Spider

by T E kessler

  Harry had righted himself and tried to push himself in between Yash and Beth. Yash backhanded Harry who fell sprawling to the ground. Yash’s black gaze hadn’t left Beth’s face as he continued to hold her by the throat.

  ‘Bully,’ Beth said. One word and Yash opened his hand and let her go. He continued looking down at her, and she stared up at him. There was something on his face that she couldn’t identify, but it looked like respect. Then the look was gone and in its place was his usual smirk.

  ‘Yash, enough with your playthings, we need to move Al now,’ a deep voice said behind them, breaking their eye contact.

  Yash looked around at the other Jelvia. He was coming back through the door; Beth hadn’t realised he’d left them. Harry stood up, swaying slightly, with blood running from his nose.

  Yash shoved his hands into his pockets and brought out a tangle of keys. He threw them at Harry, the impact almost knocking him over again. Then Yash aimed a remote control at the door, and a small red light changed to green.

  ‘Get the fuck out of my house,’ Yash said.

  Harry grabbed the thrown car keys, then pulled Beth towards the door as Yash yelled again for them to leave. Harry slid open the heavy glass door.

  ‘Remember to thank your benefactor,’ Yash shouted as they ran from the house.

  Harry stopped, almost as if he’d been shot, and Beth was jerked on the end of his arm. He turned to face the open doorway.

  ‘Benefactor?’

  With a smirk, Yash stepped forward to close the sliding door.

  ‘Come on,’ Beth said, tugging at Harry’s arm.

  Harry turned, and they ran, Harry ‘ouch’ing, jumping, and stumbling on the gravel path as stones bit into his bare feet. The night had brought in a frost, and the sparse trees were white.

  Harry pulled Beth over to the whitened grass, where it was less painful for his feet, and they hurried as quickly as they could towards the steel gates, which opened as they approached. Harry and Beth stepped out into the residential street of Keats Avenue.

  The houses were large along the street, with long, tapering driveways, but none were as big, or as imposing, as the house they’d just come from.

  ‘Where’d you park?’ Beth asked, her breath fogging around her head.

  Harry pointed along Keats Avenue. His face looked white, and the tip of his nose had gone from red to white. His shivers were violent, and he couldn’t form the words to speak. Up ahead, Beth noticed Harry’s silver Merc. As they neared, Harry directed the key fob and opened the door. Inside, he started the engine and put the heat on full blast, then he reached around and fumbled on the backseat for a large black coat. He began to cover Beth with it, but she shoved it back at him. In the end, they huddled together beneath the coat, their arms around each other, warming one another as the car slowly heated up.

  ‘What did he mean by “benefactor”?’ Beth asked, but she already knew.

  Harry pushed the coat onto her and set the car into motion. ‘James,’ he said. ‘I need to call him to find out what he’s done.’

  ‘My phone’s in my car,’ she said.

  Harry nodded. ‘You’ll have to give me directions.’

  ◆◆◆

  They sat in Harry’s car, alongside Beth’s, in the Range’s carpark as Harry punched James’ phone number into her mobile while Beth chewed on a nail anxiously.

  ‘James?’ asked Harry into the phone. He reached over and grabbed Beth’s hand, grinning at her. She grinned back, tears in her eyes at the relief on his face from finding his uncle alive.

  ‘Hi, Harry. Good to hear your voice,’ James said on speakerphone. ‘I hope Yash didn’t rough you up too much. They have to believe they’re in charge, you see.’ He sounded unbelievably cheerful. His accent was pure Cockney. ‘How’s Beth?’

  Beth leaned over the phone. ‘I’m fine. Thanks, James. I don’t know how you made Yash change his mind, but… thanks.’ She didn’t know what else to say. She went back to biting her nails.

  ‘James, what have you done to get them to let us go?’ asked Harry.

  ‘I’ve told them where I am.’

  ‘They’ll kill you!’

  ‘Oh, that’s for definite, and I’m ready for them. To be honest, I died the day Leigh died. I just needed to stay alive to show the truth of the Jelvias to the world.’

  ‘And what’s the truth?’

  ‘No,’ said James. ‘You and Beth live your lives, keep your heads down, stay away from Jelvias, and be happy. Oh, and Beth? No more talking to Macy or Courtney. Disconnect from them completely.’

  ‘I...’ Beth looked wildly at Harry.

  ‘One thing,’ Harry said quickly, as if he was afraid his uncle was about to hang up. ‘Are you responsible for any of those protesters?’

  ‘Why do you ask? Are you, er, waking up?’

  Harry glanced at Beth. ‘Yeah. This morning I woke up feeling as if my mind had been purged. The memories of, er, Jelvias, are gone. I… I don’t know what to do. What shall I do?’

  ‘I told you. Nothing.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Just know one thing: You can’t “wake” people up yourself. That’s one thing only they can do themselves.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Harry. He was looking straight at Beth as he spoke.

