Each spiral of the drone dug deeper into his body, through his guts, his memories, his soul. It churned up his darkest pain, grabbed hold of it and pulled it back up to the surface for him to feel.
Raze felt himself as a five-year-old boy again, being ostracized by his peers because he was different, brutally bullied and crushed by loneliness.
He felt his adolescence come to the surface, the angsty, lost soul who started converting the energy of pain and suffering into anger, a shift that felt better. Later, when he converted anger into rage, lashing out and hurting people, it felt even better than just being mad. As the instrument drew these memories to the surface, Raze felt how his rage had become an addiction, a beast all its own that soothed him but demanded constant feeding.
The drone punched in deeper, reminding Raze just how he had fed his beast: punishing humanity through his work at Infinium. Raziel had blood on his hands, and the instrument wouldn’t let him forget it. Every face was pulled up from the past, every victim, and they stared him down until he acknowledged his wicked actions.
Raziel began to weep uncontrollably. It was the only way he could purge the pain and release the emotions that were tormenting him. He lifted his head, searching for the player of this torture device. He spotted him off to the side, another ancient man all black and stars with long white hair that dangled to the ground. He wanted to cry out for mercy but noticed a second man sitting beside the first, holding another hollowed log, only bigger. He looked Raze in the eye and smiled ever so slightly before raising the instrument to his lips.
Raze shook his head. Please no.
His plea was ignored. A deeper bass burst from the instrument, piercing Raze, this time right through the heart.
Aislen.
It was a whisper in the wind, and she bloomed in his mind in a kaleidoscope of the senses. The green of her eyes and their bursts of gold, her face as she looked up at him as they became one. The scent of her, and her taste on his tongue. Her energy intertwined with his, aligned with his own for what he could feel was eternity. He never knew. She was always meant to be his, supposed to be a part of him.
A third instrument added its voice to the serenade. It reached in, seized Aislen’s frequency and began pulling it away from him. Like a pied piper it enchanted her energy to let go, coaxing it to untangle from all the spaces, unweaving it from his heart, and severing it from his soul.
Raze tried to fight it, tried to hold on to her, but the other instruments and their deeper vibrations held him down with a powerful force. Helpless, he felt her energy being unwoven from his being, like a vibrant thread being pulled from a tapestry. He writhed in agony. At last, he couldn’t take it anymore and he cried out, arms outstretched to the sky, a primal scream as his very soul was laid to waste. He collapsed on the ground, spent.
The music shifted, and the crowd surrounding him began clapping. They stamped their feet on the earth as they closed in on him, creating a vibration beneath his body, urging him to rise. He found himself sitting up, almost levitated by their combined efforts. The stars of them began to move and dance in a circle around him. The earth felt like it was moving, turning on its axis with them. The veil of reality shifted and warped.
Raziel felt hands on him, taking off his shirt. He was broken and couldn’t bring himself to fight. His pants were removed, and soon he stood completely naked in the night. The air was not cold; Raze felt one with it. He no longer felt his body, the boundaries of his form having melted away. He could not tell where he began or ended.
The guide suddenly appeared and placed his fingers upon Raziel’s face and began to chant. He sang a song about the sky and its people, about creation and First Man. Raziel felt more hands upon him, spreading warmth across his skin. He glanced down at his arms and saw they were painting him with warm, pure white clay. Their fingers pressed along his back and Raze knew they were covering it with white feathers.
This has been foretold, the ancient guide sang to his people. This was the way of the World Walkers.
The crowd opened up, parting before Raziel and surrounding him from behind, all chanting in unison now.
The guide pulled Raze forward, reached one finger up and touched the center of his forehead.
“This is not a dream.”
“It’s time for you to go,” the guide said as he stepped aside.
Raziel began walking toward the doorway of white light, propelled forward by the song at his back, his feet lifted by the woodwinds. As he drew nearer the light became blinding, its heat searing. The atoms in his body began to irradiate. His skin felt like it was ripping apart. Yet an ever-pervading peace descended upon him, and he moved into the doorway. All remaining burdens dropped away, and an utterly beautiful feeling of connection took his breath away.
Raziel saw sparks flying, shooting stars exploding away from him in all directions. A billion light particles that were once a part of himself blew apart as Raziel deresonated into bliss.
In a blink, the billion particles of his self collided back together, and he floated blindly, cradled in a droning hum.
“Gamma 42,” a mellow male voice said from somewhere in the diminishing white out.
Raziel started lifting into an upright position, and a shadowy figure moved toward him. But it wasn’t the ancient one coming to guide him.
“Hello, Raziel,” Preston Reed said. “I’m glad you made it. We have a lot of work to do.”
GOSPEL OF A WORLD WALKER
Run ~ Snow Patrol
CLOSING CREDITS
Levels ~ Avicii
DEAR TIME WALKER,
Thank you for reading! I truly hoped you enjoyed the episode of Aislen’s, Raziel’s, and Mathis’ journey. Stay tuned for Episode 3, World Walker, being released Spring 2018.
I love sending out FREE chapters to my newest releases. For that and to stay ‘tuned’ to my writing journey visit: www.ShannanSinclair.com
If you loved Time Walker and have a moment, please consider writing a short review. It really helps new readers find my books and I love hearing what you think as well. I would really appreciate it.
Review Time Walker here:
http://bit.ly/TimeWalkerReview
http://bit.ly/DreamWalkerKindle
Hope to run into you on The Astral,
Shannan Sinclair
SIGNAL LINES
The Soundtrack
OVERTURE Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff ~ Deadmaus
PRELUDE TO A DRIVE The Chauffeur ~ Duran Duran
PRELUDE TO A DECISION Bad Wings ~ The Glitch Mob
TONAL SHIFT Adolescents ~ Incubus
TONAL BEAT Psycho~ Muse
INTERLUDE BETWEEN DREAMS Oh What A World ~ Erasure
PRELUDE TO THE NIGHTMARE A Dream Within A Dream ~ The Glitch Mob
REQUIEM Into The Black ~ Chromatics
REPRISE FOR A DRIVE Come Undone ~ Duran Duran
HYMN TO RESONANCE Madness ~ Muse
GLISSANDO Into Dust ~ Mazzy Star
GLISSANDO II The Night We Met ~ Lord Huron
TIME SHIFT Love Is Alive ~ Gary Wright
SHOWDOWN The Killing Moon ~ Roman Remains
GOSPEL OF THE TIME WALKER Dig Down ~ Muse
GOSPEL OF THE WORLD WALKER Run ~ Snow Patrol
CLOSING CREDITS Levels ~ Avicii
EPISODE 3
WORLD WALKER
AVAILABLE SPRING 2018
About the Author
Shannan Sinclair is an emerging author of Quantum Fiction Thrillers. Time Walker is Shannan’s second book.
To stay in touch:
www.shannansinclair.com
shannansinclair@gmail.com
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