Free Seasons of Heaven by Nico Augusto Page A

the light was too bright. Perhaps it was a trick? Did the dark creature possess some kind of magic that made him capable of transforming himself? Yann had been through so much this day that he no longer knew what to believe. What was real and what wasn’t?
    “Take my hand Yann; I’m here to help you.” It was a woman’s voice, warm and engaging. It was a choice between trusting her and being buried underneath a mountain of dirt, he decided she had to be the safer choice. Yann scooped Ani up into one of his arms and took hold of the hand. They were pulled up to the top and out into the light. A ghostly white figure in the distinct shape of a woman stood before them.
    “I hope you are ok!” she said, “I'm sure you have a lot of questions, you probably wonder why you are here, you wonder about that black thing you saw, and about the statue. I know that you have lost your parents. If you want to see them again, you will have to help me free that black thing. It has been pacing up and down here for a while now… It is prisoner of this place.”
    Confused, Yann looked again at his companion and then back at the apparition in front of him, “But how do you want us to do that?” he asked her. “It’s so huge...”
    “Rest assured Yann,” she told him, “You are here for a reason, but I cannot explain everything to you now. That thing holds a set of two keys that you must recover in order to activate the two towers. Once the towers are activated, a passage way will open for you.”
    Yann didn’t say anything else but he looked skeptical. The white figure sensed his angst and she said,
    “You can do this, Yann. I’m sure of that. Oh! There’s one more thing…take this, it’s a pendant that once belonged to that thing, a long time ago.” She held the pendant out and not knowing what else to do, Yann took it. As soon as he did, the ghostly white figure began to dissipate.
    “Hey...wait, don’t go!” Yann yelled after her... He turned back and looked at his friend. Ani was giving him a look that was almost accusing. “Ani, don’t look at me like that, I had nothing to do with this,” Yann told him. Then as Ani communicated with him via their telepathy Yann said, “What? You want to smell it? Here you go...” He put the pendant down where Ani could smell it. Ani took a good whiff; they would have to follow the mysterious, hideous, awful creature using this piece of jewelry.
    The companions gave each other another searching look. They knew as much about the white figure as they did the dark one…practically nothing. The difference was, the white figure was offering them salvation and a reunion with Yann’s parents. They would follow her advice and pray that it led them out of the darkness and back home where they belonged.
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
    “FALLING”
    JFK AIRPORT, NEW YORK
    James tolerated the chaos of the airport and endured the annoyances that going through security these days entailed…barely. He was at last rewarded for it all by the sound of the voice calling overhead that his flight was boarding. He picked up his carry-on bag and grudgingly got into another line as each passenger walked across the ramp that led into the open door of the plane and found their seats. James made his way to his own seat with his boarding pass in hand and stowed his carry on in the space above. He sat down, finally able to relax…if only he could turn off his thoughts….
    Looking down at the boarding pass he was holding, a strange sensation began to creep throughout his body. For years now, since the day that his son had disappeared James had seriously considered suicide, more than once. Not a day went by when he didn’t picture sweet Thomas’ face. The only thing that kept him going was the thought…the chance…the hope they would find him and he would be reunited with his son.
    James often thought that kidnapping was possibly worse than the death of a child. At least when a child dies…as horrible that