October Release

It’s been about half a year since I last made a post. But I’m a writer, so inevitably I always end up on this blog. That’s mainly due to me releasing or in the process of publishing a novel. Earlier this year a friend inspired me to finish one of my favorite projects originally named, Love Bleeds Red but has now been rewritten as, Pretty Monsters.

The story is about a girl who was cursed by a demon two centuries before the story takes place. The curse gives her immortality in exchange for her humanity. She can never die but every living thing she encounters will fear and either run away or attack her. So for two hundred years she suffers loneliness, persecution and isolation. It seems her life will be an eternity of darkness until she meets a boy who for some reason is immune to the effects of her curse. He falls for her instantly and despite her strongest efforts she can’t seem to push him away so he can’t discover her dark secret. As she lets him in she has to keep him from getting hurt from the darkness inside of her.

This story has a lot of supernatural elements along with action and romance. I got inspiration from Harry Potter while writing the story over and over. I wanted it to have a magical and out of this world sort of feel to it. Then I added horrific elements to make it out to be a somewhat romantic and dark fairy tale. I tried to include a lot of mythical creatures (no spoilers) some already known and others I made on my own. Pretty Monsters has been requested over and over from people who either know me personally or have had a class with me and heard about the story. I’ve finished its final draft and now it’s in the revision and editing stage. I plan to release it on Halloween because what a better time to release a horror themed story on Halloween?

Aside from the story writing I’ve been up to quite a lot this year. I’m finishing up my final semester at Ivy Tech before I transfer to university. From there I plan to major in Journalism and pursue a career in reporting. I have thoughts about going back to school sometime later to become a detective. It all depends on where I’m at in life in about 4 years.

That’s it for my update. I felt like blogging today. It’s been on my mind for a while. I’ve been getting weekly views for some reason and can’t figure out from who or why. But it’s brought me back. I plan to start blogging every other day or weekly.

 

 

Day 30 out of 30. Blog Challenge is OVER!

30 days ago I set a goal to post on my blog for 30 days straight. The plan was to get me used to blogging again so that I can bring my blog back to life. At first I was a little lazy with this but after a friend scolded me about not posting I dove deep into this. I’m pretty proud with my dedication. For the most part I posted alot of stories that I’ve been working on. Now I’m going to start focusing this blog on my graphic novel and spreading inspiration..

Here’s my final story share. I’ll post more monthly.

Iris by T. Edward Redd

Green

My family was made of ten people including myself. There’s the twins, Julie and Elain, Me, Astrid, Rosary, Bridgette, Olivie, Oceana, little Violet and of course my mother, Catherine. My mother was a beautiful woman in her late thirties. She had long brown hair and her eyes were emerald green like mine.

She loved gardening and took care of her lovely and spacious home. It lied on the outskirts of New York. Far enough to not be disturbed or cause trouble to humans. But close enough to watch over them. It was in a very secluded area surrounded by lovely green plants and trees. Early in the day my mother would always be found in the kitchen making breakfast for me and my sisters.

The twins were the oldest of the siblings. They were twenty and usually wore these matching outfits, which were usually blouses with jeans or skirts. They were those cliché type of twins, being identical and doing practically everything together. They ever said phrases and did expressions likes sighs and huffs at the same time. They were really good with magic, smarts and usually watched over me and my sisters when Mother was away.

Astrid was two years younger than me. She was a petite girl with straight and black hair similar to mine. Hers was shoulder length though. She also had green eyes but unlike me her face was patterned with tan and brown freckles. Typically, Astrid wore black and white short-sleeved shirts with black pants. Her hands were always stained with paint from her daily passion for painting.

Rosary was a year younger than me and annoyingly reminded me a lot of myself. She was very sarcastic, playful and stubborn. She had habits of picking on the siblings too. She wasn’t all bad though. She was loving, strong and confident just like me. But her taste in outfits reminded me nothing of myself. She wore red shirts with brown or black pants. She also had freckles and brown hair cut in a bowl shaped sort of way. She usually wore ponytails on each side of her head.

Olivie was my fraternal twin. We look exactly the same for the most part. She got my father’s eyes which were a bluish silver. She always loves to remind me that she’s the oldest (by two hours) but far from the most mature. She loved to break curfew, avoids chores and even breaks certain rules our kinds must obey. But she isn’t completely bad. She has a pretty kind and protective heart, she makes us laugh and she’s one of us.

Bridgette was probably the most polite out of us all. She was three years younger than me but very obedient, polite and well mannered. Her hair was long, brown and curly like Mother’s. She usually wore her ponytail to the side. She always dressed in an elegant manner, typically wearing dress shirts with dress pants or dresses.

 

Oceana was what most people would call the odd child of the family. She stuck out like a sore thumb. She dressed pretty nicely, favoring black and white striped shirts like Astrid. But she liked to wear black skirts instead of pants. When she was six she accidentally permanently turned her hair by playing with magic. She’s very gifted in sorcery and very intelligent. She was only fourteen.

And lastly there’s our adorable little Violet. At only age four she was already transforming and realizing her gifts. Mother considered her the most prominent Green to realize her gifts in several generations. She was the youngest to ever transform. Bridgette or Mother were the ones who usually dressed her so she always wore dresses with stocking. Her hair was long and black and her eyes were like our dad’s. She was very adorable which she always used to her advantage. Whenever Mother wasn’t around Violet was always getting into trouble and winning Mother over with her charm when caught.

So that’s my family. We usually kept a low profile and things were pretty laid back at home. Even though we were so different we never attracted danger. Unlike the filthy leech. She really was like some tornado. She had been gone for almost two years and yet I was still cleaning the destruction she left behind. The barn outside our home had become the place I spent my time the most after she left.

Our land was pretty big. Aside from the home we had a garden and a barn. We raised livestock for money. I actually didn’t like animals too much. But the barn was the only place I could put the statue. Mother wouldn’t let me put it in her beautiful garden and I was afraid the siblings would break it if it were inside. Plus being outside gave me privacy with him. Oceana was usually out there with me but she was quiet for the most part, just studying her magic and spells quietly.

For the hundredth time I watched a bird land on the statue’s head. I didn’t bother shooing it that time. Part of me was losing hope. A year ago that statue was a person, my best friend. Then he fell in love with a demon who led an immortal gorgon here. She got him petrified and left him without even trying to revive him. She turned herself in. The day played through my mind as if it had happened the day before.

Sometimes I wondered how Samantha Black was doing. The last time I saw her she said something about being taken into solitude. By getting Thomas killed she committed a horrible and unforgivable crime amongst her kind. Every time I thought about her I hated myself for missing her. She was the one who got him into this mess yet she was all I had left of him. I tried to save her but she didn’t let me.

I looked at my mobile phone again. I was waiting for her to contact me again. But she hadn’t called or even messaged me. As usual she was running late. As my ears picked up pecking noises I nearly screamed. The bird was pecking at the statue’s head. We had been working on reviving him for a year and we were on the verge of a breakthrough. I couldn’t afford to let the statue get harmed in anyway.

