Ch. 8 *Zeta*Jinx and I were twins, sure, but we definitely did not think or act the same in most situations. She was the logical, organized, serious one who planned out what to do before she did it. I was more of the act now, think later type of guy. If things needed to get done, I wasn’t going to be tedious or cautious about it. I would go at it head first.There was no way I would walk up to each of these houses and ask...

Fatima snapped her head up. The intense focus on her craft blurred her eyesight. With aching fingers, she flexed and shook out her wrists to prevent cramping and any of her knuckles from locking. She pulled off her headphones and heard nothing. She rose from the chair and double-checked that nothing she did so far would be undone. With a quick glance at the clock, she noted two hours had passed.  The room was silent and s...

Chapter ThreeOpening the door and seeing who is on the other side has me in shock. I see my high school sewing teacher Mrs. Donovan and her husband. Stepping forward, Mr. Donovan takes my hand, bowing and kisses it. “Princess Lascher, what a pleasure to meet you,” He tells me stepping aside for Mrs. Donovan to greet me. “Princess Lascher,” she says with a curtsy. “I ask that you don’t call me Princess tonight, please call...

It was less than a month later that the trial of Stiles was scheduled to commence. He had been allowed to telegraph Miles Kilgore to request his assistance in finding a lawyer. Mr. Kilgore used his considerable influence to postpone the trail until one could be located.He would also break his long-standing rule about public appearances and would be there to testifyThe appointed day finally arrived. The visiting circuit co...

The Sheriff and his two Deputies along with the man called Carpenter and a Franciscan Monk named Brother Sebastian trudged up the hill to the entrance to the old Delgatto mine. The full moon provided enough light to illuminate their path, not that Carpenter and the Monk needed it, but they slowed their pace and walked behind the lawmen to give the illusion that their vision was hampered by the darkness.When they reached t...

Chris waited patiently outside the door, well trying to be patient. He tried to listen in on what was being said, but couldn't over the sound the others were making. Tommy and Jacob still argued over the TV while Steve played devil's advocate and added fuel to that fire. Andrew started to get annoyed with the bickering and tried to move away from them but only caused Leonard to harass him further. Chris didn't even bother...

Styles rode at a breakneck speed toward the old Delgatto mine because he knew that a posse was forming and would soon give chase. The mine entrance was on top of a hill and there was only one road leading up to it. From this vantage point, he could see if anyone tried to approach.He remembered seeing it when he first visited Springwood. Due to its location and the fact that the entrance faced to the East he knew it would...

The end of October was only a few days away and that meant so was the wedding of Carpenter and Holly. In Sinking Wells, the blacksmith known as Styles had just finished securing the packs on his mule."Kinda sorry to see ya go," the owner said."I have family matters that need my attention," Styles lied."If ya ever get the notion to return you will be welcome."Styles mounted his horse and the owner handed him the reins of t...

Fatima unlocked the door to her apartment complex, after having to catch two metro trains and a twenty-minute walk. She just wanted a hot shower and a good morning meal. She silently shut the door behind her and tiptoed to her room, peeking into each one to make sure the room was completely still. She snuck into her room, flopped onto her bed and pretended she was there the whole time.Five minutes later, the light flicked...

Dia jolted awake as a blood-curdling scream echoed through the house. Her immediate reaction was the boys didn't listen and decided to screw with Fatima. She bolted from her bed and threw the door open. She rushed into the main room to see Fatima holding a pocket knife chasing one of the boys. His green eyes were wide from shock and Dia only saw his sandy brown hair blur by. She took a moment to adjust to the situation, a...

Unlikely friends as they might be, a delightful light-hearted story was always how it started. The dark haired beauty Dia and the cute blonde Fatima, in what might seem to them a mere coincidence that they happened to meet in that bar that day. They would soon realize the game and their lives were about to take an extraordinary twist.Fatima downed a rather large glass of alcohol and slammed the empty glass down where it j...

Brother Sebastian headed to the rail car as fast as he dared to without giving the impression that he was running. Once inside he dug out all the chemicals that were mentioned in the ancient text along with a mortar and pestle. He set out glass containers, copper pans and alcohol lamps. He then began to blend the chemicals according to the measures provided — that was the easiest part to decipher. This formula was among t...

Ara inhaled deeply into her cigarette and then blew out the rings of smoke. It was a bad habit she couldn’t get rid of when she was human but now it didn’t matter. The surge of nicotine in her blood made her close her eyes and sigh in pleasure. In all honesty, the drug had little effect on her but she supposed it was the habit that was comforting. “This was the one thing that still felt good,” she thought. “And who do I h...

As Carpenter sat in his trance revisiting his past, Brother Sebastian was still working on the strange formula that was among Dr. Vincent's notes. Being able to move around in the daylight aided him in his research. He went to the telegraph office and sent a message to the university for some additional reference books from their massive library.The formula was written in Sanskrit as he suspected believed, but some of the...

Ch. 7 *Sakura*Morning came after seven torturous hours. I barely slept. The guest bed was insanely soft and comfortable, but I was too stressed to give it a chance. I had lied on the floor all night, bouncing back ideas as to how I would go about luring an Aejin anywhere. They were sly, manipulative, and hard to identify. They tricked you - it was hardly ever the other way around.The room was too warm for my liking, but I...