Identity: Identity Serial, #1

By Kenneth James Allen

The Identity serial will leave you guessing at every turn ...

"... hooked me right from the start." - Rachel H

"... deserves 5 stars..." - Robert K

"... incredibly punchy read that will have you wondering what is coming next." - Jade

 

Are you completely satisfied with your life? Do you want more from it?

These are the questions the enigmatic Xavier Titan Cane asks stationery salesman Scott Harris after a chance meeting in an airport bathroom. Xavier tells Scott he can change his life, help him become who he is meant to be. All Scott needs to do is access Identity, an application that has been mysteriously installed on his phone.

Scott has nothing to lose. The application transports him into a world where he is transformed from a boring and nervous salesperson into a smooth and charismatic spy. But fantasy and reality collide when he finds his wife murdered, a dangerous shadow organization starts chasing him, and he discovers he's more than just a salesman.

Xavier is hiding secrets.

And life just got a little more complicated for Scott.

Would you give up your life if you could live your fantasy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everington Publishing House
• Release date: Feb 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393242703

Kenneth James Allen

I started writing in 2008, and after years of professional rejection, I started my self-publishing journey in 2020. I enjoy any story that keeps me guessing, hate contradiction, and fear spiders and hypodermic needles. Writing is my meditation. I’ve created a bunch of novels, some published, the rest on the way, and many more in the works. When I’m not writing in Brisbane, I’m facilitating workshops, MCing conferences, and keynote speaking all over Australia.

Book preview

Prologue

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Scott Harris wiped his hands on his pants. Like it did any good. There was too much blood and all it did was spread the mess. He jerked the headphone cable, and the buds popped out of his ears. Pulling the phone from his pocket, it slipped out of his hands and bounced on the carpet. He swore. It might have been because of the blood, or the fact he was shaking violently. Most likely both.

He picked the device off the floor and pressed the screen. Nothing. Fingers caked in red. It had seeped between the ridges of his fingerprint and hardened. Over the past few days, everything about him was unrecognizable. He wiped his hands again, this time on his shirt, and then the bed and then the carpet. It seemed to do the trick because he could unlock the device and dial the number in his contacts.

Each unanswered dial tone was like the approaching footfalls of police coming to take him away. Every round seemed to get louder and louder. Sweat dripped down his face. His heart smacked against the inside of his chest like a cat trying to get out of a pillowcase. His mind was a scattered mess, but he had enough sense to make one call.

He couldn’t take it anymore, at the end of his tether. He was about to throw the device against the wall when someone accepted his call.

Jesus Christ, Scott. I told you not to call me anymore. Do you realize the danger you’ve put me in? Put us both in?

I...I didn’t know who else to call.

What’s happened, Scott?

I...I don’t know. I started the app before you could delete it. And now I’m here. And...

And what, Scott? What’s happened?

Scott looked down at the lifeless body at the center of a tornado of objects. Anything that wasn’t bolted down was in a new location. The fluffy white nightgown now a dripping mess of red ferocity. A knife handle stood out of her chest, bounded by a pool of blood. He turned away to avoid adding bile to the scene and clenched his eyes shut.

It’s bad, Xavier. It’s very bad. I think she’s dead.

Silence.

Get out of there, Scott? Do you hear me?

I can hear sirens.

There was silence, and then Xavier swore loudly. Several deep breaths seeped through the phone speaker. Eventually, he said, Where are you?

In the panic he couldn’t remember the name of the damn place. I...I don’t remember.

Jesus Christ. I’ll just track you myself. I will be there soon. Just don’t touch anything. And don’t say anything to anyone either.

No fear in that. Scott didn’t want to be there, let alone touch anything. Plus, he didn’t think he’d be able to string two words together to anyone else.

The call disconnected, leaving Scott with an eerie silence that a dead body in a small room can create. He lowered himself on the bed that squeaked under his weight.

He didn’t want to look again.

Looked.

Shouldn’t have looked.

I’m so sorry, Samantha, he said, holding back tears. So, so, sorry.

Sirens blared in the distance.

Chapter 1

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Four days earlier.

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Scott stared at the swirling of the toilet bowl and once more upended his stomach’s contents. Which wasn’t much. This was the fourth time he couldn’t restrain himself from vomiting, and each time he felt worse, not better. Chunky greens and oranges gave way to the clear variety, his stomach now entirely empty of anything except self-loathing.

He flushed and spat a few more times into the swirl, then closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. His gut muscles were tight after the carnage they produced, and Scott struggled to stand fully upright. He checked his watch and closed his eyes. His flight would board in ten minutes, and he didn’t know whether he could make it until then.

Again, he hit the flusher, picked up his backpack, unlocked the cubicle door and shuffled out towards the washbasins. An overhead fluorescent blinked repeatedly as passengers rushed by him, from urinals and stalls to soap and sinks. Faces were a blur. He grabbed hold of the sink to stop his vision spinning like he was on an out-of-control merry-go-round.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Lifeless, bloodshot eyes stared back at him. Everything he had ever read, heard and seen about his affliction, ordered itself in his mind and he started to mentally tick off the items. He took a deep breath, held it for a second and slowly