She looked up and saw Raffe and Kerim still arguing with each other, oblivious of anything else around them. Maybe that was a good thing. It gave her time to think of what to do next.
Buildings were collapsing; people were getting injured, maybe even dying.
I have to stop this.
“Harry, I’m going to try to close the portal,” she said.
“Wait! I have to go through it.”
Harry grabbed her shoulders.
“I believe my mother and your father are there on the other side, in Limbo or whatever Raffe and Kerim were talking about.”
He looked at her with determination in his eyes.
“Yes, they have been trying to communicate with us. I think they are alive. I know they are alive.”
“I will do my best to bring them back,” he said, touching her face.
“I know you will, Harry,” she said, as tears slid down her cheeks.
She bit her lip. Now was not the time to cry.
“Hurry, before they see you,” she said. “I will close the portal after you enter. I will make sure Raffe and Kerim won’t follow you.”
His eyes were dark with concern.
“Take care of yourself, okay?”
“Yeah, you know I always do.”
She smirked and looked into his eyes.
“Hurry up before I zap you with my super-duper energy blast.”
He smiled. It was just like old times.
“I’ll be back soon.”
Then he stepped to the side of her, into the light and was gone.
Good luck, Harry.
She closed her eyes, concentrating all her thoughts towards the waves of energy that were blasting out from inside of her.
With all her mental power, she roared, “I command you to stop!”
Her eyes opened and the white light that had been rushing through her had stopped. She checked her feet by taking a step forward and realized she was free. No time to celebrate. She had to get out of there before Raffe “the Bird man” started coming after her.
She ran up to the edge of the sea wall and looked down at the crashing waves below. Glancing back, she saw that she had caught Raffe and Kerim’s attention.
Oh sh*t, I better do it before Raffe stabs me with his light sabre.
Cristal faced the water, closed her eyes and leaped over the edge.
Her body plunged towards the water. She was falling fast. In her mind, she wondered if this was the smartest thing she could have done. She pointed her feet down, anticipating impact. Although she was relatively calm, a part of her was calculating what the chances were of smashing her body against a big rock.
This was a dumb move.
Before she hit the water, she heard a “woosh” and felt arms underneath her catching her from the fall. Her eyes opened to see it was Kerim holding her tight. His gaze was fixed ahead of him as he carried her upwards. She turned her head and saw, to her amazement, behind his back were glorious silver feathered wings soaring in flight. She checked to see if Kerim’s body had become transparent. Thankfully, she could still see his T-shirt and leather jacket. He was in human form, except for the wings.
She wanted to say something but wasn’t sure exactly what.
He glanced down briefly and said, “Do not be afraid, Cristal. You have no need to doubt me.”
Before she could react, a thunderous voice boomed across the sky making her cringe in fear.
“Complete your mission!” the Voice commanded.
She could feel Kerim’s body shudder.
Is he going to drop me?
He whispered to her, “I will put you down, but you must hide. You have the power to do this. Just focus and concentrate. You don’t need a black hole to enter the other realm. You can transport back and forth like me.”
“I can?”
Her eyes opened wide.
“You can. Just like you realized today that you have the power to understand many languages. You must believe in yourself.”
Kerim made a nosedive to the ground. She held on tightly to his arms.
Kerim landed on the ground, gently placing her down beside his motorcycle. It was keeled over against the sidewalk, the cement underneath it raised up from the quake.
He waved to someone off in the distance and soon Walid was running up to him.
“Walid, ride the bike and bring Cristal to your home. Take good care of her,” Kerim commanded.
Walid nodded his head, his eyes staring at the wings on Kerim’s back.
“Maffoom? Do you understand me, Walid?”
“Yes, yes. Maffoom. I will take care of Mizz Cristal, Kerim.”
Walid turned and picked up the motorcycle.
Kerim pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them at Walid who caught them in his hands. Kerim looked at Cristal, the expression on his face showing his steadfastness and conviction.
“Remember, Cristal, you have untapped powers that not even Raffe knows about. Why would we be sent here to destroy you if this were not true?”
The rational part of her wanted to scream but the new Cristal, the one who wasn’t afraid anymore, kept her cool.
“So Harry was right. You were sent to destroy me.”
He looked away briefly.
“Yes, that is true, but I didn’t know that when I met you. My original memories were removed and implanted with temporary human ones. Now that I know you, I cannot and will not let anyone harm you. Never doubt that, no matter what,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion.
She knew that what he was saying was true.
He looked at her with intensity.
“Now go! There’s no time!” he cried out.
He was right. There was no time. She ran over to the motorcycle and jumped on. Walid started the engine. She turned to say goodbye but instead was met with giant silver wings soaring, carrying Kerim into the sky.
She watched as he ascended into the dark clouds, disappearing into the heavens. Kerim Ilgaz, her Guardian with wings.
Gabriel, Harry and now Kerim… all gone in one day. No time to cry or say goodbye.
She placed her arms around Walid’s waist, closed her eyes as he revved the engine and pulled the bike out onto the road. She didn’t know what was in store or what the future held for her, but one thing was for sure—she was determined to continue Harry’s mission to seek the truth.
