Wills and Maggie shouted at her as she ran by, but she gave no notice. It only took a second, but Neil’s situation had gone from bad to terrible.
“I’m gonna need help here,” he pleaded with the others. Mallory closed in from the left while Rachel blocked his exit to the right. “Guys? You have to stop them before…”
“Before what?” Mallory sneered.
“Before we expose you for the coward you really are?”
“Or the pervert.”
The only hope of escape he had was behind him. If he could somehow pull himself up and over the staircase banister, he might have half a chance to get away.
“Please…”
His last plea was met with another dark chuckle. Ian hovered just behind Mallory in the kitchen. Wills and Maggie lurked in the shadows behind Rachel. He didn’t know if he was physically capable of extracting himself from between the two women, but there was no other choice.
He jumped and turned with one motion, scrambling for purchase on the railing above his head. There was a narrow space between the ceiling the rail, just enough for him to fit through. With a surge of joy, he grasped the top of the railing and tried to pull himself up. Neil had never done a pull-up in his life, but the adrenaline and fear lifted him straight up like it was nothing.
But the moment he moved, they moved. Both women lunged at whatever they could grab. Rachel snared his knee while Mallory hung herself off his shoulder. A harsh grunt escaped his throat as he tried to hang on, grip slipping with the added weight. The hallway filled with shouts from the others as they rushed in to pull the women off. His fingers slipped and without a chance to catch himself, they pulled him to the floor.
Neil’s chin bounced off the hardwood. Stars splashed across his vision but were quickly scrubbed clean with a fresh wave of pain. Mallory grabbed the hair at the back of his head and wrenched him back as far as his neck would allow. Rachel dug her fingers into the waist of his jeans, pulling him away. For the briefest moment, a vivid image of the two of them tearing him in half flashed through his mind. With a scream, an unknown force tore her away.
Ian let out a wild cry. A sickening crack followed and Mallory slumped to the floor at his side.
Surprised to be free, Neil pushed himself back. His right hand slipped on a slick stream of blood already oozing from the wound on the back of Mallory’s head. Her eyes were open, dark, moving ever so slightly. Ian stood over her, chest heaving. The cast iron skillet fell from his hand, denting the floor.
The sound of the impact echoed in his head. With a dull acceptance, he knew she was never getting up again.
There was no time to catch his breath. Wills needed help. Even though he was twice her size, she was threatening to overpower him with her supernatural strength.
“Get her legs!” He screamed as he shoved past Wills and dove for her hands.
All he wanted to do was restrain her, keep her from hurting anyone else. If they could keep her under control until the attack stopped, maybe she would go back to normal. She bucked and writhed under his hands. Wills grip loosened enough she was able to buck him off. Neil tried to slam his knees on her shoulders, but she moved at the last second. His right shin came down across her neck, pinning her in place.
The veins on her forehead stood out as her face turned from pink to red to purple. She clawed at his leg, her sharp nails leaving bloody tracks down his skin. The further he craned to keep his face away from her grasp, the more pressure he put on his leg.
Rachel’s black eyes bulged from their sockets, rolling back, searching for escape or help. He looked away, slapping her weakening blows with her peripheral vision. He was finally able to grab her wrists and stop any further attack. Seconds, minutes, he didn’t know how long he sat on top of her. Only when Wills muttered his name, did he look down.
“Jesus, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He gagged as her limp hands fell to the floor. A dark purple bruise bloomed across her throat. He scrambled over her corpse and threw up in the corner.
Crying. Ragged breathing. Music still faintly playing in the background.
Neil stood on rubbery legs and inched around Rachel’s head, legs, making his way to Mallory. He didn’t need to touch her to know she was already gone, but he did anyway. With a cautious distance, he checked for a pulse at her wrist and then her neck.
Ian crouched nearby, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, but she was… I only wanted to…”
Neil felt like his stomach was going to empty again. It clenched, acid climbing his throat, but he held it back. He held up a hand to Ian, hoping the gesture was enough to reassure him he wasn’t to blame.
The danger subdued, they stumbled away from the hall into the living room. A deep weariness settled into his bones, despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins. There was no denying this was their new reality.
“What the hell was that?” Ian muttered rhetorically.
“I did it. It was me. It was my fault,” Maggie sobbed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Wills screeched, pacing behind the sofa, ready to run.
“The message. You told me not to open it and now look what I’ve done!” With makeup running down her face, she hurled her cuff across the room, landing in the darkness outside.
Ian’s futile attempts to comfort her faded into the background noise, somewhere between the playlist still running and Wills increasingly panicked muttering.
As Neil sat on the floor struggling to keep himself from tumbling into a full-blown panic attack, he couldn’t stop staring at his blood-stained hands. It’d happened so fast. There was no warning. And all those horrible things they’d said…
“It could’ve been us. We looked at the site. It could’ve opened something and we didn’t realize.”
“But I was the one who opened that too!” she wailed.
The music cut out. He expected his view to be interrupted as well with a fresh power outage. Instead, the now-familiar emergency tone reverberated through the house.
They looked at each other with a numb, muted horror.
“This is an urgent message from the Emergency Broadcast system. A state of emergency has been declared in all areas.”
He vaguely noticed the slight change. Up until that point, they’d taken the time to rattle off each and every county. Now, the world had turned to such shit, they didn’t bother.
“Due to terrorist activity in your area, officials have recommended all listeners shelter in place until further notice. The New York State Governor along with the President of the United States have declared martial law will go into effect at dawn. To repeat, listeners are advised to—”
The broadcast cut out mid-sentence. The four remaining survivors stared at each other.
Wills grabbed the sides of his head, looking like someone three-quarters of the way to losing his mind. “That’s not a good sign. That’s really, really not fucking good.”
Neil glanced to the shared wall between the living room and hall. “No. It’s definitely not.”
Author’s Notes
Just a quick note this time!
I’m having a blast writing this story. Really. So much so, I’m finding myself living in the world longer than I should. The action is picking up. Things are burning. Millions
Kristine, Penelope, Neil and the others don’t know it, but the climb up the first hill of the rollercoaster is done. The cable is about to disconnect and maybe all they’ll be able to do is hold on.
Keep an eye out for Arienne and Randall’s novella. They’re caught up in the middle of all this, clueless and trying to survive.
I need your help!
I’m working tirelessly to get the next section out to you. If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, be sure to sign up to my newsletter.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to leave a review, now would be a fabulous time. All it takes is a simple star rating and “This book was great!” “I can’t wait for the next on
e!” It isn’t a graded book report, so don’t stress :)
US - STASIS Part 1: Beta
US - STASIS Part 2: Iterate
US - STASIS Part 3: Restart
UK - STASIS Part 1: Beta
UK - STASIS Part 2: Iterate
UK - STASIS Part 3: Restart
Finally, THANK YOU so much for reading! There’s an unbelievable amount of choice out there and I’m humbled and happy you continue to choose my work. Thank you.
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STASIS: Part 3: Restart Page 25