T-minus 14 days to DEADLINE.

[seanan_mcguire]

Reston, Virginia, July 10th, 2014.

The sound of the front door slamming brought Alexander Kellis out of his light doze. He'd managed to drift off on the couch while he was waiting for John to come home with dinner—the first time he'd slept in days. His first feeling, once the disorientation passed, was irritation. Couldn't John be a little more careful? Didn't he know how exhausted he was?

Then he realized that he didn't hear any footsteps. Annoyance faded into concern. "John?" Alex stood, nudging his glasses back into place as he started, warily, toward the foyer.

Jonathan and Alexander Kellis lived in an old Virginia colonial that was really too big for just the two of them, something they'd been intending to fix once Alex's research paid off, and early retirement became a viable option. Neither of them really wanted to have children without knowing that one parent, at the very least, would be able to be home for the first few years—and whether they adopted or found a surrogate, they'd always known that one day, they'd fill the house with children.

At the moment, however, all that filled the house was silence. And the silence was somehow terrifying. "John?" he repeated, and stepped into the darkened foyer, fumbling for the light switch with one hand. He found it and clicked it on, illuminating the room...and then he froze, eyes going very wide, mouth going very dry as he tried to process what he was seeing.

How John had managed to make it into the house under his own power was a mystery that might never be solved. Into the house, and no further. He was collapsed across the hardwood floor, limp and boneless. A smear of blood on the wall showed where he had tried to grab hold as he was falling.

"John!" Alex broke out of his fugue, closing the distance between them in three long steps. He barely even felt the pain when his knees slammed into the ground. Fumbling for a pulse with one hand, he said, "John? Sweetheart? Can you hear me?"

John moaned. It was a soft, hollow sound, like the kind made by ghosts in bad horror movies, and it made Alex's blood run cold. "Alex?"

"I'm here, honey. Be still. I'm going to call 911. You just...you just keep still."

"They beat me, Alex." John Kellis managed, somehow, to roll over enough to look up at the man he'd loved since college, when they were both so damn young, and so wonderfully full of optimistic fantasies. "Chinese place took too long. I went for Indian. Drove past the lab...lights were on. I thought you'd gone out again. I thought you were choosing those damn monkeys over me." The venom in his voice made Alex jump. Oblivious, John continued, "Stopped the car. Went in to get you...found them. They let them out, Alex. They let them all out." John closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them."

"Stop who?" asked Alex, frozen.

"Said you were...experimenting on animals. Said it was unethical. They said...we deserved what we got." John sighed. "They said we deserved...everything we got."

"Stay with me, sweetheart. Stay awake. Stay with me." Alex fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing as he raised it to his ear. "Hello, 911? This is Alexander Kellis. My husband has been badly beaten. We're located at..." He took John's hand in his as he gave the address, and held it until the ambulance arrived, waiting for John to say something—anything—to let him know that it would be all right. To let him know that this wasn't how it ended.

John didn't say a word. The ambulance arrived, and the EMTs loaded John into the back, leaving Alex to follow in his car. If John woke up on the way to the hospital, no one noticed; no one heard whatever he might have said. Jonathan Kellis was pronounced dead on arrival at 9:53 PM on July 10th, 2014. If there was any mercy in this—and there was no mercy to be seen, not then—it was that he died early enough to stay that way.

***

Jonathan Kellis, husband of infamous genetic engineer Dr. Alexander Kellis, died last night following a beating received at the hands of unidentified assailants. Mr. Kellis had apparently surprised them in the act of vandalizing Dr. Kellis's lab. No suspects have been identified at this time...

When will you Rise?

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Oh nooooooo.

[blackic.livejournal.com]

:( :( :( !!!

[beccastareyes]

If there was any mercy in this—and there was no mercy to be seen, not then—it was that he died early enough to stay that way.

That was my first thought when I saw the cut. Somehow being killed by eco-terrorists seems a bit more merciful than spontaneous amplification and killing one's husband.

[phoenixsansfyr.livejournal.com]

Crying and driving to work is a bad combination. This is what I get for reading this at a red light :(

[cynical nymph (from livejournal.com)]

Epic heartbreak. :( :( :(

[ashabardon.livejournal.com]

Awww no!!!! That's so sad ...

[kitan.livejournal.com]

ZOMG, what kind of security do they have on a working viral lab that *two* sets of complete numbskulls can break in and let everything out in a matter of weeks?!

