Excerpt #5 - San Jose's Darlings

     The Imp surges to the forefront, doing what he does best: transforming pleasant experiences into ugly encounters. My stomach churns, and the sweet taste of amiable companionship turns to rot in my mouth.

Excerpt #4 - San Jose's Darlings

“Then what is this solution of yours?”

Bubblehump places his elbows on the table. “Look at me, Robert.”

My head lifts, and my eyes dance around his face and the room.

“Look at me!”

Those unnerving, dark eyes are wreathed in shadow. Meeting them takes all the willpower I have. When I manage it at last, his eyes bore into me, shredding every layer of my being until they reach my core.

“Are you ready to go down this road?” Bubblehump asks. “Are you ready to believe that which will dash your preconceptions of reality? Once I begin, I won’t have you dashing off the moment you get scared. Can you agree to this?"

Excerpt #3 - San Jose's Darlings

I reach into my pocket and dig out the flash drive. I hold up the device and gaze at it, turning it under twilight’s dying light.

Should I show her? What it contains could be dangerous for her health. The information could destabilize her when she’s been making such great progress.

“What’s that for?” she asks.

She has a right to the truth. The contents of this flash drive are going to destroy both of us.

San Jose's Darlings Excerpt #2

     As a means of distraction, I picture myself kneeling at the banks of a stream running through a lush forest. I gaze at the water as a leaf flows past. Something underneath the water (or is it a reflection of sunlight?) grabs my attention as another leaf bobs across my line of sight and disappears into the distance. My troubled thoughts pass through me and float downstream, becoming far removed from me before disappearing altogether. This is what it means to let go. My heart rate slows, and muscles unclench. The radiance in the water isn’t from the sun: something lies just underneath the surface, something that grates against every nerve throughout my body and mind. A warmth, matching the luminescence I see, blossoms inside my chest. I reach towards the water. Before my fingertips can graze the surface, I am enveloped by darkness.

Super Short Excerpt -- San Jose's Darlings

Ordinary people think they know fear. What they do know is only a small trickle of the flood it can be.