Fostering Faust

by Randi Darren

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Book listing

  Chp.1

  Chp.2

  Chp.3

  Chp.4

  Chp.5

  Chp.6

  Chp.7

  Chp.8

  Chp.9

  Chp.10

  Chp.11

  Chp.12

  Chp.13

  Chp.14

  Chp.15

  Chp.16

  Chp.17

  Chp.18

  Chp.19

  Chp.20

  Chp.21

  Chp.22

  Chp.23

  Chp.24

  Chp.25

  Chp.26

  Chp.27

  Chp.28

  Chp.29

  Chp.30

  Chp.31

  Chp.32

  Chp.33

  Chp.34

  Chp.35

  Chp.36

  Epilogue

  Authors Note

  Fostering Faust

  By Randi Darren

  Copyright © 2018 Randi Darren

  Cover design © 2018 Randi Darren

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews - without written permission from its publisher.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2018 Randi Darren

  All rights reserved.

  Dedicated:

  To my wife, Kristin, who encouraged me in all things.

  To my son, Harrison, who now lets me sleep, but won’t ever let me leave my chair now.

  To my family, who always told me I could write a book if I sat down and tried. I’ve now written quite a few.

  Special Thanks to:

  Miss N.

  Eric Leaf

  Michael Haglund

  Caleb Shortcliffe

  Thanks to my Beta Readers (in no order):

  Kevin Mckinney

  Piotr Tokarski

  Chris Chan

  Richard Garrett

  Joshua Russell

  Kyle Smith

  Robert Hammack

  I appreciate you reading through an unedited nightmare

  Other books by Randi Darren-

  Wild Wastes Trilogy:

  Wild Wastes

  Wild Wastes: Eastern Expansion

  Wild Wastes: Southern Storm (To be released 2018)

  Books by William D. Arand-

  The Selfless Hero Trilogy:

  Otherlife Dreams

  Otherlife Nightmares

  Otherlife Awakenings

  Ominibus Edition(All Three)

  Super Sales on Super Heroes Trilogy:

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 1

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 2

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 3 (To be released 2018)

  Dungeon Deposed Trilogy:

  Dungeon Deposed

  Dungeon Deposed 2 (To be released)

  Dungeon Deposed 3 (To be released)

  Chapter 1

  Alexander looked around the room and found that everything was… gray.

  The walls, the chairs, the table, the wooden roof, the stone floor.

  Additionally, everything had a misty quality to it. Nothing felt tangible or real.

  Hollow, even.

  Holding up a hand in front of himself, he stared into it.

  Lifting his other hand, he touched them to each other.

  Or tried to, at least. His fingers slipped through his own flesh and came out the other side.

  “Surprise, you’re dead,” said a female voice.

  Alex spun around and tried to pin down where the voice was coming from.

  “I’m not sure you’ll be able to find me by looking like that. I’m not dead, or even there,” said the voice.

  “Maybe you should join me then. Talking to thin air isn’t helping me,” Alex said.

  “What if I already have?” asked the voice, much louder and from the center of the room.

  Turning to face the speaker, Alex found himself staring at not much more than a darkened shadow.

  “Do forgive me, but I think it’s best if I keep myself in a… simpler form. It’s not like you’ll die of shock or anything, but you mortals do tend to have problems when I show up in my normal form. You have a tendency to not believe what I say,” said the gloomy, taunting figure.

  Frowning, Alex stared hard at it.

  “You said I was dead.”

  “I did indeed.”

  “Yes. It isn’t every day you can scratch the inside of your own hand,” Alex said, demonstrating his fingers going through his other hand. “So… how did I die?”

  “Heart attack. Middle of the night. You pissed yourself, crapped your pants, and your maid found you two days later. Several lovely photos got out and were plastered all over the internet.

  “No kids, no wife, no friends. You were buried the next day and no one who cared attended.”

  “Grand,” Alex said, nonplussed. He’d always assumed that’d be his end. Didn’t make a bit of difference to him.

  Moving to the table, he pulled out one of the chairs and tried to press his hand against the seat.

  It felt solid.

  “Please, do have a seat. This conversation would be much easier if I didn’t have to raise my voice. Quicker too. And time is important right now. I’m not sure how long my husband will be distracted, and I’d love to strike a bargain before he returns,” said the dark wraith.

  “Your husband? A bargain?” Alex asked, sitting down in the chair.

  “Indeed. I’m a married woman with a loving husband. I’d happily pull your guts out and use them to jump rope if he asked me to. I’d pull your liver out and devour it if that was what he wished,” the wraith said, her voice breaking and going up an octave, then down two.

  Got it. Crazy.

  Clearing her throat, she patted the table in front of her. “But yes, a bargain. You’re dead, and on your way to the deepest, darkest, nastiest corner of your universe's hell.”

  “What?” Alex asked, alarmed. “Why? I never did anything seriously wrong. Never hurt a single person in my life.”

