Brian Harmon's Blog, page 3

New Novel Now Available!

My brand new novel, Rushed, is live and available for purchase on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  A mix of horror, suspense, adventure and mystery, fans of The Temple of the Blind should not be disappointed.  (This is not a part of the series, so don’t worry about reading something out of order.)  With a faster pace, more humor and less adult content than my other books, it should be a great jumping-off point for new readers as well.  Visit the links below and download a sample today.  And please feel free to share these links with your online friends. 


http://www.amazon.com/Rushed-ebook/dp/B00AXTOIJMhttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rushed-brian-harmon/1114076406https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/272463

"Rushing" Right Along

Have you read the first chapter of my upcoming novel, Rushed?  (If not, you can check it out here.)  With a healthy blend of horror, suspense, adventure and fantasy, and a good dose of humor thrown in for good measure, my new book is a fast-paced, supernatural thriller that should delight fans of The Temple of the Blind series (which should be concluding with book 6 in the next few weeks, by the way) as well as any fan of supernatural tales.  It is also a 2012 NaNoWriMo winner!

So when can you read it?  How about next week?  That's right, Rushed will be arriving at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords on TUESDAY, JANUARY 8!  That's in just six days!

I'll be posting links right here on Dark Things Rising as they become available.  In the meantime, help me spread the word!  Tell your friends, your family, those jerks you work with who you pretend to be friends with even though you really can't stand them, those other jerks you also pretend to like just because they're family, those people you randomly see on the street, your dentist, the girl at the grocery store checkout lane...  You know, whoever will listen.  Just send them to this page.  Or to my Facebook page.  (You have "liked" me on Facebook right?)

And if you'd like to be added to my mailing list and receive e-mail reminders when my books are ready to buy, just contact me via my website with your name and e-mail address.

Happy reading, my friends!

New Novel On Its Way (Sneak Peek!)

It’s hard to believe it’s already December.  November was crazy busy.  I celebrated another birthday.  I enjoyed another wonderful Thanksgiving
dinner.  I neglected my blog.  (Sorry!) 
And I became an official National Novel Writing Month WINNER! 




In my last post, I wrote about participating in the annual
competition to write a novel of 50,000+ words in only thirty days.  I was not entirely confident I would be able
to do it.  I’ve never put myself on such
a deadline before.  I wasn’t sure I had
the time for such an undertaking.  But I
worked hard and had excellent support from my wonderful wife and I reached the 50,000-word
requirement in only 18 days!  The book
has now surpassed 73,000 words and is well into the editing process. 




I’ve never made such good time on a project this size.  And the book is coming along
wonderfully.  After reading just a few
chapters of my first draft, my dear wife has not only proclaimed it a
resounding success, but has challenged me to finish it and deliver it to my
fans by Christmas!  (My tentative
deadline of June was simply unacceptable, she insisted.)  I’m not fully convinced that I can produce a
finished book by Christmas Day (that’s only two weeks!) but then again, I
wasn’t fully convinced that I could pull off NaNoWriMo, either… 




I would have to complete all the editing, the cover design
work and formatting.  And then there’s
the near impossible task of finding proofreaders capable of reviewing the book
in that time… 




Well, there’s no harm in trying.  Even if I miss my holiday deadline, this push
should ensure the book gets a healthy January or February release, slightly
ahead of the final book in The Temple of
the Blind series. 




In the meantime, I thought I’d share with you the entire first
chapter of my manuscript.  Check it out
and enjoy.










Rushed

by Brian Harmon




Chapter One




Eric Fortrell lived a perfectly unremarkable life until he happened to
have a very extraordinary dream.  It
wasn’t that it was an especially meaningful dream.  In fact, he could remember nothing about the
dream except that there was something about a bird, and even that vague detail
was so far lost to his waking mind that only the word itself remained.  “Bird.” 
It was not any particular kind of bird, no bird of any particular color
or size.  It was nothing more significant
than something about a bird.  And yet this dream filled him with such a
profound sense of urgency and foreboding that he immediately left his bed,
dressed himself and fled his home in the middle of the night.  By the time he came to his senses and
realized that there was nowhere for him to go, he was already standing in his
driveway with the door of his silver PT Cruiser wide open, ready to climb in
and drive away. 

He was confused, of course, and a little unnerved.  After all, he wasn’t exactly known for being
impulsive.  It wasn’t like him to do
anything without a reasonable amount of thought, much less jump up in the
middle of the night and go running out to his car, inexplicably convinced that
he desperately needed to be somewhere. 
But more than that, he was embarrassed. 
He closed the vehicle’s door as quietly as he could and gazed around at
the darkened windows of his neighbors’ houses, very nearly convinced that at
least one of them must be watching him, wondering where he thought he was going
at a quarter past one in the morning, laughing at his ridiculous antics. 

He was a reasonable enough man to know that this was utter nonsense.  Even if someone was up and wandering around in their unlit home at this hour and just happened to be looking out the
window as he hurried out the door, they’d have no reason to suspect that he was
behaving strangely.  Perhaps he’d lost
something, his wallet, maybe, and was checking to see if he’d left it in his
vehicle. 

Still, he hesitated to lock the car for fear that the brief sounding of
the horn would alert every nosy neighbor on the block to his presence and
somehow instantly let them know that he was acting as if he’d utterly lost his
mind.

He left the PT Cruiser unlocked in his driveway and returned to his house
and his bed. 

He was not crazy.  He did not have
a history of insanity in his family.  He
had no excessive mental or emotional stress in his life.  He was also intelligent.  He’d earned a Masters Degree in education and
literature.  With honors.  He was a respected high school English
teacher and he had never in his life poisoned his mind with drugs.  He didn’t even drink that much.  Only seldom in his life had he drank enough
to qualify him as being drunk, and never so much that he couldn’t remember what
he did the next morning. 

And yet here he was. 

Karen was waiting for him when he returned to bed.  She was concerned, of course, and wanted to
know what had happened, why he had risen and dressed, where he had gone.  He told her the truth.  He always told his wife the truth.  And of course she laughed at him and told him
how silly he was because she was always equally as honest with him and it was,
after all, a funny and silly thing that he had done.

But long after Karen had drifted off to sleep again, Eric remained awake,
staring up at the ceiling in the faint glow of the street light that filtered
through the curtains and the nightlight that shined through the open bathroom
door.  He kept thinking of the dream he
couldn’t remember and the odd compulsion that had driven him out of his bed and
into the cool, August night. 