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

I could see it. I mean, really, once the virus is out, it'd never cross my mind that there'd be a second break in, this one for the animals.

[janegodzilla.livejournal.com]

*endless tears*

[orlacarey.livejournal.com]

A fitting story for the weather - it's chilly, grey and raining

[phantomdancer.livejournal.com]

I think that the horror in these little snippets, isn't that they're going to get bad, it's the ones that sound hopeful and you know that it all goes horribly wrong...

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

This made me cry, but the happy little boy playing with the big doggies gave me chills.

[pyre006.livejournal.com]

I seriously stopped breathing, this one tugged at the heart strings. Your mastery is amazing.

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Awww. Sad on so many levels.

So sad.

But I'm glad John and Alex didn't bite each other.

Thank you.

And also, thank you for making these characters so real that even without explicit descriptions of what they look like, how they move, and what they wear, we can still care enough about them to wince and cry when the bad things happen ... and get worse.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

But I'm glad John and Alex didn't bite each other.

This. I know it's early in the cycle, but as soon as there was blood on the wall, I was afraid for both of them.

Now I'm just sad.

[eclectic-writer.livejournal.com]

Awww!!! I loved the character of John, and is passing is appropriately heartbreaking. :( That last line though - talk about capturing the essence of the series!

[tobinsguide.livejournal.com]

Am loving all of these - just wanted to let you know. And If there was any mercy in this—and there was no mercy to be seen, not then—it was that he died early enough to stay that way. gave me chills.

[melissima.livejournal.com]

Oh Gawds I am *so* hooked.

Evol woman. I have more than one novel to finish writing this summer! I don't have time to read!

/checks library catalog again.../ I can't wait!

[orlacarey.livejournal.com]

Even though I just reread Feed I went to my library website to see if by any chance they had an audiobook version. To my surprise I discovered that they had no copies of Feed at all although they have about 20 paperback copies listed as "on order". Wow, talk about slow on the uptake for them to get the book.

[michael thomas magpuyo (from livejournal.com)]

I knew that this chapter would come. The last line was very haunting. Thank you for breaking my heart! :'(

I am now dreading a certain character's imminent death.

[ash-of-roses.livejournal.com]

We're officially at the point where most of these posts make me produce audible sound of some sort-- this one was a whimpery kitten noise.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

And John's last words will haunt Alex for the rest of his life...Augh!

[lysythe.livejournal.com]

Aw crap D:

[lysystratae.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing we know why one of them snitched now.

[lysystratae.livejournal.com]

never mind, my brain was on hold and I didn't pay attention to the date

[fullcontactmuse.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That is the most merciful thing to have happened.

If the eco terrorists were letting the animals--kind of an assumption--I wonder what other viral work had been in progress at that point if any? Would have made the situation worse.

I am really jonesing for the end of the month to get here.

[yellowblackhaze.livejournal.com]

You did it again! I'm in tears once more. I'm almost scared to read Deadline (note: I said ALMOST). I think my wife and I are going to need hugs when we finish it.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Because of the earlier snippets in this blog, I suspected this was coming. It was still gut-wrenching to read.

One point though... There are *no* "old Virginia colonial" houses in Reston, save for a couple that are historic sites. Prior to 1963, Reston was farmland and a distillery; the old farmhouses were never many, and most are long gone. If John and Alex had enough money they could live in Great Falls, perhaps. (Just across Route 7 from northern Reston.)

[spitphyre.livejournal.com]

Ok, I haven't had time to read these until today.

You ARE going to publish these sometime, right? PLEEEEASE! I know people who would LOVE to see what you are doing here but won't read it on line.

(Sorry if this has been addressed, I have been reading them but didn't have time to check through the comments)

[deakat]

I believe that Seanan's previous response to a question on this matter was, "Look! A bunny!" :)

[anthimerian.livejournal.com]

John moaned. It was a soft, hollow sound, like the kind made by ghosts in bad horror movies, and it made Alex's blood run cold.

This was the point at which I started hugging myself and rocking back and forth. Because I'd been squeaking with dismay since the cut.

. . . but then he spoke and I breathed a sigh of relief . . . for about a second, until I wanted to just hug poor Alex Kellis forever and ever. It's deeply not fair he ends up the historical scapegoat.