Gemotions

The phone rang, a jarring sound in the pre-dawn stillness. Michael, already awake, tensed. He hadn’t slept well since the biography, *Michael Harding: Code Red*, had been released. He eyed the phone, his hand hovering over the receiver.

He was expecting this. The invasion had begun.

He let it ring a few more times before answering. The voice on the other end was a stranger, asking innocuous questions, testing the waters. Michael kept his answers short, clipped, and noncommittal. The world suddenly felt like a dangerous stage. He hung up and went over to the window, scanning the street below. He checked the locks on his doors again, just in case.