Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the United States. It's home to many movie stars and struggling actors and is known as the entertainment capital of the world.

In Obsidian this is one of the first places to really be impacted by the virus. The large population fuels the looting and devastation seen by Ava on the streets just before she and Jesse leave for Las Vegas.

Read more about Los Angeles on Wikipedia!

Malibu, California

Malibu is home to Jesse Sutton and the rest of the Los Angeles group. It's a beach community roughly 21 miles long. Most residents live very close to the ocean. Jesse Sutton's home has a small view of the ocean, but is not directly on the beach. he opted for the immense court yard instead to give him a place to protect his secret.

Read more about it on Wikipedia!

Hiu's Boat

This is the boat I imagine to be Hiu's. Take a tour by clicking on the link and viewing the picture gallery below the main picture! Thanks to @Deerme86 for helping me pick the perfect boat for Hiu!

http://www.boatinternational.com/yacht-sales/18556/callista-for-sale

Black Sand Beach

Punalu'u or Black Sand Beach is the setting for the pivotal scene where Ava realizes she's in love with Tom takes place. The black sand is made of basalt which forms when lava reaches the ocean and cools rapidly upon hitting the water. The beach is also known for it's Hawksbill and Green Turtles which like to bask in the sun on the black sand. If you ever visit, be sure not to touch the turtles and also do not remove the black sand from the beach. It is bad luck if you take volcanic rock from the Islands and the black sand is part of that.

You can see on the cover of Obsidian the black sand of the beach. The cover photo was actually taken on Punalu'u Beach.

 

 

Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo is the second largest city in Hawaii and the first largest on the Big Island. The city is the wettest city on earth with an average of 126 inches of rain per year. It's location also makes it suseptible to tsunamis and has infact had 2 deadly tsunamis hit in 1946 and 1960. Hilo is also home to the Merrie Monarch Festival which celebrates King David Kalākaua.

Read more about Hilo on Wikipedia.

This map shows the incorporated and unincorporated areas in Hawaii County, Hawaii, highlighting Hilo in red. Copyrighted by Arkyan

Obsidian Excerpt from Chapter Three

Excerpt from Chapter Three of Obsidian:

Tom was standing outside, waiting for her. When Ava neared him she could see his smile as it changed from happy to see her to his sly grin he used so often.

“Ava, I’m so glad you made it. Come on in, we’re discussing the companies’ new direction right now,” Tom said as he motioned for her to enter.

Ava wondered why they were discussing it out in the warehouse instead of the comfort of the office. As she crossed the threshold, she saw the group of men that had come to buy Herrick-Peyton—and succeeded. They were all gathered around a table with a laptop on it. Ava wasn’t sure why, it’s not like it could possibly work. But when she neared the table she saw that it was working and was connected to a live stream of some sort. On the screen, there was another business-looking man talking via video chat, and the laptop had a strange device connected to it. It looked like a flash drive, but much smaller.

“How did you get it to work?” Ava asked Tom, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion.

“Ava, we are the most technologically advanced company in the world. What good would we be if we couldn’t figure out something so simple?”

“But, why haven’t you told anyone that you have a solution?” she asked, still confused about what she was seeing.

“Because, sweet Ava, we caused it,” Tom said with a chuckle, as if it should have been obvious to her.

Ava was shocked, it made sense now; of course they caused it. They had so many experts that they were the most capable of doing something like this. “Why?” Ava asked, feeling a bit betrayed. He’d obviously known from the beginning and even before.

“In this day and age, technology is power. If you control technology, you control the world. Psytech has been planning this for a very long time and we are glad you’ve decided to join us. Now you can share the power.”

“I don’t think this is right Tom, how could you do this?”

“Ava, our kind has been waiting for power like this for centuries now, and you joining us in this great expedition will make us even stronger,” Tom explained.

“Our kind? I’m not in the corporate game, and I’m not sure I want to be in your company anymore. You are not the person I thought you were.” Ava turned to walk out of the warehouse, but Tom moved to block her way.

“You know very little of me, but soon, it will all make sense. When I said ‘our kind,’ I meant me—and my associates. You are not yet one of us, but we can make you like us, and once you are, you’ll want the power. The need for it will grow within you.”

