Sweet Sleep (The Children of Ankh Book 1)

by Kim Cormack

“You know that you can just say that in English instead of Greek—it still works,” Frost teased.

  Lily sat down, and began to make Frost a proposition that would be difficult for him to resist. “If you were to help me do something that is very questionable and completely wrong, I will help you get more time with Chloe.”

  “I’m listening,” Frost said.

  “What if I kept them in training for two weeks? I know it’s a bit on the dangerous side, but I will keep Kevin in touch with reality. I will make that my duty,” Lily whispered, “It will give you time with Chloe. When the twins join, you might stand a chance.”

  Frost said, “The others will never agree to it, but I have to admit that I’m curious as to what you want in return?”

  Lily took a deep breath and exhaled, then whispered, “Help me save Kayn’s brother, this time he doesn’t need to die. We just need to find a loophole. There has to be a way for him to join with us.”

  “I saw the twins’ brother. He looks just like him,” Frost whispered back. “What a sick twist of fate. I’m guessing that you haven’t thought to mention this tidbit of information to either of the twins?”

  Lily answered, “I stayed away from him, but it’s obvious now that he dies. The family’s always die.”

  Frost sighed and whispered, “A week ago I would have been pissed off to hear this little self-destructive plot, but now I get it.”

  Lily whispered back, “Somehow I knew you would understand.” Lily continued to wait patiently for his actual answer.

  Frost leaned in so close to Lily’s ear that she could feel the warmth of his breath while he whispered, “So fine, let’s say we were to attempt to save Matt or Sam, or whoever the hell he is. How would we go about doing that?”

  Lily said,” We could mark him, kill him, and leave him on the other side. He might gain a psychic ability. We could take him with us, as an oracle.

  Frost replied, “Lily if he has no psychic lineage. It won't work."

  Lily said, “He’s adopted. We don't know what he is capable of?"

  Frost touched her cheek and said, “You know how much I want to be with Chloe. I understand that our time is almost up. I have accepted it as fact. I suggest you do the same. You know our wild little schemes never work out.”

  It was best to keep Lexy and Grey out of their private conversations involving murder, resurrection, and other miscellaneous mayhem. They would have the gift of plausible deniability. Lily opened the door to leave. Lexy and Grey stood outside blocking her escape.

  Lexy spoke first, “You know if you whisper loud enough people can hear you, circle or no circle. Another interesting bit of information, darling, if someone hears those words in Greek in this house, it’s hard not to eavesdrop out of pure curiosity.”

  Grey’s face was afire with undisguised frustration, “You might as well make that circle again to talk about it with all of us because by not turning you in, we will get in the same amount of trouble as you two bloody morons.”

  Lily recreated the circle and the four began to argue about the utterly insane plan. The group agreed to a two week stint in the in-between, but not to the resurrection of Kayn’s brother.

  Chapter 24

  Being Eaten Really Sucks

  Kayn found herself enjoying the company of her new clan members. Kevin still felt a little out of place for he had missed a whole week of bonding time. Lilarah or Lily, as the clan called her was an obvious leader. Kayn felt almost like she was in the presence of royalty whenever Lily was near her. Royalty with glistening hair that shone like black silk as it cascaded down her shoulders, and olive skin set off by her gleaming pearly white smile and natural rosy lips. She was breathtaking. Kayn found herself trying to get Lily to smile just so she could admire the contrast of her light olive-colored skin next to her lips naturally tinted from her Greek heritage. She kind of reminded her of an emotionally jaded version of Snow White.

  Grey had grown on her, with his boyish good looks, and free-spirited, skateboarder persona. Grey’s accent was incredibly sexy and made her grin every single time he spoke. He had a voice that made her want to give him a hug or mess up his hair. He was like the pompous, chauvinistic, brother that she found herself wanting to smack, hug, and sock in the gut all at the same time.

