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Am I Dead?

Page 39

by C. P. IRVINE, IAN


  I begin to feel sick.

  The stress and emotion and horrors of the past few hours have now begun to take their toll.

  I feel dizzy.

  Home. I just want to be home…

  I close my eyes tightly, and hang on to the support rail as I am forced to ride out another wave of dizziness.

  I don’t feel well.

  How much longer to go?

  I open my eyes and check the name on the wall as the tube-train pulls into the next station.

  One more station to go.

  The doors close.

  The tube rumbles forward.

  I think I’m going to be sick.

  A bizarre thought occurs to me… can I be infected with the virus already?

  Is that why I’m not feeling well?

  Did I catch it in the hospital?

  Oh no… I cuddled Sarah, and she was sick… Probably infectious…

  My heart skips a beat.

  Am I going to die?

  I start to breathe fast.

  Gasping for breath.

  I’m dizzy.

  Not well…

  I fight the urge to open my eyes, knowing that if I do, I will probably vomit with the dizziness, but I know I’m almost home. Almost.

  I’ll be getting off at the next station.

  Charing Cross is next…

  I feel the train begin to slow down, and I take several deep breaths.

  Soon.

  Soon…

  Just hold on…

  The train comes to a stop, and I hear the doors open.

  I try to open my eyes,… but for a moment they seem to be glued shut.

  I try again, harder, and this time they do.

  Light floods into my eyes, and I blink.

  Everything is very bright.

  And a bit fuzzy.

  The world around me... seems... strangely quiet.

  I glance around me quickly, but none of the other three people on the train have noticed me, their bodies unmoving, their faces buried in their masks, and their eyes glued rigidly on their newspapers.

  I turn back towards the door, now fully open, but as I try to move my feet, I stumble, a wave of dizziness catching me off-guard.

  I catch myself just in time, and steady myself against the edge of the door just before I fall through it.

  I draw myself up to my full height and look out onto the platform beyond, shaking my head and trying to clear my vision.

  It’s weird… as if I’m looking through some sort of fog… the platform outside the train not completely visible.

  I blink.

  Twice.

  My vision clears.

  Outside I see a woman walking along the station platform, away from me, her back turned, two little girls in tow. Two little girls, beautiful girls, just like Keira and Nicole. Laughing. Happy. Their father nowhere in sight.

  My heart races.

  The elder one… Keira? Is it truly Keira???… looks over her shoulder and for a moment our eyes meet. We stare at each other for a second in time that seems to stretch itself out and stop, and in that instant something is exchanged between us.

  Then she smiles.

  My heart skips a beat.

  I shake my head.

  Can this be true?

  Hurriedly, my eyes jump from the girl to the wall behind her, quickly scanning it for a name plaque.

  I see it, but the name on it is difficult to read… it seems to be shimmering… the letters on the plaque fading in and out… wobbling…

  I struggle to read them. This should be Charing Cross.

  Is it Charing Cross…?

  I blink again, and then … then… the letters stabilise. The words form. The name appears.

  But it’s not Charing Cross.

  It’s Westminster.

  WESTMINSTER?!

  I look back at the tall girl on the platform. She is still staring at me, but now her little sister is staring at me too, their eyes wide, their faces bursting into a wide smiles.

  Quickly I push myself back from the tube door, relinquishing my grip and all contact with the inside of the tube train – all contact with the world I am currently in.

  I lift my right foot and move it to the edge of the door until it is half-inside the tube carriage, and half-outside.

  And then I hesitate.

  I think of Kenneth.

  Helpless.

  In hospital.

  Dying.

  I squeeze my eyes shut, and grimace, trying to expunge the vision of my dying son from my mind.

  And when I open my eyes, the first things I see… are the two girls, on the platform beyond.

  In Westminster.

  Waiting for me.

  “Daddy!” I hear them cry. “It’s Daddy!

  I smile back at them.

  Without looking back, or any further thought, I take one simple step.

  Forward.

  Away from one world, towards the other.

  Into the world I belong.

  The End

  (Or is it?)

  To sign up for news on NEW BOOKS from Ian C.P. Irvine please

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  Reviewing “Am I Dead?”

  If you have enjoyed this book, please return to Amazon.com and let others know what you thought by reviewing the book.

  A Personal Note from the Author

  "Hi,

  This book is the sequel to ‘London 2012: What If?’, a book that I wrote many years ago, and which over time, has developed a small ‘cult’ following.

  I say ‘cult’…only in that the book evoked a strong emotional response in many, many people, and for years I would receive emails, or questions from fans, DEMANDING to know what happened at the end of Book Two in the series: did James cross through the portal back to his own world, or did he stay in the parallel world with Sarah who was now pregnant?

