Shadows of Reality (The Catharsis Awakening Book 1)
Page 23
Alie listened, then interjected, and then listened some more. They shared their experiences over the past few days, attempting to piece together information like bread crumbs left on a forest trail for those who look and are aware of such things.
“So, do you think the Ancient made a mistake in ferrying you off to that…land?” Alie’s head tilted slightly, not sure exactly what she was trying to ask. “I mean, she knew, or at least Yeor, seemed to know that it was going to be attacked, right?”
“No,” he continued to rub his forehead and moved down to his temples. “I think they knew of the attack, but not the force that moved into the Land Between Realms. I think…they knew of scouts moving in and out of both realms, but it seems to me, there’s more concern for Oneiron right now.” He sighed while scanning the ceiling.
A doctor and several nurses came into the room and moved Matt to the fifth floor, where he would remain during the next few days to recover and regain his strength. There were also a battery of tests he would endure to determine any lasting effects, if any, of the TBI.
After being placed in his new room—a single room, minus all the associated medical devices that went along with the ICU ward—he and Alie continued to swap stories about the past few days.
Matt explained that he didn’t remember too much after Yeor laid him down following the attack. He told her of how the earth looked as if it was melting away. He felt cold. A green light seemed to permeate everything around him. A warmth came back into his being. He couldn’t tell how long he was out for, but after seeing the light he woke up in the hospital bed with her next to him.
Alie told him of what the Ancient spoke to her that made her break; the thing that released her mind and heart from a past that seemed to keep her from the present, and the future.
“Well, I have never felt a release like that,” she told Matt, looking down slightly. “I always thought it was my fault that Mike left me. All this time I’ve carried this fear around that I couldn’t put my finger on; that I’d destroy any future relationship I might find myself in…in the future.”
Matt sighed, “That’s interesting, I don’t see that in you at all.” He smiled at her. “Funny, I’ve always viewed myself as wishy-washy. Not a good leader: home, work, or wherever. Doesn’t help that Trish is going to divorce me now. But—“
Alie was quick to remind him of all the calls he’d been on where he made great decisions, and then…
“…perhaps, it’s something we both need to work through before we continue on,” she stated, but formed a bit of a question at the end with a slight raise in her voice.
“Perhaps. I do think a bit clearer right now, hard to explain but I think that we all, Jake included, have some role…to play in Oneiron.”
Alie didn’t say anything and just nodded in agreement.
“I’ve always felt that there was something more out there, and my fingers just couldn’t quite grasp it. Just couldn’t quite grab hold, and when I touched it, it would slip a little further away.” He turned his head to look at her, “On another note…”
She lifted her eyebrows as he paused, tucked her hair in and slightly tilted her head to solicit his words that seemed to hang in midair.
“…there is this matter of me being married. How I feel for you. What I really want now. More than ever. I didn’t orchestrate this, Alie. Honest, I just—”
“Shhh…it’s okay. We’ll take our time. We know what we want, and in time it’ll all work out,” she said with her hands on his.
“Holy shit, Sarge, you scared the crap out of us!” Jake exclaimed as he and Anna walked into the room.
“Jeez,” Alie put her hand on the center of her chest, “you guys scared the crap out of me!”
“Hey guys,” Matt smiled wide as they entered.
Anna was the first to hug him with Jake close behind, and both then turned to Alie with the same warm greeting.
“How you feeling?” the big guy asked his sergeant.
“Pretty good actually. My left side is a bit sore,” he said with a grin, and stole a quick glance at Alie, “but other than that, pretty good.”
“Dude,” Jake leaned in, over Anna and Alie, his eyes wide, “I think it was the same two that I saw in my dream I told you about.”
“Yeah, I think so too. Well, we’ll need to swap stories in a bit, I’d like to hear what you saw out there after I got whacked.”
“Gotcha,” Jake acknowledged. He stood back up, “Oh, and Trish was in earlier today while you were still in ICU.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, she didn’t stay long.” He turned to Anna, “What do you think, was she here for about 30 minutes, or so?”
“Yes, something like that,” Anna answered, and then turned to Matt, “I’m so sorry, dear.”
“Sorry about what?”
“Well,” Jake looked down quickly, scanned the floor and then looked back up at his friend. “She mentioned she moved out, and—”
“Oh, she did?”
“Yes, she did. She also said…” Jake looked over to his wife, who gave him an authoritative nod to continue on, “…she had filed the divorce paperwork the day before she moved out, and was wanting to know how to go about having our office serve you with the papers. She—”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Alie interrupted. “She planned on—”
“It’s okay,” Matt cut her off. He saw the frustration in her face and thought it best to smooth it over before she got too excited. “Look, we knew it was coming.”
“Well, she said she felt bad,” Jake paused for a moment while both ladies reacted with huffs and eye-rolls, “…about the timing with you here.”
“I’m not sure why she thinks she has to have me served by my own department. I figured we could do this amicably and not cause an uproar…well, whatever.” Matt shook his head while looking up at the ceiling again.
“Look,” Jake glanced to Alie, then at Matt, “I’ll keep it on the down-low and when the paperwork comes through, I’ll get it to you myself.”
“That works—thanks, Jake, I appreciate that.”
