Nessus by Herb Scribner

Author:Herb Scribner [Scribner, Herb]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2017-03-26T23:00:00+00:00

California

Storm

The Uber comes. He gets inside the VW Bug and relaxes in the black seat. And then his phone rings.

The past won't let him go.

It's his phone again, buzzing against his leg. The name upon the screen makes him shiver. Brandon. A name he can't fathom. The rockstar from his childhood who left town on a whim, escaping reality for fantasy. The rarefied celebrity who still claims Lowell as his home even though he hasn't been back for a decade. A good friend Shawn contacted before he got here.

And now. All the progress drains away. The past catches up with him. A former life returns.

Don't answer it, Shawn. Don't do it.

His mind tugs at him, whispers not to answer. Answering the call opens one road. A curving path that snakes into the darkness of his former life. His dad could be listening on the other end, tracking Shawn down with fancy technologies. Law enforcement may be lurking in the shadows like wolves. Answering the call brings him into a life he left behind. It puts everything he's begun to build into trouble waters. All the time spent winning Cassie’s heart dismantled in a heartbeat. Waves of worry approach the shores of his mind. He has to make a decision. One more ring and the phone call is over. One more ring and he can forget his past.

The call grows dead. A bell chime notifies him that Brandon called. A second one moments later clarifies that he left a voicemail, too. Shawn sighs out all of his stresses, though a typhoon of them float within him. He rubs his hand against his palm. Brandon came back to California. Shawn knows he has to talk to him. One of best friends skis back into his life, so he can't just ride the chairlift away.

But the world Brandon brings with him scares Shawn half to death. It's not the world itself that bothers him, but all the potential, both gained and lost. On his own and in a big city surrounded by intelligent thinkers and philosophers, Shawn flourishes. He succeeds because there's no dark, nasty hand reaching to pull him into the darkness. He fights back. No longer languid from the beaten Lowell streets. He battles and works hard — two qualities that are rare in this world.

He tosses his phone to the floor. Just get rid of it and think about everything tomorrow.

For now he has Cassie. And that should be enough.

The phone doesn't leave him alone. It buzzes and shakes from the ground below. A name flows on the front screen. Brandon again, just trying to take the discussion happen. It won't. Or at least he doesn't want it to. The past buried under the fresh ground. No rising dead memories of the past to disturb the present. Unfair to the present. All time should be celebrated equally.

The buzzing only continues. The Uber driver inquires about the vibration. The pressure builds inside the car. So Shawn answers. He reminds himself before he says a word that he has to keep the conversation short and dry.

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