Desperate Decisions (book1)

“One vial, just one is all you need.” Alana was breathing evenly and mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. She looked up at the doctor there. He was medium height, she’d say five ten or so with brown hair. He looked good for his age, in great shape actually and not bad looking. Alana though didn’t think she could trust this man, but she didn’t have much of a choice now did she?

“And don’t leave the mark.” Alana repeated. “No matter what don’t leave the mark.” She said it more for herself even though they told her and she looked over at the woman who was mixing things in different bowls. Definitely not a doctor, she was mumbling words and there was a slight glow from the main bowl she worked on.

Magic, the woman held magic and Alana would have been more concerned about her mental health if she wasn’t special too. Though that was why she was here in the first place, apparently it seemed only those with gifts or abilities ever came back from this alive. Those without them seemed unable to handle the trip mentally and died before they even arrived.

“If you leave the mark you have no protection from whatever is over there. There are a couple that you can bargain with, but you will have to pay a price to get what we need. If you leave the circle for the bargain then there is no guarantee that you will come back.” The doctor said, she nodded pushing her dark blonde hair over her shoulder. Alana’s blue eyes glanced at his brown one. Doctor Caster, and she really didn’t care for him much, she felt it in the pit of her stomach. Truth be told she was almost more worried about coming back than going.

“If you must leave the circle,” The woman spoke, drawing up some of the liquid into a syringe. She did this several times until all the liquid was up in five syringes, but Alana would only need one. At least that was what they told her. “Then you must return within a certain amount of time or your glyph in the circle will fade and once it is gone, you have no way of getting back. At least to us, and that place has never willingly let anyone go. Even if you have talents, this is a place in between. A place of more magic than you and I could ever tap into. It’s another dimension really. Where nightmares come from.” The woman said.

“If you are trying to scare me, don’t worry about it. I’m not leaving my glyph no matter what. I need to come back for Kassy.” Kassy was her younger sister and she had gotten very ill with a sickness that had no cure. It was starting to make her organs fail, and the rest of their family had gotten sick with it as well.

Alana was the only one who hadn’t and that was thanks to her being special. She just never got sick, her body seemed to fight off all sorts of sickness. She was faster and stronger too, but she could do more than that. These people only knew that she could astro-project and they had allowed her into this special program right away. They said talents like that were almost a guarantee to come back, you knew how to deal with the out of body.

“Here is the vial.” Caster said holding it up and she took it. “You get half, we get half when you come back. that is the contract.” She nodded watching him move and grabbing an IV of fluids to set it up. She was going to this place because it had a fountain of youth, and it would cure the sickness killing her sister. Her sister had held out longer because she was special too, just not special enough. All of her family had been, but not in the same ways and the sickness had taken them. Just like the rest of the colony on the planet they had been at.

“Half, I’ll get it.” Alana gripped the vial hard and laid back counting in her head. She would not let Kassy die. They had come to this planet because it had the latest medical research and if anyone was going to figure it out, it was the Octmar medical research center. Alana was using up nearly all the money her family had and the settlement with the one who owned their frontier colony to help her sister beat this. Unfortunately she knew they weren’t going to find a natural cure in time.

“Good.” He said with a smile putting the IV in. She met Caster after hearing a couple doctors talking about how he worked with psychics. Initially she was just curious, and they had said that he would pay good money to study those with talents. So she found him, because treatment was draining their money being here. Alana told him she could astro-project and he lit right up especially after testing her.

Caster and those with him were into way more than just studying psychics. She’d heard about places that would snatch people like Alana up and test on them. Make weapons out of them, but since there weren’t that many like her, she never knew if it was true or just conjecture. So far he hadn’t locked her up or anything and he worked with those that were special. The moment she met him, she didn’t trust him however. Caster was up to something else. Still he told her that he knew of a place, that someone like her had seen it, and they had sent people there to get things. Things that mortals had lost or were taken and the fountain of youth was one of them.

“This is going to sting, just one dose. It will open the gate in your mind and you will travel to the in between.” Alana looked at the witch. Genis was her name and she didn’t like her either. She hoped that she’d get back in time for Kassy.

“Okay.”

“There will be others there.” Genis said and she looked at the greying black hair and grey eyes of this woman and just saw greed.

Just think of Kassy. Alana told herself and took another breath.

“You will just have to wait, there is no guarantee of time for this. You might just stand there for days until one approaches you to take something. That is when you bargain, and you get what you need first understood?” Alana nodded. Her heart was beating faster, Alana already knew what she was in for. She’d seen the images and listened to the few that had come back. All of them seemed changed, scared in some way from what they had seen. One of those people had left their mark and he just sat in the room he was in not talking with a dark look on his face.

“Okay, just wait? Don’t call out?” She asked and Genis held the needle to her arm poised to inject.

“You can do as you wish, we’ve told you the best we can. What we know of the rules of entering to ask. Your glyph is the protection you need there so the creatures and beings can’t just take you and do what they please. Most will kill you drain you dry.” Alana sighed, she wasn’t going to call out.

“How close will I be to the fountain?” Alana asked looking at the now clear liquid in the syringe. She’d brought over the others and placed them in a container near the bed. Alana had seen this place she was being sent, while she astro projected, she had wanted to know. In her mind’s eye it was a dangerous scary place to be honest.

The world was grey because it overcast. Fog was most places, jungles and deserts that spread for miles, same with the oceans and mountains. It was a wild unforgiving place that showed no signs that humans or other intelligent life thrived. No cities or anything to do with civilization. This was where Alana had to project herself to get what she needed to save her sister.

“Close, I have perfected this. Others will be there in this place just like you waiting, Patience is best.” Genis said sticking the needle in and it did burn. Alana hissed slightly, then bent her arm and held the gauze there.

“Easy for you to say, neither of you have the backbone to actually go.” Alana quipped looking at them and both had deadpan expressions on their faces.

“We aren’t equipped like you are to go, and some people aren’t allowed in. Just the ones they want something from.” Caster stated to her. “You are getting your chance to save your sister.” He commented and Alana could feel her heartbeat start to slow. Caster looked up at the clock and then the monitors.

“Best to relax and just let it take you Alana. It’s faster that way.” She nodded and laid back, closing her eyes. After a few more breaths she just let her body go, let her mind slip away and it was easy. Practiced with what she was and her gifts. Then it felt like she was freefalling fast and hard with no control. She did not hear the doctor and witch speak above her.

“She’s a good choice, she’ll bring back the vial of eternity water we need.” Genis said. “They’ll pay billions to get a hold of what we have.” Genis prepped the area next to the bed with items they might need if Alana started to crash while her mind and essence were off somewhere else. They didn’t send the physical body, but it was as good as being there anyways. You died out of body, you did in reality too. A fail safe for them, making people soul walk to a place that was hard to go. A place of rumored monsters and gods.

“If I decide to sell, I kind of like this power. We have a group that can get what we need from that side. She is a good choice. She’ll be picked by one, her psychic signature is strong and her essence even stronger. They’ll be drawn like moths to a flame.” Caster said looking down at the hand that had the vial but it was no longer there. Gone with the woman to a place he wasn’t allowed.