“Shoo! Shoo!” I shouted. I ran and swatted at it. It flew away for a brief moment. But as soon as I walked away it landed on the statue again and squawked at me.

“Do you want me to rip you in two featherhead? Get off!” I shouted. It just kept squawking as I yelled at it. Suddenly a blue light struck the bird. It quickly fled away as smoke and feathers fell from its body.

Oceana held a wand in her hand as she jumped up and down. She said, “I got it! I got it! Caroline did you see?”

I said, “You nearly blew his head off, Oceana! Go practice your magic somewhere else!” I went back to the workbench and looked at my phone again. I huffed and said, “Where is she? She’s never on time!”

Oceana sat beside me. She said, “You mean that half-blood? It’s so weird that she’s helping you like this. They don’t like our kind. I always thought they hated us.”

I said, “She had a change of heart when she found out Samantha wasn’t a pure blooded demon. She feels guilty so she’s trying to revive Thomas. I don’t particularly like her but she’s the best chance I have with reviving him.”

Oceana got up and walked to the statue. She held her had to her chin and observed it like she was some lab expert.

She said, “Hm. No one’s ever revived the petrified before. And spirit children are against dark arts. How are you two going to revive him?”

I ignored her annoying skepticism. I was already down on luck and my hope in seeing him breathe again kept dimming. Why? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about Samantha Black? Every time I shut my eyes I saw her watching me with that ugly blank gaze. Part of me felt I had a better chance of reviving him if she had stayed and worked with me. I was working with the girl responsible for getting Samantha sent to Hell then captured by demon hunters.

Out of nowhere the earth around us started shaking violently. I looked towards the grassland in front of me as a bolt of red and orange light fired from the ground. Ghoulish cries of terror and mourn erupted from the fiery pits of Hell as an old wooden gate rose from the ground. I stood up as the portal opened.

A girl raced out while she carried a huge sword over her back. She was wearing white robes with white dress boots. As she ran out of the portal a gigantic hand reached out for her.

A monstrous voice shouted, “Ye shall not escape.” It’s hand casted a huge shadow over her. She rolled her eyes as she stopped running and let out an annoyed sigh.

She said, “What a sore loser.” She took her sword with both hands and turned to the hand. She swung it and shouted, “BANISHMENT!” Immediately a blaze of yellow energy rippled from the sword and engulfed the demon’s hand. It cried in pain as the hand started incinerating away. She threw the sword into the air and clapped her hands together. As soon as her hands clapped the Hell Gate blew into thousands of pieces. The area was left clean as if nothing had ever happened.

She held her hand up to catch the sword. She turned to me and waved saying, “Sorry I’m late. It’s easy to lose track of time down there. Did you know time doesn’t exist in soul realms?”

I did know. But only because she told me every time I saw her. Oceana was still nervous whenever she came around. She quickly got beside me as she walked our way.

She said, “Wow. She’s so strong. Did you see the size of that thing? She blew it away like it was nothing. Caroline she’s not safe to be around. What if she decides to kill us or worse?”

I said, “We’re not pure blooded demons. She can’t attack us without being told to. Just relax.”

We watched the spirit child walk towards us. She was covered in scrapes and blood. From fighting demons I presume. Her robes were spotless though. They acted as armor against demon magic and physical attacks. It was weightless and looked like cotton but it was extremely durable. Only the strongest creatures could damage it. But her skin wasn’t as durable. It looked like she got knocked around a few times.

But as usual she showed no signs of pain. She smiled as she put her sword over her shoulder. She said, “Caroline. How are you?”

I said, “I’m fine. You look like you’ve seen better days.”

She looked at her wounds saying, “Oh these? I’m fine. They’ll all be closed up within the hour. I want to show you what I got down there.”

She had a bag over her shoulder. She knelt down and started digging through it. Finally she took out this jar with pink fluid in it. It looked slimy, bubbly and disgusting. It was like mucus or something. She was smiling like she had a trophy in her hands.

She said, “This is imp blood mixed with gorgon venom. I had to go across plains to get the latter’s.”

Oceana said, “You mean like realms? How do you travel back and forth like that? I mean it kind of looks cool.”

She said, “Oh that? It’s easy actually. You just need to know the incantation and…”

“Christine focus!” I said impatiently. “You’re already late and you’re not teaching my little sister how to open those gates. How are we brining back, Thomas?”

Bits From a Short Story

I slept for about an hour until I was disturbed. I heard someone shuffling through clothing or something as they muttered in some foreign language. My first thought was my luggage was being ransacked. I sat up fast and said, “Hey!” I guess I was trying to scare him and I did. It was this tan guy around 5’7ish with black hair cut in a bowl cut fashion. He was dressed up in a white polo, brown khakis, brown shoes and glasses. As preppy as it gets.

As soon as I sat up and shouted the poor guy jumped backwards and fell on his rear. He wasn’t anywhere near my bags. He was going through bags I didn’t see before. His bags. It was my roommate.

I said, “I thought you were going through my things. Sorry about that.”

He laughed and said, “No worries. I probably woke you with all of my noise. Sorry. I can not seem to find my book.” He started going through his bags. His English was perfect. Too perfect. It was easy to tell he wasn’t American.

“Hey,” I said. “What language was that?”

“Chinese. Ah. Found it.” He took it out with both hands. It was a book with all of these blue birds on it above an ocean.

I said, “That doesn’t look like a textbook. What book is that?”

“Blue Owl by Timothy Derr. It’s about a boy who has this obsession with birds. He loved how they could literally touch the skies, not being bound to the earth. It was about chasing your dreams.”

That’s when he instantly became my friend. I got along pretty well with readers for obvious reasons. I sat up, repeatedly glancing at my bags with the books in it. My books. He had no clue I was an author and it gave me a thrill. He held up five fingers telling me how many times he had read Blue Owl. Then he went on to tell me how it was about a man who lost his homeland beneath an ocean after a hurricane crushed it. That man later went into creating a 5 star restaurant and making millions.

He gave me the book and introduced himself. He said, “Jean Zhang. Freshman and soon to be biochemistry major.”

I shook his hand. “Ryan Hansel Reeds. Freshman. I want to major in education and English.”

“Why both,” he asked.

That’s when I grinned and dug into my bag. I pulled out my book and handed him a copy. I said, “I have an obsession with writing. Getting an English degree will make me better at it. I also want to teach elementary school.”

“Love’s Lullaby,” he said. “I like aliens, man. So you want to become an author and a teacher?”

He didn’t look at the author name. I always hated when people didn’t catch on. It’s not that I was narcissistic. But it was a pretty HUGE accomplishment. How many people can say they published a book at 18? Not many. I pointed to the author name for him then myself.

“No sir. I am an author. I just became one last year,” I said.