  ‘Also,’ James continued, ‘the Jelvias are still asleep.’

  ‘They don’t know?’ asked Harry.

  ‘No. Not until I tell them and I will—when they find me.’ He clicked off, leaving Beth staring at Harry as he turned to stare out of the window.

  ‘What was that about?’ she asked.

  The pause from Harry was lengthy, then he turned to her with a smile. He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth.

  ‘Nothing, my sweet. Let’s go home.’

  The End.

  JELVIA: NOT HUMAN

  backstory

  HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO (1)

  SURVIVING HER DOMINANT (2)

  SPIDER (3)

  Imagine a world where humans aren’t the supreme being. But it’s still the 21st century. We still go out to work, enjoy vacations and watch Netflix on the TV.

  But in this world, living alongside us is a species that is disease resistant, stronger, larger, venomous—in short, superhuman. But they aren’t human. They are Jelvias and they are known for their necessity to kill.

  Ordinary Jelvian citizens are said to live a peaceful life on islands dotted around the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The need to kill doesn’t extend to them.

  Wardens are trained to use their venom effectively and follow the orders of the Swards who dictate which humans die and which live. It keeps good humans alive, and so far, Jelvias and humans can live in peace together—albeit a hopeless one for humankind. In Jelvian culture, it is forbidden to disobey, or even discuss, the committee, a faceless controller of all Jelvias.

  Where once the (lack of) timeline of the Jelvia was just a conspiracy theory limited to fringe audiences, it is becoming apparent that more of us are now asking questions instead of accepting, but while some of us believe that something isn’t right with the world and reflect that odd things are happening, others choose to ignore and prefer ignorance.

  All books are connected by common characters and theme.

  This is a contemporary sci-fi with romance and intrigue. No cliff-hanger. Contains mature themes including explicit language, violence, and descriptive sex scenes. 18+

  Jelvia: Not Human is a series based on Eden and Hunted, books by Louise Wise.

  HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

  book 1

  When she was a child, her mother was murdered and subconsciously ever since, journalist Macy Shaw has been searching for a hero.

  She found one, but the hero she found was a Jelvia.

  Undeterred, she used her connections to go after the biggest story of her life.

  Narcifer saved a woman by merely being a Jelvia—his presence causing terror and making the assailants flee.

  And
it amused him when his ‘heroism’ created a national stir, so when a pretty little red-head asked to interview him for a story, Narcifer felt compelled to grant it to her, especially when she gave all the signals that she wanted more than a story.

  However, on the night Narcifer inadvertently became a hero, he had been tracking a scientist with orders to kill, and strangely no matter where Narcifer’s line of investigation took him, his search always brought back to the red-headed journalist, Macy Shaw.

  SURVIVING HER DOMINANT

  book 2

  Life in the 21st century was becoming increasingly difficult due to the rampage of Jelvias, but Courtney, consumed inside a Dom/sub relationship, wasn’t able to focus on the current situation, and even when her best friend Macy Shaw began an unhealthy fixation on Jelvias, Courtney didn’t pay much heed.

  It wasn’t until life as a submissive became intolerable, and Courtney ran away to move in with her friend, did she realise how deep Macy had buried herself in the Jelvian world.

  Aldarn, a Jelvia, came into Courtney’s life through Macy and it wasn’t long after meeting him that Courtney received her first ‘gift’. Then the strange texts, wreaths and threatening phone calls began.

  Then her ex came back in her life, anguished at how he’d treated her and determined to win her back.

  Two men.

  Both dominant, both dangerous, both unsuitable.

  And both want to protect her from the other.

  SPIDER

  book 3

  Bethany Roberts was born into a privileged life, but all that was taken away when, at nine years old, a car crash killed her older brother, and her mother received life-changing injuries. Beth’s younger sister was too young to understand how the pressure affected their father and only saw him as a fun-time dad, spending money and giving them expensive holidays. But Beth was old enough to realise he was spending far beyond their means and drinking too much.

  He lost them their beautiful home and lifestyle.

  As Beth grew, she became a carer to both her parents and a mother to her sister, Lara. She gave up school and took menial jobs to keep a roof over their heads.

  Beth managed.

  But it all came crashing down when Lara, now seventeen years old, became a statistic of the Jelvian onslaught on humankind.

  She disappeared.

  And Beth, now twenty-five, has nothing to lose.

  Nothing what so ever.

  She is going to get her sister back.

  about the author

  T.E Kessler is an author from England who likes to weave fantasy sci-fi stories into the ordinary everyday life of the 21st century. Her books are for mature audiences as they contain sex (often kinky) and violence.

  Kessler’s books to date:

  Jelvia: Not Human series:

  Holding out for a Hero #1

  Surviving her Dominant #2

  Spider #3

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