The Curious Fate of Nelsonora (Fractured Universe Series Book 1)

by Marissa Nofer

  “Read!” He yelled, handing me the last page.

  There was a wind torrent whipping around us now. I had to nearly hug the page to ensure it wasn’t destroyed before I could finish. David stood behind me gripping my shoulders as I yelled the words on the page. He would grip tighter if I stumbled over syllables or messed up and I would try again.

  I was sobbing. There would be no dignified calm in this death. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that one of my soulmates loved me enough to let me be the hero and the sacrificial lamb. I hesitated before I read the last line.

  “Once you read that, the given life has to be added to the heart. It’s going to burn like hell.” David yelled beside me. The energy inside the circle was almost unbearable.

  “Okay.” I choked out as I prepared to read the last line. I was terrified, but I was ready. Instead of pushing away the thoughts of my family, I clung to them for one blessed minute before I took a deep breath. I was as ready as I would ever be.

  “I love you, Nelsonora!” David yelled over me as I began. He pressed a kiss onto the top of my head so roughly it could’ve left a bruise. I finished the line with my voice shaking and cracking from yelling and from a respectful fear of my old friend, Death.

  Then everything went black.

  CHAPTER 26

  Death was a lot different than I expected it to be. I expected the same chilling feeling I would get when I worked for clients in Connie’s shop. I expected the smell of hospital soap, sadness, and dust. I expected to be surrounded by friends if not family. Instead, when I finally met death, it was black and purple energy and the feeling of being struck by lightning.

  It was a shadowy figure with both the brightest and darkest coloring depending which side he chose to show you. It was judgement incarnate. It was another spilt soul, and it was a kindred spirit.

  Everything about death surprised me, but when he passed through me reached for David, I wasn’t prepared for that at all. I threw and absolute fit. I watched a light glow blindingly bright in David the way it had in the heart, but this light was a fierce blue. And then death leaned over and blew it out like a candle.

  ***

  I woke up in the warehouse alone with David’s lifeless body beside me. There was a nasty gash on the back of my head, and I couldn’t even feel it over the ache in my chest.

  I think I started screaming. It could have been minutes or hours, but eventually someone heard me. They couldn’t come through the circle and I had no idea how to disarm it. I wasn’t sure if I would ever want to anyways. I thought very seriously about going after David. The knife was still there.

  A few people approached the circle. They were speaking and I couldn’t hear them. The circle wasn’t sound-proof. I just couldn’t comprehend the words. Eventually I saw a familiar shade of red hair. My eyes were so blurred that I wasn’t sure if it was Edmund or Diana. I didn’t care. They couldn’t come in here.

  David said it had to be him that helped me. Not just anyone could survive inside one of these circles with its master. I knew it was Edmund when he walked right through the energy that was now mostly black like it was nothing at all. Of course, he could. My other soulmate. He didn’t say anything.

  He kicked the charred remnants of the heart and crystals out of the smaller circle and the energy vanished from the outer circle. Instantly. It reminded me of death blowing out the blue light with ease. Like he did that every day, because he did. I knew that better than anyone.

  Edmund picked me up and carried me. People parted as we walked through town. Beside him Beasley carried David’s body. I was exhausted. I lost consciousness at least three times as Edmund carried me home. The crowds were following. They were wasting time. They should be ‘cleaning up’ as David would say. They should be getting rid of the shan once and for all. They were insulting his sacrifice. I wanted to yell at them. I was furious, but I was barely awake.

  I woke up in the lab and Isaac was yelling something at Edmund. Westly was awake. I think I smiled at the sight of him. Isaac injected something into my thigh, and I felt less groggy. I wondered for a moment if he cured me. Maybe it was for the best since I just unwittingly helped David kill himself and even then, he had to baby step me through the motions.

  I vaguely remember Diana cutting off part of my hair to give me stitches where David hit me. Edmund was glaring at my face and I realized he was just avoiding the sight of the needle. I laughed a little. I didn’t recognize the sound.

