Double Star
Cindy Saunders
Illustrations by Laurie Barron
Copyright © 2012 by Cindy Saunders
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Illustrations by Laurie Barron Copyright © 2012 by Cindy Saunders
Cover concept and design by Marya Heiman Copyright © 2013 by Clean Teen Publishing
Editing done by Cynthia Shepp
Double Star is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s over-active imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Clean Teen Publishing
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The Colony, TX 75056
http://www.cleanteenpublishing.com
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To Mom, for always believing I could fly...
And to Ned, for lifting me into the air.
"Dark are the rails of today's twists and turns, when set in the tunnel of
tomorrow's concerns."
Ned Saunders
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
About the Author
Extras
Chapter 1
Where she was going didn’t matter. Where she was, she didn’t know. In this run for her life, her focus was to simply get someplace else. Above, the limbs of the great pines held the stars hostage. The only light came from the two moons in the sky. Despite her silent pleas they continued to fall, barely visible through the thick cover of the forest. She knew the darkness concealed many secrets and, from that fact, there was no escape.
Snap. The sound from behind stopped her heart. She dared to turn around. Two glowing rubies, only feet away, rode up and down as the creature advanced on four legs.
Beware the red eyes. The boy’s whisper broke through. They are the eyes of death for you and the ones you love. They will not rest until yours are closed forever. His image played in her head for only a millisecond, but it filled her with courage. Her heart picked up pace and, with arms out at her sides, hands moving in frantic rhythm, she managed to stay on her feet.
She sensed each passing second could be her last when she heard the creature’s rhythmic breathing roll up from her heels. Just then, the red moon revealed an abrupt end to the forest a short distance ahead. In a few steps, her fate would be in the hands of gravity. Trust! That was her grappling hook as she threw herself over the edge and tumbled into the darkness below.
The beast followed down the steep embankment and stopped a few feet away. She got to her feet and allowed the wolf-like creature another step. Its red eyes stared up at her. The head dropped between its shoulders. Its weight shifted to its hindquarters. The muscles of hunter and prey simultaneously tensed. The animal growled and exposed a set of long, yellow teeth. Saliva fell in strings from razor-sharp incisors. Unable to move, she watched as it lunged, jaws open wide. She put her hands in front of her and took a step back. Her left foot fell upon air, and then... she plummeted into emptiness.
Chapter 2
“Ally! Are you awake?”
Ally peered out at her clock. The LED display blinked back at her. She groped the nightstand and found her cell phone. 7:17 AM. Shoot.
“You’re going to be late.” Her mother’s singsong voice rose up the stairs.
“I’m aw—” She cleared her throat. “I’m awake, Mom!” But getting up this early on a Saturday sucks. She threw off the covers, sat on the edge of the bed, and squinted at the opposite wall. The hottest violinist in the universe stared back at her. In David Garrett’s right hand was his violin and in his left, his bow. You can run your bow across my strings any day.
Yeah, in your dreams—
“Ally!”
“I’m up!” She ripped the tags off the long green skirt and white gauze blouse. Why the hell had she gone shopping with her mom? She looked at the white sandals in the corner and grimaced. Their three-inch heels would put her into the ozone at over 5′11″. No way was she wearing those. She got on all fours and pulled her combat boots from under the bed.
In one quick move, her wavy, light brown hair was contained in a loose ponytail. She grabbed her violin and ran down the stairs.
“The wind must’ve knocked out the power last night.” Her mother fiddled with the clock on the coffeemaker. She looked at Ally and smiled. “I don’t know how you do it.”
Ally sat at the table. “What’d I do now?”
“You barely touched a brush to your hair, your shirt’s untucked, but you make me wish I was seventeen again. I’m so glad I have you… your beautiful smile.”
Seriously?
Her mom placed a plate in front of her. “Are you excited about today?”
“Yeah.” But excited wasn’t the word. Today was her interview with Northern Arizona University’s School for the Performing Arts in Flagstaff. The goal? To secure a full music scholarship. Her SAT scores were nothing spectacular, so this interview had to go well.
“You’ll do great,” her mom continued. “You’re an amazing violinist. I’d love to go with you but they’ll have my head if I cancel the showing on the Thomas house again. If I sell it,” her mom smiled, “I’ll buy you a new case. But I want you to take my car. I’d feel better about that long drive.”
“And you’re going to drive my car?” Ally said, dumbfounded. She couldn’t picture her mom driving around in her junky Ford Escort with “If you lived in your car, you’d be home now” and “Blessed are the cracked … they let in the light” stickers on the bumper.
“Why not? You don’t have a couple of dead bodies in the back, do you?” her mom chuckled, but then her face became somber. “And… not that you need it, but I have something I want you to take. For luck. I’ll be right back.” The words fell backward down the stairs as she ran up them.
