Character Crossover

By: autheras

Hi guys! I'm Ann, or @autheras, and you may know me by High School Hit List. The following is a little crossover in which characters from my various novels meet. It can be read with no prior knowledge and contains traces of the future regarding four of my books, so consider it both an introduction and a teaser! Enjoy x

INTRODUCTIONS

Meet Chloe and William - High School Hit List

Chloe Whittaker and William Bishop came to be in High School Hit List and After Arlington. Years later, both are found rushing through a hospital, soon to meet William's newborn nephew.

Meet Valerie and Logan - Not Another Summer Love Story

Valerie O'Conner and Logan Mathews live in Sandy Cove on the Western Coast of Australia, where they were two points of a love triangle in Not Another Summer Love Story. When their small group of friends insists on taking a reunion in the form of exploring the US, recklessness results in turmoil. Or rather, following the trend of flipping glass bottles ends badly.

Meet Aspen - Awake

Aspen is the main character of Awake, a darker mystery/thriller about mind control and a desperate heroine. After her short time at New West Brighton University, she's been deported to a facility out of the country, for both her safety and the safety of those around her.

Meet Camille - The Heartbreak Club

After finishing her schooling, Camille is a trainee nurse in placement, escorting patients to and from their appointments and stifling her eye-rolls where possible. When she's trapped in proximity with her most feared patient, her short fuse is tested.

THE ELEVATOR

It was the sudden jolt that caused Chloe Whittaker to fall into William's arms, not the warm smile that was plastered on his face, nor the nervous twitch in his temple. At first, she hadn't thought much of the rattling noise blasting an enforced silence throughout the lift, muffling the conversations of the strangers around her.

But, maybe she should have thought a little more into it. Because, just as they passed the second floor—mid-way along their journey of ascending to four, five, and seven of the enormous hospital—it happened. With a shudder and a groan, the lift plunged into an almost-darkness, emergency lighting seeping through thin slats.

"What the—" the young nurse in the corner squeaked, her knuckles tightening around the handles of the wheelchair before her.

Besides Chloe, William stiffened, his fingers finding hers and clasping around them tightly. "Looks like there's a problem."

"Shit," the nurse continued, looking from the patient in the chair before her to where William had spoken. In the wheelchair was a girl around Chloe's age, her shoulders bony and her clean-shaven head bowed.

"Is there an emergency telephone or something?" An accented voice said from the side. There were six of them in total, a few shy of the ten people elevator capacity.

"Oh my God, are you Australian?" the nurse asked, raking her gaze up and down the tall blonde boy. Chloe noticed a flirtatious glint sparkle in his eyes, even in the dimmed lighting.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, giving her a wink.

"Logan," the girl beside him scolded, slapping him on the forearm. Chloe could easily tell that she too was Australian. "Now's not the time for being a jerk. You've literally almost severed your finger off and here you are flirting."

Logan only looked amused. "Right, Vally, because injuring my finger is really going to affect my ability to—"

The sound of the phone being pulled from its nook broke his sentence. Besides Chloe, Will had managed to locate the emergency telephone.

"Hello? Hello, yes. The elevator. It's not moving."

Chloe watched skeptically as his fingers fidgeted with the cord connecting it to the wall. He was nervous enough today already—nervous with excitement—the last thing he needed was to be delayed further.

"Are they coming to fix it?" the nurse asked with hinted exasperation.

Will ignored her, or perhaps didn't hear her at all as he processed whatever information was streaming through the speaker. His eyes swept over the people around him as he fed more information to the call's recipient. "There's six of us."

Moments more passed, and Chloe held her breath in hope that they'd be moving again in seconds.

"It looks to be a computer malfunction," he said finally, his words slow. "They've detected a fault, but we're stuck between floors."

"So we're trapped?" the Australian girl asked.

He nodded, then turned

Chloe watched carefully as Will's facial expression changed, his brows arched and his lower lip taken between his teeth.

"They can't estimate the time it will take to fix it. They're getting a crew in now, apparently. They'll call through with information."

"Great," the nurse said, eyeing her patient again. "Last time this happened it took three hours."

"Three hours?" the Australian girl asked doubtfully.

"I guess we better get to know each other then," the boy, Logan, said, his eyes trailing down the body of the nurse.

"I'm Camille," she said quickly, basking in his attention. Her uniform was very deliberately tight at her chest, and she adjusted her posture to show off her more noteworthy assets.

"Look, we really don't need to—"

"This is Vally," Logan said, interrupting the girl.

"My name's Valerie," she said, eyeing him darkly.

Camille barely spared her a glance as her eyes wandered to Will. Instinctively, Chloe stiffened. She knew that hungry look, she'd seen it on so many girls, and she'd especially seen it used on him.

"I'm Chloe," she said through clenched teeth. "And this is my boyfriend, Will."

