https://youtu.be/V0lw3qylVfY

Hey everyone. Welcome to my post where I'll be allowing the characters to speak on certain matters pertaining to my new novel THE FALLEN & THE LOST. Please enjoy!

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HOST: Welcome to Fict-O-Con where fictional characters gather together and give you the inside scoop to their written stories. I'm Charlie and am happy to be here with our new guests. Allow me to introduce a few of the characters from THE FALLEN & THE LOST. Maya Ricci, Matias Moreno, Piper Nette, and Natalie Walker.

*Each character shakes the host's hand, taking a seat at the outstretched table*

+seating chart+

Maya       Matias    Natalie       Piper

                                         |             |             |              |

(table) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (table)

|

Host Charlie

+

HOST: It's so lovely to meet all of you. How are you guys?

MAYA: Lost.

MATIAS: Fallen.

PIPER: How do you think I feel?

NATALIE: I'm doing just fine. Thank you for asking.

*The host's cheeks burn red. He looks at his note cards*

HOST: Well, knowing the length of your story, as it is currently being written, Maya, you are really struggling. Why do think people like to pick on you?

MAYA: *looks at the host questioningly* I don't know. People see me as a weak person. Maybe I am. Maybe I can't handle things like certain people, but I'm working on it.

HOST: Piper, I for one despise bullying. Why do you insist on making Maya's life a living hell?

PIPER: *rolls her eyes and grins* Because she lets me. Because I like it! I like the fear caressing her eyes and the way she shivers when I smile at her. It makes me feel like the bad things that have happened to me, never existed. I feel in control.

NATALIE: Listen you little rat, I know what you've been through. You think it makes you a god to pick on someone like Maya? She's sweet and honest.

PIPER: Of course, you're going to defend her. You're her cousin.

NATALIE: Cousin or not, it's wrong. I'd kill you if we weren't at this interview.

HOST: Whoa, let's just try to keep things civil. Natalie, I understand your pain. I understand Maya's pain, but violence is never the answer.

MATIAS: I disagree, Charlie. I think if someone like Piper needs to get beaten for a wakeup call, then I wouldn't stop Maya.

PIPER: Please! Maya can't even speak up for herself let alone fight me. And if she tried, she would wish she was dead. I know people, idiots!

HOST: *shakes his head* If Maya can't stand up for herself, then why do you need other people to fight for you or alongside you, Piper?

*Piper ignores the host and stares at her nails with a sarcastic smirk*

HOST: Let's move on. Matias, how are you? How did you end up in your predicament?

MATIAS: My predicament meaning being trapped between life and death? Well, as happy as I am to be here, to be free from those black woods, I can't tell you. It's something you'd have to find out on you own.

HOST: That's fair. Well, can you explain your abilities? Your connection with Maya?

MATIAS: *bobs his head and licks his lips* Basically, I created this world for myself. The darkness and dead trees--it's fear. The magic, it's the only thing I could hold onto to keep breathing in some form.

HOST: You connect with Maya through the winds and lightning, even a Raven. How are you able to do this?

MATIAS: Because Maya saw me. She ran into my world and we connected. Due to the magic from nature itself, it's what I do to reach out to her, even if she doesn't answer me. Even if I'm weakening. I need her to know that I need her. I want her.

*Matias stares into Maya's eyes*

MAYA: *lets go of a shaky breath* And he's the first person I've felt I needed to risk my life for. He makes me stronger and alive. But when I leave him, I want to be invisible again.

MATIAS: When she leaves me, I want to be seen.

HOST: Natalie, what do you think about Matias's and Maya's connection?

NATALIE: *sighs and smirks* What do I think about their connection? I believe it. I believe in them. No matter the garbage Piper puts my cousin through, Maya is strong. She's hanging on for Matias, no matter the darkness trying to swallow them both alive.

HOST: Maya, why do you believe you could see Matias and no one else can?

