Edited By: Dave

It seemed to list an audition site in Houston. Deciding this was too good to be true he decided to make the drive down. Maybe he would be able to see a free performance but if not he still wouldn't mind paying. Airfare plus the cost of tickets would be much more expensive in New York or LA, not to mention the cost of a hotel room or hostel.

He swore when first watching the video there were seven of them, but after watching it again there seemed to only be 5 or 6.

I’m screaming from under the covers of my bed again. My shriek pains my own ears. It's a shriek that chills the blood. I rarely sleep at night. When I do, the lights are 'on'. I must have fallen asleep in the afternoon. The darkness and silence envelop me and fill me with fear. I can feel him in the room. Feel his presence. It’s like he’s watching me. Stalking me. Celia rushes into my room. Mom’s working late again. My younger sister pulls me into her arms. I tremble with fear. I didn’t use to be this way. This—afraid. Ever since… Him… His ghost haunts me. It’s been a year since we were rescued. Celia now dwarfs me. She’s bigger and now she’s my protector. I begin to sob as all of the fear melts with Celia’s presence. “Shhh. I’m here. Shhh. He can’t hurt you anymore." All the treatment and therapist in the world can’t free me from him. Even in death, he assaults me.

I calm down bit more, “I’m so sorry.” Her apology takes me back to our captivity. Celia was the lucky one. She was left unharmed… At least physically. She hugs me tighter, hoping to squeeze the memory from my soul. It just brings it to the surface…

Mark Patterson has had a terrible time with nightmares all his life. On his thirtieth birthday he received a cold case that alters his life forever.

The epilogue of the Designer Children novel

Credit: The song "Nuttin' for Christmas" was by Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett.

I wrote the first draft of this story eight or nine years ago, in a severely depressed, anxious, and/or furious mood. (I don't remember which and why, now.) I was recently motivated to revise this and finish it up. The first SRU story (Bill Hart's "A Strangeness at the Frat House") was written in 1996, so this could be considered a 21th anniversary homage to SRU, celebrating SRU's coming of legal age (to consume alcohol).

James MacBeth has had it up to here with his son Jeff. He encounters SRU; maybe they might help him with his son.

It's a tale of businessmen, paperwork, filing, and toil! And some damnation, monsters, and wacky mishaps occur along the way. But paperwork too! It's a Hell Of A Story!
http://www.sincomics.com/ddg.php

The Stanley, Room 217

I finally managed to earn the copious amounts of money required to book a night at the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Being a horror movie buff and a recreational ghost hunter, room 217 at the Stanley was the ultimate haunted room. Even though I had to book the stay six months in advance, I was beyond excited knowing I’d be able to stay there on June 25, the one night per year that paranormal activity was supposed to be at its highest at the Stanley.

The search for the mysterious girl on the playground continues. Could it be Ashley, or the figment of an imagination desperate for some modicum of hope? Meanwhile, Ryan’s eyes open to a new reality, one where the serum hasn’t simply regressed his adult mind and stripped away his masculinity.

After receiving a post card in the mail, Mike, a hard-core haunted house enthusiast, decides to check out the supposedly haunted Room 1408 at The Dolphin Hotel in NYC. What he quickly discovers is that no man ever leaves Room 1408.

Chapter 28

The night, once a time where Ryan Sullivan plied his silver tongue on vulnerable sorority girls in dim keg parties and bars, now has a new meaning. Fear. Monsters both real and imagined live within its confines terrifying the burgeoning little girl within. Who can banish that fear? Mommy and Daddy. Despite this clear defeat, Ryan/Kaylee continues to try and assert himself.

Excerpt:

Gradually, the banishment of the dark and the hand stopped my incessant, uncontrollable sniveling. Through it all, I shook and mewled words that mostly didn’t exist. I turned to face the two voices in my room. A smiling, yet worried Kathryn, hair mussed, clad in a silk nightgown, looked down at me. Within her look and her touch, there was love. It was palpable. Thomas stood next to her at my bedside. He was the one who plugged in the Frozen-themed night light.

Ryan continues to be at odds with his new parents, especially regarding his language, which continues to impact his screen time, the allotment needed in order to check and send e-mails to Eve and Greg. The illusion of choice presented frustrates Ryan, who quickly realizes that an option is not acceptable unless vetted by ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’.

Excerpt:
Kathryn looked momentarily defeated, and then she pulled out her credit card, grabbed me by the wrist while saying, “Ring me through please, Alexis. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Moments later, I was being dragged through the parking lot.

The car door swung open and Kathryn put me in the backseat. She slid into the driver’s seat, while the child locks on either side of me clicked shut. Like a snake, Kathryn’s head slithered into my view, the rest of her body either attached to some terrible monster or simply hidden by her seat.

Kaylee’s adoptive parents are revealed, and the slow and final dismantling of Ryan Sullivan begins. Trapped with those who treat him exactly as he looks, Ryan is desperate to maintain his adult and male self, but is he too far gone? Still, his new parents offer a new beginning, an opportunity to right the wrongs of his previous life, but most importantly, a chance to be loved unconditionally.

Excerpt: Ms. McDavid said, “Oh I’m sure she’ll adjust fine, Kathryn. Just keep in mind what I told you too, Kaylee’s probably picked up some bad habits working in Hollywood. It’s a different lifestyle, so expect some strange behaviour. That’s why it’s important to make sure she has as normal a childhood as possible.”

The man, whose name I recalled was Thomas, said, “What do you mean, Ms. McDavid?”

Ms. McDavid smiled, “Don’t be in a hurry to let her grow up too fast. Kids her age want a lot of independence, but you can’t forget how old she is. She’ll need your help to guide her. She’s also got a very active little imagination. Try and encourage her to use it as much as possible. But most of all, just let her be a kid!”

