Sequential Art: Book One

This is a six page spread of my comic from a  part in my book: Chapter 18; pages 135-138

        

Title page for my book, unfinished. 

             They walked up the steps to the darkening castle that loomed with a threatening blackness. April was hesitant and afraid to even go into the castle but Kat persisted.

“Her sent is much stronger.” Said Kat.

            She ascended ahead; no longer needed April’s help. April looked down from the steps to find the hot lava river more than one hundred feet below. This didn't help April’s confidence, she was very afraid of what was to come. It was like living a nightmare; this world was a nightmare and April just wanted to get it over with as fast as she could. She looked ahead with the lighted staff in her hand and pinpointed Kat who was very far up the stairs and looked like an ant scurrying atop the huge stair steps.

“Kat!” April practically screamed as she continued up the dark descend. 

          The castle grew steadily bigger while the stairs seemed endless. April showed the light up at the castle and the light was barely a blip on the gigantic structure. She could make out spires at the top and as she continued going up with the light, it could even be seen on the sky itself, seeming like a black wall was behind the castle which gave an overall claustrophobic feeling. 

            Kat was still far ahead of April, she had detected Keita’s sent and her objective was to save her and Niome. April, however, had only fearsome memories of this world, she acknowledged all of the possibilities that could happen in the journey to come.

“Kat!” April ran forward to catch up.

            Kat finally made it to the top where huge double doors stood, silent and dark. Kat looked at it with a quizzical expression and sniffed the air, Keita’s sent ever potent. Kat looked back to see a small light ascending toward her. She heard her name being called and remembered April, “April! Get up here!”

“I’m trying!” April continued running, though she felt queasy, she made it to Kat and the giant double doors.

“Now what?” she asked.

Kat shrugged, “I guess we just open it…”

            April observed the knobs with the lighted staff in her hands.  Kat began to twist the knobs.

“Wait!” April shouted.

“What is it?!” Kat let go with irritation, “Keita is in here…”

April sighed, “I guess I’m just scared…You never know what might come out and get you…”

“Well, I’m willing to take that chance April.” Kat twisted the knob and push the extremely large door open, which only took a little crack to let them through.  April closed her eyes for the unknown awaiting both of them. Kat stepped into the intoxicating darkness that immediately gripped her and pulled her in. April then stepped in with the light in hand to scare the darkness away and save Kat.

 April held the light up to see the room which surprised her to see that it was a disastrous mess with chipped marble walls and broken, eroded marble floors. There was a chair strewn across the exit of the small room as well.

“What happened here?” April gazed upon the mess with awe and confusion.

            Kat put her finger in a drop of blood that was on the floor and sniffed it.

“It looks like a crime scene.” April’s voice echoed ominously throughout the silent parlor.

Kat stood up, “Keita’s sent is all over this place…” She walked over to April, “Even her blood.” she stuck her hand up to show April the blood. 

April gasped, “Is she dead?!”

            Kat shrugged and looked around the room, “I don’t know…but her body’s not here.”

“Well, can you still track her sent?” Asked April.

“Most likely…” Replied Kat.

            April and Kat walked forward in the room, getting closer and closer to the exit. Kat moved the broken chair out of the way and clasp the door handle to open it. The door was well made with white porcelain base and golden bands wrapping around the porcelain like an external rib cage.

            This struck April as peculiar; actually, the whole room gave such an impression, the castle was oddly elegant, nothing really gruesome or demonic, just ominously and silently ordinary. This put April somewhat at ease.

           Kat opened the door to more darkness and as April’s light penetrated, the room was vast where there was a staircase in the middle that led to the second floor. The walls were copper, though a huge portion of it was blackened.

“I guess the fight continued through here…” April shined her light upon the room.

“Her sent is closer…” Kat sniffed around the room.

            Everything seemed quiet throughout which put April in a more comfortable and contempt state, she thought this journey somewhat bearable...for the moment.

         Kat slowly ascended up the steps toward the double doors April fallowing close behind. Kat clasped one of the handles of the elegant door on the second floor that was equal in its elegance to the first one they opened. Before she twisted it, however, it opened of its own accord.

            Complete darkness seeped through like a plague, April’s light couldn't even penetrate such darkness.

“Stupid light…” she shook her staff to get the light to work but the darkness was overwhelming and the darkness seemed to absorb the light altogether.

            Kat went into the room.

“Kat!” April shouted after her.

            Kat turned back and April’s light only shined on Kat’s face, she looked oddly blank. April starred at her in confusion.

            Then, Kat turned away from April and she was gone from the light. The room stayed silent while April stared at the darkness with a stunned expression. She then sat down in the more lighted room beside the black hole entrance awaiting her, she contemplated her next move. She knew it was too late to turn back now, and she couldn't abandon Kat.

            She got up and looked deep into the blackness in front of her; she took a deep breath and slowly walked into the room. The light couldn't penetrate the darkness, even with all of her energy at expense to it. She was basically blind and walking in what seemed to her, her immediate nightmare.

            April could hear her intense breathing, other than that it was virtually silent. She walked slowly with her staff guiding her as a blind person would.  She then heard a sound, like someone scurrying toward her. She ducked and covered, preparing for the worst. Nothing happened, all was silent once again.

            Her heart throbbed from sheer fear. She got up slowly and looked all around, she could only find darkness. She concentrated all of her energy and focus to bring about light to the end of her staff, but it was all frivolous.

