Preface
The cloaked figure smiled wide at Kai as he stepped closer. He couldn't’t see the person clearly at all… but he felt this stranger was known to him. He swore he had seen this guy before… Those golden eyes seemed too eerily familiar.

“Do you like animals?” a voice from beneath the hood asked. Kai saw no threat in answering this stranger’s simple question.
“Sure. Why?”
“Do you want to see my pet?”
“Uh….o...kay…..”

A hand flew up as the stranger’s smile grew even wider.

“Kokuei!” the voice called. Kai stopped dead in his tracks. The air around him was suddenly so cold. This person….couldn’t possibly be him! No! He was so kind just moments ago! Kai had been sure this wasn’t the man he was searching for….not the one he had to seal away before the entire town was consumed. And yet, at the order, a four pawed creature stalked into sight. There in front of him stood a monster. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. What else could he do? That thing’s teeth had to be at least six inches long!

“Don’t run away!” chimed the voice, “Kokuei is hungry!”The voice was suddenly much more menacing, and Kailor knew for sure…as if the demon creature chasing him was not clue enough….this was the tamer of the shadows. He turned down an alleyway, hearing the beast’s heavy paws closing in behind him. He stopped a fair distance down the alley and turned to face his nightmare… but nobody was there.

“What was that?” he yelled as he stared down the alleyway. “Who’s there? Come out!”The only response he got was the innocent
laughter that filled the soundless night. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. He stepped backwards, never taking his eyes off of the path before him. “Look, I don’t know what kind of creature that was, but -“His sentence was cut off as he heard the laughter intensify. The lights that lit the streets shattered, and everything went into darkness. Kailor took a quick breath, and his hands trembled. He knew
he wouldn't last long against that…that…that thing in a direct confrontation. He took another step backwards, as sweat ran down his neck.

“I-I’m not afraid. Now show yourself!”He suddenly saw the piercing golden gaze of this ‘Kokuei’ the stranger had called. He couldn’t help but shiver at its dark and bloodthirsty appearance. Another step backward….but something was blocking his way. With stiff hands, Kai felt the cold links of a chain fence at his back. He was trapped! The soft growling of his pursuer echoed through his bones. The gold eyes were clearly visible in the pitch blackness of the night. The soft chuckle returned once again from the shadows.

“Now….you die”

Chapter 1
Discovery
Mr. Orion rambled on and on and on about equations. The screech of the chalk as he wrote on the board was bad enough, but he had the most monotone voice possible. He shot a quick glance at one snoozing student, hiding behind an upside down textbook, and then chucked the chalk at the poor kid’s head. Ha-ha, yeah… I was the ‘poor kid’. My name is Kailor, just Kai for short. I’m just your average
day senior in your average day town, with an average teen life. I gotta say….the past seventeen years of my life that I’ve gone and spent in this town, not a single one would ever be as exciting as this year. It is actually kinda funny to look back on how simple my life was. I so badly wanted a thrill. My life had been so ordinary and, well, downright boring! It’s not like I was some sort of outcast or anything…actually, I was pretty popular. I had it made. I mean, I got A’s in class (despite sleeping through the majority of them), girls fawned
over me, and I was even a semi decent athlete. It’s just that Rilervoke isn’t, or rather wasn’t, a very exciting place. If only I knew then what I know now….I probably would have done things a whole lot differently, but then I wouldn’t have a story to tell, would I? Now then, where to begin….I guess it all started the day I found that stupid book.

I was sitting in class, trying to kill time until the bell rang. My pencil was balanced perfectly on its pointed tip…with the help of my finger to hold it in place. I could hear every second of that awful clock tick by as the teacher continued to lecture. Did you ever notice that when you really want to leave, time moves extra slow just to piss you off? Well anyway, I had the entire weekend to look forward to….but let me tell you, that’s not all that exciting. My hometown was kinda lame. There are no malls, no arcades, and no obnoxiously tall buildings that you can cause mayhem in. Rilervoke is a pretty suburban place to live. Honestly…. life was boring and stale. The bell rang, signaling my release from one hell to the next (of course, back then, I didn’t know what true hell was). I gathered my books and headed towards the door. My so-called friends met up with me there. Catherine, a pretty blond girl who always seemed determined to beat me when it came to our grades, was waiting patiently with Justin, her below average boyfriend. I never understood what she saw in him. Catherine smiled when she saw me coming. 

