Out of Darkness- snippets

I thought today I might introduce you to some of the characters from my story Out of Darkness.
You can check out the story line on the My Stories tab up there ^.
I guess it only makes sense to start out with the hero of the story. That would be this guy-

Cannon Christopher Reese:

Cannon is seventeen, and lives in Detroit. He likes his motorcycle, and skateboarding. He's got a pretty messed up family. Like, his brothers are gangsters, working for his dad, and his mom...my goodness. The woman is a ditz. Give her a credit card and she's the most content person on planet earth. Cannon is the odd duck in the family. He doesn't have a criminal record (well, except that one time he went out and did some graffiti...but no one could pin him for that), and he's not interested in the gangs. So his family thinks he's pretty weird. He wants to fit in with them, but his attempts usually end up in some sort of disaster. He has a sarcastic, dry sense of humor that's pretty much exactly what I would sound like if I was a teenage boy surrounded  by thugs. His hair is a little longer than in this picture, but it's pretty darn close.

Cannon Snippets:

 

“Got plans for the evening?”

        Cannon shrugged. “Same as usual I guess. Jer said he would meet me later on if I wanted.” He glanced at him. “Why? You want me to stick around for something?”

            Travis shook his head. “Nope. Just asking.” He smirked a little. “You know people actually ask things for reasons other than wanting something.”

            Cannon rolled his eyes and smirked. “Really? That’s weird.”

 

Cannon studied the sketch. "Now I'm no artist- all I've ever done is graffiti- But I think that is really good."

"What am I supposed to wear to this deal?" He asked.

            "Just normal clothes.".....

Cannon claimed an empty couch seat next to Jeremy. His friend eyed his clothes. A black T-shirt with skulls on it, black leather jacket, chain hanging off his jeans.

            "I should have been more specific than 'normal' clothes." He mumbled.

 

            "Jeremy, it's eight in the morning." He growled, lying back on his pillow.

"Yeah, I know."

"So why are we having this conversation?"

"I wondered if you would come to church with me?"

"Jer." Cannon sighed. It was way too early for him to be making any decisions like that.

"Oh come on Cannon. What else would you be doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Exactly! Wouldn't you rather be with me than sleeping?"

"Not really." He grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

 

"What do I wear?"

"Nice clothes. Nothing graphic. Something you'd be willing to wear in front of you’re...in front of my grandma."

"I'm not wearing a tie." Cannon scowled into the phone.

"That's fine. You can even wear your leather jacket. But pull your jeans up, ditch the skulls, and comb your hair...maybe wash it too."

"Forget it, I changed my mind." Cannon flopped back down.

"My brothers barged in and were mouthing off about me being at church. Trenton hit me, but I didn't do anything. I did the whole 'turn the other cheek' thing, and he hit me again."

"Well what happened?" Jeremy pressed.

"Then I laid into him."

 

 "Why aren't you at school?"

"Because it's a dump for wimps."

She frowned. "Are you sick?"

"Never been better."

"So how is school?" He asked.
 Cannon shrugged. "I hate it. I flunked my English class. I was supposed to write about the benefits of school. I guess I got it wrong, because I wrote about the torments of prison."
At lunch, Miranda walked over to his table. She held out Cannon's jacket. "Jeremy asked me to give this to you." She dropped it onto the table.

Cannon drew it toward him. "It's probably got your germs all over it."

"I'm a friend. I came to pick Rianna up. We're going to go out."

He shook his head. "She doesn't go out without my permission."

"Can we have your permission?" Cannon asked hopefully.

"No."

That's what he'd thought.

"Well, it's been unpleasant meeting you, but I and Rianna have to leave now."

 

So that was it. He was some kind of special needs kid who had somehow developed a sense of moral decency that his parents didn't know what it was or how to deal with it.

Cannon forced himself to look at his mom. "Why did you even bother having me?" He felt tired, and defeated. The fight, that had kept him going for so long, drained out of him leaving an empty, scared little boy.

A little boy that wanted to be told he was born to be loved.

 Cannon shrugged. "Fine. Your sister is asking me questions."

Jeremy looked up suddenly. "Is she asking where baby's come from again?"

Cannon smirked. "You mean she doesn't know?"

"She's six!" Jeremy gave him a disapproving glance.

"Well when I was six I knew full well the stork brought babies."

 He hadn't thought a gun necessary for going to youth group. Never again.

 

Cannon flinched and backed away. Apparently, Tommy couldn't afford a room or a bath. "That's great." He choked. Fumbling in his pocket, he handed him a stick of gum.

Tommy frowned. "What’s that for?"

"The good of mankind." Cannon said dryly.

 

And then there's the girl.  

Rianna Frank:

Rianna is sixteen, but she and Cannon are in the same grade (it's because he's not exactly fond of studying). She's from a poor family. Her parents are hard drug addicts, and her dad can be abusive. Because they're both social outcasts, she and Cannon become friends (Cannon would probably tell you its because she was being stupid and he had to save her, but we can't listen to him). She's a little bit shy, but she can be a whole lot of fun once she feels out the water.

Rianna Snippets:

Cannon peeked over her shoulder to see what it was that had her attention that way. He was surprised to see she was drawing.  

It was a girl in a long gray dress, and what looked like the start of wings. The features were shockingly lifelike and detailed. There was a strange desperation in the angel-girl’s face that made her darkly attractive. Kind of like rock music.

He scowled and whipped his bike around and came alongside her. "Hey."

     She glanced at him nervously, not recognizing him with the visor on his helmet down, and kept walking.

"Rianna." He snapped.

She stopped and looked up at him suddenly. "Cannon?"

"Yeah." He said irritably, flipping up his visor. "What are you doing on this side of town?" He cast a glance toward the guys.

