Untitled Novel – Part 6 – Hope Szymanski

Hey! I have successfully written part 6 of this untitled novel (any suggestions for the title would be greatly appreciated)!

If you haven’t read parts 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, I would encourage you to do so. Books normally make more sense if they’re read in order 😉

Here is part 6:

Jason breathed in the scent of pine and forest floor and closed his eyes. The sun bathed his face and arms with warmth, and he sighed. He wished he could enjoy this moment.

He was worried. It had been months since the Resistance had launched their last mission, and his partner wasn’t back yet. Why she insisted on going in alone never had made sense to him. Opening his eyes, he realized he was being somewhat childish. Katrina could take care of herself.

Every night before he fell asleep, he kept imagining her face and her farewell hug before he left her, all alone, in this very spot. Sitting down hard, he clenched his eyes shut again.
“I’ll be okay.” She said, looking into his worried face. She smiled that amazing smile of hers that gripped his heart every time it was directed at him.

“Maybe I should go with you…delay your start by a few days and I’ll be ready by then.” He responded. Jason knew the danger involved in this mission, and he wasn’t willing to let his best friend go so easily. She grinned.

“What, you don’t think I can take care of myself?” She playfully punched him in the arm. Jason smiled. Sure. She could take care of herself. “Besides, I’ll have you watching my every move.” Katrina said as she leaned forward and hugged him. Jason held her tightly, fearing he was making a huge mistake. Too soon, she pulled away, smiled, and picked up her backpack that was beside her.

“Wait – I have something for you.” Jason scrambled to take his backpack off and secure the pendant he had brought. Pulling it out and presenting it to her, he was pleased to see her face light up with a grin, but also slight confusion.

“What is it for?” She asked.

“To protect you.” Jason said, clasping it around her neck. “There’s a Calling Pearl inside.” She rolled her eyes and looked down, but she was still smiling.

“Jason, I know what I’m doing.” Katrina said quietly. He felt slightly embarrassed.

“I know…It’s just…a precaution.” He looked at his feet. “Just in case you need me. I am your partner after all.” She grabbed his hands.

“It’s too suspicious to go in as a team.” She said. “The Collective will be less suspicious of just me – we all agreed to it.” Jason sighed. He knew she was right and there was no amount of arguing that would convince her not to go.

“I know.” He managed a weak smile. “You’ll do great…but just for my sake, so I don’t go insane, please keep the pearl.”

“Sure.” She said, smiling and rolling her eyes again. For the next ten seconds, they stared at each other. This would be Katrina’s first solo mission. “I gotta go.” She said. “Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.” She winked and was gone.

“Man, she’s fast.” Jason mumbled. He hoped it wasn’t the last time he’d see his partner.

He opened his eyes again, hoping to see Katrina emerge from the thicket now just as she had disappeared into it five months ago, but the forest was deathly still.

Dusting himself off, he started back to headquarters. The Resistance would be wondering where he had gone to and he would soon be missed. No need to trigger a search party.

If anything, he wished he could stop thinking about his partner. They had stopped receiving communication from her four months ago, but they said it was fine. She probably didn’t want to be discovered sending transmission to The Resistance. It meant she was most likely in The Collective camp, and would be returning soon.

Jason hoped it was so.

“I shouldn’t have let her go alone.” He whispered to himself. He scanned his finger on a tree panel, then prepared to step into the tree where the underground headquarters lay. But before he stepped in, he heard a noise. Instantly, he was alert, scanning the area for potential intruders.

There was nothing to be seen except the sky was beginning to darken. Jason relaxed. It was probably just some distant thunder.

There it was again.

Definitely not thunder.

Jason turned away from the tree and calmly walked forward, searching for the sound. He was a trained agent, and used to high pressure situations.

The sound came again, this time, from the sky. Jason looked up, and suddenly, a bright blue light blinded him and he fell to the ground with a cry.

Shielding his eyes from the light, he scurried into the brush and observed as the light fell from the sky and hovered over the ground in a round, blue orb. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the light vanished, and the blue orb fell the remaining two feet onto the forest floor.

Cautiously, Jason emerged from the trees and walked over to the orb. Upon closer examination, he realized it wasn’t really an orb, but a pearl. A single, blue, pearl.

He picked it up and rolled it around in the palm of his hand, confused as to where it came from.

Then it hit him, and the fear in his heart threatened to paralyze him.

It was the same pearl he had given Katrina, and it had found him. It was ice cold, meaning only one thing – she had used its power and released it to find him.

Katrina was in trouble.