by Laurie Lyons
FEATHER
by
Laurie Lyons
Published by
Ring of Fire Publishing
Feather
©2012 Laurie Lyons. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity with real persons or events is purely coincidental. Persons, events, and locations are either the product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously.
Cover image by Marius Muresan. Used with permission.
Cover design by Stephen Penner.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my publisher, Ring of Fire Publishing and the amazing team that put this book together. I need to thank all my delightful friends who have always loved and believed in me. I will always be grateful for my high school English teacher Mrs. Graham who looked me in the eye and told me I was an excellent writer. I wish to thank my supportive family, particularly my brother Robb who has taught me that failure is only possible if you quit.
We are all given Angels in this life. I was blessed with three. Thank you to my children Ethan and Julia for reminding me every day of why I was born. Most of all thank you to my husband Trevor for without you, nothing for me is possible.
I encourage you to figure out who the Angels are in your life and set about the business of making them happy. For, like the characters in my book, I believe that is the purpose of life.
True Love,
Laurie Lyons
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: Fallen
Chapter 2: Crazy
Chapter 3: Questions
Chapter 4: Answers
Chapter 5: Options
Chapter 6: Truths
Chapter 7: Bliss
Chapter 8: Demons
Chapter 9: Travel
Chapter 10: Lies
Chapter 11: Epiphanies
Chapter 12: Road Trip
Chapter 13: Heat
Chapter 14: Pieces of Heaven
Chapter 15: Soul Mates
Chapter 16: Research
Chapter 17: Sleep
Chapter 18: Fallen
Epilogue
About the Author
Prologue
Date: June 20 - 5 Years from Now
She fell. Tripped really. Her foot slipped and although she might have been able to save herself, if she had the inclination, she didn't. So technically, it was an accident and that was how it had to be. By her estimation, there were twenty five solid concrete steps on this staircase. As her body charged forward, her left shoe fell off and twisted lightly in the air behind her. A flash image came to her mind of the day she bought that shoe; it was during a better time - a much better time. But now the shoe was off and she had tripped and because the stairs were made of concrete and numbered twenty five - the fall would kill her. For that simple fact she discharged the better time - the shoe shopping time and she rejoiced. She felt joy in her own death, deep, full, unabashed joy. She was finally being let out of her own personal Hell and her soul grasped at salvation with everything it had left.
Seconds before her head hit the twelfth step, she twisted her body, looked up at the sky, smiled and whispered, "Thank you, thank you, thank God it's over."
Today was the summer solstice; she thought that was a nice touch.
Chapter One
Fallen
"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone,
not by violence, but by oft falling."
~ Lucretius
Date: Unimportant
He was dreaming, or so he thought - it was almost impossible to tell the difference between dreaming and awake when the light was close like this. It didn't really matter anyway – he had stopped caring about trivialities a long time ago. There were others about, someone told him to look for her. They told him he could see her. He was grateful for that. "You will have to forget," Peter told him, "this will not be simple. You will forget that you were grateful." He nodded his understanding and looked toward his destination. "Try not to forget that we are watching, that you are loved." He nodded again, eager to go. "And try your very best to stay away from them." From who? He asked, already leaving. He couldn't make it out at first but then Gabriel answered for them, Gabriel always spoke for everyone,
"From the Demons, Brother. Try to stay away from the Demons."
Date: March 20 This Year – The Spring Equinox
Lucy sat in the auditorium with a civil smile on her face, feigning interest. The theatre was so full that there were several people standing at the back. Despite Lucy's boredom, the air in the theatre was electric because the audience was captivated by Dr. Hannon's lecture. Students and faculty alike were taking notes and whispering comments to each other. Lucy was decidedly less than captivated. She sat in a state of awkward boredom and waited. Maybe she would have been excited too; if this wasn't the hundredth time she had seen this lecture. After all, Dr. Hannon was an excellent speaker; charming and informed and his topic was certainly one that Lucy knew a great deal about. Much to Lucy's dismay, Dr. Hannon had jovially called this lecture, "The Lucy Presentation." The audience was spellbound and absorbed with Lucy Bower the bright-eyed red headed eighteen year old University student from Kansas who was currently bored out of her mind. Lucy kept the courteous look on her face and watched Dr. Peter Hannon at the lectern.
"Lucy's eidetic or photographic memory manifested itself just before the age of two," he explained to the lecture participants. "She could read by the age of three and it was at that point that the infallibility of her memory was realized. Lucy's memory is connected to visual stimulus only. What she sees or reads can be recalled with perfect clarity at any point in the future and there has been no limit to the amount of information she can remember at one time. Lucy can absorb hundreds of facts in a remarkably short time and recall them with perfect precision. It's the most extraordinary photographic memory ever recorded." He talked a bit longer about neural pathways and cerebral activity patterns. Lucy continued to smile respectfully and wait. "Now ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to see what Lucy can do."
