The Dark Rider (Read 7,128 times)

Sounds mysterious. Looking forward to reading The Dark Rider. Thanks for the previews Andre.

HEATHROW AIRPORT - LONDON
It had been nearly a month since the disaster that had brought Salem's Town Square into ruins. Things had changed since then. Chad had changed. He left Melanie for Gabi. But why? Melanie didn't understand that. She supposed it might have been out of guilt. But, that didn't make any sense, Chad had nothing to feel guilty about. Now Melanie knew how Abby felt last year after she had stolen Chad from her. At least Melanie didn't feel so bad. She hardly knew Gabi. Either way, what was done was done. And in the month since, Melanie had moved on. She had gone out to London to spend time with her mother and oldr brother. But now, that too was coming to an end. Carly and Nicholas were at the airport, seeing her off. They were followed by Nicholas' butler, Henri. He was a tall man with short, gray hair and a beard. He looked like Liam Neeson, and spoke like him, too.
CARLY: Are you sure you can't stay a little longer?
MELANIE: Mom, you know I'd love to. But, I have to get home.
CARLY: Well, you'd better be coming back here soon.
MELANIE: I'm already working on it, Mom. Besides, you could come back to Salem if you want.
CARLY: No, I think Salem's had enough of me for a while.
Carly and Melanie laughed and then hugged.
CARLY: Oh, it's been so good to see you!
MELANIE: It's been good to see you, too!
Melanie looked over to Nicholas.
MELANIE: Come here, you.
Melanie and Nicholas hugged.
NICHOLAS: My dear sister, I should hope that this time away from each other will be short.
MELANIE: It will. Trust me.
NICHOLAS: Good. I might have to arrange a "business" trip to Salem in the near future.
Melanie laughed again.
MELANIE: Sounds great.
Henri was the next one to hug Melanie.
HENRI: I shall be seeing you soon, Miss Layton.
MELANIE: Yes. Take care of these two for me, Henri. They need as much looking-after as they can get.
HENRI: Will do, Miss Layton.
After final hugs all around, Melanie waved goodbye and boarded the plane to Salem.

I love Liam Neeson too. Hmmm, wonder why

Great start Andre!!

I really like the start to the story.

SALEM PLACE
Will was sitting in Salem Place, having a cup of coffee. He saw a car pull up. At first, the car looked black. However, upon closer inspection, with the sun bouncing off of it, it turned a very dark shade of red. Will was trying decide what color it really was. In truth, it was both colors. It's called black cherry. But, Will stopped looking at the car when he saw who got out of it.
WILL: Mia? What's she doing here?
Mia had noticed Will as well. She walked over and put her arms around him.
MIA: Hey, Will.

SALEM AIRPORT
Melanie stepped out of the airport and started walking towards her car. A motorcycle zoomed by just as she was about to step off the sidewalk.
MELANIE: Hey! Watch where you're going!
Melanie tried to get another look at the cycle, but it had already zoomed away. Which was a shame, really. She liked motorcycles. And what color had that been? It was either black or red, she couldn't quite tell which. Either way, she continued walking to the car. When she got there, she saw a familiar face.
MELANIE: Henri?
Sure enough, standing by the car was Henri.
HENRI: Hello, Miss Layton. I said I'd be seeing you again soon.
MELANIE: But, what are you doing out here? You should be in England with Mom and Nikki.
HENRI: Mr. Alamain sent me to take care of you. He seems to think that you will need protection. And, trust me, I am very good at protection. In my life so far I have trained Batman and Obi-Wan Kenobi, recruited the boy who would become Darth Vader, and saved my daughter from a gang of terrorist kidnappers. I also fight wolves. Trust me, Miss Layton, you will be very well protected.

Henri sounds like a very interesting guy. Hmmm....wonder why Mia has returned to town.

SALEM PLACE
WILL: Mia, what are you doing here?
MIA: I'm here for a few reasons. One is you. How are you?
WILL: I'm okay.
MIA: That's good. Look, I realize some of the stuff I said to you last time was really horrible. But, I want to try to make up for it.
WILL: We're not getting back together, Mia.
MIA: Why not?
WILL: Well, among other reasons, I'm gay.
MIA: Oh. Gotcha. Anyway, one of the other reasons I came back is because I need your help.
WILL: Okay. Well, I will try to help you in any way that I can. What am I helping you with?
MIA: I want you to help me get my baby back.

SALEM AIRPORT
HENRI: In my life so far I have trained Batman and Obi-Wan Kenobi, recruited the boy who would become Darth Vader, led the A-Team, and saved my daughter from a gang of terrorist kidnappers. I also fight wolves. Trust me, Miss Layton, you will be very well protected.
MELANIE: Uh, maybe I'm wrong about this, but wasn't Ra's al Ghul the one who trained Batman? I know Qui-Gon Jinn trained Obi-Wan and Vader. I've never seen the A-Team, but I've heard their leader is named John Smith. Bryan Mills was the guy with the kidnapped daughter. And John Ottaway fights wolves.
HENRI: Aliases. All of them. Those are names I've made up for myself.
MELANIE: All of those people are from movies. And, half of them die at the end.
HENRI: I have nine lives. Each of them so far has been the subject of several documentaries. But, enough talk, let's go.
Henri opened the car doors. He and Melanie got in and drove away.