Flying to the Light Read online

  Flying to the Light

  Elyse Salpeter

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet, without the publisher's permission and is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment.

  Flying to the Light

  Copyright © 2011 by Elyse Salpeter

  Cover Artist – LLPix Photography

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author/and publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Published in the United States of America

  First print edition: September 2011 Cool Well Press, Inc.

  Second Edition: KeBen Press March, 2014

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to the people in my life who have been my support system. My RWs, a group of the most talented authors I know, have been my writing lifeline, letting me throw out any crazy idea I’ve had. They’ve read my work, critiqued, edited, and been my greatest friends and teachers in the writing world. Denise Vitola, Mitchel Whitington, Bob Nailor and David Hilton, a huge thank you.

  I want to thank Beth Ryden for believing in me and giving me my very first opportunity to jump into the publishing world. I will be forever grateful to her.

  I also want to thank my husband, Steven, an avid reader who has strayed far from his comfort world of non-fiction to read my fiction books and short stories. For taking the kids out when I’ve needed time to write, for making the dinners when I’ve had a deadline, and for being a great supporter.

  Lastly, I want to thank my children, Ben and Kelly, for giving their mommy the time to immerse herself in her fantasy worlds when they’d rather I was outside playing on the swing-set, playing board games, or looking for bugs under rocks. They have been my inspiration and I hope to make them proud.

  Flying to the Light

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Excerpt of Book #2 in the FLYING series

  Prologue

  My arms heaved with effort as I pushed Danny higher on the swing. His shrieks of delight egged me on until he was so high he seemed to be soaring to the sky. My mother would have killed me had she seen this.

  A clicking noise caused me to turn my head, and I saw a man taking pictures. I could have sworn he was taking them of Danny and me. I turned to him, ignoring Danny’s complaints that I had stopped pushing.

  The man lowered the lens from in front of his eyes and smiled. “You’ve got a cute brother there.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  The man turned and started taking photos of the park, concentrating on a flock of sparrows pecking at flecks of food on the ground near our swing set.

  The man glanced up at me again, grinning. “Big birdwatcher.”

  That smile gave me the creeps. What a weirdo.

  Danny jumped off the swing mid-flight and landed in the sand. I took his hand and pulled him to another part of the park, away from the photographer and his camera. I could hear the clicking of the shutter as we walked away, and I tried hard not to imagine he was really taking photos of us and not the birds.

  Chapter One

  Day 4—Thursday, 5:00 a.m.

  He felt old. Not the kind of old where someone simpers along in a blessed Alzheimer’s oblivion and nurses tend to your every need, but the kind of old that nightmares bring. The old that if he closed his eyes to go to bed for the night, there would be the lingering fear he might not wake up in the morning—that this might be his last cognizant night on Earth.

  Michael was so terrified he couldn’t breathe. His safe, little world had shifted out of its comfortable orbit the moment his parents were kidnapped, propelling him to places he never dreamed imaginable. Suddenly, there was horror everywhere and nothing was what it appeared to be. How could life go so terribly wrong in just a few hours? He had had no time to think. He couldn’t plan, but just reacted to what was happening. A storm, more volatile and dangerous than a level five tornado had turned his world inside out and all he could do was attack it head-on, swallowing his fear and living strictly on the adrenaline pumping furiously throughout his body, hoping against hope his luck wouldn’t run out.

  The only thing he knew was that now his little brother was his responsibility. An innocent six-year old who for some reason the world wanted to claim as its own to exploit.

  Michael wouldn’t let them win. He would protect his brother with his life.

  He glanced at Danny, who had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. He could see his brother’s furrowed brow and pale face in the flickering glow of the highway lamplights. Michael felt like they’d been through a war, racing right along with the military guys in the Middle East right now.

  Just as the rain began hitting the windshield, Danny started to whimper.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He wondered if he could fulfill that simple promise. He took one hand off the wheel and patted his brother’s head. Danny immediately calmed. Still, he wouldn’t have responded even if Michael had shouted. Danny was deaf, and that, among other things, was one of the reasons they were in this car fleeing across the country. They were running far away from their home, trying desperately to get to a small town in northern California. Mr. Daley had said there was a man there who could help them. Daley was Michael’s high school biology teacher and the only person in Rockland County who wasn’t out for the glory, the money, the prize of scientific discovery, or the chance to see the light.

  The Night Before

  Day 3 Wednesday 9:30 p.m.

  “Michael, what the hell are you doing here?” Daley asked, incredulous when he and Danny, having nowhere else to turn, stormed into the biology classroom. The teacher had been working late, setting up science experiments for the next day’s lessons, and was just in the middle of laying out rows of beakers when they burst in on him. One look outside at the advancing mob, brandishing their sticks and bats, and he knew what was happening. How could he not? He had seen the boys’ faces plastered all over the evening news. The things they had been accused of. He immediately ran over and shut off the overhead lights so as not to attract the attention of the mob. Turning on the small lamp next to his desk, he turned to the boys, and didn’t like what he saw.

