Page 39 of Guardian's Destiny

"Do you remember anything of your dream?" I asked, scooting back to the farthest side of the bed.

"Nothing," his hand moved through his hair.

"Any headaches?"

He stilled, listened to his body before he shook his head, "Nothing."

After beating it down a few times, I put my head back on the pillow. "Alright, let's get back to sleep."

My back was turned, but I felt the mattress shift as he must have been lying back down too, and an ache spread through me, like a loss, when he didn't offer me his chest again.

VRAAX

"Closeyour eyes and find your quiet spot again. Remember, nothing can hurt you there, not even a headache," she whispered behind me.

We were in bed again, me sitting leaned against her, while her legs were spread out around me. It was hard to concentrate or to keep my hands off those shapely legs. I wanted to feel them, find out if they were soft or hard from the muscles I knew resided underneath.

Her fingers massaged my neck, and I leaned back, letting my body relax just like she demanded. It felt good, too. I listened to her soft voice and began to drift. Drift, drift, drift.

"You are on Ohrur. You just sat down in the captain's chair," she brought me back to the spot where we had left off yesterday.

"Now I want you to separate yourself from your body."

What? How was I supposed to do that?

"I want you to stand off to the side. I want you to look at yourself as you sit in the chair. Can you do that?"

I tried. But every time I did, my body got up with me.

As if she understood my problem, she advised, "Take a deep breath; you are only an observer. You are not actively participating. Stand to the side and look at yourself."

This time, it worked. I stood by the large screen wall and saw myself in the chair, or better, strapped to the chair, while an Ohrur entered carrying a large helmet.

"Now I want you to watch yourself as you walk onto the bridge, not in the chair, but as you're walking in."

As if watching a holostream, I watched myself walk onto the bridge just like Sloane had demanded. My brows creased.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm walking funny. My eyes are closed." I watched on as several Ohrurs guided me to the chair. Guided might be too generous of a word, but they didn't carry me exactly; I would have been too heavy for them. Still, I was leaning on them.

"Alright, can you go backward in time? Can you see where the Ohrurs and you came from?"

There was only blackness. "It's dark. That's all I see."

"That's alright. Keep going back, Vraax, you're doing good."

"There's nothing but blackness," I told her, feeling a slight pulling in my head.

"Remember, you're only an observer, Vraax. This should not hurt your head. You are not remembering, you're only watching."

Even in my half-there, half-gone state, I realized that she was twisting words, but it seemed to work; the stirring in my head decreased.

"Is it still all black?"

"Yes."

"Keep going. Take your time. I want you to go back as far as you can until you see a light or something."

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