Essence of Life E-Book

Joseph P Hradisky Jr

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

This is the second book in the darkness trilogy. Here Gabrielle travels to the beginning to find the Essence of Life. It is what is used to create life but can also destroy it as well, like the great flood. This is a fictional story, the people in this story do not represent any persons living or dead.   The locations, in the story, are real. You might have a lot of fun visiting them.   This book is the property of Joseph P Hradisky Jr, all rights reserved.   Thank you for taking the time to read my book, I hope you have a long wonderful life in whatever you do.

Leseprobe

Joseph P Hradisky Jr

Essence of Life

The Man From the Car Wash: Book 2

I dedicate this book to my wonderful wife, best friend, Terri. To my two sons, Alec and Ian, for being brave enough to follow their dreams like I have followed mine. This is also dedicated to those on the edge of the fence, all it takes is one good shove (this came from my wife who couldn’t stand my ‘I want to write and publish a book’ whining anymore) to get you started. This can be from someone close or from you getting tired of saying ‘what if’ anymore. I want to thank you for believing in yourself, good luck in whatever you want to do. BookRix GmbH & Co. KG80331 Munich

Essence of Life

The Man From the Car Wash: Book 2

By Joseph P Hradisky Jr

This is the second book in the darkness trilogy. Here Gabrielle travels to the beginning to find the Essence of Life. It is what is used to create life but can also destroy it as well, like the great flood.

Disclaimer

This is a fictional story, the people in this story do not represent any persons living or dead.

The locations, in the story, are real. You might have a lot of fun visiting them.

This book is the property of Joseph P Hradisky Jr, all rights reserved.

Thank you for taking the time to read my book, I hope you have a long wonderful life in whatever you do.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my wonderful wife, best friend, Terri. To my two sons, Alec and Ian, for being brave enough to follow their dreams like I have followed mine.

This is also dedicated to those on the edge of the fence, all it takes is one good shove (this came from my wife who couldn’t stand my ‘I want to write and publish a book’ whining anymore) to get you started. This can be from someone close or from you getting tired of saying ‘what if’ anymore. I want to thank you for believing in yourself, good luck in whatever you want to do.

Gate One

The Pit

Gabrielle Genson stood at the edge of the pit the monster had come out of. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to see if there was anything left in the pit. He wasn’t sure if another monster would rise out if he wasn’t vigilant. Looking toward the southern end of Cayuga Lake he scanned to see if any part of Ithaca was being attacked. Here, too, there was nothing. Leaving him to wonder where the enemy had gotten off to. This lack of activity seemed to bother him more than if a full battle were raging.

Once more he turned to look down into the pit. A darkness, even at the edge where the light should have made it lighter, pervaded the hole. Once he knelt to touch the surface, it felt like water only black. No oily feeling, it didn’t cause any bad reaction, yet nothing could be seen below the surface. Even the light seemed to hit the surface with absolutely none reflecting back. A few more minutes passed as he looked at the dark surface before he decided what he needed to do.

“We need to go to Home Depot.” The blunt statement echoed through the quiet air hanging over East Hill Plaza.

“Why?” Terri asked as she laid her soft hand on his shoulder.

“We need to find the bottom of the pit to see what is down there…” He didn’t get much farther when she interrupted.

“What about the monster?” She asked. “Shouldn’t we find it before it can cause any problems?”

“No,” Gabrielle looked from the pit to his wife, Terri. “That is what it wants us to do, I have the feeling it is trying to draw us away from here. Which leads to the question of why? What is down there it doesn’t want us to find?”

“Are we going to be able to get past the surface?” Beth Johnson came to stand next to the others at the edge of the pit. “I saw you touch the surface, it acted like water. Very dark water.”

“I will test the barrier to see if we need O-2 tanks.” Gabrielle knelt down to touch the surface again. “I don’t think we will need anything, the more I touch it the more familiar it seems.”

Gabrielle stood up. “Time to go.”

The group was in the process of leaving to get the supplies they needed to explore the pit. As they did they didn’t see part, of the dark surface, rise up above the edge of the pit. But a sound, almost like a sigh, faded like a light breeze into the silence. Yet the sound carried much more than that. It held a longing so deep it hurt the soul and the heart. For a long moment the group continued to go after their supplies when they all suddenly stopped.