MAYA: I didn't want to be seen anymore. When Piper and her minions chased me into the woods, I'd do anything to be invisible because I didn't want Piper or Jacob to kill me, and they would have really killed me. So, I ran into invisibility which explains how I could see Matias.

HOST: I'm sorry to the both of you Matias and Maya. The love between you two is sprouting. I am thankful you can be seen today for this interview and I apologize that you'll have to go back soon. I know your story must continue. It needs to continue because I sense a beautiful ending.

MAYA & MATIAS: Thank you.

HOST: Maya, I know you've brought a preview of you story to share with us and with anyone who'll be interested in reading it, but before I share it with everyone, I'd like to ask you all another question. If you could change one thing about your life whether it be your actions or anything, what would you change? Maya?

MAYA: I would change the way I see things. I want to be braver. I want to stand up to anyone who means me harm or means harm to anyone else. I want to learn how to forgive and free myself from my own darkness.

MATIAS: *smiles at Maya, his hand lays atop hers under the table* I have a past I'd like to change. Maybe if I hung out with the right crowd, I wouldn't have ended up in my situation. Then again, I don't feel like I'd want to change anything. I would have never met Maya if I were able to make a switch in my life.

NATALIE: *Peeks down the table at Maya and grins* I would change my having to follow my fashion career for peace. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion, but after my parents died, all I've been doing is chasing after something. I also would change my attitude. I want to help more people struggling with bullying. I want to start now.

*Everyone stares at Piper*

HOST: And lastly, how about you, Piper? What would you change about yourself?

*Piper exhales, her eyes welling with tears*

PIPER: I don't want to be this person. I don't want to be the child who was abused and seeks to hurt others because of it. But I have a problem. I'm addicted to pain, whether it be myself or someone else like her—Faulty Ricci. *nods at Maya*

HOST: Piper, I know you're getting help. I also believe you had a breakdown because it landed you in the help's arms.

PIPER: You mean the asylum? *scoffs* It's just as much help as it is torture.

HOST: It won't work in one day. It will take time. Speaking of time, I want to thank each of you for joining me today. I hate to send you all back, though I know you need to leave. But, before you go, here's a little sneak peek to Maya's story.

THE FALLEN & THE LOST (Previously Flutter)

{chapter two sneak peek}

https://youtu.be/W1UNDLRsF8M

I froze in place at the second round of clatters then I jolted around. From the shadows of the building, one individual thumping a bat against the cement was walking slowly at me. Another shadow, another and another sprouted from the dimness. Most of them were wearing black hoodies, two of them wore white ones and it was in that moment, I realized just exactly who they were. "Piper and Jacob," I murmured.

She held up her hand and everyone stopped moving. I swallowed and stepped back. Jacob and Piper removed their hoods. Jacob carried a bat also and one of the other minions dropped a beer bottle on the surface. The shattering made me shiver. "Nice look, Faulty Ricci. I see you took my advice about the sneakers. Ready to find out why?"

"I'll tell!" I tried to shout, but it came out weak and wobbly. I was too scared to cry even. "Please, Piper. Please don't kill me."

"She begs," Piper sang to her group. They laughed and her eyes never strayed from mine. "Let's make a deal, Faulty."

I was hopeful. If it meant saving my life then I would probably do almost anything at that point.

"I'll give you 'til the count of ten to run as fast as you can."

"What? What are you going to do to me?" I rocked back and forth on my feet. I was ready to run, but I desperately needed to know her motives.

"Now why would I tell you? What's the fun in that?" She licked her lips and counted. "Five. Six." Piper didn't start from one. She only gave me five seconds and I didn't bother trying to figure out why.

I ran toward the open field, my sight searching the hemlines of the woods. They were already running after me. My legs felt so heavy, my back hurting because of the heftiness of my books. I slid my arms out of my straps, continuing to move my feet but it was slowing me down. The pack fell behind and the others were growing closer. My heart burned and the cool air tortured my lungs. "Run, run, run as fast as you can!" Jacob's voice hammered behind me. The rest of the group yelled and slapped their bats on anything they could touch.

