“What’s wrong with your friend?” the driver asked as he looked at Neal in the rear-view mirror.
“He’s drunk,” Amanda lied. “We need to get him home.”
“It’s a good thing you’re helping him then.”
Minutes ticked by and Amanda began to be able to breathe again. There were no more sirens in either direction, they were not being pursued. Not until this moment did Amanda realize they had no plans for what they were going to do with Neal now that they had him free. She had been so focused on getting him out of there, and yet now they had another problem.
It would be impossible to take Neal on a flight to Miami, he was drugged into a stupor and would be quite memorable to any of the airline staff. If she took him back to Tuala, he would lose whatever memories he had regained since coming home. They definitely could not discuss their problem in front of the cab driver, Amanda began to go through their options.
She was no closer to a solution when they pulled up in front of Central Park where the taxi had picked them up in the first place. He pulled over to the curb and held up his hand for the fare. Amanda paid him the fare plus a tip of twenty dollars. She hoped he would forget he had ever seen them.
They managed to get Neal back into the chair. When Amanda moved behind the chair to begin pushing it, she realized the name of the facility was written in big white letters across the whole back. Obviously they were going to have to keep it hidden from everyone, including the driver.
The walk across the expanse of the park seemed to take forever. It felt as if everyone stared at them as they walked past. Whenever Amanda saw someone on their cell phone she felt as though they were calling the police. She knew she was being paranoid and yet she could not stop herself. She knew they had done something very wrong for all the right reasons.
The going was tough and made worse when they reached the wooded areas where the trails were not as well-groomed nor as wide. The jostling and jolting of the rough terrain began to rouse Neal, unfortunately not enough for him to be able to help by walking on his own. Instead, he began to become quite vocal in his protest of the jerking movements. Amanda tried to shush him and finally had to give it up as a lost cause.
By the time they reached the location of the Gate, the trail had become so overgrown that they four woman practically had to carry the chair on each of the four corners to get it to the clearing. Everyone was exhausted and yet they were not able to relax until they were back in Tuala.
They moved Neal into the depression under the cavern of branches and immediately realized there was not enough room for the chair and all four of the women to stand around it. Vinia solved the problem by sitting down on Neal’s lap. She had missed being so close to him and yet she felt terrible for how he looked. This was not the reunion she had imagined for them.
Chelesa bent down and, with her sleeves covering her hands, she picked up her samara. She stepped back into the circle and looked out the entrance of the Gate. She saw people moving through the forest in a path which looked like they were coming to where they were standing. “There’re people coming. Hurry up and go, Rasa!”
Rasa put her arms around the women beside her and muttered under her breath, “Inside Ascension.” The energy surged up faster than it had before and enveloped them in darkness. With increasing intensity, they arrived back in Manzanit faster than Amanda had ever known before in her travels between the two realms.
The women were silent as they took stock in their situation.
Neal, on the other hand, became very vocal. “Hey, what’s going on here? Where am I?”
Amanda turned to Rasa and asked, “What happened to Neal? Why is he suddenly awake?”
“The transfer must have cleared the drugs out of his system.”
“The same as it did with the resh? I should have anticipated this. What are we going to tell him?” she whispered urgently.
“It sounds like we can leave it up to Vinia.” Rasa pointed to the two of them still sitting together in the wheelchair.
“Vinia, what are you doing? Where are we?” Neal asked Vinia as he finally noticed she was sitting on his lap.
“Nealan, oh I’m so glad you still remember me!” Vinia gushed as she hugged him to her.
“Of course I still remember you. Are you okay? Are you going to answer me? Why are we here? Where are we?” Neal tried to push Vinia off of his neck so he could get her to look at him and start giving him the answers he was ready to hear. With every passing moment, he began to get angrier.
“We’re safe now. We’re in Manzanit and I’ll tell you everything once we go back to my room.” She got off of his lap and began to go around to the back of his chair to wheel him out of the Ascension Gate portal.
Before she had gone more than two steps, Neal stood up and looked around the room with surprised interest. “I’ve never heard of Manzanit. Where is it?” He saw the other four women and wondered who they were. His eyes stopped on Amanda and then darted back to Vinia. “Why do you two look so much alike?”