Lucy sat up straighter – now it was her turn. She felt a slight twinge of reticence as the audience hummed like a beehive waiting for her. It was clear that this is why most had come. Although she had done this a hundred times, she still felt nervous. After all it wasn't like her 'talent' was common. Most people had never seen anything like Lucy before. She took a deep breath and stood.
"Lucy," Dr. Hannon smiled at her. Lucy smiled back, her green eyes sparkling, eager to please, "could you memorize the people in the first three rows of the audience please?" Lucy nodded sharply and got to work. She walked to the edge of the stage and began pacing it slowly from one end to the other. She looked at each person in turn.
"Now you will notice," Dr. Hannon filled the silence so Lucy had some time, "that we have asked you all to wear name tags. As I mentioned, Lucy's memory cues are visual. She requires a visual reminder of your name. If you told her your name while she was looking at you, she would remember that too. Lucy remembers every conversation she has ever had face to face. This makes it difficult to disagree with her." The audience laughed.
"Lucy's memory is actually very average with auditory cues, if Lucy hears a song, she won't remember the tune more accurately than you or I would. However, if she heard the song and read the lyrics at the same time she would remember it forever. But I doubt we will get Lucy to sing for us today."
"You don't want that. Trust me," Lucy piped in. The audience laughed again. Lucy nodded lightly at Dr. Hannon indicating she was ready.
"Would the first row please come up on stage?" Dr. Hannon called. They quickly obeyed as they were eager to be a part of the action. Lucy walked to her usual spot at the corner of the stage and turned her back t
o the line of people.
"Lucy, please list the order of the people in the first row from left to right."
"Sam, James, Margaret, Jason, Kevin, Tammy, Ken, Steven…" and so on. She listed them quickly and the audience gasped a little.
"Lucy, could you please tell me what Ken is wearing?" Dr. Hannon prompted.
"Blue pinstriped shirt, brown belt, blue kakis, brown shoes, black socks, silver watch, gold ring, third finger left hand." There was a large audible gasp from the auditorium and Lucy smiled. There was then laughter from the viewers as it was clear Ken had raised his pant legs to show off the color of his socks. Lucy continued with the rest of the row. For the second and third rows Lucy just had to list their names and she did so without pause. Dr. Hannon then had her recite the periodic table, the Presidents of the United States and the Kings and Queens of England in order with years. The English portion was new and for the benefit of a visiting doctor who just so happened to be from Oxford. Finally, and in true performer form, Dr. Hannon produced a phone book from under the lectern. He had Lucy read a page at random and recite the names and phone numbers.
The audience was astounded and gave a rousing round of applause when the performance was complete. Lucy smiled, pleased that she had done well. Really, where else is all that information useful but on a University campus? Dr. Hannon smiled warmly at her as she took her seat again. He then fielded a litany of questions most fairly scientific and a little dry. One student raised his hand. Dr. Hannon called on him.
"I've read several of your publications on Miss. Bowers memory and you have mentioned a few times that the subject does not enter a REM sleep cycle. Could you elaborate?"
"Yes and no," Dr. Hannon replied into the microphone, "it's true that Lucy does not dream." There was a clear sound of interest from the spectators. "But really I can't elaborate on it. Lucy has had several sleep test sessions. Her brain does not enter REM sleep and she does not experience what we call dreaming. In fact, there is no evidence that her mind does anything at all while sleeping. Her patterns reduce to remarkably low levels to the point where they are almost unreadable. This seems to have no effect on her though. Lucy sleeps well and wakes up refreshed. Well, when she gets enough sleep. However, since she has entered college this is proving difficult." He winked at Lucy and she smiled and gave a half shrug back. The auditorium laughed again. "What I believe is that Lucy's mind is such a powerful machine that when she hits the 'off' switch it rests completely. There has never been any explanation found but it has never affected Lucy's life or memory."
Dr. Hannon answered a few more questions but they had gone over the time limit and the audience was getting restless. He thanked everyone for coming and added that he would stick around for any extra questions. The audience began to stand, don their coats and make their way to the exit. Dr. Hannon turned off the microphone and walked over to Lucy, "Nice work as always, thank you Lucy."
"No problem at all," she answered grinning. She gestured over his shoulder, "The British guy is waiting to talk shop with you." Dr. Hannon glanced over his shoulder at a stern looking man standing on the stage in a blue suit.
"Ah yes," he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "my work is never done." He glanced at his watch, "Brian is going to kill me if I am late. We were supposed to go to a movie tonight." He patted Lucy's arm. "Thank you again my dear. Do you need me to find you someone to walk you back to the dorm?"
"No I'll be fine, thanks Doc." Lucy reached behind her chair and picked up her coat and bag, "I'll drop by next week for lunch kay?"
"Sounds good. Head out the stage door so you don't get stuck in the crowd," he winked, "They look like a rowdy bunch tonight!"
"Positively terrifying," Lucy called over her shoulder with a grin and headed back stage. Dr. Hannon waved as he turned and walked toward the British Scientist.
