Nowhere to Run

A Thursday teaser from the new sci-fi thriller

By Elyse Salpeter

Nowhere to Run cover 74K

DAY ONE – Jon

What the hell? My skull pounded. I reached up and touched my palm to my forehead, searching for the melon-sized contusion which I was certain was there, but strangely wasn’t.

When I finally opened my eyes, the world swam before me and a wave of dizziness set in. All I saw was the intense glare of a midday sun before I slammed my eyes shut again. Lying there, listening to what sounded like waves crashing on a surf, I sucked in my breath and bolted up as I suddenly remembered what happened to me. That sudden move wasn’t a good idea and my head swam again and I turned and threw up, my face falling into the white sand I laid on.

But I remembered. I’d been kidnapped. My heart pounded. I stared down at myself. My clothes were gone, replaced with a lime green bathing trunk.

Panic settled in and another wave of dizziness consumed me. What’s wrong with me? Am I drugged? I closed my eyes and breathed deeply until I calmed down and then opened my eyes again. A blue ocean stretched out before me. I turned my head, taking in the wide expanse of unmarred, glittering white sand, rimmed by a lush tropical rainforest. Coconut and palm trees  crowded together, fanning out in every direction. I covered my vomit with beach sand then I turned, expecting to see the same view and my stomach clenched.

I wasn’t alone.

Four men lay next to me. All unconscious and all dressed in nothing but swim trunks. I crawled to the nearest man, bent down and took his pulse. It was steady and strong. I checked the other three. All alive.

My heart raced and pounded in my chest so intensely I was afraid of giving myself a myocardial infarction. That’s just a fancy term for a heart attack if you didn’t know.

I bent back down to the first guy I’d checked. He was dark-skinned and had the physique of a football lineman. I gently shook his massive shoulders and he slowly came awake.

Immediately he bolted up, his fists raised and I jumped back in case he started swinging.

I put my hands up. “It’s okay. I swear I’m not going to hurt you.”

He stood and whirled around. “Where the hell am I?” And then he swayed on his feet and fell back on his ass on the sand. He placed his hand to his head and squinted. “I’m dizzy. Am I drugged?

“Probably.”

We stared at each other for a long moment as he considered me. “You do this to me?” His hands were again balled into fists and I hoped to go he wouldn’t use them. The guy had to have had forty pounds of muscle on me. Someone definitely had drugged me. I could feel the side effects. Dizziness, nausea. Feeling like I was drunk but I knew I’d not had anything to drink.

I shook my head. “No, I got attacked in a restaurant while taking a piss and was kept locked in a cell for I think nearly a week before I ended up here.” I remembered my time in that cell clearly. A stark, dark space with only a lone lightbulb, a thin mattress on the floor, an even thinner blanket, a metal toilet and sink both attached to the floor. The small barred window on the door let in light and I only stopped screaming to let me out after someone brought me my first meal. It was the only time they spoke to me.  “Scream all you want, Jon. No one is coming,” said a voice behind the heavy door to the cell.

Nowhere to run

When survival comes at a cost…

Nowhere to Run cover 74K

In the center of the ocean lies a dark secret. Ten strangers, each with a unique gift waiting to be unleashed, find themselves stranded on a remote island. But their arrival is no accident.

Kidnapped and brought there by a shadowy organization, they are pawns in a deadly game of experimentation and manipulation. Their captors believe they possess abilities unlike any seen before, powers that could change the course of humanity and ones they can harness for their own evil purposes.

In this supernatural thriller, where the line between reality and nightmare blurs, the ten must confront their fears and fight for their lives. For on this island, nothing is as it seems, and the true enemy may be closer than they think.

Nowhere to Run is a gripping tale of suspense, romance, and superhuman abilities, where survival is the ultimate test of strength.

Elyse Salpeter

Elyse Salpeter photo

Elyse Salpeter is an author who loves mixing the real with the fantastic in her books. She likes nothing better than taking different scenarios and creating worlds where things just aren’t what they appear to be.

When she’s not writing, she’s training for triathlons and eating shock food in her Gastronaut Club. Please come on over and learn more about her at:

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