Forgemaster (Book 1 in the Spirit Guide Saga)

  Forgemaster (Book one of the Spirit Guide Saga)

  Published by H. Lee Morgan at Smashwords

  Copyright 2014 H. Lee Morgan

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  Chapter 1

  Ethan pried his tired eyes from the computer screen as he heard the familiar ‘click click’ of his boss’s ridiculous high heeled shoes on the polished tile floor and cringed. He couldn’t see Sherry’s familiar black hair just yet, which everyone knew to be heavily dyed because no woman in her eighties did that without trying to look young and not realize that their pursuit of youthful beauty is thirty years too late. Those six inch stiletto heels she always wore would even make a call girl wince, yet the sound of them getting louder meant she was closing in on the latest victim. Already he could hear his fellow coworkers start fastidiously typing on their keyboards with more speed in the attempt to not receive her wrath and be seen as a diligent worker, not that it ever worked, from what he ever noticed. In his head Ethan could barely keep the frightening images at bay of Sherry’s wardrobe options. As a man, he knew little of how to dress properly and why colors had to match or choose proper patterns, but even a gay man would rather scoop their own eyeballs out with a rusty spoon than ever look upon her daily selections.

  The hairs on the back of Ethan’s neck continued to rise as she had yet to speak and as he worked at the very end cubicle meant one thing.

  This chopping block had his name written all over it today!

  Groaning softly, he rubbed his temples as the ‘click click click’ of those heels felt like spikes driving deeper into his skull. He checked the latest analysis of accounting options and how the business could continue to expand with its current resources when the sounds stopped and could feel those spiteful eyes glaring.

  “Mr. Ethan Volorum, a word.” He heard her almost masculine voice caused by sixty years of smoking and not for the first time had he wondered how she hadn’t died from lung cancer, stroke or any of the other factors smoking does decades ago and she still chain smokes so much that when she’s not you’d still catch secondhand. She seemed to bathe in cotton candy perfume and mix that with cigarette smoke and even a person without a sense of smell would gag on the taste hanging in the air.

  The man in question sighed and turned in his chair to look up and successfully hide a cringe as he noticed she had somehow stuffed her two hundred and forty pounds into a neon green, strapless tube dress. Outlandish gaudy rings covered gnarled fingers while loop earrings hung from sagging earlobes. A diamond necklace plunged into a bosom that had seen way too many miles and would be a deathtrap to any fool who had the stomach to get closer. Worst of all she wore too much makeup and seemed to highlight a mole wider than the pad of his thumb and had long curly hairs sprouting from it. Ethan swallowed down bile as he was revolted to be employed by a woman who had a demeanor that matched her appearance. In this instance the book was as bad as its cover. In a neutral voice that surprised everyone who listened he said “What may I do for you, Ma’am?”

  “I do not tolerate slackers, Mr. Volorum. Pack any and all of your belongings and leave these premises immediately. You’re fired!”

  “What?” He asked, dumbfounded and shocked. “What did I do to deserve to be let go? I need this job, Ms. Sherry. My grandparents just died in a car accident three days ago and I need the money for the funeral arrangements. Please…”

  She sneered while holding her hand in a ‘stop talking’ gesture. “Save your excuses for someone who cares. You’re fired. End of discussion. You were caught using company equipment to play videogames and that is not allowed.”

  “But only during my break. I have no money to spare to go out and buy lunch so I do something to not…”

  “Leave, you sorry excuse for a man! Before I call security.” Sherry pointed to the elevator.

  Humiliated, Ethan reached forward and grabbed his mug of coffee and his prepaid cell. It was all he could afford to decorate the lifeless cubicle. He stood up, towering over Sherry at six foot and carried a husky frame. It had been three days he’d gone without a proper meal, but without his grandparents he couldn’t afford so much as a drive through value meal at the corner fast food. Still, Sherry sneered and grabbed his slightly flabby stomach. “You can’t afford to eat? Don’t insult me, Lardo.”