She'd never thought of herself as the jealous type until she'd slowly learned that she wasn't the only girl who found William Bishop completely breathtaking. It wasn't that she thought he'd ever cheat on her, or that she didn't trust him. It was insecurity. Why would he keep his eyes on her when the most beautiful girls in the room had theirs trained on him?

"And who's that?" Logan asked, nodding to the girl in the wheelchair in the middle of them.

Camille stiffened. "Aspen. She's already ten minutes late for her psychiatric appointment."

Everyone seemed to tense, maybe because they knew they were trapped between floors with a mental patient, or maybe because the girl shuddered, her bony shoulders shaking in the cold.

"She's mute. Rumor has it that she hasn't spoken a word in five years."

Chloe tried to look away, her attention instead landing on Aspen's bony knees which were covered in a white wrinkled hospital gown.

"Creepy," Logan said.

"Not as creepy as this elevator. I swear it's haunted, every damn time I take number three something happens," Camille said under her breath, her eyes darting down to Aspen, as if she were somehow to blame.

William let out a sigh, looking to his watch. "We're going to miss her. Sarah specifically said—"

"Will," Chloe interrupted softly, finding his hand again and rubbing her thumb over his. "Stop stressing out. Sarah and the baby will still be there waiting."

He let out a long sigh, squeezing her hand back.

"A baby?" Camille asked nosily, leaning her elbows against the wheelchair, as if bored.

"My nephew," Will calmly explained.

"Congratulations!" she said. Then she looked between them. "So you guys are here to be all sappy over a newborn, I'm escorting the psycho to her session, what are you two doing here?"

She peered over to the Australians, and Chloe couldn't help her own curiosity.

"Should you be calling her that?" Logan asked, dodging the question. "Seems a little mean."

Camille held up her hand in a careless gesture. "I've been minding her since I started here, she doesn't react to anything."

"Stop avoiding the question, Logan," Valerie said from beside him, shooting him a taunting look before turning to the others. "He thought it would be a brilliant idea to try and flip a glass bottle from the balcony of his hotel room to the balcony of ours. While trying to find his optimal balance he slipped. The bottle smashed and cut his finger."

"Wow," Camille said with raised brows. "Impressive."

Now Chloe noticed the bandage wrapped thickly across his hand, and smirked a little at the sight.

"For the record, the balcony was covered in ice." He shot Valerie a pointed look. "We don't exactly have that problem in Australia."

"And luckily," Valerie continued, her brown eyes narrowing further in sarcasm. "One of us was sober enough to drive the rental car to the hospital."

"Hey, your boyfriend was the worst of us. He was the one recording it all."

Valerie rolled her eyes and Camille let out a deep sigh, slumping against the cold metal wall of the elevator.

"Anyway." Valerie waved off her bickering with Logan. "We're here by accident. Our flight was delayed."

"And now you're trapped in an elevator," Camille mused.

Chloe was slowly tuning out their discussion, her eyes focussed on the wheelchair-bound girl. She hadn't raised her head, and Chloe had to look closely to notice she was even breathing, her shoulders rising ever so slightly at irregular intervals. It was almost haunting, the way her frail frame seemed so unbalanced.

"I should text Sarah," Will muttered. Chloe hadn't even sensed him becoming annoyed, but now she could hear it in his voice. It had been a battle to fight through the traffic and make it in time, and they'd already missed his parents visiting. A quick glance at her watch revealed there was almost an hour left of visiting hours.

Just as William had unlocked his phone to message his sister—the screen illuminating the small space—the telephone rang from the wall, loud and shrill. Chloe noticed Aspen flinch at the sound.

"Hello?" Will answered impatiently. All eyes were on him as he furrowed his brows. "An hour? You won't have technicians for another hour?"

There was a long pause, and everyone seemed to hold their breaths. They all had places to be, people to see, and here they were trapped with barely enough space to move with the wheelchair maneuvered between them.

"Visiting hours will be over by then," Will pointed out through gritted teeth.

Chloe grabbed his hand instinctively, as if there was an ingrained need within her to sooth his tension.

"We should have taken the stairs," Logan muttered under his breath to Valerie beside him. "If you weren't complaining about your stupid shoes maybe we'd—"

"Hey," she hissed. "You were the one saying your finger was throbbing and you couldn't—"

"Yes, yes. I understand that. There's nothing you can do. But isn't there an emergency exit or something?" William asked, oblivious to the bickering beside him. It seemed like Logan and Valerie bickered a lot.

"Let me talk to them," Logan said, stepping forward to take the phone.

"No, Logan, stop being an idiot," Valerie snapped in return, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"We have a procedure for this," Camille said. "I can't remember it but I'm supposed to know what to do."

"Helpful," Chloe muttered. She didn't mean for there to be venom in her voice, but with Camille's attitude, she couldn't help it. Her eyes wandered down to Aspen beneath her, and a wave of sympathy passed over her. To be vulnerable and stuck with Camille must be awful.

