The 7 House: The Final Form Series, #3

By J.D. Cavan

"I will be the one to break you, to remake you," the iron-masked scientist tells Charlie while he's held captive in the seventh chamber.

In the last book of the, Final Form Series, Charlie is struck by horrific dreams and visions of the 7 House. Iron-masked scientists attempt to force him to transform into something unknown by applying something they call, Deliverables.

Meanwhile, thanks to a rag-tag group of street kids, Charlie survives his plunge into the freezing ocean.  Samantha and Luca, however, are nowhere to be found and as his father's terrors over the city grow more and more deadly his chances of seeing them alive again become slimmer by the minute.

When everyone around Charlie starts to turn into zombies, he seeks shelter in a safe haven known only as the Domain Underground. As Charlie fights with the Domain Underground rebels against his father's evil creation of clones, he gets closer and closer to uncovering the truth of the 7 House and the answers to what his Final Form will be.

Soon, Charlie discovers a whole new layer to his father's twisted plans. A final war is brewing between Charlie and all the rebels, against his father's wicked army. Charlie must make the ultimate sacrifice to save his new species and the human race.

The 7 House, is book 3 of The Final Form Series, where incredible powers come with a new phase of human evolution.

What will their final form be…

The Final Form Series:

Book 1 Thought Changer

Book 2 The Serial Seven

Book 3 The 7 House 

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.D. Cavan
• Release date: Oct 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386326038

Book preview

Prologue

THERE WERE SEVEN CHAMBERS in the 7 House. They lined the back wall of the dungeon basement and formed a horseshoe shape.

Little Charlie pounded his head as hard as he could on the front of the heavy glass encasing his chamber. It was rock solid, and his 9-year old noggin stung as he smashed it again and again. He would have used his arms and hands, but they were strapped down tightly.

He stopped, and then wedged his head against the glass and, in a panic, turned it to the right. He saw some of the other chambers. The other kids inside screamed and whaled on the glass with their heads, just as he did.

Where they had come from and why they had all been thrown into these tiny cells was a complete mystery to him.

Charlie shouted as loud as he could, and then stopped. He heard only his own breathing and the occasional noise, like a balloon deflating, but it seemed to come from inside the chamber. Hopefully it meant more oxygen was being let into the space. He didn’t have enough room to turn around, but if he stuck his head out as far as it could go, he felt a tug on his neck. As if something was attached to his spine from behind him in the chamber.

Frantically, he checked his body. He wore a bright silver suit and his feet hovered just above the ground.

His breathing became shallower, echoing in his ears. Would he simply run out of air and die here? His heart hammered in his chest, but he managed to keep calm long enough to search the spaces outside the chambers.

The basement was empty and made of old stone. He could make out a long-standing table or panel of some kind against the back wall. The only light came from dimly lit florescent bulbs above each chamber.

I will be the one to break you, to remake you, a deep male voice intoned, booming across Charlie’s subconscious. He glanced about, but the dungeon was still empty save for the children in their cells. We are going to see what you finally become.

A bright light clicked on in the basement. Little Charlie quickly pushed his face up against the glass again, catching sight of the long stone stairway leading up and out of the chamber. He craned his neck even further to the huge black steel door with large bolts and chains across it which sat perched on the landing.

Suddenly, he became filled with terror, worse than the fear he’d suffered since first being forced into the chamber. The bolts began to move, the chains falling away. Charlie felt his heart race harder, as the metal door creaked open.

I will be the one to break you, to remake you. The man’s words cycled through his head like a frightened mouse on a wheel. Charlie began whimpering, then shouting.

1

CHARLIE SAT UP, breathing rapidly. He almost believed he was back in that dark basement dungeon, trapped in the seventh chamber. He was so shaken up that it took him a moment to recognize the familiarity of the city park.

The fire cracked loudly and brightly burning embers rained out of the pit before disappearing into the earth. The ruined city behind Charlie remained dark, pockets of it still burning in flames. He breathed deeply. Salty air mixed with the scent of gasoline from the torched city filled his lungs. The earthquake had been more devastating than Charlie imagined. It had destroyed the electrical systems and caused explosions throughout the city.

The nasty flavor of the ocean water clung to his mouth and nostrils. He tried to wash it away with some virulent tasting whisky a boy named Dill had given him. He put it in his mouth, swished it around, and then spit it out. It still tasted of the dirty sea water that had nearly choked the life out of him.

Hey, d-don’t use all of t-that, Dill said. He had a slight stammer.

