Six Plus One

By Yawatta Hosby

ONE BY ONE ended with Detective Brown disgusted and traumatized over the crime scene in the woods. He wants to find justice for those poor victims and vows to keep his daughter safe from the horrors of the world.

Sequel time--SIX PLUS ONE, Detective Brown can't keep that promise. Alta and her group of friends leave Voy on a road trip to Green Bank, West Virginia. They're filming footage for their alien-centric web series.

What should be a get-in and get-out situation for the weekend turns into a deadly nightmare...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dream Snatcher Press
• Release date: Nov 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386474166

Yawatta Hosby

With a desire to escape every day life, Yawatta Hosby creates stories. She's always had a fascination with psychology, so she likes to focus on the inner-struggles within her characters. Yawatta is also an avid reader, favorite genres: mystery, thriller, horror, and women's fiction.

Book preview

Chapter One

Her right eye was swollen shut. She was covered with sweat. Her hair was matted, and her clothes were caked with mud, but it didn’t stop her from putting one foot in front of the other. No matter how wobbly her balance was.

She was weak from not eating, and her jaw was swollen. She hoped her mouth wouldn’t get infected. Her legs felt numb, so she walked with a limp, ignoring the cramps in her calves. She kept moving through the pain of the blisters on her feet, her cramps, her hunger pains, and her dry throat. She hugged herself, trying to keep her body warm. She had been walking for miles and miles along the road.

A cheap pickup truck whizzed right by her. The driver must have seen her, because the truck halted to a stop in the middle of the road. She stopped in her tracks, too. Thank, God! He’ll help me. I know he will.

The driver got out of his truck. Honey, are you okay?

Help me. She dropped to her knees. The older man ran to her rescue. He carried her to the truck and gave her water from a container. She drank as if her life depended on it.

What happened to you? Are you alone?

She nodded her head, still gulping down the liquid.

You look pretty banged up. Is there something I can do for you?

Water fell from her mouth as she said, Cops, please.

Yes, ma’am. The driver gassed the pedal.

Chapter Two

Seven Days Earlier

Lost in thought, Alta bit her nails as she watched the mountains along WV 28 through the passenger seat window. Raggedy trailers surrounded by the broken-down vehicles turned into a blur while the love of her life, Kendrick, drove at ridiculously faster speeds.

The radio blasted a Big Sean song through the speakers. Kendrick, wearing black rimmed glasses, tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in sync with the hip hop beat. He had dark chocolate skin, slicked back cornrows, and a crooked nose. Johanna, her best friend, was squished in the backseat by video equipment. Her body pressed against the door, and the sound mic poked at her thigh. She was skinny like a stick, yet had curves in the right places; best of both worlds.

Alta smiled a little when she glanced back at Johanna. Regret it yet that you didn’t ride in the other Jeep?

Johanna giggled. Never.

I’m sure Declan was pissed.

Nah, he understands. We needed to plan our segment and go over our production schedule for the weekend.

Something we didn’t even do.

Something he never needs to find out.

Alta leaned over the dashboard and glanced at the speedometer. Babe, shouldn’t you slow down?

Really? With a glint of mischief in Kendrick’s brown eyes, he smirked. It’s only us on the road. I haven’t seen anyone for the past two hours.

So? Last time I checked, animals are outside. Wanna run over a squirrel or hit a deer? Alta rolled down her window to let some chilly August air in the stuffy space. Their rented Cherokee held a smell, the kind where bleach invaded your nostrils, as if someone had cleaned blood from a crime scene.

Kendrick pressed the brake to slow down.

Johanna chuckled. There’s the Alta I love. Where have you been, girl? You’ve seemed distracted since we left your house. Get in a fight with your dad?

He’d have to pay attention to me first. No. Just thinking.

About what? Kendrick asked, squeezing Alta’s knee for a moment.

Alta’s cell phone rang. She picked it up on the second ring. Hey, Dad, what’s up?

Wanted to make sure everything’s okay. Kendrick’s following the speed limit? You guys aren’t bringing attention to yourselves, right?

We’re going to isolated woods to contact aliens. What could go wrong?

I’m serious, Alta. I don’t like you guys leaving Voy where I can keep an eye on you. Aliens aren’t what you need to be afraid of. Mentally disturbed people are.

