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Chapter 3 – Secret Door

That was a lie, but he didn’t know it. At least not yet. April might not have enough proof at the moment, but it was time to leave tonight regardless. She just needed enough time to get to her car and drive off into the darkness. She didn’t know where she would go yet, but the ‘Blue Wolf’ already had a place lined up.

Blue Wolf. That was his code name. She didn’t know what his real name was. His team had approached her three weeks ago. Made some extreme accusations and asked some very unnerving questions. It was intense, and April thought the man was going to kill her on the spot. She felt like they were putting her on trial. They left when they realized April really didn’t know anything, and the group slipped quietly off into the darkness. But not before giving her some things to look into and some questions to ask her husband.

Tony brushed them off like it was no big deal. He finally realized someone had put her up to this and demanded to know who it was, but she honestly didn’t know any of their names at the time. Her husband told her that it was probably just some angry, vindictive employee who had gotten sacked. He tried to laugh it off like it was no big deal, but she could tell that her questions had clearly unnerved him.

The Blue Wolf had returned a few more times over the next few days and weeks, asking more questions and requesting her help to get more information. At first, she did it out of curiosity. April wanted to find out what her husband was really up to. But as she discovered more about the horrible things her husband’s company was involved in, she felt compelled to dig deeper and get to the bottom of this situation.

Ultimately, everything led up to this night and where she was now at this moment. The Blue Wolf promised to help her escape no matter what. Whether she found the evidence she needed or not. That was the only reason April went through with this endeavor. She hadn’t known initially if she would really turn the evidence over to him even if she did find anything. But after all April had seen and heard and discovered, now there was no doubt in her mind that it was necessary to expose what LocTech was doing. She only needed to find a way to prove it to others.

Now, here she was. So close, and yet so far. In the lion’s dene, but still no concrete evidence. She looked over at the wall that wasn’t where it was supposed to be. She just wanted to check it out. It would make perfect sense. They had a hidden room where they kept all their secrets. That would explain why she hadn’t found anything in the drawers.

“Put your other hand over here and cuff it,” she ordered. “I just want to check one thing, and then I’ll let you go. That way you have an excuse for not having caught me.”

“No, please, Mrs. Blanchet. I have a son. He’s sick. I can’t afford to lose my job.” he begged.

“A son? A minute ago you said it was your sister. We’ll see about that. But for now, put your hand over here and cuff it,” April ordered.

The security man put his hands together and pressed the cuff around his other hand using his body for support.
“Okay,” he said. “You can let go now.”

April relaxed her grip. “Not bad for an old lady, huh?” she asked with a grin.

He smiled weakly and looked away in embarrassment at having been beaten and subdued by his boss’ wife. He would never hear the end of this.

She turned and walked over to the wall. April knocked on it and definitely sounded hollow. The only thing on the wall was a single picture. She walked over to it and tried to take it off, but it was screwed on tight somehow. Strange, she was sure that there would be some kind of opening behind it based on the lines in the wall.

“I can tell you how to open it if you let me go.” the guard said.

April looked at him.

“I thought you weren’t going to help me by just walking away down the other hall. And now you want me to believe that you’re gonna help me get into a secret room?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t have much of a choice now. I’m screwed either way. You’ve got me here. The least I can do is negotiate with you to make the best of the situation.”

“Nah! Uh huh,” she said. “Too late for that. I don’t believe you. You’ve recuperated, and you want another shot at me.”
“Fine,” he retorted. “You don’t have to let me go now. Just after you find what you need. I won’t tell anyone you were here if you don’t get me in trouble for this.”

“How do you know the entrance?” she asked curiously. She didn’t really think the guard knew anything about it. April assumed that he was just stalling for time.

“I see things,” he said. “I’m the night guard around here. I know what goes on after they close up shop.”

“Okay then, Houdini. Show me the secret door into the magical room,” she replied.

“Well, you gotta pull that frame there up and then out about one inch. Then you pull it to the right a little and push it back into the wall. At least that’s what they seem to do.”

April looked at him for a moment and decided to give it a shot. She gave it a few tugs, but it didn’t budge.

“Nothing happened here, big boy,” she said. “What’s your name by the way?”

“Bill,” he said. “Bill Redfern, ma’am. And I believe you need to get the frame up before you pull it out. There’s a trick to it.”

April gave a push from the bottom, and it slid up a little.

“Don’t go too far,” Bill warned. “There’s a trick to it. Just keep going up and tug it to the right.”

She managed to find the groove and slid it over to the side. Then she pushed in on it. The picture slid out and flipped up almost nailing her in the face. She dodged and jumped back. The walls slid open silently revealing a completely blank room.

April stepped forward and banged into a glass wall.

“Ouch! What’s this,” she asked turning to look at Bill.

“I’m not sure ma’am,” he said starting to get up off of the ground. “But I don’t think it’s very good. And I don’t think you should be here.”

“Well, what do you see when you’re in here, and they open this thing?” she asked.

“They just step inside and then the door closes. I keep guard and wait till the doors open again. They come out. That’s all I really know, but if I had to guess, I would say that it’s some kind of elevator.”

Continue Reading Chapter 4 – Sector Seven >>>

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Chapter 4 – Sector Seven

“How do I open the glass?” she asked. “There doesn’t seem to be any opening.”

Bill shrugged helplessly. “Maybe there is something else you need to do, or maybe they have a passkey to get it open. But the glass always opens for the men. I’ve never seen it stay closed like that before. Close the wall and try again,” he suggested with a gesture that indicated that she should pull the frame down.

She did, and the walls closed back into position. April stepped aside as Bill came toward her. He had a little trouble initially because of the cuffs and his sore arm where April had twisted it. But he managed to get the frame up and slide it over. The guard pressed in harder than she had. She also noticed that he seemed to pull it down farther than she had.

This time the wall slid open along with the glass. April stepped inside and indicated for Bill to follow her.

“Oh, no, ma’am. I should stay here and keep watch,” he said half-heartedly.

“Yeah, right. So, you can run away and rat me out. Get in here, or I’ll drag you in by your sore arm.” she said defiantly.

He grinned and whispered in her ear as he stepped forward. “I always did want to know what was going on down here. I just have to play my role as a good guard and make sure I don’t look too enthusiastic about coming along. April smiled at him. He seemed like a nice guy just trying to do his job.

April realized that he was bigger than she first imagined now that he was standing right in front of her. And he didn’t look like he sat around eating doughnuts. Bill seemed pretty strong and muscular under his suit. And he’d make better lifeguard than security guard she thought as she checked him out. He turned around after the doors slid shut and smiled at her. She averted her gaze quickly and pretended to be interested in looking around the room.

“Welcome,” a soft, pleasant female voice said after the doors closed. “Please, sit down. We’ll reach our destination in two minutes and thirty seconds.”

April looked around and saw some seats along the sides of the room. She walked over and sat down as she felt their descent begin. She looked at Bill, but he ignored her. He was busy reading some text on the far wall.

“What does it say?” she asked.

“Nothing much,” he replied. “Just standard safety information when riding on an elevator. How much weight it can safely carry. That sort of thing. What’s interesting about it though is that there doesn’t seem to be any information about where we’re going. And it says what the room is airlocked, and not to open it under any circumstances when we arrive due to airborne safety hazards.”

“Sector Seven,” she muttered under her breath. “So, it’s true. We’ve found it.”

“What’s Sector Zen?” he asked. “A place the directors go to relax?”

April shook her head quietly but didn’t say anything else. Bill came over and sat on the chair beside her. He held up his hands for her to take off the cuffs. She looked him in the eyes and shook her head.

“C’mon, Mrs. Blanchet. I can tell your scared. I can see it in your face. It scares me. Let me go so I can fight too if we get attacked.”

“Sector Seven,” she repeated again. “It’s their secret lab where they perform all their unorthodox experiments.

Experiments that are technically illegal and would get them in trouble if they were found out.”

She finished removing the handcuffs from him. Bill rubbed his wrists gently.

“We aren’t looking for evidence of a secret lover for a jilted wife. Are we? You lied to me. How could you? I trusted you with my life to come down here,” he said in a mocking voice that expressed his fake deception.

April smiled at him and shook her head. “No, we aren’t. But I couldn’t tell you that.”

“So, what do you intend to do exactly?” he asked.

She shook her head sadly, “I don’t know,” she said. But April knew exactly what she was going to do. She just wasn’t going to give Bill any information that she could pass on to Tony. But as she got out of this place, she was going to tell Blue Wolf the truth and then get as far away from here as she could until it all blew over. If it ever did.

If this was as bad as she thought it was, she ran the risk of being killed by Tony and his creepy partners. She never did like them. Tony had eight when they first met. They had added on a few more over the years. She never did hear where they came from. Tony never gave her any straight answers. It frustrated her to no end.

The elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open. The glass remained sealed though. April stepped forward and reached out her hands, but the voice over the speaker commanded her not to touch the windows.

“It’s for your own safety,” the voice said reassuringly.

April looked out past the glass. They were in a large room with people on all sides. Some seemed to be lying on the ground sleeping. Others stood around in small groups. But there didn’t seem to be much interaction between them. They didn’t seem to be smiling or laughing. As she watched these people, it didn’t even look like they were speaking to each other. She felt sorry for them.

“Hey, look!” Bill exclaimed excitedly. “There’s Alpha Four’s brother.”

“Where?” she asked. She knew Alpha Four was one of Tony’s bodyguards. She reached out and placed her hand on the glass.

“Please remove your hand from the sides of the elevator. Refrain from touching as it will draw unwanted attention from the subjects.”

April let go of the glass and pulled back.

“What’s he doing down here?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I heard he was really sick though and the doctors didn’t give him much hope. Actually, I heard that he had already died. Maybe they faked his death just to bring him down here and run some experimental tests on him.” Bill suggested.

“So, that way no one would suspect anything if he didn’t return,” April finished.

Bill shrugged and cocked his head to the side as if she could be right.

“This is pretty creepy. I think we should get out of here,” he said.

“No!” April said sharply. “We have to help them. Look at these people. They’re all suffering down here. We have to help them get free.”

Continue Reading Chapter 5 – Mob >>>

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Chapter 5 – Mob

Bill shifted uncomfortably in his spot. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, ma’am. I’m sure they have these folks down here for a reason. We should probably go get the proper authorities and let them handle this.”

The man that Bill had identified as Alpha Four’s brother came shuffling over to their elevator.

“Warning. Warning.” the elevator voice started up. “Strange element approaching. Be careful. Would you like the elevator to head back up to Forty-Seven?”

“No!”, April said.

Bill started to say yes, but April reached out and punched him in the gut hard enough to make him keel over.

“Shut up!” she said. “We’re gonna do this whether you like it or not. We’re gonna get them out of here.”

Bill rolled his eyes and sighed. “Why me?” he asked pleadingly.

She watched expectantly, but nothing happened. The doors remained closed. Alpha Four’s brother reached out to touch the glass. He mouthed something at them, but April couldn’t understand what he was saying. No sound entered the elevator from the outside, and even if it did, the blare of the siren inside of the elevator would have drowned it out.”Protocol three breach. Warning. You have attracted the attention of the insidious. Protocol three recommends we head back to floor forty-seven. Permission to leave.”

“No,” April replied. “Turn off the sirens. Sirens off. Stop the alarm.”

The blaring alarm finally shut off, but the yellow warning lights continued to flash around them.

“Open the door,” April commanded, but nothing happened. “Let us out. Release us. Open sesame.”

“I’m sorry, but protocol does not allow for opening of the exits in this sector. Viewing room is only for observation. It is to protect viewers from contamination.”

“Contamination from what?” April asked.

“I’m sorry, but that is classified information. Please state your ID and the password for further information.”

“Oh, you stupid robot,” April yelled in exasperation and kicked at the glass.

“Please refrain from touching the glass as you will attract unwanted attention from the subjects.”

April looked around from something to smash the glass. She tried yanking one of the seats from the wall, but it didn’t budge. She gave up quickly because she realized they were made of plastic and foam. Even if she could remove one from the wall, she wouldn’t be able to do much damage.

“Calm down,” Bill said. “The glass is bulletproof. You couldn’t break through if you shot straight at it and this thing obviously isn’t going to let you out. Besides, it’s probably for the best because the system may be protecting you from some insidious, fast-spreading virus or contagious disease that they are trying to treat.”

As soon as he said the words bulletproof, April looked at his holster. “Where’s your gun,” she demanded.

He felt down towards his waist and realized it wasn’t there. “It must have fallen off in our scuffle,” he said. “But even if I had one, I wouldn’t let you go firing it off in here. You’re nuts. The bullets would ricochet this small room and hurt one of us.”

April grabbed at his belt and started tugging at his waist to unbuckle it.

“Whoa, there momma! What in the world are you doing?”