The men in suits had finished their video chat and turned to Ava and Tom. “You can’t take away technology. What is the point? Turning everything back to the Middle Ages is just cruel, you’ll have no control over anyone, and they will run wild.”

“We don’t intend to turn the world to turmoil like that—at least, not for long.  We do intend to control everyone. In the end, everyone will make a choice; either submit to us or live without the luxuries.”

“Submit? I don’t understand. What is it you need from us?”

“Not from you, my dear, no. I want you to be with us. I want you on the side of power, with me. The need we have is from those who will become like slaves to us.”

“Slaves? You want everyone to work for free in return for technology?”

Tom and the other men laughed. Then, he showed his sly grin, once again, only this time he showed something more . . . fangs.

Ava’s mind raced. What on earth did she just see? Was it real? Was it even possible? Could he really be a . . . vampire? She could hardly even think it. It seemed so absurd. Then she looked around the room and realized they were all vampires, showing their fangs like they did in the movies. Ava’s heart beat faster, she prayed for it to slow down so she could get up the courage to get out of the warehouse, but she was frozen, her feet wouldn’t move.

She quickly tried to use her breathing to steady her heart and then slowly backed away towards the door. Tom could see what she was doing and walked towards her slowly, but faster than she was backing toward the door.

“My, you connect the dots very quickly don’t you?” he said, showing his fangs once more.

“What are you? You can’t be a . . .”

“Vampire? Yes, I can be, and you can be too.” Tom circled her, but kept a little distance between them, he was like a shark, circling and getting closer with every rotation.

“You see, we’re going to use technology to get the blood we need from humans. Their donations will ensure that their lives keep going relatively normal.”

He was very close to her now, and she was starting to panic. She stumbled over the words to say. “But—you were out in the sunlight; all the legends say you can’t go into the sun.”

“Oh, Ava, those legends are spread by us; to make humans think they are safe. We exaggerate things so that it seems we can’t possibly exist,” he was going for her hand now; she was frozen at the thought of him touching her. He held it very gently, just as he had before. He pulled her further into the warehouse, toward the other vampires. She knew she had to distract him, he wanted her to be one of them and she couldn’t let that happen. 

“But the time of hiding and keeping our secret will soon come to an end!” he shouted to the room full of vampires, as they all clapped.

“So, when you said you’d been working for this company for what seemed like a hundred years . . .”

“I meant it,” he finished for her. Ava looked around for a way to escape. She saw a ladder reaching up toward the upper level of the warehouse only ten feet away. She remembered that she had a pocketknife in her purse.

“Enough stalling, Ava, we must do this now. Trust me; it is our side you want to be on. You don’t want to be a slave to us. He motioned for one of the men to bring a chair. “You may want to sit down for this. At first, you will be weak, but when we get some blood in you, you’ll be stronger than you’ve ever imagined.”

Ava sat down on the swivel chair, but only because Tom was so close that he towered over her. He turned around for a moment, to address his associates. “And so begins a new era for the vampires, an era of prosperity.” When he turned back, Ava was waiting with her knife. His fangs came at her as she flipped open the knife and stabbed him in the chest. She turned in the chair and dashed for the ladder. She climbed, not looking down. As she reached the top, she heard Tom starting to laugh.

“Ava, there is nowhere to run!” he called out. “I’m not sure you want to be up there anyways, we’re keeping a few--uh, meals up there.” Ava looked around at the boxes she was hiding behind. She hadn’t noticed before, but they were more like coffins. The one she was hiding behind had a name on it: Joe Herrick. There was another that said: David Peyton. As she looked at the others she saw a few names she recognized to be shareholders’ names. “They should have read the fine print!” Tom laughed and the others laughed with him. Ava gasped. She wanted to burst into tears, but she knew that if she succumbed to her emotions she would not leave to warehouse alive, or at least human.

“The contract they signed also signed over their blood to us. They are no longer human, nor are they vampires. Once you sign a contract like the one they signed, you become a zombie. They will spend the rest of their existence doing our bidding and providing us with blood. But that’s not what I want from you. I want you to be a full-blooded vampire. Come down here now, and stop this foolishness. I could easily come up there, but things might get . . . violent. I’ll overlook the fact that you stabbed me if you come down on your own.”

