ShadowZone

By: Annie Anston

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

A shadow can be deceptive, make you look bigger than you really are, then be gone in a flash. ShadowZone is an underground, internet-based, utopian village of idealistic, but amoral millennials. They want to make the world a better place, a better place for them that is, and to do so on their terms. Starting out as a smartphone app to facilitate activities ranging from flash mobs to more nefarious ones such as assassinations, it evolves into a nationwide crime syndicate of shadowy, phantom-like gangs run by a mysterious leader known only as The Wizard. Their site:..... We are a conglomerate of elusive shadows, an internet village of proud American millennials wanting to protest the death of the Middle Class and organized into cells of six called teams, three females and three males. If you join us, your reward will be money, power and sex. Your potential penalty is harsh but simple, death. During a probationary period of ninety days, you may walk away at any time. After that, each team is considered a marriage of six, with a vow of commitment taken. We go on missions ranging from flash mobs to robbing banks and worse. One-third of any take goes to ShadowZone, the rest is divided up between the teams. There is an annual profit-sharing bonus. The penalty for attempting to cheat us is death. If caught in the act of committing a crime, you will be provided with an attorney at our expense. If you reveal information about us to the authorities, we can get to you. The penalty is death. * * * Excerpts: All five stared as I began unbuttoning my blouse. I was undressing in front of five fully-clothed people, three of whom I barely knew. It felt awkward. Yeah, okay I admit it, it felt exciting, too. I took it slow. No one seemed to mind. * * * Some guy named Brian who lived on the other side of the city had been sharing too much information with the authorities. No hit squads yet. We were told to take him out, and not on a date. Wizard provided us with three Assassin Model Glocks and silencers. It was exciting. Who would do it? Zack assigned the deed to us three girls. The adrenaline flowed. * * * The detective awoke a half-hour later to an unpleasant situation, her cuffs now binding her own hands, her mouth duct taped. We had a new toy. * * * ...there's the drug trafficking, the loan sharking, the sex trade, the black market for body organs, the most financially rewarding human trafficking and my favorite, the assassinations. Get some experience with each, see which one tickles your fancy, scratches you where you itch.” * * * The mysterious Wizard shifted from the intimidating voice of an adult male and became the image of a five-year-old girl. “I am The Wizard, ruler of ShadowZone. I may look like a little girl....” Her hand reached out of view and returned with an assassin model Glock and its silencer. It was the one I had used for my first kill. She continued, “...sweet and innocent...” then began attaching the sound suppressor to the gun barrel. She shook her finger at the lens as she took aim at the camera, “but don't fuck with me.” * * * They dragged me down to a basement where I joined several other girls. We waited in the dark, wondering how bad it would be. An hour later we were joined by a forth girl and lined up for inspection. They were an ethnically diverse group, their leader a large black man. He directed his minions to start ripping off our clothes, everything but our underwear. “You ladies are now the property of The ShadowZone Wizard,” he announced. - - - Annie writes tales for the sexually liberated, often bisexual in nature, at times absurd or sophomoric. Some are of those who abuse positions of authority, subjecting subordinates to humiliation, embarrassment, and degradation. Others are about abductions with elements of domination and submission.