On The Line Novels & Stories

"What data?" He turned the screen toward her. On it was only a single line, the font enlarged to fill the entire display: "Subject: Luna. Status: Stable. Duration: Lifetime." No heart rate curve, no spectrum chart, no anchor coordinates. Just that one line, written the night before, white text on a pure black background. The font was large enough that she didn't need to lean closer to read it.

Something visible beneath it. Strain. Cost. A man holding a door shut with both hands. The door winning. "He says you know what I am," I said. Kael closed his eyes. One breath. When he opened them the gold was still there. Steadier than before. More real. Less possible to explain away as a trick of light. "Yes," he said quietly. "I do." --- I glanced past him. Above the tree line the moon hung pale in the afternoon sky. Not yet full.

POV: Elara The conference hall on CrossTech’s top floor felt more like a battlefield dressed in glass and chrome. Elara smoothed her skirt, not from being nervous, at least that’s what she told herself, but because the silence of the room pressed against her as the clock ticked toward the start. The long table gleamed under the recessed lights. Folders aligned with ruthless symmetry. Screens flickered to life with CrossTech’s insignia, the Duval crest placed neatly beside it. A merger of power on display.

Somewhere north of it, in a shooting lodge in Sutherland, nine people who were told what they were before they had to carry it are asleep in a building named after a room in Aberdeen. And under all of it, in a channel she can no longer hear, something very old is going about its business, in no particular hurry, waiting for a door that has opened four times before. "Quiet," she says. "It feels quiet." She picks up her glass. "I'm going to need about ten years to get used to it," she says, "and I'd like to spend them here." END OF BLOODLINE ZERO

He could keep himself satisfied with just looking at her from afar. "SURPRISE!" Raiden got almost knocked off his feet from the scene that unfolded before his eyes. His first thought was that what were they doing at his house at midnight. Jessica, Aaron and Calvin stood there with balloons scattered around their legs. While Jessica and Aaron had to huge grins plastered on their faces, Calvin had a tight smile which screamed, 'I am dying on the inside.'

“On my lead!..engage!!..engage!!…..MOVE!!!…in line with me…advance!…do not stop!!…kill them all!!!…” In a single line, with me on the front the line moved synchronized, in a single file, all of those that were beside me, without a single doubts and falter, moved forward, like an unstoppable force of detestation. Every single person on the line, continues shooting and advance steps by steps, emptying their rounds then changed the magazine, dumping the bullets at the hordes of stampede before us. It was so picturesque and iconic, that those behind us were so amazed and stupefied that they were only able to see it and stunned on their tracks.

I figured the enemy of an enemy had, indeed, become a friend. I sighed and said, "If none of you believe me, that's fine. But the scholarship was already distributed early this year. Why don't we ask Lily if she received it?" The classroom fell silent for a moment. All eyes turned to Lily, waiting for her answer. Lily raised her phone and announced, "Mr. Clark, you must be mistaken. I've already received my scholarship money." Amelia's eyes went wide, her face turning red, then going completely pale.

We put flowers on the balcony, a worn sofa in the living room, and her favorite dishes in the kitchen. On our wedding day, Chloe held my hand on stage and said: “From now on, no matter what happens, we trust each other first. We talk first.” I nodded. “No secrets. No running. We won’t let anyone hurt us with lies.”

There was a variety of equipment inside, including a treadmill, stationary bike, and rowing machine, as well as a variety of free weights. “Well, Robyn, does it meet your standards?” he asked me, and I couldn’t tell if he was truly curious or if he was making fun of me. “It’s fine. Thanks.” He had been nice enough to show me the way, so I dug down deep and tried again. “Have a good day at work.”