Circle of Time: An urban fantasy (The Kazi Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Circle of Time

  The Kazi Chronicles Book One

  Riverr Ravenswood

  Copyright © October, 2020 Riverr Ravenswood and Neiha Jaiswar

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Cover photo by: Merlin Lightpainting

  Cover design by: Neiha Jaiswar

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  “Do not be led by others,

  awaken your own mind,

  amass your own experience,

  and decide for yourself your own path.”

  Atharva Veda

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Are we doing okay?

  Books By This Author

  About The Author

  Chapter 1

  Ada

  Sometimes deja-vus can be irritating as fuck. Especially if you cannot recall whether you dreamt of it or you were just hallucinating. Like now. I could swear that Vince had kicked that football towards me yesterday as well. I could also swear that Vince was wearing the same black shorts yesterday, without a shirt. Urghhh.

  Maybe I am developing some kick-ass psychic powers. I scoff at myself.

  “Wait up! Adaaa!” I hear my name and turn back to find Nikki running towards me. I wave at her and wait for her to reach me. Vince rushes past me shouting a hello and a sorry. The first lecture is about to start and as soon as Nikki reaches me, we start power walking to our classroom.

  “Babe ready for my birthday party?!” She practically screams in my ears.

  I roll my eyes and tell her, “I am not a party person. But it is yours, so of course I’m gonna be there. No, I am not ready. But I will be there.” I throw my arms around her shoulders as she laughs at this.

  When we reach our class we get settled for a long and a boring day. Second year of the Masters in Philosophy, Religion and Culture can be boring as hell, especially if the professor drones. Which most of our professors do. But what can you do...

  The professor starts droning on about the transition of the world from the pagan faith to Christianity. This was actually an interesting class as we talked about different cultures, belief systems and how they were perceived by the world and different establishments. I open my notebook to take notes, and frown. I have written the words Christianity and Rome, and circled them. But we are on the first page of this chapter. Could the professor have asked us to just read about it and I made a note and then forgot about it? I think about it some more, but then let it go. What can I do if I don't remember anything, right? With that decided, I turn my full attention to the front of the class.

  ====

  As I drive to my shared apartment from the Uni campus, I am mentally making a checklist of things I need to buy to bake the cake for Nikki. I share the apartment with three of my college mates and really good friends. Asher and Alexis, the twins, and Ryan. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen them in ages.. But we are in different courses, so maybe… I get back to creating the mental checklist and again, there it is - the deja vu. I see the list in my mind, as though I have already made it and tacked it on my white board in the kitchen. What the fuck. Arrrghhh.

  As soon as I reach home, I sit down with the book I’d been reading. My phone rings and when I see Dad flashing, a smile tugs up my mouth. Placing the bookmark on the 37th chapter mark I answer the call.

  “Hey Dad!” I greet him.

  “Hey baby girl. How was your day?” his rumbly voice asks. He sounds like he was sleeping, but with his schedule I cannot be sure.

  “It was good Dad, same old, same old. Went to classes, Nikki talked my ear off about her upcoming birthday party, the same usual drama of a college going trust fund kid. That is Nikki by the way. What about you?” I snort as I make my way to my cupboard and start looking for what to wear tomorrow.

  He chuckles. “Same old baby girl. It was a long tiring day. I was just heading to bed and thought I would check in with you and then hit the dreamlands.”

  Both of us laugh at that.

  “Okay Dad. You sleep well, we will speak tomorrow. Love you,” I tell him.

  “Love you too sweetheart. Be careful, stay alert, and if you notice anything out of ordinary, give me a call, yeah?”

  I roll my eyes, and a bright fuschia pink top catches my eye. “Yes Dad, I will. Say my hello to Baba. Go to sleep. Love ya.”

  “Alright, goodnight baby girl. Bye.”

  I take the bright top and a navy blue skirt out for tomorrow. Happy with the selection, I get back to my book to get lost in its magical world.

  Chapter 2

  Ada

  Fuck I am late again! I slept through my alarm, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why the hell did I not hear it go off. Somewhere downstairs I hear a door being closed - must be one of the others leaving for class.

  After making quick work of my morning routine, I pull my hair into a messy bun and get to my clothes that I had laid out the previous night.

  As I am buttoning the blue denims over my white shirt, I get a fleeting glimpse of me taking out my fuschia pink top for today.. Huh.. But clearly, since I have white out, maybe I changed my mind? Before I could think more on it, my gaze catches hold of the time and all thoughts of any colours and clothes leave my mind. I finish getting ready and rush downstairs to grab a cereal bar, and then run to my car. I drive like a motherfucking bitch to get to class on time.

