The Tide: The Multiverse Wave

by H. J. Lawson

  Treavyn realized that this was The Tide—he’d been carrying part of it with him all his life. Only when death was in front of him did he finally see the world with clear eyes. And now he saw it with fear, not for his own life but for what The Tide was going to do to Earth. Only love in the purest form could stop it from raping the planet. Kearyn and Sapling had the pure love of mother and daughter.

  He moved his hands and let the wave of The Tide cover their bodies completely, then the atoms stopped.

  “Stop The Tide,” Treavyn said, then his drained body slumped back into the snow.

  Kearyn

  “Treavyn, wake up,” Kearyn begged.

  “He can’t,” Sapling said as she watched over her father’s dead body.

  “He has to.”

  “He gave us our lives back. The Tide will carry his memories for us.”

  Kearyn took hold of Treavyn’s hand. A rush of heat radiated from the connection, and images flickered through Kearyn’s mind of her and Treavyn together, the love they had for one another, the flame that had never gone out. Even the day Kearyn chose work over Treavyn, the love he held for her was ever stronger. He let her go, even though he wanted to weather the storm of being apart because he knew they would be drawn together again.

  Kearyn’s eyes glazed over.

  “Mother,” Sapling said, taking hold of Kearyn’s hand. “We need to go inside.” Kearyn knew she was right, not because she was cold, but because she knew she never would be again. They needed to go inside to distance themselves from what Treavyn’s images had shown her.

  There was a new Tide coming, and this one wasn’t from The Tide that rippled through her veins, it was the scorching Tide that man had sent.

  Bonus

  Invasion Survivor – The Golden Aura Book One.

  Set in The Tide world.

  Chapter 1

  I look at my paper on the table in front of me; for the better part of the math class I’ve been writing Alfie Johnson’s initials, AJ, with a heart around them. What am I, a twelve-year-old with a crush? No, I’m a frigging senior with a crush. I rip the paper from my book. My classmates turn and look at me. I give them the ‘what’ look. They in turn roll their eyes, as if me ripping the paper has woken them from their sleep. Even Mrs. Wilson looks at me with surprise. I smile at the thought of her boring herself so much even she fell asleep.

  Nothing like the first day back after spring break to make you feel all wide awake and ready for class. I don’t mind math; it bores me because it doesn’t challenge me. And when I say back, that doesn’t go for me—I didn’t get to leave Charles Rosehill, Connecticut, one of the best boarding schools in the United States. Kids come from all around the world to board here. It’s full of celebrities’ kids, of which I’m not one. My mum selected this school for the security—she literally searched all over the world. Dad was pissed off when he got the credit card statement.

  Ironically, the school with the highest level of security was a few states over from where we were living at the time in Philadelphia. As always, Dad was too busy at work for me to come home during the breaks, so I ended up spending the break at Rosehill along with my little sister, Willow.

  I roll the paper up into a ball. It makes the rustling sort of crunchy sound, like when you’re trying to silently eat chips in a movie and they crunch even louder than if you weren’t trying to be quiet.

  Chen looks at me. I know she wants to scowl or roll her eyes but she does none of that. Go on, Chen, just once. Her nose catches my attention; a teardrop of blood starts to form, and slowly gets bigger, then a droplet lands on her notepad covering a section of her perfect handwritten notes.

  “Chen.” I nod to her.

  Her face is pained, almost ghostlike. Her almond eyes stare at me; she looks like she’s looking through me. Automatically I glance over my shoulder and then back to her. Chen blinks like my movements woke her from her trance-like state.

  She rubs at the blood, smearing it across her notes.

  Another drop falls from Chen’s nose, and that’s when she stops trying to remove the blood. She places her hand over her nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Chen’s pale hand start to get smeared with the blood as it seeps through the gaps in her fingers.

  “Mrs. Wilson,” Chen says, raising her other hand; even when her nose is gushing blood she is still polite.