  Lexy was sweet as candy, yet tough as nails when it was needed. There was no other way to explain her sexy southern drawl mixed with a kind heart and a kickass punch, which she had obviously shared with someone again today, as Kayn passed the office and spotted her sitting in the principal’s office. Lexy had some obvious anger management issues. It was the end of the school day, and they all met in the parking lot. Kevin was so excited that he was practically bouncing in the driver’s seat. They piled into Kevin’s car to join a patiently waiting Chloe.

  Grey yelled “Meet you there,” as he flew past them on his skateboard.

  “Let’s grab a burger. I don’t want you guys to leave me sitting in the basement half-starved. It throws me off my game,” Lexy said in her sexy drawl.

  Kevin said, “You don't have to ask me twice to eat a greasy cheeseburger. He turned into the drive-through.

  Once their stomachs were full, Lily casually mentioned the two or three week stay for training in the in-between.

  “Isn’t that a long time?” Kayn commented as she thought about being away from realty that long.

  “I thought you said that more than a week was a bad idea?” Kevin asked, a little reserved.

  Lily cautiously answered, “After what happened last night, we have to catch you up to the other two, Kevin, so we will need a week simply to catch you up, before starting on anything new for the twins.”

  Lexy scowled from the backseat. Her expressive face gave away everything that crossed her mind before she had a chance to open her mouth. Lexy was quite obviously not in agreement.

  Kayn put her arm around Kevin and smiled. Kayn knew what he was thinking about. If he hadn’t been afraid to go the first time, they would all be on the same page now. They were all leaving certain things unsaid. Kayn could sense the omissions in the conversation. Ignorance of certain things kept her sane. You tell yourself that the things that go bump in the night are not real. That’s how you shut your eyes and trust that you will be safe until the morning.

  “Okay, let’s go then,” Kevin said.

  He was clearly excited to experience what Kayn and Chloe had already gone through. Kayn looked in the backseat and noticed a strange look being passed around the vehicle again. Her stomach knotted with an uneasy feeling. She knew that if she felt uneasy there was a reason.

  Kevin passed the empty stoop and said, “How’s it going, beautiful?”

  Chloe’s voice replied, “I will feel much better in about ten minutes.”

  “I’m glad,” Kevin answered sweetly.

  Kayn said, “See you soon.” All she could see was the empty stoop.

  Her sister’s voice replied, “I can’t wait.”

  Kayn walked in and the door swung shut behind them both.

  Lexy stood waiting at the tombs as they made their way down the stairs, “Hop in that one you, sweet thing. I wish I were going with you guys.”

  Lexy pointed to an empty tomb. Kayn watched as Kevin walked pensively over to it. She heard him take a deep breath as he climbed inside. She sensed his panic as the heavy, stone lid slowly shut above him. She wished she could have given him a pep talk or something. There was only one person left on this earth that made her feel better. He was in the tomb beside hers. She hoped he was holding on to the same image in his heart that she was as his tomb moved to the side, clicked, and exploded with brilliant blinding light.

  There was metal music playing from Grey’s tomb again. It heightened the exhilarating feeling as they were suddenly shot into the air. Kayn’s stomach twisted and churned. Then they began to deadfall. She heard screams of excitement around her. Then she saw Kevin falling a short distance away from her. He began to panic. Her best friend’s instinct fo
r fight or flight had betrayed him. It made him flail, and squeal like a little girl as he plummeted towards the unknown.

  Kayn gave him a look that said, it’s okay Kevin, calm down, nothing can happen to you here. Trust me. She seemed to speak through her soul as they fell slowly and almost gracefully through the air now. The group came to a stop, landing in the desert in a crouched position one by one.

  Frost chuckled, “Now that had to be the sexiest, most studly scream I swear I have ever heard in my life, and for the record it has been a really long damn life.”

  They all began to laugh. They laughed until they almost cried. Kayn smiled at Lily who had been hysterically laughing just as hard as everyone else.

  Lily’s said, “Thank you … I needed that. “ She lay there spent from laughter. Their humanity and weird humor was beginning to rub off on everyone.

  Kevin scowled at everyone and said, “Really mature you guys … really mature.”

  It started them all off again drowning in hysterical fits of laughter.

  Kevin blurted, “Are we staying in the desert for two weeks?”

