1st Rd Sm Press Contest #29 - Whispers of Disaster

WHISPERS OF DISASTER
GENRE- YA fantasy
65,000 words

QUERY:

She’s been called a witch, a demon, the daughter of a murderer.  As a senior in high school Taylor is used to the rumors, the whispers. She knows her father was a mysterious man, but a murderer? When her best friend nearly drowns in a flooded stream, a stranger comes out of nowhere to save her. A man claiming to know Taylor’s father.

Obsessed with finding the truth, Taylor follows the man into the woods. Through the trees and darkness, Taylor finds a bon fire surrounded by a group of people. They claim to be the Maaylina, the group her father belonged to before his death. And they expect Taylor to join them. But even the Maaylina are hiding things from her. And Taylor is tired of secrets.

Defying direct orders, Taylor follows a group of Maaylina to Guatemala on one of their secret “missions”. Inside a crowded airport they climb to the rafters and use their power to cause the roof to collapse—crushing hundreds of people. In this terrifying initiation, Taylor learns the Maaylina don’t just believe in fate, they believe they are fate. They believe they are destined to cause disasters to the world.

Taylor considers them murderers and refuses to join. The Maaylina consider her a traitor, and they have killed for much less. Now Taylor finds herself on the run, hunted by her own family.

First 150 Words:

Taylor took one long, deep breath before opening the door to her own personal hell.
Two dozen heads turned to look at her as she walked in. Then the whispers began.
"Why doesn't she just stay home?" one girl said.
Taylor forced her eyes straight ahead. She was used to the comments.
“I swear, I shiver every time I look into her eyes," a boy whispered.
“Then don’t,” his friend said next to him. “I bet she’d curse you!”
Sometimes it was like a game, guessing which angle they’d try each day, which new rumor they’d come up with next. If only it didn’t make her skin crawl.
Taylor pushed the anger down and sat at her desk. She was good at hiding, but as much as she tried, her thick skin wasn’t indestructible. They still got to her.
But she would never show them how much.