Winter’s Awakening: The
Metahumans Emerge (Winter’s Saga #1) by
Karen Luellen
Genre:
Sci-fi
Blurb:
When Dr. Margo Winter goes to work for “The
Institute,"
hoping to change lives with her research,
she is appalled to learn it is being
used to test and torture children, many of
whom have died. Seeing the three
survivors, three young children, Margo goes
rogue, stealing them away to raise
as her own. The tests done on the children
altered their DNA, turning them into
“Metahumans” complete with fast reflexes,
super strength, the ability to heal
and unmatched
intelligence.
When Margo goes missing years later, the
children embark on a journey to
reclaim their mother from the evil CEO of
“The Institute” who wants them back
to continue his plans for the perfect
race.
Begin the thrilling adventure into the
world of ‘Metahumans’ with Winter’s
Awakening, the first book in Winter’s
Saga.
Synopsis:
Twelve years ago, three small children were acquired by a
corrupt
research and development scientist, Dr.
Kenneth Williams, and used as
expendable lab rats in the testing of “The
Infinite Serum.” The serum was
designed to biologically enhance humans to
become “more than human”—to become
“Metahumans.”
Dr. Margo Pullman, a young researcher fresh
off her tour of duty as a special
ops soldier, blindly accepted a position at
The Facility to work with Dr.
Williams. Her first day there, she was
given a tour and shown the subjects she was
to study. Nothing, not West Point or
medical school, could have prepared her
for the gut maternal instinct she felt roar
through her veins. She knew she
needed to rescue the babies.
That night, she systematically destroyed
all the files that chronicled
Williams’ years of research perfecting the
Infinite formula. She wrapped the
children in blankets and stole them away
from that place—from that monster.
Now, the Infinite Serum only exists locked
in the genetic code of the three
babies curled on the floor board of her
back seat as she fled in the night.
Margo knew the dangers. She knew they would
be hunted to the ends of the earth
by Dr. Williams who now not only wants his
Infinite Serum back, but wants
revenge. He has powerful friends and
endless resources in his favor. Margo only
has her determination and faith. With the
help of a trusted friend, she changed
her name to Margo Winter and named the
children Meg, Alik and Evan.
As for the children, they lose their
innocence the moment the inevitable happens:
Williams finds them. The teens go through
gut-wrenching battles and terrifying
events all while trying to learn who and
what they really are.
They never asked to be what Williams made
of them. They never wanted to spend
their lives running. With their beloved pet
coyote, Maze, the children struggle
to survive. Will they find the courage to
stop running? Will the hunted ever
become the hunter so as to rid the world of
the pure evil?
Meg, Alik and Evan desperately try to live,
laugh, love and fight side by side
against an evil that wants to rip them apart,
piece by bloody piece.
Who will be left standing when the dust
settles?
Excerpt:
Prologue
(12 years ago)
Margo’s Beginning Location: The Institute
of Neurobiological Studies
The little girl was crying even before the
door opened. Huge droplets streamed
down her plump cheeks. Large dark eyes
widened as the man in the white coat
entered the room. She looked so small, so
helpless. Dr. Margo Pullman stood
looking into the girl’s room through a
one-way mirror. Everything in the room
looked staged, out of place and plastic,
like a bad set-up for a play. It was
supposed to look like a little girl’s
bedroom, but they couldn’t mask the true
intent—it was a laboratory. The floor was
plastic and dipped slightly toward
the center where there was a drain like the
kind found at the bottom of a
shower. The walls were bleached white and
bare. Built-in green countertops had
a series of electric outlets across the
backsplash. But that wasn’t the worst
thing about this room. The worst part was the
bed. Straps were obviously
positioned at the head and feet. Straps on
a child’s bed! Why would they need
to tie her down? Oh dear God, what were
they doing to this little girl? The
look in the little girl’s dark eyes was
tragic. She was terrified but too
exhausted to care and the combination came
across to Margo as clearly as if she
had spoken the words. “Just get it over
with. Kill me quickly so I can feel
peace.” The child knew there was no escape.
Margo’s heart broke for her, and
she ached with a pain she’d never felt.
This little girl was past hope. Even as
the child cringed into a fetal position and
let out one anguished sob, a man in
a white lab coat was poised over her with a
syringe behind his back. Margo
couldn’t watch anymore, but she knew Dr. Williams
was measuring her for a
reaction, so the young doctor pretended to
study the sign below the one-way
mirror. This little girl was called “Case
M57” according to the sign. “M”
indicated her class: Metahuman. She wasn’t
four years old yet and she had been
a test subject since she was an infant.
