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    GoneGodWorld - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #3
    GoneGodWorld - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #3
    GoneGodWorld - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #3
    Ebook89 pages1 hour

    GoneGodWorld - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #3

    By R.E. Vance

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    About this ebook

    Episode Three... 

    What a day! After some strange 'Other' blew up the One Spire Inn and killed his friend, Jean-Luc spent the last few hours trying to figure out what's going on. Lucky for him, he is friends with the angel Penemue and the succubus Astarte—two creatures older than most mountains. Unlucky for him, the insane creature that's causing havoc in his city is the one and only Avatar of Gravity, a being as old as the universe itself... 

    GoneGod damn—a lot can happen in a day... 

    The gods are gone. All of them. 

    Their last message to humanity was: "Thank you for believing in us, but it is not enough. We're leaving. Good luck." At first no one took them seriously. Until, that is, all the denizens of all the heavens and hells started showing up on people's doorsteps. 

    Creatures that were once thought of as myth are now refugees striving to adapt to life on earth. Trouble is, after eons of living forever, they're not very good at being mortal. 

    Caught in the middle is Jean-Luc, a struggling hotelier who (reluctantly) promised to help these 'Others' live in this new GoneGod world. But taking care of his guests, keeping his hotel afloat and dealing with the constant drama of the Others' lives is figuratively killing him. And now that an unusually strange Other is in town, his figurative demise might soon become more literal. 

    Paradise Lot is a new urban fantasy series by R.E. Vance that chronicles the adventures of the humans and 'Others' alike, as they struggle to navigate this strange, new post apocalyptic godless world. 


    The Cast: 
    - The human Jean-Luc; 
    - The angel Penemue; 
    - The gorgon Medusa; 
    - The fairy TinkerBelle; 
    - The archangel Michael; 
    - The succubus Astarte; 
    - The poltergeist Judith; 
    - The shade Bella... 

    and many, many more legendary characters from mythology, folklore and fairy tales. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherR.E. Vance
    Release dateJan 12, 2016
    ISBN9781519974693
    GoneGodWorld - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #3

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      Book preview

      GoneGodWorld - Episode 3 - R.E. Vance

      Prologue

      ––––––––

      There is this girl whom I love very much. I’ve only been back with her for less than a year when the Devil walks through our front door and offers Bella a job. These days, the Devil calls himself the Ambassador, because he has dedicated his life in this new GoneGod world to brokering peace between humans and Others. He’s still too large, too red, too self-assured and too sulfurous-smelling for me—a stinking rose by another name.

      Paradise Lot is doing well, the Ambassador says, but there are still many pockets of the world where the species fight. Even here, there are frequent attacks by Fanatics and by roving gangs of Other-haters. There is still much good to be done.

      The Ambassador’s plan is to travel the world and broker peace deals, acting as a conduit between the species. But he needs a human counterpart. Bella—I need a human who loves Others and whom Others love back, he says, taking her hand in his massive red paws. And yes, before you say anything, He was right. It is about love. Will you help?

      Before she can answer, I scream out, You are the Devil!

      Only by reputation, he smiles, I assure you that when the gods left, I abandoned my wicked ways. After all, the Devil can only exist when there is a god to oppose.

      That night, Bella and I fight over her decision to accept the Ambassador’s offer. It starts the way all of our fights do—electrified silence revved so high that the slightest movement will ignite the room.

      It is a chance, she says. The spark.

      He’s the Devil, I retort.

      "Was the Devil. Was! People change. Others change.

      You did! she yells.

      Now I know she’s wrong. I haven’t changed. I’ve just chosen her over my nature. I am better because she wants me to be better. But make no mistake—no Bella and I’m back in the army, pointing my rifle at anyOther that looks at me funny. I don’t say that to her. I don’t say that because I don’t want to tarnish myself in her eyes.

      Instead, I say, First of all, I’m human. Secondly, I haven’t spent the last several thousand years hell-bent on corrupting the human soul. And thirdly, I’m not the friggin’ Devil! He doesn’t want to help, he wants to control, dominate. Rule. You must see that.

      No, he doesn’t. Her arms are akimbo, a stance I’ve seen many times. She will spend the rest of the argument like that—a statue that no clever retort, no witty reply, no concrete argument will move. As soon as I see her in that position, I know I’ve lost.

      But I don’t care. I’m angry. I may not win this fight, but come hell or high water, I’m going to get my licks in before it’s over. How do you know? I ask.

      Because I do. I have a feeling.

      A feeling? A feeling! Are you honestly telling me that you’ll take it on faith that the Devil has changed?

      Yes! I am. And do you know why? Because I have to! If we don’t believe that we can change, that the Devil can change, then we’re doomed. And I’d rather live in a world where I believe the Devil is good and be wrong, than not give him a chance and be right.

      Bella is resolute. An insurmountable force that cannot be overcome by guns, bombs, philosophy or debate. I know when I’ve lost and give in.

      OK, I say, defeated. But I’m going to be by your side. Always.

      What else can I do?

      ↔

      The Ambassador takes Bella on mission after diplomatic mission. We hardly see each other and I am tired of baking cookies. I protest and as a reward for my complaints, I get a job—I am now Bella’s official bodyguard. I spend my days either training or on guard duty, bored out of my skull. Still ... I am with Bella.

      Helsinki, Tokyo, Geneva, Rio—sometimes I think we spend more time on planes than on the ground. 

      I do my best to be a good husband. An understanding husband. But I want my wife back, and the few evenings we have together are spent fighting over the little things that don’t really matter. By the GoneGods, I am so stupid. We should be spending this time making love, holding each other, cooking, cleaning or the thousand other mundane things that couples do just to be near each other.

      She doesn’t talk about her work, partly because it is top secret, partly because she knows I am jealous. Jealous of how important she is, and how useless I am. I am so stupid.

      One day she comes home so excited that she can barely string her thoughts together. There is a way, she tells me, to make everything right again. We found it. She is buzzing with excitement.

      Found what? I ask.

      My words bring her to reality and she focuses on me for the first time since coming home to the underground Army barracks that is our latest base of operations. It, she says, drawing me close. I can feel her breath on my cheek as she whispers that word, It. Teeth tease my earlobe. Soft lips kiss my cheek. It, she repeats in my ear as she undresses me. It. She takes me on the cold, concrete floor between the gray, galvanized bunk beds.

      It.

      ↔

      My memories fast-forward.

      Lights are flashing as the alarm relentlessly rings throughout the facility. My first thought is of Bella. Make sure she is safe.

      The wall’s warning lights blink crimson red from the light-shield rotating within the heavy-duty, military-grade casing. An engineer announces that the reactor is overheating.

      Damn Eastern European technology, complains another engineer, I told them the reactor was too small to handle the power that dam produces.

      The first one yells that the coolant system is down and he is unable to get it back online. The other curses and tells the first to warn the others. To get above and to run. Then he asks me to help twist the giant metal wheel in order to cut off as much hydro power as possible. That, he says, should slow the whole thing down and therefore give us a chance to escape.

      Escape? I ask. Why would we need to do that?

      Because, he says with an expression far too calm for the sirens and chaos he speaks over, the whole thing is going to blow. Now twist!

      That’s all I need to hear. My hands latch onto the comically large metal wheel. I use every ounce of strength I have in me to get

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