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    Corvis: Book One
    Corvis: Book One
    Corvis: Book One
    Ebook130 pages2 hours

    Corvis: Book One

    By KS Henning

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    About this ebook

    I didn’t know it yet but I’d made a big mistake. I should have gone to ground before nightfall, holed up somewhere. Then again it might not have done any good because I didn’t understand the kinds of things I was up against. No one sane would have imagined that some of the things in existence were anything but fairy tales and scary stories but they were out there, hidden, biding their time, things from the realm of nightmares. Things you don’t want to disturb. But that’s me: rattler of cages and poker of things with a big, sharp stick. Stupid me.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKS Henning
    Release dateOct 29, 2016
    ISBN9781370121380
    Corvis: Book One
    Author

    KS Henning

    KS Henning spent most of elementary school in a state of exhaustion. She was one of those kids that would stay awake most of the night hiding under the covers with a book and a flashlight. Finally, her mother figured out she wasn't seriously ill because when she was begging for new batteries for her flashlight, she appeared well rested.https://kshenning.wordpress.com/The Corvis Series:Corvis: Book OneA Corvis ChristmasAfter Night: Corvis Book Two Coming SoonStand Alones:The Garden & Other Stories

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      Book preview

      Corvis - KS Henning

      Corvis: Book One

      By KS Henning

      Copyright 2016 Karen Sue Henning

      Smashwords Edition

      KS Henning's Author Profile

      Read my Blog for special announcements and coupons.

      This ebook is licensed for you personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Start of Corvis

      About the Author

      A Blurb

      I just finished Corvis by KS Henning. For a first, short novel, Corvis is a good read. The characters are developed enough to keep you interested and the story moved forward without having to reread to figure out what just happened. While not everything was tied up by the end (it is only Book 1), I enjoyed the read. I look forward to Book 2. Finally, points for KS Henning in finding a way to incorporate a local Midwest villain into the story, a nice surprise.

      Dedication

      A person knows who their real friends are during times of trouble. When you go through hard times, face illness, etc. those are the people that stick by you, help you, encourage you. And they do it with class because they never make you feel like a charity case or less than a fully competent human being. Thank you, KBE, for being that person. And for being the person that kept texting me, yelling at me to get back to work on this book--or else.

      He lived in the rich city as alien as a rat in a rich man's house that is fed on scraps thrown away, and hides here and there and is never a part of the real life of the house.

      The Good Earth

      Pearl S. Buck

      Chapter One

      My eyes rolled up in my head and I caught a glimpse of the bare tree branches over me before I closed my eyes. Six. Six crows were cawing over me, silhouetted against the clouds scudding over the full moon. Didn’t six of them mean death? Fitting. I would have laughed if I could have moved air into my lungs. My throat burned. Sparks of light were crackling in my field of vision. This had to end.

      In desperation I brought my knee up as hard as I could.

      How did I get here? Geez, where to start? My adoptive father always told me I’d come to a bad end if I didn’t ‘straighten up and fly right’. What? Yeah, that’s right. I was adopted.

      Chapter Two

      Anyway, I was telling you how I came to being strangled in a deserted old cemetery.

      I was sitting in a coffee shop when she walked in. Jeri. At least that’s what the baristo behind the counter called her. She smiled at him and put on an apron. That smile. I was so into watching her that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was there to do. I also didn’t see the guy that walked in.

      So, Mark. Do you know anything yet? He was in plain clothes but his haircut and demeanor fairly screamed COP!

      I closed my laptop to hide the program I had running. It didn’t matter anyway; my target was packing up to leave, draining the last of his latte. Dickerson sat down across from me and drummed his fingers on the table. God, I hated that. I sat back and crossed my arms across my chest.

      He leaned forward and said in a low voice, not quite a whisper. Come on. You know our deal. You give me information and I look the other way. People are disappearing.

      I picked up my iced coffee and took a sip. I don’t know anything. Dickerson looked disgusted. I set the cup down.

      Dickerson sighed and leaned back. He looked tired. He was like 40 but his hair was graying. And he was one of the few that seemed to care about what happened in the wrong parts of town. People were scared and afraid to go out alone at night, more so than usual. In the last month nine people had simply vanished. Go out to work the night shift and poof. The first couple that disappeared, the cops chalked it up to dead beats running out. Which happens, of course, but some of the missing hadn’t seemed the type. Poor, yes. But they weren’t the criminals and scam artists that fit the stereotype.

