Jarvis Light: by Nick Venom (interesting books to read in english txt) 📖

“Many people have speculated and theorized that I’ve been using my fame and money to commit illegal activities, whether it be in my own home or with some underground criminal ring.” A tanned man dressed in a tuxedo started (he stood on the doorstep of his three-story mansion). “I’m here to speak on that issue. The newspaper article claiming to “expose” me and where my money has gone is completely false. All the newspaper company wants to do is get people to buy their newspapers.”

“Then where did the money go?” A reporter asked.

“All of the money was donated to Light Charities, a non-profit organization that wants to help soldiers in the middle east. If people don’t believe, I’ll reveal the receipt immediately.”

All of the reporters back off, slightly intimidated by the man. The man, who grinned at the reporters, told the reporters his parting words. “I have done nothing wrong, yet skeptics paint me as a criminal. I am nothing like they say I am. I am myself, a philanthropist with a large heart and a good moral standing with myself.” The man turned to one of his guards, ordering them to “politely” guide the reporters off his property. They did so, ushering them off and onto the other side of the seven-foot fence surrounding his property.

With the reporters gone, he walked inside. He entered his luxurious home but paid no attention to any of the details. He passed through the home like it was abandoned, scared to touch anything more than the front door.

He went down the long corridor connected to the front doors and the stairs to the upstairs. He went to the third room on his right, entering the small enclosed room. The room had faint light coming in from a single light bulb. The bulb’s energy was waning.

The man ignored the dim lighting, scanning the room. In the room was a small table with two chairs attached to it, pushed all the way in, and a six-foot bookcase. He approached the bookcase, grabbing a book on the lowest shelf and yanking it away. 

The bookcase shifted itself to its right, exposing a secret passageway behind it. The passageway was six feet in height and three feet in width. The man walked through the passageway, which sealed up behind him.

He emerged into an underground laboratory space brightly lit and filled with whiteness. The walls were flashy white and most of the equipment was the same, from the microscopes to Bunsen burners. Everything was white, even the lab coats all of the scientists wore were white.

The man looked around, inspecting the area. The laboratory was the length of three football fields with a width of two. It was split into two different departments with the first department having the biggest area of space and being filled with organized lines of horizontal capsules. 

The second department was the smaller one, which was full of scientists who overlooked the capsules while experimenting with whatever idea they had. The man could see them testing blood under microscopes as well as heating the samples.

The man looked at the gem of the second department, an object made out of pure light was held in a glass display on top of a podium. The object lost half of its shape, changing from a full cube to only half of one. The half-cube held onto its blinding light, emitting it at full force. However, it was evident that the half-cube would be nearing its end soon. 

“How is it?” The man asked a scientist, who wore a pair of goggles and his lab coat. The slightly overweight man wore on white gloves, turning his head to face him. A tuft of his balding brown hair slipped out of the white cap he wore.

“We still have about half the cube remaining and over a hundred subjects. DT brought in a couple of more potential subjects for testing.” The scientist said.

“Do any of them have connections?” He asked.

The scientist shook his head. “All subjects have little to no connection with family or friends. They fit the descriptions of people that could disappear without a trace and be completely forgotten about in a matter of weeks.” The scientist told him. 

“Great… How is progress with Operation Light?”

“Excellent, Mr. Eddie Hall.” The scientist remarked.

Eddie Hall glared at the scientist, resting his hands on the scientist’s shoulders. “I’ve told you not to call me by the name down here… Mr. Arin,” Hall whispered. Arin nodded frantically and apologized.

“I-I-I-I apologize, M-Mr. Ray…. I-I m-mean…. Wither Ray.” Arin stuttered. Hall nodded and let out a small smile, filled with malicious intent. He turned away from Arin and walked over to the glass that overlooked the capsules. He pressed his hands against the glass, standing in what was known as the Observation Deck, staring at the capsules. Each and every capsule in the first department held a human of varying ages, races, and genders  - all kidnapped and taken away from their normal lives. They were stored in the capsules that acted as incubation pods for whatever was hooked up to them. A small locked box, at the end of the capsule where the person’s feet would be, held onto a small fragment of the cube that quickly turned into a mist-like substance and funneled through a tube into the capsule, effectively entering the humans through their mouths and noses. 

“When will they be ready?”

“Another week, sir. The capsules at the back were brought in today and won’t be ready until a week after this upcoming batch.” Arin told Hall. Hall let out a deep sigh before turning around to face Arin. He walked up to Arin, who cowered under Hall’s intimidating physique. Hall began glowing, indicating a change occurring. His slicked blonde hair and black suit began radiating as well, his blue eyes popping out. Any blemishes on his skin disappeared in an instant, leaving it flawless. 

A golden outline formed around his body, as if he was being protected by a visible forcefield. The fire began emitting out from his body, reinforcing the forcefield. 

