Pull (Deep Darkness Book 1) by Stephen Landry Read Free Book Online Page A

been
watching us laughing. As I was taking what felt like my first breath justing
hitting the surface (you know that moment before being underwater becomes
too intense) and saw that Dom was nowhere to be seen. I prepared myself for
an ambush but there was nothing. All aournd us the water seemed calm. No
bubbles. No waves. Just still water.
    “Hayden where is Dom?” Aira was the
first to ask.
“I thought he was down there with the two of you?”
We all looked around.
We already had a good idea of where he had gone. Dom was the bravest
    of the four of us. He was always getting into trouble (getting us into trouble).
He was always the first one to talk to a new alien or climb to the top of a roof
or tower. He was also the best swimmer among us. We all knew better then to
go into the deep… further down the red river. Dom had always said that one
day he would swim there. He was full of pride. Always trying to prove he was
the best. He was the fastest and strongest of us and we had no doubt he could
do it. We just never tried - we knew it was wrong.
    Aira screamed for help.
Hayden had to punch me in the ribs to hold me back from diving into
the red. An Arr7 was nearby doing some trade. It had heard Aira’s human cry
of pain and came running. It was massive. It had four long metal arms, each
with three pointy fingers. It had two legs that carried all of its weight rather
then six and a long tail that gave it balance. It was like a metal dinosaur with
human torso and a rectangular head. It looked down at us with its neck bent
forward before jumping into the river like a crocodile. The Arr7 only needed
a few seconds to figure out what was going on running algorithms in its head
to find the best course of action. In minutes a red and silver silhoutte emerged
to the water’s surface. The sun glared off its metal body into our eyes. Using
its weight as a mighty anchor the Arr7 began walking towards us. In its arms
lay Dom. Some Pok nearby had called the medics and a drop ship was
already on its way. Constables were already gathering. The drop ship looked
like a dove in the distnace slowly growing and growing. It’s wings spread
open and out like an angel of mercy before it landed softly on the ground. An
Eek emerged from the vehincle, its long skinny arms held out a breathing
apparatus. It looked like a plant I had seen in a holo; like a venus flytrap it
wrapped itself around Dom’s face and mouth.
I have had nightmares for years thinking about it.
Seeing Dom’s lifeless body struggle on the ground for air.
No alien tech could save him. Aira was right. The river was red because
it is the color of death. I felt like the leeches had killed Dom. I wondered if
from the bottom of the river lay a merman laughing. Had I thought about this
as a child I would have stopped. I would have swam somewhere else or
played indoors. If we had made different decisions maybe Dom wouldn’t
have been so carefree.
Aira leaned over on my shoulder. Both of us were soaking wet.
“Nothing will ever be the same will it?” she asked.
    We were riding in an air skiff and I was holding her hand. I said nothing.
She had taken the words right out of my mouth. Hayden had already been
taken home. The Drok have a ritual which begins immediately after death
and he had already begun to observe it. We were leaving the medical
embassy; the only pace humans could be pronounced dead. We were given
only a few hours to say goodbye. Dom’s body was laid out before us like a
piece of art. His pose was that of a child sleeping. Errikus didn’t have
graveyards. Those that died here were burned to ash and thrown in the dirt
or they had their bodies given to their species’s embassy. Dom’s body was
given back to our embassy. He was frozen, his body would be taken to the
Aelita and buried (or burned) in space.
“Dom will see the stars with us,” I said.
    “Just because he is gone doesn’t mean he is truly dead, he is a part