Her mom returned with a silver chain in her fingers. One Ally recognized too well.
“I can’t take that,” Ally said. “What if I lose it?”
“You’re not going to lose it. Stand up.”
Ally held up her hair and a shiver went down her back. This was the necklace her father had given her mother five years ago on their anniversary. He’d meticulously crafted the setting. The outline of a heart in white gold had been cut into halves, and a pin held a heart-shaped ruby within each. He’d worn one of the halves, her mom, the other. On the lower end of Mom’s setting, he’d added a tiny diamond to the white-gold outline.
“Are you sure?” Ally whispered. “You haven’t worn this since Dad died.”
Her mom took her shoulders, gently spun her around, and looked into her eyes. “I’m sure. Di
d you program the GPS?”
“Did it last night.” Ally picked up the new Garmin from the counter. A godsend, considering she could get lost before leaving the driveway.
“And Stephanie’s going with you, right?”
“Yup.” Ally sat down and, in four bites, finished her breakfast. She looked up, but her mom hadn’t moved. “What is it?”
“I love you, honestly.”
Ally rose from the chair and grabbed her things. “I love you too, Mom.”
“Call me later, honey.”
Ally’s reply was swallowed up by the slamming of the door that led to the garage.
She pushed the button and the morning’s light filled the dusty, two-car enclosure. She squeezed between her mom’s Camry and the garbage cans that occupied the right bay. The left side housed her dad’s workshop. One of his hobbies had been woodworking and there wasn’t anything he couldn’t piece together from a photograph. Bookcases were a breeze and they lined the wall, holding an unthinkable amount of stapled pages and books on every branch of advanced physics.
With a quarter turn the Camry’s engine came to life, muffled by the noise of 1430 AM. She poked a preselected station and Thirty Seconds to Mars’ “Closer to the Edge” filled her ears.
Ally stifled a yawn. The wind wasn’t the only thing that kept her awake last night. The dream. The same dream for the past month. But something in last night’s was different.
A boy.
A cute boy.
A cute boy who looked like David Garrett… with blue-green eyes.
Sure, why not. Anything’s possible in a dream. She sighed and tried to clear her head. The piece she’d chosen to play today would demand all her attention, and already she was struggling to focus. But she had to. Otherwise, buh-bye scholarship, hello student loans.
Ten minutes later, she flew into Steph’s driveway. Steph ran from the house wearing gym shorts and a tank top, her short blonde hair spiked out at crazy angles like some deranged anime cartoon. Her glittered cell phone sparkled in her hand.
Ally stepped from the car. “When I said you didn’t need to dress up, I had something a little different in mind.”
“Hey, Ally. I hate to spring this on you, but bad news. I need to watch the brat today. Mom has to go to the hospital to see my grandmother.”
“Hospital? What happened?”
“They think it was a stroke, but she’s gonna be okay.”
“Oh, good,” Ally said, relieved. No. Bad. Steph’s brother was seven. Ally only had a Class G driver’s license. No driving on a public highway with more than one passenger under eighteen.
“I’m really sorry. I was just about to call you.” Steph waved her cell phone.
“That’s okay—”
“Hey, let’s take a picture.” Steph put her arm around Ally’s shoulder and held the phone at arm’s length. Ally forced a smile. “I just sent it to you, but know I’ll be with you today, in here.” Steph patted her heart and kissed Ally’s cheek. “You’ll do great. Call me.”
Ally backed out of the driveway. Crap.
Well, what was the big deal? It was only a hundred-and-fifty miles. And she had Lady Garmin, the best copilot in the world. No big deal at all.
She plugged in the GPS and, laid it on the dash, found the address in her list of Favorites and, without looking back, headed onto West Camelback Road.
“Drive one-point-seven miles then take ramp right.” Ally took the exit and went in the direction she was told.
“Drive ninety-four-point-seven—”
The voice of DJ, Young Marc, interrupted the GPS. “A freak windstorm blew through only East Phoenix last night and about five hundred residents are still without power. APS is investigating and expects power will be restored by the end of the day. Hey, was Rush Limbaugh visiting the East side, or was it another alien invasion?”
She pulled her iPod from her bag and plugged it into the auxiliary port. Maybe the sound of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” would calm her nerves. Her hand touched the heart around her neck.
Could it really have been nearly two years ago? Don’t think about the death, concentrate on the life. But the memories of her father were beginning to blur, and each new day was stealing the past. She remembered his passion for living, his love for her and Mom, and she smiled. She didn’t care that the feeling would pass quickly; at that moment, her soul found a friend on the lonely stretch of road running toward Flagstaff.
