Sparkatale

And by the same coin I’m sorry for the delayed response to this! Been in New York and I’m just settling in for the flight home so I have a moment to actually stop and type this. But anyways, yeah that’s what Kayla and Ariana do best these days isn’t it? Break hearts? Those two never get any easier to write, which is one of the reasons they don’t appear that often. They just insist on hurting me so :P Then again, I do plan on including them more as things progress so I’m just going to have to toughen up I suppose. Honestly, I didn’t originally plan on Fate revealing herself to them this early either; yet another thing that changed with Mary’s survival and her subsequent connection with Fate. But given all the other changes, it made sense for her to go ahead and have this conversation with them while she can. She doesn’t know how much time she has and what opportunities she’ll have to drop in on them, so she just went ahead. You know what’s funny? I’m not sure where I’m going with Ariana’s illness either. I think I’ve said this before ages and ages ago, but I keep shifting back and forth between saving her and letting her die. Obviously the part of me that’s so deeply attached to her wants to spare her, but at the same time if I do save her in the end I can’t help but feel like it’ll just be a cheap cop out that ruins the drama and the whole point of this plot which is that life is fleeting but maybe, just maybe, love can be eternal. Or maybe since this is Kayla and Ariana we’re talking about I should have said forever.

Yep, that was Fate in disguise xD Can’t say I would have expected anyone to pick up on that. There was a tiny hint that something was off when Snow saw her in the drug store. The lady behind the checkout counter’s name was Rose, as in the same Rose from way back when, and she was the only other person that could see Fate there. Not really much of a hint, but I didn’t really want it to be either. Hmm, well normally I would neither confirm nor deny, but you might just be onto something about the original grand design. The Dawnguard might be able to bind Sebastian again, but killing him… no. That’s something they would absolutely need Snow for. I don’t want to say too much, but… yeah, I’ll just leave it there.

There’s definitely a reason for the Enchanter’s change in behavior, though I’ll keep quiet for now on what that is. I will say that while witches (and magical beings in general) cannot be made into thralls, witches are not immune to Sebastian’s power so such a thing is certainly possible with other forms of mind control and manipulation. And we’ll definitely see him sometime in the future. Whenever I, you know, actually sit down and write something again. Surely it’ll be soon. Surely :P

But anyway, thanks for the comment! No worries about missing this one and I don’t think the comment was rambly at all! And if it is, it’s definitely way better than this reply so I think it’s fine. And I wish you luck on getting your head together xD If you figure out how, I beg you please let me know the secret. I’m desperate over here. Anyway, I’m going to end this here because it’s very late and I’m tired. I’ve been in New York for the past week helping my parents get ready to move. They sold their house up there and they’re moving down to Texas with us. Not next door or anything, but up closer to Dallas with Mom’s side of the family. But since we recently moved across the country, they figured I’d have a good idea of how to handle it all so I’ve been helping them get everything ready. As such, I haven’t seen my wife and daughter in a week and I’m really desperate to get back to them. So, you remember when I said I was going to end this and then proceeded to ramble on for another ten minutes? Good times xD Hope you’re doing great. Talk soon!

Hee xD I mean, maaaaaaybe :P Nah, honestly, that’s a bit of an inside joke for myself. When I was writing Sunflower, the vision of the woman that guides Lucy ended up being unintentionally similar to Rose/Guides so much so that for about a second I seriously considered setting Borderworlds in the same universe as Snowfall, etc. I decided against any such crossover, but when I was thinking about where Jack and Maya grew up, the idea of them haven’t lived in Mistbrook Falls was too fun to ignore. So that’s just a little Easter egg for those familiar with that creepy little town. Which… you probably already knew without my longwinded explanation. Moving on :P

But anyway, as with a few things I’ve written recently, this first chapter wasn’t supposed to be a part of this at all. My intention was just to show the mutiny and how Jack and the crew ended up in the Borderworlds. But then Claire, who is also responsible for 99% of the jokes, puns, and sexual innuendo that Lucy will be irritating Jack with in future chapters, suggested that it might be interesting to do a series of short segments of Jack’s past leading up to the actual mutiny. And I’ve got to say, I’m glad I listened to her. I was able to, as you picked up on, focus much more on Jack and Maya’s friendship. That was missing from my initial draft of just the mutiny and I couldn’t really find a way to believably explore that in the confines of the rapid fire events of the mutiny itself.

As for Jack’s family, I’m sure we’ll get more details about them in the future as we see more of Jack. His dad was definitely a level headed soldier that understood exactly what the UEG is and that the Volgm aren’t evil monsters, but people just like him. He could also have been part of a rebellion as well, so both could technically be true :P The official record is that the heavy cruiser UEG Grace Under Pressure was lost with all hands in battle with the Volgm. Do with that information what you will xD As for Alyssa, she’s alive and well as far as Jack knows. The Luna Incident, while devastating, didn’t destroy every city on the moon. It was largely centered around the Earth facing side of the moon, which is where the majority of the surface facilities are located. There are, however, a number of cities on the far side of the moon as well, which is where Alyssa lives. So while she was on the moon during the Luna Incident, she very likely survived the event. Doesn’t mean she wasn’t involved in some part of it though xD

I feel after reading this I have such a clear picture of who Jack is <--- That. That right there was the entire point of this short story. I felt as though in Borderworlds we get a very clear visual of who Lucy is, but Jack feels a lot less so to me. I want his and Lucy’s viewpoints to both seem at least somewhat valid. I wanted to provide some insight into why he is the way he is and why he holds the views he does, so I’m glad this helps clarify who Jack is and what he’s about. Anyway, as always thanks so much for commenting! Hope you have a great week :)

Heya! Thanks for commenting :) You know, originally I didn’t plan to have this chapter as part of this at all. This was intended to be a 3 part series, so this was a late addition. But I liked the idea of, like you said, coming full circle and showing Cassie and Nathan’s first moments together. I’m glad you liked seeing Cassie’s awakening because wow did that go through a lot of reiterations. I wanted to tease a few things at the beginning without being too overt, while at the same time create this sort of… almost moment of wonder for Cassie as she’s discovering the world for the first time. It was difficult to say the least :P As for Nicole… I’ll say it was definitely different. Cassie is, as is very briefly mentioned in The Borderworlds, by far the most powerful AI ever created. Nicole’s identity was formed slowly over the course of years given that Nathan and Tobias were building her from scratch. With Cassie, Nathan had the core and he had all the research and code he had worked on with Nicole so Cassie was far more developed at activation than Nicole was. To that point and to answer your question, no, Nicole did not have emotions like Cassie. At least none that Nathan or Tobias ever saw, anyway. That is something that no one has ever figured out how to properly program and Nathan didn’t expect Cassie to have them. She just does.  

But yeah, Nathan was definitely concerned about unleashing another Luna Incident, as well as the betrayal of people he’s come to see as family. It was a tough decision for him, but he feels like he failed Nicole and he wants to find out the truth of what happened; both to prevent the UEG from potentially causing it to happen again and also to clear Nicole’s name if he can. Neither of those things are going to be particularly easy tasks :/ Yeah, in my very first idea for this series Aiden and Aspen were going to feature heavily, but the idea of a Rubicon miniseries about them was too good to pass up. So I decided to let this series focus on Nathan and Nicole/Cassie and give the McNamara family their own story to shine in. So we’ll definitely see more of them in that and naturally the main series as well.

So yeah, the last part. That was an absolutely last minute addition. I mean, as I’m going to post the chapter I decided to slip that in. So in that sense, I’m really glad you enjoyed it! I hesitated mainly because what it’s hinting at is something that is indeed a very long way off. This is final arc, endgame, big bad evil guy stuff. And beyond that, I’m not going to say anything xD Just keep this scene in mind. It’ll be important one day, I promise. But anyway, thanks again for commenting! I’m glad you enjoyed this little side story and feel it has enhanced the main series for you as well. I was honestly worried this one might be a bit too spoilery, but seemingly not as it gave you more questions than you previously had. But anyway, that’s enough of my aimless ramblings for one evening I think. I do hope you’re doing well and have settled in nicely. I’ll talk to you soon :D

That’s because it’s exactly what he’s doing. He just keeps making it worse and worse. And now he’s gone from mostly just being guilty of lying by omission to straight up lying to Cassie’s face. He’s literally playing with fire and hoping against hope he doesn’t get horribly burned. Because you’re right; he can’t control her. She’s smarter, faster, and infinitely more capable. If she ever decided to do something terrible, Nathan could not stop her. And who knows how finding out that not only are built with, in essence, the soul of the AI that caused the Luna Incident, but you are made by the same person and he’s been lying to you since the day you were born. It would be nearly impossible to predict how a human would react to that, even knowing how most humans tend to think. A superintelligent AI may think completely differently and react in ways no one could ever predict. Good luck, Nathan :P But yeah their relationship remains one of my favorites to write for the very reasons that Cassie listed in this chapter. They have this weird sort of father/daughter, best friends, old married couple dynamic. So when Nathan has to tell her off it feels a bit odd because she’s this superintelligent digital being and he’s got to berate her like a dad when his daughter came home late from a party. I did not expect to enjoy writing them as much as I do, yet here we are.

Ah yes, Cassie’s discoveries. There was a fair bit of information in there, for sure. Not everything was relevant to our storylines, but some of it definitely was. Project Laniakea (which means ‘immense heaven’ in Hawaiian) is, and I don’t personally feel it’s a spoiler to say so, a future plot point to some degree. What it is, when it will come up again, or who it will involve I won’t say. But we’ll run into it again at some point in the future. It’s an interesting thought though, an AI that could destroy the entire Volgm fleet all at once. I mean, Nicole took out the entire 5^th Fleet in a matter of seconds so it’s clearly possible. Just sayin’ :P As for the Volgm themselves, I mean I think it’s very safe to say that at some point in the future we will meet them. At what point or in what context, I honestly have no idea at this point but I would be very disappointed in myself if I never introduced them. But since this story is a five book arc (although it’s starting to drift into six or seven territory) I have plenty of time to fit them in.

But regardless, thanks so much for the comment. I’m glad you’re enjoying the slowly mounting tension on this side. It still feels quite strange telling two wildly separate and different stories within the same book. And they’re different not only in plotlines but in the overall tone as well. It’s weird. Anyway, thanks again!

To be honest, this is probably my favorite chapter thus far. Which is a bit odd considering how difficult I found it to write at first. Despite the fact that the Ret has a large crew, I want to keep the group of core cast members quite small. That’s mainly to keep the found family vibes as strong as possible. Much of Lucy’s story will take place on the Ret, so it needs to feel alive, and homey, and hopefully a character unto itself at times so I’m glad it feels more alive to you. But yes, we’ll absolutely see much more of the rest of the rest in due time. I will say that someone on the Ret has a secret. Is it Keyla? Mmm… it could be. Or maybe someone else. Who knows? :D

Lucy and Phoebe bonding was so much fun to write, even though it was the part I had the most difficulty with. This is really the first time we’ve gotten to see who Lucy really is. She doesn’t have her guard up and she’s not trying to figure out her feelings like with Jack. She’s relaxed and cracking (admittedly childish) jokes and forming a fast friendship with this generally bubbly and energetic girl. They couldn’t be more different, even if they are both from the Borderworlds. You’re right that Lucy has never had a true best friend, and I’ll openly admit that I initially created Phoebe for the sole purpose of giving that relationship to her. Now, does that eliminate the possibility of me eventually crushing our spirits by having Phoebe turn on the crew or letting her be brutally murdered? No, it does not. Welcome to the Borderworlds xD

As for Havana, yeah we’ll probably see it eventually. Got a mission to sell those pesky rocket launchers that have been hanging around for a while first, but we’ll get around to Havana sooner or later. As for what we’ll find… well, it probably won’t be good. Then again, that would be quite the twist, wouldn’t it? Hmm, now there’s a thought :P Anyway, thanks for the comment! I’m glad you enjoyed this one :)

Hey, thanks for the comment :) I’m glad you enjoyed the brief little dip into the Dawnguard’s history, short though it was. I didn’t want to dive too deeply into past events and stray too far from the point of this flashback. There were a couple of points to it, and you already picked up on one of them being the parallels between the past and the looming threat of Sebastian in the present. As for Zora, yes she is a distant ancestor of Michael’s. And who knows? We might see her again at some point in the future… or the past… whatever, you know what I mean :P Heh, Claire said the same thing about her sword xD What’s sad is that the inspiration for it wasn’t even a lightsaber. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen The Shannara Chronicles, but one of the characters in that show had a sword that unfolded out of the hilt with this flash of golden light. Which is cool, except once it unfolded it just looked light a normal sword and didn’t have any sort of magical effect afterwards. So at first I gave the sword a permanent golden glow and then eventually changed it to just a beam of magical light… not thinking that it basically became a lightsaber :/ Oh well, I’m sure we’ll never, ever see that sword ever again ever so I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Really, it’s weird sometimes how things change while you’re writing. The bit with Snow thinking about leaving school wasn’t planned until I had to actually have her sit down in a class. And while I’m writing it I couldn’t help but think how pointless it all was. Why is she wasting time with this? How can I possibly continue with any sort of popularity based storyline given what’s happened? Learning about magic and Sebastian would have to change all of that. Now, will she do it? Will her parents let her? Well, it’ll certainly be a conversation they’ll have, that’s for sure. As for Emilia, she’s definitely different than the other thralls. She has magic for one, which typically thralls do not. Thralls are just mind controlled slaves. So Emilia is, shall we say, a different breed. And her talking to Jackson… I’d say that was much more a jab at Snow that anything else. Her basically saying hey, remember me? I’m the girl he cheated on you with. Who’s the most attention getting girl in school now? That doesn’t mean Jackson won’t end up getting dragged back in because of it though… xD

As for what will happen should Snow tell Kayla and Ariana about JTG, well… I mean, have you met them? xD I don’t think JTG is ready to handle those two. She’s actually said as much before. Their resources alone make them a tremendous force to be reckoned with. And JTG’s targeting their daughter, so… good luck, JTG :P

Hey, no worries! You’re just fine, I promise :) Honestly, I didn’t find the comment to be scatter-brained at all. I’ll admit, I was about to check on you if I didn’t hear from you soon because I was starting to get a bit worried, but then you edited Gifted, so I knew you were still alive at the very least. Anyway, we’re all doing just fine over here. Still tired and still trying to figure out this whole parenting thing, but overall things are good. Honestly? Best they’ve been in years. But anyway, I sincerely hope you’re doing amazing and are having a great start to the holiday season. Seriously, how is it November already? What the…? Anyway, talk soon :D

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed this little trip to simpler times. This is a spinoff/short story/sequel/interquel/whatever you want to call it from the main series that I've been writing for years. That series has a significantly darker tone, so I wanted this to be sweet and cozy and heartwarming instead. I'm glad you liked Kayla and Ariana's dynamic as well. Those two have a very special place in my heart and due to events that happen later in their lives, I haven't been able to write them quite like this in a long time. So I'm glad you're enjoying them. Thanks again for the comment. I appreciate it :)

Hi hi! So... I favorited this a while back and I've been meaning to comment on it for ages now. It's been a busy year. Anyway, this is a very interesting premise! This is a very short prologue, but it certainly piqued my interest in just a few paragraphs.  I quite like your writing style too. And the fact that you're brave enough to switch to first person in the later chapters is enough to earn my respect. I struggle in that department so I always praise it when I see first person done well. Anyway, I'm going to keep this short and sweet tonight. Just wanted to say I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more!

Heh, well I can’t tell you how nice it is to write about these characters in a much happier setting either xD To be honest, that’s one of the biggest reasons I haven’t done anything with A Dangerous Game in almost a year. Everyone in that is so sad, scared, or just plain miserable and it was honestly starting to get to me. Snow, in particular, is difficult for me to write and with AJ on the way, I didn’t want to bring in bad vibes so that got put on pause for a while. I’ll be returning to that SoonTM. And also, let me allay your worries completely. There will not be anything spooky happening here, I promise. This is mainly a pure nostalgia trip for me :P I wanted to go back to a different time and place; when I was writing from my old bedroom in my parent’s apartment and putting together this weird idea I’d gotten about this girl that lived in a warehouse. So I went digging through my old folders of scrapped ideas and found this. Fun fact, the majority of what you just read was written years ago. Back before I’d even finished The Girl and the Warehouse. My original idea for a sequel was this Paris trip, although it was a fair bit darker as it involved a subplot with Kayla’s dad being… less reformed than he appeared to be. I’d planned a series of these not-quite short stories that would carry on from where the original ended and this was the first. But then the idea for Snowfall came along and this got shelved. I still kept what I’d written though, figuring I could maybe use bits of it later. Who knew that 8 years later I’d be nostalgic enough to dust this off? I have to scrap most of it since the Byron subplot affected too much for me to keep really any parts of the original except this opening. So yeah, anyway, before I ramble on for hours, suffice to say that if you’re looking for cozy and sweet vibes, you’ve come to the right place. This is, at its core, a continuation of the love story between Kayla and Ariana. It will be sickeningly sweet; it will be horrendously fluffy, and almost certainly nostalgic with plenty of references and callbacks. It will be me writing with zero planning and a plot that I make up as I go along. To be honest, I’m looking forward to it xD Thanks for commenting!!!

To be completely and totally honest, after the last chapter of Borderworlds I genuinely thought you were on to me :P You mentioned Samael going into hiding, so I was sure you had a least an idea of what might have happened. Or at least would put some of the pieces together; not that I gave you much to work with, especially in Borderworlds because over there this bit of information won’t be coming to the forefront for a long while yet. This is… a treat for those who bother to read this. They get information you won’t otherwise be getting for a while. So you won’t find much in the way of clues in Nathan’s scenes to be fair. I very intentionally kept this under the radar, to the point that I didn’t even describe Samael’s appearance in the previous chapter just in case those with eagle eyes and sharp memories might connect some threads. So, definitely don’t be embarrassed for not picking up on it. I was intentionally working to hide it as long as possible. And you were right that Nicole’s core was used in Cassie’s creation, so there’s that. And I mean, I’m sure that won’t cause any problems or anything :P

It definitely adds context, which is going to be interesting for me because Claire is intentionally not reading this, so I’ll have two great examples of how the Nathan/Cassie relationship is viewed with and without this information. Nathan’s definitely playing a dangerous game (ha ha ha) in keeping this a secret from Cassie. How she would respond to such a betrayal is anyone’s guess at this point. I’d say much of it depends on how long he keeps the secret and if he outright lies to her at any point, which… I don’t necessarily think he’s done yet. It’s all just been lies of omission so far. But then again, as the quote at the start says an AI may think in ways that are entirely different from us. So… yeah. As for whether or not the UEG’s involvement caused the Luna Incident, well obviously I can’t say. I will say, however, that there is more, much more, to be revealed surrounding what let up to Nicole’s actions that day. It may feel like you know a lot and that a lot has been revealed, but… well, you know nothing, John Snow :P

Yeah… that part doesn’t necessarily cast Nathan in the best light. Not that any of this does, but him continuing to do this on the Rubi despite knowing what happened to Aiden’s family is a little messed up. That’s going to be all kinds of fun whenever we get around to that coming out xD

Well… shit :( Sorry about that. To be honest, I’m surprised I didn’t mess up earlier. I had to correct myself numerous times in the previous chapter where I’d slipped and referred to him as Nathan, but it still annoys me since I went back and double checked myself I thought, but clearly not enough. I did sort of assume that the second Samael said he was going into hiding and changing his name that the pieces would fall into place and it would be obvious what was happening, but… ugh. Regardless, thanks for pointing it out. I’ll definitely fix it. And thanks so much for commenting, I appreciate it :) Anyway, I hope you’re doing great and things are going better for you. Talk soon :D

Heh, well ask and ye shall receive :P It’s the part I’ve been most excited to explore and I’ve really been enjoying it so far. Although honestly considering how much I’m still holding back, there’s way less info that’s been revealed than you think. Hmm, it’s funny but a couple chapters back when you mentioned wondering what sort of secrets Nathan had, I had just finished a rough draft of this chapter and was thinking to myself that yeah, he’s definitely got plenty of secrets :P We will, of course, get into Nathan’s backstory soon and you’ll get some answers. There’s a few hints out there already, but I don’t think there’s enough to quite connect all the necessary dots just yet. Yeah, that bit at the end with Nathan not wanting to lose Cassie… yeah, sweet but ominous was pretty much the intent. I mean, Nathan is literally the only person Cassie has ever spoken to. She’s the only person she actually knows. In a way, he’s her whole world or at the very least her window to it. So for him to betray her could definitely cause problems and destroy her opinion of him. But like Tobias said; Cassie isn’t human. She may be very different, but she’s still a program. She is an extremely intelligent construct that does not think like a human and could very easily react in ways that no one could predict. So, who’s to say how Cassie would respond to being betrayed by her creator and only friend. If I could add creepy and ominous music here, I definitely would xD

Heh, yeah I figured that part might come as a surprise :P Actually, that was a scene that got cut from The Luna Incident. I was going to close out the final chapter with that scene, but it felt disconnected from everything else going on and I had another idea for the ending of that. Still, I really liked the idea so it made its way here. As for what it means, obviously I’m not saying. Answers do come with more questions in this instance xD That said; this is just the beginning of the next part of the Luna Incident mystery. Lucy needed to join the crew of the Retribution to end the introduction part of her side of the story, and Cassie needed to hear the name Nicole to end hers. But anyway, thanks so much for commenting :D You didn’t ramble in the slightest! I’m always interested to hear your theories as well, especially since you’ve read The Luna Incident. Another friend is specifically avoiding it so I’m excited to see how the theories differ.

Thanks for commenting! You know, that’s something I really wanted to focus on with this; showing different perspectives of the same event. With the first chapter I wanted to explore the tragedy of the event and show in much better detail exactly what happened to the people unfortunate enough to be there. In Borderworlds, with just a brief description of the event in the third person narration, I never felt it hit as hard as it should have. With this chapter, I wanted to explore what I figure most people would be interested in, which is obviously what caused the Luna Incident in the first place. And to that point, I’m glad you found it interesting!

Hmm, yes those parallels between Nathan and Cassie and Samael and Nicole were definitely intentional. I wanted to show that a very similar situation has happened in the past, with an AI that seemingly had no ill intentions eventually turned against her creators. And clearly show that Cassie could, potentially, do the same. All of course without actually going too deep into the reasons that caused Nicole’s turn, if indeed Nicole turned and was not always bad from the beginning; which a hyper intelligent AI would likely be skilled enough to fake. On the point of Cassie’s creation, we will absolutely get into that in the future. Kinda have to, honestly. Cassie’s not going to let go of this whole memory thing she’s experiencing, and asking Nathan about her creation would be a step toward trying to figure it out. It’s certainly an interesting thought though. I mean, Samael did save Nicole’s core from Armstrong Base, so… it’s out there somewhere. Although, would I actually be cruel enough to have Cassie built on the same AI core as the AI that killed 27 million people? I mean, you know me pretty well. You tell me :P   

Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually specified that it was just a single AI before. But yes, it was just Nicole. Which, as previously mentioned, was to have that parallel between Cassie and Nicole. As for what caused her to take the actions she did… well, I’m going to have to stay quiet on that one for now. That’s a very good guess though. And I will say as well that the quotes at the beginning may be hints to things. The chapter titles as well, and not just in this but in Borderworlds as well. They may all be song lyrics/titles, but some are chosen with very specific intent. But regardless, I think I’ll leave it here before I accidentally spoil something that I don’t mean to. Thanks again for the comment and don’t ever worry about how long you take! We’re all doing just fine over here. Although, only 18 days left  and I’m not ready xD Anyway, I hope you’re feeling much better by now. Talk soon!

Heh, you know if it makes you feel better then feel free to go ahead and continue saying it :P Just know that I absolutely do not mind and you are not hurting my feelings in the least if you take a while :) It’s so interesting to see the different takes on Eskil from the people who have watched Critical Role and those that haven’t. He’s a character from their first campaign, so I knew exactly who we were going to meet the second our DM said to go to Greystone Tower. Not all of our players were familiar with CR when we started, so they had reactions similar to yours. Of course, none of our characters knew either so even those of us who knew the guy from the show had to roleplay as though we didn’t know whether he was going to stab us in the back or not. I will say though that he’s heavily overstating his involvement with stopping the Chroma Conclave and Vecna. I mean… he was there. For some of it. A little bit. But instrumental? No, not even close xD

Like last time, I absolutely owe the natural banter and easy flow of these characters to my fellow players and DM. This is collaborative storytelling and I’m just one small part of it. None of this would translate nearly as easily to the page if these folks I play with weren’t so incredible at telling this story in the first place. I’m very glad you hear you’re feeling the atmosphere and understanding the world clearly. Trying to write in Matt Mercer’s world is absolutely terrifying :P I have so much respect for him as a storyteller that I get extremely nervous whenever I try to write this in fear that I won’t do it anywhere close to justice. And, honestly, it’s not because if you pulled up an episode of Critical Role and listened to him describe his world, it would completely overshadow anything I could try to do. And honestly, I highly recommend you check out CR if you ever have the time. It’s a lot to get into given that the first campaign is like 450 hours long, but that group manages to tell an absolutely fantastic story that if hilarious at times and will absolutely rip your heart out at others. It doesn’t do the best job of demonstrating what real D&D is like, but they know how to tell a good story that is better than a lot of television shows/movies these days.

Thanks for the comment! I’m glad to hear you’re excited xD I don’t think it’s a weird thing to be excited about, really. It’s really one of the only major mysteries of this series so far, and plays a pretty big part in Nathan and Cassie’s story (and obviously Aiden’s too) so it makes sense.

Yeah, I wanted to do a few things with this and showing a little bit more about Aiden and his family and the reasons for his mistrust of AI was for sure one of them. The main focus of this is intended to be on the people responsible for creating the AI that caused the Incident and what happened immediately after. Although, of the things I wanted to cover, Aiden was actually the least important to me and honestly was one of the parts I almost cut because I may have plans for a ‘Rubicon: A Borderworlds Story’ at some point in the future :P And Aiden would likely be the leading character of that. I ended up deciding to open this with Aiden’s wife and daughter because they’re very briefly mentioned (so briefly I didn’t even give them names at the time. Also, fun fact: the entire McNamara family having first names that start with A was not intentional xD) as having died in the Luna Incident and it gave me the opportunity to mood whiplash to the extreme :P And to be honest, while they were never going to make it out of this chapter, this one was originally much longer. I decided to cut it short because… well, I wanted to display the way that characters, even important ones, can die in the main series. That way being quickly, brutally, without warning, and with their stories left unfinished. I didn’t want to give you time to prepare. I wanted to strike when it wasn’t expected. Not for shock value, but because that’s just how these things happen. You usually never see it coming. With Snowfall/A Dangerous Game I’ve been hesitant to kill major characters. With Borderworlds, no one is safe xD If it makes for a good story, it is what it is. That said though, I am glad that the emotional weight of this hits properly. I was a bit worried because we don’t know any of these characters and we don’t get much time to get to know them, so I wasn’t sure how impactful the ending would end up being.

I will say that you will get a little more from Aiden’s part of the story, if only a small part. Not in the next chapter, I don’t think, but in the last one. The next one should give you a bit more information on how the Orion Project AI was involved in what happened, as well as introduce a couple of new characters… and maybe start to connect a few dots as well. Honestly, I’m still kind of torn on how much to reveal in this. I mean, Sunflower revealed major character development beats for Lucy before Borderworlds was even uploaded, so I don’t really mind dropping some pretty big information in this as well. I’m just kind of undecided on exactly which bits to reveal because some of it will really make you look at certain things in very different ways. Then again, I love the idea of the audience knowing things that the characters don’t. So we’ll see, but right now I’m really leaning towards either directly revealing some stuff or at least heavily hinting in certain directions. Time will tell :P   

Hi hi! Yeah, Lucy finally joined the crew. You’re right that this is the end of the introduction phase and we’re definitely getting into what the first arc of their story is about. It’s quite fun, actually, having such an open space to play with. There are a number of story beats I have to hit and things that have to happen by this book’s end, but a lot of the middle is kind of just whatever I find interesting. Like Lucy said, should be fun. I hope :P

Oh, Jack and Lucy, my loves xD Those two are… yeah, they’re something else. To be honest, I considered having Lucy carry some animosity toward Jack for a while, but it didn’t really make much sense. She’s smart enough to recognize Jack’s intentions were pure so they made up. Also, given time to think about what he wants to say, Jack’s not quite as hopeless as he first appears. He’s still hopeless and has no idea how to handle Lucy, but he’s not completely hopeless :P Hmm, it’s funny you mention a platonic relationship between Jack and Lucy because in my earliest drafts of Borderworlds when I was still considering how… uninhibited this series was going to be, there was never even a hint of a romantic relationship with them. Jack was more of a father figure and mentor to Lucy, instead of what ended up happening. That said, for the foreseeable future at least, a friendship will likely be what they remain. Jack… I mean, he’s pretty much sticking to his guns when it comes to Lucy. They do have some degree of feelings for each other, but with Jack’s refusal to act on them not too much can really happen. So, who’s to say what’ll happen? Honestly, I don’t really know for sure myself. This is a long series with a lot of characters so… hopefully whatever happens will feel organic because that’s very much the plan. They have both affected each other, that’s very true. They’ve still got a long way to go, and heaven help them when they come upon something that they’re opinions are opposite on because these two definitely have forceful personalities. And as for how and when they end up getting wrapped up with Nathan and Cassie… yeah, let’s definitely stick with a long way in the distant future. That’s a fair assessment. These are intended to be two separate stories that just so happen to share the same world. They will intersect at some point in the future, but not anytime remotely soon.