  I am out of the car as soon as I have parked it, and as I run towards my classroom, a football comes blazing through towards my head. I manage to dodge it as I roll my eyes.

/>   “Wait up! Adaaa!” I hear my name and turn back to find Nikki running to me. As I wait for her, Vince rushes past me shouting a hello and a sorry. The first lecture is about to start and as soon as Nikki reaches me, we start power walking to our classroom.

  “Babe ready for my birthday party?!” she practically screams in my ears.

  I roll my eyes and tell her, “I am not a party person. But it is yours, so of course I’m gonna be there. No, I am not ready. But I will be there.” I throw my arms around her shoulders as she laughs at this.

  The first period is Evolution of Faith. I will admit, the subject matter is pretty interesting. But the professors… Arrrghhh. They just drone on and on and on.

  The professor starts droning on about the transition of the world from the pagan faith to Christianity. I get a strong sense of deja vu as I stare at my notebook and I see that I am looking at the words Christianity and Rome written within a circle. Huh.

  Huh seems to be the default setting as of late. There are so many things I keep getting a sense of having happened before. I shake my head to come out of my reverie. I turn my full attention to the front of the class and start taking notes. Some more words are written on the page. I briefly wonder if it was covered in the class yesterday. But as I glance towards Nikki’s notebook, I can see it is a fresh page and she hasn't written anything. She is a master note-taker. If something was talked about in any class, it would be in her notebook. Since nothing is there, I decide that it must have been my mind conjuring up random things that I wrote down. Anyways. I focus on what the prof is saying and ignore anything my mind is conjuring at this point.

  ====

  While driving back I am making a mental note on all the things to buy to bake Nikki’s cake. She wanted some really fancy work on her cake. I smile thinking about her and her excitement as she had described the cake she wants for me. I get home and make my way to my room. It is 5 pm. I’m gonna to hit the supermarket by 7. Get all the shopping done and then only baking will be left to do.

  I finish my evening shower, and settle next to the french windows with my book. The bookmark is placed way ahead. I never do that. What the fuck, I frown. And flip the pages back to chapter 30 where I had left it off yesterday. I get sucked right into it and when I raise my head I find it is 8 pm. No point going to the supermarket now.

  As I am placing my bookmark in chapter 43, my phone rings and I see Dad flashing. I smile and answer.

  “Hey Dad!” I greet him.

  “Hey baby girl. How was your day?” his rumbly voice asks. He sounds exhausted.

  “It was good Dad, same old same old. Went to classes, Nikki talked my ear off about her upcoming birthday party, the same usual drama of a college going trust fund kid. That is Nikki by the way. What about you?” I snort as I make my way to my cupboard and start looking for what to wear tomorrow.

  He chuckles. “Same old baby girl. It was a long tiring day. I was just heading to bed and thought I would check in with you and then hit the dreamlands.”

  Both of us laugh at that.

  “Okay Dad. you sleep well, we will speak tomorrow. Love you,” I tell him.

  “Love you too sweetheart. Be careful, stay alert, and if you notice anything out of ordinary, give me a call, yeah?”

  I roll my eyes, and the yellow summer dress catches my attention. “Yes Dad, I will. Say my hello to Baba. Go to sleep. Love ya.”

  “Alright, goodnight baby girl. Bye.”

  I take the yellow dress out that I had gotten a few days back. Once that is sorted, I start working on my assignment.

  And where the fuck are the others? I haven't seen them in ages. Maybe they are in their rooms.

  I start walking around the house checking their rooms. All the rooms are empty. Ryan’s room looks like he was here the whole day. The bed isn't made, but then Ryan has always been the happy-go-lucky type who doesn't really worry about things like making the bed, or doing laundry. Rolling my eyes, I check on the others. Their beds are made, but nobody seems to be home. I enter Lexie’s room and leave a note on her dressing table saying “Bitch holler when you see this. Muah.”

  I get back to my room and get under the covers. One more hour on my assignment tomorrow, then I would be done for that. Hmm.. The mere thought of completing the assignment has me feeling happy as I drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  Ada

  I woke up even before my alarm had gone off. That was the weirdest thing. I never wake up early.

  What the hell. But since I was up early, I decided to go for a walk. And it was a good decision. The beautiful pleasantly chilly morning of Hague took my breath away.