There was only one source of light back stage, a bright red exit sign. She headed towards it, stepping carefully over bundles of wires. She pushed on the door's bar and found herself outside. The sun had gone down during the lecture but the University campus was well lit. The lamp posts sparkled in the moonless night, illuminating the pathway. Lucy only had a short walk to her dorm and she turned left down the path along the almost empty quad.
Mulbridge University was set around the quad. It was a huge tree lined grassy square filled with pathways crisscrossing through it and most of the University's early twentieth century stone buildings fronted onto the quad. Newer additions to the school were set back slightly. Compared with other Universities in Illinois, Mulbridge was small - registering an average of 8000 students on any given year.
Lucy passed by a glass window and saw an image of herself reflected back. She didn't look too fatigued considering it was almost nine o'clock and she had been going full throttle all day. Her bright thick auburn hair waved back from her pale face and rosy cheeks. The small amount of makeup she had applied to her full lips and vibrant green eyes that morning was still vaguely present. She wore a moss green hoodie and white v-neck shirt that unexpectedly did not have a coffee stain on it.
As she walked, Lucy mused about what she had to do when she got home. Finish a textbook, start a paper, maybe call mom? She saw her dorm building up ahead and picked up her pace in anticipation of being home. Check and make sure uniform is clean for work tomorrow, call Anastasia, pack school bag for tomorrow….
WHAM!!
Lucy was suddenly sitting on the sidewalk. She had hit something while walking and had fallen. She looked around bewildered and looked up to see what, well, who, she had run into. What she saw made her mouth fall open in shock. He was tall, taller than average even considering Lucy was sitting down. He looked like a student, perhaps a freshman like Lucy or sophomore maybe, but not a senior. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a white collared shirt; hardly the rumpled attire of the average University guy. His clothes looked like they had just been pulled out of a dry cleaning bag and put on with care.
He had a smooth angled face with a strong jaw and high cheekbones and his skin was perfectly smooth. His hair was so black that it was almost blue and it was cut fairly short but it was thick and wavy giving the impression that if he allowed it to grow it would turn into ringlets. He had a high forehead, a strong brow and the most stunningly beautiful grey eyes Lucy had ever seen. They were perfectly round with black lashes framing brilliant almost silver irises. Lucy had just smashed into the most handsome man in the world. She was so busy staring at him that she didn't realize that he was talking to her.
"What?" she said sounding far more irritated than she was. She realized she was still sitting on the ground.
"I am so sorry," he answered with his voice full of concern and then cleared his throat. His voice was strong and yet tender. He reached out to help Lucy up. She ignored everything she had ever read about stranger danger and reached willingly for his hand. Electricity ran from the strange man's hand like a live wire and Lucy almost twitched with the jolt of the connection. His hand was warm and soft but she could feel strength behind it. He gently pulled her to standing and she found herself within inches of him. He smelled like sunshine, salt water and honey all at once. She had to stop herself from closing her eyes, leaning into him and breathing deeply. Lucy was mesmerized. She shook her head to clear it. What a sap you are Lucy. She thought to herself.
He looked at Lucy and reacted like he was seeing her for the first time. His eyes widened in surprise and he pulled his head back a half an inch. "Oh, it's you," he said as though he knew her.
"Um, yeah it's me," Lucy said awkwardly. She knew for a fact that she had never met him before. Even someone without a photographic memory would never forget meeting someone like this but if he thought he knew her that was just fine. It would be wonderful to know him. Lucy stepped back half a step when she realized that she was gawking at her new friend. A half a step was all that she could manage. Then he smiled at her.
That was the clincher.
His teeth were st
raight, even and bright white, his lips were full and pink and his entire face lit up. It was like the smile was created for her and her alone, that he had never smiled at anyone like this before and never would again. It made Lucy want to throw her arms around him and never let go. Lucy shook her head again to clear it, Get it together Lucy, seriously you need to start to function here or the guy is going to think you are nuts.
He cleared his throat and asked, "What are you doing here?" He was still smiling. Lucy looked away from him to answer hoping that would help her form a coherent sentence. She couldn't let him go on thinking that he knew her - it would be awkward at their wedding one day. She took a deep breath.
"We don't know each other," she said not without disappointment, "I go to school here."
"Oh," he said with curiosity, "we haven't met?"
"No, but we can now." Lucy replied brightly, "What are you doing here?" Please say you came to watch the lecture she pleaded silently.
"I don't really belong here," he said slowly looking warily around them as if to figure out where 'here' was.
"You don't go to this school?" she asked.
He gave a half laugh. "No, no I don't," he said carefully. Lucy tried not to make her disappointment show too much.
"I don't think the administration cares if students from other schools come visit the campus." She chewed her bottom lip, for some reason it was suddenly extremely important that he stay.
He turned his head to look at her. "No, I mean I don't belong…well…" He seemed to be struggling to explain. He glanced around them again nervously as if he was expecting someone to yell, "Hey you stop!" at any moment.
"Are you meeting someone?" Lucy asked. Please say no.