Lake of Illumination Book One (eBook)

Convergence

DeMont Walker (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2020 | 1. Auflage
628 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-2362-2 (ISBN)

Infos

There are inexplicable stories echoing deep within the dense jungles of South America. Stories of a pre-mortal world, of creatures not native to planet Earth, and of an artifact that has caused a ripple throughout the vast universe. A group of valiant cohorts gather together from the four corners of the world to uncover the secrets not only of the this cryptic artifact, but the secrets hidden within themselves as well.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

There is a dirt footpath that winds up to the top of the hill from where the tram lands on Mount Stanserhorn in Switzerland. James Stratton meandered up the trail and then leaned against the metal railing surrounding the lookout and soaked in the breathtaking view of Lake Lucerne. As he searched his mind to recall why he was at the top of this mountain, a song began to play on his cell phone. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the phone.

“Oh, rats,” he exclaimed, shutting off the alarm, “I’m supposed to meet Anna at her art exhibit in Lucerne at 2.” He looked at the clock on his phone—it was 1:49.

Without hesitation, James climbed up onto the railing and glanced over the side. It was at least 6,000 feet to the bottom. He bent his legs and leapt off.

An incredible rush of pure joy permeated his soul as he descended, hawk-like down the steep contour of the mountainside, skirting the tall grass as he flew like a superhero toward the shimmering, blue lake below.

Rapidly approaching the foot of the mountain, he turned his outstretched hands upward, drew from a power inside his mind, and banked left, soaring effortlessly over the city of Lucerne. As he glided along the rooftops, pinpointing the art gallery where his wife would be, the familiar song started to play again. The catchy melody stopped and then started over. After the third time, James’s wondrous, bird’s-eye view slowly faded away into total oblivion.

“Crumb!” James muttered, as he awoke begrudgingly from his transcendent dream. Lifting his head from his arm, he realized he had fallen asleep at his desk. He grabbed the incessantly ringing phone from his pocket and raised it to see who was calling. As he did so, James glanced at the laptop monitor sitting in front of him. The screensaver showed a picture of Anna standing next to the art gallery in Lucerne.

He laughed to himself as he pushed the speaker button on the cell phone. “That’s why I was dreaming about Switzerland,” he whispered.

“What?” came the voice of his cousin and business partner, Johnny Vance. “What about Switzerland?” 

“Nothing,” James muttered, looking at his wristwatch. “Why are you—” he chuckled again at the time, it was the same time in his dream—1:49 a.m. “Why are you calling so late?”

“Sorry, cuz,” Johnny said. “I just got off the phone with Rob Wilder.”

“He’s home from his artifact hunting trip to Iceland already?” James asked. “That was fast.” He paused. “Wait. That means he called you late. What’s going on?”

“He miscalculated the time difference and thought it was earlier,” Johnny explained. “Anyway, he told me that Cindy and Rick were supposed to have been home yesterday evening from their trip to Peru.”

“Yeah,” James said, searching for an explanation.

“He hasn’t had any contact with them since they left Cusco the day before.”

“Not good,” James said, scratching his head. “That family keeps to an exact itinerary.”

“That’s for sure,” Johnny agreed. “If one of their puzzle pieces gets out of place, the whole puzzle’s in jeopardy.”

“So if he’s calling you, that means he wants us to help out somehow,” James surmised, hearing the sound of shuffling feet and a door softly closing through his phone’s speaker. “What are you doing?”

“Here’s the deal, hermano,” Johnny said, in a quiet tone. “Since we met our wives, we’ve put our extracurricular lives on the back burner, if you get my drift.”

“Of course, I get your drift, you dingus,” James said. “But both of us were upfront about how we were different from the average person, when we first met Anna and Holly. As far as Anna was concerned, she didn’t want to hear about my past. She wanted to start anew and go from there.”

“Yeah, that’s what Holly said too,” Johnny admitted. “And I went along with it because I was totally smitten. And it was easier to let it slide and be ‘normal’ for a while rather than try to explain who we are and what we can do.”

The realization that they possessed abilities—both mentally and physically—far superior to their childhood friends, came to James and Johnny early in their young lives. Never wanting anyone to know about their powers, James begged Johnny to keep it secret and live as normally as possible. But in their teens, an event took place that led them to discover the source of their unusual gifts.