“Shut up and give me your belt,” she demanded.

Bill sighed and finished unbuckling it. He handed it to her with a scowl. “Please be careful with this thing. That belt buckle cost me a pretty penny.”

April turned back to the glass where Alpha Four’s brother was still leaning against the glass. His glassy eyes looked blankly in their direction like he couldn’t even see them. He drooled, and his saliva ran down the glass.

So, she backed up to get away from where he leaning against the elevator. April flipped the belt over her shoulder and whipped it back around to try and crack the window with the metal tip of the buckle. But it didn’t even scratch the glass and barely even made a sound when it hit.

After four or five fruitless attempts, she gave up and sat back down in one of the seats to catch her breath. She stood back up and started to hit the glass again.

It was obvious that he was trying to be quiet and not attract the attention of the others around him. When he got close, he waved his arms at them as if ordering them to calm down.

“Open the door,” April yelled. She waved and motioned with her hands for the man to let them out.

The man outside made a signal like she was crazy with his finger to his head. Then he pointed up as if telling them to leave.

By now, Alpha Four’s brother had noticed the man and started to shuffle his way around to the other side. He got to the man and kept trying to grab on to him, but the man easily pushed him away. He pointed the gun at Alpha Four’s brother who acted like he had never seen one before in his life. He kept grabbing at the gun and trying to poke his finger down the barrel.

The guard kept pointing up for them to leave and became exasperated when they didn’t go. Not that April even knew how to operate the machine. The man outside pulled out his walkie-talkie and started talking excitedly to someone while waving his arms. More of the other people in the room began shuffling over to him.

He pointed back up defiantly one more time and then turned to leave. He half-walked and half-ran as he tried to avoid the oncoming mob. April could tell that he was furious.

“What do we do now?” she asked Bill.

He shrugged and sat down. “I’m gonna be in so much trouble. They’re gonna kill me.”

The elevator’s voice came back on and said, “Remote control protocol initiated. Elevator will now return to floor forty-seven. Please hold on till we reach our destination.”

“Let us off at floor twenty-two,” April said.

“I’m sorry. Exit at floor twenty-two not permitted. Exits only at fifteen, twenty-eight, and thirty-three.”

“Let us off on fifteen, please,” April said.

“Impossible to stop on fifteen. Manual override has been engaged via remote control by someone with a higher level of access. Please state your ID and password to override manual control.” the elevator said.

“C’mon,” she said tapping Bill on the shoulder. “What’s your ID and password?”

“I don’t have one yet for the elevator,” he replied.

“Well, use what you do have. Maybe it will work.”

“Elevator, my ID is Bill Redford. Gamma Eight. My passcode is papa Romeo-Four-Zulu-Delta-Two.”

“ID and password confirmed,” the elevator said.

“See,” April said with a grin. “Now, tell it to let us off on the fifteenth floor.”

Bill repeated the command, but the elevator denied his request.

“Your level of access is not sufficient to override the controls. Someone higher in command has control of the remote access. Please stand by until the elevator comes to a complete stop.”

The doors opened, and there were several men in the room waiting for them.

Continue Reading Chapter 6 – Judge, Jury, & Executioner >>>

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Chapter 6 – Judge, Jury, & Executioner

“Tony,” April said trying to smile cheerfully. She could see Hamilton and Crowley scowling at her. Johnny stood in front of Tony beside the elevator doors.

“What are you doing, baby?” Tony asked. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Come over here and sit on the couch.”
He took her by the shoulder and led her over to a couch close to the desk. She sat down. Tony turned back to chew out the guard.

“What were you thinking, Bill. How did you let this lady get the best of you?” he asked furiously.

Johnny stepped forward and came to his defense, “I’m sure he didn’t want to harm Mrs. Blanchet. He probably didn’t realize how tough your wife was and she nailed him before he could get the situation under control. Right, Bill.”

He started to steer Bill towards the door.

“Don’t worry about this Tony. I’ve got it under control, and I’ll deal with him tomorrow. But give him a break. I’m sure he didn’t mean to let her through. I saw the surveillance tapes before you got here. She nailed him good. You’ve got to admit this is an extreme situation because he wasn’t dealing with a regular thief. I mean this is family we’re dealing with here. Right?”

“Okay, sure. You handle it, Johnny. But don’t be long.” Tony said.

Hamilton and Crowley were talking among themselves off in the corner. Tony came back over to the couch and sat down beside April.

“What’s going on, baby? What are you doing in here at this unearthly time of the night for?”
April knew this didn’t look good, and she didn’t want Tony to get in trouble with the board, so she decided to stick to her jealous wife routine.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I thought you were cheating on me. I’ve just been jealous because you haven’t been paying much attention to me. And I wanted to know what was going on.”

“Uh, huh,” Tony muttered in indignation. “Are you accusing me of two-timing on you? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Calm down, Tony.” Hamilton butted in to help him keep his cool. “So, if that’s true April, what were you doing here in Crowley’s office?”

She shook her head and tried to conjure up a few tears to make herself look sincere. It wasn’t too hard because she really was scared. She had always been scared of Hamilton. There was just something creepy about the guy. The way he walked and talked. It was just all off. The way he waltzed into partnership and practically taken over most of the company.

“And why did you get on the elevator, April?” Crowley added. “Did you think you would find more proof there?”

“I didn’t know it was an elevator. I thought it was just a secret room. How did I know it would go down to Sector Seven?”

“Sector Seven,” Tony asked in surprise. “What do you know about Sector Seven?”

“Bill must have told me,” she stammered nervously.

“No, April. Bill doesn’t know about Sector Seven. He doesn’t have clearance for Sector Seven. He thinks this is a meeting room.” Hamilton thundered. “I know because I’m the one who gives people clearance to go down there.”

“Well, maybe he heard about it through the company grapevine,” she said to cover for herself.
Hamilton smirked. “I don’t think so, April. He’s just arrived recently and is only here at night. There aren’t many people around for him to chat with about company gossip. I’m gonna ask you one more time. How do you know about Sector Seven?”

“Nothing, I swear. I don’t know nothing. Honest. Please, I’ll forget all about it and never mention it to anyone ever again.”

Hamilton pulled up a chair close to her with the back facing towards her. He threw his legs around the sides and sat down in front of her. He took his time rolling up his sleeves while he gathered his thoughts.

“I’m only gonna ask you this once, April. You answer me straight and give me the right answer, or I will kill you myself. I don’t care if you are Tony’s wife. Have you been in touch with the Blue Wolf?”

A chill ran down April’s spine, and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. If they suspected that she had talked to him, she knew Hamilton would make good on his threat.

“Of course not,” she replied as calmly as she could. “Why would I talk to somebody named the Blue Wolf.”
But it was too late, she could see in Hamilton’s eyes that he already knew the truth. He was just setting her up in front of Tony.

“Tony, you gotta believe me. Please. I’m your wife. The mother of your children. I love you, Tony. I would never do anything to harm you or your company.”

Tony refused to look at her. He stood up and walked away from the couch. He slid the glass doors open and stepped out onto the veranda outside. He stood silently at the edge looking out over the city.

Hamilton and Crowley were off in the corner conferring among themselves.

April started to cry. Her hands shook, and her legs trembled. She threw her face in her hands and tried to muffle her sobs.

Johnny came back in and walked over to where Crowley and Hamilton were still huddled near the desk.

“Tony,” Hamilton called him and motioned with his hand for the man to step from the veranda to join them.

Tony walked past April without looking her in the eye. She thought she could see that his eyes were shiny from tears.

“What’s going on, Tony?” she asked as he went by. She reached out to touch him, but he moved his hand away from her.

The men spoke briefly, and all nodded. April watched them through tears in her eyes. It looked like they were taking a vote. Then they all broke up.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Tony said. “We knew the Blue Wolf had contacted you. But I thought you were going to stay true to me. To us. To the company. But the men don’t trust you. They think you’re going to believe the Blue Wolf’s lies and they’re going to use you to turn us in.”

On the one hand, she wanted to beg and plead for her life, but at the same time, she knew it was useless. The die had been cast, and the men had made their decision.

Judge, jury, and executioners.

This was it, and she had to know what was going on down there before her end came. What were these men doing down there?

“Okay, Tony. I understand,” she took a deep breath and stood up. “I always let you run things your way even though I didn’t agree with your methods. But I didn’t ever think it would come to this.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But you’re playing for the wrong team. If you had been honest with me from the start and told me about this when they first contacted you, I think we could have worked things out. But it’s out of my hands now.”

Tony sighed and shrugged as he looked at the other guys. That gesture infuriated April. He always used it when he was trying to weasel his way out of something. She was spitting nails now.

“C’mon, Tony. Don’t throw the blame on others. Man up for yourself just once and admit that you’ll be glad to be rid of me. I bet you don’t have the guts to do the job yourself. You’ll have one of your nameless thugs pull the trigger. It’s probably just as well because you’d probably botch it and make me suffer. I’d rather it be handled by a pro anyway. I bet none of you have the guts to do me in,” she screamed at them with her voice rising in crescendo till she was literally screeching at the end.

April’s face was livid, and her whole body shook with anger and fury at this final betrayal. She wanted to weep and sob, but she refused to give them the satisfaction of watching her beg for her life. She shoved her way past the men towards the door.

“C’mon. Let’s get it over with,” she shouted. “Where is my executioner?”

She continued walking towards the door and wanted to snicker at the look of shock on their faces. This was not the reaction they had expected from her at all.

“Wait,” April said as she spun around. “I do have one question. Do me the honor of telling me what I saw down there in that elevator.”

The men remained silent and looked at Tony.

“They’re clones, baby. We’ve been trying to develop a cloning process. But we haven’t quite been successful yet. So, each of those people that you saw down there was a clone of someone that has already died.”

April nodded and smiled. “So, you’re going to kill me to keep this Blue Wolf guy from knowing what you’re up to and learning all your secrets. You know he’ll just keep coming until he finds someone who does know something and is willing to talk.”

The men shrugged. Hamilton was the one who finally replied. “Yeah, we keep close tabs on most everybody and know who he’s talking to already. Hopefully, they’ll be smart and not break our trust by sneaking around like you did.”

“Get it over with, Johnny,” Crowley ordered.

“Hmm, Johnny’s gonna do me in. Huh?” April said. “I remember when he started working for you all as a boy. This is what you had him doing.”

“He’s a good, trustworthy employee that always does what he’s told,” Crowley replied. “A good man we can trust with our lives. That’s what’s important to us. Trust.”

“Yeah, whatever! Blah, blah, blah. Go sweet-talk yourself to sleep, old man. Your day of judgment is coming too. You’ll get yours soon enough.” April said arrogantly as she snubbed her nose at them.

Continue Reading Chapter 7 – Float Like An Angel >>>

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Chapter 7 – Float Like An Angel

She could hardly believe the way she was acting herself. This was totally unlike the sweet lady-like persona she always tried to exude. But it felt so freeing to finally just let go and be herself even if it was only for a few minutes longer.
“Well, come along, Johnny. Let’s get this over with. You boys run along and get your story straight to tell the cops when they come around.”

Hamilton nodded at Johnny who swallowed hard and nodded back at him. He looked at April and held out his arm like a real gentleman. At least he had the courtesy to treat her like a lady even in the end. They started to walk out the door, but Hamilton yelled after them.

“Hey! Where are you going? We said to make it look like an accident.” he indicated with his head toward the balcony.

“Well, if you want the cops to think she jumped off to commit suicide, why would you have her jump from Crowley’s office. Let me handle it from Tony’s balcony. When you hear her scream, you send Tony over to wait in there. He can say they had an argument.” Johnny retorted sullenly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh, right! Good thinking, son.” Hamilton replied.

He waved them on out the door.

“We’ll be right behind you, but we don’t want poor Tony to see nothing. So, be quick about it.”

“Sure,” Johnny said.

April continued to walk with her head held high holding tightly to Johnny’s arm. She was grateful for the support, even he was going to kill her in a moment. She couldn’t believe that Tony was just going to go along with this thing. And since he was, at the very least, her husband could have the decency to be with her at the end. But she refused to allow herself to look back at him or even acknowledge him.

As they continued to walk down the hall, April realized that the only thing that kept her going right now and allowed her to place one foot in front of the other was the pure, unadulterated rage that flowed from her heart. She was so hot with rage that she could feel her heart pounding throughout her body. Her thinking was crystal clear and razor sharp.

She noticed every detail of the environment around her as she walked down the hall. The tiniest detail right down to the sweat mixed in with Johnny’s cologne. The buzz of the fluorescent lamps overhead as they walked under each one. As she entered Tony’s office for the last time, she didn’t even feel like she was walking but rather just floating along beside Johnny.

When they reached the edge of the balcony, she grabbed on to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Make it quick, Johnny.”

