Knock Off Among Us Novels & Stories

I've reported that too. [Howard: Someone swiped 12 grand from my account. I've filed a report as well.] The chat went dead silent. Then, one by one, they bailed on the chat. First, it was Cindy. Becky followed her. Jim was next. Nevaeh dropped out, too. The chat group fell into a buzz of conversation. [So that's the story...] [More than 200,000 dollars. That's no chump change...] [It's no wonder Jim's been throwing money around like it's nothing these past couple of years...]

He was wearing his grim reaper cloack and a formal attire underneath. Shane's ears burned bright red while staring at Mara's mismatched eyes. He secretly pinched himself. "Knock! Knock!" He said and Mara chuckled. "Who's there?" She said. She knows about this modern joke. Shane's face burned brighter. He didn't mean it as a joke. He flicked Mara's forehead and then leaned closer to her. "It's Death, on your doorstep," He said and then planted a kiss on her forehead. "It's Death, on your doorstep, who?" Mara asked.

Even Nellie was yet to drop in since he'd been there. They'd moved on from boxing to Call Of Duty, a military type game where they paired up in teams. "Noah, what are you doing?" Abel nudged him with his knee. "You're supposed to back me up; he almost got me." Hector laughed, going heavy on the bombs, taking advantage of Noah's slipup. Noah made a few maneuvers to get his man out of harm's way, but his eyes were back on the door where Roni smiled as she greeted whoever it was. She glanced back at Noah with an expression he couldn't quite make out before she walked out onto the porch, closing the screen door behind her.

“My parents want us for family dinner tonight at seven. Important guests will be there. Dress nicely. I’ll pick you up at six.” I stayed quiet. “You okay?” he asked casually. “Yes,” I replied softly. “Good. Love you.” He hung up. Those words felt completely empty now. The thought of pretending again tonight made me feel suffocated. Before I could change my mind, I messaged the stranger from the gala. “I can’t meet today. Family obligation. Sorry.” His reply came fast. “Not the type to give up easily. Come to my apartment instead. 2 pm. Just talk. No pressure.”

Zane leaned over my shoulder, eyes wide in shock. My jaw clenched hard. In my previous life, I’d also looked at Adrian’s robot earlier in the day and seen nothing suspicious, so I hadn’t paid it any attention. It wasn’t until the last thirty minutes before the submission deadline that I discovered his robot was a carbon copy of mine. I had scrambled to report it to the organizers and even posted the entire assembly process online. However, the organizers didn’t believe me, and Adrian’s rabid fans tore into me. "River, the copycat! Always stealing from our genius, and now you’re trying to frame him? Shameless!"

Her aura of untouchable power faltered under the combined presence of Grayson and me. Grayson’s other hand came up, brushing a loose strand of hair from my face, lingering near my jawline. Mary’s voice cut through the charged silence. “You are playing a dangerous game.” Grayson leaned slightly closer, eyes locked on hers, but his hand never left mine. “The only dangerous game here was you trying to manipulate the narrative. That is done.” I felt a heat rise between us. My body responded even as my mind stayed razor-sharp. We are a team. We are untouchable together.

... At a renowned publishing house in Asteron, Kimberly typed diligently, focused on her manuscript. Her editor had just informed her that her contest entry passed the preliminary round, and now she needed a new piece for the next stage. Hannah called. "Kimberly, check your phone. It's explosive!" Kimberly, puzzled, opened her device and saw the top trending topic with the hashtag #Siena's Private Character. Clicking in, she found a flood of scandals, retweeted by prominent producers and directors. Their line was all the same: [Immoral artist Siena Gallegos is permanently blacklisted!]

I set my stick down, wiped my hands against my jeans, and barely took a step before a voice piped up. “Cass, you leaving already?” I turned to see Jay leaning against the table, a beer in one hand, smirk lazy. Beside him, some dude I barely remembered raised a brow. “Carrie Mercer’s about to take her top off for a dare,” he grinned, swirling a drink in his hand. “You sure you wanna miss that?” I laughed, like I gave a shit. Like I was still that guy. Then I grabbed my jacket and strolled past them without looking back.

The group chat fell silent for a few seconds before it was flooded by question marks and angry messages. "'Magnet Apocalypse'? Isn't the game supposed to be 'War of the Plants'?" "Is the system pulling our leg?" "What the hell is going on? Why are only magnets falling from the sky? What about the plants? This is supposed to be a plant apocalypse!" "This is all your fault for leading astray, Riley!" I sent a photo into the group chat amidst the building chaos.

Besides, I already knew this world was part of a novel, on a story centered around Paul, so calling the police wouldn't have mattered as much as letting him handle it. Just as I began to finally relax, I heard two soft knocks at the door. "Food delivery's here!" My heart skipped a beat. I looked up, ready to stop him, but the retired officer had quietly moved to the door, his hand on the handle. Muttering to himself, he said, "Huh… I don't remember ordering food." I panicked and blurted out, "Don't open the door!" Alas, it was too late. The moment the door clicked open, the killer rushed in with the chainsaw.