First Stoplight Novels & Stories

My mother's eyes went wide with shock, and she dove for Amelia's leg, yelling, "Don't touch that!" My mother barely touched her. However, Amelia crashed to the ground like she had been hit by a truck. Tears filled her eyes as she looked up. "Mrs. Carden, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. I'll give them back! I-I'll give back the eyes!" She clawed at her face, fingers digging into her eyes. Then, out of nowhere, a hard slap cracked across my mother's cheek. With a mere flick of his wrist, Samuel sent my mother tumbling to the ground, her elbow scraping a long, raw gash on the unforgiving concrete.

“I need to keep control over that for now.” “Understood,” he said calmly. “We’ll keep you clothed. You’ll choose a safe word. The traffic light colours are available—yellow to slow, red to stop. Or pick any word you like.” “Yellow and red are fine,” I said, oddly comforted by their simplicity. They were already a part of the Elysium vocabulary in my head, a language of safety. He continued, his tone methodical and reassuring. “Touch. Where is okay? Where is not?”

Initializing delayed slaughter milestones. Then a loud PING exploded in my brain. It was so loud and sharp that my ears started ringing instantly. It completely drowned out the screaming of the monsters outside. It drowned out the loud wailing of the emergency sirens. The red flashing text on the screen suddenly broke apart into tiny pieces. Then, a brilliant, blinding white light flooded the room, forcing me to throw my arm over my eyes to keep from going blind. [CONGRATULATIONS, HOST EVA!]

Time to end this one way or another. ***

It is narrowing focus. On us. Dylan looks at me, and there is no hesitation in him now. “If it thinks you are the origin,” he says, “then you are leverage.” “I am not leverage.” “You are to it.” Another vibration. Closer. The red floor lights flicker. A new message overlays the live feed. ISOLATION INITIATED. “Dylan,” I say quietly. He looks at me. The pulse reaches the adjacent buildings. They go dark instantly. Our tower remains lit.

The lead car changed direction a couple more times before finally returning to its original movement. The convoy of cars was moving while strictly observing all traffic regulations. When the light turned red at a large intersection, the car stopped smoothly. Though the movement was smooth and quiet, the people inside were not. They had been vigilant while moving, but when the car stopped at the light, they scrutinized all directions with sharp eyes. They were preparing for a possible attack during this pause. As had been the case throughout the journey, nothing unusual happened. The light changed, and the car started again.

An amber light I crossed before the decision had fully formed. Red light. I stopped. Called again. Once. Twice. The line rang and rang. My hand had moved from the wheel without my noticing. I noticed it now. Put it back. The light changed. I was already moving.

He picked up the half drunk bottle of scotch and he moved firther iside, after being satisfied that he was alone, he set his things down before pouring himself a shot. “Here’s a toast to starting afresh and being human again. Quincy, you’d be fine again” He declared a little too loudly before raising the shot to the air and he drank it all in one gulp. Movements in the dark stopped him from pouring the shot and he searched frantically for his torchlight, heaven forbids it and he would be watched by a reporter who is looking for juicy details to fuel his career. She would not be a scapegoat to him.

"Oh no. QuickShot is not going to be happy about this." "Believe me," I say, walking right up to JumpStart. "I'm not." "I can explain," JumpStart says. He pushes himself up and dusts his butt clean. JumpStart opens his mouth but before he could 'explain', the lights in the OutPost change colors. The change is followed by the alarm going off. "I will explain later. For now--" "For now," I say, "Go and grab my bow."

said Elize ***** Gavin drives away from the university. He spotted the light from this object in front of the steering wheel. It's just blinking blue light, he disregarded it. Traffic was easy because, on the way to his condo, he thought he could get through. Gavin made a left-hand turn as the wheel started turning red from the blue. A few minutes later Gavin was startled when he could not move the steering wheel and the car stopped. "Goddamn it, what happened?" asked Gavin.