‘Here, put your legs through these,” he said.

April complied obediently. It felt like a strange way to make it look like she was going to commit suicide.

“Is this gonna make it look like I had a bungee jumping accident instead of committing suicide. Oh, thank you, Johnny.

I don’t want people to think that of me. Especially not my father.”

Johnny pushed her away and tried to tighten it around her waist.

“Quickly, before they get here,” he said in a hushed whisper. “Scream as loud as you can when I push you over the edge.”

You don’t have to push me, Johnny,” she said.

“Don’t jump out. Just a take a short step off the ledge,” he said.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to step onto the ledge without looking down. April didn’t want to wait for Johnny to push her. She didn’t want to give herself time to grieve and mourn. She had lived a long and happy life. She could truly say that she had lived a good one. The best that money could buy.

April had no regrets, except for loving Tony. That sleazy scumbag of an old man. He had been almost twice her age when they had gotten married. She was his second wife. People said she had married him for his money, but that wasn’t true at all. She had her mother’s inheritance and had started making good money straight out of college. She really had loved him. All these years. Been faithful and true. And this is how he treated her. Oh, poor Tony, if she came across him in the afterlife wherever that happened to be. If she recognized him, she would make him pay.

She felt Johnny’s hand pressing on the back of her calves. “Hurry,” he said. She closed her eyes and stepped off the ledge.

April felt the wind blowing up through her hair in the free fall. Her hair whipping around her face. Her arms raised above her head. But she didn’t scream. She refused to scream. She wouldn’t give those dirty old men the satisfaction of listening to her scream as she fell to her death.

She waited for the impact. And waited. And waited. After a few moments, April opened her eyes and realized that she was still descending quickly, but she wasn’t in a deadly free fall. Whatever Johnny had tied around her waist was lowering her speedily but safely.

As she saw the ground coming up quickly, several men dressed in black reached up to grab her and pull her free. They carried her around the corner of the building and towards a waiting van.

April saw a body lying on the ground near where they met her. She looked back to try and understand what was going on.

Was she dead?

Were these her angels coming to drive her away into the afterlife?

When they got to the van, one of the men pulled off his mask and helped her enter. It was the Blue Wolf. Suddenly, everything made sense. This was part of his escape plan.

“That woman?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, your clone. Tony had some made a while back. We kept one of the extras that didn’t make it.”

“And Johnny?” she asked.

“Yes. He’s started to see the light as well. When he knew that Tony was onto you, he contacted me and told me to be ready to do whatever it took to save you. We had no idea that it would be tonight, so we had to improvise,” the Blue Wolf answered.

“So, how did you set it up so fast?”

“We had several contingency plans in place. This was Jonny’s idea. If they caught you in the building, he would suggest that they make it look like suicide from Tony’s office.”

April felt wave after wave of relief washing over her. Relief mixed with anger and fury at Tony. Gratefulness to Johnny and Blue Wolf for protecting her.

Blue Wolf put his arm around her. She cradled her head in his shoulder and let the sobs take over. Huge heaving sobs. She couldn’t contain the fear and the rage any longer. She began to wail and cry loudly while Blue Wolf held her tightly.

“I’m sorry, my angel. I didn’t mean for it to come to this.” Blue Wolf whispered softly over and over again to calm her down.

After a bit, April managed to compose herself. The same calm that she had felt before returned once again. She knew it would take her time to get over this grief. She would cry many times again before she got it all out of her system. But for now, she was alive. And that was all that mattered.

“Blue Wolf,” she said.

“Yes,” he answered quietly in the darkness just loud enough to be heard over the hum of the wheels on the asphalt and the blowing of the air conditioner.

“Promise me that we are going to do whatever it takes to bring LocTech down, but I don’t want anyone to kill Tony until he’s seen us destroy everything he has built.”

“Hmm,” was his reply in the darkness. April couldn’t see his expression.

“Promise me,” she whispered pleadingly. The rage screamed vengeance in her ears as her heart pounded her blood furiously through her trembling body.

“Don’t worry, my dear. We will make sure to let you do the honors when the time comes. Tony will know it is his little angel who has returned to exact her revenge.”

April smiled. She liked the sound of that. There was a lot to do over the coming days and months. The first thing she was going to do was pick back up on her martial art training.

“We’re almost home,” he whispered tenderly in her ear. “You can sleep. Tomorrow we will decide what to do from here on out. What do you want to do first?”

“Release the clones,” she said immediately without even thinking. “We’re going to release all those ‘insidious’ in Sector Seven.”

“Hmm,” he said sleepily. “I like the sound of that. Come, Juanita will show you to your room. Breakfast is normally served at six thirty, but don’t worry. You must get your rest. Tomorrow we will serve you breakfast whenever you get up.”

“Thank you, Blue Wolf,” she said as she hugged him. “Good night.”

April followed the small girl to the room she was shown. She didn’t bother taking off her clothes. She threw herself on the bed and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep willing herself not to feel anything until the next day. It would come with its own troubles and challenges.

But for now, she was alive. She was safe. And she would sleep.

——

April’s story continues in Rise! (Book 1 of the Edge of the Universe series) that you can download free at various book retailers or from my blog at DaveBailey.me

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Warblade of Ballara

Strogoben stood before the cave entrance. Preparing himself mentally for the greatest challenge of his life. Something he had prepared for ever since he was a young child. He stood there silently. Breathing deeply. Taking in everything he could gather with his five senses and more.

They had been sharp enough to help him survive ever since beginning his journey to locate Venomshank, the Warblade of Ballara. His quest had begun many moons ago when he first arrived in Dysheimr.

Those who pointed the way had indicated the entrance at the Chambers of the Golden Raven. From there he had made his way down through the Haunt of the Thunder Giant. Struggling to find his way through the Maze of Destruction. And finally coming out through The Screaming Tunnels. And now he had arrived. His final destination.

The Lair of Vor’onuuth who was known among men as The Flames of Darkness.

If his sources were correct, this was where he would find the Warblade.

After catching his breath, Strogoben pressed forward through a portal that had been revealed only after releasing a burst of flames underneath it. It was designed that way so that only the dragonkin and those who could control fire might pass through.

Strogoben stepped through into the foreboding environment that awaited him. This one completely different from the previous he had encountered when stepping rough the Portal of the Golden Raven.

The air was dry and hot here. Bright strobes of light blinded him. Strogoben could feel his lungs burn with every breath. It was a harsh world. Reminding him of the desert he had traveled through as a child after the Jooppi tribe had wiped out his people and taken him captive.

There they had trained him to fight. Taught him magic and how to use the elements. Preparing him to take down small dragons in the desert single-handly. The Joopi had known his people were descended from the dragonkin. They wiped out the adults but kept all the small children alive.

Strogoben had been no more than seven when they had captured him. They loved his skills and abilities. The Joopi people had admired him. The chief had treated Strogoben like a pet though. Locking him in chains and using whips to keep him in line.

The chief had depended on his mage’s magic as well to keep the young boy obedient. But they hadn’t been enough to keep him down. He was careful to watch and observe everything the mage did.

He practiced and experimented at night on his own. When he grew strong enough, Strogoben broke free. Wreaked his revenge on the tribe of nomads who had destroyed his family. Strogoben had burned them all with fire. Battling their own mage had been no easy feat. But he did it. He had freed himself.

From there, Strogoben set out on his own. He had continued practicing and improving his skills over the years. And eventually, he had settled down in the region just south of Dysheimr. There he kept his skills a secret. Rarely using them.

Strogoben had lived their peacefully, planting a farm, and even taking a wife. He had married a beautiful young woman named Freygerd Styrbiorndottir.

But before they were married a year, the land had come under attack by the fire gnomes. They swept through taking cattle and sheep. Burning crops and destroying the farms as they went. Occasionally even taking humans as well.

And that was when they had taken Freygerd with them.

Strogoben was devastated. He spent weeks searching for the fire gnomes without luck. The burning trails they left behind all disappeared at the river they used to escape.

After searching high and low across the land, he came across an old priest who mentioned someone that might be able to help him.

Vor’onuuth. Part human. Part dragon. Part giant. Created by the engineers, he had escaped and wreaked havoc in the lower realms. Eventually, locked away and unable to return to the surface. The dangerous path to find Vor’onuuth, served just as much to keep him in as to keep others out.

Strogoben was willing to make the journey. Not to meet Vor’onuuth. What he really wanted was this Venomshank. An ancient weapon once left behind by the Engineers responsible for the dragonkin.

It had been lost after the great war by Strogoben’s ancestor who ruled the land. Strogoben had heard the stories and legends as a child. Those descended from the Dragonkin who had enough skill and power could wield the Warblade. Using it control any of the fire-based creatures under the Warblade’s command.

Strogoben hoped to use it to locate the fire gnomes and find his wife.

According to the priest though, the Warblade hadn’t been lost. It had actually been taken by the engineers. Some said they removed it from their game because it was too powerful of a weapon. Others said that they had locked it away with Vor’onuuth for safekeeping until such a time as one worthy to carry the blade should be able to take it from him. It was the Engineers way of leveling up the game and increasing the difficulty.

The village chieftain had been excited to hear that Strogoben would attempt to locate the Warblade. He gave the young man all the supplies the warrior could carry.

“The outer farms have come under attack, I’m sure we’ll be next to receive a beating by those brutes. I appreciate anything you can do to save us and stop those nasty gnomes. I’m in no state to fight, but I know you’ll manage without me. Please, take care of those gnomes for my people. I will give you anything you want, even up to half of the land I rule if you can find a way to stop their rampage.”

And so had begun Strogoben’s quest to find the warblade and stop the evil fire gnomes. That had been at least five moons ago. It was hard to keep track down here. He had crossed two different portals and had no idea if moons here were the same back in Dysheimr.

Strogoben had little hope of ever finding his wife, but he refused to let go of the idea that someday, somewhere, he would find Freygerd. Yet here he was, he had finally made it to the entrance of Vor’nuuth’s lair.

His heart thumped loudly. Partially with the excitement of being so close to finding the Warblade to find his wife and also from the nervousness of not knowing what danger he was about to face to achieve it.

Strogoben’s short, dark hair hung clumsily over his round, time-worn face. Bloodshot gray eyes, set wickedly within their sockets, watch warily for danger.

His freckles spread beautifully across his cheeks and forehead. Leaving a bittersweet memory of his adventurous love life with Freygerd many weeks ago. He was tall compared to most of those who lived around him. He had a light frame but was wiry and well-muscled from his years of preparation and formation.

People found him alluring. Perhaps it was his presence or perhaps simply the feeling of anguish after his wife’s kidnapping. But nonetheless, people tend to hit it off with him, while treating him to a good meal when he’s around.

Strogoben prided himself on what he called charm, wits, and good looks, as he had always joked about with Freygerd. But here in this dungeon where he was headed, Strogoben knew that it would take more than that. He would need more than charm and good looks to weasel a prized Warblade out of a dragon.

Strogoben came to a wide pair of granite doors in a small sultry grove. They marked the entrance down into the dungeon below. He continued through them cautiously. Beyond the doors lay a narrow, timeworn room at the bottom of the stairs. It was covered in mawt droppings, rubble, and large bones.

He could see remnants of what once must’ve been a mess hall of sorts, battered and wrecked by time itself.

Strogoben pressed on through till he came to two tunnels. He sensed that the right was a dead end. He didn’t know how he knew it exactly, but he did. He had learned to trust his instincts long ago in the desert where it was often a matter of life or death. Survival belonged to the fittest and the smartest. Rarely giving second chances to those who failed to get it right the first time.

The twisted trail continued to lead downwards and soon he entered an eerie area filled with tombs. Their owners were no longer in their graves where they belonged but had been dragged out and spread across the floor.

“What happened in this place?” Strogoben thought to himself.

He cautiously proceeded onwards, deeper into the dark shadows. He passed dozens of similar rooms and passages, each with their own twists, turns, and destinations. But eventually, Strogoben made it to what he thought was the final room.

An immense granite door blocked his path. Various odd symbols were scratched into it, somehow untouched by time and the elements. He stepped closer to inspect it and listened quietly. It seemed as if he could hear a scratching sound coming from behind the door.

Strogoben pulled his dragon-skinned jacket closer around him. He had purchased it brand-new in the market before leaving on his journey. And then had an old dragon mage etch protective runes into the scales and a large protective sigil on the back.

But now it was tattered and threadbare. Barely tied together with some old string he had picked up to replace the buttons that had long since fallen off in his runs through the tunnels to escape the grey cave mawts and in his struggles against the Aracni’s that often attacked while he slept.

The jacket had a wide, round neckline which reveals part of the worn-out yellow shirt below it. And over that a faded black belt, which was tied everything together. The belt had initially been bought on a whim to as an accessory to the rest of his look, based on the recommendation of the pretty young saleswoman at the market.