  The Michael before him was not the young man who had been in his class days before. The calm and humble introvert who preferred
to hide behind his long dark hair rather than admit to anyone how brilliant he really was had disappeared. Now he was nearly unrecognizable from his former self. Deathly pale and sweating profusely, he ran his hands through his hair and paced the room, racing from one window and then back to the door to make sure it was locked, and then repeating the actions, over and over. He reminded Daley of a drug addict in need of a fix. Danny was no better. His dark brown eyes were wide, fearful saucers as he watched his brother do his strange dance, a look of helplessness spread across his features and showing in his sunken sockets.

  He heard fighting outside. There wasn’t a lot of time. Daley grabbed the pad on his desk and started scribbling. “We’ve got to get you guys out of here before that mob finds you. This is the name and address of an old friend of mine. He’ll be able to help you. At the very least, it’ll put some distance between you and them.” He jerked his head towards the window.

  Michael glanced out the window again. “Who is he? Another teacher? Someone from the government?”

  Michael’s voice rose agitatedly, bordering on panic, and Daley knew he had to calm him down, had to get him under control. “He’s someone you can trust. He’ll know what to do. Here, I’m giving you my car.” He handed Michael the keys, but the kid started to protest. After running with his brother for days, the boy must be exhausted and probably felt he couldn’t trust anyone. Well, his feelings didn’t matter right now. Michael had to listen to him. It was the only way to keep him safe.

  Daley grabbed the kid’s elbows and pulled him close until their faces were only inches apart, forcing Michael to confront him.

  Michael tried to pull away, started to fight him, but Daley held him firm. “Get it together, kid. You’re not a child, so don’t act like one.”

  Michael stared defiantly at his teacher, his green eyes squinting angrily. It was a look Daley was relieved to see. The kid hadn’t lost it completely.

  “Good,” he started. “Your brother needs you and you’re the only person who can help him right now. Do you understand me?” He forced the keys and note into Michael’s hands, squeezing the kid’s fingers closed around them.

  Michael didn’t say anything, but he took them and Daley breathed a sigh of relief.

  Daley felt Danny by his side. He looked down, and the little guy took his palm and kissed it. A moment later five black crows landed on the windowsill, squawking loudly.

  Daley stared at the birds, trembling. It’s true, he thought, awed. He pulled his gaze away from the window and spoke quickly. “It’s time to go. The car is in the back parking lot, the blue Honda with a Badgers Football bumper sticker. And here, take this, too. You’ll need it.” He opened his wallet and took out some cash. He placed it in an envelope, which had been on his desk and thrust it into Michael’s hands. Daley then ushered them down the back staircase and out the rear entrance of the school towards the parking lot.

  As the boys pulled out of sight, the tires squealing against the pavement, the first group of townspeople began searching the school. He heard their muffled shouts echoing through the empty halls. Daley breathed a sigh of relief until the crowd noticed the small flock of birds on the sill and went into a frenzy. Immediately, they started breaking doors and smashing windows, all trying to be first to get into the school and apprehend Danny.

  Hidden in the shadows, Daley took out his cell phone and dialed. When the familiar voice answered, he smiled. “They came just like I told you they would. I sent them on a wild goose chase to some phony address in California near the home base. No, Mr. Herrington, don’t worry about it, the car’s got a tracking device. We’ll pick them up once they get out of state. Have your men keep close tabs on them until I call in next.” He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket.

  Daley turned to stare at the school, shaking his head. A window in his lab shattered as someone threw a chair out of it.

  “Run, my boys, run,” he whispered to himself, turning and disappearing into the night.

  Michael glanced up from the road for a moment and using his thumbnail, he opened the envelope Daley had given him. Inside was four hundred dollars. His anger at his teacher for treating him like a child abated and he calmed down, shaking his head at the generosity the man had shown. His turned his gaze to Danny. He was sound asleep, but Michael knew he was probably dreaming of birds, and, of course, the light.

  Chapter Two

  Two Days Earlier

  Day 1, Monday 4:30 p.m.

  “Gary, did you see my bracelet?” Maddy searched the top of her night stand and opened her jewelry box for the second time. Earrings and necklaces were strewn across her dressing table.

  “I think you were wearing it when we were wrestling last night.” He walked by and smacked her lightly on her backside with his towel.

  She whacked him on his arm, but was charmed. After almost twenty years of marriage she was still madly in love with this man. He wasn’t your typical middle-aged man with a beer paunch the size of a seven-month pregnant woman and so out of shape he couldn’t run up the steps without having a coronary. He seemed younger than his years with his full head of hair, just starting to show the tell-tale signs of age with those cute grey strands at his temples.