She shrugged. "Walking."

He shook his head. "No one walks out here at night. Especially a girl. You'll get hurt."

She squared her shoulders. "I'll be fine."

Cannon pointed to the gang down the street. "I know those guys and it looks like they've noticed us. We have to get out of here. You can argue with me somewhere else." Not only did he not want to be noticed, he didn’t want to be noticed with a girl. He would never hear the end of it. And it was better for Rianna not to even be seen by those guys.

Rianna looked at the group, then to Cannon, and crawled on behind him. Cannon buzzed off, taking streets that weren't typically frequented by the thugs. "So what are you really doing out here? No one just goes for a walk out here."

“You’re out here.” She said.

“I’m not walking. And I’m not a girl.” Wasn’t she listening? “Besides, I live here. Answer the question.”

 

A text came to his phone and he read it. 'guess who got phone and drivers license. meet at park? need 2 tell u something. Ri.'

Cannon smiled, then re-read the text and frowned a little. What did she need to tell him? And why wouldn't she say it on the phone? He thought of the most common 'something’s' a girl needed to tell.

There's someone else.

Or worse, I just want to be friends.

Had she hit it off with Brian that much? Would it help if he bought a horse? He worried up a knot in his stomach as he went downstairs and drove to the park. Rianna was sitting on the swing set.

 He sat down in one of the swings. "So what do you need to tell me?"

Rianna glanced away. "Well...I still want to be friends with you, but if you don’t want to, I'll understand."

Cannon frowned. "Why wouldn't I want to?"

Here it came. Cannon I'm dating your friend because he has a horse.

Rianna took a deep breath. "I'm a Christian now."

Cannon stared a moment and then laughed. "I thought you were going to tell me something horrible."

Rianna looked up. "You're not mad?"

"Of course not. I'm a Christian now too."

Rianna's eyes widened. "You are?"

He nodded. “A couple weeks now."

Rianna squealed and threw her arms around his neck. Cannon knew he should congratulate her, but he couldn't get past the fact that she was hugging him.

 

Cannon opened his eyes slowly. The light hurt, and made his head spin, but it was light.

Not heaven type light though.

At least he didn't think so.

There was still a light shadow over everything...and spider webs on the ceiling.

The girl leaning over him wasn't an angel, but she sure looked like one to him.

She smirked a little. "I think you promised me a date."

He laughed a little. "You gave me CPR, wasn't that enough?"

She flushed. "Not quite."

 

All good stories need a villain....

Trenton Reese:

Cannon's older half-brother. He's twenty eight. He's one of the ring leaders in a group of thugs. He's got more of the business mind with those sort of things. He's evil. Evil incarnate. No two ways to cut it. And annoying. I hate him. He was a pain to write.

 

Trenton Snippets:

 

Trenton gave him a measuring glance. Cannon returned his gaze. "What are you doing here?"
"Come home to see the family."
"Fat chance."
            "I just got back from Canada and need a place to hang out."
            Cannon rolled his eyes. "Of all places to spend six years, you chose Canada?"
            "Yeah, and you chose your bedroom."
Sophie walked in then, purse and cell phone in hand. "I'll see you boys later. Be good." She whisked out the door, either not noticing, or not caring that the two of them were ready to go at it.
            Trenton raised an eyebrow. "Be good? What are we, second graders?"
            Cannon shrugged. "I don’t know what she's saying half the time."
            "Yeah well, at least she's your mom not mine." Trenton grabbed his jacket and walked out the front door.

 

It was after midnight by the time he walked through the front door. Razor met him in the hallway. The house was dark and quiet. Cannon made his way up to his room and was both surprised and disgusted to find Trenton collapsed in his bed.

 "Get up." He growled, latching onto his brother’s shirt and jerking him to his feet. Only half-conscious, Trenton staggered. Cannon hauled him across the room and shoved him into the hallway, slamming the door after him.

"This is Rianna. These are Trenton and Gage. I'm told they're my brothers." 

 

"What are you doing here?"

Trenton looked up, wearing a bored expression. "Watching TV, genius."

 

 

Two villains sounds better.

Gage Reese:

He's Cannon's twenty-five year old full brother. He's in a gang too, but he's too hung over all the time to lead it. He likes the party crowd more than the business side of things. He's annoying, and mouthy, and also evil. But not as scary as Trenton. That guy is a creep.

Gage Snippets:

Cannon looked around. "Where are mom and dad?"

Gage shrugged. "I don’t remember." He didn’t look like he remembered much.

"Where were you?"

  "Shooting hoops."

  Gage rolled his eyes. "That's all you ever do."

  "You're one to talk," Cannon snapped. "I can tell you what you’re doing three hundred sixty-five days out of the year."

 Gage smirked. "What's that?"

"Passed out, getting ready to pass out, or sitting in jail." Or like now, waking up from passing out.

 

 

After school, Cannon waved Rianna over. "I'll give you a ride home."

"Cannon, I don’t want to bother you all the time."

Cannon rolled his eyes. "Unless you change your name to Gage, you won’t bother me."

 

"So are you coming back?" Gage demanded.

"No."

"Where are you?"
"Do you really care?" Cannon snapped.

"No. But I wanted to make sure before I sold all your stuff."

 

 

The two women had disappeared into the kitchen, leaving only his brothers.

Gage smirked at him. "She's a looker. If she gets bored with you tell her I'm available."

"Shut up!" Cannon snapped. "What about White Annie, or whatever her name is?"

"Ivoryana." Gage growled.

"Exactly. You stay away from Rianna."

 

I'm just terribly curious if anyone noticed my obsession going on here, because...The guys in the pictures of Cannon, Gage, and Trenton...they're all the same man. Yup. Garrett Hedlund ladies and gentleman. He changes his hair a lot.