  “You’re right. You didn’t. But there’s a problem for you when it comes to responsibility,” said the shade. “You see, you were a… what was it… chief operations officer?”

  “Yes. Yes I was,” Alex said, his heart beating hard in his chest at the idea of going to hell.

  How do I even feel a heartbeat? Aren’t I dead?

  “Yes, you really are dead. You feel a heartbeat because your mind is telling you to feel it. Anyways, while you were working as COO you pushed through a certain technology that really wasn’t quite ready.

  “One that allowed the minds of your users to work in a virtual environment, and at a speed much faster than normal thought could work at,” the shade said. “It was a technological breakthrough for the white-collar industry, allowing for much more work to be completed in half the time.”

  “Yeah. It made the company. Made me.”

  “Haha, that it did! And so here you are,” the wraith said, chortling.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Part of the reason it was held up in development was because it tested poorly with some people. In cases of weak minds and extreme usage, the minds were digitized. Directly loaded into the computers they were tied to. Except that when it happened, the subjects went comatose. Never to waken.

  “The bodies left behind were husks. Empty.”

  Alex nodded. He remembered wh
en they’d found the first test subject in such a state.

  “You’ll remember you put lockout controls on the system in case people tried to tamper with it. Turning it into a high-tech, room-sized… paperweight. Then you pushed the project,” the wraith said. She made a gesture with a shadow hand, as if shoving something along.

  “I… yes. We had them sign agreements, put warnings on it, and a lockout. They had to take the risk if they wanted to utilize the tech.”

  “And yet, the lockout you put on it was very simple. So basic that anyone with a bit of time and a stray thought could circumvent it. Because you didn’t allow any time to develop it.

  “You deemed it an acceptable risk that would be out of your hands with the agreement you slapped on the whole thing. A risk others could take if they chose,” the shadow continued. “Those people who digitized themselves, at least a million at the time of your death, were all considered murdered. Those ‘souls’ that showed up in the computer? That everyone thought were actual people? Just part of a computer program. A complex one, but a program. Your engineers will figure that out in a decade or so. Much, much too late for you, though.”

  The shadow tilted its head to one side.

  Alex had the feeling it was staring at him.

  Gauging his reaction.

  He felt nothing. He already knew where she was going with this. There was no surprise.

  After being told even his heartbeat was false, Alex had managed to focus his entire being on controlling his “soul,” as he was now thinking of it.

  Alex was a stone.

  An uncaring one. His previous life mattered little to him. It’d been a conquest of wealth that in the end—he could say that since he was here—amounted to nothing.

  “Yes. This entire problem we’ve been discussing was declared the reason for their deaths. That perhaps with a bit more effort on your part, they might have understood what they were doing.

  “Which leaves you with the blame. Hence, going to hell with a one-way ticket. I hear they even pulled up some heavy hitters just for you. Some real nasty pieces of work they keep on hold for the truly ugly souls.”

  “Let’s talk about this bargain,” Alex said, changing the subject.

  “I like that. Quick to decide and not even a word of argument. Yes, my bargain then.

  “It’s simple. I want to send you to another universe. Another world. Where you’ll be my agent. Your goal is to gather power for me. That’s it,” said the wraith.

  “Mmm-hmm. Too simple. Give me some details or I’ll take the demons,” Alex said, staring into the dark shroud.

  “Hahahaha. You mean that, too.

  “Fine, fine. Alright then. The details are equally simple. I’m a goddess of darkness and deals. Simply put, you’ll have someone swear on my name for a deal, and I’ll gain power. If the deal is skewed in your favor, I’ll gain even more power.

  “Please keep in mind that all deals must be voluntary, made without coercion. That’s it, really. My name on the world in question is Leah.”

  “Ok, Leah. Again, what you’re describing is too simple. There must be more—”

  The shroud stood up suddenly, looking up and to the side at something only she could see.

  “Husband… dearest… my love,” the shade whispered, shivering. “He’s coming back. Coming back for me and my sisters. I hope I’m first.”

  The shade’s head snapped towards him again.

  “Choose. Now. Or I’ll toss you out faster than a used rubber. I’ll not waste a second with you that I could spend with him,” the shadow commanded.

  “I accept. Now—”

  In a flash, the shadow enveloped him and the world of gray was gone. Replaced with a world of hissing, screaming, stabbing, violent darkness.

  Murder most foul.

  “Oh, and I’m sending you with a crystal to measure your progress. When it’s as dark as night and no light can shine through it, you’ll have made enough deals to fulfill your obligation for the month,” came the wraith’s voice. “The world I’m sending you to is a real crap-sack world, too. They’ll eat you alive if you let them. It’s kill or be killed. Show no mercy and don’t fuck up.”

  ***

  Alex opened his eyes, then shut them quickly as light blinded him.

