My new time travel adventure is out on October 5th. Read an extract below and grab your copy HERE before the price increases to $5.99 shortly after publication. ENJOY!
FUTURE WARS
PROLOGUE
Salisbury, England
Present Time
JOE VALENCIA CLOSED down his laptop and checked the time. It was coming up to 4:40 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the end of another week at Bishop-Clermont High school, and the end of another physics lesson. Joe ran his hands through his short dark hair, scratched an itch that appeared from nowhere on his two day-old stubble-covered chin and stood up in front of the class of fifth form students.
“Okay, let’s see if anything has sunk into the grey matter this week,” he said, placing his right foot up onto the chair in front of his desk. An audible moan came from the fifteen and sixteen year-old pupils seated in front of him.
“As we’ve been looking at space, time, the planets and stars for the last few weeks, we can finish off with a fun quiz,” he said.
The pupils fell silent.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” he said, smiling. “Okay, so an easy question to start. Can anybody tell me how fast light travels? “
No response.
“Come on, somebody must remember? We only discussed it at the beginning of the week.”
Ten seconds passed and then one of the pupils, Belinda Marks, a shy but pretty brunette with large brown eyes put her hand in the air.
“Yes, Belinda?”
“Is it one-hundred eighty six thousand miles an hour Sir?” the somewhat geeky, but pretty looking student, said.
“Very close, but at least it shows you were listening. You’ve got the speed correct, but that’s the speed per second, not hour.”
Some of the girl’s classmates giggled at her answer, and Belinda turned around to sneer at them in response.
“Okay here’s another question. Can anybody tell me the distance to the closest star, and the name of that star?”
This time one of the boys, a sandy-haired kid named, Clive, put his hand up. “Is it Alfa Centauri? And I think it’s… um 4.2 light years away from us?” he answered.
“Well done, you’re half right, but I’ll give you that. It is actually Proxima Centauri, which is in the Alfa Centauri triple star system. But in terms of distance to Earth, in the grand scheme of things, its close. Travelling at the speed of light it would only take you just over four years to get there.“
A few of the pupils raised their eyebrows in wonder as they recalled the facts of their lesson four days earlier.
“Okay, one final question before I’ll let you out for the weekend. Can any of you remember what Einstein‘s general theory of relativity tells us about time and how has this been proven?” Joe asked the class, not expecting anyone to remember the answer.
There was a long ten-second pause before Belinda again put her hand up. “Sir; is it that time and space are relative. As in, the closer you travel towards the speed of light, the slower time goes?”
Joe Valencia was impressed at Belinda’s knowledge and recall of his lesson last Monday. “Yes, that’s very good, and correct, well done! Can you remember how this theory has in fact been proven?”
Belinda nodded her head. “Yes, haven’t scientists taken atomic clocks up in aeroplanes and compared them with atomic clocks left stationary on the ground? The clocks on the planes show that time slowed down compared to the atomic clocks on the ground?” Belinda shrugged.
“That’s exactly right, very good. Einstein’s general theory of relativity suggests that the closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time goes relative to another stationary object.”
Another pupil, Edward, then raise his arm.
“Yes Edward?”
Edward asked, “Sir, that surely proves that time travel is possible? Also, it seems that travelling to the stars will not be realistic because even if you can travel at the speed of light, the time it will take to get to even the nearest star, is far too long.”
Joe removed his foot from the chair, to avoid some imminent cramp that was about to set in. “Very good points Ed. It certainly does suggest that to travel between the stars, faster than light travel is required. Perhaps not so much travelling in a linear fashion between two points but more like, hyperspace,” he said, borrowing a term from the umpteen computer games he used to play in the late 1980’s, when he was a little bit younger than the pupils sitting in front of him.
He continued. “Astrophysicists and, if you believe stuff you read on the web, about certain black projects the U.S. Government has in place, suggest that energy can be borrowed from space itself, called Zero Point energy, which can theoretically be used to warp space and time, much like folding a sheet of paper. This in theory would then allow you to get from point A to B instantaneously, without actually traversing the space in between,” he said.