  Lily realized that it was time to be serious and began the speech. “We are in the In Between. Your mark of Clan Ankh means that you belong to us. You cannot pass through to the hall of souls to be reborn. This place is whatever we all imagine it to be, Kevin.”

  “This place is definitely not how I would imagine heaven,” Kevin whispered in awe.

  ~

  Kayn bent down to touch the silky sand. It had small diamonds in it. They glimmered in the sunlight but were not sharp to stand on. She kept attempting to touch one, but they were like a hologram or a mirage, impossible to touch. Kayn sat down in the warmth of the sand. She looked up and Kevin was standing above her. His feet had no shoes on now. Kayn watched as Kevin noticed everyone’s now bare feet, then up their legs, to their barely-there white attire. He looked down at his own clothes which were now white and barely there.

  He looked down at Kayn and said, “Where are our clothes?”

  Kayn whispered, “Just listen, don’t worry about your clothes.”

  Lily continued, “We arrive on a blank slate and create through our own minds what we want the In Between to be. The desert everyone recognizes, and no one panics because we are in a group. If you were not in this clan and you died, you would have arrived to whatever you imagine as the most beautiful place in the world. A happy moment of immeasurable beauty from your life on earth is what you would awaken to here.”

  “I see,” Kevin replied quietly in awe of the sparkling ground before him. He wiggled his toes in the sand, feeling the silky warmth. The sky swirled with sparse puffy white clouds across the brilliant blue canvas above them.

  Lily began her talk about blindly trusting your clan. Kayn was excited. She could not seem to wipe the smile off of her face. She stood up and placed her arm around her twin. Chloe and Kevin were here. This was her version of heaven, even if they were standing in the desert.

  Kayn saw the diamonds sparkling in the sand and knew that something was amiss. Those diamonds were not here the last time, not like this. They were almost blinding as the sun hit them and bounced rainbows of light into the air. Then a past memory filtered through the many in her mind. They had been here the first time she’d arrived in this place. The night that her family died, and she’d almost died, they were here shining under the tepid water, amidst brightly colored starfish. She had the immediate instinct to close off her thought process. Kevin needed to train now; he didn’t need the distraction of knowing what she was suspecting right this moment.

  It was time to go for a run and Kayn looked into Kevin’s eyes and whispered, “Do you trust me?”

  “Always,” Kevin whispered.

  Kayn didn’t want him to feel discouraged by being embarrassed again, so she whispered, “You can’t die Kevin. We are somewhere created out of love and filled with beauty and magic. Just be free and trust that you can never be hurt here.”

  “Party pooper,” Frost teased with a giant grin, shaking his head at her. He leaned over and whispered in Kayn’s other ear, “That’s cheating, love.”

  “I know, but sometimes cheating is necessary,” Kayn whispered back with an innocent smile.

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Frost yelled as they all started to run through the exquisitely beautiful desert of diamonds.

  They reached the drop off, and Kayn, who had kept pace with Kevin the entire time, held out her hand. He grabbed onto it and trusted her as they leapt off of the ledge. As they fell, Kayn yelled through the whirling wind, “I have to let go. You have to learn to stop yourself, Kevin.”

  “How,” he yelled as he watched Kayn put her hands in front of her.

  Kayn hollered back, “Use your own adrenaline to push your body away from the ground.”

  As Kevin spiraled through the air in a dead fall, Kayn noticed that a necklace was falling beside him. Kayn watched him grab for it. It was his granny’s amulet. A visible bright yellow haze surrounded him as he fell. He tightly clenched the necklace in the palm of his hand. Kayn watched an orange surge of power pulse around his chest. Kevin placed his hands in front of him, knowing what to do on instinct. The energy pulsed forth pushing him away from the ground. He slowed to a complete stop before impact and lingered there, suspended in midair for a second. Kevin’s cheeks exploded into a victorious smile. He hovered there for another second before allowing his feet to make contact with the forest floor beneath him. The clan stood in silence with their mouths agape. Their Ankh symbols were all glowing.