      So where were they? It wasn’t just that people weren’t talking to the cops. No one actually knew what had happened. There were no witnesses to any of the disappearances as far as I could tell. And not a thing to indicate they were still alive. It was the not knowing that had everyone so freaked out.

      Me? No one I knew had disappeared and maybe I was being stupid, but I wasn’t exactly afraid for myself. I’d always been able to take care of business if you know what I mean.

      Well? Dickerson had been talking to me and I’d totally zoned.

      I told you already. I don’t know anything. I put out my hands, palms up to emphasize how empty of information I was.

      I asked if the coffee here was any good. He stood up and walked up to the counter.

      I took my chance and shoved the computer into my backpack, threw a couple bucks on the table and walked calmly out the door before he came back or noticed me gone. He was too involved with flirting with Jeri to see me leave. Fat chance, old man. I didn’t see and nearly collided with someone just outside the door. He didn’t look startled but narrowed his eyes at me as I brushed past.

      I know, I know. I just blew off a cop. But you know what? I had something I had to get done before dark, something important, someone to protect.

      *

      The wipers were doing more to smear the rain around than cleaning the windshield so I turned them off. The clouds had moved in fast and thunder rumbled in the distance as I sat in the car waiting for Carrie. I hoped the sudden deluge would make it easier to do what she had to. I checked my phone for the time; she hadn’t been gone but a few minutes.

      Maybe I was freaking myself out, but that guy I ran into at the coffee shop seemed to pop out of nowhere; but that was impossible. Or maybe I was distracted getting away from Dickerson and by the task I had to perform so I hadn’t noticed him before the collision. Whatever. I thought I heard something high and screechy just as the sky outside was getting very dark, very fast. And then lightened up just as fast. I tried to look out the fogged up windows to what was going on in the sky because even in late summer you could get a tornado with these sudden squalls. I jumped when the passenger door opened and a pale girl of about 16 darted in, slamming the door after her. Her soaked clothes clung to her, her short blond hair clung to her face and she clutched a shopping bag to her chest. She looked terrified.

      You alright?

      Carrie didn’t say anything, staring at me with wide, almost popping eyes. She slowly nodded her head, yes.

      I felt my stomach jump into my throat and started the car. He’s not out there is he? I pulled into the street without looking as I fumbled for the wiper control. Fortunately, I didn’t hit anyone.

      Chillax, Mark. The sun’s still up.

      She was looking a bit calmer.

      You’re not thinking of backing out now, are you? ‘Cause I’ve gone to a lot of trouble and you know Viktor won’t be nice about taking you back. He probably already knows you’re gone.

      Won’t be nice didn’t begin to describe this freak. He only came out after dark and looked like he could drop dead any moment, though he had been looking a bit healthier of late. And don’t look in his eyes. Thinking about him I gave an involuntary shudder in the warm, steamy car. Does it make me a horrible person to think that the world would be a better place without certain people in it? I couldn’t say anything to Dickerson until Carrie was in the clear.

      I don’t want to go home and I don’t want to talk about it. Carrie turned her head to look out the passenger-side window.

      I wasn’t sure but I thought she was crying softly. I really sucked at this kind of thing. I mean if I touch her will she take it all wrong? But if I don’t will she get more upset? She solved my dilemma when she wiped her eyes and turned back to look forward.

      I found a shelter you can go to. No one will make you go where you don’t want to go. I picked up the envelope from the center console and handed it to her. Just memorize your new birthday and they won’t know you’re under age.

      She opened the envelope and looked over her new birth certificate and I.D. If she could hold out for 18 months, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Her new haircut and dye job, new clothes; hopefully no one would recognize her from a milk carton or something. I honestly didn’t want to know what she was running from. Viktor was bad enough. About an hour before sunset, I dropped Carrie at the train station with enough money to get halfway across the country with a ticket and food and the name of the woman from the shelter that was going to pick her up on the other end.

      Now I had to stay out of Viktor’s way for a while. I planned on tipping off Dickerson in a few days but until then I wanted to avoid him too. He might be an uptight cop but he knew how to read people and trying to delay telling him would only make him press harder.

      I ordered a draft beer at a dive bar I’d never been to before and sat in a back, corner booth. Pulling the ashtray toward me, I pulled out the cloned credit card I’d used to finance Carrie’s escape and lit it with my lighter, dropping it into the cheap glass as it melted and smoked. The TV over the bar was turned to the

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