Ava was scared. She didn’t know what to do. The ladder she’d come up was the only way up or down besides the hydraulic lift that was in the down position. She was trapped. “Please,” she pleaded, “Don’t do this to me. I can’t be like you; I’m not cut out for it.”

“I can change your mind. I know that it seems scary; I’ll make you a deal. I’ll wait three days to change you if you promise to keep an open mind. If you give me three days I know you’ll see things my way. You will stay with me at all times and see what your life could be like. I’m sure after the first day you’ll be begging me to change you.”

Ava had no choice, but at least she’d bought some time. She obviously couldn’t trust Tom anymore. How could she be sure he’d keep his word? She came over to the ladder and looked down at him. “Come, Ava, you don’t want me to come up there, do you?”

She turned around and lowered herself down the ladder. Tears came to her eyes. Before she reached the last few rungs she felt someone grab her around her waist. It was Tom, she struggled against his hold, but it was no use. His strength was too great. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he whispered into her ear. He set her down, “Put a wristband on her,” he said as he held out her wrist to one of the men. She tried to resist but they locked it onto her anyway. “This device is a very handy little thing. You see, if you go too far from me, it will start to beep, if it beeps ten times it will deliver a dose of venom into your system and you will be changed whether you want it or not. I prefer you to be compliant because, well, I do still like you even though you stabbed me. Not to mention I want to be the one to change you, your blood smelled so good through your wrist and your neck the other night. It’s a wonder I didn’t change you then.”

Ava glanced at his chest where she’d stabbed him. There was no blood, just a hole in his shirt and no wound. The knife lay broken on the floor. She touched the wristband. “And, if you try to tamper with that wristband, it will inject you, so don’t bother trying to cut it off either,” he said with a smile. Ava was silent. She was scared and angry and a little confused. Things like this just didn’t exist—they didn’t happen. She did know one thing though; she had to get away and she had three days—or less, to do so.

Edison and Kassidy Marsdon

Edison and Kassidy met on the set of a movie. He is a screen writer and she is a producer. They are good friends of Latoria, Jesse, Perry and Moana. They moved into Jesse's house when the virus hit because of looting in their neighborhood. The are very much in love and want to have kids, but the vampire threat has put their family plans on hold for a while.

Full name: Edison Marsdon
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 32
Hair: Light brown and curly
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: Screen writer
Status: Human

Full name: Kassidy Marsdon
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 31
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Occupation: Producer
Status: Human

Perry Eberly

Perry Eberly is the friendly vampire. He is old enough to survive on animal blood and he has known Jesse for a long time. They are good friends and help each other in sticky situations. Ava and her group are skeptical about having a vampire around at first. but it is clear that Perry can be trusted.

Full name: Perry Eberly
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 149
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Status: Vampire

Latoria Gray

Latoria is Moana's friend and part of the group at the safe house. She takes on the role of hostess, since Jesse seems to be unwilling to take the role of host. She is also an actress and has known Jesse and Perry for a long time.

Full name: Latoria Gray
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 30
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Status: Human

Moana Kalei

Moana is Alani and Hiu's mother. She and Nalani have not gotten along since Nalani's son and Moana's husband left his family. Moana waited until Hiu and Alani were old enough to take care of themselves before moving to L.A. to pursue her acting career. Alani and Hiu haven't been close to her since she left, but they still care about their mother and she still cares about them.

Full name: Moana Kalei
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 49
Hair: Black and long
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: Actress
Status: Human

Nalani Kalei

Nalani is Alani and Hiu's grandmother. She is wise to the ancient Hawaiian ways and also knows about the vampires and how to protect against them. She is kind and Ava sees her as a grandmother. Nalani does not like violence, but she knows that sometimes evil must be dealt with in no other way.

Full name: Nalani Kalei
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 67
Hair: Dark grey and short
Eyes: Brown
Status: Human

Hiu Kalei

Hiu is Alani's brother and Ava's "adopted" brother. He's in love with Ava but hasn't made his feelings clear to her. He is an avid surfer and runs tours around the islands on his boat. Strong willed and hard headed, he's quite the character. If you are haole, you may not understand what he says most of the time, since pidgin is sprinkled throughout his vocabulary.

