The City Of Darkness: Exclusive Sneak Peek!
Excerpt from Chapter 1 of book 2:
The minutes that followed were priceless. The sixth formers were scratching their heads with their pens, Paul was totally confused and couldn’t focus, and Marcus became extremely bored and began flicking a rubber band he had from his packed lunch earlier in the day. In stark contrast, Julius was busy ‘beavering away,’ like it was an exam with only a few minutes left before the examiner called proceedings to a halt. Unlike an exam however, there was no enforcement and it only took a few minutes before the rest of the ‘detention class’ were out of their seats, and crowding round Julius’s desk. It didn’t take long before he stopped writing, and turned around to acknowledge everybody.
“Want to see something cool?” Asked Julius, further gaining the attention of the class.
“Yes!” Everyone replied, hoping sincerely that he would show them what to do and how to do it.
Julius reached into his bag, and rummaged around for a little while before pulling out a large perfectly symmetrical crystalline stone. It was opaque, just like a diamond, but its beauty was superior to that, and it shone in the light delivering a prism of different colours.
“Wow!” Said everyone trying to grab it. “Where did you get that?”
“That’s irrelevant!” Responded Julius shielding the stone. “It’s not a diamond either!”
“Duh! But it looks like one!” Said one of the sixth formers in a very unintelligent manner.
“This is a truth stone!” Replied Julius. “Not only can it tell you if somebody is lying, it shows you the hidden meaning in things!”
“How ridiculous!” Added Paul. “It must be one of those joke shop products. You know, like the magic eight ball that tells you when you’re going to get married, or how long it will be till your next kiss. It’s a con!”
“Oh a sceptic!” Responded Julius in a confident tone. “What’s your favourite colour then?”
“Blue,” replied Paul, “I don’t see what that’s got to do with anything…”
The clear gemstone on Julius’s desk then turned an emerald green colour, almost as if it was listening to what Paul had been saying and concurred with his statement. It then turned clear again, and waited for the next question. One of the sixth formers then butted in and asked if he was going to be having lasagne for dinner this evening.
Yet again the stone turned a bright green, almost as if it knew what was going to happen, and a dismayed sixth former sat down... He hated lasagne.
“Cool!” They all said. Even Marcus was now starting to show an interest in the stone that was glowing away on Julius’s desk, but he did not anticipate what was going to happen next. Julius had picked up the stone, got up out of his seat, and walked over to Marcus’s desk before placing it squarely in front of him.
“So Marcus,” asked Julius inquisitively, “is it true that you were on vacation over the last year?”
“Of course!” Replied Marcus trying to slow his heart rate down, and ease the tension he was suddenly feeling.
The truth stone didn’t seem to like this response. It vibrated on the table before turning a glorious ruby red. The rest of the class could guess the meaning of this colour change, and the whole room’s eyes of contempt were suddenly focusing heavily on Marcus.
“It may be a lie,” responded Julius confidently with a glint in his eye, “but I’m sure Marcus has a very good explanation for not being honest with us!”
“Er… yes.” Replied Marcus feeling embarrassed, his face had gone as bright red as the ruby.
“Now,” added Julius, “time for a little magic!”
He whispered the word surfboard to the truth stone, and placed it firmly on the desk on top of the cipher text on the sheet of paper. Through the uneven surface of its crystalline structure, Marcus could read the decrypted text. It was a poem that he had once read at Rock Spring Manor as a child concerning the value of hard work and effort written in Latin. Amazed, the whole detention class started to write down the words on the sheet as Julius dictated them, and within about fifteen minutes everyone was putting their completed work on the desk and leaving the study to the amazement of the deputy head; who had arrived just in time to see them leave.
