X Shifted Novels & Stories

Minus I hit the last number dialed on Viper’s phone and Warthog answered. “Where are you?” I asked. “He dropped me off near Shelly’s old place,” he replied. “Stay there. We’re on our way. Find someplace out of sight—” That was as far as I got before the phone call cut off. “Fuckers must have killed the phone remotely,” I said, tossing it aside. “What the holy hell is going on, Minus? What happened back there?”

Chapter Eleven: Flourish Copper Xander’s sleek black car cruised past the outskirts of the city, the skyline fading behind as he approached neighborhoods where his world rarely ventured. The late morning sun filtered through dusty air. As he rounded a corner, a cluster of people gathered along the street caught his eye. It seemed like a ripple of movement, voices mingled with laughter and gratitude.

"I'm listening." "The easiest way to know the value of x is to get rid of the numbers next to x. In this equation, it's 3 and 2. If you subtract 2x-2x, that cancels the number out. Then if you subtract 2x from 3x, you'll only get x. Now, the next part is easier. We only have the remaining 4 and 6, right? Instead of transferring it to the other set, just cancel the 4 out. Then subtract 4 from 6." Thomas was looking at the messy scribble I did on his notepad.

I am so touched by this gesture that I can feel the tears running down my cheek. Xander leans forward and gently wipes my tears with his fingers before kissing me. “You don’t have to say anything, just sign.”

It felt like my whole body was shaking, though the numbness in my feet made it hard to tell if that was real or just my mind frantically trying to escape the horror. Xander didn’t even flinch, his focus never wavering as he continued his task. When he finally looked up at me, his eyes met mine with an unsettling calm. “Oh, this?” He shrugged lightly, the corners of his mouth twitching into something almost like a smile. “It’s just to send a message to your father. To show him that I mean business. I am not playing games here.” His tone was cold, almost detached, as if the cruelty of the situation didn’t even faze him.

He smiled, which was not something he did often enough. ----------- Xavier was on his feet for the full day by the fifth week. The mark had retreated to the wound's original entry point by then, a tight dark circle at his shoulder instead of the spreading spiral that had been tracking toward his heart. Anders was cautiously optimistic, which from Anders was equivalent to anyone else being certain.

My brothers looked at each other before looking at me, I gave them a shrug before looking out the window. My eyes glided up and down the building that stood in front of me, nothing changes about it. It still had that sick yellow paint and the white on the pillars were beginning to wash off, the painting of a phoenix on the the left side of the building was beginning to fade away a reminder that the one who painted it no longer existed.

[RC Group] The young man got out of his black car. He walked into the company he manages. All the staff saluted the young man as he walked past them. This morning, Redric was still in a mess. He forced himself to go to the office because he felt bad at home. Yesterday's incident really frustrated him. About Shireen's sudden presence, and about Shin's self-righteousness. Apparently he had been living with strangers all this time. even Redric and Shin didn't know each other before. Redric really felt confused about that.

"Xander, left side?" "Left side," Xander confirmed, and they moved. Ninety seconds was a long time to hold a line against stone that didn't feel pain and didn't negotiate. Xander took the two nearest statues simultaneously — one fist, one shoulder-block, working the fracture lines he'd already opened and widening them, buying inches where he couldn't buy feet. The Void frequency coming off them was cold and persistent and made his already-numb arm feel like it was wrapped in wet concrete, but he'd decided in the tunnel that this arm was going to work until he said otherwise and he was sticking to it.

Behind me… Xavier doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. But something inside him shifts. Cracks. Because the truth is— I’m right. And that’s the one thing he can’t afford.