Synopsis:
The pieces are scattered. A new nightmare dawns.
The end is coming.
AriseWith
the aid of Kyro, a smart-mouthed street hustler, and Redd, a cunning
investigator at war with her conscience, Joel and Aimee Phoenix follow a
lead to Salvation Asylum, where they hope to find their daughter alive.
But Emery and Adam have already fled from captivity into even more
chaos and confusion. Danger haunts every action and darkness seeks to
claim her protector’s life as a result of using too much of his power
too soon. Adam’s soul now hangs between life and death, yet Emery can’t
help dwelling on the boy who once tempted fire and her love.
From inside his coma, Arson roams the fiery halls of past
nightmares, looking for the code of escape. But when a stranger slides
into his subconscious, promising new abilities and a way out, part of
him is ready to accept the revelation and be free, and part of him
questions the ghost’s true intentions. Divided and fearful, Arson’s mind
is now a deadly game of wills. There’s no telling what will become of
the outside world. Arson’s only choice is to enlist every power within
and arise from the ashes of who he used to be.
Excerpt from ARISE,
Book 3 in the Arson Saga:
The
patterns of his nightmare were a disease. Arson hated the hallways, the
rooms—they all had the same ruined look: identical flaking, green-black
walls and dead windows. His rage had spawned a reckless trail of flames
that wandered beyond and behind their cautious footsteps. Faded lockers
had hindered some of his harshest memories from being exposed;
nevertheless, he noticed that a sequence of metal cages had been pulled
open, bent. Rust formed along the lockers’ twisted edges. A leak from
the ceiling now trickled down to corrupt their feeble frames. It didn’t
take long at all for things to decay in this place; that much was
obvious. Arson’s pulse quickened at the sight of all the torn-open
realms.
Adam
approached each step with a certain fearlessness Arson desperately
wished he possessed. A steady pace that suggested he was looking for
something and was close to finding it. But all the silence was driving
Arson crazy. He had so many questions, about his powers, about sliding,
about why he was plagued to live memories that weren’t his. If Adam
could enter another’s subconscious by sliding, did he too have to endure
someone else’s intense past? Had he ever before gotten stuck inside of a
nightmare like this?
Arson’s
eyes opened and shut rapidly, as if his body—or, the body of his
mind—knew that doing so was a waste of time. He took a deep breath. As
much as he wanted to know the answers to all of his questions, there was
one mystery he needed solved first. It was the one thing that mattered
above all. He’d been distraught over it since he got trapped in this
distorted reality, prior to Adam’s arrival, which had only made
everything even more of a blur. Was Emery still alive?
Why hadn’t she broken through?
Why hadn’t she crossed into this supernatural existence?
Why
hadn’t the vision of his escape been real? He’d held her against his
chest. He’d felt her skin on his skin. Emery was real; all of it was.
Arson knew he had mutilated every last one of the sick fiends who had
fed him lies and injected him with poisons. They all turned to ash in a
matter of minutes. He’d risen out of his coma already and ended their
scheme. In fact, he was there again now, his body unleashing a torrent
of wrath, power he barely could control. With one breath, he’d watched a
doctor become dust. Just by thinking it, his father’s heart had
incinerated. The asylum was laid to waste, and Emery’s beautiful smile
was first to welcome him back to the real world. If he entertained this
reality long enough, maybe he’d smell her again, feel her hair slide
across his knuckles, and even sense his knees quiver as her warm breath
tickled his neck. He would never let her go.
“Cut
it out,” Adam said with a rough nudge. “You wanna get out or stay in
la-la land? If we plan on escaping, keep all that sentimental garbage at
bay. You need to be able to tell the difference between what’s real and
what isn’t. Your ‘breakthrough’ never actually happened. This place
just made you think it did. Get over it.”
“This is my nightmare,” Arson snarled. “My mind created it. I can control it.”
“Can you?”
No reply. Arson just kept walking.
“Some people say you can control what happens in your dreams. I say maybe, if you’re strong enough.”
“I am. Look around you.”
Adam
studied the fiery shapes blazing around them. Colorful flowers that
bloomed into the bodies of creatures only a teenage mind could fathom.
Dragons and bats and spiders and combinations of reptiles and mammals
blended together. An intoxicating splash of sapphire, crimson, and
golden light.