  In my mind, I knew the answer… but I refused to tell anyone. I wanted people to make up their own minds.

  Then the pandemic came along.

  As a writer, I felt strongly that I wanted to write about our experiences in the pandemic. I wanted to somehow include my thoughts about the pandemic in a book… But how?

  Then one day, James Quinn stepped back into my mind, and I realised that the ending I had previously imagined to my story had now changed. Instead, I imagined a story when James stepped through the portal to the future. To the pandemic. Not OUR pandemic. But another one. Similar. But not the same.

  After that, I felt compelled to write the story.

  And this is it.

  Unfortunately, as I started to write the book, the characters took on a life of their own, and soon the plot I had thought of, changed. Each day. Before my eyes as I wrote.

  And so, without choosing to do so, when I arrived at what I had thought would be the end of the book, I discovered that James had other ideas.

  In fact, the end of the book, is yet again, not the end of the story. I’m sorry…

  The good news is that James Quinn has finally managed to go home. But there is a lot of unfinished business left in the world he has just left behind him. And the world he is returning to…may or may not be the same as the one he left.

  In my mind, I know what will happen to James next. And, if you the reader, would like me to write that story down and publish it for you, then I hope that one day I will find the justification to take the time to do so.

  So, please, if you have enjoyed this book, please write a review on Amazon, and if you would like me to write that next book in the series, please send me an email and let me know! If there’s enough interest, I will try to make it happen!

  With best wishes,

  Ian C.P. Irvine

  Other Things for you to think about…

  Have you enjoyed the book?

  What should you do next?

  May I suggest the following….

  1: Go to Amazon and write a review…tell people what you thought of the
book, now, while it is still fresh in your mind!

  2: If you have enjoyed this book, you may want to read another book by Ian C.P. Irvine. You can find details below of the omnibus editions of all my books, or you can ‘Try-and-Buy’ by going to www.free-ebook.co.uk.

  CLICK HERE TO READ BOOK ONE OF MY OTHER SERIES FOR FREE!

  Or go to

  www.iancpirvine.com

  to find details of the omnibus editions of all my other books.

  3: Sign up to my subscription list: http://eepurl.com/AnYs9 for news of my new books and any special offers!

  4: For those of you have been up all night reading, now it’s time to get some sleep! Good night! - But before you go, I just want to say one more thing, and to make you a special offer which I hope you may be interested in:-

  THANK YOU FOR READING THIS EBOOK!

  If possible, I would like to stay in touch with you by asking you to sign up to my email list. If you do sign up watch out for an email from me and check your spam folder if you don’t get it – AND I promise I will not spam you. However, once or twice a year I might wish to email you to tell you of any new free books, or free offers. To be honest, if I write another book, I will also want to tell you about it in the hope you might want to download it too! To entice and encourage you to sign up to my email list I would like to offer you a copy of one of my ebooks - for free!

  YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM A CHILDREN'S EBOOK TO READ TO YOUR GRANDCHILDREN OR LITTLE ONES!

  OR

  A TENSE, PAGE TURNING THRILLER WITH OVER

  1500 FIVE STARS ON AMAZON!

  TO GET THIS FREE OFFER PLEASE

  CLICK ON THIS LINK!

  OR VISIT

  http://eepurl.com/dE-3pf

  ------------------------------------------------

  .

  Or, to simply sign up for news on NEW BOOKS from Ian C.P. Irvine please

  'Join my mailing list by CLICKING HERE.'

  Other Books by Ian C.P. Irvine

  Who Stole My Life?

  A fast-paced, absolutely gripping page-turner for those who like psychological thrillers - such as those by Mark Edwards, Rachel Abbott, K.L. Slater, William Rose - but who are now looking for something fresh and new, with a thrilling twist.

  [Please note: this book was originally published in two parts of a popular series called 'London 2012 What If?' This free book contains that whole series, now rebranded with a fresh new look!]

  The story: When James Quinn arrives at work one morning, he finds that his entire office building, all his work colleagues and the company where he worked for many years… do not exist.

  When the phone in his pocket rings, he answers it, and he’s instructed to take a taxi to a strange meeting in the centre of the city.

  Confused, scared, and feeling very alone, he agrees, and so starts a mind-bending journey into a different world that compels James to act out everything that’s expected of him by those who demand it.

  But where is his wife? And who has his daughters?

  Who are the people now living in his house and occupying his home?

  And who is the man pretending to be his father, now alive, but who James buried several years before?

  Is this real? Has James gone mad? ...Or is something even stranger happening?

