"Rory." He stopped in his tracks, turning around to see the girl who'd called his name. She stood just beside the school entrance, arms crossed, staring him down.

"Tiffany," he responded apprehensively.

"You've been avoiding me." She twirled her long, blond hair around a manecured finger. Her voice was that sort of fake sweet that sets off alarm bells and tells you to get away.

"Rea...

Lorraine felt sick. She leaned against the counter, gloved hand clasped over her mouth, eyes squeezed shut. She gripped the counter with her other hand, but all the strength in her body could not save her from swaying with nausea. Horror had settled into her stomach, but she had to push it out. She didn't have long.

It was a test. Someone had to do it, and she had to prove her loyalty. Her he...

_Your hand_, the voice cooed. _How did _**_that_**_ happen?_

_ _"You don't know?" Havard faltered. He had thought she could see... everything. If he was imagining her, wouldn't she know? She laughed.

_You thought I could see your memories?_

__

"You can read minds," he muttered bitterly. He didn't know why he was humoring her. How did she know so much about him, then? It barely matter...

Billy Brendan Splintificate jolted awake suddenly, jerking the hospital bed and emitting a horrible screeching sound.

"Whu, where am I?" He rubbed his head with his long manly fingers. "What herpmed?"

He looked adound the room and saw a girl in a bed next to him. Natural bleached blond hair adorned her petite frame. From under her deconstructed messy bun, piercing emerald brown orbs star...

"Cecilia?" Esmerelda's eyes were blank, as if she was somewhere else in her own mind. She did not look at Cecilia. She sat on the dungeon's floor, green velvet pooling under her, staring into space. Cecilia could barely see her.

"...Yes. Yes, it's me." Cecilia used the wall to guide herself, carefully inching closer. "What are you doing down here?" This couldn't possibly be what Sirius had pl...

"Mom, dad, wait!" Rory cried after his parents, who were already slamming the doors of their car. By the time he made it to the door they were gone. Panic surged through his chest as he tugged his shoes on before stumbling out of the door. They thought Vick had done this. He had to catch up to them. He had to explain. But the car was gone, and even if it hadn't been Rory couldn't have driven. He f...

"Are you actually considering it? Have you gone mad?!" Kalevai threw her hands up in animated motions, pacing around the room.

"What other choice do I have?" Cleon rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes shut, as if even the sunlight was battering him.

"Refuse! Cleon, if you go through with this, they'll hang us from the fucking wall!" She slammed her hands on the table, furious.

"And i...

I'm not sure why I was built. I was born a plan, shifting and hazy, traveling by mouth and lingering in thoughts. It's hard to remember your birth; you'd understand. Different people had different ideas about me, even then. They all knew I'd be big, though, and important. Why that mattered was a different matter for each of them. Even now, nobody seems to have the right answer. Disagreement all th...

"I didn't 'find' it. I own it. And I've got more." The finely cut jewels in the bag clinked nicely. The figure, cautious, hesitated to touch them.

"The fuck? Are you a noble?" His voice was hushed, tense.

"Something like that. Can you do the job?" The figured glanced quickly around the tavern before grabbing the bag and shoving it into his cloak, out of sight. "Twice as much if you finis...

"No." I feel my charred lips split and begin to bleed as I form my first words in days. "I don't want to go to heaven." The angel, a beautiful humanoid clothed in white, stares down at me. I'm a husk, cut up and bruised, at its feet.

"Why not?" Its powerful voice rings out through hell, strong and commanding. It stands tall, a gleaming white against the reds and oranges of the surrounding lan...