“The Attack of the White Clouds”; Chapter One, Part One

The forest rose around us, the red trunks tall and thick but widely spaced apart. We had chosen an easy part of the forest to cross. Here there were many rocks but little underbrush. The bright green canopy above us let plenty of light filter through their waving branches.

“We will rest there,” the oracle said. Her grey and black hued skin glimmered with sweat, the metal inserts in her face shining with green reflections of the trees. Dirt rose up her thin skirt to her knees. I nodded, tired as well but making sure not to let it show. I was the highest ranking warrior still alive. The burden of leading with hope was now placed squarely on my shoulders. A difficult thing since my own hope had gone missing in the dark, taking it’s brightly burning lamp with it.

We struggled up the final rock. It was perfect. Our oracle had led us true. It was maybe ten paces across and rising fifteen high out of the ground but it bore many crevices and cracks. There were even tiny holes that burrowed deep within its structure. “In here!” the oracle called, and the tribe that followed me began scurrying.

At first sight our people were tall, slim and hued by the colors of where we had lived. My people were blue skinned, with gills and fluted ears. Our bodies shimmered with scale-like patterns. We were clad in bits of leather and soft fabrics. Others, of the drier climates, were in reds with black skin and metal decorations pierced through them. yet others had delicate dragonflies wings and slanted eyes that shimmered with no pupils or whites. Their cheekbones jutted out like horns, pointed and menacing. Yet beneath their rough exterior their hearts were soft and perhaps the most wounded by these recent events. We were all the same, I’d come to realize. Once at war, now we were shunted together by a newly reared enemy.

And so we all took solace in this rock. Scrambling up its slope, our people turned ephemereal, their bodies dissolving into their most vulnerable state of pure soul. In this state every one of us was a small orb of light, shrinking and shrinking to find the smallest and safest nook within the rock. As I stood back and watched they were like fireflies swirling and nesting until the rock seemed to glow.

At my side, the oracle sighed. One more feat of magic was required from her. She held up her hands, and cloaked the rock. A blanket of darkness swept over the rock, covering all the lights. It settled into the rock, making it appear just a hue darker than it actually was. Yet no more lights could be seen. Our people were hidden.

With a groan her arms fell. They shook, and she seemed ready to collapse. Yet she held my gaze bravely. “I am going to rest. You will watch over us?” I nodded, and her gaze swept to the others who had also not gone into resting form. We were three, each from a different clan. Now, having realized out joint responsibilities in these times of trouble, we were working together.

We stood watch, each of us a different and from a different clan, each facing a different direction. I faced east, hoping to see some sign of the spirits we’d been forced to abandon. H- with his black cloaked robe wrapped tight around him, faced north, desperately wishing to see some sign of his family that had gone missing. Ch- face west and south, stonily keeping her thoughts to herself. I hated her so much more than any other. She’d had the nerve to continue blaming us despite our continuous plight. She led her people still in the ways of hate, a thing few of us could still afford.

She, as it turned out, was the last to turn to my cry of surprise.

“What is that?” she said, and I saw it coming with a swell of dread within my breast. A white cloud. The white cloud. The emmissary, the one with the eye within it that would see us. Lifting my trident into defensive stance, I hissed.

“We need protection! Cover of some sort!” Ch- shouted. But we could not be hidden any better than we were. If we left the rock our people would be left vulnerable to be scented out. If we moved to hide even the slightest amongst the trees, our movement could be detected. In a brief flutter of cowardice I hoped the eye would look over us and away. Please, just this once, I begged to our ancestors. Yet they were far away and helpless. The eye latched onto us. I felt its cursed pupil, white like the frothy death it summoned, spear through me.

With a cry or power I lifted my trident and swung downwards. The end of my trident planted into the soft earth before the rock as I crouched, bracing myself for what was to come. To my left, the forbidden cry of H-‘s tribe rose, shrieking out for protection as well as he too planted his sword in the earth to brace.

The white wave billowed out from the cloud of the eye. A cresting rush, formless yet consuming all. It swept down like it was on wings, soaring soundless but for the crunching of the red trees bursting to shards and smashing down.

A final cry sounded to my right. One of fire and vengeance- and a red form planted itself proudly in defense at my side.

The white wave crushed over us. It was a blistering wind, scraping over us like sandpaper. It burnt like sandpaper scraping over my whole body, threatening to tear me to pieces. Even the air burnt, filled with the white curse that scraped my lungs and stole my air. Ducking my head to shield my eyes, I gritted my teeth and refused to give way. The wind bit, turning my knuckles raw and bloody but I refused to let go of my trident. If I did, I would be swept away into the whirling white. I would be destroyed- and the triad undone. The rock too would be eaten up then.

The wind must have lasted only a moment. It felt like an eternity, a white burst in which nothing existed and all was tearing up around us. But in a rush of warmth it it was gone. Good clean light basked over us and the magic in my trident hummed to a rest. It was done deflecting the attack.

First I lifted my head, then I straightened out of my crouch and looked around, blinking my sore eyelids.

The trees were gone in a wide berth around us. Rocks had been gouged up from the earth, and even the dust they ought to have left behind was gone. It was as if a great monster had come churning through, smashing all into little bits, only to have all that sucked up by a hungry ghost. A sharp line cut off the devastation from the rest of the forest, which was in pristine condition.

“We did it,” the red one at my side said, breathless in wonder. “We’ve turned it away.”

I nodded warily. It had happened before that the emissaries had been deflected. Always the white returned in more powerful ways. Sometimes there were enough clouds to blot out the sky. Our only hope was to run now, faster than the winds could come.

Pulling my trident up and turning away- I was stopped by a chinking sound as my trident’s end struck something. Something that was not a rock. Whirling, expecting some white devilry, I saw a clay jug sitting at my feet. It was propped against the rock, as if it had been dropped between my trident and it.

I pointed my trident at it fearfully. The red one stepped closer, her sword and shield at the ready. “What is that?”

“It was not there before,” H- said in awe.

I nudged it with the tip of my trident. It moved, toppling to land softly in the ripped earth. It was a deep blue, glazed in artful swirls with words painted over it in gold. My heart turned to stone and my jaw fell.

It was the jug of our chieftain! Her hut was one of the first to be torn away, and so I knelt down without a care now. If it had been a trap I would have been damned. Luckily there was none and all that happened was my tears as I lifted the precious jug up. It was in the same impeccable condition our beloved leader had kept all her affairs. Untarnished, solid, and well formed. I clutched it to my chest in wonder, almost dropping my trident to hug it.

How could this be? I wondered, but in my heart I knew what it must mean. It was a sign from beyond the white mist. Was I designated as the new chieftain? Was our beloved one telling of her survival in the beyond? That there was some abyss we could rescue them all from, safe and unharmed as this fragile jug?

Rising, I held it out before me. What could this mean? As I looked around me, I saw the possible truths mirrored there. To my right, fury and anger.

“This is a trap,” she hissed. “put it down.”

To my other side, joy and hope. “They’re alive! They must be!” and he wanted to take it from me. I held it away, stuttering as I tried to talk.

“J-j-ju-j-j-,” then, finally, “jug!” But it was pitifully little to what I meant to say.

The red one rolled her eyes. “We got that. Give it here, it needs to be destroyed.”

I turned my back to her, determined to show it to the seer when she rose with the rest of our people. She would know what to make of it.

Mercifully, the others left me alone with it. The red one hissing in discontent, the other sighing and muttering that the seer would know what to do – with both the jug and me. I put my back to them and kept my watch bitterly.

“Just More Chaos”; Chapter Four, Part Two

Wherein Chaos Regrets with the capital ‘R’ and Conan/Kuryo tries to literally shake sense into him. Hah! It all goes so well (muahahaha). And cue the entrance of (dun dun dunnn)-> the cat!

