Dead Air

By Tanya Lisle

Somehow, Harrison wasn't dead. He wasn't so sure about Max.

Despite surviving his encounter with the newly reborn Luke, Harrison doesn't have time to even process the loss of his boyfriend. The Harrish and Barrister Corporation, now under the control of the mysterious Doctor Gethen, has decided they must be brought back for further testing -- permanently.

At least locked inside the walls of H&B, Harrison is safe from a resurrected Luke now hijacking Max's body. Since coming back, Luke's developed a desire to see Harrison dead, but there's something holding Luke back from finishing the job. It might be in his head, but Harrison swears he can still see just a glimmer of Max behind those eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tanya Lisle
• Release date: Jan 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781988911168

Tanya Lisle

Tanya Lisle is a novelist from Metro Vancouver, British Columbia who has series littered across genres from supernatural horror to young adult fantasy. She began writing in elementary school, when she started turning homework assignments into short stories and continued this trend well into university. While attending Simon Fraser University, she developed an appreciation for public domain crossovers and cross-platform narratives. She has a shelf full of notebooks with more story ideas than pens lost to the depths of her bag. Now she writes incessantly in hopes of finishing all of them. Thankfully, her cat, Remy, has figured out how to shut off Tanya’s computer when she needs to take a break.

Book preview

Dead Air

By Tanya Lisle

Published by Scrap Paper Entertainment 2018

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Chapter 1

There was no Max in his dreams this time. There wasn’t much of anything except the knowledge that time was passing, which was strange. It was stranger that he knew he wasn’t awake. He was aware that he shouldn’t be aware of that, but the oncoming consciousness was a much more pressing matter.

The static permeating his thoughts was only just starting to fade, but it was enough. He could at least try to figure out what was going on around him. Something was bringing him back around, and he felt like he should pay attention to that. Unfortunately, the only thing he could pick up on was a great deal of pain, punctuated by jolts as his body was jostled about. He was moving, though whoever was doing the moving wasn’t being careful with him.

A groan escaped him, though he felt it rumble through his throat more than he heard anything. His ears felt stuffed full of cotton and his head was swimming, even as the static receded. There was a dull, stinging ring in his ears that kept growing louder. He was strangely aware of his neck, though he couldn’t seem to do anything about it as his head rolled to the side. Breathing was a difficult task as each breath seemed to force itself into his lungs through a throat so dry that it felt like it was about to catch fire from the friction of the hot air running through it. The act was made harder because of something against his chest.

He heard the second groan that came out of him, though it was nothing compared to the pain that raced through his body. He was reminded of just where every injured limb was, and there were a lot of them. It felt like there were too many, like some of these muscles were surely not his own. He would have been fine without being able to feel the pain for a little longer if he knew it was going to hurt this much. His skin was starting to return to him as well, face pressed for a moment against the cool floor and his whole body was so very cold.

Something pulled him up until only his back was pressed against something. A hand pulled his head forward and gentle fingers pried his eyes open. In the distance, he could hear something saying something to him that might have been his name, but the words were too soft to tell.

The blur turned into something familiar, but it took a moment before he could tell just what. Jaime stared back at him, though he couldn’t quite keep his eyes open or his head up. She spoke in urgent, hushed tones. There was something off about Jaime slapping him in the face with increasing urgency that he couldn’t quite bring himself to think about. His attention was on the fire racing through his bones and his icy cold skin. The static in his head wasn’t gone yet and he couldn’t put together anything but how much his body hurt.

One thing at a time. Slow. There was pain, but that was not the only thing that existed right now. He didn’t even want to pay attention to that, and he didn’t have to. Jaime sounded like she was worried about something. He tried to remember.

Max? There was something with Max. And then there was pain. And then nothing. He didn’t know what happened after that. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened before that either. Everything hurt. It hurt more the more he started to come back to himself. Something had happened with Max. He had seen him there, right at the end, but it wasn’t him behind those eyes.

Blearily, Harrison tried to keep his own eyes open to focus on Jaime. The past wasn’t working out for him so well, so the present it was. The ringing was getting quieter now, but he still couldn’t quite make out what he was supposed to be hearing. He knew his body was screaming at him even when he wasn’t moving, and he was probably unable to stay upright if not for Jaime holding him up. Jamie was saying something, though her attention was not on him right now.

Focus. He could do this.  

They’ll probably be here any minute. I need one of you to stay back with me in case we have to run.

There were other people there, he realized, but they didn’t come any closer. One of them went away and something opened. A door.

The static hit him hard again, his mind in no condition to block it out. Everything around him, from Jamie to the light to the hall to his body all faded away and he was left once more with a numbness as his existence. It was almost a mercy, not being able to feel anything of the pain again. If he wanted, he could go back to sleep.