“Geez, way to walk extra slow and make us wait” taunted my best (I use the term loosely) friend Tyler as he swung his arm around my neck. When I first met him he was so excited that our names were so alike, he never left my side. Heh….kindergarten seems like a dream now; it had been carefree and non-life-threatening.

“Hey” I said just to be polite. All in all, these guys were just as stale as the town. There isn’t anything really exciting about them in the least. I know, you probably think I’m a horrible person…but you didn’t grow up with them.

We walked home together as usual, meeting up with Kaori from middle school on the way. Kaori had a crush on Tyler, and he seemed to feel the same way. Kaori was dressed in her usual otaku attire, with baggy pants and a belt choker. What is an otaku? You
know…one of those Japanese obsessed American nerds who love manga and anime….yeah…

“Ty-Chan! How are you? And Kai-san it’s been forever since I’ve seen you!” she chirped. That was a lie….I had seen her the day before during our routine walk home. After Kaori joined up with us, I stopped listening to the old gossip… you know, I pulled one of those smile and nod things. It was the same old stories I had been hearing for the past few years….I wasn’t in the mood to really listen AGAIN.

My house couldn’t have appeared sooner. I waved good-bye and ducked inside. The weekend…oh joy. I threw my bag down, and kicked off my sneakers before I made my way up to my room. I almost made it too…but I heard my name being called. My mother.

“Kailor honey, Mrs. Reed called me today. She’s moving soon and needs some help packing” Lucky her. At least the old bat would get to leave this pit of a town. “I told her you would go and help her pack up” Ugh…leave it to mom to make me have to do work on my weekend.
Although I guess at the time, I didn’t complain much. Work was better than nothing.

“Alright mom” I told her before I stepped back down the steps and slipped into my shoes all over again. I caught her saying thanks just as the door closed behind me.

I took my good old time getting to Mrs. Reed’s place. She was an old woman, and well respected. She used to tell us stories at night about myths and demons from our town. We all believed them to be just that – stories. Yeah, imagine my surprise when I discovered the stories were true. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I walked up the path to her front door. Her yard was pretty small, but it was well taken care of… except for that one tree. In the middle of her yard there stood a pitch black tree. It had no leaves, and the only thing on it besides scars and burnt bark was a single white rope the old woman had tied and bowed around its trunk. Talk about an eye soar. Otherwise, her house was nice and quaint. I gently knocked on her door, and she opened it immediately.

“Meow” purred the grey tabby in her arms. Kiki was the only one that lived with her now. She used to have a husband, but I heard he and their only son died in some freak accident nearly fifty years ago. It wasn’t my business, so I never really pried.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Reed. I heard you needed some help around you house” Again, my manners shined through, creating a guise of interest. She just smiled and welcomed me into her home.

I talked with the elder woman for a few minutes. Eventually, I got her to tell me what the hell she needed me to do - Clean out her crawl space. You could just see the enthusiasm on my face as I turned away from her and rolled my eyes. I slipped myself into the cramped area and sat down to sort and repack all of her forgotten treasures. I remember wondering if she even knew if this stuff was down here…but then why else would she call me over? It took hours just to get through the old paintings, photographs, and decorations that she had stashed in there from who knows when. She called me out to take a break.

“I found this box back there too” I told her. She studied the little chest that I had found buried in her rubbish. The thing was chipped a bit,
but elegantly engraved. It was made of wood and had an antique feel to it. I figured it lost its old luster, but if restored it would be stunning.

“Ah yes. This is a rare box indeed. Kailor, have I ever told you the story of this chest?”

Seeing as I didn’t want to be stuck here another five hours, I lied.

“Yeah. I remember that one” I said with my fake warm smile. She smiled back at me and placed the box in my hands. I was completely dumbfounded.