The following day was no better. 
He couldn’t stop thinking about the dream (something about a bird…) and
that feeling of desperately needing to be somewhere (now).  In fact, he still felt
this compulsion.  It gnawed stubbornly at
him.  His eyes kept drifting to the
windows and doors.  His thoughts kept
returning to the parked PT Cruiser in the driveway.  It was like an itch. 

He very much wanted to get in the vehicle and drive down the road.  Yet he remained unable to say where it was he wanted so badly to
go. 

That night, the dream returned. 
Like the first time, he recalled nothing but a bird (or birds, or
something bird-like…he simply couldn’t remember) and like the first time, he
awoke utterly convinced that there was somewhere he very much needed to be,
that he was, in fact, desperately late. 

He did not make it all the way to his car this time.  When Karen switched on her bedside lamp, he
stood frozen and bewildered, his pants only halfway on, squinting into the
blinding glare and trying to remember where it was he thought he was
going. 

Soon after, he was back in bed, the lights back off.  Karen did not laugh at him this night.  She did not tell him he was silly.  She urged him back into bed and he came
willingly, ashamed of the concern he saw in her sleepy face.  The desperation he had felt was overpowered
by the simple logic that he did not have
anywhere to be.  He returned to his
pillow without a word and she snuggled against him as if determined to anchor
him to the bed until morning. 

Again, he lay awake, that feeling of being late still stubbornly refusing
to release him and let him rest. 

The next day was much like the one before it.  He remained constantly distracted, his
thoughts and eyes inexorably drawn to the parked PT Cruiser and the unknown
roads it promised to carry him down.

Each time he forced his eyes away from the windows and doors he caught
Karen watching him.  She was no
fool.  No matter how many times he told
her he was fine, she knew something was troubling him, and he felt terrible for
worrying her.  But still he could not
shake the urge to get up and go. 

The third night inevitably arrived and Eric awoke once more from the same
mysterious dream with the same maddening desire to rush out of the house. 

This time, he did not bother returning to bed.  When Karen came downstairs and switched on
the kitchen light at a little before three in the morning, she found him
sitting at the table, fully dressed, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands and
his car keys sitting in front of him. 

For a moment she stood watching him and for that moment he watched her
back, admiring her.  She was considerably
heavier than she had been ten years ago when he married her, but still as lovely
as the day they met.  In fact, he rather
preferred her a little plumper.  She’d
been too skinny back when they dated, far too preoccupied with her weight.  Now that she’d accepted that there was
nothing wrong with being larger than a size zero, she’d filled out her figure
with magnificently sexy curves.  His eyes
washed over her bare legs as she stood leaning against the doorjamb, clothed in
only her favorite pajama top, her arms crossed over her chest as if chilled. 

“You know,” she said finally, “there’s bound to be an easier way to sneak
off and see your mistress.”

Eric smiled up at her.  “I
know.  She told me to stop waking her up
at two in the morning.” 

“No girl’s horny at that hour.”

Still smiling, still admiring her lovely shape, he sipped quietly at his
coffee. 

“How far did you get this time?”

“Pretty well right here.”

“Same dream?”

“Far as I know.  Still can’t
remember it.”

She stared at him and said nothing.

He kept smiling.  “It’s just a
stupid recurring dream.”

She was silent for a moment longer. 
She would not admit that she was worried about him.  That simply wasn’t her way.  But he could see it in her eyes.  And he didn’t blame her for feeling at least
a little concerned.  These dreams were
troubling.  They were interfering with
his life.  Neither of them had ever dealt
with anything like this before. 

Finally, she spoke:  “What are we
going to do?”

“I’m going to go,” Eric replied. 

This surprised her.  She stood up
straight, her pajama shirt falling open a little at the bottom, where she’d
left it unbuttoned.  There was no force
on earth that could stop his eyes from being drawn there.  “Go where?”

Eric shrugged.  “I’ll just
drive.  See where it takes me.”

“Okay…but there’s nowhere to go. 
It’s just a stupid dream.  You
said so yourself just now.”

“I know.  Believe me, I know.  But this
is the third night in a row I’ve had it and for some reason it’s really getting
to me.  I’ve been so distracted.  I constantly feel like there’s somewhere I
need to be.” 

“But there’s not.  You know that.”

“I do know that,” he assured
her.  “But apparently some part of my
brain doesn’t.  That’s why I’m going.  I’ll open myself up to it, do what it wants
me to do.  I’ll just get in the car and
drive.  After a while, I’ll prove to
myself that there really isn’t anywhere for me to go.  Then I can come home and finally sleep.  I mean, why not?  I’m already awake.”

She stared at him, studying him, considering what he’d said.  He didn’t know what else to say to her, so he
took another sip of his coffee and let his eyes slide down her naked legs while
he waited for her to speak. 

“I guess that makes sense,” she replied at last. 

“I thought so.”

“Show that messed up little brain of yours it doesn’t know what it’s
talking about.”

“Put it back in its place, right? 
That’s what I’m saying.”

She shifted her weight and continued to stare at him.  He could almost see the thoughts swirling
behind her lovely eyes. 

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her. 
“And I can finally get this weirdness out of my system.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then it doesn’t work.  At least
I’ll have tried, right?  If I’m still
having the dreams after this, I’ll call the doctor.”

Karen nodded.  She knew there was
no reason to be concerned.  It was only a
dream.  It was irrational.  So why not embrace the irrational and see
what happened?  Maybe then he’d at least
be able to sleep through the night again. 


And even if it didn’t work, he wouldn’t be any worse off for trying. 

“I guess gas is cheaper than
therapy,” she reasoned.

“Just a little, I think.”

“Just a little.” 

Eric took another sip of his coffee and found his eyes drifting to the
door again.  He felt impatient to go, but
he refused to simply rush out the door.

“It’ll be a fun little adventure for you.”

Eric returned his eyes to his wife and smiled again.  “I’ll bet it will.”

“No picking up sexy hitchhikers.”

“But those are the best kind.”

“I keep telling you, you don’t know where they’ve been.”

“If my adventure has a serious lack of romance, it’ll be your fault.”

“I’ll just have to live with the consequences.  How long will you be gone?”

Eric shrugged.  “Long as it takes,
I guess.”

She didn’t like this answer.  She
chewed thoughtfully at her lower lip.  He
loved it when she did that.

“Probably only a couple hours.  I
mean, really, where am I going to go? 
I’ll be fine,” he promised. 

“Do you have your cell phone?”

