Constricted (A Flawed Short Story): Flawed Series

By Becca J. Campbell

Logan's secret has been exposed. When Jade—a beautiful student at the college where he teaches—discovered the truth, he spilled the whole repulsive story. Jade's empathetic kindness flooded him with emotions he didn't know he had and isn't sure he wants to deal with.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to leave and let Jade be a whisper in his past. He can exit now and regain his anonymity, or he can risk everything to stay and face her again.

It's not an easy choice, and when he's about to decide, a woman from his past shows up, making his decision even more difficult.

What really happened when Logan disappeared during Empath? Find out in this short story companion piece to Flawed #1.

 

Suggested Reading Order for the Flawed series: 
-Empath (The Flawed Series Book One) 
-Constricted (A Flawed Short Story) 
-Outsider (The Flawed Series Book Two) 
-Protector (The Flawed Series Book Three) 
-The Father Hunt (A Flawed Story) 
-Enchanter (The Flawed Series Book Four) 
Also: 
-Pulled (A Flawed Short Story) 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Surreal Media Studios
• Release date: Apr 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781502203915

Becca J. Campbell

An avid lover of stories that tiptoe the line between fantasy and reality (even when they plunge off one side or the other), Becca J. Campbell looks for new angles on bridging the gap between the two. She holds a special place in her heart for any story that involves superpowers or time travel. Her passion is defying the limits of her own creativity. Becca’s journey into writing began as many of her other creative endeavors do – by daring herself to try something new. The question “what if I wrote a novel?” and some hastily scribbled notes on a church handout were the inspirations that jump-started her first book. Since then, she has written half a dozen additional novels and several shorter works. As the wife of a musician and mother of three young boys, Becca’s life is never dull. Whether it is writing, painting or knitting, she enjoys making stuff that wasn’t there before.

Book preview

A Flawed Short Story

Becca J. Campbell

Published by Surreal Media Studios, 2015.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

Written by Becca J. Campbell.

Cover Design by Steven Novak. Edited by Jessie Sanders.

CONSTRICTED

First edition. April 21, 2015.

Copyright © 2015 Becca J. Campbell.

All rights reserved.

Read Empath First

This book is a short story companion to Empath (Flawed #1), and thus references some events from that story. For maximum enjoyment, make sure to read Empath first.

If you haven’t downloaded Empath yet, get it now!

Jade knew his secret.

Someone bumped Logan Henry’s elbow, jostling his drink, and he clutched the plastic cup tighter. A crowd surrounded him, but he was alone inside his mind.

If Logan’s world was a box, that box was shrinking around him, threatening to collapse and crush him.

He was a hairy freak of nature, and Jade Edwards—a beautiful, sensitive young woman—knew his secret. She had seen him in the woods and put the pieces together, and Monday night during dinner he’d bared his soul to her. On top of his transparency, he’d also asked to see her again. By Friday he’d grown skittish as a feral cat and had rethought asking her out a dozen times. He’d gone to the bookstore where she worked, half of him praying she had changed her mind about going hiking and the other half desperately wishing for more time with her, as if he wanted more opportunities to let her melt away his glass casing. The desperate half had won.

Yesterday’s hike had been glorious—perfect day, perfect scenery, perfect company. Everything about their date had been perfect until she’d embraced him. The unexpected gesture had not only knocked his camera out from his grasp and broken it, but it had also rattled his insides, further tightening the walls around him.

Since that moment, she hadn’t left him. Wisps of her floated into his mind as he lay in bed last night, smoky tendrils of her expressions, her laugh, all coming back to haunt him. He hadn’t slept. This morning she was still present as he dragged himself out of bed, scrubbed the insomnia out of his eyes, and performed his daily shave and trim.

He would’ve rather stayed in bed even if it meant chasing sleep all day, but he couldn’t avoid Harold Schneider’s shindig. When the head of the history department threw a crawdad boil and strongly suggested you come, you didn’t decline.

Two hours into brushing elbows with the department staff and receiving too many questions about his personal life, Logan was getting claustrophobic. His barriers were there for a reason, and the more people picked at them, the more exposed he felt. He forced the fingers curled around his iced tea to relax their grip though his spine was tight as a bowstring. Just a little bit longer and he could escape.

Logan! So great to see you here, Debbie Macalister said, squeezing his arm.

He forced a smile and a polite nod. You too.

Her smile wavered as her eyes roved over his head. Wow, your hair’s long. Didn’t you just get a haircut a few days ago? I could’ve sworn it was shorter on Friday.

Uh, no…I’ve been wearing it longer lately. Logan raised the arm holding his plastic cup and lurched forward as if there were someone he desperately had to speak with. He made it to the edge of Harold’s elaborately manicured back yard and sucked in a deep breath.

Not your cup of tea, eh? Next to Logan, Clancy Barber nudged his thick-framed glasses and took a sip from his own red plastic cup.

What? No, this is great. Logan adopted a pleasant smile. Catching up with the faculty, it’s…nice. Haven’t seen most of these people all summer.

Clancy deadpanned him, lowering his voice to a volume below the din of the chatter from the pockets of conversation floating around the yard. "Never have I seen you enjoy a faculty gathering, and this one’s no different."

I generally prefer not to eat with my fingers, Logan said. I’ll give you that much.

"That’s not what I