Free Inquest by J. F. Jenkins Page A

to remember how he even got there in the first place. Next to him was Halyn; both of their clothes were in a disheveled mess, and he noticed they were hidden in a small compartment of the playground some thirty feet above the ground.
    Slowly, Teague sat up and put a hand to his forehead. "Weird dream..."
    Halyn reached up and touched his bare chest through his opened button down. "It'll be gone when you go back to sleep."
    "I..."
    "I know," she whispered. "It was everything I wanted it to be, too. We don't have to talk now if you're tired."
    What just happened? He didn't remember anything. "I'm so confused."
    "What confuses me is why you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," Halyn said.
    He frowned. "If I didn't tell you, then how come you know?"
    She sat up again and he found himself face-to-face with Chanel. Her blond hair framed her face, and she forced him to look into her honey-colored eyes. "I always knew you didn't love me as much as you said. How could you? You're surrounded by goddesses who look like super models and all sorts of other exotic women. I just wish you would have told me before you cheated."
    "But I didn't..."
    "Cheat?" Chanel laughed, and then her features melted from the sweet girl he cared for to those of Cheyenne.
    He scrambled away from her, but she was too fast. She leaned over him, her face inches away from his.
    "You're not your daddy, but you sure are adorable," she purred. "I couldn't get him to notice me. Sweet Zes is a little too boring for my tastes, but he fits my needs. You could be fun, though. Why not join with me and forget all about everything else. If you wanted, you could still be the next king of the underworld. We can make anything happen."
    Teague didn't want to hurt her, but the whole 'don't use physical force against a girl' rule needed to be broken. He shoved her off of him and jumped to his feet. The mesh netting holding him up in the playground was replaced with solid concrete, and the blue door appeared. He grabbed the handle and bolted through the door, not once looking back.
    ****
    When Teague woke up, he was drenched in sweat, yet freezing in his bed. He pinched himself a few times to make sure he was, in fact, awake and listened carefully for any uninvited strangers in his room. Footsteps could be heard in the living room. Slowly, he pulled the blankets over his head, wanting to hide from whoever might be inside of his dorm.
    The bedroom door opened.
    "Teague?" a soft male voice said. "Are you awake yet? I thought I sensed you were."
    He recognized the voice. Kale, one of the Elder Fates. Nervously, he peeked his head out from under the blankets and looked at the man. Of all the Elder Fates, Kale was his favorite. He was a man who appeared to be in his early forties — dark hair, a friendly smile, and slight wrinkles around his eyes. The guy was also the most understanding of the Elders, which always earned him a lot of bonus points.
    "It's just me," Kale said.
    Slowly, Teague pulled the blankets off of his head, keeping himself nestled underneath for warmth. The contents of his dream still had him shaking. "What are you doing here?"
    "I wanted to see you after your...adventure..." Kale sat down at the end of the bed, much like Teague's dad used to whenever he'd woken from a bad dream at home.
    "You saw what happened?" Teague asked.
    Kale nodded. "I did. The others weren't around, which is good."
    "It is?"
    He nodded again. "It's not a good idea for me to get into details, but just know that you can trust me. I need you to listen to this piece of advice carefully, okay?"
    This time, it was Teague's turn to nod. "I'm listening."
    "Awesome. The things you saw in your dream are going to happen. Unless you fake sick for the activity night, I mean. If you go, the chances of you being able to return home drop to one in about a billion. You want to go home again, right?"
    "Yeah," Teague said. "I wish I could leave now, but I don't remember how, and I still have things to