The Ruins Read online

  The Ruins

  Black Force Shorts Book Ten

  Matt Rogers

  Copyright © 2019 by Matt Rogers

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Onur Aksoy.

  www.liongraphica.com

  Contents

  Reader’s Group

  Books by Matt Rogers

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Announcement

  Books by Matt Rogers

  Reader’s Group

  About the Author

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  Books by Matt Rogers

  THE JASON KING SERIES

  Isolated (Book 1)

  Imprisoned (Book 2)

  Reloaded (Book 3)

  Betrayed (Book 4)

  Corrupted (Book 5)

  Hunted (Book 6)

  THE JASON KING FILES

  Cartel (Book 1)

  Warrior (Book 2)

  Savages (Book 3)

  THE WILL SLATER SERIES

  Wolf (Book 1)

  Lion (Book 2)

  Bear (Book 3)

  Lynx (Book 4)

  Bull (Book 5)

  Hawk (Book 6)

  BLACK FORCE SHORTS

  The Victor (Book 1)

  The Chimera (Book 2)

  The Tribe (Book 3)

  The Hidden (Book 4)

  The Coast (Book 5)

  The Storm (Book 6)

  The Wicked (Book 7)

  The King (Book 8)

  The Joker (Book 9)

  The Ruins (Book 10)

  1

  Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

  China

  The three college dropouts came across the Jiaohe ruins at five minutes past midnight.

  The group crackled with frantic energy — this wasn’t their first rodeo, but something about dropping tabs of acid in one of the most desolate, inhospitable regions in China sent ripples of anticipation through their chests.

  They were drunk and stoned, but not ludicrously so.

  Not enough to dull the nerves.

  Noah Powell led the way. It had been his idea from the inception — in fact, the entire spontaneous expedition had been his creation.

  Who else would have ventured onto the ancient Silk Road when they’d only come to China to visit the major tourist attractions and return in time for summer work?

  But here they were, three youths in their twenties with a penchant for adventure and the sort of wilful ignorance that only came about when you deliberately distanced yourself from the reality of the world.

  Samantha was twenty, having celebrated the departure from her teens just a few days ago in the city of Korla. She quietly figured they should have stayed around civilisation, but Noah could be awfully persuasive when he wanted to be.

  It didn’t help that he was unbelievable in bed.

  After a particularly impressive night in one of the cheap hotels in Korla, his pitch to wander off the beaten track and find themselves along the ancient Silk Road had seemed all too appealing.

  She’d nodded her agreement in a heartbeat.

  It took a little longer to convince Ethan, but Noah had doubled down on his persuasive tactics and eventually managed to sway him in favour of the plan.

  Now, Samantha shivered as the desert wind ripped through the ruins. The ancient structures were barely perceptible in the darkness, abandoned this late in the evening. Perhaps there would be tourists wandering around during the daytime. She didn’t know. But she doubted it.

  This far from civilisation, it was only now beginning to strike her how little she knew about the region.

  She didn’t think the other two knew much, either.

  She said, ‘We’re safe here, right?’

  Noah came up behind her and put both hands on her slim waist. He cuddled her, protecting her from the elements, and she smiled. They weren’t technically official, but it was only a matter of time. Every now and then Samantha caught the sneaking suspicion that there were other girls back on campus, but she’d never caught him in the act.

  And she had to admit she’d completely fallen for him.

  Otherwise, he never would have been able to convince her to come out here.

  The only illumination came from their rented sedan, parked on the one-lane dirt track that culminated at the base of the ruins in the desolate Taklamakan Desert.

  Another improvised plan.

  You couldn’t drive in China without a Chinese licence, but Noah had family money, and it hadn’t taken much effort to convince a local in Xi’an to give them a rustbucket for a hefty mark-up. They’d promised to bring it back in two weeks and covered half the country in the beat-up sedan, thrashing it to its limits, driving nearly every day. They hadn’t been pulled over yet, but Noah figured he could bribe anyone who took issue with their brazenness.

  Samantha wasn’t so sure. But she hadn’t spoken up.

  Just one mistake in a long list of fuck-ups.

  A list with consequences that would soon reveal themselves.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Noah whispered in her ear. ‘Real quiet out here, isn’t it? You hear that? No-one around. Of course we’re safe.’

  ‘It’s freezing,’ she said.

  Ethan was somewhere ahead — probably stomping around ancient relics and causing a ruckus. The long days of monotonous driving had nearly sent them all insane, but Noah had asked when else they’d get the chance to undertake such a reckless mission through Central China.

