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HAYTHAM (Work-In-Progress Novel Concept)

xCleb

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I figure this is the best place to post this, and I don't see anything like this here, so here I go!

I've been working on some concepts for a sci-fi novel for about three years now, and the only thing that tripped me up for so long was figuring out the beginning of the plot. I think I've finally found a way to make it work, so I've finally started actually writing things down. I'd like to share my work with you guys as I write, and I'd appreciate any community feedback or suggestions!

I?ve never been one to give introductions, so I?ll keep this one simple.

My name is Blaike Raye. You may know me only as ?Haytham.? I?m writing this here on Earth, but I have only just arrived here. There is a more serious issue at hand that I must take care of. I have about four days to prepare, but I am already prepared. Instead, I?m going to write everything I?ve done up to this point. It seems only right for me to do so. Many of you here don?t know the things I?ve been through, or the places I?ve been.

If I?m going to be completely honest, I?ve spent the past four years of my life on another planet. You may call me crazy when you read that, and I don?t blame you. There is no real way for me to show you that life exists in other worlds ? worlds closer than you may believe ? but I know. It is likely that you will know by the time I?m done here, but just in case, I won?t count on it, but I digress. You all thought that I was missing, or that I had died, or anything of the likes. The same goes for a few others. All of this is simply untrue.

If you want to figure out what exactly happened to me, along with several others, you must go back to the beginning of this mess. It was six years ago. Only one of us knew of the events that would conspire over time. Of course, we all know of these events now, and we all know of this ?prophecy,? one which has already been broken.

You?re first thought at the word ?prophecy? is likely something out of an adventure film, or some role-playing game, or even something of religious context. As I?ve said before, this prophecy has already been broken. If it were any of the three, I would call it a religious issue, but not in the way you would expect. There are gods out there. There is a god on this planet. I?ve met Her, and she has bestowed upon me a power only few could even begin to comprehend. She is not the only god to know of, but that is a story for later. It?s nothing I can talk about right now; there is a lot more to get to before I can even think about that.

---

Anyway, I?m getting off on a bit of a tangent. If I continue like this, I?ll never be able to tell you the full story in the time I have. I suppose I?ll get on with the beginning, now.

This whole mess started about six years ago. I was heading into my first year of college at Fayde University, just outside of Pittsburgh. The college was only established seventeen years from the time I?m writing this, but its admissions rate would have you think otherwise. I was only one of about thirty-six hundred students admitted to that freshman class. I was only one of about fourteen hundred living on-campus.

Those numbers are certainly quite startling for a college that?s still younger than most college students. I don?t know much about the history of the place, only that its founder managed to procure a very large sum of money through family heritage. He started the university, and I was attending it eleven years later.

That first weekend was kind of confusing, to tell the truth. It wasn?t that things were unorganized for the first week orientation, but things happened so fast that I don?t remember everything that took place, including the orientation itself.

August 25th, 2017. That was the day that I moved in, and the day I met Ennes. It was about a two-hour drive for my parents and I to arrive on campus, and when we went to bring my belongings up to my room, he was already there. He greeted all of us almost immediately as we opened the door. The whole situation seemed a bit off-kilter to me, but my family thought nothing of it.

It wasn?t long after that when my parents left for home, leaving me alone with this guy I wasn?t quite sure of yet. Everything he did seemed far too deliberate. It was almost as if he knew if something would be a problem before he made his judgements. I felt as if he could see everything I was thinking, and everything anybody else was thinking.

I already felt as if my status quo had been completely toppled. The beginning of college was already a big enough step in life to completely change the way I thought about it. I had no idea what I was getting into when I met Ennes. Even now, I still don?t know what I?m getting into.

As soon as my family left, Ennes spoke to me yet again, this time in a more serious tone.

?So, you?re Blaike, huh? Maybe you?re the one I?ve been looking for.?

It came completely out of nowhere. He was looking for me before today? I was completely caught off guard with that statement, and couldn?t come up with any kind of response to it. I just stood there, giving him a look of raw confusion.

?Maybe I should be a bit clearer. You know me as Ennes Vespa, yes?? Again, his words caught me off guard. This time it had only been a simple yes or no question, so I nodded my head yes. I still didn?t speak.

?Well, that?s good. Everybody here will come to know you as Blaike Raye, correct?? I nodded my head again. I didn?t have any clue where he was trying to take the conversation.

?Well, forget about that. I think I could come up with a better name for you. Don?t you agree?? That was it. He was already being cryptic enough, but that statement sparked a fire within me.

?What do you mean? You think my name isn?t good enough?? I was angered by his statement. I had been quite fond of my name; it was one that rolled off the tongue easily. Suddenly, he began attacking one of the only things I appreciated for my entire life. I couldn?t sit idly by and let him do such a thing.

He recognized my anger toward his remarks almost immediately, and held his hands up in a dismissive manner. He knew that saying anything about my name would cause a stir like this, but it seemed like that?s what he wanted. A prompt response followed.

