Amber opened her eyes in her own bed & quickly shielded them from the light coming through the window. She tried to stretch & her whole body ached. She rolled over looking at the clock it was almost eight. She groaned reaching for her phone. "Hello Ms. Jefferson?" Amber said with a slightly raspy voice that shocked even her. "This is Amber…I am not making it in today…I know I just took off a last week…well as you can hear I am not in shape to make it in…Faking it? Faking it! You know what I was nice enough to give my notice…guess what I don't care if you take my last check away. Consider me officially gone!" She hung up the phone tossing it on the bed next to her covering her head with her blanket. Oh how she wished to be back in Taker's 'home'. She may have been weak, but she was not in as much pain as she was feeling now.

You are trying to adjust to what he did.
"What exactly did he do?"
Remember I was out almost as much as you were, I just know a portion of himself is now part of us.
"Is that good or bad?"
I guess depends on how we use it or his intentions towards us that cause him to do it.
"It feels almost like ever nerve is on fire."
His own energy is merging with yours. Yours was not suppose to awaken till your birthday in a few days.
"What energy?"
Power from your blood line, those aspects of your family's black bible will being to open to you.
"Including me finding the other way to free them."
Damn stubborn woman. Taker just saved your life & you are willing to risk that?
"So you do know something about what I can do to save them." She got no answer. "The knowledge is already buried in my head isn't it?" Still nothing "I was right I need to make a bargain with their master…but how do I breach that veil?" Amber tried not to growl her inner voice choosing to be quite on the matter.

She just closed her eyes still buried under the blanket hoping soon the pain would stop. She was not sure how long she stayed like that until she heard the phone ringing. Her hand came from under the blanket grabbing the phone "Hello…hey Kay…no I didn't feel good & she would let me take off so I told her as of today consider myself gone from the company…well come on who really gives two weeks notices anymore?…I just got a bug or something…Yeah if you want come over & you can barrow the car to finish moving your items…yeah…yeah I may still be in bed…I just don't feel like moving right now…ok later." She groaned setting it down again.

Amber finally pulled herself from the bed making her way into her bathroom filling the tub. She felt she could really use with a good soaking as her physical body felts as beat up as her spiritual one way. She added a few oils to the water before stripping down & lowering into the warm waters. She leaned her head back a soft content sigh. She got out after about an hour & began drying herself off that is when she noticed two things. The first was the faint almost glow to her own eyes. "Hmm wonder if everyone will see it…or just the gifted ones?" Her other discovery was the now lack of a scar on her side. She was not sure if she was please or saddened by the loss of the physical memory. What worried her is that showed her that changed to herself in the dream world can affect the real world. She made her way back into her bed room getting dressed in a tee & leggings.

She then started to make her way upstairs. She still felt a little sore but not as bad as when she first woke up. Reaching the 'ritual room' she entered moving back to the black bible kneeling in front of it looking over the pages before. She blinked her eyes a few times at some of the pages she knew she could not read before. The odd dialect almost translating it self in her mind. She didn't know why, but something told her to close the book. She did & closed her eyes as she slowly ran her finger down the pages of it till something again in her mind told her to stop.

Opening her eyes she carefully opened the book where her instincts told her to stop. The heading was on Reapers & something else called Protectors.
NO STOP!
Amber couldn't help but laugh as her inner voice now wishing to speak up as she started to read. Only bits & pieces were opening themselves to her yet. Sadly that which she could read was stuff she already figured out. Well except that these protectors were almost the opposite of Reapers. They guarded mortal souls assuring their safe passage. She guessed sort of like the Grims of the Reapers. To an extend they were two sides of a coin. The problem is the coin can flip. A Reaper can become a Protector & a Protector a Reaper. A Reaper or a Protector that was bound to a higher power may be freed if a bargain that is tempting enough can be struck. "OK I knew this already how do I reach them though?"
STOP IT….Amber please stop searching. You know what will happen if you find the information.

Amber just nodded she did know. She decided before she would do what she could to save the brothers from their master. She just had to find out how to cross that veil & hope they would take her offer. At first she didn't think it was much, but now she was wondering it is was as tempting as it was beginning to seem. She closed the book again scanning down the pages once more. She felt nothing form the book again so she stood up heading to the book cases. She closed her eyes as she ran her hand slowly over the bindings. Near the end of her mental scan her hand stopped on a book pulling it out. It was on astral travel. She moved to sit with it on the floor opening it on her lap as she began to read. Most of it was in English, till she got deeper into the book that began to discuss rituals. She nodded setting the book on the table near the now closed Black Bible. She hoped in time maybe after her birthday more would make sense. She got up making her way back to her bedroom climbing under the blankets knowing she had a few hours at least before Kay would be showing up.

(As always I thanks people who review &/or marked this for alerts & favs. I think I have decided between Continuing this or splitting it into a squeal. I am leaning toward squeal because I think I may be going more graphic with that one. Or leave the option to be more graphic anyways. I sort of promised a friend I would not turn this one in to an M rated one LOL. So once again enjoy. Don't worry this one is not done yet...I see AT LEAST four more posts/chapters from this one.)