NEW OLYMPIANS (ISSUE 1) by Kelly Logue (best books for students to read .txt) 📕

as the hut dipped down, and came to rest in the soft, barren earth below.

I should have listened, she thought. I should have stayed in the elevator.

The pale woman rose, her steps hurried and purposeful.

Alex followed, but her feet dragged, not waiting to take the next step, and she lagged far behind.

The pale woman lingered at the door.

“Hurry, child,” Madam Hex cried, beckoning her charge forward.

Alex's body was built for comfort, not speed. Her college professors had drilled it into her that she was healthy at any size.

The pale woman's face now uglied into a scowl.

“I wish I could have done more for you,” the woman under her breath. Then she turned to Alex.

“Beware the woman in white,” Hex intoned. “She is close, and her reach is long...”

“The Woman in White, The Dagger Witch, Grandmother Death,” Alex sighed in frustration. “I really just want to go home, and put this horrible nightmare behind me.”

Alex winced, as the hut's door squeaked open on it's heavy rusted hinges.

“Then run,” Madam Hex growled. “And, don't look back.”

Out she ran. The elevator lay just a few feet away, but, it might as well have been a mile, for already her body felt heavy and winded.

Alex wanted to give up, and normally would have, but survival was a powerful motivator.

She lowered her head, and clawed at the air in front of her, fighting against the wind as her feet desperately carried her forward.

She made it!

Sweating and gasping, she had made it!

Alex sunk down into the metal carriage, and gulped in sweet air.

“Healthy at any size, my ass,” Alex panted. “As soon as this is over I’m going to join a gym.”

She held up the slip up of paper. It was soggy from her sweaty fingers, but the number sequence was still legible. Thank god!

Alex tapped the buttons, having enough presence of mind to do the sequence in reverse order, like she had been told.

Her job finished, Alex slumped against the cool metal panel. The elevator doors remained stubbornly open, but that was all right. She was used to this machinery moods and inclinations. They were almost comforting, as mundane day to day annoyances of life were far more welcome than the hidden dangers of this alien world.

“Join a gym,” she told herself again. “And I'll actually go this time. I promise. Soon as I get home.”

Alex laughed, a nervous mad laugh that served as a release valve as she breathed a sigh of relief.

The laughter turned to heavy sobs, as the stress of this horrible day had finally caught up to her.

“No tears,” a voice murmured. “It will spoil your pretty face.”

Alex turned, and looked back.

Only to see a ghostly woman, leer down at her. A silken veil covered the woman's face, obscuring her darkened face, and the bridal gown that hung like a noose around her thin frame, looked old and ruined with age.

The color completely drained out of Alex's face at the sight.

“Yes, such a pretty face. The face of a girl who is pure in both body and soul,” the woman in white mused now. “Such innocence is rare indeed in this modern world. But, the blood of the innocent is old and powerful magic...”

“No,” Alex cried. “No, please, please...”

The woman in white lifted a gnarled hand, and extended a withered finger out. “And, I think you are going my way...”

The doors smothered shut, sealing the occupants inside.

The elevator lurched, and began its descent. It was going to be a long ride down. But the blood curdling scream was very short indeed...

 

Exit one, Alexandria Newman. Who, up until a few seconds ago, just wanted to go home. She didn't make it. But, Alex had been granted one mercy: her nightmare has finally come to an end...

And enter one, Woman in White. Who, in the modern parlance, could be classified as a dealer in fear and dread. Goods and services this pale apparition wishes to share with this confusing modern world of ours, as she begins a journey...into a nightmare.

 

NEXT ISSUE

 A WILD HUNT FOR A WILD WOMAN…
Hunted by a mechanical demon, in a town turned to stone, fish out of water Maureen has to wonder if her first trip to the outside world will be her last!

And if that weren’t enough, at the end of the line waits a mad woman hell bent on revenge.

Maureen’s only hope for survival…
BEWARE THE GORGON’S STARE!

Imprint

Text: Kelly M. Logue
Publication Date: 04-21-2020

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