Nobody is home. Come on, you can’t just stand here. You just broke into someone’s damn house.
She flicked her arms, pulling her sleeves down over her hands. Beyond the ancient appliances, a wooden stairway led up to a narrow door. Holding her hands over her face, she crept to the bottom and peered up at the speck of light coming through the keyhole. The sight of the door hit her as a reminder this was not her house; the urge to throw up flipped over in her gut. The police warned her once for shoplifting and arrested her twice after that. Fortunately, her father had some sway with the department and they were sympathetic.
“Next time, I’m gonna leave you there overnight… or longer,” screamed Mother, in the back of her mind.
Next time… If I get nailed here, I’ll do more than one day.
The night she was arrested had been terrifying enough when all the police did was take her home and yell at her. At least they took the cuffs off before Mom saw them. The idea of going to juvie almost left Hot Pockets on the stairs in front of her. It was too late to dwell on that, already standing in a stranger’s basement. Come on, Nat. Who calls the cops to say someone stole their cocaine? Wait, some people are that stupid. Swallowing hard, she eased her weight into the first step. One by one, she weathered the horrendous, loud creaks on her way to the ground floor.
Manipulating a brass doorknob with sleeve-covered hands frustrated her just short of the point of screaming. No way in hell was she going to touch anything. They must be going crazy outside, wondering what the hell I’m doing in here. She squeezed harder, the navy blue wool just slid over without grip. She grumbled. I look like such a tool. Street punk in a Macy’s coat, really. Natalie wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there. Whining, she squeezed the knob between both hands, leaning her entire body around in a concerted effort to turn it.
When it opened, she stumbled through into a tiny kitchen. The scent of recent cooking wafted through the air, concentrated around dishes piled in the sink. She nudged the basement door closed with her boot and cringed as it clicked. Ignoring another door that led out to a cramped yard, she edged past a plain oval table toward the interior. As if tiptoeing over a minefield, she scrunched her shoulders and went through an archway into a dining room.
On the wall just inside, a blinking green light made her turn. The flashing came from a white box with a small LCD screen bearing the words ‘Fault 00C.’ That doesn’t look like a thermostat. Oh, shit! Shit… shit… shit… From the back of the dining room, the front door was visible past a stairway along the right-side; most of the rest of this floor was open area divided by very wide arches, as if someone knocked out the wall between living and dining room and left a few inches of it just as a marker. As soon as she saw the exit, she sprinted for it. A throw rug on polished hardwood took her feet out from under her, and she rolled sidelong into a bookshelf.
Her collective of friends on the front stoop enjoyed a communal wince at the noise; a few whispers of ‘what the fuck are you doing’ made it through the paralytic pain. Fear of Traci being wrong, that someone was still here and was now awake, got her to her feet. Fear of the flashing light got her moving. She unlatched the door, pinching it through her sleeves. Kevin yanked it open and dragged her out onto the porch.
“For a little bitch, you make a shitload of noise.”
“Sorry.” She got snotty. “Who puts a fucking Oriental rug on hardwood without a pad? Shot right out from under me.”
Yeah, I sound like a street kid.
He hauled her down two steps. “You stay right here. You see anything weird, you come running in and warn us. We go out the back.”
Her urgent eyes grew wide. “Hey, there’s―”
Kevin shoved her out of the way, sending her over the porch railing. The stone to the gut knocked the words right out of her, and nauseous guilt kept them gone. Before she could breathe again, the lot of them had disappeared inside, pulling the door closed behind them. Trembling, she meandered onto the sidewalk, cupping sleeve-covered hands over her mouth to warm icy fingers. A lone taxi drove past; she turned her face away before the headlights hit her.
She tasted meatball Hot Pockets again.
What am I doing? Dad can’t make this go away. Even if Rosario is a drug dealer, this is still B&E. From fear, she could resist the shakes. From cold, she could resist the shiver. From both, she succumbed.
Would he even bother to try?
A thud came from the second floor window. She drew a sharp breath, tasting the basement dust from her coat. At least she muffled the yelp. Natalie leaned against the stone railing, gazing at the shadows adrift in the windows. This sort of thing felt much more exciting on TV; being in it sucked.
Nat… They wanna give you drugs. They wanna get you fucked up so you drop your pants and they all take a turn. They are going to get you put in jail. She managed a snarl, thinking about her mother. Her nerves came under control, and she stopped shaking. Serves you right, Mom.
Glimmering red and blue lights invaded the dark one block down. Her legs went to jelly. Silent alarm. She took a step back, thankful the building they chose was right next to an alley. Before the police car nosed around the corner, she bolted into the night. Natalie did not think about where she was going―she had no idea.
Blind with panic, she ran from alley to alley and into a street. She ran past more apartments and one or two people out wandering at that hour. She ran until she collapsed in a wheezing heap on a bus stop bench.
Her lungs burned. Steam wafted from her hair. Fire rippled through her legs. She leaned forward, hugging her knees and coughing. After a few gagging breaths, she sat back and wiped her eyes. Natalie’s heart stopped when a policeman shone a flashlight on her face.
