Continued from scene twenty-eight
In pursuit, I caught up with him as he flipped a switch causing the entire tunnel to come alive for as far as I could see in both directions. Astonished by its length, I lost track of my tour guide, who hid snickering in the distance.
“You know I can hear you.”
And with that, the lights went out.
“Funny.”
“Is it,” he said from behind.
“SHIT—you just about gave me a heart attack.”
“What if I had been Montresor and chained you to the wall? How would you escape this old fool you took to be unread?”
“Scream like hell, you crazy bastard.”
“Really? That’s what you want me to tell Karen when I drop you off. ‘Yep, said he would scream like a girl.”‘
“You make the “Girl” reference, and we’re both going to be in trouble.”
“You got a point, but seriously, what would you do?”
“I don’t know?”
“If you were Fortunato chained tightly to the wall, you would be screwed, But you’re not. You’re a shifter with survival skills and the ability to switch from thick to thin. So scream like a girl if you will, but your hands will slip free.”
I felt like a fool standing there in silence. Jeff was right, and I needed to start thinking like a shifter. “Lesson learned, my friend.”
“Then we shall have another glass of wine?”
“Wine?”
Okay, maybe not wine,” he said, pouring from a flask. “But the day is long, and our nerves need calming.”
“You think?”
Shift is an online work of fiction.
This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.
The story centers around shapeshifting.
I’m currently working on chapter nine.
Timothy French 