Arin violently nodded his head, taking a few steps back. He felt like he bumped into somebody, turning around to see who it was. He jumped back, surprised to see that everybody, except for Hall and him, wasn’t moving. It is as if time was stopped for them, leaving them motionless with expressions lasting an eternity.

“I want them done by next week WITH the upcoming batch. Every single one of them with no exceptions.” He declared. “Unless there’s a problem?” He smiled menacingly, scaring Arin.

Arin shook his head. “No, no, no, no, no. There’s no problem sir! I’ll get them to you in a week. Absolutely no problems here.”

Hall glared, inspecting him for a few seconds, with a face devoid of other emotions. However, he quickly washed away his anger with an obviously fake smile. The fire retreated into his body, being reabsorbed. The glowing light followed suit, disappearing without a trace.

Arin looked around, noticing that everybody was working as usual. Not a single person noticed anything. Time unfroze them.

He turned back to stare at Arin, his jaw on the floor. “What… What was that?”

Hall smiled, this one being an earnest smile. He leaned in, saying “Time Disruption. I could kill somebody and stuff their body in a trash bin without anybody ever connecting me to the murder. How could I kill somebody if I never moved from this spot?” He whispered in his ear, taking the precaution not to expose his secret to anybody else aside from Arin.

Arin’s face flushed. He held in his breath, expecting Hall to kill him here and now. He closed his eyes, expecting a sharp pain to tear through him. He waited, hated how long it was taking for the strike to arrive.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe.” Hall said, resting a hand on his shoulder. He leaned in closer, whispering, “as long as you get me what I want. Good?”

“G-G-Good!” Arin said, his voice louder than he expected. It attracted the stares of everybody in the department.

“Good.” Hall took his hand off him, heading back through the secret passageway, disappearing through it. With Hall gone, Arin slinked to the ground. 

I’m going to die. I really will die if I don’t speed everything up. I can’t, there are too many bad eggs in the batch. But… I’m going to die anyway.

***

Jarvis Aaron crossed the street to reach his neighborhood gas station. He needed a pack of cigarettes to calm his nerves after a call with his now ex-girlfriend ended as horrifically as he expected. 

She was a gold-digger who broke up with Jarvis after wanting a man who could support her lavish lifestyle, which Jarvis couldn’t do. He lost his job two weeks prior and wouldn’t receive an unemployment check for another week, crashing his bank account. His life turned upside down, leading him to indulge in alcohol and cigarettes, staying away from drugs due to his father’s overdose. Everything was crashing for this thirty-year-old with no aspirations and fewer dollars. He had nothing left, nearing the line in the sand that stopped him from committing suicide. He tiptoed towards the line.

Fortunately, however, he had two lifelines that prevented him from crossing the thin land in the sand. The first one being his dog, a husky named Roxy that he adopted off the streets several years ago, while the other is his best friend, Andy Ford, a person living a similar life to him. Andy lived in the apartment next to him.

Their apartments were nothing appealing to look at, instead, the opposite. The apartment building that the two live in was stuck in the slums, and slowly deteriorating. Its paint was peeling off and its windows were smashed in. The complex quickly became a den for drunks and drug addicts to convene in, causing more damage to the struggling building.

The individual apartments weren’t in any better shape, becoming infested with rats and other small critters. The walls were crumbling and stained with liquids nobody could identify. There were more half-walls than normal walls in the complex. 

Aside from Jarvis and Andy, the other tenants suffered similar problems that forced them to stay in the terrible conditions of the apartment complex. Many of the problems related to normal and safer housing having higher rents and taxes. With the economy in the slums non-existent and all of the jobs taken, these tenants were stuck in the slums. With a scarcity of money, nobody could afford higher rents or a bus ticket out of the slums. Everybody was stuck in the slums unless a miracle happened. And nobody ever prayed

Jarvis had no way out without any income coming in. Only his unemployment checks helped him out, and most of it went to the rent. A small percentage was for him.

He spent a small amount of cash on cigarettes, alcohol, and occasional treats for Roxy. Through thick and thin, Roxy gave Jarvis his only true feeling of love in his life. 

Jarvis cared for Roxy, ensuring that her coat was clean and she was well-fed. He truly cared for her,  albeit even though he neglected her for a short while during his time with his gold-digger girlfriend. 

However, with his girlfriend out of the picture, Jarvis paid full attention to Roxy who served as a way to escape reality for him. She helped him with the loss of his job and bad habits. She was one of his shining light pillars that helped him traverse through the darkness.

Jarvis left the gas station with a box of cigarettes, heading back to the complex. He never called it home. His home was far from here.

He came up to an alleyway that was half a block away from his apartment building. He felt something tug on his shoulder, turning around to face the dimly lit alleyway and