Vertigo: An Allworld Online Prequel Novella: Allworld Online, #0

By Lindsey Sparks and Lindsey Fairleigh

An Allworld Online origins adventure.

 

In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is...

...insane.

 

Jane questions the very nature of reality after experiencing a series of discordant memories and disorienting vertigo spells. At every turn, the world seems to be rewriting itself, and she is the only one aware of what's happening. Is Jane losing her mind, or is she, alone, finally able to see the truth?

 

A new player enters the game in Vertigo, an Allworld Online prequel novella. Vertigo is loosely based on H. G. Wells' The Country of the Blind. If you like wondrous virtual worlds, escalating tension, and unusual spins on familiar stories, then you'll love the thrilling mashup of LitRPG and Classic Literature offered in the Allworld Online series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rubus Press
• Release date: Aug 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201422158

Book preview

Vertigo

Vertigo

An Allworld Online Prequel Novella

Lindsey Sparks

writing as Lindsey Fairleigh

Rubus Press

Copyright © 2021 by Rubus Press

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events are products of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person, living or dead, is intended or should be inferred.

Editing by Fresh as a Daisy Editing

www.freshasadaisyediting.com

Cover by We Got You Covered

www.wegotyoucoveredbookdesign.com

Contents

More Books by Lindsey Sparks

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

More Books by Lindsey Sparks

About the Author

More Books by Lindsey Sparks

ECHO TRILOGY

Echo in Time

Resonance

Time Anomaly

Dissonance

Ricochet Through Time

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KAT DUBOIS CHRONICLES

Ink Witch

Outcast

Underground

Soul Eater

Judgement

Afterlife

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ATLANTIS LEGACY

Sacrifice of the Sinners

Legacy of the Lost

Fate of the Fallen

Dreams of the Damned

Song of the Soulless

Blood of the Broken

Rise of the Revenants

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ALLWORLD ONLINE

AO: Pride & Prejudice

AO: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Vertigo

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THE ENDING SERIES

The Ending Beginnings: Omnibus Edition

After The Ending

Into The Fire

Out Of The Ashes

Before The Dawn

World Before

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THE ENDING LEGACY

World After

For more information on Lindsey and her books:

www.authorlindseysparks.com

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Join Lindsey’s mailing list to stay up to date on releases

AND to get a FREE copy of Sacrifice of the Sinners.

www.authorlindseysparks.com/sacrifice

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To read Lindsey’s books as she writes them, check her out on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

Acknowledgments

Thank you so much to my Patreon Patrons, who support my work on a monthly basis:

Teri Lindley

Allison Mayer  

Fred Oelrich

Carlotta Woolcock

Olivia Rodriguez

Gabrielle Amarosa

Conrad

Chapter One

Today is my birthday, and I’m not entirely sure how old I’m turning. It’s weird, because I know what year I was born, and I know what year it is, but I can’t make the difference between those two years match the number in my head.

Forty. That’s the number in my head. I should be turning forty today.

But I’m not. According to math—which is notably more reliable than my memory or whatever feelings I’m having—I’m turning thirty-nine. The problem with turning thirty-nine today is that I distinctly remember turning thirty-nine last year. I haven’t told anybody that, and I’m not planning to.

My daughter, Emma, sits on my lap, clapping her hands and chanting, Cake! Cake! Cake!

I give her a squeeze, earning a high-pitched squeal, and snuffle her cheek.

My loved ones fill the dining room around us, some sitting at the table with me, some standing, all ushering in the start of my fortieth year with a boisterous round of Happy Birthday. My younger brothers part in the doorway from the kitchen, dodging the purple and green balloons taped to the corners of the door frame as they make way for my mom.

She sways into the dining room, a birthday cake held out like an offering to the gods. The rich chocolate frosting glistens with a sprinkling of golden glitter, and two candles burn with delicate flames atop the cake: a three and a nine. Both waxy numerals are about as tall as my thumb and decorated with multicolored polka dots. Thirty-nine. Not forty.

My mom sets the cake down on a table that has seen countless birthdays, and looks it, with enough dents and scratches to warrant being dropped through a wood chipper rather than dropped off at the Salvation Army.

The birthday song comes to a close, and my friends and family chant, Make a wish! Make a wish! Make a wish!

I suck in a deep breath, hug Emma close as I crane my neck to reach her head, and silently wish for my memory to get its shit together. And then I blow, careful to keep the puff of air short and sweet. Only a toddler likes spittle on their cake, and I’m not planning on handing the whole thing over to Emma.

My loved ones cheer as the tiny flames sputter out, and Emma strikes. She manages to dig four fingers into the side of the cake before I can catch her wrist.

Hey! I pull her hand away, but the damage has been done. Four lines have been clawed into the thick layer of frosting, the mark of my little monster.

Emma stuffs her fingers into her mouth, smearing chocolate frosting from the bottom of her nose to the tip of her chin. Mmmmm… Yummy!

A laugh cracks my stern expression, and I shake my head. All right, munchkin, let’s get you strapped in, I say as