With intense pain also comes shocking realization.

As once again, four average teenagers, Vanessa, Alexandria, Dylan, and Eric, are forcefully kidnapped from their lives and thrust into an alternate world where evil rushes at them from all directions, they have no choice but to battle for their lives and protect each other’s.

With the help of various unforeseen alliances, the clock races down upon the four as they battle against fate, betrayal, and treachery to save a crumbling kingdom and force justice upon those responsible for its destruction. Yet, will it be twisted love, shaky destinies, or the ever looming fear of death that finally withholds the ultimate goal of returning to the lives they once knew?

Only the revelation of truth will lead to victory.

The Third Side

A Double Sided Teen NovelBy Natalie Black Melissa Black

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Natalie and Melissa Black
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-3675-8

Chapter One

As told by Alex Aldermen

Tick. The second hand crawls forward one more space. Tick. My petite Gucci heels tap impatiently. Tick. One more second passes, one more of my precious moments of life wasted away as I sit here. Here, on the rough hardwood floor of my fourth period class, PE.

I grow impatient, waiting for the final bell to ring, for the hoard of students to be released from their classes, to be set free.

I wait, for lunch.

Clarissa, one of my best friends, and I strut down the hallway arm in arm. The mob of juniors pushes and shoves to create a path for us down the center of the foyer. The chaotic mess of the corridor, the paper air planes, hurried talk of the next period test, and the rattling sound of slamming lockers, all come to a standstill as I pass by. Every searching eye settles on me. From my beautifully conditioned strawberry blond hair, down to my flawlessly manicured nails, every aspect of me is analyzed to perfection.

It's not like I chose to be the most popular person here at Summit High, I was just born that way. Not that it's not difficult to be loved by everyone; it takes a lot of work. Like, making sure I look wonderful everyday- I don't want to accidentally start an ugly trend. Or, secretly making almost all A's in my classes while pulling off the façade of one who does not study, and fails. I don't want to give the impression that I might be mistaken as a nerd.

Do you see what I mean? Being fabulous all the time takes a lot of coordination and can be exhausting sometimes. This, of course, is why I am forced to catch up on most of my beauty sleep in math class.

We make it to the cafeteria. The moment that makes coming to school worthwhile, when I can walk into a room full of every student here at Summit High and still manage to make every head turn and jaw drop.

I pause at the base of the doors, and with every eye watching, gently flick my wrist through my hair, causing it to gracefully fly and then fall around my face. A simple flick of the hair, a never-failing maneuver.

I notice the girls in the room grow green with envy as their boyfriends melt at my sight.

Without seeming to notice the sudden mood change in the room, I flounce over to my usual table. Dylan, among a few other close friends, is already there.

If you read the prologue, you would know that my family takes in foster children, and until recently were looking for one to adopt then put through college. I met Dylan on a very adventurous, yet unexpected journey lately, and brought him home.

My parents took an instant liking to him, and now, Dylan is my brother. He is about yay high (5'10") with a mop of sandy blond hair piled on top of his head that hangs most the way down his forehead. He has deep, emerald green eyes which contrast with his beach boy tan skin and a crooked smile that could make any girl melt.

"Hey Dylan, I hope you've been thinking about me," Clarissa giggles. She grabs his arm and sits down right next to him at the table.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention, we are kind of tied up in a strange little love triangle here? Try and follow along as I explain this odd drama.

Clarissa, my best friend, likes Dylan who is my foster brother, who, while zapped into a magical land, fell for Ness, my recent friend who is now my best friend, yet she appears to not care for Dylan, while she can't fool me and I happen to know that she is crazy about him, thus causing friction between Clarissa and Ness who are secretly not really fighting over Dylan.

Weird? Tell me about it.

So, this strange little scene of Clarissa flirting with Dylan while he tries to ignore it because he is too nice of a guy to break her heart, takes place every day during lunch and ninth period study hall.

After lunch, the day drags as slow as the hot summer sun crossing the mid-afternoon sky.

It's not until 2:35 that the final prison- I mean school, bell rings.

Ness, Dylan, Eric- the other best friend of our little foursome, and I walk back to my house to "study" just like we do every day before my parents and eight other children come running through our door. Oh, in case you were wondering, throughout all these people, I am my parents' only birth child.

"Does anyone know why we are walking home, in the middle of the heat, in May, when Alex has a car and I have a scooter?" Ness asked. She gets pretty upset when she's hot.

"We are walking home because you need exercise. And my car is in the shop and only one person fits on your scooter," I reply.

"Come on Ness, you know you love all the fresh Colorado air out here!"

"Dylan! Stop teasing me! You know how much I hate to be hot, especially when I can't even throw ice balls at you!" Ness has had the hardest time without her powers back home.

"It's ok Ness, go sit down and I'll make some lemonade," I offered as we walked through the door of my house. Ness is smart and fun to be around, but not when she gets upset. At least she is working on her attitude adjustment.

Eric and I walk into the kitchen and pour drinks for us while the other two who are setting up homework in my room. Ness and I are partners for an English project that is due in a week. We have to fill a journal full of various imagery statements and we figured we'd get a head start on it.

If only I knew what kind of experiences we'd soon be writing about ...

Chapter Two

As told by Dylan Huber

Blue. The ceiling, the walls, the bed, it's all blue. Posters of girls hung all over the walls and Megan Fox's picture is taped to the ceiling. My roommate, foster brother, and interior designer, Theodor, is on the bunk below me and won't stop the snoring long enough for me to get some sleep.

He is my bro and all, but cut me some slack. I have a maniac MalibuAlex-want-to-be (Clarissa) on my hands, more homework than ever due to final exams, and Ness to impress. I silently jump off my bed and climb out my second story window onto the roof awning.

As I lay on my back, staring up at the constellations, everything clears.

The distant sound of wolf calls are echoing from the mountains. For a laugh, I join in with them. I must have stayed out there for hours; I didn't come back in until I got pegged from behind by Theodor's pillow.

"Shut it wolf-man! Some of us actually sleep around here!"

"I'm coming," a hushed whisper just forceful enough to silence him yet not enough to upset the 12 year old.

I turn and begin the climb back into my bedroom window when a gut-wrenching pain stops me in my tracks; a pain I had only felt once before. I slid a few feet down the shingles as I held my head with one hand and my chest with the other, trying to silence my moans before they escaped my throat.

Pain exploded within me, lighting my chest on fire as though I were going to explode. My arms wrapped around my torso in hopes of holding myself together, fighting against the gaping tears within my soul that fought to consume me. Blazing pain raced through my veins causing an involuntary grunt of anguish to escape from my lips. Bursts of torment raced through my jaw as my teeth clinched and grinded against each other. Lashing out, I struggled against the invisible beast eating at me from the inside.

Moments later, the pain was gone, vanished, as if it were all a horrible nightmare. I lay back on the roof, trying to catch my breath.

But it was not the pain that...