Charlie gave him an unpleasant sidelong glance, and then draped a musty smelling blanket around his body and plopped down by the fire pit along the water’s edge. He felt his jeans, T-shirt and sweatshirt, all finally dry. He yanked his hood over his head, wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, and rubbed his hands together as he held them out toward the flames. He had just started to get warm from the coldness that had seeped and settled into his bones.

Dill was part of a small gang of homeless kids that had discovered him wondering the shoreline, freezing and incoherent. Dill had a long nose that looked like a pickle. Charlie figured that was why they called him Dill, but it wasn’t. They referred to him as Dill because he was supposedly addicted to dill pickles.

Dill’s pickle nose cast a shadow outside the confines of the fire. The night was pitch black but for the outline of small trees and shrubs surrounding them. Though a small opening in the brush, the shoreline stretched out along the beach. The storm had ceased and the moon lit the sea, and Charlie heard the waves softly hitting the beach.

Who are Luca and Samantha? A girl named Mitz asked. She had long blond hair, wore a baseball cap with a hoodie over it and aviator sunglasses which made it impossible to tell what she actually looked like. She had fingerless gloves on and sat, like a boxer in her corner, on a crate next to the fire.

Friends of mine, Charlie replied, and then felt a sting of misery just as soon as he said it, his mouth falling at the sides. Apparently, he’d been calling out to Samantha and Luca, delirious, as he stumbled up and down the rocky beach. The thought of them still out there in the ocean made him want to die.

They drowned out there then, your pals did, another boy, Skits, said. The name wasn’t short for skitzo, like Charlie thought, but Skittles, because he once ate only Skittles candy for a week straight. Skits had a habit of giggling constantly and for no apparent reason, which bugged Charlie to no end, even though he’d only known him for a couple of hours. He was tall and very thin. His defining features were two protruding front teeth and that absurd laugh.

Don’t worry about my friends, Charlie said, angrily. He didn’t want to believe Samantha or Luca were dead, but searching the city for him as he spoke. As soon as it got light, he’d start out and try and find them. He was beyond furious with himself for losing them to begin with.

Touchy, touchy about his friends, Mitz said provokingly, smirking at him.

Charlie felt his teeth clench in anger but ignored her. Are all of you named after foods? That’s a little ridiculous, isn’t it? Charlie changed the subject, surprising himself with how cynical he sounded.

I ain’t, Mitz retorted. She chewed on something in a plastic wrapper. It looked like beef jerky. And if we weres, what’s your problem wit dat? She spit some of the plastic out of her mouth.

Charlie rolled his eyes and sighed. "I don’t have a problem with dat," he said, imitating her.

She glared at him. Mitz is short for misfit, Mitz said, reluctantly.

How’s that short for misfit? Charlie asked incredulously. He shook his head. Never mind." He felt the weight of the tasks ahead of him, and he knew he was just taking his defeated state of mind out on this band of odd balls.

You don’t know much, Skits stated, giggling, before snatching the bottle of whisky from Dill and taking a swig out of it.

Then, Dill jerked upright. What if he’s one of t-t-hem? Dill raised his shoulders and dropped his head as if he trying to hide in his own body. Do you know who they are? he whispered to Charlie.

Don’t talk about it, we’re not supposed to! Skits blurted, before glancing around nervously.

Cloaks and hoods, guns and nets, Charlie replied, casually. He knew they were talking about Thought Changers. Charlie had been reading all three of their minds since they found him. They were worried about Changers and food. There wasn’t much else going on up there. Not a lot of brain activity.

Skits’ mouth dropped open and Mitz stood up and snatched a large walking stick from where it leaned against a tree. She swung it around and pointed it directly at Charlie. Charlie pulled his head back when he noticed that the end of it was sharpened like a spear.

How do we know you ain’t them? Mitz moved her weapon closer to Charlie. I’ll kill yah right now.

Charlie sighed. He was too weary to do anything. He could grab the end of the stick, knock it away, and fight all three of them right there, but he knew Mitz wasn’t serious. She was just scared and trying to send him a message.

I’m not one of them, Thought Changers are my enemy. He motioned to them with an empty hand. We’re on the same side. Charlie announced to the group without much enthusiasm.

Mitz finally let her spear fall, and she put her head down a little bit. They’ve been getting a lot of us lately.

Something rustled through the brush nearby. Mitz spun around while Charlie stood up quickly. A dark figure came crashing through the trees and into the fire circle. Charlie fixed his eyes on the shadowy person and felt his heart dance in excitement. For a moment, he had hope. It could be Samantha! Or, of course, Luca.