Lock Shock And Barrel Novels & Stories

A handgun. I rushed over to the closet, throwing the wooden doors open, my hands trembling violently as I grabbed the small, heavy silver key. I knelt down on the floorboards, shoving the clothes out of the way until I found the dark metal lockbox bolted to the floor in the back corner. My fingers were shaking so much I could barely line up the key with the lock, but with a sharp twist, the mechanism clicked open.

I barely caught it, and crouched down next to him. "What are you doing?" I questioned, as Jambo held up the shackle, and a key. "Light that and bring it close to the lock so I can see." He said, and I followed his instructions. I glanced at the key and saw the letters 'J.A.' on it, so he must have grabbed his own key. I questioned why in my head, when he pushed the key into the lock, and turned it. What I didn't expect to happen was that the shackle unlocked!

I muttered, focusing everything on that spot. I tried the first time. Nothing happened. I shuffled on my feet and tried again, this time with a little more confidence. “Silven Loxira, Varea Lumen Openar!” I yelled with more force. The moment my eyes snapped open, I saw it. The lock glowed gray, a faint glint surrounding it. I took a step toward it. The once metal lock was replaced with gray mist. I reached forward, my hands sliding through the transparent form as I grabbed the bolt and pulled it off easily.

My nerves all thrummed with danger. I didn't lose a moment, inserting the flash drive into my pocket and grabbing my jacket. I hurried to the door, shaking my fingers and fumbling as I struggled to unlock it. But I couldn't open it because the knob was locked from the opposite side. I shrank back, my chest stinging with a pounding heart as the door groaned. Three men, their faces concealed behind hoods. My cry was ripped from my lips, but one of them was faster, his hand covering my mouth. The acrid smell of sweat in my nostrils as fear ripped at my throat. "Shh," he growled, shoving a chilly steel barrel into my ribcage. "We don't want any trouble here, do we?"

"Lock you in? What are you talking about? You just need time to think. I did the same thing with your sister when she acted up. Now go!" "No…" "Dad, you can't…!" Judy rushed over. "You want to start, too? None of you ever make things easy for me!" He shoved Judy aside with one hand and pushed me forward with the other. "Dad…" I stumbled inside, my shoulder hitting a stack of boxes. The door slammed shut behind me, and the lock clicked. Darkness swallowed everything. "No… Don't lock it!" Everything fell away. All that was left were flashes of fear. The whip with barbs. The clamps biting into skin. Men laughing as they closed in, hands already at their belts.

He reached out, his thumb running over the metal. "It's a mechanical locking sleeve. It requires a pin key." "Like this?" I asked, holding up the brass key. The end of the key wasn't flat like a normal house key; it had a small, hollow barrel with three tiny notches cut into the rim. "Yes," Niccolò said, his voice tight. "Put it in. Turn it slowly." I pressed the key into the small circular sleeve. It fit perfectly, the notches aligning with a soft, mechanical clack deep inside the wall.

"By nine o'clock, the shares won't hold five percent of the vote anyway. We’re just choosing who signs the last page." He didn't wait for Elias to let go. He drove his shoulder forward, his weight throwing Elias back against the concrete wall of the tower as he jammed the heavy steel handle of the utility knife straight into the gap between the brass tumbler and the cast-iron housing of the lock box.

Every crunch of gravel under their feet sounded like a gunshot to Panni’s ears, but Jinyan moved with the silent grace of a predator, signaling when to freeze and when to sprint. They reached the corrugated metal shed. It was locked, a heavy padlock securing the sliding door. “Stand back,” Jinyan murmured. “You’re not going to shoot it, are you?” Panni asked, eyes widening. “This isn’t a movie.” “No gun. Physics.” Jinyan grabbed a discarded rebar rod lying in the weeds, wedged it into the hasp of the lock, and applied leverage with a grunt of exertion. The rusted screws holding the hasp gave way with a screech that made Panni wince.

He stepped toward the bars, his eyes locked on mine. ​"Jinx," he growled, his voice a low rumble of thunder. ​"Derrick, the bars!" I warned. "Wolfsbane!" ​He stopped, his nostrils flaring as he took in the scent. He looked at the bars, then at the lock, and then back at me. A slow, predatory smirk spread across his face, the kind of look that told me Seraphina was going to have a very, very bad night. ​"Don't worry, Jinx," Derrick said, his muscles tensing. "I came prepared." He said turning to the dead guard and in one smooth movement he snapped off one of the guards arm and began using his bone to hit the padlock.

He shifted his body so that the darts would not penetrate his fur and paralyze him for the taking. The wolves were howling. Their snarls can be heard through the darkened wolves as the grey eyes glitter against the dark shadows. The poachers were holding their handguns in place as their leader was directing them to distract the coming wolves as they tried to get the black wolf out of the trap.