“Hey, so…um,” Anna hesitated and pointed at Alie, then down to her hands, which both were clamped around Matt’s left hand, “…is there something we should—“
“No!” Alie sat up quickly, while letting go of Matt’s hand. “Nothing at all. We just…” she looked over to Matt for help.
“It’s not what you guys think,” Matt said confidently and propped himself up. “Nothing has gone on at all. The timing, everything that’s happened lately, probably looks a little suspicious but honest, we’re just…” Matt sighed and glanced at Alie,”…we’re just taking our time.”
“Ha!” Jake chimed in. “Whatever, brother.”
“Seriously,” Alie retorted as she leaned toward Jake.
Anna slapped Jake on the arm and he gave a playful yelp.
“What I do know, guys,” Matt began while looking at his fingers in his lap while he lightly tapped them together. “Oneiron is under attack right now.”
Jake and Alie became somber and nodded their heads. Anna sat straight up at the mention of it and remained motionless, staring at her husband.
“Yeor, Bartholomew, and the rest of that place needs our help. There is a connection between the realms and we’re part of it. I plan on going there as soon as possible.”
“I’m with you, brother.” Jake nodded toward Alie. “We did kick some ass last time we were all there together.”
“Excuse me!” Alie lurched forward and pointed at herself, “We? I barely survived.”
“Well,” Matt grinned as he continued, “I’m just not sure when to go. We should try and all go together, but we can’t wait too long.” He sighed and relaxed into his pillow while placing his hands behind his head.
“When I was a kid, I would remember snippets of dreams of riding horses and fighting monsters and walking around in that castle.” Matt looked between Jake and Alie, “As I began to write i
n my journal, those memories have become more and more vivid. Details I never thought of before. Faces of the people there…”
Alie touched the back of his hand that now rested on the edge of his bed.
“We must go. We must help them.” Matt’s gaze stopped at Jake.
“Okay, when?” asked the big guy.
“When does everyone have a day off together?”
Each did the math, and each agreed that the next days that they had off together weren’t until the next rotation, two months from now.
“I could call off tomorrow night,” Alie offered. “I mean, when you got hurt, Matt, I was on days off; that was an overtime shift. I don’t think anyone is on vacation from our department right now, so why not?”
“Eldret gave me a paid admin day for the internal affairs they did,” Jake glanced up then back at Matt, “or are doing.”
“Why internal affairs?”
“Well,” Jake chuckled, “I shot at those creatures. I know I hit one, think it was the bigger one, but the smaller one squealed all the way back into the forest. Just one shot though, it’s all I had time for, and I have no idea if I actually hit one of ‘em.”
“Seriously?” Matt sat forward.
“Yeah,” Jake leaned in, “I told them that I shot the dog and kept those creatures off the record. I didn’t want to sound like a lunatic like the one we were out with.”
“Ah, good idea.” Matt laid back against his pillow again.
“Guys, I’m sorry but I don’t like this at all,” said Anna who was almost in tears. “I barely woke Jake up the other day. That was almost too much for me to handle. I just don’t understand all of this and it’s kinda creeping me out.”
“It’s alright, babe,” Jake attempted to reassure her as he placed his hand on her arm. “We’ve woken up each time, and plus, Matt here has been wounded and he’s okay. Alie fell just like me, and we always wake up. It’s only a dream, babe.” He smiled at her, but it didn’t help.
“But what if you don’t wake up?!” Anna lurched toward him. “I couldn’t go on if something happened to you.” The tears filled her eyes and now trickled down her cheeks.
“Well,” Matt said, “if it gets too crazy, we’ll just simply come back, Anna.” He looked over to Alie. “I feel though, I won’t be of much use until I get some rest. My side hurts, and I’ve got a killer headache. How about tomorrow night?”
No one said anything else about going. Alie nodded, and Jake nodded while looking at his wife.
“Oh,” Alie stood up, “the Ancient gave me this and told me to make sure you get this.”
Alie walked over to the corner and retrieved the staff she brought from the ICU room.
“I saw that and was meaning to ask you.” Matt cocked his head, “Is that Yeor’s staff?”
“Yes,” Alie handed it to him. “She asked me to give this to you and bring it back to Yeor. She said it was a test of some sort; testing the veil between the realms?”
Matt took the heavy yet perfectly balanced staff. He ran his hands over it. He offered it to Jake, but he shook his head no.
“All right, tomorrow night it is then,” Matt said.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Shadows of Reality, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing this. Please feel free to join myself and others at thecatharsisawakening.com where you will find more information about the series, myself, and current news about the goings on in Oneiron.
May you thrive and flourish in every area of your life.
Yours for the Battle,
- Christian
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Pronunciation Key
Title
Prologue
1. Of Good -n- Evil
2. S.S.D.D
3. Black Vett
4. Dysfunctional
5. The Run
6. Skirmish
7. Distracted
8. Intoxicated Senses
9. A Silhouette
10. The Catharsis
11. A Spiral Notebook
12. The Upper Chamber
13. Speechless
14. Gold Button
15. The Land of Oneiron
16. The Banquet Hall
17. Burnt Aftertaste
18. Fiery Visage
19. Face to Face
20. The Sighting
21. Knight Within
22. Implications
23. Icu
24. Of Matthew: Room 412
25. Of Matthew: Paper to Steel
26. Of Alie: Room 412
27. Of Alie: Jake
28. Of Yeor: Land Between Realms
29. A Green Bead
30. The Plan
From the Author