smiles, his signature wild smile. My cheeks flush red with embarrassment. “What?” He says, noticing my personality shift. “Why aren’t you being mean to me?” I ask. “You’ve been mean to me like all day.” “What? Tough guy can’t get a break?” Blake questions, jokingly. “Haha. Save that ‘break’ for Miranda.” His phone lights up with a text from her; U up? ;) “Really? You up? It’s like four in the afternoon not midnight.” Blake bursts out into laughter. “I take naps sometimes like every teenager.” We laugh then proceed in silence for awhile. I like silence with Blake. The sounds of his car engine comforts me as we return to the sight of houses and little shops. People walk across the street, laughing and smiling. I see a mother push her baby in a stroller. It reminds me of my mother when she adopted me. “You know my mom used to push me in a stroller all the time until I absolutely couldn’t fit inside,” I say softly, my hand touching the cold window. “She always wanted a baby, you know? She was so happy to have me.” Blake nods, his hands firm on the steering wheel. “I never needed a stroller. I aged too fast.” I face him with confusion. “What?” “I was born a vampire. Aging slows down after you hit like 17 so wrinkles are not really an option when I’m 50.” Blake explains, his eyes still on the road. “I don’t know. It was weird growing up because I would be in first grade, but I wouldn’t be because I was much more capable physically and mentally. So was Kenya.” “Kenya?” Blake nods. “She’s my twin sister.” “So are Hillary and Jake related?” “Far from it. They were turned vampires a few years ago. By my mother.” “Why?” “To complete the coven until the Chosen One arrived.” “Me?” Blake nods and glances over. I feel his eyes on my neck. Quickly, I place my hand on my neck, rubbing the smooth surface of my skin. I look out the window, the sunlight slowly burning my eyes. “You ok?” Blake asks. “No. The sun.” I sigh, a feeling of fatigue hovers over my body. Blake passes me black shades. I put them over my eyes. I always loved how when you wore shades, it was like seeing the world in a whole new perspective. It was like using the thermal camera setting and seeing a person’s body in shades of blue, yellow, and red. Blake turns into my driveway in the woods. He parks his car and sighs. I lower my eyes, tugging at my backpack. I look over at him once more, soaking up my last image of him for the day. “Hey.” Blake starts. “You up?” I burst out into laughter, easing me from my trance. “Yeah. I’m up.” I think of Miranda and stop smiling. I give him one last look, opening the car door. “Thanks, Blake.” I slide out, closing the door behind me. Colette stands at the door, the expression on her face filled with excitement. “You got a ride home from Blake?!” She squeals, grabbing my hands and jumping. I look back at him. Blake was already driving away. “It’s not a big deal.” Colette smiles at me and breaths. “He’s hot. I would be excited if I was alone with him, but then again I have Austin so I have no use for Blake in my life.” “Lucky you.” Nia is a Junior at Franklin High School. She enjoys reading, writing, and acting. Nia plans to pursue television or film writing when she gets older.
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About Epiphany
Epiphany Literary Magazine is a safe space for students at Franklin High School to share their creativity. Archives '16-'20
June 2020
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