Alessandra (#1, Omega Beginnings Miniseries)

Alessandra

Episode One

Omega

Beginnings

Prequel Miniseries

By Lizzy Ford

http://www.LizzyFord.com/

Cover design by Eden Crane Design

http://www.EdenCraneDesign.com/

http://www.LizzyFord.com/

 
Cover design copyright © 2015
by Eden Crane Design

http://www.EdenCraneDesign.com/

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from
the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote
short excerpts in a review.

This story is a work of
fiction. Any references to historical events; to real people,
living or dead; or to real locales are intended only to give the
fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Names, characters,
places and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously and their resemblance, if any,
to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental

Special thanks
to:

Brooklynn Hupke, who
suggested the name “Mismatch” for the heroine’s gargoyle
friend,

and

Aoife Connolly for naming
the heroine’s best friend, “Mrs. Nettles!”

Twelve years ago

The gargoyle was crying.

Only I could see it.

Later on in life, I would learn that the
ribbons I witnessed around everything were fields of energy, sparks
of magic and the flow of life, each with its own unique color
range. The world was filled with them. Inanimate objects had two
ribbons. People had three.

At the age of five, all I really understood
was that the stone creature being tormented by teen boys was alive
– and hurting.

“Leave him alone!” I shouted and ran towards
them.

The boys faced me briefly and dismissed me
as quickly as most adults did. One of them wacked the gargoyle with
his bag, and its ear chipped off.

Where a little girl wasn’t listened to, a
screaming kid generally was. “You’re hurting him!” I shrieked.

“Hey! What’re you boys doing to her?” one of
the teachers called from the group of students touring the temple
nearby.

One of the boys pushed me away. “You got us
in trouble, you stupid kid,” he snapped.

“You boys should be with your group!” Mrs.
Thatcher approached and pointed to the other teens gathered around
one of the priestesses giving the tour. “You leave kindergartners
alone.”

“We didn’t do nothing, Mrs. Thatcher,” one
of them protested.

But they left, which was all I wanted. My
attention was fixated on the stone monster whose ear was broken in
half. The ribbons around him were agitated. Unlike most people, who
had three ribbons, there were four around this beast: purple, faded
teal, bright red and sunny yellow. The teal one sparkled in a way I
had never seen before. I didn’t know enough to understand what this
meant – aside from the fact he wasn’t like the other rocks and
stones in the world.

I bent down and retrieved the cool limestone
piece of his ear. On tiptoes, I reached up to replace it. His ugly
face and large fangs were scary to me, but knowing he was in pain
trumped my fear. I struggled to reach the broken stone.

“What’re you doing, Alessandra?” Mrs.
Thatcher asked, finished with the boys.

“He’s hurt. I’m fixing him.”

“You have such the imagination!”

I rolled my eyes and rested my cheek against
that of the hideous statue. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you,” I
whispered to him.

“Oh, his ear is broken.” Mrs. Thatcher took
the piece from me and replaced it. “Do you know what this is,
Alessandra?”

“A gargoyle.”

“No, Alessandra. You should’ve been paying
attention to the tour guide.”

I watched anxiously as she balanced the part
of the ear back where it belonged. It wasn’t helping the creature’s
pain, and its suffering was moving into me. The ribbons of everyone
around me always reached out to me, as if I was supposed to do
something or know something about them. I could take those ribbons
and manipulate them, bring the unliving to life and fix those that
were hurt. I had even combined ribbons to create my own best
friend: a monster-like creation consisting of my cat and my
favorite stuffed animal. Its name was Mrs. Nettles. It purred and
looked like a koala.