  “What is it?” Mrs. Wilson asks.

  “Her nose is bleeding,” I reply, so Chen doesn’t have to.

  All my classmates’ heads spin towards Chen.

  Chen grabs her bag, then springs to her feet and makes a beeline for the door, leaving a trail of blood drops on the classroom floor.

  She fumbles for the door handle and leaves; the door slams closed behind her.

  A few seconds later the bell rings; math is over.

  The class piles out into the hallway. “Chen looked pretty sick,” River, my best friend, says. Her parents are famous singers; kids here have the weirdest names. I, on the other hand, am simply Paige.

  “I hope she’s okay,” I say.

  “She was dripping blood everywhere.”

  “Yeah.”

  River links her arm with mine as we walk towards gym class. “So, did you speak to Alfie while I was away?”

  I shrug my shoulders, uncomfortable with the question and where it’s going to lead.

  “Paige! You promised! Right, my turn. Alfie!” River shouts.

  “River,” I snap back, pulling away from her.

  Alfie turns and looks back at us; I wave my hand at him.

  “River, you worry about your own love life and leave mine to me.”

  “You don’t have one, that’s the problem.”

  I scowl back. “Thanks for the reminder.” I storm off to gym.

  “Wait,” River yells.

  Mrs. O’Brian, our gym teacher, is standing outside the locker room. She scans the hallway like an eagle as I walk towards her; River quickly catches up.

  “Girls, gym is cancelled. Got straight to your dorms and wait for an announcement.”

  “What’s happening?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. I’ve just been told to get you back to your dorms,” she says, waving us away from her.

  “Weird, but whatever. I couldn’t be bothered with gym anyway.” River smiles as we head back towards our dorm. “Sorry about before. I just think you two would make a cute couple.” River carries on talking, but I’m not paying attention. Why has gym been cancelled? They never cancel anything at Rosehill; this place is always on a timetable, down to the last minute, like I imagine the army to be. As we pass other kids in the hallway, some are chatting away like River is, while others are looking confused like me. Then a few catch my eye who don’t look either of those things. They stare past people like they aren’t there, and their faces are as pale as a porcelain doll, just like Chen’s was.

  One of the porcelain kids walks by me, and a shimmer of red starts to show at the edge of his nose—his nose is about to bleed as well. He must have caught what Chen has, but what does she have that makes your nose bleed? I’ve never heard of a sickness like that, and don’t intend on catching it.

  I link up with River. “We’ve got to get to our dorm room; people are sick,” I whisper into her ear.

  First she looks at me with confusion, then she glances around the hallway as she gets what I said. I notice that other kids have also realized and they start to move quickly out of the packed hallways.

  We waste no time, and head straight to our dorm.

  When we get to the common room we are greeted by an eerie silence from the other girls congregated there, which is completely out of character in a space that’s normally filled with high-pitched giggles and constant chatter. They are all standing around the TV that’s mounted above the fireplace like a modern portrait.

  They are watching the news; a red panel with the highlights keeps scrolling by: Breaking news. A killer virus is spreading across the world. Stay indoors. Stay away f
rom the sick.

  Chapter 2

  The silence feels as lethal as this killer virus as we all try to comprehend what’s going on. River squeezes my arm; I can’t pull my eyes away from the TV screen to look at her.

  Phones ring, breaking the silence. Soon everyone’s on their phone. Girls’ sobs echo across the cathedral ceilings and bounce off wood panels as they speak to their loved ones.

  “Ursula?” I hear River on the phone with her mom’s assistant. I watch her walk away and instinctively reach for my phone in my pocket, which is obviously not there.

  My phone’s in the dorm, since there’s a strict no-phone policy, although apparently, I’m the only nerd that follows it. I run out of the common room and head to my dorm.

  The words of the news reader start to sink in. Chen’s obviously already been affected by this virus and it’s only a matter of time before it starts to spread to everyone else … like the news said. None of the girls in the common room look sick, but neither did Chen when she sat down for math today.