  Their parents would collectively kill them if they found out they’d illegally rented a car and set off through an autonomous region — whatever the hell that meant.

  ‘It’s just…’ she said.

  Noah nestled into the crook of her neck, and muttered, ‘What?’

  ‘We haven’t seen tourists in days.’

  ‘Tourists don’t come out here.’

  ‘Yeah … because it’s probably dangerous.’

  ‘It’s fine. It’s China.’

  ‘How much do you know about this place, Noah?’

  ‘Enough. Do you think I’d take you here if it meant you were in danger?’

  ‘I don’t know if you think much at all.’

  She was serious, but he took it in jest. He touched his lips to the right spot at the base of her neck and she shivered involuntarily.

  Not from the cold.

  Ethan was still nowhere to be seen, and Noah was right. There was no-one else around, probably for dozens of miles in any direction.

  She wheeled on the spot and kissed him ferociously, barely restraining herself from tearing his clothes off right then and there. />
  He had a talent in the bedroom that made her want him every hour of the day.

  Which was mostly why she suspected a dozen other girls on campus felt the same.

  She stared up at him, admiring the way his brown hair fell forward in thick unruly tufts. It covered his forehead naturally — he never styled it. Somehow it just fell into place, each and every day. And that accentuated his chiseled jawline. He had barely a shred of body fat on his frame. Dedication to the college wrestling team had honed his physique.

  Samantha approved.

  She touched his chest, running a palm underneath his shirt, and kissed him again.

  ‘Ready?’ he said, holding up a tiny piece of blotter paper.

  It hovered there, tantalising, full of endless potential.

  She smiled, lost in the moment. ‘Yeah.’

  He placed it on her tongue, and she giggled.

  Trust Noah to smuggle acid through customs on an international flight, she thought.

  It hadn’t been much of an issue. The blotter paper, wedged tightly between the pages of a paperback, had been undetectable. They’d been keeping it secure until they made it to the most exotic location imaginable, and nothing could rival this.

  They’d heard of the Jiaohe ruins yesterday and opted to make the trip in the dead of night.

  Samantha rolled the small piece of paper around in her mouth, letting the LSD dissolve off the tab and merge with her saliva. If this was the same stuff they used back on campus, it would take around an hour to kick in.

  Nervous with anticipation, she surveyed the empty desert and crouched low in the lee of a giant ancient awning.

  Then a pang of anxiety struck her, and with a pounding heart she said, ‘Noah…’

  2

  He sensed the urgency in her tone and appeared in a heartbeat. ‘What? You okay?’

  ‘Where’s Ethan?’

  ‘Right here,’ a new voice said, and Ethan materialised at the base of the ruins, his bright white smile visible in the darkness.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Okay … good.’

  ‘There’s nothing to be scared of,’ Noah said.

  ‘You’ve had your tab, Ethan?’

  Ethan approached, nodding. ‘At the same time you two did. Boy oh boy, this will be a wild ride.’

  ‘What if … you know …?’

  Noah raised an eyebrow, almost invisible in the darkness. ‘Nothing’s going to happen. Relax. Where did all this come from?’

  ‘It lasts eight hours,’ Samantha said. ‘What if someone shows up halfway through?’

  ‘Then we say hello.’

  ‘We’ll be tripping. Hard to make small talk when you’re in another dimension.’

  ‘No-one’s going to murder us in the Chinese desert,’ Ethan said, laughing.

  ‘What do you know about this place?’ Samantha said.

  He scoffed. ‘I just know it’s gonna be a wild trip. I mean, look at these views. Holy shit…’

  Noah turned to survey the undulating landscape. ‘Wow.’

  Ethan said, ‘You feeling anything?’

  Noah shook his head. ‘It takes time.’

  ‘I’m feeling something.’

  ‘It’s too early. It’s a placebo. You’re excited.’

  ‘Damn right I’m excited. This’ll be otherworldly.’

  ‘The kid’s got a vocabulary on him,’ Noah muttered, but his voice travelled in the dead of night.

  ‘You really think that’s what I was going for?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Noah said. ‘You knew Samantha was coming with us so you ate a thesaurus and hoped for the best.’

  All three of them laughed, and it dissipated the tension in the pit of Samantha’s stomach.

  Ethan disappeared again, trundling around the perimeter of the ruins, and Noah took the opportunity to plant himself down alongside Samantha in the sand. He looped a giant arm over her shoulders and touched his lips to her temple.

  She couldn’t help but admit it warmed her.

  ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about,’ he said. ‘This’ll be fun.’

  ‘I know it will,’ she said.

