Through The Ascension Room***Book One COMPLETE***

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT ~PART FOUR~

We wait for the boy to jump again through the time line so that we can at least get started heading down the Cliff-side without an audience. It gives us some much needed time to work out the kinks and details of how we are going to move down the cliff side.

Tristis scoots closer and closer to the drop off and dangles his legs over the edge. His posture as straight as he can get it, visibly fearful of dropping down to his death.

"You sure about this, Alex?" He turns to face me. The fear registered on his face is sickening and I begin to second guess, then triple guess my confidence in the plan.

I try to give him a genuine reassuring nod, "we've got you Tris. Don't worry, just focus on stilling your body."

I instruct him to fold his arms and cross his legs so he was not tempted to reach out and wiggle free from our focus. The tighter his body, the easier it would be to keep him safely in our focus.

Cynthia gives the signal that she has her focus on Tristis and demonstrates it by giving Tristis a sample of the lift. Tristis immediately throws out his arms to regain the balance he feels he has lost when she lifts him up, and that sends him flopping onto his side, nearly falling of the Cliff-side.

"Whoa!" Tristis exclaims scurrying away from the Cliff-side.

"Tris, you've got to trust us," I say realizing how funny this moment is with him crawling across the ground like a rat after a piece of cheese. I stifle my laugh, I need to remain serious right now. We don't have time for goofing around.

"If you freak-out, out there," I say pointing over the edge, "you're gonna fall and get seriously hurt—or worse. . ." My words bring back to mind the night we went cliff diving . I throw the thought out of my mind so quickly and forcefully I wouldn't be surprised if the others saw my body language show it.

Through the failed attempt and the time spent situating ourselves, the boy had enough time to circle back to this point in the timeline. Again he stands pacing the rooftop. We'll have to wait for him to leave again.

This time he seems to stay forever. Longer than the other two times we were here.

Just as it seems he may never leave again, he messes with his localizer and is gone from sight.

Now is our shot. We can't blow it again.

"Tris, go," I say commanding him with an authority in my voice that I had never heard before. I kind of like it.

He follows instructions and again scoots his way to the side, more reluctantly than last time. He blows out a deep breath and swings his legs over the edge.

"I'm trusting you guys," he says shifting his pointed finger back and forth between me and Cynthia.

Cynthia signals her focus is on him and I wrap him in a camouflaging veil. Slowly we work on lowering our focus, as Tristis's body is sent over the Cliff-side and down. We move closer to the edge to look over it, keeping our eyes, and focus on his invisible body as he slowly descends the wall of dirt and rock. Even though we can't see him with my eyes, it's almost as if we can see him with another sense. Another sense that we are able to access with the use of our powers. It's hard to explain. Almost like trying to explain how you know the wind blows. You can't do it with your eyes, but through the other senses it is made possible.

Once he has made it down all the way we release him from our focus. He again appears into view, as a smaller version of himself down below. He gives the thumbs up signal, takes off towards the building, taking shelter along the wall in a spot that the boy, if he returned, would not be able to see him.

"Alright Cynth, you ready?" I ask again realizing that whether or not, she had to be. It was now or never.

She nods and moves towards the edge. She takes a seat and flops her legs overboard. She crosses her arms and legs. As her arms cross, she pulls an invisible curtain around her. Again I can still see her. Again, somehow.

I focus my energy on her and lift her up from the sitting position she is in. I begin to lower her down the side, carefully. Slowly. The closer she gets to the bottom of the wall, the harder I need to focus to keep her in my minds grip.

She finally reaches the beach and I am able to release her from my grip. Fatigue slips through my body momentarily, and as quickly as it comes, it is gone and my energy is restored to me.

She trudges through the beach sand towards Tristis's hiding spot and crouches down next to him. Both of them look at me with upturned heads. Tristis gives me a wave and Cynthia raises her hands showing me that she is ready to carry me down.

I take a deep breath and taste the salty ocean laced air. I let it out slowly as I lower myself onto the edge. Feet first. Cross my arms concealing me in a cloak of invisibility. It takes a second but I start to feel pressure surrounding my body. First loosely draped around me like a soft blanket wrapping me with its warmth. Then it presses in on me and I feel constricted by the unseen force. It doesn't hurt, but it could possibly be described as an uncomfortable feeling.

My body is slowly lifted from its position on the Cliff-side. I am first slid towards the edge, my bottom dragging some loose gravel over the edge of the cliff where it begins its tumbling descent down towards the beach. Good thing the lookout isn't here right now or else we would be spotted.

Almost as if thinking of him would call for his return, the boy reappears on the rooftop. Same spot. Same routine. Pacing and observing.

My heart skips a beat and a rush of cold chills run through my body. Tristis and Cynthia don't know he has returned because he is out of sight from where they are.

My breathing becomes irregular. A lump begins to form in my throat making it harder to feed the starved lungs of their much needed air.

I feel a shift in the force that is wrapping me and my body rocks from its stable position. Panic rips through my body and I almost pull my arm out from underneath the other. I refrain and let Cynthia do her job on refocusing on me.

She gets another grip of me as the boy on lookout turns and starts his pacing walk towards me. Even though I know I am invisible to him, I can't help but feel that he is looking directly at me. He finishes his walk at the edge of the building almost directly above where Tristis and Cynthia are crouched in hiding. Way too close for comfort. One wrong move and. . .

I want to give them some kind of signal that he is up there. To not make any sudden movements or noises to reveal themselves to him.

The boy is paused in his pace at the edge for a while and the longer he stands there the more nervous I begin to feel that he might actually be able to see me.

The lookout begins to turn away from me and starts to walk the other direction. Back now facing away from me. I start to relax a bit feeling that we have dodged a bullet.

As I continue to move down the cliff's wall I begin to feel protruding, jagged rocks, first rubbing my back as I move lower and lower, then they begin to dig. More and more, deeper and deeper into my back. I cringe trying to hold back a scream of pain. Twitches shoot to my arm, begging them to remove themselves from their locked position; to do something about the pain, but I can't. Not without risking revealing my position to the lookout.

The further down I move, the more the rocks continue to carve their rough grooves into my back. I feel my shirt tearing and ripping as the digging grows excruciating. Loose rocks and gravel crumble down the face of the cliff, sending dirt and rock shard shrapnel spraying the beach down below.

The pain finally gets to the point that I have no choice but to react. I pull my arms from their crossed position and the veil concealing my position is gone. I am vulnerable now. Visibly now, I moving down the side of the cliff followed by the chasing displaced rocks crashing down the wall around me.

I refocus my energy into pulling me away from the wall. The relief of not being grated alive by the jagged wall is quickly replaced by another rush of panic as I look to the building rooftop to see the boy sprinting to the side, directly towards me. Eyes wide and focused. Set on me. Directly at me.

Even if he didn't before, he definitely sees me now. . .