Olento Research Series Boxed Set: A Paranormal Science Fiction Thriller

by Sarah Noffke

  “I think you were right. I was keeping Ren alive by trying to be him,” Adelaide said, hoping Connor wasn’t the gloating type. He only stared at her, seeming to wait for her to continue. “Ren visited me when I was stuck on how to teleport.”

  “What? No way,” Connor said.

  “I promise. I’m not making it up. He told me to go and see Trey,” Adelaide said in a rush.

  “Uh-huh,” Connor said, doubt heavy in his voice.

  “Anyway, Trey did help me, although I haven’t had a chance to practice. But when Ren visited me—well, he left me a strange clue—I realized he wasn’t really gone and therefore I was safe to be myself, which is similar to him, but it’s also different. Anyway, it’s not closure, but maybe it’s the beginning of it. Because how do you get over a man who isn’t gone? How do you grieve someone who lives?”

  “That is a conundrum,” Connor said, scratching his hair, which was extra chaotic today, sticking straight up. “But what if he really isn’t dead? What if you misread the clues?”

  “Well, I didn’t, but still, he told me to see Trey and I did,” Adelaide said. Of course no one would believe that she saw clues left by her father. Well, Trey and Pops… and Lucien.

  “And did that help?”

  “I don’t know. He told me that I had to believe I could teleport before it would work and that was the biggest obstacle,” Adelaide.

  “Do you believe you can?” Connor asked.

  “I know it’s possible. I’ve seen my father do it, but me doing it is a whole different story, so I guess I don’t,” Adelaide said.

  “You can’t believe in yourself, but you believe that Ren is visiting you from another realm, like a ghost?” Connor said, shaking his head.

  Adelaide shook her head also, but because he was being a skeptical asshole. “I don’t need you to believe me,” she said, turning and stalking off. She was right too. For once she needed to stop relying on others to give her permission. Adelaide could teleport. She would. And she didn’t care if Connor thought she was a nutter for thinking Ren was visiting her. He could fuck off, although she didn’t really want him to. But still, she didn’t need his approval. Or anyone else’s for once.

  “Hey, Addy,” Connor called at her back, taking a step in her direction. She turned, sharpening her eyes at him. He paused and then two feet in front of him a book slid out of the shelf all on its own. It continued to move until it spilled over the side of the shelf, like pulled by an invisible string.

  “Kris? Was that you?” Connor said, waving his hands in the area where the invisible woman would be standing if she were there. She wasn’t, though, and Adelaide knew that.

  She kneeled and picked up the book. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. She smiled at the book, knowing how her father worked. Handing it to Connor, she said, “Have you read this? It’s a classic ghost story, but you don’t believe in such things, do you?” Adelaide then turned, enjoying the look of awe she’d just witnessed in Connor’s eyes. Thanks, Dad, she said, in her mind, feeling victorious.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “The body needs the mind and the mind needs the body. The two weren’t meant to exist without each other.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  The metal box vibrated before the top, above Rox’s head, unsealed. She sucked in the cool, fresh air that spilled into the compartment. Of course the box opens on the top. She’d been banging on the front the whole time. The girl clambered for the exit only to find her body slide forward on the bottom of the box. It was like the entire metal compartment had come apart and was transporting her…into another small space. Fuck! The metal of the bottom of the box slid her into an MRI machine. No! No! No! She couldn’t have an MRI scan. That experience would end her. She’d explode from the stress. Her heart couldn’t take it.

  “You didn’t think that we’d allow you out of the box, even for testing purposes, did you?” she heard the voice of Mika Lenna echo through a speaker.

  With fists that should be bruised she banged against the machine, the metal rattling all around her. Making her think she’d go deaf from the experience.

  “Now, that’s not going to work at all,” Mika said as the metal at her back slid back down, away. Rox almost made for the exit of the MRI machine when the lid of box fell back into place, blocking any way for her to get out of the tube. The space around her head was blocked too. Again she was trapped.

