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Hello folks! Thanks for stopping in to check out a little #TeaserTuesday action here. Today you are going to get a thrilling sneak peek into a Thriller I have been working on. I have a couple different projects going all at once. I am editing Reborn to get it ready for publication this summer. I have also started on a prequel for for Reborn that will follow the early life of Riehner and how he became to be High King of Iradell.

I follow a writing prompts subreddit to give me inspiration to write short stories. There was one in particular that interested me a couple years ago. It talked about being in a dream and needing to make a phone call. You do but no one answers. When you wake up you have a missed call an unknown number.

My mind went into so many different directions, so many possibilities. I didn’t have my computer with me at the time, so I started writing the story on my phone using Google Drive. This entire story will be available one day either in short story format or possibly even a novella; however, you get to see a thrilling sneak peek today. I hope you enjoy it.

Sneak Peek of My Thriller WIP

If Only In My Dreams

I race down the street, gasping for breath. I glance behind me to see if he is still chasing me. I feel like I have been running for hours. I don’t even remember why he is chasing me. All I know is I have to get away. If he catches me, I’m dead. 

I think I’ve lost him but I’m too scared to stop running. I can feel my heart thumping against my ribs. I can’t go any further. If I stop running, he will catch me and I will die. If I don’t stop running, I will die of a heart attack. I slow to a jog and take a second to look around. I don’t see him anywhere. Where am I? Nothing looks familiar. I’m in a city, but it’s not my city. Why are all the street lights out? I glance at my watch, and it’s 1:00 A.M. I can’t believe there aren’t any stores open. 

I jog around the corner and I see a light on in the distance, a convenience store, two blocks up. I hear something behind me and I swing around, prepared to defend myself, but nothing is there. I pick up the pace, sprinting toward my only hope at this point, the convenience store. I reach in my pocket to grab my cell phone. I can call my parents once I find out where I am…Why can’t I remember? 

My phone is not in my pocket. I must have dropped it in the scuffle or in the frantic race across the city. I close in on the store and I see a clerk behind the counter. Thank God this place is open. 

I walk up to the clerk and ask to use the phone. He hands me the phone with a raise of his eye brow. “You look like crap, man. You O.K.?”

“I’m good,” I tell him. “I’m real good now. Where are we?”

“Livernois Avenue. Bro, you sure you’re O.K.?”

“The city man, what city is this?”

“This is Detroit! Make your call and get out of my store!”

He keeps glancing to the door and it’s freaking me out. I whip around but no one’s there. I stare back at the cordless phone but I can’t dial the numbers. I can’t remember my parents phone number. What is wrong with me? I think I’m going crazy. How did I get all the way in Detroit? My house is in Chattanooga, TN. Maybe someone drugged me. I pound my fist against the counter.

“Dude, I’m for real, I’m about to call the cops. I’m going to check the stock in this cooler and if you are still here when I get back, you’re going to jail.”

I just shake my head and start tapping the phone against my head. What is the number? Maybe I left my phone at home for some reason. I don’t remember leaving it or dropping it. It’s worth a shot. I know my number. 

The clerk walks toward the back of the store and I begin to dial the numbers. 423-596-3793. The phone rings but no one answers. It goes to voicemail, but I hang up. No need in leaving myself a voicemail. I look down at my watch, 1:10 A.M.

“Hey man! Let’s go ahead and call the cops. Someone’s chasing me and I don’t know how I got here.” The clerk doesn’t answer. I walk to the side of the store where he had been earlier but there is no sign of him. I poke my head in the staff only door and yell out to him but there’s no answer. I run back to the counter to grab the phone to call 911. I pick the phone up and press 9-1, but then I hear a breath in my right ear. I freeze. The next sound is a firing pin striking a cartridge and a loud explosion. 

I suddenly wake up in my bed at home in Chattanooga with the alarm on my cell phone blaring. I turn the alarm off and wipe the sweat from my brow. I try to catch my breath and calm myself. I feel exhausted. That was the most vivid dream I have ever had. I glance back at my phone and I have a missed call. 

I hesitantly open the phone and the missed call is from Detroit, Michigan and was made at 1:10 A.M. My heart begins to pound again. Then the phone rings again and I drop it to the floor. My breath begins to race. I pick the phone back up and see the call has the same area code as the missed call. I don’t want to answer, but I have to know what is going on. 

“Hello.”

“Michael Pendergrass?” the gruff voice asked.

“Who’s asking?”

“This is Detective Rodriguez with the Detroit Police Department. We need to talk.”