The Awakening: Book 1 of the Evaran Chronicles Read Free Page B

Evaran and then tried to push him, but Evaran didn’t budge.
    “I said, who the fuck are you!” said Jay.
    Jay tried to push Evaran again. Evaran sidestepped the push effort and brushed Jay’s arms to the side, causing him to stumble. Evaran spun Jay around and lightly pushed him to the nearest slab. Jay hit the slab, and his upper half spilled across it. He glanced at Dr. Snowden. His mouth was open, and his eyes widened. He stood back up and wheeled around to face Evaran, placing both hands on the edge of the slab.
    Dr. Snowden noted that the push was fairly light, but Jay hit the slab with far more force than the push should have generated. He calculated that it would be impossible unless Evaran’s strength was off the charts. He figured Jay must have calculated this too based on his expression.
    Dr. Snowden winced as a pain shot up his arm. He glanced over at Emily, who was trembling and white as a ghost. He tapped her hand.
    Emily looked up at Dr. Snowden and relaxed her grip. She moved behind him, put her arms around his midsection, and then buried her face in his back.
    He remembered she used to do that as a kid when there was a big bug flying around the room. He turned back to see that Evaran had pivoted and was looking at the younger man.
    “Sanjay, please join Jay by the slab,” said Evaran. He then pivoted to Dr. Snowden and motioned at him to come forward. “Dr. Snowden, please come over here with Emily.”
    Emily released her midsection hug on Dr. Snowden and grabbed his left arm as they inched toward where Jay was.
    Dr. Snowden eyed Jay and Evaran as they stopped at the end of the slab. He didn’t want to stand too close to Jay. Or Sanjay for that matter.
    Evaran twisted around toward Sanjay again and pointed to where Dr. Snowden, Emily, and Jay were standing. “Sanjay, these three are in the same predicament you are in. I can explain this, but I would prefer to do it once with everyone together. You are not in any immediate danger. Please, come stand by the slab.”
    Sanjay rose to his feet while scanning Dr. Snowden, Emily, and Jay. He crept along the wall toward the slab, flattening himself as he passed Evaran, and arrived at the opposite end of the slab where Dr. Snowden and Emily were.
    Evaran raised his finger. “Before I begin, let us pause for a few moments and focus on breathing. Your adrenaline levels are high.” He held out his hand directly in front of him. “When I raise my hand, breathe in. When I lower it, breathe out.”
    Dr. Snowden felt more relaxed after a few minutes had passed with Evaran raising and lowering his hand. He glanced over at Sanjay and noticed he was no longer hunched over, but standing straight. Dr. Snowden noticed that Sanjay’s face was no longer one of doom, but a mix of confusion and contemplation. He glanced at Jay and saw that the lines on his face had settled. Gone were the wild looks he had seen earlier.
    Emily loosened her grip on his arm.
    He glanced at her and noticed her skin had returned to its normal tone, and she seemed more settled. His heart slowed, and his breathing returned to normal. Everyone seemed calmer to him.
    Evaran surveyed them with taut lips and furrowed eyebrows. “Good. We should all be feeling a bit more relaxed. Now, I know this is rough, but I believe introductions are in order.” Evaran pointed to himself. “My name is Evaran. I would be what you term an alien, but it is more complicated than that. I am a traveler, and I help those in need, such as yourselves.” He pointed at Dr. Snowden. “This is Dr. Albert Snowden, a professor of astronomy at a college in Columbus, Ohio, and to his right,” he said, pointing to Emily, “is his niece, Emily Snowden, who is a history student at the same college.” He then pointed to Sanjay. “This is Sanjay Chandrakar, a computer science student at a college in Cincinnati, Ohio.” He then pointed to Jay. “And finally, this is Jay Beerman, a former military member who is now a truck