Teaser 5: Lone Wolf

“What was that commotion I heard the other night?” the woman with a head of fake auburn curls said. Women in their seventies didn’t have vibrant red hair or tight skin stretched over their cheekbones. However, Mrs. Wilson wasn’t a typical elderly lady.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Orion said, his chin down, eyes on the wood floors of the brownstone apartment building.

If her face could allow such things the old woman would probably have raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. “I think you do know what I mean. That racket always comes from your room, usually on the weekends.”

What was he supposed to say, that she was right and it was the werewolf destroying the room he rented because he wanted out of the padlocked door? The dumb beast never knew where Orion hid the key because as far as he could tell it didn’t have a memory of his life, but the reverse wasn’t true. He always remembered what happened when he changed. He remembered the destruction. The way the animal stood looking out the three-story window, thinking of breaking it and taking the jump, the one that might kill Orion Murray. The wolf terrified him, but everything did, really.

“Are you playing one of those video games? The ones with werewolves?” Mrs. Wilson said.

“No!” Orion said, backing up suddenly toward his door, where safety could be found away from the nosy woman.

“Well, the howling came from your room the other night. I would have asked you about it sooner, but you never come out of that room,” she said, disapproval heavy in her voice.

What did she expect? Was he supposed to power walk down the streets of Hartford, like she did every morning? He could tell what time it was by glancing out his window to find Mrs. Wilson bouncing down the stoop in her jogging suit. Then he would watch the regimented woman until she power walked down several blocks thanks to his telescopic vision. The power had first come on right after the breakout from the lab. It was strange to look out at the city, honing in on things miles away, seeing that the world was really as chaotic as he thought it was. Why he, an already anxious person, was given the ability to see farther eluded him.

“Yes, sorry. It’s a video game. Quite compelling, which is why I don’t leave often,” he said, glad that the antique artifact of a woman had given him an excuse for the howling.

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Teaser 4: Lone Wolf

The paint was peeling off the walls in the break room of the Lizard Lounge. It had probably been peeling off the pale green walls for a while. And Rio Hernandez had no idea why he was even slouching in the corner of the room. It wasn’t like he needed a break. All he did was stand around, and his job as a bouncer for the shady club was easy enough. He’d never had such an easy job. Usually he just growled at a patron being rejected entry and they ran for the streets. And fights were never a problem for him to break up. He’d always been strong, with wide biceps and a barrel chest, but whatever they did to him in that lab made him incredibly powerful. He’d punched through concrete walls to escape that prison. And since the breakout from the lab he’d tested that strength. For an hour he practiced his superpower by throwing cars in a junkyard. The homeless men who watched and cheered him on had found the whole show funny. Good thing the bourbon later made them forget what they saw.

Rio’s time on the police force had educated him to the troublesome types. He could spot them from ten yards away, standing in the line for the club. And although the job as the bouncer only reminded him of why he’d quit the force, it was one of the few jobs he could find where they’d pay him under the table. He knew better than to use his old bank accounts or return to his old house, which had been inherited by his sister.

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Teaser 3: Lone Wolf

“So what’s the goal here?” Kaleb said, watching the silver ballpoint pen as Adelaide had ordered.

“I’m trying to make you pass out,” she said, spinning the pen over her thumb and catching it in her fingers. It was a gesture her father had taught her. A seemingly simple movement, but employing the right focus, it could cause hypnosis. However, Adelaide didn’t know how to practice her mind control using this method. She had only been successful when pairing it with words, not movements.

“Oh, is that all?” Kaleb said with an undeterred laugh. He’d merely been at the Institute for a couple of days, but already his easy attitude and casual nature made him seem like a Lucidite.

“Would you shut your bloody mouth and concentrate?” Adelaide said, knowing that was actually not how this attempt at hypnosis should work. Ren’s book of secrets said that a successful hypnotic gesture should catch the attention of a distracted person and hold it. This was only Adelaide’s first attempt, though, and she’d work on perfecting it later.