“Okay,
showoff. But starting fires doesn’t mean you can control everything
that happens here. There’s some stuff that goes way back. It’s deep in
your subconscious. I’ll bet you don’t even know half the stuff that’s
locked in here with us. Or even remember it. I’m talking memories,
ideas, bad dream kinda crap. It’s no wonder you haven’t gotten out yet.”
Adam
spoke like a frustrated teacher. As they walked by another classroom,
Arson was instantly reminded of several teachers he hated. Maybe Adam’s
voice was theirs.
“It
makes sense if you just think about it for a second. Your mind is a
powerful computer. It’s capable of storing images you may have only seen
once, thoughts you probably didn’t even mean to think. You read a book,
and in that book a woman gets brutally murdered. Your imagination takes
a picture with the words that described the action. That picture is now
floating around in your brain, forever. You hear a song and it makes
you angry. Watch a movie and you get excited because some couple is
going at it. All of those things—the lusts, the fears, confusion,
hatred—it all lives in here. A part of us can contain it only for so
long, but when you’re stuck, like this, all bets are off. There is no
delete button, no shut-off switch. You get the good with the bad.
Unfortunately, your mind seems to like letting out all the bad. Not to
mention, in here, you’re weaker.”
“You make it seem like I’m powerless.”
Adam
stopped midstride and scratched his temple. His eye twitched when he
spoke. “You’re missing it, Arson. It’s not just about power.” Adam
snapped his fingers, and his thumb lit like a candle. As the flame
crossed fingertips, a grin toyed with his mouth. “See? You could be your
own personal superhero in here if you want, but that wouldn’t be
enough. You still wouldn’t get out. Because that’s not how it works.”
“I know, the code and whatever.”
“Hey, lose the attitude. I’m trying to help you. There is a
specific code that should be able to set you free. Maybe if you got
over yourself and started thinking about the future instead of drowning
in the past you might be able to help me find the locations of these
codes. And just maybe, we get out of here alive.”
Adam quenched the fire in his palm and continued walking.
“Wait a second. You mean it’s possible for me to die in here?”
Adam
abruptly replied, “I’ve seen some strange things in my years, but like I
said, this is different. All bets are off. Anything’s possible.”
“But if I die in here, maybe I just wake up.”
“You’re
in a coma, Arson. Your real-world body will atrophy. A day in here can
wear on you out there. Given your weak physical state, if you die in
this place, I don’t think you’re just gonna wake up. Besides, if you do,
it’ll just keep going. More experiments. More tests. It’ll never step
until we end it. I can help.”
A
tidal wave collided with Arson’s mind. He was close to drowning,
couldn’t breathe. His thoughts crashed into one another—a jumbled,
fearful mess. “But these are my thoughts—”
“Most of them.”
“Right. They can kill me?”
“An
idea is more dangerous than a bullet. One thought can destroy you. It’s
perfect, in a sick way, how the mind works. A nightmare of your own
design. You’ve got some freaky stuff in here.”
If I could see your brain, I’m sure I’d be shocked too, Arson thought.
“Maybe you would be, maybe not,” Adam said.
“I hate it that you can do that.”
“We’re
in your head, remember? I can feel everything you think. For all
intents and purposes, I’m just another memory. I slid into your mind and
chose Danny’s shell because he isn’t a threat. A lot of other things in
this place are.”
The
heat from the fire he created was starting to push into his pores.
Arson began to sweat. “If what you said is true, you know, about the
memories and the things trapped in here with us…why should I trust you?”
“Maybe you can’t.”
Purchase The Other Books In This Series:
About The Author:
Estevan
Vega used to hate reading and sucked at writing…until a 5th grade
writing assignment changed everything. With the help of his father, a
spark was ignited into his imagination. When he was 12, he got the crazy
idea to write a book and three years later decided to release it.
Since then, he has unleashed 7 books and a number of short stories
which have been read around the world. Known for weaving a poetic style
with raw and realistic characters, he has set himself apart in the
literary world, often blending several genres together. The Arson Saga
is his most praised and most popular work. Arise, book 3 in The Arson
Saga, has just released. Read way too much. Eat mint chocolate chip ice
cream. Spread the fire!
Website: http://www.estevanvega.com
Twitter: @estevanvega
Giveaway
Signed copy of Arson, Ashes, Winter Sparrow, and The Forsaken. One of a kind Arson T-shirt
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