I’m glad to hear you like Maya! I wasn’t too sure how well received she would be at the start as she’s clearly an antagonist toward Lucy. Not to say she’s a bad person by any means, she just doesn’t trust this girl that… actually hasn’t shown to be all that trustworthy. And to that point, no, Maya is most certainly not going to be pleased that Jack invited Lucy to join them. She doesn’t trust Lucy and the last place she wants her to be in on their ship whispering in Jack’s ear. Hahaha, Flynn the Time-Traveling Cowboy! That’s awesome. If I didn’t absolutely loathe time travel as a plot device, that’s exactly what he would be now :P I’m not surprised you forgot about him since he hasn’t had much page time so far, although that should change moving forward. He’s definitely got his fair share of secrets, but he’s also probably the least likely to share them so… there’s that :P Retelling the story of Lucy’s past was certainly interesting and I’m glad (also weird to say) that you enjoyed hearing it again. It’s also weird to write as well, given that Sunflower exists. It’s like intentionally keeping parts of it vague and secret despite the fact that anyone who wants to can go find out whenever they want. But anyway, yeah it’s so fascinating for me to explore that bit of Lucy’s past. She is… far more broken and disturbed by what happened than even she realizes. But yes, you’ll get to learn more about the other major members of the Ret’s crew soon, and I’m sure at least one of them has a secret or two xD Maybe a big one.

But anyway, thanks so much for commenting! Personally, I would argue that this was quite concise so I see nothing to apologize for. And you wouldn’t need to even if you had been :)

Hi there, thanks for commenting on this. And thank you for the compliment! Serina says the same thing all the time, trying to convince me to write more, but I suppose I find the idea of fiction like you and she do very intimidating. With this, I don’t feel it’s really writing as much as it is just sharing memories and things that I felt. There’s no crafting of a story, it’s just a retelling of actual events. So I'm not sure I could manage anything like what you and Serina do. It looks really difficult. Regardless, I appreciate the kind words :)

I’m glad you enjoyed it, particularly the last few paragraphs. The rest was just a bit of a lead in to what I was thinking about at lot over the days and weeks afterwards. The ending was the point of this one, because like you just said empathy and kindness are very important, but how quickly we forget. That billboard struck me like nothing else ever has. And it really is true. Serina and I talked about that not too long before I saw that billboard. She said until you reach the point that you are actually prepared to end your own life, you can’t understand what that feels like. It’s not something that someone who’s never been to that place can rationalize. I mean, I never would have dreamed in a million years that she was so miserable that she would do something like that. I never for a split second considered it. I genuinely thought she was happy, so to discover I was so completely wrong was quite… shocking feels too mild a word, but it’s 1am and it’s the best I’ve got. I’m very sorry that you’ve had to learn a similar lesson in the past :( I truly hope that everything turned out okay in the end in those situations. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever truly get over it myself. It’s been over two years and I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes thinking she’s gone and have to reach next to me just to remind myself that she’s still here. Then I spend the rest of the night holding onto her because I’m afraid if I let go she won’t be there the next time. I thank God or whoever might be out there listening every day for just how lucky I got. Eh, I should stop. Now who’s rambling :P

Oh, and I almost forgot! Thank you so much for the congratulations and your blessing on, you know, the other thing ;) I’m sure she’s already said it, but I wanted to as well :)

Thanks for the comment! Well, if you had difficulty commenting that’s probably pretty fair since I had a lot of challenges writing this. My main focus was to honor the story that we told. I didn’t want to take much at all in the way of creative license with it. What happened, happened. The dice told the story they wanted to tell, I’m just sharing it. I also wanted to make it feel, at least somewhat, like DnD. I wanted people familiar with the game to be able to pick up on where dice rolls were made. Characters seeing something, or getting strange feelings about other characters, or trying to steal a coin purse from another player in session effing one and failing your stealth and sleight of hand checks As a rogue. Donovan, I swear xD But ultimately, a fun read is actually exactly what I was going for with this. That’s really what DnD is; fun cooperative storytelling. It’s the game where if you’re playing to win you might be playing wrong. Some of the best, most memorable moments come out of the failures. I would argue that there is no “proper” way to play DnD though. If you and your group are having fun, you’re playing just right. Rule of Cool always beats Rule as Written. The rules are just a framework. Ultimately, I wanted to try and capture that feeling of cooperative storytelling with this. I have no idea if I'll succeed by the end, but that's the goal :P

To be honest, I can’t take credit for the world or the characters except my own :P I don’t know if you’ve ever watched Critical Role, but the world is Matt Mercer’s creation so all of those locations are his. We’re just borrowing his incredible world to play in. His world building is beyond amazing and his ability to weave a story is even better. He inspired me to improve on my own world building because the places and cultures he creates are so rich and vibrant. Like even the tiny little things are so detailed. I don’t know how he does it. As for the characters, credit for them must absolutely go to my fellow players and our DM. This group, honestly, is the best I’ve ever played with. Master class role players and personally I’m just honored to be allowed to share our story this way. Each of them brought so much to these characters and they play them so realistically that it was honestly pretty easy to translate them onto the page. It also helps that we’re much deeper into the campaign now so I can slip in details and things that weren’t readily apparent when we were playing this part. I will say that the interactions within this party are… fascinating xD We are a chaotic bunch, that’s for sure. It’s so strange how different bonds and connections build between the characters. For example (Spoiler alert for deeper in the campaign that I probably won’t end up converting into narrative format. Probably.) Pen and Candelaria, my character, end up getting really close and forming a super tight almost sisterly friendship. I never expected that going into the campaign because of how different those too characters are.

As for the quest… let’s just say our DM pulls no punches :P I can’t even deal with this man sometimes xD He went all out on this first quest and as a long time fan of Critical Role, it was great fun and it certainly helped give our adventuring party its name. It probably won’t have as big an impact if you haven’t seen the show, but hopefully it’s still a fun ride nonetheless :)

Hiya, thanks for the comment! Yeah, Cassie’s just a whittle baby :P I imagine Nathan did active her program a handful of times while developing her, but she’s only been fully operational for a little over a week. Like 11 days or something like that, I don’t remember off the top of my head and I’m too lazy to go look at my notes xD I’ll say that you’re absolutely right that Nathan has more secrets than he’s letting on (and honestly, all of the major characters do too) but whether or not those secrets are related to Cassie’s creation remains to be seen. I’m not saying nothing xD As for the Luna Incident, yes I’m afraid you’re in for a fair bit of hints and teasing before the truth of that comes out. I will say that you’ll learn some things about what happened here shortly, but the full revelation is a ways off. Much of Nathan and Cassie’s arc in book 1 is about unraveling this particular mystery so I can’t exactly spill the tea this early. But some teases and maybe a twist or two will hopefully tide you over :P

It’s funny you mention the Sons of Ares, because they’re somewhat of an inspiration for this particular faction that’s springing up on Horizon Base. Them and the Outer Planets Alliance/Free Navy from The Expanse (which, if you haven’t watched it you definitely need to. It’s amazing) kind of helped solidify where I wanted to take this section of the story. Dealing with loosely aligned cells of resistance against the oppressive HSY seemed kind of fun. They may not all have the same idea of how to achieve their goals either, so that might be… challenging :P As for the Anti-Earth Movement (geez, that was some lazy naming out of me, wasn’t it? :P) well, we’ll get around to their motivations eventually. They’re definitely opposed to EarthGov and the war against the Volgm, but whatever else they might be up to, well… who knows? I will say on the subject of the Earth-Volgm war that I absolutely want to maintain the idea that there are lots of shades of gray involved. EarthGov definitely aren’t the good guys and the Volgm aren’t an aggressive race bent on wiping out humanity. The Volgm don’t even hate humans at all, actually. Lucy mentioned to Jack that civilian Volgm ships trade in the Borderworlds all the time. But there is a war on, far away though it may be and the Volgm don't show any more mercy than EarthGov does. So I’d say your vibe is valid. I mean, the Anti-Earth Movement is for all intents and purposes as terrorist organization that tried to murder Lucy in their first appearance in the series, so they’re probably not the best folks around :P

Well, I’ll argue that everything you said made perfect sense so there’s no cause for concern :) And it’s totally fine, I understand. Sometimes you need a break and I certainly can’t judge anyone for that. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone either. How is it already April? It makes no sense how time works. And thank you!!!! It’s um… my previous statement remains true; delighted but terrified at the same time because I’m not ready for this. At all xD And I don’t have that much time left to get ready either, so you know… I may be panicking just a little bit :P But anyway, thank you very much for your kind words and your blessing as well. Claire and I certainly appreciate it. I’m sure AJ will as well ;) Talk soon :)

Consider me... intrigued. As a long time Star Wars fan, I've never really paid too much attention to Star Wars fan fiction. Trying to keep the EU straight was more than my mind could take and the last thing I needed was fan fiction making me forget what was canon or not :P But given my opinions on the current state of Star Wars, I figured what the heck xD And this intrigued me. Post Battle of Hoth is interesting because that's not touched too much by the EU. So I'm interested to see what you do with this and where you take it. I was a bit... I don't want to say bothered, but surprised I guess, that Karie would recognize the name of a Jedi this far removed from the Purge. Jedi would be all but myth and legend by this point and I guess it seems a bit strange that she would so quickly recall that information, but who am I to judge? You may have a good reason for it, so I'll just wait and see :)

Yes, you were definitely right about that! I was quite amused last time when you mentioned that because you were right on the money. Heh, yeah poor Jack, he… he really has no idea how to handle situations like this :P He’s not really socially awkward so much as he is women awkward xD Poor guy has no idea how to deal with them and Lucy is on another level, so he really didn’t stand much of a chance. He had no idea what to say or how to say it, panicked, and then really screwed up. If it was anyone else he was talking to, he might have gotten away with it, but with Lucy... yeah, no. After the life she's led, she wasn't taking that from anyone much less an Earther who hasn't got a clue what life in the Borderworlds is like.

But yeah, trying to show their contrasting backgrounds and whatnot was really important to me because I wanted both of their viewpoints to have merit. That’s one of the many reasons this chapter scared me to write. I’m treading in potentially dangerous waters here, but this what the Borderworlds are. I did dial back just how graphic I let things get because it felt awkward and unnecessarily gratuitous. Like ‘Littlefinger monologuing while some lesbian sex takes place in the background’ unnecessarily gratuitous :P But I did have to work at making sure Lucy’s viewpoint wasn’t so easy to just dismiss out of hand. I didn’t just want everyone to agree with Jack just due to Lucy’s age. I’m hoping that despite what our own laws and morals say, that people will be able to see it from her point of view as well because… she’s not really wrong, is she? I mean, you hit the nail on the head. An age of consent law doesn’t make any sense to her, especially the way Jack described it. She doesn’t see it as something designed to protect because she’s never seen anything like that before. Hell, even Haven doesn’t have age of consent laws. She sees it as some crazy way of controlling people and it makes her angry because, well how could it not?  Anyway, I suppose we’ll see how it goes as things progress. I’m sure Jack will get a chance to explain himself at some point, although how well Lucy will take to even a proper explanation is another matter.

Hmm, I think I might need to clean up the ending there a bit then to make it more clear. Yeah, she’s absolutely turning around and tracking down the Ret to confess what she did. She was trying to just stay angry and fly away with her prize (because she does have a reason for needing the money, I might add) but the guilt of it gets to her and she goes back. Fun fact, if Jack hadn’t gone all morally superior on her, she probably wouldn’t have gone through with it in the first place. Feel free to make whatever assumptions about Lucy’s character that you will with that information. And as for how the crew will react to Lucy’s actions… well, that’ll depend on which members we’re talking about. I can think of a couple that might actually warm up to her for it :P And yeah, it will likely be some time before we see Haven again. That little mention of it was slipped in for the people who have read Sunflower. If you haven’t, it doesn’t mean much of anything but consider it a little Easter egg for the ones who have. It’s also there to show that there’s a reason for her robbing Jack blind. She’s not just a self-centered bitch, but instead she’s made a promise she’s trying to keep. What that promise is and who she made it to is something you likely won’t find out until we do finally return to that dust ball of a planet.

But anyway, thanks so much for the comments! I really do appreciate you taking the time to do that. And while I don’t think these were at all a rambling mess, I’ll apologize as well for the hastily composed replies :P Claire and I are hosting Christmas at our house this year. We’re not having too many people, just my immediate family, but that’s still a lot of people arriving tomorrow morning so that’s why I’m up at one in the morning doing this :P Otherwise, it would likely have been the middle of next week before I got around to it xD I actually have to clean this place. Heaven help us xD But anyway, I hope you have a very merry Christmas as well! Have a wonderful time with whatever festivities you have going on this weekend. I hope you enjoy. Here’s to a bright and happy 2022 for us both :)

Lol no worries! That happens sometimes. Time is a weird soup. I mean, how is it Christmas already? Makes no sense.  I swear it was July like yesterday xD Heh, I’ve got to say even I’ve fallen in love with Nathan in a way I never expected. He’s taken on a life of his own. He’s just… yeah, he’s a blast to write. Not to mention his and Cassie’s half of the story has been a little more lighthearted than the drama that is Lucy and Friends. I’m glad you’re enjoying his and Cassie’s banter as well. They’re based quite a bit on how me and my brother are when we’re around each other, so I have a wealth of experiences to draw on when writing them.

I will say that a big part of Nathan and Cassie’s story will be unraveling the mystery of the Luna Incident, so you’ll definitely get some answers about that someday. When? Who knows? It’s super classified and this series is composed of a five book arc, so… yeah, who’s to say when that’ll come out xD  I obviously don’t want to give too much away, but expect Nathan and Cassie’s half of the story involve a lot of mystery and intrigue and investigation. And the occasionally rip-roaring adventure to boot. Here’s hoping I can do the rip-roaring adventure part justice :P

Haha, I’m really enjoying Nathan being that character that says something that you just know is going to come back to bite him later xD “It’s just a pleasure house, Cass. What could possibly go wrong?” was the line that led me down this path for him. It’s just what he does now, there’s no stopping it :P It’s funny, but I was originally going to hold the explosion until the next chapter and just end this one with them approaching the station. But given that I’m flipping back and forth between the two plotlines every chapter (something I’m not yet convinced I should maintain for the whole series. I’m kind of torn on it, honestly) I decided I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a cliffhanger. As for what comes next, well you’re right that the crew will be interested in finding the cause of the explosion. Could looking into that somehow lead them back to Nathan and Cassie? It’s certainly possible, but I ain’t sayin’ nothin’ :P

Well, I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed this chapter! Mainly because it was incredibly difficult to write… or at least get it to a point I was ultimately happy with. I’d actually intended to carry it on through whatever happens next with those two before ending it, but… eh, it’s fine where it ends I suppose. Although it does mean I have to change up my planned chapter titles a bit. Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ only has so many words, dang it! I’m glad the world building seems to be working out as well. Borderworlds has received far more time and attention to that aspect than anything else I’ve written, so I’m glad all that time is paying off. I have to thank shows like Firefly and Dark Matter, movies like the Alien franchise, and games like Hardspace Shipbreaker, Rebel Galaxy, and somewhat Cyberpunk 2077 for much of the inspiration for the aesthetic and feel of Borderworld’s… well, world :P I’d wanted it to feel much more like a western in space with lots of grit and dirt. I may love Star Trek, but I wanted the complete opposite of that clean, clinical feel the future is often shown as having. So hopefully that’s coming across.

Heh, Jack and Maya are a lot of fun and I enjoyed writing that scene more than I’d thought. They’re old friends from a small town and they’ve known each other their whole lives. I wanted to shy away from the typical captain and first officer relationship and have them be friends first and a military crew second. So yeah, definitely expect to see more of their friendship as time goes on. And yes, it will remain a friendship. Someone *cough* Claire *cough* likes to make me change friendships to romantic relationships because she finds certain characters cute together. But she’s not getting this one even if she wants it xD Firstly, as Maya insinuated in this chapter, she’s into the ladies. And Jack… eh, he’s got his own problems :P Speaking of Jack’s problems, Maya was so strict and cold with Lucy because, well she really doesn’t like her. She sees Lucy as very dangerous and kind of a competitor. She’s another strong and determined woman who Maya feels won’t bring anything good to Jack or the Ret. Don’t expect them to become best friends anytime soon.

I am so glad you brought up the Sunflower feeling like it’s own character! That’s exactly what I wanted. Ships like the Millennium Falcon or Serenity, or the Nostromo they all have that feeling. They have their own personalities and feel like they’re their own characters. I really wanted that for the Sunflower mainly due to Lucy’s connection to it. I’m glad you picked up on the similar pasts thing as well. And I’m glad you enjoyed the scene despite your lack of experience with this type of sci-fi and spaceships :P I usually do try to make my sci-fi accessible to those who can’t recite the technical specs of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer from memory :P

And so we come to the part of this chapter that made it so difficult to finish. Jack’s visit was a beast to write, but since it’s your favorite part then I guess it worked out. I’m not even sure why it was so difficult, I just really struggled with it. I really wanted to explore and show just how broken Lucy is. I’d always assumed I’d never write a character more broken than Ariana, but I actually think Lucy takes that spot for one reason. Ariana knew she was broken. I don’t think Lucy has any idea just how shattered she really is. This is the only life and world she’s ever known, so she can’t really compare her own life to anything else. Its why she’s throwing herself at Jack and has no idea how to process what’s probably her first real crush. She’s a fifteen year old girl (yeah, remember Jack doesn’t necessarily know how old she is) that has no concept of what romance really is. As far as she knows, men like sex so she’s using the only way to knows of to show Jack she likes him. I’d love to dive more into all that, but it’s probably more interesting to let it come out in the narrative. But yeah it’s definitely very unhealthy and you may well be right, none of this is likely to end well for either of them. Especially in the short term. But then again, who knows? xD

Lol, well it wouldn’t be the Borderworlds if backstabbing and betrayal weren’t commonplace :P By the end of this, I’m sure lots of people will betray and be betrayed. Way of the worlds out here, I’m afraid xD Anyway, thanks so much for commenting! I really do appreciate it and I’m glad you enjoyed this one. And you did not ramble in the slightest :) Have a good one!

Hiya! Thanks for commenting :) Yeah, I’ve missed Kayla and Ariana too so I’m glad you’re happy to see them again. I do plan on giving them more page time than they got in Snowfall as things progress, it’s just really difficult for me to write them. Every scene they’re in is overshadowed by Ariana’s impending death and Kayla’s overwhelming sadness. It hurts to bring them in, but I suppose I have to find a way to deal with that. I’m glad you weren’t too bothered by the rehashing of information. I was a little worried about that, especially since we just had a chapter like this one where the girls fill each other in. There’s been a lot of scenes just repeating information recently, but they’ve kind of been necessary :/ As for what Kayla and Ariana will do… well, yeah you’ve got a good point. They’re not the type to just sit around and wait, especially when their daughter is in danger. We’ll find something for them to get up to. Heh, yeah that scene there… that was a tough one. You’re absolutely right that Ariana’s illness causes Snow the most pain, and in fact is probably the thing she’s the most afraid of. She knows there’s nothing she can do. In a way, she’s very glad to have JTG and Sebastian to worry about. She can push her mom’s illness to the back of her mind. Sometimes I wonder how she would be doing if she didn’t have those problems to deal with. Far more broken than she already is, I’d imagine :( Also, if that paragraph was rambling, how do you ever make sense of anything I type ever? That was all quite well structured if you ask me.

I’m actually quite happy that you sympathized with Destiny a bit there. You’re meant to. I have a hard time even thinking of Destiny as one of the antagonists. I mean, she is, obviously, but she’s not evil in the slightest. I like to think of Fate and Destiny as parents, with the lesser races as their children. Destiny is that overprotective mother that won’t let her kids do much of anything and smothers them, while Fate is much more laid back and realizes that children can’t be protected from the difficulties of life forever. But you’re right; I absolutely wanted to contrast Sebastian and Destiny in that way. Sebastian is Chaotic Evil while Destiny is more… Lawful Neutral perhaps? Lawful Evil might fit too as she’s willing to do very bad things to keep the Design going. She’s a bit harder to fit onto that chart, but anyway. I didn’t want any of my three villains to be too similar to each other. I also wanted to explore just a completely irredeemable character like Sebastian as I rarely write them. I usually prefer a degree of moral complexity to them, but with a demon it gave me the opportunity to really dive into a truly evil character while Destiny is the antagonist that you can kind of see her side of things. JTG’s just out there being a sneaky asshat :P

Haha, well if you did have a clue where Mary comes from I’d be awfully surprised at this point. Mary is… well, yeah, please see chapter title :P I will say that answers to this are a long way off, unfortunately. Given that even Fate isn’t sure what Mary is or where she comes from, finding those answers won’t be an easy task.

Hey, please don’t worry about taking a while to comment. It’s totally okay, I promise :) Never feel like you owe me anything and take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere :) I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having such a hard time getting the words to come :( Been there before and its tough, but I’ve also found that sometimes just sitting down and forcing myself to do it really can help clear it up so I’m glad that seems to have helped a bit. Anyway, I hope you’re doing well and that you have a wonderful rest of your weekend. You ever need anything, you know where I am. Talk soon :)  

Carmel’s situation really is quite sad :( She’s trapped now and there’s not much of a chance for her to escape unscathed. Well, at least for now. Someday, things could definitely change. Anything’s possible after all and Carmel's pretty tough. If she sees an opening, she'll defintely take it.

Hehe, yes now we’re getting to some of the stuff I’ve wanted to get to for a while. This bit here and the next few chapters are ones I’ve been really looking forward to writing. Kayla and Ariana finding out about Snow’s magic has been planned for ages, and I’m super excited to finally get to explore it. You’re pretty much correct that Snow clearly can’t talk her way out of this one. She used very obvious magic right in front of them, so… unless she blinks away and never comes back, she’s going to have to have a difficult conversation. Of course, that’ll all depend on where she’s blinked off to. Blinking requires a destination to be focused on by the caster, and it has to be a place familiar to them (a condition I included to limit blinking’s usefulness to some degree) Snow didn’t focus on anything, so who knows where she’s ended up :P As for them finding out about JTG… it’s certainly possible. Magic might distract them for a moment, but they’ll come back to that conversation at some point. Still, those two are pretty formidable. JTG herself even once said she didn’t want to face the Austins directly. With their considerable resources and fierce personalities, JTG might just be outmatched. That said, I’m going to keep quiet about who JTG is targeting next. Whoever it is, they’re probably in for a bad day xD

I’m glad you liked seeing Newcastle and more of the Coven. Yeah, I’m trying to subvert the norms when it comes to magic in this, especially with magic in this realm. Olandria, the realm where Divinity is, would be far more like what you were expecting. That realm is far more traditionally fantasy inspired. For this, I wanted everything here to be definitively urban fantasy or even future-fantasy with the Dawnguard. So Newcastle became a modern university campus, just built on a magical floating island in the middle of Central Park :P I mean, because where else would the Coven put it? They’re kind of egotistical like that. Just wait until you see the Triskelion, Coven HQ :P As for the Coven’s dastardly plans, you’ll get a hint of that before long. Them witches be scheming xD

But anyway, thanks again for the comments. I really do appreciate them. I’m glad you’re looking forward to what’s coming next. I am too for a sizable portion of it, so I hope I manage to meet both of our expectations :P Regardless, I hope you’re doing well. Talk soon! :D

Hey there! No worries about taking a while, of course :) Whenever you get the chance. You know, I was somewhat tempted to have Mary bring up her secrets during this conversation, but I imagine she’s having trouble figuring out how to talk about the fact that she’s befriended one of the creators of the universe :P I’m sure she will eventually, but it seemed unnecessary in this moment and Mary… she’s quite vexed by Fate and doesn’t really know what to make of her. As for JTG being so brazen, well it’s safe to say she always has a plan. There was a good reason the message left on Nikki’s mirror wasn’t signed JTG. In fact, if anyone were to investigate the Sorrento’s home, the only evidence they might find would be fingerprints or hair left behind by Carmel. So sure, it’s going to get around that someone seems to be targeting this group of girls, but the name JTG is still only known to select few. So while it was a bit of a risk, she made sure to cover her tracks and if there is any evidence, well… that would point back at Carmel. Heh, well you should be worried about Sophia :P She’s in a tricky spot right now, clearly. I’m sure JTG isn’t particularly happy about her throwing a monkey wrench into her schemes. If she tries to change the game, who can say what would happen? xD

I don’t think Nikki even knows where to start with the situation with her parents. It’s all way too much for her to deal with right now. You’re correct that they weren’t involved with the murders and aren’t really working with Tony by choice, so that’s a small point in their favor. You might even find out why they’re working with him before too long. Not completely sure when I want to drop that little tidbit in there though. As for Sara, yeah that’s a thing I’ve got to get to. I’m both looking forward to it and not. There’s so much sadness in this book and that’s going to be a difficult scene no matter Sara’s response to it. Yeah, actually that’s the biggest issue I have with this chapter. It’s largely a repeat of what you already know. I find it very difficult to make those sorts of scenes interesting, but I’m glad you enjoyed seeing the characters finding stuff out :)

Sophia’s really just spitballing ideas at this point :P To her, it seems like more than one person running things, but perhaps she’s just using other people like Carmel. Who’s to say? :P I’ve got to say I’m extremely interested in who your suspect is. I haven’t really put many hints at all about who JTG is at this point. None, really. So I’m curious what you’ve picked up on. You have a surprisingly good record of guessing my secrets xD

Anyways, thanks so much for commenting! I’m glad you enjoyed, especially since this one gave me hell when writing it. It’s a bit of a transition chapter as we’re kind of wrapping up this introductory arc and moving into the next phase. I hate writing transition chapters :P And as for what will change… There’s a change coming and it’s all Claire’s fault. She made me do a thing that I had zero plans of doing, but she got it in her head so now I have to. I’m not upset about it and honestly it makes a bit of sense. It just adds a layer of complexity I didn’t plan on. We’ll see if you can guess what it is when it starts coming out.

As someone who has read Gifted through 3 times, this new opening is certainly a very strong change of tone from the original version. That opening with Carey and Wesley talking in the field is a great introduction to one of our heroes, but this does an excellent job of introducing our villains. I remember thinking at the end of the first chapter when I initially read it that the Gifted felt almost like boogymen that steal children away. We knew next to nothing about them. With this, we learn quite a lot about them from the start which I think is good. While I suppose it does lose some of that “who the hell are these mysterious people” vibe, it adds far more than it takes away. We get to see and understand just how awful the Gifted can be and we see it from the jump. It makes them feel quite a bit more threatening, knowing upfront what they’re capable of. I imagine it would make those early confrontations with the Gifted feel all the more tense, knowing what the Gifted do to those that oppose them.

I also liked seeing this from the Gifted’s prospective instead of say the rebels. While opening a book from the viewpoint of the villains is pretty rare in my experience, it does help with one of my favorite aspects of the series; the Gifted aren’t pure evil. They’re very gray. In fact, one could almost be forgiven for not even knowing that the Gifted are supposed to be the antagonists of the series without the benefit of having read this before. Obviously by the end there anyone would start to question that, but still it’s good writing. This intro does a great job at humanizing the Gifted as well, which to me is great because I find the more I can identify with the villains, the more I enjoy the conflict with them. I mean, 481 comes across as a man that’s out there doing his job hunting down a traitor to the country, not some villainous assassin.

I know you said you wanted to flesh out the Leader more, so I’m glad to see her appearing in the prologue. I’ve always found the character very interesting, despite how little we’ve actually seen of her so I was excited to see her in this context. Again, we’re seeing her from the perspective of one of her own people instead of someone to whom obviously she is a powerful and dangerous adversary and it gives her a much different feel because of that. Previously, she’s come across as quite scary and intimidating. Here, shes… well, she’s still scary and intimidating :P But she’s also obviously quite driven and a true believer in Gifted superiority. I can’t wait to learn more about her. And again, I like that she comes across so gray instead of obviously the bad guy. It makes her far more interesting to me that way. You can almost see things from her point of view, in a way.

