The Complex, Part One: The Observationalist

By K. Michael

On an off-road through the mountains, Violet and her best friend Wanda stop at a new gas station for coffee. They can't bother stopping for the night if they're going to make Wanda's audition in the morning, and the two girls can use all the caffeine they can get.

Everything's perfect when they hit the road after...but then Violet wakes up alone in a strange hotel room, and something just doesn't seem right.

Violet knows that this isn't the hotel the two girls were supposed to end up at, and now she's suddenly worried for Wanda...and for herself. What she doesn't know, is that things are about to get a whole lot weirder. Just on the other side of the wall, the horrors and the secrets of The Complex are waiting to be discovered...

The Observationalist opens with an eerie strangeness that just keeps growing. The pace is fast and the characters are well developed, setting the scene for a detailed story while answering some of the questions raised in its prelude—The Patient—and simultaneously raising up a whole trophy-case of new ones.

What are you waiting for? Take a peek in The Complex!

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. Michael
• Release date: Sep 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310519604

K. Michael

K. Michael is a horror writer who lives in Western Colorado. He likes to write psychological horror/thriller stories in his spare time, and is a huge fan of horror movies and books. He is currently working on his first novel, The Complex, which is being put out serially. You can find K. Michael on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/k.michaelhorror or visit his website @ http://cineman84.wix.com/kmichael. For more information on The Complex, visit the Official Website @ http://cineman84.wix.com/the-complex-saga or follow on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/1558491751082881.

Book preview

THE COMPLEX

by

K. Michael

PRELUDE

The Patient

PART ONE

The Observationalist

INTERLUDE ONE

Max

PART TWO

The Observer

THE COMPLEX

by

K. Michael

This is a work of fiction that takes place between real places and some that are imaginary. Some liberties have been taken with some geographical locations. Any similarities to real people or places in this work of fiction are coincidental.

PART ONE

The Observationalist

1. Sisters

2. Hotel

3. Not Alone

4. The Other Side

5. The Observationalist

6. Soup

7. The Breakdown

8. Catwalk

9. The Collector

10. Wanda

11. First Shift

12. The Red Button

The Complex – Official Website

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1

SISTERS

They should have gotten coffee at the last town. Violet’s eyes were getting heavy, and she was starting to regret telling Wanda that she’d drive through the mountains. Violet had insisted on taking the scenic route though, and Wanda wasn’t familiar with the course. It was the only way she had been able to convince Wanda to let her take the old road.

My dad and I used to go this way every time we made the trip, Violet told her. It’s only an hour or two longer, and we’ve got plenty of time since we decided to drive straight through.

"Fine. But I’m taking a nap, and if I’m late to my modeling audition, we’re not friends anymore," Wanda teased.

Violet couldn’t see why Wanda wanted to be a model when she could sing like Whitney Houston. Maybe she’d be able to break into the business using modeling as a stepping stone.

Four more miles to the first summit. They were almost halfway back to the interstate. Violet wished Wanda had decided to stay awake and enjoy all the beautiful scenery, but she supposed it was enough that she had allowed her to take the nostalgic drive. It was almost like her dad was up here with them.

David Hudson died shortly after the girls’ high school graduation, and Violet never would have made it these last six years if it hadn’t been for her best friend.

The two of them had been through a lot together since they became neighbors nearly twenty five years ago. When they were younger, Wanda had suffered a lot of narrow-minded remarks from other kids and some grownups who hadn’t been very welcoming of the Smiths’ newly adopted black baby. Didn’t they know they were white?

Violet didn’t really see what the big deal was. The color of Wanda’s skin had never been a question for her. Violet’s folks and the Smiths were good friends, so Wanda had just always been around. Violet had once tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of those old mountain people who had never seen an African American before—had tried to justify their bigotry with ignorance or habitat—but she’d eventually concluded that people were just people, and that some people needed to crawl out of the fucking Dark Ages.

Violet’s dad had always said that when the Smiths adopted Wanda, they’d handled the intolerance of their small mountain town with their smiling faces held high.

But then the girls reached middle school and their own peers joined in the fun-poking. Things hadn’t been easy for Wanda until they reached high school and she earned the respect of their classmates with her incredible singing voice, which made her a star in the Coalbrick High School choir. That, and every teenage boy in town seemed to want to bang the only black girl in school, a fascination that most likely stemmed from their sheltered and one-cultured upbringings.

The two of them considered themselves sisters, and had never faltered from their bond. Even when Wanda had slept with Violet’s senior crush, Colton Davis, it hadn't driven a wedge between them.

It never would have happened for Violet anyway, with all the boys in school so fascinated with her best friend, so Violet had quickly squashed her jealousy and decided it would be best to save losing her virginity for college. Turns out, it was the best decision she ever made. The boys in Denver were a gigantic step-up from those in Coalbrick, and the selection was endless. Aesthetically, none of the guys in her hometown even compared with the poorest options of the big city, and if she had snagged Colton then, she might still be stuck in that awful town with him, cooking him dinner every night on the little ranch he had inherited two years ago.

