Books Like Where Are The Children Now?

The people have elected a new president. The first thing he did was conscript children into a school for future soldiers, and not a single human rights organization found out. Selena was one of those children. She was twelve when soldiers at school picked her up from school, rode a chopper, and disappeared They brought her to a garrison along with hundreds of children like her. There, she met friends she'd do anything to protect.

The night before my wedding, I caught my fiancé, Miguel Sheffield, kissing the Newells' biological daughter in the garden. I stood there with my pregnancy test in hand, my chest hollow. The next day, the wedding went on. Flowers lined the red carpet. Guests lifted their champagne glasses. But the bells rang again and again, and the bride never showed. The daughter the Newells had raised by mistake left only her engagement ring on the vanity. Then she vanished. I moved overseas and raised my child alone. I cut off everyone from my past. Five years later, I came home. And one by one, they walked right back into my life.

For nearly five centuries, no child has drawn a first breath. The Creator sealed the womb of the world, and humanity learned to live without its future. But in the depths of Triune, another kind of genesis rose. From the Middle comes a child with power and lineage to rival the Creator. Not born, but woven. Not raised, but awakened. Bodies shaped by design. Souls coaxed from silence. Each one a crafted echo of what humanity once was. Those who survive their emergence ascend to the Upper. Those who falter are reclaimed by the dark. On the night meant to mark their passage into adulthood, five friends stumble upon a truth older than scripture and sharper than prophecy: The first humans were not what they were told. The gods were not who they claimed to be. And the Children of Triune were never meant to ask why. Some truths don't set you free, they come for you.

There is a War being fought that stretches beyond eternity. Waging that War are men and angels and demons and creatures and beings beyond time and space. Thrust into this conflict is a foundling boy who knows nothing of this War but is integral to tipping the balance toward whomever can control him. As a child, Hunter’s world is attacked, and, along with a few faithful retainers and allies, his mother escapes with him, while his father, using his own life as forfeit, stays behind to ensure those he loves escape. Mother and child are pursued. Their retainers are killed while protecting them until they are able to get out from under the net thrown by their enemies. Now, far, far away, not knowing the fate of her husband or people and with no way of getting back, she has only herself to raise and protect her son. This is the story of what comes after, of a boy alone, having raised himself, by himself, for half his life. Then the powers that inform and rule that world become aware of him, of his power, his potential. In their ignorance and conceit, they awaken the true nature of the child, and a war, of unimaginable proportions to shake the heavens, comes to their doorstep, and the boy they thought to use, and later kill, is the only thing that can save them.

My mother never believed me. To her, I was always just a lying pup. In my pack, every cub wore a Moon Oath Collar. Red meant you lied. White meant you told the truth. My sister’s collar always glowed a soft white. Even when she pretended to be sick to get out of an exam, her collar only gave off that gentle white light. Mine was different. Even when I was truly sick, my collar would burst into a violent red, and the punishment current would follow immediately. On my sister’s birthday, Mother prepared a bonfire feast for the whole pack. Just before they left, a splitting pain tore through my head, and I collapsed on the floor, begging her to help me. For one second, she almost picked me up. Then my collar flashed red. “To ruin your sister’s birthday, you’re even pretending to die? What a vicious child.” Then she walked out with my sister and left me alone on the floor. I died alone on the cold floor. But when I opened my eyes again, I was no longer inside my body. My soul drifted after my mother as I whispered the truth she had never believed. “Mom… I wasn’t lying. I really died.” And when they finally found my body, the red collar on my neck was still flashing.

My adopted daughter, Phoebe Marsh, possessed an evil ability. Whenever she got hurt, the pain would also be inflicted directly on my biological daughter, Maisie Shaw. She deliberately hurt herself, covering her body with wounds and bruises. Then, she would turn around with cold eyes, watching Maisie writhe on the floor in agony until she passed out from the pain. With no medical solution available, I broke down and held Maisie close, begging my husband, Brandon Shaw, to send Phoebe away. However, he would erupt in fury. "It's obviously Maisie who's been faking illness for attention, and you're making up this ridiculous story to get rid of Phoebe. She's just a fragile, helpless child. How can you be so vicious?" After that, Phoebe escalated her self-harm even more viciously. Meanwhile, Maisie spent every day curled up in the corner of her bed, refusing to let anyone touch her. On Maisie's birthday, Phoebe threw herself from the fifth floor. Just as Maisie was blowing out her candles and making a wish, she suddenly began bleeding from all her facial orifices, and she died instantly. Yet, Phoebe only suffered minor scrapes. I died from overwhelming grief shortly after. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to Phoebe's first day in our home. Maisie was playing with her Legos when she suddenly clutched her ankle and started crying. This time, I grabbed the broom from behind the door and swung it toward Maisie, shouting, "I'll beat you up for faking illness and seeking attention!"