Then his eyes almost fell from his head. He stared at the book then me, then the book then me again. It was hilarious. His mouth kept dropping slowly until he muttered, “You,” maybe a dozen times.

I shook my head. “Yes. I am R.H Reeds.”

He said, “No way. That’s awesome, man! Congratulations. What’s it like to be an author and have people read this? You have to let me have it. I’ll read it tonight and everything. Here sign it!” He got a pen from his pocket and handed me the book. After I signed it he said, “Dude. Can you come to the main campus with me? I have to get my class schedule and you can meet my friends.”

“I need to get my schedule too and I love meeting people.” I let out this heavy breath. I thanked my mom in my mind over a thousand times. My journey finally took a light turn to a clear. Jean gave me a thumbs up and nodded. Then we left the dorms, went down the elevator and towards the main campus.

We had to walk out of the building and walk across campus. Jean didn’t seem to mind the long walk. Neither did I. It gave me the chance to admire the campus. I couldn’t get over all of the green grass. I was so used to seeing pavement walkways. I hadn’t been happier. I hadn’t seen a single skyscraper or overly huge shopping malls since I made it to Canson City. They had shopping centers, movies and other city attraction. But it was very, VERY watered down.

So I was having a good time. I made a friend and we were on our way to meet more friends. Nothing couldn’t have made that day better. Or could it? We walked into this building that was about the size of an office building. The inside had the same theme as the dorm did but with way more space. It wasn’t a surprise that a line was already formed. But luckily we were only behind five people. All of the students got me excited.

I couldn’t stop looking for Stacy though. There were a lot of girls and pretty much all of them looked amazing. A group of brunettes walk past me and that’s when my life changed. One of the girls glanced at me as she walked past me. When she smiled I felt my face get hot and smiled like a dork. That’s when she turned to her friends and started giggling. They kept walking but after a few steps the same girl looked back and waved at me. When I waved back she turned to her friends and started giggling again.

Jean nudged me. “Show them your book, man. Girls love that poetic stuff.”

There were five of them. But I could only keep my eyes on one. She stuck out like a rose in a large field of dandelions. No she wasn’t a rose. She was like some rare orchid. An orchid because of the purple dress she had on. It came to her knees and flowed naturally with the air as her body moved. Most of the other girls had on leggings or jeans but this girl chose to where a dress. A purple one at that.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. It’s like she was sexy but she wasn’t. It seemed wrong to call a girl like that sexy. All I could think of was beautiful. But even that word didn’t quite describe her. Her beauty was indescribable. It wasn’t just her beauty. This girl looked dangerously familiar. She looked like someone I had only seen in my dreams. It didn’t make sense. I had to have been losing my mind right?

They stood by an office door a few feet away. She kept watching at me. Just like the girl from my dream she had long and curly dark brown hair. From a distance her hair looked black. But the lighting showed its true color. I had to see her up close to see if it really was her. The dress though. There was no mistake about it. She was wearing the same dress Dream’s Bridge wore.

Post 26 out 30!!

I woke up to a cold chill. It was a gust of wind blowing. When I opened my eyes I saw the night sky as leaves all around me. It felt like some strange dream. When the wind hit me again I quickly sat up. I was lying on the ground in some strange pentagram. Candles were arranged on each star point of the pentagram. I was still drowsy.

“What’s happening,” I said. “Isabella? Isabella!”

“Calm down, my love. You’re safe I promise.”

I looked forward. It was so blurry. I thought there was five of her. My eyes finally focused and I saw her sitting on the ground. She had her black book beside her. She was sewing something in her hands. It looked like some strange doll.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake, my love. Forgive my attitude for earlier. Those girls just make me jealous is all. They’re so damn persistent. It sickens me.”

I tried to stand but I felt incredibly weak. I dropped as quickly as I stood. I looked around to see all sorts of trees and bushes. Behind me was a cliff leading to a large lake. Somehow we had ended up on a cliff side surrounded by a large forest.

“Some girls just don’t get boundaries. Why can’t they just let us be in peace? Why do these filthy monsters keep chasing you, my love?”

She sounded different. Her tone was still polite but something was off. Somehow she seemed different. And dark.

She said, “You made me do this Thomas. I didn’t want to but you made me do it. You’ve been a very naughty boy. Now I must put a leash on you. I’m so sorry.”

She kept sewing something in her hand. I could see it now. It was a doll. The more I watched the more crept out I got. I looked at the pentagram around me. Suddenly my heart dropped as this cold and dark fear swallowed me whole. Witchcraft. Isabella was performing some sort of ritual on me.

I said, “Isabella. What are you doing?”

She finally looked at me. She had this deranged smile. Her eyes were wide and scary. She giggled saying, “I’m making you behave of course. I can’t have you going around kissing girls can I? I can’t have you go holding other girls can I? No. You belong to me. You’re mine. Only mine!”

She shouted and quickly stopped. Then she was giggling hauntingly. Her pace with her sewing sped up. She looked at me saying, “Oh. You thought I didn’t see? You thought I hadn’t seen you share tongues with Miss Black? No. Isabella sees everything. Everything. Yes you’ve been a bad, bad boy.”

I slowly began to back away. I said, “Isabella. Please. Don’t do anything you’ll regret. Let’s just talk.”

She stood up. She shouted, “Talk? You want to talk? No talking. No not now. Now you obey. Obey me, my love. I will make you behave. Miss Black will not have you. She will NOT HAVE YOU!”

I covered my ears as her scream echoed throughout the forest. As soon as the winds stopped blowing I could hear her laughing. Slowly I began backing out of the circle as she laughed uncontrollably. When I turned to run my body jerked backwards into the circle again.

“Don’t run from me! Stay right there!”

I looked at her. She was holding the doll to her chest. She was hugging it close as she pet its head. I could feel the hairs on top of my head move as it felt like someone was petting me. I brushed it off and looked around but no one was in the circle with me.

She said, “Now you will never misbehave. You’re mine. Only mine. And if you disobey me I will punish you.”

I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. I quickly grabbed my face as I flinched away. Blood was on my finger. It felt like someone slashed me across the face with something sharp. Isabella was laughing. I looked to see her holding a needle to the doll’s face.

She said, “Naughty boys get punishments. That was for kissing Miss Black. This is for letting Miss Green sit on your lap!” She slashed the doll. Instantly another cut opened on my face. She said, “This is for holding Miss Black close to your body!” Another slash. More cuts began opening on my face.

“Isabella stop! Stop it!” I pleaded.

She cocked her head to the left. “Stop? You want me to stop? I’m only doing this because I love you. How else will you learn your lesson? I can’t reward bad behavior!”

She started cutting the doll over and over. More and more cuts started to split open all over my body. I had no choice but to try and run away. As soon as I did my body rose from the ground and slammed back into the pentagram. I ached all over but still tried to get up.