/////

The tea sat between my hands, burning hot. I barely felt it. I felt numb. My mind was whirling in circles yet I barely knew what I was thinking.

On one side, I knew very clearly that my father must have collected the souls by now. He’d know I’d killed them. But would he know I’d enjoyed it?

On the other sides, my mind was just screaming, point-blank. It made no sense. I felt panic, dread, and sick all at the same time as being inconsolably numb.

One by one the vampires were trickling away. Bella sat nearby, primly sipping her tea and smugly being smug. Conan was perched on one foot and leaning against a nearby wall, arms crossed. His eyes wouldn’t leave me. I knew why. I’d just murdered people.

Okay, hell, we can argue about whether all incarnations are as valid and bla bla bla. It’s basically the same. A soul is a soul is a soul. So yeah, I’d murdered a person.

I had the urge to vomit. One look to the side and all I could think of was that Bella would be most displeased if I puked on her carpet. She caught me eye and her smile turned so pleased, so content. I looked back at my tea. What did she want?

“Hey,” Conan was at my side, hands in his jacket pockets. He nudged my foot with a toe. “Let’s talk. Outside-”

“Why?” asked Bella so sweetly yet poisonously. “Are you avoiding me?”

Conan glared at her. I shook my head, trying to defuse the situation. “I don’t want to talk with you.”

Conan looked down at me. “Let’s talk,” he repeated.

“What, are you two in love?” Bella jeered. “Sneaking away like that-”

I was up on my feet and wasn’t sure what I’d been planning. I just was now, like I’d blacked out for a second. Trying to pull it together, I scowled at Conan. He raised his eyebrows in a silent ‘what?’.

I shook myself mentally. “I’m going to get some air.”

I shoved past Conan, wanting to throw him (and his nice face) into a garbage or something. I just wanted to be alone. In a blur I shrugged into my coat and pulled the door open with only half the coat on. I’d even forgotten to put my boots on.

And then I looked down.

“Miaouw,” said the cutest black cat I’d ever seen.

I gaped. It was small, long-haired, and pitch black with these gorgeous green eyes. It was sitting as if it had been waiting, but now that I’d opened the door it rose up, tail held high. With another pointed miaouw, it walked past me and into the house.

“A cat?” asked Bella, horrified. “A black cat?”

Fear and terror pulsed through me. Poor thing! Poor, innocent- I couldn’t let Bella hurt it. Not something so innocent.

I shut the door and whirled to see the cat marching, tail crooked up, straight towards Bella. Beside my empty chair, Conan was staring.

“A cat?” Bella repeated. “I haven’t seen one of those since the werewolves arrived!” Her eyes met mine and she asked “What’s it doing here?”

As if I should know. I gaped, mind racing. I didn’t want her to hurt it! I just – no more blood today, please!

In my useless silence, Conan spoke. “It must be an omen! A- a sign!”

Bella scoffed. “From who?” and she rose to her feet, setting down her cocoa. The cat looped around her ankles, eyes glowing up to Bella.

“It likes you,” said Conan, shell-shocked.

“Lucifer!” I spluttered. “It must be a gift!” God of witches? Black cats maybe? I was inventing, but I just didn’t want that cat killed. Please!

“Oh?” Bella looked down at the cat, her smile curious. “Come here, you.” and she stooped, scooping the cat up in her arms.

I held my breath, knowing from experience that picking up random cats usually ended badly. But not this time.

As if to add even more absurdity of the situation, the cat began purring and nuzzled Bella’s chin. Bella laughed. “Oh it’s adorable!” she cooed. Squeezing the cat to her chest she crooned. “I’m going to keep her.”

I relaxed. So did Conan. Our eyes met, then quickly parted before Bella could notice. “Good, good- choice,” said Conan.

“Oh shut up,” said Bella harshly. With a jerk of the head towards the kitchen she said “Get it some food.” To the cat she said “Mistress fuzzles must be starving. Isn’t that right?”

“Miaouw!” the cat seemed to agree with her. Bella crooned and cuddled it under her chin.

As if jerking free from some spell, Conan made for the kitchen. An idea kicked into my head. “I’ll help you,” I blurted, following after him.

We made it into the kitchen, where we were finally alone. I cornered Conan. “What’s that thing doing here?”

“I don’t know!” he hissed back, wide-eyed. Then, despite being the one in a corner, he flipped the tables by taking my shoulders and shaking me gently. “But you need to smarten up. You hear me? Don’t let her get to you like that-”

“I can hear you,” called out Bella in a sing-song voice from just beyond the kitchen’s entrance. One heartbeat later and she was in the entrance, smugly cradling the cat in her arms. The cat’s eyes seemed to glow.

Conan straightened. “You’re fucking with him!” he yelled at her. To me he said “She’s turning you into-” and he searched for a word.

“Oh, a monster? Am I corrupting poor, neutral, Chaos?” Bella faked a pout but her smirk crawled out. “Chaos, do you have any comments to that?”

“She’s turning you into something you’re not!” Conan snapped at me. He shook my shoulders again, his fingers digging into me tightly. “Did you really want to kill those people? Would you have done that without her around? I don’t think so!”

“Tsk, tsk,” Bella clucked as she stepped to my side. “A couple’s fight. Are you jealous maybe?” And she rested a shoulder against mine, eyes glued to Conan. As if it was her and me against him.

He tried to rattle me again but I smacked his hands off. “Enough!” I snapped. Then, simply because I didn’t know what else to say, I said to him “You’re not making any sense.”

Conan gave me the look people get when their bullshit detector goes off. Bella cackled. “Chaos,” she murmured, bumping her shoulder against mine. “It looks like your slave is acting out.” With relish she added “You should punish him.”

Conan and I blanched. I felt ready to shake all over – if I wasn’t already doing that. I felt sick. “Uh,” I managed.

Conan turned, grabbed a can of tuna out of the cupboard, and slammed it onto the counter. “I was just giving him advice.”

“Her,” drawled Bella. “It’s a she.”

Conan looked me up and down. “Looks like a he.”

Well that’s because, you know, gender fluid?

“She,” said Bella sharply. “I should know.”

“Really?” Conan asked me with piercing eyes. I looked away.

“Really,” Bella answered. I nodded, not daring to say anything else.

Meet Lenda & Mars ~ Ranger (Chapter One, Part Two)

Hey peoples! You may have noticed that yesterday I said Allegra ties in for second place with a character named Mars… well you get to meet him today! But first -> Lenda.

Sweet, adorable, and Naive with the uppercase ‘N’ Lenda. Lenda is fun, and, as my wife puts it, probably the most ‘normal’ of all the characters in Ranger’s story.  Normal as in, she thinks along healthy thought-patterns and isn’t basically warped in some way. However, Lenda is a major character in the story. One of the (oh, say) about dozen times I tried re-writing Ranger’s story, I had split it into five major POV’s to switch between, and Lenda was one of those major POV’s. She’s a MASSIVELY important character, as much as Ranger and Allegra and Mars and basically anyone else. She’s not so much important in what she does, as much as that she’s there. Ooo, mysterious? That’s as much as I can tell you without it being spoilers!

Now Mars. He’s a character I love (vying for second place with Allegra, you will recall), particularly because he’s complex and fun in his evil-ness. It can be argued that Ranger’s story is essentially a story about a bunch of bad guys (the ‘Bats were originally villains in my first draft/version, and they very much still aren’t the real heroes). If this is the case, and we were to rank everyone by their evil index, Mars would probably be the direct runner-up for main villain status. He’s certainly not THE main villain, but he’s giving it a good running for. That being said, whereas I want to give Allegra everything she wants, Mars doesn’t have that pleasure. I like to make this guy suffer. You’ll hopefully see what I mean during the story. Oh, and for all of you wondering why I gave a thin guy the name of the god of war… the mythical Roman Mars could sometimes be represented as a young man. So that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Now on with the story!

