The Reaping: Language of the Liar Read Online Free Page B

been there a few months, and couldn’t say she knew the Father well, the sense of wellbeing he provided was something she craved.  She’d only been offered that level of support and comfort, the idea of family, a few times in her life.  All of them ending in blood and violence.  She was afraid now, but she was also confident.  She couldn’t walk through her entire life believing everything was going to end the same way.  She had to find peace somewhere, and maybe this was it.

Chapter Five
     
     
    Stepping out onto the street, Dorian shoved her sunglasses high up on the bridge of her nose, and began her errands.  Nothing complicated for the morning.  The bank, a new pair of shoes, a few supplies for her next week’s class. She was starting to feel like a real person.  A normal, everyday Jane who had a job and a path to walk, and a future.  She’d never experienced that before.
    The walk to the bank was short, a few blocks up, and she grimaced at the line.  It was necessary though, she had a few transactions to deal with, so she queued up behind a tall man wearing a hat low over his brow.  She didn’t give him a second glance, instead pulling out her phone to browse the web while she waited.
    They’d moved up about three spaces when it first happened.  The vision in the corners of her eyes began to shimmer.  Then she had a heady feeling, like she was floating out of her body.  Taking in a gasping breath, Dorian shoved her phone back into her pocket and looked around, her eyes wide and wild.  Calm down , she told herself.  Relax.  It’s just a panic attack.  You can get through this.
    There was a feeling of pressing danger though, and the shimmering continued to consume her vision until it looked like she was staring through water.  Gulping in a breath, she stared at the man in front of her.  He wasn’t in his suit and hat anymore, though.  No.  He was clothed in all white.  He was full of light, but that light didn’t seem to be part of this world.  It didn’t touch anything.
    “No,” she whispered.  She didn’t need to remember to know exactly who he was.  The monster from her childhood dreams.
    He grinned, a row of straight, large teeth, his eyes an amber color, and they were narrow.  “Dorian.”  His voice sounded like metal dragging over stone, and it stabbed straight into her chest.
    The next thing Dorian knew, she was leaning against the wall, a man helping her shove her head between her knees.  Blinking, she looked around at the audience she’d acquired, and her face blushed bright red.  “I’m…”  Her voice trailed off.
    “You fainted,” he said.  Dorian looked over at the man and noted his security guard outfit.  He was middle aged, his weary eyes almost bored, like he’d seen this a dozen times.  “You okay, miss?”
    “Yeah I just…”  She trailed off again.  “Sorry.  I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
    “My wife went through that before she found out she was pregnant.  You might wanna call your doctor.”  He ambled off as she reached over with shaking hands to push the button on the drinking fountain.
    The water was tepid and had a strange smell, but she gulped down a few mouthfuls before swiping her hand across her lips and heading out.  She couldn’t stand to be in the building any longer.  All those faces, those judgmental eyes.  They probably thought she was on drugs, or maybe not enough drugs.
    She was trembling all over by the time she made it to the café, and she found a table in the back, sliding in to the booth seat and shoving herself up against the wall.  Her fingers shook as she pulled her phone out to dial her friend. Right now, more than anything, she needed human contact and conversation before everything fell apart.
    “Jemma, I’m at the café.  Can you meet me?”
     
     
    ***
     
    Being an old friend from the system, Jemma was her go-to when things got strange.  She understood Dorian and the issues which came