MONSTERS AMONG US by Margaret Afseth Amazon/kindle Edition Copyright 2015 by Margaret Afseth Creative Commons License. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be reproduced, copied or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes, as it is the copyrighted property of the author. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy here, where they can also discover other works by same author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. ISBN:978-0-9921638-5-3 Publisher's note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and similarity to people living or dead purely coincidental. This book is dedicated to my sister Ann, who passed away unexpectedly while I was preparing this book for publication. She died a lost soul, silent and alone, found too late, because her situation was poorly monitored. Her leaving was way too soon. TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Epilogue: About the Author FIRE AND ICE PROLOGUE: A new life was ahead. The wedding and consummation were still pleasant thoughts in the background, but now the future was beginning in earnest for Gemma and Sam. The small crumbling house, with the overgrown, treed-in back yard, was on special at the real-estate office, not even up on the board, yet. The realtor only mentioned it, when they turned away at the high prices, declaring them all out of their price range. "A bargain," the man declared. "The owner wants to unload one of his rental properties; he is getting old, and has too much to handle. He will practically give it away. "How much can you afford?" They should have been suspicious right there, but when they saw it, Gemma immediately called it her dream home. Sam said; "I can landscape the yard; redo the carpets." With a little paint, and decorative edging, Gemma could envision the end result. How can it go wrong at twenty thousand, with housing prices so beyond our reach? And small town life might be different, but it's do able. **** Gemma was re-hanging the drapes in the living room; Sam had gone to see what takeout he could get at the hotel diner. Someone had told them, they made excellent pizza. She thought she heard the back door open, but it was way too soon for Sam to be back. Believing she was mistaken, she ignored it, and lifted her foot, to step up on the small stool. **** He entered the house like a spirit, unseen, because her back was turned. When the couple had first moved into the tiny village, the woman had come to their attention as a prospect. The pair had already spent considerable in the businesses about town; on the flooring and carpets; paint and new windows. He could see, they were still renovating. He had waited impatiently for the woman to be left alone. Now is the perfect time! Cloaked and invisible to the naked eye, he still crept toward her cautiously. With the heavy rod in her hand, she would not have seen him, anyway. The ungainly thing in her arms, made it impossible for her to see beneath her feet, and she miss-stepped, stumbling over the short first step up to the stool. He pushed her; one hard shove from behind, and she went sprawling, face first into the wall. She never realized, she lost consciousness; only seconds spanned the time between the push and the waking; but that minute of timeframe, changed her life, forever. Rolling her quickly to her back, without mercy, he drove in the implant, up the nose cavity, shooting home the nanobot that would tag her for life. She is ours now! He raised her from the floor, switched her position, so she appeared to be coming off the wall, just as she was regaining her senses, and let go of her. Then her attacker quickly fled the scene. **** Gemma sat on the floor stunned, blood dripping on the new laundered drapes. What just happened? I could swear someone shoved me hard from behind. But she was just as alone, as she had been when Sam left. I guess, I tripped, and just hit my nose against the wall. Feels like it's broken. We can't afford a medical bill...I'll just pack it until it heals. **** Sam's money had run out. But he'd promised Gemma to create not only the fairytale cottage, but to build a beautiful garden to go with it. And they had succeeded, searching the many nearby garden centers, from here to the city, for plants, and flower varieties; ornaments, ponds, and fountains, that would make it spectacular. However...the cost had added up, and now, there was nothing left to finish his driveway. He had heard tell, that at the town dump, you could have what was disposed of for free, and someone had also informed him, the municipality was resurfacing the nearby highway, and dumping the unneeded crushed rock in their landfill. Sam was quick to ask if he might have that discarded gravel. They were overjoyed to give it to him, as it took up too much space, and would eventually need to be dealt with; all he had to do was haul it away. The next day, Sam was just outside of town, shoveling a load of gravel into his dilapidated pickup box. What a godsend! It would cost me a fortune, if I had to pay for