  “Let me out of here, you fucking sadistic motherfucker!” Rox screamed, rattling the machine around her.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” Mika said, his voice calm and full of his own brand of fucking narcissism. “If you are very still while we take a few scans then I’ll agree to lock you in a cell instead of the box. The cell will still be small and you won’t be offered any food or water, but you’ll still be out of the tiny box.”

  “How fucking kind of you,” Rox yelled.

  “I am known for my humanitarian acts,” he said.

  “What if I don’t remain still?” Rox said.

  “Then you’ll die in that machine,” Mika said. “The choice is entirely yours.”

  “The Lucidites are going to fuck you up in so many directions. You’ll rot in their prison and then I’ll visit you every fucking day, rubbing your nose in the fact that your long Dream Traveler life will be spent in a cell and with a fucking metal helmet on your psycho head,” Rox said, her throat cracking. She was dehydrated. Her head ached, but it wasn’t worse than the panic that crowded her chest every time she opened her eyes to find blackness and realize she was trapped in a tiny space.

  “My clairvoyants don’t see that as a possibility,” Mika said. “They see me winning.”

  “I didn’t know they saw that,” another voice said, one with a German accent.

  “Shut up,” Mika said, his voice quieter.

  “Fine,” Rox said. “I’ll be still, but I want bamboo sheets on the bed in my cell.”

  “Oh, that’s cute. You think we’re going to give you a bed,” Mika said.

  No, Rox didn’t want to be compliant, but a small cell was better than being locked in this MRI machine, or worse, in the metal box where air was limited. She pressed her hands to her sides as the machine started to fire, one loud noise after another. Aiden had asked to put her through an MRI for studying purposes and she’d refused, not thinking it possible that she could spend any amount of time in the machine, even to help the Lucidites. Now she was locked in this tube and giving Mika information he’d use for his own benefit. Fuck! She needed to get out of here! Not just out of Olento Research, but out of this machine. She’d die here soon. One doesn’t just get over childhood trauma. No, the mind is too strong for that. And every second spent in the small space was robbing Rox of the courage she’d carefully built up all her life. The panic would kill her. This was her end. If she didn’t get out soon then her heart would give out. She’d die from the fear. It would be her undoing. She sucked in a breath and let out a scream just as a strange gas filled the tube.

  “Breathe in the gas. It will give you brain damage, but I’m only using it to make you pass out for safe transporting. I’m a man of my word,” Mika said over the speaker.

  Rox slammed her mouth shut. She didn’t want to breathe in the gas. Not if it could cause damage. And if she could just pretend to pass out that would be the best option. Then she could fight her way out of Olento. But the lack of oxygen won her over and she opened her mouth, sucking in the noxious fumes.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “The elements can be felt in the dreamscape, but they aren’t actually experienced. One cannot receive a sunburn from spending all day in the sun while dream traveling.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  “Kris, you have to sneak into Olento Research and fix the surveillance cameras,” Zephyr said, having taken the position at the front of the conference room that Adelaide usually occupied. She sat in the chair closest to him, noting how calm he appeared when she knew he was fighting to keep that
look of composure. Rox being taken had shaken everyone, making them all realize how cruel Mika could be. That could have been her or Connor or any of them. And Mika had planned this, planting the net for Rox, probably knowing that she couldn’t be harmed otherwise.

  “No can do,” Kris said, flickering into her visible form. They all knew she was there before because she had announced her presence when entering the room. “I don’t know what duct work Rox meant, but I don’t know how to get into them.”

  “We need a way to fix the cameras, and the infrared will sense you immediately,” Zephyr said, now pacing.

  “I’ll do it,” Adelaide said, drawing out the words like she was being put out by assigning herself to the task. She felt Connor’s gaze swivel to her.

  “How?” Zephyr said. “Using mind control?”

  Adelaide shook her head, her face filled with a look that said, “No, dumbass.”

  “Well, hypnosis?” Zephyr guessed again.

