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...

Note: To those who are not interested in gay relationships,please, turn back now.A Vampire's LullabyMy parents raised me as a normal boy, despite being ridiculously rich. My parents always told me whether rich or poor, I was to treat everyone equally. I didn't understand at first, until I helped a homeless person who kids from my boarding school harassed. I got banged up, but I felt happy that I did something useful. I th...

CHAPTER ONEWHEN DARKNESS FALLS From the pores of skin made pink by a constant flow of blood rushing through thousands of veins like a newborn river, several droplets of salt water sprinkled onto the concrete. Sparkling beneath the bright burning sun on one of south Florida’s hottest winter days during February, the small spatters of moisture evaporated into the air as steam mere seconds after making contact with the groun...

4THE PIT BOSS When all was said and done, what mattered most was the end result. Nothing was more important than ensuring the bottom line was in her favor. Rising through the ranks of a criminal organization meant producing more profit than the next criminal. To her, this was life in its purest form. This was why she embraced an existence of villainy. Stripping away, what was to many a fabricated sense of nobility or wors...

Ch. 6 *Azaiah* The wind tugged at my hair and tied it in knots. But at this moment, I didn’t really mind. I had to make it to Treville, the filthy side of the city near the bay. Treville was the last place a “Buigel” battle had occurred, and it would be my best lead to trace the actual predators on the loose. It was never a good idea to take flight in the city in most situations, but I had panicked. As soon as I left the...

3THE PIT During his first visit through the so called underbelly of society, Kaszbein found it difficult to hold back the gagging his body demanded. Mixtures of blood and sweat combined with an assortment of animal and human feces; a retched concoction born from basic human vices. Yet now Kaszbein’s senses were fully acclimated to the atmosphere of lust and brutality. A different world pulsed with activity near the southe...

Ch. 5 *Elian* Maybe if I hadn't been raised on a planet full of outcasts, I'd be more extroverted. Public places made me uncomfortable, especially ones full of drunken humans who could get violent at any given moment. If it weren't for my mother granting me my ghost abilities, I'd be a complete loss for a son. Life would become unbearable. I gripped the door handle and pushed it forward, walking into an intoxicated awkwar...

Ch. 4 *Sakura* It wasn’t clear as to how long I was being carried. 20 minutes, Maybe half an hour? All I was focused on were the noises happening around me. Maybe if I listened close enough, I could navigate back to my apartment after breaking free. Whoever was carrying me was definitely smart in his actions. He batted the sack around as if I were just luggage being transported from one place to another. I hit many corner...

Ch. 3 *Jinx* “Zeta, you can’t just waltz into someone’s house unannounced,” I argued, my eyebrows aching from furrowing over my eyelids for so long. “It’s not like they’ll know we’re there! We do this in public buildings! What makes this any different?” Zeta inquired, looking more confused rather than annoyed. “It’s someone’s personal space! Their private property! Plus, it’s twice as dangerous. We’re likely to get caught...

Ch. 2 *Azaiah* “I know you mean well, but it just seems suspicious that you two came from the same planet and both ended up here in the same city, the same LYS building,” the commander noted, glancing over two separate documents on his desk. “Like I told you before, there’s nothing between us. It’s just like any normal human. We were born in the same place and just so happen to be heading down the same path.” I reiterated...

Sitting here late at night and half asleep I seem to hear a voice calling me, as I listen and wonder if it is only in my mind or is it coming from someone I failed in some way or merely left behind? To sort it all out I let all of the good and bad guys I have been along with the demons and angels who defeated them come together in me now as I greet them like a cast that’s been assembled like a gathering in an empty room o...

Ch 1 *Sakura* Despite the air biting at everything in its path, I liked it. The cold fueled me, and with Buigels on the rise, I really did need some extra energy. Earth was tiring, and its oxygen levels were way too high. I didn’t quite comprehend how, since every ape liked to abuse their surroundings with their garbage food production and transportation waste. They really were useless creatures. At least most of them wer...

Sun down, yellow moon rising as night spreads it’s cloak across the skies and some nights find you tossing and turning, not unlike a ship underway in rough seas. And as you lie there waiting for sleep to take you across the blue hills at the border of the dreaming, and then to those great dark gates made of horn and iron that stand as the entrance to the realm within and are guarded by a gryphon and a wyvern,- And as you...

“Your kind ain't welcome here, boy!” The man yelled as the sawed-off thundered it's deadly symphony. The dual one ounce slugs mushroomed into the young man's chest and sent him to the ground with a thump. Flesh congealing whole, body transmogrifying. The creatures clothes stretched and tore in multiple places. A blood curdling howl escaping wildly. Twelve gauge shells fell clumsily. The man took several steps backward and...

This one was an idea I have toyed with,- And was triggered after reading a short story about the concept, As well as Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s version of Dante’s Inferno, Which kind of set the things in motion you see here as an idea come to life. Standing here on my own in the district or quarter known as Saint Cecile, knowing that only ashes remain after one passes through those purifying fire(s) that consume al...