1000 YEARS - Book 1 - Awakening

18. Truth*

— April 8th, Year 784 [ 21:59 hr. ]

In the darkness of the night hot tears ran down Alpha's cheeks as she resolved to release her hand from the plant stake and let herself fall to certain death — and to the freedom of deciding her own destiny, before these monsters had a chance to perform on her, the brain invasion that had killed her friends...

"— ALPHA! ALPHA, HOLD ON!" From somewhere far below she heard Seth's distant scream. "ALPHA, HOLD ON! JUST FIVE SECONDS, ALPHA!..." His voice was rapidly coming closer. "FIVE SECONDS... FOUR! ...Three! ...two!..."
A moment's hesitation and a cramp in her left hand; and she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and the other coming across her chest.
"I have you, I have you," he murmured "You are safe now!" She could feel his chest, warm and steady against her back.

Gasps of little sobs rippled through her frame, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" she wailed under her breath.
"You are not going to die, Alpha!" his soft voice intoned, "I have you, and I will not let you come to harm."
She felt something solid move under her feet and heavy sobs rocked her as she tried to will her mind to believe his affirmations.

"I am with you. You can let go now. I am holding you." his breath caressed her ear.
She could not move. Her overwrought body and mind had locked up so tight against the pain and fear that her muscles refused to unclench.

"Let go Alpha," he urged gently.
But her left hand refused to release its death-grip on the plant stake, and her right arm would not budge. Her knees gave a little within his standing hold and it jarred her shoulder. She yowled in anguish and could feel him stiffen behind her.
"My shoulder! My shoulder!" she whimpered nearly delirious.

The hand across her chest released, and she felt the lightest of touch near her neck. There was a tiny pricking sensation and a few moments later a cool chill flowed from her shoulder down her right arm and she quickly lost all sense of its existence.
A light lethargy was also settling over her senses, and she was beginning to feel quite ...calm.

"You have dislocated your shoulder, Alpha," he spoke softly into her ear. "I cannot set it up here, I have to get you to the ground. But I have given you something to ease the pain and help you relax a little. — Do you feel it working?"

"Umhmm," she managed, feeling suddenly very sluggish as her body slumped completely into his hold.
"Alright. — I am going to lift you off here and we are going to turn on some lights. Do not look down, if heights frighten you. Just know that you are safe! I will not let you fall. I will not let you get harmed. — Do you understand this?" his voice was steady and calm.
"Umhmm." She felt like she could go to sleep, right there, standing where she was — and nothing could trouble her.

She felt their footing lift a little higher, and Seth carefully gathered her limp arm against her chest, securing it with the arm he had around her waist. Next, he took hold of the plant stake she was still clutching, and as they lifted higher, the entire stake pulled out of the ground and her stiff arm, holding the plant stake, slowly sank to her side.
Then, whatever they were standing on turned away from the wall, and Seth called out, "— LIGHTS!"

Above her, a ragged circle of light spots powered up slowly enough to avoid any blinding effect. For the first time she gained an impression of her environment — and she was glad Seth had mildly sedated her, for otherwise she would surely have jumped out of her skin.

They were standing, Seth and she, on a silvery round-edged oval that strongly reminded her of an over-wide surfboard — which inexplicably hovered unsupported in mid-air. And when she peered over its edge to the ground below the certainty of her death, had she fallen, became again blatantly clear! Although she could not accurately gauge how high-up they were, her estimate was: — at least six floors.