by Amber Flora
Between Two Realms
Awaken
© 2016 by Amber Flora
@AmberFlora1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Publishers Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Acknowledgments
To my husband, Adam, I am forever grateful for your support and guidance throughout this experience. None of this would be possible without you. Your patience and understanding of the long nights and missed dinner dates did not go unnoticed.
A shout out to my amazing editor Marette. Her dedication and ability to deceiver what I can only describe as “ramblings of a madwoman” allowed this story to be told.
Last but not least, to my family. Who dealt with my stress, late night texts and daily updates. I appreciate all your words of encouragement and helpful criticism throughout this lengthy process.
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
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Fate is a devious mistress. She strikes when you least expect it, and if you’re not careful, you’ll miss the point she's trying to make.
In Greek Mythology, three goddesses presided over the life of humans. Their destiny was spun, measured and cut by the sisters of fate. However, just because fate has a plan for us, doesn’t mean we listen.
I hated working in the city. My job was nothing but a means to keep the bill collectors at bay. Most days I counted down the minutes till it was quitting time. I couldn’t wait for that clock to strike five so I could get the hell out of dodge. I lived about an hour outside of Philadelphia on my uncle’s farm. The drive was long but I didn’t mind; to be able to sit on the porch drinking my coffee and listening to nature was always worth the aggravation of dealing with the stop-and-go traffic. I wasn’t cut out for city life. My tolerance for obscene construction workers whistling every time I walked into work was dwindling by the day.
I sat at my desk finishing up an email when my phone rang. I glanced at the clock. 4:55.
“Oh, you have to be kidding me,”
I snatched up the phone in a huff.
“This is Ashtyn.” I attempted to rein in my frustration.
“So formal ... I wanted to catch you before you head home, I have a juicy story and wanted to dish over some dinner.”
While Lori is my best friend we are the reason the phrase opposites attract was coined. Lori was born to be a city girl. She was a full blow extrovert. Instead of a boring nine to five; she was an actress in a local theater downtown. When she isn’t being dramatic onstage her personal life is typically just as entertaining and it’s free to watch, minus the cost of some rocky road ice cream when her latest flame burns out.
“Hey girl, does this have to do with Justin?”
Lori was notorious for her breakups. She went through men like I went through socks. Every season she would toss them out and get new ones. “Justin? No, didn’t I tell you? We broke up three days ago.”
I rolled my eyes. The song “Another One Bites the Dust” crept into my mind.
“Ashtyn, are you there? Are you zoning out again? I really want to have dinner with you tonight. Meet me at Hart’s?”
I sighed, dreading spending another few hours in the city.
“Alright, O’Hara, I’ll meet you. I’m leaving now.”
Lori’s last name was actually Cobb, but ever since we were kids Lori had loved “Gone With the Wind.” She always said if she could be any woman it would be Scarlett O'Hara. If I were being honest with myself I wanted to be her, too, except for the annoying whining she always seemed to be doing. She had strength and beauty that I just did not possess. Lori, however, had it in spades.
“Great, see you in a few. Later, girl.”
I hung up the phone, grabbed my jacket and headed for the elevator.
As I made my way to Hart’s I thought about my friend and her lifelong parade of men. I couldn’t comprehend how she did it. She was so personable; everyone who knew her loved her. I didn’t connect with anyone on a personal level. My ex once told me I was a space cadet. To be fair, he was right; I would let my mind drift elsewhere quite frequently just so I didn’t have to listen to his endless yammering. Lori has learned to look past my daydreaming, I think it’s because she enjoys hearing herself talk so much that most of the time she doesn’t even care if I am listening to her. I did enjoy her stories though; she has a way of getting your attention, sucking you into her riveting tales of woe. I put on my happy face and headed down the street, pushing through the crowd of people toward the restaurant. The brisk fall air caressed me, causing goosebumps to form along my exposed skin. My hair whipped across my face as I turned the corner. Smack. I slammed into a wall. At least I thought it was a wall. Until I looked up.
“I’m so sorry; my hair was in my face and, well, I wasn’t really watching where I was going.” A tall beast of a man stood in front of me, a look of astonishment on his face.
“Ashtyn?”
Well that was unexpected. How did he know my name?
“Do I know you?”
I know I spend most of my time in a fog but I’m fairly certain I would remember this man. The stranger looked at me, tilting his head to the side. He appeared conflicted.
“No, sorry my mistake.” He said averting his gaze.
I took him in with my eyes, admiring his strong build and sexy tousled hair.
“No problem; have a nice evening.”
I should have stayed and asked him more questions, like how the hell did he know my name, and why did he seem familiar to me? But the streets were too crowded and I just wanted to have dinner with Lori and go home. A man that titillating wouldn’t know me. He was the kind of man women dreamt about.
