The Summoner Series - Book One - DUALITY

Chapter 15: Cece - Be Prepared

I was running down a dark hallway. It never seemed to end. Doors on either side were closed, and I knew they were locked. I've been here so many times before and I've tried every single door. The hallway was seemingly infinite, but I could never stop running. The screams from behind me were constantly growing. A blood curdling scream that kept getting louder and louder until I had to cover my ears to keep my head from splitting open. Dim yellow lights lined the hallway, some perfectly fine, some broken and shattered. There was no rhyme or reason to the hallway. It had changing doors schemes, different wallpaper, warping carpets, but the hallway always kept going straight. There were no bends, no turns or twists, just a straight shot to a small beacon of light at the end that never seemed to grow closer.

As I kept running to an end that I knew would never come, the lights started to flicker out, starting far behind me, but the darkness started to grow closer as the shrieks grew louder. I knew it would be any moment before the darkness swallowed me whole, devouring me with the screams.

I kept running with my hands still covering my ears, but as the darkness was right on my heels, I picked up the pace, as did the darkness and the scream. I tried to reach my hand out to the light in vain. The darkness swallowed me whole, and the screams became so louds that I curled into a ball. I saw the light at the end of the hallway start to fade as I began to fall, and then I came to a sudden stop.

I shot up in bed in a cold sweat. I looked around the room. There were empty cardboard boxes, some of which were torn up and broken. The building was trashed beyond comprehension. It would take ages to even get the dust off of all the surfaces. The only good thing about the dust was that it glistened in the morning sun light. I didn't die last night. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, stood up and started to stretch. Sometimes I wish I did. I was still wearing the same clothes as I was last night, so I wasn't feeling particularly great. I heard some commotion coming from downstairs. I made my way down to see everyone in the bottom floor of the abandoned restaurant. Nocturnus, Bruce, and Jack were sitting at a table in the main dining room.

"There's the sleepy head." Said Jack, looking up from the conversation he was having. "We were wondering if you were dead or not."

"And I said that if you were I would change roles." Nocturnus said. "Not to save face, but to damn myself."

"And I said that if any of you died, the mission would be totally screwed." Said Bruce with the edge of a leader.

Jack changed the subject before Nocturnus and Bruce went at it. "Well your hair certainly looks like you slept well."

I felt the side of my head and noticed that part of my hair was was standing up. "Oh, yeah, I guess I had a good dream that I didn't want to wake up from."

"Well it's time to wake up. Cain is making coffee and some soup from possibly expired cans he found in the pantry. Help yourself."

I made my way to the kitchen to find Cain stirring a large pot that smelled decently like soup, or at least better than the sludge that we had last night. "I was told you had coffee?" I asked in the nicest voice possible.

"There's a coffee pot over by the wall. There should be a full pot with some cream and sugar to the side of it. I'm making soup, it should be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks." I walked over to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup of hot coffee. I put a lot of sugar in it and an equal amounts of creamer.

Cain didn't even have to look up to say, "You like your coffee really sweet, don't you?"

"Yeah, I can't stand anything bitter."

"Is that why you don't like fighting?"

"Uh," I stuttered. "How did you know that I didn't like fighting?"

"It's all over your face." He didn't even have to move away from the bowl of soup he was gently stirring. "Trust me, if I've been through what you have, I think I would hate fighting as well."

"What are you talking about?" I asked stunned. No one knew what I've been through. I made sure of it. "I'm sorry, Cain, I think you're mistaken."

"You should know that I never am." He finally pulled the spoon out of the pot and turned the gas off of the stove. He moved the pot to a burner that wasn't on so the soup could cool. "I'm a Zapper, Cece, and a damn good one at that. I can sense even the smallest of electrical signals, even the ones in your head." He never turned to face me this entire conversation. "That being said, be careful what you think." He turned around to yell out the door to the main dining room. "Soup's up!"

There was a stomping of feet as the three others started barreling towards the kitchen, nearling breaking down the doors.

"BREAKFAST?!?" All three yelled in unison. Cain was already pouring out bowls of tomato soup.

"It isn't much, but I hope it's better than whatever slop we had last night."

"I don't care," Said Bruce, who was practically foaming at the mouth. "I just need to taste something." Cain passed out the bowls filled with soup to each person, including me. He didn't even have time to pass out spoons before Bruce started chugging it from the bowl.

"Wow, Bruce, I didn't know you were that hungry." Jack said, utterly surprised.

"I normally eat more calories than three people combined in one day. I haven't had proper sustenance in so long."

"I knew you were an animal," Started Nocturnus, "But I didn't know you were so food driven to the point where you lose all manners."

"Does it look like I care."

"I guess not."

There was a few moments of silence before I couldn't stand it anymore. "So, what happened to Jazzy?"

"She went out to go get supplies for our heist." Cain said in between sips of soup. "Since the mafia and Kristy are after us, we thought it would be a good idea to change out of these clothes."

"Wait, are we still going through with the heist?"

"I told you, we cannot let Kristy anywhere near the Temple of the First Summoner. If the myths are true about the place, there's no telling what she could do with the power she finds."

"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered, "I don't really know that much about Summoners, especially the first one. Do one of you mind filling me in?"

"I can explain it well, if you want me to." Said Cain, still looking down at his soup.

"Please."

He put his soup down and cleared his throat. "Be prepared, because this story is a doozy."