Re-Runners Third Life Part 2: Re-Runners, #4

By Elli Buchanan

It's been 20 years since Stefano has seen his fellow Re-Runners Kate and Dylan and he prepares for their next lifetime with trepidation.

Has he done enough to protect them from the killer le Segador? Will the monster of their last life return to hunt them or shall they be the hunters?

Therein lies the key for the young couples only chance of a normal life together.

Although how normal can a life be when you are a Re-Runner?

Interview with the Author

Q - So, what makes the Re-Runners Series special?
A - They say that in the world of stories, there are no NEW ideas and maybe that's true. But I don't think there's been a series of books on this subject, done quite like this before.

I'm sure plenty of people have thought - 'If I knew what I know now and could go back and do it all over again - Wow, the things I could achieve. Righting wrongs, avoiding the mistakes of your 'first life'... So many possibilities.'

Q - It's an interesting concept, but what genre does the Re-Runner series come under?

A - That's a difficult one. It's a mix of the kind of books I like to read, and I like to read everything. First up it's a paranormal time travel book, in the sense that initially the story chronicles the lives of three people, their death and their rebirth. There's also the element of thriller horror with the grisly murders committed by the serial killer, suspense when the FBI and LA detectives are tracking the infamous murderer and of course the mystery of how and why this re-living of lives has happened to them.

These three people from different countries (Australia and the US... and later Italy) are thrown into repeating their lives, but retaining all of the knowledge of their previous existences; maybe for all eternity. Who knows?

What would you do if it happened to you? Would you change? Create a new life or keep the old one? Make different choices or stay the same? Leave a legacy for the human race? It poses some interesting questions.

Q - You've got every other genre in there, but you've forgotten the Romance junkies. What? No love story?

A - Hey, of course there's a love story. It builds slowly and comes in Book 2 – Re-Runners Second Life. What's a novel (or series of novellas) without a love story? Life is all about love/hate, life/death, mistakes made/lessons learned. We're human, so of course there's a love story. Need you ask?

Q - So, why should readers give these books a try?
A - Because Re-Runners is a little dark and a little science fiction but it also takes you on a ride of possibilities. You'll find yourself imagining re-living your life. Maybe you wouldn't be tracking down serial killers, but it certainly makes you think.

Ultimately, readers who enjoy a plot that twists and turns all the way to the end will get a kick out of this series. Thanks for reading!
 

Re-Runners Paranormal Time Travel Series eBook Categories:

*Time Travel Suspense Series
*Metaphysical & Visionary Science Fiction Genre

*Science Fiction Time Travel Series

*Paranormal Adventure and Suspense Book
*Science Fiction & Fantasy Alternate History

*Mystery Thriller Serial Killer Crime Books

*International Urban Crime Novel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elli Buchanan
• Release date: Dec 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519908704

Elli Buchanan

The ideas for several stories came about when my man and I were 'floating around on a boat' in the Mediterranean for 16 months. Plenty of time for the creative juices to flow and undoubtedly the experience of a lifetime, but before any of these ideas became fully fledged books; we returned to Australia and the 'real world' of jobs and in my case, opening a small business. Nearly 5 years later, the business sold (loved, but its time had passed) and now time to write again. 

Book preview

By

Elli Buchanan

Re-Runners – Third Life

Part 2

Elli Buchanan

PUBLISHED BY:

Ventures Press2

Copyright © 2015

www.booksbyellibuchanan.com

––––––––

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

Books by Elli Buchanan

Romance Novella

Love me, Love My Sister

Re-Runners Series

Re-Runners – First Life

Re-Runners – Second Life

Re-Runners – Third Life

Part 1

Re-Runners – Third Life

Part 2

Click here to view Re-Runners VIDEO BOOK TRAILER

Or www.booksbyellibuchanan.com/rerunners-video.html

The Sky Kingdom Short Story Series

(Co-authored with Sierra Mullins)

Paranormal Shifter Romance

Forbidden Mortal

Story 1

Hawk’s Desire

Story 2

Where Loyalty Lies

Story 3

Final Flight

Story 4

The Sky Kingdom Box Set

Short Story

Paranormal Romance

The Cursed Arrow

CONTENTS

Part 2

Kate, Dylan & Christian

The Next Day

Christian

Re-Runner Reunion

Dr Turner

All about Mia

Second Chance

Brodie and Rogers

2 years later 1985

A visit from the Marchioni Family

Christian’s Confusion

Florence

Uffizi Gallery Museum

We Meet Again

Florence

Rosanna

Epilogue

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Part 2

Kate, Dylan & Christian

Third Life

Chapter 1

25 July 1982

9.32pm

Sydney Australia

The beat of the music vibrated through Dylan’s skull as swirling colors and images blurred and flashed before his eyes.

‘Kate,’ he screamed as he turned and clutched the shirt of the man beside him, dropping the beer and joint he’d been nursing seconds before.

