Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

I want to thank Maggie Finson and all the other authors for creating the Whateley Universe. This story is Fan-fiction and may not conform to Canon rules or timelines. I am only playing in their sandbox. I also want to thank Connected for all the editing work put in to turn my scratchings into a readable story.

Please note that all of the categories checked do not apply to all chapters. My goal is to post a new chapter weekly as I have written several ahead with publication pending a final grammar check.

SPIRAL STAIR

By Emma Finn

A wealthy man finds himself lost in the dark town of Barton, but when he stops to ask directions he finds himself going down a spiral stair that changes him into a little girl. Now he really is in trouble as the mad denizens of Barton close in to trap him there forever.

Warning: This is very dark.

1

I had the awful sense that I’d forgotten something important and that made the fact I was lost even worse.

Private Eyeful
A Mercynaries Story from SinComics.com

While Mikey and I were trolling the internet for customs, cultures and quirks of the various countries we would be visiting, my phone chirped with a text.

I figured it would be Dez, although I considered it might be Eoin or Kirk. A little voice in the back of my head thought it could even be Bianca.

Nope.

I swallowed hard when I saw the 203 area code.

What the hell happened?

I quickly excused myself from Mikey and curled up into a chair in the corner where I cradled the phone between my folded knees and texted her back.

The Accident.

Fiction by Johnny Cumlately

Rachel had spent a quiet Sunday afternoon and evening with her friend, Gwen, who lived in town. At about 9 o'clock she made her excuses as she had a heavy work load the next day. She lived alone in a small cottage up in the hills about a half hour drive away and knew the road well as she commuted daily.

Story under construction.

Agave was a trendy yet casual place that seemed to specialize in locally sourced food. The menu was heavy on salads, veggie burgers and vegan fare, - very L.A. - but there was some dairy fish and local poultry, so our group of college students could indulge in items that almost tasted like junk-food if they were so inclined. While I think most of our crowd would have been happier with hot wings or burgers and fries from In & Out, they didn't grumble much about the healthy fare. I think they were just tickled that Eoin and I had invited them all out for a victory meal.

I called Kirk from Janice's car .

“Thanks for giving me a pass on the working brunch. I had dinner at Dale Coughlin's and the conversation went so long, it just made more sense to stay the night.”

“Doctor Dale?”

“Yeah. He's my... well, we had a lot to discuss with the upcoming Asia trip.... especially after the ...premature end to the Europe tour.”

“Oh, right. I totally forgot. So, are you all recovered?”

“Fully certified and good to go.” I laughed.

“So last night was ...a housecall?”

I headed back to L.A. the next morning. I was beginning to feel comfortable traveling unescorted. I was about to say alone but Katherine was never really without 'people' ...handlers, aides, assistants of one kind or another. I began to realize how many 'little people' the celebrity industry employed and found myself wondering what these people would be doing for a living otherwise. I even began to think of the paparazzi and their role in the ...ecosystem.

The backstage area at the Dolby Theater was pandemonium. Or so I thought.

As I looked around, it was actually organized chaos... it was like a living thing.. each frenzied cell a part of the greater whole. I checked in at the stage door and was quickly picked up by my 'handlers' who were well briefed on Katherine's role in this massively choreographed event.

Dennis had arranged for Hauteshot's on-call pilot to pick me up in a Jet Ranger the company had on retainer and whisk me to L.A. for Katherine's series of meetings.

I was sitting at Katherine's breakfast station, savoring a steaming half-caf macchiato and watching Marta the housekeeper out of the corner of my eye. She was staring at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I considered having fun with this game of peekaboo, but I figured I'd already toyed with peoples perceptions of Katherine enough, and I definitely should not start messing with the house staff.

Still, something had to give. So I finally caught Marta in one of her stares and, by my stern look, dared her to look away.

I believe I was genuinely surprised ...although maybe a small part of me went 'Aha!' when it turned out to be the gawky nerd I'd 'Kanyed' at the Piracy Conference.

Jared Kaltmarsh was apparently Valleywag's new 'it kid'. The darling of all the angel investors and 'the next Zuck' according to all the cool kids in tech bubble land.

For the officially anointed Golden Child, he was quite sweet and unassuming. And for a math whiz, he seemed pretty clueless about money.

If I hadn't been panicked enough at the thought of being a celebrity auction item ….I couldn't help but think back to Rado Mitruczeck's twisted vacuum packed beauty 'exhibit'.... my anxiety spiraled out of control when I spied a familiar face in the audience.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late. I had an email from Mikey asking me to wake him up and tell him how the pirate stunt went. I decided to let him sleep, knowing there would probably be some third party coverage by morning, with that many tech folks in one room, my speech was probably already on You Tube.

I asked Dennis whether he thought it was too late to call Doctor Dale. He seemed to think the call could wait until morning.

So I had all sleepless night to toss and turn and wonder what Doctor Dale wanted to discuss.

While I scrambled to come up with a way to break free of this intolerably perky social appendage, Ani proceeded to show me every square inch of wine country and beyond.

This Unicorn answered the call in a world without grit.

Marty Hughes adores doing things with his mom, who is a single parent with a mysterious job. She loves him just as much, but when there's an accident on a camping trip, their mother-son relationship is going to be strained in ways that neither could have imagined.

Jessie's Ride

Chapter 3
The move

I spent the next few hours packing the kitchen and my stuff. Ben arrived late that night. Something was different about him. I could not put my finger on it but it was there. I really did not want him to change now. My life was throwing too many curve-balls lately as it is. I told him about the sale and the move. His reaction was a shrug and to start packing. This made me think something was defiantly wrong! I decided to let him be for now. I could find out what was wrong when we were settled in the new cabin.

 Chapter 83

The ball flew through the air cleanly from way out there in three point land.

“Holy shit.” Faye said.

“Damn. Big Daddy Kane in the house or what?” A nameless skin player gave Faye a hi five. “That’s like what. Twelve points… somethin’ ridiculous? What is it, Brickhaus?”

Brickhaus, a large barrel-chested dude with shiny hair and an Ed Hardy shirt looked at the game as a whole.

“Yeah. He’s at twelve. Score’s 68-61 skins. That’s game. Dude, where the fuck did you come from? Wait… you’re the bakery guy, right?”