But now, they were absolutely necessary to holding up his pants since he had lost much weight on the journey. With little time to find and prepare food along with the extra exercise, Strogoben had returned back to the lean, ripped form he possessed in the desert before softening up during his good life at Dysheimr.

His pants were still in good shape, all things considered. They were simple and of a comfortable fit. Reaching down to his bound cloth shoes. The shoes were made from an unusual cloth that wasn’t dragonskin. But the shoemaker demonstrated to him that they were fireproof as well. Other than that though, his shoes looked no different from any other shoes he could have bought at the market.

Strogoben tightened his belt around his waist and the shoes around his feet. He wanted to be ready to face whatever creature lay behind those doors. Vor’nuuth or not.

He slid his shield down off his back. Strogoben affectionately called it Eclipse. He had taken it from an enemy who had challenged him in the desert. He had looked for another shield to replace it, but had never found anything this good.

It was an impressive round shield made from ironbark that offered stalwart cover against arrows and bolts. Extremely strong because it was forged by lunar dragonkin in a storm workshop. The shield’s edges embellished with spikes and decorated with metalwork emblems of victory and personal accomplishments at the center. It’s clear this shield has seen glory and victory. Dints and dents made by who knows what. But one thing is sure, this shield isn’t done serving just yet.

In the end, Strogoben decided to just keep it and stop looking for another shield. Once he found out where it had been made, he tracked down the old lunar dragonkin blacksmith that had made it and requested a matching sword. It was a long, strong blade that had served him well over the years.

The young man shook himself off and stepped forward to figure out how to open the door. It opened instantly without him even having to raise a finger. That was surprising since most of the others had required the activation of a rune or resolving of a puzzle before he could pass.

Strogoben quickly leaped off to the side, in case any foul creature came charging through. But there was only silence. He couldn’t see much past the threshold. It was pitch black. Even for his eyes. And that was because Strogobend’s eyes were powerful enough to walk through caves and tunnels without needing to light a torch.

He waited for a few seconds, but when nothing else happened, he stepped through. The impression that he had was of something or someone actively absorbing all of the light in the room. It was the strangest sensation. Then he remembered the name of the creature.

Vor’nuuth, also known as the Flames of Darkness.

Strogobend had assumed that it was simply a name given by storytellers and adventurers seeking to embellish their stories. But now that he was here, he realized that the name fit perfectly.

He sucked his breath in short shallow gasps. The heat was intense. Not enough to burn him yet. But still enough to make him uncomfortable even in his dragon skin clothing and flameproof shoes. He could sense the protective sigil on his back being activated as designed to do if he got into a firefight with a dragon. He sensed the familiar hum of energy as it began to glow.

The glow was enough to light up the area immediately surrounding him. But even that was dulled and faded at more than a few feet away from him.

Strogoben took a few more steps deeper into the darkness. He heard a loud hiss off to his left and paused. Something rustled in the darkness. Then the sound of muttering as if someone were awakening from a deep slumber. There was a small clink and rattle as it moved around.

He couldn’t see what was there and what was coming, so he ducked down to make himself smaller in case it tried to target him. He raised his shield in front of him. There were several more whispers and rattles. Then the room fell silent again.

After a few moments, he took another step forward. A loud voice challenged him from the darkness.

“Who goes there? And what do you want?”

Strogoben leaped back and spread his arms out as he crouched low once more.

“Hurry up, I tell you. I don’t have all day. There’s no sense in sneaking around. I can see you just fine.”

The man stood up and straightened his clothing with his sword hand. He bowed stiffly even though he couldn’t tell exactly which direction the voice was coming from as it boomed loudly all around him and echoed off the walls of the dungeon.

Strogoben cleared his throat before answering.

“Hello there! How are you? I’m quite fine thank you. It’s a great pleasure to meet you. Even though I can’t see you.” he shouted out.

His voice didn’t boom loudly like the others. It sounded rather weak and hollow. Even after he tried to deepen it toward the end.

“Oh, right? Excuse my rudeness,” Vor’nuuth replied with as rasp somewhere between a snicker and a growl. “Where are my manners? Oh, yeah. I do that so people who walk in with their sword drawn and shield up ready for battle can’t attack me.”

“That’s quite understandable,” Strogoben replied a little ashamed of himself. “It’s just that I heard something scratching the door. I didn’t want it rushing out to attack me unaware.”

“That was one of my pets. I pulled it out of the way and tied it up to keep it from escaping as soon as I heard the door opening. But don’t you think it’s a bit rude to just walk into my home without knocking? What do you think would happen if you walked into a human home unannounced and their dog bit you because they didn’t know that you were coming over. Would it be their fault for not warning them or theirs for not tying it up?”

“Yes, I do see your point,” Strogoben said with a weak laugh. “Sorry, I should have knocked. I just didn’t know where to announce my coming. The door swung open automatically.”

“Hmm! I wondered how you got in so fast. I’ve never had anyone break through before, although many have tried. I do suppose that means you are here for the Warblade then as most who make the journey down here. Eh?”

“You are so wise and intelligent, great Vor’nuuth,” he said using his old tactic of buttering up the Joopi as they thrived off it.

“Oh, come on. Don’t think I’m going to fall for that malarkey now. Do you? You don’t even know me and you come barging in her talking like that, it’s obviously not true.” Vor’nuuth growled. “So, state your case and tell me why I should hand over Warblade.”

That last part took Strogoben back a bit. He hadn’t expected to just walk in and ask for it, much less have the creature just hand it over.”

“So, how many others have made it down here?” he asked.

“Three, in the past two hundred years.” the monster in the darkness replied.

Strogoben let out a low whistle. “Guess you don’t get many visitors. Huh?”

Vor’nuuth let out a loud laugh. “I guess. Right?”

The human stepped back as the peals of laughter continued to ring around him.

“You are funny, human. I will give you that. Now state your name, and I will provide some light for you to see me.”

“Strogoben of Dysheimr,” he replied loudly, emboldened by the creature’s laughter.

“Dysheimr,” Vor’nuuth growled. “Don’t lie to me human. There are none of your kind in Dysheimr.”

“My kind?” he asked hoarsely. “I wasn’t born there, but that is where I have been living for the past few years. I was enslaved and taken from my home when I was yet a child. So, I never knew the name of my city. It was wiped out by the Joopi.”

“So, why do you seek the Warblade?” Vor’nuuth hissed quietly.

Strogoben could hear the voice loudly though and sensed that it had moved closer. He wanted to duck instinctively into his shield in case he spat dark flames in his direction. But he resisted the urge to flinch and stood firm.

“I remember that my family was descended from Harald the Stout of Novgorod who once wielded Venomshank. I have come to claim what belongs to my bloodline,” he said, half-expecting the beast to take that as a challenge to fight.

“Yes, that’s obvious, since you were able to enter my lair so easily. Only those of your bloodline have been granted access. My question is why you seek it now. What do you hope to accomplish with it?”

Strogoben breathed a bit easier. Maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult as he thought.

“I come for love!” he declared boldly, hoping to pull on the creature’s emotional strings if it had any.

“Love. Huh? That sounds typically human.” Vor’nuuth snorted. “Flowers and sweet treats were created to woo love. The Warblade was created for blood and battle. Guts and glory. Most only come looking for Venomshank when they are beyond despair and have no other hope of achieving the vengeance or salvation their soul desires. I’m afraid you come to the wrong place looking for the wrong thing.”

“But it’s not. I mean I haven’t come to the wrong place. I’m looking for all of that. I seek vengeance against those who have taken my love from me. I will do battle against them. And as for glory, I will receive my own kingdom if I defend the realm of Dysheimr.”

“Hmm. Oh my. That does sound like a worthy cause. Maybe you will be willing to pay the price.” the creature muttered. “Who took your love from you and threatens Drysheimr?”

“The fire gnomes,” Strogoben spat quietly.

“Argh!” Vor’nuuth growled. “I knew that those little rascals would be nothing but trouble. I tried to put a stop to them, but they wouldn’t let me. The Engineers locked up down here for meddling.”

“Why?” Strogoben asked.

“Why what?” Vor’nuuth asked. “Why did I meddle? Or why did they lock me up?”

“Well, both are good questions, I guess,” Strogoben replied. “Someone told me that you were locked up for wreaking havoc in the lower realms. They made it sound like you were somewhat of a troublemaker.”

“Is that what they say about me. Do they?”

There was a flicker in the darkness. It didn’t last long and was really low, yet brought relief to Strogoben’s eyes since they had been staring into nothing but pitch black darkness the entire time.

Slowly, the dungeon around him began to come into view. There was a light glow off the walls around him. Eventually, a dark form began to take shape before him. It wasn’t so much that light came into the room, but rather that this creature, whatever it was, stopped absorbing what little light was available in the room around them.

As it did so, the heat seemed to let up a little in the room. The impression that Strogoben had was that the dark flames had diminished and regular flames began to take their place. It was the strangest sensation he had ever experienced.

The smell of burning sulfur filled the air around him, and Strogoben had to close his nostrils and cover his mouth with his jacket to breathe without gagging.

As the beast came into view there was a sparkle in the smoke, a cracking of wood, and suddenly he was met with an outlandish beast of smoke and flame. The first thing that stood out at him were two huge, desolate eyes staring back at him with harrowing excitement, and another sparkle thundered from its ridged mouth as if to summon others. Several sharp teeth poke out from the side of its mouth and give a preview of the terror hiding inside.

The eyes were almost level with him, but as Vor’nuuth stood to his full height, they rose quickly towering above Strogoben. Almost five times the height of the human. And that was only from the knees up because the giant stood in a pit filled with the strange flames.

Four horns adorned its the creature’s bony, angular skull that sat atop a broad, robust body. Two smaller horns in the center which gave the creature a very ominous looking appearance. Along with two larger ones rooted into the sides of its rugged head. A constant plume of smoke escaped the creature’s narrow nostrils set within a hollow nose.

Its skin was blackened and charred. Continuously burning off in ashes that floated carelessly off the burning red flesh that burned underneath. The skin seemed to simply replace itself before burning off again.

The first thought that came to his mind when he saw it was that a giant bull wanted to barbecue itself and built the firepit that it was roasting itself in. Strogoben would have burst out laughing if he hadn’t been so terrified.

The creature strode closer toward Strogoben. Two muscular limbs carried its body and allowed the creature to stand noble and elevated. Each limb had 4 digits, each of which ended in pointy talons seemingly made of onyx. Its legs gracefully carried its fiery body with a hurried energy. Its movements were playful, yet determined.

Strogoben took a step back. Away from the edge of the pit where he had been standing. If the creature hadn’t spoken up, he probably would have fallen into the pit with the black flames.

Though now, he could no longer see them. Regular yellow, orange, and reddish flames leaped up over the edge casting an eerie glow over the creature and across the room.

Steam and heat wafted up out of the pit around Strogoben. Not that it had really diminished or grown hotter, but there was a definite difference in the type of heat that the flames were putting off. The light colorful flames seemed bright and cheery compared to the previous dark flames. Those had been oppressive. Seemingly sucking the life and energy out of the room.

“Well, I meddled with the Engineers because they created the fire gnomes from my own flesh and fire. It was a little experiment they were doing on me for their game. They wanted me to continuously be generating little fire gnomes. Like these things would just pop out of my flesh and take off screaming. I knew they were bad news, and it hurt like water being poured on my flesh. That’s why I wreaked havoc in the lower realms and became a troublemaker. Because I wouldn’t let them do what they wanted with me.”

“So, they didn’t lock you up down here? You created this place for yourself.” Strogoben said as it dawned on him.

“Well, I didn’t create it. It already existed. I destroyed it and made it more to my liking.” Vor’nuuth said with a grin.

“How would destroying it make it more to your liking?”

“They released me as a weapon against a civilization created by another engineer. The fire gnomes annihilated it. I felt horrible. So, I tracked down the Engineers who had released me. And this was where I found them. I killed most of them. A few escaped. They tried to take it back, but they didn’t stand a chance against their most powerful creation. Here I’m safe and comfortable.”

Strogoben looked around and noticed that it was absent of any fire gnomes.

“The flames of darkness prevent you from producing any more of those nasty little critters?” he queried.

The giant nodded.

“It burns them off before the can form in my flesh and come out through my skin.”

Strogoben winced.

“Ouch, that must really hurt.”

“Not really. It just numbs me. And it’s a lot less painful than birthing fire gnomes out from under my skin.”

Strogoben really did feel sorry for the creature. Here he had come ready to fight to the death to kill it. If he had known the fire gnomes had come from Vor’nuuth, he would have tried to kill it without asking questions. And here it had locked itself away and was doing everything it could to keep from producing more.

