Darkest Designs Read Online Free PDF

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    â€œHello? Are you in there?” She leaned closer, gazing into his eyes. She was hoping to see some kind of light come on. A sign of comprehension – of knowledge that he needed to wake up – and proof that was going to happen.
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    She got another blink.
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    So not helpful. She reached out a tentative hand and watched as his eyes tracked her movement. Talk about creepy. She gently squeezed his shoulder, a little surprised to find him solid. She’d begun to wonder if he was real or as insubstantial as the rest of this world.
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    â€œStylus, who is this person. And what’s wrong with him. He appears to be barely conscious.”
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    He should be unconscious.
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    â€œWhy? I’m not?”
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    He’s been here much too long to remain conscious.
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    â€œWell he might have been unconscious before, but I did run into him. Hard. Could that have woken him up?” She bent to look into the man’s face again. “Sorry about that by the way.” He blinked. She grimaced. “Stylus, I think he hears me and sees me, but I’m not sure he’s doing much comprehending.”
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    It may take him time to come around. He could have been here for centuries. We have found only two men recorded to having fallen In-between in the last quarter millennia.
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    She straightened. “Centuries,” she repeated, hating the tremor that wavered through her voice. Hell, her whole body was starting to quake. “Surely that’s not possible. How could he survive here all that time? His body needs food and water…doesn’t it?”
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    This is not a physical reality. Time does not exist here.
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    Time. She was really starting to hate that element. It kept screwing up her world.
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    But in fact, you are the one that keeps…screwing…with time.
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    She grinned. “Hey stylus, you’re really loosening up. Good on you.”
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    You have introduced new words and language patterns. We are attempting to integrate these into our knowledge base.
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    She had to laugh. “Not sure that’s a good idea, but hey, you will always remember my influence on your world this way. Nice to know I’ll be remembered.”
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    You will always be remembered.
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    Her thoughts turned melancholy. Would she? If she stayed in here? Eric would mourn her, Paxton would put her into the archives and the Councilman would cheer. Her mother could already be past the worst stage of grief. For all she knew, her old life was gone – maybe had never even existed in the first place if she’d truly twisted up time like it appeared she had. In which case, she most likely would never have been born. And if that wasn’t a mind-bender to consider.
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    She so had to go back and fix that.
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    But first she had to fix this mess. She couldn’t help but feel like it was all getting to be too much. She really wanted to just go home. Something she’d been trying to do since…well, forever.
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    This man had to know something. Therefore he was just going to have to wake up enough to share it. To that end, she reached over and gave him a hard slap on the shoulder. “Wake up. I need to know how to get out of here.”
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    He blinked.
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    Was he in there? Conscious? Normal? She peered at him, wondering. Maybe he had brain damage. That fear jumped inside and wouldn’t let go. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. She opened them and tried again. “Please, tell me how to escape from here.”
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    His mouth opened and his voice, rusty from disuse, whispered, “There is no escape.”
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    ***
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    Eric returned to his home and packed. He didn’t know what exactly he might need, but was determined to make sure he had as much in the way of supplies as possible. Storey could get into trouble like no one he’d ever known. But she always got out of it. It’s just sometimes she