Relief didn’t last long. Far too soon, the pain was back to keep him awake.

Jaime was back, shaking him and saying things more loudly than before. Pain raced through every fibre of his being with every movement and everything he could feel was on fire. A second face lingered behind hers. He knew Emma, though she wasn’t saying anything. She couldn’t say anything. He knew she couldn’t. Probably.

Everything was up in the air right now, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be paying attention to. He didn’t know what was going on. He wasn’t sure he needed to know. Everything hurt so much. He just wanted to go back to where it didn’t hurt anymore. He didn’t know what was going on and being awake was more trouble than it was worth.

Harrison, stay with me, Jamie insisted.

Well, sleep wasn’t going to come with this pain anyway. He wasn’t even sure if his skin was still attached. It might have vibrated off of him by now. It felt like it was shaking and detaching from his muscles, determined to go off on its own. He couldn’t think about this now. He needed to think about something else. Anything else.

He latched onto the one command in the darkness and the haze of his mind, more out of convenience than anything else. Stay with her. He hoped she would be more clear what it meant. He would stay watching and listening to her, trying to wait for her next command while the muddle of his head continued to spin. Consciousness was difficult to grip onto, sleep calling him back to a place where he would feel no more pain. But the pain, the pain was in the way of that.

We’re going to get Jack and we’re getting out of here.

There was a sharp motion from Emma, Jaime shot a look back at her. Harrison watched as Jaime’s expression turned more hesitant. She wasn’t sure about this, but she would lie if she had to if it kept them moving. She nodded, keeping her voice down as she returned her attention to Harrison. And Adam. If we can get him out too.

Emma turned her back to face her, her hands moving. Harrison slumped to the side, but managed to stay upright against the wall as he caught bits and pieces, though the words were hard to put together. He had to think about a lot of things, and language was not one of the things he could handle right now. It was made harder with Emma’s hands so hard to see and blocked in part by Jamie’s body. Jamie was uncertain and faltering as she signed back. At least the words were being spoken as her hands moved, even if they were very quiet.

If there’s time, she signed. We have to get these two out, but they’re obviously doing something with Adam. We can’t even keep the door open without him affecting us, Emma. We need to be careful.

Emma was moving again, determined and her hand motions very sharp and precise. Between her and Jamie, Harrison knew that Jamie had been signing for much longer. Jamie signed with her face and her whole body, not just her hands, and it looked much more natural than any of the rest of them when they did it. Even Ally, who had gone through the trouble to try and teach them back in the day, was not as natural as Jamie was.

They’ll be on their way already, Jaime continued. She signaled down the hall, her hands continuing even as Emma looked, and her mouth continuing to spill out words with increasing urgent desperation. We can come back for Adam later. At least he’s—

Harrison wasn’t sure if Jamie had actually stopped talking or if that was in his head, but the world devolved into static. Harrison’s loose grasp on the present and the world around him faded away. Something grabbed him to keep him from falling over, but beyond that there was nothing but the static and a sense of floating in nothing. It was almost nice, as the pain faded away with the rest of the world. Nothing hurt for just a moment and everything was all right. Well, as all right as it could possibly be for the moment.

His head was gently rocking when the pain returned, along with Jaime’s face. There was another body next to him, warm and weight directly against his arm. The sharp pain of the other person sent a fresh wave of fire racing through his body and kept him falling back under. Everything about him was pain, but that was nothing new now.

Jaime’s lips were moving, but there were no words coming out and hitting his ears. Blearily he looked up at her and let out a groan. Her hand immediately covered his mouth and her eyes flew wide open in warning. She needed him to be quiet.

Behind her, the figures were moving large and wide while Jamie tried to maintain her concentration. One was trying to hold the other back. Emma was trying to get back to the door. She wanted to go back in and, though neither of them moved their hands or said a word, Harrison could tell that she was losing this fight. The other, Gavin, gestured down the hall to something else heading their way.

Harrison’s head fell to the side as Jamie left. Down the hall, there were voices echoing toward them and another loud, obnoxious noise. He wasn’t sure how he managed to miss that sound before now. Maybe that’s why he didn’t hear Jamie before. He wasn’t sure that it mattered, but it was clear that they were going to have company very soon. From the look of things, it was not going to be very welcome company.

Emma pulled away and took a stand for whatever it was they were fighting for. The door flew open behind her and once again, Harrison spiralled down into the static. It was nice not to have the pain any longer, at the very least, though it was getting more and more difficult to keep his attention present when he did return. Jamie had another person to tend to now and she was not there when the static started to recede back once more. He was alone, staring at the white in front of him with darkness moving at the edges of his vision.