//////////////

But we shall now leave those unfortunates. We travel with Allegra, across space and through the channels of the sacred to reappear at an abandoned shrine to Ursula.

The shrine was shambled, red, and keeling to the left. Weeds overgrew hedges and the broken driveway was filled with bad-ass motorcycles. After all, Allegra was expected.

There was exactly five people and five motorcycles – someone was riding double home. But who were these five people, impatiently standing around and keeping an eye on the dusty road for signs of police?

Well, first and foremost was Alex. The Alex. Allegra’s right hand, she was dark of skin, Allegra’s senior by several years, and had long box braids that swung to her hips. She had a black trenchcoat and my, looked so serious.

Next in the heirarchy was Mel. She was hard to take seriously at first, what with her platinum blonde hair, false lashes, and large lips. But once she’s punched you a few times you’ll learn to show some respect. Also, don’t make fun of her crush on Allegra. Everyone knows about it.

Next is Zack, Mel’s hopeless boyfriend who knows he’ll never be good enough to replace Allegra, no matter what punk color he dies his hair. Today it looks rather like a blue skunk.

Then there was Elfernon, an angel-faced blondie who seemed rather forgettable.

And finally, not quite forgettable and definitely the lowest in the heirarchy, was Lenda. Ah, sweet Lenda. Trying so desperately to fit in with her leather jacket and sides of her head already shaved – just waiting for that branding tattoo! She’d joined the ‘Bats two years ago, meaning she’d never actually met Allegra before. Today was her initiation into the personality cult of Allegra.

I’m just kidding. She was already a huge fan of Allegra’s general charisma, having been carefully preened by the other ‘Bats.

And so there you have it, the five of them are just standing around, nervous and twitchy. A rustle of grass, and none of them lift their heads. Allegra steps out from behind the shrine. Now she is dressed in her own clothes, jeans and leather jacket. She smirks at her luckless followers. They were out of shape, she notices.

Not physically, no. But a ‘Bat’s magical senses are supposed to be so highly attuned so as to know whenever a change in the atmosphere happens. And none of these unfortunates noticed Allegra’s appearance behind the shed, or even heard her step out.

Oh but- Lenda looks up. “Eh!” she cries out, happily seeing Allegra in the real.

All heads turn. Cries go up, sighs of relief are heard. Allegra steps forward, holding out a hand to Alex.

Alex knows better than to think this is for a hug.

“Sunglasses,” Allegra says. She is not the hugging type.

Alex whips the quasi-sacred sunglasses from their case in her breastpocket. Allegra puts them on. They, being rather large aviator sunglasses, perfectly hide the scars on her face. She smirks, looking over her rag-tag team.

So many years of being cooped up may have turned her a little bat (hah!) crazy. Because she doesn’t speak at all. She just smirks, seeing the potential in the moment. Seeing the power, the skill, and the improvement necessary to be prepared for Ursula’s grand return.

“Let’s go,” she says dryly.

And off they went.

Now I shan’t bore you with the who what when where how and why of the driving. The roads were dusty and long, the wind freeing and the sun setting. Bladibla.

Instead, let’s follow an invisible current, a powerful line of horror and thrill that was running through the nation! Or specifically, through the nation’s most powerful decision makers.

Following this thread, we land in Mars Bacorago’s office.

Ah, what an office. Strict, spartan, organized. Being housed in Bellerable’s tallest skyscraper, it has a view of the entire city through a glass wall. A fairytale view that is most splendid.

Mars was not looking at the view right then. He had his back to it and was watching his phone ring on his desk while pouring himself a cup of tea. The teapot was a frilly antique and so was the cup. The tea was cold.

Counting the rings, Mars set down the tea pot and took up the cup. On the second to last ring, that was when he picked up.

Ah, Mars. What would he do without power and a way to abuse it? Probably go mad. But let us continue.

He puts the phone to his ear, not bothering to answer more than a humm. Everyone who calls him has learned to deal with this.

But apparently not the president himself. He, a wiry and balding old man full of vitriol and rage, avoids calling Mars as much as possible. But this was a call he intended to do by himself.

“Are you there?” barks the president.

Mars’ lips twist into a wry smile. He sips his tea next to the phone’s receiver. Then, he speaks. “Well of course I am,” he says in that cold, heartless, and eternally poised voice of his.

Mars was always like that. From the jet black liner around his eyes to the cut of his clothes, everything was graceful and pristine. Let me give you a picture.

He has dark reddish brown hair that falls into his eyes, brilliant green eyes that seem to shine. A skin that is one hue too dark to be of the southern invaders’, but not dark enough to be from the islands. His cheekbones are high and his eyes are slightly tilted, but with the makeup so expertly applied no one is ever sure what lineage he bears from.

Of average height, Mars is slim for a man and perhaps a tad on the short end, but not noticeably so. Really, set him in a crowd and he would blend in, if not for the dark lines around his eyes and his wardrobe. Because that wardrobe!

It starts with pants that fit just right. A shirt that appears casual, but also fits far too well to be of casual pricing. And above it all, nearly impervious to weather, is a coat of sorts. It may be light, woolen, or whatever but it is always a shade of greyish blue. Sometimes, on a rare occasion, greyish red. It is almost always ankle length like a dress and styled just so.

Many people have wondered where Mars gets his coats. Are they tailor-made on demand by some secret designer?

I know the answer to that! The secret is this: Mars has only one coat, and he makes it himself.

Oh, trust me, it makes sense! You see, every magician has an object that they imbue with power, an object that acts as a storehouse that they can shift their soul into or out of for protection. Mars’ was his coat – rather large for a magician’s object but very well disguised. On the hottest of days he could turn it into a shirt, on the coldest it would be his winter coat. But always, always, enveloping and protecting him.

And so the fashion question is solved. The coat is pure magic, shifting with his whim and will of the day’s look. Let us return to the conversation at hand. The president was raging, furious, and embarrassed. And we all know what arrogant people do when they are humiliated. They lash out.

Mars held the phone away from his ear as the president yelled that this was a catastrophe! A disaster! Why, this was certainly the doing of those pesky rebels. Those Bellerabliens! “You must declare a state of emergency! She most certainly is headed there!”

Mars set the phone back to his ear. “Oh, sorry, what was that you said?” he said, completely indifferent. The president squawked, perhaps about to have a coronary.

“I think you said that you lost, on federal grounds, your most wanted criminal. What a federal problem,” he hummed. “Can’t see what this has to do with me. I’m just provincial.”

“She is headed for Bellerable!”

Mars’ smirk took on cruel proportions. “But unless she magicks her way across the country, she must still be in Winstonia. Put them on emergency call. I’ll be on high alert.”

Which, by the way, was a Bellerablien’s version of trying to give a damn when none was really there to give. Having been the heart-center of Ursula’s rebellion, Bellerabliens were used to war and damage. They really had little cares to give for one pesky criminal.

The president breathed like a walrus. Mars sipped his tea.

And then something very peculiar happened. Mars coolly exhaled, his breath misting cold like winter into the phone. The president inhaled. The president paused, realizing that it was very stupid to argue with Mars. He realized that, indeed, Allegra must be in Wistonia. No reason to extend federal jurisdiction and force Bellerable into emergency status.

The president exhaled loudly, feeling more relaxed than he should have been. “Be on high alert. I want roadblocks and investigations happening.”