“Wow. I’m really sorry about that. I had no idea. That must be awful. It’s like a fate worse than death.”

Vor’nuuth smiled sadistically.

“You don’t think I brought the Warblade along with me for nothing did you?”

“What do you mean?” Strogoben asked.

“I knew that if I continued running around out there, the fire gnomes would continue to propogate. And I had no idea where to find those of your bloodline. I would release too many fire gnomes across the land on my journey. So, I brought it with me so that those of your kind would come to me.”

“You want me to use Venomshank to kill you and put you out of your misery?”

Vor’nuuth nodded and fell to his knees. Lowering his giant head till his eyes were level with Strogoben.

“I will give you the Warblade willingly. I don’t want to suffer anymore. It takes three days of pure agony to give birth to a batch of fire gnomes when I’m not near the dark flames. But I don’t want to while away my days here in this pit any longer. Besides, the flames are growing weaker. They aren’t as strong as they once were. Once they die out, my suffering resumes.”

Strogoben’s heart went out for the poor suffering creature. He slid his sword back into its sheath and stepped forward.

“I came here to fight you for the Warblade. Even planned to kill you if necessary. Not that I probably could anyway. I really had no idea what to expect. I thought you were like a dragon or something. But seeing you in this situation is horrible. It’s ridiculous that someone would do this to you and make you suffer so. There has to be something we can do to stop it.”

The giant dragon demon thing, whatever Vor’nuuth was, just shrugged.

“I’m tired of the struggle. Two hundred years. Wasting away. It seems pointless. Like I’m putting off the inevitable. Just waiting for something worse to happen.”

“Like what? What could be worse than this? You’re still alive. That’s what counts.”

Vor’nuuth threw his head back and laughed mockingly.

“Great. Woo. I’m living. Yee ha. Holed up here in this fire pit of oppressive heat and darkness just to keep from feeling worse. Put yourself in my place. You would be grateful.”

“Surely, there is something you can do. Someone who can help you. An Engineer who can reverse the effects.”

Vor’nuuth pointed to his back and stood again. There was a large yellow sigil that lit up around his back and head. Strogoben had seen it earlier, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. It was a large, glowing circle with runes around the edges.

“The Engineers have branded me. This seal was placed upon me when I officially joined their game. None of this clan will dare to go against it. and none of the other clans are allowed to touch it, lest they be cast out. It’s hopeless.”

“You mean you willingly submitted yourself to this?” Strogoben asked incredulously.

“Yes. I mean not this exactly. They promised me power and wealth and all kinds of amazing things I never dreamed of. Once I was in, it was too late. I couldn’t back out. And this was the result.”

Vor’nuuth knelt back down and leaned forward. He reached out one long finger of his right hand. There was a sword balanced on the tip of his finger. Strogoben sucked in his breath. This was it. This was the warblade. One of the finest ever forged in the mines of Ballara on the other side of the continent.

It was exquisite. Even more amazing then he had imagined. He could feel the power that had been forged into it emanating directly into his body. Strogoben could feel the connection it had to his blood. It recognized him as one authorized to wield it in all its power and glory.

Strogoben wanted to reach out and take it immediately, but he pulled himself back.

“I can’t kill you if you give it to me,” he said softly.

“But you would have killed me in a fair fight to take it from me by force?” Vor’nuuth spat indignantly. “You humans and your sense of justice.”

Strogoben shrugged. “It’s different.”

“Oh! So, it okay to kill me against my will, but if I give you permission, then suddenly you have moral qualms about taking my life. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

The human shrugged again. The fiery beast sighed.

“Fine. Let’s do it. We shall duel to the death.” Vor’nuuth declared, standing again to his full height.

“That’s silly,” Strogoben spat out. “You’re just going to let me kill you. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.”

“Yeah. Is that what you think.” Vor’nuuth said stepping up out of the pit and placing his giant foot beside Strogoben.

The human leaped back. He stumbled and tripped over a stone. Strogoben hit the ground hard and rolled over. Trying to get back onto his feet while pulling out his sword at the same time. He raised his shield and continued to back up as the giant set his other foot outside the pit.

Strogoben dashed for the door, but Vor’nuuth didn’t even have to take another step to stop him. The large creature simply reached over the man’s head and blocked the exit. Then he opened his mouth and spewed out a stream of yellow fire.

The shield barely protected him from the blast of heat. Strogoben could feel the flames curling around the edges as he put his head down to protect his eyes. If it had been for his dragon skin jacket and hood, he would have been toast. He could sense the protective sigil on his back absorbing a good portion of the heat as well.

His toes started to heat up. Strogoben looked down to see what was going on. The shoes were still holding up well against the flames as well. He was glad he had paid the extra gold to get this pair. Others had been cheaper and even more comfortable. But he had taken these anyway in case he had to face a situation like this.

It had happened once before. In one of his first dragon fights. The Joppi hunted them for their skin. It was just a small dragon. Probably a baby that didn’t know how to fight very well. But it still managed to get off a puff of fire that burned and blistered his feet. He had learned to go in to any dragon fight well protected.

Being forced to hunt the skins for the Joopi was why Strogoben had refused to ever buy clothes made of dragon skin after that. But before making this journey, he had known he would need them. So, he made sure that the clothes he picked up did not come from the Joopi marketers.

Strogoben was glad for the shoes. They really did protect his feet even better than a pair with dragon skin soles. He barely even sensed this toes warming up.

As soon as the blast of fire from Vor’nuuth shut down, Strogoben stood up and raced to the side to get behind some protective rocks. But before he could make it, two blazing beams of light shooting from the monster’s eyes blasted the rocks to smithereens.

That brought Strogoben up short. He changed direction and raced directly toward the giant beast’s legs. At least there it wouldn’t shoot itself in the foot or try burning it’s own leg. At least that’s what he hoped anyway.

The warrior leaped up onto its feet and looked up. It’s mouth glowed once again, and Strogoben leaped off to get behind it just as a quick blast of flame burst out around him.

It took a moment for the creature to realize where the human had disappeared to in the flames. Strogoben took advantage of the time to catch his breath. He was furious. There was no escaping this place or the monster. He didn’t want to kill it, but he didn’t see any other options.

It was either kill or be killed.

Strogoben didn’t even know if he could kill this creature. Something this powerful would surely take some sort of magic or power that he didn’t know if he possessed. He was a good fighter. Wielded his fair share of power. But he had never fought anything this size.

He decided to give it a go though and see what kind of damage he could do. Strogoben raised his sword and leaped at the monster’s calf. He drove his sword deep into its flesh and pulled down as hard as he could leaving a large gash in its flesh. The beast gave a mighty roar and jerked its leg up, pulling Srogoben up with it.

The movement flung the human across the room and sent his sword flying. The creature thrashed madly around. Shattering the stalactites and stalagmites from around himself. In one of his thrashes, it smashed its head against one that didn’t shatter. It stumbled forward and fell to its knees. Grabbing its face it let out a horrible roar. Then it leaned forward and slowly toppled to the floor.

Strogoben leaped to his feet and raced for his sword. He picked it up with both hands and waited for Vor’nuuth to rise again. But it lay still. The warrior walked forward to take a closer look at his mighty foe.

“C’mon. It couldn’t have been that easy.” he said, reaching forward to give it a quick jab in the face with his sword.

Vor’nuuth winched at the pain and opened one eye.

“Oh, seriously. You didn’t finish me when you had the chance.” the monster ground. “C’mon. You were supposed to finish me. That was your cue. Slice my head off and put me out of my misery.”

“You wouldn’t have stood the pain two seconds. As soon as he started sawing away at your head, you would have screamed like a baby dragon. The slammed me across the room.”

Vor’nuuth chuckled bitterly.

“Yeah, I suppose so. I don’t really want to die. But I just don’t see any other way out of this misery.”

“Why don’t you let me try to find some help for you. Give me the sword, and exchange, I will seek out one of these Engineers who can help you.”

The giant growled and shook his head as he sat back up.

“How do I know you won’t just run away with it. Or worse yet die out there trying to fight the fire gnomes to save your wife. Then I’ll be stuck down here still with no way to attract another one of your kind to kill me.”

“Yeah, I guess you could just wait down here for another 200 years to see if anyone shows up. Though, by then, everyone may have forgotten about you and that stupid sword.”

Vor’nuuth spat angrily at the thought and pulled himself up. He scooted back toward his pit.

“I don’t have long before I need to start up the dark flames again. You should leave.”

“C’mon. I’m your best chance. Let me try. Send one of your pets along with me to keep an eye out for me. It can help me. And if I die, it can bring the Warblade back to you.”

“I suppose I could send Milsa with you. But what would you do to help me?”

Strogoben placed his sword back in his sheath and bowed low. Even getting down on one knee. Tell me what you would have me do. If you grant me the sword that I may save my love and avenge myself on the fire gnomes to obtain my half of the kingdom, I would spare no expense or effort to attempt to help you obtain relief from this horrible suffering.”

Vor’nuuth growled and then sighed.

“What choice do I have in the matter. It is what it is. If it is to be, it is to be.”

He leaned down to Strogoben and handed him the Warblade once again. The human took it carefully with both hands. He felt it hum in his grip. It felt perfectly balanced. Everything he had ever imagined in the perfect sword.

Venomshank was a hundred times better than his current sword.

“Three months. Find a way to free me from these flames, or else return to kill me. That is my condition. After that, you may seek to free your wife.”

“No, that’s impossible!” Strogoben roared.

“Three months is more than enough time,” Vor’nuuth shot back.

“It took me more than three months to find this place. Now, I have to go back and start looking again. Even if I find it, I still have to return all the way back here. But that’s not the point. I have to save my wife first. She may die or worse happen to her if I don’t find her soon.”

Vor’nuuth shook his head. Three months is all I will accept. Return quickly. Otherwise, at the end of this time, I will return to hunt you down until you kill me. If you don’t I will destroy everything you hold dear and everyone you love for making me suffer by leaving these dark flames to produce more fire gnomes.

“But you’ve been down here two hundred years. What are a couple of more months? Even a year?” Strogoben cried in anguish, trying to figure out how he was going to find his wife and save this beast in three short months.

“I will go directly to the fire gnomes, find your wife myself, and then come after you to kill her before your very eyes. Return in three months. Kill me. Then continue to search for her.”

“But she is in immediate danger, and you aren’t. You are safe here.” Strogoben exclaimed in exasperation. “Please. I have to help her first to have a clear head to focus on your problem. I will do my best. I just need to help her to get that cleared off my plate. Then I will do everything in my power to help you. Even if it takes twenty years. I won’t give up on you.”

Vor’nuuth growled and turned away. Settling down deep into his pit of dark flames. They slowly began to rise up around him. Extinguishing the light from around the dungeon. That darkness began to take over the room. The dark flames absorbing the light in the room. The giant fading away into the darkness of the flames licking up around him.

Soon, the only thing that Strogoben could see was the yellow glow of his eyes. Unblinking. Staring back at him out of the darkness.

“Fine. Save the woman if you must before helping me. But that doesn’t diminish the time frame. Three months to save her, find a way to help me and return here for my judgment if the solution is acceptable.”

Strogoben nodded and bowed low.

“I swear that I will do my very best to resolve this as swiftly as I can. You have my eternal gratefulness, and I owe you more than you can ever demand of me. I will return at the end of three moons, whether I have found my wife or a suitable solution for you. If I don’t return it is because I am either dead or imprisoned against my will.”

The room was almost completely pitch black once again. Strogoben heard Vor’nuuth shift down deeper into the flames.

“Go,” the creatures sighed. “May Mishal help you, guide you, and protect you. She is of the fire too, so you can control her with the Warblade. May your journey be as swift as your vengeance when you come upon the fire gnomes.”

Strogoben backed toward the door. A quiet patter followed him. He could hear the creature’s nails clicking on the floor as it walked.

When he got back out through the doors, the slid shut behind him automatically. Strogoben looked down once again at Venomshank in his hand. It was amazing. And he was so excited to have the possibility of saving his wife.

He glanced over at the creature that had followed him. It looked like one of the doberman pinchers the king of Drysheimr raised. Only this one was twice as large and pure black. Even its eyes were completely dark. No whites at all.

“C’mon, Mishal. We have a great adventure ahead of us. And there is no time to waste. We should try to make it back out of here over the next three days. We shall have to fly. But I’m glad to have your companionship on this journey.”

The creature cocked its head to the side and wagged its tail briefly. Then it pushed on past him and took the lead as if it understood wher he wanted to go.

Strogoben followed close behind it. Pleased to not be alone. It was late and it had been a long day. He would soon be tired. But he wanted to get out of this dungeon before finding a place to settle down for the night.

He continued to walk along behind Mishal as he admired Venomshank. Hardly believing that he actually had it in his possession. Especially since he didn’t have to take it by force or even kill the giant who had given it to him.