They shouted threats behind me, they laughed and threw little pebbles at my back but I never stopped running. I was at the entrance of the woodlands within five minutes. I could feel my insides trying to give up on me but I couldn't stop. I ran past trees, jumped over twigs and colored leaves. What once was a beautiful scenery of bundles of trees could very well be the place I'd die in.

"I'm gonna get you, Faulty!" Piper shouted. Deeper in the woods, the gloominess from the clouds drifted through the opened parts of branches and leaves. That storm we'd been waiting for since the fifties, it was coming. I could smell the rain biting the sky. I went further and everything was getting darker. I felt dizzy like I'd fall in a matter of seconds. My world was twisting and then I made a mistake. I glanced behind me to witness that the lighter, full of life part of the woods was behind me and in the front, were dead trees, barks as black as tar.

With the help of my feet giving up on me, a sudden shift in gravity pulled me to the ground. I fell on my hands and knees, sticks poking me in the legs and on my palms. Instantaneously, I flipped over, my bottom on the twigs and dead leaves, the withering roots of the dead trees dancing awake underneath the murky dirt. I scooted back as the hooded individuals came closer and closer... until they stopped moving altogether.

I knew this was the part where Piper would cut off my head and tear apart my limbs with the help of her pack of wolves. The tears poured down my face and I shook my head, desperately pleading, "Please, please, Piper. I--" I waited for her to charge at me but she did nothing—they did nothing. Oddly, I wondered why. It was then I noticed they were looking past me.

They searched high and low, and I was right in front of them. I huffed and puffed, too afraid to get off the ground. "I swear I saw her," Jacob fussed.

"I think I heard a noise," said another person.

"She couldn't have disappeared that quickly," warned a girl.

"Will all of you shut up!" Piper wasn't asking.

But they were right. I heard a noise too, only, it wasn't me who made it. A wind blew past me and at their faces. They threw their arms across their eyes as a shield. My stomach writhed and my heart screamed. I saw something moving from my peripheral. I inhaled, my heartbeat slowing from the tight breath as I watched a stranger look right through me and stepped forward. He faced them, my attackers. His face was so close to Piper's. She still didn't move a muscle, neither of them did. Was he the king of this horrible bullying? Why would they go through so much to taunt me?

I was too stumbled to move. My eyes traced the back of the stranger's arms. His hands curled half way--I could sense a horrifying anger pulsing through him. The ground trembled and I realized they were startled, but not as half as I had been. The boy crushed his fingers into his palms and the roots from two trees snapped. The trees tumbled over and the group jumped back, falling in between the entrapments of the broken plants. Piper growled and the winds grew harder, whipping each of them in the face. The clouds roared and lightning crackled from the burned sky.

Rain.

"Let's get out of here!" the mean girl ordered. The others climbed over one of the fallen trees but Piper took a moment to stare in my direction one last time.

"Piper, come on!" Jacob demanded, irritation grating his throat.

She left and I was still there.

The stranger, I watched him. He sighed and dropped his head, the clenching of his fist loosening up, but the rain and the lightning never stopped. The boy turned around slowly, like a ghost, and still, he acted as though I wasn't there. I couldn't help but wonder if he had something dangerous planned for me. He was so pale. He appeared misplaced. "Please, don't hurt me," I cried.

The boy stopped moving and his gaze slowly traveled to mine. I hurried backward, crab-walk style — and he frowned at me. I continued with, "If you're one of them, I swear I'll--"

He scoffed and asked me the oddest question. "You can see me?"

***

If you'd like to read more of THE FALLEN & THE LOST you can find it here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/112588818-the-fallen-the-lost-previously-flutter-wattys2017

Thank you, guys, for checking out my post. Also, I, DreamLyte (Shani Lyte), will be giving away a shout out and advertising your book on my profile and in one of my own stories to three lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally!

So, be sure to enter the giveaways by clicking the link below.

Thank you again for the support. I appreciate you guys so much!

Xo-SL

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