Isabella said, “I loved you. I never wanted to resort to this but I had no choice! You made me do this. This is the only way to keep you away from Miss Black! And Miss Green! And all of those other sluts you love so much!”

It was like slow motion. I felt my arm slowly rise. I could hear the bone slowly crack. In an instant my shoulder snapped. I couldn’t hold in the pain. I dropped to my knees and screamed in pain as I held my shoulder. My left arm was completely useless. All I could move were its fingers.

Isabella cried, “It’s for your own good! This will teach you not to sleep around. I will kill you before I let you cheat on me. You hear me. I will KILL YOU.”

I quickly looked up as I saw her raise the needle into the sky. She was going to stab me. I quickly got on my feet and raced at her.

“No. NO DON”T,” I pleaded.

She screamed, “No one will have your heart but ME!”

She slammed the needled down. Suddenly here body flung backwards. I hit the ground as the doll hit the ground. I heard Isabella screaming as her body rolled along the ground. Quickly she got on her feet and glared my way.

She grinned and said, “So the fiend has come to play.”

“Fiend?”

I felt her eyes on me. Quickly I looked back. Samantha was standing close to me. Her long and red hair gleamed crimson as the wind blew against it. Her fists were balled and she was glaring at Isabella.

I couldn’t believe it. But at the same time I wasn’t surprised. “Samantha?”

She had her calm look. She said, “Thomas. That secret I wanted to tell you. Can I tell it to you now?” She looked at me and grinned. Her eyes were shining red.

I swallowed a large lump in my throat as I shook my head.

Quickly she turned to Isabella as she crouched down. She held her hands out as sharp claws came from her fingertips. She said, “I’m a bloodsucking fiend!”

In an instant she vanished as black mist appeared again. I quickly looked to see her appearing close to Isabella. I barely followed her movement. With one punch to the face, she sent Isabella flying backwards. Isabella toppled over again and again until her body slammed into a tree. Before she could recover Samantha ran to her, grabbed her face and threw her. Her speed was nearly impossible to track and her strength was monstrous.

Isabella landed on her feet but the force must have been too much. She tripped backwards and kept rolling backwards. She managed to stop her toppling and caught her balance. She watched Samantha carefully while moving slowly.

Isabella said, “This is perfect. Now I can have the pleasure of getting rid of you myself. I’ve wanted you dead the moment you moved here, daywalker.”

Quickly she sprinted towards Samantha. Samantha swiped at her but missed as Isabella rolled out of the way. She grabbed her black book from the ground and quickly jumped away. She began flipping through the pages fast as Samantha turned to her.

She laughed and said, “It’s over, daywalker!” She chanted words I couldn’t understand. Suddenly Isabella opened her mouth and breathed a giant ball of fire. I was yards away but I could still feel the heat from the flames. The ball blitzed through a quarter of the forest and incinerated everything in its path.

I screamed for Samantha. Isabella was laughing hysterically. She stopped when she saw the silhouette standing in the flames. She was completely unharmed.

Samantha said, “Was that meant for me? Or was that just target practice? You were way off. Isabella run away. You can’t honestly believe you stand a chance against one of the tainted.”

Isabella laughed. “A demon no. But a half-blood shouldn’t be hard for me to kill. Impure bloods can’t hold against my magic. NOW DIE!” She raised her hand and fired green lightning at Samantha. It shot her body and began electrocuting her. Samantha quickly flinched back and started screaming loudly. I covered my ears as the winds started blowing fiercely. The ground was trembling. It was as if the forest was afraid of Samantha.

Isabella kept firing magic at Samantha as she laughed. She said, “Yes! Die, daywalker! Nothing will come between him and I. Nothing!”

I screamed for her to stop as Samantha screamed in agony. She was screaming to the sky then suddenly stopped. She looked at Isabella and grinned. Isabella flinched backwards as if she had seen a ghost.

“What,” Isabella said. “No. Impossible!” She fired more magic at Samantha. A gigantic bolt of lighting formed around Samantha as Isabella used both hands. Samantha grunted and started fighting the pain. She took a single step towards Isabella. Then another.

Isabella slowly stepped back. She said, “She’s resisting my magic? No! It’s impossible!” She fired more magic. Samantha let out a monstrous cry and suddenly the lightning stopped as Isabella flung backwards. Steam was coming from Samantha’s body but she kept grinning as she walked towards Isabella. She grabbed the black book and ripped it in two.

Post 25 out of 30.

Iris By T. Edward Redd

1. Fade into Black

I usually took the time to comb my hair in the mornings I hated it when it looked like I just woke up. But there was too much on my mind to care about preening. All I wanted to do was go back to bed, burry myself in the sheets and let sleep take away my pain. That wasn’t an option anymore. I had to face school eventually. I had already missed too many days. It was senior year and I wasn’t going to throw away three years of hardwork.

I put on the first thing I could find; a brown sweater, blue jeans and black shoes. My hair was still a mess. I couldn’t find the motivation to actually care though. I just wanted the day that had barely started to end. After a lot of reluctant effort I forced myself out of my quiet home. It was hard to ignore the harsh winds of the fall weather.

I gazed the sky as I shut the house door behind me. The sun was shining bright and the skies were painted with different soft shades of blue. There were a few clouds here and there. It kind of made me smile. A sign of a good day? Suddenly a few clouds blocked off the sunlight. Then I was reminded of everything that made me stay home for so long.

Pain.

I got into my silver convertible and the drive to school began. Why couldn’t I just stay home just a little longer? One more week. How could I face her? I didn’t want to. Things would be so weird and painful now. So badly, I wished that I could rewind to last summer. Maybe I could have said something to change her mind. The more I thought of it, the more I wanted to hold her warm and soft hand. I still couldn’t understand what happened.

After a long and quiet drive, I was at my high school. It was nothing out of the ordinary. It had space for a couple thousand students. Pleasantly painted royal blue walls, white tiles, long and quiet hallways filled with lockers. When I passed the lounge areas I got a strong whiff of coffee. Just a typical high school. The only thing out of the ordinary about it was Caroline Green. The more I thought about it the more depressed and pitiful I felt. I pushed her to the furthest part of my mind and walked to my third period class.

As I walked in I felt this sudden blankness as eyes stared at the boy who had vanished for months.

They all knew Caroline and I broke up. Nothing had changed even though it took me a month to come back. Professor Grays crinkled his grey mustache and fixed his glasses saying, “Thomas Rouges, you’re back.” He handed me as I walked past him. I avoided the dozens of faces watching me as I went to the middle of the room.

When I walked inside everyone stopped what they were doing. The guy who vanished for months had returned. Professor Grays was writing on a board in front of the class. When he stopped to ask a question, he saw me. He stared and cleaned his glasses and crinkled his bushy mustache. It was like he couldn’t believe I came.

“Thomas,” he said with an overly surprised tone. “You’ve shown up for class? It ends in about fifteen minutes but I’m still glad to see you. The teachers were worried. Are you ok?” He handed me the packet. I didn’t give a verbal response. Just a shrug and a grunt.

