Five Years After A John Matherson Novel Novels & Stories

The whole place felt quiet and empty. I had brought Justin here once before, wanting him to see the home I grew up in. However, he thought it was too cold and lifeless, so he didn’t want to stay long. Yet, compared to Dad’s new house, I thought this place still felt warmer. After Mom passed away, my stepmother showed up with her daughter. Not long after, Dad and she had a son together. Just like that, the small family Dad and I once had turned into a household of five. He was no longer just my dad, and that home was no longer just mine.

A massive emerald, ringed by a halo of diamonds, sparkled in the candlelight. I shivered when his fingertips grazed my neck. “Perfect,” he whispered in my ear. “Like it was made for you.” I raised my champagne glass, trying to hide my racing heart. Orion sat across from me, his gray eyes burning into mine, threatening to melt me. It had been five years since I was reborn. Five years I’d spent by his side. I was his secret. His only woman. I knew he didn’t do marriage. But the way he looked at me, the way he made love to me… it made me hope. It made me dream that he would ask me to be his wife.

"We partied too hard last night and forgot to use protection—don't forget to buy morning-after pills for your wife." Looking at the woman's smooth bare back and the red mole on her neck in the photo, I felt absolutely nothing. Again. Five years of marriage, and this wasn't the first time. Kathy liked to test me this way. She called it her "little experiment." The first time, she "accidentally" left a receipt for condoms on the nightstand. I got angry and confronted her, but she just smiled with contempt. "Why are you so petty? My girlfriends and I bought that on purpose just to see how you'd react." The second time was on our wedding anniversary. A guy showed up at our door with a bouq

She covered her nose and walked back into the house, pointing the camera inside. "Look. Miles has turned the house into a landfill. "I want to bring him back too, but look at how filthy he is. How am I supposed to bring him home like this?" I felt terribly wronged and muttered stiffly, "I'm not filthy." What can a five-year-old do? I've been dead for five years, and you still don't know. "Let me see Brother's house! I want to see!" A bright, lively voice came from the video. An eight-year-old boy in a little suit appeared on the screen, looking like a small prince.

Somehow, John knew if he turned away, he’d find it elsewhere. On his Charles Grant shelf. Next to Boy’s Life, with his Robert McCammon novels. Nestled between Dune by Frank Herbert and Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov. With his modest collection of Nero Wolfe mysteries. No matter where he turned in his beloved office, his quiet sanctuary against a mad world grown increasingly alien, somehow he knew he’d continue to find it, hiding in plain sight, waiting for him. A strange sort of resolve hardened inside John, a kind he hadn’t felt since high school . . .

Callie just gave her a wide doggy smile. After cleaning up, they pulled out Rose’s futon and curled up together. Although the sex was amazing, Seth had to admit he liked this part almost as much. Which meant he was turning into a total sap. He could just imagine what Max would’ve said: Watch out. You’re not getting out of that trap anytime soon, man. Seth moved his hand under his pillow, only to find a book there. He pulled it out. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. “Oh, I’d forgotten I’d put that there.” Rose took the book from him, smiling. “This is one of my favorites.” Her eyes widened. “The hero’s name is Mr. Thornton, actually. John Thornton.”

He ignored the pressure from two Alphas bearing down on him and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I’m telling the truth! Wren left me five years ago, and she was already pregnant! That pup over there? He’s mine! The timeline fits perfectly! What, do you all think I’m blind?" His voice rose higher, thick with accusation. "Alpha Nolan, are you really okay with this? Raising another’s pup like your own?" I laughed. At first, it was a low chuckle, but it grew louder and louder until tears welled up at the corners of my eyes. "Oh, Aiden," I said, voice edged with scorn. "You’re still the same arrogant, delusional fool. You really don’t know, do you? That child you’ve been dreaming of, the one you

I then readjusted the guns on the wall to my liking, putting all the different brass knuckles in one box afterwards. I closed the door behind me as I jumped on my bed, finally done with all of it. "Two more minutes and I'll head down," I thought to myself. It was 4:30 p.m, so I still had time. Or at least, that's what I thought until my father's voice boomed throughout the house. "Athena Hendrix! Down here now!" I flinched, quickly getting up and tilting my head in confusion. "I thought he said til five," I spat.

Little did I know that he had given all his burning love to Elsa, and what was left for me was just cold indifference. The next day, I woke up before dawn and noticed the screen of Xavier's phone glowing. He was turned away from me, chatting with someone saved in his contacts as "El". "Xavier, I'm coming back. I had only left five years ago because your parents told me you had decided to marry Halyna Joffrin."

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old John also spent five years looking for me before eventually learning of my whereabouts from one of his fellow deliverymen. Both Johns were ecstatic as they rushed to the sanatorium. At the entrance, they saw each other and froze in shock. Beneath the fading glow of the setting sun, the two identical men came face to face. The timelines seemed to warp and dissipate at the collision. After a flash of light, the two timelines united into one. Like magnets drawn together, the 27-year-old John and the 32-year-old John were pulled together by an overwhelming force, merging them into one.