“No wonder there are so many UFO reports then, if that’s how they travel here.” Another pupil joked.
“Interesting comment Simon, but that’s a totally separate topic, for another lesson,” Joe replied, laughing. He raised his arms. “Okay guys, that’s enough for this week, you’re all free to go. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you all Monday, refreshed. Thank you all for your valuable contributions this week,” he added.
The pupils started filing out of the classroom, Belinda giving him a lingering smile as she left. “Have a good weekend, Joe,” she said.
Joe found himself blushing a bit as he picked up his laptop, tidied his desk and turned off the fan, before following the pupils out of the classroom. He headed along the main corridor, chatter from the pupils leaving school for the weekend filling the air, discussions ranging from the latest television episode of Love Island, to various weekend plans consisting of camping trips, the cinema, to going bowling and sleepovers.
Joe walked in to the staffroom to collect his bag.
“Hey, Joe how’s your week been?” John, the maths teacher asked, above the sound of the TV that was on in the background.
“Pretty good thanks John. Time seems to have flown, as usual.”
John nodded as he made a final cup of tea. “You can say that again. But, I thought it was your job to stop time, or at least slow it down,” he said, laughing. “You lot better start working on a viable time travel option, before we all get too old,” he said, chuckling again.
“If we ever manage to do that, it won’t matter that we are too old because we will be able to go back in time to our younger selves, or maybe even meet our younger selves!” Joe replied.
“Well, if we could, I’d tell my younger self a thing or two about life. I’d tell myself exactly where to buy property and how to treat women!” he replied, smiling.
“You can say that again,” Jo replied.
“Are you doing much over the long weekend? Digging up any ancient Roman remains?” John asked.
John was referring to Joe’s love of ancient history and his amateur hobby of digging for ancient Roman pots and coins in various places around the U.K.
“I wouldn’t mind but I don’t think I’ll have the time this weekend. I’m off to Stonehenge with the family, so I’ll have to get my historical fix by looking at the ancient stones.”
A news item on the TV distracted them both and they stopped to watch. A female journalist / newsreader was standing just off a B-road not far from Amesbury in the Wiltshire countryside with hundreds of people gathering in one of the fields behind her.
“Protestors are gathering en masse here just outside Salisbury to object to a new Chinese advanced robotics and renewable battery factory that has had initial planning permission granted on what was formally the site of an ancient monastery here in the beautiful countryside behind me…”
“Damn Chinese. Well enjoy, hopefully you won’t get tangled up in that mess. See you next week Joe,” Johns said, as Joe headed out the door.
Before Belinda left school to walk home she decided she needed to use the bathroom. She finished washing her hands and as she was looking in the mirror and adjusting her ponytail her smart phone pinged. She reached into her bag for it and noticed a message had come through from an unknown sender, a very odd message by the looks of it.
PLEASE, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T IGNORE THIS MESSAGE. YOU MUST SHOW THIS TO YOUR PHYSICS TEACHER IMMEDIATELY. HE WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY MEAN. 51°10′44″N 1°49′34″W 14:30
B.
Belinda stared at the message for a few seconds and read it several times. Was one of her friends playing a prank on her? I mean, she kind fancied Joe but not seriously. And who was B? She couldn’t think of any friends whose name began with the letter B.
Confused, she took one last look at herself in the mirror and headed out into the main corridor.
Joe walked along the corridor from the staff room, headed towards the main exit and walked outside and made his way over to the main staff car park.
He reached his car and as he was fumbling for his car keys, which he’d placed in his laptop bag he was carrying, he noticed Belinda walking briskly towards him.
“Sir, hold on a moment,” Belinda shouted.
He found his keys and turned. “Hey, is everything okay?” he asked, slightly taken aback.
“I…I think so. This is going to sound weird,” Belinda said, reaching for her phone. “But as I was using the bathroom just now, this text message came through. I’ve no idea who it’s from, but it seems to be for you. I figured it might be important so thought I’d better show you,” she said, showing the screen and the message to Joe.
Joe read the message and re-read it. “How very odd, the digits look like coordinates,” he muttered. “And you don’t know who this is from?”