  My phone starts ringing, blasting out Justin Bieber’s ‘Sorry.’ I pick it up from my nightstand just as it stops ringing. It shows 15 missed calls from my dad. I punch redial and put the phone to my ear.

  “H-hello?” I can’t control the shaking in my voice.

  “Oh, thank god, Paige, you’re okay.” I hear the worry in Dad’s voice, something I haven’t heard in a long time. He’s usually an emotional blank after everything he’s been through. “I don’t have much time.” His voice is so low I can only just hear him.

  “Dad, what’s going on?”

  “I can’t explain much, but the government knew about the virus.”

  “Huh?”

  “They’re planning for an evacuation.”

  “What?”

  “This is a lot for you. I need you to get your sister and your mom and meet me here.”

  “Why can’t you just come get me and Willow?”

  “Paige … they’re holding us hostage.”

  “Dad, what … how do you expect me to do this?”

  “Get to Maryland as soon as you can. The shuttles are leaving soon. Keep your head straight and don’t tell anyone where you’re going. There aren’t enough shuttles for everyone.”

  “Dad, is the virus that bad?”

  “Really bad. But it’s going to be okay. I love you …”

  “Dad—” His phone goes dead. I didn’t even say I loved him too. My hand shakes as I look down at my phone, hoping it will ring again. Nothing Dad said made sense. My mind races with everything he said. My lungs feel tight. No, I can’t have a panic attack—I’ve not had one since I left home. I can’t have one now. Willow needs me.

  I tell myself this isn’t real. I just need to go on a family road trip to my dad’s. I can feel my heartbeat slowing down. Like my dad, I’ve learned to hide my emotions. One day they will spill out of the dark cupboard I used to be locked in. I know it holds my fears and secrets.

  I glance around my dorm. It has a high ceiling and the dark wood paneling makes it seem like something straight out of a Harry Potter novel, kind of a gothic look. There is a huge dark wood desk, with a matching wardrobe which looks like it could lead to Narnia. I wish I could escape to that fantasy world right now.

  I can’t waste any more time trying to make sense of what’s going on around me. Quickly I loosen my tie and unbutton my white shirt. I throw off my plaid skirt and pull on jeans and a blue top my mom got me. She always thought blue made my eyes pop but I always thought it made me look like a boy. Like the time she gave me a pixie cut. She intended it to look like a bob, like the sweet girls in the commercials, but she kept cutting it shorter and shorter until I could be mistaken for a boy.

  Didn’t really help me popularity-wise; all the kids teased me, telling me my name was actually Kit and that my mom secretly wished I was a boy. I definitely don’t have many fond childhood memories of that. It’s why I didn’t really have a problem transferring to the boarding school, even though it’s full of rich snobs.

  Strange though, my pixie cut might have been welcomed here since it seems to be the latest trend for all the girls here. Not for me though—I keep my hair as long as possible. I’m not interested in looking like a boy anymore.

  I grab my worn leather jacket from my desk chair, feeling the leather between my fingers. Quickly, my mind flashes to my other sister, Brooke. Sometimes I think I can still feel her around me, especially when I’m holding onto this jacket. I always assume this means she’s actually dead now, not just missing. But I never say it out loud. The anniversary is actually in a few days … I don’t know how I’m going to get Mom out of the ward calmly. She’s always extra wild around this time of year and I’m always extra sad.

  But first I need to get Willow. As her big sister, I always swore I would protect her; I will never lose a sister again. I put my hair up, grab my backpack and dump out all my books. I throw in some extra clothes, toiletries, all my money, and my cellphone. All I need now is to escape. I walk out of the empty dorm room and head to Willow’s. As I knock on the door, a realization hits me. There’s a field trip today for the younger kids to New York City. Something about the Natural History Museum. Panic fills me as I try to think if I heard anything on the news about NYC. The reporter said the virus was spreading but nothing about any specific regions.