It didn’t last long before something kneeled down next to Jaime. Gavin. He knew Gavin, from the red eyes to that look of regret for whatever actions he was about to take. He pulled Jaime back, pointing down the hall and shaking his head. Harrison didn’t bother looking, already the sounds of footsteps mixing in with the klaxon like a beat coming steadily closer. Jamie pulled herself back and nodded.

They were gone in an instant. Harrison knew the feeling well, though the loss of focus made it impossible to stay upright or together. He got only a glimpse of the new location, of the different white walls and the other faces there that were waiting for them, before he lost his balance. He fell back, his support gone, and he collapsed onto his side.

His head was swimming and unconsciousness called to him. He saw Gavin stand up and vanish before Harrison was also gone.

Chapter 2

After the last time, Harrison was less inclined to come back around. His head ached, as did the rest of his body. At least no one was moving him around this time. The static fuzz that filled every part of his being had finally faded. Now there was only the headache and the aching of the rest of his body to contend with, and he would much rather not deal with it at all if he could help it. Not that he had a choice in the matter.

"Jack, stay down," came a voice cutting through the darkness. It sounded with enough force that Harrison could tell there was a little something extra in the command. He let his head roll to the side, his neck screaming as it turned, and his eyes cracked open. Slowly, the bleariness of his vision gave way to something that felt far too familiar.

"I’m fine," Jack insisted, though he was already sitting back down. The room around them was mercifully dim. He and Jack lay in puddles of blankets on the floor of a living room with the blinds drawn. No one stood by the window, Mary crouching down on the ground next to Jack with a deep frown on her face.

"You were set on fire. Again. You are not fine."

I’m getting used to it. He was in strangely good humour for what had happened, though Harrison didn’t miss the irritation. He never did like staying still.  "I’m fine Mary," he insisted.

Mary shook her head and looked him over one last time. You need to stop getting set on fire, she told him sternly. You get any more scarred up and I’m going to have to make you start borrowing my makeup before we go anywhere.

You like it, Jack mused. Makes me look badass.

Makes you look like Deadpool.

Like I said. Badass.

Look who’s awake, Mary said, turning to see Harrison watching them. She tilted her head to the side and leaned in to get a better look. I think. You together at all in there?

Hurts, Harrison muttered, his eyes only partially opened and looking narrowly back at Mary. There was a soft ringing in his ears still.

Can you move?

He thought about it. Even thinking hurt. Probably.

"Will you move?"

No.

He’s fine. Ally’s voice was from somewhere outside of his immediate field of vision, but it was still there. He listened for the rest of the room, hearing the sounds of metal scratching and finally put together why this place was so familiar. He knew this living room, those blinds that covered the windows, and the blankets spread out on the carpet for him to rest on.

It was Max’s place. Something about this seemed wrong, like they were intruding on something that they weren’t meant to. His parents would probably be home soon enough and their presence would be difficult to explain.  Max wasn’t with them, but his parents would probably be fine with them crashing there. That wasn’t the thing that was bothering him. It was that Max was…

Why are we here? he asked not loudly, though his voice carried in the quiet. He didn’t want to think about Max right now.

Hiding, Ally said sharply. H&B caught us and locked us up. We broke out. Now we’re on the run again. It’s turning into a nightmare in there and we don’t want to go back.

Harrison pushed himself up, groaning as his muscles stretched and screamed at him for moving. He let out a cry of pain and fell back down, though he suspected that wasn’t necessarily just him. Mary glared at him and he thought he felt something pushing him back down to the blankets. Instead, throw pillows floated over and arranged themselves behind him so he could prop himself up and at least see what was happening.

You need to stay still too, Mary told him sternly. Apparently you got electrocuted pretty bad. And crushed? The story’s a little fuzzy. They haven’t let you wake up since they took us away.

What happened? It seemed like as good a place to start as any, though he wasn’t sure he really wanted the answer. He didn’t want to think about what had happened at the end. Max and Willow. The knowledge that he hadn’t been able to save him. That he should have taken Max and run while he had the chance, but it was too late. That Luke…

Silence followed, with a few eyes going to the corner of the room. Finally, Ted looked between Harrison and the corner. He frowned as his voice gently came out, followed by his hands. He can’t see you, he said.

Gavin let out a groan and appeared in front of the couch. He dropped down and leaned forward, his hands cutting sharply through the air. He glared with those red eyes at him like Harrison had done something to personally offend him. You decided to go off on your own and got your ass handed to you. And you nearly got Devlyn killed when she tried to get you back.

Oh. That’s why he was pissed. He didn’t know what had happened after that electric shock or after… that.

Ted, Ally, and Jaime appeared soon after, the