R.E.solve (Rain Experience Book 2) Read online

  R.E.solve

  Book Two of the “Rain Experience” Series

  Thomas W. Everson

  This is a work of fiction which takes place on another world. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014-2015 Thomas W. Everson

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0986412007

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9864120-0-4

  DEDICATION

  My wife and my son have been and always will be my greatest inspiration to keep going and fighting no matter the challenge. Brandi and Bubby, you hold the key my heart.

  CONTENTS

  ISOLATION

  ESCALATION

  TRIBULATION

  REVELATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’ve received a lot of support from encouraging readers and helpful authors in my journey so far. The list of people who have been great resources is too long to list, but you know who you are.

  Special thanks goes to my artist, Jake Murray, for constantly exceeding my expectations in developing covers that astound.

  My editor, Dean Fetzer, has also done an amazing job in editing my book. Like the first, he did what a good editor would do and went above and beyond.

  Thank you all!

  1

  ISOLATION

  Though the light emanating from whatever lies beyond our border is giving me a headache, I bring Eve to the edge of the property. Out into the vast, white nothingness, there is no horizon. There’s no line of land other than the one which surrounds the house in a circle where the time vortex steals us away every month.

  This is what the princess meant about my future being bleak?! Nothingness exists and somehow we’ve found our way into it, but how? And why?

  My attention is drawn away as I hear the horses neighing and thrashing about. A rope snaps. Still having to squint, I think I see one of the horses has broken free. Practically throwing Eve into Ami I bolt toward the horse to catch it before it steps out into the white void. I am too late. I stop short of following it, right on our border, and watch. I expect it to fall at some point out in the white mass; I am surprised when it gallops out onto something solid, and doesn’t collide with anything. The horse weaves about frantically, putting it far beyond our range.

  Unwilling to follow, I watch and behold a strange sight: the farther it runs the slower it gets, but it is clearly still in full gallop with all four of its hooves off the ground.

  Ami, Eve and Agatha join me, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the slow motion horse. Agatha soothes the other horse with soft whispers, but even she can’t take her eyes off the escapee.

  “How…?” I start a question but fail to finish.

  “This…this has never happened before,” Agatha says quietly. Yet because of the deafening silence creeping around us, I hear her as clear as if she were yelling.

  “This is impossible!” Eve can’t contain herself. “First, you take me unwillingly from my people, and now you’ve trapped us all in some nowhere land!”

  “Eve, shut up.” Ami is quick to put her in her place.

  The horse gets farther away, becoming just a blur and stretching farther and farther out. The image of it becomes elongated. I shake my head in disbelief, unable to find any words to accurately express my emotion at this situation.

  “At least we know it’s solid out there.” It’s the best I can come up with.

  “It appears to be a time anomaly, slowing things down.” Ami has noticed it, too.

  I point as if they weren’t already watching. “Yes, but look.”

  The front end of the horse’s elongated blur seems to have trailed over an invisible horizon, and slowly the tail begins to disappear. After what could be any length of time just standing here, any sign the horse existed at all completely dissipates. It’s gone and, when there is no sign of it coming back, I feel I can finally break my stare from the white. Turning to my companions, I see the same shock and awe on their faces that I feel.

  “We should go inside. Do we have any medication for headaches?” I close my eyes and reach my arm out to steady myself against Ami.

  “Don’t worry, just hang onto me.” Ami grabs my hand, comforting me.

  “I can just carry you, Rain.” Eve protests, likely out of rivalry rather than really wanting to lead me.

  “Too bad, he reached for me,” Ami sneers.

  “Girls, not now please,” I plead, my head throbbing.

  “Mother, are you okay to find your way?” Ami looks over, concerned as Agatha continues to stare off in the distance.

  Her mood shifts to sullen. “I’ll be fine.”

  With my eyes shut, I am led to the house. Eve grabs my other hand despite Ami’s snarky response, and proceeds to tug at me. At this point in time I don’t care. I just want to get inside and rest a little.

  Between the light and my physical exhaustion, I need to sit for a while.

  Ami stops to open the back door and leads me inside. Eve is forced to relinquish my hand to follow behind, and Agatha trails her in. The door shuts. I slowly open my eyes and the white light is beaming in through the kitchen window, illuminating every nook and cranny. But the discomfort is manageable. While I sit at the table Ami shuts the shades, allowing my eyes to relax.

  Eve slouches in the chair next to me, while Ami gets into the pantry. Over my shoulder, I watch her retrieve a small white bottle before making her way to me. From it she shakes out two pills and puts them on the table in front of me. I manage a weak smile, but she doesn’t notice because she’s already gathering a glass and filling it with water from the faucet. She hands it to me. I take the pills, one at a time, guzzling the water afterward.

  “Any theories on where we are?” I close my eyes and hope the headache will subside.

  “None. This place is impossible,” Ami answers. “Light without a source, ground without ground. And I can’t begin to comprehend what we saw happen with the horse.”