Cody was shocked when he realized the person he collided with on the busy urban street was Ashtyn. He had never seen her in the flesh, outside of dream realm. He knew she wouldn’t know who he was, but it didn’t stop him from blurting out her name like a buffoon. She must have thought him crazy or a stalker, although the stalking part wasn’t too far from the truth. It was in fact his job to keep watch over her while she walked back and forth between the realms unaware she was even doing so, and she kept him pretty busy as he bailed her out of trouble on quite a few occasions. But to run right into her on the street as if they were ordinary people, it definitely caught him off guard.
He turned and watched her walk across the street into the restaurant. She was even more beautiful in person with her long slender legs, curvy thighs and heart-shaped backside, but the thing that caught his attention the most, though, were her brown eyes. Why, he wondered. He had never known anyone’s appearance to change from one realm to the other, but he looked right at them and they were not the piercing teal they are in dream realm. He took a mental note to reflect on that moment and her and turned around, heading back in the direction he was walking. He had more important things to addr
ess at the moment.
I entered the restaurant smiling at the waiter as I slid into the booth across from Lori.
“Bestie! I've missed you.”
I picked up the menu and glanced at the options, knowing I would be ordering the same thing I always did.
“Hey, O’Hara, what is this juicy gossip that is keeping me from getting home before dark?”
Lori laughed, scooting closer to the table.
“Oh, grandma, I’ll get you home in plenty of time to take your medicine and get your twelve hours of sleep.”
I threw my straw wrapper at her as she proceeded to tell me about a party she went to where she met a casting director looking for new talent to be in an upcoming film.
“What is the movie about?”
Her face sparkled as she pulled a script out of a purse that was bigger than most luggage.
“It’s a story about a mother who gave her daughter up at birth. They meet later on in life only they don’t know who one another is.”
I grinned, thinking about how that hit close to home.
“So I was wondering if I could come over one day next week and we could rehearse lines together.”
I use to help her rehearse when we were younger but she put a stop to that after high school. She told me I didn’t put enough feeling into it and eventually quit asking.
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask one of your acting friends?”
She huffed, taking a bite of her pasta.
“Because everyone will want this role. I don’t want to deal with the competition. Please, oh, pretty please.” she begged, giving me her clearly practiced puppy dog eyes.
“Fine, but you better bring the ice cream.”
We continued to talk about work and her latest failed relationship with Justin. I knew that thing was doomed from the start. Lori met Justin at a cast party, which wasn’t why it was set up for failure, but the fact that he was there with his girlfriend and yet called Lori asking her out the next day could have had something to do with it. Trying to explain to Lori why her relationships are over before they begin is like trying to explain democracy to a dictator. She just wasn’t going to get it. Eventually she would see what everyone else already had, but by then the damage was done.
A few drinks, and hours, later we said our goodbyes and I headed home. I drove up the windy road leading to my driveway listening to oldies and attempting to sing along to the lyrics. I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket but it didn’t stop me from giving it the old college try. My uncle had said I had a beautiful singing voice, but he was half-deaf and I think his love for me clouded his judgment. The trees surrounding the dirt road swayed in the wind casting an eerie shadow in the moonlight. On long winter nights when I couldn’t even manage to get out of the driveway I thought about selling the place and moving closer to city, but it was just the frustration talking. I could never sell this place. It was all I had ever known; nearly every happy memory I have comes from this farm.
I shut off the car, shaking my hips to the song still stuck in my head when I heard a noise coming from the side of my house. I reached for the pepper spray in my purse and began walking in the direction of the sound. What was that, a groan? As I walked past the garage door the security light switched on. The clearer view of my surroundings made me feel a little better. I stepped into the woods coming upon a large shadow lying on the ground. I could see the outlines of person. Without thinking, I ran over, kneeling down looking for injuries.
“Hello, can you hear me? Are you alright?”
I crawled to the front of the body and froze. Holy macaroni, it was the man from the street, the goliath I smashed into who somehow knew my name. Fear took over me and I scrambled back against a tree.
“Ashtyn” a soft whisper escaped his lips.
I pulled out my phone to dial the police.
“I’m here to help you, don’t fall asleep.” His voice was nearly a whisper. Had I heard him correctly?
“Who the hell are you?” I yelled.
I’m not sure if it was stupidity or curiosity that caused me to put the phone back in my purse, but I did. I crawled over to the stranger, pepper spray still in my other hand ready to go. I shook him, trying to keep him awake.
“Who are you? What do want from me?”
It was no use, he was out cold. Well looks like I’m not getting my answers right now. I surveyed him for injuries, finding his side coated in blood. What could have done this to him? I knew I had to clean the wound and assess the damage; I couldn’t get answers from a dead man.