Strogoben smiled. Finally, things were starting to look for him.

“Hang on, love of my life. I’m coming for you. I will not stop until I have found you.”

They made a strange pair as they pressed though the cavern. The human and a large, black dog that was almost as tall as he was. He could sense that they would hit it off well and have many adventures together.

0

What Goes Around [Audio Short Story]

I’ve had this story idea in my head for a very long time, but never really figured out how to write it because of its premise is a bit unique. But I finally decided to tackle it today for my Patreon students and readers till I found my way through it. I think it works, Read it and tell me what you think.

Just to give you some background here, this is one of the stories set in the Edge of the Universe Series about a programmer called Jenny who has been working on a top-secret army project to create clones. After a series of problems and losing the love of her life in the process, Jenny discovers a way to transfer people’s minds from one body to another. General Bart hijacks her project though and this story is where we end up.

What Goes Around

The smoke still wafted from the barrel of the gun in his hands. The sound of the shot hadn’t yet reached her ears. Maybe it was the shock of getting shot that blocked out the sound.

Jenny looked down at the small hole in her shirt. Quickly turning red as the life-giving fluid seeped from her body. She reached down and touched it lightly. Still not feeling anything. Surreal. Almost as if she were in a dream.

She looked back up into the eyes of General Bart, now using President Kent’s body. She cocked her head to the side. His lips were moving, but Jenny couldn’t hear the words coming out of his mouth.

It sounded like he was saying, “What goes around, comes around.”

Jenny had tried to shoot him earlier. Though she had missed. She looked back down at the wound in her side. Well, in General Bart’s side since she was using his body.

The pain exploded in her side as she pressed her finger into the bullet hole to staunch the bleeding. The shock was wearing off and her senses were returning.

Jenny screamed in anger and frustration at the sudden turn of events. This hadn’t gone down at all like she had expected after losing the element of surprise.

Her voice came out all wrong. Thick and deep. Then she remembered that it wasn’t her voice. Jenny was no longer in her own body. Her body lay back in the warehouse lab.

General Bart had used her project to hijack the president’s body and then locked her up till he needed her again. She had transferred herself into General Bart’s body to escape and hunt the man down.

And now, she had been shot. Jenny would die. General Bart would get to rule the country in the president’s body that he had hijacked. And no one would be the wiser. And it would all be her fault.

Jenny looked up into the barrel of the gun and knew she had to do something fast. She analyzed the railing over the balcony just behind the General. Three stories up.

It would be painful. But as long as she didn’t die in the fall she might be able to pull this off. It was her only choice. If she tried to transfer out now, he would simply call one of the soldiers back at the warehouse to locate her original body and put her down.

Jenny raised her hand in front of the gun as if trying to say something and slowly stood up. The general took a step back and relaxed his stance as he waited.

He grinned that same stupid, arrogant grin that she hated — gloating that he had had the upper hand the entire time.

But as soon as she had risen to her feet, Jenny threw herself at him. The General’s original body that she was now in was almost twice the size of the president’s body that Bart now possessed.

Jenny hit him hard, and it wasn’t even much of a struggle to push him over the railing.

They both fell through the air. A quick, short free fall three stories down.

Jenny relaxed her body and tried to land upright to take the fall on her legs with a roll to the side to protect her head like she had learned to do in her parkour training classes.

But it didn’t do much good. Jenny’s legs snapped under her before she could get the roll in. Her body basically just flopped to the side. But she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

General Bart lay there unconscious. Jenny just needed a way to contact Al for him to pull her out of the General’s broken body. She half-rolled and half-dragged herself over to paw through his pockets for his cell.

It wasn’t in his pants pockets. Her heart froze for an instant. But she continued searching and felt it in the inside pocket of his coat. She sighed in relief and tugged it out. But when she looked at it, the screen was blank.

Jenny groaned as she tried to turn it back on. It took a few seconds to respond, but the screen finally lit up. She sighed in relief.

The General came to and lay there stunned for a brief second before he let out a spew of curses between the screams of pain and anger. Jenny dialed the number and hit the call button as she rolled away from him.

“Yeah, it’s me. Get me out of here. And put the General back where he belongs.”

General Bart froze for an instant as he realized what she was doing.

“No, leave the president where he is. His body is too far gone. We’ll have to make him a clone.”

“You can’t do that too me,” the General screamed at her. “You can’t put me back in that body. My legs are broken. I’ve been shot.”

Jenny grinned painfully, “You should have thought of that before shooting me. Well, I mean yourself. Or whoever this body belongs to. This is so confusing.”

She closed her eyes and waited for Al to complete the transfer. Jenny grinned at the thought of General Bart waking back up in his own body. The one she had been using.

Jenny started to laugh, but it hurt too much.

“What’s so funny,” he growled.

“Karma, baby. You reap what you sow. Literally, because you shot yourself. How’s that for a taste of your own medicine.”

She felt a strange numbness wash over her. Jenny wasn’t sure if this was from the transfer back to her original self or the sensation of death sweeping over the body she was now in.

“What goes, comes around,” she murmured as she drifted off into the darkness that washed over her.

Thank you for reading this short story. I really appreciate it because they mean a lot to me. They are part of a series of books that I’ve been working on called Edge of the Universe. The main story revolves around a naive Brazilian scientist.

Art develops technology that can splice DNA among living organisms. He hopes to solve major problems like world hunger and curing all diseases. But evil corporations want to get their hands on his project. The first book in the series is called ‘Rise’. You can download and read book 1 on Amazon for FREE >>

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P.S. I write these stories for my English students, so if you are learning English as a Second language and have questions about any vocabulary words or their pronunciations, feel free to ask in the comments below.

0

In The Land Of Giants

Carl walked down the street casually. Not really walking fast. Not really walking slow. He had no specific destination in mind. Nowhere definite to go. Just meandering along. Out and about for an afternoon stroll.

He had time to kill. A lot of it. For now anyway. But it wouldn’t last long. So, he wanted to enjoy it.

It was a good day. He was happy. More than happy, Carl was in love. He had recently met this really cute chic. Sharp-witted. Smart as a dart. Very energetic. Extremely adventurous. Yes, she was single, he had gathered. And to top it all off, he was going to get to see her every day.

There was only one problem. She would be Carl’s boss. Yep. She was going to be ordering him around, and he didn’t know how he felt about that. He wanted to ask her out. During his first interview with her. Tell her that he loved her. Wanted to spend every possible second with her.

But he could foresee a lot of potential problems and pitfalls with that. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to navigate both a professional and private relationship with someone like that. If things didn’t pan out between them, that could really put a damper on a future promotion or even his career.

And if they had problems at work, that could sour their relationship. Carl thought about turning in his resignation right after the first interview. But that would be stupid because he didn’t even know if he stood a chance with her.

However, with the way she made him feel, Carl was almost willing to take the risk to find out. Resign from the job he hadn’t even received yet. And ask her out.

He knew that the company had a strict policy about managers dating their subordinates. And if he read her correctly, he knew that she wouldn’t even accept an invitation for coffee with an employee to avoid any wrong appearances or give herself the chance to be tempted to break that rule.

Carl knew he was probably over exaggerating, but she seemed like the type that took herself seriously. Way too seriously. Completely unlike Carl. He always wanted to find out what the rules were so he could break them.

Rules were made to be broken.

That was his philosophy in life. He lived and died by it. Not because he enjoyed being a rebel, but because he wanted to push back the boundaries. Explore his limits. Find out how to do things faster and better than anyone before him.

Obviously, he was careful to make sure that no one got harmed in the process. Because it wasn’t about trying to prove himself to anyone. It was just that he enjoyed the challenge of pushing himself to see how far he could go. How much he could get done.

Carl knew that would be the most significant source of conflict between him and Hanna. She would be the one making the rules and telling him what to do. But he would always be pushing them back. Playing around with them. He knew that it wouldn’t be long before they had their first run in. Not that he would purposefully try to irritate her, but he knew that it would happen.

He had always irritated his superiors. Even when he got great results that exceeded their expectations. His managers and bosses would still get their panties all up in a wad because he hadn’t done it the ‘right’ way.

Carl didn’t understand why they preferred to follow the company rules and policies instead of striving to become the best they could be. Even if that meant switching things up.

He hated company politics. Always having to play the corporate game. Sucking up to somebody else for a promotion instead of just earning the right to advancement and higher pay based on results and exceeding expectations.

He sighed and shook his head to himself as he stopped at the crosswalk. He waited for traffic to let up or the light to stop them.

Someday, he would start his own company. Then he could make his own rules and policies. He could strive to exceed himself without anyone else trying to push him back down or pull his rug out from under him.

Carl would run his company by giving his employees all the support and free reign they needed to get better than average results. He would only promote and recognize those who were willing to go all out like himself.

He already had some great ideas for different businesses that he wanted to start and companies he hoped to run. But for that, he needed to raise capital. A lot more capital. It wasn’t that he didn’t make good money, just that he often spent more than he made.

That was a habit he needed to break. Not that he planned on downgrading his lifestyle or cutting back on his expenditures. No, he needed to find a way to make a lot more money.

This job was the first step in that direction. Not only was the salary three times more than he had ever made before, but it would allow Carl to get even more training and experience in his field of expertise. As well as open doors to other potential people, positions, and partnerships that had currently been closed to him.

The light turned red. Cars stopped. Carl crossed the street and continued walking as he pondered his options.

No, he needed this job. He was going to take it if they offered it to him. He wasn’t going to turn it down on a whim. He’d still get his chance to sweep Hanna off her feet later.

He had a good feeling about this. He knew he had impressed Hanna and the HR manager. He knew that they were only undecided between him and one other candidate.

Hanna had told him as much at the end of the interview. So, now he just had to wait for her decision.

He just reached the following corner when a man came rushing by and almost rammed into him.

“Hey, watch it, buddy!” Carl shouted after him.

But the man was long gone. He hadn’t stuck around. Much less tried to apologize. Carl shook his head in disgust. People around here could be so rude.

Carl walked on a few more steps before realizing his cell phone was gone. The realization of what had just happened suddenly hit him.

“Argh!” he yelled in frustration.

Several passersby turned to look at him. Others still coming in his direction widened their path to walk out around him and avoid getting near him.

“You okay, dude?” someone asked.

“Someone just stole my phone,” Carl growled. “Bumped into me like he was in hurry. I didn’t even realize it.”

“Sounds like old James. The homeless bum. He’s always around here. Pickpocketing, stealing, you name it. The only thing I haven’t heard anyone complain about is him outright holding someone up.”

Carl thanked him for the information and kept on walking.

“Wait, man. Aren’t you going after him?” the passerby shouted after him. “At least register a complaint down at the precinct.”

“Nah, I got better things to do with my time,” Carl yelled back over his shoulder.

It was an old phone anyway. Time to upgrade to a new one. He spotted a phone store down the street and headed for it.

Just as he got to the door, the same passerby came up behind him.

“Hey,” he said and tapped Carl on the shoulder.

Carl turned around and raised his eyebrow.

“Here’s your phone back.”

“Oh, thanks,” Carl said suspiciously, wondering how the man got it back so quickly and what he would want as a reward.

“Also, here’s a new company phone. Hanna will call you on it in a few minutes.”

Carl took it. The confusion obvious on his face.

“I work at Hanna’s company. I’m a research psychologist. We’ve been following you and analyzing your reactions to different situations that we tossed in your direction to build up a profile on you. Normally, you wouldn’t ever meet me, and you would most likely never know what I was doing. But we’ve had a bit of an emergency and Hanna needs to get in touch with you. So, she asked me to return your phone.”

“Does this mean I got the job?” Carl asked with a grin.

The man shrugged.

“I have no idea. I don’t make those decisions. I just analyze and report my findings in your portfolio. I let the higher ups decide what they want to do with that information.”

“Thanks,” Carl said. “I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

The man smiled.

“Dude, you are so in love. It’s written all over you. Who’s the lucky woman?”

Carl grinned.

“That obvious. Huh? Just someone I met recently.”

“Okay, well, you have a great day. If you get hired, I suppose I’ll see you around. I’ll be doing your onboarding session and preliminary evaluations.”

“Great. I hope to see you again then,” Carl replied enthusiastically.

“Sure, my name is George, by the way,” the man said as he stuck out his hand.

Carl reached out and grabbed it firmly, pulling the man into a warm embrace.

“Wow, I didn’t see that coming in my analysis,” the man exclaimed with a chuckle. “Either you really are in love or you desperately need this job.”

“Probably a bit of both,” Carl admitted awkwardly.

He felt a bit miffed and embarrassed that the man had picked up that much about him in such a short time.

Carl really hoped that was all the man knew. That it wasn’t that obvious that he had fallen for Hanna. He really needed to get it together if he wanted this job. He had to step up his game. Otherwise, he would go back to working in another museum for a measly salary that was barely enough to pay his bills each month.