  Frost spoke up first, “Wow, everyone always makes a crater on the first run. I underestimated you.”

  “Holy crap, how in the hell did you hover there like that?” Grey said aloud.

  Kevin opened his own still glowing hand to show the amulet covered in blood in the palm of his hand. He’d squeezed the necklace so tightly during his rapid descent into the unknown that it had pierced his flesh. His blood began to trickle down to his wrist, christening the sand with red.

  Kayn recognized the amulet. “Where did that come from, Kevin?”

  He told her it had been willed to him along with all of his grandmother’s power in death. He had left it at his grandmother’s house that day refusing to take it with him. Kevin’s eyes spoke for him as he placed his grandmother’s amulet around his neck. He suddenly began to clutch at it desperately trying to rip it off. He fell to the ground unable to breathe. He gasped for air in tortured agony on the ground. Kayn bolted toward Kevin to help him. Frost stopped her midstride and held her as she tried to squirm away, desperate to stop the pain that he was in. Kevin began to scream with horrifically real agony as if he were being torn to pieces.

  Kayn looked at Chloe, begging her to help, but Grey had her pinned down.

  “He’s in too much pain … I can’t take this please … please, help him … make it stop,” Kayn sobbed into Frost’s shoulder.

  Frost whispered in Kayn’s ear, “He’s a psychic, and he’s having a violent vision probably fed to him from the amulet he just put around his neck, which is never good news, but news we need to hear. This is his job now.”

  Kayn looked at Chloe who was sobbing and pleading with Grey to help Kevin.

  Grey was looking at Lily. He backed away from Kevin.

  Kayn couldn’t help but notice the look on Lily’s face. She looked like she knew a secret, a horrible secret. Kevin grabbed Lily’s ankle. He had squirmed toward her as he struggled on the ground with his demons. When his hand made contact with her flesh it channeled what he was seeing and feeling directly to her mind. Lily did not scream, she froze, clutched her chest, and dropped to the grass.

  Kevin’s mind pulsated with images of violence and torture. He couldn’t breathe. He knew what had happened to his grandmother, and what was going to happen to them all. Lily’s mind pulsated with the same images. She began to kick Kevin’s hand away from her ankle in a desperate attempt to free her mind before it fizzled.

/>   “Do something,” Kayn yelled, as the pair squirmed in agony in the sand.

  “I have never seen this happen before. He is passing his vision on by touch. He shouldn’t be able to that,” Frost whispered, confused and panicked at the sight of Lily writhing in pain.

  Kayn broke free from Frost’s grasp during his confusion over the next move to make, and jumped in between the two, forcing them apart. The outside influence broke Kevin’s vision. The two lay half dead in the sand. Kayn had fallen between them. The sand began to slip away underneath her and it swallowed her whole. She had disappeared into the sandy depths of nowhere so quickly none of the others who were coherent had seen it coming, or had time to grab her.

  Back in the basement, Lexy saw that three of the tombs were out of sync. “What in the hell,” Lexy said aloud. She touched Kevin’s tomb and horrific images flashed through her mind. Kevin had sent a vision to her via the tombs. Lexy knew that they would need every second of training to have a shot at altering the future she had just witnessed. The shit was about to hit the fan.

  She heard the blaring noise that only the clan could hear. Lexy staggered around covering her ears until it ended. That racket meant a battle had started. It meant the area was sealed off to witnesses of any kind by the third tier. Lexy bolted up the stairs and rushed towards a window. Sure enough, there was a massive amount of clan fighting in the backyard. She saw the black mist swirling around, and they disbanded. It had only been a few minutes since her clan had left to train in the in-between. The entire house was spiritually blockaded, but that didn’t mean that there was no way inside, just that it would not be easy.

  She ran back into the basement and poured salt across the doorway. Then she placed a line of stones on the top of the doors wooden frame. She wedged a shovel and a few other objects underneath the doorknob and in front of the door. Lexy hurried back down the basement stairs. She knew that she would have to wait until the very last moment before she could climb into the protection of her tomb. They would need every last second of their training, if they stood a chance. They needed her to heal them for a couple more hours.