Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) (25 page)

No matter how she squinted and
searched she couldn't see what he could be looking at. A movement
against a light colored rock helped her to find the shapes. No
wonder she'd had trouble seeing them, they were rather low to the
ground. Then she realized whoever they were meeting walked on four
legs. More aliens?

Tripping over a hidden log, Kelsey
grabbed onto her father's arm. He put a strong arm around her back,
helping her find her feet. As she got up she saw Bonn's ears were
completely laid back. Somehow she knew that meant something
bad.

Professor Hadrian turned to
Channix. "Keep them here and silent. We will return
shortly."

Her knees aching, Kelsey looked for
a place to sit down but prickly shrubs and trees covered the
ground. Turning around, she could make out in the moonlight the
small clearing where they'd made camp and the pinprick of red of
the dying campfire. To her right the trees grew taller, and beyond
those she could see the night shimmer of a lake. Music continued
floating around her, strained and tense notes she couldn't help
reacting to with uncomfortable shivers.

A flash of light from behind her
accompanied by a loud resonant snap made her jump. Kelsey whirled
around just in time to see another flash of light coming from the
arm of Professor Hadrian. The burst of energy plowed into the dirt
and soil further up the hill.

Channix growled low in his throat
but remained where he was. Another light appeared at the dome,
pulsing and surging frantically into the sky. Growing first bright
and then faint, alternating colors as it did, it surged into the
scattered light clouds.

Chords filled the air from all
directions. First off key, but with each surge, coming more and
more in tune, the melody growing more intricate. The light above
the dome ceased, and with it the melodies began to fade.

And then, she felt the snap. A rush
moved right down into the center of her body and then radiated
outwards. It echoed back from the band on her wrist. She breathed
in deeply, overwhelmed with relief. The invisible ropes were
gone!

Professor Hadrian knew it as well.
He turned towards them and raised his arm, yelling down the hill,
"Keep them restrained!"

Bonn shoved Kelsey violently to the
side as he raised his own arm. She saw the flash of a brilliant
pulse of energy as she tripped and then tumbled off the side of the
steep hill.

Her ears filled with the loud
crashing of her own body as she fell, skidded and rolled through
and off of trees, bushes and rocks. She felt like a pinball with
vertigo, not knowing her direction, but feeling the pain of each
new encounter with an outside object.

With a splash and a hard bump that
knocked the breath out of her, she landed face down in frigid
water. Scrambling to her knees, she felt something moving on her
head. She swatted at it, and a small dark body jumped off with an
indignant croak. It landed in the water and scrambled onto a rock,
looked at her and croaked at her again.

Suddenly, she couldn't help but
start laughing.

Kelsey stood up and shook her
hands, moving to one rocky bank. It was then she realized the water
was running off her dry skin even though her clothes were soaked.
Yet, she could feel the sense of water on her bare skin, but when
she rubbed two fingers together, there was definitely no moisture
there.

A howl of pain echoed down from the
hill. Through her band she felt the tug of Professor Hadrian's
Binding Machine.

Terror welled up from her band,
overcoming every conscious thought in her head. She had to get away
from the machine!

Her legs began running away from
the hill, carrying the rest of her with them. In a few strides she
splashed across the stream, disappearing into the
forest.

***

"The String Weavers (The String
Weavers - Book 1)" is available at online retailers
everywhere.

STAR CATCHER
PUBLISHING

For more reading enjoyment, visit
our website to peruse our catalog and where information on
Universes, stories, and authors can also be found. Join our
newsletter for announcements on new releases and events.

Starcatcherpub.com

Ebook ISBN:
978-1-937042-14-1

Published exclusively by: Star
Catcher Publishing

Copyright 2011 by J.A. Marlow. All
Rights Reserved.

Illustrations and graphics
copyright 2011, 2014 by J.A. Marlow.

All rights reserved.If any typos or
formatting problems are found with this ebook, please contact
either the author or the publisher.

This ebook is licensed for your
personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given
away to other people. This book may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including
graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written
consent of the author except in case of brief quotations for the
purpose of advertising, promotions and critical review.

If you would like to share this
book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for
each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard
work of the author.

This is a work of fiction. The
characters, events, and locations portrayed in this book are
fictitious. Any similarity or resemblance to actual events, locales
or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not
intended by the author.

All rights to the characters in
this written work are reserved by the author and may not appear in
any written work or broadcast by any means without the written
permission of the author except for the purpose of advertising,
promoting and critical review.

To the author's knowledge no
aliens, animals from any known world, or humans were harmed in the
writing or making of this book.