“Good, good. Can you take care of it for me then? I need to make sure someone trustworthy will watch over it for me.” She said in her granny voice. I stared down at the box, wondering why she would give it to me.

“Remember, that box can’t leave this town. Make sure to keep it safe. Would you like something to eat before you go?” she asked, ending the discussion over the box, just like that.

“Oh, no thanks. My mother is probably getting worried,” I lied again.

“I understand. I have a few more things to pack. Will you help me again tomorrow?” She asked with her smiling eyes. I couldn’t say no to that.

I finally made it out of that cramped, smelly house with my own little souvenir. What good would an old stuffy box be to me?

“Mom I’m back.” I called as I went straight to my room.

“Kai, don’t you want dinner?” I heard my mother ask.

“No, Mrs. Reed offered me some” I replied. It was true….I just left out the part about me declining. Mom was big on making sure that I was well fed. Five meals a day! Ugh….I was still full from breakfast! I put the box on my desk and flopped onto my bed. Well, at least the day hadn’t been the usual….but it was still boring. Majorly boring…..and I had to go and keep cleaning tomorrow too. I hated this place
sometimes...well, most of the time.

The next day came too soon and didn’t end soon enough. I woke up and I swear that the box had moved. I passed it off as my imagination.Breakfast was the usual full course spread. Pancakes, sausages, waffles, hash browns, muffins, and a few bananas is just the beginning. I groaned at the sight of it all. It was the same thing every day; every possible breakfast food was on the table.

“Come on honey, eat up!” my mother cooed. My father was sitting across the table reading the news.“Oh darling, can’t you put that paper down for once and eat with the family?” my mother would ask. She asked him every day and every day he’d just smile at her and they’d kiss. That’s when I’d gag and take my meal to go.

I walked down the street with my hands in my pockets and I smiled politely when people waved at me. Finally, I saw the familiar black tree and I knocked on the door.

“Mrs. Reed I’m here” I called.

“Come on in Kailor sweetie” She said as she greeted me at the door. “There are only a few things left. I’d be awfully grateful if you could just bring up the remaining boxes from the basement” she said as she patted my shoulder. “You are such a good boy. I hope I’m not putting too much work on you.” I smiled and told her I’d be fine. But ugh, there were more than just a few boxes. Another day down the toilet. It took me hours to get all of her collected garbage out of the basement. Alright, alright….that may have been a bit harsh. But the boxes were so old, and some of them were falling apart. I bet she had not opened a single one of them in years. I dusted off my hands after I had finished. Mrs. Reed was sipping tea on her sofa.

“Yes, you are such a good boy,” she said again. “Kailor dear, why don’t you take a break” Well, I had finished so I didn’t really need one, but whatever. I sat down across from her on her ratty red lounge chair. She smiled and chuckled gently. “Yes, I believe you will take good care of Sutaraito” She said to me. You are probably thinking the same thing as I was. What is she talking about, and why isn’t it in English? Yeah,
turns out that ‘Sutaraito’ was the name of the box. Of course, since I didn’t know the story, I didn’t know that either.

“Suta-whata?” I asked. She shook her head with that senile old smile. “Oh Kailor, Kailor. You remember. That’s the name of the tamer!” she ‘reminded’ me. I pretended to remember.

“Oh, oh…uh…of course” I coughed. “Well I uh…it’s getting late. I should get home,” I told her, once again making an excuse.

“Oh, good bye then dear,” she said with a gentle wave. “And be careful with Sutaraito. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands,” She added nonchalantly before returning to her tea. How she could be so calm about something like that stupid box I’ll never know….

I started home quickly and met up with that knuckle head, Tyler. He looked like a surfer, even though he has never even seen the ocean in his entire life. He has short and wavy sandy blond hair and emerald green eyes that just goes with a surfboard. As a joke, I actually bought him a surfboard once for his birthday. He still has it hanging in his room and he swore that he would use it one of these days, when he ‘fell into money’. He thinks he’s going to be some kind of millionaire. If he does become one by some weird, unnatural reason, he’d be the first from Rilervoke.