I ignored the dozens of eyes watching me. I walked to the middle of the classroom and took my seat. I could feel them all staring at me. Trying to invade my mind. No words were spoken but I could hear their thoughts.

“What happened?”

“Why did you two break up?”

“Will you get back together?”

I hid away in the world of history, letting hundreds of the book’s pages hide my face.

“Thomas!” I heard someone whisper.

I looked back. It was my friend Ace. His actual name is Albert. He’s a sort of round kid with short hair, brown skin and glasses. He usually wore sweatpants with some sort of anime t-shirt.

I watched as he sketched Japanese cartoons in his pad as he usually always did. His thick brown fingers held the pencil delicately as the led paced back and forth, then in circles on the canvas. I never understood how people could be so talented with a simple sheet of paper and pencil. He looked and realized I was watching him.

He whispered, “Oh. I didn’t think you heard me. Where’ve you been? School started in August and it’s almost October.

“I know that,” I said, trying not to be heard.

He said, “Is this about the breakup? It’s been almost three months. Dude you…”

“Don’t even,” I interrupted.

He took in a deep breath, nodded and started drawing again. Being so harsh felt bad but so was my mood. He was going to say, move on. As if it were the easiest thing to do. Caroline was, perfect and my best friend. I turned away from him.

It upset me he would even think to that. Everyone knew how much she meant to me. Yet they just kept telling me to forget and let go, move on. It’s not like I can turn the feelings on and off like some faucet. I hated how they all thought it was that easy when it wasn’t.

Then I heard laughter. That really got to me. I quickly turned back, trying to find out who it was. But they weren’t laughing at me. It was a girl I had never seen before. I nearly forgot why I was upset. She made me so…speechless.

She had hints of blush on her face and her skin was radiant. Her hair was what stuck out the most. It was red and wavy, reaching her shoulders. She wore this black dress that looked to be from medieval Europe. It was beautifully decorated with floral designs over the black. A classic novel was resting on her desk as she read it gracefully, not a care in the world. As she flipped a page and I saw her smile ever so slightly. I started to smile with her. But the moment was ruined. A tiny paper wad hit her in the face and her smile slowly turned into this blank stare.

Her eyes shut. I knew she was going to either cry or confront them. Or so I thought. She opened her eyes and kept reading, never flinching or anything. The boys kept snickering and tossing things at her. But it was like she couldn’t see or hear them. She was so calm.

The kids at my school were always like that. They could be really annoying and cruel. Especially to the new kid. I didn’t understand. All she was doing was reading a novel. And I’m sure she hated the school. Who would blame her?

Without any warning she moved her eyes in my direction. She never moved her head, neck or body. Just her eyes. Had the teacher called on her? I looked back but he was writing on the board as he spoke to the class. I looked back at her. Her eyes were still locked on me. I couldn’t look away as I tried to figure out what she was saying with her eyes. She never smiled, frowned or even blinked. Why was her stare so familiar yet unknown?

Post 23 out f 30. Getting Close to My Goal!

Dream’s Bridge by T. Edward Redd

Dreams of a Mysterious Girl Continued.

I could see my mother and father’s faces in my head. Riley wasn’t any good at hiding her emotions either. They were all very sad. Maybe I was selfish for not considering their feelings. Mother and Riley wouldn’t be able to get over this for a couple months at the least. Father would be ok I suppose. He doesn’t really show his emotions too much. Even if I did decide that I wanted to stay it was too late.

The plane was slowly striding as it prepared to lift off. Slowly my eyes shut and I began to sleep. I must have slept for hours because when I woke It was night.

“Hey I hope you don’t mind,” I heard a soft and delicate voice say. I turned to see a beautiful blonde sitting next to me. She was dressed in a dark blue tank top, black leggings and white sneakers.

She was breathtaking. She had just sat by me and I couldn’t stop staring. High School all over again. I was so nervous I looked away. But couldn’t resist the temptation of taking in her presence again. I slowly looked back at her. She was eating some of the plane food. Chicken roast I think it was.

You’re probably thinking that this was girl I dreamed about. Think again. It wasn’t her. The girl I dreamed about doesn’t become part of the story until I’m on campus. At this point I still had no clue that Dream’s Bridge was an actual living breathing girl. At this particular moment I thought the girl sitting beside me was the hottest thing EVER.

She noticed me watching her as she ate her roast. She said, “Oh. Hey sorry if I’m in your space. The guy beside me was snoring like some monster. So I snuck to the first opened seat I saw. How did you get this whole row to yourself? You must be rich.”

I laughed. “No not rich. Lucky. There’s a big difference. I don’t mind if you sit there.”

She nodded. “Sweet. Thanks. So what’s your name? I’m Stacy Olive future chemistry major over at Yelich. That’s why I’m going to Canson City. You?”

“I’m going to Yelich like you are!”

She rose her eyebrow. “Really? That school is really exclusive. For the highly gifted or rich. So you are rich. Lucky you. I only got in because my father knows administration.”

I shook my head no. “No. I’m not rich. Even better.” I took one of my books from my bag and handed it to her.

“A salesman?” She said.

“No. Well yes. But I wrote that book.”

Nine Days Left!!

In nine days I will have posted every day for 30 days straight. I’m really proud with myself for sticking to this and disciplining myself. All it takes is time and effort. Tonight I’m going to share some bits from a story I have. Dream’s Bridge is the story about a boy who meets the girl from his dreams on his first day of college. As the two get close the story takes one magical twist after another. First his dream girl shows him a magical world then she mysteriously gets kidnapped by evil sorceress. Before he knows it he’s running away from dragons and fighting giants all for the sake of this girl he’s fallen for. I love this story. It’s one of my latest ones.

Dream’s Bridge by T. Edward Redd

Dreams of a Mysterious Girl

Have you ever just sat down and thought about what dreams mean? Not the dreams you have for life like being a doctor or something. I mean the dreams you have when you sleep. Supposedly these silly, random and sometimes terrifying visions are our subconscious minds freed. But what if they have deeper meaning. Do you think that those dreams could ever somehow manifest themselves into reality?

Let’s say you dream of a person you’ve never met before for years. You have no clue how they got into your mind. Now imagine that person is everything you could ever dream of. They make you shine simply by being around. That vision motivates you to conquer fears and capture greatness in the palm of your hands. She’s the bridge to your dreams. Simply because of her place in your subconscious mind you become some superhuman. You conquer every obstacle hoping one day she’s at the end of your journey.

Let that scenario sit in your mind. This vision of this person has made you who you are today. The person in your dream slowly became your guardian angel. It was during your darkest hours when she appeared, held your hand and said, “Don’t you dare think about giving up. Stand tall and ride this out. I believe in you.” So you stand up and you light a match in the darkness. You follow the light YOU made until you reach the sun.

