Page 3 of Omega Haunting

Dern laughed and shook his head.

“Why’s that so funny?”

“One day, you’ll know it all, pup. Have fun with the apple and keep it after you meet him. You’ll never know when life will keep you apart.”

I opened my mouth and shut it again, wanting to ask what had kept Dern apart from his mate, but the question was too personal to ask.

“Does it need to charge or anything?” I asked.

“As long as you’re both alive, it’ll work. Won’t rot or anything,” Dern explained. “Now, finish your coffee and get back home to work. I know none of the Wardens are happy that I pupnapped you on their busiest night of the month.”

Chapter Two

Marsin

One Week Before the Double Wedding

computer log entries

Friday 23 – year of the orange star scale

I’m pretty sure I’m losing my mind or at the very least my brain cells are scrambled.

I’m also pretty sure I should’ve told a healer by now.

Any healer.

Maybe just anyone.

But the wedding is too close for that.

Elio is so caught up in preparing for the trip to attend his stepchildren’s double wedding that I don’t want to ruin his good time. I’m looking forward to seeing Fred’s old club too. I want to see where my in-laws have come from. Only, I’m not sure that a wedding or a nightclub is the place where I should be. Should those hearing disembodied voices go to large multi-family events? I’m not so sure where we belong. I’m certain I haven’t heard of anyone else hearing voices like this. And no for the love of the ancestors and the builders of Starscale 1 it’s not some voice from the flight link! This is what I tried for weeks to convince myself of now.

Saturday 24 – year of the orange star scale

Up until now I’ve avoided speaking too much about the voice. I keep saying voices but I should correct myself for future endeavors. It’s one disembodied voice. Either that or someone is hiding in the walls. Sometimes, just sometimes I think it’smore than one, though. Maybe it is. I’ve even invited Elio and Fred over for dinner. Neither of them heard anything. Neither of them felt anything off. That’s almost enough to rule out magic. I know all too well how powerful magic can be. That’s how we summoned Fred here wasn’t it? Elio and I working together to cast scrolls through doors all over Earthside.

Sunday 25 – year of the orange star scale

I only slept 2 hours last night.

I kept thinking about the scrolls and the new doors that connect our Starscale worlds to the Other World network. Is this some rebound effect of such magic? Am I hearing some distant flight member? I almost believe that. Almost. Except the voice grows more animated each time. It’s like the guy is getting impatient with whoever he’s talking to. The words true-mate comes up over and over again. It’s garbled as if he’s talking from really far away. Okay, to be fair, he probably is. I’ve scanned our system again. There have been no breeches in security but also no record of such things happening. Of course, these events might have transpired before and the unfortunate souls driven to madness didn’t have the nerve to bring it up to anyone else. I wouldn’t blame them one bit.

Monday 26 – year of the orange star scale

I slept through the night for the first time in a while. The voice woke me up this morning. It only occurred to me before bed last night that I should try to record the voice. Only nothing played back when I tried. I think sleep deprivation is getting to me because I’m no longer sure whether or not the voice is inside my head or outside of it. I’m not sure it even matters at this point. It has to matter because I have to have my act together within the next few days before we visit Earthside. I cannot represent my flight and my family acting like a lizard who has lost his sanity.

I did jot down some of the words I heard. Some of them make sense. Some are unfamiliar.

Astral.

True-mate.

Appalachian.

Dern.

Apples.

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