  “Dad, I think I’m losing it.” I said looking at Isaac.

  “It’s okay, baby. It comes back.” He said gently.

  “I didn’t mean to. It was supposed to be my thing. He hijacked my plan.” I mumbled.

  “No one thought otherwise.” Edmund answered. “You’re both predictable.”

  “I’m sorry.” I mumbled. My eyes felt ablaze with tears. They all responded at once. I wasn’t quite sure what any of them said, but it was clear that they wanted me to stop blaming myself.

  It only made me feel worse. My head was swimming with fragmented memories, much like it did inside of the Nelson family home.

  ***

  The next evening at sunset the fields were filled with people. Every shifter besides Isaac attending David’s funeral service arrived in the form of a crow. I wore a black dress that I found in my mother’s closet. It had large sheer cut out lines, and I laughed bitterly when I put it on, because I looked like a witch. I wore my hair down and remembered what I’d done to stain it that icy blue color. I hardly recognized myself.

  “Why the crows?” I asked Diana wondering if David was a Hitchcock fan.

  “It was the first form your father taught him. It’s a bit of family tradition.” She whispered. I nodded.

  Diana and Westly stood in the front. There was a lump in my throat preventing me from speaking. Edmund had dark circles under his eyes and half of his shirt untucked. He looked like hell. I suspected he had dedicated himself to acting as my one-man suicide watch for the next few days. He trusted no one else with the job. Isaac stood at the front. He would be doing all the speaking. Before I could join Diana, Edmund pulled me aside.

  “David wasn’t married or anything, but if he was, his partner would stand with the speaker.” He explained gesturing to my father. I nodded understanding.

  Edmund was giving me space and permission to grieve the loss of a soulmate. I went to stand beside my father, and the crowd murmured in confusion. I saw Claudia, one of the women from the last funeral, nod in approval of the gesture. She understood.

  I hardly heard the words my father spoke. I kept my eyes closed for the most part. I remembered the translations David had whispered to me before. “We live and die in service of those we love. We love in a way that honors those who die before us. We die knowing that love is eternal, and life is brief.”

  When Isaac called out for David’s brother, he quickly did so three times. He David didn’t have a brother. They did that for every shifter, and it was rare that anyone stepped forward.

  I opened my eyes when people the crowd began murmuring loudly. Edmund was unbuttoning his shirt and looking around fiercely. No one dared to dispute his claim. I could hear the sound the blade made when it cut through his flesh. They repeated the cut three times. I knew that was to ensure it would actually leave a scar despite his rapid healing. I couldn’t watch the rest. The crowd cheered wildly.

  The cheering was a show of respect for a hero, and I saw Westly decline his headphones and take in the noise. He and Diana were crying together. To end the funeral, Isaac took the form of a crow, and landed in my hand. His crow form had a weird bluish coloring that I would ask about someday.

  Edmund stood beside me and I clung to him with my free arm. The fire was nothing but glowing ash by the time I moved. Diana held out a robe for Isaac and I began to walk away as an overwhelming sensation of dizziness filled my mind. I saw Isaac watching me anxiously before turning to Edmund.

  “You didn’t lose her to David. You never would h
ave. But we do need to learn from him.

  I think she’s got more strength than any of us ever wanted her to need.” He admitted.

  “He saw that better than I did.” Edmund said emotionally.

  “Well now you’ve seen it too.” Isaac assured him.

  I stumbled and caught myself, but not before Edmund could tell something was wrong. My head my pounding and memories were playing out and overlapping in a such a way that I couldn’t take much more of it.

  Claudia walked over to me and whispered something over me that eased the pain and overwhelming sensation in my mind.

  “Your past won’t return in an orderly fashion.” She warned. “Brace yourself.”

  EPILOGUE

  It took over two months to completely get rid of the Shan, but the progress was so rapid that the government didn’t dare to cross us. They even took to calling us the genetically alternative in the radio announcements. There was still a great deal of prejudice in the world against people like me, but we were also beginning to be heroes for ending the shan.