  With that last dig, Ethan straightened and glared. “You’re one to talk, Hag. And yes, I haven’t eaten much more than two small cups of ramen for the past three days. You can’t expect someone to become skin and bones that quickly.” For a moment he felt frightened when he saw Sherry’s cloudy eyes of mild cataracts suddenly clear and flickered an eerie and frightening red, but then she blinked and they returned to normal. She was angry at his comment, but he turned his back, stepped around her and headed to the elevator.

  Immediately as he pushed the button he heard a soft ‘ding’ and the shiny metal doors slid open. He entered and hit the first floor button. As they closed he saw Sherry glaring, turn her nose up and sauntered off. What was revolting was with each step in her famous high heels, her flabby body jiggled. If anything was in his stomach it would have tried to escape its confines and make a mess for the janitor. When the doors closed he could hear her snarl at everyone to get back to work.

  On the way down Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that what he saw in those eyes wanted him to die slowly or receive the worst kinds of torture. And that reddish hue was disturbing in a whole different way from her usual persona. He had to shake it off and forget it happened now that he had been fired for doing something he promised not to do at work. He had to do something to raise some quick money.

  The elevator rang and opened to allow a mail deliverer and his empty cart inside. He seemed so bored, not even bothering to acknowledge Ethan leaning into the corner.

  Eventually the floor he wanted came and he exited, walked the hall and left the mind numbing building. He thought, Why does everything have to spiral down the crapper so fast when it will be nearly impossible to recover? Granma, Grandpa, I wish you were still alive and could help me settle your affairs. As it is, I have but one option left to break even and still honor you. I have to sell my whole collection. It would be just enough to get me by for a week and hope another job opens up somewhere before I need to beg help from ‘Him’.

  Ethan found the bus bench a half a block later, sat down and grimaced while waiting for the next means of transportation to come. Positive thinking wasn’t possible. Everything I have worked so hard for and all the chores it took to use my whole childhood and teen allowance went to all my comics and games. Is the universe telling me it’s time to grow up now that I just turned thirty? All I’ve earned will be lost tonight. I cannot prolong waiting… But before I go to ‘Ol Fred’s comic store I need to tell Jenny.

  Deciding to pay his girlfriend a surprise visit first, Ethan sighed and saw the bus coming ahead of schedule and stood. He pulled out his wallet, removed the necessary cash to ride and stepped to the curb. The hydraulics hissed as the city bus stopped and opened its doors. Two passengers e
xited before he entered alone. He gave his money over, got the change and walked to an empty seat in the back and put his head against the cool window. Contemplating.

  The driver, seeing everyone properly seated, drove on ahead.

  Orlando’s skyscrapers drew his attention over the thousands of cars always in a hurry to get nowhere fast. It was summer in Florida so it meant not only hot, but humid to the point where breathing the air was almost like inhaling a glass of uncomfortable water. Luckily the bus was cool and loud enough that he didn’t need to listen to any conversations or be bothered by any other problems. Ethan felt numb now that the shock of being fired had passed. It was a dead-end computer job with only cheap dental for benefits. Being perpetually healthy and born with straight teeth meant he only had to go once a year for a cleaning. His mind then went on autopilot as he only made himself take notice of the stops so he didn’t miss his.

  Then it happened. “Crap!” he exclaimed as he saw the familiar spot pass right by. He knew the driver wouldn’t stop for another mile so he bit the bullet till it happened. At the next stop he exited and forced himself to walk back the other way. Ethan stuck to the sidewalks and crossed the street like an actual law abiding citizen without jaywalking. Businesses large and small passed one at a time. Being Saturday, the kids were out of school and a group found energy to play outside thanks to water hoses, balloons and squirt guns. For the first time in three days he smiled at a simple good thing as children played, but he didn’t stop walking.

