Banished To Earth Book Two King Davin (46)

 Okay, now what?” Davin asked,  “ “This one’s spiralling down.”

   “Smells different,” Silhouette said as she walked to the left wall of the twenty-foot-wide hallway. Sliding the fingertips of her right hand across its porcelain surface, she smiled. “It’s warm.”

   Davin tuned his Hunter senses back, testing the air. “Air’s warm too and a bit sticky, feels natural.”

    Pry opened herself up and absorbed the hall’s ambience. “I think it is an exit; I sense the sky.”

   “You sense the sky?” Silhouette leaned back. “Really, you can do that?”

   “Yes,” Pry answered, looking up. “A ceiling, pale yellow, just a few feet over our heads. This hallway was made for us.”

   “Hadn’t bothered to look,” Tucker said as he joined Silhouette by the wall.

     “I think they’re letting us go.” Davin’s tone was noticeably lighter. “Let's fly outta here, sick of this place.”

    Catapulting from the floor, they flung themselves down the hallway, racing like four gumballs rolling down a spiralling track. So eager to put distance between them and the Urgis, they plowed right into a thick fog bank plugging the hallway.

  They pulled up short, but not short enough. Engulfed, blinded and totally disoriented, they spun back. But their lungs were already filled with the strange mist that was not mere water droplets.

    Wobbling forward, the mist growing dark, their eyelids sagging as if they were chained to concrete blocks, they succumbed to the fog’s narcotic properties and crumpled to the floor like deflated balloons, fast asleep.

     Lost in slumber, they travelled through time, oblivious of all the things the Urgis were doing on Earth…

     Soft, sweet, familiar warmth pressed against Davin’s right arm when the light tapping of small knuckles on wood gently tugged him back to the world. He curled his arm up. Pry rolled onto his bare chest. Her body expelled a soft sigh. Hazy sunlight filtered through sheer white curtains as the sun peeked and streaked over golden dunes.

    “Davin,” Rebecca's words were muffled by the thick oak of his bedroom door. “You wanted to talk to me.”

    “Huh, wha, what?” he asked groggily. Struggling to pry his sleep-glued eyelids apart, he rubbed them with his left hand. Pry was still asleep on his right arm. “Where, where are we?” He asked as his eyes tried to focus on the bright glow of morning light streaming down through a huge bay window. Its sheer white curtain softened the glare, but not much.  

    “Davin.” Pry cooed as sleep slowly ebbed away from her body. She sniffed the air. “The ocean, the Big falling water!” She sat up and straightened her white satin nightgown. “Earth.” She looked down at Davin. “We’re home.” She exclaimed as she scanned their new bedroom; a thirty-foot square, with eggshell walls, furnished with

     two bedside nightstands, holding white porcelain lamps.

     A vanity with two low dressers sat nearest her. It had a large mirror and a cushioned chair, obviously hers. Another dresser, a large upright chest of drawers, stood on the opposite wall. Lush white carpet covered the entire floor. The bed: a king-sized, ornate oaken sculpture.  

    A massive bay window faced them. It had a wide, pillowed window seat and filled the room with bright sunlight. A spacious bathroom and walk-in closet were located between Pry's vanity and the bay window.

     “Davin, can I come in?” Rebecca asked, her voice muffled through the thick oak door.

    He threw up the covers to make sure he was decent. “Yeah, sure, I got questions.        “Second thought,” she quickly added, “why don’t I make us breakfast and I can invite your friends over.      

“Nikki, Beth and Tru….” Pry said as she stretched herself awake, then fell silent when she remembered. “I am foolish. I forgot. I was dreaming of them.”

  Davin took her hand and pressed it against his lips. “I dreamt of them too.”

    “I’ll call,” she hesitated, “your uh other friends now.” Her voice suddenly became a bit more tender. She had obviously heard Pry.

  “On what? We have phones again?” He asked, slowly pulling away from Pry. “Oh, okay,” he said as he rolled over and saw his keys wallet and phone sitting inches from his head. He got up and made his way over to his dresser. He grunted a reluctant approval. “They let you have second thoughts?” he asked when he picked up his jeans and T-shirt from the floor and started to dress.

    “Yes, of course. We are free. We are all on Earth again.”

    “Free of the ship, maybe…did you say all?”

   “Yes. The Urgis have restored Earth, repopulated it with all the survivors, cleansed it,” she hesitated, “and improved it.”

   “Oh really? Hold on, we’ll be out in a bit. I want to see this new, improved Earth.”

          After dressing and taking a trip to the bathroom, he kneeled on the window seat. Pry had by this time gotten up and was taking a shower. They hardly spoke after Rebecca left. Neither knew quite what to say.

     Pry’s remembered loss had, for the moment, stolen her voice.

       And he was not sure any of this was even real. Another Urgis trick, certainly, but what kind of trick? Davin could only guess as he pushed back the curtain and saw a vaguely familiar scene.

   Dunes dotted with beach houses and flanked by the ocean took him back to his old beach house; however, that’s where familiarity vanished. To his right, the ocean swayed and glinted; to his left, a sea of green; a forest of pine and oak stretched east as far as he could see. Yes, the Urgis had left their mark, albeit a beautiful mark.

     Puffy white clouds drifted lazily beneath a blue sky. A warm blanket of comfort settled over his mind. Were they dosing his mind with images and feelings? Was any of this real?

     The sun burned against his face. But was it even there? Were they floating in glass tubes? Still trapped on the Urgis ship? A dream that felt so good, too good and made him smile like a fool.

     His first question to Rebecca was, ‘Are you real?’ It had just popped out. Why? Was his subconscious telling him to beware? Maybe.

  He opened the French-door windows high above the sea-oat-tufted dunes. A warm sea breeze kissed his cheeks and caressed his body. It sure felt real.

    Their bedroom was easily sixty feet above the ground. What would happen if he jumped out and landed face-first? Would his neck break, or would he wake up trapped behind glass?

    In truth, he wanted it to be real. If this was a dream, an illusion, he did not want to lose it. Peace was settling over his mind even as he tried to deny it.

    A bead of sweat rolled into his right eye. It stung, just as it should. A smile forced itself across his face. He was happy. He did not want to be happy. Happiness was a betrayal. A pleasure that would, he feared, make him forget about Trudy, Nikki and Beth. But wouldn’t that be a good thing? Good for them, maybe. But for how long? He was not sure.