Life is short, sometimes. Does true love ever die? This story is very dark, it came to me in a dream that should have been a nightmare if it wasn’t for the strange look of peace on the heroine’s face…
Sorry this is a little rough but this is the only day it makes sense to post this here. It's the first time I've been brave enough to post anything, enough of the waffle, on with the story...

Is withholding the truth the same as an outright lie? What was done to protect Ryan’s vulnerable mind has driven the equivalent of a railroad spike into the fledging relationship between the two former enemies. Yet, the public adoption draws near and all must remain idyllic in the household, even with the betrayal.
Excerpt:

I wanted to run away. It is what I always did. Jessica continued to speak, but I didn’t hear anything. The barking dogs, the sweet incessant nattering of Jessica, her voice akin to taking a bite of candy and finding a railroad spike inside- all of it disappeared the instant I slipped out of Jessica’s grip and ran.

I ran as fast as I could, each section of chain link fence passing in a flash. Seconds later, I felt a firm hand dig into my shoulder, stopping my momentum dead.

Jessica said softly, “I don’t know if it’s the serum doing this to you, or if a part of you actually wants it, but if you don’t want me to say anything to Eve I won’t. You need to know though that there’s probably going to be a point of no return. And it’s going to be soon.”

http://youtu.be/ggk2qwOwDRA

Onboard SS ERIN 1400 09NOV17:

Tom Dodge, Tom junior and Professor entered Tom's cabin and all three sat down. Please continue Professor.

My thanks to Cressar for helping with comments, advice, encouragement, and editing

Halloween again!

Halloween comes around again

Witches and Warlocks all around

Ghosts and Spectres float in and out

Ancient covens of druids gather around open fires

In hidden groves among the forest trees  

Some looking for converts, others looking for victims

Here I am standing, waiting, willing for you to come 

The witching hour is drawing close and I am standing here 

Waiting

Ryan’s foolish and childish behaviour causes Eve to take a firmer stance with him. Meanwhile, despite his earlier bravado, Ryan learns just how deeply the serum runs. While he struggles with this, a simple knock on the door of the apartment changes everything.

Excerpt: I nodded, “No more closed door bullshit?”

Eve said, “None. We can talk about the adoption too. You’ve got a choice in this, Ryan. If you don’t want us to adopt you, we can look at other options. The best thing for you now though is to try to maintain control. Fight your impulses. You might find that when you start putting your thoughts down that you can better understand yourself and what you are going through.”

I had expected a completely different conversation, one that involved a lot of screaming and threats. If anything, I was impressed with Eve’s calm demeanour. That feeling of warmth was still there, but now that I understood what Eve was trying to do, it felt different. Maybe she was really just trying to help?

The world now knows of Kaylee’s existence. As talk of adoption heats up, Ryan’s mind, twisted by the serum begins to play tricks on him. Meanwhile, Ryan struggles with trying to reassert his identity through something other than the formerly tantalizing opposite sex.

Excerpt: But this was nothing like the sudden warmth I felt when the little girl hugged her mother. The warmth was not heat, unlike a blanket covering a shivering form, it elicited a response from my heart. I knew heartache, at least as long it took for me to find another girl, and another, to fill the void left by Hannah, but this was something else entirely.

My heart, my chest, my brain- everything was filled to bursting with an overwhelming sense of love- to give and receive it in an immeasurable fashion. The only thing similar to it was the intense, incredible high I got from sex, but it wasn’t lust, the hard wrenching of parts, stares and longing, until the moment of climax, and then nothing- no, it was something real. Lasting.

And that’s why it scared the fuck out of me. Because it didn’t exist. To me it had to be the serum, and I was staring at my future if I embraced this world.

Finally understanding that he cannot wage the war against the serum alone, Ryan accepts Greg and Eve’s help. After the close call with the doll, Greg’s suggests a trip to the beach to wake up the old Ryan Sullivan. Ryan readily accepts, but the trip will hardly be a simple day at the beach. While there will be a multitude of flesh to attract a red-blooded male, there also exists many attractions to awaken the little girl within.

Excerpt: The door closed and the footsteps rapidly retreated. I was left holding a plastic doll, and while my humiliation in Greg’s presence was staggering to both my male ego and my adult self, I couldn’t help but want to continue playing. It was like some drug filling my mind and body with such a real sense of happiness that it was easy to ignore the fact that such actions were eating away at Ryan Sullivan. The toys, the sense of adventure, the world of imagination that Hermie spoke of were the vultures circling over the soon-to-be corpse.

But it was rainbows, cotton candy, pretty dresses, and a life where finding someone to play with would be my greatest worry. I knew that children worried about more important stuff. Some of them even faced crippling anxiety. A friend of mine, the same one with all the incredible video games, was a wreck every time his dad went on a tour of duty. I knew better, but the drug swimming in my system was smiles and sunshine.

I desperately needed help.

After the visit to the studio, with his frustration mounting, Ryan retreats to one of his old vices. While the obsession with video games had seemingly doomed Mark and Devon, a greater danger looms just outside his window.

Excerpt:

A skipping rope slapped gently against the asphalt, each jump and each giggle caused candy-coated claws to dig into my mind, the claws digging deeper and deeper as my desire to join the girls grew.

“Wow! You did three skips that time! I wanna be good like that!”

I looked out the window and saw a skipping rope tied to a telephone pole. Two girls, one of them Kaylee’s age and one Ashley’s, were taking turns holding the rope. Each time they failed to jump the rope, they switched places. The whiney, nattering voice of the younger girl should have been a massive turnoff, like a beautiful girl with a mannish voice, but instead, it planted a powerful need, an alien yearning to reach out to these girls- to play with them, but it also caused a resurgence of doubt.

“Would they even want to play with me?”