But anyway, this really is a great (re)start to this series. I enjoyed the darker opening compared to the original and getting to see a lot more about the Gifted from the opening. You’ve also got some tantalizing hints of mystery with the wind both guiding 481 there at one point and again at the end when he hears the singing. And of course the blue eyed girl as well! So I do hope we get to see more of 481 and the rest of the crew in the future. But yeah, I’m excited to see what all you have planned! Oh, also when we get into the story proper with chapters I’ve already read and commented on before, don’t hesitate to point out any areas you’d specifically like to get feedback on. Obviously I won’t be able to do what I often do and theorize on what’s likely to happen next since, well, I already know xD So I’m more than happy to focus on whatever topics and sections you’d like me to. Hope you’re doing well and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next chapter brings :)

Hiya! Thanks for the comment! Yeah, that’s right. Comment. Not review. No, no. Comment. Sorry, I… I may still be traumatized by character limits or something, I don’t know xD Anyway, this was a hard one to write as well, although not just because of the stuff happening in it but because this chapter was just a pain to write. I ended up changing a lot of things and so to me it’s a little bit… I don’t know, off somehow? From my original vision at least. Although maybe that’s a good thing. I’m rambling xD Anyway, I was quite excited about finally getting to talk about Nikki’s birth parents a bit. I’ve only drop the faintest of hints way back in Snowfall so it’s nice to get to be a bit more upfront about them. Randy mainly talked about Isabella in the past tense because he hasn’t seen or heard from her in years. He doesn’t know if she’s alive, where she is, or what’s happened to her in ages. So he’s just speaking of the woman he knew and as such used past tense terms. Hmm, yeah Carmel did just so happen to live in Tallahassee. It’s a decent sized city. Lots of people live there. Almost 200,000 in fact. Doesn’t have to mean anything. It could, but it doesn’t have to. What? Really, it doesn’t. And as for Nikki’s dad, I will say… hmm, how to I want to put this? You will, at some point, learn a little more about Nikki’s dad. That doesn’t mean he’s not just some random dude that Randy never met, but yeah I don’t want to leave him a complete mystery forever. Don’t wanna say too much here because spoilers suck, but yeah you’ll at least get something.

Heh, well you should be worried about Nikki xD I’m not going to say a word here because there’s not much I can really say without giving anything away. I will say that JTG told Snow there was going to be punishment for breaking the rules of the game. And JTG… well, she doesn’t go light on her punishments. Also, I’m definitely going to pull a Ned Stark on you one day xD I already know the character, the book, and the exact moment it happens too. I’m weirdly looking forward to it, even though I’ve greatly enjoyed writing the character in question. Far more than I expected to when I introduced them as well, which I’ve found really interesting.

Snow’s dream was the part of this chapter that gave me the most trouble, so I’m glad you think its okay. Horror (if you want to call it that) isn’t really my area of expertise so trying to craft this creepy and unsettling scene was pretty difficult. But I wanted to show just how twisted and dark Sebastian is and what the world might look like if the Dawnguard should fail. To sort of demonstrate what the stakes of this whole thing is. This is end of the world stuff and I think it adds to the experience if you really understand just how horrific a Dawnguard loss would be. As for Sebastian, he was heavily inspired by the classic vampires. The suave, handsome, seductive type that underneath is truly just pure evil and creepy. To be honest, I went back and forth on Snow’s response to Sebastian offering to save Ariana. I’d planned for that to be a big draw for her and a major point of debate in her mind. Sort of like Anakin going to the Dark Side to save Padme, only to lose her and himself along the way. But in the moment, yeah… she wouldn’t do it. It wouldn’t even tempt her. And it would totally be because of Ariana. It would break her heart to see her daughter do something so terrible to save her. It felt so out of character to see Snow debating this and considering what to do, so that got cut and she just outright refuses him.

As for what else Sebastian will do to win Snow over… eh, he’s probably got a plan. He also, as far as he believes, has plenty of time given his lack of awareness of the Dawnguard having been rebuilt. So he’s not really in a rush. It’d be a real shame if someone were to… tip him off about that :P Don’t take that as a hint, I’m just teasing. Probably :P And Zoe… yeah, I mean she’s definitely in danger. She’s training Snow and she’s an extremely powerful magic user and a resource Sebastian would greatly like removed from the Dawnguard’s arsenal. He’s already tried to kill her once, after all. That said, she is in Stonehaven and the city is extremely heavily defended, so as long as Zoe stays there she’s probably pretty safe. Then again, she is the wise mentor and somehow the villain always manages to get them no matter what :P

Anyways, thanks again for commenting! And for commenting on Claire’s work as well. She won’t admit it, but she poured her heart and soul into that in ways I’ve never seen her do with anything else before. She did a really good job and I’m so proud of her deciding to post it. She’s been debating it for a while, but because Fictionpress is so huge she was a little nervous to post it there. Sparkatale’s a smaller community, so when it came back up she decided to put it out there. So thanks for doing that for her :)

Hi, thanks for reading this. I appreciate you taking the time to think about what you wanted to say as well. Difficult, I'd imagine, with this kind of subject matter. I'm very sorry to hear you know what this feels like, although it is comforting to find someone who understands. It's a pretty shitty feeling, isn't it? For ages I couldn't stop going back and thinking about how on Earth I hadn't realized how miserable she was. I mean, we've been best friends for 16 years. You'd think I'd have noticed. The thing is, she didn't want me to see it. She worked her ass off to make sure I never did, that no one did. The thing that scares me now is that even though she seems better, how can I ever really be sure? I guess that's a discussion for another time and place, eh? 

Hi there! I'll let Claire do most of the talking as this is entirely her work. I, Serina, had nothing to do with putting this together. Well, other than the obvious role that I played :/ That'll be why, as you say, it has a different weight to it. I didn't write it. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the kind words. I'm quite glad to hear you've enjoyed my work in the past and thanks for taking a look at Claire's first foray into writing. She's nervous for a number of reasons. I'll hand you over to her now. 

I must say, this is my favorite chapter to date. I know I’m only on chapter 3, but still :P I love this sort of thing. Bennius’s detailing some of the history of Tarantis was absolutely fascinating! To be honest, I could read pages and pages of just them talking about the world. I’d say you did a really wonderful job creating an interesting and richly detailed country and we haven’t even gotten to see it yet. I feel sort of like Carey, honestly. So far, this world has been confined to the Island. Now there's so much more to see and explore. It's gonna be fun! I also quite liked the parallels of the rebellion in Tarantis to the rebellion on the Island and the idea that a rebellion against the government, even if it is a terrible government, doesn’t always mean the new leadership will be better than the one it replaced. In fact, it can often be worse. I feel like Carey is going to get quite a lesson in how things really are the longer she’s out in the world. Her thoughts on the Tarantis rebellion are interesting in that she can’t see how the rebels taking over could be bad. Obviously, she has no reason to think otherwise given her limited experience and exposure to anything beyond her home.

It was a bit disappointing that we didn’t learn anything more about the papers from Bennius, although I wasn’t surprised we didn’t. I had assumed it would be difficult to find a translator and Bennius pretty much confirmed that theory. Oh well, someday. Moving on, I enjoyed the bonding moment between Carey and Maui. That was sweet and of course a bit sad as well. We know so little about Maui, so it was very nice to learn a bit more about him. Their talk also made me all the more interested to learn more about Zeian culture. From what little we gleaned in this chapter, it sounds fascinating. The talk of “roles” is interesting. I wonder… no, I’ll wait. I have some theories on Zeia and Tarantis, but I feel like I don’t have enough evidence to speak on them just yet. I’ll hold on to them until we see more of these countries.

And now, about that ending… yep, I always knew I hated the ocean. Creepy ass faces under the water, yeah I don’t think so :P But seriously, that was very surprising indeed. A kraken attack wouldn’t have surprised me (although it would be awesome :P) but this definitely did. North… what could be north? Well, lots of things I suppose, which makes this all the more interesting. As excited as I am for Sam and 256’s adventure together for the character development moments, this has further increased my desire to see more of the world and learn about places beyond Zeia and Tarantis and perhaps wherever it is that Carey’s is being drawn. Anyway, enough of my rambling. This was, as always, a great chapter that definitely made me excited to for more. I can’t wait to see Zeia and Tarantis and hopefully beyond. World building is my favorite part of writing and you’re tossing me into a new and unexplored fantasy world where anything and everything could happen. I love it xD Well done!

Let me just say that you have managed to craft a couple in Carey and 256 that is incredibly adorable and very sad and emotional at the same time. I really like the awkwardness that still exists between them even though they’ve begun to take steps into a relationship. As someone who not all that long ago entered into a relationship where both parties were extremely nervous about it, I can say with some degree of certainty that you’ve done an excellent job portraying this. Of course, seeing 256 struggle with the mantra that the Gifted quite literally beat into him is very saddening :( It’s very difficult to change something that’s been in your head for so long, especially something that he believed for his whole life. It will be interesting to see how he handles this and what happens between now and whenever he and Carey meet again… assuming they do, of course :P This could very well have been another “The next time we see each other we’ll talk about your mother” scene. Please don’t do that to me. Please, I’m begging you :P  

I am very interested in this plan to get the Gifts of Earth on the rebellion’s side. I’ve long been a supporter of this plan, so I’m excited to see how it will work out for them. I suspect it won’t be even remotely easy, but it should be interesting! I’m also really interested to see Sam and 256 off alone together for a while. We’ve never really seen the two of them paired up for any length of time before and they haven’t had very many conversations either. It’ll be fun to see them off on a mission together. They are two… distinct personalities that ought to make for a different dynamic. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Oh, Janelle my dear, you are playing a very dangerous game indeed. You’re taking way too much on yourself. You’re keeping secrets, even from the people closest to you. That’s… yeah, that’s not good. To be honest, I think I’m more worried about Janelle at the moment than just about everyone else. She seems so tired and sad and she’s convinced she has to face her struggles alone because she feels she can’t talk to Sam anymore. Which, that distant and discomfort between the pair of them still breaks my fragile little heart :( But even so, it’s wonderfully well written. I quite enjoy the tension between them whenever they’re in a scene together. Regardless, I do hope Janelle’s able to find someone she can open up to. Otherwise, I worry about her mental state over time. She’ll wear herself out in no time at this rate. I have to say, I do agree with her about Caleb. I don’t think he was a bad person either. Horribly misguided and foolish perhaps, but not a bad person.

Anyway, this was a nice little chapter that got me really excited to see what’s coming next for these characters, Sam and 256 especially. I can just imagine what sort of hijinks these two will get into on the road. I’m also itching to get to Carey’s adventures on the high seas! She’s the one character that I have next to no idea of where you could be taking her story and I find that super exciting. She’s off to explore new lands and meet new people and cultures. She’s going to… boldly go where no Islander has gone before :P I suspect based on the title of the next chapter, I might get to see the start of that. It should be fun! Or potentially terrifying, I have no idea. There’s a kraken on your map, after all. You may say just kidding, but I ain’t buying it! :P

Oh, also I just noticed your map of Zeia! That’s really neat!

Yeah, I’ve been holding onto the reveal of Clara’s premonition abilities for a long time. Those little foreshadowy moments were fun to do, especially since I was pretty sure no one would actually suspect it was supernatural in nature. I wanted to do more of them, but I figured that might be a bit too heavy handed. I’m glad you enjoyed the foreshadowing regardless. To be honest, I’m quite excited for Clara’s storyline myself. She’s the one character that I really have a solid, structured arc planned out for. She’s the one that I know where she ends up and I have the pivotal character development moments planned. There’s some stuff I really want to get to :P It’s kind of the opposite of Mary and Fate where I’m just writing by the seat of my pants, so to speak. I have a rough idea for those two, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. They’re both fun in different ways.   

To be honest, I had two potential plotlines for Alana being tied up with Tony’s group and at the end of Snowfall, I wasn’t completely sure which one I was going to go with. The other, which I’m now obviously not using so I can tell you, was that Alana was basically helping Tony because she really did need the cash but also because he was blackmailing her. She would have essentially helped Sophia (without Sophia’s knowledge) get her position as a detective. Alana would have done something with the police chief; paid him off, slept with him, whatever I hadn’t planned that far, but so he chose Sophia to be promoted to detective. It was a vague idea that I scrapped pretty early on because it was needlessly complex in an already overly complicated story. That, and the plans I had for JTG changed drastically as well, so a mole in Tony’s group works out better. And by the way, you should be worried… bwahahahaha xD

I’m really glad you’re liking Zoe because I am too. She’s a character that I didn’t spend a ton of time developing because like I said before she wasn’t meant to be nearly as prominent a character as she’s become. She’s ended up becoming a key element in Snow’s training and honestly a good friend and confidant when she desperately needs one. She’s a lot of fun to write. But you’re right that it’s been a while since we’ve seen JTG. I can’t remember if I said why that was before now. But basically, I really felt the need to very heavily change the JTG portion of this. Originally JTG was meant to be the Big Bad of the whole series, but when you introduce a demon from Hell into your plot, someone sending threatening texts becomes a little less intimidating. Or at least I thought so. So, things changed. JTG is still a prominent villain, but the storyline has definitely changed and the role I saw JTG playing in it will be different. That’s the main reason for JTG’s lengthy absence. I had to essentially restructure 2/3rds of the plot. Overall though I’m happy with where it’s gone, more than I think I would have been with the original. Honestly, it was going to be a lot more of what we’d had in Snowfall. As it stands, this should be a little different. Oh wow, I never did get into what happened with Mary and Sara, did I? Wow, I suck lol. That was supposed to come up towards the end of Snowfall but I just double-checked and I completely forgot. Well… shit. I’ll, uh… yeah, we’ll get to that. Anyway, moving on swiftly from my abhorrent forgetfulness, I’m glad you’re enjoying Mary and Fate’s bonding moments. I’ve actually written a fair bit ahead for them since I’m still having trouble writing and they’re flowing really easily for me. They’re developing in really fun and interesting ways that I never anticipated. As for Ariana… to be honest, I still don’t know if she’ll survive or not. I’ve always kept an out for her in my back pocket. I mean, she’s technically already died once, right? And there’s another way out of this that also links way back to Warehouse as well. I just don’t know if I’ll use them or not. Ariana is very precious to me, so naturally there’s a huge part of me that wants to spare her. On the other hand, if I do it I’ll feel like I’m cheating and saving her just because I want to. We’ll see when we get there. Anyways, thanks so much for the comment! Please don’t worry about taking a while. Like you said, it’s not going anywhere. And if your comment is scattered, it’s because this chapter was scattered. That’s mainly where the title came from. This thing is all over the place :P

I wasn't expecting to be hit with this today. I almost didn't click on it because I knew what this would be and I wasn't sure if I should go through with it. Let me say I'm glad I did. This... this is a short and sweet little story that hits in places that I honestly needed to be hit in today. I've been where Nixon is, that dark place, that real dark place. I was there not that long ago and somehow, someway, I'm still here. I'm not going to dive into a true critiquing comment or anything like that. I don't really think that's the point of a story like this anyway. This is beautifully written, though. I think that's more than enough. I'm really glad you posted this. Honestly, I needed to read it. Thank you.

I’ve been hoping for so long that Sam would wind up as a POV character at some point, and I’m so glad it finally happened! I kind of thought you might do it, but being so late in the series I wasn’t sure if you would choose to add a fourth POV. Sam’s long been one of my favorite characters, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the story through her eyes. You’ve made me a very happy girl this day :P Anyway, it was very sad to see Sam struggling with fighting. She’s always been the warrior, a point made clear when she questions what else she’s good for if she can’t fight. So to have that taken away from her has to be very difficult for her. Everything that happened with Victor has clearly taken a toll on her. Fear is… very powerful.

Meanwhile, the pain Sam’s dealing with in this chapter is going to take a toll on me :P I feel so bad for her :( Her thoughts on Janelle, how she has to keep her feelings secret forever…  that cuts deep. Even more, her realization that she couldn’t let her feelings go despite knowing how Janelle feels is heart wrenching. From a writing standpoint, this whole sequence is quite well done. The awkwardness between Sam and Janelle is uncomfortable in a good way. It feels realistic and introduces an interesting new dynamic between two characters that we’ve always known as best friends and have seemingly always been comfortable around each other. I’m very curious to see where this goes, mainly because I’m not sure where you’re going to take it. Often, we’d end up with the two of them entering into a relationship by the end, but you’re so good at subverting my expectations I’m not so sure that’s where you’re headed. Or you will do that direction and surprise me anyway :P

Oh Tom… I understand where you’re coming from. Honestly, this section with Tom and Sam is one of my favorite parts of this chapter. Tom’s reaction to Sam and his outburst is just so raw. It was painful to read, for sure, but damn is it good. It’s very easy to get a sense of Tom’s headspace here and his very clear depression. It’s sad he’s chosen to take it out on Sam who is just taking a beating in this chapter, but I understand him. I’m going to remain hopeful that Tom will eventually heal with time, and not just his physical wounds. Because Sam’s right; his life does still have a purpose even if he can’t see it.

So it was around this point, when Sam goes back to the training room, that I started to realize that you’re just throwing in every possible emotionally painful event you can find just to see how long it takes me to break down :P The scene with 805 was really… sweet, in a way. It was nice to see them… bonding? Over the memory of Michelle. Weirdly, out of all the broken relationships Sam’s dealing with at the moment, I’m oddly the most confident about this one eventually reaching some sort of happiness for both of them. 805 has changed greatly from the man we met way back in Gifted and Sam… I feel like she wants a relationship with her dad even if she won’t admit it to herself. I was hoping he’d hug her because after this day, someone certainly needed to. Oh, also I loved this line: ‘Most of the training rooms were in use, but when she glanced through the window in the door of the furthest room it looked empty.’ That’s some D&D level description right there xD ‘Looked’ empty. If your DM says that, you’re missing something :P

And so we reach the point where we once again split the party. I’m sure it’ll be fine :P I’m quite interested to learn more about Captain Bennius. He’s one of the few characters that didn’t immediately trigger my ‘this-person-is-up-to-no-good’ radar, so that’s probably not a good thing :P I’m also looking forward to seeing what adventures (or misadventures) Carey and the rest get up to on the high seas. I’m super excited to see what the Other Worlds are like and to get a better understanding of the larger world. Anyway, enough of my rambling for one evening. This is a really good opener that maintains the flow and pacing from where Cursed left off. It sets some of the characters off on their plotline for this book, but leaves us with some that we’re not entirely sure about yet, which I like out of a first chapter. It’s very focused which is quite nice. You did a really good job bringing Sam in as a POV character as well, and did so in a way that didn’t feel at all jarring. It’s almost like she’s been one all along. I can’t wait to see where her storyline goes!

“…And I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called ‘The Ship of Dreams’… and it was. It really was.” Ahem… sorry. I love that movie! :P

Anyway, moving on swiftly before I get distracted (and after this many years, I’m pretty sure you know I can get very distracted xD)  I am quite concerned about Janelle’s admittedly shaky grasp on the leadership of the rebellion. Sure, no one but her and Victor know the truth about what happened to Caleb, and it’s not like Victor knows Janelle lied about anything, but… well, stuff like this has a tendency to come back around somehow. The truth will out, as they say. So I’m going to be nervous moving forward, given that it’s not altogether clear how the rebels would react to learning the truth. To be honest, I’m more worried that they would’ve been fine with Janelle sparing Caleb and more pissed off that she lied about killing him :/ We shall see. I do wonder where Marina and Alice and the rest have gotten off to. I’m fully expecting to see either Marina or Alice or both at some point in the future coming back for revenge, unwarranted though it may be. That would certainly be an interesting storyline though and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Well, I didn’t really need the knife in the heart that came with Janelle and Sam’s reunion, but I suppose it had to be that way. Despite the pain it causes, this scene is quite well done. You can easily feel Sam’s emotional pain and turmoil even though it’s written from Janelle’s POV. That’s clearly not the end of it though as Sam’s feelings obviously haven’t changed and Janelle… well, she clearly knows there’s more going on even if she doesn’t want to admit it. I don’t know where you’re going to take this, but as someone who ships these two pretty hard, I’m very interested to see what happens next. On a somewhat lighter note, despite the sadness of the subject matter, it was very nice to see Janelle finally get some closure in regards to Reagan. That’s got to be such a weight off of her shoulders that she finally knows the truth about him and his allegiances. She can finally properly mourn him and hopefully, eventually, move on.

Carey, dear, I’m right there with you. Your powers scare me. I’m really nervous to see the day she manages to ‘collect them all’, so to speak. I mean, if Earth and Fire did that, what would all four do? Regardless, hopefully she will be able to learn more about her abilities on her trip to the Other Worlds, which I’ve got to admit I’m extremely excited for. You’ve got a fantasy world that is entirely of your own creation. You can, quite literally, do anything you want. There’s practically endless room to create. There’s very little I get more giddy for than going to a new land. In books, video games, or even D&D. Going to and exploring a new, strange land is almost always amazing and I’m really looking forward to seeing Zeia… although I’m still strongly opposed to their splitting the party again. These things never end well :P Moving on, could Carey and 256 possibly be any more adorable? No, no I don’t think so. They are entirely too cute and you really nailed that feeling of nervousness that can come with new relationships, so very well done there. I’m really excited to see what comes of their newfound relationship and how things go when Carey returns from the Other Worlds, assuming 256 does not change his mind and brave the ocean blue to go with her.

Okay, Wesley, I like you. It takes a big person to do what you did here and I like that. You don’t have to like 256, just acknowledge that your sister does and respect her choices. I was also glad to see him deciding to go to Zeia with Carey. We spent so long waiting to see those two be reunited that I was hoping they weren’t going to be separated again so soon. There’s so much between those two that I’m hoping to see explored and a trip across the world seems like the perfect time to do so.

Anyway, this is a very solid ending. It has a definite Empire Strikes Back vibe, especially that final scene. It makes sense given that it’s the midway point of the trilogy, but still I do really like what you did with the ending. There’s a sense of hope, despite everything that’s happened recently and what’s still sure to happen on the way to finally ending this conflict. Regardless, congrats on completing this! Personally, I’m never too bothered if something takes a long time to finish if the result is worth the wait, as this series has definitely been. But that does mean The Winds of Winter better be effing amazing and make up for the absolute cluster that was GoT season 8. Ahem, getting off topic. Sorry, I’m still salty about that :P But you’re very welcome, although I’m not sure how helpful any of my comments were :) And now I’m off to start on Human. I’ve purposefully held off reading it until I finished the last comment for Cursed so that I wouldn’t have any more future knowledge and could properly speculate on things. Congrats again on wrapping up a very well written second part of what has become one of my favorite fantasy series. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Human brings!  

Thanks so much for commenting! Yeah, no kidding a lot was revealed :P Stuff I’d planned on keeping to myself for a long while yet so this chapter sort of locked me into a couple of things that I’d intentionally kept somewhat fluid depending on how to rest of the story turned out. I could change stuff without breaking anything or retconning anything that had already been established. Oh well :P Anyway, yeah you know I think it would have been pretty difficult for anyone to figure out Fate’s plan. Mainly because I hadn’t even started dropping hints or even remotely started putting anything in there that would have led you to that conclusion. I didn’t think I needed to because I wasn’t expecting to be at this point yet. Thanks a lot, Mary xD And honestly, I think it’s time I admit that the person who died before they were supposed to… doesn’t matter. I mean, I’m sure someone out there loved them and they meant a lot to those people, but to the story that person doesn’t matter. Even I don’t know who it was. That line way back in Snowfall was meant to indicate that the Grand Design was beginning to collapse and that Fate had actually succeeded in changing something. Originally, this was meant to worry the reader given everything that was said in Warehouse about the importance of the Grand Design. You were meant to believe, just like most of the characters do, that the Grand Design was very real up until almost the end of the third part of the trilogy. Given the now much earlier reveal that the Grand Design is, in fact, a massive lie that whole narrative point is… well, pointless :P Regardless, I’m glad you’re intrigued. I wasn’t quite sure how the reveal of the fallacy of the Grand Design would go over. It’s not a retcon because it was planned from the very beginning, but it sort of feels like one. On the note about exposition, I seem to have chapters like this fairly often where I do massive exposition dumps. They’re not really intentional, but in this case I didn’t have much choice. Pretty much everything in there needed to be revealed relatively soon and the details of Fate’s backstory is part of what convinced Mary to help her, so… yeah.

I’m really glad Fate’s humanity shone through in this chapter because that’s what I was aiming for. I was worried I hadn’t done too good a job, hence the scene at the end with Fate and Claire. That was included because I was concerned that no one would believe Fate was telling the truth and I didn’t want to leave that unclear. Fate, at least to her knowledge, is telling the truth and I wanted that to come across as clearly as it could. But I guess I needn’t have bothered because you were drawn to her without it, so good :) It’s quite interesting taking a character that was perceived as a villain all this time and revealing that actually they’re not the bad one. It’s kind of difficult too especially when the narrative has established that the character is not to be trusted. I mean, there were a couple of hints but I never actually expected anyone to pick up on them. One was back in Warehouse I think when Ariana was having surgery to save Adrian and Kayla meets Claire and Fate in the chapel. Fate outright tells Kayla that Sara is going to be murdered and Snow will fear that she’s the one who killed her. She also hints at JTG and that if Snow doesn’t see the enemy nearby or something like that she’ll die. I don’t remember the exact wording, but Claire tells Kayla to pay attention because Fate is “trying to help you.” Yeah, I suck at hints :P Additionally, Snowfall opens with this: “It's funny how things happen. Fate so often intervenes in our everyday lives and flips the ordinary on its head. Fate is a fickle friend. It guides us on our paths, forcing us along predetermined lines and controlling our lives whether we want it to or not. Sometimes this leads us to terrible tragedy and heartbreak, but this isn't always true. There are times when fate leads us through the dark times and into the light; such as with the case of Snow Austin”. That was an attempt, poor though it was, to point to the possibility that Fate wasn’t the bad guy and also to show that the Grand Design isn’t just completing certain tasks but that the entire lives of individuals are controlled and predetermined. Again, it was meant to be subtle because I didn’t think I needed to be anything but at that point. So when trying to show that Fate was being forthright and honest, the best thing I could think of was to play up her humanity. It’s interesting because originally Fate was much more distant and cold. Her intentions were the same, but she was still more similar to the Fate from Warehouse instead of the softer, squishier Fate we have now. She was more firm in her idea that her plan is the right one because she’s a god, instead of feeling like she’s not a god because a deity would be better than she is. That seemed to work much better because I couldn’t work out any reason Mary would help that version of Fate. So, Fate became this sort of sad, broken woman who feels like she’s failed and is trying to make it right. I feel like that version will be more interesting to read about. At least I hope so.

Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed the chapter and are liking Mary’s new storyline. That’s good because I’ll tell you, this has been a really complicated narrative arc to rework and fit into the series in a way I hadn’t intended. It doesn’t have nearly as much planning and polish as the rest does, but actually I think that’s why I’m enjoying writing it so much. I kind of know where it’s going, but it’s not likely to conclude much earlier than I’d originally planned, so I’ve got a lot of space to fill and Mary and Fate are really fun to write. They’re an interesting pair and they’ve already taken the story to places that I definitely never expected it to go. They compliment each other in a weird way. It’s been strange but really fun.

And because I’m an idiot and ridiculously high on three different medications, I posted the last comment which was meant for chapter 54 on chapter 55. I told you I’m really out of it :P I was going to just go ahead and finish off 55 tonight, but I do believe that’s a sign that I need to go have dinner with my girlfriend and go to bed :P    

Okay, this is the one I’ve been so excited to get to and get your thoughts on that ending! This is probably my favorite chapter of yours to date. The twist at the end with Janelle is masterful and I love it. But we’ll get to that. Firstly, I want to talk about Evelyn. I really love what you’ve done with her here. She was the perfect candidate to absolutely hate the Gifted and be thrilled by what Victor is doing because of what happened to Brooke (Her death still deeply affects me, by the way, so you certainly did a good job with that). So to have her say she’s never really hated the Gifted, despite her loss, makes her perhaps one of the greatest assets the rebellion has. She’s the kind of person they need; one who realizes that this is war and that people are going to die, but she’s not doing this out of vengeance or hatred. If I didn’t already love Evelyn, I love her even more now.

Now Caleb. It’s no secret that when Caleb first appeared, I did not trust him. He was off-putting and secretive and he just felt untrustworthy. He was also that character that has a tendency to appear midway through season two that takes over leadership of the team/change the operating dynamic of the main group of characters that you’ve followed so far. He had a lot working against him in my book. And you did what few have been able to do; you got me to change my mind about him :P I actually came to trust Caleb and genuinely liked him. So much so that I was fairly certain that Caleb did not know what Victor was doing. I thought it was going to be a surprise to him, and while he might have had some clue that something wasn’t quite right, I didn’t expect this. And while I do feel some sympathy for him, I mean he was tortured after all, he was without question the worst possible leader of the rebellion. He’s quite literally the anti-Evelyn in this instance. He’s done and allowed terrible things to be done out of hatred for Gifted, not out of a desire to see change in his world. I really do agree with Janelle’s final assessment of him; there was definitely good in him and he had his reasons for feeling as he did (and they were valid reasons as well) but he had to be stopped.

