Kadens Monster – Barbara Elsborg

It made Joe a little less worried about the trouble Harris could cause, particularly with what he had inside him. Even so, Joe still worried. When Joe returned to the ward, Kaden had gone and his world suddenly felt very small. Joe had never missed anyone before and it was a strange feeling, an emptiness deep inside. He hadn’t given up on reuniting with Kaden. But if it was going to happen, Joe had to walk and he had to talk.

He practised quietly, repeating words until they sounded right. He touched his thumb to each of his fingers, to his little finger and back, time after time. He kept trying until he could touch his nose with his eyes closed. He lifted his legs, bent his knees and when no one was looking, he got out of bed and with one hand on the mattress, he took a few steps around the bed. And he ate everything he was given whether he liked it or not.

He needed to get out of the hospital as soon as he could. Definitely before they came with more results from his blood test. He had no idea what they might discover. He looked human. He had human organs but his blood would take a while to become what it should be.

His clothes were in the bedside cupboard. Assuming he could walk away without anyone seeing, he’d leave tonight and take that envelope with him. OceanofPDF.com Kaden’s dad helped him into the car. “I wasn’t sure they’d let you come home.” “Begged,” Kaden managed to say. He’d been given instructions on what to avoid—fatty food, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and spicy stuff. He had medicine to cut down stomach acid and steroids to reduce inflammation. Honestly though, he already felt a lot better. His throat was no longer on fire and he was managing a few words.

Being able to speak at all felt like a miracle. He’d been scared he might never be able to talk again. “They said small, frequent meals.” His dad pulled into traffic. “And no lying down for three hours after you eat.” He paused. “I thought I’d make a mushroom risotto. That should slip down easily.” “Thank you.” Guilt pressed at Kaden’s chest. His dad hated driving into London, and he’d left work an hour early to come and get him.

As deputy head, he had a little more flexibility than other teachers. Kaden leaned against the window and closed his eyes.

Kaden’s Monster is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2026 by Barbara Elsborg Cover design by B4Jay Edited by Deco All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or transmitted in any manner without written permission from Barbara Elsborg, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For all enquiries, please contact Barbara Elsborg at [email protected] Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model. Thanks Thanks to Jo, Vic, Angela, Sarah and Rita. I really appreciate all your words of wisdom.

Author Note This story began life several years ago as a book for children, intended for my grandchildren, Jackson, Brady (who is in the story), Robin, Brecken and Kaia. Kaden was going to be 14, and on a take-your-child-to-work- with-you day, when he’d go to the biotech lab with his father. BUT the whole premise of it, you’ll see when you read, seemed too much for young children so I set it aside.

I thought about making it a Young Adult story, then New Adult and doing a time jump but it wasn’t working in my head, so I set it aside again. At the beginning of the year, I had a rethink, rewrote the first four chapters and suddenly, the story took off.

If you’re expecting or hoping for a full-blooded, loads of technical sci-fi detail, this is not the book for you. Although it is a sci-fi story, it’s very lightly that. Yes, Joe is an alien, not humanoid, quite scary looking, the story takes place on Earth and evolves into a very human drama far more than a sci-fi one. It was huge fun to write and I hope you enjoy it!

OceanofPDF.com Kaden’s Monster An alien weapon. A human mistake. An impossible bond. Kaden’s life is stretched thin between journalism, fantasy novels, stand-up comedy and ghostwriting. And an endless series of distractions while his relationship crumbles around him. Something has to change. He has to change. Then, on an assignment at his boyfriend’s biotech lab, Kaden sees something that should be impossible. A small blue blob in a tank trying to escape its pursuers.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 85a2545df38cc0e3
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,187,127 bytes (3.039 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 311
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 515.25 minutes
• Total Words: 103,049
• Total Characters: 567,171
• Average Words per Page: 331.35
• Average Characters per Page: 1823.7

Most Frequent Words

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