“So what happens after I pass out? You write on my face and take pictures?” Kaleb said, not having heeded Adelaide’s request to be quiet.

“Actually, before you pass out, you’ll be subject to any of my requests. With a simple demand I can make you do a whole list of horrid things. I’ll also have access to your memories, thoughts, and pretty much whatever other rubbish resides in your tiny brain,” she said, spinning the pen around and around, knowing the more fluid the motion, the more compelling it was to the observer.

“Are all British people as insulting as you?” Kaleb said, blinking his eyes from the act of watching the pen.

“No, I take insults to an exemplary level. But British people aren’t as fake as Americans,” she said, hearing the interruption at her back. Someone had just entered the strategic department conference space. Two somebodies, by the sound of their footsteps.

Adelaide turned to find her two least favorite people. “Oh good, the meatheads are here,” she said as Zephyr and Rox entered the space.

“I don’t think you mean that. You’re not actually happy to see us,” Rox said, walking into the room like a trucker, wearing her cowboy boots and a short jean skirt.

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Teaser 2: Lone Wolf

With his back straight and feet shoulder-width apart, Mika Lenna nocked an arrow onto the string of the bow. He raised the weapon he’d been practicing with since he was four years old, aiming it at the target some ninety meters away.

“Why does your report for Project Teleportaatio say you’ve halted testing on the subjects?” he said to the man standing a few feet away.

Drake also stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, but he didn’t hold a bow. His hands were clasped behind his back and his shoulders drooped from the weight of his large midsection. The older man, Mika’s top research scientist, was still wearing his lab coat, although he should be off work now after putting in a seventeen-hour day. “Because,” he said, clearing his throat, “it’s a waste to keep testing the teleportation protocol on lemurs.”

“Then find a new type of subject,” Mika said, relaxing his fingers before releasing the arrow. It flew through the air, a blur of blue and green from the fletching at its end, before knocking hard into the bull’s eye of the target.

“It’s a waste to test the protocol on any subject,” Drake said, his voice tired and his German accent thick. “The project was initiated prematurely and we don’t know enough about the neural framework that makes teleportation successful.”

Mika ground his teeth together before pulling another arrow from the satchel. Why did the brightest minds also have to belong to the most insufferable people? he thought. He couldn’t stand Drake, but he needed his expertise on too many projects to replace him. “Your insinuation that I launched this project without sufficient research is a bold move and one I’d suggest you take back before you’re swelling with regret,” Mika said, resting the arrow in place in the bow.

A flat chuckle, absent of any joy, popped out of Drake’s mouth. “Coming to terms with the mistakes we make in the past is the best way to improve. And I’m only—”

Mika spun around, aiming the loaded bow straight at Drake’s chest, abruptly ending the scientist’s words.

“Do you take me as a man who makes empty threats?” Mika said, his eyes narrowed on the man before him, his hands steady.

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Teaser: Lone Wolf (Olento Research, Book 2)

Prologue

They say when one has sunk to their lowest, there’s nowhere to go but up. Those stupid adages were wrong and always made Connor angry. Lately everything made him angry. One can always sink deeper, and he’d proven that. And the eventual rise after sinking low was false. Connor didn’t think that even though he was lying on the bathroom floor of a dirty hotel room, he was destined to rise up from this low situation. No, he could plummet further. With a mechanical force he leaned his head to the side and eyed the drug responsible for his current high. He never thought he’d graduate to anything harder than cocaine, but he also never thought he’d become a murderous monster. One more dose of the drug sitting a few inches from his head, and things would end. He’d take the final plunge. Leave this world and all his demons behind.

Connor’s eyes fell shut. He’d only left the Lucidite Institute a day ago, but he’d already managed to steal the money to fund his drug debauchery and secure a nasty hotel room in East Los Angeles. The speed he inherited from the wolf inside of him made picking pockets on busy trains too easy. When Connor got off the submarine at the docks, he had only one mission: to ruin himself.

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Jun 10, 2017 | Posted by in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Teaser: Lone Wolf (Olento Research, Book 2)