  ‘Just watch the desert. And think about where we are. Think about where we were six months ago. This is adventure, isn’t it?’

  She burrowed into his shoulder, smiling. ‘It is.’

  ‘What’s up? You’re not acting yourself lately.’

  ‘Answer me one thing.’

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘Are there other girls?’

  He paused for a moment, staring down at her. Then he pulled her tighter. ‘Of course not.’

  ‘You just … come and go a lot. Sometimes I can’t get in touch with you for days. And you always act like nothing’s wrong. I feel like you hide things from me.’

  ‘I’m busy … you know how it is.’

  ‘Promise me there aren’t other girls. Swear on your sister.’

  For a moment Noah’s touch grew cold, and she thought he might withdraw from the embrace. She steeled herself for the ramifications. It would send her on an emotional downward spiral, and she’d just dropped a tab of acid in the middle of nowhere.

  If he…

  ‘I swear,’ he said.

  ‘On Colby?’

  ‘On Colby. But do we have to talk about that?’

  She knew it was a sensitive subject.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I just needed to know the truth. Because I’m committed to you. And I don’t want to get my heart broken. Not out here. I think I’m in love with you.’

  He kissed her for what felt like hours, then finally pulled away. ‘I’m in love with you too.’

  She paused. ‘You’ve never said it.’

  ‘I’m saying it now.’

  Silence.

  Noah said, ‘I love you.’

  ‘Does that mean…?’

  ‘If you want it.’

  ‘Of course I want it.’

  ‘Then we’re together?’ Noah said. ‘Officially?’

  ‘Officially,’ she said, and she couldn’t resist a smile. ‘Then … where do you go all the time? When we’re on campus. Why are you so secretive?’

  He gently kissed the top of her forehead. ‘Usually I just go off to think.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Colby. And other things.’

  ‘She didn’t deserve what happened to her.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, stifling emotion.

  ‘Are you sure the acid was a good idea?’

  He cleared his throat and tightened his arms around her, shielding her from the cold. ‘Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve never had a bad trip.’

  ‘You’ve never tripped all the way out here.’

  ‘I don’t think anyone has. How’s this for an experience?’

  She grinned, her insides flooding with warmth. Piece by fascinating piece, the blanket of stars in the night sky took on a life of their own.

  Swimming and fragmenting and dancing around the infinite blackness of space.

  Without consciously realising it, her mouth dropped open in amazement.

  Noah must have been feeling the same thing.

  ‘Wow,’ he whispered, craning his neck to the heavens.

  Ethan stumbled into view, his eyes wide and flooded with wonder. Samantha could see him clearly now, despite the darkness. Her eyes had adjusted. She smiled at him, draped in pure bliss. He smiled back at her.

  ‘Isn’t this something?’ Ethan muttered.

  Reality dissolved into something ethereal, something that Samantha couldn’t quite put into words, even if she tried. Her vision condensed to a tunnel and she rested back in Noah’s arms, a broad smile spread across her face. Her thoughts merged into a blissful kaleidoscope of raw emotion, and she laughed out loud. Her voice echoed through the desert and morphed as it travelled, flooding the Jiaohe ruins with joy.

  She never wanted to let go of this feeling.

  It was the perfect storm — confirmation of her feelings for Noah, a strange fantastica
l location, and enough hallucinogens to elevate all her emotions to a level she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

  Then it all went to hell.

  3

  The soft aura of artificial light appeared in the distance — miles from the ruins. In her elevated state, Samantha locked onto the glow.

  ‘What is that?’ she said, her pupils dilated.

  Noah took a long time to respond. ‘Uh … probably nothing.’

  ‘Noah?’

  ‘Just relax.’

  But he didn’t sound relaxed. ‘Noah. What is that?’

  ‘Cars, I think. It’s nothing.’

  ‘It’s not nothing. They’re all the way out here. They’re getting closer. They’re—’

  And now Noah was panicking. ‘Samantha, would you shut up?’

  She said nothing, sensing herself perched at the precipice of a staggering drop into terror. The anxiety seized hold of her chest, and she felt like crying. There wasn’t even any obvious danger.

  Not yet.

  But the glow amplified in intensity.

  The convoy drew closer.

  A soft voice drifted through the ruins — Ethan, talking to himself, floating questions into the air about the approaching beacon of light.

  Samantha couldn’t respond.

  Her eyes wide, her gaze focused, she stared in horror at the dirt track leading away from the ruins, beginning to steadily increase in brightness. Her vision remained a wavering tunnel, fixated on a single point at a time, employing her focus to the detriment of everything else.