Chapter 2
Derek Girron paced back and forth on the parquet floor, his steps reverberating in a timely rhythm across the vast hall, echoing his annoyance with his father for being late. He had cancelled a date with his girlfriend, Marie, because his father said that he would be in town. He was never in town. It was the perfect time to ask his father personally if he could postpone college for a year. He wanted to travel, relax before going back to school. He remembered the last time his father had said he would be in town. He never showed and later left a note saying that another meeting had been called last minute and he had to leave all of a sudden. Derek hoped that after more than a year of not seeing each other that his father would forego any last minute changes. He hoped, but he knew different.
His hand found the cell phone in his pocket and he patted it, hoping that it would ring. The spring sun had began to settle into dusk and the warmth of day receded slowly away as the house grew steadily darker. He found a seat in the living room and sat upon the soft leather of the couch and put his head on a pillow he found there. Soon, he was fast asleep.
“Derek?” A faint voice shook him from his sleep. He blinked under the bright lights. When his vision cleared, he smiled. His little brother, Corey, looked back at him with concern. “You O.K.?” Corey asked.
“Just fell asleep.” He said as he got up from the sofa. He realized that all the lights had been turned on. “Planning not to get lost?”
“No,” Corey said. He went over to the end table at the far end of the room and picked up a school book, “I have to take some pictures for photography class. Need the light.”
“Ah…” Derek wanted to ask if their father had come home, but somehow knew that their father had never told Corey he was coming. “Well, I’ll leave you to your work. I’m gonna go and wash up. What you want for dinner?”
“Don’t matter.” Came the usual reply. Derek shrugged as he went upstairs, already thinking of places he wanted to eat. In the back of his mind, his father’s absence receded into a dark corner.

 
Chapter 1
…I know…Dawn threaded across the landscape of his untrained mind, lacing light into darkness, penetrating the uncharted spaces that littered the jumbled masses of his thoughts. The very knowledge gutted his soul and thrust his heart into a smoldering cauldron he knew he understood, but could only guess at moments before. The connection shocked his senses. Suddenly, he was giddy.
…I know…Searching back across time, he found her. In the shadows of the night, he found her: battered and broken. With just a thought, he sent his mind back in time and he witnessed events as if someone had pushed rewind on the vast timecorder of history. When he knew he had gone back far enough, he concentrated. He saw and he knew.
…I know…His joy at his newfound connection turned to hate. He looked down at his hands and saw that they shook uncontrollably. His heart froze and the light that now filled the uncharted spaces turned crimson and the smoldering cauldron bubbled and spat ferociously, frothing at the brim.
…I know…He realized that he was now standing before a vast lake of fire. As the crimson light shot through his mind, blanketing the threads of dawn, the lake quickly blazed into a roaring pyre. In the heart of the flames, he could see the face of the one who destroyed her. As he peered closer, the flames rising, becoming oppressive, he began to see the face in a different light.
…I know…And he screamed.