Furnace 4 - Fugitives (26 page)

You made your choice
, said a voice in my head. His voice.
I knew you would. You have killed my general, a man
who failed in his duty, and taken his place by my side. I know
you will keep your house in order, you have proven that time
and time again, my son.

‘I didn’t choose this!’ I yelled, my voice snatched by the wind, carried off over the city. ‘It’s not what I wanted.’

Isn’t it?
Furnace asked, his voice louder even than the crack of superheated stone.
Isn’t this exactly what you
wanted? I showed you your future, and yet you still came
.

‘I didn’t understand,’ I replied. ‘You tricked me!’

And yet the nectar raged, it looked upon the carnage at my feet and cried out to join in. I couldn’t deny the way it made me feel.

This is your world, now
, Furnace went on.
I am coming
for you, and we shall celebrate together, we shall watch side by
side as the new Fatherland rises. This is your choice, Alex. This
is your destiny.

It was all too much, a tornado of fear and excitement and anger stripping everything from my head. I sucked in a lungful of smoky air and then unleashed it as a howl that came from the very core of my being, one that seemed to rock the city to its knees. I saw myself as the people on the streets would, a creature of matchless strength, of immeasurable power.

I saw the beast in my vision.

I saw
myself
.

‘This isn’t over,’ I growled when my lungs had filled again. ‘I’ll kill you. I promise you that. This isn’t the end.’

Oh, you’re right about that
, Furnace replied.
This isn’t
the end. This is only the beginning.

‘I’ll kill you,’ I repeated. This time Furnace only laughed, a sound that reduced the inferno beneath me to a whisper. I felt my fury grow, lent strength by the nectar. And I made a promise, there and then.

I’d find Alfred Furnace, and I would kill him.

And if the world got in my way then God help it, because I’d tear it apart. I’d watch it burn.

No, it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

My reign of terror was only just beginning.

Alexander Gordon Smith, 30, is the author of
Furnace:
Lockdown
,
Furnace: Solitary
and
Furnace: Death Sentence
, as well as
The Inventors
, which was shortlisted for the Wow Factor competition, and
The Inventors and the City of
Stolen Souls
. He has also written a number of non-fiction books, as well as hundreds of articles for various magazines. He is the founder of Egg Box Publishing, an independent press that promotes talented new writers and poets, and is the co-owner of Fear Driven Films. He lives in Norwich.

Find out more at:
www.alexandergordonsmith.com

THE INVENTORS
THE INVENTORS AND THE CITY OF THE STOLEN SOULS

FURNACE: LOCKDOWN
FURNACE: SOLITARY
FURNACE: DEATH SENTENCE

coming soon

FURNACE: EXECUTION