  Twenty reflective minutes passed as Ethan took the mile one step at a time, going over what he was going to say. He knew Jenny’s reaction wasn’t going to be fun, even though they have been dating four months. She was aloof at times, but had a quick temper. They met through a free online dating service. He stopped at the front of her apartment, remembering more of her. Jenny is a year younger, no children and works for an Orlando home and garden magazine, though she doesn’t own a garden or really know much about flora and fauna other than they exist. All she does is take the letters to the next person in the business ladder. She is very pretty with an average figure and thinks his hobby is completely childish. She’s been trying to change him ever since she saw his small apartment with a whole wall dedicated to an organized selection of comic books, graphic novels and the other holds hundreds of videogames from every retro console to state of the art.

  “Well, Jenny, you’re going to get your wish. It’ll all have to go so my grandparents debts are settled.” He murmured and opened the front door. The lone elevator was currently being repaired still if the worker’s prominent bubba crack for the second week in a row meant anything. Stairs it is again! He thought and found the door to it after following the signs and took them one at a time up to the fifth of six floors. It was the first time using them, but he prided himself on a good sense of direction, when not daydreaming, and took two corners before finding room five thirteen and gently knocking, since it was Saturday and she never works the weekends. He didn’t get an immediate answer, but he heard odd noises inside.

  The door was unlocked and he opened it as he knew what those sounds were and wished he didn’t need to find out, but after all this in his life, it was just the icing on a shit cake. The living room was empty of bodies, but shed clothes were scattered all over and Jenny not only didn’t have a roommate, but she couldn’t ever wear men’s shoes so large or long pants due to a short woman’s stature.

  Then as he neared her bedroom door his fears were realized as he heard moaning and skin slapping skin. It was certainly Jenny’s voice saying “There! Harder! Ahhh!!!” Disgusted, he turned around and walked away and just as he went to the front door, he held the knob, but what drew him was a familiar wallet given as a present two years ago at the last family reunion up in Tennessee.

  Heartbroken and blood boiling, Ethan slammed the front door closed while remaining inside to find his voice calm in asking “Jenny?!” He heard an immediate thump from the bedroom as someone fell from her bed as she cursed colorfully, telling the willing partner to ‘fucking hide.’ “You got company?”

  Moments later Jenny poked her head out to find Ethan looking rather calm and questioning while looking down at a pair of crumpled jeans and cursed loudly within her mind, but she guessed him a bit slow on the uptake as he kicked the mess aside and smiled. She said “One moment, I just got out of the shower.” She lied to make the excuse to her flushed cheeks.

  Then the smile vanished and she knew she was caught. “Oh, then tell Billy I need to talk to him too.”

  She cringed and saw the hurt in his eyes and how he looked at her made her feel just like the slut she realized she was. Her anger flared at the condensation and opened the door, wrapped in a bed sheet. “Where do you get the gall to look at me like that, Ethan? A woman has needs, which you neglect. Four months! Four months of no sex, Ethan! Yes, everyone knows your shy about sex and remain a thirty year old virgin. Come on, I throw myself at you, and gave obvious signs even a blind man could understand, but you apologize and leave after seeing a glimpse of my breasts. Any man would be all too willing to have me wrap my legs around them, but you just stand there. Jeez, even a person more nerdy than you would grovel at my feet for a chance to have me for a night.”

  In a calm tone he said “But not this man. I told you I’m waiting for my soul mate. And even if you could have any man alive, why did you choose my own brother?!” he didn’t yell, he rarely did because he hated what rage does to him.

  Billy laid a hand on Jenny’s shoulder and stepped out in nothing but a pair of boxers, his head of black hair disheveled and a proud smirk on his lips. “Well hello, big brother. Jenny and I weren’t expecting company so soon, for a person with your old world personality I expected a call to warn us. Why is it you are here in the middle of the day when you should be working? Let me guess, they fired you, eh Tubby?”