“No idea. The sender isn’t in my phonebook. I have no idea who B could be,” she said, shrugging, as she felt herself blush a little.
Joe looked at Belinda to see if he could detect any suggestion that she might be fooling with him, but she looked serious, if not a little embarrassed. “Let me take a photo of the text,” he said, pulling his phone out.
“Sure,” Belinda said, holding her phone flat on the palm of her hand.
Joe took a photo of the message. “Thanks, I’ll look into it when I have some time. Have a great weekend,” he smiled, as he got into his car and drove out of the school car park before heading away from Salisbury and along the country roads back home, his thoughts drifting to the plans for the weekend. He and his wife and twelve year old daughter had planned to head over to Amesbury, only a 40 minute drive from where they lived in a rural part of Wiltshire. His daughter, Eva, had recently completed a school project on the ancient stones that formed the famous Stonehenge circle and with Joe’s interest in all things archaeological; it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a night away.
CHAPTER 1
The Weekend
JOE FELT THE intense heat from the bright, green / blue flashes of light erupting all around him. Where in the world was he? The sky above was black; however it was a cloudless night, the temperature balmy, and the billions of bright stars clearly visible. He could see no other light apart from the relentless bright blue, laser-like flashes of light erupting beneath him. He then realised he was on some kind of grassy bank looking down into a wide valley. What the hell was going on? he asked himself, as he felt his heart starting to pound, a cold sweat breaking out all over him. He stood up and looked behind him. There was nothing but darkness, the trees casting eerie shadows, visible against the flashes of blue emanating from the valley below. Joe turned and, feeling scared, started to run in the opposite direction. As he did, he noticed tall, dark shapes looming up from the ground in the distance. As he continued running across the field, the regular black shadows looked somewhat familiar, and then he realised he was looking at the large monolithic stones that belonged to Stonehenge.
Joe sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Rebecca, his wife, turned under the duvet next to him and mumbled. “Hey, honey, are you okay? Having a bad dream?”
Joe was propped up against his pillow, the dream, the vision, had been so vivid. He’d not had such a vivid dream in a long while.
“Yeah, I guess it was just a dream, thank God!” he mumbled, as he lowered himself back to the mattress. He checked the time; it was 02:30 am on Saturday morning.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, a black silhouette appeared in the bedroom doorway, and Joe felt his heart skip a beat, until he realised it was his daughter, Eva. She approached the bed in silence and whispered, “Sorry Daddy, I woke up and want to sleep with you guys,” she whispered.
“Not again,” Rebecca mumbled, turning to face the other way.
Ignoring her mum, Eva crawled into bed and cuddled up to her dad. Joe slowly relaxed, the strange dream fading from his mind as he finally drifted off to sleep.
The following morning, the three of them were up early and were sat having breakfast. “Can you pass the milk please Daddy,” Eva said, emptying a small pack of cereal into a bowl.
“Sure honey,” Joe said, passing the carton of milk across the table to his daughter, as he took a bite of slightly burnt brown toast, just the way he liked it, smothered in butter and blueberry jam.
“When we get to Amesbury, Can I go for a ride on my bicycle, and then we can go and see the stones,” Eva said, tucking in to her cereal. “Will we be there for sunset too?” she continued.
“Well, we will probably be having dinner in a restaurant at that time,” her mother said, rolling her eyes at Joe.
“If we have time you can go on your bike,” Joe said.
“Okay, whatever,” Eva said, shrugging.
Joe finished his breakfast and helped clear up the dishes before going upstairs to finish packing his case. One hour later, and with everything loaded up, the three of them were sat in the car and Joe was reversing out of the drive to start the 40 minute journey to Amesbury’s Stonehenge circle. Joe made a note of the time, and hoped they could get there by around midday.
“So, how was your week at work after, honey?” Rebecca asked, as Joe turned off the main road and headed into the Wiltshire countryside.
“Not too bad. I told the students all about time travel, space, the planets, the usual,” Joe replied, as he accelerated down the winding lane.