  As I am returning after an hour or so, I see Ryan coming out of the house. His eyes widen as he sees me.

  “Hey! What is happening? I haven't seen you guys in ages,” I say as I reach him.

  He looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks. The question takes me by surprise.

  “I live here asshole. What do you mean what am I doing here!”

  Something clicks in his eyes, and he looks legitimately chastised. “Sorry, Ada. I meant what are you doing out here so early in the morning? We all know how much you love your sleep.”

  “I don't know, it's weird isn't it? I woke up even before the alarm went off.” I roll my eyes and giggle.

  “Yeah? What time was your alarm?” he asks, eyes darting around.

  “6 am. You leaving? Early morning classes or a date?” I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he scoffs.

  He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a one-armed side hug. “No date, babe. I am still waiting to ask you out.”

  I look at him, confused. He has never specified anything like this ever before. I turn to look at him when a ring on his index finger catches my attention. Weird, I have never seen him wear any jewelry before. I frown at him when I say, “I might have woken up before the alarm, but you have clearly not slept at all if you are speaking gibberish.”

  He bursts out laughing ruffling my hair. “See you in campus. Stay safe!” He winks and turns around, his steps looking more urgent than ever.

  I shrug as I head back inside. Since I have time today, I make a nice cup of coffee and start making waffles. It feels nice to have some time to self, without being late. After my breakfast and my leisurely shower is done, I start blow drying my hair. As I am pulling my clothes on me, my mind gets snagged by the yellow dress - still with its labels, hanging as pristinely in my wardrobe. My heart literally wants me to wear that. But these blue denims and white shirt combo isn’t that bad either. I sigh, deciding that I will wear the yellow dress tomorrow.

  With that decided, I give a gentle tug to my dress, as if it will know the emotion, and make my way to school. I can feel that it's gonna be a good day! More than that, I feel there are good changes coming today.

  ====

  Vince

  I am doing my best to act as I have been every other day since it started. And while doing so, I am also trying to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

  As I wait for Ada to come in, I take a moment to think about her. She is stunning. No. Stunning is not the right word. She is bloody ethereal. So beautiful in such an obvious yet unassuming way. There have been many times where I have seen the fire in her eyes when Ash or Ry bugged her. But I have also seen her take care of the animals at the neighbouring animal shelter. I am waiting for the time I can actually ask her out. I get a sense that Ry and Ash are interested in her too. I have been meaning to talk to them about it; but the timing is never right. For the millionth time in the past month I promise myself again that as soon as this is over, I will ask her out and talk to the guys - whichever comes first.

  In the corner of the courtyard I see Victory pass me a wave. I roll my eyes and continue playing ball. I hate those plastic dolls. Yes they have a certain power over men, but it is lost on me. And boy am I grateful for that. Just thinking of touching her cake
d face sends a shudder down to my soul.

  I see Ada enter the grounds from the parking lot. She is sipping on her mocha, walking leisurely, taking everything in. A smile creeps up my face looking at her. As I turn with the ball, I see Victory looking at her from behind a pillar with narrowed eyes. Huh?

  But then I look around. Everything is the same. Everyone walking the same, speaking the same words, talking the same way, and everyone is right on time. Except a few of us, like Victory and I. My eyes whip to Ada again. She is different today. She has never walked in leisurely. Always chugging her coffee and running to her classroom, while Nikki calls for her.

  But today? She is ahead of her usual time. Could she be different?

  And more than I care to admit, I do not like the way Vicky is looking at her. I hate her. I hate the idea of Victory setting her sights on Ada even more.

  With an angry breath I set the ball flying towards the pillar Victory is standing behind. I don’t look at her or observe her, focussing on the ball coming back to me. As soon as it is in my hands again, I send it towards Ada, as I do every day.

  Everything happens in slow motion after that. I watch as she turns just in time to see the football, her eyes widen, then just before it hits her, she gives a round-about kick sending the ball zooming back to me. All this, without losing her coffee. I catch it in my hands, but my eyes and brain cannot unsee what we have seen. And then, she smiles, winks at me before resuming her walk to the classroom.

  How the fuck is this possible? How could she?

  I see Victory looking at her with wide eyes as well. But I don’t have time to dwell on anything other than what I’ve just seen.

  I run towards Ada and catch her hand. She turns and smiles at me.

  “Hey. What?” she asks.

  “How did you do that?”

  “What? Kick a football? Pfft. Dude get over yourself. Girls can play too.” Her irritated voice tells me that this question didn’t sit well with her.