Then one day by chance you meet this person. No you’re not sleeping. Everyone else can see her and she has a name. You meet the person who single handedly sculpted you like you were formless clay. You went from weak to strong because of this person. How would you react to finally meeting that person? How would you react to her falling for you and literally opening your eyes to things you never thought could be real? Things like giants, magic and completely different worlds.

Maybe you can’t relate. Maybe you think I’m crazy. But this is no lie. She’s real. I call her Dream’s Bridge. I met a girl who I thought only existed in my mind. My dreams. The day we met was the day my life changed forever. Everything became one magical twist after another. We were hunted by sorceress and evil queens, nearly trampled by giants and swallowed by hot infernos spewed from dragons. Shit got pretty insane. But that’s not where this story starts off.

Sorry for the cruel teaser. No my story starts off during the late summer of 2013. August 19^th. Dream’s Bridge was nothing more than an on going dream at that point. I hadn’t dreamed of her for a while though. She was the furthest thing from my mind. August 19^th was an important day for me. I was in my room packing away virtually everything I valued.

My room was abnormally neat. The navy blue bedding and white sheets were spotless, ironed and perfectly made on my bed. My shelves and floor were overly clean. It looked like I had just move. Just the opposite though. I was leaving. I had gotten accepted to my number one college choice. Yelich University.

Yelich was a school thousands of miles away from home. And that’s literally the ONLY reason I chose it. Living in Lancington City was dulling on me. Lancington is this city in New York a little ways from Queens. The buildings were giant skyscrapers practically reaching for the skies. Downtown was where most people went back and forth for work. Barely anyone used a car since everything was walking distance.

Where I lived you were either in the high class or high middle class. This meant I lived around a bunch of teachers, lawyers, doctors and all of those other professional business people. In Lancington there were even actresses, actors and writers trying to make it big. And no my family was not rich. We were middle high class and my parents worked VERY harsh hours just to make ends meet.

Anyway you’re probably wondering why I decided to leave. It’s for reasons I’ve already said. But bluntly I got sick of the snobby and overly structured crowds. My mother urged me to go to Lancington College because of the writer’s program they had (yes I’m a cliché in that city. I write books) but there was no way I was going to stay. So August 19^th was one of the happiest sad days of my life.

I stood at my bed with a huge smile on my face. I had finished packing two black bags, a suitcase and my laptop bag. Everything else I needed was already in my dorm. My father urged me to take things there early so the move would be easy for me. It was done. I was packed and ready to go.

“Oh wow. Your mother will love this! It looks like you just moved in.”

I looked back to see my dad at my door. He had on his white polo and grey pants from golfing. I suppose he was going to play once my plane left. Hitting a few holes would take his mind from the emotional hit he’d take once his first and only son went off to college.

I said, “I won’t be here for a while. I thought it would be nice if I cleaned up a bit.”

He shook his head. It was easy to tell he had tears in his eyes. But he did his best to not show his emotions. He took a deep breath while he took a picture frame from my dresser.

He said, “Wow. Has it really been that long? I bet you can still throw a fast one huh?”

I laughed. “Little league was ten years ago Dad. The only thing this hand is good for is writing.”

I heard heels smacking against the wooden floors of the house. My mother was rushing from down the hall. She said, “Ryan, honey! Don’t forget to pack copies of Love’s Lullaby. Your English professor will be impressed to have an author from Lancington in his class.” She finally made it to the door. She joined my father’s gazing at my little league picture.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said. “I have a bundle of them.”

She walked around the room with her mouth gapped. She looked as if she had seen some sort of ghost. She said, “You cleaned it. Wow. Why did you clean it? It looks like you were never here now.”

I shrugged. “Well I won’t be, Mom. I leave soon.”

She let out a deep breath. “Your bedding is all wrong.” She walked to it and started untucking the sheets. As the bed shook, a pillow fell onto the ground.

“Mom what are you doing? I just made it!”

She stopped me when I reached for the pillow. “Leave it there,” she said with tears in her voice. She finished untucking the bed and slowly walked to my bookshelf. Gently she started disorganizing the rows and opening dresser drawers. My room looked awful. But all I could do was watch her cry softly as she opened the last drawer.

She said, “Leave everything this way. I want to remember how messy my boy is while he’s gone.” She broke down after that. My father held her and rubbed her back as she cried. I joined in and hugged her.

“Mom don’t cry. Hey I’m coming for Thanksgiving. It’s not so bad.”

She fixed my collar. She said, “You’ve never been gone for so long. Are you sure you don’t want to go to Lancington?”

“No!” I said firmly. “I have to go to Y.U. That’s the place I chose.”

She started begging again. “But it’s so far away! Besides the school here has a really, really great writing program. The best in the country! You would get so many recommendations and jobs would be so easy to come by. Listen let’s…”

“Mom, stop!” I urged. She flinched back a bit but finally gave up. She shook her head as I hugged her. I said, “We talked about this all summer. My mind is made up.”

She wiped her eyes. “I don’t understand. It’s so far away. Why do you want to leave home so badly? I won’t be able to see you like I want.”

Finally my dad joined. He said, “Sophie, come on. He’s growing up. He wants to explore a new place with new people. We were the same way when we were his age.”

He barely managed to stop her crying. It was awkward. I just stood there rubbing my arm and looking everywhere but at them. Mom once convinced me to change my mind with tears during the summer. I wasn’t going to let her do it again. As my father comforted my mother, I heard tiny footsteps tapping against the wooden flooring. I looked back to see my little sister, Riley, at my door. She had my mother’s light brown complexion but was unfortunate to get my father’s wild hair.

“Is Ryan leaving,” she asked.

“Yes,” Dad said. “We’re ready to take him to the airport. Son are you ready?”

I shook my head yes and grabbed all of my bags. Before I could walk, Riley was hugging my legs.

She stared whining. “No don’t go! Who will play firefly with me while you’re gone?”

I patted her head, “Come on, Riley. I have to go. I’m going to school so I can become a better writer. One day you’ll see one of my books in a bookstore.”

She cried, “I don’t want to read! I want to play firefly with you. Mommy, make Ryan stay and play with me!”

Mom walked to her and picked her up, “I’ve tried all summer, sweetie. It’ll be ok. Ryan will visit us. Someday you’ll go off to school just like he is. Are you ready, Adam?”

My father nodded, “Let’s hit the road.”

Finally we left my room. It was a quiet walk. It was impossible not to notice all of the family portraits, the family room, eating table and all the other rooms we had family time in. I recounted all of the family dinners we had and all of the lighthearted laughs we shared in front of the tv. Even the drive was quiet and somewhat sad. The fact that I was going to be away had suddenly hit me.

My mother was still sniffling and Riley looked like she lost a family pet or something. I could even feel how sad my father was. Even though they were sad because of me I couldn’t turn back. I was a fish who had outgrown its pond and it was time for me to venture out into the ocean. I had to go far away and embark on a journey. A voyage with new familiarity waiting to be discovered.