“Yawn, yawn,” Rebecca teased as she looked up at the sky. “Hey, that’s weird, look at those odd clouds in the distance. I hope that doesn’t mean rain for later,” she said, pointing towards some strange-looking, foreboding, dark, clouds way off in the distance.
Eva piped up from the back seat, “Yeah, I hope it doesn’t rain. I still need to go out on my bike, and I don’t fancy walking around Stonehenge in the wet,” she said.
Joe looked at the sinister clouds in the distance which were strangely surrounded by pale blue sky. “They do look a little odd, just sitting there in the blue, however I can’t believe it’s going to rain with the sky looking as it does,” he said, suddenly recalling the odd dream from last night, and the strange text message that Belinda had received on her phone, which he’d not mentioned to Rebecca.
Forty minutes later, and managing to avoid the proposed site of the new Chinese robotics factory, Joe pulled off the country lane and into the forecourt of the Grape and Olive Restaurant and Hotel, which they had booked for the night. The vehicle’s tyres crunched over the gravel parking area as Joe pulled up into a space outside the ivy-covered, grey, block stone property.
As they were unloading the car, an elderly couple walked by with a dachshund. Eva spotted the sausage dog and ran over “Oh what a cute little doggy. He is sooo cute,” she said, as she bent down and petted the dog.
The elderly woman smiled. “His name is Tobias, and he loves his neck being scratched,” she said, smiling, and looking up at Joe and Rebecca who were glancing over.
“Are you off to see the stones?” The elderly woman’s husband asked.
“Yes,” Eva replied, standing up from patting the dog.
“Well I hope you all have a lovely time and that you don’t get rained on. There have been some dark clouds hanging over Amesbury all morning. Never seen anything quite like it,” the elderly lady said, looking out over the fields towards the odd pattern of clouds that were still present in the otherwise blue sky.
Joe looked over at the rolling hills as he closed the boot of his car. He had to admit he’d never seen anything quite like the odd column of dark clouds that were present in the distance, hanging oddly, more or less where Stonehenge was located. They had the appearance of Cumulonimbus cloud but surrounded by calm, blue skies. They were simply a column of dark grey clouds positioned on their own, extending high into the stratosphere. Joe knew these clouds were capable of producing lightning and other dangerous severe weather. Very strange, he thought, as he grabbed the bags and headed towards the hotel entrance. “Come on guys, let’s get checked in,” he said, pulling Eva away from the sausage dog.
They checked in without a problem, however the family room wasn’t going to be available until 1 pm, so they enjoyed a cup of tea and a scone on the patio overlooking the rear garden and rolling fields beyond, whilst Eva played in the garden practicing some recently learnt cartwheels.
“Can you remember when you had that amount of energy honey?” Joe asked his wife, as they sat watching Eva playing.
“Hey, don’t be cheeky, I’m not that old, but hmm no! Not really,” she replied.
Rebecca was right, at thirty-six she certainly wasn’t old, although being together for fifteen years, sometimes felt like they were much older. They’d both met at Kingston University, aged just 21 where they had studied physics. Apart from a year apart when they’d each done some travelling, they’d been together ever since. Not only was Rebecca attractive, she’d also been incredibly supportive, and a good mother, but it was her scientific brain that had attracted him the most, despite her always pretending to be bored of his enthusiasm for anything to do with space.
The trouble was, Belinda, the sixteen-year old pupil in his class at school, reminded him a little of his wife, how she looked and acted when he’d first met her, twenty years ago.
“Honey…Honey? Hello, Earth calling Joe!” His wife’s voice brought him back from his daydream.
“Sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere,” he said, as he watched Eva land with a thud on the grass following an abortive cartwheel.
“Clearly! Our room should be ready now. Let’s go and unpack and go see the stones, Eva can go for a ride on her bike after,” Rebecca said.
“Yep great idea,” Joe replied, gulping down the last of his tea. “Come on Eva, let’s go to the room. You can impress us with your knowledge about the stones when we’re on route.”
“Yay, okay Daddy,” his daughter said, running up the perfectly manicured lawn towards them.