Mars raised his eyebrows. Roadblocks and, eh, ‘investigations’. Well, sure. He could blow some money on ‘investigating’ cold cases.

“As you wish,” he fairly purred to the phone, his voice misting so slightly.

The president nodded, puffing up on his end. He felt powerful, downright macho for having ‘stuck it’ to Mars, that little pipsqueak. Hah! He was the one in charge!

Mars smirked as he sipped his tea. The president curtly babbled off some minor rules, reminded Mars of some regulations, and hung up.

Mars set the phone and his teacup down on his desk without making a sound. One look to the window, and it was sunset. For those who followed the old ways, that meant it was time to pray so that the Void’s darkness would not engulf the world.

And so Mars knelt before his window, facing the setting sun. Prayer is quite a private affair, especially for a magician. So we shall leave him to that, won’t we? Let us hop back on over to Allegra’s part of the world.

Ranger Strikes Again!

Ahhh! I have once again become sucked into the Ranger story… which, when I reread it, is a fabulous story. It’s complex, difficult to write, but lovely to re-read (at least in my opinion).

Yesterday, after years of struggling with this story and wondering why it never gets anywhere, I realized that I’d been trying to plot the story instead of just winging it as I do almost all my other writings. Ah. So today I attacked this decade-old (yes, it’s really that old) story with fresh eyes. And Be-Hold! I uncovered juicy new details. Savory facts. Decadent mysteries to confuse the reader with.

But this brings me to a fresh emotion I had today: loneliness. I know, I know, writing is a lonely art. But I just… love sharing my writing with people. I just want to chat about it and hear people squeal over surprises. I just want that interaction.

The problem with this is NOT that I am moping. The problem is that it makes me want to share Ranger’s story with you all. And that… I’m not sure I am ready for that? I’m not sure if I will be able to keep up with it regularly as I have with Chaos’ story. I fear disappointing people, getting the story wrong, and … I don’t know. I feel fear.

You see, there’s a story behind Ranger’s story. This makes it a very personal creation not in the sense of “I’ve lived this”, because I am surely not a fantasy character, but in a “this means a lot to me” sort of way. So I’ve kept Ranger’s story tucked close to my heart, safe and sound. I dream of people loving the story. If I was ever to write a best-seller, I’d want it to be this one. It just means so much to me.

So should I share it with you all here on this blog? Or should I wait for some mythical time in the future when I will be ready? Once the story is all written out and perfected?

What do you all think?

“My Name is Chaos”; Chapter Eighteen, Part Two

Hmm, I’m really not sure what to think of this scene. I hate writing abusive scenes (this definitely takes a trigger warning for abuse!), so maybe that’s why it bothers me? The real question is: does it seem consistent with Bella’s growing power over Chaos? Does the magic in it make sense? I’d love to hear comments on this!

////

“Lucifer is up to something,” I said to Bella the moment we were alone. That meant that we had just stepped out of the portal and slipped inside the house. Now, we were in Bella’s private room, pulling off our boots.

She raised her eyebrows at me as if amused. Like I was a cute puppy that was excitably licking her hand. I gritted my teeth.

“I know Lucifer,” at least a bit. “He never does something for nothing. He’s lazy, you know.”

“He does do things for no reason sometimes, though,” said Bella, quoting the liar of liars. “And besides,” she thunked down into her large chair, fingering the leash between us. “What point is there in saying no to him?”

“The point,” I said testily, “Is not to let him into the hive.” It felt weird calling Bella’s group, or goop of minds, a hive. Were we really all connected to her after ‘ascension’? Or was Lucifer wrong? It wasn’t beyond him, or any gods besides, to be wrong. But Bella wasn’t correcting me.

“A hive is a collection of minds, sometimes led by a singular mind,” she said, having probably just read mine. She shrugged. “I see no harm in having him added to it. It could even be a plus.” And she pulled a pillow from her side and plunked it down to the floor. She nodded at it, and I knew she wanted me to sit. At her feet.

I did, pressing my lips together and swallowing down more of my pride. I secretly hoped it would endear her to me, would make her listen to my point more. “Bella,” I folded my hands on her knee and propped my chin over them so my chin wouldn’t dig into her leg. “Lucifer isn’t someone to play games with. He’s a trickster god.” Not mean, but not easy to understand. “And he’s definitely up to something.”

Bella tutted. “Chaos, listen to yourself. Do you think I can’t keep Lucifer in line?”

I hesitated, not knowing how to say that yes, she couldn’t. Definitely not.

Maybe I thought too loud. A flash of anger made her eye flare with anger – and I didn’t see it coming.

Crack! The slap struck me hard across the face.

“How dare you!” Bella shrieked, hand still raised. With a jump she was now on her feet and towering over me. “I can so keep him in line! Who do you think I am?”

Clutching my cheek I shrunk back, propped on my other hand. Fear flashed through me. Fear of what I wasn’t sure – what could I logically be afraid of? – but for an instant I was terrified.

But then Bella lowered her hand. She breathed deeply and I thought it was over. “I will keep Lucifer in line,” she said coldly. “I can do that, and easily.” She smiled darkly at me, wickedly. When she spoke, the words were silent.

A gaping dread filled me. This wasn’t the ecstasy of union or the joy of being around Bella. It was seperation, a yawning gap between us that was cold like the wind. It hurt in that unspeakable way that depression or anxiety gnaws at the mind.

I was suddenly feeling near tears. My arms were wrapped protectively over my stomach. “Bella,” I protested, pleading. This felt awful. I had lost something precious and now every cell in my body was mourning.

She reached down and I pawed at her pathetically, trying to unify through touch, to drag her closer. But all she did was unclip the leash. “Stay here and rot a bit,” she snapped as she wrapped the leash back around her wrist. “Think on what you’ve said.”

“B-” I wanted to protest and cry out her name all at once, but she was walking away, her back already turned to me. The door slammed shut behind her.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, heart feeling like it was ripping open in my chest.

It took me about an hour to get off the floor and to stop sobbing like a baby. I couldn’t control it. No matter how much I told myself that it was just seperation from Bella and that I was physically fine, I couldn’t stop the pain.

The worst part was that I knew what she had done. I knew it was a spell of some sort, or whatever it was her word-power was. It was merely those words! But it hurt like a knife through me. My thoughts kept slipping away into blinding pain, and I kept forgetting that this wasn’t ‘real’. That this was just a spell. I found myself sobbing like I’d just lost a limb, and wishing that I hadn’t been so foolish.

Then I remembered that I hadn’t even said anything against Bella. I’d merely thought it. That fact flew me into a rage. How dared she do this to me! It was me who defeated the Sky God for HER! I was her best, her favourite, and she had no right!

I struggled to my feet, wiping my tears on the back of my hands. There! No more crying! Bella, you ungrateful bitch-

Just as I thought that, I remembered (or was I told through the hive in some way?) that Bella could hear me. That, and there was footsteps running towards the door.

I braced myself for whatever was to come. Was someone come to beat me for thinking so much? Well, bring it!

The door swung open, and it was Bella.

“Really?” she hissed, shutting the door behind herself.

I staggered. Every part of me was screaming out for her. I wanted her in the worst way. The idea of being on my knees for her flashed through my mind as such a beautiful idea, so soothing, so wholesome and completing.

No, no! I was angry and it was her fault – but that idea was slippery, gliding out of my mind the moment I didn’t focus just on it.

I blinked, and Bella was before me. My mind was skipping through black windows. I hadn’t seen her walk over, didn’t see her move, but now her hand was in my hair. Another black window, and my mind was blank. What was I angry about anymore? It felt stupid, and I knew that whatever it was, it was my fault.