  The government ordered the guards to comply with our requests for assistance in any way that helped to end the epidemic. David’s method of administering the Renly cure was able to save several lives when given within an hour of direct exposure to the shan virus (bites).

  Westly and Diana worked alongside government representatives as allies to both sides and helped create a set of standards for schools to implement for children with all kinds of alternative needs. The country was changing rapidly, and hate was no longer such a tolerated norm. The New Regional Alliance was cautiously established, but laws often evolve faster than human preconceptions. Tavern Falls remained a haven for anyone with an open mind and a desire to resolve conflicts.

  Isaac was able to build a permanent lab and a small house for himself on the Taylor property, and Edmund and I took things day by day as my memories returned. I continued to work in the records office with Mara, and we received information and requests for records from all over the world each day. Still with no access to the internet.

  New residents of Tavern Falls reported to us each day, and eventually Matthew was among them. Soon Tavern Falls had an actual Sheriff’s department that consisted of Matthew, Beasley, and three other shifters.

  Occasionally new people would arrive at night, and I would take down their information from home. I was doing that at the kitchen table one night when Isaac and Edmund stormed into the room.

  “You can’t be here.” Isaac said to the gentleman across from me.

  “Let’s go upstairs.” Edmund urged me.

  “No, what the hell? Why?” I demanded.

  “They don’t like what I do.” The man responded. I hadn’t really noticed how creepy he was until then. He was haggard looking, and his voice was like spiders creeping over my ears.

  “Get to the point.” I snapped.

  “He’s a re-animator.” Isaac said. “He trades with death.”

  “Death is a mutual friend of ours.” He said, smiling at me. Visions of death blowing out the blue light danced in my mind and I held my hands together to hide the fact that I was shaking.

  “Piss off.” I said pointing to the door.

  “Usually I bring a peace offering.” He explained. “But David left you willingly, and Abigail was nowhere to be found.” He said as he walked to the door.

  “Don’t listen to him.” Edmund said sternly.

  “How does he know their names?” I asked, upset.

  “What the hell do you mean she can’t be found?” Isaac demanded. His hands were around the creepy man’s throat.

  “Don’t engage with him, Isaac.” Edmund pleaded. I walked over to him knowing that Isaac would break his neck before he’d let him touch me.

  I held my hand to his head.

  My control over my magic was better each day. Mara and Claudia helped me as my memories returned. I took the thoughts from his mind.

  “Unless they built an afterlife just for her, Abigail isn’t dead.” I revealed in shock. “He tried to bring her back so we would let him stay. He’s afraid of something terrible following him.”

  “Worse than him?” Edmund scoffed.

  “So much worse than him.” I answered. “He’s just weird.”

  Isaac let go of him.

  “You can stay, but no trades in Tavern Falls.” Isaac said.

  “And don’t let me catch you near my wife again.” Edmund added.

  “Just go. They only get worse.” I advised, rolling my eyes.

  As soon as the door closed, we looked around at each other each lost in our own thoughts and each thinking the same thing. Where the hell is Abigail?

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marissa discovered her love for reading and writing at a young age. She distinctly recalls her third-grade teacher refusing to acknowledge "what if" questions and unintentionally inspiring her to always ask them anyways. Marissa is particularly fond of speculative fiction and exploring unique character perspectives. She is passionate about helping today's young writers learn to craft their own original stories and keep asking questions. When not busy writing, Marissa can be found exploring her new neighborhood in Reno, Nevada with her husband and their three small humans.

  Want to hear Isaac and Abigail's story?

  Thank you so much for reading and please leave a review. I wrote the first draft of this story thirteen years ago when I was only fourteen years old. I love these characters dearly and I hope you did too! I look forward to revisiting these character in the next book A Twisted Bloodline. <3

  Until the next chapter,

  Marissa Nofer