  “I have a confession,” Evalyn’s voice comes from Agatha. Peeking, I see her at the window, glued to the nothingness.

  “Evalyn, you’ve been quiet since we got back. What is it?” I reply.

  “I attempted something with my power as the vortex commenced. This appears to be the result,” she states plainly.

  “What were you thinking?!” My eyes snap open, my back rigid. “I thought you said you would kill Agatha if you attempted anything in her body.”

  “I wasn’t in her body!” She retorts. “I was in my room! And I was doing it to break the power in place, so we might have peace at last!”

  “Why would you attempt it without telling us?” Ami is calm, but her tone shows she’s upset.

  “I thought I was doing what was best for everyone.” Shame shows on Evalyn’s face.

  Back in a relaxed position, I sigh and shake my head. “Can you undo it? Or is this something new we’re going to have to deal with?”

  “It should have worked. I just conjured my latent power to cancel it, but I guess I don’t have enough energy in my spirit form. Since we shifted here I can only assume in about a month we’ll be shifted out, like normal.”

  “I certainly hope so. We certainly won’t last here if the vortex doesn’t come,” Ami states.

  Eve sits with her arms crossed and her head down. She is unnervingly quiet. As it’s unlike her to not get upset, even at the little things, I prod her.

  “Why are you being so quiet?”

  “I’m…” she hesitates, shakes her head and then continues. “I’m not sure how to convey my d
issatisfaction, that’s all. If Evalyn weren’t a spirit I’d strangle her,” Eve says with a frightful seriousness. Evalyn isn’t amused.

  “So, what do we do until the month passes?” I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table.

  “Stay busy. Tend the garden, if it will do any good. Rebuild your stable,” Agatha regains her voice in this conversation.

  My headache worsens, becoming unbearable. Tears form and blind me. The medicine isn’t working fast enough and this chair isn’t as comfortable as I’d like right now.

  Maybe if I go lie down.

  Standing up, I wobble and head for the kitchen door. Ami gets up to help me, but I hold out my hand to indicate I can handle myself. In my room I shut the shades, collapse face down on my bed, and focus on not letting the headache get the best of me.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rustling in the room directly next to mine causes me to wake. Groggy, it feels like I may have been asleep for days, if a day could be tracked in this timeless void. Though my headache is gone and the silence around our plot of land is nice, I’m quite annoyed at being awoken by the rather loud shifting and rummaging from next door. A light-headed feeling rushes over me when I push myself up to go see what all the noise is about. It forces me to sit on the edge of my bed until it passes before continuing, or risk falling over. I stand and open the door. It swings hard and unintentionally hits the wall, creating a bang. Under normal circumstances I would have winced, but I’m already at the door next to mine knocking. Eve’s voice comes from within.

  “What do you want?” She too sounds annoyed.

  “What are you doing in there?” I ask, frustrated.

  The door swings open and Eve stands there sweaty and scantily clad in a ripped white t-shirt and cutoff denim shorts.

  “They’re forcing me to clean this room in order to make it my own, but now you’re awake I can focus on more important things!” She grabs my hand and pulls me into the room, slamming the door behind us.

  Pressing me up against the wall with her brute strength, she leans in close. I can feel her breath on my neck. She snickers while I struggle to pull away from her. Her grip on my arms is tight, and with my back against the wall, I have little leverage to maneuver away.

  “You’re just a mixed bag of emotions aren’t you?”

  “I am.” She attempts to kiss my neck, but I block her by tilting my head against my shoulder. “But what I’m pulling from the bag right now is passion.”

  “I don’t think you can make up your mind about me.” Her grip relaxes and I manage to push her away. “You simply can’t control yourself can you?”

  “We’ve had some problems. I was too harsh with you, but it’s nothing we can’t work out.” Her hand caresses my arm and she advances with seduction in her eyes.

  I raise my hand between us, but she repurposes it. She grabs it and presses my palm to her chest: her heart is thumping heavily. Her cheeks turn rosy. Closing her eyes, and stepping in closer, she tries to make her move. I pull my hand away and turn to leave. She feels the retreat and slams her palm against the door to hold it shut, leaving my only option to get by as going through her.

  “Why won’t you give us a chance?” Her green eyes glimmer, hopeful for a positive response.

  “Do you really want that answer Eve?”

  “Is it really Ami? Does she really hold your heart as you two pretended when we first met?”

  “It’s complicated. I feel a very strong connection to her…” I look away, embarrassed to be talking about it.

  “But?” she prompts.

  “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to pursue anything right now. We’re living a complicated life. If we had a relationship and it turned sour, we’d still be stuck with each other. It would just cause an awkward situation.” I shrug and sigh.

  “What about a physical relationship? It would just be between us.” She bites her lower lip and runs a finger down my chest, her eyes following her tracing.

  “Eve, I’m done with this conversation,” I huff exasperatedly and twist the knob to show I’m leaving.

  She lets me go, but I know it won’t be long before she is trying to bed me again. The floorboards creak on the stairs while taking them slowly. I reflect on her and the current predicament.