That knowledge sure in my mind, I felt myself collapse, exhausted and wanting nothing more than comfort. My knees slammed into the floor and I hugged at her legs, but was dragged back by my hair.

“Shhh, there now,” Bella said soothingly, combing my hair from my face with one hand while holding me in a death-grip with the other. “Are you sorry now?”

I choked on a sob, nodding as I blinked through tears.

“You won’t do it again, will you?” Bella asked, just her voice being not enough. It soothed, but it was like a trickle in a desert and I needed more. I was burning for her, to be reunited with her. It felt like I couldn’t exist without her. Desperate, I nodded.

Her hands caressed my shoulders. She had crouched down and was hugging me to her chest. “You’re so disobedient, you’ve been so bad,” she crooned, holding me tight. “You’re a bad slave, Chaos.”

I whimpered, clutching at her.

“I love you anyways,” she whispered into my ear. “You know that, don’t you? I love you like no one else ever will.”

A sob tore through me – and then she spoke the words. It was sheer relief. Like a light through the mind. Like a cold compress on burning heat. There really is no words to express it. It made me gasp, and my entire body relaxed, sagging against her.

Bella shushed me, cuddling me against her. But, for a flicker, I wanted to draw away. I felt like I had a head again, like I could think. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts to digest what had happened.

But then, like a bite, there was sharp ecstasy. The pleasure of being with Bella. The euphoria. It was not too strong, more like the scent of a spring breeze. But it was enough to send me into a fit of giggles against her.

My head was pulled back and I was looking into Bella’s eyes. “Well?” she said softly. “Better now?” To which I nodded, gulping back tears that seemed pointless now. “Good,” she murmured, wiping my tears away with her gloved fingers. “Don’t ever do that again.” and she kissed me passionately, claiming me. I gave way eagerly, wanting nothing more than to be hers, to receive more of the ecstasy. But she didn’t give me any more. I was lifted up to my feet a moment later and instructed to rest in bed for the remainder of the day. I protested at first, wanting to spend it with her, but the moment I lay down I realized that, indeed, I was exhausted. Too much emotions, I thought before I drifted off to sleep.

Adelaide!

Be-fucking-hold! Queen Adelaide, Ladies and Gentlemen and folks in between!

This, if you haven’t been reading along with the story, is massive spoilers, by the way. If you have, it’s probably still spoilers. This is Adelaide’s end form/final mutation from the story ‘Of Adelaide and Shadow’. So WHY oh fucking why am I sharing it?

To motivate myself, selfishly. I have been so focused upon Chaos’ story that I have totally left Farfadel in the dust. But you know, Farfadel is one of those stories that is close to my heart so… I must continue to share it!

So let me tell you a little bit about Adelaide, for those who are wondering ‘Is this a story I’d want to read?’.

Adelaide is a princess who grows into a Queen. She starts off insecure but devious, and ends up, well, bad-ass. She literally rules the world and shapes Farfadel into what it will be, and is constantly referenced in later Farfadel novels. So if you like humor, fairy tales centering around a woman who grows in strength and awesomeness -> this is the story for you!

Join me, one and all, in reading ‘Of Adelaide and Shadow’!

“My Name is Chaos”; Chapter Fifteen, Part One

I made it two steps out into the world between worlds before I thought I was an idiot. A goof. A slug who was throwing their life away.

The fact that, any moment now, I could just turn around and get help, it was a nagging ache. Worse, every second that I ignored the ache cemented that I was never going back. I had made my choice and, deep within, it was holding fast.

I liked to contemplate that I would change my mind. I kept telling myself that, at the next crossroads, or after the portal, or when I saw Bella’s body, I’d rethink things, all while knowing that I would do no such thing.

To get to earth, I needed a portal. Like many spirits, I had no means to make one myself, hardly being that powerful, and indeed, not having permission to do so myself. But, like anything, it could be found in hell for a price. You just had to know where to look. And I, being me, just so happened to know that the very best place to look was where it wasn’t supposed to be.

“Hey,” I said as I approached Lucifer’s throne. Because, yeah, the guy who was supposed to keep this place in line was also the one who sold everything to keep it out of line.

Lucifer on his throne

Lucifer, at least this representation/part of him (who knew if it was just a part of himself while the rest of his soul went off doing something stupid?), was draped across his throne. In hues of black and silver, he shimmered like starlight, his silver hair hanging around him like curtains. His face was decorated with a veil-like array of fine chains that dangled from piercings. Bright blue eyes shone out, tokens of his once angel-hood.

He tutted at me. “Darling, I’ve heard you weren’t well. Come here and tell me all about it.” And he reached out a lanky arm. I knew better than to say no. Lucifer was huggy, if anything just to give people the creeps by touching them constantly. It was especially hard to navigate someone who wanted to hug you persistently.

So I sat beside his throne, the usual place a supplicant found themselves, and his arm draped around my shoulders. Instantly it was like a hissing cat roused within me.

“Mine,” I clearly heard within my head as an itching sort of anger swept over me.

“Uh,” I jumped up, swiping Lucifer’s arm from me as fast as I could.

“Oh?” Lucifer asked casually. I froze. Was there some sort of punishment for spiting Lucifer? There was a certain glimmer to his eyes – was he angry now?

“Aww, I see,” Lucifer crooned. With a stretch he took a grip on my shoulder and dragged me to stand before him. Distracted by his glittering eyes, I didn’t see his leg sweep out as he straightened. My feet were kicked out from beneath me and I landed on the stone floor on my knees.

Yeah, ouch.

“Well hello,” Lucifer said, propping a foot up on my shoulder. I winced as his heel dug in, but then he added the weight of his other leg to it.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked.

“You should be!” he said happily. “Lying to angels like that. Tut-tut, Chaos. You know they’re looking all over for your little girlfriend?”

Inside, I felt a strange coolness. Bella was furious, but calm. She knew how to play this game it would seem.

But me? I wanted to protect her. So I opened my mouth, about to spout something about not knowing what he was talking about.

“Oh no, spare me that,” said Lucifer, holding up a hand dramatically. “I don’t want to talk with you. Summon your mistress, little slave.”

My jaw clamped shut. Humiliation spread over me and I gritted my teeth angrily. How dared he talk to me like that? He wasn’t the boss of me! “You-”

But I was cut off from within. Suddenly I felt myself callously shunted aside, crashing into a corner of myself. My limbs were moving but I had no control over them.

My hands shoved Lucifer’s feet from my shoulder. “Good morning,” Bella’s voice said coldly.

“Oh hey, doll!” Lucifer grinned, crossing one leg over the other knee. “I hope you don’t mind, I was using your footstool.”

Footstool? I wanted to squawk in horror. Bella didn’t seem to care. She was on her (mine?) feet now and dusting herself off. “I need a portal,” she was saying through me. “My slave is going to fetch my body on earth.”

Lucifer tutted. “Darling, everyone’s been looking for you. You know, I could make a lot of money if I told them where you are.”

Bella snorted. “As if you will. Give me a portal.”

“You know, I want a personal slave too,” Lucifer whined. He held up a hand, pretending to investigate his manicured fingernails.

“Lucifer!” Bella barked. Then, as he raised his eyebrows, she checked herself. “Lucifer,” she said politely. “I really need a portal.”

Lucifer waved his fingers at himself, making his rings glimmer. Bella continued. “I can pay you,” she said sweetly. I could feel her smile on my face.

“Of course you’re going to pay me,” drawled Lucifer. “But in what?”

Bella hesitated. “I can bring you some souls?” she offered.

Lucifer dropped his hand into his lap. “I like it when payment benefits everyone. Darling, you want to rule the three realms? Isn’t that it?”