  “None of those strategies would work on Mika and they also can’t be done on a mass of people. Remember, we want to go undetected until the other weres are caught,” Adelaide said.

  “You haven’t mastered that skill yet,” Connor said, leaning over and whispering loudly in Adelaide’s ear. He was a horrible whisperer obviously.

  “Mastered what?” Zephyr said.

  Yes, whisper in a room full of werewolves with super hearing, smart thinking, Connor.

  “Teleporting. And no, I haven’t mastered it, but I will,” Adelaide said. This was what she needed. She needed a reason that was supremely important. She needed to be who everyone depended on for this plan to work. Then she couldn’t fail.

  “What? Is that a skill of yours?” Zephyr said.

  “It will be. Then I’ll teleport into the security room when the guard is on break and fix the cameras,” Adelaide said.

  “What if it doesn’t work?” Zephyr questioned.

  “You know what, Negative Nancy, that’s not how I operate. I’m a woman who acts as if success is inevitable. You should try it because it is always the belief that we can that precedes anything actually happening,” Adelaide said, reciting the words she’d read from her father’s book that morning. She’d actually read his entire book now, or at least no new pages were revealing themselves to her anymore. And maybe one day they would, but she knew the secrets of this world and that was enough. Actually, Adelaide knew the meaning of life now and she smiled presently at the simplicity of it all.

  “Fine, but I’m creating a backup plan just in case,” Zephyr said.

  “And I’m kicking your ass out of the Institute when this is all over. You’ve been stinking it up long enough with your wet dog smell,” Adelaide said.

  “Okay, now have the rest of you completed wolf integration?” Zephyr asked Rio, Clay, and Kaleb, who sat opposite of Adelaide.

  “Yes, we—”

  “Words are cheap, Earth Mover,” Kaleb said, cutting Clay off. Then he snapped his fingers and shifted before everyone’s eyes into his werewolf form. “Have I mentioned how flipping cool it is to be this creature?”

  Rio winked at him, shifting into his werewolf form. His black eyes glowed across the table at Adelaide, but she didn’t tense like she did when Connor shifted the first time, that morning. These werewolves were different now. The way their eyes shone felt human, although the fangs and claws sought to contradict that. But still, Connor had opened his mouth and said the one set of words she needed to hear. “I won’t hurt you. I’m completely in control,” he said, his voice raspy.

  She believed him immediately, but still she extended her hand to him. Knowing what she intended, Connor laid his hand covered in reddish fur in hers. It was strange to touch him in that form, but stranger was the voice that filled her head when they touched. It was the voice of the wolf. “I won’t hurt you. You’re under the protection of my master,” the wolf said clearly in her head.

  “Very good,” Zephyr said now. “Be careful, though, shifting back and forth can be taxing.”

  “Yes, but you did tell us to practice, Silver Streak,” Kaleb said.

  “I did and that’s because I wanted you to be able to do it in the most stressful of situations. It will be crucial for escaping Olento Research,” Zephyr said. “And also, if you become intimately familiar with the shift then you’ll learn how to do something that Connor and I figured out last night.”

  “Oh, this sounds like it got cooler,” Kaleb said, his eyes shining bright.

  “It absolutely did,” Connor said, tossing his head back at Kaleb.

  “Connor had the theory that the werewolf is the middle point for the wolf and the man. It goes from that form to the extreme of man, but then that means there’s another extreme that we missed,” Zephyr said, threading his hands into the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head to reveal his chest, which even made Adelaide blush at first sight. He was all muscle, cut in all the right places and wearing a tan that made the pale-skinned redhead angry with jealousy.

  “Damn, Rox should really be here right now,” Kris said, turning invisible.

  Zephyr yanked off his belt and kicked off his shoes, not paying attention to Kris’s remark.

  “Whoa now, Wolfy, I think we’ve seen enough,” Adelaide said, covering her eyes with her hands.

  “Relax. He won’t take off any more. This much unclothing just makes it easier,” Connor said. “Nice blush effect though.”