“Drive two miles then exit right.”
At the Garmin’s call, she looked at the dashboard. The display indicated her estimated arrival time was 11:30 AM, in about thirty minutes.
“Huh?” She’d be hitting Flagstaff earlier than she thought and glanced at the speedometer.
“In point-five miles take ramp right.”
She looked up. The exit sign advertised Sedona in large white letters.
Sedona? Since when does the road to Flagstaff lead through Sedona?
“Take ramp right.”
No time to figure it out. She turned off her iPod and started the descent into the valley. The access road’s steep grade, narrow road, and hairpin turns could easily put Mom’s car at the bottom of the ravine. Fifteen minutes later she drove, white-knuckled, into Sedona.
“In four hundred yards, turn left.” She took the turn and waited for the next instruction.
“Drive two miles to destination… on right.”
More befuddled than ever, she glanced at the dashboard. “Have you been drinking? I’m nowhere near Flagstaff.” Where was this thing leading her?
She wound her way up Airport Road, past the scenic vistas, and tourists taking pictures of the gigantic, red, rock formations. She glanced to the right. The beauty of the open area was unbelievable as the unseen ground fell to the valley floor hundreds of feet below. On the left, the rocks rose sharply from the road, forming an impenetrable wall.
“Approaching destination… on right.”
Weirder still. The only thing on the right was a lookout turnoff where a man and a young girl were enjoying the view. She pulled into one of the empty spaces and stared at the inanimate device. “Yeah, I think this is where you get off. Let’s hope the drop is enough so I can enjoy the scream as you reach your ‘final destination.’”
Crap. Of all days? Really? She needed to clear the frustration that was beginning to seep into her consciousness. Stretching her legs wasn’t a bad idea either. Ally grabbed the GPS and her bag, in case she needed to reenter the directions, and got out of the car. She placed the Garmin on the hood and tapped the “Recently Found” icon. 201 West University Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona. After calculating the route, it told her what she already knew. She was in the wrong place.
Her eyes drifted skyward and then dropped to the valley floor below. It wasn’t every day she could see something as magnificent as this. She leaned on the hood of the car, closed her eyes, and turned her face to the sky. Dad would have loved this. And that was enough reason to want the moment etched forever in her mind.
She got to her feet and looked over the guardrail that marked the threshold between this world and the one down there. This place is… breathtaking. In fact, she felt a little lightheaded.
She stepped away from the edge and put her hand on the Camry’s hood but the dizziness became more intense. “Deep breaths, just take deep breaths.” She needed to get hold of herself before she fell to the pavement. Panicking, she put her hands on her knees, concentrating on the ground, struggling to lift air into her lungs. Her legs were wobbly and she took a few steps, trying to regain her balance, but they could no longer support her weight.
And then, it was as if she were being pushed back. Her legs crumpled as two brake lights came at her. Wait. That’s not a car, it looks like two red…
The backs of her legs smashed against the metal barrier. A warm, moist breath fell upon the left side of her face.
“Daddy, she’s going to fall. What’s she doing?” the little girl screamed. The question sounded m
uffled, far away.
“Hey!” the man’s voice shouted, faint, distant.
She lost her balance and reached out for something, anything. A sickening sensation gripped her.
“NOOO!” The scream escaped her lips and then… an eerie quiet engulfed her as she fell over the guardrail and toward the valley floor below.
“There is no reality except the one contained
within us.”
Herman Hesse
Chapter 3
Liam drew his cupped hands from the basin of water and washed his face. “Perhaps today,” he whispered. His eyes appeared to float in the reflection. He pulled his long hair aside and confirmed what he already suspected. There was no sign of it changing.
He had just turned eighteen and wondered if Ascencia made a mistake. He was born with the mark: a tiny, eight-pointed star just under and behind his right ear. Most boys his age who carried it had already experienced the Shanyo, but his star remained unchanged and the waiting was becoming unbearable.
“Liam, hurry up!” Meg shouted from outside the house.
Today was the Carnival of Ascencia, the Feast of the Beast. Because Meg had reached the proper age it was her first time to visit the fair, and he was tasked with taking her along. As usual, he would make the trip to Kenyon with Corm and a few of his friends. But because his star had yet to transform, he would be a spectator… again.
“Liam! Let’s go! We’re going to lose the morning, thanks to you!”
He hooked and twisted the top half of his dark blond hair, tied it with a leather strip, and pulled on his boots. “Calm yourself. I am coming.”
Meg stood in the front yard, her hands on her hips.
“Meg Cheveyo,” he said, “In this world to which you were born, you are to show those you address proper respect, which can only be conveyed with proper English. Why in heavens name are you using contractions—?” He cut his comments short when he saw their grandmother walking in their direction.
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