ASCENSION
Excerpt
Jesse sat up in bed. The light from the
streetlamp made its way between the cracks in the curtains, creating long
slender beams that reached across his bed and up the wall. He waited, but there
was only silence. A pair of blue eyes glowed at the foot of his bed.
Amara flicked the tip of her tail. Her
body contorted and grew into a hooded figure that loomed over him.
“What the...?”
The figure lingered and then reached a
long clawed hand out at his face.
Jesse yelled and sat up.
At the foot of his bed, a pair of blue
eyes blinked. She pricked her ears, her tail twitching.
His heart pounded. “Whoa, that
was…intense.” He cast a look in Amara’s direction. “That was a dream, right?”
Of
course it was.
Jesse narrowed his eyes on Amara. “You
don’t sound convinced.”
She sat up and meowed.
“Don’t pull that innocent cat routine on
me.”
She purred and kneaded the bedspread.
“Oh now you’re just taking it too far.”
Curling into a ball, she lay at the foot
of his bed.
“Fine, have it your way.” He lay back,
resting his head on the pillow. The cell phone rang, and Jesse grabbed it.
Amara was no longer at the foot of the bed. “Amara?”
I’m
over here, on the chair. I wasn’t about to let you kick me off the bed.
“You knew there was a call coming in?”
You
still have to ask me that question? And answer it already. It’s important.
“If you already know everything, why
don’t you just save me the time and tell me?”
She didn’t reply.
“Right. What would be the fun in that?”
That
is not what I was thinking, and you know it. It’s Steadman calling.
Jesse brought the cell to his ear.
“Steadman?”
“Christian
told me you were back in town. We’re all meeting up at Quinn’s place, in a
couple of hours. We’ll talk when we get there. Don’t want to discuss anything
over the phone.”
“Right. I’ll see you there.” Steadman
hung up, and Jesse held out the phone.
He’s
hurt. You left without telling him, and you’ve been gone for ten years. He may
not say it, but he felt abandoned by his best friend.
“You’re right. I owe him an explanation
and an apology.”
Wait.
Did we just agree on something?
“Oh stop it. Look, I know what you’re
doing is important to you, and I get it. I appreciate that you have my back.
And I know this…whatever this thing is we have going on, is a way for both of
us to not think about what’s coming. We could both die.”
Talk
about letting the cat out of the bag.
“You had to go there, didn’t you?”
