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?

The pen on the other side of the table tapped constantly against the cold wood beneath it. With it, Natalie’s legs bounced, restless and anxious.

“So, Nathan.” The interviewer said. “Tell me about yourself.”

In the past, Natalie had never been one to struggle with that kind of question. She always aced it without a hitch.

Now, of course, things were very different.

It’s so easy, so natural, when they’re little. I wish it stayed that way! I snorted as my grammy's old saying ran through my head: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Only Sixteen 20

Chapter 2

I had kept up with the newspapers and wasn’t unaware of the reputation my hometown had as a gay center. I had read articles, both for and against, and was well aware of what I was about to embark on. As a writer, myself, the second verse of the song now had more meaning to me. I needed to keep my eyes wide, because this was the one chance to get it right and not become a laughingstock.

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.

Just blow out the candles
Oh little boy, when will you learn?
You don't play with fire
Unless you wanna get burned
Wanna get burned

Chapter 36

On arriving home mum didn't waste any time in telling me to have a quick bath ready for my date that evening. Rather than argue, I did as I was told, as I actually felt like I needed a nice hot relaxing bath to soothe away the stresses of the day.

As I lay in the bath, I checked my legs to see whether there was any hair growth and was relieved to find only found a few rogue hairs. I used mum’s lady shaver to remove the offending hairs and lay back in the bath and enjoyed the hot bubbles.

"No! No!" I screamed while backing away "Absolutely not"

"You don't even know it's going to be you" John said. He seemed giddy about it.

"But I do. It's going to be me"

"Yeah you're probably right" He laughed.

"I'm not doing it" I made it clear "I don't agree to it"

Will who seemed to be pondering the whole time finally spoke "Is that even possible?" he asked.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is traditionally a day one avoids shopping centers unless one has a specific deal they wish to take advantage of. Not Faith. Faith loved Black Friday, as it’s known – the hustle, the stampede of shoppers – she loved it.

She dragged me to the mall to buy me more clothes. She was not happy with the style she assumed Shelly inflicted on me. She said, “I can’t accept you as my older sister with the conservative clothes you wear.”

“They aren’t conservative.”