A serial killer is kidnapping teenagers across Long Island and leaving their mutilated bodies discarded in his wake. Meanwhile, in the small town of Mayfair Park, a group of high school seniors discovers that they have begun to develop incredible super human abilities. As the teens struggle to learn control of their new abilities mysterious strangers arrive in town and several of their friends go missing. Fearing that they have been targeted as the killers’ next victims, the teens race to unravel the strange connection between their developing powers and the strangers hunting them. With the looming threat of the mysterious strangers hunting them, the friends’ efforts lead to a series of incredible revelations that will forever change everything they once believed about the world and their place in it.
Fiction by Jon Gerrard
The Starcrown Chronicles
Book One: Shadowplay
The Starcrown Chronicles
Book Two: Scourge
The Tribe
With Dawn Mitchell
Non-Fiction by Jon Gerrard
Tae Kwon Do:
The Ultimate Reference Guide to the World’s Most Popular Martial Art
With Yeon Hwan Park and Yeon Hee Park
Black Belt Tae Kwon Do:
The Ultimate Reference Guide to the World’s Most Popular
Black Belt Martial Art
With Yeon Hwan Park
The Tribe
Revised Edition
Jon Gerrard
and
Dawn Mitchell
Jon Gerrard Books
The Tribe is a work of fiction.
All names, places, incidents, and characters are either the products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
Any government agency contacted regarding any of the persons or events described herein will deny any and all knowledge of any such person or persons, living or dead, the events or locations referred to in this story.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the authors.
The authors of this work would like to thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book.
We further appreciate your compliance with existing copyright laws by not scanning, distributing or reproducing in any manner any part of this book without permission. We enthusiastically endorse copyright as a means to support creativity and promote free speech within society.
Published in the United States by Jon Gerrard & Dawn Mitchell
Cover by Haydee Torres
ISBN-13:978-1533471390
ISBN-10: 1533471398
BISAC: Fiction/Science Fiction/Action & Adventure
This book is dedicated to:
Amanda
Danny
Dimitri
James
Magda
Manny
Matt
Paige
Reed
Shay
Tom
without whom this book would not be possible.
Prologue
“You can’t tell me what to do! I’m eighteen! I’m an adult!” Ethan Montgomery yelled as he slammed the front door to his house and stormed off into the warm, spring night. In a blind fury he swiped at his mother’s rose bush as he made is way down the front walk, regretting it at once when he felt the sharp sting of a thorn slicing into his finger. He hated it when his parents treated him like he didn’t have a brain. Why couldn’t they see that he wasn’t a little kid anymore, he thought as he examined his injured finger in the dim glow from the porch light.
He swore silently to himself as he saw blood welling thickly at the tip of his finger. It was starting to throb and he thought that maybe he should go back in to clean it and get a bandage. But he rejected that idea as soon as he thought it. He didn’t want to give his mother the satisfaction of seeing him come back inside after his dramatic exit.
Instead, he stuck his finger into his mouth as he got to the end of the front walkway and sucked on the wounded digit. He hesitated on the sidewalk for a moment before turning and stalking off toward the end of the street. He didn’t have a clear idea where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get out of the house. He had heard his mother calling for him to come back, but he noticed that she didn’t open the door to come after him either.
“Not like she really cares,” he muttered to himself as he pulled his finger out of his mouth and shoved his hands into his pockets. As he headed into the gloom of the night he thought about how different things would be in a few months when he went off to college. Then he would have the total freedom to do what he wanted without anyone looking over his shoulder. He would be free.
Within a minute he reached the end of the block and turned left, away from the center of town. He still didn’t have any place in particular as a destination. At that moment he just wanted to go for a really long walk. He thought that if he walked long enough his parents would eventually go to bed for the night and he could go back inside without another confrontation. They both worked in the city and were up before him in the morning. With any luck he wouldn’t have to talk to them again before tomorrow night.
He walked aimlessly for a while, losing track of both the time and where he was going. He hoped that the walk would help him cool off but minutes later he was still so distracted replaying the argument in his head that he failed to notice the car that had been creeping silently down the street behind him.
The car had its lights off and in spite of it being a big sedan its engine ran very quietly. As Ethan reached the middle of an especially dark section of the street, the car following him stopped. Moments later the sound of a car door closing behind him registered in his ears. He almost ignored it but something was making the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He started to twist around to see where the noise had come from when he heard a muffled pop at the same instant that he felt something strike him under his left shoulder blade.
He exhaled sharply in surprise and found himself tumbling forward to the ground as his legs gave out. He hit the ground hard and lay there stunned, his mind whirling in confusion. Had he just been shot? He willed his body up but found that he couldn’t move. That’s when the panic gripped him. Although too weak to move he could feel the terror spreading across his body like a million tiny ants. But even the surge of fear induced adrenaline was not enough to keep him conscious and he felt himself beginning to slip away.
In spite of not being able to move he found that his hearing was still sharp. Or perhaps it was due to the fact that it was nearly silent on the street. Whatever the reason, he heard the tread of footsteps coming toward him as he lay there helpless on the ground. Then movement in his narrowing field of vision drew his attention. It took his brain several moments to realize that he was staring at a pair of black shoes that had stopped inches in front of his face. He tried to say something but his lips and tongue felt like thick rubber. In that moment all he wanted was to be back at home with his mom and dad. As the realization that he was going to die began to sink in he was filled with a profound sense of regret over the harsh words he had spoken to his parents. He would have given anything in that moment to be able to apologize for what he’d said. With a final effort he tried one last time to call for his mother but only a garbled whisper came out. Then the darkness closed in around him and he knew no more.
A week later, as they stood over his open grave, Ethan’s parents unknowingly echoed their son’s last conscious thoughts.