Her dad had been trying to talk her out of this road trip ever since he found out about it six months ago. He didn’t understand why they had to visit Green Bank, West Virginia, why this area couldn’t just be discussed on her Aliens R Us web series, or why there had to be actual footage. He didn’t understand art. He was a non-believer.

Last semester at her community college, Alta had a Communications class project. She decided to broadcast a web series with the help of her college boyfriend and childhood friends. She had passed the class. Fascinated with researching aliens and UFOs, she decided to continue filming Aliens R Us, but this time with a full production schedule during the summer.

She was already hundreds of miles away from her hometown of Voy, Virginia. Nothing her dad could say or do could convince her to get her Aliens R Us crew buddies to turn around. Dad, we’ll be careful. It’s like every other footage. We’ll get in and get out.

Alta─

Her cell phone didn’t beep from the disconnected call. The loud music stopped. No static came from the radio.

Green Bank was otherwise known as the small, quiet town without Wi-Fi. Home of the Green Bank telescope, the radio satellite believed to be receiving signals from extraterrestrials in the Milky Way Galaxy. Any modern technology that could interfere was banned from the town.

She cringed, knowing she couldn’t send her dad a text to let him know everything was all right. Who was she kidding? Her dad probably wouldn’t even care, soon forgetting about her in favor of a new case, or in favor of his favorite distraction─the case from last summer.

Sighing, Alta looked at Kendrick. The engine roared, and the wind blew into the car through the window.

Johanna said, "He’s so gonna freak."

Alta wrapped her arms around herself. Yeah, probably.

Chapter Three

The local grocery store was empty except for Kendrick, his brother Eugene, and the wrinkle-faced cashier. The cashier stocked the dusty shelves. He had cans of beans to line up on display. Generic brand cereals, pancake mixes, and other foods were already on the shelves.

The brothers scanned the bulletin board of local events that hung on the puke green painted wall. A county fair. A coupon for the tourist attraction Green Bank Observatory. A book signing at the public library.

Kendrick wasn’t a believer. In fact, he didn’t think anyone in the Aliens R Us group was either, but aliens and UFOs were a popular market they wanted to tap into. It seemed like TV and movies focused on ghosts and paranormal activity. Doing something different would help them stand out. Busting out the acting skills and pretending enthusiasm was more Johanna and Alta’s responsibility, since they were in front of the camera as hosts.

Kendrick caught a glimpse of the rest of the crew through the window that hadn’t seen Windex in a century. Declan, who had a face full of freckles with ginger hair, was standing by Johanna and Alta in the parking lot.

Kendrick smiled when Johanna laughed and bumped hips with his girlfriend. Alta seemed to be in a better mood. He studied her vibrant face from a distance. She had a natural beauty. No makeup. Her long, straight black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her brown eyes always managed to pierce through him.

How could someone so wonderful be into him?

Kendrick’s heartbeat quickened as his eyes slowly shifted back to Johanna. She was more of an exotic beauty. Long wavy hair, tanned skin like she grew up on a beach, oval hazel eyes. He wondered what she saw in boring Declan, the sound guy for Aliens R Us.

Eugene, all neck and arms full of tattoos, continued scanning the board. This bulletin seems so empty. Where’s all the 1-800-Missing signs?

Stop being disrespectful. How would you like it if someone came into Voy and made fun of it?

His brother looked at him as if he had three heads, a tail, and an arm growing out of his stomach. I wouldn’t give a fuck.

Kendrick suppressed a laugh, not wanting Eugene to miss the point of don’t be disrespectful to the locals. You never knew whose help you may need. We should get Johanna and Alta in here to interview the cashier. Maybe he can give us some insight into how the locals feel about their situation. Is there a division? Some hating the fact that they aren’t allowed to listen to music or use Wi-Fi on their cellphones because of the restrictions. Some hating because they think the UFO legend is bogus. This compared to some diehard believers, thinking strangers they meet could be pod people and agree with the no Wi-Fi restrictions. No questions asked.

Eugene shrugged. "Or we can just wait until we meet Mike." He stressed the name like it was more of a question instead of a firm statement.

Grayson. The guy’s name is Grayson. Do you ever pay attention?

Why ask a question I already know the answer to? Even though Eugene was the research guy for Aliens R Us, he never knew anything about their projects.

Eugene