Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 176

               ‘I’m alright thanks,’ I say. I dread to think what humans would do with godlike power. I’ve seen enough examples already.

                Thacker sits back in her chair as though she’s disappointed.

                ‘Well you’ll have first hand accounts and you’ll see for yourself. You’ll see it’s a gift as soon as it happens.’

                ‘As soon as what happens?’ I ask.

                ‘What are you going to us?’ Elle sits up, terror in her eyes.

                ‘Going to do? I did it as you walked through the door.’ She smiles.

                I stand up. ‘Let’s go,’ I say to the other two. ‘We can’t stay here.’

                ‘There’s no stopping it,’ Thacker says. ‘The Great Beyond awaits you.’

                ‘Hadn’t you better change me back to human form?’ Teague asks. Worry creeps into his voice, a slight wavering on the end of each word.

                ‘On the contrary, Teague my dear, you’re going with them. You’re the only man I trust to.’

                ‘I didn’t agree to this!’ he shouts.

                ‘Welcome to the club,’ Elle says. ‘Easton, I don’t feel good.’

                I feel so weak all of a sudden, like I’ve just blown up a balloon and my breath won’t return. I fall to my knees as my legs give up on my weight.

                I don’t want to go. I want to live, I want to stay here and wander the earth with my friends forever. But my body doesn’t agree. Blackness clogs the edges of my vision, and the rest of it swims from focus. I think I can feel my life ebbing away from me. This is what dying feels like. Not quick and painless like a car crash, this is lasting. Not painful but exhausting. My will is beaten and I’m falling.

                And I’m falling, falling, falling.

                Gone.