Eric pulled the phone from his front pants pocket and showed her.  He hated cell phones, saw no value in them
whatsoever, but she insisted that he carry one in case of emergencies.  She was utterly unwavering about it.  She’d even wanted to get him a high-dollar
one with more functions than his laptop, like the one she carried, but he’d put
his foot down.  He carried nothing
fancier than a cheap pre-paid model from Wal-Mart.  Even so, it had an obnoxious amount of extras
built into it that he had no idea how to use. 
He didn’t even know how to add minutes to the ridiculous thing.  She took care of that for him. 

He returned the annoying device to his pocket, finished his coffee and
then stood up and rinsed out his cup in the sink.  When he turned back around, Karen was right
next to him, slipping her arms around him. 


“It’s okay,” he promised her.  “I’m
just driving around.  I can drive at night, you know.”

“I just don’t like being left alone. 
You know that.  You won’t fall
asleep, will you?”

“I’ll stay caffeinated,” he promised. 
“Just go back to sleep.  I’ll be
home before you know it.”

“I won’t be able to sleep.  I never
sleep well when you’re not here.”

“Try.”

“You and your convoluted schemes to sneak off with your women.”

“I like to keep it interesting. 
I’ll tell your sister you said hi.”

She gave his arm a gentle smack. 
“Pushing it,” she warned him with an amused grin. 

Eric smiled and kissed her again. 
“What’ve you got going on today?”

“Birthday cake for Joss.”

“Oh yeah.”

Karen was a talented baker and a freelance cake decorator.  She’d earned an impressive reputation here in
her home town and regularly earned fairly decent spending money. 

“Toni’s coming by to pick it up this afternoon.”  Toni was Karen’s cousin.  Joss was Toni’s son, whose first birthday was
tomorrow.  He was an exceptionally
adorable baby. 

“That’ll be fun for you.”

“I know.  Also, I’ll probably get
started on those pies for Lana.”  Lana
was one of Karen’s oldest friends.  They
went to grade school together.  Lana
often organized social events for the church, a responsibility she inherited
from her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer several years ago.  Karen made various pies, cakes, cookies,
whatever recipes she wanted to try out, and Lana regularly earned her new
customers. 

Eric had tried to talk her into starting her own website, but she wasn’t
interested in expanding her hobby into an actual business.  She was convinced it would take all the fun
out of it. 

“Maybe I should just get started now,” she said, glancing at the clock on
the stove. 

“I think you should at least try
and get more sleep.  You don’t want to be
too exhausted when you’re decorating that cake.”

“I guess so.”

“Go back to bed.  I’ll see you in a
little while.”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Eric kissed her one last time and then collected his keys and walked out
of the house. 

Karen watched him from the doorway as he climbed into the PT Cruiser and
backed out of the driveway.

Now he had only to convince himself
that this wasn’t completely insane. 

He settled back into the seat and again tried to remember the dream.  But like always, all that came back to him
was the bird.  It wasn’t even an image of
a bird.  It was just the idea of a bird.  As if that made any sort of sense. 

He drove away with no idea where he was going, confident that he would
find nothing waiting for him in the great open world and return home satisfied
and back to normal. 

# # #




Keep checking back for updates on this book’s progress.  I’ll be revealing all the details as I know
them.  

Accepting the Challenge

November is here again. 
It’s always been my favorite month of the year.  (It’s almost my birthday!)  I’m already looking forward to turkey and
stuffing and apple crisp and all my other favorite Fall things.  But this year I’ve added something new to my
plate.  This year I’m participating in
National Novel Writing Month.  If you’re
following me on Facebook or keeping up with my news feed over on my website
(check the links on the right-hand side of this page), you probably already
know about it, but for those of you who aren’t all caught up, NaNoWriMo is a
competition that challenges you to write a 50,000+ word novel between November
1 and November 30 (that’s just 30 days). 
It’s not completing a novel in
30 days, mind you.  That would just be
silly.  It takes much longer than that
just to edit a book properly.  The point
is to crank out a fully penned and perfectly flawed rough draft.  And for the first time, I’m
participating. 




For any fans who would like to follow along with my
progress, make sure you LIKE my Facebook author page.  I’ll be posting my word count updates and a
few of my favorite excerpts from the rough draft along the way, as well as
interesting discoveries I make along the way. 
I always let my work evolve as I write, and often my characters surprise
me.  For example, on day two I was
delighted to discover my main character’s sense of humor. 




I usually don’t divulge much information about my books this
early in the writing process (who knows what might change by the time I arrive
at the final page).  But for NaNoWriMo,
I’m letting my fans in on more of the process, beginning with the title and
synopsis:




Rushed

A horror and suspense
novel by Brian Harmon




Eric can't remember the dream that keeps waking him up at
night, yet for the past three nights he's risen from this dream with an
overwhelming urge to throw his clothes on and leave, as if there's somewhere he
desperately needs to be. Twice he returns to his bed, unnerved and embarrassed,
half-wondering if he might be losing his mind. On the third night, he decides
to let this odd compulsion take its course and sets out into the night,
believing that he will find nothing out there and put these odd dreams to rest
once and for all. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmarish
adventure as his forgotten dream unravels before his eyes one heart-pounding
detail at a time.




Rushed will be a
stand-alone novel, not a part of The
Temple of the Blind series, though it will likely take place in the same
universe (as will most of my work).  It
will release sometime after book 6, so all my Temple fans don’t have to worry
that I’ve forgotten them.  I don’t
anticipate it being particularly graphic, though there might be some elements
of blood and language scattered throughout the book (only time will tell what
will feel right for any given scene). 
And I’m drawing inspiration from Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas books in hopes of ratcheting up the suspense and humor. 




Wish me luck!

Free eBook!

With the recent release of the fifth book in my series, and
given the already monumentally difficult task it can be drawing in new readers
in such a massive and turbulent market, I’ve made the decision to offer book
one of my horror-adventure series, The
Temple of the Blind, for free.  You
can download The Box now at Smashwords.com
(for any reading device) and at other online ebook retailers as the new price
becomes distributed over the next few weeks. 





A few people have told me that I’m selling myself short,
that I shouldn’t give my work away this way, and I’ve admittedly been reluctant
to do so, even with temporary promotional coupons.  And in the past, when I’ve distributed my
work for free, I’ve found very little return in sales of other books in my series.  However, my sales aren’t exactly soaring.  Nobody knows who I am.  They know I
say I’m a writer of horror fiction, suspense and dark adventure.  But lots of people say stuff like that.  Far too many of them, quite honestly, with
nothing to sell but terribly written and/or barely edited trash.  I say I’m not one of them, but why should
they believe me.  And none of their
friends will tell them if I’m any good because they haven’t had any reason to believe me, either.  To be known as a good writer, people have to know I’m a good writer.  To know I’m a good writer, people have to
read my work.  To read my work, people
need a reason to buy my work.  They need to know I’m a good writer.  But
to be known as a good writer…  Well,
we’ve been down this road already, haven’t we? 
The old “catch 22.” 