Day 20 out of 30! Pre-production for “The Florescent Dream” Begins! Meet, Magenta Orchid.

Magenta Orchid is a nineteen year old college sophomore at the University of Derr. For the most part she’s quiet and reserved. Her dream is to one day teach kindergarten. For fun she swims with her teammates and competes against other university teams. Her rank is dead last. Quiet, reserved and somewhat ordinary. That’s all anyone in the city of Hoosier would ever think about Magenta Orchid. And that’s just the way she likes it. Why? Because she has a secret.

Since Magenta Orchid moved to Hoosier City a mysterious and masked superhero has appeared. She’s been nicknamed the Florescent Dream. Whenever a crime breaks out a masked vigilante dressed in purple tights with floral designs all over it appears. She shows no mercy to injustice and always puts her life on the line for the weak and innocent. No one has connected the dots yet. But Magenta Orchid and the Florescent Dream are one and the same. In order to keep her identity a secret Magenta keeps a low-profile and lives an ordinary life.

Things start to quiver for her when she sets her eyes on her crush, Jesse Crimson. He’s an easy going, highly lovable and hardworking student at Derr University. He’s the swim team captain and is ranked number one in the city. For fun she challenges him to a race. Purposely she loses to avoid any suspicion. But her ego and affection for him pushes her to challenging him to a secret rematch where if she wins he must take her to dinner. She effortlessly beats him and wins the date. Slowly they begin a romance and little by little Magenta’s true identity becomes endangered.

Ex-team-captain and city champion, Adam Forest grows to detest Jesse even more when he discovers Magenta is with the guy he hates the most. After losing his rank it seems he has nothing left but his affection and deep obsession with Magenta. Driven mad by jealousy and the feeling of loss he attempts to murder Jesse and nearly succeeds but is thwarted by the Florescent Dream. Adam then becomes hell-bent on destroying the city’s superhero. Slowly he becomes her arch nemesis, The Red Nightmare and goes on a rampage. Magenta must protect the one she loves while keeping her superhero life a secret. But can she?

That is the synopsis I have for this story. FINALLY I’ve gotten around to making this post. I’m going to try and do this weekly. If I can I will share more than one character. The posts will be a little information about the characters, their involvement with the story and their character sketches. Today I’m showing off Magenta Orchid.

She’s the first character I came up with for the pre-production stage. I’ve decided to name the story after her alter-ego, The Florescent Dream. Her character stems from these dreams I used to have when I was in high school. For years I would dream of this girl with long and black her. In the dreams she always wore a purple dress. Even though I had never seen her outside of my dreams she would occasionally show up in my dreams throughout the years. I still have images of her in my mind. So for the first time I’m using her as inspiration for a story. For a long time I was hesitant to use her for inspiration because I didn’t want to influence the dreams in anyway on the off chance of me seeing this person in real life.

But my mind has been changed. Now I’m writing a story where she is a superhero. I’ve been drawing for a pretty long time. When I started writing fiction novels I got away from it. When I was working on Hero’s Romance I went months without drawing. It’s shocking to me how good I still am and how fast I still improve. These are the basic character designs and ideas I have for Magenta Orchid.

When I was coming up with her designs I thought really hard about what her personality would be like and what look would best reflect it. I didn’t want her to be typical superhero protagonist; nerdy or seen as weird by their peers, troubled past, average looks, etc. That wouldn’t reflect the girl in my dream at all. So I decided to give her an attractive look but nothing outrageous. She’s only quiet and reserved to keep her identity secret. But when the story progresses and she interacts with Jesse and others, readers will get to see her personality. I’m going for a confident, humble, strong but sort of laid-back and playful attitude for her.

As far as designs go I’m pretty satisfied with her concepts. I’m going to be working on her cover art and final inked/colored designs for my websites.

Her superhero outfit is inspired by the dreams. I don’t have any plans to draw her in a purple dress but I thought it was a clever idea to make the outfit purple. Then her name is the Florescent Dream. I wanted her name to be original but not incredibly cheesy. Her first name was the Florescent Wonder but it sounded cliche to me. Boy Wonder, Wonder Woman,The Wonder Twins. It’s been done before. So I scrapped the name and looked for something else. Online superhero name generator names did me no justice at all. I got names like the Quantom Shadow, Bronze Howler and a bunch of other weird and irrelevant names. Then it hit me to name her, The Florescent Dream. The name relates to her costume and I don’t know. It just sounds cool to me and catchy AND original. So it’s the name I decided to give her and it became the story’s title, The Florescent Dream.

I look forward to sharing more characters and my progress with this whole thing, It’s pretty fun so far.

Day 18 of 30. Tomorrow!

All week I’ve been talking about sharing the concept art for Florescent Dream. Just to give a little recap. Florescent Dream is a graphic novel I have decided to write and illustrate for this year and hopefully have it finished before next year. Why? So I can have a display during Indy ComicCon AND publish my very own graphic novel.

Now that I have my story’s general idea I’ve started the pre-production stage. This is where I gather concept art, settings and write my story’s script so I can sketch, ink and color things out. This is one of the feats I want to achieve and even though this is a tough and time consuming challenge I’m confident I can do this. I published my own book! Surely I can make a graphic novel. I simply refuse NOT to achieve this. Anyway moving on to my news.

Today I will NOT be sharing my artwork. Here’s why. I got a little in over my head with this whole blogging thing. I want my post to be nice, clean and well constructed when it comes to sharing this dream of mine and its progress. Right now I don’t have enough time to make that kind of post. If I do it now it will be VERY sloppy and not very elaborate. Since I’m doing this blog challenge I make it a point to post before 12a.m every day. I would rather postpone a post and have it look GREAT the next day versus posting some sloppy writing.

So sometime this week MOST LIKELY tomorrow I will be posting my work. I already have the some concept art ready to show. When I make this post I will be explaining the whole story and the idea I have. It’s going to be awesome and I look forward to sharing this journey with the people who read this blog. It shall be a BLAST!

Even though I’m becoming a art nerd these days I am still the fiction fanatic. I’ll make it a point to keep writing and sharing my stories. Here’s more of Beyond a Lifetime!

She grabbed her face and began crying. “I’m crazy. I’m completely insane.” When she opened her eyes she let out a scream. Her body jerked away from the windshield. Someone was lying on their back on her car’s hood. Quickly she got out of the car and ran to the body.

“Oh no. Hey! HEY! Are you ok?” He was covered in blood and scratches. His body was nearly caved into the car’s hood. She tried pulling him out. “No. I’ve hit someone. Oh no. Hey!”

“Relax. He’s still alive.” Violet jumped and screamed when she saw Liel beside her. His tail waved in the air slowly as he scurried towards her.

“How are you talking? What’s going on? Is he really?”

Liel nodded. “A fall like that couldn’t kill him. Does he look familiar?” He jumped onto the hood of the car close to the body. Violet observed the toned body, his soft brown skin and curly black hair. She covered her mouth and gasped.

