BOOK 4 of the ORPHIC Series
DISENTHRALL
/ˌdisənˈTHrôl/
set free.
~~~~~
When Lucille 'Lucy' Opal Baker starts adjusting to a world without Captain America and more government therapy sessions...
T H E F A L C O N A N D T H E W I N T E R S O L D I E R
1
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"Perception is reality."
Brooklyn, New York June, 2024
THE DREAM PLAGUED HER again. It was the same recurring dream, one she seemed to have every week. It terrorized her, moved in her mind in a flurry of pictures. She never understood them—they were simply there. It always started like this:
Darkness was the first thing she noticed.
It was heavy, surrounding her as if she was the only thing in existence. The place was vast—she couldn't tell with her own eyes, but she could feel it. The vastness of it all. The darkness wasn't just around her though, it was in her, traveling through her—phasing through her. It felt strange, felt off, but Lucy could not escape it.
Frigid cold was the second thing she noticed.
It traveled across her skin, proliferating like a virus. She was cold, so, so very cold, but there was nothing she could do. There was no warmth here—just a winter wind, a brumal condition. She guessed there wouldn't be temperature in a place of non-existence. In a place she didn't belong in.
Light was the last thing she noticed.
It illuminated her surroundings, chasing the darkness—but, not away from her. No, the darkness circled her, curled around the light, spun like a cylindrical tornado. Lucy could see the ground beneath her, thirty feet below. She was floating in this blank white and black, the grass beneath dead and cold. Her eyes flicked to the left, seeing through the heavy juxtaposing hues.
There was a man standing with a cane in his hand, a peaceful smile on his face. She recognized him, his features familiar. The older man looked pleased as he turned, stepping away. Her eyes moved to the right, brows furrowing at the statue staring at her. It looked so much like Nephthys–
She started to rise further into the air, before the air beneath her dissipated, the molecules stopping. A sharp gasp of surprise escaped her as she started to free fall, her eyes turning towards the ground.
She covered her face, squeezing her eyes shut.
She lurched awake, sitting up with a sharp breath escaping her. Dark blue eyes darted across the room, before she sighed with relief.
It always ended like that.
She brought a hand up to her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. There was no use in trying to go back to sleep, especially when her abilities were thrumming under her skin, attempting to escape her. She held her hand palm up, the floating couch slowly lowering to the ground. There was a crackle of energy as she called the death towards her hand, absorbing it from the furniture.
