hardy boys fan fiction

NEVER DREAM OF DYING

hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction

by

Piper Merlyn

Chapter 4

hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

I felt my heartbeat slow down as I sat there in the old upholstered chair. Thank God that rickety old elevator hadn’t been as rickety as it had appeared. Apparently whoever had designed it had wanted it to only look old; they’d been smart enough to design a fail-safe in case the power cut out. The fail-safe had kicked in before the elevator cage had gone half a story down. I wasn’t sure it would hold but it did, long enough for the two of us to get out.

I made Peri pack her things and we left the Zlata Hvezda in all the craziness of the hotel employees trying to figure out what had happened. The adrenaline rush had cleared my head finally and we decided to go to the Hotel Jalta. We were in Old Town now, not far from the railway station, just off Wenceslas Square.

We were in an anonymous two-bedroom corner suite on the same floor as Artemis Thorne, but on the other end of the hotel. Peri and I sat now in the Ultramarin nightclub on nearby Ostrovni Street, as far from the loud techno music as possible, in a tiny booth on the upper level where I could see the entrance.

Peri sipped her mineral water, I savored a cold soda. We didn’t say anything, just sat there. A million things were running through my mind but this was hardly the place to spring the questions.

“He’s after you,” Peri finally said, not looking at me. She seemed entranced by the dancers nearby.

“I would have never guessed.”

Her green eyes darted to me and for just a moment, she looked eerily familiar – someone I considered a friend. “Who are you?” I asked.

“Peri Falcon.” She sounded confused now, like she thought I was losing my mind.

“What’s Peri short for?”

She ducked her head and stared at her glass. She mumbled something I didn’t catch. I cleared my throat and she gave me an embarrassed look. “Peridot.”

I arched an eyebrow. “As in the jewel?”

She nodded. “I was born in August and I had green eyes...” She shrugged and took another sip of her drink.

I finished off my soda and moved to stand up when I felt something sharp poke me in the ribs. When I looked at Peri, her green eyes were wide with shock.

“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here.”

Despite the noise and music, I recognized that low voice. I turned and let out a sigh. “Right back at you.”

I saw now the sharp point had been the corner of a book. He motioned to the booth and I sat back down. “Are you a genie in disguise?”

Felix Leiter gave me an odd look. “What? Are you okay?” He looked over at Peri. “What happened?”

“He hit his head on the steering wheel earlier.”

I looked from Felix to Peri. “Do go ahead and talk about me like I’m not here.”

“Joey, you’re not supposed to be here. And definitely not staying at the Hotel Jalta.”

“Just like the elder Thorne wasn’t supposed to be in Prague?”

Felix thumped the book onto the table and sighed. “You were going through the latest intelligence reports, weren’t you. Bearded the dragon in her den...”

I snorted. “You make it sound like I do that all the time.”

“It is a rather bad habit of yours,” said Felix, trying to sound British.

I rolled my eyes. “So...what? You had someone else set to come out here?”

Felix tilted his dark head, his brown eyes twinkling. “Her.”

I looked over at Peri. “Her?”

She shot me a glare. “Go ahead, talk about me as if I’m not here.”

I cleared my throat. “Sorry.” I looked over at Felix. “Her?” She promptly kicked me under the table. “Hey!”

Her Australian accent thickened. “You think, mate, that women are nothing but playthings. Well, you’re wrong—”

“Peri,” Felix said quietly. “Not the place or the time.”

I shoved my empty glass to one side and stared down at the table. “So if she’s MI6—”

Felix laughed softly. “She’s Interpol, Joey. She’s after Thorne for an entirely different reason. But she’s willing to be a part of our operation.”

My vision blurred and I thought for a minute, the sound had cut out to nothing more than a faint beeping or either my hearing was on the fritz. I turned to Felix but for a moment he wasn’t there. I blinked and he was back. “Felix...” I moved to stand up just as I saw him reach for me to pull me back down.

Something hit my shoulder, making it go instantly numb but it wasn’t a cold numb like ice it burned all the way through. I staggered and sat down hard in the chair, so hard I thought I heard something crack.

Vaguely, I heard Felix tell Peri to get me out of the club. Blearily, I noticed something dark leaking down my arm. And then everything faded to black.

*****

Laura sat on the bed, trying to read the paperback book Gertrude had bought for her. Gertrude was on the narrow couch, propped up with pillows, looking through an entertainment magazine. Fenton was in the one chair, looking more asleep than awake.

Frank walked in as quietly as he could, Chief Ezra Collig right behind him. Fenton straightened up and spotted Collig. “Ezra?”

“I’m glad I found you all still here. It’s best you don’t go back to the   house for a few days until we can check it out thoroughly.”

Fenton looked over at Frank. Laura scrambled off the bed, seeing the exchange. “What’s going on?”

Before Frank could answer, there was a soft tap on the door. It swung open on silent hinges. “Mr. and Mrs. Hardy? I’m Carissa Calhoun, the neurologist. Tom Millson called me.” She stepped farther into the room and smiled. She had long auburn hair in a simple braid and hazel eyes.

Frank gave his mother a puzzled look and she told him about the monitor. Carissa moved closer to the bed and studied the young man a moment. “The mind is an amazing thing, able to make the body believe anything.”

Frank looked over at her. “Dr. Calhoun, do you think he’s still playing the video game?”

“It’s possible. You said he was knocked unconscious by the surge while he was playing it. He could still think he’s involved in the game. Is he an intense player?”

“He’s been wanting to play this one since I got it the other day. It’s a new version of a James Bond game. Hasn’t even hit the shelf yet.”

The doctor smiled. “I love James Bond. Especially the last few movies.” She walked to the side of the bed and looked down at Joe. Suddenly, she frowned and touched his forehead. “His temperature is elevated and his heartbeat is sluggish.” She reached past him to hit the emergency button. “Something’s wrong here.”

Frank felt a cold chill. “Doctor, if he’s still playing the game in his mind and if he gets shot in the game...”

Carissa gave the family a worried look. “He’d think he was really shot and his body would react as if he had been.”

The nurses and Dr. Millson rushed back into the room. Millson frowned as he checked Joe’s vitals. “He was fine not two hours ago, Cari.”

“We need to do an MRI, find out what sections of the brain are still in overload, see if we can get him out of the game.”

Millson nodded. “The MRI chamber is empty this time of night. I’ll call down and have it ready to go as soon as possible.”

Laura swallowed hard. “Just...how much danger is he in? Could there be...brain damage?” she asked, worried.

Dr. Calhoun managed a smile. “I think, Mrs. Hardy, the stress on his body is the greater concern. Obviously his mind is doing just fine, very vivid imagination.”

Frank groaned. “You don’t know my brother, that’s not always a good thing with him.”

Joe muttered something but Frank couldn’t make out what it was. It had sounded like his name but he wasn’t sure. He moved to his brother’s bed. “Joe?”

Joe mumbled something else but it didn’t sound coherent. Carissa leaned down and tried to make sense of it. “Is he saying thorn?”

Frank swallowed hard and looked over at his father and the police chief. But before anyone could move, the door swung open once again.

“How convenient, all together, wrapped up and ready to dispatch.”

Fenton Hardy frowned. “Bernard Thorne.”

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