But wow, that ending O.o Firstly, I love that Janelle decided to let Caleb go. She had every reason to kill him, and at this point I’m not sure I believe that had their positions been reversed that Caleb would have offered Janelle the same. I don’t even know if sparing him was the right call strategically, but morally I suppose it was. Given time, he could have changed his ways. If she had killed him, that was it. Also, the choice fit the character. I don’t see Janelle as being capable of cold blooded murder. Not that it necessarily would have been murder, but the point stands. Anyway, I was as shocked as Janelle by the sudden crossbow bolt. (Also, well done on knowing the difference between projectiles fired by medieval-era bows and crossbows and that arrows and bolts are not the same thing. A shocking number of people I’ve come across have no idea. The history nerd in me is pleased :P) Anyway, I really didn’t expect Caleb to die here after Janelle agreed to let him go so that was an interesting and shocking twist. I will definitely miss Caleb as he was a fascinating character. I was never quite sure what to make of him and when I finally made a decision about him, you managed to completely subvert my expectations and make him the exact opposite of what I thought, so that was very well done indeed. But now, to the ending with Janelle lying about killing Caleb. That. Was. Brilliant. Absolute fucking power move. That is how you take back power. Not that it won’t absolutely come back to bite her in her ass one day, but it was still a masterstroke move and I loved it :)

Anyway, again this was a great chapter and definitely in contention to be my favorite so far. It has intrigue, reveals, combat, and shocking twists. Very, very well done.

Hey. Been awhile. Let me see if I still remember how to do this. (Edit: I do not.) As I’ve said before, this is a great arc to wrap up this story with. Reading through the last handful of chapters again reminded me of just how well everything flows. There’s no unnecessary lagging moments that draw this sequence out. Even though it takes a good number of chapters to conclude, it’s a fun, interesting, and terrifying ride all the way through. You’ve managed to nail the pacing along with the atmosphere, which for me at least can be a difficult balance to maintain at times. Especially in a scenario like this where you’re balancing combat and dialogue as well. It all flows very well, which is quite nice. You take just enough time during the combat sequences, keeping them interesting, tense, and fresh along with good breaks for conversation and plot development all while maintaining the creepy and uncomfortable atmosphere of Victor’s lair. It’s quite impressive, so well done.   

Okay… what the actual fuck is Carey? You know, I had thoughts, theories, ideas even, but I did not expect her to do… yeah, that. I’d been leaning a bit towards the idea of her being some sort of Avatar-ish thing where if she were to manage to attain all four of the main gifts at once she would be able to do… something interesting, I don’t know exactly but it certainly wasn’t this. Which, may I add, I’m extremely happy about. I love having my expectations subverted and you did so masterfully. In the previous chapter, Carey notably kills two different Gifted, Earth and Fire. I can only speculate that something to do with this combination gave her this new power. Now I’m wondering what sort of abilities she would get with other combinations… or perhaps even scarier, what happens if she were to master all four. Considering how seemingly dark she turned and how it seemed to injure her, I’m not sure I want to find out.

Anyway, this was an awesome chapter with a really interesting reveal with Carey there at the end. I’m really looking forward to learning more about her and her newfound abilities, even if they scare me a bit :P I’m sorry this is a little short and probably not all that concise or well-worded, but it’s my 14^th attempt and I don’t actually think my brain will allow me to do any better. I’ll definitely be getting to the next one very soon! :)

Well, you were certainly correct in your assessment that Snow’s portion of this chapter was difficult to write. Snow in general is difficult to write because, well she’s not in the best headspace right now and it’s not at all an easy one for me to dive into which, actually is part of the reason why I went ahead with it. I needed to face it and it turned out better than I thought it would. I’d had that tattoo bit planned for a long time, including the I have passed through fire part, but it was supposed to be something Snow went and got on her own instead of a magical brand but I liked it being a gift from Zoe. I felt like it meant more that way. Anyway, I’m glad you’re liking Zoe :) I never meant for her to become as prominent of a character as she has, but over time she’s just gotten tied into more and more things that now, here she is. Much by the same token, I never expecting Zoe and Snow to have much of a relationship, but Zoe was the obvious candidate to teach Snow. I’d planned on Michael, but Zoe made so much more sense. But ah yes, the sad fate of the wise old mentor :P They never seem to last very long, do they? xD  

Yeah, that was probably the most anticlimactic reveal in the history of anticlimactic reveals :P That’s why I didn’t hold into that particular mystery for very long. It didn’t make any narrative sense to do so and really because I intend to focus less heavily on Snow this time around and spread the storylines around a bit more, well… Clara needed her particular storyline to kick off. But regardless of it being an obvious reveal, I’m glad you were excited for it :P Haha, it’s funny you mention Noel because when I was writing this I had to stop and think if she knew about Clara :P I knew she did, but I had to stop and think how everything fit together. I need to plan better :P As to the Coven, Umbridge-lookalikes is a pretty accurate description. Not all of them, obviously. I mean, just like the Ministry of Magic, not everyone who worked there thought that those in power were doing the right thing. There’s plenty of resistance to the Coven’s current course, but those in power could definitely be described as Umbridge-like. Maybe even Nazi Umbridge-like to be honest.

We’ll be getting back to Carmel here soon. I kind of put that on pause for a minute to work out some JTG stuff. I realized that I’d created a much greater villain than JTG in Sebastian and gave two of my four leads magical powers. JTG, in contrast, seems less threatening so I had to rework some things and adjust some plot points. As for Carmel herself, we’ll see :P Maybe there’s been no affect at all or maybe she’s a completely different person now. Who knows? :P

Right, yeah I forgot about that :/ Okay, so Olandria is the name of the realm where Sienna’s kingdom is. I think I had Zoe mention it at one point, but then I did some editing because I’d planned for Mary and Fate’s conversation to carry on a bit and Fate mentioned it as well, so I figured it wasn’t necessary to go explain it twice and since Fate was already on a bit of an exposition dump, I left the explanation there. But since I liked the cliffhanger of “and I need your help”, I cut out the rest of their scene and I suppose I never went back and added the proper details back into Clara, Zoe, and Noel’s scene. Oops :P Yep, definitely need to plan better. Thanks for pointing that out for me! I’ll be sure to fix it. For clarity’s sake, this realm, our world I suppose you could call it, is typically called the Nexus… because reasons :P Well, I suppose it’s not really a spoiler to say why. Our realm is the one that connects all the others. Imagine the realms laid out like a subway network with stations linking different areas. Some stations/realms connect directly to each other while others don’t. Our realm is like a hub. It connects directly to every single other realm. The Coven are actually from another realm called Agamarr. It was destroyed a thousand years ago by extreme misuse of unable magics which caused the surviving witches to flee to the Nexus/our world and they’ve been here ever since. Hmm, maybe I should start working on a lore guide or something :P I mean, I’ve got folder and folders of world building for the realms that will probably never actually be used or even mentioned unless the characters ever need to go to some of these places :P

Oh man, I have been waiting to get to this! :P I thought it would be ages because I didn’t really have any logical narrative reason for Fate to interject herself into any of the character’s lives. This wasn’t meant to come about until midway through the third and final part of this trilogy. But deciding not to kill off Mary changed so much. Honestly, I had no plan for Mary. I kept her around but I had absolutely no idea what she was going to be doing. I didn’t want to complicate things further by creating an entirely separate storyline for her that didn’t tie into anything else. Then I hit upon the idea of using the fact that I didn’t plan on her being here as part of her story and tying her into Fate’s shenanigans. They’ve been a really fun pair to write so far and they’re taking the narrative to places that I never really saw it going, which I always appreciate. Anyway, I won’t comment on your theories except to say I can neither confirm nor deny :P The next chapter will open where this one closed, so it’d be a shame to spoil anything here. But I guess I can say that there is a lot more to Fate (and Destiny for the matter) than what Destiny said way back in The Girl and the Warehouse.

But anyway, thanks for much for the comment! I really appreciate it :D I’ll finally be getting back to Cursed no later than this weekend. I’ve already tried once, but these medications I’m on make it really really hard for me to focus. They’re helping where they need to, but it’s really causing issues in other areas and focusing to do something like compose a decently thought out comment is definitely one of them.  

Thanks for commenting! :D I must say Sara is probably the character whose growth I’ve enjoyed the most so far. Given that I’d originally planned to kill her off very early, I didn’t really put a lot of time and effort into developing her. She was almost meant to exist as a plot device that the rest of the story revolved around. Now that she’s still around, that clearly had to change. It actually flowed very naturally in that she would have a come to Jesus moment after her near death. Facing your own mortality has to change you and it certainly seems to have changed Sara. That said, I can’t really blame you for not fully trusting her just yet. She’s changed, sure, but no one completely changes overnight. Hahaha, so perhaps there’s a new weapon in my arsenal to make you love Michael! He must start quoting Dumbledore in every scene! I’m sure this will go perfectly :P

I’m really glad you liked the bit with Snow learning to use her powers and Michael and Zoe’s sparring match. That’s been something I’ve been both really looking forward to and also extremely nervous about. I wanted the magic in this to feel… impactful. I wanted the spells to feel powerful and honestly kind of scary. I mean, if you cast Fireball in Skyrim it makes an okayish explosion. I wanted the D&D reaction where whenever someone says they’re casting Fireball, every player looks to see where they are on the map because a nuke is about to go off :P But yeah, it was pretty fun to write that part. I was able to play around with the different character’s classes. There’s a very barebones D&D style system I put together mainly just to help me establish which spells Michael and Zoe would likely have studied. So all of Zoe’s are elemental based whereas Michael’s are more from the necromantic school (although not the “raise the undead” sort of necromancy. That’s… frowned upon :P). Michael does have some Conjuration spells what with his use of glyphs and his Mystical Weapon spell. Doing that really helped me give them both what I hope are unique fighting styles. I really want to have Snow focus on ice magic, but that would be so on the nose that I’m not sure I can do it xD

I spent a very long time thinking about how to respond to this part. It’s a very interesting theory, to be sure. This chapter is called Magic is a Drug for a reason. Magic can be… addicting. For someone like Snow, who’s ultimately been powerless for a long time, it can be even more so. She’s been powerless against JTG, powerless against her mom’s illness, powerless when her best friend was “murdered”, I mean the list goes on. Now she’s suddenly got power literally coursing through her veins and that’s bound to have and affect on her. All that said, if I were Sebastian, sneaking into Snow’s mind and turning her from the inside… it’s a good idea. The thing is that he’s not really going to convince her to join him by offering her a prize. Snow knows what Sebastian is, or at least what the Dawnguard has told her, so she’s not likely to join him  just because he promises to save her mother. I’d imagine he’d need to work to convince her that he’s right and the Dawnguard are wrong. If he could prove he wants to create a better world,  one in which her mother could live happily… well, that’s a possibility. Or he decides to mind rape her, break her spirit and crush her will until she loses the ability to resist him :/ Regardless, your points have actually given me a bit to think about.    

Yeah, the JTG storyline sort of went on the backburner a little bit mainly due to me wanting to get this chapter out there. I’d been really excited to actually get to play with the magic I’d spent a lot of time creating and this was the first opportunity I’ve had to really do so. From here, we’ll be getting back to JTG, dealing with Nikki’s issues, and maybe even figuring out who the half-witch is before too long ;)  

Heh, well I don't really think you need to worry about the stakes seeming real. To be honest, I was very surprised that everyone survived long enough to meet up and even more that everyone managed to escape. That's, of course, due to the fact that in the past they haven't always. The likes of Brooke especially hammer that point home. I was expecting a death, and a major one at that, so you actually surprised me and subverted my expectations by having everyone live. I like being surprised and not having the GoT/Walking Dead syndrome of killing characters for shock value or 'because someone should die here'. Regardless of your reasons (and believe me, I've been right there myself  before :P) I think you did really good with this. 

I feel a bit like a broken record every time I bring up your actions sequences, but I believe they deserve the attention. There’s quite a bit of combat in this chapter and the next couple, yet at no point was I tired of it or wanted to get on with things. Your pacing is excellently done with surges action in between character interactions and plot. The action scenes themselves are tense and exciting as always. It’s impossible for me to tell when you intend to brutally murder someone so I’m always on edge when battles are happening.

I really liked the moment there with Maui seemingly performing some sort of little ritual to honor the dead. Out of all of the characters, Maui is one of the ones we know the least about so it was nice to glean a little bit of insight in regards to him. Or maybe I’m wrong and he’s not honoring the dead, but he’s a necromancer and he’s performing a spell to begin raising his army of the undead :P You know, I say that jokingly but we know next to nothing about the Other Worlds so who knows?

The slow sneaking through Victor’s lair was suitably and effectively nerve wracking and unsettling. Watching Carey slowly begin to falter as they made their way through was tense and up until the point she was spotted, I was never sure if they were going to make it or not. Oh, also it was interesting to get a little bit better of an idea of the feeling Gifted get whenever they’re near other Gifted. You’ve mentioned that ability before, but I don’t remember ever getting an in depth description of exactly what it feels like. Ah, so 805 has caught on to Carey’s special ability then. He doesn’t seem too concerned about it, although he is pretty good at keeping his thoughts from showing through so I’m really curious how he’s feeling about all this. I do have a couple of thoughts/theories/questions regarding her abilities, but I’ll wait till the next chapter to voice them.

Going into this chapter, I was wholly convinced that the rescue party wouldn’t arrive in time to save everyone. I was sure we were going to lose someone before the end, so I kind of expected it to happen here. I’ve said before that Sam has long been high on my list of characters I think are likely to meet their untimely demise sometime soon, so I really believed that Sam wouldn’t be making it out. Therefore, I was very happy to see that Sam and everyone else are alive if not well or whole. That “Mum?” from Sam, though… right in the feels every time.

It’s very noble of Carey and 256 to want to stop Victor’s horrible sins down here, but seriously haven’t either of them played D&D? Don’t. Split. The. Party. They’ve gone and done it twice now. Stop it! This is how you die :P Anyway, this is a very exciting and action packed chapter in a series of action packed chapters that don’t really let up until the end. Especially the next two, I mean Jesus Christ… Regardless, very well done on another part of this ending sequence. It feels perfectly paced and keeps the audience engaged the whole way through. Game of Thrones writers, seriously, take notes xD

You know, I can forgive a lot. I can forgive the emotional scars you’ve left on my heart. I can forgive the stress of worrying about these characters. I can even forgive devastating losses the likes of Brooke, Marvin, and Reagan… but cutting Sam’s hair? This may be a sin too vile to ever truly forgive. I’m going to need some time and some space and then we’ll talk, okay? :P In all seriousness, the opening of this chapter definitely sets the tone for Victor and shows what he’s capable of and, if I may say so, just how royally effed up he is. Seeing how broken Thomas has been left by Victor’s mad scientist experiments was very unsettling. Again, you’d be really good at writing horror if this is any indication. To be honest, the last line really makes the whole scene and certainly leaves the reader with a bit of that same feeling of fading hope so very well done with that.

When I first read this, my feelings on the rebels closely mirrored Janelle’s here. Any trust I had in them is completely gone, although I was actually pretty convinced at this point that Caleb and the rest were unaware of Victor’s horribleness. I think I was so suspicious of them upfront that now that they’re finally actually guilty of something I have a hard time believing it :P  I was very glad to see that Janelle, upon  realizing the real danger Sam and the others are in, puts aside her confusion and anger and rushes to the rescue. I particularly loved this line: She thought of Samantha, her best friend, whose last memory of Janelle could potentially be her coldly turning away… Not her former best friend, her best friend. It’s this shift (and I should have mentioned this last time) is a big part of the reason I don’t think you really need to change how Janelle thinks and reacts to everything in the previous chapter. The second there’s a real threat, the second she knows Sam is in danger, she throws everything else aside and charges in. I really like that and I think it’s a great bit of character development.

And so we get a little more information about Reagan and his connection with the rebels. Here’s another place where I’d normally have theories, but… well. I will say that I originally seriously questioned Ben’s honesty here. Well, not his honestly per se, but more I wondered if he was intentionally omitting parts of the truth. Looking back, it doesn’t seem that he was but since we don’t see Ben again after learning the truth from Caleb so it’s a little hard to be sure exactly how much he knew about all this. Regardless, I really enjoyed this scene. I had a lot of fun trying to sort through and determine how much of what Ben was saying was true and trying to see if he was leaving anything out. It was also quite interesting to get the different perspectives as well, first from Alice and then from Ben. I do have to say that this scene did make me start to question Caleb and Co’s credibility just a little bit. Something about Ben’s story just seemed… off. Now I know why of course, but at the time I just couldn’t place what it was. Probably because I didn’t want to believe that Caleb had ordered Reagan’s death, but… well, yeah, here we are.

I said it last time, but I really like what you’ve done with this last arc. It’s really great getting answers to a lot of questions as well as keeping me terrified for pretty much all of these characters. Anyway, I’m sorry again for taking so long to leave another comment. I’d intended to be faster but the Tropical Storm Imelda dropped 40 inches of water on this lovely city we just moved to and half of it has been underwater. There are some areas where the water was nearly up to the traffic lights. Google that storm if you want to see some crazy images. Luckily, our house was spared but we were without power for 4 days. Oh, and congrats on finishing this! It’s both a relieving and scary feeling, isn’t it? You’re certainly welcome for the comments, even though I doubt any of this rambling drivel is actually helpful xD

So… hi. Um, can we just pretend that I’m not a complete crapbag and ignore the fact that it’s been forever since I’ve commented? No? Yeah, that’s fair. I deserve it. Seriously though, I’m sorry for taking forever to get back to this and not responding to the PM for even longer and generally just being a substandard friend. Thankfully, we’ve finally settled in here in Houston and I’ve found myself with an abundance of free time at long last. As such, I’m going to try to be better than I’ve been.

Anyway, these comments on the next several chapters may read a little differently than normal considering much of them would be me theorizing on what I think might happen next and begging you not to murder anyone I love :P Since I’ve already read ahead, there won’t be as much of that. I do really like what you’ve done with this arc overall. Victor is an excellent villain with a deep and disturbing level of creepiness that makes him genuinely scary. I know you don’t care much for horror, but damn you’d be good at writing it.

I’ve got to say that when I first read this chapter, I found some of Janelle’s inner thoughts about Sam to be… almost out of character for her. When Carey tells her that her best friend is missing and she kind of just dismisses it seemed a little… off. It makes perfect sense that Janelle would be confused and upset by what Sam told her, but I was surprised  by Janelle’s seeming blatant homophobia and lack of concern for her friend. But I guess that’s what time to think and a reread does because as I’m reading this chapter again I actually think you did something really interesting with this. Janelle is obviously confused and upset by Sam’s revelation, but she clearly still cares about her. The moments that I picked up on initially seem to be Janelle forcing herself to be upset and angry with Sam. There’s several times where she starts to worry or panic and she stops to remind herself that she’s supposed to be mad or that Sam’s not supposed to be her friend anymore. I’m not sure if it’s just not particularly clear or if I’m really bad at picking up on things. Probably the latter :P But regardless, I like it and you made me think so I don’t think any changes need  to be made.

The Reagan bombshell from Alice was a major surprise that I definitely didn’t see coming. Obviously I had some theories about him and his connection to the rebels, but most of those theories were more insidious than Reagan knowing and being part of the group for 10 years. I liked how this whole mystery starts to unravel by an offhand comment by a little girl. This was an interesting twist, even without all the details we learn later. Overall, I really enjoyed this scene. I think you played up Alice’s fear of revealing this secret very well. This is one of the places I’d normally ramble on about some of my theories, but there’s little point to it as we get more information later, so I’ll talk more about that once I get to the relevant chapter.

Carey’s part of the chapter is likely my favorite. I like the back and forth between Carey and Wesley a lot. They’re so obviously brother and sister it’s not funny :P Especially when Wesley’s watching her struggle with the boat. I just kept thinking yep, that’s exactly what my brother would do xD There’s a really nice flow between the characters on their journey back to the mainland that I enjoyed and it seemed to fit them well.

And then we come to Hahana and Maui and perhaps one of the biggest surprises of this chapter; 805 agreeing to go back to Zeia if Hahana and Maui come help on the rescue mission. I did kind of expect him to make his way back to them if he managed to escape the island base, but to promise to go back with them was a huge shock. I always suspected they would have to find another Gifted because I really didn’t think he would ever agree. It seems he cares more than he’d like to admit. And while we don’t actually hear this from 805 in this chapter, I still believed it to be true. I’m really interested to see where that storyline is going to go in the future.

Anyway, this was a really solid chapter and a nice launching point for everything that comes next. The remainder of this arc is really well done and exciting and I really can’t wait to see how you round this story out. Anyway, I’ll be getting to the rest of the chapters soon. And I really do mean soon, not soon as in 6 months from now :P

Thanks for much for the comment! Again, sorry to taking a while to respond. We’ve decided to go ahead with the move, so there’s a ton of logistical stuff we’re trying to sort out. On the brighter side, once we’ve finally gotten moved properly I’ll actually have a good amount of free time seeing as I won’t be doing much work save for when I fly back to New York every other weekend. I’m going to be a stereotypical stay at home housewife :P Not gonna lie, kinda looking forward to it xD Anyway, moving on.

Yeah, Kayla and Ariana really weren’t prepared for Snow to ask that question :P One of their worst fears is Snow getting wrapped up in something magical like that once did, so that question just coming up out of the blue really shook them. Of course, they have no idea the extent to which magic exists in this world (and others) so they’re a bit limited in that regard. They likely suspect that Snow may have experienced something strange that would be Fate/Destiny related and aren’t sure how to deal with it.

I’m really glad you liked the dream sequence because it was a big part of the reason why this chapter was held up for so long. It took forever to get it to a point I was happy with. I have to thank Matt Mercer the DM of the D&D web series Critical Role for indirectly helping sort it out. I’ve been watching Critical Role for a while now (If you like really good storytelling, albeit silly from time to time, great characters, and an entertaining cast, I recommend giving it a watch on Youtube) and Matt’s descriptions of his scenes is fantastic and his worlds are so detailed that just watching him has helped me improve. I used his style somewhat in the description of the dream and I was finally somewhat happy with it. Haha, so you caught the Buffy reference! Excellent :P To be honest, the whole dream was kind of inspired by the destruction of Sunnydale although more turned into a hellish wasteland instead of sucked into an interdimensional portal. I’d wanted to introduce Sebastian in some way for a while now, but there was never a convenient time to do it. A dream sequence seemed as good a time as any. It’s kind of tough to basically introduce Satan into the narrative since he can’t exactly go strolling down the street in broad daylight :P As for Emilia, well… Okay, I personally don’t consider this a spoiler, but if you don’t want to know anything about her just skip to the next paragraph. Anyway, here goes. To answer your question, yes. Before Sebastian, Emilia was a normal girl. In fact, when Snow and Emilia met up in the coffee shop the first time? Emilia was still just a normal girl. There was reference to her disappearing for a while before she reappeared in the woods on Founder’s Day. It’s safe to assume whatever happed to her, happened during the time she was gone. I never really intended to give the impression that Emilia was anything other than a thrall that was being controlled by Sebastian. Now, following whatever it is that Sebastian’s done to her, that may certainly be different now.

Lol, yeah I remember that conversation xD My initial reaction may or may not have been; “Well, shit.” :P But no, I agree that dragons have been done to death and if I was going to include them, I wanted them to be something different. I didn’t want GoT dragons or Harry Potter dragons where they’re mainly just fire breathing terrors. I decided to go more D&D in the design of the dragons in that they are intelligent and have the ability to communicate. I went even further and gave them a fully developed culture and society. I didn’t want the dragons to feel like nothing more than a fantasy WMD that can burn whole cities to the ground single-handedly. A fully grown dragon can burn whole cities to the ground single-handedly, but there’s far more to them than that. As far Ancalagon herself, she’s only a adolescent dragon so her power and capability is greatly diminished, although you still don’t underestimate a dragon. Off topic, but my D&D players learned this truth last weekend :P They hadn’t really gone up against anything too terrible yet as they’re still fairly low level. They picked up a contract to hunt down a drake that was harassing a town, despite being warned by the local Captain of the Guard that only an experienced party should hunt this creature. They didn’t listen and went after it as there was a reward of 10,000 gold if they killed it. They were kind of cautious until they saw it was a young dragon and then threw caution to the winds and attacked. Suffice to say, two of the party died permanently and had to reroll new characters. The rest barely managed to escape the encounter. We were talking after the game about how they thought they could handle it because it was young. And I was like, yeah, it’s a baby dragon. But it’s still a fucking dragon. And these aren’t standard D&D dragons either; these are custom homebrew dragons that fit in with the lore. So yes, even a baby dragon will absolutely wreck you if you’re not prepared and they were overconfident and way too cocky. Anyway, enough of that rambling :P

Ah yes, this is the part of this story I’ve been wanting to get to for so long :P I finally get to have magic out in the open. I’m not sure how unique it is as a lot of the spells and schools of magic are quite D&D based, although admittedly with my own changes and tweaks and additions. So the schools of magic are similar in name and purpose, but most of the spells have my own spin on them and some are significantly more powerful. With triggers, I think it’s safe to say you’ll probably learn some people’s triggers and others you likely will not. It’s considered a very personal thing and some people don’t want to share their trigger with others. Then again, I know there are certain characters that people will want to know, so we’ll probably get around to most of them. We’ll see. Heh, yeah that would have been horribly cliché if Snow’s trigger had been love. I wasn’t initially sure what her trigger would be, but I knew for a fact it would not be love. It was going to sadness for a while as I thought it would be interesting to explore that with a character that we know has been suicidal. There are opportunities for a deep dive into that and maybe deal with some mental health topics that aren’t often brought up. I liked the idea, but I felt like that almost deserved its own story and wrapping that into this one seemed like a bit much. So that may come into play in a Coven focused side story whenever I get around to that :P And also, hate just seemed fun xD I liked the idea of a character that hasn’t ever really gotten all that angry in the time we’ve known her, having her trigger be hate. It has its own nuances to explore without being as complex and time-intensive as a mental health storyline. As for Snow… I don’t know. I don’t really know if she’ll necessarily see this as a failure. I mean, she may. I haven’t even started thinking about the next chapter yet so it’s possible she might. I’m sort of thinking more along the lines of the effect it will have on her state of mind. She doesn’t even understand what she is. She’s a child born of incest, which is something we haven’t really gotten into yet. But… I’ll say… yeah, it bothers her. And now that may be the reason why she’s this magical anomaly that no one understands, a demon wants to breed an army with her, and now her trigger for using her powers is hatred. So I think more than anything, Snow is scared and this will just make it worse.

You know, it’s funny. I don’t even know where that came from :P I want to say it started as far back as Warehouse in some of the 3rd person narration and somehow along the way the characters started referring to Fate the same way. Regardless, you make an excellent point and I’m making a note to put a stop to that. At some point I’ll go back and edit the other bits as well along with the rest of the stuff I keep meaning to go back and fix but never find the time to actually do :P Thanks for pointing this out :D

Skyrim? What is this Skyrim you speak of? Nope, can’t say I’ve ever heard of it? Sounds fake to me. *Quickly logs out of Steam account so no one notices the 400+ hours played of the original release edition, the 200+ hours of the Special Edition, and the 58 hours of the VR edition.* But yeah, in all seriousness, I’ve played the heck out of Skyrim. I still play Skyrim. If you’re playing on PC, I highly recommend checking into a website called NexusMods which has a whole host of player made modifications and additional from clothing and weapons and new spells, to fully voiced companions and new quest lines. Just be sure to read the installation instructions carefully if you go messing around with that, and back up your save file! You can break the game pretty easily and corrupt your save. Believe me, I’ve done it :P Anyway, as far as actual references to Skyrim, there aren’t that many that are intentional. The biggest and most obvious would have to be the Dawnguard. Skyrim’s Dawnguard and my Dawnguard are obviously very different entities, but that’s where the name comes from. It was actually a placeholder at first until I came up with something better, but I liked the name and it fit with their mission profile so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to pay homage to the game that’s brought me over 700 hours of enjoyment. But anyway, I’m glad you’re playing Skyrim! It’s definitely a great game to lose yourself in. Just… whatever you do… don’t kill a chicken in town. I’m serious. If you do, may Talos have mercy on your soul :P

Lol, he couldn’t have messed that up more if he tried :P He tempted fate with that line and she kicked him in the teeth :P I’m really glad to hear you like Nathan. He’s been a ton of fun to write so far. He concerns me sometimes because since he came into the series late, he didn’t get nearly as much pre-release development as Lucy and Jack for example. Despite that, I’m actually more excited in some respects for Nathan’s storyline than I am Lucy’s. Mainly because of his relationship with Cassie and the fact that they tend to bicker like an old married couple from time to time :P Oh good, I’m relieved that you’re keeping up with the sci-fi stuff! I’ve been really focused on making this as accessible as possible to people that aren’t necessarily big into sci-fi. It’s more western in space than hard sci-fi anyway, so I didn’t want to go too deep into the technobabble and whatnot. Because I am big into sci-fi, it’s often hard to tell how successful I am at it.

Good, I was really concerned that the chase scene might be a bit repetitive since there’s a good portion of it that’s just a repeat of the last chapter. I just couldn’t come up with a logical way to skip it and have everything make sense. I’ll admit that could just be lack of imagination on my part, however :PI’m glad you liked the ending too because that was a last minute addition that just popped into my head. I was actually re-watching GoT and saw the scene with Ned and John where they both ride off in different directions and on different adventures with the promise of meeting up again in the future. Please do not take this as confirmation that one of them will be meeting Ned’s fate in the future :P I just liked their parting scene and had a place to work it in. I almost had Lucy ask Nathan what was so important that he’d risk stealing from Oscar and he would have replied that he’d tell her when they met up again. That seemed a bit too on the nose, though, so it got cut.