So I’ve decided to go ahead and give away book one.  With four books backing up The Box—and the next well on its way—I
think this might be the best course of action for me moving forward.  So if you haven’t read any of my books yet,
consider this the best invitation you’re going to get.  Check it out today on Smashwords.  (If you’re new there, you’ll only need to
sign up for a free account.) 




https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/51950/?ref=brianharmon 

Secret of the Labyrinth

Book five of my horror-adventure and suspense series, The Temple of the Blind, is now
available both in ebook and paperback.  Here’s
a little peek at the back cover of the book:









Available now for your Nook at Barnes & Noble, your
Kindle at Amazon and for all reading devices at Smashwords (I really recommend this
site, by the way), at these addresses:




http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-of-the-labyrinth-brian-harmon/1113017486

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GQYM8K

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/239600




And it’s available in paperback from my Createspace store:




https://www.createspace.com/3913385




And if this is the first you’ve heard of The Temple of the Blind, check out the
first two chapters for free right here at Dark
Things Rising:

http://darkthingsrising.blogspot.com/2012/06/epic-beginnings.html




As always, thanks for reading.  Enjoy. 
And tell your friends!

5000!

Dark Things Rising
today had its 5000th page view!  I know
that’s a very humble number compared with a great many other blogs out there,
but it’s a pretty fantastic milestone for my little page.  It’s extraordinary when you consider that, 15
months ago, I didn’t even know the first thing about writing a blog.  Now my posts have been viewed by people all
over the world.  I want to thank everyone
for visiting me here and I hope you’ll keep coming back to read my nonsense for
years to come.




Brian Harmon

Oh, the Carnage!

After many weeks and much begging and pleading and yelling and
threatening and shouting and shaming and bargaining and bribing and more
begging and more pleading, I finally gave up, accepted defeat and began
cleaning my daughter’s room myself while she was at school.  (What can I say, stubbornness is clearly
hereditary.) 




It didn’t seem all that bad as I began.  It’s just toys, I told myself.  An occasional scrap of paper or snack
wrapper, maybe some cookie crumbs here and there.  More than a few dust bunnies.  Lots of laundry.  Maybe even a misplaced cup from a midnight
drink of water.  But, of course, looks
can be deceiving.  I had only just
scratched the surface when I suddenly found myself in a queer and grisly
episode of CSI.  I’ve apparently stumbled
upon the scene of a complex and convoluted serial crime spree involving naked
Barbies, cross-dressing Lalaloopsies and more than a few shady-looking
ponies. 




Pieces of Ken are turning up in piles of strewn doll
clothing and accessories and what appears to be dumping sites for biohazard waste
from a Mr. Potato Head plastic surgery clinic. 
Disembodied lips and ears and noses and ever-staring conjoined
eyeballs.  There’s also a Littlest Pet
Shop dog’s head in a miniature plastic purse and a macabre collection of dainty
little Monster High girls hands in a Cabbage Patch diaper under the
dresser. 




So many questions. 
Not the least of which:  How?  Why? 
And where are Rainbow Bright’s pants? 





Terrified, I take a step back and survey the scene.  Suddenly, I realize how treacherous the
landscape has become.  The wheels have
been stolen from Barbie’s convertible.  A
doll house appears to have been ransacked. 
There’s a naked mermaid lying motionless in the back of a school bus and
someone has been ditching stolen Hot Wheels in a Little People barn. 




It’s just a little girl’s room.  I keep telling myself that.  And yet I’m increasingly horrified by one
gruesome discovery after another.  The
carnage is so widespread, I’d think only Batman could possibly bring order to
the land, but that appears to be his left foot lodged in the wheel well of the
Mystery Machine… 




Just a little girl’s room… 
Just a little girl…




As I proceed through the devastation of this
post-apocalyptic version of a child’s sleeping quarters, I try to make sense of
what’s going on, try to tell myself that it’s not nearly as bad as it seems,
but those stuffed animals seem to be watching me with their beady little eyes
from their high shelves, like deranged gods gazing down upon their dominion,
admiring the catastrophic art of their evil schemes ruthlessly realized.




Slowly, determinedly, I sort through the wreckage.  I find both of Ken’s legs.  His arm. 
Half of his torso.  His head.  Then I uncover a second body, this one
headless, and I have no idea now which actually belongs to the head I’ve
previously uncovered.  If either.  But I can’t think about that now.  Just found Mrs. Potato Head…  Great Jesus… 
I think I’m going to need backup in here…

Sneak Peek: SECRET OF THE LABYRINTH

Book 5 of The Temple of the Blind is nearly here!  Secret of the Labyrinth picks up where book 3 left off, a short while after Albert, Brandy and Nicole leave the City of the Blind, and it takes place during and after the events of book 4.  (So you'll find out what happens next to Wayne, too.)  For all my readers here at Dark Things Rising, I have a very special sneak peek of the entire first chapter of Secret of the Labyrinth!




Enjoy!  (And remember to tell everyone you know about The Temple of the Blind.  Even if they act like they don't care.)














Chapter 1







Nicole stopped and looked back the way she’d come.  She was beginning to wonder whether this
tunnel would ever end.  It had been well
over an hour since she, Brandy and Albert stepped through the north gate of the
hive-like City of the Blind and yet the walls of this passage continued to
unfold from the darkness before them, threatening to go on forever. 

Her feet hurt.  Her legs were
sore.  She could feel the cool air upon
her naked skin, but the sheer exertion of pushing ever forward was adequate to fend
off the chill. 

“Tired,” Brandy sighed as she stopped walking and leaned against the wall
of the tunnel.  It was the first thing
any of them had said in a while. 

Nicole turned and looked forward again, her eyes washing over her
friends.  All three of them were still
filthy from entering that awful, mud-filled chamber.  The drying, putrid sludge had hardened into a
malodorous crust that covered their flesh and hair.  The stench of it still filled her nostrils,
refusing to fade away and let her forget that it was there.  She could even taste it on her lips.  It was foul. 
And it was a constant reminder of what she and her friends had already
endured within this strange labyrinth, this “Temple of the Blind,” as Albert
called it. 

