• Hey guys. I know I'm working on a whole nother story but this just came to me after reading another of the Alex Cross Series by James Patterson. (This series should seriously be in here it's the best!) So it wouldn't leave me alone so i decided to just write it. Hope you like it!

    I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR AERYN (WHO YOU WILL SEE IN THE ONCE YOU READ...ACCTUALLY IT'S IN HIS POV)

    CHAPTER 1

    Tara, Ireland

    Am I really going to do this? Nope…yes? I looked at my watch, 5:20, ten more minutes. It all started as a stupid dare and look at me now, shaking in my boots—or shoes might I say. I had always been teased by my friends, about having a criminal as a father. I saw an Add on the internet along with my “friends” saying that they wanted someone to host a party for the world’s largest criminal masterminds. Of course they thought it was a prank…but I knew better. Even when I had strictly said I wasn’t going to do it they convinced me to anyway. How did I get myself into these things? My “friends” had no idea where I was now let along what I was up to. All they knew was that I had moved to Ireland, being Ireland my place of origin.

    I began to think again. Maybe I should cancel…no they would kill me…but if I don’t cancel they’ll kill me anyway…right? I stared at my watch again, 5:25, five more minutes. These men knew what they were doing and were never late…in anything. They all expected perfection so if something, one tiny thing, was out of place…I’d be dead. I swallowed as I waited by the door. I was edgy and couldn’t stand still even for five seconds.

    Then someone came knock-knocking at my door. I swallowed again. I hesitantly reached for the doorknob, thoughts of escape swirling my head. Maybe the backdoor? Or the window? Maybe I should just run through them? No that would never work. My hand touched the knob. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

    “Welcome!” I greeted, giving my guests the best, fake smile I could conjure up at the moment. All my guests were older than me. Much older. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this. I continued to smile charmingly, my eyes were creased upwards.

    “Hello Aeryn,” one of them greeted ruffling my, for once, neatly combed hair. He smiled at me coyly.

    “Mr. Craig,” I greeted back, smiling just as I had before. He stuck his hand out and I took it shaking it. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. Shaking hands with the Mastermind? I must be insane. Once all my guests had entered I shut the doors and locked them. The walls of the house were sound-proof so nothing could get in and nothing could get out.

    “Welcome one and all!” I said over the crowd. Everyone stared to look at me. I was as nervous as hell but I continued to talk. “If you would all please take your seats, I would be more than glad to serve dinner. The menus, located in front of you shows what we are serving. If anything displeases you please do tell me so. I will do what I can in my ability to fix it.” I clapped my hands and servers came out from the kitchen doors carrying trolleys of food. My guests chose from their selection of finely prepared food. So far so good, I haven’t been shot yet so I guess that’s a good sign…right?

    I didn’t take my seat, but instead mingled with each of my guests. I continued to smile, my charming smile. The women stared at me saying how positively cute I was. Of course I was only a mere child to them. How naïve could they get? I was hosting this party, wasn’t I? Anger slowly started to build up inside of me, but I didn’t show it. I was exactly like them wasn’t I? No, I was nothing like these psychopathic people or should I say psycho-pathetic. I inwardly smiled at my own joke. Someone started to tap his glass. The dining hall hushed.

    “I would like to start a toast to our wonderful host Monsieur Aeryn!” the man said raising his glass. “This has been a wonderful party Aeryn, but tell us is there any entertainment?”

    “Of course Mister Craig!” I replied, I also continued to smile my fake but convincing smile. I regretted what I was doing but for my life then no regrets. Man I really was like most of these sadistic, psychopaths. Doors leading to different rooms opened up. Up until now we had been cooped up inside the dining hall, all doors had been locked but now, now was time for entertainment.

    “Pick a door, any door! As some of you know you aren’t getting any younger!” they laughed at my sorry excuse for a joke. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you so go ahead!”

    Once they had all left two people approached me. “Dearest Aeryn, tell us what do you have exactly planned for the evening. As you know, young man, we expect only perfection.” Craig had said.

    “Anything out of place will cause your immediate death,” the other man added, “but we’re not trying to scare you. Of course being only aged thirteen, this must be an honor and you wouldn’t want to mess this up.”

    “Your father would have been proud Aeryn,” Craig told him.

    “Now, now Kyle, we mustn’t bring up his father before him. This is a night of fun and humor!”

    “Right, Gary. Sorry Aeryn.”

    “No need to apologize, sir.” I replied, though the word “father” and my name being used in the same sentence really wasn’t something I liked to hear. “My father was a failure. The perfect crimes require perfect planning and being ready for anything or anyone. This is something my father wasn’t.”

    “Atta-boy,” Kyle said ruffling my hair again. “Maybe if this whole party turns out to be perfect I will take you in. You’ve defiantly got the looks and the brains.” He continued to examine me as he named my traits. Gary also examined me.

    “Well, sirs, why don’t you head into one of my many doors and find the surprise hidden on the other side.”

    “All right then, Mr. Soneji shall we go?”

    “I think we shall Mr. Craig.” The two “chums” headed for the door located near the end of the hall to their left. I frowned. Being taken in by Kyle? That would be some sort of night mare. I didn’t head to any of the doors but instead moved up the stairs. I stared at the messy dining hall and called for my servers to clean up the mess before my guests left. After about ten minutes the hall was completely clean, as though nothing had happened in it. Tables had been cleared and wiped. Chairs had been tucked in and tablecloths had been refurnished.