  She turned back to her jewelry box, grabbed a pair of earrings and made her way into the living room. She passed Michael, who swigged milk out of the carton from the refrigerator and rolled her eyes at him. “Must you do that? You’re going to give your brother terrible ideas.”

  “I know, the little copycat.” He wiped the milk mustache on his sleeve and then laughed at his mother’s disgusted expression.

  Maddy shook her head in defeat and continued into the living room. She didn’t really mind this idiosyncrasy in her eldest son, albeit a disgusting one. The kid was every mother’s dream. He was smart, funny, a great brother to Danny, and if he wanted to ruin every sleeve on all his shirts, so be it.

  As she searched underneath the couch cushions, Michael strolled into the room, passing Danny as he watched a cartoon on the television. “What are you looking for anyway, Mom?”

  “My bracelet. You know, the one Daddy got me for my birthday last year with the rubies and emeralds on it.”

  “You mean the one Mr. Teddy’s wearing?”

  Maddy glanced up and stared at Danny. There in his lap was his stuffed teddy bear from Build-A-Bear wearing a baseball uniform and a beautiful 18K gold-link gem bracelet.

  Maddy walked in front of the TV to get Danny’s attention, and started signing. “Do you think Mr. Teddy would mind if I had my bracelet back?”

  Danny giggled and signed back. “Mommy, Mr. Teddy likes your bracelet.”

  “I’m sure he does, but he doesn’t have to go out to an awards dinner this evening with a group of boring research scientists and I do. Let’s go, little man. Hand it over.”

  Danny sighed, gently removed the chain from Mr. Teddy, and delicately gave it over to his mom.

  “So, Mr. Teddy likes jewelry now, does he?” Michael signed to Danny, teasing him.

  “The bracelet was a present from the birds,” Danny answered.

  Michael grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and threw it at his brother. “Everything with you is a present from the birds. You know what? I’m going to start calling you Birdman.”

  Danny giggled and threw back the pillow. It fell short of Michael’s feet.

  “Okay, guys, enough.” Maddy turned to face them. “So, how do I look?”

  “Seriously, you look great, Mom,” Michael signed.

  Danny nodded, signing, too. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thanks, boys.” Maddy stared at her sons, feeling a love so intense she couldn’t breathe for a moment. She was incredibly fortunate. Almost seven years ago, when she had learned that her stomach aches weren’t the flu, but a pregnancy, she and Gary had been gloriously happy. For years they had tried unsuccessfully to have another child and had practically given up, but surprises sometimes just happened.

  Both
Maddy and Gary were successful research scientists working for Hi-Core Industries, an American bio-engineering firm which conducted a wide range of experiments for the United States Government. Everything from pharmaceuticals to genomes was being worked on by scientists from all over the country. The Anderson’s specialty was an up-and-coming area in neuroscience on light therapy for seniors. The use of light therapy to stop depression was already being conducted on patients, but Maddy and Gary’s project utilized light therapy for curing a multitude of brain related issue functions in everything from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s disease.

  For their efforts, they were both receiving an award from the Scientific World Council. The award only went to one research group per year and entrants from all over the globe were considered. It was a great honor, and Gary and Maddy were ecstatic to have their work finally recognized on an international level. This award would offer them the opportunity to receive the attention they needed to gain more access to research documentation at facilities around the world, not to mention grants to keep the project going. There was still so much work to do, and she had her eye on a Nobel Prize down the road.

  Gary strolled into the room, putting on his tuxedo jacket. “The woman you see before you boys is the new Queen of Light Technology.” He pointed at Michael and winked. “If you play your cards right, kid, you too can marry the computer geek of your dreams.”

  Maddy giggled and turned, fixing his bow tie. “Let’s go, Romeo.” She turned to Danny. “Okay now, I want you to be good for your brother. You got that?”

  Danny nodded.

  She turned to Michael and spoke aloud. “Do me a favor. Try to keep him out of the backyard. For some reason, we keep finding dead birds out there. I think they’re eating the wild berries from the bushes in the woods, which makes them all drugged, and then they fly right into the house. The ones in the back are burned, like they’ve been baking in the sun all day. We’ll figure out what to do with them tomorrow. Oh, and if you need to reach us, we’ll be at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The phone number is on the counter. I’ll have my cell phone with me, too, honey, but you know how sketchy it is. I don’t always get reception on the darn thing. Expect us back around two o’clock in the morning, though I hope you’ll be sleeping by then. We’ll be attending the awards party after the event until about one o’clock and then we’ll come straight home. There shouldn’t be any traffic at that time.” She gave him a kiss on his cheek, brushing his hair back from his face. “And remind me to get you a haircut tomorrow.”