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  “Oh? Waking up, are you?” said a man’s voice. “Good. Sooner you wake up, sooner we can figure how to get out of this death trap.”

  “Death trap?” Alex repeated.

  “Eh?”

  Alex pried his eyes open again. The light didn’t hurt as badly this time, but it still made his eyes water.

  He was lying on what looked to be a rotten wooden floor.

  The worn boards had been improperly shaped. They bent and bowed, giving him a view of what could only be grass beneath.

  Lifting his head up, he looked around.

  Grasslands stretched as far as he could see.

  He was in a cage, in a line of cages. They all seemed to have wheels, and were moving in a train-like fashion.

  Managing to lever himself up to a sitting position, Alex felt like he wanted to puke. His head hurt quite a bit.

  Reaching up, he felt around his skull. Behind his right ear, he found a rather large lump.

  “They gave you quite a thumping, huh?”

  Alex looked to the speaker.

  He was an unassuming man. Dressed in ratty clothes with brown hair and blue eyes.

  “I guess so. I can’t… remember,” Alex said.

  He looked down at himself.

  He’d just been with Leah and now he was here. She hadn’t told him how he’d be arriving, or even his status.

  The clothes he had on looked identical to what the other man was wearing.

  “Great. That’s great. They shoved you in here, told me not to touch you or they’d beat me to death, then ran off. You must be someone worth a copper or two, otherwise they’d have shoved you in with the rest.

  “I’m just a merchant, but I’m worth a ransom,” said the man, indicating the other cages.

  Alex looked to the nearest cage.

  It was practically full to bursting with people.

  Ok, so I’m someone of some import, though we’re not sure in what regard.

  Could have really used some more details, Leah.

  A commotion broke out far up ahead. It sounded like shouts and someone banging pots and pans together.

  “Ho? This might be our chance,” said the man. “If only…”

  A man Alex hadn’t noticed went sprinting by. He must have been hiding between the cages.

  “There we go. I figured there was one watching just in case. You really are worth a sack of gold, it seems,” said the man. “Right. Here’s the plan. You boost me up, I knock the roof off, and then I open the gate.”

  Alex wasn’t quite sure about that plan, but he didn’t have anything better to suggest.

  “Fine.”

  “Hands together then and give us a lift,” said the man.

  Complying, Alex laced his fingers together and knelt down.

  The other man put one foot into Alex’s hands and looked at him. “On three and up.”

  Alex nodded his head.

  “One, two, three!”

  Alex lifted and shoved, pushing the man up.

  Bits of what he assumed was roof material started to rain down on him as the man worked above.

  “Ha, got it. Up we go.”

  The man lifted out of Alex’s hand. Stepping back, he looked up to see how it was going.

  Wedged in the opening, the man was already wiggling his way out. It was obvious he’d be out in a matter of seconds.

  “Ah, thanks for that. Sorry to do this, but I don’t have any way to actually open that gate. Good luck and all that,” said the merchant.

  Alex stared at the man’s backside, uncomprehending.

  It wasn’t until the man had both feet on the edge of the cage that Alex realized he was being left behin
d.

  Pure anger flooded him as he realized his mistake had been trusting someone else.

  He’d learned that lesson long ago, in his other life. He might be done with that life and planning to never look back, but he’d remember those hard-learned lessons.

  The chief amongst them.

  Never trust anyone.

  With a shout, Alex slammed bodily into the side of the cage, rocking it violently to one side.

  Flailing his arms, the merchant shrieked and fell backward. Breaking through the roof, he crashed to the ground back inside the cage.

  Gasping for breath, the merchant struggled to his hands and knees.

  Perfect.

  Alex took two steps, planted the third on the man’s shoulders, then leapt up towards the hole.

  Missing his target, he crashed through the top, lost his balance and flipped out the other side. Landing in the grass with a thump.

  Ha. That worked. Even if not as planned.

  Getting up quickly—far quicker than he could remember getting up in his old life, with his aching back and hips—Alex looked back into the cage.

  “Wait, wait,” the merchant pleaded. Pressing himself to the bars, he smiled at Alex.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that, it was only a joke. A bad joke on my part, but a joke. That’s all. Help me out here.”

  “Sure, sure, of course,” Alex promised easily.

  This’ll be a great chance to test how far Leah’s contracts go.

  “I’ll need you to strike a deal with myself and my god, though. Make sure you don’t betray me.”

  “You… want me to swear on a god’s name?” asked the man.

  “That’s right. To swear on a god’s name that you’ll do everything I ask until I get you out of the cage. So we can get out fairly and cleanly. My part is to swear I’ll do everything I can to get you out of that cage,” Alex said.

  “Ah…”

  The sounds from the front of the cage train were getting louder.

  “You don’t have to do this. It’d be your choice and your choice alone.

  “Though to be fair, time is of the essence. More guards might come from the rear, or back from the front. At that point, I’ll not be able to help you.”