Excerpt Monday: Star Stepping – The Tie That Binds

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Again this month I venture into the land of Science Fiction with an excerpt from one of my STAR STEPPING anthology stories. STAR STEPPING is a book of science fiction and fantasy tales published by Wild Child Publishing, and three of the twelve stories are mine. “The Tie That Binds” is the last of my stories.

Star Stepping: An Anthology of Fantasy and Sci-Fi Tales
by Various

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my paranormal tale of identical twins, The Tie That Binds:

Blurb:

The Tie That Binds takes us inside the unique relationship of identical twins. Twin brothers Cameron and Kyle McClellan have always share a psychic bond. Though the adult men lead very different lives, when career military officer Kyle is wounded in Iraq, Cameron’s ability to decipher their special link may mean the difference between his brother’s life or death.

Excerpt:

Cameron McClellan dropped to his knees, instinctively shielding himself from the aftermath of a bomb blast in Iraq—half a world away from his Denver boardroom. A red haze of pain paralyzed his senses. The dry erase marker he’d been wielding at the white board dropped from nerveless fingers. His skull ached with the intensity of Kyle’s anguished screams.

Shock and concern from startled colleagues registered in a diminishing corner of his mind, but the searing agony of Kyle’s wound prevented Cameron from responding to their questions. Cameron’s breathing mirrored Kyle’s panting gasps. His arms and legs echoed Kyle’s desperate attempt to drag his shattered body away from the fiery remains of the humvee, to shelter beneath the inadequate branches of a roadside shrub. Cameron’s eyes closed with Kyle’s, but he didn’t see concern on friendly faces; blood-soaked dirt, hellfire, and mindnumbing pain filled his brain as he followed his twin into oblivion.

Cameron woke to the smell of antiseptic and the feel of crisp sheets tucked securely around his body. A blinding headache made him reluctant to open his eyes, but soft breathing and warm fingers stroking his arm encouraged him. With a fortifying inhalation, and moving his head as little as possible, he peered at his surroundings. Institutional white walls, curtained room divider, narrow, railed bed, and Sophie. His wife’s warm brown eyes studied him with concern, their lids swollen and puffy. Her heart-shaped face, reddened and blotchy from crying, testified mutely to an overwhelming grief.

“Oh, Cameron,” she whispered, her voice thick with yet more tears, “I’m so sorry.”

“No,” he said. The word emerged with more force than he’d imagined he could produce.

“The rear detachment officer called.” She glanced away from him, bit her trembling lip, and continued, “Kyle died in a roadside bombing. Probably about the time you collapsed at the office.”

Her gaze slid back to his face before dropping to the hand now clutching his arm. “You felt him die, didn’t you? That’s what caused your collapse. He contacted you when he died.”

“Yes…no.” Cameron closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. He opened his eyes and caught Sophie’s gaze. “Yes, Kyle opened the link and dragged me into his pain, but he’s not dead.” He turned his arm under her hand and grasped her trembling fingers. “Sophie, I’d know if he were dead. Kyle is alive.”

Tears spilled from her eyes and followed well-established tracks across her cheeks to drip from her chin. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she laid a quelling finger against his lips.

“Hush, my love. Don’t…don’t think about it now. Just rest. Once you’re home, you can talk to the Rear D, yourself. Hear his account directly.”

Cameron closed his eyes and touched the psychic link he’d shared with Kyle their whole lives. Nothing. The link lay dormant in the back of his mind, a frighteningly blank place that should have been vibrant with Kyle’s zest for life.

He wasn’t dead. Cameron would know if Kyle…. He wasn’t dead.

For the first time in his life, Cameron McClellan experienced separation anxiety.

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Title: Star Stepping
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Book Length: Novel
Price: $5.95

Available Here!

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