He too could not believe the accuracy of the work that had been handed in to him. It was like reading the work of a formidable genius, knowing full well that the authors were complete idiots. Completely baffled, he also allowed Julius to leave, who was still writing the clear text as he had been busy helping everyone else complete their work. Friday afternoon’s detention didn’t seem so bad, and Julius’s exploits soon became famous around the school, as did his rather unusual magic stone. The girls also changed their tune in the gossip that followed in the school playground…
© Jack Sperring, 2013
The right of Jack Sperring to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
The minutes that followed were priceless. The sixth formers were scratching their heads with their pens, Paul was totally confused and couldn’t focus, and Marcus became extremely bored and began flicking a rubber band he had from his packed lunch earlier in the day. In stark contrast, Julius was busy ‘beavering away,’ like it was an exam with only a few minutes left before the examiner called proceedings to a halt. Unlike an exam however, there was no enforcement and it only took a few minutes before the rest of the ‘detention class’ were out of their seats, and crowding round Julius’s desk. It didn’t take long before he stopped writing, and turned around to acknowledge everybody.
“Want to see something cool?” Asked Julius, further gaining the attention of the class.
“Yes!” Everyone replied, hoping sincerely that he would show them what to do and how to do it.
Julius reached into his bag, and rummaged around for a little while before pulling out a large perfectly symmetrical crystalline stone. It was opaque, just like a diamond, but its beauty was superior to that, and it shone in the light delivering a prism of different colours.
“Wow!” Said everyone trying to grab it. “Where did you get that?”
“That’s irrelevant!” Responded Julius shielding the stone. “It’s not a diamond either!”
“Duh! But it looks like one!” Said one of the sixth formers in a very unintelligent manner.
“This is a truth stone!” Replied Julius. “Not only can it tell you if somebody is lying, it shows you the hidden meaning in things!”
“How ridiculous!” Added Paul. “It must be one of those joke shop products. You know, like the magic eight ball that tells you when you’re going to get married, or how long it will be till your next kiss. It’s a con!”
“Oh a sceptic!” Responded Julius in a confident tone. “What’s your favourite colour then?”
“Blue,” replied Paul, “I don’t see what that’s got to do with anything…”
The clear gemstone on Julius’s desk then turned an emerald green colour, almost as if it was listening to what Paul had been saying and concurred with his statement. It then turned clear again, and waited for the next question. One of the sixth formers then butted in and asked if he was going to be having lasagne for dinner this evening.
Yet again the stone turned a bright green, almost as if it knew what was going to happen, and a dismayed sixth former sat down... He hated lasagne.
“Cool!” They all said. Even Marcus was now starting to show an interest in the stone that was glowing away on Julius’s desk, but he did not anticipate what was going to happen next. Julius had picked up the stone, got up out of his seat, and walked over to Marcus’s desk before placing it squarely in front of him.
“So Marcus,” asked Julius inquisitively, “is it true that you were on vacation over the last year?”
“Of course!” Replied Marcus trying to slow his heart rate down, and ease the tension he was suddenly feeling.
The truth stone didn’t seem to like this response. It vibrated on the table before turning a glorious ruby red. The rest of the class could guess the meaning of this colour change, and the whole room’s eyes of contempt were suddenly focusing heavily on Marcus.
“It may be a lie,” responded Julius confidently with a glint in his eye, “but I’m sure Marcus has a very good explanation for not being honest with us!”
“Er… yes.” Replied Marcus feeling embarrassed, his face had gone as bright red as the ruby.
“Now,” added Julius, “time for a little magic!”
He whispered the word surfboard to the truth stone, and placed it firmly on the desk on top of the cipher text on the sheet of paper. Through the uneven surface of its crystalline structure, Marcus could read the decrypted text. It was a poem that he had once read at Rock Spring Manor as a child concerning the value of hard work and effort written in Latin. Amazed, the whole detention class started to write down the words on the sheet as Julius dictated them, and within about fifteen minutes everyone was putting their completed work on the desk and leaving the study to the amazement of the deputy head; who had arrived just in time to see them leave.
He too could not believe the accuracy of the work that had been handed in to him. It was like reading the work of a formidable genius, knowing full well that the authors were complete idiots. Completely baffled, he also allowed Julius to leave, who was still writing the clear text as he had been busy helping everyone else complete their work. Friday afternoon’s detention didn’t seem so bad, and Julius’s exploits soon became famous around the school, as did his rather unusual magic stone. The girls also changed their tune in the gossip that followed in the school playground…
© Jack Sperring, 2013
The right of Jack Sperring to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.