Darryl pulled the Mustang into the parking lot at George Pratt’s office. It was a nice building; definitely upscale. He and Marcia got out and went inside where they were ushered through to Pratt’s private office. Pratt, Heather Shore, and a social worker they hadn’t met were present. Pratt introduced her as Caroline Ogilvy.

Heather was seated in a chair, looking very sullen. Marcia sat down beside her and asked how she was doing.

Rather than answer, Heather just shook her head. She didn’t want to talk.

Chapter Two – Day Five

Detectives Julie Sanderson and Tommy Lomax disagree when Julie proposes using a honey-trap to catch Stephanie Carter's killer. Final Chapter and resolution.

Chapter One – Day One

Transgender detective Julie Sanderson is teamed with detective Tommy Lomax to solve the murder of young trans prostitute Stephanie Carter and the investigation becomes complicated when the victim is identified as the daughter of a US senator. The case is a political time bomb full of intrigue, deception, lies and deceit but the clock is ticking to get it solved before the media gets hold of the story.

When a mountain downpour forces Lydia and Thomas Thompson into a cavern's shadowy embrace, Lydia's touch upon ancient runic inscriptions awakens her latent power and identity. As they emerge to find the enigmatic town of Sælicbrook—a nexus of realms and magic—Lydia is transformed into her destiny as its guardian. But as the cosmic entity Nyarlathotep stirs, intent on unraveling the threads of reality, will Lydia's newfound power be enough to stand against an eldritch horror bent on devouring all? The battle for existence looms, and only the guardians of Sælicbrook can safeguard the world from the impending darkness. Will they triumph, or will everything they know be consumed by the infinite appetite of the Crawling Chaos?

“I can imagine,” Mage replied. “Can we talk a bit?”

Stephen beckoned her inside, but she said, “Maybe out in the garden?”

He followed her out to the garden bench. It was a typical iron and 1x3 board bench, but instead of being in a flower garden, it was in between giant cabbages, each with heads over a foot in diameter, and pumpkins that would end up being over 100 or more pounds because of the incredible growing conditions in the Matanuska Valley.

.
Either my mind was playing tricks on me and I wasn’t remembering things I had done . . . or my mind was playing different sorts of tricks on me.

Chapter 26

July 29^th, 2023

Palmer, Ak

10:37 AM

It was payday on the farm, and Mage was making her way around to the different workers, handing them their statements. It was the day and age of electronic payments, but she had decided to hand people their statements, at least, as it allowed her to chat with each of them and find out how they were all doing.

Part Seven

The team found a small clearing near the beach, and settled in for a well-deserved rest. They had another uncomfortable day to pass, the enforced idleness weighing heavily on them. To their surprise, though, most managed to get plenty of sleep. They were all tired, even though they all had more than human physical traits. This was largely because of the combined stress of their mission and the relief of accomplishing their mission, rather than because of any actual exertion. Now, they only needed to escape.

Chapter 25

July 28th, 2023

Lincoln City, OR

9:00 AM

Marcia slept in a bit, but woke up to the smell of coffee. Lazily, she sat up and looked around the bedroom. Obviously, Darryl had gotten up a fair bit earlier than her. She distinctly remembered not caring overly much about where her t-shirt, shorts, and undergarments landed before she lay down, but now they were not on the floor, where logic said they must have landed when she and Darryl collaborated in their removal.

The Countess of Corsica

A Tale of the Second World

by

E. E. Nalley

Who do I want to be tonight?

The Witcher Series is copyright by Andrzej Sapkowski. This story is licensed under creative commons and derivative non-commercial fiction.

Part 2

I sat at my desk and pondered on what Cherry had found. Five deaths, spread over nearly forty years, was difficult to understand. The motive may be lost in time, maybe they weren’t linked at all. Maybe, the AI had just come up with gobbledegook. Maybe, no, certainly, this was going over my head this time.

Once Darryl and Marcia left, Mage and Chet collected the gifts that they had insisted they would put away, and took them to a shed at the corner of the property. After, since they were nearby, they walked to a building that was being erected. It was hidden behind one of the many gravel glacial moraines that abounded in the area.

Trish was immaculately made up, and her hair was styled nicely. She gave a good look at what was arranged on Marcia’s vanity and moved her head in a manner that suggested the cosmetics just wouldn’t do for the day. She grabbed a case that she’d carried in with her and setting it on the vanity, she said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“

January 14th, 2023
Signing on…
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Freshly sprayed down with Off^®, Marcia, Darryl, and Sammy sat at a picnic table near the Matanuska River dock. It was a ways from where the body had been found, for which they were glad. They didn’t want Sammy thinking about that either. Whether he understood what he’d seen in the case of his parents’ death, or the skeletal hand, would have to be determined by a counselor.

When Robert’s wife’s body is stolen, Robert must discover where and who she is and get her body back. But can he succeed when Exmuritious Forrester, the CEO and owner of Transmigration Studios, decides to stop him? Who can Robert trust, when anyone could be anyone?

Marcia watched as her brother and friend eyed each other. She wasn't sure how the meeting was going to go after the occurrences of three years previous, but she hoped both could reign in their feelings.

There was an uneasy silence that was finally broken by Chet. "Hi, Trish. Nice to see you." He stepped up to her and put one arm around her in a friendship embrace.

It was as if there was a collective sigh of relief as they embraced. Darryl glanced at his sister, and saw a small bit of stiffness that quickly evaporated. It was as if Mage consciously made the decision to be friendly.

The following story was told to me by Lana Edwards, Lana is a Junior at Benton Academy and a long time girl scout who has just completed all the requirements to award her Gold Rewards. The Gold Reward is the highest honor a girl can earn in her scouting career. Anyway she swears this story is true. And given Lana is not the type to make up stories, and given my own paranormal encounters and many other paranormal encounters I've written about so far. I'm going to take her word at face value.

Gakkou no Kaiden:
Beware of the Water Demon!

The mountain village of Satoyama is surrounded by thousands of small rice paddies that are fed by countless streams that flow down from the snow capped mountains that surround the village. In the hot, humid summer months the children of the village often play in the cool streams. Be it swimming, fishing or just lounging in the shadow of a tree that has grown by the waters edge. These nameless streams are often a popular escape from the heat of summer.

Have you ever asked yourself the following question? What causes a place to become haunted? Or to become infested with demons? That is the million dollar question that is often debated among theologians and paranormal scholars alike. I'm not here to answer that question. I'm here to tell you a story of a building that is haunted. Haunted by the lost soul of a wayward teenage girl who tragically took her own life in a fit of religious fever and my personal encounter with her. But first a brief history lesson.

I've told you a fair number of legends that center around Benton Academy, I've also told you one or two that center around Benton High School. The School I attend. The story I'm going to tell you now, is a ghost story that is well known to the cadets of Benton High School's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps or JROTC for short. That is commonly pronounced “JAY-rotsee” for those who were wondering.

Now that the truth had been revealed, sort of, Zoe didn't feel as much motivation to keep going about her school activities. She did still support the breast cancer awareness club, and she still socialized with Miles and Alan and all her other friends. But since she now knew Skylar was innocent, there didn't seem to be much of a purpose for navigating the social hierarchy at school. Sure, there was still a witch out there, but there were virtually no leads on who it could be.