Heyem slept next to Alexand, guarding her sister, waking occasionally to check she was still breathing. It’s nearly dawn, and the sun is appearing on the horizon, a faint sliver of light peers through the curtain, and Heyem feels something sticky.

The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Alex hasn’t been able to speak or move for the past few weeks. She is rapidly declining, and her doctor has predicted she only has a few weeks left. Inajda and Heyem sit at her bedside, unable to do anything. Heyem sits opposite, after Inajda retrieved her from Hong Kong, warning her that Alex was close to death.

Alexand’s condition is rapidly deteriorating. The nature of her illness is cyclical, and degenerative, and her doctor has given her the maximum dose of Katherine’s inhibitor, to try to stabilise her.

Alexand managed to persuade Doctor Azizi to disconnect her from the wires, and remove the sedative drugs. He has hooked her up to a mobile drip, which feeds Katherine’s inhibitor into her bloodstream at regular intervals. Her Uncle Antun helps her into the living room.

Alexand wakes up, but can’t move, her body is heavy and she’s alone. (Happy New Year)

Alexand attempted to follow Jarad, despite being blind, but ended up collapsing by the doorway. She lay there, staring at the darkness, unable to move, calling out for someone to help her. Her cousin Toreth came, and carried Alex back into her bed, then called for Doctor Azizi. He sedated her and she has spent the night sleeping. She has woken again and insisted the doctor help her get out of bed. Doctor Azizi has spent the past few minutes scolding her for ignoring his advice.

Antun Rekaya has turned his youngest son’s bedroom into a hospital room for Alexand. Alex hasn’t woken, since she arrived, because Doctor Azizi has sedated her in an attempt to stabilise her. Jarad hasn’t left her bedside for two weeks.

Jarad had helped Alexand to walk away from Lord Anderson’s tomb, and heavily disguised, the two of them caught the train home, towards the village they grew up in. After leaving the train, Alex is finding it harder to walk, but she is too stubborn to let Jarad carry her. The village is a mile away, and Jarad is getting nervous.

As darkness falls outside the hotel, Alex lays in bed, unable to sleep.

It is finally the fourteenth of May, and The Guild Master’s General has been watching over Katherine as she sleeps. He fades between energy and matter, making himself invisible to Katherine’s nurse as she injects a dose of adrenaline into Katherine’s bloodstream, to wake her up.

Alexand has recovered enough to address the party. Her troops have been getting jumpy, and she needs to do something to remedy the lack of trust they have in her as leader.

There are some complications in their attempt to leave the pub, and get Alex safely back to the carriage. Alex is understandably weak, she’s in pain due to her broken rib and battered feet, but Farokh has given her some morphine he acquired on his meander around town.

Ajeeta Kothari returns back to her laboratory in Saskatoon from her visit to the Amanojuko base in Russia. She notices that Katherine De Somme is absent, and as Lord Anderson has ordered, needs to know exactly where Katherine is and what she is up to. She learns that Katherine hasn’t been in her laboratory for weeks, and against protocol visits Katherine at home to see for herself that Doctor De Somme is finally near to being deactivated.

Katherine has decided to undergo a scan to determine how much time she has left.

Katherine had isolated herself in her apartment for the last few weeks. The trust fund her father set up for her, as severance, has enabled her to pay for a live in nurse, who gets her in and out of bed, but Katherine being a private woman and needing a lot of space, retreated to her laboratory, despite her reservations about Doctor Kothari.

Heyem sits on a bench, holding tightly to her stomach as the cable car swings away from its dock.

Alex and Katherine spend their final night together, in Jarad’s spare bedroom. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Katherine recovered enough to join the siblings in the morning. Her illness hits her in waves. At the moment she is able to walk, and feels better than she did the night before. Alex, Farokh and Heyem watch on as Katherine, somewhat like her old self, attempts to help their quest. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Farokh has carried Katherine to her bedroom, and retreated to the living room to join Heyem. Alex sits beside Katherine, and they attempt to enjoy their first moments alone together for five long months. However Katherine is feeling very sick, leaving Alexand no option but to inject her with the inhibitor and with a high dose of morphine. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Katherine is woken by a familiar voice, after a long journey to reunite with Alexand. This issue is dedicated to my dad who died 19 years ago on 2nd December, a day after my 21st Birthday. My dad was a very clever and talented man and I constantly miss him. This is for you Dad. My stories and my world are dedicated to you. You died before I was old enough to know who you were. I will try to find you in my stories, to go to places far away from this world, to search for you. Maybe one day I’ll know you again. Until then I’ll keep writing. I’ll never forget you. (Happy Birthday to Alexand and Heyem, who were, or will be, born on 2nd December 3966) I have started a personal blog called, Unbound Boxes Limping Gods Behind The Writing, which you are welcome to read. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Katherine’s health is declining, but she is still trying to keep herself active. A letter has arrived from Alex and despite her failing eyesight, Katherine is able to read it. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Katherine waited a week, not expecting to be visited by a future version of Juba Apfvarzian, but after a spate of feeling very sick, there was a knock on her apartment door, and standing there was a man, with dreadlocks, much older than the boy she’d seen performing magic. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.

Katherine wakes up on her sofa, listening to the sound of a man singing. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