?Don?t be angry about it. I quite like your current name. I feel as if you could use something a bit extra, perhaps.?

?You literally just told me that you could come up with a better name, and you?re telling me now that it?s a good name? Which one is it, man??

?I enjoy your name. I feel as if you could go by a certain nickname, though. How does Haytham sound??

I paused for a good minute when I heard him say that. The name sounded familiar, but I didn?t know where I had heard it before. It was strange to me that he had brought up something so familiar to me.

?Haytham? That sounds familiar.? As I spoke to Ennes, he nodded his head, agreeing with my sentiment.

?As it should, my friend. I couldn?t tell you where it?s familiar, but I know it is. It is for you and me both.?

He walked out of the room after that remark, leaving me to ponder how Ennes brought something so familiar like that to me. He was a complete mystery, and I didn?t like it.

I hadn?t seen him again until about eight hours later, when the freshman class was brought together for an introductory icebreaker. It was the kind of icebreaker that would have been much better off if it wasn?t mandatory, but it was mandatory anyway.

I had seen him in the gymnasium, standing away from the conglomeration of new students. He wasn?t excluding himself or anything of the likes. He was only?observing. That?s the only way I could really put it.

My first mistake was confronting him that night. As I started walking toward him, he looked away from the crowd and directly to me, knowing that I was going to talk to him. As I got closer, I finally started talking.

?What are you doing over here, man? People are going to think you?re some kind of creep.?

He hesitated for a moment, looking at me, then back at the crowd. He then looked back at me, and our eyes met. It became uncomfortable for me, but he was ready to speak, so I didn?t look away.

?You?re not the only person I?m interested in here, Haytham. Krih is here as well.?

Another new name. He had already called me by Haytham instead of Blaike, and now this Krih person was in the mix of things. I didn?t know what to believe, but I figured that Ennes was some sort of freak. He hadn?t shown any signs otherwise since I met him.

?That man over there, do you see him?? Ennes pointed over toward a tall man, about six feet, two inches. He had a buff build and medium-length brown hair. I looked over at him for a moment, and then back to Ennes. I had no idea what he ? a mere five feet, eight-inch male, with a generally twig-like build and a black McGregor haircut ? wanted with someone basically twice his size.

?That?s Krih, Haytham. Much like you, he normally goes by another name. You?ll get to know him as Dorian Cross; he?s the son of a very distinguished military General.?

?Why are you telling me this??

?Because, Haytham. I believe you two will become pretty good friends fairly shortly.?

I had enough at that point. I was already wondering what he was on about the first time, but this time he had taken it too far. I was ready to tell him off, but I used all my might to keep myself from saying anything. I knew doing anything would have caused a scene.

Instead, I just look at Dorian for a few seconds, and then walked away from Ennes. The remark stuck with me that whole night, that Dorian and I would become ?friends,? as Ennes put it. I knew it was only the beginning of college, so I left the possibility open, but he seemed to be completely knowing of the idea. He even gave Dorian a singular name like he did for me.

I found it difficult to sleep the first night. From Ennes sleeping on the other side of the room to thinking about why he pointed out Dorian specifically, I was puzzled. Why would Ennes give both Dorian and myself singular names like that? I couldn?t put the pieces together; it all seemed too out of place to come to a solid conclusion.

It was about two in the morning when I heard a knock on the door. I looked over to Ennes, who was still fast asleep, before I got out of bed to answer the door. I was already dressed, as I had no intention of falling asleep at that time.

I opened the door, and immediately jumped back. It was Dorian, as if Ennes had something to do with all of this. I let out a sigh after I saw that it was just him, but he gave me an understanding look before he spoke.

?Ennes told you about me, didn?t he?? He took a more laid-back tone than I had expected. It seemed as if the whole situation didn?t faze him at all, even though he knew about it and how strange it was.

It took me a minute, but I finally responded to him. ?Uh, yeah?Dorian, right? He called you Krih when he first talked about you.?

?Yep, that?s the ?name? he gave to me. He told me you were Haytham, but screw that. I?m just gonna call you Blaike, because that?s your name.?

?Well, thanks, I guess. What are you doing here??

Dorian peered into my room, making sure Ennes was asleep. Shortly after, he pulled me out of my room and into the dorm hallway.

?We need to talk about this. This guy creeps me out.?

At least I wasn?t the only one who thought that. I understood where he was coming from, but it seemed like Ennes had as much to do with Dorian as he did with me.

?We?re gonna take a little walk. Come with me.?

I wasn?t really in the mood for a walk, but I figured anything was better than trying to sleep with Ennes just across the room from me, so I agreed and left with him. If he could figure something out about why Ennes acted the way he did, perhaps we could have gotten on the same page.

Personally, I think my early exposition still needs a lot of work, and may be jumping into things a bit quickly, but it's something I can at least work with now that I have words on paper. I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

I will continue posting as I complete future chapters, so look forward to seeing more of this in the future!
 
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