First Drafts and Distractions

The world is a weird place right now. Honestly, it feels like I'm watching the start of a movie thriller, only this is reality and not fiction.

 In my area, they've closed bars and restaurants and are recommending people stay at home as much as possible. My husband is now working from home and we've made two runs to the grocery store for essential items.

A few years ago my introverted self would have grabbed hold of the prospect of not leaving my house for several weeks and rejoiced, seeing it as an endless opportunity to watch anime and read books. The current version of myself, the one who already spends copious amounts of time alone except for a couple of cats is looking at the yawning span of isolation and hoping she doesn't go stir crazy.

At the moment, I don't have time to create a full short story since I'm in the final scenes of Aileen 5, but I wanted to offer a short respite from the outside world.

Below is a short, deleted scene from Age of Deception. It is an alternate version of how Kira learns where Jin has gone when he was supposed to be safe in her room. Hopefully when I finish the current book, I can take a short break and write something for the blog. Maybe a Fallon POV or something set in Aileen's world.

Until then, I hope you enjoy.

Deleted Scene

“Jin,” Kira hissed in a low voice.

Not low enough as several people looked in her direction. Great she’d drawn notice because she was acting like a crazy person.

“Kira,” Jin sounded groggy and confused.

Kira released the breath she’d been holding. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying you for the last twenty minutes.”

“I--” There was a long pause.

Kira got moving again, this time careful to keep to a sedate pace. She glanced around her noticing as Devon and Rheya seemed to shadow her on the other side of the hallway.

Were they following her? If so, they weren’t doing a very good job. They were much too young to be playing these games.

“Uh oh.” Jin's guilt and panic were unmistakable.

Kira felt her stomach drop.“Uh oh? What uh oh? There should be no 'uh oh' if you’re safe in the room which is where you're supposed to be."

“Yeah, about that," he started.

“Nope, nope, nope." She shook her head. She refused to hear what he was about to say. He was safe in the room and that was all there was to it.

Devon and Rheya veered toward her, no doubt drawn by her sketchy behavior. She watched them come with gritted teeth. As if she didn't have enough problems already.

“You can deny all you want. It doesn’t change the facts,” Jin pointed out in a pragmatic voice that made her want to scream.

“Where are you?” she snapped, picking up her pace. Maybe if she moved faster they wouldn't stop her.

She really didn’t need anyone taking an interest while she was having a mild panic attack.

Moving briskly without giving the appearance of fleeing was difficult. She had a feeling she wasn't entirely successful either.

Two other Tuann that she recognized from Joule’s training class started in her direction.

Damn. Things just kept getting worse and worse.

“You know that place on Ta Da’an they call the Nexus?"

Kira sucked in a sharp breath. No--even Jin couldn’t be that stupid.

“Well--I wanted to see if there was anything like that here.”

She resisted the urge to bang her head on the nearest wall. "Get out. Get out now."

“I can’t; I’m stuck.” The confession seemed ripped from him.

A high pitched noise escaped her. This was a nightmare. An awful, awful nightmare.

Devon and Rheya stopped in front of her, blocking her path. "We need to talk."