I remember.

We'd been in good spirits when we returned to Eclipton that one time. Sure it'd be hard not to miss the country estate but this castle had its own charm. Rugged and sturdy but there were certainly worse places to be in the world.

And it was particularly beautiful that day. The flowers had just begun to bloom with the start of spring. The sky was especially blue that morning and you could hear the faint chirping of birds.

The training team is back with some new challenges and a plot against them.

Author's note: Some plot elements of this story follow up on the events of my story Of Pranks and Finals, which is on the Whateley site but has not been posted on Big Closet. That story was co-written with other authors, so I did not feel it appropriate to post that one here myself.

http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php

Ed makes an accidental discovery at work that challenges his ideology. Should he go to HR and demand that Carl act appropriately, at least while he’s at work?

The bridge crew looked at him, concern radiating from every face. The young woman at comms was first to find her voice. “Captain? Orders?”

“Has he asked you to go to Homecoming with him yet?”

Pete's Vagina
60. Pass Interference
by Erin Halfelven

Dawn being on the high ground and Kyle doing a lowdown dirty trick was adding more turbulence to the storm front on the mountain her husband choosen to die upon. She could not believe that he drove Linda to school without also taking Ron. How early they left meant that he was also getting them Micky D’s for breakfast. That was not how they treated their children. If any of their children were going to the same place then they all got a ride. If they were going to give one child a small treat then they all get a small treat.

Midnight, Jack’s Ranch:
The Werewolves that came to help and protect Jack’s family were patrolling the perimeter of the property. Jack’s wolves were patrolling closer to the main house. Jack’s wife Debbie felt it would be better if all the grandchildren and the adults were at the main house, instead of in their own homes. This way they wouldn’t have to split their forces up.

The yacht’s motion started to ease as we proceeded south, coming into the shelter of the Crete coast. We got up and dressed, donned our lifejackets and made our way up to the bridge. All was quiet. George was asleep on the guest bench at the rear of the bridge, his head on Maria’s lap. Her head was tilted to the side, somewhat asleep as well. Jorge was helming, Dimitri and Greg were nowhere to be seen. We crept to Jorge so as not to wake Maria or George; he whispered that the others were in their bunks. Dimitri was due on the helm in an hour or so.

This one's not for the faint of heart. Over the course of the story there will be death, suicide attempts, a fair amount of physical and mental abuse, some egregious torture and a hefty dollop of foul language, but hopefully a happy ending. Actually, the last bit's a given since it's me doing the writing, but between here and the end is a rocky road, so please if any of the above is likely to be triggering for you, please, please think twice about reading.

Chapter 13

“What’s happening?” he asked as we arrived at the comms tent. Stuart and Jen were there along with our remaining guards.

“We’re er, waiting for Laurel,” Stuart said. “She and Nick are on their way. I’m not sure she would have been able to do anything by herself, any more than these, er, people can.”

“This has to do with what you were saying when I left the tent, isn’t it?” I asked one of my former captors. “That heuristic defence thing you were talking about. Care to tell us about it?”

CHAPTER 61
Things did settle down after that fortnight’s busyness, for the simple reason that even the best management magicians can’t come up with a new and revolutionary idea every day. We almost gave up on the sausages idea, for example, because there was no feasible way to fly out a sample pack to the east coast, and by definition anyone renting a van in Perth was likely to be heading over that way, so wouldn’t exactly be in the area for a repeat purchase.

Instead, Chad had a word with Rhona, who was definitely SWMBO in that business, and breakfast packs for their camping sessions started being ordered from a former miner. And Maz bought a helmet.

Chapter 2