“I want Nirvana,” Bella said cautiously. “Only one of the realms.”

“Only the strongest,” drawled Lucifer with a drag Queen-esque flip of the hand. “Now listen to me, chickling. I’ll give you a portal, and you will go get your body back, but you have to challenge God to a duel afterwards. It’s time someone dethrones the old fart.”

Bella hesitated.

“A duel, that’s all,” said Lucifer. “and as the prize, you’ll wager the rulership of the sky realm. Don’t you think it’ll be a lot easier to get into Nirvana if you can wage war against it with the power of the hordes of angels and demons, instead of your little piddly vampire-army? Hmm, girl?”

Bella hesitated again. I knew why. Lucifer was one to give gifts – at a price. “What do you want in return?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, you know, I really just want to see that old deity crushed under someone’s heel,” he said viciously, bringing his fingers to his lip. “But, ah, for payment – hmmm we shall see.”

“We shall see?” Bella asked sharply. “I don’t think so.”

Lucifer flipped out a hand. In his palm, a miniature portal hovered, glowing a dark purple. “You don’t want a portal, darling?”

Bella gulped. Lucifer’s fingers waved around the portal. “I’ll make sure the angels look away as your slave travels,” he cooed.

Don’t do it! I thought as loudly as I could.

Bella hesitated.

Lucifer pouted. “Of course, if you don’t want it, I’ll have to respect my agreements to the ruling heavens and bla bla bla, you know how divine paperwork is, and,” he shrugged “I’ll have to turn you and your slave in to the angels.”

Bella grimaced.

Lucifer tilted his head. “As a great leader once said,” and he paused for dramatic effect, making a pitiable face “’Sad’.”

Bella scowled. “Fine!” she reached forward. “Give me the portal!”

“Ecx-el-lent!” Lucifer cheered, dropping the portal into my palm. It was heavy but Bella’s strength allowed me to hold it. “There you go darling. Use it well!” Now grinning most viciously, he kicked his legs up onto his armrest and returned to draping across his throne.

Bella smiled nastily in return. I felt her sarcasm, but at the same time her glee. With Lucifer officially on her side, she was one step closer to Nirvana.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Seven, Part Two

I stood up gingerly, not really trusting my limbs to hold me. But they held. Bella guided me out of the aisle and led me outside of the chapel. I was not prepared for that gust of cold air. It was cold! So cold!

Chuckling, Bella pulled her hat on. I hugged Mark’s jacket around myself. I didn’t so much realize that we had let go of our hands as I felt it as an emptiness within myself. I told myself it was nothing. But still, those alarm bells within me were ringing.

“So,” I said as Bella began walking forward to the skidoos. “What just happened? Why did you show me that? Why?”

“Well aren’t you full of questions?” asked Bella with a smile as she drew to a stop by her skidoo. She pulled on a pair of gloves and pulled her turtleneck higher up on her throat. I couldn’t help but notice how soft her skin looked. But I refused to be distracted. My head was a bit more on my shoulders, that strange craving for her now only a tiny feeling in my gut. So I crossed my arms, told myself to digest that feeling, and scowled.

“What’s your plan? What – why even show me that?”

But Bella grinned at me. My heart flip-flopped stupidly. “Because I like sharing,” she said sweetly. “I like giving people answers to their questions. So,” she fiddled with her skidoo helmet. “What’s your next question?”

I took a breath. Really? Was this going to be that easy? A question about the portal almost slipped from me. But I stopped. If I really wanted to know – “Where’s Mark? What’d you do to him?”

She ducked her head, grinning widely. The vampires looked concerned. “What?” I asked. “You said you like giving answers.”

“Mark, ah, had an accident,” she said with the smile that said she was lying.

“Really?” I asked. “Well I still want to see him. And Leo.”

Bella’s eye twinkled. “Well then, let’s do that, shall we?”

I hesitated. “Really?” What, was she letting me dig my own grave?

“Really,” she nodded at the vampires. “Let’s go.”

And off we went.

I was expecting us to go to the hospital, or to suddenly transport into a medieval dungeon where bits of Mark would be hanging around. Instead we went to a mansion. It wasn’t quite quaint. It was modern (Ish?) with giant windows, peaked towers, and well, it was huge. I sort of wondered why Bella wasn’t living her instead of her small victorian-era home. Was she just into vintage?

“Here we are!” Bella announced as she drew off her helmet and I awkwardly got off the skidoo behind mcwhateverhisnamewas. She pulled her gloves off and gestured to the house with a large grin towards me. “The center!”

“The-?” I balked. Was she really showing me something important?

“Center,” she said, dropping her skidoo helmet into the seat. “Our intelligence center, where we keep people who are problematic, and where,” she shrugged “Our center is.”

I blinked. The center. There was going to be a portal at the center. Whoah. She just spelled it out for me.

She flashed her trademark smile at me. “What’s that face for?”

I shook myself. “N-nothing.”

The other vampires didn’t look so certain however. They were giving me the stink eye. I did my best to put on a casual smile. Wouldn’t want to give away that she’d just solved my biggest problem for me.

Well, up we walked to the door. Big, imposing, double doors. I was expecting some sort of high-tech fingerprint or eyeball-checking security system. No such thing. We just walked straight on in.

My alarm bells rang at that. Why was she so trusting? How come they could afford to just – no security? It made me frown as we walked in.

“Namastay!” cheered someone so happily that I jumped. Whoah. Right there, just a few steps in, a cluster of vampires were standing around and sipping out of water bottles.

“Namastay, namastay!” said Bella so happily as she strode on in through them. She hugged several members and patted others on the back. “How is everyone?”

My brain balked. What the hell? The vampires had the same adoring eyes for her that the humans had. They chirpily told her that oh, everything is good, grand mistress, all good.

“Excellent,” crooned Baella. She reached for me, gesturing me over. I slowly scraped over, letting my feet slide grudgingly over the floor.

Mcsomething or other shoved me forward so I stumbled next to Bella. Bella took me by the shoulder and righted me with a crick. “This is Chaos,” she said sweetly, her fingers digging into my shoulders one second and caressing me the next.

A general coo went up, like I was a baby. Adoring eyes went from Bella to me. Bella’s hand slid across my shoulders to hug me sideways. “She’s visiting!” said Bella excitedly. “So let’s all be on our best behavior, okay?”

I gingerly looked around, hoping I wasn’t blushing ridiculously. Bella was holding me so close. So tightly. It was… very nice to say the least. Something in my gut was twisting free, squealing in joy at the attention just as I found it strange, very strange.

After some aimless chatter, I was led away, my hand in Bella’s. “I’m sure you’re very worried about your friends,” she said happily as we walked down the entrance hall.

“Very,” I muttered, looking everywhere but at her while all my attention was on our hands together. I didn’t want to let go. It felt so nice.

Up a flight of stairs we went, vampire troupe still in tow. Into endless corridors we went. The place stunk of old money, old luxury, that had all been torn down. There were spots where paintings had been removed from walls. The bannister was pointedly not polished, full of grummy handprints. The corridor was making me sneeze.

“Too much fur?” teased Bella.

“Is there cats here?” I asked, sniffling.

Bella shook her head. “It’s the werewolves you’re smelling.”

“Uh- huh,” I grumbled. I knew no werewolves had escaped hell. That, they had been sure to tell me. Only vampires on the run.

And then a door opened and – yeah, those were werewolves. My jaw practically hit the floor. The werewolf in charge (some muscly dude with a mohawk) did the same. His eyes bulged and a look of sheer panick crossed his face, eyes flitting from me to Bella. Then to our joined hands.

He made a sound, pointing at me.

“This is Chaos,” said Bella as we walked up to them.

