Page 67 of Abducting Sarah

“It looks so desolate,” I whispered, taking it all in. “I would have thought the temple would be prettier. Flowers or landscaping or something. The rest of the planet is so lush—”

“Conduits need space to work.”

I followed him out and the air smelled differently than by Valor’s house. “It smells like spices here. Almost like Christmas.”

He nodded. “It will get stronger inside.”

The doorway was larger than I had expected—much larger than needed for a Ladrian, too. He was right about the smell. It was like inhaling heavily spiced chai inside. As we passed through the doorway, the building opened wide.

It was a rectangular room, with a stone altar in the middle. They could have parked several school buses inside, the interior was so large. The interior was heavy gray stone. A square of stone was missing from above the altar, letting the moonlightshine down on it. The floor was sunken, and steps framed the entire floor. Furs lined most of the floor and steps, but a wide strip was bare stone to leave a clear path to the altar.

Deacon helped me down to the floor—the steps were too tall for me to just step down on my own. Once on the main floor, I said, “I thought altars were supposed to be in front of the congregation at a church, not in the middle.”

“We are not in a church, and we do not often congregate together at designated times in temples. When the faith was more popular, people came at any time. Conduits were always around to help connect people with their loved ones. Now…” he sighed and looked around, “temples are usually empty.”

“So, why are we here?”

“You want to speak to your mother,” he said with a smile. “I do not know precisely how the conduits’ gift works, but when they call the ghosts, they place their hands on the altar there. Since you are a conduit, I’m hoping you will be able to summon your mother’s ghost and be able to speak to her.”

Hope tightened in my chest. “Really? You think I have the power to do that?”

He chuckled. “There is only one way to know.”

Inhaling a deep breath, I approached the altar, with Deacon close by. It looked to be stone like the rest of the building, but the top of it was covered in a thick black liquid.

“They just put their hands here?” I asked skeptically.

He nodded. “That’s all it looks like to us. I do not know more.”

“Too bad Predict decided to attack me,” I said, only half-joking. “I could have used a conduit friend who knows how this works.”

“Did she look strange to you?” Deacon asked as I continued to contemplate this mysterious looking altar.

“No stranger than any other Ladrian. Why?”

He shook his head. “I have been trying to figure out how she knew you were a conduit.”

“I’m not sure.” I stared at the black liquid, not really listening to Deacon any longer because my nerves were starting to get the best of me. “I don’t know about this. If I touch this black stuff and something seems wrong, pull me from it, okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

My heart jumped into my throat as I placed my hands into the liquid. It was cold and as soon as I touched it, a chill shot through me, making my bones ache. My hands were sucked into the liquid over my wrists, but no further.

“Should I pull?” Deacon asked immediately.

“Not yet.” There was nothing hurting me in the liquid—only the chill—so I figured it was okay for the time being. “And now, I just wait?”

“I don’t know. Think of your mother, perhaps?”

As soon as I closed my eyes and imagined her presence, I smelled her hair. She used a cheap vanilla shampoo that smelled more like cookies than actual vanilla. I could see her in my mind. Her brown hair. The way she smiled. Tears trickled down my face, but I didn’t open my eyes. I felt like she was there with me. Her presence was palpable.

Then, I heard her voice. “Sarah?”

I opened my eyes and there she was, right in front of me. Translucent, but my mother, nonetheless. My voice broke. “Mom?”

“Oh my gosh.” Her face radiated happiness as she stepped forward and tried to hug me. And failed. Just like Deacon’s own father hadn’t been able to embrace him. “Sarah…what are you doing here?”

I ignored the pain in my heart and swallowed back the lump in my throat. “I don’t know if I have time to explain, but Mom, what the hell?”

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