Oh God.
My heart's pounding, and sweat's rolling down my sides. Chills course through my body, and my head spins.
I look away and consider turning back. I can't do this, I shouldn't have come.
The last time I was here was the funeral--their funeral. No flag-draped caskets or President of the United States or twenty-one gun salutes then. Just a dozen or so people, and a priest, and the pouring rain. Just me losing it, weeping and teetering, drunk and drugged. Falling to my knees in the mud.
I haven't been back since. I couldn't bring myself to do it. Bad enough I could still imagine their ghosts; why subject myself to physical proof?
So why come here today then? Because my life has been turned upside-down? Because I need to make a clean break with the past and get a fresh start? Because the end of the world is closer than I imagined, and I might never get another chance?
Or is it something else?
I think of Hericane taking Stalwart's place at the Refraxus. Driving back the Manifestation again and again. Fighting off its corrupting influence, too, as it grows stronger. Holding the monsters at bay both within and without. Never knowing more than a few moments' peace.
She was right about her power, inherited from Epitome, being enough to fend off the great beast--but can she keep her soul pure in the process? Or will she become the next Stalwart, twisted by unnatural cravings?
Will she falter, and allow the world to end?
The burdens she's taken upon herself are astronomically huge. The work is thankless, without reward. She has lost or given up everything she ever cared about.
But she does it anyway, because of that one reason. The same reason the Protectorate could have found to stop the lying, if they'd looked a little harder.
Because it's the right thing to do.
So okay, then.
I take a deep breath, and I face the three gravestones again. I grip the flowers so tightly, I'm afraid the stems might snap, and I start walking.
As I get closer, the names on the three stones come into focus. Even through my tears.
James Taggart, Husband and Father
William Taggart, Son
Stephen Taggart, Son
It was the end of the world when I lost them. It's the end of the world again.
Maybe it's time I finally let them go.
*****
Also by DC Comics Author Robert T. Jeschonek
Another Super-Hero Saga in the
Forced Heroics Series:
Forced Retirement
What if Alzheimer's struck the World's Mightiest Hero? His daughter, heroic Hericane, finds out the hard way. Gripped by dementia, godlike Epitome tears apart a city, and no one can stop him. Will his madness destroy the entire world? Not if Hericane recruits the one big gun who stands a chance in Hell of stopping her father in his tracks. But the battle of the century between the super-charged titans might just kick-start the Apocalypse instead of stopping it. Because Epitome and his nemesis have much more in common than ultimate power. The shocking secret they share could turn history itself inside out.
Now on Sale!
*****
Also Now on Sale
Another Super-Hero Epic by Robert T. Jeschonek
A Matter of Size
Who is killing the world's smallest super-heroes? Down-on-his-luck masked avenger Man-Child takes the case, but can he save the remaining Small Wonders from a killer with a twisted crush fetish? Man-Child takes on villainous Mammon and Stigmata without missing a beat, but his own dark secret might be enough to bring him down for good. Fighting through the shadows and gutters, Man-Child confronts the horrors of yesterday and today, learning a brutal lesson the hard way: even a size-changing super-hero can't afford to shrink from the darkness around him...or in the depths of his own heart.
Now on Sale for Mature Readers Only!
*****
Another Super-Hero Tale by Robert T. Jeschonek
Heroes of Global Warming
The world's hottest hero has gone rogue! In an age of global warming, super-heated hero Skillet looks like a lukewarm loser. But when his teammates, the Castigators, turn their backs on him, he turns the Castigators into prey. Let the hunt begin! Skillet becomes public enemy number one as he rounds up his former allies. But the secret plan behind his hunt might just save the world. The invention of evil genius Brain Fart could turn back the clock on global warming by melting down the high-powered do-gooders. Can Skillet capture the last of the heroes needed to charge the climate change reverser? Or will an out-for-blood super-hero hit squad cook his goose first? The hope of the future explodes in a fight to the death between the caped-and-cowled warriors of a doomed generation.
Now on Sale!
*****
And Don't Miss This Collection of Super-Hero Comic Scripts
Also by Robert T. Jeschonek
7 Comic Book Scripts
"Super-Powered Poser Blues": A super-hero stand-in runs into unexpected problems while impersonating a mighty mortal.
"My Date With Godling": A hard-driving cosmic god-hero launches a mission under false pretenses…a mission that quickly goes from intense to insane.
"The Mime: On Bread Alone": An endangered priest is protected by a silent hero whose make-believe performances have real world consequences.
"Young Soldiers Never Die": A future warrior discovers that one man's idea of a perfect soldier is another man's idea of pure hell.
"The Child Is Father to the Man": The younger selves of three great old-time heroes leap forward to the future after suffering their greatest defeat.
"Johnstown Man: Losing Ground": A blue collar steel town hero battles crime in the age of layoffs.
"Don't Tug on Superstar's Cape": A super souvenir hunter goes after the ultimate prize from the ultimate hero and nearly loses everything in the bargain.
