Chapter 51: Acceleration Tendo began rapidly issuing commands through the comm. “Lin, fall back and provide support to Team 2. Yaten, stay on the van, but do not engage. Team 3, release Norton and support Team 2. N15, follow the van from the air.” The white van passed close by Yaten and Lin as it exited the parking lot. She didn't want to let it go, but she had her orders. Her team needed her. Lin’s jaw clenched as she br...

I had just retired at seventy after a very successful career in real estate and had bought a nice beach house to live out my golden years in. I rode out a real estate boom in Florida and had worked longer than I had anticipated due to a hot market, and I decided to retire when the market went south. Truthfully, I wasn't feeling all that golden about life from here on out, but I suppose it beat the alternative. In many way...

Emily was fifty when the divorce finally went through. Eighteen months later, she still caught herself wondering, “What the hell do I even have left?” Her ex kept the house in West Lake Hills, the Labrador named Ozzy, and—naturally—the twenty-nine-year-old Pilates instructor who loved showing off her brand-new tits on Instagram. Plenty of people told her she had nothing to complain about; after all, she’d walked away with...

Chapter 48: Terror The indoor pool shimmered under the soft glow of recessed lighting, the water rippling gently as Lin gracefully dove in, her white bikini catching the light. She surfaced and gave her hair a flip. Dave stood on the pool steps, his wet, blue swim trunks clinging to his average, but not un-athletic frame. Liki still hovered nervously by the door, wearing a pink bikini from her closet full of Wimil clothes...

I’m sat at my desk eating lunch, it’s lasagne for the fourth time this week, and I’m absolutely sick of it. I can’t seem to get out of the habit of cooking a family-sized dinner every night, even though I no longer need to. Something twangs low in my gut at this thought, but before I can begin ruminating, I'm interrupted. My phone rings loudly, the vibration causing it to slide erratically around the desk. It’s an unknown...

Brandon could best be described as cuddly. He stood at a modest five foot seven. His soft round belly was always trying to peek out of the bottom of his shirts. His pale arms had a faint dusting of red hair from his knuckles up to his shoulders. He had gained the nickname teddy bear for his cute and soft appearance. However, today he was a grumpy teddy bear, which was still cute, but in a different way. He climbed into hi...

I check the weather console. A crust of frozen pixels still smears across the lower half of the second digit where Moose smacked it earlier, but it seems to read -28°C outside. It should be dark by now, yet the snow clouds have swallowed the night and turned it into a pale fog of blue and grey. When I return my gaze, Viv is watching me with a bemused smile. “You know whiteouts can generate infrasound?” she says, clearly r...

"Who needs Tinder when the dogs are matchmaking?" Mid-January, 5 p.m., −5°C. The elevator doors creaked open, dumping a blast of stuffy warmth that smelled like dusty radiators, stale pizza, and wet slush from boots. Jake stepped into the lobby, hugging Nala against his chest—she was this little shivering fur puff with way too much personality for her size. Her paws clawed at his hoodie, and the leash reel in his pocket c...

Chapter 45: Infiltration Dave’s grip on Liki’s hand tightened, his knuckles whitening as he fought the urge to yank her back down the hallway. His heart pounded in his chest, dread pooling in his stomach. The perfect set-up, he thought. Lure us to an underground room with no other exit, eliminate us without a scene. But why? Why now? It doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense. Liki’s small hand squeezed back, her nai...

Mindy Cooper lay on her bed, biting her nails. She shouldn’t be doing it, especially since her mother had spent a rather large amount of money on her latest manicure, but the situation was bad, really bad. She picked up her phone and read the text she had received earlier. She read it again, hoping what it said wasn’t true, but it was. She was now part of something that could and, in most likelihood, end very badly. Why h...

Chapter 41: Faith Dave picked up the plastic shopping bags that held their only worldly possessions. He dumped them out on the bed and took stock of the items. Liki's clothes; A hoodie, sweatpants, black jeans, a white shirt, a black hat and a fluffy pink cap, socks and underwear. His stuff; A razor, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, some socks and underwear. Some food; Bags of Wimil pellets (with a tracking device somew...

At 42, Johnny still felt like he was in his prime—six feet tall, 225 pounds of muscle, and a body he worked hard to maintain. His small house-remodeling business kept him busy, but it also kept him in shape. He loved the work, loved the cars he collected, and yeah, he loved the attention he got from the babes. But all that took a backseat now. He was a married man, and his wife Joanie was the love of his life. Joanie was...

“You're…Nathaniel?” The curvaceous, honey-toned woman asked the stranger with a hesitant smile on her face. This expression became less tense and more positive as the man nodded with a twinkle in his eyes. He was more attractive than she ever thought he would be. Numerous friends, online and offline, had called her insane for meeting with someone without having any idea what they looked like. The woman couldn't blame them...