Deadlocked Novels & Stories

"By simply hearing their heartbeat and blood flow, he can listen to all the emotions in a being's heart." I looked at Zeri, who had apparently lost his cool because he was the one being discussed. "I thought deadlocks were terrible." "Deadlocks aren't like grays, yellows, reds, purples, or golds; hybrids are a combination of either talent, but deadlocks can be either special or e—evil." Myra hesitated before bringing up the final description that could cause a stalemate. He quickly looked around to ensure neither Trinity nor the principal overheard them.

"Henry saved my life, but he became mentally impaired. I'm just putting up a fake wedding to cheer him up. But Mayor Walton, I really haven't seen John. He has been missing for four years. Can you please have some mercy?" I sneered by the window. Even so close to her downfall, she was still in denial. I struggled with all my might, slamming the shoulder that the security guards held onto the window. The window let out a loud thud. Wesley looked where the sound was coming from. Then, he led a police officer and charged into the room where I was. When he saw me, his murderous glance instantly turned into guilt, even with a hint of grovelling. "John, let me take you to the hospital right away."

Perimeter Lockdown Confirmed. The mechanical voice of the security system mocked me every time I came home. She had bypassed it. A Level 5 security network engineered by the top defense contractors in the world, and my sweet, delicate Aria had shattered it in ninety seconds, leaving nothing behind but a burnt-out circuit panel and a ruined emerald dress on the floor.

Waiting for the next take. Forever.

They were all greyed out, their signatures reduced to Inactive Icons in the system's tray. Only Xander and I remained "Online." "Sereia, I can't move my feet," Xander growled, his voice a distorted, low-frequency rumble. He was struggling against the invisible constraints of the sandbox, his Alpha energy flaring white-hot as he tried to Brute-Force his way out of the stasis. "What is this? What have they done to my pack?" "It’s a System Freeze, Xander," I said, my voice echoing in the hollow silence. "They’ve paused the execution of the world to perform a check. Don't fight it—you’ll trigger a Memory Leak in your own core."

was a "Total-Somatic-Merge." As they "Synced," they didn't just "Overload" the system with love; they "Overloaded" it with "Debt." They "Dumped" every "Sorrow," every "Grief," and every "Unpaid-Moment" of the last fifty years into the Vantablack prompt. They "Charged" the "Creditor" for the "Interest" of their "Sovereignty."

The engine died. Silence followed— Heavy. Suffocating. Elena’s breath came in sharp bursts as her hands trembled on the steering wheel. “No… no, no—” She twisted the key again. Nothing. Dead. Completely dead. The device in her hand pulsed once— Then went still. SYSTEM LOCKDOWN INITIATED The words burned into her vision. Behind her— Headlights flooded the road. Blinding. Trapping. Boxing her in.

"They've become foundation—three pillars holding reality's corner. Remove any pillar, structure collapses." The rotation wheel spun nearby, but its movements no longer affected the prison. The three-way deadlock existed outside normal space-time, eternal moment stretched infinite. "Can they communicate?" Connection asked through James. "We hear you," Kieran responded, but his voice came from everywhere and nowhere. "We feel you. But we can't reach you." Through our bond, I sensed their struggle. Not pain exactly, but constant tension. Like holding breath forever, muscles locked in permanent extension, thoughts frozen mid-completion.

Waiting for something. Anything.

He filed us into use. I pulled on the debt key. Kael's voice came through shredded and breathless. "Tell me where." "The server rack below the eastern breach. Can you reach it?" A pause. Too long. "No." Honest. Useless. Then he added, "But the rack is Blackwood infrastructure." "Meaning?" "I can make it refuse release for three seconds." Three seconds. In this world, mercy always came in insulting measurements. "Do it." The debt wire went white-hot.