As if somehow sensing Chloe's eyes on her, Aspen's head lifted, her gaze piercing into Chloe's with such intensity that she took a step backwards, hitting the wall. Aspen was striking, her frail appearance so powerful it stole Chloe's breath.

Beneath the sharp bones of her chin was something Chloe couldn't help but stare at once she'd tugged her eyes away from her eyes. Across her neck was a jagged purple scar, as if someone had tried to slit Aspen's throat.

Chloe held back a grimace and looked away, red heating her cheeks. She felt ashamed at her reaction, she had no idea what Aspen had been through with her strikingly pale complexion, haunted gray eyes, and bowed, bald head. She shouldn't be afraid. It was rude.

Will's hand squeezed hers. She hadn't even realized he'd been holding onto her still, and she gently tugged it away. The phone call had ended. Actually, it was as if a lot of time had passed since she'd locked eyes with Aspen. More than was quite possible.

"Anyway, it's not like American football. In fact, there's hardly anything in common apart from the shape of the ball."

"And you think it's rougher? Even though you don't even wear protective gear?"

"Mate. You have to see the game to understand," Logan said, his voice oddly distant, as if sounding through a muffled speaker.

And then, as if she was begging for Chloe's attention, Camille met her gaze. She felt zoned out and almost dizzy, frowning at the strawberry blonde nurse.

"She does that a lot," Camille whispered, low enough that the others wouldn't hear. "I try not to look her in the eye."

As if nothing had happened, Aspen's head was bowed again, her features almost in mourning. Even so, her image was burning in Chloe's mind, her impact ingrained within her to the finest detail.

"You okay?" Will murmured from beside her, his eyes searching hers for any signs of turmoil. Even in the light she could see the forest green glinting within them, and the color almost felt like home.

"I'm fine," she said, hugging her arms to her chest. "Just disoriented. How much longer?"

William looked to his watch then back to her. "Any minute now."

"What?" Chloe was sure it had only been five minutes since the phone call. Surely the stare of a mental patient wasn't enough to render her so confused. It must have been the confined space, maybe even the fact that she hadn't had her morning coffee.

"It's been almost an hour and fifteen. You sure you're okay?"

Chloe nodded briskly, looking anywhere but at the wheelchair in front of her. She looked to Logan and Valerie, both harboring sun-kissed skin and hidden humor at their accidental hospital visit. Then to Camille, the impatient nurse who seemed to know much more than she was letting on.

And then Aspen. The girl who somehow threw Chloe off, in more ways than just by her striking appearance.

Chloe shook her head, shaking the image from her mind. It was just fatigue. She'd go home and rest.

And, as if on cue, light flooded through the elevator as systems seemingly returned to normal, temporarily blinding her as the floor beneath them shuddered.

"Finally," Camille whined, tapping her foot impatiently as they moved upwards.

"We'll have to come back to visit tomorrow," William said with a sigh. "Next time we're taking the stairs."

"It was nice to meet you guys," Valerie said as Logan reached out to fist-bump William in some bro-like gesture.

"You too. Enjoy the rest of your travels," Will replied. Polite as always.

"Logan," Camille said, a not-so-hidden grin playing on her features. "If you want to catch up why you're still around..."

She fished a cellphone from her pocket and shoved it into his hands. His smile was wide, and beside him, Valerie looked disgusted.

"This will not help his ego," she muttered under her breath.

And with a final wave, the six of them parted in groups of two as soon as the elevator doors opened to freedom. None of them were going to risk traveling up another few floors, and all of them had things to do. Different agendas. Different purposes.

"I'm sorry you couldn't meet him," Chloe said as they winded their way back to the ground floor in defeat.

"Next time," Will said, looking over his shoulder to give her a smile. "I'm just going to pretend that everything has a purpose, you know? A reason. I mean, those people all seemed really cool. Sarah will still be there tomorrow."

"True," Chloe said, visualising the image of Will meeting his baby nephew, even if was only from afar for now. He was too premature to be held.

Will had always been good with kids, and some part of Chloe swooned over the idea of him lighting up with joy at the new purpose of being an uncle. But, even with such a heart-warming image, she screwed up her nose a little. "I could have probably gone without meeting Camille, though."

"Also true," Will said, and Chloe swelled a little with happiness at his response. Even if it was just for her sake, it was nice to know.

Even with their newly found freedom, Aspen was still heavy in Chloe's mind. She wanted to know her story, wanted to understand her somehow. It was strange, the fascination that could stem from just one glance. But the cloud surrounding it made her confused, and she shook off the fear nibbling at the corner of her mind at the thought.

She had Will captive at the hotel for another night before they returned home to the small house they'd just signed the lease on. She shouldn't be worrying about anything other than Maddy forgetting to feed their cat while they were gone.

"Pizza for dinner?" he asked as they exited into the carpark, icy air hitting their faces.

"Sounds good to me," Chloe agreed. It would be easy to wipe from her mind. Especially with William there to keep her occupied.

After all, the whole afternoon was nothing but a strange coincidence.

***********

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