Page 10 of An Unexpected Ascension
“Will!” I shout, trying out the only trick I’ve learned so far.
Out of thin air, Will materializes in front of me. Surprised, he looks around, frowning when he notices where he is.
He greets me with a loud groan, wiping his hands down his face.
“I probably should have been clearer. Call me foremergenciesonly. You can summon me, and I’ll appear, but I still have to walk back on my own. I can’t just teleport by sheer will. Hundreds of blocks all for nothing!” He grumbles the last part to himself.
“Oops, sorry. I didn’t know that, but since you’re here, how do I project my memories?” I ask.
“You just close your eyes, think of a specific memory, and when you open your eyes again, you’ll see it playing like a movie. Now, ifthere’s anything else you would like to ask before I leave, do it now,” he warns.
“Can I leave my house?”
“Yes. You can go anywhere you would like.”
I nod, thinking of another question before he disappears.
“When will I see you again?”
“Most likely every day. I’ll make sure you’re keeping up on your penance. Time here flies by, mostly because there is no day or night, so it’s hard to keep track. If you knock on any nearby surface, your calendar and clock will appear. If you snap your fingers, your penance receipt will appear. Just whatever you do, don’t say the name H-e-r-m-e-s.” Will spins on his heels, but before he can leave me, I have to ask.
“Why?”
He chuckles. “He’s the only demon that can be summoned to Heaven. I recommend forgetting I even told you that.”
“Then why did you? I wouldn’t have known to say that name aloud until you said something,” I reason.
“There’s always whispers and rumors. Eventually, curiosity would have gotten the best of you and then... poof! You’d be gone, just like that.”
“Gone? Where?”
“Satan’s house of horrors.”
I pinch my lips, suddenly nervous that if I open my mouth the name will slip all on its own. Will takes that as his queue to leave again, muttering on his way out about the long trek back to the nicer neighborhood.
As the door shuts quietly behind him, despite knowing he would have slammed it if that were such a thing around here, I let out a trapped breath.
“Well, fuck.”
A ping echoes from within me, reverberating around the empty, grey house. When I look up, I find the penance receipt Will hadmentioned hovering in the air just above my head. Added to the list, underneath the 2,487Hail Marys, a singleOur Fatherprayer appears.
A groan bellows out of my mouth and my lungs expel every ounce of breath along with it. I’d much rather scream, but I’m sure that might cost me. Instead, I drop down to the cement bench and squeeze my eyes shut.
Chapter 3
The Angel
It’s a habit; counting the days as they go by.
Just as breathing is and the desire to stuff my face full of food.
Occasional hunger pangs wring my stomach, like a phantom limb sometimes aches. But now I tell myself I no longer need to eat. Eating has become an unnecessary luxury. Though, the yearning for something flavorful to fill my mouth or to fuel my belly full of nourishment hasn’t quite lost me.
So, I fill my time by trying to sort through my memories. Each one fuzzier than the last. Sometimes my mother’s face will appear on my wall. Other times, I watch myself jeté under a single spotlight on an empty stage. Those moments leave as fast as they appear, no matter how hard I try to master the art of getting them to stay.
When the last of my good recollections fizzle out, I decide to skim through the rule book again. Couldn’t hurt to familiarize myself with the lay of the land to avoid accidentally adding to my already long list.
I’ve really only read through the first 20 pages so far, which isjust the table of contents, but anything and everything you can think of is in here.
