Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive (The Lucas Ryan Versus Series) Read Online Free Page A

sure?”
    “Yeah, just excited about meeting with Ms. Chan,” I tried to sound normal. The waves of heat had started to fade and my tablet screen stopped flickering. I turned the music off in my earbuds and tucked the chords in my pocket. The lights in the office flickered on and off a couple times. It happened fast and I rubbed my eyes to be sure I wasn’t seeing things. Quickly, I looked around the room and something caught my attention. Actually, that’s not exactly right, something made me look down. Something unnatural. It felt as if someone had locked their hands on both sides of my head and slowly pointed my stare to the middle of the office floor. When my eyes finally focused, I could not look away. The heat returned, but only behind my eyes. It hurt at first, like a blowtorch inside my head.
    “Ouch!” I fell to the ground with my eyes wide open and burning. With my stare still glued to the middle of the office floor, my vision ached and my brow filled with beads of sweat. My heart pounded inside my ribcage. I could feel the force of it pushing against the cold, dirty tiles. That’s when I first saw... it .
    What lay before me made no sense. It confused me. It bewildered me. It terrified me when it told me to PICK IT UP . I know that sounded crazy, but inside of me only one thing felt real. The urge to reach out and embrace this tiny thing...to pick it up.
    “Am I dreaming?” I whispered soft enough, that it might as well have been an inner thought. My hand slowly reached for the foreign object. I was lightly shaking with anticipation and fear. I studied its strange appearance as my arm stretched out for it.
    It was only the size of a matchbook. Its sides were rounded and smooth. It had to be a rock or gemstone, but its shape gave me the impression that it had been molded or shaped to its current form. It had no color because it contained all of them. My mind knew that wasn’t possible, but it sparkled every color I had ever seen. It even gleamed with a few colors I never knew existed, never imagined. As soon as my eyes could focus on one color, it would switch to another as if the color before it was never there. The sight was maddening and beautiful at the same time.
    “Pick it up,” I said, just before my fingers reached its kaleidoscope surface.
    “Lucas, are you sure you’re okay?” Renee asked. She had leaned her body over the edge of the front desk to get a better look at me on the floor.
    “I’m fine...I...I just slipped,” my voice cracked. That’s when things became really weird...
     
    ~ Pick it up. ~
     
    “What did you say?” I asked Renee, confused. She blinked at me in disbelief.
    “Huh, I didn’t say anything...”
     
    ~ Don’t be afraid. ~
     
    “Did you hear that?” I asked, again. She only stared at me harder. In my head I heard the words clear as can be. It sounded like a robotic whisper. I was going crazy. I must be very sick. I started to panic.
     
    ~ Pick me up. ~
     
    The metallic whisper echoed inside my head. It felt soothing and comforting. Instantly, I began to calm down. My fingers slid over the mysterious thing, just inches from its surface. I let them dangle there for a quick second. In that moment, its shape began to change and slowly pushed upward toward my fingertips. I gasped. With my eyes pulled tightly closed, I enclosed my hand around it. Time stopped and the fire behind my eyes vanished. There was no sound. Only a low vibration throughout my body. Mostly in my chest. I tightened my grip around the thing as best I could. It felt like I was trying to close my fingers around a ball of liquid. It felt slick but dry.
    “Incredible...” I smiled, wildly. I slid my legs underneath me and sat up with my hand still around the object. Slowly, I rose to my feet. As I did, the mysterious, talking jewel changed inside my fist. It became a solid, dark black stone. It looked as smooth as glass, but felt sticky. Like a thousand tiny suction cups were coating it. I