And let's see Varan from someone else's point of view... Chapter 20. Shagrath: He felt the new-built barriers around the human's mind quiver. The smile grew ever so slightly wider, though the man could hardly suspect the reason for the smile. No doubt he believed that his barrier remained a blank wall, and he himself in perfect control. Let him. At the moment, it was important to let him feel less threatened, to explain all the things around him with plausible half-truths, and discover how well the R'Thann's treatment had [ Continue reading... ]
French Roast Apocalypse: Chapter 12
March 15, 2018 By 2 Comments
Dylan and Angelus were on the hunt... Chapter 12. New York City, 2010 It didn’t take long for the two of them to reach Iphigene’s Walk, a paved walkway that cut though the east end of the lush thickets. It was a beautiful, secluded path that led deep into thirty-seven acres of thick foliage. Using the path, they could, eventually, divert to one of the other trails if necessary. "This could take forever." Angelus said as they trudged down the walkway. "Could be," Dylan said. "Like they say about fishing, there's a reason [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Revelation, Chapter 19
March 14, 2018 By Leave a Comment
While being a lab animal, Varan had made a nasty discovery... ----- Chapter 19. Varan: Aching pain. Fear. Red-black light. Mumbling voices, whispers, shouts of half-understood words, thundering nausea in my gut, horror waiting, waiting to emerge when I could remember the reason. I heard a gabble of nonsense: …wait to get Off of that you will isn't the HEY THE READINGS JUMPED hope she doesn't catch TC Conversion Radius 10,119.5, that's a little Oh, sink it, I'll have to I'LL LET THE PRIME MONITOR KNOW Six and One… Only it was [ Continue reading... ]
French Roast Apocalypse: Chapter 11
March 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Back in the present, Dylan's got a hunt to prepare for... ----- Chapter 11. New York City, 2010 It was easy to lose himself in the past. Too easy. Dylan rubbed his eyes and refocused on the pan he was buttering. Back then, he'd felt responsible for Keith and was willing to give up his humanity for what the vampire did to Bridget and Jackson. It was a struggle for Anna to redirect him. He was stubborn, like many of his own clients these days. Anna never did approve of his hunting. It was always a bone of contention between them. [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Revelation, Chapter 18
March 12, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Varan had been asked to do something incredible... ----- Chapter 18. Varan: "Discomfort feeling now you should not." The R'Thann scientist said matter-of-factly. I felt there were considerable grounds for me to disagree, but I suspected he meant from the procedure itself. Strapped down by form-fitting metallic shackles to a pallet at the center of a nightmarish array of emitters, sensors, processors, field-generators, and other devices, injectors integrated into the armlocks, I was far from comfortable and, despite all [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Revelation, Chapter 17
March 9, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Time to find out exactly what the Prime Monitor, and the Empire, want from Varan... ----- Chapter 17. Varan: For the third time I entered the huge, enclosed sub-laboratory which seemed to be solely the domain of Sooovickalassa. The second time had been a few days ago, to run some additional tests which hadn't taken nearly as long as the first set. I had been able to talk with the reptilian scientist for a while, these tests apparently being much more a matter of having me present to be scanned rather than having me actually DO [ Continue reading... ]
French Roast Apocalypse: Chapter 10
March 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The problem with being a revenant in this world is that you don't so much remember as you re-live past events... ----- Chapter 10. New York City, 1980 The air was crisp and cool against his cheeks. Dylan turned his face toward the welcoming breeze as it tossed the hair from his eyes and away from his face. He inhaled, tasting the bitter stench of gasoline, grease, garbage and human sweat. It was a new world to him. The smells alone were overwhelming. He had never imagined how acute the sense of a renfield were. If he focused, [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Revelation, Chapter 16
March 7, 2018 By 1 Comment
Well, we had this point of view once before, it's time to look in on her again... ----- Chapter 16. The Eönwyl: With a distant whining screech, her eponymous starship disintegrated and reassembled itself. Where am I? The D-scanners determined her position relative to the calculated exit point and an overlay on her vision system showed that Picket 10 should be nearly dead ahead of her… and she realized that there was in fact a brilliant almost-star in that exact position. Great Darkness, I can see it! Even as the D-comm [ Continue reading... ]
French Roast Apocalypse: Chapter 9
March 6, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Dylan has some work to do, now that he's actually up and awake... ----- Chapter 9. New York City, 2010 The evening went swiftly, and they had a fair number of customers, most of them either students from local universities or art students, since O'Reily's was only a few blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art. Dylan worked the back, mixing batter and baking up a storm, while the twins and Qui worked the front. "The twins" were two teenaged Canadian girls from British Columbia who had shown up on his [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Revelation, Chapter 15
March 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Varan was waiting for results of his testing, but at least it was in a comfortable place... ----- Chapter 15. Varan: I emerged onto the sun balcony where one of the servants had told me breakfast was being served. Thank the Eternal that it sounds quiet. No mob this morning. Treyuusei was actually cooking, to my surprise – and gratification, as I got closer. "Sweet Sevens? Trey, you shouldn't have!" "You're going to be spoiled the whole time you're here, Sash, so get used to it." "I don't dare get used to it, Trey; [ Continue reading... ]
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