“Hold on, Mizz Cristal,” Walid called back to her. “I am taking you to my home in Megiddo.”
“I am not familiar with that town,” Cristal replied. “Is it a small village?”
“Oh? But it is famous place,” he insisted. “You do know it.”
Cristal tilted her head.
“Sorry, Megiddo doesn’t ring a bell.”
Walid said, “Ah, yes, yes. I forget. You may know it by the Eenglesh name, Armageddon.”
***
Dear Reader,
Find out what happens to Harry, Cristal, and Kerim in “RESIST” (book 2 of the Among Us Trilogy), by becoming a Truth Seeker and registering at the official Among Us Trilogy website at https://www.amongus.ca.
If you enjoyed “Doubt” (book 1 of the Among Us Trilogy), please take a few minutes to submit a review wherever you purchased the book. I really appreciate your support, and it will inspire me to continue writing. As an independent author, it is you, the reader, who help me bring my characters to life. Without you, my work is meaningless.
I’ve included Chapter 1 of the next book in the trilogy on the next few pages. For more information about my other books and film projects, visit my blog at https://www.anne-raevasquez.com or send me a tweet @write2film.
Till our paths cross again,
Anne-Rae Vasquez
Truth Seekers Unite!
Sneak peek excerpt from RESIST, book 2
of the Among Us Trilogy
RESIST: Chapter 1
Between life and death
Harry stepped through the light, his foot landing on thin air. He keeled forward expect
ing to hit the ground headfirst but instead he was suspended in a void of emptiness—a dark vacuum.
“Anyone out there?” he asked.
He was met with dead silence. Funny he should think that. Wasn’t this what being dead felt like?
Enough. Focus on completing the mission.
He had to find his mother, Cristal’s father and bring them back to the land of the living.
“Mom, can you hear me?” he called out.
Nothing but silence. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision to cross over to the spiritual world. What if crossing over meant he had to die doing it?
A sharp pain stabbed his heart. He grabbed his chest until the pain subsided to a dull ache. He was somewhat relieved that he still had a beating heart. Guess he wasn’t dead after all.
Maybe time stood still on this side. What if he ended up floating here in spiritual emptiness forever?
“Harry?” his mother’s voice entered the void.
“Mom?” he called out. “Mom!”
Twisting his body, he tried to float towards the sound.
Something icy grabbed his arm and yanked him downward. He began free falling into the abysmal blackness.
Should he brace himself for the landing?
Before another thought could enter his mind, his body slammed into a solid surface knocking him out on impact.
***
What seemed like hours later, but could have been minutes, (Harry wasn’t entirely sure) he gained consciousness. He was laying flat on his back. Sounds and voices of people around him and the bleating of car horns jolted him awake.
“Harry!”
The voice sounded so familiar and yet. His eyes were trying to adjust to the bright light.
“Thank God! It is you, Harry.”
Harry felt someone pull himself into a sitting position.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced up to see who the Good Samaritan was but instead, he was staring dumbfounded at the lopsided grin of someone he didn’t expect to ever see again.
“Harry! I'm so glad I found you! I thought I was going crazy!”
“Gabriel?”
“I don’t know what happened. I was rushing towards you and Kerim and then you all disappeared.”
Harry racked his brain to comprehend what was happening. He, along with Cristal and the others, had watched Gabriel get shot in the back and die on the street. But here was Gabriel in the flesh right in front of him. He reached out to touch Gabriel’s arm half expecting to feel nothingness. Surely, he must be hallucinating.
“I’ve been trying to find the others but nobody here has seen them,” Gabriel said. “Here, let me help you up.”
Gabriel grabbed a hold of Harry’s arm and put it over his shoulder, easing him up to his feet.
Harry took a deep breath. The salty sea air mixed with the smell of diesel smoke spewing from the tailpipes of cars driving by filled his lungs.
Wait a minute. Where am I?
He looked around, checking his surroundings.
It was incredible. They were standing in the same spot where Yaffa and her security thugs had shot Gabriel down.
He glanced around, feeling disoriented. The sun was setting against the turquoise blue sky. The streets were busy with young men smoking sheesha water pipes, laughing and horsing around on the beach. This was not what Harry had expected to see in Limbo or Purgatory or whatever this place was.
“Harry, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Gabriel said.
Harry swallowed hard and forced a smile.
Doesn’t he remember getting killed?
Harry’s Truth Seeker skills kicked in. He did not know what would happen if he told Gabriel the cold hard facts. Better go along with the situation until he can figure out what is happening.
“I am not feeling well. Why don’t we go find a place to talk?” Harry said.
“Sure thing. We can get you something to eat.”
Harry let Gabriel walk ahead while he scanned landmarks around him, making note of the location of where the portal would have been on the “other side”. It was the place where the walls of Akko used to stand before they crumbled into dust during the earthquake. Here on this side of reality, instead of walls there stood sixty-foot high steel bars.
If I’m going to get back to the other side, I have to come back to this spot.
“Harry, c’mon. The others will be relieved to see you.”
Others?
“Uh, Gabriel. What others?” Harry asked but Gabriel had darted ahead.