He loved the work itself and had been grateful for the experience it had provided him. Working as an assistant curator in the Greenvine Museum of Natural History had been interesting. He loved the expeditions and digs. Working with volunteers. Even holding office hours at the local university.

But Carl had outgrown that position and wanted something that paid much better. At first, he tried requesting a promotion, but he was told flat out that there was no chance for growth where he was unless he wanted to wait till the current curator retired or kicked the bucket.

He had spent a few months looking for a new job on the side without luck. Carl grew tired of the wait and put in his resignation. He made looking for a new position with a better salary his full-time job.

That had been three months ago. Carl had come close to getting something, but things had hadn’t panned out. They always paid him some dumb compliment right before letting him down and telling him that they had given the position to someone else.

Carl had been extremely frustrated and ready to throw in the towel when a headhunter had contacted him last week about this opening at Quest Technology Services. He hadn’t found the position very interesting at first, but for lack of other options, he had gone in for the interview just so no one could say that he hadn’t tried.

That was when he had first met Hanna. A brief chat over a cup of coffee before she explained to the group of potential candidates what she would expect of them if they were hired.

He had loved her passion and vision. Carl wanted to work with her and for her. He was sure he would be willing to do just about anything if she asked him personally. He was willing to apply himself diligently and do his best on the tests that the group was required to participate in.

But then when she told the group that the starting wage was a six-figure salary, he was sold. He didn’t care if he had to mop floors to get the job. Carl was determined to convince her that he was the right person for the job. He had slaved over every test and task.

In the end, it had all boiled down to himself and one other candidate. And it had been three days since he had last heard from anyone at the company. These had been the longest, most agonizing days of his life.

And now, Hanna was about to call him. In just a few moments, he would receive the call that had the potential to change his life.

Carl took a deep breath as he walked across the street towards a park in the middle of the city. He sat down on a bench and took several more deep breaths to calm his nerves. The last thing he wanted to do was sound anxious over the phone.

He didn’t have to wait long. The phone started to vibrate, and Carl let it ring a few times before answering it.

“Hello,” he said pleasantly.

“Hey, Carl. It’s Hanna. How are you doing?” she asked.

“Good. I’m doing really good. I have to admit that I’ve been a little anxious waiting for y’all to get back with me.”

“Oh, of course. I understand. That’s a perfectly reasonable way to feel when you’ve worked so hard to compete against so many other people for the same spot. You did really well and impressed us all. We loved your dedication and commitment to the entire process.”

Carl’s heart sank. There it was. The compliment. Right before they stuck the knife in and twisted it for the final kill. As if somehow paying him a compliment helped them feel better about letting him down. He held his breath and waited for her to continue on with rest of the details and ramble on with the blah blah blah.

“We wanted to make a decision sooner. I had scheduled a meeting with the board of directors the day before yesterday for us to go over your profiles and come to a consensus. But unfortunately, we had a huge issue come up that took all of our attention.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you got everything resolved okay,” he muttered despondently, not really meaning it.

He already knew what came next. A few more details about the decision process. Why the chose the person they did. The fact that he had only been discarded for the other person because of one tiny detail. And then the let down.

“So, we went over all the results from the tests and exercises that you finalists went through. It was really close. It was pretty much a tie between the two of you. But we had to make a choice, so in the end, it came down to one tiny thing that made all the difference.”

“And what was that?” he asked.

“Well, you know that we are expanding our network. And the next two countries that we’re targeting both speak Spanish. And since you don’t speak Spanish yet and Juan is fluent, we decided to go with him. But I want you to know that is the only reason we picked him over you. You were a really strong candidate with a lot of great experience under your belt.”

Carl tuned out immediately after that. He heard Hanna rambling on a bit more, but he didn’t listen to a thing she was saying. The sense of bitterness and disappointment was overwhelming. After three months of this frustration, he had had enough. It was more than he could take.

He had thrown himself into this opportunity for the past two weeks. Given it everything he had. Even if Hanna had asked for just a little bit more, he wouldn’t have been able to give it.

Suddenly, the phone went silent, and Carl realized that she had asked him a question and was waiting for an answer.

“I’m sorry, Hanna. I was in a park when you called and someone going by distracted me. I didn’t catch the last thing you said. Could you repeat that for me please.” he said as politely as he could.

All he really wanted to do though was scream and smash the phone into the sidewalk. Carl was ticked. Two weeks of his time that she had wasted. Two weeks that he could have been looking for something else. Two weeks of free work that he had done for her.

And now that nice fat salary that he had been dreaming of and counting on would go to someone else. He felt almost as much anger and hatred for her as almost as great as his love had been for her less than an hour ago.

No, not hatred. But just deep disappointment and regret at letting him get so emotionally involved in his head without any acknowledgment or reciprocation.

Not that it was her fault. He knew that it was completely on him. Carl had never let on how he felt, much less spoken to her about it because he didn’t want that to be something that could be used negatively against him.

So, he couldn’t blame her.

But he had been so sure that she was going to give him the job that he didn’t even consider it. Now, he wondered if it would have changed anything. If he had at least hinted that he cared for her or even given her some indication of how he felt, would that have tugged at her heartstrings? Possibly thrown things in his favor?

Carl wished so badly, that he could go back in time and change things just a little bit. At least try. A second chance. But now it was over.

He realized that she had repeated her question, but he still hadn’t caught it because he had been so deep in thought. So, he just said whatever came to mind.

“Okay, I understand your position, Hanna. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to at least give it a shot. I wish you all the best and your company lots of success.”

Carl figured he was supposed to say something to the effect of congratulating the guy who took his spot as well, but he just wasn’t in the mood.

He was ready to hang up and started to press the button. But then he wondered why George had given him a company phone. What was he supposed to do with it now? Was it a reward for his participation in their training?

Carl looked around for the shrink but didn’t see him anywhere around. Then he remembered about the man telling him that they were still observing him.

Why would they be doing that if they had already made the decision about the other guy who got the spot? Was this still part of the test? Were they still analyzing him and adding his reaction to his portfolio?

A twinge of excitement hit him. Not too much. He was careful not to get his hopes up.

“Carl? Did you hear what I said?” Hanna asked again.

“I’m afraid not,” Carl replied. “I don’t think the connection is very good here. Why did you give me a company phone anyway, if I didn’t get the position?”

“Standard procedure, Carl. We just wanted to make sure we were talking to you on a line that was encrypted at both ends.”

“So, what do I do when it when we wrap up the call? Is George still around?”

“No, Carl. He’s already back at the office. I saw him walk through a minute ago. I guess you really didn’t hear what I was asking you.”

“Sorry, I guess not,” he retorted.

Carl wanted to give her a piece of his mind and tell Hanna that she had given him the hardest bit of news that he had received in his life. But he didn’t. Carl bit his tongue and kept his mouth shut after that.

“I asked you if we could go out for coffee later on this afternoon. I’d love to meet you outside a business setting. You know, employer vs. employee kind of setting. Just to talk about normal people stuff. To get to know you as a person. I have to admit that you really left an impression on me. And you’re kind of cute too. Know what I mean? I kind of got a vibe from you. I think we really clicked. Like we were synchronized. On the same wavelength. I felt like we really hit it off and I wanted to explore it a little. See if there’s something there.” Hanna said quietly, her voice lowering and getting quieter at the end as if she were unsure of herself.

Carl couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was she for real? Rage flooded through his body and his pressure rose to the point where his vision started to black out. He breathed deeply to control his fury.

“Are you there, Carl,” Hanna asked. “I, um, sorry if I read things wrong. Maybe I’m mistaken. If so, that’s okay. Or maybe I’m not mistaken, but you’re upset about us choosing Juan, that’s okay too. I understand. I wish I could have talked to you about this earlier, but I didn’t want to confuse the lines between a personal and professional relationship before we had come to a final decision.”

Hanna’s voice trailed off at the end. She waited for a few seconds to give him time to reply.

“Well, I’m going to be at that little coffee shop at the corner where you and the other candidates would go after the training sessions. I’ll be there from four to five p.m. I hope to see you there.”

Carl wanted to laugh into the phone. What was this woman thinking? That she could just go on like nothing had happened after all of this. He was absolutely furious.

“Well, Hanna, I do appreciate the offer,” he finally said when he got his emotions back under control. “But I’ve got to get back on the wagon here and find another job. I’ve stopped looking after the training sessions started at Quest. So, I need to find something a.s.a.p. Even if it’s just a temporary gig. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I’m gonna be really busy over the next few days. You know. I’m not in a very good place right now. I don’t think I would make for very good company. Perhaps when all of this is over, and I nail something down, then we can do the coffee thing. Okay.”

“Yeah. Sure, Carl. I understand perfectly. I appreciate your honesty. You’re probably right. Things might not have worked out any different anyway. I do this to myself. Set high expectations and then make a stupid mistake and shoot my own hopes down. I hope you aren’t angry about this. I apologize if I said or did anything that upset you or offended you. I just didn’t want to let the opportunity slip by without at least letting you know how I felt.”

Carl grinned to himself at the irony of the entire situation. Not less than ten minutes ago, he would have given anything to hear her say those words. He would have even given up that job position. He had even considered resigning if he thought he had a chance with her.

But now, that it had been snatched away from him, since she had snatched it away, and given it to someone else, everything had changed inside. His perspective of her had completely flipped a hundred and eighty degrees.

Even Carl was shocked at the complete change in his attitude. If someone had told him just twenty-four hours ago, he would have scoffed at the idea. Now, he had no idea what he was capable of doing even to himself if his thoughts, attitudes, and feelings could change so radically in a single moment.

“Thanks, Hanna. That was kind of you. I appreciate your courage and sticking your neck out on the line. I don’t think I would have had the courage to do something that bold.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Don’t mention it. I don’t think it was that bold of a thing to do. I did it mostly for myself. I try to follow my heart which means I can be pretty impetuous at times. But it also tends to get me into trouble.”

“Sure. I hear you. Well, I’m gonna run. I gotta meet up with my brother-in-law. He’s kind of a douchebag, but he’s family you know. So, gotta keep the peace.” he tried to say jokingly to lighten the mood.

“Okay. I’ll let you go then Carl. You take care now. Okay. Give me a call in the next week or so, if you change your mind or find some time to have that coffee.”

“Sure, Hanna. Bye-bye.” he said.

He waited for her to hang up. Carl had always had the impression that it was rude to hang up on someone who had called him. There was a long pause as if Hanna was waiting to hear if he would say something else.

But he held firm. He so wanted to let go of the anger and rage and bitterness. Tell her the truth. Confess that he had been madly and deeply in love with her the entire time. Tell her to wait and give him a few days for his wounded pride to heal.

Carl admitted that it was mostly just his pride that had been hurt. The fact that they had chosen Juan over him. But he didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to tell her how he felt. He liked to nurse his grudges. He didn’t even know why. It was just an old habit of his.

Sit around and brood over the his broken ego and wallow in his own misery. Steep himself in negative thoughts for a week, until he was forced to do something about it. Only now, he didn’t have any time left. His bills were piling up. If he didn’t start making money soon, he was going to be in a real pickle. He was already feeling the effects of his three month cash crunch.

He had complained about his salary before while working at the museum. But at least he had enough to pay his bills and enjoy life. Recently, he didn’t do anything but look for jobs or sit at home. He didn’t go out anywhere with his friends anymore because he didn’t have the money.

But at least he could go work with his brother-in-law. It wasn’t anything fancy. It was just a mowing job in his brother-in-law’s landscaping business. He had offered Carl a bit over the average wage he paid his regular employees just a few weeks back.

Carl had turned him down because he wanted to be free to focus on finding his dream job full-time. But after all this time and no luck yet, Carl knew he should take it. Beggars can’t be choosy, he mumbled to himself.

He stood up and stretched. No time to be lazy. He’d call Carl and start first thing in the morning. He continued walking down the street in the same direction had been headed earlier.

Carl didn’t walk fast. Nor did he walk slow. He still had no specific destination in mind. Nowhere definite to go. Just meandering along. Out and about for an afternoon stroll.

It hadn’t been a good day. He wasn’t happy. Not happy at all. Carl was alone. He had just lost his dream job. Good pay. Great people. Energetic vibe. Intense learning experience. That he could have had, but he didn’t. And to top it all off, he wasn’t going to get to see Hanna any more.

But none of that mattered. He would get a job. Work his tail off. Make some money. Go back to school. Improve his resume. Then he would come back and get an even better job. Rub it all in their face. And if they offered him another, he would turn it down point blank.

Or better yet, he would start one of those business ideas that he had. Maybe they would come begging him for a job in a few years when the market changed. He smiled to himself and hummed a little tune as he walked down the sidewalk. Amongst the hustle and bustle of those who had places to go, things to do, and people to see.

