THE VANISHING PARADISE: ATLANTIS LOST
ADAIR’S ENTRY INTO THE DIMENSIONAL WAR
by
Lauren A. Johnson
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PUBLISHED BY:
The Vanishing Paradise: Atlantis Lost
Copyright © 2016 by Lauren A. Johnson
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Paradise One
Paradise, Texas
Tina got into her car and made her way to the GoMart, her usual stop before going to work. Tina worked in Paradise City, just six miles away from Bridgeport, a place she absolutely hated. She drove across the barely paved road slowly so she can enjoy the serene view. Most people hated driving down that particular road because of the dangerous cliff just a few feet away from the center of the road. The drop wasn’t treacherous yet it was still dangerous enough to total a car.
Tina didn’t mind as long as she could see the calming view while she drove to work. She was stressed out enough as it was. Working at a customer call center was not the ideal job for anyone, if Tina could, she would make the whole concept illegal. Customers were always rude, yelling, and downright ignorant. There have been many times when Tina could feel an inner rage burn inside of her. It wouldn’t be long before she would discover that the inner rage she felt wasn’t simply because of job dissatisfaction. Even after she swore off alcohol the blackouts continued. The missing moments in time grew, as did the gaps in her memory. Within the past month her dreams became wilder than normal and with each passing night her dreams also became more vivid and realistic.
Tina parked her car and took another look. Even from the store’s parking lot she can look at her favorite view of nature. She sighed the closer she got to pull on the glass doors; everyday was the same routine, to wake up in the house that she shared with her sister and to go work at that place. Her sole purpose was to get yelled at by dissatisfied customers for whatever reason there may be that particular day.
As Tina’s hand reached out to the door the reflection in the doorway revealed the beginning to the upcoming disaster. The entire town was wrapped in a dark shadow of blue. To make sure her eyes or the reflection wasn’t playing tricks on her she turned to look for the sun, yet there was none. The only thing that illuminated her surroundings was the glowing rocks. The street and the bricks in the building glowed, a deep purple and blue almost like they were made out of a black light. Flashes of old memories flooded back to Tina for a moment.
Tina suddenly remembered when she was a teenager walking through a wooded area, she got lost on her way home shortly after she moved to Texas. She found the remains of a dying alien. The creature was ashy white, and black blood was spilled along the green grass. The creature looked up to Tina’s slender frame and grabbed her arm the moment she got a little too close. A strange sensation washed over her, she was no longer herself. To this day Tina hadn’t reconciled if she dreamt that day or if it actually happened. How she got home was the first of many lost memories.
Tina was brought back to the present as a loud snap shot like a large rubber band popped in the background while Tina felt a shove. Two individuals pushed her from behind and into the Go Mart. The world returned to the way that it was, the sky was blue again, and the sun returned. A blonde woman wearing a pink plaid shirt and a man wearing a red t-shirt and black jeans were the ones who forced Tina into the small store.
"What the hell was that?!" One customer shouted.
A mother ran to the front of the store with her child in hand, but the man in the red shirt pulled out a weapon, "Sorry ma'am, no one leaves."
"What? Who? You can't tell me I can't leave." The woman said in a fearful tone.
The woman in the pink plaid shirt started to look through the magazines on the shelf, "D id you see this?" she said to her counterpart, “Look at what they’ve done to the Earth,” Tina could hear an accent, but couldn’t place the strange inflections she was putting on certain words.
"Lo, I'm a little busy right now ," said the man in the red shirt as he rolled his eyes, "Everyone get in here or I start shooting!"
Only a few people were in the store, the strange man rounded up the patrons and began their questioning.
"Nicklar, what are you doing?" the woman named Lo began to question as she threw the magazine back on the rack, "We're supposed to wait..."
"For Tobias, I know that, only we're not going to wait for him, this has gotten bad enough as it is," Nicklar waved the unusual weapon around. The weapon looked like a gun, except it was metallic and blue.
‘What kind of weapon is that?’ Tina thought but before she could think more about the question she gave herself the answer.
‘A standard issue outer dimensional gun.’ She heard in her own voice.
‘Who said that?’ Tina asked. She began to wonder what it would sound or feel like if another person’s thoughts were communicating with her. The thoughts that rolled through her mind were not her own and with every passing response she felt a shiver through her body, almost as if a ice cold snake was wrapped around her brain. Tina felt a familiar sensation of helplessness came over her. After the initial emotion dwindled it was replaced with numbness throughout her body. Tina could feel herself walking but she hadn’t willed herself to do. She began to feel like someone else was guiding her body.
‘I did,’ Flashes of a woman in an underwater prison popped into Tina’s mind. But the woman was light pink with wings. Tina was back in control and shuttered from the chill as she clung to her purse.
While holding the weapon on the prisoners Nicklar looked out into the parking lot, “We could cut through that area there; it doesn’t seem like that far of a drop. Tobias will catch up later,” he said to his partner as he tried to lay out their next move.
"It is our right that you let us go," one of the large men in the store demanded.
"Your right? Your right!" Nicklar began to laugh; he peered out of the window into the parking lot of the store.
"Nicklar?" Lo began to talk again, "We should wait for Tobias."
"No! They've lost their rights, we're fighting to protect them, these creatures, and..." Nicklar took in a deep breath and sighed, "We should at least question her."
Tina's heart raced, 'They can't be talking about me.'
"Hey! Get over here," Nicklar called her over, but Tina only looked around in confusion.
"Yes, you...we're talking to you," Nicklar waved his hand to motion Tina over.
"We got your distress signal, tell me about the drift." Nicklar asked, but Tina only looked on and shook her head.
"I don't know what you mean; you must have me confused with someone..." Tina looked around nervously as she tried to explain a way out.
"What was that strange light?" a woman asked over Tina's explanation.
“That was the beginnings of a drift. It doesn’t always do that, but it only happens at ground zero. A
week ago, you…” Nicklar said as he pointed the gun at Tina, “sent us a distress signal using our frequency and codes. So even in your prison, from your cell, you can control the minds of humans?”
“Ouch!" Lo grabbed her stomach.
"You're drifting. You said you had enough medicine for all of us.” Nicklar said as he walked closer to Lo.
"No!” Lo answered through gritted teeth, “I lied. There was only enough for you and Tobias, I’m still in danger of drifting. If it’s starting now that means we have less time than what we thought," she said gripping a shelf. "This is painful." Tina and Nicklar watched as Lo screamed. Her body radiated a bold golden light as she vanished in a violent gust of wind.
"Lo if you could still hear me find Tobias!" Nicklar shouted after her, but everyone was knocked off their feet