“Good question,” Amanda said and started to lead the way out of the room. “I think we should go somewhere else to talk about this. Are you coming?” she asked over her shoulder and expected him to follow. For some reason, it was hard for Amanda to see Neal recognize Vinia but not herself. If she were being honest with herself, she would call it jealousy. Her mind knew it was ridiculous since she was happily married, yet her heart still had feelings for the history she had shared with him.
Amanda watched Chelesa leave the room with her samara still held in front of her. She suspected she would head to her own room so she could peer into the depths of the crystal again. At least one person had made a worthwhile discovery on this day.
Just as Amanda made it to the doorway Rasa made an unexpected announcement, “There’s movement registering on the Earth side of the Gate.”
Rushing back to stand between Rasa and Barla at the controls, Amanda asked, “Is there any way to see anything? Could it be an animal? Is it a person?”
Rasa manipulated a few controls and then looked over to the now-empty gate entrance. There appeared a blurry image of a man looking straight ahead like he could see them.
Amanda’s hands flew up to her mouth in disbelief. She took an involuntary step back and shook her head. “He can’t see us, can he?” she asked urgently.
“No. What’s wrong? Do you know him?” Rasa asked even as she disengaged the visual mode.
“That was Dr. Gascon. What was he doing there? He was supposed to be presenting at a meeting downtown. How could he have ended up at the gate just after we left there? Was he following us? How much did Neal tell him?”
Even more questions flooded Amanda’s mind which she kept to herself. She felt dirty all over. Her whole family was in danger now and she knew it was her fault this time. Riccan had been right to try to keep her away from Neal’s unfortunate situation.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
DR. GASCON HAD finished with his presentation at the psychiatric convention and had opted to take a stroll in Central Park before heading back to work. The day had been a glorious success and the people had flocked over to talk with him after he had spoken. Nothing was going to ruin the high he was currently feeling. Even the warm sunshine seemed to be a sign of his success.
As he walked up the concrete path he noticed a bunch of women surrounding a wheelchair. Normally he would not have given it a second thought except two of the women reminded him of someone he had met a year before. He wanted to get closer to see who they were. The crowds seemed to increase and he lost sight of them for several seconds.
He pushed roughly through the people around him, earning several rude comments. Dr. Gascon almost gave up when he caught sight of the white outfits drifting through the trees in the distance. He broke into a trot knowing he could easily catch up with them as they got further off of the paved trails.
Again he lost sight of them and he had to waste precious minutes searching the ground for signs o
f the wheelchair passing through. Finally, he located the correct path they had taken and he moved faster. The trail seemed to go cold as he came to an area of hard ground which had three paths to choose from.
He looked around hoping to be able to see something, instead he heard voices and hurriedly jumped through bracken and brush in the direction he heard them. Again he had to search the ground for signs of the wheelchair. Surely four women would be greatly hampered by the burden of a wheeled person through such overgrown brush.
He scratched his head and looked around in frustrated anger. His cell phone began to ring and he chose to ignore it in favor of his current pursuit. The distraction caused him to switch his gaze which then caught the sight of movement off to his right. The four women and the man in the wheelchair were trying to hide inside a copse of trees. He had them now.
He gave up on trying to find any trail as he headed straight for them through the overgrown brush. The woman in the front locked eyes with him and he smiled wickedly. He looked beside her and saw the woman he had believed he knew and realized she was older than the woman he knew. He quickly searched the other faces and saw the girl he had originally believed he had seen. Amanda Covington was within his grasp.
In his haste, he tripped on a shallow root and looked down to catch himself. He felt a strange tingly feeling all over his body and he could see the hair of his arms standing on end. When he straightened back up and looked at where the group had been, the copse was empty. He scanned the area hastily to try to locate them scurrying away.
