Inn Between Worlds: Volume 1 Read online

  Upon waking, Jessica and I prepared to depart the Inn. “You don’t think we’ll have any problem leaving, do you?” she asked.

  “No,” I replied. “I think we’ll walk out those doors and find our car right where we found it.”

  In the shower, as Jessica applied a soaped-up loofah to my back, thoroughly scrubbing my shoulders and the space between, she said, “You were talking in your sleep.”

  “Was I?”

  “Who’s Lindsay?”

  The memory of her face was clear, but outside the realm of dreams, I’d never seen her before. Her exotic purple eyes, however, were astonishing and instantly recognizable. “I don’t know. She’s with Sullivan though. Of that much, I’m sure.”

  “Sullivan? I thought Black 9 took him.”

  “They did. I believe he’s escaped.” I hesitated on my next point. “I saw something else though.”

  “What?”

  “Me.”

  “You?”

  “Yes, me.”

  I turned, and she painted a swath of suds against my chest. “What do you mean, you?”

  “I was with Sullivan.”

  “But you’re not with Sullivan.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re here, with me.” She reached back, caught some of the cascading water from the showerhead in her hand, and flung it across my chest.

  “I know. I can’t make sense of it either.”

  She smirked. “Who says you make any sense?”

  “I’d like to think I at least make a modicum of sense.”

  She leaned against me, her body tight against mine. “You’d like to think.”

  “I do like to think.”

  “What else do you like to do?”

  “Plenty.”

  I kissed her, and then we forgot about actually showering for a bit.

  ten

  Checkout procedures at the Inn were rather lax. CindyLou thanked us again for what we had done the night before as we handed over our key. “I do hope you’ll visit us again,” she said as we turned to leave.

  The pixie-ish girl from the brothel was standing by the doors, although now she was fully dressed in maître d’ attire. She smiled as we approached.

  “You know,” I said, “I never caught your name last night.”

  She smirked. “I didn’t think you needed it.”

  “We’d still like to know,” Jessica piped up.

  “Savannah,” she replied. “Now that you know my name, have a pleasant journey. I must be going. I believe Mr. Wallace is awaiting me in the restaurant.”

  I didn’t know who Mr. Wallace was, but I understood her meaning all too clear: duty calls.

  As she walked away, I turned and surveyed the lobby once more. I sensed what I saw wasn’t the Inn as it truly was, that beneath the décor I surveyed was the true face of the Inn. This place, I surmised, was a chameleon. Not quite an illusion, perhaps, but close to it.

  “You ready?” Jessica asked.

  “Yeah, I think so,” I said, and we stepped out into sunlight.

  Our car was exactly where we’d left it, but the parking lot was in disrepair whereas it hadn’t been the night before. When we turned back to look at the Inn, we discovered an empty lot overgrown with weeds.

  Anyone else might have been surprised, maybe even frightened, but not us. We’d seen far worse.

  Jessica and I loaded our belongings into the car.

  “I’ll drive,” she said as we were about to close the trunk.

  “No, no, I’ll drive,” I countered.

  She produced a coin. “I’ll flip you for it.”

  I nodded.

  “Call it,” she said, and flipped the coin.

  “Tails,” I called at the coin’s apex.

  The coin turned over in the air, somersaulting from heads to tails, tails to heads, sunlight glinting off its surface. Jessica snatched it out of the air, slammed it onto the back of her hand, and revealed the driver.

  Acknowledgements

  -and-

  About the Authors

  Thomas A Farmer

  About the Author

  https://www.facebook.com/tafarmerauthor/

  https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-A-Farmer/e/B01A436HFO/

  Born to geeky parents and raised on a diet of Star Trek and Babylon 5, Thomas started writing at an early age, managing to keep the hobby alive long enough to make something of it. He’s quite glad some of those early drafts and stories no longer exist, though his mother, as mothers do, claims she has copies of them.

  Writing occupied much of his spare time throughout school and the years after, eventually culminating in an ostensible magnum opus he calls the “Chronicles of St. Michael.” To this date, those stories still reek of many “early writer” problems, but he promises they will, one day, see the light of publication.

  His first novel, “The Week the World Ended” came to him when a dream about monsters that stole water meshed with the spoken ending of Alice Cooper’s “Devil’s Food.” Another of his upcoming novels, “Scourge of Gods,” came to him in a fever dream while recovering from food poisoning. “It’s not the best way to get ideas,” he says.

  When his hands aren’t full with books, reading or writing, he fills them with swords. Four nights a week, as of this publication anyway, he teaches historic fencing, also called HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) as one of the head coaches of the Knoxville Academy of the Blade.

  You can find out more about HEMA at https://www.hemaalliance.com/

  He lives with his wife, Stephanie, their three cats, lizard, and snake.