Oscar certainly isn’t going to take this lying down, that’s for sure. Lucy’s got the right of it here and Nathan had best watch his back. Of course, Oscar has no idea who Nathan is or what ship he arrived on, so for the moment I think he’s fairly safe. Probably :P Haha, yeah I didn’t want to give Oscar a definitively bad guy name. I mean, not every villain is inherently going to have a villainous name so Oscar ended up with a less insidious name than he might otherwise have. Then again, the only Oscar I know personally was the building manager of the apartment building I grew up in. He was a genuinely unpleasant man by all accounts xD Anyway, thanks again for the comments! I’ll be getting to Cursed (yay, you updated!) here soon as well as replying to your PM. Geez, I swear I can’t believe it’s already February. It seems like you just sent that and I looked up the other day and it was Feb. 1^st. It’s been a crazy busy start to the year (although doubtlessly not a busy as yours has been by the sound of things :P) and I’ve completely lost track of time.   

I’m really glad you liked the bit with Lucy on the bridge. I wanted to (as you pointed out) show Lucy with her walls down for just a minute. It’s easy to forget that she’s only fifteen and there’s still a part of her that has a sort of child-like wonderment and excitement that she can’t really let out every often. I felt it was important to show that side of her fairly early on, and even then you haven’t actually seen the real Lucy yet. She keeps herself hidden behind all these walls and this tough girl façade that she has to have to survive.   

Yeah, Jack is quite deeply affected by the mutiny and the things he was forced to do. He knows he had to, but that doesn’t make living with it any easier for him. Hours before, he was a loyal soldier and now he’s killing loyal soldiers that just want to go home to their families. On the subject of contrasting Jack and Lucy’s views, don’t worry about going on a rant about that. Those differing views are a major theme not just through this book, but the entire 5 book arc so I’m glad you’re interested in that. Lucy’s views are, of course, due to the life she’s had. She’s never once seen anything to give her hope of a better world. Jack meanwhile comes from a civilization that is basically a military dictatorship (technically it’s a stratocracy as the UEG military doesn’t exert control over the civilian government, the military is the government, but that’s really beside the point) he still knows what a better world looks like. Like you, I agree with Jack. The Borderworlds may seem like a hopeless place that can never change, and they won’t unless someone is willing to work to change them. Lucy’s just too much of a realist to ever actually believe the Borderworlds can be anything more than what they are. That’s a debate that we’ll be exploring for a long time to come.

Lol, you know I think if you didn’t flinch at Flynn’s introduction then I didn’t do my job properly xD I’ve never really written a bad boy character before, and this seemed as good a time as any to try my hand at it. Still, he’s not meant to be liked at this point and I’m not necessarily planning on the typical ‘female lead melts heart of brooding male character’ storyline. I will say there’s more to Flynn than it seems on the surface, though. We’ll get to that :P

I’d always planned to very briefly intertwining the storylines for a minute or two before sending them off on very different and distant paths. So don’t expect the two to cross again anytime soon. It just seemed like they should bump into each other at the beginning before going off on their own adventures. But seriously, call and yell at your service provider. It helps if you threaten to cancel service. Trust me, I’ve moved enough times to know :P

This is a very good point, actually. I should have indicated precisely which south I was talking about. I don’t think that’s picky at all, I mean how is anyone supposed to know otherwise? I’ll definitely add that to my list of fixes. It’s good to have someone pointing the little things out like that. I’m the one that gets in a huff when starship specifications vary from established lore, so don’t think you’re the only one that gets bothered by the little things :P

Yeah, I’ll go back and take another look at this scene and see what I can do with it. It was definitely meant (as you correctly surmised) to show that Enrique isn’t as horrifically unpleasant as he first appears. He deeply values confidence and people who speak their minds clearly and with no attempt at beating around the bush. He immediately gains respect for Lucy because she tells him off with no hesitation. Still, it doesn’t read as well as I’d like and I think it could be improved so I’ll work on that. I don’t want Lucy to suffer from what I like to call ‘Rey Syndrome’. I don’t want her to be good at everything, have everyone love her, and beat the vastly more experienced villain in their first encounter. That’s why she ran from that first encounter back at the beginning. She’s not the best fighter, so she’ll run if she thinks she can’t win. So I certainly don’t want to imply that people instantly love her because she’s got a smartass comeback. If you have any suggestions on how to do that but still keeps the intention of the scene, please feel free to share them. I’m sleepy at the moment, so my brain isn’t coming up with anything I like or that works any better right now :P Then again, it is one in the morning and I’ve been up since six, so there’s that xD Thanks for the comment!

Thanks for the comment! :) I'm glad you're liking the titles, although I can't exactly claim much credit for them. They're lyrics from the Fleetwood Mac song The Chain. I've always loved the song and for some reason this song just feel into place as a sort of theme song for this series. If this were a TV show, this would be the song for the opening credits. It also fits with the space western theme as well. I'm only going to be using lines from it until we leave Venezia because I think of Venezia as a bit of a prologue, so once we're done and the opening is finished, so is the song. Don't ask where I get this stuff from, I really have no idea :P 

I'm glad you think the chapter flowed well. I'm a little concerned that the section that repeats itself from the last chapter could be a little boring, but I couldn't find a good way to skip passed it, so there it is. Oscar is a type of character I've never written before, so I'm glad he works. He's the first real villian introduced in this and I'd hoped he made a good entrance. 

Thanks for telling me about that, I'll add it to the list! At some point I'm going to have to stop being horribly lazy and actually fix these things but that would require me to, you know, put in effort or something :P Thanks again! 

Lol, well good! At least I know I'm not completely out of my chicken chasing mind :P That's good, I was starting to get worried because I even remembered some of the comment. I knew you'd said you were rewriting this, but I hadn't realized you had taken it down completely. But cool, I'm on the same page now. 

And sorry about misleading you there xD I was fiddling around with Borderworlds's album and whenever I do it bumps it like I've added something new. I've got a friend that's building models of Borderworld's three lead ships in a game called Space Engineers and I add the screenshots he sends at whatever pace he gets them to me, so that may happen from time to time.

Sorry for taking ages to comment on something of yours. A good thing to know about me is that I’m really awful at doing things promptly. I will eventually do it, it may just be awhile :P Anyway, I could swear I commented on this once ages ago, but apparently not because I don’t see it so who knows? Firstly, I want to congratulate you on not only writing in first person but also doing a fantastic job at it. I’ve attempted with varying degrees of success, but this is remarkably well done.

I think you did a great job bringing Percy to life. His anxiety comes through so clearly, yet done in a way that doesn’t beat the reader over the head with it either. I’m going to be taking lessons from you here because it really is excellently done. On top of that, there’s something about the way you write, something I’ll admit that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I love it. I felt drawn into Percy’s life and his struggle immediately. I was hooked from the start, and if you can do that with me you’ve got me for the long haul. Well done :)

Anyway, I’ll definitely be reading more of this. It’s a great start to a story and I’m really looking forward to see what happens next. It seems like it’ll be quite interesting. Oh, also; as a native New Yorker, I loved Percy’s description of walking through the city. That’s as spot on as you could possibly imagine. Beautiful one day and a stinking mess the next. There never seems to be a middle ground unfortunately :/

Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you enjoyed this chapter. These early ones are filled with so much introduction and world-building that at three chapters in I’m concerned it’s becoming too monotonous and boring. Regardless, I’m glad you thought the tour of the Retribution was okay and that you think Jack’s difficulty with his actions was believable. His decisions there, to take down the Vengeance and the Furious, are a defining moment for him and deeply affect him through the course of the story so if that doesn’t work, there’s a pretty big problem.

Yeah, Lucy is really struggling with what she’s doing. Jack is the first person she’s ever had the opportunity to con who she’s actually felt bad about ripping off. She doesn’t like it, but as she says if she goes through with this then she can accomplish whatever it is she’s trying to do. It may well come down to an issue of morality vs. her own desires. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which one will come out on top.

Ack, yep I see what you’re saying. I’ll add that to the list of needed edits, thanks! Also, so you don’t think I’m really horrible, I’ve been reading through This is Why I’m Afraid and am putting together a comment on the first chapter. I’m just crap and slow and not at all prompt with… anything really :P Just wanted you to know :)

I’ve got to say, this is probably my favorite chapter to date. Okay, I know there’s only three chapters so far, but the point still stands :P As usual, you continue to impress with your action sequences. The attempted aerial getaway at the beginning was tense and exciting as they’re dodging literal fire while they try to escape. That scene was really well done and I though you did a great job detailing Tina’s desperate attempts to cling to Morgan and helping him avoid the attacks. Then of course we have Tina’s great escape from the murder hobo (don’t ask, that’s what Claire called him :P) there towards the end. Really well done on both accounts.

I still really like the fact that we don’t know anything except what Tina’s being exposed to. We’re being spoon-fed information in little pieces and you’re never sure when they’re coming or how much is completely accurate given that while I like Morgan a lot, I’m still not sure I completely trust him. He seems like a perfectly upstanding fellow, but who knows?

I’ve got to admit, you managed to trick me for a minute there. I thought at first that the stones could only be used by mages, so I assumed Tina must be one since she turned into a bird and all. But it appears to be that the stones themselves provide the magic. That’s quite an interesting turn of events from what I’d been thinking. Unless Tina really is a mage and this is all a diversion. But you wouldn’t do something so sneaky to me, would you? :P And the stones are shapeshifting stones! That’s not what I was expecting, so that’s really cool. I was expecting them to be some sort of magical WMD, so I like that they’re something completely different. I’m really curious now why the Rexes never wanted them until now. Do they need them for some sort of evil plot? Hmm, curious. That also brings up another interesting point. We’re not at all sure that the Rexes are, in fact, any better or worse than the Devons. We don’t really know the first thing about either of these families, and Morgan himself said his own family would murder Tina just for knowing about the stones so I’m hesitant to judge the Rexes too harshly at this point. It’d be an interesting twist if the Devons actually ended up being the villains but I’m not too sure they will. It’s interesting to think about though.

But anyways, overall (seriously, what other word could I use?) this was a fantastic chapter with lots of new information and plenty of action. I can’t wait to see what happened next and what Morgan and Diana’s father has to say about the loss of the stones. I’m also really interested what Tina’s mom will say if she finds out her daughter was a bird.

 Also, I freaking love Diana. Nothing more need be said xD

Oh, also again, congrats on everything you've got going right now! I don't want to air your business on a public forum, but I just wanted to say that I hope you're happy and excited! :D

Thanks for commenting! :D I’m glad you enjoyed the chapter! Personally I’m a little less enthused about it for some reason, though I can’t exactly explain why. I think it’s one of those things where what I envisioned didn’t translate onto the page as well as I’d hoped. Regardless, I’m glad you liked it :) To be completely honest, the spaceship stuff is mainly just for me xD I live for that kind of stuff. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve read the Star Wars Essential Guide to Warfare or the Star Trek Technical Manuals. Just be happy I haven’t written one of those for this :P Although, maybe that would be helpful? Hmm… now I have ideas xD Anyway, even though all that ends up being mostly unnecessary fluff I still like to include it just to satisfy my inner sci-fi nerd :P Oh, I almost forgot to say that if you’re interested in getting a better idea of what the ships themselves look like, I enlisted the help of a friend who is a gamer and 3D modeler. While actual 3D modeling would be way too time consuming for something like this, we worked together in a game called Space Engineers to design the ships. By ‘worked together’ I mean, he did all the work and I supervised :P So there are currently screenshots of the Sunflower and Retribution in the album. Note that neither ship is fully finished and they need a lot of exterior detailing, but it’ll give you an idea for now. Eventually he’s going to do the Rubicon as well as interiors for all three ships but as he’s doing this as a favor to me its kind of a side project he works on when he has time.

I’m really happy that Nathan’s awkwardness came through properly because I wasn’t entirely sure it did. He’s been… interesting to write, for sure. He was a latecomer to the series but I realized I didn’t have a POV male lead on the Rubicon side so in he came. It required a bit of a rewrite of Cassie’s creation, but I thought it worked better anyway. Speaking of rewrites, here’s a bit of backstory for you. The Rubicon part of this what initially a completely separate story that I’d been toying with for a while. When I realized that the ending of both that book and this one were suspiciously similar, I just picked that one up and slid it into this and it worked like a charm. Funny how that work sometimes :P Anyway, moving on from my rambling. I’m glad you like Cassie. I’ll say at this point that she’s being very forthright about her desire to ensure she isn’t allowed to harm anyone. Could that change at some point, either by an outside force or some flaw in her program? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see about that :P You’re sorry for rambling? *Glances nervously at chaotic mess I’ve written*

That is quite odd, isn’t it? I should probably change that. I’m not sure if I want to lower the murder rate or raise the population, but I need to edit that bit. I mean technically it doesn’t have to mean that there are that many murders all the time, but it reads like that’s what it means. I’ll probably end up lower the murder rate as I don’t really want to make the city much bigger. It’s a backwater planet and it really shouldn’t have a huge population. Thanks for pointing that out!

I think it’s safe to say that at some point in the future the crews of Rubi and the Ret (Hey, there’s a chapter title if I’ve ever heard one. I’m gonna have to remember that when the time comes :P) will meet up. The UEG destroyer they saw is definitely the Retribution, so they’re all in the same relatively small place. We shall see :P And Merry Christmas to you too! Hopefully you’re enjoying it so far. As of yet none of this rowdy bunch have gotten into any fights and my grandmother didn’t try to kill me when we announced our engagement earlier today, so I’m calling it a win xD  Yeah, it’s still not Christmas here yet. It’s 11:13pm right now, so we’ve got less than an hour left. Speaking of, I suppose I ought to go and join in before people come looking for me blaming me for being antisocial. It’s not antisocial if I’m sending a message to another person! Technically, I’m socializing. Whatever. Merry Christmas! :D

Haha, it’s about time someone recognizes my knowledge of starship and space based technologies! I mean, sure knowing the speed, size, fighter compliment, and weapon loadout of a standard Imperial-class Star Destroyer isn’t useful in every situation, but it is not ‘utterly useless fluff’ as my girlfriend so lovingly describes it :P Okay, yes it is, but still spaceships are cool xD It’s funny you mention Aidan being Irish. It’s not really, given his last name I suppose, but because of some of the background lore of the series that hasn’t really made its way into the story yet. It may never even be directly mentioned because it’s not at all important to the plot, but I’m stupidly thorough when it comes to my sci-fi background lore. Basically, England, Scotland, Ireland, and France formed the European Deep Space Colonization Agency in 2421 and were responsible for much of the colonization efforts in the area that eventually became the Borderworlds. Aiden’s ancestors were part of that effort, so yeah, he’s Irish. Distantly, but he’s Irish.

Apparently I need to read more (any) of the Halo books, because I seem to be channeling the series a lot :P Ack, yeah, that’s a bit too much talk about her emotions, isn’t it? I know how that one happened, actually. This chapter was initially written from Cassandra’s POV and when I eventually switched it to Nathan I didn’t rewrite the whole thing. I used the bits about Cassie that I could and wrote the rest. The first line was meant to be cut out and be replaced by the second, but clearly I missed it so thanks for pointing it out!

Thanks again for commenting and I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far! If there’s anything of yours in particular that you’d like me to comment on, feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I’ll likely just pick something that catches my eye.     

Well, thanks very much for the comment! I’m always happy to hear from a fellow lover of science fiction :)

I’m glad you thought Lucy’s introduction was okay. She was helped tremendously by a prequel/origin story I put together that helped me really flesh her out more. She’s really fun to write, but she’s also really scary to write. I mean, she’s a 15 year old that’s often involved in very adult situations that in our world is… yeah, it sort of speaks for itself :P

Heh, well I’m not wholly convinced this is anywhere near the likes of Karen Traviss’s work but I appreciate the compliment nonetheless. I’ve never read any of her Halo stuff, but her Star Wars work is incredible.

I’m glad the swearing doesn’t bother you too much. It can be a bit much, and to be honest it’s quite toned down from the original draft, but I thought in this setting it felt odd not to have it. I’m glad you think it works!

I knew someone would eventually call me out on that part. I promise it’s not just you. There’s supposed to be a scene with Lucy actually interacting with the people that were going to buy her rocket launchers. I wrote about 8 different versions and hated every single one of them. So I’m sad to say I gave up and this is what I ended up with. I intend to go back and put that scene in eventually when I can work up the energy to deal with it again. I don’t know why I had so much trouble with that scene, but I was never happy with anything I wrote down.

I agree, that’s pretty poorly laid out. I does seem that Lucy is the one saying it, even though it’s meant to be Jack. I’ll add that to the editing list, thanks!

Pretty much the only piece of Halo’s lore outside of the first 3 games that I know is that the Spirit of Fire’s AI spells her name like mine, which is odd because very few people do. I’ve never read any of the books… well, thinking about it I think I read The Fall of Reach ages ago, but regardless I’m not at all familiar with Halo’s extended universe. I don’t intend to ever publish this so I doubt I’ll bother with changing it. You’d be surprised how long it took me to come up with an incredibly generic name that sounded as though it was created by the most lazy and uncaring of bureaucrats who just wanted to slap a label on it and be done. Regardless, thanks for pointing it out and the other stuff as well, it’s a big help and I really appreciate it! Also, I can’t imagine what it is you took from my writing style here. I’m scared to ask xD

Hey, thanks so much for the comment! :) Um, based on my recent track record of taking a long time to get to things around here, you haven’t got anything to apologize for :P And I hope everything’s going okay for you and you’ve gotten everything sorted. Anyway, I’m glad you like the characters thus far. This is meant to be a much more character focused series than say Snowfall, for which the primary draw is mystery/plot. Not to say there isn’t a plot here obviously. You don’t plan out a five book arc without a plot, but the focus is more on the characters than it is some grandiose space epic. Think more Firefly than Star Wars. I realize now that you once said you’ve never seen Firefly. Uh… never mind. Ugh, yeah, you’re completely right out the exposition in this chapter and I’m honestly glad you pointed it out here because it was a major worry of mine and now I know for a fact my concern was not without warrant. Like I said in my last comment for A City of War, I need to take lessons from you in the field of not overwhelming readers with information. It was a real struggle trying to determine what I felt the reader needed to know and what they didn’t. It was like if you need to know X then you also need to know Y for X to make sense. It’ll definitely see some relatively heavy editing when I can work up the resolve to face it again. I have some ideas that I’ll test out. Thanks again for pointing this out though, that really is helpful :)

Again, I’m really glad you’re liking the characters thus far. There’s still a few more of the Ret’s crew and a whole host of others that are part of a separate storyline you haven’t met yet. As for Lucy, that girl scares the hell out of me :P I love writing her because she’s so different from any character I’ve written before, but then I realize what I’m writing. She’s so young, but lives a very adult life. She’s only 15, but she’s very much an adult and to her there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I’m glad her cynicism and world weariness came through clearly because that’s exactly what she is. That’s partly because of the fact that she left Haven with this dream of exploring the stars and finding some sort of goodness and wonder and light out there. Instead, all she found was more of the same everywhere she went. On top of that, the world has just beaten her down every step of the way. The poor thing is just really tired of struggling all the time.  

Oh Phoebe :P She’s been a delight to write for so far and to plan things out for because she brings a completely different viewpoint than anyone else on the ship. She’s just such a bubbly and happy character that brings some levity to a really disturbing world. That, of course, means I absolutely have to murder her in the most violent and horrible method I can come up with. I’m kidding. Probably :P She admittedly isn’t suited to this world, so she’s certainly in more danger than someone like Lucy who, while not the strongest person, still knows how to survive quite well. I think we’ll just leave it there xD

It’s thing sort of thing that makes me happy that I went ahead with that prequel. I mean, the fact that Lucy named her dog after the woman she killed probably isn’t going to be anything she ever actually talks about. But if you’ve read Sunflower, it means something. There’s several little references to the prequel in there and what happened definitely still affects Lucy. She still carries the knife she used to kill the Duke and Shotgun’s shotgun. As for Garrett, you may well be on the right track. It’s certainly a solid guess, but it has been two years since the ending of Sunflower, so anything could have happened in the interim with other people. Who knows? Well, I can’t promise Callie will never get into any danger. I mean, she’s in danger constantly just by being out there at all. Okay, look, I can’t even pretend with this one :P Would killing the dog make for excellent drama? Yes. Would it make for some great character development for Lucy? Yes. Would my weak heart actually allow me to write it? No, probably not. Hedwig almost killed me, and I don’t think I could deal with something like that again. That said, I can just imagine the storylines that could come out of it xD

Okay, firstly let me say that you do not ever need to apologize for pointing out something that bothers you in any of my work. I know you do it because you legitimately see a problem and are trying to help and I really do appreciate that. It certainly isn’t mean and you’re in no danger of hurting my feelings. I’ll openly admit that I don’t know crap about medical stuff save for what I see on TV, so I assume it’s at least moderately realistic. I’m going to have to stop doing that :P Please tell me these things when you see them. It’s tremendously helpful. So definitely tell me about anything you notice. Feel free to tell me I’m pretty but dumb if you need to. Oh wait, that’s ‘pretty dumb’… never mind xD Seriously though, thanks for pointing this out and I’ll be sure to change that to… pretty much anything else. Although I have to say I don’t think Phoebe would have minded all that much of Torque had died since he’s kind of an asshat, but as that wasn’t her intention it’ll be changed.

Anyway, thanks again for commenting and for pointing out the things you did, I really appreciate it :) Don’t worry, I’m totally not plotting the murder of any of our four-legged friends today :P The sexual assault and enslavement of underage girls, perhaps, but no dog murder. God, this series is royally effed up. Seriously, how did I come up with this? You know what? Let’s not go diving into my brain. Trust me, you don’t want to go digging around in there :P

Haha, well thank you very much :) I'm trying stupidly hard not to just squeal in delight all the time :P I had no idea how much I wanted it until it happened, and now... I'm just really really happy. We both are :) And so is my mom. This is a dream come true for her xD

This chapter is an excellent follow up to the opening one. We get a broader sense of the world and the plot without too much being explained and I liked that. We’re being eased into all of this and I think that’s a great way of introducing everything. At no point am I being overwhelmed with information. I definitely need to take lessons from you in that regard :P I find it interesting that Tina believes the world outside of Salvos to be a quote ‘nuclear wasteland’ however we know from the summary that it was magic that destroyed the world. That’s interesting because it seems to imply that the non-magical population has somehow been convinced that some sort of nuclear apocalypse has taken place. This raises all sorts of questions to add to the ones I had from the previous chapter. Sorry, none of that has anything to do with this chapter. World-building stuff just fascinates me :P

Anyway, I fully expected Sandwich Man to be Tina’s masked rescuer. He had to most attention brought to him in the last chapter, so I never thought it might be Mint Guy instead. If that was your intention, well done! If not, well done anyway because it makes for a great little mini twist if you followed the same line of thought I did. I still feel like Sandwich Man is involved somehow, but perhaps I’m being too judgmental and he’s just a completely normal guy who enjoys sandwiches :P Knowing so little about this world I’m not completely sure I trust Morgan just yet, I mean he seems like a decent guy and he did rescue Tina but I’m still a little hesitant. He does have a pet cat though, so he gets points for that and for choosing an adorable name as well xD He also wins badass points for turning into a freaking eagle there at the end :P

I really like how Tina processes everything that’s happening and how she handles it all. While it isn’t how I personally react to things, I thought Tina’s way of responding to the revelation of magic was fantastically done and it adds a lot to the character by showing that she believes in facts and things she can see, feel, and touch. Now that she’s seen magic, she believes it’s real even if she doesn’t understand it. I thought that was a really cool way to handle it and it’s not typical to this genre so I liked that.  

We only get a brief glimpse of Diana, but based on her conversations with Morgan you’ve clearly been listening in on me and my brother :P We love each other to death but we’ve had conversations like that one at the end a thousand times xD I can’t wait to meet Diana properly because she seems like a fun character that will compliment Morgan quite well. I like her already.

Anyway, overall (I swear, I use that word in every damn comment. I need to expand my vocabulary :P) this was a really great second chapter. I enjoyed getting to learn a little more about magic and Morgan’s people. I think you’re doing a good job introducing us to this world and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next. Wherever Morgan and Tina land, it should be interesting!

While it will likely never replace science fiction as my favorite genre, urban fantasy is definitely a very close second so like I said before this is right up my alley. It all begins so normal that you’d be forgiven for forgetting that there’s anything fantastical at all. I really liked the opening with Tina and her interactions with her customers. As someone who has worked in customer service, I can tell this was written by someone who has worked in customer service :P Tina is just such a normal girl and I have to say there’s a lot of relatability (No joke, I had to google to see if that was a word :P) there with her. Also, for reasons I can’t completely explain, I am somewhat suspicious of Sandwich Man. I really have no idea why as he didn’t do anything remotely suspicious, but here we are :P Speaking of suspicious things, I knew that cat was up to something the second he appeared. Although I thought he was something like a familiar or whatnot instead of a shape shifter, so that was a nice surprise. On second thought, I wonder if… nope, it’s way too early for theories. I’ll hold onto that for now and collect more information.

Crap, Tina! You’ve gone and taken the stones. Don’t you know what happened the last time people messed with magical stones? A whole lot of people dissolved into ash, that’s what! Sorry, I just watched Avengers: Infinity War and the stones in this reminded me of the Infinity Stones and… yeah, never mind. These stones here are interesting and I’m really curious to see what they are and why they’re seemingly so important that people are willing to kill for them. They’re clearly important, but why? Very curious indeed.

Anyway, enough of my aimless rambling for one night. I really enjoyed this opening chapter. There’s so much here to work with and so many places the story can go. I mean, a magical underground war hidden from the city above. Possibly discovering what else exists outside this supposed last city on Earth. And although I may well be reading far too deeply into it, you specifically mention the financial and social inequality between the inner and outer city. If that doesn’t scream ‘civil uprising’… well, then it doesn’t and I’m reading too much into it xD Either way, I’m really excited to see where you take this. It’s a very interesting start and I was drawn in immediately. Well done :) Oh, I almost forgot to ask. This wouldn’t happen to be a reworking of that magical ninja gangsters idea you mentioned, would it? It just has a feel similar to what I imagined that might be like. Just curious if you decided to do something with that or were at least inspired by it.  

Thanks so much for the comment! Firstly, I owe you a pretty sizable apology for still having not replied to your last message. Claire had a really serious medical scare (she’s fine, by the way) but we had a few weeks of what I can only describe as my worst nightmare. Ever since I’ve just been unable to do much of anything really, at least up until last week when I finally managed start writing again. I’ll be replying soon, I promise. But anyway, enough of that before I start rambling too long.

Yeah, it’s kind of weird to start a series with a side story. I’d been planning the series out for a long while now. It’s actually the first thing I’ve ever planned out in advance like this. I’ve got a five book arc put together at the moment which is kind of scary but also quite nice. Anyway, I’d planned on holding onto this for a while after I finished it the other night and at least get the actual series going before posting it. But I ended up finishing it in one night and decided to go ahead and see if just how twisted this series will likely be is more of a turn off than anything else :P Hopefully not, but when you open with all that it’s hard to be sure :P

Heh, well I can’t say I drew on Red Rising for inspiration (at least not intentionally) I completely agree that everyone should read that series. It’s absolutely fantastic and easily one of my favorites as well. So if you ever take over the world I’ll be strongly in support of that decree xD Well, I’m glad (and this too is an odd thing to say, given the context) that you found the pirate elimination sequence to be uncomfortable to read. To be honest, I dialed back all of that quite a lot from the original draft. Borderworlds the Series (I have no idea what I’m going to call it yet) was inspired by the idea of Conan the Barbarian in space with some of Firefly’s humor, western theming, and deeply character-focused storylines, as well as GoT’s political intrigue at a later point. So the language, violence, sexual context, etc was all dialed up to eleven. I’m not entirely sure I’d even be allowed to post the original :P It was… graphic. Too graphic really and I felt it ended up taking away from the scene instead of adding to it, so I tuned everything down for this. We’ll see what happens with the actual series, ‘cause this is still fairly graphic. I mean I blew a man’s torso apart with a grenade and described the sexual assault of a pre-teen girl. Then again, that really graphic nature was the whole point so we’ll see. If I dial it back too much then I feel like I’m abandoning the original concept and not being faithful to what started this in the first place. If I don’t, however, I feel like I’m being needlessly gratuitous. Some wars just can’t be won, I suppose :P Regardless I’m glad you thought the scene being difficult to read made it work better.

Obviously I don’t want to dive too deeply into how things like killing Callie affect Lucy since that will all be explored later, but that death does weigh heavily on her and as you put it, it has haunted her ever since. She can’t be sure she didn’t murder an innocent woman and that has stayed with her. As for Garrett and Haven, well… Lucy says that about Haven because it’s really true :P Haven is a hot and dirty planet with only a single tiny town and a handful of people. As Luke Skywalker once said “If there’s a bright center of the universe, you’re on the planet that’s it’s farthest from. That’s Haven. It’s not a pleasant place, but it’s home. That said, Lucy does have a lot of history with Haven and Garrett and there’s definitely a lot that’s happened in the interim.  