Carl looked around wondering if that old shrink was watching him. Still taking notes. Filling out his portfolio. Analyzing his profile. Feeding them back to some nameless corporation.

He knew he would get his shot. It hadn’t been this time. The experience had been disappointing, but he was still alive. He was on his feet. And he would make a comeback when the time was right.

Carl put his cell phone to his ear.

“Hey, Dora! Is your husband there?”

“Well, listen, when he gets back in tonight, could you let him know that I’d be happy to come work with him tomorrow if he still needs a hand.”

“No, the opportunity didn’t pan out.”

“Yeah. Me too. I’m still pretty bummed out about it. But that’s life. Right?”

“Yep. I’m sure it will. Another opportunity will come around and my number will pop up.”

“Okay. Thanks. I love you too. Bye.”

0

Rooftop Rage

When Igor is invited to his archrival’s party, he knows something is up, but he wants to keep the peace. However, everything goes south when his enemy is killed. And of course, Igor takes the blame.

Now, he has to prove his innocence and stay alive, while protecting those who want to blame him for the crime they think he committed.

Can Igor stay alive long enough to figure out what’s really going on and put a stop to it before it’s too late?

An action-packed thriller you can read in a single sitting with only 12,000 explosive words to solve the crime in 4 short chapters.

Start reading Chapter 1 – Old Dreams now >>>

0

Chapter 1 – Old Dreams

Igor stepped into the room and paused for a moment. He ran his hand down his long, blond beard as he waited patiently for Mr. Romanov to finish a phone call.

The old man spoke quietly, and Igor stayed by the door to give him space for privacy. Waiting for the white-haired, old Russian to acknowledge him.

Igor glanced to the sides to observe the large, bulky security guards standing on either side of the door. He recognized Max Isaev to his left. They had met once before back in the motherland. Igor knew that Max was Mr. Romanov’s right-hand man and headed up his support group.

Max cut a striking figure in his perfectly tailored suit. There was a strange aura about him. However, he would have been quite handsome if his large, bulbous nose didn’t look like it had been broken in 20 different fights.

He didn’t recognize the smaller guard to the right but knew his name was Vladimir Lagunov. Most likely because he handled and headed up Mr. Romanov’s spy group. And Igor had heard through the grapevine that in spite of his smaller frame, he was just as deadly if not more so than Max.

The thing that stood out about Vladimir were his shoes because while everyone else wore shiny, black dress shoes, the fearless bodyguard wore gaudy Gucci shoes that sported large, bright double Gs on each side.

Igor knew the ruthless, old man had made a lot of enemies over the years, but still, two guards seemed a bit of an overkill here in this small, dark room. Something must be up.

He tried to catch their eye and give them a friendly smile to put them at ease, but neither of the burly men acknowledged him or even looked directly at him. He knew that he had their full attention though. Making any sudden, rash moves would prove instantly fatal.

Mr. Romanov finally put down the phone and turned in his chair before standing up stiffly. Igor took a few steps forward and reached out a hand to help him. The old man smiled when he saw Igor and brushed his hand away.

“I’m a bit older than when you last saw me Igor, but not that old yet. I’m just a little sore from working out in the gym today.”

Igor smiled in relief at Mr. Romonov’s wry sense of humor. They hadn’t parted on the best of terms twenty years earlier, and he hadn’t been sure how the old man would greet him.

“It’s good to see you, sir,” he said with a stiff bow as he stuck out his hand to greet the old man.

Mr. Romanov had taken a step forward simultaneously and reached out to hug him. There was an awkward pause as Igor switched from trying to take the old man’s hand to embrace him.

“Come, let us walk. I called you here to talk about something important, but my phone call took longer than I anticipated. Our party is about to start. I must be there to greet my guests.”

Igor turned on his heel and stepped to the side to fall in beside the elderly man who asked how his family was doing and how Igor had fared on his trip as they walked down the long, wood-paneled hall.

They paused before a door, and Mr. Romanov waved the guards on down the hall.

“Listen, Igor. I imagine you are wondering why I asked to talk with you in spite of our past differences. But I want you to know that I hold no grudges for what you did or why. I know you believed you were doing the right thing.”

Igor raised his eyebrows slightly at the old man’s phrasing. He had never known Mr. Romanov to let go of old grudge when he had an ax to grind with someone.

“You are an honorable man, which is why I have requested you to be here now. I need your help with an urgent matter. Please meet me back here at 9:30 p.m. I don’t plan to stay long at the party. Just long enough to greet and mingle with the guests. Then I shall return to attend to these matters. And I should like your help.”

Igor furrowed his eyebrows for a brief moment. This was completely unexpected. He thought he had been invited simply as a formality. He hadn’t even seriously considered coming. Igor’s father had encouraged him to come though to represent the Koslov family.

The second thing that threw Igor off was the fact that the old man referred to him as honorable. He had been anything but when he was younger. Igor knew that he had often acted rashly and impetuously.

Mr. Romonov’s strange request held an ominous tone to it. And he had the most serious look on his face. Igor seemed to read a hint of fear in his eyes. He had no interest in working for the old man again. However, it was best not to turn down the old man without at least hearing him out.

Igor bowed his head in acknowledgment.

“It is your birthday, sir. I will be here as you have asked.”

The old man smiled and reached out to shake Igor’s hand firmly, just as the door opened. It seemed like the old man wanted to say more, but Mr. Romanov’s demeanor changed when he saw who was standing there.

A gorgeous woman in a stunning yellow gown graced the entrance to the room. Igor couldn’t tear his eyes away from her even though he heard Mr. Romanov speaking to him.

“Igor, you remember my daughter, Alexandra? Alexandra, you remember Igor, of course?”

Igor’s breath seemed to catch in his throat, and he couldn’t bring himself to speak for fear of his voice cracking or saying something foolish. He just smiled and nodded as demurely as possible.

“Of course I remember all of your Shestyorka and Bratok wannabe minions,” the woman spat angrily as she scowled at Igor. “Come, Papa. I’ve been waiting for you. You are late to greet your guests.”

Igor’s mind raced. Alexandra had been only a young teenage girl when he quit working for Mr. Romonov. Igor had made a clean break from his past with the old man by requesting to stay in the army after his conscription was up to avoid going back to the Russian mob.

Old man Romanov had been furious when he found out that Igor wouldn’t be coming back into his services. But Igor had made a career for himself in the army until the Romanov’s had fled to America to avoid the gang wars and bloodbath that had ensued over the years.

Igor wondered what the old Romanov would require of him now. He didn’t want any part of it. But it was too late to back out. He was here and would have to wait to see how this played out.

“Yes, I know. I was on the phone with Andrey to finalize the details on our latest venture. Please, show Igor to the main hall and begin greeting our guests for me. I will change quickly and be right there.”

Alexandra’s eyes blazed furiously for a moment as she glanced at Igor, but cooled when she looked back at her father.

“Yes, sir. I will do as you have asked for the sake of our guests but don’t delay. It would not be appropriate,” she said still glowering at Igor.

“That’s my girl,” Mr. Romanov said as he patted her arm and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I won’t be more than five minutes.”

“Come, Mr. Kozlov,” she said as she swept briskly down the hall.

Igor glanced at the old man with a nod and turned to follow her. He had to trot to catch up to her as she was already halfway down the corridor. He tried to think of something intelligent to say, but just as he started to open his mouth, she held up her hand to stop him.

“Please, don’t attempt to flatter me or humor me. I remember very well who you are and what you used to do for my father. Nothing you can do will impress me or put you in a good light. I despise you and everything you stand for in my father’s organization.”

“Even though you benefit from it, and even though I tried to stay away from it,” he said with a wry smile that he knew would irritate her and get under her skin.

“You came back, didn’t you?” she spat back. “Only the grave will cure the hunchback, or as they say here in America, ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.”

“I came only because my father asked me to represent our family, and of course to see you,” he said, trying to make light of the situation.

He could see her attempting to keep a straight face and feign her indigence as they walked down the stairs into the hall.

“Well, you have honored your father’s request and seen me. Now you may go home.”

She swirled off to greet the first group of people gathered nearby and play the perfect hostess.

Igor mosied on over to the bar and ordered a cocktail from the girl making drinks. He glanced at his watch. 8:05 p.m. and the place was already jam-packed with Mr. Romanov’s friends and acquaintances.

The bartender slid a glass in his direction. Igor took it automatically and mumbled his thanks while watching Alexandra across the room. She had stopped near a group of men. One of them had put his arm around her, and she was smiling.

He felt a twinge of jealousy. Igor hadn’t given her much thought over the years. But Alexandra had grown up into a beautiful woman. It almost made him wish that he hadn’t joined the army and had stayed close to home. Not that he would have stood much of a chance by the way she seemed to despise her father’s henchmen.

Igor meandered around the room in the opposite direction in the attempt to meet up with her in the middle while not making it so obvious what he was trying to do.

He paused to greet and chat with a couple of people who seemed open to a conversation. But he kept watching Alexandra the entire time, hoping to catch her eye or get her attention.

She had moved on to another group nearby. Igor made his way past her as if heading somewhere else and acted like had just happened to see her standing there. Alexandra greeted him coldly but was still polite enough to introduce him to the rest of the group.

Alexandra told them that he had been one of her father’s minions back in the motherland. He got mixed reactions over that. Some seemed to be impressed while others frowned at him.

“But he is a rebellious rebel,” Alexandra quipped after a few moments of awkward silence. “He ran away while he could before we came to America.”

The mood in the group shifted immediately. Those who had seemed to respect him only a moment ago, now frowned. While the others who had looked down on him now seemed impressed.

“The end doesn’t always justify the means, does it, Igor?” someone named Denis with ruffled dark hair quipped stiffly as if trying to smooth things over. “I always admire a man who does his own thinking and isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes.”

Igor smiled grimly and nodded politely while trying to mumble something appropriate.

“My dream was always to move to America and become a policeman. I wanted to be a good guy and save people.”

That didn’t seem to help matters any. It just seemed to make everyone all the more tense. Igor wanted to kick himself. That probably was a dumb thing to say in this kind of setting where most of them didn’t care much for Americans, much less those who upheld the law against their mafia relatives.

“It’s because those donuts in the American movies always looked so delicious,” Igor said with a chuckle as it were the punchline to a bad joke.

Better to be frowned on for telling dumb jokes than to get popped off by someone who thought he might turn on them. He glanced at Alexandra, who seemed to be beaming at his awkwardness.

“Is your father okay?” he asked, pointing to his watch. “It’s been 20 minutes already.”

She smiled and waved him off as she turned to another group.

“He’s fine. Just a little slower than usual these days.”

Igor nodded at her as she left. Then he nodded politely to the rest of the group while pointing to his half-empty cocktail glass as if indicating he was going to get a refill.

He dropped off the glass before heading back up the stairs the way he had come with Alexandra. Hopefully, the old man would tell him what he needed right away, and then he could catch the next flight home.

When he got to the top of the stairs and turned the corner down the hall, there was no sign of Max or Vladimir. Igor knocked on Mr. Romanov’s door. He wondered if the men were inside, but there was no answer.

Igor tried the handle, and the door eased open quietly. He jumped to the side in case the trigger-happy bodyguards took a potshot at him for coming in unannounced.

“It’s just me. Igor,” he stated clearly. “Is everything ok in there?”

There was no answer, so he pushed the door open the rest of the way before stepping inside.

“Mr. Romanov!” he called out and took a few more steps into the bedroom.

The room was empty. He knew it wouldn’t look good if someone came in and caught him there, so he turned to leave. But as he walked past the bathroom door, he heard the sound of running water.

He knocked on the door and waited for a second before pushing it open. There was a dark figure standing over the tub who spun around to face him.

“Whoops! I apologize, sir.” Igor started to say until he realized that it wasn’t Mr. Romanov that was looking at him, but someone with a mask on.

The old man was submerged in the bathtub with the masked figure keeping his head under the water. The tub faucet was running, and water was overflowing onto the floor.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Igor shouted.

The masked figure continued pushing Mr. Romanov’s head under the water. Igor rushed forward to save Mr. Romanov, but he slipped and skidded on the slippery wet floor.

He managed to get his hands on the masked figure and push him away from the tub with his left hand. He swung a right jab at the mask and managed to connect. But he was too off-balance for it to be very effective.

The masked man was slim and wiry. A slippery little dude that managed to wiggle out of his hold. He bent down and rammed into Igor with his shoulder as he ran on by. Igor turned to follow, but he slipped again, and this time wasn’t able to keep himself upright.

Igor felt his feet slide out from under him and his head came down hard on the cold, wet linoleum flooring.

Continue Reading Chapter 2 – Death Tub >>>