            Though the tiniest and dimmest of light came through, April couldn't hold it and she collapsed from exhaustion. She laid there, in the darkness once again, on the cold solid ground to catch her breath, she thought. She thought about her next move and also thought of how ridiculous it was to be running in endless darkness, blind and confused. She huffed as she fell asleep on the ground, curled in fetal position and clutching her staff. She had a vivid dream about never being in the spirit world, that she was out of it.

            Her dream was crushed when she awoke in the darkness once again to find her confusion and blindness waiting for her. She laid there for a moment, she thought about Kat which then got her up quickly. She ran through the darkness head on, before too long the once solid floor became flooded with a liquid. She was running in water, or what seemed to be water.

            The water elevated and became thicker. Nonetheless, she continued to run; searching for Kat. As she continued, the water elevated to her knees before she stopped. She smelled something very foul lingering in the air and it was very thick and so strong that it almost made April vomit. 

           She found the sent to be coming from the water that surrounded her. She took a finger to the foul smell that was the mysterious substance with hesitation but overriding curiosity and sniffed it. It smelled somewhat metallic and she gasped as she realized that the substance she was walking in wasn't water at all, but blood.

            She screeched as she walked backwards away from the pool of blood. She then put her hands on her face and sighed; her breathing heavy and her heart pounding against her chest.

“Calm down, April…” She said aloud to herself as her breathing slowed. Her body shook violently from the frightening experience she just faced. Her legs itched from the coated blood that was quickly drying. She tried her best to scan the darkness and listened intently into those uncharted depths, but she could only hear dripping of the blood from the ceiling. She hesitantly stepped forward and back into the pool of blood. She then ran forward in it, only Kat on her mind. Soon the blood got so deep it came to her chest, she still persisted.
            The ceiling above her seemed as if it was closing in on her as she continued to run and the walls to the sides of her became narrower. She began to hear a faint rushing of water or in this case, rushing blood coming to her ears. Her heart throbbed from the fear of the unknown. Her fear was at its most acute and she wanted to turn back and run away but the rushing current took her forward. She lost her grip on the floor and the rushing water engulfed her and took her through a tunnel. Darkness enveloped everything as she continued to be propelled into the unknown, she started to shriek expecting to hit something solid but it never happened. The liquid slowed and stopped to a trickle, she landed in more darkness. 

            The room seemed narrower as she felt around, the ground under her, felt cold and clammy and she also felt ridges and spacing between the stones in a uniform fashion as well as the walls, like bricks of some sort. April was completely soaked in blood and shaking with fear.

            She got up and continued walking in the silence; the ground dry under her feet as she went further. She dragged her fingers across the wall to ensure her direction in the pitch blackness, her footsteps echoed with each step she took, which also assured her of great depth ahead of her.

            She tried her staff again for light and surprise struck her as the staff lighted with a dazzling yellow glow. She examined the area as a stranger, the walls and floor were plain with brown brick walls, floor and ceiling. It seemed that she was walking in a dungeon hallway. She was cautious in her movements, making sure that no traps arise. She walked for a while with no incident, the hallway seeming never ending and silent. 

            She then heard a noise in the distance, like someone was lurking in the darkness. April stopped walking and stood still; she shined the light on the immediate area. She could not see anything but heard steady footsteps approaching, she backed away but the footsteps continued. She stopped and braced herself for the worst, holding the light up in the impenetrable blackness.   

            She saw a face pop out of the darkness and a huge relief came over her. it was Kat.

“Kat!” April’s face lightened up when she saw her. April came up and hugged her, “I was looking everywhere for you!”

Kat shrugged, “Well, it’s pretty dark in here…”

April laughed nervously, “Yeah…”

“Well, we should keep going shouldn't we?” Asked Kat.

“Yeah.” April took a hesitant step forward, than stopped. She noticed that Kat didn't possess a single scratch on her and yet, April was tattered, torn and covered in drying blood.

“What’s wrong?” Kat stopped as well.

“Where were you Kat?” April raised an eyebrow.

Kat shrugged, “Just walkin’ around.”

            April looked at her for a minute, and then shrugged; “Okay…” she kept walking. Kat smirked unnaturally and jumped on April’s back; knocking her down. April twisted her head to see Kat with glowing red eyes that reached past her eye sockets as veins. Fangs protruded from her mouth and she laughed unnaturally.

April felt a piercing sensation in her back as Kat sunk her claws in April’s flesh. She screamed as the pain intensified. The claws pierced deep into April’s back rendering her immobile. Kat took her very long claws out of her back, April’s light went out and Kat’s red eyes could be seen in the dark. She licked the blood of April’s off of her claws, but as soon as she put the hot blood to her lips, she choked. Her tongue dissolved and her throat was on fire. She lost all of her hair and even her ears fell off.  Her mouth grew out of proportion to her face and she began to look demonic; her face became sunken and skeleton-like as she began to dissolve herself.

Echoed screams came and sounded throughout the area and into the depths of the hallway like that of a tortured soul. The demon faded away like a ghost that ceased to exist.

April lay there in numbness however, not unconscious. She felt like she was moving her fingers but her hand didn't respond. She tried to look through the darkness but nothing could be seen. She felt like she was getting up but her body still laid; un-moving. She yelled out in frustration. 

This was super condensed because of class constraints and the semester time. 

Will be colored later, ink and tech pens with Photoshop.