Everlost Neal Shusterman Novels & Stories

"Or worse. He'll finish the job they started in '96." "Facility 4," I said, sitting next to him. "Do you have any idea where it is?" "No. It's a black site. It doesn't exist on any map." He took a sip, his eyes narrowing. "But I know someone who might know. A ghost." "A ghost?" "Elias Vane. He used to be the Consortium’s archivist. The man who scrubbed the records. He 'died' in a boating accident five years ago. But I know for a fact he’s living in Old Town, running a clock repair shop."

Everything seemed to be moving towards a beautiful conclusion, but there was something Ethan had kept from me. The resurrection ceremony proceeded smoothly, and we reached the final step. Ethan mentioned that we needed to properly handle the body. I cried over Neil's body, accepting that his current departure was necessary for his return. Finally, I was willing to let him go and pushed his body into the crematorium. According to his last wish, I scattered his ashes into the sea. At that moment, my mind went blank because Neil Wesley had completely disappeared from this world. He was truly and utterly gone from my life.

Terrifyingly personal. “Keep talking,” I urged Julian. Julian’s jaw tightened slightly. “The payment authorization was signed by someone using the initials C.S.” The room tilted. Because I already knew those initials. Not Caleb Stone. Another name. One buried so deeply inside my past I had not spoken it aloud in over eleven years. Christopher Shaw. Elena’s ex-boyfriend. The same Christopher Shaw who disappeared six months before her death after allegedly stealing money from a biotech startup in Boston. The same Christopher who vanished so completely investigators assumed he fled the country.

I remove my hand from the window and bend over my phone when a piece of information from the radio caught my attention. "And on today's news. If you check up on the stock market then you would see that Standall Enterprise had been dealt with a crippling blow as Empire corporations removes it's shares from the company and sells it out to it's competition. Now it said that with in the next coming days Harold Standall is set to file for bankruptcy…So Gerald what do you have to say about that? Well you see Tom this could not have been easily predicted I mean who would have thought such a financial giant could have been critically injured and to such an existent that they had to file for bankrupt

We sat for a minute on a flat rock, listening. “He’s lost,” Neal said suddenly. His voice was so quiet, so sad. He wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the dark water. “My brother. My twin. I don’t know that man back there. That cold, empty shell. That’s not him.” I reached over and put my hand on top of his. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers with mine. His grip was tight, like he was drowning.

Evelyn giggled and continued to scroll through the net. I wish I could stay back too but I can't. Besides Branden would never let me go to an orgy party. He'd slaughter me if he found out, I don't want to give my body to anyone else but him. We arrived right in front of Branden's mansion, without wasting any further time the electronic gates opened up automatically. Theresa drove in and parked at the entrance of the huge mansion door. "Byeeeee enjoy yourselves" I said before stepping down of the car. They all waved me a goodbye and zoomed off.

Neil reprimanded his son, as if he didn't teach him all that. Aiden sniffed and made a show of wiping at his dry eyes as if he was crying. "Its ok. He is just a kid" Esther said, feeling bad for the boy. She has seen her niece feeling sad whenever she missed her dad. So she felt bad for the boy. "We are sorry. I lost my wife a few years ago. Aiden was so attached to her. He is unable to let go" Neil explained sadly. Esther nodded sympathetically. That was the first time Esther met Neil and Aiden. She didn't know then that they are going to ruin her life. And their target was Christian Deluca, who was in love with Esther back then.

“Then the old file number is not dead.” “No,” Elaine said. “Not if the system still recognizes it.” The thought made Leah’s skin crawl. Northbridge had ended publicly. The banners were gone. The girls grew up. The donors moved into other committees, other trusts, other polite rooms. But somewhere, a number still opened a drawer. Somewhere, Olivia Margaret Grant was not only a missing bride or a daughter or a woman whose place Leah had been forced to take. She was a file. NBYE-17-OMG.

The most famous person was actually a celebrity. She filtered out all the information on the celebrity before she searched for Earley’s information from millions of search results. After she looked around for a while, she finally found an introduction. [Earley Wynters was the CEO of Elitos Corporation’s branch company in Cairnstan for one year. During his tenure, Elitos grew rapidly in the market of Cairnstan.] This introduction only stated Earley’s contribution to Elitos. There was none of his personal information. “The information about this Earley Wynters must have been removed.” Alden had come over at some point. “Mom, do you need me to investigate him?”

He was gone. A heart-rending sob tore from my very depths as I bent over his now-vacant form, clutching it to me as if I could somehow will life back into his broken body through sheer anguish. Dimitri's arm went around my shoulders, his own composure shattering as he mourned the loss of his oldest friend and confidant. Neal was dead, sacrificed to save me. Another light brutally snuffed out in this cruel, merciless world. Ophelia's words rang in my skull.