‘Calm down, mate.’ Glen Davis tried to push Dylan away as he watched the frantic look in his companion’s eyes start to clear. ‘You’ve gone and wasted a perfectly good smoke.’ He glanced at the joint on the floor, crushed and soaked in spilled beer.

Dylan’s breathing started to slow but his mind was in turmoil. The booze and drugs were swimming in his system as he fought for control and registered that he’d started his next re-run. That meant it was 1982 and he was twenty years old ... again.

His last memory was of Kate dying in his arms, shot by le Segador and then this. That meant Kate was alive. She had to be alive, but he couldn’t rest until he knew for certain. He remembered his first re-run, when he’d returned to this nightclub where he and his university buddies had been celebrating the end of semester exams. He also remembered passing out in the men’s bathroom. He had to clear his head and get out of here. He had to call Kate.

Turning to Glen he asked, ‘I’ve got to leave, but I’m wasted. Can you get me outside and into a cab?’

‘You wanna go? Why? We’re here to party. Mate, I’ve really got to teach you how to loosen up.’

‘Please, Glen.’ He clutched his shirtfront again. ‘It’s important, really important.’

Glen shook his head in disgust and ran a hand through his long shaggy hair. ‘Yea OK, but you’ll be sorry you missed this tomorrow. We are goin’ wild tonight.’ Several of the students near them whistled and pounded the table in agreement.

As soon as they were outside the cold air sent Dylan staggering.

‘You’re not so good with mixing your drugs of choice, are you mate?’ Glen held him up with one arm and hailed a cab with the other.

Dylan’s head was spinning. ‘I don’t indulge as often as you.’

‘Well maybe you should. You’ve got money?’

Dylan felt in the back pocket of his jeans and found sixty dollars in notes. ‘Yea, I’m good.’ He looked at Glen and remembered this scraggy radical university student, who protested against establishment rules and who one day would be a high ranking Army commander. If only he knew, Dylan thought. He pushed Glen back towards the nightclub entrance. ‘Thanks mate,’ he said, before climbing into the back of the cab.

‘Where to?’ the driver mumbled.

‘Sydney Uni ... no wait.’ Dylan’s head was clearing and he was remembering. ‘The Ritz Carlton at Circular Quay.’

Dylan didn’t trust himself in his current state to make it to a phone and be coherent enough to call Kate, especially if one of her parents answered first. ‘Please be there, Battista,’ he whispered to himself. ‘I need a little help here.’ He sighed, laid his head back and closed his eyes, trying not to replay those final moments in the piazza in Rome in his last life. Had le Segador been killed? He must have. As the police closed in on the murderer, there were bullets flying from every direction and he himself must’ve been shot, but he didn’t remember any of that. All he saw behind his closed lids was Kate in his arms, blood exploding from a shot to her chest. He groaned.

‘This is it.’ The voice of the driver broke through his painful recollections.

Dylan pushed everything he had into the man’s hand and staggered from the car. The bright lights of the hotel foyer spilled out through the glass doors and he had to grab the arm of the concierge who greeted him. ‘Sir, can I ...?’

‘It’s all right. I am here for him.’ Dylan turned towards the voice in accented English, saw the face he was hoping to see and collapsed into Battista’s arms. Suddenly the tears came from nowhere. In Dylan’s world the terror of that gunfight and Kate’s death had happened only minutes before and shock was setting in. Seeing the only person who could understand and help him was enough to open a floodgate of grief.

Battista wrapped his arms around Dylan and helped him through the lobby and into the elevator.

ooooo

By the time they reached the penthouse suite Dylan was in control of his emotions, if not his physical abilities. Battista half carried him across the room and pushed him into a dining chair before removing silver covers from the meal that was waiting. But first he poured him a cup of hot coffee. ‘Drink.’

‘You’re prepared,’ Dylan said, as he took a sip of coffee.

‘You told Stefano about your first re-run. The nightclub and the drinking, so we knew you’d be in need of food and strong caffè.’ Dylan looked at Battista properly for the first time since he staggered into the hotel. He was the same, yet he wasn’t. He looked younger than Dylan remembered and he said so.

‘You can blame that on Stefano,’ Battista answered with a smile. ‘He came back into his new life with a promise to get healthy. So that meant no cigarettes, limited alcohol and regular visits to the gymnasium. Naturally he dragged me along. At first I was reluctant, but it is now a part of my life and I feel better for it. If you notice a difference between the Battista of your previous timeline and me, then it must be working.’

They ate and chatted for a while before Dylan commented, ‘Another thing that’s different about you.’

Battista raised a brow in question.

‘You’re more talkative than the other Battista and your accent isn’t as pronounced.’

Battista laughed, ‘Si, perhaps this is so. Stefano has also pushed me to study and become a world traveler; sometimes as his representative and sometimes for my own purposes. I suppose it has made me more outgoing than I was. I hope you are not disappointed.’

Dylan shook his head. ‘Seeing your face at that hotel entrance was the greatest relief ... thanks. But now I’m feeling better and able to speak coherently, the next greatest relief will be ...’