CHAPTER 2
AFTER EXPLORING AROUND the hotel a little and checking out their room and dropping their bags off, the three of them were back in the Audi and twisting through the country lanes towards Stonehenge. The time was approaching 2 pm and the weird column of stacked, dark, clouds was still hovering over the area, like a wide cylinder of black mist in an otherwise clear blue sky. The view was otherworldly and it made Joe feel slightly uncomfortable. He’d never seen anything quite like it before, but the sun was out and there was no sign of rain – yet. Some strange combination of atmospheric conditions must be causing it, he surmised.
“So, tell us what you learned at school about Stonehenge for your history project darling?” Rebecca asked.
“Okay, well lots of stuff, but basically Stonehenge has an outer ring of vertical standing stones, each one around 13 feet high, and weighing around 25 tons, I think. Is that heavy?”
“Very heavy honey, that’s like as heavy as maybe 12 big SUV’s,” Rebecca said.
Joe continued along a deserted country lane, the high hedge row temporarily blocking the view of the surrounding rolling fields, and of the unusual column of cloud that seemed to be hanging above the ancient stones. Just as he was about to ask Becky to check her iPhone map app, a road sign pointed out a right hand turn towards Stonehenge, 6 miles distant.
“Not much farther,” Joe said, smiling at his daughter in the rear view mirror. “So do you know how old Stonehenge is?” he asked, testing his daughter’s knowledge.
“Umm, I think, archaeologists have said that Stonehenge was constructed around 3000 BC. That’s three thousand years before Jesus was born, right?” Eva said.
Joe nodded. “Yep, very good, I’m impressed!”
Eva was no longer listening and was busy sorting through a box of trinkets she’d brought along with her. They travelled the remaining six miles of country lanes in silence, the journey taking a little longer than expected after they’d become stuck behind a large tractor for two miles of it.
Joe finally pulled into the Stonehenge visitor centre car park and cut the engine. They all got out the car and Joe stretched his legs and back. “We’d better get going before it starts to rain,” he said, noting the dark black cloud column had spread out a little wider, but oddly, only over Amesbury. The rest of the sky was blue.
“Yep, come on. We better go to the loo hadn’t we Eva,” Belinda said, grabbing the backpacks and water bottles from the back of the car.
Joe had to laugh. No matter where, or for how long they might be walking, Becky always ensured they each had water and snacks with them.
“Okay Mum,” Eva said, looking up from something she’d been disentangling. “This is your magic special stone circle bracelet Daddy. You need to wear it when we look at the stones,” she said, smiling.
Joe looked at the white nylon string bracelet which had small stone-coloured cubes and beads on it, similar to a Pandora bracelet. Joe wasn’t one for wearing any jewellery, he removed his wedding ring most nights, but he couldn’t turn down his daughter’s offer. He held out his left wrist and Eva placed the bracelet on for him. “Daddy’s now protected. I have one just like it,” she said, showing them both her wrist. “Now it’s your turn mummy,” she chirped.
Rebecca dropped her head towards her daughter who was holding out a similar necklace for her. “Oh I get a necklace do I?” she teased.
“Yes a necklace for you mummy.” Eva giggled.
“Very pretty,” Rebecca said.
“They’re cool, we made them at school,” Eva said, smiling.
“Right, have we got everything? “Joe asked.
“I think we’re good to go, “Rebecca said.
Eva nodded her head. “Come on, now I do need the loo.”
Joe locked the car, and the three of them headed over to the visitor centre entrance where they stood behind a young couple wearing backpacks and who looked like they’ve been travelling for a while. Joe overheard the young man say to his girlfriend in what was a Canadian or American accent, “Those are some weird, freaky clouds up there, maybe we should buy an umbrella?”
He was certainly right about the clouds, Joe thought, as he paid the family group entrance fee to get into the National Heritage site.
They walked into the building, past the obligatory souvenir shops and a restaurant and headed for the toilets.