“Hey Kai!” he said in his goofball way. Kaori was nearby I assumed. She rarely let him out of her sight lately… probably because this was the year for prom.

“Sup” I felt like a reply was mandatory.

“So I hear you’ve been helpin’ out that old wrinkled grandma,” he said curiously. Naturally in a small town, news travels fast. “What did she give you?” he asked.

“Just some old box. Nothing special. I might be able to sell it though.” I answered honestly, but Tyler looked disappointed.

“Damn. You’d think she’d give you some cursed voodoo doll or something. Remember her stories? I can’t believe none of the adults ever stopped her from telling their kids those creepy myths,” he said. I guess he was reminiscing to when he himself had been a little kid.

“Anyway, wanna hang out today?” he asked me. Before I could answer I spotted that love struck kitten, Kaori.

“I think someone has different plans” I said with a smirk. Kaori knew she had been spotted because after she heard me she bounded out from around the corner.

“Ty-chan!” she said, grabbing his hand. “Do you wanna get an ice cream with me?” she pleaded while gently swinging his trapped hand back and forth. She gave him those big puppy eyes, and she mentioned food. Of course he was going to go.

“Uh okay. Another day then Kai” he said with a smile to me.

“Yeah, go have fun with your girlfriend” I taunted. Tyler flushed red and looked angry. Kaori looked completely ecstatic. She tugged gently on his jacket sleeve.

“Come on Ty-chan!” she cooed in a cute little voice. “Thanks for letting me steal him from you Kai-san “she said as she waved good bye to me. I waved and smiled back at her. She was cute…a little hyper sometimes, but cute. She and Tyler made a good couple. Once again, I was in route for home.

Once I was back in the cell that was my room, I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I was bored out of my mind…. Every game I owned I had beaten too many times to count, and any book in the house was old material to me. I sighed as I sat up. My eyes scanned my room, and fell onto that box. I had nothing better to do…so I got up and examined it.

“Let’s see what’s inside oh great Suta-whateveryourcalled” I muttered. The lid wouldn’t open easily, so I had to force it open. That should’ve been my first clue. Mental note: Next time that I find a creepy box that is stuck shut, leave it shut.

Mrs. Reed’s words were buzzing in my head. Basically she wanted me to protect this thing. There had to be something of value in it. I peered inside the wooden confines. In the box was a small, worn out leather book. No, it doesn’t even count as a book since it was so thin. I put the box down, and took out the leather booklet. The front of it was brown and worn with a weird green symbol on the front. It looked like jade had been embedded into it. When I flipped through the pages, I discovered that the entire book was full of those weird symbol things. All except the last page that is. On the very last page was a poem written in plain English. I still don’t know why I read it out loud. There wasn’t anyone around me to listen…but I guess I just felt compelled to read it with no one to hear.

“Next time you walk about at Night, you'll be in for quite a fright. With fire roaring from its shoes, the shadow tamer begins its ruse. As a harmless charming little thing, your defenses down it will surely bring. It will offer secrets and promises to you, and then release the beast - the Kokuei Inu. With dripping fangs and claws like knives, this beast has taken many lives. Once the shadow beast is called, your fate is sealed, you will be mauled...”

“Huh…this poem is awful. Must’ve been written by idiots” I said aloud. I put the book on my desk and looked inside of the box again. I pulled out a strong chain. On the end of it was a black claw. It was kinda cool in a creepy way. I smiled; it would make an awesome keychain. That too was tossed on my desk. My mom called me down to dinner before I could check out the rest of the box. I shut the lid and slipped the box on my bookshelf before heading downstairs. I didn’t even think it was weird that I felt a breeze in my room…but then again, I had thought my window had been open.


Author's Note:  This is a story I initially came up with for the nanowrimo challenge, but lazy me stopped writing it after only 12.5k words. I still kinda like how I started it and I really do think it has potential to be a good story if I finished it, but what do you guys think?

Is the writing good or bad? Do you like how it was written? Was it easy to read? Do you like the characters? Find them annoying? If you read this in a bookstore, would this first chapter make you want to read more?

Any comments are appreciated.