He stepped back, the tone had gone completely silent.
“Thank you for showing patience” a voice said.
Nathan looked up, directly in front of him, in the middle of the hole was a floating hologram of his daughter Sarah, his eyes instantly welled up, she was slightly older than he remembered, he approached Sarah, he waived his hand in front of her to see if she could see him, sadly she could not.
“Speak to me, I will try to answer your questions” said Sarah, “Where are you?” asked Nathan, his voice soft and crackled, Sarah looked down at Nathan, almost like she could see him, “This is a recording, I have been stored here in waiting for nearly three millennia, you are the fourth person to discover me” said Sarah
“Are your mother and brother alive?” asked Nathan as he reached out to Sarah, in the vain hope that he could feel her, “If you know about my family that means one of two things, you are the one that this message is left for, or you are here to hunt us” said Sarah.
“Which one are we?” said the duke walking around the hologram, staring at Nathan, Sarah turned to face the duke, “It does not matter” said Sarah, as she did a glass column rose from the floor, “Whichever you are, your fate either lies inside this column, or back out that doorway” said Sarah as the door reopened.
“Where will it take me” asked Nathan, “That I cannot guarantee, the technology is still random” said Sarah.
Undeterred Nathan walked to the column, an invisible door slid open, he went to walk inside when Marteen grabbed him from behind.
“Are you sure you know what you are doing?” asked Marteen, Nathan turned with a smile, “Yes” he said and he stepped into the column, Marteen followed him in, “What are you doing?” asked Nathan, “Where you go, I go” said Marteen.
Ingrid quickly jumped in, “I don’t think you understand” said Nathan, but before he knew it Reginald had joined him also, “If you come, you can never return” said Nathan, “My father prepared me for this adventure my whole life” said Reginald, “I’m not about to turn around now”.
The duke stood at the door way, “What exactly does this device do?” he asked, Sarah simply smiled back as the hologram disappeared, the duke turned towards the column, the door began to slide shut, he hesitated, then at the last second he jumped into the column, he barely fit in just as the door slammed shut.
The door sealed tight, Nathan stood at the front, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Marteen and Reginald stepped up to his side pushing Ingrid and the duke to the back, the room suddenly went dark, then a light gradually appeared below them.
A quiet humming noise grew louder as the light grew brighter, it became very cold. Their skin became so cold it was almost wet to the touch. The light spun around them, pulsating, the noise became so loud they could not hear each other speak, Marteen called to Nathan but he could not hear him, he looked up, seemingly unaffected by the noise.
The pulsating light disappeared, and all around them they could see the landscape changing, the sun rising and setting, trees growing and dying, the seasons changing, Nathan remained unmoved, Marteen, Reginald and Ingrid stared out at the world, their eyes bulging from their heads.
The dukes gaze turned to Ingrid, a wicked look on his face, he pulled her close and kissed her fiercely, he put his hands down her top and molesting her, she fought his advances but she was not strong enough, the duke put his hand down her pants, Ingrid stopped fighting, she embraced the duke, she put her hand down his pants and grabbed at his penis, his eyes rolled back in delight, she smiled at him.
She pulled him close, then twisted his testicles in her hand as hard as she could, he dropped down in absolute agony. He grabbed at her feet.
Ingrid looked down her nose at the duke with disgust in her eyes, she kicked his hands away.
The time passing outside was beginning to slow, Ingrid stepped forward and reached for Marteen’s hand but before she could grab it the duke got to his feet and shoved her in the chest with two hands, she stumbled backwards, falling out of the column, the duke grabbed her hand before she fell the whole way out, she looked back in terror, half of her body inside, the other half hanging out in nothingness.
The duke smiled at her, then started to pull her in, Ingrid let out a sigh of relief, then the duke let go, she fell backwards and disappeared from sight.
The duke smirked, Nathan, Marteen and Reginald were completely unaware of what had transpired.
Time came to a complete stop, the column disappeared.
A warm breeze swept over them, Nathan opened his eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED….
If you enjoyed The Constant check out other great books by Trevor Booth.
SENTARI: ICE
With the sudden death of his parents, Te'oma is cast alone into a desolate world.
For generations the lands of Sentari had been trapped in the depths of winter, the dragons that once ruled over the lands with grace and honor had turned cold and the world along with them.
In the epic first book of the Sentari saga, follow Te'oma and his new friends Julius and Ariana, as they try to make their way along a dangerous road to find one creature that can help them, the last free dragon.
Available now at www.trevorbooth.com
The Constant: Episode 1 Page 6