  “Shut it,” Adelaide said, pulling her hands away from her face.

  Before her Zephyr shifted to his werewolf form, the silver and black fur shooting into place at once. But it didn’t stop there. He shrunk suddenly, his pants dropping to the ground. And then staring out at the group was a silver wolf, its gray eyes blinking back at them.

  “That’s totally rad!” Kaleb said, bolting to a standing position.

  “Hell yes!” Rio said, still in his werewolf form. “I need to learn how to do that!”

  Zephyr answered with a long and loud howl.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Hunger and thirst aren’t factors in the dreamscape.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Lying his head on his arm, resting on the workstation, Drake snored, deep in sleep. Mika marched into the lab and slammed his palm down, using both his super speed and force. The metal table buckled under his force, denting deeply. Drake startled to a seated position, his eyes popping open with alarm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Mika asked, fire in his voice.

  “I fell asleep, sir,” Drake stammered. “I’ve been working so many hours. I must have passed out.”

  Drake didn’t look like a man too exhausted to keep his head up. Actually, the old scientist looked better than he had in a long while, some of the wrinkles not as pronounced around his eyes. “You’re lying,” Mika said with a hiss.

  “Why would I lie about that? You’ve just caught me sleeping on the job,” Drake said, standing and slipping his hand into his pants pocket, keys jingling as he did. He turned, trudging for one of the locked rooms on the far wall.

  “Did you convert yourself to a Dream Traveler?” Mika said, knowing this had to be the case. Drake would have the capabilities to turn off the technology that prevented dream traveling inside of Olento Research. It all added up, but it didn’t explain everything, which he would learn now.

  Drake froze, the muscles of his back flexing with a new stress. He turned his head over his shoulder and gave a false smile at Mika. “You know I’d never do that, sir,” he said, his voice singsong. Yes, he was definitely up to something. “Now, I wanted to show you what I’ve been working on.” He turned back for the door, sliding a key into the lock. “I had Dream Travelers abducted, as you asked for. The first few showed the most progress of any of the subjects in Project Vampyyri thus far. However, they all eventually died from various complications. However, I figured out a key factor I was missing before and injected this subject with the serum.” Drake swung the door open to reveal
a man chained to a metal bench. He was in his early twenties, his short black hair stuck up around his head. The man lifted his chin until his brown eyes were staring straight at Mika. The glow of his pale skin was a contrast to the dark room, which was absent of any light. The man’s expression remained neutral as he stared across the space, his elbows resting on his knees.

  “So he survived?” Mika said.

  “Not just survived, but he’s shown incredible progress,” Drake said.

  “Super powers? Strength? Anything we can use?” Mika asked.

  Drake toggled his head. “No, nothing like that, but it could come later, if the alien blood doesn’t overpower his system like it did with the other subjects,” he said.

  “You don’t understand what progress means,” Mika said, feeling the anger in him take the reins. He needed to hit something. The adrenaline in him needed out. It had been like this ever since he’d given himself super strength. However, the changes to his mental awareness started when Drake gave him increased speed.

  “How old do you think this gentleman is?” Drake asked.

  Mika studied the face that was watching him, a calm expression on the man’s face. He couldn’t access his thoughts, but that was fine because Mika was a master at telling things about people. “I’d say he’s twenty-two, born in the winter. He’s had orthodontics, judging by the shape of his mouth. And he’s not wearing contacts and has no visible scars or freckles and a body mass index to impress,” Mika said.

  “Very good observation. He actually was sixty-two before the injection. And furthermore, he was far-sighted, had a few age spots and crooked teeth. However, after the injection, this morning I opened his cell to find this person,” Drake said, his eyes actually fondly studying the man before him.

  “That is impressive,” Mika said, shutting the door, not okay with the strange expression the man in chains was giving him. It was a knowing look, like he could read Mika’s thoughts, feel his emotions. That would be in line with the Arcturian race. “If he is taking on the traits of the alien then we must be careful until he’s trained. This man could overpower us all.”