Novels by Stanley

Outside, Franklin lifted his head and listened. Everything must have been going to plan in the warehouse, it was always a good sign when there had been no shots. But another sound caught his attention. Franklin knew what the sound was, an approaching motorbike. If the whole gang arrived, they would be totally outnumbered. However, they wouldn’t know that there were police there until they got into the warehouse. There was still no sign outside that there was anything out of the ordinary. It crossed Franklin ’s mind, that if he shut the gate, he would not only stop anyone from leaving, but he would also keep any backup out of the warehouse yard as well. But what the hell, they might as well catch all the rats in their trap. He clicked the radio and let Mark know there was at least one more bike coming their way. As he pulled back into the shadows, Franklin saw a bike move slowly through the gate and pull up in front of the warehouse and then just sit there with his bike idling. Fran

He nodded, humbled by her reaction.She took his hand and led him inside. But she didn’t stop in the kitchen or the lounge. She kept walking straight down the hall into the bedroom. Franklin ’s heart thumped in his chest. She turned to face him, and he started to apologise for not being there for her when she put her finger across his mouth. ‘Shut up.’ She pulled him closer and stood on tiptoe to reach his lips. He lowered his head and allowed the feelings to swamp him. And suddenly, he took control. He turned and backed her against the wardrobe door and kissed her the way he’d dreamed of. And she responded exactly how she had in his dreams, but the feeling that surged through his blood was more intense than in the dream. It was pure bubbling champagne in his veins.Later whenever he thought of that moment, he never could figure out how they made it to the bed, but he sure remembered every touch, the taste of her and every movement they made together. It was simply perfect.Lying ther

Mark heard the air hiss from Franklin as he called a warning to Tommie to drop the bat. The boy’s sobbing subsided as he realised help was at hand and he scrabbled away from Tommie’s vicinity. Sobbing turned to a soft hiccupping, and they all looked at Tommie, waiting. No one moved. One person prayed for Tommie to try something, there were now four guns aimed at him. Tommie slowly lowered the bat.‘Toss it away from you, towards the back wall.’ Mark’s voice was soft and dangerous, and Franklin wondered if he too would like to take Tommie down.The bat was tossed and before they could say anything else, he dropped to his knees, putting his hands behind his head. He knew the drill.Two of them moved forward, still cautious while two remained with their guns trained on him. He was handcuffed before Franklin made a move towards Bubba. Tears were streaming down his face, leaving tracks in dirt. ‘I think he’s broken me bloody knee.’ His bottom lip wobbled, and Franklin put one arm aroun

Johnnie leaned over and put it on pause. ‘Yea,’ corrected Johnnie, ‘except for if you’re recording this and you want to get as much detail in as possible.’ He started it again.‘Okay, keep your hair on. Don’t let your shiny new Gold Wing bike go to your head.’ There were chuckles in the background.Franklin had snapped to attention. ‘Play that again.’ They listened to it again and Franklin sat back in his chair. ‘My god, if we can tie him into that bike, we’ve got him.’‘Really? The guy who’s at the back of all this?’Franklin nodded. ‘Where did you say you got this again?’Johnnie lifted one eyebrow. ‘Apparently, I found it on my doorstep tomorrow morning.’Franklin nodded. ‘Cautious aren’t they.’‘Wouldn’t you be? Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll head home to get some beauty sleep.’ Johnnie finished the last of his drink. ‘Don’t say it, I need more than a sleep to fix that.’Franklin walked him to the door. ‘Thanks man, this could be the best link we have so far.

‘Yes, I met her in the coffee shop.’‘Her maiden name was Arbruzzio.’Franklin stared at him. ’She’s his aunt? Arbruzzio’s?” He breathed out. ‘She told me Arbruzzio had helped her. I got the impression that she owed him.’‘You got sucked in, man. She must be good.’Franklin shook his head. ‘Unbelievable, I totally believed her. So is she a part of everything too?’ Franklin felt his world shift. He had hoped that she might look out for the boys but there was a strong possibility that she was in it with Tommie and Arbruzzio up to her neck. ‘Damn it, women aren’t supposed to take advantage of young boys. Call me old fashioned, but it’s just not right.’ He took a minute to take it in, then continued. ‘So, what about the finances? Anything shonky?’‘Other than it seems that the place has an unusually high turnover for a coffee shop that size, nothing really.’‘You think they’re laundering money?’‘Looks like it but the tax office did an audit on them and they were able to explain the tu

‘You deserve that. You did great, Babe. I’m proud of you.’ And he raised his bottle, clinked it against her wine glass and took a swig.She took a tentative sip. ‘Bit early for this, isn’t it?’‘Nah, let’s live dangerously.’ Johnnie looked down, swallowed then looked at her again. ‘I’m sorry Babe. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea…’‘Johnnie, it’s past. Finished. Don’t get upset about it. I’m sorry you had to hear that but I felt he was getting sympathy and that was the only way I could think of that would change the mediator’s point of view.’Johnnie grinned. ‘Did you see the look on his lawyer’s face?’ He took another swig. ‘Just as well Franklin wasn’t there, he would’ve wanted to kill him. I mean I did too, but I’m glad Franklin wasn’t here.’‘Don’t forget, Franklin investigated the stalking at that time and he interviewed David. He was the one who warned me not to meet him for a while and then only in public. He knows what David had become.’‘Are you going to ring him and t