“I – know,” said Munch, as I liked to call him. Munch and I never got along. He was dumb. He ran a small gang that always got into trouble with ol’ Beelzebub and – wait a minute. They’d been really quiet lately, hadn’t they?

“Chaos is visiting,” said Bella, swinging sideways to bump her shoulder against mine like we were best buddies.

Munch chewed on that for a minute, jaw working. He ogled me, then again, our hands. “Okay,” he said finally. Bella flashed him a grin. Then, leading the way on, she gestured him to come along. “How have our guests been doing?” she asked as Munch tailed along sheepishly at her side. By his expression, I guessed that he wasn’t used to this much attention from her.

“Good,” he mumbled, making part of my brain explode. Munhc? Mumbling? Whoah. Usually this dude just up and yelled every word in people’s faces. For him to be so docile…

I eyeballed Bella. She just looked so sweet and docile, her evil red eye completely hidden by that eyepatch. Hmph.

Up another flight of stairs, we were suddenly swamped by the smell of chemicals. “This is the science flight,” she said happily, stating the obvious. There was a cluster of scientists here and there in the hallways, all whispering excitedly at our passage. One quickly stepped forward and opened door for Bella, who smiled so sweetly at them as we went through.

And there was Mark.

He was shirtless, his hair a grimy mess. Propped up in a hospital bed, he was restrained by cuffs and tubes coming out of his veins. He was utterly unconscious, looking almost peaceful.

“See?” Bella pulled me to his bedside, where she planted me beside a drip-bag-thing that was connected to Thor’s tubes. “He’s not all that bad, is he?”

I had to say that she was right, actually. I’d been expecting, well, much worse than him to be simply incapacitated.

“He tried to run away,” said Munch, crossing his arms across his chest and flexing. “We tried our best but,” he gestured to Mark’s arms and wrists, where there was some bruising. But that was minor, right?

“And Leo?” I asked, mouth dry.

“Right here!” cheered a vampire from behind us as Leo himself was pushed in.

Leo was in fresh clothes, wearing a lab coat and a very, very, unhappy expression.

“See?” said Bella. “All fine!”

Leo gave her a hateful look. Munch flexed again.

“Can we talk? Alone?” Leo said, glaring at me like I was to blame for the universes’ problems.

Bella looked at me. A frown crossed her face.

“Please?” I asked.

And that was all it took? Again, her smile returned. She left, and everyone else followed, looking quite puzzled. The door was shut.

“What are you thinking?” hissed Leo, walking to my side. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

I looked around, puzzled. “Really? I mean, this place is weird but-”

Leo rolled up his sleeves and showed me several pinpricks. “They keep injecting me with ‘vitamin B’,” he hissed. “Have you found the portal yet?”

I looked around to avoid looking at him. “No, but I know it’s going to be in this building.”

Leo snorted. “Good job, kid. You’re really on top of things.”

“They’re not being awful,” I argued back.

He squinted at me. “So you too are going to start singing praises about Her?”

I flushed. “No.”

“Yes. Do you know why Mark tried to run away last night?”

My mouth was dry. “No. Why?”

“I don’t know. But they used quite some technology and magic to heal him.” he gestured to Mark. “He didn’t look that good earlier on.”

I wanted to kick myself for being so gullible. But then again, what really was wrong here? Everyone seemed so happy… “You’re right,” I said flatly. “Something’s wrong.” People just aren’t this happy. Besides, if Lucifer wanted this place shut down, there had to be a good reason, right?

“They’ve got information that,” the door opened and Bella strode back in. Leo scowled.

“So? All caught up?” she asked sweetly.

I caught myself smiling back at her. She was so sweet. So pretty. “Yeah,” I said without thinking. Beyond Bella, Leo glared at me. Like, really glared. He wanted to murder me.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Six, Part Two

I wanted to just leave the room, but hey. Instead I was… announced out? There’s just no way to describe how I was marched to the door with a hand on my shoulder, and the door was dramatically flung open so it slammed upon the opposite wall and all. The vampires who were standing around the door jumped and spun.

Bella lifted her chin at them like she was the most important thing in the world. No, she radiated it. Then, she crooned. “Namastay,” while designating me with the tips of her fingers as if I was a crystal ball that shouldn’t be touched. “Put our guest up for the night. Find her some clothes and -” she seemed to lose track of her own thoughts. “All that,” she finished, eyes drifting off to the ceiling.

The vampires bowed, echoing ‘namastay’. I took a breath and looked over my shoulder at Bella. She had a smile on (did she ever not smile?) and was obviously in dreamland.

The vampires remained in their bow. They were waiting for something. I wondered what the hell was going on.

“I have had a vision,” whispered Bella, entranced.

“Yes,” said the beefcake, looking up but remaining in his bow.

“I-,” Bella brought her fingertips to her forehead dramatically. “I-,” and she froze in that position.

“Need help?” I asked dryly, hoping she would end with the dramatics. But she didn’t answer. Everyone else glared at me.

Bella began breathing deeply. “I see,” she crooned, swaying back and forth on her feet. “I see-” and she opened her eyes. Her strange smile returned. “Have a good night, everyone.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t get into mischief.”

And with a clap, she shut her door. The vampires rose from their bows. I looked from the shut door to them. Gingerly, I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the door. “Is she always like that?”

“Our Queen has been gifted with visionary powers unlike any other,” intoned my beefcake. “Don’t make light of them.” Or we’ll beat you to a pulp.

I nodded, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “Oh,” as if I hadn’t already understood that.

Beefcake clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder, then another. “This way,” he grunted, physically maneouvering me towards the stairs. I let him, grinding my teeth at the treatment.

Downstairs, Mark and Leo were waiting nervously. I could see why. The other vampires were surrounding them, sharpening their knives, hungry eyes fairly devouring my friends.

“They’re to be put up for the night,” grunted the beefcake in charge. I was shoved to the center of the waiting room beside Leo. “Find them rooms.”

Groaning, various vampires pulled out cellphones and began texting. Those that had accompanied me upstairs just stood there and glared imposingly at me. I put my hands in my pockets and looked around at the décor.

After a moment of doing that, I cleared my throat. “So,” I turned to Mr beefymcbeef. “Bella-”

“Our Queen,” he intoned. “Is not to be called by her name alone. Show some respect.”

“Oh, yes, no disrespect intended,” wouldn’t want to insult the nutbag. “Uhm,” I tried to formulate my words into a proper question, but all that came to mind was ‘Twilight? Really?’. So I blurted out whatever came next to mind. “Where’s she from?”

There was a universal snort, even from the ones on the cellphones. Mr Beefcake glared at me.

I waited a moment before admitting that they weren’t going to answer. “Why?” I asked loudly. “Is she some sort of secret?”

“We don’t discuss our Queen with strangers,” one on a cellphone said loudly, only to be shushed by others.

“They’re not worth it,” muttered another.

I flopped down onto an armrest beside a vampire. She hissed at me, baring her fangs. I hissed back. That baffled her.

“Found one for the kid,” said a scrawny vampire, handing the cellphone to my beef-in-charge.

“Good,” the beef took the cellphone, then handed it back. Nodding at me he said “This way.”

We paused for him to put his coat on, and then we trooped out into the snow. It was a full-on snowstorm now, snow flurries whacking me in the face and making me blink uncontrollably. I could barely see a thing, and felt stupid as I trudged along behind the hulking vampire.

I was taken to a neighboring building where a quaint-looking family greeted us with very toothy smiles, all vampires, even the little toddler in their arms.

“So pleased to be of service to our Queen,” they cooed as we were let in.

Mumble mumble, went the beefcake, taking the mother aside and muttering something to her. I was led by the father to a guest’s room.