And it was not done with them yet. 
They had only begun to explore the corridors beyond the city.  How much longer would they have to
endure?  And what unpleasant things still
remained in store for them? 

Brandy pressed her back to the wall and then let herself slide down the
cool stone until she was sitting on the floor and resting her aching feet and
legs in front of her. 

Albert had gone several steps farther before stopping.  Now he stood silently in the beam of Nicole’s
flashlight, staring into the endless darkness that constantly filled the
passage ahead.  She stared at his bare
back, wondering what he was thinking. 

There was no lack of troubling things to weigh on his mind.  So much had happened in such a short amount
of time.  It seemed like days ago that she
stood in the bathroom at Albert and Brandy’s apartment, listening to the
ringing phone that no one wanted to answer. 
It seemed almost silly now, after all they’d been through, that those
silent messages had filled them with such dread.  They had no way of knowing then that the real
nightmares were waiting for them in the dark corridors of Gilbert House and this
temple. 

Was he contemplating the numbing reality of Beverly Bridger’s horrific death?  The disturbing memory of that moment was
still vividly fresh in Nicole’s mind, and unlike her, Albert actually saw what became of the poor woman.  He had actually seen her body.  She was sure that it must weigh even greater
on him.  And now that she thought about
it, she remembered that Albert was also the only one who saw the bodies in
Gilbert House… 

She did not envy the things his eyes had seen. 

Or was it instead the heavy words of the Sentinel Queen that occupied his
thoughts?  She had burdened them with a
mysterious task, a quest vital to the very future of humanity, if she could be
believed, and yet she refused to tell them how to get there or even what it was
that they sought.  She had mentioned only
a doorway of some sort.  However, she’d
had no problem thrusting that whole psychic thing onto Albert and Brandy.  Nicole had no idea how she would feel if she were
in their place, but she suspected it would bother her considerably. 

Or maybe Albert was merely worrying about Wayne, all alone in some other
ungodly passageway, trying to rescue poor Olivia from that nightmare
forest. 

Nicole stared at Albert, her light illuminating his dirty back, tiredly
admiring his build, barely aware of her eyes lingering on his mud-caked buttocks. 

“I’ve got to rest for a while,” Brandy said.  “My feet are killing me.”

Albert stood where he was for a moment longer, still staring into the
darkness ahead, not speaking.  Then,
finally, he slowly turned and faced them. 


Nicole looked away from him, embarrassed, and stared back the way they
came.  She had become perfectly
comfortable with her own nudity by now, accepting that Albert was her friend
and that it was okay if he saw her naked. 
In fact, it was much easier to stand naked in front of him than she
would ever have imagined.  But it still
made her feel strange to look at him like that.  It felt so wrong.  She envied Brandy.  As his girlfriend, Brandy had no need to feel
embarrassed by the sight of him unclothed. 


But then again, she rather envied Brandy for a lot of reasons… 

“I think that’s a good idea,” Albert agreed.  He walked back to where Brandy had stopped
and sat down beside her.  Immediately, she
seized his left arm and pressed herself against him, resting her head on his
shoulder. 

“You’re stinky,” she told him. 

“I know.”

Brandy smiled tiredly and closed her eyes. 

Nicole lingered for another moment, looking back and forth into the
looming darkness that filled the passage on either side of them, and then she joined
them, sitting down on Brandy’s other side and scooting close to her.

“How much farther?” Brandy asked, not opening her eyes.

Albert did not respond.  He merely
shook his head wearily. 

“We haven’t even got to the labyrinth yet, have we?”

Albert kissed her head.  The
lovely, apple scent of her shampoo was gone. 
A deep, vulgar stench clung about her from the crust of stagnant mud
that clung to every surface of her body. 
“I don’t think so,” he admitted. 

There were no branches in the road, no decisions, no wrong ways.  There were not even any turns in the
path.  There was nothing here that even
remotely resembled a labyrinth.  This was
all merely one single passage.

Immediately after they passed through the north gate, they found a set of
steps leading up a short distance, exactly like those leading away from the
south gate, except that there was only one flight.  At the top was a small, oval-shaped room with
two sentinels. 

Albert had stopped at the top of the steps and studied these statues for
a moment.  They seemed different than the
others, warmer somehow.  The one on the
right was reaching toward them with its long left arm, its deformed hand open
and inviting.  Its right arm was
stretched out in the other direction, its freakishly long index finger pointing
the way forward.  The blank surface where
its face should have been was fixed on them. 
There were no eyes or mouth or other features to suggest emotions of any
kind, but it was clearly urging them forward. 


The statue on the left was identical, but facing the other way, as if
inviting someone coming from the other direction to venture forward into the
Sentinel Queen’s city.  Albert passed
between the statues and turned to view them from the opposite side of the
room.  It was eerie to see the same view
from both sides.  It was easy to imagine
forgetting which way was out.  But of
course, there was nowhere to go but back to the north gate should they get so
turned around. 

Brandy had stood between the two sentinels for a moment, looking at
them.  She commented that they were
contradicting each other, but Albert knew better.  “Don’t forget what the Sentinel Queen said,”
he reminded her.  “She was talking about
fourteen women who entered the city from the north gate.”

“Could that be true?” Nicole asked. 
She found it very difficult to imagine that humanity somehow migrated
into the world through this very room. 

“I don’t know if it is or not,” Albert replied.  “But it doesn’t matter.  If anyone ever came through here, from
wherever this leads, these guys would have greeted them exactly like they
greeted us just now.  It’s a two-way
door, of sorts.  A welcome mat that
points both ways.”  He stared up at the
statues for a moment, wondering.  “If it is
true, if those women were real…we could be standing in a very important
place.  It’s like a crossroads in
time.  Thousands of years apart, but
seeing it exactly the same way they did… 
Even if those women weren’t all the Sentinel Queen said they were, even
if they weren’t carrying the entire human race in their wombs, they might still
be significantly important to our history.” 


They said no more about it. 
Silently, thoughtfully, the three of them moved on past the room with
the two welcoming sentinels, ready to get started on their long (and likely very
unpleasant) journey into the labyrinth. 
But there had been nothing beyond that room but these same four stone
surfaces.  The passage had merely stretched
on and on. 

The three of them sat together for a while, listening to the eerily empty
silence, thinking about all the things they had seen and done in the hours that
led them to this quiet moment. 

“Do you think we’ll ever see him again?” Nicole asked. 

