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    Holcyons
    Holcyons
    Holcyons
    Ebook120 pages1 hour

    Holcyons

    By L. A. Gordon

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Kader Carlyle had a gift. He was ‘sighted’. In certain clandestine circles, they called his kind ‘Holcyons’. That meant he could peer between colors into the human ethos, behind men’s eyes, and around their minds. He could see what spirits were clinging to them and what haunted them. He had always been that way. As a child he played with imaginary friends, befriending shattered fragments of lost minds. In school he was labeled a freak. People avoided his piercing stare and cutting tongue. Then one day, Kader saw the beautiful Audrey. He admired her from afar, but sensed something dark and troubled lurking within her golden curls.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateOct 8, 2014
    ISBN9781483540740
    Holcyons

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      Book preview

      Holcyons - L. A. Gordon

      curls.

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE AUDREY ENTITY

      Kader sat in the waiting room of Sorvill’s Candy Factory with twelve other job candidates fresh out of high school. He was remembering last week at the Farmington, New Mexico high school graduation ceremony. Marilee and Vince, his foster parents were there with Nancy, his step sister, now in college. His family was politely proud. They didn’t appear often with Kader in public. Too many people had complained about him.

      Marilee had spoken often to him about his flaws. Long sessions in the kitchen after dinner about his outspokenness led to his promise to keep his observations to himself. Just because people were unaware of the dark burdens they shouldered was no reason for him to speak out. Vince threatened to send him away, to stay with relatives in Albuquerque if he didn’t improve, and told him to get a job right after graduation. One day, when Marilee was away, Vince said to him, The sooner you are out of this house, the better for everyone.

      At the graduation Kader sensed his family was on the defensive, ready with an immediate apology to anyone who claimed they were injured by him. In his senior year he had improved...no angry teachers demanding apologies, and no scalded students looking for revenge after school.

      He scoured the crowd looking for Audrey, a pretty blonde. He spotted her but quickly realized she was avoiding him.

      Audrey was beautiful, and popular with all the jocks. He knew she saw him as having a possible date-ranking at near zero. So he was startled when she accepted his offer to see a community college performance of Macbeth. His sister got him the tickets. He suspected Audrey’s motivation was to test her allure against a new pool of college male candidates she would be joining in the fall. Part of him found her alluring and elegant. To simply be in her presence made his heart pound. He needed to understand this feeling, and more, what it was she was hiding?

      Audrey had a lot of hair, blonde hair, and spent much of her free time managing it. With first one hand and then the other, she would sweep her golden tresses away from her face, first to the left and then to the right, interspersing coquettish glances and fluttering eyelash stares. Males would, predictably, be smitten.

      Kader had watched her with interest, not for the usual reasons. She had something hidden amid those silken strands that caught his eye, a nearly invisible specter. Once in the school corridor she had caught him staring at her. The entity lay perched just over her shoulder, invisible to her. Since his comely appearance was beneath her style standards, she shot him an annoyed look and walked away. He could tell she was hiding something and he was going to find out what it was, despite Marilee’s pleadings and Vince’s warnings.

      ~

      On the night of the date, he picked her up in his old car, apologizing endlessly once she discovered that his radio didn’t work. In the theatre, the plot of the play seemed to make her uncomfortable, so much so that she stood up and began leaving before the first curtain call. They went mingling at the reception afterward. Audrey had done her little flirtatious peepshow with several dominant males, and then they were getting into his car in the parking lot.

      She turned to him and said, So, did you bring any booze?

      Kader shook his head.

      You’re not like other guys. You haven’t made a move on me.

      Kader blurted, You have a sister, don’t you?

      What makes you say that?

      I’ve seen her around you.

      No, you haven’t. I don’t have a sister...she died.

      She’s attached to you.

      No she isn’t, because she’s dead. Audrey’s eyes were fixed on him. What is wrong with you? Why are you asking me these questions?

      I just wanted to know.

      Are you going to make a move on me or not?

      Would you like to go to the diner?

      Audrey moved all the way into the car and shut the door. Okay.

      ~

      When they arrived at the truck stop diner, Audrey waited for him to walk around the car and open the passenger side door for her. She stepped out, nervously surveying the parking lot, looking for familiar cars. Kader said, If you don’t want to be seen with me, it’s okay. I can just take you home.

      Audrey wasn’t used to having her motivations revealed, and muttered, Don’t be silly.

      They slid into a booth and ordered coffee.

      Audrey curled the end of her paper napkin. How do you know about Tina? No one knows about her.

      Kader looked around her shoulders. She weighs heavily on you...makes you sad.

      What the hell do you know? Audrey tore the napkin in half. She looked up and spotted a group of three teenage girls coming into the diner. Quick, kiss me.

      Before Kader could react, he could feel her lips on his and her tongue roll along the roof of his mouth. He kissed her back. Her breath was sour from a nervous stomach. The girls glanced at her performance, and took a booth far from them.

      Showing no emotion after the kiss, Audrey continued. She doesn’t make me sad...not really.

      Kader looked directly at her. She clings to you, and won’t let go.

      Tears welled up in Audrey’s eyes and she gushed, It was so awful.

      The waitress appeared with cups of coffee.

      Is everything all right? the waitress asked.

      Bring us some pie. Kader was annoyed by the interruption.

      What kind?

      Kader affirmed, Apple pie.

      After the waitress left, Audrey continued. I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this. I must be getting my period. Audrey pulled several napkins from the dispenser to dry her tears.

      Kader knew she ached to tell someone. He gently asked, What was so awful?

      Audrey looked at him like he could be anybody, an available human void into which she could vent her agonies.

      He kept eye contact with her as she took a deep breath.

      Mom gave birth to her at home. She was retarded...hydrocephalic...an angel baby. My dad made me swear not to tell anybody. When it got dark, he told me to carry her out the back trail and down to the dock. He told me to throw her in the river.

      When was this?

      I was thirteen. Audrey bit her lower lip adding, I sang to her. I sang to her all the way...my nursery rhymes, from when I was a child. Audrey’s usually cool exterior revealed pain and sorrow. In a wispy, little-girl’s voice she said, I did. I sang to her all the way.

      Kader suddenly felt the situation had gotten way over his head. He was running on instinct. He took her hands. They were wet with tears. You can let her go.

      What do you mean?

      He was running out of ideas and let the words evolve as they would. Tell her it is okay, she doesn’t need to comfort you.

      Audrey lowered her head and let her blonde hair fall over her face. Yah, right. Her voice deepened. Dad died last year, and Mom’s in a home. Still, it’s like I think about her all the time.

      Kader continued to hold her hands. You’ve got to forgive yourself.

      How can I forgive myself? Audrey pulled her hands away from his. I dropped her in the damned river. She floated away and drowned.

      You were just a kid.

      I killed her.

      He remembered Audrey’s face when she said those words. For a brief moment, her radiant beauty had descended to a dark, ugly aura, her eyes shadowy as though something had gotten inside. It seemed to move separately from her, feeding on her sorrow. He wanted to strike this entity from her, but he didn’t know how.

      ~

      The clerk at the front of the waiting room was trying to get his attention. Kader Carlyle? Mr. Sorvill will see you now.

      He prayed he would get the candy factory job.

      ~

      CHAPTER TWO

      THE SARPE

      Two Months Later

      Reno, NV

      Kader Stepped Off The Bus

      And Made

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