As Joe used the bathroom, he looked at the screenshot photo he’d taken of the message sent to Belinda’s phone. The string of numbers appeared to be coordinates, perhaps latitude and longitude. He looked at the last four digits – 14:30. Joe immediately thought of the time, 2.30 pm. He checked his watch, it was 2.10 p.m, now. Intrigue getting the better of him, and partly for fun, he googled the coordinates for Stonehenge, and when the screen on his phone flashed them up, he felt the blood drain from his face.
51°10′44″N 1°49′34″W
He checked the photo again from Belinda’s phone message. The digits in the message were one and the same. They were indeed the latitude and longitude coordinates for Stonehenge! “What the hell?” Joe muttered, suddenly feeling a little freaked out. None of this made any sense. It felt like too much of a coincidence, being at Stonehenge, the very same location as in the message on Belinda’s phone, a message that appears to have been meant for him – the physics teacher. And the last four digits at the end, appeared to be a time, which was 20 minutes from now.
Joe emerged first and waited for Rebecca and Eva to come out. He stood there, deep in thought about the odd set of coincidences.
“Turned out we both needed to go,” Rebecca said, as they appeared. “Are you okay, you look as white as a sheet?!” she added.
“I’m okay, just came over a little queasy. Let’s go,” Joe said, as they all headed out the main doors which led out to the meandering path which twisted its way towards the stones.
CHAPTER 3
A GENTLE BREEZE rustled across the ancient fields that surrounded the site as they proceeded along the path towards the massive stones, most of which were still standing tall and erect, whilst a few others were lying flat on the ground, toppled from their original positions over the eons of time that had passed since their construction. They seemed to glow in the dim light, as if they were alive with an inner energy.
“Who are those people Daddy?” Eva asked, unable to draw her gaze away.
In the centre of the circle, a group of people stood huddled together, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of a flickering fire. They were dressed in garments that blended seamlessly with the natural surroundings, their movements fluid and graceful. A woman, in her mid-thirties, auburn hair with slim features, who appeared to be their leader, spoke in hushed tones, her voice carrying clearly across the quiet gathering. “Today, my friends, we gather here, as we have for countless generations, to pay homage to the ancient ones, to honour their memory and to renew our connection to the earth, the sky, and the stars,” she said, as she gestured towards the towering stones, their shadows dancing across the ground. “It is said that these stones were brought here by the ancient ones themselves, as a testament to their love for this land and their reverence for the forces that govern it.”
One of the men, his face seemingly etched with lines of wisdom, stepped forward. “Aye, and it is also said that the alignment of these stones, with the sun and moon and stars, holds power beyond our understanding. That on this night, when the veil between the worlds is thin, we may commune with the spirits of our ancestors, and ask for their guidance and protection.”
The woman nodded, her eyes shining in the flickering light. “And so, my friends let us now gather around the altar, and offer our humble gifts to the ancient ones. Let us ask for their blessings, and renew our pledge to live in harmony with the Earth and all its creatures.”
Joe, Rebecca and Eva watched as the group moved slowly towards the large, flat stone that served as the altar. They each placed a small offering upon it: a sprig of lavender, a handful of acorns, or a small piece of polished stone. As they knelt before the altar, the woman began to chant, her voice rising and falling like the tide. The others joined in, their voices weaving together in a haunting, ethereal melody.
“Ah, that explains things,” Joe said, pointing to a temporary sign placed in the ground a short distance from the path as it curved towards the stones.
WILTSHIRE DRAMA CLUB, PRESENTS – REINACTMENT OF ANCIENT, STONEHENGE SACRIFICE.
Every hour, on the hour.
“Ah, I was starting to think it was a little weird,” Rebecca said, her eyes widening.
The performance lasted ten minutes or so and the actors then gave a little bow, which was greeted by some clapping from members of the public who’d gathered to watch.
The actors then dispersed and left the stones, allowing the public to move in.
“Come on guys, let’s take a closer look,” Eva said, excitedly.