An opossum scurried about to my left. I couldn’t just leave him in the woods, but there was no way I was going to be able to sling him over my shoulder to carry him inside. I rubbed the side of my temples, trying to figure out a solution. I remembered my ex had left his stupid skateboard in my garage. That should have been a sign things weren’t going to work out between us. A twenty eight year old man with a skateboard doesn’t scream marriage material. I walked into the house, grabbed a blanket and some pillows and lay them down in the garage. I brought the skateboard back out into the woods. He hadn’t woken up in my absence. I placed the skateboard beside him taking in a deep breath to prepare myself. I have heard stories of a mother trying to save her child who was trapped under a vehicle; the mother suddenly gained superhuman strength and was able to lift the car off the child to free him. This was not my child, but he was the size of a car. After what seemed like a lifetime, I was able to place the skateboard underneath him and slowly drag him to the garage by his arms. I didn’t know how bad he would feel when he awoke but I had a sneaky suspicion I was going to feel this workout the next day. I rolled him off the skateboard onto the blanket and laid his head gently onto the pillows. Whoever this man was, he was a sight to behold. He had shaggy brown hair and large, defined muscles underneath a shirt that clung to him like it would rip at the slightest tug. It was obvious he had a good five inches on me. If I had to guess he was probably around six foot, two inches, but that was difficult to determine from his current position. I noticed a tattoo peeking through the top of his back collar. He looked dangerous—too dangerous to be napping in my garage— but too late, he was here, and I wanted answers.
Cody had managed to snap out of dream realm long enough to warn Ashtyn, but he doubted it would do any good. Like she would listen to the rants of a stranger who showed up on her doorstep. He could only hope that his presence would be enough, that she would be too afraid to sleep. After meeting up with his informant in the city, he knew he had to find her in person. Protecting her in dream realm wasn’t enough anymore; he had to protect her in the flesh too. It took hours before he could find the cottage. She dreamt of that place more than anything else. He would watch her and her uncle working on the old Corvette in the garage or listen to her contagious laugh as she ran through the woods on the farm playing hide and seek. He knew exactly what the cottage looked like but finding it outside of her dreams proved to be more difficult. Finally, he spotted the blue mailbox shaped like a birdhouse at the end of the curvy driveway. Jackpot.
He drove a little farther up the road and parked the car, opting to walk on foot from there. Once he surveyed the farm he flashed into dream realm to keep his meeting with Mac. That’s when he was attacked. It quickly became apparent he wasn’t the only person his informant gave information too. He cringed thinking about how he was blindsided. The assailant came out of nowhere stabbing him in the side and flashed out of sight. He didn’t even sense him. Clearly his attacker didn’t want a fair fight. After he managed to give Ashtyn a heads up, he drew enough energy to drift back to dream realm and wait for his friend. He lay on the steps of the ruined building, clutching his slashed ribs.
Avonya used to thrive in the hands of dreamwalkers. Such a beautiful city it was; the city was built in a circle pattern with the temple placed directly in the center. Its placement was symbolic, so every citizen would know the temple embraced them equally. Cody’s family lived near the marketplace.
He remembered sneaking his sister past the guards when they were children into the temple on the days the priests were performing wedding ceremonies. Sarah loved seeing the bride walk down the aisle, watching all the smiling faces. He thought about what a beautiful bride she would have made. He would never get to see the doors open for her as she marched down the aisle with her father’s hand in hers, walking toward her future husband. One day, he thought, this city will thrive again. There will peace in the dream realm once more.
“How’s she cutting, Lad?”
He had never been so happy to hear Mac’s Irish accent.
“You’re late.” Cody grimaced, still holding onto his side.
“I got caught in a bit of a clatter, are y’alright?” Mac rubbed the top of his shaved head, looking down at him.
“Do I appear to be all right?”
Mac reached down, lifting Cody up to his feet and supporting him with his shoulder.
“Don’t get your knickers in a bunch, I’m here now. I’ll take ya to a healer.”
He would have flashed himself out of the ruined city, but he was too weak. With his energy fading he could have ended up anywhere, making it impossible for Mac to find him.
“Mac, I need you to go watch over Ashtyn. If she is in dream realm she will have no protection.” Cody held on to the hope that she hadn’t fallen asleep, but if she did, there would be no one there to protect her. He was betting the rat bastard that left him there to bleed out hadn’t counted on Mac to show up. He was going to take advantage of the fact that Cody wouldn’t be there to watch over her and he was going to strike.
“You first need to get to the healer, then I’ll look in on your lass.”
Mac flashed them to the sanctuary, hoping Cody didn’t pass out and fall on top of him— that would be a lovely sight for the priests to stumble upon.