It was all very quaint. Nicely painted, with ruffles and ribbons on things. Barf.

Then, as I was looking at the ruffles and ribbons all around this room, the door was drawn shut behind me.

I stayed in that room all night, sleeping lightly and generally being frustrated. There was no window to escape from, and I didn’t want to just bust out and get caught sneaking around. What was I going to find in this house anyways?

The next morning, at no particular time that I could decipher, I was woken up by the mother.

“Darling,” she cooed as she pushed the door open. “It’s time to wake up.”

I sat up grudgingly. I was no one’s darling! I was about to give her a mouthful of my opinion when I saw that she was carrying clothes for me. Fresh clothes!

Mercifully, they weren’t pink and purple or something hideous like that. No, they were black with … ‘visitor’ spray painted on it in white. Really? Really?

I put the t-shirt on, thinking that, really, it couldn’t have gotten any cornier. The cargo pants fit as well with a belt and mercifully they didn’t have ‘visitor’ spray painted on the ass or something dumb like that.

Trudging out of the room, I was greeted with – Bella herself standing there with a troupe of vampires. The family that had ‘hosted’ me looked ecstatic out of their minds, starry eyes staring adoringly at Bella. Bella who turned her smile to me.

“Namastay,” she crooned. “You’re awake.”

I glanced to a window and saw that it was still dark out. “Morning?” I guessed?

“We need to get a start on your day if you’re to see everything,” Bella crooned as she waved me over. “Hurry, hurry, we haven’t got all day.”

Frowning, I let myself be ushered out the door into the cold and dark – with Mark’s coat on. Fuck, no one was ushering me out without a coat on. Not in this cold.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Three Part One

Hey everyone! Here’s some more Chaos! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It’s so much fun to write 🙂 Do let me know what you think!

///

We have a fifteen minute window. The words kept ringing in my head. I felt like I was on fire. I was ready to blow up and take the world with me. Yeah, let’s do this. Let me show FoxFace what I was made of – Chaos. Chaos here, ready to take everything down. Wasn’t that why I had been offered this mission? Because I rocked, that’s why!

For all the fuss in my head, we just walked out of the lab. Bam. The nerd/scientist slid his key card in the slot by the door, and we walked straight on out. A straight corridor that was dimly lit led us to another door – and that one was to the outside.

It was nighttime. A crisp air, no wait , a freezing air wafted over me. There was an inch of snow over everything. Military cars. Military buildings in low long rectangles everywhere. A few soldiers here and there marching. Above, a full moon.

“Werewolves are out,” I chuckled, pointing to the giant moon. The scientist was not impressed.

“Should we be expecting werewolves?” he asked in that disaffected tone, syringe still at the ready.

I groaned as we walked down the metal ramp and stairs to the ground. “I was joking!” I hissed. “Can’t you tell? Werewolves aren’t on earth yet, you know?”

“Yet?” he asked coolly.

“Well,” I squirmed and grumbled. “Forget it.” I stuffed my hands in the pockets of Thor’s fuzzy checkered jacket.

We crossed the distance between the buildings, snow crunching under our boots. This felt surprisingly boring. Soldiers nodded at the scientist, who nodded back and pushed me along.

“Does no one realize what we’re doing?” I hissed as we entered the second building.

“I told you. We have fifteen minutes. I did away with the guard, and that’s when we’ll be found out. Now hurry.”

Did away with? Well shit, the nerd wasn’t joking around. I scurried after him through a set of doors into this next building.

Here, the faces of the soldiers were dire. They began asking questions, sharp and dry.

“What’s your business here?”

The scientist calmly produced a lengthy paper. “Permission to have this subject meet with the prisoner, to jog their memory,” he said as if he believed it.

With a grunt the paper was handed back. We slipped forward to a series of cells with this soldier in tow. Several other soldiers lined the walls, all grim and scowling at us. We were let into one, and oh hey! There was Thor!

“Hey!” I said so cheerfully. But Thor gave me a death-glare, and another to the scientist.

“What do you want?” he asked the scientist. “And what’s the vampire doing here?” And I was given a nod, but no look.

“Hey, I’m not-” but the scientist spoke over me.

“We have seven minutes to get out of here,” he said sharply. “Get up and come along.” To me, he said “Stand still,” and that syringe jabbed into my shoulder.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, but it was too late. The stuff was in me and the needle drawn out. I rubbed a hand over the site. It was itchy. “What was that?”

“Consider it coffee,” he said dryly as he pulled a pair of safety glasses from his lab jacket’s pocket and put them on. “Now you do your part. Get us out of here. I’ll tell you where to go, but you have to do the people bashing.”

“I can’t kill-”

“Yeah yeah, just knock them out. We can’t just walk out of here with your buddy.”

I blanched, remembering all those beefy soldiers lining the wall. “We have to make it out past them? That we just passed?”

The scientist nodded. “You can do that, right?”

“Is this for real?” asked Thor, getting up off his cot and walking over. “You’re escaping?”

“Yes, if the kid can do it.”

“That’s your plan?” I hissed, angry of a sudden. “Get me to do it all?”

And then – whoosh. It was like hot soap in my veins because it burned. It made my eyes tear up and I knew they were turning red, Holy Immortal kind of red. Not pink-eye. It was maybe also like adrenaline. Soapy adrenaline?

“Oh wow,” I gasped, heart pumping a mile a minute. Even my fingernails felt like they were shaking. My claws were almost coming out of their own. The scientist grinned. “You’ve got this, don’t you?”

I nodded with a gulp. Oh yeah. Bring it on.

The scientist grinned and pulled the door open. “Aprez vous,” he said, guiding me out with a palm.

I didn’t even stop to correct his shitty french pronounciation. I just marched on out like I owned the world, because I did. I was on top of it all. I could feel success in my veins.

“Hey, the prisoner can’t-” Wham! I kicked the first guy in the face. Then, darting forward, I did pretty much the same for the next two. Gut-punched the next one.

Whirr! Whirr! Feathered thingies flew through the air. They missed me by a hair’s breadth, scittering across the floor.

We were half way there when I was surrounded. I didn’t even need to take my pentacle off and let it touch ground, I just made the magic happen. IT glowed across the floor, giant red lines that were pulsing with the magic of hell – and whoosh! I felt another surge of power. Ohhh YEAH! I ran forward, knowing I was invincible for the next few seconds. You could say my inner dice were set to a natural 20. The buddies fell down before me.

Just as I landed the last punch, the pentacle vanished, taking that extra surge of power with it. I paused, taking a breath.

“No! Keep moving!” The scientist hauled me forward by the collar. “Move!”

We busted out the door, out into the cold air. The air burned at my eyeballs, at my lungs. Blood and magic was roaring in my ears. My eyes couldn’t possibly be more open.

We turned and ran to a car. I skidded, then threw myself into the unlocked passenger door. The scientist threw Thor to the driver seat. “Your turn! Drive like a criminal!”

Thor didn’t need telling twice. Pedal to the floor! I fell backwards in the seat, then almost flew forward out the window when we hit a speed bump that certainly didn’t slow us down.

“That way! That way!” the scientist was directing from the back seat, pointing left then right then straight as we zoomed ahead, skidding across the snowy streets. The ‘check out’ loomed ahead. It’s gate was closed.

“Throw this!” the scientist said, drawing a potato launcher style thing out of the back seat and shoving it into my hands. “Just point it and shoot!”

“What?” was all I shrieked. But the gate was coming up! I aimed haphazardly and pulled what I thought was the trigger.

Crack! The recoil slammed me back into the seat. The windshield shattered outwards and the gate exploded just as we drove through it.

It was pretty epic. Fire and flames around us for a minute as we drove off.