Coffee, Wanda muttered, pulling the back of her seat up.

I was just thinking the same thing, Violet told her, yawning. Nice nap?

I’m all cramped up. Need to stretch. When’s the next gas station?

Not for a while, if I remember right.

Wanda leaned forward, taking in the view. The mountains rose up on either side of the two-lane road, but ahead the sky was big and filled with bright stars. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the moon lit the asphalt in between it and Violet’s little VW Bug, giving it a cold blue-black glow.

Wow, Vi. It’s really pretty up here.

Told you, Violet said, smiling widely. I just wish we would have got a coffee or two at the last station. I don’t think there’s another one until you come down from the second summit and hit the interstate, and we’re only about to hit the first one… right… now!

That sucks, Wanda admitted as the yellow and brown sign announcing the summit zipped by.

Agreed, Violet said, yawning again.

Girl, you better get it together, Wanda warned. If you fall asleep up here and kill us, I’m going to kick your ass when we get to the afterlife.

Violet laughed. "What if there is no afterlife?"

Then I’ll haunt your family, I guess. She smiled, her big white teeth blinding in the light from the moon.

Wanda was so gorgeous, it was no wonder she’d finally landed an audition shoot with the biggest modeling agency in Denver. She looked like a darker, taller version of Haley Berry, and her bright green eyes were nothing if not feline. Violet had always envied Wanda’s beauty. Besides her naturally light blonde hair and thin figure, Violet’s features didn’t really stand out among the crowds. Her skin was too pale, her eyes too dark, and her legs much too short. Unfortunately, she had also gotten her mother’s breasts, which were much too small. Trips with Wanda to Victoria’s Secret were always mentally torturous for her.

Speaking of, Violet said, changing the subject, thanks for going with me to see my mom for Mother’s Day. She’s so lonely there since we moved away.

Yeah, I can tell she still really misses your dad, Wanda sympathized. Then she added, Besides, it was good to see my folks too. Wanda paused, zoning out the window. Can you believe about Colton’s parents? How awful. I had no idea.

I know, Violet said, frowning. My mom told me about it. She said they found Mrs. Davis down river a ways. She was tangled in a Russian Olive, I guess, along the river bank. Pretty gruesome.

What about Colton’s dad? Wanda asked, eyes wide.

Haven’t found him. They think he may have got caught along the bottom, or just kept going. They’ve dragged it, I guess, but no luck.

Wanda sighed. Crazy.

I know. Mom only told me because she was worried about us taking this road, Violet chuckled.

Because we’re out in the middle of nowhere!

Violet laughed harder. Because it happened on this road. She’s so superstitious.

Wanda’s eyes grew in terror. Her mouth dropped. "What? You’re telling me the Davises drove off of this road! And you still want to drive me down it!"

It happened in the winter, Wand. These roads are totally safe now.

There were still a few patches of spring snow on the hillsides here and there, but it had been a pretty mild season compared to the winter two years ago, and the roads couldn’t be any clearer.

That’s not gonna matter if you fall asleep behind the wheel, Wanda scolded. Are you sure there isn’t a closer gas station? Maybe we should have stayed the night in the last town and taken the interstate instead.

There wasn’t one the last time I came this way. Don’t worry. We have plenty of time since you’re letting me stay at the hotel with you. Are you sure they won’t mind me staying the night with you? The company holding the audition had insisted that Wanda begin first thing in the morning. Then, when Wanda told them she was coming from Boulder, they had insisted on putting her up at the Courtyard Marriott for the night.

Vi, there’s no sense in you driving all the way back to Boulder after you drop me off. I’m sure they won’t mind—if they even find out.

Good point, Violet agreed with a giggle.

Hey, I thought you said there weren’t any gas stations before the next peak, Wanda said, pointing out the windshield.

On the roadside, maybe two miles down the winding road, a Diamond Shamrock sign glowed as bright as the moon above it.

That’s weird, Violet said, mostly to herself. I didn’t think there was.

"Weird? Vi, that’s our coffee! It’s not weird. It’s a blessing!"

I know. Coffee’s gonna help. It’s just that…

What? Wanda asked. She was obviously confused as to why Violet hadn’t been beaming with excitement.

Well, Valero bought out Diamond Shamrock like, ten years ago. They’ve been slowly converting them all into Valero Corner Stores. I’ve only seen a few Shamrocks left in the area.

Yeah, there’s still one on Federal, Wanda added. Maybe they just haven’t made it all the way up here to remodel this one yet.

Maybe. But I don’t remember it being here last time I came up, and that was only a few years ago.

So it’s new, then, Wanda deduced. They probably just put it in. Lucky us! Don’t be weird, Vi. She laughed.

If Valero put it in, it would be a Corner Store, Violet insisted, only half-serious, "not a Shamrock."

Wanda waved it off. Just pull in, Vi. I need to stretch my legs and pee.

They reached the station and pulled into the empty lot. Wanda nearly teleported out of the car and into the brightly lit store. She paused at the front counter for a moment and then hurried to the back while Violet stretched outside.

A bulletin board on the outside of the building had three small signs pinned on it. Two