{"id":1336,"date":"2012-08-03T00:00:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T04:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1336"},"modified":"2012-08-01T08:23:07","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T12:23:07","slug":"winter-chapter-18-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1336","title":{"rendered":"Winter – Chapter 18 – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJameson.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He jerked awake out of a sound sleep and then stayed very still, breathing hard but shallow, body tense.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Constance.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was her voice again.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He hadn\u2019t heard any of them since the Morrigan\u2026<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Stupid to think they\u2019d gone away, right?\u00a0 <\/span>Of course not.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I\u2019m the goddamned Spiritweaver, if I\u2019m supposed to believe all the supernatural women we\u2019ve run into in the past three months.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. shuddered slightly and swallowed hard.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Next to him, Carolyn stirred and pressed closer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He chewed the inside of his lip as his arms closed around her, drawing her more tightly against him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She was warm, real, <\/span>alive<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The voices\u2026weren\u2019t.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That didn\u2019t stop the ghostly voice from saying his name again.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJameson, trouble\u2019s coming.\u00a0 <\/span>Be vigilant, my friend, please.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We cannot help you more than warning you this time.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>His throat convulsed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Damn it anyway, Constance.\u00a0 <\/span>Damn it anyway.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We did that ritual so you could go on to your rest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Why didn\u2019t you go?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Can\u2019t you just leave well enough alone?<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If they had, though\u2014she and the other ghosts\u2014he and his friends would have joined them in death at least twice over by now.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Three times, in some cases.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In any case, she clearly hadn\u2019t moved on after the rites they\u2019d performed the night the shifters came, so the least he could do was acknowledge her warning.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He took a shuddering breath and opened his eyes, looking toward the sound of her voice.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It was as if she was built of silver light and smoke, dimly lit and misty, though her features were clear as daylight to him, right down to the polo and Bermuda shorts she\u2019d been wearing when she died.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cConstance,\u201d he whispered, \u201cthis had better be a pretty dire threat for you to wake me up out of a de\u2014hard sleep to tell me about it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSomeone is coming,\u201d <\/em><\/span>Constance said, her eyes like chips of polished flint in the darkness.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was pitch black inside their shed but he could see her clear as day.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe can\u2019t save you, J.T.\u00a0 <\/span>Not this time.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All right, who?<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He suppressed a groan.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSomething like Vammatar or the Shadow Man?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d <\/em><\/span>the ghost whispered, her spectral lips thinning.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSomething worse.\u00a0 <\/span>People.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It shouldn\u2019t have been enough to make his heart and stomach sink in unison, but it did.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Supernatural threats had been easy to face compared to the idea that they might have to duke it out with some kind of band of marauders.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what we have the walls for, though, right?<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He winced.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What if they\u2019ve got guns\u2014a lot of them?\u00a0 <\/span>And cars that somehow still work?<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>None of the ones left on campus did.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was as if the asteroid had shorted out all of their vital systems, fried everything.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019d been able to start a few of them in the days after the world ended, but within weeks even the oldest and least complex of them had just stopped working.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The flatbed had been last, sputtering and dying within the first weeks.
\n<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He didn\u2019t have any explanation for it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>No one had.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It just <\/span>was<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Just like the generators.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Sort of like the radio that had blown up in Matt\u2019s face.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of course, I don\u2019t think Kellin and Drew think it actually exploded on accident, either.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. closed his eyes for a moment, took two breaths and exhaled slowly before he opened his eyes and looked at the ghost standing over him again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHow many? How long do we have?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d<\/em><\/span> she said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe just know that they\u2019re coming.\u00a0 <\/span>Look to the south.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019ll come from there.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Good luck.\u201d<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Her lips brushed his forehead in a phantom kiss that shot shivers through him, then she vanished into nothing.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>His arms tightened around Carolyn again as he kept right on shivering, as if the blankets suddenly weren\u2019t enough to keep him warm.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Carolyn murmured in her sleep and pressed closer to him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He swallowed hard.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Raiders of some kind, coming here.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t know how many or when they\u2019ll come, but they\u2019re coming.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>How\u2019s that going to sound to everyone else?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Like I\u2019ve lost my bloody marbles.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He squeezed his eyes shut.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It wouldn\u2019t be as bad as all that, would it?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>No, it couldn\u2019t be.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If everyone could believe that Thom and Marin saw things in visions, they could handle him getting warnings from ghosts.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Couldn\u2019t they?<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBloody hell,\u201d he sighed, then buried his face in Carolyn\u2019s hair, waiting for the shakes to stop.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It took a long time, but eventually they did and he dropped off to sleep again.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It didn\u2019t last.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJameson.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He jerked awake out of a sound sleep and then stayed very still, breathing hard but shallow, body tense. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Constance.\u00a0 It was her voice again. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t heard any of them since the Morrigan\u2026 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,57,14,52,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-18","category-story","category-winter","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-ly","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1337,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}