  I head back to the common room, where girls are still phoning their parents. Then I hear the sound of buses roaring up the driveway. I look out and sigh a breath of relief on seeing the school buses. They must have come back because of the crisis, not wanting to put the rich kids in danger.

  There isn’t much around the school; the buses must have been driving for forty minutes before they found any sort of civilization. As a school we are completely isolated and out of reach for safety reasons. Perfect for keeping famous people’s kids away from prying eyes, but not the ideal case when there’s a virus spreading throughout the campus. I don’t even know how I’ll be able to get myself and Willow to safety, but I have no choice.

  As the buses get closer, I freeze. All three are completely empty. There aren’t any kids or teachers. Which means, no Willow. I start to panic again, but force it down, knowing a panic attack is the last thing I need right now. I need to stay focused like my dad told me and try to figure out a solution. If I panic, I might never get to find Willow.

  I pull out my phone and put it to my ear to start calling Willow when I hear a scream. I look around to find the source and see it’s some blonde screaming bloody murder. She’s pale in the face and waving her hand in front of her.

  “THE VIRUS! SHE HAS IT! THE VIRUS!” Others start to scream and I try to see over them. In the middle of the group is River, holding her hand to her nose and looking at me with petrified eyes.

  Chapter 3

  Crimson blood continues to pour out of River’s nose. Everyone else in the common room backs way from River, except me. I take a step closer and I hear a whisper behind me. “Don’t go near her, you’ll get the virus.”

  I ignore the warning and my fear, and move closer to River. She’s staring at the empty space in front of her while holding her hand to her nose. Blood seeps through her fingers and onto the wood floor, forming a puddle.

  “River?” I try to get her attention. Nothing.

  “Get away from her,” someone else barks. I shake my head as I hear dorm room doors shutting. I get it, they don’t want to be near the virus. Neither do I, but I can’t just leave her.

  “River?” I pull my sleeve over my hand and touch River’s shoulder. She doesn’t budge. I gently push her shoulder. Slowly, she blinks her eyes and her gaze seems to come into focus.

  “Paige … what’s happening to me?” she muffles through her hands and the blood.

  “I … I don’t know. We have to get you to the nurse.”

  “Am I going to die?” A lead weight settles in my stomach, threatening to drag me down into the middle of the earth, where no one could ask me a que
stion like that—the hardest question I’ve ever had to answer. I can only image this is how Mom and Dad felt every time I asked if Brooke was coming back.

  “I don’t know,” I say, stifling my own emotions.

  With my arm around River, we walk out of the common room. I hear a few doors opening behind us as terrified girls check to see if we’ve left.

  In the hallway, I see other kids getting led out of their rooms by personal security. Money is always helpful, especially when it’s the end of the world. Get a grip, Paige, this can’t really be the end of the world. Dad said they knew that the virus was coming—surely they were working on an antidote for the virus. Yes, I agree with myself. If they can send tourists into space, they can cure this. Until they do,

  I’m going to have to get to Willow and get her to safety. Maybe I can talk someone into letting me catch a ride with them. That doesn’t seem like a bad idea right now. I just wish I’d taken the time to make more friends so I had more options. That time has passed.

  My first priority is River.

  We get to the nurse’s office, which normally only has a few kids. But today isn’t a normal day—all the beds are full, the kids’ faces are pale like Chen’s, and they hold tissues to their faces, trying to stop the blood. Some kids are sitting or lying on the tiled floor, which is speckled with spots of red blood like evidence from a murder scene. I let out a breath I’d been holding at the sight.

  How is the virus spreading? Is it from an airborne virus? From contact? Either way, I’m in contact with both. A spot of River’s blood gleams up at me from where it rests on my jacket.

  “I don’t want to be here,” River whispers. Her breath is hot on my cheek; guess it’s only a matter of time before I get it. I stroke River’s hair into its normal place; heat radiates from her.

  “I know.”