The Assembly of Thirteen: The First Two Companions

CHAPTER 1

BOOM!

"What was that?" June awoke, startled. She looked at her clock: 3:23 a.m. Every night she would wake at 3:23 a.m., sometimes from a nightmare, other times with night terrors, and still others just from habit. Tonight though, something different had woken her. Wrapped up in her blankets like a June taco, her brown hair all tossed around, she lay wide awake listening hard. Although now all was quiet around her, and even her dog was lying asleep peacefully in his bed, she felt certain neither the wind nor the birds, not even a nightmare, had woken her. In her mind, she could still hear a sound.

Champ was June's trusty companion and protector, a large black Labrador retriever who still believed he was a puppy. He had heard the BOOM, the glass breaking, and the BANG. On each occasion Champ's head had gone up, but just as he was about to bark and start his protective stance, he heard the command, "Down! Wait! Sleep!" Like an obedient dog, he had gone back to sleep.

June gave a big sighing yawn. Another bad dream perhaps—good thing I don't remember. But tonight, I am notscared. I'm thirsty, my mouth is dry and I am hungry, but I am notafraid. What's a woman to do?

"Champ, we have to get a snack! What do you think?"

The dog lifted his head toward the sound of his name. Everything was dark and even the night-light was off.

"Weird. It's too quiet tonight! I can barely hear the wind." June stopped for a second, still thinking it was a noise that had woken her. She took a deep breath to find her balance before getting out of bed. June was a petite woman with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She liked to say she was a mutt with no pedigree. Her father had been a physicist, a white man from New York. Her mother, in June's words, was 'your guess is as good as mine'. June's mother left her family when June was ten. She disappeared or was murdered or kidnapped. The family never knew what happened. The case was still open. The family had gone to a Christmas dinner at her dad's parents' house, but her mom had stayed home. When they returned the day after Christmas, the house had been ransacked and June's mom was gone. That day, her father started to die, and the family began to disintegrate.

Although Champ was a big dog, he slept like a sphinx with his front paws spread forward and his head lying in between them, but at the sound of the slightest noise, his head sprung up in a regal way—not tonight though. Tonight, he had been given a command by one other than his mistress, with the power to make him obey. Nevertheless, the moment June called on him, Champ jumped to attention and found his way directly to her. June's legs were scarred and so were her wrists. Her mind needed rest, and sometimes she would seek out release on her own body, but Champ loved her just the same.

"Come on, Champ, let's go to the kitchen. I'm hungry."

There was no street lamp because the light had been busted for six long years. June would leave her house porch light on every night, but tonight it was out. The house was pitch black. Flick, flick the switch, no light—a power outage perhaps. Looking for the flashlight on the night table, June knocked the book she had been reading before bedtime, then jumped at the thud. After all these months, her shaky nerves made her upset. Still, this was her house. No need to fear. She found her flashlight and went to the kitchen to get her snack.

All right, June, think! If there were any intruders, Champ would have been barking up a storm. Maybe the winds brought down a power line! Yes, a downed power line has happened before, and it may happen again.

As they walked to their bedroom door, mistress and dog yawned. June no longer worried much about anything in their big, old house. But as she pushed open her bedroom door completely, a faint light came from the first floor.