  Brushing the remark aside he looked at his little brother’s twenty six year old, pretty boy appearance and lean form most women prefer. “Billy, I’ve tried calling you for three days and you haven’t responded. I know we cannot stand to be in the same room together, but our grandparents died in an accident and the attorneys found me first. Where have you been when I needed you… Never mind, I answered my own question.” He glanced at Jenny’s burgundy hair framing her flushed face. “Listen, Billy, I need some help. Even selling all my belongings I’ll not be living off them long, so yes, I was fired. You are the only family I have left and we must honor their wishes to be buried by mom.”

  Billy burst out laughing. “You think I care about those pathetic old geezers? If I remember correctly, they disowned me after a minor drunken incident when I was eighteen and never once spoke to me at the old man’s ninetieth birthday reunion. What makes you think I. Give. A. Damn? I’ve got money, your girl and great looks yet you were always the favorite. You were the suck up who never did wrong. You’re all on your own, Ethan. They could rot on the side of the street and I wouldn’t bat an eye. Family is for losers, just like yourself with all those comics.”

  Retaining a calm exterior, Ethan looked between the two carefully and Jenny twisted the knife in his heart as she wrapped her arm around Billy’s narrow waist and tilted her chin up. “Seems I was right again. My happy little brother is gone because he cannot understand anything beyond the tip of his pecker and doesn’t have the stones to remember what family means and brushes it off like a piece of lint.” His gaze turned. “And Jenny, I hope you truly find the one that will bring you happiness. My gut instinct told me we weren’t meant to be, but I disregarded them because you took some interest in me. From the bottom of my heart I wish you well even though it is aching right now. Billy, Jenny, farewell?”

  “Stop being so formal, Tubbs! Are you so shy and even tempered that you cannot show emotion? I distinctly remember Mr. Temper growing up. Drop the chivalry act. Mom isn’t here to tell you to always remain the proper gentleman. This is the twenty first century dumbass, not the eighteenth. You just make yo
urself into those comic books, pretending to be a hero. Get with it already, this is the real world.” Billy spread his arms around the room.

  “Maybe, but I was raised a gentleman, Billy. I don’t want to change something good into bad and it makes me who I am. And I truly meant what I said. I can only count on myself after all. Farewell to you both.” He then turned around and left the apartment.

  Only then did Jenny realize what she had lost from her own deplorable act. She knew it could never be taken back. In one day he had to grieve for his grandparents, lost his job and that of his girlfriend to none other than his brother who seemed to have come out of nowhere. There was no one to be with him and yet he didn’t act anything more than an honest fool who still believed in being a gentleman. Looking back over the recent months he always opened doors, took the curb side down late night strolls, pulled her chair out and never once lied about himself. She felt so dirty to have lost someone so genuinely good. Before she could chase after him and beg forgiveness Billy turned to her and kissed her on the lips. “Care to pick up where we left off?”

  The only response came in a nod so she could temporarily forget what she had done. They went back to her bedroom.

  Down and outside the apartment, Ethan forced himself calm so wrathful emotions didn’t get in the way and have an old habit return. He needed a release to lessen his troubles and chose to walk home, which was about eight miles away. He decided it would do some good and started for his cheap apartment while focusing ahead.

  Never in the whole of Ethan’s life had he come so close to being that angry and it pushed his willpower to the limit to remain calm. It wouldn’t have mattered since that is what everyone expected, but he would not burden anyone with his own problems or take it out on someone else. Still… he felt cold by how callous and narcissistic every person he knew was.

  Just ‘Ol Fred and his grandparents had ever truly treated him with respect. The old comic book shop owner understood Ethan’s enjoyment because he was a kindred soul who also grew up with the comics all the way back when he was a boy and bought his famous first issue Superman, first print, for just a few cents but is now valued for over three hundred million since it is still unopened and in mint condition. Even back then the old man knew a treasured investment by buying two. The other print had disappeared long ago. They had a longstanding relationship so Ethan knew that ‘Ol Fred will give him a fair price.