Margo’s stomach churned. This was just
a baby. What had they done to her?
All Margo wanted to do when she became a
doctor was help people. She focused on
research in her studies. She felt compelled
to help in the development of a
cure for neuroscience disorders like
autism. Everything she had done was theory
until two years ago when she was hired as a
researcher in the pathology lab
here at The Institute of Neurobiological
Studies (otherwise known as “The
Institute”). Margo worked herself to
exhaustion in her quest to find answers
that would someday bring hope to those who
lived with autism. The closer she
felt to a cure, the harder she would push
herself. She got noticed by the
company’s chief executive officer, Dr.
Kenneth Williams, for her “drive and
ambition.” Margo was given a promotion and
assigned to the company’s
pet-project. It was categorized “Top
Secret” so she had no idea what she was
getting into when she naively agreed to the
assignment. Now, here Dr. Pullman
was, staring at one of several “case
studies” that would be part of her new
work, and she felt like she was going to
throw up. Her stomach churned loudly
as her tour guide, Dr. Williams, continued
his sales pitch.
“And in this room you’ll see the ongoing
study of the effects on a two-year-old
male subject.” Margo was afraid to look.
Truly afraid. But she also couldn’t
stop herself. What would this little boy be
like after two years of
“treatments?” Her eyes scanned the room. At
first, she didn’t see him. Then she
saw the lumpy bundle under the bed. He was
hiding, or sleeping, or both. As Dr.
Williams continued sharing information
about “Case M61,” Margo had to look away
and concentrate on her breathing so she
wouldn’t let her panic attack show.
“And last, but not least, here is our
newest addition to the test subjects.
Case M74 is a one- week-old male. We
acquired him in a similar fashion as the
other subjects. What started as an unwanted
pregnancy now has a purpose.” The
doctor’s voice took on a strange tenor as
though he’d switched to preacher-mode
and went on to add, “Now his life will be
put to use as we perfect our work in
him. He was just given the most advanced
version of the formula an hour ago.”
Dr. Margo Pullman couldn’t stop staring at
the tiny baby lying all alone in his
industrial- looking metal crib. The company
hadn’t even gotten around to
setting up the room to look like a nursery.
It had the same design as the other
two, plastic floors with a drain in the
center. But this room looked even more
heartbreaking with dusty cardboard boxes
shoved against the opposite wall
labeled “Archives Case M1 through 24.” The
baby was crying so hard, his lips
quivered with the effort. His tiny arms
were in the open, startled position.
Every ounce of Margo’s humanity screamed in
pain for that innocent baby. She
wanted to reach in there and steal him
away. “The subjects we treat here are
expendable in the grand scheme of things.
We’ve lost dozens already and these
three cases are no more likely to survive,
but their lives will have saved
millions. The Infinite Project was named
because the possibilities are just
that, infinite!” Margo tried desperately to
contain her rage as she realized
all the years of effort she spent thinking
she would be helping children.
Instead, she was part of a machine that was
torturing and killing them! That’s
when she
snapped.
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About the
Author:
Karen grew up the only girl in the middle of two
brothers.
She adored both in their own ways,
but never really fit into their worlds.
Like her characters Alik and Evan,
the boys were very different.
If she wanted a playmate,
Karen had to gear up to go dirt-clod
fighting, be the losing team of (broken)
green army guys or brave the flimsy
bicycle ramp my older brother was focused
on.
Either that, or plan to help erect
intricate Lego architecture while hearing
the mathematical algorithms and possible
big-bang theories of what happened to
dinosaurs from her little
brother.
Needless to say, Karen suffered a
lot of skinned-up knees, elbows and even
scraped off an eyebrow or two trying to
keep up with the older brother and
probably still has a Lego embedded
in her thigh from sitting on the
floor surrounded by the teeny-tiny pieces
in her little brother’s realm.
(Oh, and did I mention she hates
math?)
Often by herself, recuperating from
her brothers’ attentions,
she created entire worlds of
make-believe and adventure with stuffed
animals and books in her bedroom.
Hours of storytelling, personally made
sound effects and character voices
entertained her to the point of utter happy
distraction. Hindsight shows
she’s been a storyteller all her life.
Thanks to her brothers,
she has a lot of stories to tell. Karen
says, ” I love you Jeremy and Field. You’re
the best brothers a girl could
have–even if you did scar me for life more
than once.”
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