“Alright,” Rognvald said, “that was a good walk.” He pulled Lilly towards his chambers, she wanted to resist but she was ready for him, her body waited excitedly.Oren walked over to the wailing wife of Hastiin, he knelt down and put his fingers in the cooling blood on the ground, he never looked at the woman. Her wails fell on his deaf ears, as well as the rest of the caravan’s, after the commotion was over the people simply went about their business. Oren’s fingers felt the stickiness of the cooling blood, he rubbed them together feeling its viscosity. The urge to taste the man’s blood was too strong for Oren to resist, it tasted of iron and a touch of salt, he swirled the taste around his tongue to reach every taste bud. He didn’t put his whole finger into his mouth, just the tips touched his tongue, his eyes lit with some knowledge he didn’t understand. It gave him ideas, thoughts on how to do what he was born to do, rule. He thought about how to kill his father, for he knew that

Thewolf from the trees saw the one it wanted, it ran as fast as he could, but a two-leg gave his stealth away. He did not stop, he had to kill now, there would be no other opportunity. When the woman’s words registered in everyone else’s mind, they turned to see the wolf coming for them, they had all heard of the animal attacks but they had never been a part of one. Lilly and Claudia froze, Oren waited to see who would get eaten, Oscar and Hastiin looked for an out. The wolf leapt up and into the air, the man he landed on was bitten cleanly in the throat, the sound of his wind pipe being torn out was sickening. The wolf had torn out the wrong throat, Hastiin lay bleeding from a throat the was not whole anymore, a gasping whistling sound came from his opened neck wound, the man’s hands felt the deadly damage. The wolf looked quickly around, there was the one he needed to kill, the wolf moved so fast. Rognvald’s smile never once faded, the wolf charged at him, he stood, waiting.The wolf

“Thank you mother.” Said Talia.“Thank you as well,” Kaya’s eye’s pleaded for something, some miracle to save her friend. “Leave him here with me,” Sooleeaway said, she held an open palm towards Bram, “Talia will stay and help with his care. Let me look at you child.” But the healer paused before inspecting Kaya.Kaya did not flinch when Sooleeaway reached towards her face, she stood and respected the older woman, even after she was referred to as a child. Kaya’s younger self would have tried to correct the older woman, there by reaffirming her status as a child, on this day she merely stood and waited for the healer to look her over.“Pardon me,” said Sooleeaway, “you are grown now, Kaya Tasso Flistedt. You have changed, you are a child no more.” The healer spoke no more.Sooleeaway inspected Kaya, she found cuts healed, bruises, blisters, and a nearly mended heart. The heart was not spoken of, but her physical injuries were treated. Kaya left Talia with Bram, there was nothing for

“We have to get him to the bend in the river.” Talia told Kaya.“Can he travel?”“He will have to, we need to settle before the winter and Bram needs to heal, the best thing for all of us is to get to the bend.”Kaya knew Talia was right, she felt the urge to settle for winter the same as Talia did, Bram was a concern and she had no idea if he would make it. He remained unconscious fighting for his life.“I feel it to,” said Kaya, “we should go this morning, will you let everyone know that we are leaving?”“Of course.”“I’ll stay with Bram until you get back, then I’ll harness old Percy and we can get going before noon.”When Talia left Bram’s tent, Kaya looked at her friend, the burly man was lying on a buffalo skin blanket, sleeping fitfully. She watched his breathing, it was still labored and shallow, Talia said the venom attacked the victims muscles, making it hard to move or breathe. Kaya didn’t want to remember Bram as he was now, she wanted to remember him like he was in Ondu,

The force like no other was the will of the Land, it used the storm to discourage the travelers from continuing any further, the Land was exasperated by the nerve of these humans. The storm surged over the long butte, it tried to retain the water like the force instructed, but it began to rain while crossing the long butte. The water washed away all of the small animals on the ground, the animals in the trees did not fare much better, some fell and were also washed away. Then the storm saw its target, it was aimed for the humans on the ground, the Land did not like these humans, they were too far from home. The purple cloud roared with thunder and rained heavily on its course towards the humans. Everyone in the caravan raced to find the best shelter they could, they scrambled into the trees because there was nowhere else to go. The Land offered them no shelter, nothing strong and stable, some people sat under there carts, some went into the trees, others found a nook they could climb

Kaya ran after the girl, she was faster than Kaya and as she watched, Lisbet sped away towards the edge of the desert. Who was bit, she thought, who was bit that would make Talia want me? That thought led her mind to the worst possible scenarios. Was it Rollins? Or Erek? The last thought chilled her, what if it was Arun? Kaya ran as fast as she could after Lisbet. As she ran thunder echoed across the plateau, she turned her head towards the long butte, what she saw made her glad she was not in the north with the caravan. A humongous purple cloud rolled over the buttes flat top, it drug rain with it, Kaya could see the sheets of water pouring down as the titanic cloud crested the edge of the butte. So much water, she thought as she ran towards death.“Talia,” Kaya was out of breath by the time she reached the healer. Two men were carrying a third on a hastily crafted stretcher, “who was bitten?”No sooner than those words left her mouth she saw who it was, her hand went to her mouth.“