Albert and Brandy both lifted their faces and looked at her.  It was a question that had troubled them all since
the Sentinel Queen tore Wayne away from them. 
It seemed so cruel after all they’d been through.  They faced the monster in Gilbert House with
him.  They suffered together.  They journeyed together into this insane
temple.  He became their friend in the
midst of all the horror and wonder.  And
then he was simply taken away, as suddenly as Beverly Bridger, if not as
gruesomely. 

But they had to let him go.  They
had to believe that Olivia might really still be out there.  They had to believe that death was not the
only inevitability of this insane adventure. 


Brandy wanted to say yes.  Of
course they would see him again.  He was
big and strong and brave.  He would
certainly endure whatever silly trials awaited him in his quest to find
Olivia.  But she didn’t know that.  Not really. 
For all she knew, he was already dead. 
After all, what did they really know about the Sentinel Queen?  What reason did they have to trust her?  For all they knew, she could have lied to
them and led him away simply to shove him into another pit of spikes or feed
him to a pack of hounds. 

And even if he did survive, even if he did manage to rescue
Olivia and find his way home, who was to say they would ever cross paths with
him again?  Either way, they may never
know what became of him after the Sentinel Queen took him from them. 

She simply didn’t know. 

“I think we will,” Albert said after a moment. 

Brandy and Nicole both looked up at him, their eyes hopeful. 

“Everything that’s happened down here… 
It’s so far beyond ordinary.  It
has to mean something, right?  It can’t
all just be cruel chance.  Whatever the
reason for us all being down here, I’m sure he’s as much a part of it as we
are.”

“You really think so?” Brandy asked.

“I do.”

“Is that your psychic sense telling you that?” Nicole wondered. 

Albert smiled.  “I have no
idea.  Maybe.”  It was still so weird to imagine that he was
actually psychic.  He was still getting
over the shock of such a profound idea. 
He certainly didn’t know how to use it. 
“I just feel like we’ll see him again sometime.” 

Brandy squeezed his arm a little tighter and rested her head against his
shoulder again. 

“I hope so,” said Nicole.  She
watched them for a moment, her two closest friends in the world, then lowered
her eyes to her flashlight and wondered what Wayne was doing at that very
moment. 

It was embarrassing to think about, but she’d actually been nurturing a
little bit of a crush for Wayne.  After
all, he had appeared out of nowhere, seemingly for no other reason than to keep
them safe as they wandered blindly into the dangerous hallways of Gilbert
House.  It was not so very unlike the way
Brandy and Albert were brought together. 
And she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of jealousy whenever she thought
about Brandy’s amazing story of how she fell in love with the man of her
dreams.  She’d give anything to have made
such a powerful connection with someone half as wonderful as Albert. 

All she’d had was Earl… 

Of course, Wayne hadn’t really been quite as impressive as
Albert.  He was handsome, sure, and
brave.  He was bigger than
Albert.  Stronger.  But it was clear that he didn’t have nearly
the patience or the even-temperedness that Albert possessed.  The anger he displayed toward Beverly certainly
didn’t win her affection, even if she was sympathetic of the emotions
beneath his temper. 

Wayne also hadn’t seemed to be as keenly intelligent as Albert, either,
but that had since proven to be a gross misperception.  Wayne may not have been the impressive mystery-solver
that Albert was, but he was definitely very smart. 

He was full of surprises.  Just
like Albert…

But Wayne wasn’t bravely charging into that terrifying forest to rescue
Nicole.  He was doing it for Olivia. 

She looked again at Albert, who was tiredly staring past her into the
darkness that led back to the City of the Blind and the mysterious Sentinel
Queen.  She considered asking him if he
really thought they could do this, if he really believed they had what it took
to survive down here.  She considered
asking him how they expected to navigate a labyrinth this size when they didn’t
even know what they were looking for. 
She considered asking him how long he thought they could continue to
keep away from the hounds.  But she
didn’t get to ask him anything.  The
tired thoughtfulness on his face suddenly vanished.  He sat up and aimed his flashlight into the
darkness where he’d been staring. 

Startled, Brandy and Nicole both swung their flashlights in the same
direction. 

There was nothing there. 

“What is it?” asked Brandy.  There
was an unmistakable edge to her voice. 

Albert continued to stare into the darkness, his expression puzzled.  Finally, after a moment, he shook his
head.  “Nothing, I guess.  Imagining things.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” Brandy retorted nervously, still searching the
empty tunnel for whatever compelled him to shine his light toward it, “but you’re
not the most imaginative person I know.”

Albert glanced at her, amused. 
“Maybe.”  Again his eyes returned
to the empty passageway.  “But there’s
nothing there.” 

But something did seem to be there a moment ago, some indefinite
shape in the darkness, something that was gone now. 

“Maybe it was that blind guy,” Nicole suggested.  “The Sentinel Queen’s son.  Maybe he was checking up on us.”

“Maybe,” Albert agreed.  Although
the last time they saw the man with no eyes, he didn’t seem to be in the best
condition for stalking. 

Nicole hugged herself tightly and shivered as a sudden chill gripped
her.  She wished this place had
lights.  It was unnerving to see nothing
but darkness at the end of these tunnels for so very long. 

“We’ll rest a little longer,” Albert decided.  “Then we’ll move on.”

Brandy squeezed his arm again and nuzzled a little closer. 

Nicole rested her head on Brandy’s shoulder and stared back into the
darkness, watching.  











Keep checking back here for more updates.  And if you’re not caught up on the series,
you can find books 1-4 at most ebook retailers and in paperback at Amazon and
Barnes & Noble.  Check out my author
pages at http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Harmon/e/B004YYT16W and https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/brianharmon/?ref=brianharmon.  Thanks for reading!

Sneak Peak: SECRET OF THE LABYRINTH

Book 5 of The Temple of the Blind is nearly here!  Secret of the Labyrinth picks up where book 3 left off, a short while after Albert, Brandy and Nicole leave the City of the Blind, and it takes place during and after the events of book 4.  (So you'll find out what happens next to Wayne, too.)  For all my readers here at Dark Things Rising, I have a very special sneak peak of the entire first chapter of Secret of the Labyrinth!




Enjoy!  (And remember to tell everyone you know about The Temple of the Blind.  Even if they act like they don't care.)
















Chapter 1




Nicole stopped and looked back the way she’d come.  She was beginning to wonder whether this
tunnel would ever end.  It had been well
over an hour since she, Brandy and Albert stepped through the north gate of the
hive-like City of the Blind and yet the walls of this passage continued to
unfold from the darkness before them, threatening to go on forever. 