No, I totally get what you’re saying although to be honest that was kind of the point. This was my first attempt at writing in a first person retrospective style, which seems fairly uncommon and I wanted to give it a try. The idea was that Lucy and you (the reader) are sitting at a table and she’s telling you this story. I have to admit that this didn’t improve my enjoyment of writing in first person in the slightest :P It might have turned out better if I hadn’t decided to go that route halfway through and had to change everything. Anyway, Borderworlds the Series will absolutely not be written in this style and instead will be very traditionally third person where I’m far more comfortable writing. This was something I did mainly as a test and a bit of a learning experience with a different style of writing. I tend to do that with side story where I’ll do things I’d never dare try in any sort of full length story. This style would drive me crazy trying to write it or even read it for that matter xD  

I’m not going to say much of anything about the old lady just now. We’ll leave that for later. A long while later, but later nonetheless :P Or maybe it’s just Rose and this is set in the same universe as Warehouse/Snowfall just really far in the future :P Anyway, thanks so much for commenting on this :) I’ve got to admit this is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been posting something before. This world is dark and it doesn’t pull any punches with just how horrible it is. It deals with some really messed up topics even just in this little snippet and I guess I’m not entirely sure how something of this nature will be received. Then again, Game of Thrones exists and doesn’t mind dealing with really messed up topics and it’s a phenomenon, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too worried about it :P Anyway, I’ll definitely be commenting on A City of War one day this  week. I’ve already read it but I’ll save my opinions until the actual comment. I will say though that it’s absolutely right up my alley and I’m really looking forward to what you do with it :D    

It’s my turn this time to apologize for being so late with this :/ I mean I’ve got to be a least… what month is it? I really have no idea how long it’s been, but I think it’s safe to say a long time. I read something the other day that said adulthood is just emailing “I’m sorry for the late reply” back and forth until one of you dies. Based upon my correspondence with most people, this is likely true :P Anyway, I feel like I always begin every comment on this book with something along the lines of “this chapter was particularly interesting because it gives more detail about X character” but it really is true! 571 was a character we spent so little time with, yet had a major impact on me regardless. She’s only around in Cursed for a handful of chapters and we don’t really learn much about her, so yes, it was very interesting to learn more here in this.

I always thought of 571 as someone who truly believed she belonged with the Gifted, even if she disagreed with many of their practices. She’s conflicted. This chapter certainly seems to validate that feeling from beginning to end. She’s clearly deeply affected by what happened to her child, despite the fact that she never wanted the child in the first place. Well, at least that’s what she says. I’m not convinced of that in the slightest. Even when she’s crouched in the bushes, dreading what she’s about to do, she’s still about to do it. All throughout the battle sequence, it’s clear she isn’t happy about what she has to do. It was interesting there at the end with 712 seemingly feeling much like she did. They’d done their duty, but they both might just be forever haunted by it. I wonder how many Gifted feel that way? Many of them certainly seem to be utterly dedicated and quite cavalier when it comes to the wanton murder of rebels, but I’m curious as to how many of them lie awake at night thinking about what they’ve done.

It’s interesting that she makes this valiant commitment to do her duty there at the end and to never make that mistake again. She does, obviously, and it’s a ‘mistake’ that leads to her death. We know she doesn’t hold true to that forever since she’s clearly broken that vow by the time Carey and the gang bump into her. I know she did what she did because of 805, but still she cared about him and went against the Gifted to save him. Whether that’s because she just can’t let go of the child she had, if it’s guilt or just her own conscience telling her to do the right thing I can’t say. Regardless, you did a good job making her seem so conflicted throughout this chapter. There’s so much weighing on her in this chapter and I think you did a good job making that stand out. I also liked that it was Caleb, Marina, and Alice that 571 ran into in the woods instead of just generic rebel #815. It adds an interesting little detail that these characters were connected, however distantly that may have been. Anyway, I feel like this is just a clustered, rambling mess that I’m typing tonight, so I’m going to stop before you tune me out :P But again, this was really interesting as these always are and I can’t wait to see what you do with this next.

Oh, I almost forgot: The Head Councilman bowed his head slightly as 571 and the Servant entered, his bright green eyes lingering on the younger woman for a moment. “Thank you,” he said, reaching out and touching the Servant’s wrist for a brief moment while 571 sat down. “You may return to my rooms. I won’t need you until later.”

That is quite possibly the subtlest yet creepiest paragraph ever written. The implication of what he means is scarcely present, but it’s still clearly there. What the Servants are subjected to is horrific and if there’s any group involved in this that I sincerely hope gets their well earned justice, it’s the Servants. I know I’ve said something similar before, but I feel it bears repeating.  

Hey, thanks for the comment :) Yeah, I really wanted to finally get a look at what’s going on with the rest of the world. The isolation thing can only be carried on so long, so it was time to start getting acquainted with the new world now that the old one is gone. And of course with the end of the old world, as you say, comes lawlessness. I think you’re absolutely right to not trust the new group just yet. This is the end of the world and everyone’s going to be out for themselves, even the good ones. Alex even says a rough equivalent of the last line of the summary and what I consider to be the tagline of this series; the living may be more dangerous than the dead. Between rival groups of survivors, bandits, raiders, rogue factions of the military and who knows what else out there, the zombies may end up being the least of their worries. As for someone in the group being infected… well, it’s certainly possible. Based upon what they think they know, anyone infected should be showing symptoms by this point, but the pathogen doesn’t affect everyone the same way. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The second part came as a bit of a surprise for me as well :P I’d come to realize that I had a little bit of a problem in that I was writing with a single protagonist. Sure, there are plenty of books that do just that, but this is a rather special case. If the whole story is told through Alex’s eyes, I can’t kill her unless I end the series. And so the mission to retake Manhattan was born. The idea being that Alex could now die and the story could continue. That would just be the end of her part of the story, but we could continue on with the other. Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up introducing other POV characters in different places and their stories will come and go. At this point, I really don’t know :P As it stands, Alex may never learn about what SCAR Division is doing in New York and vice versa. And as for their mission, well no, they probably aren’t going to be all that successful without paying a very high price for it. This island is a nightmare without zombies and the utter collapse of law and order xD Still, I think it’s safe to say that at least some people have survived for SCAR Division to find. One of those people who we’ll be meeting soon, was actually written by my girlfriend. But we’ll get to that next time :)   

Seriously, there’s absolutely no need to apologize for taking a while to comment. I promise, it’s totally fine. If it takes you a while then it takes you a while. It’s nothing to worry about :) Anyway, yeah I remember you mentioning that you had a theory about Nikki’s parents, but I don’t think you ever told me what it was. You’re weren’t too far off the mark either because something clearly was up with her parentage. I’m glad to see you picked up on the hint with her parents not looking anything like her. I just slipped that in ages ago knowing that I wasn’t going to bring it up for a really long time. I kind of just wanted to see if anyone noticed :P If anyone was going to, it would almost certainly be you. Your guesses have a tendency to be scarily accurate :P Well, to be honest Nikki telling them about her abortion was a surprise to me too because I didn’t intend for her to tell them. It just sort of happened :P It felt like it was time and if all of this other stuff was going to come out then I may as well drop the abortion bomb while I was at it. As for Randy’s reaction, that really came about because up until now all of the dads in this series have ranged from absent to psychotic child molesters. I kind of wanted to have someone with a decent dad, or at least someone who was trying to be a decent dad. Nikki’s biological mother is something I’ll leave up to your imagination for the time being. Nope, I’ll not say a word. I won’t say a word about her father either.

I swear, all of these characters really do have parents. I told you Mary did too; they’re just really hard to locate from time to time. Jackson has them as well, I promise. They’re around… somewhere :P Anyway, we’ll get a better feel of his parents soon and find out why Steven thought they’d disown him if he was gay. This was just meant as a brief introduction to them and to confirm that Carmel was, in fact, a half-witch. Now, I’m not saying anything one way or the other but witches have the ability to be anywhere on Earth within the blink of an eye so Zoe could probably keep an eye on Carmel if she wanted to. Also, I never technically said that the father of half-witch girl in question was the witch. Who’s to say xD Well, me, but I’m not gonna :P

Eh, I’ve officially dubbed them the Dirty Half-Dozen. Please come up with something better. Help me. All is in darkness. Despair is settling heavily upon my spirit :P Well, I’m not going to say a word about Alana’s motivations because of obvious reasons, but that said I am really interested in your crazy theory. Trust me, it can’t be any crazier than the stuff I come up with xD If I could give you a tour of my mind, I’d do so but you’d probably be so disturbed you’d cut all ties with me :P Okay, it’s not that bad but I can come up with some whacked out ideas sometimes. Heh, I’d been waiting to reveal Sara’s “killer” for quite a long while but I never could find a good spot to fit it in. Honestly, at the time it happened I wasn’t completely sure who had killed Sara. I bounced back and forth between a few different options before settling on Michelle. Having JTG do it was a bit too anticlimactic, and Michelle just fit. It very clearly displays just what kind of person Michelle is. She’s willing to murder her own daughter (and her husband, although not directly) because she got too close to uncovering the truth about their dirty little scheme. But even then if it had to be done, she wanted to do it herself. We’ll get around to the reasons why eventually :P Normally I wouldn’t correct a theory, but I fear this one is entirely my fault. I should have been far clearer with my wording there at the end. Alana doesn’t know who JTG is. She knows about JTG due to Tony and Michelle telling her and even then she doesn’t know all the details. What JTG meant by what she said is for Alana to keep her mouth shut about JTG now that she knows she exists. When she says not to mention her name, she means the name Alana knows her by; JTG. So basically don’t go shouting the name JTG around town. Alana getting mixed up with Team Tony (nope, that’s awful too) came as a surprise even to JTG so in essence she’s covering her tracks until she can decide what to do about this unexpected development. We’ve reached a point where so many people are involved that some of them are starting to act outside of JTG’s plans. Obviously, that can’t be allowed to continue. *Cue ominous music* :P But anyway, thanks so much for the comment! And hey, if it takes you and while to get to State of Decay, I’m sure that’s fine. It only took me two years to finish that chapter, so at my current rate you have plenty of time to get caught up before the next one :P

Lol, I couldn’t resist the boat rental joke. It popped into my head and I had to use it somewhere :P

Muchas gracias for the comment! (Can't stop, won't stop :P) Heh, I thought you might enjoy that part xD It was time, past time really, that Michael was laid into about what he’s done. You know, Michael really is a fascinating character to write. He’s so obsessed with trying to make up for Riley’s death that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to save lives. But that’s his thing. He wants to save everyone. He doesn’t care if they have to suffer, just so long as they’re alive. He doesn’t really comprehend that there’s more to living than being alive. So he can’t accept Brad’s plan because he believes there’s a way to win this thing without anyone having to die. So as to whether or not he would consider killing another random girl to save the world… no, I don’t think so. I mean, he wouldn’t be nearly as ardent in her defense as he is in Snow’s since as you say she’s someone that he very deeply loves, but he still wouldn’t allow it. Probably :P But yeah anyway, up until this point Michael was fairly confident that he had done the right thing. But Gwen especially is starting to change his mind. If there’s anyone that’s going to convince him he’s wrong, it’s Gwen. Obviously she’s this constant reminder of Riley and having her completely turn against him really breaks him down. He’s still not convinced he wasn’t right, but he’s starting to question his decision. I have to say that I’m glad Michael is so frustrating :P Like I said in the last chapter, I don’t want anyone forgiving him yet. I didn’t want him to come out with this sad story about his sister and suddenly that makes it all okay. I don’t want him to be completely unforgivable, but I want him to have to really work for it. It can’t be an easy turn around. If he’s ever going to be forgiven (and especially rebuild his relationship with Snow) he’s going to have to earn it.

Haha, no I can’t say that Clara comes as much of a surprise in this case. I thought she was likely one of the two you were considering. I have an idea of the other, but I’m not going to say anything lest I give you ideas xD Like you said, I’m seemingly guiding things in Clara’s direction and it all fits, but is it a deliberate case of misdirection? That’s the fun thing about writing mystery and keeping secrets; deciding which method of secret-keeping to employ. Hiding in plain sight? Occasionally dropping hints, but keep the meat of the secret to myself? Deliberate misdirection? Regardless, I’ll be quite interested to hear your thoughts after the next chapter. Hint hint, wink wink :P  

I’m really glad you like the friendship between Clara and Gwen :) They’ve been perhaps the most fun to write that I’ve had in a while. I’ve never really written a close, loving, but ultimately platonic friendship and I wanted to. Sure the four leading ladies are all super close, but I didn’t want to focus on just them. Gwen gave me a perfect opportunity to do something along those lines. I just sort of put them in a room together and this really great friendship ends up being born from it. Suffice to say, their friendship is only going to grow moving forward and if Clara really does end up being a half-breed like Gwen then that will only add to it all. Gwen and Michael’s mother is a character that I have plans for, but I don’t quite know when we’ll get to her yet. Heh, when I decide to introduce a new character I tend to write a quite paragraph about them, just to get an idea of what they’re like. Mrs. Ravenswood (I haven’t given her a name yet :P) just got one word; complicated. But yes, she’s still alive and it’s safe to say she’ll appear at some point in the future. I don’t know exactly when as I haven’t planned quite that far ahead, but I’m sure we’ll see her at some point. The opportunity for drama is too much to miss :P As for the werewolves, yes, someone like Gwen can absolutely devolve into a feral. It typically happens right after someone is turned into a werewolf. If the newly turned werewolf isn’t taught how to control their newfound powers, they can quite easily be consumed by it. Joining a pack with other werewolves helps since the new werewolf will have support and instruction from other werewolves. For older, more in control werewolves like Gwen, well… it’s kind of a mental thing. Imagine having a hurricane trapped inside you. You can keep it inside so long as you maintain focus. But if you stop, even for a second, if you lose control and let it out there’s no bringing it back in again. It’s basically a case of giving into something that’s constantly pulling at you, even if it’s just a faint tug. The lure of all that power, the hunger, is always there. The in control werewolves are simply that, in control. If they let go, terrible things happen which are all but impossible to undo. I don’t know if that’s a very clear answer, but that’s how I envision it :P Oh yeah, and questions like that I can absolutely answer. I don’t consider anything to do with how any of the magical stuff works to be spoilers or anything. I just have to find the space to work in the proper explanations without boring everyone to death, so I like to split it up a bit and space things out so I don’t have these massive exposition dumps every chapter. I just seems to me that it would be exceedingly boring :/

It’s funny because I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do with Jackson either. Ever since Michael entered Snow’s life, I’ve had a hard time figuring out what Jackson’s role would be. I had a storyline for them, but Michael ruined that so Jackson spent much of Snowfall loitering in the background because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with him. Unfortunately I’m still not completely sure what I want to do with him, but I have a couple of ideas. Taking Jackson out of the JTG equation for now let’s me logically keep him in the background until I flesh out the details. Regardless of all that, JTG is playing a very different game than Steven did. Steven wanted them all dead, while this JTG wants the girls punished. She’s not all that interested in Jackson as he was Steven’s target and Steven went rogue. That said, Jackson knows too much and he’s a loose end. Also, this new JTG is more insidious than Steven was. I think I’ll just leave it at that xD Thanks again for commenting! Oh, and if you’re not leaving with more questions than you come in with, I’m not doing my job :P Seriously, that’s sort of been one of the changes I wanted to make. Snowfall was a book of secrets that were kept right up until the very end. With this, I want to introduce new mysteries but then resolve them relatively quickly and introduce new ones. For example, I don’t want to still be dealing with who the half-witch girl is at the end. That’s a mystery for the moment, but we’ll resolve it and then bring in something new. That’s hardly a revolutionary idea, but it’s a radical shift from Snowfall that I wanted to try and I feel like it might make for more interesting reading overall.      

Well… that happened :P I’ve got to admit I didn’t go into this chapter expecting any of that to happen. I mean, obviously something was up down there but despite coming up with a number of theories, none of them were correct. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself here. To be perfectly honest, I was thinking 805 had been captured instead of sneaking off on his own. I was glad to see he was just off making preparations in case he were discovered (and that he wasn’t plotting the murder of everyone on the island). 256 makes a really interesting observation here. 805 definitely has changed a lot since we first met him. Heck, he’s changed a lot since the gang reunited with him at the Council. Despite his insistence to the contrary, he’s not the same man anymore.

As for 805, I can’t blame him for wanting answers as to how the rebels knew about Michelle. I must admit I’d forgotten about that, but now that I’m reminded I’m infinitely more curious about what’s going on with this group. Considering Ben clearly knows things he couldn’t possibly know as well, something really strange is going on. It’s like they’ve got some sort of vast spy network or something. I really don’t know right now. Moving on, the scene with Samantha was sad and touching. I feel so bad for her, seeing her crying and blaming herself and thinking she’s a freak. I just want to give her a hug :( I do wonder if 805 has some idea what’s happened with her. He seems to, in a way. It’s a sweet moment between them, brief though it is and I really enjoyed that.  

Okay, so Victor… I don’t even know what to say. What the hell is going on down there? It seems like some sort of torture chamber, but he’s got Gifted working for him. I can’t figure out if he’s somehow torturing/brainwashing Gifted or if he’s done some mad scientist stuff and has been dissecting Gifted to figure out how to turn nonGifted into Gifted. Or something else entirely, I really don’t know. Based on his comments about Sam and how he says he’ll ‘learn much from her’ I suspect he’s doing mad scientist stuff. Heh, I do recall mentioning that maybe he was building a mind control laser down there :P Since you mentioned before that Victor has his own agenda and that he’s following the orders of the people who sent him there, I can formulate a few theories as to what these people want and why they’ve sent him there. What I can’t quite figure out is if Caleb and the rest are aware of what he’s doing. It doesn’t really seem like they know, but I really couldn’t say for sure right now. Regardless, you did a great job capturing the torture chamber vibe. I could envision what might have been happening down there very easily and it wasn’t pretty.

By this point I don’t think I need to reiterate the fact that your fighting scenes are well done and exciting. You always do great with them and this one here is no exception. It was tense and nerve-wracking all the way through to the end, especially with the unexpected appearance of these new rogue Gifted. Anyway, this was a heck of a surprising chapter. I didn’t expect any of what happened down in Victor’s lair and I’m really concerned for… well, everyone at this point. We still haven’t found Thomas and I’ll really scared that Victor’s gone and dissected him to see how he works. By the way, if Victor could never utter that particular line again, that’d be great :P He’s one super creepy dude. He no longer reminds me of my former teacher, that’s for sure. Anyway, I’m just going to nervously await the next chapter and hope 805, 256, and Sam can figure a way out of this nightmare and that no one else wanders into it. My heart really can’t take this anymore :P

Hi there! Thanks so much for reading this :) I'm sorry for taking so long to reply. I'm not usually this late in doing so. I'm pretty much always late. Seriously, ask anyone, I'm almost always late with replies but this is a bit much. Anyway, thanks again for reading this. If there's anything of yours in particular that you would like me to comment on, please let me know and I'll be sure to do so :)

You know, I was joking before but now I’m seriously wondering if you don’t get some kind of sick pleasure from stabbing at my vulnerable heart :P I knew going in that once the group reunited not everything was going to be happy and wonderful, but I just wasn’t prepared for all the feels here. Okay, so starting off with Carey and Wesley. This scene definitely tugs at the heartstrings from the start. They haven’t seen each other in a year and they’re reuniting and it’s really very sweet. Both of them likely believed they would never see the other again and yet here they are both safe and sound. It’s a lovely scene, especially with Carey learning that her parents most definitely still love her and want her to come home. And then you mood whiplash me in perhaps one of the most glorious examples of mood whiplashes there has ever been. I felt an instant feeling a dread the second Wesley said they don’t have to stay anymore. I had an idea where things were going and oh did they go downhill in a hurry.

It was fascinating to see their opposing stances on the rebellion and what they want out of life. Thinking back to the beginning when all Carey wanted was to just go back home to now and how she’s determined to stay with the rebels, well it really shows how much she’s changed and come into her own. She’s seen the world beyond her village and she doesn’t want to go back to it. I can hardly blame her. Then again, I can’t really blame Wesley either for feeling the exact opposite. He just seems to want a normal, boring, peaceful life. It’s all he’s ever known and that’s enough for him. Also, if we’d been following the story from Wesley’s perspective all this time, we’d likely have the same feelings about 256 and the Gifted that he has. He sees them all as villains and not as people. That said, I loved how Carey threw Wesley’s “The Gifted are evil” line right back in his face. He might need to hear that a few more times, come to think of it. Still though I hope he can be convinced to come around and that he doesn’t go tattling to Caleb about 256’s true identity. I feel like he’ll eventually see the light, but then again maybe not. All he wants is to take Carey and go back home and he might not settle for anything less than that. Still, he does discern that Carey’s in love with 256 so maybe, just maybe, he’ll be willing to listen to what Carey has to say. I guess we’ll see. Either way, you’re breaking my fragile little heart here. I am weak and cannot take this kind of abuse :P

And so we come to Janelle and Sam, the reunion I was actually worried about. And it seemingly goes off without a hitch. I was concerned Sam would be furious with Janelle, but I was happy to see that she came to understand Janelle’s reasoning for merging their group with Caleb’s. Obviously, a single organized rebellion makes a lot of sense even without Janelle’s struggles at the time. So I was really happy for a minute there :P Sam was forgiving and they were happy to see each other. Everything was fine and I could breathe again. And then if my neck weren’t sore enough already, you officially take the crown of the Queen of Mood Whiplashes away from me completely and do it again. The second Sam says Janelle was more important to her than Thomas, I just kept saying “No Sam, no.” I really didn’t expect Sam to tell Janelle the truth like that so soon. I mean, I guess it’s not really all that soon but it just came as such a surprise. Speaking of that it’s at this point that I’m going to do something a little different. Over the last couple months, Claire has been reading Gifted/Cursed and she’s gotten caught up now and although she likely won’t be leaving regular comments or anything, this chapter finally made her want to say something so I’m going to give her space here to do just that. Here you go.

Hey there, it’s me, Claire. I’ve never really done anything like this before, so if I sound weird I hope you’ll forgive me. I don’t know much at all about writing so I’m not going to be talking about anything like that. It’s just too far outside my bailiwick for me to discuss. I have really enjoyed the series so far, though. I love fantasy and you’ve got something really special here, I think. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was just how well you nailed Samantha’s feelings and emotions when she’s confessing to Janelle. I know it’s not told from her POV or anything, but I could read between the lines and get a sense of what she’s feeling. It all felt so familiar that I was able to see a lot of myself in her. I don’t know how much you know about how my relationship with CeCe began, but I’d been in love with her for years before I finally told her and I was so afraid that she would react very much like Janelle did. Especially towards the end when Sam says that Janelle is still her best friend and Janelle basically rejects her and moves away, well that was my biggest fear at the time. I knew she probably wouldn’t feel the same way, but the idea of losing our friendship kept me quiet for a long time. But anyway, the point of this was to say that I think you did an amazing job with this scene and coming from someone who’s been in a similar situation it felt so relatable. I don’t know if you’re writing from personal experience or just what you think it would feel like, but either way I loved the scene and really can’t wait to see what you do with Janelle and Sam in the future. So yeah, I guess I’ll give you back to CeCe now. Thanks!

So yeah, that’s Claire :P She’s been talking about that scene almost since you put the chapter up. I’ve got to say I echo a lot of her sentiments on that scene as well so I won’t waste your time repeating what she’s already said. There’s just so much emotion there from both of them. I knew the second she decided to tell Janelle the truth that things were going to be awkward moving forward, but I really hope Janelle can find a way to accept Sam and remain friends even if she doesn’t return her feelings. I can’t really blame Janelle for her reaction, considering how things like this are viewed in their world, but I do hope with time she’ll come around. Regardless, I’m not sure my heart can take all this right now. Although again I’m pretty sure you get your jollies by doing this to me :P But anyway, this was a great, touching, and heartbreaking chapter. I’m really curious to see what’ll be happening next now that everyone’s back together. Between Carey, 256, and Wesley, Sam and Janelle, and Ben oddly staring at Sam (and I’m not buying for one second that it’s just because she’s pretty. Anyone else, maybe, but Ben’s already on my suspiciousness radar so he’s drawing my attention) I suspect there will be lots of opportunities for drama in the near future. And with Sam going to find Thomas, hopefully we’ll get some answers about him as well and where he’s really gotten to. Like Sam, I don’t really believe that he left willing. Something’s afoot, I say.

Also, where in the hell did 805 get away to? O.o      

Merci beaucoup for the comment! And of course no worries about taking a while :) Obviously taking care of your schooling is much more important than this. Hopefully things ease up for you soon :) Anyway, yeah Sienna’s timely arrival certain prevented any battles happening so early. I did consider having a small skirmish before Sienna shows up and puts a stop to it, but in the end that was just unnecessary. Also, it made the whole thing seem that much more like a Vale Ex Machina than it already does :P Haha, fun fact; the working title for this chapter was Sienna Ex Machina and I almost stuck with it but I felt it was a bit of a spoiler so it had to be changed. But anyway, the Coven and the Grand Enchanter are definitely going to be backing off for a bit. How long? Eh, who can say? They’re certainly afraid of Sienna and rightfully so. The force she brought to Stonehaven is only a fraction of her military, so if she needs reinforcements she can absolutely bring in more. Still, you’re right that there are seven other realms the Enchanter could go to for help and not all of them are loyal to Sienna. At this point, anything is possible so I’ll just let you speculate :P

As for the Coven’s history and whatnot, we’ll definitely get to some of that soon. These last few chapters have felt so much like massive exposition dumps that I really don’t want to include more information than I have to. Still, you can expect to learn more about the Coven soon. In the meantime (and it’s really funny that you mentioned Umbridge :P) it’s safe to think of them sort of like the Deathly Hallows Ministry of Magic. Not everyone there is a racist, pure blood supremacist asshat, but they are currently under the leadership of a whole bunch of racist, pure blood supremacist asshats. Whether or not that’s meant to be a political statement on the current state of the US can be left up to your imagination :P As for the half-witch girl Sienna and Zoe were talking about, well… yeah, I’m going to leave that up to your imagination too. It sounds like you’ve already got some ideas and I’m really curious who you’re considering, but I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see. And about the witches (and again this kind of goes back to earlier where it’s tough to fit in so much backstory and explanation) well, I guess it’s not really much of a spoiler at all. I mean, there’s a conversation later on that explains it, but it won’t hurt anything for me to talk about it now. Witches can definitely be considered a different race, sort of like elves or dwarves in traditional fantasy. They are born with magic and live roughly five times as long as normal humans. Fun fact, Zoe is 73 years old and no, I’m not kidding. The biggest difference between witches and magic in blood people (note to self: come up with interesting name for magic in blood people because you want to look like a competent writer :P) is that witches are born with an affinity to a certain type of magic and they are only really good at using that type of magic. This occurs along family lines for the most part. Zoe, as an elemental witch, is extremely powerful with elemental magic. She’s more powerful than a magic in blood person using elemental magic, but far weaker when using any other type; i.e. illusion, conjuration, transformation, wards, healing, necromancy (outlawed by the Witches Coven), psionics (telekinesis, etc), nature magic, and blood magic (outlawed by literally every government and organization in eight of the Nine Realms. We’ll get around to that bit later :P). Meanwhile, magic in blood people aren’t particularly strong in any school of magic, but are generally competent in all of them. In the simplest terms, people like Michael are jack-of-all-trades types whereas witches are specialists in a singular type of magic and all but useless with all others. Snow, and anyone else like her, is a wild card. Don’t necessarily expect her to follow the rules. Does that explain things at least somewhat decently? Hopefully? Maybe? I hope so because that’s the idea behind the aforementioned conversation happening later and if it doesn’t make sense now it likely won’t make sense then either :P

Ah, Sienna. I’ve been waiting so long to bring her in so it was a lot of fun to finally introduce her properly. It’s funny you mention turning Sienna’s rise to power into a side story :P Sienna, then Princess Sophia, was supposed to be the lead character in a completely separate series that wasn’t connected to this at all. I never did anything with it and when I was figuring out what this magical world was going to be like, I realized I had a lot of backstory and characters that would almost slide perfectly into place. I just had to change Sophia’s name to something else and it worked. All that aside, I actually do plan on writing about Sienna’s rise to power at some point in the future so I’m glad to hear you’d be interested in reading it. It likely won’t be until after ADG and its sequel are finished, however. It would be a fairly lengthy story and although I’ve put UMW and State of Decay on indefinite hiatus, I don’t want to start anything else until I’ve put The Snowfall Trilogy (unofficial series title :P) to bed for good. And then I’ve got ideas for Coven focused stories, Dawnguard focused stories… somehow I feel like I’m going to be writing in this universe for a really long time :P Anyway, we were talking about Sienna and I’m really rambling tonight. She is certainly wise for her age, and given what she’s been through and what she’s accomplished she would absolutely have to be. At her simplest, she’s a people person. She just loves people and everything she does is about making the world a better place for the people that trust and depend on her. As for her reaction to Michael, (and I’m really glad you mentioned this, because I realize that I wasn’t at all clear on this point) at the point she arrived in Stonehaven and met with Michael and the gang on the rooftop, she had no idea what Michael had done to Mary. So in that moment, she’s just really happy to see her cousin. She found out about that after she arrived, but before Snow started eavesdropping on their conversation. Brad let her in on that little nugget as quickly as he could. As a rule, Sienna doesn’t confront people publicly if she can avoid it as she prefers to speak with them privately where she can so she’s not laying into Michael in front of his senior staff. Let Sienna get him alone for a few minutes and rest assured she’ll have some choice words for him. She still believes he’s a good person that shouldn’t be given up on because of this, but she’s still pretty pissed. Brad will be getting some alone time with Michael in the near future as well. I cut a scene from Snowfall where Brad found out about Mary and confronts Michael about it. Unfortunately, he found out from Sara and I sort of had a hard time explaining how he found out when by this point Mary had already promised to keep it secret. Parts of that particular scene will be appearing in the near future. But again, we were talking about Sienna… geez, stay on topic, Serina! Anyway, when she’s talking to Snow, Sienna isn’t trying to apologize for Michael or anything. She’s mainly just trying to make sure Snow has all the information she needs to form her own conclusions. She wants Snow to know exactly why Michael did what he did and the things that have happened that caused Michael behave how he has. But still, you’re absolutely right that his guilt over Riley’s death doesn’t excuse his actions. While I can’t say I was attempting to make any sort of statement about white male entitlement, it does draw quite a few parallels to the point for sure. That said, I was attempting to make a point with Mary with how she’s chosen to forgive him. I wanted to show her strength and her courage. It takes so much more to go through something like that and find a way to forgive than it does to hold onto anger. That Mary managed to do that, to me, speaks volumes about her character. But all that said, I’m quite glad you haven’t forgiven Michael yet. I don’t want anyone to forgive him yet. He hasn’t really done anything to earn forgiveness quite yet. Sure, he apologized but at the end of the day he still feels that what he did was the best thing for Mary. I want Michael to have to earn the forgiveness of not just the other characters, but the audience as well. I have no idea how long that will take, but it’ll likely be quite a while.