  Though she is physically attractive, her brash personality is off-putting. However, if I had been born in her era, and was a part of her clan, no doubt I would have given into her desires by now.

  Despite our precarious situation and not knowing if we’re going to live past this month, I might not have been wrong to say that it’s not a good idea to pursue anything right now.

  The white light pours in from underneath and through the cracks of the closed curtains in the living room. Though it’s mostly blocked, it seems to find a way to illuminate things in ways the sun normally doesn’t. It makes things appear as if they’re losing their color, dulling. I peek out through the division in the curtains and see the same as I had before: there’s nothing but white beyond our yard. An idea forms in my head and I grow curious about beyond the border.

  If it’s solid, it must have mass. If it has mass perhaps I can chip it and examine the fragment.

  The idea takes root, and before I can second-guess myself I’m outside at the wrecked stable. Of all the tools available, a wood axe seems the best tool for the job. With the wooden handle gripped firmly in my hand I walk to where the grass meets the white ground. Though the horse galloped onto whatever’s out there, I’m still cautious. Extending my leg slowly beyond the green I tap my foot down gently to test it. It feels solid underneath my shoe. Shifting my weight against the white mass there is no give, like the solid roads of Chas in Emma’s time. But the moment I fully step out onto the white I hear Ami cry out in protest.

  “Rain! What are you doing?”

  “Don’t worry.” I smile warmly over my shoulder. “I’m not going far. I just want to know more about it.”

  She rushes over, long yellow skirt flowing, but she stays on the grass while I bend down and touch the white. It’s strangely warm, as if heated from something underneath, and completely smooth. While on my knees I raise the axe up and heave it down. Upon impact my arm shudders in pain as the sudden stop sends reverberations through the handle. Groaning in pain I grab my wrist, but even in my distracted state two things are not lost on me. The first, no sound was emitted when the metal axe connected. The second is that there isn’t a scratch on the white ground. Looking at the axe, the immovable ground has left a dull spot where I struck.

  “Strange.” Ami’s voice seems to ring in my ear.

  “Indeed.”

  I look up to the white above us as well.

  Is that really a sky or perhaps just a ceiling? If it’s a ceiling, how far up is it to the top?

  “Stand back.” I wave my hand so she’ll move away.

  She does and I swing my arm back and forth, gauging the weight and trying to get an optimal upward throw. As it gains momentum I time my release and let it fly upward. Not wanting to be hit when it falls, I run to the grass. By the time I turn around it is already back on the ground, making no sound at all.

  “Did it hit something?” I furrow my brows.

  “No, it went up and came back down.”

  “I’m going to try something else.” I shake my head, perplexed.

  Returning to the white ground, I pick up the axe and throw it skyward again, except this time aiming a hand and unleashing a shockwave to carry it away. The shockwave connects, splintering the wooden handle. The head of the axe shoots upward at an angle away from me. I watch it fail to connect with anything above us. The farther it gets from us, the slower it falls to the ground. My eyes meet Ami’s, and she shakes her head because she knows what I’m going to do next.

  “Rain, don’t! We don’t know what will happen!” She rushes to the edge of the void’s boundary to try and grab me.

  “I’m just going to retrieve it.” I shrug and grin.
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  “Just chalk it up as lost and come back in here.” She’s panicked.

  “The time distortion can’t be that great.” I look back to the axe head and point. “See, it’s almost at the ground now.”

  She huffs and crosses her arms, pleading with worried eyes for me not to go. But my curiosity has taken control. Walking backwards allows me to keep an eye on the house, on Ami, and so I might figure out just what it looks like to be out of sync with normal time.

  Several feet away I begin to notice subtle differences. Ami paces at what appears to be a brisk walk and I see the horse shaking its mane like it’s riddled with flies. Moving another dozen feet away the distortion becomes greater and Ami appears to be urgently motioning for me to return, her arms flailing. I ignore her request and continue walking backwards. At least a hundred yards from the border of our house the time distortion grows so everything blurs, moving almost too quickly for my eyes to track properly. Eve speed walks out and a half second later Agatha follows. They all wave, jump around and appear to be yelling at me but I can’t hear them, deafened by the barrier between us. They blur more, nearly creating a visual similar to the horse when it ran off, except their figures intertwine and catch up at a much faster rate.

  Such a strange sight to behold.

  They, and the blurring effect, disappear completely as I reach the axe head. It frightens me. My heart thumps in my chest as I grab the tool and begin running back. On the way back they reappear occasionally when they stop moving. Closer, I see all of the previous effects in reverse. Time begins to slow back down within the confines of the house’s perimeter. Their blurs begin moving toward me, in the white, and the three bodies become normal again.

  Before we reach each other I am hit with a wave of sound. It’s garbled at first. Ami’s voice hits my ears, then the others. The sound produced within the green border catches up to me and I have to plug my ears when it turns from three voices to a loud chatter. The sound effect dissipates. Removing my fingers, they reach me and I can hear normally. We’re synced in the same time stream again.