‘Do not worry.’

The voice seemed to slowly flow into his thoughts. Gabrielle knew the thought was not his own but was clueless as to the source. He thought, ‘Why?’

‘You are a good soul, not really pure, but a true warrior for peace.’ The voice paused for several seconds. ‘I was forced to allow those, who came out, a door to this world when I did not want to.’

Gabrielle thought about this for a moment before another voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Did you hear that?” Terri asked.

Gabrielle held his hand up so he could concentrate but knew he would have to speak. “Yes, someone is speaking to me in my own head. I take it you heard it too?”

The rest, of the group, acknowledge they had too as they turned to look back to the pit. They now could see a mass had risen above the inky surface. Though it was in constant movement one could almost see a face as well as a body. While they watched the figure slowly sank back into the pit. Not quite sure, if he should, Gabrielle made his way back to the edge of the pit.

Several minutes passed before Gabrielle knelt down to get a closer look at the darkness covering the pit opening. Carefully he reached out to touch the surface again. This time a tingle ran up his arm as recognition became clear. “You are the gate keeper.”

“Yes.” Came a deep voice from the dark liquid. Slowly the darkness moved till a human figure stood looking at him. This dark shape showed no signs whether it was male or female. “I am both and neither. I was born out of darkness, not from the soul of a human like you. Yet, when you first touched me, I felt a strange connection for which I have not felt in  over a thousand years.”

Gabrielle saw he was still in contact with the dark liquid, so he removed his hand before standing up to face the dark figure. He wasn’t sure about where the next question came from but knew it was important. “Who was this connection?”

The dark figure lowered what looked like his head before replying. “In your language I am called Nardie, do not ask me to say it in my language.”

Gabrielle waited several minutes without anyone speaking. “Connection?” He prompted.

Nardie sighed then answered. “She was a true warrior like you. When she came, like you, your world was in danger of being destroyed forever.”

“What of her now?” Gabrielle thought he knew the answer but needed to hear it out loud.

“Safe.” Nardie replied. “She has served her time and is now safe to live out her life.”

“She’s still alive?” This revelation startled Gabrielle. “How can she still be alive?”

“The connection.” Nardie told them. “She will now live to over a thousand of your years, as you will since you first touched me.”

Gabrielle turned to Terri to stare at her. Silence filled the plaza again till Nardie broke it. “She will be taken care of.”

Terri moved to stand in front of the dark figure. “What do you mean by that?”

“He means as long as I live so shall you,” Gabrielle turned again to Nardie. “Right?”

Nardie nodded his head. “Just as her mate is still with her, it is the only thing we can do to make up for the connection.”

“How will we get to the bottom of the pit?” Brad wanted to know.

“Trust,” Nardie said. “All you have to do is step off the ledge.”

“That is a lot of trust.” Beth said from behind Brad. “A lot of trust.”

“Then let’s go.” Gabrielle said as he stepped off the ledge. For a full second it looked as though he was standing on the surface, of the dark liquid, before vanishing from sight.

Terri followed him as quickly as she could, next went Brad, with Beth the last to go. It took almost fifteen minutes before she did though. A few seconds later all four were standing on a floor of flat stone. The smoothness spoke of not being of a natural origin. So were the four walls which revealed no opening or signs of a door. While Terri, Beth, and Brad stood in the center of the chamber; Gabrielle was wandering around the fairly large room.

“How can we possibly be seeing like this?” This question came out of nowhere addressed to no one.

This didn’t last long as Nardie appeared before them. “I am the keeper of the depths, because you have touched me in a special way you can see in what would otherwise be total darkness.”

“Okay but it doesn’t explain how they can see.”

“As I have touched you so have you touched them. We all have connections to all those who are a part of our lives. Every time you meet someone there is a connection made.” Nardie stopped speaking for a moment. “Here is the first gate.”

Gabrielle turned to Nardie before speaking. “So the tests begin.”

This almost sounded like a question but Nardie took it as a statement. “I can do small things, but you have to do the rest. Where you are going is not going to be easy, but you must get there and sooner than later.”

“My only issue is I have no idea why I even came down here.” Gabrielle spoke out loud to himself.

“So why did we?” Terri questioned him.