  Acknowledgements

  He’d like to dedicate the anthology itself to his father, John Farmer, who originally gave him the idea, and continue to pester him about it until he did something with it. He would also like to thank Lisa Marie Orta, who provided immense help during the editing process.

  Upcoming Works

  “The Stars Have Eyes” – Late 2017/early 2018. What happens when you explore too far?

  “Scourge of Gods” – 2018. The consequences of hubris are inescapable.

  And, of course, “Inn Between Worlds: Volume 2” – 2018, with luck.

  Amie Gibbons

  About the Author

  Amie was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. She started making up stories before she could read and would act them out with her dolls and stuffed animals. She started actually writing them down in college, just decided to do it one day and couldn't stop.

  She took an unplanned hiatus from writing when she went to Vanderbilt Law School and all of her brain power got consumed by cases, statutes, exams, and partying like only grad students in Nashville can. She graduated and picked her writing back up as soon as her brain limped back in after the bar exam.

  She loves urban fantasy and is obsessed with the theory of alternate realities. Whether or not she travels to them in the flesh or just in her mind is up for debate.

  She spends her days living the law life and her nights writing when she's not hitting downtown Nashville to check out live music or inflict her singing on the crowds at karaoke bars. She lives with a cat trapped in a man's body, who doesn't complain about being trapped since it allows him the use of opposable thumbs to work his camera, and his best friend, a man trapped in a cat's body, who complains about his lack of opposable thumbs daily.

  She has a dozen short stories and four books out, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Amie-Gibbons/e/B01651YIZU. Her most popular series is the SDF paranormal mystery series about spunky psychic Ariana Ryder.

  To hear about new releases, sign up for her mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/bzelVv

  Acknowledgements

  It’s never easy to thank everyone who helped with a book, and I’m sure I’ll inevitably leave people out; it’s not on purpose, I swear.

  First up, of course, thank you to my family, but my parents and siblings in particular. Mom, you taught me to love reading. Dad, you were right, never should’ve tau
ght me how to read, look what happens.

  To my first reader, my twin six years removed. Probably shouldn’t have subjected you to some of those terrible first tries, but look how well it turned out, baby brother.

  And then to all the people who cheered me on during writing, then beta read and edited this book: Sam, my best beta reader. Tiffany, one fantastic editor. And my many wonderful beta readers who helped smooth out the rough spots.

  And, as always, thank you to my kitteh. You never think I’m weird or rude, you bring me chocolate and you calm me down, but know when to let me just spaz out.

  Michael David Anderson

  About the Author

  www.michaeldavidanderson.com

  https://www.facebook.com/authorMichaelDavidAnderson/

  www.twitter.com/shadeofmidnight

  Michael David Anderson is the author of the Teddy Dormer novels, Teddy and Wake, and their companion piece Desynchrony. He possesses degrees in both Psychology and English. He was born in East Tennessee in 1985 and currently resides in Knoxville. When asked what type of novels he writes, he is often given looks of utter distaste and downright horror. “That’s the look I expected you to give me,” he often tells them.

  In addition to writing horror and suspense novels, Anderson is a poet, gamer, and stand-up comic. His dogs, Bandit and Rory, serve as a constant distraction from his writing.

  Acknowledgements

  Tom approached me about the Inn a while back – if memory serves me right, I was still working on my forthcoming novel In the House of Wolves at the time – to gauge my interest in writing a story for the anthology. I remember thinking it was an intriguing concept, but I wasn’t sure what to write initially. I considered the idea of sending Teddy Dormer, the protagonist of my first two novels Teddy and Wake, to the Inn, but I didn’t know how I’d get him there.

  Time passed, and I saw Tom at another event. Once again, the Inn came up. The first draft of In the House of Wolves was complete, and I had a little bit of time on my plate to venture into some side work. I decided if I was going to write a Teddy Dormer story involving the Inn, I wanted it to be canon to the other works, and I wanted to explore some of the more intriguing aspects of the Inn. I also saw it as an opportunity to explore some of the more extraordinary ideas in the mythos I’m creating and pull back the curtain on yet another corner of the multiverse.

  For those of you who haven’t read my novels, I also wanted to write a story that could be easily consumed without having read 800-plus pages of material that had come before. Here, you get a sliver of Teddy’s world, and I’ve hopefully supplied you with any of the relevant pieces you need. For those of you have read the tales, hopefully this whets your appetite until Teddy shows up again… although when that can be, I can’t tell you.

  Not yet.

  Coming Soon:

  “In the House of Wolves” (novel) - 2017

  “The Consequences of Wish Fulfillment” - story collected in Collateral Damage, a Superhero Anthology edited by Steve Beaulieu - 2017

  Short film adaptation of “Inside Out” - 2017

  “Black Tie, White Noose” (poetry book) - 2018