Jason Adams, her ex-husband, hadn’t called, meaning everything with Jesse was going well. She expected Jason to be dropping their son off at her place tomorrow after work, though she knew he’d be about an hour late as usual.
The lot was dark; only a few dim streetlights bathed the black asphalt in a drab yellow glow. She could hear her heels — an unfortunate necessity for tonight’s formal lecture — clicking on the hard pavement, but no other sounds interrupted her thoughts.
She was tired.
Almost thirty-six hours she’d been awake, researching, planning, teaching, and finally delivering the lecture she’d spent months on. It had been received well, to a thundering applause of scientists, professors, and a few higher-level graduate students. She was proud of herself, but it was time to sleep.
The small Honda Accord appeared out of the darkness as she approached.
Man, how long have I been here?
she thought, noticing the water streaks of a long-gone mist dried on her windshield. The top of the silver sedan was covered in leaves and dirt, remnants of the brief snowfall they’d had earlier today.
She yawned, stretching a bit as she walked the final twenty feet to her car. Jen reached into her other coat pocket, looking for her keys. Her cellphone chirped again and began vibrating.
Again? Who is it this time?
she thought as she saw another unknown number flash on the screen.
“Hello?” she called into the phone, this time her annoyance coming through in her voice.
“Jen? Hey — it’s Jason.”
She reached her car door and frowned. A shadow danced behind her, and its reflection on the window’s glass caused her to jump. She whipped around, not knowing what to expect.
The lights were playing tricks on her. A cat, bounding across the parking lot chasing some unknown prey disappeared behind an SUV. She let out a sigh, and spoke again into the phone.
“Jason? Hi — sorry… it came up as an unknown number. What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Well, no, Jen. You need to come over here. Hurry. It’s Jesse.”
Her heart immediately began to rise in her throat. Of all the calls she hoped she’d never get… She grabbed at her keys, hands shaking, this time clicking the unlock button before they were even out of her pocket.
The car clicked as it unlocked, and the headlights flashed twice in sequence. She reached for the door, preoccupied with the phone call, her mind racing in terror. “Jason, what happened?” she tried not to panic, telling herself that his asthma must just be flaring up again, or that he had a bad scrape.
But her motherly instincts knew better.
“I — I came home, after I went to grab ice cream. He just wanted ice cream.” Jason’s voice was shaky, almost in a panic. “I mean, I was only gone for ten minutes. I should have made him come with me,” he stammered.
Jen listened intently as she pulled the handle. The creak of the door was accompanied by the dome light, flicking on as the door opened.
The interior of the car was immediately illuminated, and her eyes had to adjust to the sudden change in light. As they did, they noticed something that caused her to stumble backwards, tripping in her heels.
On the other end of the phone, Jason continued talking. “Jen, I’m so sorry. Jesse’s gone. I came home, and he wasn’t here.”
But the words didn’t register in her mind, at least not yet. Jen was staring, horrified, at the man in the driver’s seat of her car.
A man she worked with; Dr. Elias Storm.
He was motionless; not breathing. Jen began to hyperventilate, a tightening scream working its way up her throat. She dropped the phone and let it bounce away.
Then she noticed the blood. The deep crimson covered his body and the rest of the seat, as well as most of the dashboard and windows. It also covered his face, dripping from his eyes.
His eyes.
Protruding from Dr. Storm’s eyes, partially embedded in the man’s skull, were two long metal rods, the kind of support rods they often used in the lab to prop up fossilized test subjects. They glistened in the dim lamplight, and the horrific scene finally took its toll on Jennifer.
She collapsed onto the pavement, blacking out on the hard ground.
Nick Thacker is a writer, blogger, and “creator” of stuff—he started the blog LiveHacked.com to help writers and creators understand more about their craft, and to help them build their platform online.
He currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, mainly because there are mountains and reasonable weather (he’s originally a Texan). In his free time, he enjoys reading, skiing, golfing, and hanging out with his beautiful wife and two dogs.
In addition to
The Golden Crystal
and
The Depths
(not yet released), Nick is the author of several nonfiction books on marketing, publishing, writing, and building online platforms.
If you are interested in learning more about the fiction writing process and time-management for writers, be sure to check out The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Writing Fiction (www.livehacked.com/course), a completely FREE 20-week e-course!
In addition, be sure to sign up for the LiveHacked.com newsletter (www.livehacked.com/newsletter) to receive updates, exclusive content, and announcements about book releases.
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