Images of his boyhood adventures danced around James’s head, as he recalled with fondness the time he’d spent with Anna. “I’m really enjoying my life the way it is. We’ve been able to get our aircraft design company working like a well-oiled machine as well as building our aquatic facility in Idaho.”

“I’ll confess I’ve been enjoying it too. But there’s way more to life—especially our lives—than being complacent with the norm. You’re the one who told me that.”

“Okay. I admit it. There’s a part of me that’s definitely missing. But how are we possibly going to explain it to our wives? They’ll think we belong in a loony bin.”

“Uh oh,” Johnny said, as the sound of a door opening and feet on a carpet came through James’s phone. “Speaking of wives, mine just found me.”

“What are you doing talking on the phone at two in the morning?” Holly asked in a half-demanding, half-playful tone.

James listened patiently as Johnny told her about the conversation he’d had with Rob Wilder. 

“I hope you told him we’d help any way we can,” Holly said.

“Yes,” Johnny said, knowing that James could hear him. “I volunteered the four of us. We’ll have to postpone our Idaho plans, but friends come first.”

“Actually, your wife comes first,” Holly said sternly. “So I expect you back in bed in one minute.”

“Okay,” James said, hearing Holly’s feet pad across the room and the door close. “We’ll sort this all out tomorrow. We’ll pick you up at 9 and grab some breakfast before we head out.” 

“This is going to be some trip,” Johnny said. “But on the plus side, we get to take the new jet.”

“I guess we’ll have to say farewell to normal,” James sighed as Johnny’s name disappeared from the cell phone screen. He stuffed the phone into his pocket and sat back to reminisce about his dream of flying, when he felt the caress of warm hands rubbing his shoulders. He craned his neck back and welcomed Anna’s soft, tender lips on his. “I’m sorry I woke you up,” he said, kissing her again. “But I’m glad I did.”

Anna’s slender arms rolled over James’s chest as she leaned down and whispered in his ear. “It’s okay. You didn’t wake me up. My weird dream did. Anyway, I want to know why you aren’t in bed with me. Did I hear you talking to someone?”

James stood, took Anna’s hand, and led her to the sofa in the front room. He went over the details of Rob’s call and asked her if she would be willing to go to South America.

“It’s nice of you to ask, but of course I’ll go, you twit,” Anna told him. “I’ll go anywhere with you.” She put her head on his shoulder. “Rob must be in a right state by now. I know I would be if I didn’t know where you were.”

He put his arm around Anna and pulled her closer. “An interesting trait of Mr. Rob Wilder—he doesn’t panic. In fact, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t seem concerned at all.”

“That’s kind of weird,” Anna said. “But I guess he has the right idea. It’s like my dad used to tell Holly and me—worrying is like flapping your arms when you fall off a cliff. It has absolutely no effect except to wear you out.”

“Wise man, your dad,” James said, nodding.

“He told me to be very wary of you,” Anna said, with a wry smile.

James shrugged. “Not that wise. Anyway, I told Holly and Johnny we’d pick them up in the morning and get some breakfast before taking off.”

Anna bolted upward. “That means we’re taking one of our jets.”

“Yes,” James said, smiling at Anna’s gleeful expression. “And that also means you will get some flying time in. But—you’ll need to share some of that flying time with your sister. At this rate, you’ll have your pilot’s license by the middle of this year.”

“Brilliant,” Anna said, standing and attempting to tug James off the sofa. “Come on, you lump.”

“Hold on,” James said, letting Anna help him to his feet. “I want to get a drink of water. You want anything?”

“Just you next to me in bed.”

With the thought that tomorrow’s trip could bring a change to his complacent life, James watched Anna saunter down the hallway, on her way to the bedroom. She stopped for a moment and spun the world globe sitting in the alcove. They’d found this globe in Scotland, a little over a year ago, on their first anniversary. A present to remind them that no matter how large the world was, they’d managed to find each other in it.

Entranced by the spinning sphere, James disappeared into his memory of meeting Anna.

* * *

It was just before dusk and the weather couldn’t make up its mind what it wanted to be on the late February evening in Paris, France. As a silvery, web-like fog weaved its way through the dimming streets, James Stratton and Johnny Vance sat next to a crackling fire in the apartment...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 21.9.2020
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-2362-9 / 1098323629
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-2362-2 / 9781098323622