The three of them left the path and headed across the grass towards the monolithic stones. As they padded across the grass towards the site, Joe looked up and noticed the strange cloud formation had oddly split into two smaller columns of cloud, which were much lower in the sky, as if being drawn down towards the circle of stones by the amateur dramatics they’d just witnessed. Joe thought about the text message Belinda had received and he nervously glanced at his watch. It was 2.25 pm, just five minutes away from what appeared to have been a digital time stamp of 14.30, displayed alongside the message coordinates.
Joe tried to push the encounter with Belinda, and her cryptic text message, to the back of his mind. It was daft he was even thinking about it. It must have been just a silly school prank, although a fairly technical one, he considered.
“So what are the latest theories on the reason for these stones being here then?” Rebecca asked, as they walked over.
“Well, some very recent researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia have been analysing the orientation and position of the monuments, and used complex 3-D techniques to compare the ancient stones to the alignment of celestial bodies at the time of their construction, around 5,000 years ago.”
“Oh yeah, and what did they find out?” asked Rebecca.
“They discovered that the stones are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon, but that there exists a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.”
“Wow! That’s impressive, just boggles the mind really, considering it’s so long ago.”
“Sure is,” Joe replied, as he watched Eva skipping over to the closest set of double free-standing stones with a horizontal capstone resting on top.
“Wow! This is so cool,” she shouted, as she stretched her arms skywards.
As she did, Joe started feeling queasy again and a little dizzy, which he never felt unless jumping out of bed too quickly. He instinctively checked his watch; the time had just ticked to 2.30 pm.
“Are you okay Daddy?” Eva asked, noticing her dad leaning against the large free standing stone.
“I…I think so,” Joe replied, as he stretched his arms and yawned, a strange sensation coursing through his body. He felt dizzy, lightheaded, like he was floating. The sky above him seemed to have gotten darker, as if the sun had been swallowed by the heavens.
Joe squinted, trying to make out his surroundings, when a sharp crack of thunder echoed through the air, followed by a huge bolt of lightning which struck somewhere in the centre of the stone circle. Before he could react, a searing pain erupted in his chest. He gasped, doubling over in agony.
As the pain subsided, he became aware of a strange blue light emanating from the centre of the stone circle. The light seemed to pulse and swirl, drawing him in like a tractor beam. Against his will, he found himself being pulled towards the centre of the circle. The air around him shimmered and warped, and he felt himself slipping through the fabric of reality.
The world faded away, replaced by a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes. He saw faces and places he had never seen before, people and events that seemed to be from another lifetime. He felt as if he were experiencing a lifetime's worth of memories in the blink of an eye. Time and space no longer had any meaning.
He started to panic; the encounter with Bethan came to the forefront of his mind. The cryptic message on her phone, somehow it had meant to be for him. He was meant to be in this exact location, at this exact time, and fate had brought him here. He heard a voice, distant yet somehow closer than anything he'd ever heard before. It was his daughter Eva, her voice filled with love and anguish. “Daddy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted to help you...” Her voice trailed off, and he saw her face twist in grief.
Another face appeared beside hers, this one familiar yet foreign at the same time. It was his wife, Rebecca, her features etched with pain and confusion. “Joe, I don't understand. What's happening to you? Please, come back to me.” She reached out a hand, but it passed through him as if he were a ghost.
As the images and sensations continued to assault his senses, he became aware of a third presence in the room. This figure was shrouded in darkness, its features obscured by shadows. It floated above them, watching impassively as they struggled to come to terms with what was happening. "You have been chosen," the voice rasped, sounding both ancient and eternal. "You have been given a gift, a chance to see beyond the veil of reality. But it comes with a price."
Joe tried to speak, but no words came out. His mind reeled as he struggled to make sense of the situation. He felt as if he were trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up. The blue light pulsed and swirled around him, pulling him deeper into the vortex.
Eva and Rebecca continued to appear and disappear in the kaleidoscope of images and sensations that assaulted him. He saw them as they were when they first met, when they were in love, when they were happy. He saw them argue, fight, and make up. He saw them through the good times and the bad. And now, it seemed, he was losing them both. He felt like he was being pulled into a long dark tunnel, a vortex of some kind. He saw circles of light spiralling around him, he was spinning, the speed felt immense and then – nothing but inky blackness.