Nothing; the area was completely empty. Silence surrounded him. The feeling he had experienced where his hair had stood up was gone as well. He charged forward to investigate the last place he had seen the group. He could clearly see footprints and wheelchair tracks on the ground and still they seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
He remained staring at the empty space when his cell phone rang again. In anger, he grabbed the phone and flipped it open. “What?” he yelled.
“Dr. Gascon, we have a problem,” a man’s voice said from the other end.
“Who is this and what do you mean?”
“This is George from Creedmoor. It appears your patient, Nealand Taivas, has gone missing. We believe he had help.”
“Oh, you think? Of course he had help, he was drugged senseless. Have you contacted the authorities?”
“Yes, Dr. Gascon, they are on the scene as we speak.”
“Let me guess, nobody saw anything and none of the cameras caught anything either.” Dr. Gascon turned to look at the empty area where he had last seen the people. He was certain now that the man in the wheelchair had been Nealand. Of course it would make sense that his ex-fiancé would be interested in keeping him from talking.
The next course of action became clear and he said, “Tell the authorities to go to JFK airport. I believe Amanda Covington is responsible for kidnapping him and she would have to take him there to get him back home.” Even as he spoke, he felt the hair rise on his arms again and he looked into the opening of the trees, not knowing what to expect. He flipped his phone shut and circled the last place he had seen Amanda.
There was more to this story and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He smiled to himself as he realized Amanda had made a grave mistake. By taking Neal from him, he now had grounds to question her himself. He was going to get the interview with her he had wanted over a year ago. Maybe he could even get her institutionalized and then he could do to her what he had wanted to do all along.
Follow Amanda’s amazing adventures in
ABOVE ASCENSION.
Dear Reader,
Thanks for watching out for Amanda as well as her friends and family, even if it were a little stressful.
This may seem like an understatement…until you delve into Above Ascension. This time, one of Amanda’s daughters finds herself in need of help.
Although it’s dangerous, Amanda’s need to fulfill Jehoban’s prophecy cannot be denied. It feels like fate has conspired against all of them. What will be revealed in this next chapter?
You’ll love this next installment in the Levels of Ascension fantasy series, because the stakes have never been higher.
Get it now.
Thanks,
Amy Proebstel
P.S. Reviews are the easiest way for people to know a book is amazing. Please spread the word by leaving a great review. I am very appreciative and I read every review. I love to hear what parts of the story speak to you.
People
Ahn – / ah n / – Husband of Barla. Father of Gravin and Rasa. Harbor Master at the Port of Cresdon in Thulen. Former shipping captain.
Alena – / ah leyn a / – Born Ab 26, 3417. Maiden name: Bellen. Marriage Date: Tishri 16, 3436. Wife of Bryon Kesh. Mother of Justan and Kyelon. Adoptive mother to Jena and Juila. Trained as a wise-woman.
Amanda – / uh man duh / – means ‘beloved’. Born September 28, 1972, in Florida. Maiden name: Covington. Daughter of Chris and Diane. Wife of Riccan. Mother of Juila and Jena. Sister to Carrie and Deanna. Cousin to Gravin and Rasa. Former fiancé of Nealand.
Andera – / an dair uh / – Born Tishri 12, 3439. Daughter of Zeka. Betrothed to Justan. First-daughter of Bryon and Alena.
Andy Brun – / an dee broohn / – Neighbor friend of Riccan’s on Earth. Involved in rock throwing trouble.
Angie – / an jee / – Nealand’s new girlfriend.
Barla – / bahr luh / – Born January 21, 1945, in Wisconsin. Maiden name: Silnack. Birth name: Barbara. Nickname on Earth: Barla. Sister of Diane. Aunt of Amanda. Wife of Ahn. Mother of Gravin and Rasa. Raised Jena and Juila until they were six anons old. Birth crystal color: bright blue.
Behn – / ben / – Earth Surname: Wilson. Triplet brother to Valentina and Jon. Sent to Earth by mother, Vinia, from Tuala when he was eight anons old. Tall with brown hair and brown eyes. Crystal color: smoky grey.
Bistea – / bis tee uh / – Vendor at the marketplace in Kirma. Patient of Alena’s.