Hehe, it’s funny you almost forgot about JTG because I did too xD I was trying to figure out how I wanted to end the chapter when it hit me that I had to include this part. All this magical stuff comes in and suddenly I’m forgetting the main focus of the series. Anyway, JTG’s hold on Carmel is tenuous at best. While Steven and JTG were partners, Carmel is simply a pawn. She’s only working with JTG because she seems to be the only person who wants the same things she wants; justice for Steven. If she finds out that Steven isn’t as innocent, and the girls aren’t as guilty, as JTG has led her to believe… well, JTG does have a history of getting rid of people who are no longer of use to her. I’m just sayin’ :P

Sorry for taking forever to get to this :( I went down to Florida on the 5th and I’m sure I’ll ramble about it for a while in the next message since this isn’t the right place to do so, but I went down there to see the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch for the first time. It was an event I’d been waiting to see for years and I had to see it in person. Let me just say holy hell was it amazing! :P I’d planned to comment on this when I got back, but I ended up contracting some form of the flu from the deepest circle of hell while I was gone :/ I haven’t had the mental capacity to formulate an even halfway decent comment until now and I'm still not back to 100%. Hopefully the ludicrous amounts of cold medicine I’ve been taking don’t effect the quality of this comment but I make no promises :P The fact that I haven't overdosed by this point is, honestly, a miracle. Anyway, as always with these it’s very interesting to get more backstory and in this case it was particularly interesting since it’s told from Samantha’s POV, which we haven’t seen before. Sam is quite possibly my favorite character so getting to see things from her point of view was a nice change.    

It’s rare we get to see Sam vulnerable. She seems to keep her feelings close to her chest most of the time, so seeing her with her mother in that state definitely hit me hard. I’d love to say I didn’t get teary-eyed while she was faking happiness and changing Michelle’s bandage, but I did. My heart wasn’t prepared for that. It’s one of those moments where you see someone you’re used to always being so strong during a time of immense vulnerability. It hits harder than you expect it to. That’s got to be a terrible thing to have to face and Sam did so as well as anyone could, I imagine. Anyway, you did a great job with that scene and if your intention was to make me cry, congratulations :P You did that with the lyrics at the start, as well. That was a good choice and quite fitting with the theme of the chapter. It also reminded me of sobbing like a little girl in the movie theater when I went to see that movie a few years ago. I’m weak, I know :P   

Knowing the story about 805 and the truth behind his leaving just makes Sam’s observations about him all the more saddening. Based upon what she does know, however, I can scarcely blame her feeling as she does. Just the way the villagers treat her and her family would be enough to justify a great deal of dislike toward him. Those villagers though… ugh. Yeah, just ugh. I liked seeing that when she was younger she was fascinated with him, but that eventually gave way to resentment and likely a multitude of other emotions as well. Still, it’s nice to be able to see how she once felt about him and how far they’ve come since then. They may not have made a lot of progress, but still :P

Ah, Sam, you have the same luck remembering names that I do :P I feel your pain, girl. I feel your pain. But anyway, so from the smallest ember the fire of rebellion begins to burn. It’s also the beginning of such a close friendship, so it’s interesting to see just how much Sam didn’t seem to like Janelle throughout their childhood. It makes sense, I mean they really are two very different people yet they bond over a common goal; to change the world. It’s a crazy plan, sure, but it’s a crazy plan that ends up taking them far even if they don’t know it yet. It’s also quite interesting to learn that Sam knew Amy was Janelle’s daughter from the very beginning. Obviously she knew before Sam told her but I suppose I thought she had just come to the realization over time. 

Anyway, I’ll stop rambling now and let you get on with your day. This chapter is for sure one of my favorites. It was sad in a lot of ways, but it was nice to see things from Sam’s perspective and to see the beginnings of Janelle and Sam’s friendship. And I do love that final line as well. It’s very hopeful, even though in that moment what they’re trying to accomplish seems completely impossible. They have the hope that one day, somehow, they’ll find a way to win. After all, rebellions are built on hope :P Oh, and Happy (Belated) Valentine’s Day! I sincerely hope you were not assaulted by a horse :P That sounds really weird out of context xD

Hey, danke schön for the comment! What? I’ve said ‘thanks for the comment’ entirely too many times at this point. It’s time to mix things up a little bit :P Also, a friend at work is trying to teach me German. I say trying because it’s going about as well as you probably imagine :P Anyway, I’m quite looking forward to delving deeper into Carmel and her newfound partnership with JTG. We’ll get to the how and why she joins JTG before too long, so I don’t want to talk about it too much just yet. Anything I say would be a spoiler anyway :P It’s funny you mention a refresher on the girl’s families because I tried doing something that I should have known from the start was completely stupid. With Snowfall, I tried my best to make it so it was possible to read it and understand pretty much everything without having read Warehouse and I feel I pretty much managed to do that. Well, I tried to do the same thing with this and provide enough background information on the events of Snowfall so a newcomer could dive in without having to go back and read over a hundred chapters worth of material. I’m sure you can see why this was a horrendously stupid idea xD Obviously there was no logical way to do that so that idea died, but I did want to do a refresher on the girl’s home lives. That’s mainly because I plan to focus much more on each of them individually. Snow was very much the main character of Snowfall, but she’s not going to get quite as much focus this time around. The core four girls all share top billing this time so they’re going to share the page time a bit more. And yes, we’re finally going to meet Mary’s parents xD She has them, I swear! As for Clara, I’m not going to say a word. I’d quite like to leave that up to your imagination for the time being. Okay, I’m going to assume you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about when it comes to missing parents not being important. I don’t want to say in case you’re not and then I’ve spoiled it for you, but if you really are talking about what I think then I agree with you. I don’t buy it for a second. I did kind of like it in a way because said parents being important is so obvious that for them to not be came as a surprise. Still, I don’t believe it but I guess we’ll find out.

Sara reuniting with her friends was something I’d been looking forward to for a long time, so I didn’t want to put it off any longer. That scene went through a couple of iterations before I settled on this one and most of those were scenes where the girls were decided more hostile toward Sara than they ended up being. In the end, I felt that they would be so happy that Sara survived that it would temper their anger somewhat and that end in the end they would be, as you say, fundamentally glad to have their best friend back. That doesn’t mean they’re not still royally pissed at her or that they’ve even remotely begun to forgive her, but they are very glad that she’s still alive. I have to say Sara’s transformation has been interesting to write, for sure. As important as Sara has been to the story, we don’t really know her that well. We didn’t see much of the old Sara live and in person, and much of what we know is colored by the opinions of other people that Sara hurt. She really has grown over these past months since her supposed death and she’s not the same person she was before. Like you pointed out, she has the rather unique perspective of being able to see how the town remembers her/how quickly she’s forgotten after her death. That, along with finding a purpose with the Dawnguard have molded the old Sara into something much better. That doesn’t necessarily mean the old Sara is gone for good, though. After all, Sara is a master manipulator. Just sayin’ :P Still, yeah, for right now the girls don’t trust her at all but if Sara’s good at anything it’s winning people over.

Ah, no, I wasn’t worried at all! I mean, why would I be? There’s nothing to be worried about at all. I’m lying, obviously :P I was/am absolutely terrified of that part of this chapter. I spent a lot of time debating whether or not I ought to trim some of it out. So much information is presented in this chapter and I’m still not entirely sure there’s not too much. It was a situation where if I was going to introduce Stonehaven, I wanted to fully introduce it. Here’s what it is, how it works, etc instead of slowly dolling out bits and pieces over time. That would have been pretty difficult to do anyway, so it is what it is. I’m going to leave it be since there’s not much I can do at this point, but I’m still a bit hesitant. Anyway, to be honest a futuristic magic city wasn’t what I thought Stonehaven was going to be either. For a long time, Stonehaven (and that world entirely) was going to be far more traditionally fantasy with a sort of steampunk vibe. Like Snow said, horses and knights wearing armor, that sort of thing. As interesting as I thought that would be, I thought it might be more fun to do something completely different with it. I didn’t want to go full sci-fi and we’re certainly never doing something like going into space, but it was fun to imagine a world that was futuristic, but still had magic and warriors that fight with swords and… holy hell, I’ve just realized I’ve made a bit of a mistake. A futuristic world where magic warriors fight with swords? Yeah, that’s Star Wars, isn’t it? Crap. That wasn’t intentional, but given my obsession with the series I’m hardly surprised I drew parallels to it. Anyway, moving on, yes that whole deal with only Brad and Michael manning Stonehaven was a complete and total lie. Well, it’s a lie now. It wasn’t initially a lie. I’d originally planned for the Dawnguard to have basically fallen apart ages ago and only Brad and Michael were using the resources left behind to fight Sebastian. Obviously things changed. I thought it would be more interesting and I could do different things if the Dawnguard were a fully staffed organization instead of a couple of dudes hold up in a castle :P  

The difference between magic in the blood and magical blood is something I really must make more clear. I was a bit worried I wasn’t being clear enough anyway, so I’ll have to work on that. In essence, the idea was that magic lives in the blood. So, if you have magic of any sort it’s in your blood. Whereas Snow is different, her blood is basically made of magic. She doesn’t just have magic, she is magic. I’ll have to make sure I do a better job explaining it because the difference is quite important. Heh, I think it’s safe to say you’ll be feeling sorry for Snow for a while :P Overwhelmed is likely going to be the best word to describe for the next while. She has this gift (although right now she’d be more inclined to call it a curse xD) that no one seems to understand and that terrifies her. As for her incestuous conception, I’ve never really brought it up before because Snow doesn’t like to talk about it. It’s the one thing about herself that she absolutely hates but can’t change. The fact that she’s the result of something so twisted really bothers her. We’ll explore it in greater detail in the future, but for now yes the fact that she has this magical gift and it’s caused by the most hated aspect of herself is something she’s deeply troubled by.

Okay, so this part… to be completely honest, I went back and forth on whether or not to do the flash forward scene for ages and ages. I came up with the idea over a year ago and I had been planning to go that route for a long time, but once I finished Snowfall and actually started writing this I came to the same realization you did; any characters I mention in the scene obviously survive to that point so there’s no suspense for those characters when they’re in dangerous situations. One of the reasons I wanted to do it was mainly to try something different. There will be a lot of that going on with this story as it continues. I want to… grow? I don’t think that’s really the right word, but I want to try new things and experiment with different styles of storytelling. I’ll try things that won’t work and hopefully a few that will. The idea with this was to present a certain future, one where JTG has seemingly been defeated, something has happened to Clara, and Snow is still struggling to figure out her feelings for Michael. Then go back and tell how we get to that point, but perhaps revealing that not everything you think you know about that future is exactly as it first appears. Or maybe it’s exactly how it appears? Who can say? I wanted to say that yes, this is where we’re going to end up but how do we get there and also is this seemingly brighter future as bright as it first appears. Will that idea work out? I have no idea, but I’m glad you trust my judgment because I certainly don’t :P I’m sacrificing a lot of suspense and drama (at least involving these particular characters) on a big gamble. Is the mystery and intrigue of what’s to come interesting enough to counterbalance the loss of suspense and a sense of danger for those four characters? I don’t know. I guess we’ll see. Regardless, please don’t feel bad about mentioning stuff like this. In fact, please mention it whenever you like. I need people questioning my often questionable decisions, otherwise I’ll never… I still don’t like the word grow here, but that’s all that’s coming to mind right now. It’s one in the morning, so I can’t do much better :P

Hey, come on now, you know it’s perfectly fine :) That’s a completely valid excuse, so don’t feel bad about taking a while. Take all the time you need in the future, and please know that if you ever need to talk about anything at all you know where to find me :)      

Well, if the last chapter gave me things to think about then this one did the same in spades. I mean, that ending! But I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go in order or I’m sure I’ll forget something :P I may still forget something because it’s current 1 in the morning and I took a bit too much Nyquil earlier so I’m a little loopy :P Based upon 805’s reaction to the description of Caleb, I’m wondering if he something about him. Perhaps not and he’s just struggling with everything else that’s happened recently as Carey suspects, but I don’t know. Someone like Caleb clearly stands out so maybe 805 and he have come across each other in the past. It’s a long shot, sure, but it’s worth thinking about. Now, Alistair. I get a vibe from this guy and not a good one. I can’t really say why, I just do. He’s too… I don’t know, smooth? He’s happy to take them back to base, he’s smiling a lot… I don’t know. Of course the way he’s so dismissive and seemingly low key racist against Hahana and Maui doesn’t help him either. He might be a positively wonderful person that’s just trying to protect his people, but at the moment I don’t trust him at all.

I’m not at all surprised that Hahana and Maui lied about staying behind on the Island xD Of course, I’m genuinely worried about 805 now. He seems to be warming to Hahana! He even patted her on the head. Lay off the alcohol, man! It’s starting to get to you :P It was very interesting to learn more about the Other Worlds and their various religions. They all seem to have their own Creation myth which is quite interesting and like Carey I’m wondering if there’s any truth to any of it. This is a world where people can control the elements, so I can’t dismiss it outright. Anything seems possible. Or maybe it’s all just myth and legend and none of it is true, but I feel like there’s something to all of it. I’m not ready to believe that a giant snake created the world (although that would be pretty frickin cool xD) but again, it could be possible. I also loved Sam’s response to Carey questioning if the rebellion matters when compared to the scope of the rest of the world. She’s exactly right, of course. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter. No one on the opposite side of the world is going to care what happens on the Island. None of them will know the names of those who fought the Gifted for independence, but for the people on the Island it does matter and they can do a lot of good. Maybe it’ll only matter for their tiny little piece of it, but that little piece is just as important as the rest.

Awwwwww! 256 and Carey have made up and… well, made out too xD I may be shipping Samrey over here but I still love this! This was my favorite part of the chapter for sure. Such a heartwarming scene and it’s always touching when love blossoms in the midst of all this chaos and war. I know we’ve talked about it before, but I’ve really enjoyed the way you’ve built their relationship slowly over time. There’s a very realistic flow to it, especially given that they are two people that come from different worlds. Sure some people might prefer less of a slow burn and would rather them have ended up together by the end of Gifted, but for me this is much better and honestly more rewarding having followed them for so long. I’m really excited to see where their relationship goes from here. I’m not sure what will happen next for them, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.

But okay, the ending. What. The. Hell? So this girl, obviously a Gift of Stealth but not native to the Island. Right? Is she human or perhaps she’s something else. Her description is rather elf like, so perhaps she’s something like that and from one of the Other Worlds. If there are as many as Hahana says there are then it seems possible that very different kinds of people could live there. The blue glow was also a lot brighter than Reagan was, so… yeah, I don’t know. Right now, I honestly have no idea. This is a twist the likes of which I never expected. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling now and just say that this is an excellent chapter filled with new information and a surprising revelation there at the end that’s going to have me spinning new theories for a long time.

Also, Happy New Year! I hope 2018 is treating you right so far :)

Okay, that map is officially awesome! That must have taking a lot of work and it looks like some artistic talent too. And I have to enlist a friend to make my covers for me :P Anyway, that’s really neat and yeah it does help give a bit of context to where everything is and how long it would take to travel between places and stuff. Although still, I’m sure they could have made it back from the brothel way before Janelle. Of course it was an option! I mean, if they just ran the whole way back or something I’m sure they could have made it before Janelle, and maybe even have had time to send a letter back to Theresa to let her know they made it safely. I mean, who pays attention to how long it takes to travel in a fantasy series anyway? Poppycock, I tell you xD xD      

Aww, thanks :) Merry Christmas! It is still Christmas Eve here, although only for another 3 minutes since it’s almost midnight. Time zones are hard for me to compute when I’m completely alert and awake, especially when one country observes daylight savings time and the other doesn’t. But anyway, I need to get back. My family is all here and I’ve managed to slip away from the gathering for a while but if I don’t return soon they’ll start looking for me :P Luckily my parents house is pretty big so there’s plenty of rooms to sneak off to when no one’s looking so I can dodge the search parties :P But anyway, make sure to get some rest and relax a bit after that long work day and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as well :)    

Despite knowing how the previous chapter ended, I couldn’t help but hold out a little speck of hope that Sam and the others would somehow have made it back already. Janelle and Wesley were so hopeful at the start! Well, hopefully soon they’ll be making their way back… well, unless you plan to pull an Arya Stark at the Red Wedding sort of scenario or something and just when they’re about to reunite… well, you know what happened :P I’m glad to see Janelle hasn’t had much more luck figuring out how Ben knew so much about Reagan because at least now I know I’m not alone in my confusion. I still can’t quite figure out how he knows the things he knows. Heaven knows I’ve had some wild theories (up to and including Ben having mind reading powers, which is, you know, unlikely) but none of them fit. I don’t know, but he’s super high on my list of suspicious characters right now.   

I absolutely love Victor xD He’s a douche, but he’s awesome. I swear I had a teacher in high school exactly like him. He never bothered to remember our names either and he was always direct and to the point. Nothing outside of the facts mattered to him at all. I wonder though, what is he working on down there in his super secret underground lair? Is he just making weapons, or… I don’t know, plotting to conquer the universe or developing a mind control laser? Something dastardly, perhaps? I don’t know, he just seems like he’s up to something. Anyway, it was good to finally see Caleb and everyone again. I’ve missed them and it’s been quite a while since we’ve caught up with them. Wow, I missed Caleb. I guess I really am warming up to the guy :P I still don’t trust him, mind you, but he’s grown on me. He seems like he’s a good dad to Alice, so he wins points on that alone. I’ve always felt bad for Alice, but this chapter really reminded me how unfair the world has been to her. She’s the only kid her age trapped on an island in the middle of a war. It’s got to be really hard for her, but it’s not like there are many other options. She obviously can’t go off on missions, so the island base is the safest place for her to be. And geez, you’ve got to warn me before you go and punch me in the gut with a Brooke reference :P I’m still not over it.

And Caleb! That was certainly unexpected and frankly somewhat disturbing. It was also my favorite part of the chapter, so maybe that tells you something about me :P I wonder what caused him to have these nightmares and why they affect him so horribly. I have a few theories, but each of them is as unlikely as the other so I’ll keep quiet while I gather more information. But regardless of that, this can’t be a good thing for the leader of the rebellion to have. For him to seemingly be able to be taken out of action at any given time is pretty bad, especially given how things have been going for the rebels recently. They need their leader to be in top shape, not falling to this without warning. Anyway, it was really interesting to see this other side to Caleb. He’s normally so in control and commanding, so to see him so broken down was a little unsettling. I think you did a good job bringing out that side of him and it contrasted well with his sudden shift back to normal by the end.

I don’t believe for one second that Thomas just up and went back to the Island. Nope, sorry Victor, not buying it. Like Janelle said, he wouldn’t do that without saying something and especially not without knowing Sam was safe. Unless he went looking for her, I can’t think of another legitimate reason for him to leave the island willingly. Seeing as I still don’t completely trust this group (and with Ben giving me even more reasons to be skeptical of them) I can think of a few reasons he might have been forced to go back/was murdered in his sleep and dumped into the ocean. Or maybe Victor sucked out his soul and is using it to power his Death Ray. All options are on the table, really xD Honestly, I’m right there with Janelle at the end. Strange things are happening and I’m not sure I understand any of them.

Anyway, this was a really good, interesting chapter. There’s so many things to focus on now. Sure, we know where Sam and the others are, but with Ben being super sketchy, Thomas vanishing into thin, and Caleb… well, whatever’s wrong with him there’s a lot to think about. This chapter probably more than any other before it is going to have me coming up with theories for a long while. They’ll probably all be wrong, but that’s not going to stop me from making them :P But anyway, I’m really interested to see what happens next. I’m not at all sure what to expect, but with they way things have been going recently its sure to be interesting. Also, I’m really sorry for taking so long to get to this :( Like I said in the PM, unbridled chaos broke out recently so I’ve been really busy and just haven't been able to sit down and put together a decent comment. As usual, I'm still not promising this constitutes a decent comment either, but it's far better than anything I could have said before now. 

No worries about taking a while :) Stuff comes up, trust me I understand. I’ve been trying to reply to your last message for something quickly approaching two months now and every time I think I’ll have a free night something else comes up. Don’t even get me started on the poor state of ADG. I’d planned on having the first chapter well and truly finished by this point. Yeah, I don’t :P But anyway, this… yeah, interquel sounds good so let’s go with that. This interquel started out as the opening scene to ADG. I’d planned on picking up right where I left off, but things changed and a couple of other scenes came about that sort of made this one feel out of place. That and the first chapter of ADG is setting up to be very long indeed (I'm at almost 10,000 words and I'm not even close to being finished :P) so I tried to trim some fat but I still wanted to use all of this so here it is. It also gave me the opportunity to experiment with writing in first person, which I’m still really bad at but this was a vast improvement over most of my previous attempts, so I suppose that’s a good thing. Switching to Nikki’s POV for this was interesting to write because up until this point I’d never really gotten to get too deep inside Nikki’s head before. I mean, I knew how she felt about certain things but I’d never really delved too deeply into her innermost thoughts before. And considering Nikki is being promoted to POV character, I figured I ought to explore her a little bit. Yes, Nikki’s parents are up at the lodge with Tony and Co. (For some horrible reason I’ve been calling them the Dirty Half-Dozen myself, but I really should stop because that’s terrible :P) while this is happening. The timeline isn’t really as clear as I’d like it to be, but essentially the meeting at the lodge begins around the same time that Snow arrives at the mine, so Nikki’s parents are still there by the time all this is happening. And you’re right; Nikki’s parents would be there if they weren’t at the lodge. Of course, she doesn’t know that so she assumes that they know what’s going on and just don’t care enough to be there for her. She has perfectly valid reasons to think that’s the case considering how she’s been treated by them in the past, but in this case she’s wrong. I’m glad you picked up on Nikki’s vulnerability because that’s kind of a major thing for her moving forward. She’s a girl that’s never felt loved by her family and that’s had a pretty big effect on her.

Heh, that bit with Jackson and Steven on the football field was admittedly some intentional misdirection to lure people away from thinking Steven was JTG :P Apparently it worked at least a little bit if that kept you from being completely sure about Steven. As for Steven’s parents, we’ll definitely be meeting them soon. I think Carmel might have an interest in talking with them. Meanwhile, Mary still doesn’t have parents :/ It’s practically a running joke at this point, isn’t it?

Ah, the ending :P Although nothing about Morales is similar, I recommend watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEVgYj64UH4 That’s the last couple minutes of the pilot episode of Pretty Little Liars. I’d been looking for a way to pay homage to my favorite scene from that show and Agent Morales coming into the story was the perfect opportunity. Seeing as that scene inspired this whole series, Warehouse notwithstanding, it seemed only right to include a version of it where I could. Anyway, you’re right that Morales is overall a good person. He’s a cop at heart and he’s fully dedicated to upholding the law. So yeah, he’s aggressive with the girls because they’re high up on his list of suspects. He’s not a villain or a bad guy, he just wants to solve the crime. Which is bad news for the girls because they’re guilty. Otherwise, I’m just going to leave it at that and I’ll say no more about Morales for now except that he’s yet another antagonist that is almost certain to make the girls lives hell for the foreseeable future. Thanks for commenting! :D Oh, btw I’ve already read the latest chapter of Cursed and I’m hoping to comment on it this week. I’m not promising any such thing because… well, you know what I’m like :P I can’t keep to a schedule even if I try.  

Ah, the epilogue. I wrote this ages ago, so long in fact that I wasn’t sure of any of the other details other than that Steven was almost certainly going to be dying in some fashion. It’s probably the only thing I’ve ever written in advance that didn’t get any changes other than some corrections and cleanup. Well, that and it didn’t start snowing originally but I decided I could be symbolic one last time :P Obviously I don’t want to say too much about Carmel just yet. We’ll learn more about her relatively early, but not immediately. There’s a handful of things I have to take care of and stuff I have to introduce in the first few chapters, so there’s a bit of a strict timeline for stuff. After that though we’ll be getting a bit more into Carmel and her family issues. We’ll meet her and Steven’s parents as well and find out where she’s been all this time and why she doesn’t live in Mistbrook Falls. Though I suppose a hint is fair, so here goes: her heterochromia may or may not be a natural phenomenon.

Heh, well JTG is never one lacking for confidence xD She’s certain Carmel will join her and I think it’s safe to say that’s an inevitability. Whether she’ll remain on JTG’s side or not, or whether she’ll join of her own accord or through coercion, is best left a mystery for now. One of the big things that I wanted to change for ADG is that I didn’t want to basically keep telling the exact same story. I wanted to make some changes, so there will be new POV characters and things like that (I also have to introduce a hopefully well developed fantasy world and I’m beyond terrified to do it :P) but the main thing was that I wanted a more transparent JTG. Not to say that you’ll be finding out who JTG is any time soon, you won’t, but up until now JTG has remained a complete mystery. With Carmel playing for the JTG team, we can get an insight into JTG that we haven’t had before. Basically, we get to see a little of what’s going on with the other side. Hopefully it’s as interesting in practice as I imagine. Probably not :P

Well thanks, I’m glad you think the build up to the ending was okay. This is the first time I’ve ended something like this. Warehouse ended, obviously, but it didn’t require some massive build up or anything so this was a very new experience for me. Completely off topic, but Claire’s sitting next to me laughing herself stupid over “You really built up to the climax well”. That’s her sense of humor for you xD You really can’t say anything that could even be remotely construed as sexual around her :P I have to admit that it was a difficult balancing act trying to reveal enough by the end so that the conclusion felt satisfying, but at the same time keep enough secrets/introduce enough new mysteries to maintain momentum into the sequel. But anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed reading this. I certainly enjoyed writing it, mainly because it was such a shift away from anything I’ve attempted in the past. Hahaha, well I’m glad there aren’t any characters that you ask that question about xD Can’t disagree about Littlefinger. He really didn’t have much purpose other than to be murdered in a rather brutal fashion. There are a few characters that I had absolutely no idea what to do with after I’d introduced them though :P Brad and Jacob are two of the biggest. Things changed so what I’d had planned for them wouldn’t work so I just sort of left them in the background for the most part :P Shhh, don’t tell the others but Mary’s my favorite too xD She’s not the richest or the prettiest of the group, but I’d say she’s absolutely the strongest of them all. I was surprised how much Mary came to mean to me over the course of the story. I tried not to get attached to her because I planned on killing her, but I suppose you can’t help who you love. But yeah, thanks again, truly. You’ve been a huge help to me through some of the crap that’s happened the last couple of years and I really appreciate it :) So with that I suppose I’ll say thanks, once again, for commenting on this :D And please don’t worry about being later than you said. I promise, that’s just fine :)

Happy Halloween to you too! Make sure you do something spooky tonight and eat entirely too much candy. If you’re me, you don’t need a holiday to give you a reason to eat too much candy :P Just don’t dress up like a werewolf and leap out at people getting off the elevator like my douche of a neighbor. He and I aren’t friends anymore :P  

Heh, actually that scene with Cooper was supposed to appear back around chapter 49, but it kept getting pushed back because I wasn’t happy with the scene. Cooper comes off as a bit of an exposition machine, but I really felt I needed to get that into Snowfall and not carry it into ADG so here it is. I’m still not thrilled with the scene, but what’s done is done. Still, it was fun to bring Coop back for a bit regardless. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him and I wanted him to make another appearance in this, so he gets to guest star in the finale :P Hehe, once again one of your guesses proves correct. Seriously, you can be scarily accurate at times. If you have mind reading powers, please share your secrets :P But yes, Fate’s fiddling about with things resulted in the death of someone that shouldn’t have died yet, so she managed to officially break the universe. Thanks, Fate :P As for who died before they were supposed to… well, I’ll keep whether or not it was someone in Mistbrook Falls or not to myself for now. But you’re right that regardless of who it was, things aren’t looking good. In fact, they’re looking downright horrible.

