PrettyDean82

"You have something that is owed to me." Damion's perfectly calm voice held a chilling note of menace. Julian was walking away. Walking towards him. I scrambled to my feet. "You cheated on our trade." He said. "That wasn't a trade. It was a fucking ransom demand." I spat. I launched myself at Julian, hitting him from behind and tackling him to the concrete. He struggled weakly. His body was trembling with the poison still coursing through his veins. "Ransom. That's just a word f

Chapter 27 The inside of the hospital was a maze. Corridor after corridor, turn after turn. Signs pointed in one direction and then inexplicably pointed back the way we had come. All in the same, cinderblock walls painted in the same dingy, pale-yellow, lead-based paint. The lead wasn't a danger to us, the AI assured me. It had been sealed under by several coats of some special insulating sealant that kept the dangerous substance locked away from the air or the occaisonal idle brush of f

Chapter 26 I went cold at his words. Bleeding. Fuck. The dripping. Glass. Damion made him cut himself. And I'm here on the bed, stuck inside an unresponsive body for the next few hours. Julian moaned again. NO, this can't happen. There must be some way... The AI. By now surely he's figured it out. And all the implants work just fine, he'll have contacted Rom. But how long would that take? Maybe the Guardians had people nearby? Too long. Julian is bleeding his life out on the floor. My

Chapter 25 The two figures crash through the glass and are gone. Damion turns back to the woman writhing and shuddering on the floor. "Elizabeth. Shhh, it's okay, it will pass." He soothes her. Takes her hand in his and kisses her forehead. He looks at her, using his enhanced sight. The nanites are tearing through her body, breaking apart and rebuilding everything perfectly. The Caretakers have done the same thing but not nearly so thoroughly. They cleanse, the Esseren reconstruct from th

Chapter 24 The salt spray tasted fresh and briny on my lips as I held on for dear life. "How much farther?" I called out to Rom. No use, the wind on canvas and the crashing of water was just too much. Perhaps amplification. Or...oh, what nonsense. :Are we nearly there?: I asked him. ::Getting close. He'll be noticing our presence any minute now.:: :Okay. You try to stay out of things, the silent backup in the background okay? Don't want him panicking when he sees you.: ::Gotcha. I'll stay

"Your brother is a fool." Damion said. The sound of his voice was accompanied by a hazy fog that slowly resolved itself into Julian's face. He looked...well...he looked good. Much better than the last I "saw" him. "Do you really think so?" He said calmly. Amused. He was dressed in a nice button-down shirt. Silk. Expensive. His hair was styled with gel. He was sipping tea from a fine china cup. A similar cup tipped up just under my view and I suddenly had a wash of the taste of earl grey in m

"These predictions are troubling." There was no image, only the voice. Damion. "What do you think they mean? Do they even matter?" That was the woman, his girlfriend talking. "I don't know. The digital prophecies are...vague and strange but they always matter. If they really apply. The trick is actually understanding what they mean before they come true." "That seems the norm for all prophecies." "Yes. But especially these. They're already built on vague glimpses of the future, but they'

Chapter 21 "Well. That explains how they got away." Rom's calm voice came from the doorway behind me. I turned to look at him. "We've been set up." "No. I've been set up." He sounded vaguely disgusted. "You." I said, disbelieving. Rom sighed, the spoke to me in my mind. ::Look. At this level of the game, nothing is simple. Everything serves more than one purpose. Tell me what you think this was all about.:: He waved a hand to indicate the bed, and then the entire house. :He wanted to sh

"Well, well...what have we here?" The voice was distorted, mechanical. The face it came from was blurred for some reason. But I knew I was seeing none other than the godfather from before. Julian looked up at the voice, amused recognition on his face. "You!" Everything blurred for a moment and then was back to normal. The godfather was talking some more. "You are a most accomplished warrior, young man. Sixty-four second- stage autonoids in less than five minutes. Very impressive.

Romulus towered over Damion. Just a mere slip of a boy, waif-like with his huge eyes peeking out from under a floppy blonde head of hair. Damion could break him in half over his knee. If only he were mortal. Or even a standard immortal. He wasnt one of those. Romulus towered over Damion, and blazed with power. Light from his eyes. Light from his skin. From his fingernails. The energy pouring from the small frame made the air hiss with static distortion, and the entire scene was dotted with dis

Chapter 19 I watched and ran. My eyes flickering madly to dodge obstacles as my legs pumped with inhuman power, propelling me relentlessly forward without a care for the shock and bewilderment among the mortals I passed. They didn't matter. My eyes saw, but that wasn't what I was watching. What I was watching was...one minute and twenty-two seconds away. I watched as Julian stopped at the top of the staircase, setting his feet. I knew what was going through his head just then. It was a mat

Chapter 18 I lay there, stunned, as Julian quickly dropped into a deep sleep, draped half over me. What in the hell was that all about? I reached up and hissed at the stinging sensation where my hand contacted the...wound, where he'd bitten me. Ouch. My hand came away bloody. ::I don't understand. Why did he bite you if he was trying to love you?:: The AI seemed as confused as myself. :I don't get it either. That was...strange. And not like Julian at all. How long will it take to heal?:

Chapter 17 The apartment wasn't half-bad for the quick job it was. The furnishings company had been eager to assist the young businessman from the west coast on his impulsive relocation. It was a decent two-bedroom, only two blocks from an intersecting station for two different lines on the underground, with another intersecting station within walking distance. Before we even bothered picking out furniture, we'd developed and practiced a multitude of escape routes and rendezvous plans. And

Chapter 15 It seemed an eternity for Julian and Rom made it back to the hotel. Daytime television sucks. And it goes on forever. By the time things got into primetime programming I was too sick of the television to enjoy it. I don't even want to know what it would have been like without the television on. Couldn't possibly be much worse than this. Not even that annoying AI to talk to. I was aware of the sounds outside changing in character as nighttime approached. Rom and Julian had been gon

Symbiota Sapiens 14 Synopsis: Jeremey finds himself inducted, against his will, into an ancient organization that claims to protect and guide humanity with supernatural powers. But what happens when the price of that power is losing the brother he loves? Disclaimer: This is science fiction. To my knowledge there is no such organization as the Guardians of Atlantis. Nor is there any such technology as the Esseren, although our scientists are working hard to correct that lack. If anyone