One Last Stop Novels & Stories

“Jenna, please let me explain. Last night, I…” I did not slow down or look at him. I simply walked around him and headed for the bus stop nearby. Behind me, he kept calling my name in a panic. I ignored him. I got on the bus heading toward Willow Lane. The bus was nearly empty. I took out the torn recipe from my bag and turned it over. On the back, my mother had written an address before she died: The corner of Willow Lane, Rosie’s Pasta Kitchen. The bus swayed through two stops before I got off near Willow Lane. Following the address, I found an old pasta place. There was a paper sign taped to the glass door.

The Final Movement The man stepped back toward the door. Slowly. Deliberately. “You’ve already been observed,” he said. A pause. “Now you’ve been recorded.” The door opened behind him. The Final Line Before he left, he looked at me one last time. Not cold. Not warm. Certain. “And Rosette…” he said quietly, “…the system doesn’t stop once it starts reviewing.” A pause. “It finishes.”

“Mom, I am giving you one last chance. Stop the car.” Morgan hung up. She told me to pull out the SIM card and throw it out the window. “Hold on tight.” She turned her head and looked at me with a deep, steady gaze. “Mira, I have not done much good in this life. Let this be the one good thing.” The engine let out a rough roar. Morgan pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The battered sedan shook as it surged forward. In the rearview mirror, the black SUV suddenly accelerated and closed in behind us.

Nolan held her close as I was petting my hair. My love, we will build it again. Come, I will carry you. I picked up the backpacks, and we left. We end up on the road again. The last pack settlement was behind us in the darkness.

Rose Murdock's POV By the time I came back to my senses and quickly hung up the phone, I had already heard more than enough. There was a sheet of paper lying on the carpet. I picked it up—it was a medical report. The diagnosis read end-stage heart failure. In the patient column, the name written there was Adrian Sanders, the same one I had just heard on the phone. That was when I remembered the recent news regarding the leader of the pack's most powerful mercenary corps, Orion. He had suddenly announced that he would hand over his authority to his deputy.

He simply smiled with a look of relief. The apple rolled to the ground, picking up dirt. From the start, Zach had been provoking Jessica on purpose. I looked at the blood spreading on the ground and at Zach's collapsed body, then at the frail and blind Jessica. I understood it all. This was Zach seeking redemption using Jessica. At the very end, Zach seemed to see me. His eyes were pleading. "Annie, now that I did this, will this make you feel any better?" As my own body faded, I realized this might be the last thing I would ever say. I looked right at him and gave a cold, cruel smile.

Anyone would feel that way too, where they really want to talk about current or hot news. In that semi-conscious state, Aini almost missed the bus stop where she had to get off. He hurriedly called the driver to stop first. Luckily, the driver didn't grumble and allowed Aini to get off. After saying thank you, Aini immediately left the bus to see the office where she would continue her internship. All the memories he made there are now just so painful. The feeling of wanting to get out filled him, but he realized that such an effort was very futile and wasted all his hard work.

He took a sharp step around the edge of the table, cutting off her path. “Claire. Please.” She stopped, her body freezing, but she didn't look back at him. Ethan lowered his voice, the raw desperation completely shattering his CEO composure. “I never... I never wanted things to end between us like this. You have to believe me.” Claire closed her eyes tightly for half a second, swallowing down the bitter taste of seven years of wasted loyalty. Then, she turned her head slowly, looking at him one last time. “Neither did I, Ethan.”

“But you need to ask that question before we walk into Stage 8 together. Or we won’t walk out at all.” The room fell into silence. Then Penelope’s screen beeped once an incoming message. Anonymous. Encrypted. The subject line: “One Last Choice.” Attached was a new file. A floorplan. Stage 8. A countdown in the corner ticked down from 24 hours. And beneath it, in flashing red: Only One Leaves. Isolde turned away from the monitor and stared out at the dark lawn. The game wasn’t beginning. It was ending. And someone was going to lose.

"We have just one hot night together and I give up on you forever, what do you say?" I wrenched my eyes away from her glorious body and tried to calm the arousal going around my body. "Stop this Bianca. You're crazy if you'll think I'll have sex with you one last time. Just take your bag and leave before we both do something we'll regret." She chuckled, palming her full breast in one hand and I winced in pain. "Just one last time Daniel and I promise to leave your life forever. I just want you for one last time and I'll walk away, I swear."