Omega tgitb-5
Page 23
It was there, pushed against the wall, not in the same place it had stood for all my life, but near enough. The box stretched to a foot over my head, forbidding, dark, the door hanging slightly ajar and open, still bent from the last time I had been in it, when I had broken my way out. It was only a few hours before the memory, the one I wanted to forget, desperately, to believe had never happened—because if it hadn’t, if he hadn’t come, then I wouldn’t have met him and we wouldn’t have—and he would still be alive, and not dead and—
I ran my hand across the pitted metal surface. I tugged on the door and it opened with a squeal, still hanging off its hinges at a broken angle, twisted. “I never should have left you,” I whispered to the darkness within, and it felt like the darkness answered me, like it moved inside, welcoming me back. I took a step in, and turned, facing my back to the open door, then grasped hold of it and pulled, dragging the door shut behind me. It fought me only a little, then I heard it creak into place, and the darkness surrounded me once more, only the faintest lines showing around the door where the lamplight came in from outside the window.
I stood there, alone again, in the dark, the quiet, the peace, the solitude. Just stood. Breathe in, breathe out. I liked the dark. The quiet. The solitude. I didn’t mind alone at all. Breathe in, breathe out. It smelled like home. My legs gave out a moment later, and I slumped, my back sliding down the back wall of the box. I folded in on myself, pulling my knees close as I dissolved, finally, the emotion coming now, here, in the darkness. This was where I belonged, where I deserved to be. Where I never should have left. Back in the box.
And I resolved I would never leave again.
An Apology For The Agony I Just Caused You, The Reader
Yeah, I know that hurt. A lot. It hurt me too, honestly. I finished writing that scene - yeah, that one scene, you know which one if you finished reading it, and yes, it broke me. Killing characters like that is painful for the author, too, I promise, and I didn’t just do it to be cruel. This is book 5 of a 10-book series. We’re now at the midway point, and things had to take a turn to get us where we’re going. I promise it’s all for good reasons, that it’s all part of the story. There’s always been a bigger plan, a thread that stretches through the entire series, and I hope it’s all going to be worth it for you, the reader, in the end. I even thought about ways I might be able to soften what just happened here in this book, but there really isn’t, not without fundamentally changing the story. I hope I’ve built enough trust with you by this point that you know I didn’t do what I did capriciously and for no purpose. Things were always going to get worse for Sienna before they got better.
I hope we see you for the next book (full preview of Book Six on the next page!) and if you want to know as soon as it comes out, CLICK HERE to sign up for my mailing list. I promise I won’t spam you (I only send an email when I have a new book released) and I’ll never sell your info. You can also unsubscribe at any time - like maybe now, in some of your cases, after I just killed one of your favorite characters in a horrible way. I hope you don’t feel that way, but I understand if you do. If you want to talk about it, feel free to send me an email (please don’t yell at me) at cyrusdavidon@gmail.com, stop by my Facebook page (Robert J. Crane (Author)), send me a tweet (@robertJcrane) or stop by my blog, which will have a dedicated discussion post where you can talk with other fans about this book (compain about how insensitive the author is - ZOMG what a jerk!!1!1!). If you don’t want to talk to me, you could always send Sienna a tweet of support - @SiennaNealon.
I hope to see you again next time.
Robert J. Crane
Acknowledgments
These are the people who helped me during the writing and publication of this book, in no particular order.
Hated me by the end:
Heather Rodefer, my tireless Editor-in-Chief, fearless wielder of the purple pen and vanquisher of all typographical errors. This is the girl who never cries at the end of sappy movies, nor sheds a single drop from sad books. The fact that I made her cry is probably the greatest achievement of my writing career. She punched me over this. Seriously. In the arm. It hurt.
Damarra Atkins, she of the witty inside-geek jokes, who called me worse than Joss Whedon (Wha?! Every writer is worse than Joss Whedon! How much worse is the question…). But at least she didn’t hit me.
Robin McDermott, who fixed many a technical error, and accused me of being far too wordy for my own good and yours, Dear Reader. I trust you all own a dictionary, though, so…
Shannon Garza, whose feelings I rely on to take the emotional temperature of my books. Whose heart I broke, whose tears I stole, whose forgiveness I may never earn. Sorry, Red.
Didn’t hate me by the end:
Paul Madsen, who found any number of proofreading oopsies on my part, and who gushed praise about the ending. Well, probably about as gushy as Paul gets, I’m guessing.
Kea Grace, the first to finish, first to render opinion, and whose measured evaluation allowed me to stay the course.
Kari Layman, who berated me for almost an hour on the phone at a moment when I seriously considered changing the ending to something that would be less angst-causing. If you didn’t like it, blame her.
Debra Wesley, whose gleeful cackling and constant attention to detail combined to make me worry about her until she told me she loved the story from top to bottom, and not to change a thing, even when Damarra (also) wanted to hit me for it.
Were thankfully neutral about the whole mess:
Sarah Barbour (aeroplanemedia.wordpress.com) who did the final edit and proofread in record time in spite of being hired at the very last minute, still managing to correct for errors great and small, including Russian language (Who does that!? She does!) and a number of suggestions that made the manuscript read much more smoothly. Sarah also did the editing on Untouched, but went unacknowledged due to authorial oversight.
Karri Klawiter of artbykarri.com, whose covers do shine like…uhh…well, they’re shiny, in a very «Firefly» sense of the word. Shiny.
To my parents, who raised me, to my wife, who tolerates me, and my kids, who drive me slightly crazy. Love you all.
About the Author
Robert J. Crane was born and raised on Florida’s Space Coast before moving to the upper midwest in search of cooler climates and more palatable beer. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in English Creative Writing. He worked for a year as a substitute teacher and worked in the financial services field for seven years while writing in his spare time. He makes his home in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.
He can be contacted in several ways:
Via email at cyrusdavidon@gmail.com
Follow him on Twitter – @robertJcrane
Connect on Facebook – robertJcrane (Author)
Website – http://www.robertJcrane.com
Blog – http://robertJcrane.blogspot.com
Become a fan on Goodreads
http://www.goodreads.com/RobertJCrane
FB2 document info
Document ID: ooofbtools-2013-3-13-11-56-0-179
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 03/13/2013
Created using: OOoFBTools-2.10 (ExportToFB21) software
Document authors :
Boo
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/
/>