He followed Gabriel into the small shop. It was a typical fast food restaurant in the area. Sharp smells of spices and greasy food hit his nostrils while the sound of Arabic pop music blasted from a boom box sitting on a shelf behind the front counter. Groups of young people sat at the wooden tables spread across the room. A number of the guys glanced up, eyeing him suspiciously as he walked past.
Gabriel waved to someone sitting at a table in the back of the shop.
“Look who I’ve found!”
As he walked closer, Harry could see two people sitting across from each other at the table. One was a woman with her back to him and the other was a middle-aged man with Latino features, olive complexion, dark wavy hair, and a pointed nose.
When they reached the table, the woman stood up and turned to face him. Harry’s heart started racing when their eyes met.
“Mom?”
It had been a year since he last saw his mother Bina. She was thinner; her hair was greyer and the wrinkles around her eyes deeper than he remembered.
Waves of emotion ran through him. Every cell in his body wanted to run to her and hug her just as he did when he was a terrified six-year-old child lost in a crowded shopping mall.
The look of concern on her face and the way she glanced over her shoulder forced him to realize that this was not the time or the place. The reunion celebration would have to wait until their safety was established.
“Harry, we need to be discreet,” she said in a hushed voice. “Sit down beside me and face Roberto.”
She motioned with her hand towards the man sitting across from her. Roberto lifted his chin slightly in acknowledgement.
Gabriel asked, “So you know Rose?”
Harry shot a glance at his mother. Was Rose her alias?
Harry’s mother turned to Gabriel.
“Please keep your voice down and take a seat.”
Gabriel took the chair beside Roberto while Harry sat down beside her. There were many questions he wanted to ask but he remained quiet. The answers will come, all in good time.
The loud music and the noise from the different conversations in the room decreased in volume. Harry checked over his shoulder to see that all eyes were on them.
Roberto lowered his voice, speaking with a subtle Spanish accent, “Harry, your mother Bina has taken the alias Rose and you must refer to her as this until we get out of here.”
Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth opened as if to say something.
Harry pulled his focus back on Roberto.
“I’m assuming that Roberto is not your real name either,” Harry said.
“Correct. I’m Carlos Hernandez. Cristal’s father.”
***
Before you go...
Hope you enjoyed reading the excerpt of RESIST, book 2. Just as a thank you, I'm giving away a free book in hopes that you will check out more of my work.
Click here to get a free copy of Imminent, an end of the world conspiracy thriller.
List of Characters
Harry Doubt – 24 year old former child prodigy; Operations Manager for Global Nation by day; by night he is trying to find out why his mother and other parents of child prodigies were kidnapped by Global Nation in the Middle East. He is the programmer who designed and created “Truth Seekers”, a popular online virtual reality game with over a million players. Changed his last name from “Doub” to “Doubt” after his father passed away stating that he was nev
er really a father to him anyway; has dual Israeli and American citizenship.
Cristal Hernandez – 24 year old former child prodigy, graduated from Global Nation University with Harry Doubt at 19 years with a PhD in Computer Science, not religious but had a Catholic upbringing; book smart but doubts herself; just realized she has special powers and is learning to control them; fell in love with Kerim before finding out he was an angel; learned that God had sent Archangel Rafael to destroy her because her powers could open the portals to the spiritual worlds, Limbo, Purgatory, Heaven and Hell. This character was inspired by Josefina Rosado.
Serena Keensky – athletic, teaches self defense at Global Nation, has a black belt in several forms of martial arts including Krav Maga; is an avid Truth Seeker gamer; lived in many places around the world, the last being in the Philippines where her father is the ambassador for Russia; is a no-nonsense person. This character was inspired by Macqueline Cajandab.
Gabriel Windam – top player of the Truth Seekers online virtual reality game; loves the 70’s era; loyal to Harry; was killed by accident trying to protect Kerim; doesn’t realize he’s dead.
Kerim Ilgaz – was hired to provide Security to GN by Harry; served in the Turkish army for four years prior to that; was revealed that he was a guardian angel; has feelings for Cristal; reported to Raffe (aka Archangel Rafael) until he fell.
Raffe (aka Archangel Rafael) – when in human form is an abrasive, tough Israeli; in angelic form is a formidable power; has a strange sense of humor; was on a mission to destroy Cristal.
Aaron Doub – Harry’s father, famous GN Physicist who died right before he was able to prove the theory of time travel; was never close to his son; loved his wife Bina but always put his work ahead of his family; has Israeli and American citizenship.
Joanna Chan – IT support at Global Nation, a charitable organization. She takes her online gaming seriously. She has the most weapons and treasures in the alternate reality game called Truth Seekers. She appears quiet and naive but her looks are deceiving. This character was inspired by Jeanne L.
Bina Schwartz – Harry’s mother; Israeli wife and mother; denied her spirituality until she was kidnapped by GN demon scientists for the soul separation experiments; her soul escaped to Limbo with the soul of Carlos Hernadez, Cristal’s father.
Saeed Nariman – GN Physicist and assistant to Aaron Doub; sold his soul to a demon; had been Bina and Harry’s confidante and friend.