“You alright, kid?”
She slumped forward and hurled all over her boots.
He patted her on the back, noting the smudges of black lipstick on her face. “What happened? Did someone try to take advantage of you? What were you running from?”
Natalie just stared at him, petrified at the guilt that had to be radiating from her eyes.
“Calm down, kid. Take a few breaths. Tell me what happened.”
She shrank into herself. “N… Nothing, officer. I got into a fight with my boyfriend. He kicked me out of his car when I wouldn’t fuck him.” She cringed at throwing that word at a cop. “I… uh, don’t know where I am.”
“Did he assault you? Make you do anything you did not want to do?”
No, yes. “He just kissed me.” She dabbed genuine tears with her sleeve. “I didn’t wanna go all the way, so I ran.”
The officer nodded. “Do you need a ride home?”
“A ride to my Mom’s…”
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Now that you have completed this book, we hope you will leave a review so that other readers may benefit from your perspective. Authors like Matthew Cox live and die by your reviews, after all!
Please visit http://curiosityquills.com/reader-survey/ to share your reading experience with the author of this book!
Virtual Immortality, by Matthew Cox
(http://bit.ly/1hSXIMP)
Nina Duchenne walked away from a perfect life to pursue a noble idea, but one tragic night shatters her dreams.
Joey Dillon lives on a perpetual adrenaline rush
. A self-styled cyber cowboy chasing thrills wherever he can find them, he is unconcerned with what will happen twenty minutes into the future.
Voices from beyond the grave distract Nina from her pursuit of two international terrorists, and send Joey on a mission to find out who is playing games. Joey falls square in her sights with the fate of the entire West City, as well as Nina’s humanity, at risk.
Destruction, by Sharon Bayliss
(http://j.mp/1oPaiyw)
When David's two lost children are finally found, he learns they suffered years of unthinkable abuse. The children claim to be dark wizards, and David believes they use this fantasy to cope with their trauma. Until, David's wife admits a secret of her own—she is a dark wizard too, as is David, and all of their children.
Now, David must parent two hurting children from a dark world he doesn’t understand and keep his family from falling apart. All while dealing with the realization that everyone he loves, including himself, may be evil.
Shadow of a Dead Star, by Michael Shean
(http://j.mp/17VBzuW)
As an agent of the Industrial Security Bureau, it is Thomas Walken’s duty to keep the city of Seattle free of black-market technology.
But when a trio of living sex-dolls he has recently intercepted are stolen from custody, Walken finds himself seeking a great deal more than just contraband.
He will be forced to use his skills and preternatural instincts to try and keep his career, his freedom, and his life.
The Actuator 1: Fractured Earth, by James Wymore & Aiden James
(http://j.mp/1eyuK4P)
On a secret military base tucked in a remote desert mountain, a dangerous machine lies hidden from the American public. Known as “The Actuator”, this machine is capable of transforming entire communities into alternate realities.
Meanwhile, an unknown saboteur dismantles the dampeners. The affect is catastrophic. The entire world is plunged into chaos, and familiar landscapes become a deadly patchwork of genre horrors. It’s up to Red McLaren and his band to set things right again. They must survive their journey through the various realms that separate them from the Actuator, where ever-present orcs, aliens, pirates, and vampires seek to destroy them.
Appetizer:
Book Cover
Title Page
Main Course:
Chapter One: Wraith
Chapter Two: The Ambush
Chapter Three: Hope
Chapter Four: Old Wounds
Chapter Five: Tainted
Chapter Six: The Silver Circle
Chapter Seven: Vaporized
Chapter Eight: Guilt
Chapter Nine: Throwaway
Chapter Ten: Home
Chapter Eleven: Legal Guardian
Chapter Twelve: The Scholar
Chapter Thirteen: A Job Unfinished
Chapter Fourteen: The Sons of Charon
Chapter Fifteen: Debriefing
Chapter Sixteen: Payback
Chapter Seventeen: Lingering
Chapter Eighteen: Showdown
Chapter Nineteen: Beacon
Chapter Twenty: Kunoichi
Chapter Twenty-One: Vengeance Denied
Chapter Twenty-Two: Close Call
Chapter Twenty-Three: Innocence Restored
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Foolish and the Dead
Chapter Twenty-Five: Paying the Boatmen
Chapter Twenty-Six: True Colors
Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Take No Chances
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Reckoning
Chapter Thirty: Dead Man Hacking
Chapter Thirty-One: Betrayal of Conscience
Chapter Thirty-Two: The Name of Darkness
Chapter Thirty-Three: Behind the Firewall
Chapter Thirty-Four: Holy Ground
Chapter Thirty-Five: Demons
Chapter Thirty-Six: Missing
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Gate
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Chaos
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sacrifice
Chapter Forty: Charazu
Chapter Forty-One: Acceptance
Chapter Forty-Two: New Friends
Dessert:
A Taste of Caller 107, by Matthew Cox
Closing
About the Author
Copyright & Publisher
More from Curiosity Quills Press
Division Zero: Lex De Mortuis Page 36