Bryon – / brahy uh n / – Born Heshvan 2, 3416, in Kirma. Surname: Kesh. Marriage Date: Tishri 16, 3436. Husband of Alena. Father of Justan and Kyelon. Former adoptive father to Jena and Juila. Manager of Kirma Shipping and Receiving.
Carrie – / k air ee / – Born April 21, 1970, in Florida. Maiden name: Covington. Daughter of Chris and Diane. Sister to Deanna and Amanda. Married with two daughters.
Celia – / see lee uh / – Surname: Scamp. Gypsy family who stayed with Thomas Rockwood in France around 1800. Wife to Sampson. Mother of a sick daughter who received help from Thomas.
Ceren – / sair in / – Born approximately 3412. Adopted son of Ahn and Barla. Works at the Port of Cresdon for Captain Ahn.
Chelesa – / chuh lay suh / – Wife of Elder Debbon. Mother of Willian.
Chris – / kris / – Surname: Covington. Husband of Diane. Father of Carrie, Deanna, and Amanda.
Cleon – / klee on / – Transport operator at Kirma Shipping and Receiving.
Copa – / kohp uh / – Wise-woman for the district of Desio. Person who healed Ninan. She helped Amanda escape from Elder Vargen and found a home for Jena and Juila. Wise-woman who performed Amanda’s birth-crystal ceremony.
Corva – / kor vuh / – Foster child of Ahn and Barla. Her parents died in a house fire.
Crysta – / kris tuh / – Head maid at Elder Debbon’s estate.
Danika – / dah nee kuh / – Daughter of Vinia. Born in the Roanoke Colony one month early.
Daven – / dav uhn / – Surname: Stel. Son of Edwin and Murisa. Husband of Nena. Father of Riccan. Brother of Sanda, Stina, Phen, Zuna, Rucen. Student of Jehoban. Elder whose base of power is on Pantano.
Deanna – / dee an nuh / – Born April 5, 1971, in Florida. Maiden name: Covington. Daughter of Chris and Diane. Sister to Carrie and Amanda. Married with two daughters.
Debbon – / deb uhn / – Elder whose base of power is on Elder Isle. Husband of Chelesa. Father of Willian.
Denana – / day n
aw nuh / – Employee in the Engineering Department at Telepod Engineering Company.
Diane – / dahy an / – Born October 1, 1947. Maiden name: Silnack. Sister of Barbara and Saul. Wife of Chris. Mother of Carrie, Deanna, and Amanda.
Dr. Flores – / flohr ez / – The doctor treating Amanda in the hospital in Cancun.
Dr. Huddleston – / hud ul stun / – The psychologist treating Neal Taivas, Jr.
Edwin – / ed win / – Surname: Stel. Husband of Murisa. Father of Daven, Sanda, Stina, Phen, Zuna, Rucen. Engineer at the Roswell Museum. Started a Construction Supply Company on Tuala. Started a Consulting Business when they moved to Acaim when Daven was six.
Ela Nena – / eluh nay nuh / – Married name: Dunless. Wife of Teden Dunless. Executive VP of Customer Operations at Telepod Engineering Company. Riccan’s boss.
Ellen – / el uh n / – Maiden name: Hill. Wife of Sydney Silnack. Mother of Barla, Saul, and Diane. Married name: Silnack.
Emmanuen – / ee man you in / – Son of Jehoban.
Faegan – / fay ghin / – Presenter of the award given to Ela Nena at the Engineering Excellence Awards dinner. Also known as Vanion.
Farmer Joe – Washington asparagus farmer and former owner of the outhouse used by Riccan for senior prank.
Fordin – / ford in / – Former seaman friend of Ninan. Confidant of Ninan’s dealings with Petre.
Frasnia – / fraz nee uh / – Secretary at Kirma Shipping and Receiving.
Gatson – / gat suh n / – Personal body guard for Elder Debbon. Main home is on the Elder’s Islet at the seat of power.
George – / jorj / – Attendant on duty at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center when Neal went missing.
Gilora – / gil or uh / – Employee at Telepod Engineering Company under Riccan. Interviewer of Amanda.
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