“Impossible. No. I really have lost my mind. Is that…”

“Yes. It’s the boy you dream about. Thome Lily. They weren’t dreams Violet. They have deeper meaning. You and Thome are connected and you both have a special purpose in this realm.”

“We do?” she said.

“Yes. I will explain things later. But we have to get him somewhere safe so he can rest.” Violet tugged and tugged on the boy’s body. He was barely budging.

She grunted as she pulled him harder. “He weighs a ton! Agh!” Her hand slipped and she fell onto her rear.

“What are you doing? There’s no time to fool around,” Liel said.

“Fool around? I wasn’t!” She stood and grabbed Thome by both arms and pulled hard. “He’s…so…heavy!” Sweat began pouring from her skin. She pulled harder and harder. Slowly his body started lifting from the car’s hood. She sat him up and held him, trying to catch her breath.

“Great! Now put him in so we can take him away from here. Hurry!”

Violet said, “You mean carry him? He’s so heavy! And you aren’t being very polite about it either.”

“Violet…” Thome was muttering. She looked to him. His golden eyes were watching her. He breathed heavily and said, “Are you alright?”

She could feel her face getting warm. “Yes? Why wouldn’t I be?” Thome looked away then his eyes aimed at the sky. Violet followed his gaze. Without any warning he limped off of the car.

“She. She’s still alive. I didn’t win. I have to stop them or, AGH!” He nearly fell as he grabbed his chest. Violet caught him and nearly fell with him. Her legs shook as she held him up. She felt the warmness of his blood seeping onto her dress.

“Oh no. He’s bleeding really bad. Hey can you walk?”

He stared at her. “Violet.” His hand rubbed her face as he smiled weakly. “At least I was able to protect you.” His head dropped and he nearly fell. Violet held him up and helped him to her car. The door opened on its own and she put him in the backseat. Immediately he fell over.

Violet covered her mouth as she gasped. “Oh no! Hey!” She sat him up and shook him. Liel jumped into the front seat as the car doors shut. The car quickly sped off on its own. Violet looked around saying, “How is this car moving on its own?”

“I’m controlling it with my mind. No time to explain. You have to heal his wounds.”

“What? I don’t know about premed. You’re thinking about my parents. We should take him to a doctor.”

Liel jumped onto Thome’s chest. He scratched the shirt open and ripped it away with his mouth. Violet blushed and looked away nervously. But an odd wound drew her attention. Thome had a deep gash across his chest. It was glowing red around the edges.

“A demon did this to him,” Liel said. “No human doctor can heal this. You have to do it. You’re the only one that can.”

“Me? But how?”

“Place your hands out towards his wound.”

And she did. His body was as tough as steel. She couldn’t figure out why his body was so abnormally rugged. And cold. Her fingers nearly lost their sense of touch. She pulled away fast.

“Why is he so cold?” She asked.

“Dying,” Liel said. “He’s lost his immortality. This is worse than I thought. Hurry! Heal his wound.”

She placed her hands towards his wound. She looked at the cat and said, “What am I supposed to do?” Liel pounced on her hands. They pressed firmly against Thome’s freezing body. He began to scream in agony.

Violet tried pulling away, “Stop! You’re making me hurt him!”

Liel said, “No. It’s working. See for yourself.”

Her hands were glowing yellow. Steam began spilling from Thome’s wound as it healed fast. It was closing rapidly. Suddenly it was gone. Thome stopped screaming and struggling and went limp.

Day 17 out of 30. He Fell From the Sky.

“You can see that cat, Martha?”

“Of course I can. Why? Was it supposed to be a ghost?” She laughed a bit. “Maybe I can see them now.” Violet looked back at the cat. It was still sitting, waiting for her to return. But she wasn’t going to skip bible study. She went inside and led prayer. After prayer, bible study began.

Normally she would have been enjoying herself. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the talking cat, Thome or even the ghosts. Lately she’d been seeing more ghosts and having more strange dreams than normal. And she had never encountered a talking animal. On top of all of that, Violet had a strange feeling. A feeling that spoke danger.

As the pastor led bible study the feeling grew. Eventually she excused herself to the restroom. She ran cold water and wet her face over and over. But her nerves wouldn’t settle. Finally she went back outside. She was surprised to see that night had fell and light rain had arrived. Upon walking outside the cat met her.

“You. You’re still here?” Violet muttered.

“We have to find, Thome Lily. He’s in danger, Violet.”

She looked around. “How, how do you know my name?”

“There are a lot of things I know about you. But right  isn’t time to explain. We…” He was muted by a loud thundering noise from the skies. Violet looked to see lightning dancing in the sky. Neon blue bolts of lightning spiraled back and forth in the clouds as rain began pouring.

She held her hands up to block the rain. “I’ll get soaked out here.” She stopped when she noticed she could see her breath. It had suddenly gotten cold and the shadows in the area were much darker.

Liel the bobtail said, “It’s happening. Violet we have to get away from here. Follow me!” He scurried towards her car. She followed him. The doors opened on their own. Liel jumped inside. “Hurry,” he warned.

“Tell me what’s going on! What are we doing and what’s happening?” Thunder sounded again. Violet looked down when she felt the ground tremble. She heard something moan eerily from the graveyard. A shadowy figure close to 3 meters tall slowly stepped out. It smiled hauntingly at Violet.

“That!” Liel shouted. Before she could react, the car doors slammed as the engine started. Violet stared in shock as her seatbelt buckled around her. As the monster walked towards them, the car sped away. She looked back to see if it was following.

“This is a dream. This has to be a dream. What in the world is going on?” She tugged her hair as her body shook. Not knowing what else to do she began to pray. When she opened her eyes she was relieved. Nothing was chasing her and the storm had calmed down.

“Phew,” she said heavily. She sat back and laughed. A gasp left her mouth when she felt the car still moving. Her eyes opened as she sat up quickly. “How the? How is the car moving on its own?”

“Violet calm down,” Liel said. She looked at the cat and nearly exploded.

“I’m losing my mind! You’re a cat. A TALKING cat!”

He said, “No. I’m an angel lion and you are not losing your mind. Violet calm down.”

She laughed loudly as she held her head. “No. I’ve really blown a brain cell. I’ve lost my mind. I have completely lost…” Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise. The car came to an abrupt halt as it nearly flipped over. Slowly it fell on its back wheels. Violet screamed as the airbag hit her in the face.

She began crying and moaning. “What’s going on with my life?” She grabbed the airbag and moved from beneath it. When she caught her breath she looked for the cat. But it was gone. The car was on the side of a long rural road surrounded by trees.

She grabbed her face and began crying. “I’m crazy. I’m completely insane.” When she opened her eyes she let out a scream. Her body jerked away from the windshield. Someone was lying on their back on her car’s hood. Quickly she got out of the car and ran to the body.