Don't miss this collection of seven comic book scripts for one low price. It’s the latest book from award-winning storyteller Robert T. Jeschonek (My Favorite Band Does Not Exist), a master of unique and unexpected fiction that packs a punch.
Now on Sale!
*****
About the Author
Robert T. Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, comics, essays, articles, and podcasts have been published around the world. His young adult urban fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, was named one of Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. Simon & Schuster, DAW/Penguin Books, and DC Comics have published his work. He won the grand prize in Pocket Books' nationwide Strange New Worlds contest and was nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Visit him online at www.thefictioneer.com. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him as @TheFictioneer on Twitter.
*****
E-books by Robert T. Jeschonek
Fantasy
6 Fantasy Stories
6 More Fantasy Stories
Blazing Bodices
Earthshaker – an urban fantasy novel
Girl Meets Mind Reader
Groupie Everlasting
Heaven Bent – a novel
Rose Head
Snowman's Chance in Hell
The Bear in the Cable-Knit Sweater
The Genie's Secret
The Return of Alice
The Sword That Spoke
Erotica
Kiss of the Acolyte
Horror
Bloodliner – a novel
Diary of a Maggot
Dionysus Dying
Fear of Rain
Road Rage
Humor (Adults Only)
Dick by Law – a novel
Literary
6 Short Stories
Getting Higher – a novel
Mystery and Crime
6 Crime Stories
Crimes in the Key of Murder
Dancing With Murder (a cozy mystery novel)
The First Detect-Eve
The Foolproof Cure for Cancer
The Other Waiter
Who Unkilled Johnny Murder?
Poetry
Flight of Ideas
Science Fiction
6 Scifi Stories
6 More Scifi Stories
6 Scifi Stories Book 3
Beware the Black Battlenaut
Give The Hippo What He Wants
Lenin of the Stars
Messiah 2.0
My Cannibal Lover
Off The Face Of The Earth
One Awake In All The World
Playing Doctor
Resist the Red Battlenaut
Scifi Motherlode
Serial Killer vs. E-Merica
Something Borrowed, Something Doomed
Star Sex
Teacher of the Century
The Greatest Serial Killer in the Universe
The Love Quest of Smidgen the Snack Cake
The Shrooms of Benares
Universal Language – a novel
Superheroes
6 Superhero Stories
7 Comic Book Scripts
A Matter of Size (mature readers)
Forced Retirement (Forced Heroics Book 1)
Forced Betrayal (Forced Heroics Book 2)
Forced Partnership (Forced Heroics Book 3)
Heroes of Global Warming
Mr. Sandman: The Dream Lord Awakens - graphic novel script
The Masked Family – a novel
The Wife Who Never Was
Thrillers
Backtracker – a novel
Day 9 – a novel
The Trek It! Series
Trek This!
Trek Off!
Trek Fail!
Trek Script!
Trek Script 2
Trek Novel!
Trek You!
Trek It!
Young Readers
Dolphin Knight – a novel
Lump
Tommy Puke and the Boy with the Golden Barf
Tommy Puke and the World's Grossest Grown-Up
*****
Now on Sale from Robert T. Jeschonek
A Young Adult Fantasy Novel That Really Rocks!
One of Booklist's Top Ten First Novels for Youth
Being trapped in a book can be a nightmare—just ask Idea Deity. He’s convinced that he exists only in the pages of a novel written by a malevolent author . . . and that he will die in Chapter 64. Meanwhile, Reacher Mirage, lead singer of the secret rock band Youforia, can’t figure out who’s posting information about him and his band online that only he should know. Someone seems to be pulling the strings of both teens’ lives . . . and they’re not too happy about it. With Youforia about to be exposed in a national magazine and Chapter 64 bearing down like a speeding freight train, time is running out. Will Idea and Reacher be able to join forces and take control of their own lives before it’s too late?
School of Rock meets Alice in Wonderland in this fast-paced, completely unpredictable novel of alternate realities, time travel, and rock ‘n’ roll. If your favorite band does not exist . . . do you?
"Overall, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist is a wacky and enjoyable trip...full of intriguing, imaginative concepts that keep a reader hooked." –Thom Dunn, The Daily Genoshan
"This first novel has all the look of a cult fave: baffling to many, an anthem for a few, and unlike anything else out there." –Ian Chipman, Booklist Starred Review
"Chaos theory meets rock 'n' roll in adult author Jeschonek's ambitious, reality-bending YA debut." "...this proudly surreal piece of metafiction could develop a cult following..."–Publishers Weekly
"Reading this reminded me of authors like Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman…" –BiblioJunkies
Now Available from Graphia Books!
*****
FORCED BETRAYAL
Copyright © 2012 by Robert T. Jeschonek
www.thefictioneer.com
Cover Art Copyright © 2012 by Ben Baldwin
www.benbaldwin.co.uk
Published in January 2012 by Pie Press by arrangement with the author. All rights reserved by the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Design by Pie Press
Johnstown, Pennsylvania