Warren climbed the stairs to the second floor and found Isaac’s apartment. He turned the knob, then tried to open the door, but found it locked, of course. What had he expected? Did he think he would show up, knock on the door, and Isaac would explain how the whole thing had been a misunderstanding? He rammed the side of his body into the door a few times, more out of frustration than anything. The door looked sturdy and probably had at least one solid lock. Warren might resemble Superman a little, but he couldn’t break down doors.
“Are you Warren?” A small redheaded girl stood in the doorway of the neighboring apartment. Her petite stature and pink pajama pants made her look about fourteen years old, but most likely she attended Pike University, too.
“Do you know me?” Warren asked.
“I know Isaac has a brother named Warren. And you have to be his brother. You look just like him.”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m Jessica. I go to school with Isaac.”
“Are you friends with him?” Warren had found Isaac’s first friend, and a female to boot—a historic moment.
“I suppose. We’ve worked on group projects together.”
“Do you have a key to his apartment?”
“No. Why? Where is he?”
Warren didn’t want to say the words out loud. He stared at her awkwardly for a moment before responding. “He’s missing. We think he may have been kidnapped.”
Her mouth parted in shock. “Kidnapped? Are you serious? I saw him yesterday.”
“I’m trying to find out any information about what might have happened. Could I talk to you for a minute?”
She glanced inside her apartment, and then back at him warily. He didn’t blame her. He had not slept, had drunk enough caffeine to get an elephant wired, and just tried to knock down a door. Maybe those girls downstairs had seen the bogeyman.
“You don’t have to invite me in if you don’t want to,” Warren said.
“It’s okay. My roommates are home.”
The inside of the apartment matched the girl. Stuffed animals littered the couch and it smelled like a day spa.
“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked politely.
Tired and strung out on caffeine, Warren couldn’t even tell if he was thirsty.
“No, thanks.” He sank into the plush, white couch. “You’re from the U.S., too, aren’t you?” Warren asked.
“How did you know?”
Warren shrugged. “You’ve just have a lot of nice stuff.”
“I’m from Duluth, Minnesota. I came here for their robotics program. They don’t have anything comparable in the U.S. And I don’t know what makes you think they don’t have nice stuff in the Empire. They have all the same stores. They have more stores, in fact. Fewer tax laws, although a lot of that is changing, of course.”
“You’re studying robotics?” Warren didn’t know science geeks came in such a fluffy, pink variety.
She nodded.
“Isaac came here for the genetics program,” Warren said. “They don’t have as many regulations on human genetic manipulation, or whatever.”
“Yeah.” She chuckled to herself, like she thought of a private joke. “I want to help,” Jessica said. “I know you are close with your brother. He doesn’t talk much, but he mentioned you to me a few times.”
“Do you know of anyone who wanted to hurt him?”
“I barely know anyone who knows him, let alone wants to hurt him.”
Warren rubbed his forehead absent-mindedly. The tiredness hit him like a wave and he wanted to lie down and sleep right there on her couch.
“But something strange did happen,” she continued. “Last night, I talked to Isaac. He actually called me, which he never does. I went over to his apartment, and he was really sick. He could barely make it to the door to let me in. He thought that maybe I should take him to the hospital.”
“Why didn’t you?” Warren couldn’t conceal a touch of anger in his voice.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I should have. But he changed his mind. Decided he was just having a panic attack.”
“What was wrong with him?’
“I don’t know. He just kept saying he felt funny. He said something about adrenaline and his skin burning, but mostly he just kept saying he felt funny. He had turned off all the lights and electronics in his apartment. It was dark and he … scared me a little, so I left.”
“Do you think it was a panic attack?” Panic attacks didn’t seem completely out of character. At sixteen, Isaac lived alone and went to college in a strange place. He could have cracked up a little.
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. What does a person feel like when they have a panic attack?”
“I’m no expert. But, maybe short of breath, fast heartbeat … panicky.”
“No, I mean, how do they feel to someone else? What does their skin feel like?”
“What do you mean?”
“I grabbed his hand to help him up. His hand felt really hot.”
“You mean he had a fever?”
“No. It was hot, but it was more than that. His hand vibrated. And touching him made my heart beat fast, too, and the hairs on my arm stood on end.”
Sharon Bayliss lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and children. She hates wearing shoes and loves jogging in the rain. She only practices magic in emergencies.
She is also the author of the young adult science fiction novel, The Charge.
You can connect with her at www.sharonbayliss.com, www.facebook.com/authorsharonbayliss, and @SharonBayliss on Twitter.
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Please visit http://curiosityquills.com/reader-survey/ to share your reading experience with the author of this book!
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Medical-school-dropout police detective Richelle Dadd is… well, dead.
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It’s a good thing her deductive skills - and her aim - are still up to par.
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Magic is nothing like it seems in children’s books. It’s dark and bloody and sexual—and requires its own semi-mythical branch of the US Federal Government to safeguard citizens against ever present supernatural threats.
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<
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An ancient box is found, and its mysterious occupants released. They seem benign, the small, floating creatures freed from the box… until they begin multiplying. Until Guy, Saul, Emily, and her ten-year old twins find themselves sucked into a whirlpool of terror. For the pretty little floaters have bonded them, and are taking something from them… and giving back something even more dangerous.
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Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Quote
Main Course:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Epilogue
Dessert:
Acknowledgements
A Taste of The Charge, by Sharon Bayliss
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
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