The Complete Cosmic Horror Trilogy by J. Thorn

Author:J. Thorn [Thorn, J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thorn Publishing LLC
Published: 2024-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

“Damn. The boy sure knows how to pick ’em.”

Lindsay turned her head and felt the seat sway beneath her. The sudden motion crested in a wave of vertigo that threatened to knock her from her chair.

“Excuse me?” she asked, remembering to whisper.

“Sammy. He snags some honeys. Would’ve given me a run for my money, back in the day.”

Lindsay turned toward the voice to see Major peering over an outstretched newspaper. The man’s eyes held her prisoner with their penetrating gaze. He had pulled his brilliant-white hair back into a low ponytail, which stretched toward the middle of his back. An even, full beard covered his face. Major wanted the talisman from Samuel and he would sacrifice anyone or anything to get it. He tried and failed in the previous reversion and was determined to try again in this one.

“You can call me Major. I’m an old friend of Samuel’s.”

Lindsay looked at the man’s black T-shirt.

“Is that a Threefold Law tour shirt?” she asked.

“One of my favorite bands,” he said.

Lindsay turned around to see others maneuvering through the long shelves filled with books. An elderly woman stood behind the circulation desk with a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of her nose, a silver chain preventing them from ever touching the ground. Several adults passed through the main lobby and past the indoor water fountain, towing children behind them. The parents constantly hushed the children, and the children constantly ignored their parents. A table to their right held the newest hardcover books, crinkly with plastic covers and opened to display their wares. Lindsay inhaled and could almost taste the crisp, new paper.

“They say someday we won’t read on paper.”

Major laughed out loud until the woman behind the circulation desk delivered an icy stare. “Then what the hell would we read on?” he asked.

Lindsay smiled. She felt the charisma radiating from the older man. “I can remember I’m sleeping at the base of a mountain in a far different place, so I know this is a dream and you’re not real.”

“True and false.”

Major set the paper down on the table and folded his hands on top of it. Lindsay saw pierced ears, a thin necklace, and several rings on him, all sterling silver and highly polished.

“This is a dream, and I’m as real as you are. I’m sure Sammy has taken you on one of his fancy dream dates, right? He does that with all the ladies.”

Lindsay felt a blush rush to her cheeks along with those ingrained feelings of being used by men. She had outrun the physical abuse, but not the mental scars that came with it.

“Oh. I’m sorry, hon. He told you that you were special, right? He hasn’t brought anyone else here or something like that?”

“No, he didn’t say that.”

“But he made it feel that way, right?”

Lindsay shifted and bit her lip as another mom dragged a child through the lobby, hands wet with the forbidden water from the decorative fountain.

“I’m not really up for an interrogation or a therapy session.

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