Full name: Hiu Kalei
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 27
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: Entrepreneur: Tours around the islands
Status: Human

Alani Kalei

Alani Kalei is Ava Tanner's best friend and is practically considered as Ava's sister. She is just a little older than Ava. She is very friendly and caring and is always there to talk to Ava when she needs her. Ava is the same way towards Alani. Their friendship is very strong.

Full name: Alani Kalei
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 26
Hair: Black and short
Eyes: Brown
Status: Human

Jesse Sutton (Spoiler Free)

Jesse Sutton is the owner of the safe house the group goes to in L.A. His mysterious demeanor puts Ava off at first, but she soon sees him as something else. He is very wealthy, although it is unclear exactly how he made his money. He is extremely wise and resourceful.

Full name: Jesse Sutton
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: Looks about 25
Hair: Golden brown
Eyes: Green
Occupation: None

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!

Jesse Sutton (Spoiler Alert)

Jesse Sutton is the hero of Obsidian. He is Ava's new love interest after her short affair with the antagonist, Tom Walker. Ava finds out that there is much more to Jesse than meets the eye. It turns out that he is cursed and his curse makes him turn to stone from sun set to sun rise. His mysterious demeanor puts Ava off at first, but she soon sees him change from a cold statue to a warm human being both figuratively and literally.

Full name: Jesse Sutton
Lives in: Los Angeles, California
Age: 117
Hair: Golden brown
Eyes: Green
Occupation: None
Status: Unique Immortal

Powers:

• Intense Strength
• Immortal

Weaknesses:

• Turns to stone at night

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!

Tom Walker (Spoiler Free)

Tom Walker is Ava Tanner's client in obsidian. The boundaries between account manager and client are broken when he asks her out on a date. He's always wanted Ava to work for his company--but why? He reveals to Ava that he's a vampire and he wants her to be one too, but she's not sure she can take that step after everything that has happened.

Full name: Thomas Lorence Walker
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 225
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: President of the Psytech Branch in Hawaii
Status: Vampire

Powers:

• High Speed
• Intense Strength
• Heightened sense of smell, hearing, taste and sight
• Immortal

Weaknesses:

• Can be killed with obsidian

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!

Tom Walker (Spoiler Alert)

Tom Walker is the antagonist of Obsidian. He's a power hungry vampire with sinister motives. He wants Ava because she's a siren and a vampire siren would be a very powerful being. The problem is, she has to be willing to become a vampire for him to have any control over her once she's changed. If she is turned against her will, then the vampire who bit her would most likely suffer grave consequences and the vampire race would have a very powerful enemy.

Full name: Thomas Lorence Walker
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 225
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: President of the Psytech Branch in Hawaii
Status: Vampire

Powers:

• High Speed
• Intense Strength
• Heightened sense of smell, hearing, taste and sight
• Immortal

Weaknesses:

• Can be killed with obsidian

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!

Ava Tanner (Spoiler Free)

Ava Tanner is the heroine of Obsidian. Her story focuses on the uprising of the Vampire Empire as the vampires reveal their plan for the world to her. The virus has just been unleashed causing all devices that use satellite technology to become useless.

Full name: Ava Mae Tanner
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 24
Hair: Dark brown and long
Eyes: Blue
Occupation: Account Manager at Herrick-Peyton

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!

Ava Tanner (Spoiler Alert)

Ava Tanner is the heroine of Obsidian. Her story focuses on the uprising of the Vampire Empire as the vampires reveal their plan for the world to her. The virus has just been unleashed causing all devices that use satellite technology to become useless. Her love affair with the vampire Tom is short lived and she finds a new love in Jesse. She also finds out that she's more powerful than she ever dreamed and that her mother shared the same power before she died.

Full name: Ava Mae Tanner
Lives in: Hilo, Hawaii
Age: 24
Hair: Dark brown and long
Eyes: Blue
Occupation: Account Manager at Herrick-Peyton
Status: Siren

Powers:

• Mind control over men with singing
• Call to sea animals
• Control over the ocean waters
• Ability to channel lightning
• Healing powers

Weaknesses:

• Can't be too far from the ocean
• Can be killed with olivine

See the Obsidian Pinterest Board for an idea of what the characters look like and more!