Her feet hurt.  Her legs were
sore.  She could feel the cool air upon
her naked skin, but the sheer exertion of pushing ever forward was adequate to fend
off the chill. 

“Tired,” Brandy sighed as she stopped walking and leaned against the wall
of the tunnel.  It was the first thing
any of them had said in a while. 

Nicole turned and looked forward again, her eyes washing over her
friends.  All three of them were still
filthy from entering that awful, mud-filled chamber.  The drying, putrid sludge had hardened into a
malodorous crust that covered their flesh and hair.  The stench of it still filled her nostrils,
refusing to fade away and let her forget that it was there.  She could even taste it on her lips.  It was foul. 
And it was a constant reminder of what she and her friends had already
endured within this strange labyrinth, this “Temple of the Blind,” as Albert
called it. 

And it was not done with them yet. 
They had only begun to explore the labyrinth beyond the city.  How much longer would they have to
endure?  And what unpleasant things still
remained in store for them? 

Brandy pressed her back to the wall and then let herself slide down the
cool stone until she was sitting on the floor and resting her aching feet and
legs in front of her. 

Albert had gone several steps farther before stopping.  Now he stood silently in the beam of Nicole’s
flashlight, staring into the endless darkness that constantly filled the
passage ahead.  She stared at his bare
back, wondering what he was thinking. 

There was no lack of troubling things to weigh on his mind.  So much had happened in such a short amount
of time.  It seemed like days ago that
she stood in the bathroom at Albert and Brandy’s apartment, listening to the
ringing phone that no one wanted to answer. 
It seemed almost silly now, after all they’d been through, that those
silent messages had filled them with such dread.  They had no way of knowing then that the real
nightmares were waiting for them in the dark corridors of Gilbert House and
this temple. 

Was he contemplating the numbing reality of Beverly Bridger’s horrific
death?  The disturbing memory of that
moment was still vividly fresh in Nicole’s mind, and unlike her, Albert
actually saw what became of the poor
woman.  He had actually seen her
body.  She was sure that it must weigh
even greater on him.  And now that she thought
about it, she remembered that Albert was also the only one who saw the bodies
in Gilbert House… 

She did not envy the things his eyes had seen. 

Or was it instead the heavy words of the Sentinel Queen that occupied his
thoughts?  She had burdened them with a
mysterious task, a quest vital to the very future of humanity, if she could be
believed, and yet she refused to tell them how to get there or even what it was
that they sought.  She had mentioned only
a doorway of some sort.  However, she’d
had no problem thrusting that whole psychic thing onto Albert and Brandy.  Nicole had no idea how she would feel if she
were in their place, but she suspected it would bother her considerably. 

Or maybe Albert was merely worrying about Wayne, all alone in some other
ungodly passageway, trying to rescue poor Olivia from that nightmare
forest. 

Nicole stared at Albert, her light illuminating his dirty back, tiredly
admiring his build, barely aware of her eyes lingering on his mud-caked buttocks. 

“I’ve got to rest for a while,” Brandy said.  “My feet are killing me.”

Albert stood where he was for a moment longer, still staring into the
darkness ahead, not speaking.  Then,
finally, he slowly turned and faced them. 


Nicole looked away from him, embarrassed, and stared back the way they
came.  She had become perfectly
comfortable with her own nudity by now, accepting that Albert was her friend
and that it was okay if he saw her naked. 
In fact, it was much easier to stand naked in front of him than she
would ever have imagined.  But it still
made her feel strange to look at him like that.  It felt so wrong.  She envied Brandy.  As his girlfriend, Brandy had no need to feel
embarrassed by the sight of him unclothed. 


But then again, she rather envied Brandy for a lot of reasons… 

“I think that’s a good idea,” Albert agreed.  He walked back to where Brandy had stopped
and sat down beside her.  Immediately,
she seized his left arm and pressed herself against him, resting her head on
his shoulder. 

“You’re stinky,” she told him. 

“I know.”

Brandy smiled tiredly and closed her eyes. 

Nicole lingered for another moment, looking back and forth into the
looming darkness that filled the passage on either side of them, and then she
joined them, sitting down on Brandy’s other side and scooting close to her.

“How much farther?” Brandy asked, not opening her eyes.

Albert did not respond.  He merely
shook his head wearily. 

“We haven’t even got to the labyrinth yet, have we?”

Albert kissed her head.  The
lovely, apple scent of her shampoo was gone. 
A deep, vulgar stench clung about her from the crust of stagnant mud
that clung to every surface of her body. 
“I don’t think so,” he admitted. 

There were no branches in the road, no decisions, no wrong ways.  There were not even any turns in the
path.  There was nothing here that even
remotely resembled a labyrinth.  This was
all merely one single passage.

Immediately after they passed through the north gate, they found a set of
steps leading up a short distance, exactly like those leading away from the
south gate, except that there was only one flight.  At the top was a small, oval-shaped room with
two sentinels. 

Albert had stopped at the top of the steps and studied these statues for
a moment.  They seemed different than the
others, warmer somehow.  The one on the
right was reaching toward them with its long left arm, its deformed hand open
and inviting.  Its right arm was
stretched out in the other direction, its freakishly long index finger pointing
the way forward.  The blank surface where
its face should have been was fixed on them. 
There were no eyes or mouth or other features to suggest emotions of any
kind, but it was clearly urging them forward. 


The statue on the left was identical, but facing the other way, as if inviting
someone coming from the other direction to venture forward into the Sentinel
Queen’s city.  Albert passed between the
statues and turned to view them from the opposite side of the room.  It was eerie to see the same view from both
sides.  It was easy to imagine forgetting
which way was out.  But of course, there
was nowhere to go but back to the north gate should they get so turned
around. 

Brandy had stood between the two sentinels for a moment, looking at
them.  She commented that they were
contradicting each other, but Albert knew better.  “Don’t forget what the Sentinel Queen said,”
he reminded her.  “She was talking about
fourteen women who entered the city from the north gate.”

“Could that be true?” Nicole asked. 
She found it very difficult to imagine that humanity somehow migrated
into the world through this very room. 

“I don’t know if it is or not,” Albert replied.  “But it doesn’t matter.  If anyone ever came through here, from
wherever this leads, these guys would have greeted them exactly like they
greeted us just now.  It’s a two-way
door, of sorts.  A welcome mat that
points both ways.”  He stared up at the
statues for a moment, wondering.  “If it is
true, if those women were real…we could be standing in a very important
place.  It’s like a crossroads in
time.  Thousands of years apart, but
seeing it exactly the same way they did… 
Even if those women weren’t all the Sentinel Queen said they were, even
if they weren’t carrying the entire human race in their wombs, they might still
be significantly important to our history.” 