  For James Quinn, every day becomes an adventure into a new world, a world which until now was only in his dreams. But which is now real.

  How can he make it stop, and find his family?

  Who has stolen his life?

  And why?

  PLEASE NOTE: This book is written in a fresh and exciting style which makes it easy to read, and which, for some reason now being investigated, makes the book easy to read by those who have dyslexia. If you know someone or have a family member who has dyslexia, after you have read and enjoyed the story, you may wish to recommend it to them too! It may be the first book they have ever read and you will have gifted that pleasure to them!

  Say You're Sorry

  Sometimes, an apology is all it takes to save your life, no matter who you are!

  'SAY YOU'RE SORRY!'

  A gripping page-turning crime thriller which will make you think twice about how you treat strangers or ever use the internet or your mobile phone again!

  When Scottish crime lord Tommy ‘McNunn’ commits the perfect murder, killing a corrupt policeman and framing his death on a rival, DCI Campbell McKenzie knows there is little he can do to stop a gang war and prevent McNunn taking over the whole of Scotland.

  However, when Tommy McNunn accidentally drives into an old age pensioner, destroys the man’s car and refuses to apologise, his ambitions are soon to be thwarted. In a modern day retelling of the biblical story ‘David Versus Goliath’, the meek topple the mighty, brains conquer brawn and good overcomes bad. DCI McKenzie versus his arch rival, Tommy McNunn. Who will win? In another classic IAN CP IRVINE thriller, just when you think you know the truth, your world is turned upside down. Hold on tight, cancel the rest of your day and take a deep, deep breathe. You'll need it.

  The Assassin’s Gift

  If there's one thriller you must read this year, this is it! A gripping, page turning thriller from an author everyone is falling in love with!

  The Assassin's Gift is a tense, eye-opening thriller that will sweep you up and whisk you away on a breathtaking journey of adventure and discovery before dropping you exhausted on the shores of Loch Ness, incredulous, smiling, and begging for more!

  Salvador is the top assassin in the world: an invisible killer, feared, respected, in demand, and hunted by every crime agency on the planet.

  For Salvador, killing is an art-form and a way of life, until during an accidental meeting with a mysterious monk on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland, Salvador is given a rare, unwanted gift: the ability to heal people.

  Cursed and burdened with a 'gift' he cannot give back, Salvador must evaluate his life afresh, being able to kill with one hand, and cure with the other. Denying his Gift, he takes on his toughest assignments yet: to achieve the impossible by killing a top Scottish crime lord, Tommy McNunn, whilst locked up - and protected - inside Scotland's impenetrable and most secure prison, nestled amidst the Scottish Highlands. And then to kill DCI Campbell McKenzie, the man responsible for McNunn's imprisonment.

  Now also hunted by Russia's top agent who is ordered to kill Salvador at all costs, Salvador discovers that everything in life happens for a reason, and that life and death are two sides of the same coin. A coin which he now owns.

  But who is Salvador? What is the secret that protects his life? Why has he been given The Gift? And 'how' does he manage to pull off the crime of the century?

  If you're looking for a new author to fall in love with and the Thriller of the Year!, look no further. Treat yourself to The Assassin's Gift. Download and read it NOW!

  The Assassin's Gift is a fully independent novel, but may be read in a series following 'Say You're Sorry' and ' I Spy, I Saw Her Die'.

  A startling, gripping crime thriller from one of the UK’s top new authors. A real page turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very, last, line!

  Two teachers are murdered, with the first killing publicly played out before hundreds of horrified spectators, and the other victim found dead only hours later.

  Having just returned to duty from his recent suspension, DCI McKenzie (Say You’re Sorry & The Assassin’s Gift) quickly discovers he’s dealing with a sick but highly intelligent serial killer.

  With a school reunion planned for that same night, in a race against time, McKenzie and his small team of investigators must use all their skills to track down the killer before more depraved murders take place, and more teachers from the school die.

  But as the hours roll by and the death toll mounts, McKenzie finds himself facing a genius mystery criminal who is always one step ahead of the police and somehow anticipating their every move. In the days that follow, the school campus becomes a maze of rooms and tunnels where ne
w murders are discovered, and the death toll mounts.

  With surprising twists and turns at every stage, this is a ‘classic whodunnit ‘ that will keep you guessing to the very end. Can you spot who the killer is, or will they get away with the perfect murders?

  Remember me? You’ll never forget it!

  Remember Me is a fully independent novel, but may be read in a series following 'Say You're Sorry', The Assassin’s Gift and ' I Spy, I Saw Her Die'.

 

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