I just made an airport drop when the dispatcher called in a house account pickup. I fired up the bird, and buzzed for the location. Once a day shift opened up at Gemini Taxi, I grabbed it. The nights are too full of drunks, lonely weirdos, and creeps jonesing for drugs and revolution. When I reached the head shrinker's office, a thirty-something burnout hopped into the backseat. Brandon had no job and rich parents paying...
Eran sat staring dumbfounded at her laptop screen, as the cell phone blips disappeared. She poked Kevin in the ribs and he grunted. Her mouth hung open, as she kept refreshing the screen. The blips disappeared and never returned. She looked at Kevin and yelled, "What just happened? We lost the gang members cell phones. Where did they go? We need to find them." Kevin assured her, "If they are in that house we will find the...
Slade turned to Eran and Connie, as Leona and he walked to his car. "We are going to talk with Gustaf and Andrei to open a dialog with the vampire community. Why don't you go question Maria? That way we can do more in less time," Slade said as he helped Leona into the car. Connie looked up and smiled at Eran. "We can interview Maria easily. If Slade were there, he would intimidate her. Let's go to her place." They looked...
For a moment, when I woke up, I didn’t know where I was, or what time it was. I gritted my teeth against the pain and straightened up, blanching. I realized I was in my own room. “Sam are you, alright?” Chloe asked. Seeing her stunned me. She looked worried and said, “You know, you’re brother is soooo cute—I mean, really! When he was asking me what happened to you, I almost fainted! Not because I didn’t know what to say,...
“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.” --May Sarton It was typed-written on a buff-colored tissue paper. The other pieces have different passages too, but this one got me. The rain had finally died down, but I’m still waiting for Chloe inside a coffee shop near the meeting spot we had agreed to. A few minutes later, a black car stopped in front of the shop, rolled down...
Beep-beep-beep-beep. The other line was dead when I picked up the phone. I could still hear the busy tone playing around my ear. Akira had mentioned ‘she.’ It was the only thing I knew. It was the first time someone (not a relative) called me. The next morning, Akira knocked and then slowly opened the door, peering through it as I fixed my hair. “You’re up early,” he teased. “Yeah…” I said. Truth was, I couldn’t sleep thi...
After Kevin left, Eran took a long hot shower to clean up and to awaken her senses. She got some sleep, but all the events of the past two days ran continuously through her mind. She had not taken time to review the security videos, which Kevin delivered. As she dried, she thought she would start the review on today's shift. She had six days of video to scan and that would take a long time. She dreaded the task, but it wa...
Andrei emerged from the shadows, as the convoy of vehicles drove up to the estate. He walked to the lead truck and talked to Gustaf about the estate. No guards patrolled outside and the house was dark. After Andrei talked with Gustaf, he walked to the box on the pole by the gate and pushed the call button. A mechanical voice sounded, "May I help you?" "Police, we have a warrant to search the premises. Can you let us in pl...
It hurts, I thought. I’ve always hated this. Stopping my tears from falling only hurts my throat. It’s annoying. “Heh…So you’re not really going to cry, huh?” the guy I don’t know said, grabbing my hair and pinning my face on the wall. He was trying to choke me with his other hand, slapping and then smothering me again. I couldn’t breathe. “So aggravating! You’re just a first year! You should know your place,” the girl wi...
PROLOGUE: It was a dark cold evening. There was something sinister in the air. It was uncomfortably warm. There was a girl walking in bare feet. She had bruises, even scratches, and a long black hair swinging as she moved. She was wearing a white dress with blood stains glistening, just like a fire raging in a snow. She was panting, breathlessly and helplessly running away from something. Ignoring the darkness embracing h...
The moon was a sliver of white in the eastern sky as Leona and Eran left the police station. They did not notice that a truck followed them through the city. They went directly to the hospital to see Connie and find out when the hospital would release her. The truck followed them into the parking lot and stopped a few rows behind them. The two men inside got out of the truck and followed them into the hospital. They knew...
It was too early for Slade and Eran to report to the squad room, but not enough time to return home. They decided to watch the news and relax after eating the meal Eran prepared. They sat at opposite ends of the giant leather couch placed in front of the very large screen TV. Slade looked over at Eran who watched the news intently. He thought, She is quite the detective. Her instincts are well honed and she has the head t...
The fire suppression system kicked on quickly and the fire died in a matter of a few minutes. Rather than evacuate with Leona, Slade stood and watched as the flames licked the room and then they were gone. Of course, the furnishings in the room sustained damage and replacement was necessary. Leona's coffin fell apart from the flames that swallowed it, but she had a spare in the back of the warehouse. While Leona got her c...
Slade and Leona walked into Gustaf's office and found Gustaf and Andrei still embroiled in conflict. It was as if they never changed places from the night before. The storm of words raged on in Romani and Slade felt so out of place. Leona entered and slammed the office door hard creating an interruption that stopped the men. They turned to look at her and glared at her strong enough to freeze her movement. "Will you two s...
Aditya had come home a bit late today. ''Traffic", he blamed when his parents asked him the reason. Without wasting any time he went to his study room. He wanted to register his bitter-sweet day in his journal. 1Today, it was my practical exam of Biology and I was expected to perform well. I had done thorough revision yesterday. I reached the college half an hour before the exam. And heaven, I realised I had made a blunde...