They said no more about it. 
Silently, thoughtfully, the three of them moved on past the room with
the two welcoming sentinels, ready to get started on their long (and likely
very unpleasant) journey into the labyrinth. 
But there had been nothing beyond that room but these same four stone
surfaces.  The passage had merely
stretched on and on. 

The three of them sat together for a while, listening to the eerily empty
silence, thinking about all the things they had seen and done in the hours that
led them to this quiet moment. 

“Do you think we’ll ever see him again?” Nicole asked. 

Albert and Brandy both lifted their faces and looked at her.  It was a question that had troubled them all since
the Sentinel Queen tore Wayne away from them. 
It seemed so cruel after all they’d been through.  They faced the monster in Gilbert House with
him.  They suffered together.  They journeyed together into this insane
temple.  He became their friend in the
midst of all the horror and wonder.  And
then he was simply taken away, as suddenly as Beverly Bridger, if not as
gruesomely. 

But they had to let him go.  They
had to believe that Olivia might really still be out there.  They had to believe that death was not the
only inevitability of this insane adventure. 


Brandy wanted to say yes.  Of
course they would see him again.  He was
big and strong and brave.  He would
certainly endure whatever silly trials awaited him in his quest to find
Olivia.  But she didn’t know that.  Not really. 
For all she knew, he was already dead. 
After all, what did they really know about the Sentinel Queen?  What reason did they have to trust her?  For all they knew, she could have lied to
them and led him away simply to shove him into another pit of spikes or feed
him to a pack of hounds. 

And even if he did survive, even if he did manage to rescue
Olivia and find his way home, who was to say they would ever cross paths with
him again?  Either way, they may never
know what became of him after the Sentinel Queen took him from them. 

She simply didn’t know. 

“I think we will,” Albert said after a moment. 

Brandy and Nicole both looked up at him, their eyes hopeful. 

“Everything that’s happened down here… 
It’s so far beyond ordinary.  It
has to mean something, right?  It can’t
all just be cruel chance.  Whatever the
reason for us all being down here, I’m sure he’s as much a part of it as we
are.”

“You really think so?” Brandy asked.

“I do.”

“Is that your psychic sense telling you that?” Nicole wondered. 

Albert smiled.  “I have no
idea.  Maybe.”  It was still so weird to imagine that he was
actually psychic.  He was still getting
over the shock of such a profound idea. 
He certainly didn’t know how to use it. 
“I just feel like we’ll see him again sometime.” 

Brandy squeezed his arm a little tighter and rested her head against his
shoulder again. 

“I hope so,” said Nicole.  She
watched them for a moment, her two closest friends in the world, then lowered
her eyes to her flashlight and wondered what Wayne was doing at that very
moment. 

It was embarrassing to think about, but she’d actually been nurturing a
little bit of a crush for Wayne.  After
all, he had appeared out of nowhere, seemingly for no other reason than to keep
them safe as they wandered blindly into the dangerous hallways of Gilbert
House.  It was not so very unlike the way
Brandy and Albert were brought together. 
And she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of jealousy whenever she
thought about Brandy’s amazing story of how she fell in love with the man of
her dreams.  She’d give anything to have
made such a powerful connection with someone half as wonderful as Albert. 

All she’d had was Earl… 

Of course, Wayne hadn’t really been quite as impressive as
Albert.  He was handsome, sure, and
brave.  He was bigger than
Albert.  Stronger.  But it was clear that he didn’t have nearly
the patience or the even-temperedness that Albert possessed.  The anger he displayed toward Beverly
certainly didn’t win her affection, even if she was sympathetic of the
emotions beneath his temper. 

Wayne also hadn’t seemed to be as keenly intelligent as Albert, either,
but that had since proven to be a gross misperception.  Wayne may not have been the impressive
mystery-solver that Albert was, but he was definitely very smart. 

He was full of surprises, in fact. 
Just like Albert…

But Wayne wasn’t bravely charging into that terrifying forest to rescue
Nicole.  He was doing it for Olivia. 

She looked again at Albert, who was tiredly staring past her into the darkness
that led back to the City of the Blind and the mysterious Sentinel Queen.  She considered asking him if he really
thought they could do this, if he really believed they had what it took to
survive down here.  She considered asking
him how they expected to navigate a labyrinth this size when they didn’t even
know what they were looking for.  She
considered asking him how long he thought they could continue to keep away from
the hounds.  But she didn’t get to ask
him anything.  The tired thoughtfulness on
his face suddenly vanished.  He sat up
and aimed his flashlight into the darkness where he’d been staring. 

Startled, Brandy and Nicole both swung their flashlights in the same
direction. 

There was nothing there. 

“What is it?” asked Brandy.  There was
an unmistakable edge to her voice. 

Albert continued to stare into the darkness, his expression puzzled.  Finally, after a moment, he shook his
head.  “Nothing, I guess.  Imagining things.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie,” Brandy retorted nervously, still searching the
empty tunnel for whatever compelled him to shine his light toward it, “but
you’re not the most imaginative person I know.”

Albert glanced at her, amused. 
“Maybe.”  Again his eyes returned
to the empty passageway.  “But there’s
nothing there.” 

But something did seem to be there a moment ago, some indefinite
shape in the darkness, something that was gone now. 

“Maybe it was that blind guy,” Nicole suggested.  “The Sentinel Queen’s son.  Maybe he was checking up on us.”

“Maybe,” Albert agreed.  Although
the last time they saw the man with no eyes, he didn’t seem to be in the best
condition for stalking. 

Nicole hugged herself tightly and shivered as a sudden chill gripped
her.  She wished this place had
lights.  It was unnerving to see nothing
but darkness at the end of these tunnels for so very long. 

“We’ll rest a little longer,” Albert decided.  “Then we’ll move on.”

Brandy squeezed his arm again and nuzzled a little closer. 

Nicole rested her head on Brandy’s shoulder and stared back into the darkness,
watching. 










Keep checking back here for more updates.  And if you’re not caught up on the series,
you can find books 1-4 at most ebook retailers and in paperback at Amazon and
Barnes & Noble.  Check out my author
pages at http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Harmon/e/B004YYT16W and https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/brianharmon/?ref=brianharmon.  Thanks for reading!