Of Light and Shadows - Of Light and Shadows, #1

Five years begins the nightmare.  Along a peaceful stretch of coast, the balance for the world has begun, though none know of it.             The world is a simple enough place for Tyler Ferris and his friends, a place where good things happen just as often as bad.  For Tyler however, the world is sometimes an unknown place, a plain that seems to offer far more than what is seen, heard, or felt. Most days he thinks little of said feelings, but when a strange noise wakes him in the middle of the night, his life soon changes in ways he could never have hoped to expect.
             A single cry of pain alerts Tyler that something is wrong, but as he steps from his bedroom he enters a world where nothing is as he remembers, and friends have become enemies.  In this uncertain world, Tyler finds it necessary to fight, to kill, and to survive as he and his girlfriend Kera are attacked within their home.  Former classmates and friends turn upon the two as they are forced to fight for their lives, thrust into a hellish nightmare where shadows come to life and monsters lurk within the shadows.            Into this madness the two find their way throughout the northern end of the Long Beach Peninsula, their home and haven for so long, seeking out whoever might remain.  Little more than madness and destruction await them, however, the bloody trails leading from so many homes attest to the unrelenting insanity that has suddenly gripped the land.  Only after gathering several of their friends to their side do the two realize that the greatest threat lies not within the shadows surrounding their home, nor the frightening creatures that now roam the dark.  Through blood and fire the small group soon learns of the greater threat, represented by a small group of friends turned enemies, who seek goals much different than their own.             Months pass as the small group expands, finding survivors and shell-shocked innocents among the wilds of their home, and still, the dangers have not passed.  Through much patience, much understanding, and mutual fear the group has bonded closer to one another, though the threat to the south remains.  Only when a messenger is sent, beaten, and left for dead that those upon the northern end realize their peril.  It is then that Tyler Ferris realizes what he must do.            He must confront those he once knew as friends, and he must find a way to spare those who have been taken captive.  Alone, he travels towards the south end of the peninsula, to the den of the wolves he once trusted.  Within the deadly clutches of the enemy, Tyler will willingly seek to balance what has been thrown into such tumult.  All that remains to be seen is whether he will save them, or share their fate.