“Instinct.” Gabrielle could barely be heard. “My inner voice told me I had to, I always listen to this voice.”

Gabrielle began to move around the room again before stopping at a corner of the room. This looked no different than the others, but it seemed to have caught his attention.

“What…” Terri started when his hand came up to tell her to stop.

Carefully Gabrielle searched the corner, each time getting closer to the floor. Finally, “Gotcha ya.”

As the other three looked on it could clearly be seen there was something in his hand. Not only could he not close it, but it was moving as if something wanted out. A few seconds later the what did escape Gabrielle’s hand to appear before them as a three headed dog. A hell hound, the gate keeper to the underworld. This beast stood taller than Gabrielle while growling the dissatisfaction of being caught. This didn’t last long before Gabrielle spoke again.

“DO YOU REALLY THINK BECOMING BIG WOULD MAKE YOU SCARRY? YOU’RE A MUT AND NOTHING MORE.” Gabrielle was almost nose to nose with the hound. “Nardie?”

“Yes.”

“Can you make this room bigger so we can face off while keeping the others safe?”

“I did say ‘yes’…” Nardie stopped talking for a moment. “You weren’t saying that to me were you, got it.”

“Keep us safe?” Terri’s voice held a lot of anger. “What do you mean by ‘keep us safe’?”

Gabrielle turned to her. “It means we have nine gates to pass through to where we are going. Each gate will have its own combination to unlock it. Yet it will not be just dealing with the gate itself but with those guarding them. As to how difficult this can be is anyone’s guess. Right now getting past this guardian is on me.”

“Then what?” Brad asked.

“No clue but first things first.” Gabrielle told him.

Gabrielle turned to Nardie but, before he could speak, the room grew bigger. Large enough now where the four walls could no longer be seen. “A little too big, need something more in the area of 200 feet by 200 feet. Within seconds the room was still bigger but this time they could see the walls.

“Why this size?” Nardie asked Gabrielle.

“So the mutt here will not be able to escape.” Gabrielle was going to say more when he was interrupted.

“MUTT? MY NAME IS DUANNE, GOT IT!!!” The hell hound sounded beyond angry. “It doesn’t matter what you want you will never get past this, or any other, gate because you are still living. Only the dead can pass.”

Gabrielle smiled. “Not from what I’ve heard.”

This statement seemed to make the hell hound even angrier than he already was. “That was a mistake which will never be repeated.”

“A living human passed through the underworld?” Nardie was truly shocked at the revelation. “How can it be I did not hear about this?”

Duanne just growled at Nardie without taking his attention away from Gabrielle who answered the questions. “The mutt will not answer you so I will. Yes and that is all I can say about that. You didn’t hear about it because it was a slap in the face of those who rule down here. Anyone, or anything, outside the war zone did not hear about it not just you.”

Gabrielle, unlike Duanne, had taken his eyes off the hell hound as he spoke to Nardie. Now he returned his attention to the beast. Slowly he walked toward the hound until they were almost nose to nose. Then, out of nowhere, Gabrielle slapped Duanne across the middle muzzle. Though the slap wasn’t that hard it made it’s point. “You ready to get this over?”

“Let’s do this.” Was Duanne’s reply.

Duanne

In a matter of seconds the hell hound grew three times in size. Somewhere, around the thirty foot mark, was when he attacked. Three sets of mouths, huge jaws, and sharp teeth; went after Gabrielle. All three closed on nothing but air. Duanne was shocked he had not killed the mortal on the first attack. Not only was the human still alive but was nowhere to be seen.

“Looking for me?” Gabrielle’s voice came from behind the hell hound.

Duanne quickly turned to see Gabrielle standing just a few feet away laughing. “You will not be laughing for much longer – human.”

Before the hell hound could attack again Gabrielle suddenly grew till he was proportionately bigger than Duanne. Making the two the same size though the hell hound still outweighed the human. “You might have wanted to grow bigger since you could grow in the first place.”

Gabrielle looked at the hell hound to smile. “I think I am plenty tall enough to take you, I don’t even need a weapon to do it.”

This seemed to anger the hell hound more than the fact the human was able to grow bigger. Duanne looked long at Gabrielle. “You will regret that human.” With that said the hell hound attacked.