I wanted the prologue to be mysterious, and difficult to understand completely, while still gripping, and judging by reader comments I managed to pull it off.

I did a number of things with this chapter, the two most important being introducing the original Marked and the Cult of the Marked, which become rather important later.

The Marked themselves are several people with tattoos (Marks) on their left arms, each representing a unique ability that the particular Marked has. The original six abilities (Necromancy, Telekinesis, Foresight, Mind Reading, Teleportation and Electricity) are revealed here, along with a secret seventh one, represented by an hourglass.

Fun Fact: The name of the American celebrity, and member of the Cult of the Marked, Damian Hall, was inspired by another fictional celebrity with sinister plans. Damian's first name was chosen due to the character (and primary antagonist) Damian Cray in Eagle Strike, one of the Alex Rider novels written by Anthony Horowitz.

Chapter 1 reveals the first information about the nature of the Marks, and the person with power over Electricity, Alex. Although you may assume, thanks to the inspiration behind Damian Hall's name, that this is another reference to Alex Rider, it's not. In fact, it's taken from a character of mine in the BZPRPG, named Elax. In the original version of Alex's backstory, it was very similar to Elax's, and I thought it would be funny to make the names related. Another fun fact is that I made his favourite colour medium-blue, which is also the colour which represents Electricity in the Marks.

This also shows the first case of trouble being caused by the Marks, with Alex attacking several bullies harassing the girl that he fancies, Christina.

Fun fact: I actually didn't much like this chapter, and considered it a little dull, mostly due to the interaction between Alex and Christina, which although necessary, was slightly strange to write.

Ah, Chapter 2. We meet David, the straight hero, and we also are introduced to our dear, misguided antagonist, Liam.

We also learn some more about the backstory of the Marked, discovering that the corpses inside the tomb from the Prologue were the ancestors of the current Marked, and that the Marks represent the powers of each Marked, but aren't the source. We also learn that Liam was raised on the history of the Marked, and that his whole family is obsessed with the Marks, even going so far as to track the other families. We also learn that he lived in Cork, as close as his family could get to the Tomb.

Liam believes that the Marked are deities in human form, and are born to rule over humanity; although David's opinion currently isn't clear, other than that he disagrees with Liam, he believes that the Marked exist to protect humanity rather than to rule them.

Fun Fact: I have a tendency to name male, Irish antagonists Liam, as shown inside the COTRPG, Kid Icarus: Unanswered Prayers. Also, Liam references Spider-Man inside the conversation with David, which originally would have lasted longer than it does at the moment.

Chapter 3 was the first chapter to get multiple drafts. A few people said the other chapters were too fast-paced, and this chapter was far, fa too fast-paced originally. I made massive edits, and wrote out a plan for all the chapters right up to 10, so that I would know exactly what I was doing, and would be able to pace everything appropriately. There's not much revealed about the nature of the Marks here, but it does hint at something, that being that overuse of their powers will have physical side-effects on the Marked.

Fun Fact: Eve is naturally ginger. She dyed her hair blonde.

Here we have our longest chapter so far, with over two thousand words. Congratulations me!

Anyways, moving swiftly along, this chapter is once again fast-paced. It's also the first chapter to have two non-evil Marked (David and Stephen). The first chapter to have two Marked was Chapter 2, but Liam's an antagonist.

So, we have some plot movement here, with the empty car park. Mysterious, huh? It's not the only thing like it, you'll be seeing a fair few more as the story goes along.

Fun Fact: Stephen is (loosely) based on my friend, who goes by the name Stormageddon here; he gave me quite a bit of help and support when I was beginning work on this project, and I can honestly say that it likely wouldn't have happened without him. Without his incessant nagging, I still wouldn't have completed Chapter 2.

Chapter 5 introduces perhaps my least favourite of the villains I've created: Crux. It's not that he's a bad villain, it's just that I really don't like him, and you'll understand why soon enough in a scene involving an office, a member of the Cult of the Marked, and soap. It also reveals to us that David isn't the only member of the Marked who has problems with his parents, and we get to see Alex interacting with someone who isn't Christina, and we see once again that he isn't a terribly friendly guy (although Crux is less friendly again).

And once again, we see a lack of people in a usually crowded place. I wasn't sure about putting that scene on the ferry in, but I eventually decided to keep it, as it shows that the lack of people appears to be following David and Stephen. As for why people are missing, well, you'll just have to figure it out yourself or wait until I reveal it.

Fun Fact: Two fun facts today! The start of this chapter was written immediately after I finished Chapter 1, and this chapter was originally meant to be Chapter 6, with Chapter 5 focusing on Liam. However, I felt that the original Chapter 5 wasn't up to my standards, so I dumped it in favour of this (which is part of the reason for why it took so long to be posted). However, the details from the original Chapter 5 will eventually be revealed.