    I walked down the hall stopping and checking the activities that were happening behind each door. I wanted to leave so badly, but having over one-hundred criminal masterminds chasing me really wasn’t part of my agenda…ever. I stared at my watch again. It was 7:00. The night was young and surely they wouldn’t leave until 5:00 a.m. I sighed.

    Nothing in my life was going right. Everything since the conviction of my father had destroyed me. I’ve been haunted by my past which I’ve tried to run away from my past, forget all about it, but nothing I ever did could get rid of the memories that scattered my brain.

    I thought about my mother, my dear sweet mother. She would have said one thing to me right now if I had told her what I was thinking. “Stop trying to run away from your past. Instead save your energy for the future.” She would say that…if she were alive.

    I pushed the thoughts of my mother to the back of my brain and went back to the present and reality. I had arrived to the room where Kyle and Gary had entered. They were drinking beers along with other guests all talking about one subject. Alex Cross. Kyle spotted my peeking in and gestured me to come over. I nodded and entered the room walking over to where Kyle and Gary were surrounded by the other guests. He patted the empty spot beside him on the couch, gesturing for me to sit down. I obediently followed and sat down beside him. He put his arm around my shoulders and bragged about how he was going to adopt me if this party were to be a huge success.

    I stared as the others studied me, staring first at my face then the rest of my body.

    “His eyes are as blue as sapphires,” one of them commented. Kyle turned my head towards him and stared deeply into my eyes.

    “Indeed they are Shafer!” he replied. He caressed different parts of my face as he continued to talk about me. He moved his hands to where the buttons were located on my shirt. He slowly unbuttoned my shirt, starting from the top. I didn’t do anything to stop him. If I did then I’d probably end up dead. Soon he had stripped me of my white shirt, leaving me shirtless. He didn’t go any further than that though, and boy was I ever glad.

    Then he and the others became serious. They again went back to the subject of Doctor Detective Alex Cross. I listened intently about this man. He was smart—no more than smart he, as I had heard from one of the men, the most intelligent detective they had ever met. He had all caught them at least once, but they had all escaped from their so-called “max security” prisons. I was tempted many times to say that they too then hadn’t committed perfect crimes if they were caught, but kept my mouth shut knowing the consequences.

    I looked at the people surrounding my and noticed that they were all from the America, part of my guest list. Together they were plotting. They all had one thing in mind. Revenge. This “Cross” character had to disappear, but they all enjoyed the challenge of having someone smart enough to figure them out.

    He had solved the “Casanova and Gentleman Caller’s” case. He had solved Gary’s kidnapping of two innocent, but important, children, the “Jack and Jill” murder case and the “Mr. Smith” murder case. Along with that he was able to bust Kyle as the “Mastermind” and get Geoffrey Shafer as “Death” or the “Weasel.” Again I was tempted to say something about their stupidity but kept my mouth shut.

    I’d forgotten that Kyle had taken off my shirt and when I realized that I was shirtless, I had noticed that it was freezing. I shivered and Kyle noticed the action. Instead of letting me put my shirt back on he hugged me tightly against his own body. I didn’t like it one bit. I looked at the clock hanging on the other wall. 10:00 p.m. These psycho-pathetic people had wasted hours on talking about this Cross person. They probably didn’t expect to leave anytime soon either.

    That’s when I saw the mirror and what Kyle was holding in his hand. I frowned knowing that this would happen, so damn predictable. He held a syringe with a clear fluid in one hand. He brought it closer to my neck. I quickly slipped away from his so-called “hug” and tried to run away. Damn, damn, damn! I bolted out the room and took the knife I had hidden on my belt and grasped it with care and experience. Kyle and the others started to scream for me to come back. Yeah, right. The noise traveled into the other rooms. So much for sound proof. I continued to run willing my legs to move faster and faster after each heartbeat.

    The other doors opened up, people peaked out to see what the entire racket was about. I was probably some sort of blur to them considering the speed I was running at. As I passed each door people quickly turned their heads to see me rush by. Then, bam!

    I fell hard on the marble floor. I clutched my stomach in pain and curled into a ball. I panted. This was it, the end of the line. I closed my eyes tightly. No, it is not going to end this way! With rekindled energy, I jumped to my feet and gave my attacker a round-house kick to his side. Probably one of the hardest kicks I had ever done.

    The man collapsed, clutching his side in pain.

    “What goes around comes around dude.” I said panting. Then I continued to run. I heard gunfire behind me. Oh s**t! I ran even faster, praying that none of the bullets would hit me. I ran swerving from side to side making it harder for them to aim at me occasionally changing my timing. I was about ten meters from the wall when I felt something hit me—hard. That’s when I saw blood and two small metal things shaped like bullets—no they were bullets—hit the door in front of me. I fell. I had been shot twice, the shoulder and my leg. I groaned. It was over now, nothing could save me.

    Then I heard slow clapping behind me. Kyle Craig loomed over me clapping his hands slowly.

    “You were more fun than the others,” he said grinning like the psychopath he was. “Don’t worry; we aren’t going to kill you. You know how much we hate people who follow the damn rules? The past hosts for these parties always followed the frikin rules, that’s what led them to their deaths. You on the other hand, actually tried to do something about what you thought inevitable death.” He gave the gun to Soneji who in turn pointed the gun at me. He took out the syringe from earlier and slowly inserted the fluids into my system.

    My eyes drooped and I felt numb all over. My legs weren’t responding and couldn’t hold on to any of my thoughts. Everything was swirling and the last thing I saw was Kyle, staring at my face, smiling and mocking me.

    What do you think? I'm thinking of continuing but I'm not sure...I mean I have the whole CHAPTER 1 thing written down but then it might be my last chapter too. What do you guys think? Review please!