A young woman, not much older than I was, was leading the knights in a finely crafted white silk dress.She was tall, had raven hair, and her skin was pale.I knew she was in charge because of her long, confident strides.Despite the fact that she led my friend and his mother to unknown terrors, I resented myself for being swept up in her beauty.I looked around to see if any of the residents of the town would intervene.No responses were received.Everybody forged ahead with their exercises imagining that nothing was going on.They went so far as to avoid looking at the hotel where the woman and her nights were now congregating.They were insecure.Why then?What had transpired in my community?The knights immediately began pounding their metal-shod fists against their chest plates when the woman made a gesture.It was a warning.The group gathered in front of the inn, consisting of both adults and children.I heard knights' chests clanging like a death knell all over the town, and soon people

I carried only my father's knife and bow, a water canteen, and a small pouch of dried food in the cloth pack I carried on my back.I needed as much speed as I could get because anything else would have slowed me down.I had a maximum of two days to find a cure.I had to return to camp by the third day.Evan would pass away on that day.When I emerged onto the plain through the last of the trees, the sky was still dark, but sunrise was not far off.I could have seen Woodford even from the tree line if it had been light out.A short walk away was a large town that was practically a city.It was also my first and probably only stop because it was the only place where people lived for several days.Between Aurumburg, the capital of the Melior kingdom, and the shores to the east, the exotic southern kingdoms, Woodford was located next to the great Eldin River.Before the plague, the town typically saw at least one trade caravan pass through it every week.I could only hope that the plague would hav

Evan went on to say, "We were never like them."Because of Mom's lessons, we weren't even able to talk like them.After their deaths, we grew up even faster.Especially you.You felt responsible for both their and my deaths.She looked at me with compassion.Because there is nothing you can do, I did not tell you.Alex, I know you.I realize that no Alexer what I say you'll wind up assuming a sense of ownership with my demise, very much as you did when Mother and Father passed on.I simply desired for you to be spared some of the agony.It was significantly more clear now that Evan was major areas of strength for the.She was correct.That was clear enough from the nightmares I had.I already held myself responsible for the events.I couldn't help but think that none of this would have happened if Evan hadn't gone foraging so far from camp.She was also dying at this point.What I would dream about in a few days was all I could imagine.I shuddered in terrible anticipation of the concept."What exact

As I leaned closer, I compared my bare wrist to hers.My world collapsed around me as soon as I did.I couldn't think straight.I couldn't believe that things had come to this after all these years.The distinctive green was visible to me even in the dim light.She owned it.The plague abruptly turned in the direction of the farm just seconds before the flame-encased object was to hit.It's coming, warned Alex.His father increased his speed, but it was in vain.There was no way to escape it.The object's heat burned their skin as they were forced into a crouch as it flew inches above them.Then it was finished in the same short amount of time as it began.The object changed its course once more and flew straight up until it was far above the clouds and out of sight.They both stood looking up with a mix of fear and amazement as they let Alex down.Which one was it?Alex inquired.As if on cue, the sky burst into light as hundreds of objects entered the atmosphere, each engulfed in flames and lea

However, we didn't really need to talk.As perfectly as two people could know each other.Speaking to break the silence was more of a formality."Did anything get killed?"She inquired.I gave a head shake.However, while I was hunting, I discovered some new tracks.As long as you feel better, I'll pick up the trail tomorrow.She didn't respond to say she would be fine, which surprised me a little, but I assumed it was because she was so tired.I can't even tell you what animal I saw today.A "kangur?"Shaking my head, ILarge, shy Kangurs had thick brown or black fur, were massive, and could walk on two or four feet."Then what was it?""Do you recall what Mom told us about Bambi?"Did you see Bambi?The rest of our walk was filled with questions about the deer and speculation about what else our mother had told us that might be true. Her eyes were filled with wonder.Did penguins exist?Did firearms ever exist?It took us a long time to return to camp;Evan did not appear to be getting better.I

A blinding flash and ear-splitting bang from high above interrupted the gentle rays of the crimson sunrise.As the flame-engulfed object fell from the heavens, Alex turned his head away from the farm.He leapt as his father's powerful hands grabbed him from behind, held him close, and carried him across the green field in stunned silence."Dad, what's going on?"Alex inquired.He was looking intently at the sphere of flame that was about to explode."Not much good."I took aim after cautiously emerging from behind the foliage and pulling back on my father's bow.When I thought about bringing Bambi back to my sister, I gave myself the tiniest grin because, at least from the tan fur to the strange, forking horns, it resembled the animal in my mother's stories.That was all I thought it had been, a story, up until this point.Yet, fantasy or not, the monster would end up being a truly necessary wellspring of food.I was warmed by the sun beating down on my back and I had a perfect view of my t