Sophia is going to be a woman on a mission, that’s for sure. She’s got a lead and she’s going to be pursuing it as far as she can. She’ll be running into a particularly unpleasant bump in the road, but she’s looking to finally solve this mystery and she’s not going to let anyone stop her now. You know, that’s the interesting thing about the two JTGs. Steven was all about personally punishing the girls. Our current JTG doesn’t need to be so hands on. She’s (I’m going back to the original pronoun too :P) not as focused on doing the dirty work herself. She’s perfectly happy to let other people do it for her. I’d been planning to get Tony’s crew together for the longest time, but there was never a proper place to do it before now. The text from JTG gives them a good reason for a meeting. There’s definitely a reason for JTG sending the text to Michelle, but we’ll get to that later on. As for them being involved in Sara’s murder… well, I’m just going to let the chapter speak for itself. I’ll not say another word on the matter. Not a word, I say xD Ah, yes, Alana. So, fun fact, but Alana wasn’t originally going to be the one to walk in at the end. For the longest time it was the other Austin sister that was going to stroll in. Kayla coming in at the end would be a much bigger shock than Alana, but I was able to come up with a (hopefully) convincing reason for her being there. Kayla was a little more difficult and it just didn’t fit her character. Still, it would have been pretty fun. Anyway, I was sad to write Alana into that scene, but in a way it’s fun because Sophia is essentially going on the hunt for her own mother, she just doesn’t know it yet.  Aww, but your theories are always so good! As many times as you’ve been right you could probably guess who JTG is right now and nail it xD

Yes, Jackson’s still with us for now. It’s funny but you’re not the only person who has told me that they thought he was the most likely to die when in actuality he was the only person other than Snow that I knew was going to survive. Well, at least for now :P Since I knew Jackson was going to  be the one to kill Steven, I had to keep him around because there’s entirely too much emotional drama to just throw away. Jackson will be shaped by this event and I couldn’t just let that go to waste, so he gets to live. To be honest, the person that was in the most danger of dying here was, in fact, Mary. Way way back in my original plan for Snowfall, Mary had already died by the time we found out who JTG was. Luckily for her, things changed xD Still, once I started writing this chapter, Mary was the one I seriously considered killing off. It would have been a throwback to Halloween where Snow was willing to sacrifice herself to save Mary. This time, Mary would do something similar for Snow with more lethal consequences. As for Steven, it really would have been nice to keep him around for a while longer, but doing so presented a few problems. Mainly, he knows too much. If he’s still alive then he’s either going to jail and be interrogated by the police or he’d have to go on the run. JTG would never take him back (and in a sneak peek into the new JTG’s personality, she’d probably kill Steven herself since he’s been discovered and is now a liability) so it was easier to kill him off and save myself the trouble. And it would have been a lot of trouble. Heh, I’ve been envisioning that last JTG reveal for ages :P I kind of figured it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise, especially if you’ve seen Pretty Little Liars because I intentionally modeled the final scene after PLL’s first season finale. Honestly, I’m glad you feel sorry for Steven in the end. He wasn’t a good person, you’re right, but he hasn’t had the easiest life. He’s been forced to hide everything about himself from the people he should be able to confide in. So I’m glad you have some sympathy for him regardless. Anyway, thanks again so much for commenting :) Feel free to take as long as you need to get to the epilogue. It’s not going anywhere. But I hope your lecture was… I almost said ‘fun’ :P I hope it all went well, let’s say that instead. Ugh, that’s too early for learning. 7:30 is too early for most things :P       

Thanks for commenting! :) Heh, JTG really does know everything :P It’s safe to assume that anything that’s revealed JTG probably already knows. If you remember back during the storm when Snow was stuck at Michael’s and JTG tried to kill her? Well, no one ever said he was just there for Snow :P JTG was there looking for Sara. But yeah, Steven found out Sara was still alive back when she snuck out of Stonehaven to visit the girls. You definitely were right that JTG didn’t try to kill Sara and I can safely say that the real culprit has no idea she survived. I hope you don’t consider that a spoiler :/ I mean, it’s never going to be questioned by the real culprit so there’s no point in me pretending otherwise. You know, I was going to hold onto that reveal about Tony killing Miranda for a while yet since I was revealing so much already, but it felt like it was time. Things are looking like they’ll be moving pretty quickly when we come back based on the storyboarding I’ve done so far so I wanted to get it out of the way here.

Steven’s JTG side is something I had to think about for a long time, so I’m glad you think its okay. His real personality is the result of a lot of different variables, but mainly it’s because he really does have a mental condition. Something along the lines of antisocial personality disorder was my original thought and it morphed from there. He’s certainly manic, that’s a good description. I think most of the planning and calculating is definitely done by the other JTG. Steven was always the wild one who often went above and beyond what the other JTG wanted to do. For example: Halloween. That was all Steven and the other JTG had nothing to do with it. Essentially, Steven had an impulsive streak and a tendency to go a bit rogue from time to time. But even though Steven did have a mental disorder, there’s more to it than that. I mean as you said Steven has been acting for all of his appearances up until now, but really he’s been acting his entire life. He’s been pretending that he’s okay. He’s pretended he fits in, that he’s confident and happy. He’s pretended to be heterosexual and so many other things and he’s never been able to just be himself, which leads us to Miranda. She was the first person to really see him for who he was and accept him. The story of Miranda and Steven’s friendship is something that could almost be a short story in its own right, and that may end up being a thing at some point I’m not sure. But either way, Miranda’s death was the catalyst for Steven hopping around the JTG train and plotting to punish the girls. Making his motivations for everything he did seem at least a little justified (especially looking at it all from his perspective) was very important. I mean, he couldn’t just be doing it because he thought it would be fun. Well, he could, that doesn’t make for a good villain. Heh… ‘good villian’ :P But yeah, that’s kind of been the thing all along. The girls are guilty. Sure, Steven’s done some horrible things that are absolutely not okay, but the girls are guilty. With Jackson’s infidelity, don’t take Steven’s word on the subject as the absolute truth. In the moment, he’s trying to hurt Snow as badly as he can however he can. He doesn’t think she’ll ever get the chance to compare notes with anyone so he’s not worried about getting caught. That said, Jackson was unfaithful to Snow more than once but there’s a lot more to it and how it was kept secret from Snow than has been revealed. Let’s just say Jackson has a lot of secrets and leave it at that for now :P Now, that said you’re right that it would definitely be just as big of a dick move if there were less girls involved in the whole thing, so it certainly wouldn’t hurt if there were less. So, don’t be surprised if there’s a few less names on Steven’s list when I do an editing pass here soon before I get around to posting ADG. I refuse to type out A Dangerous Game every time I have to refer to it. Sorry, it’s just not happening :P

But why does JTG have to stand for anything at all? I mean, A didn’t stand for anything so why should JTG? Yeah, okay, JTG absolutely stands for something xD We’ll get to that later, but it really does stand for something. Hahahaha, that’s fantastic! Some typos just work out perfectly. Snow’s voice is officially sexist now. How? I don’t know, but it’s a thing now xD And please, feel free to point out typos if you want. Heaven knows I could use the help catching them all. I swear, sometimes either my brain gets ahead of my fingers or vice-versa :P Whatever it is, I have to edit so much just to fix my horrible typing.   

Whew, well that’s certainly reassuring :) This chapter is easily the scariest I’ve ever written. I mean, this is the chapter. This is the chapter that the last 56 have been leading up to, so I’m quite glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I was terrified from beginning to end and even while editing I kept wondering if I shouldn’t make changes. My eternal indecisiveness was working overtime :P Anyway, you were right again! I have to say, you have been exceptionally good at predicting things. When I’m writing, it’s hard to tell how secretive I’m being or how other people will interpret things, so I never know if I’m being too obvious or not. When you guessed Steven, I had a miniature heart attack :P I knew after Sara’s laptop blew up that Steven would look suspicious, and there you were the second it happened being all suspicious of him :P I actually cut a couple of things that were meant to be hints that Steven was JTG because I was worried I’d been too obvious already and that no more hints were needed for anyone to figure it out. Oh, and then you go and correctly predict that Steven’s plan of backtracking JTG’s texts was just a trap for all of them :P I’d even gone to the trouble to outright show Steven sending a JTG text to Snow way back when just to hopefully divert attention away from him. I mean, where’s the best place to hide something? In plain sight, right? Anyway, you’re really good at this and I have to say I had a really hard time replying to those particular comments xD I felt like I was constantly just saying that I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations :P

I’m glad you thought the intermixing of Snow and Clara’s POV was okay. That wasn’t something I’d planned and it took more fiddling than I care to admit to get into some semblance of order. I wrote the chapter with Snow’s POV being first, so she figures out that Steven is JTG and then we switch to Clara and she figures it out. I wasn’t too happy with that though because if Snow figures it out first it kind of ruins the reveal at the end, but if Clara is first then Snow’s scene is completely redundant. That, and Clara’s POV really needed to be last because I felt the reveal of Steven himself ought to be the last part of the chapter. I’d seen TV shows do interweaving like that before, but I wasn’t at all sure how it would translate onto the page. I tried a couple of alternate versions (which were bad :P) before settling on this one. The problem I had was properly conveying what was happening and whose POV we were in without interrupting the flow of the chapter somehow. My sister came up with the brilliant idea of putting one of the POVs in italics. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I could come up with. It does what I need it to do, but I’m not completely happy with it. Still, it was fun to try something new for once. I’m fairly stuck in my ways when it comes to writing, so it’s nice to do something different once in a while :P

Steven’s reasons (damn, I want that to be the title of the next chapter now :P) for pretty much all the stuff he’s done soon. I don’t want to say too much since it’s gone on this long so I’d hate to start spoiling things now. Suffice to say, Steven has his reasons for doing all of this and we’ll learn about them in the next chapter. A little off-topic, but I didn’t actually intend for the last few chapters to just shift from one explanation to another xD We go from Michael explaining magic, to Sara explaining how she survived, to Steven explaining why he’s a massive douche :P Anyway, you’re right that Jackson would be the hardest hit by Steven’s betrayal. Steven is/was one of his closest friends, and while the girls certainly consider him a friend they’ve never been really close friends. For Jackson though this is someone he trusted and has known/been friends with for years and years, only to be stabbed in the back by him. Albeit, less literally than Sara was stabbed in the back, but still :P Hmm, well now that’s an interesting theory indeed. The gang have been operating under the assumption that JTG tried to kill Sara (you have no idea how hard it is for me to type ‘tried to kill Sara’ :P I have apparently developed an automatic response to devastating spoilers and have to remind myself that I can say that now :P) but it’s certainly possible he didn’t. Sara was into a lot of dangerous stuff and she certainly wronged a few people, so who knows? Well, I do, but my strawberry glossed lips are sealed :P I’ll just leave it for you to theorize about for a while. Heh, I tend to want to do the same whenever a big mystery is revealed. The amount of Pretty Little Liars episodes that I’ve rewatched whenever A is revealed is staggering :P If you know Steven is JTG, things like Sara’s phone call make a lot more sense, as you said. There’s a few hints out there if you know what to look for. Not many since somebody is too smart for her own good :P But there’s a few. There’s one point where Snow and Jackson confront Steven to ask him if he’s JTG and his hands are noted to be in his pockets when a JTG text comes through. He was texting them with his phone in his pocket. If my sister can do that, so can he xD Oh, and there’s the title of chapter 33 Je Suis Une Amie, French for ‘I am a friend’. Not really a hint that Steven is JTG, but it was meant as a hint that JTG was a “friend” of the group. You know, I need to get better with my hints. These ones are crap :P Not that you needed them or anything anyway xD

I’m going to be honest. When I decided that Sara was going to survive, I had no idea all of the details of how it happened. It took quite a while to assemble all of the pieces and have it all make sense. I am, of course, assuming that it actually does all make sense :P Sara didn’t know anything about Sebastian until after her ‘death’. She and Michael got together and compared notes so that told Sara a lot more about her dad and Tony and everyone. Much like Snow and the gang, she was pretty wrong about everything she thought she knew. JTG played her, using Michael as a distraction just like Tony and Rachel ended up becoming. She went after Michael, only to find out that he wasn’t remotely involved with JTG and it very nearly got her killed in the process. Oh my God, I want to write some sort of alternate universe where the gang are superheroes and Michael is a supervillain because Michael the Molester is the best supervillain name ever. I doubt I’ll do it, but it would be glorious xD Don’t be surprised if someone calls him that at some point in the future. That’s just too good xD Anyway, yeah, regardless of whether or not Sara was going to let Snow be harmed, that was a really awful thing to do. Then again, it is pretty typical of Sara at that time and honestly back on that night, I don’t think she felt very sorry about it at all. The ends justified the means in her mind. That said though, this is a different Sara than the one we knew 50 chapters ago. She’s been through a lot and working with the Dawnguard has given her a new perspective on things. Still, deep down there’s some of the old Sara left in her so how that might affect her reintegrating with the girls is something I don’t even know yet. You’re right about poor Snow, as well. After Michael, learning what Sara had done to her, even if she was never in any danger, was a really hard blow for her to take. Throw Steven in as well on top of everything else and she’s not exactly in a good place. Not that she’s been in a good place at any point in recent memory, but she’s in even less of a good place now :P Thanks for commenting! :)

Haha, okay so I was just about to post this and I saw something on TV I thought you might find funny. I don’t even know what channel I have on right now because I’m not really watching it, but a commercial came on for a new Marvel superhero show. It’s called The Gifted and is about, well, people gifted with superpowers. Right after that one ended, another came on for another show. This one is called Snowfall. Unfortunately, that one is about cocaine :P Still, I found it really odd that both of those commercials popped up side by side like that.

All I want to say about this is finally xD Ah, I can breathe a big sigh of relief now that this chapter is out there. So many secrets are finally out and I don’t have to worry about keeping them anymore. It’s so nice. When I clicked Add Chapter, I just leaned back and in my chair and relished in the feeling of getting rid of some of these secrets. It’s about time. Anyway, I’m really glad you enjoyed this chapter. Despite my feeling of relief, it’s still a scary chapter. Three years of secrets and subtle hints and build up finally coming to fruition is downright terrifying. If the answers aren’t at least somewhat satisfying then people like yourself who have stuck with me since the beginning (thanks for that, by the way :D) would have wasted three years of their lives otherwise. Ah yes, you were absolutely right about why Michael raped Mary. You were also right about it being a supernatural being that was responsible for the murders mentioned way back in… I think chapter 5? I’m too lazy to go check, but I told that story ages ago and I remember you guessing correctly right off the bat, so good job! That’s two of your theories proven correct. Also, the first time Alexandria was mentioned you said your first thought was of the city in Egypt, so you were pretty darn close with that as well. You’re building up a nice track record of figuring out what I’m up to :P Heh… um, okay, so the main reason they kept referring to Sebastian as ‘he’ is mostly because for the longest time I couldn’t pick a name for him. No, really. I’m serious :P After awhile it almost became a running joke and by the time I figured out what his name would be it seemed weird to just toss it in randomly so I saved it for the reveal of everything else. As for the thralls, yes, they’re innocent and the guys that kept staring at Snow are working for Sebastian completely against their will. They’re actually really nice people when they aren’t being forcefully controlled by a demonic hell-beast :P Now as for Emilia, she is definitely different I can say that. Zoe mentioned once that a normal thrall cannot use magic. Emilia clearly can. That doesn’t necessarily mean Emilia isn’t still a thrall, but then I suppose it doesn’t mean she is one either. Teased enough yet xD

You know, that was my second biggest fear about this chapter. Essentially, it’s a massive exposition dump. It’s just Michael talking and telling this story about what the Dawnguard is, what they do, etc. and even if the information is interesting that can still get boring pretty quickly so I’m glad you didn’t find it to be so. Combining the fantasy with real world history was something I knew I wanted to do from the moment I settled on the idea that there would be fantasy elements in this. I’ve always been fascinated by the Library of Alexandria and what happened to it, so it seemed like a good launching point for something and this is what it turned into. That, of course, led me to thinking of so many other historical events that the Dawnguard could have had a hand in. Once I knew what it was that the Dawnguard did (saving the world from dangerous magic and whatnot) there were all sorts of places I could go and things I could do. For example, why can no one find the Ark of the Covenant? The Dawnguard have it xD No, that’s not a spoiler and it will never be important whatsoever. Well despite the fact that I’ve been writing these characters for years now, we still know next to nothing about Snow/Ariana’s family so it’s certainly possible that they have magic in their blood from somewhere in their family line. It’s certainly possible to have magic in your blood and not realize it, I’ll say that much. I don’t think you should feel mean at all for saying that about Snow and Michael. You’re absolutely right about it, and I agree that if they hadn’t broken up it would have just felt really wrong. I knew all along that this would be the end of their relationship, at least for now. Obviously Snow still very much loves him but all she can see at the moment is the betrayal and the lies and of course the fact that he raped Mary. And there’s also the fact that he’s known all along that Sara was very much alive and well and kept that from her as well. Suffice to say Snow has plenty of reasons to want nothing to do with him right now, so sadly their relationship had to end. Like you say, regardless of Michael’s intentions what he did was a really terrible thing. So even though Mary has forgiven him and they’ve somewhat worked things out between them, there were still better ways to go about things. We’ll get to why he was willing to go to such extremes to protect Mary later on, but I promise there is a reason. But yeah, I’m kind of sad to reach this point because I do like the two of them together, but it had to happen. I don’t really know at the moment whether or not they’ll get back together at some point in the future or not. It’s definitely a possibility, but I can’t say for sure right now. If they do, it won’t be for a very long time. Mary might have forgiven Michael, but Snow is far away from doing so. Finding out his motives for raping Mary helped soothe Snow somewhat since she knows he’s not this horrible, vile monster that did it just for fun, but she’s still extremely pissed at him. That said, their relationship isn’t completely beyond repair at some point down the road. Also, I’m glad you think the emotions are okay in this. That’s another area that bothers me a bit, really. I feel like Snow isn’t angry enough. I mean, I scrapped the idea that Snow would basically pull a Kayla and shove a gun in his face because even though that was my original plan as Snow developed as a character she just never has had that type of demeanor. It seemed really out of character for her to fly into a rage and threaten him like that. We’ve never seen Snow get really angry, but I don’t feel she’s angry enough in this chapter. Then again, I was trying to contrast her anger with her wonder at what she’s seeing. Her mind is being blown in this chapter, so there was a lot of back and forth over how much anger she could hold onto while learning about magic and discovering that she’s got this ability that she doesn’t understand. Maybe it’s just me nitpicking, but I’m happy you think it’s okay regardless :)

Ah yes, the biggest change this story has yet seen. Sara is most definitely alive. I think it might be my best kept secret because as of yet no one has ever told me they thought Sara was still alive. Everyone I’ve spoken to thought she was supernatural in some way. But no, Sara survived her attack and is just as human as she was way back then. I never really hinted toward her being alive much either, honestly. I did once during her first conversation with Snow when she appears in her bedroom. Snow asks her if she knows who killed her and Sara replies with something along the lines of “I don’t know who stabbed me.” It’s very vague and I can’t imagine anyone picking up on that, but it’s in there. The only other hint was in the chapter titles, which would require so much attention that no one would do it. Back in Warehouse there were two chapters; one called What Kayla Did and the second was What Kayla Does. In this, there’s a chapter called What Sara Knew so if you follow the naming convention then at some point (in this case, the next chapter) there should be a chapter called What Sara Knows. I mean, that’s completely obvious, right? :P That was never really meant as a hint but that’s about as close as I ever came to it :P Actually, no, that’s not true. I can’t remember which chapter but at one point Snow discovers a half eaten bowl of cereal in Michael’s kitchen early in the morning. Michael claimed to have had a late night snack or something, but Snow found it odd. That was Sara. Still not really a hint, but there you have it. Anyway, Sara actually was supposed to die and that be that. I mentioned a long time ago that I changed something about this story that made me completely change a bunch of other stuff, and then did something else which made my first change irrelevant. This was that thing. Sara was meant to die, but I liked the idea of Sara and Snow together so much that I decided I wanted her to survive so I could keep that relationship around. So, Michael was changed into a good guy, the Dawnguard, Coven, magic, demons, etc were all invented, all to forge a path for Sara’s survival. And then Michael met Snow. After that, I realized that Sara and Snow were probably never going to be a thing again and so I literally created a detailed magical world for absolutely no reason :P Still, we have witches now so that’s cool, right? xD As for what/who is buried in Sara’s coffin; that’ll be answered in the next chapter along with a lot of other questions as well about how Sara survived and why she’s just been hanging out with Michael for a few months. Sara has quite the story to tell, I imagine. I do like the evil twin theory, but that’s venturing too far into Pretty Little Liars territory even for me :P Not that Sara being alive isn’t doing that anyway. PLL did the very same thing to a character once believed to be dead, so I’m screwed regardless. Anyway, I’m really rambling today, I know. I’ve kept so much of this secret for so long that I’ve really enjoyed being able to talk about it for once. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel once I finally let the JTG secret out of the bag :P Anyway, I’m going to stop babbling now and go to bed. I seriously need a vacation from my vacation :P Thanks again so much for commenting. I really appreciate it :)  

Hahaha, well it had been awhile since I’d gotten a chance to do a mood whiplash, so I took the opportunity xD I really can't resist sometimes :P Waiting a long time for answers is right. It doesn’t feel like that long to me, but when I happened to glance at the ‘Created’ date up there and realized this has been going now for just over three years I was pretty shocked. I do believe I’ve carried this on long enough without giving some answers, so we’re going to be getting to those answers fairly soon. Will I answer all of your questions? Will the answers be satisfying? Who knows :P Find out next time on Dragonball Z! Okay, just ignore that. Hell, maybe ignore me altogether today. I just got back home after being stuck in a Florida airport all night and a good portion of the day today so I’m sleepy and cranky :P Hehe, I knew when I was writing it that you’d be mad at me for teasing again xD I’d planned for that scene to be Snow watching the video and finding out what Michael did and then she’d confront him in the next chapter in a completely different (and decidedly more Kayla-ish) way. But I just didn’t like anything about any of that. Nothing I wrote worked the way I wanted it to, so I switched tactics and this is the result. I’ll admit that I’m not completely happy with it, but that’s mostly because I’d envisioned doing it the other way for years so I suppose that has a lot to do with it.

Heh, well, I was surprised to see Sienna and Divinity too :P I wasn’t planning on introducing either until the sequel, but with Snow’s part cut short I needed something else and it seemed like the perfect spot to slide Sienna in and give her a little introduction before she finally shows up properly later on. With Divinity, think of it sort of like King’s Landing I suppose only it’s a much nicer place to live than the capital of the Seven Kingdoms :P Divinity itself is a city, but there are lands and other, smaller cities/castles under its rule. I never really have made any attempt to make it clear that Divinity wasn’t something more than just a city so I’m not surprised you would reach the conclusion that it was. But yes, Sienna and Divinity are essentially in a parallel world. At least that’s how I’ve always thought of it, anyway. The Nine Realms have been mentioned before and Sienna’s world is one of them, our world is another. Obviously there are, well, nine of them :P We’ll get into it with more detail at some point in the future but for now it’s very safe to say that Divinity exists in a parallel world to our own. Lol, it’s funny you say that about Sienna being a brunette, because that’s exactly what she was xD However, I realized recently that I have an overabundance of dark haired characters and I really didn’t need to bring in another one, so Sienna gets to be unique and have vibrantly white hair. Why? I don’t know, just thought it would make her a little more interesting.

Well I’m glad you think I’m doing a good job juggling the storylines. It may seem that way in the finished product, but you should see me trying to keep in all straight while I’m writing :P I’m surprised I don’t have a wall like a conspiracy theorist with pictures and little pins with string linking everything together :P Hey, actually that might not be a bad idea xD The timing of all this madness took way more thought and planning than I expected, I must say. Anyway, thanks so much for commenting :) 

Hey, thanks for the comment :) Aww, but I so enjoy a little teasing every now and again xD Well, if its any consolation, you won’t have to wait too long before you find out what was in that text. I do love my secrets, but we’re getting down to the wire so things have to start being revealed very soon indeed. I’d considered having Snow watch the video in this chapter, but that did bad things with the very structured timeline I’ve put together, so it had to be put off until later. But like I said, very soon. The scene with Snow and Ariana was a last minute addition. After this chapter I’m going to be incredibly pressed for space to fit things in and I knew I wanted to have a scene with the two of them so I slid it in here. But yes, you’re right that whatever happens with JTG and Michael, Snow is still living in a very dark place. Even if JTG were caught tomorrow, Snow’s still facing the inevitable loss of her mother and the emotional scars of being tormented for months by a psychopath :/ Whatever happens, I wouldn’t expect Snow’s life to suddenly be a happy place anytime soon.

To say that Jackson is the most expendable is a perfectly valid feeling to have in my opinion. I haven’t done much with him thus far, so if he were to die it wouldn’t necessarily be the most catastrophic loss in the world. It would be for his friends, obviously, but as far as losing a character he isn’t exactly a prominent figure. And if he really is going up to the mines with JTG, you’re right to worry about him. As for Steven, I’m just not going to comment :P There’s not much I can say without spoiling whether he is or isn’t JTG, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut. But I will say that you’re right on that point. He’s likely either a pawn or the instigator, so you probably should be scared regardless :P

Hehe, no, don’t call her a werewolf. No no, that’s very insensitive :P Honestly, the fact that werewolves are such a fantasy classic is the reason I almost didn’t do it. I spent a lot of time (I mean, I lot of time building this fantasy world that Michael/Gwen/Zoe/Sienna/etc inhabit and for the longest time I wasn’t really sure just how deep into the fantasy pool I wanted to dive. I already had witches, but did I want werewolves? Do vampires exist in this world? Are there dragons? Other races like Orcs or Elves? I had a list pages and pages long with questions like that I had to answer. Fantasy isn’t exactly my specialty and this will be my first true foray into it, so suffice to say I’m rather nervous :P I didn’t just want to say “Oh look! Magic! Dragons! Castles! Yay!” There needs to be a story and history to all of it. With scifi, I can do that in a matter of a few days. With fantasy… yeah, not so much :P But yes, enough of that rambling. Gwen is most definitely a werewolf. Oh, right! I almost forgot that there was a video I was supposed to tell you about. Before I saw this video, Gwen was quite a bit different. She was very subdued and quiet and shy. Obviously, she’s far from that now xD Here is the link if you want to watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqmnS4FQcAk&t=787s

If that doesn’t work, and I always manage to screw up when trying to post a link so it probably won’t, just search for Mr Massagy Markiplier on Youtube. The video in question is Part 1 and the section you’re looking for starts around 7:40 into the video. It’s… yeah, it’s weird, but the character in that video (and others featuring the same video game, which also explain Gwen’s fascination with squirrels :P) was largely responsible for Gwen’s personality now :P Just… ignore the sexual innuendos, that’s all I’m saying :P But anyway, I’m not really surprised that you didn’t expect Gwen was Michael’s sister. That’s something I haven’t even hinted at, although I had intended to. I planned on mentioning that Riley had a twin sister, but I realized that would lead to awkward questions about where she was and I didn’t want to have to answer those questions, so it comes as kind of a surprise now. As for Gwen and Michael’s mother, well they have a complicated history :P Some of it is there in the chapter when Gwen says her mother came to resent her after she was forced to give up so much to protect her. There’s more to it, of course, but that’s part of it for sure. Of course, another part is that Gwen really is just being a bit of a rebellious teenager :P Oh, and as for their father… well, we’ll get to that someday :P His death is important, but not necessarily for events happening now. Yeah, we’ll get to all that later on. Just… there’s nothing to see here. Move along, move along :P

Hahaha, I didn’t set out to name all of the businesses in town after Game of Thrones. They were meant to be named after anything movie/TV/book based that I found funny/fitting. So far, it’s all been Game of Thrones though :P Even the school’s football team is called the Mistbrook Falls Direwolves :P As for the season 7 finale, yes, I’ve seen it. There’s no HBO on this boat, but we do have internet so we streamed the finale last night. Eeeeeeeep, I feel, is perfectly fitting a description as I can come up with :P I mean, even if we ignore everything else that happened in that episode, a frickin’ ice dragon blew a hole in the Wall! With everything else that happened, it made for one heck of a season ender. I’m not going to go over everything here seeing as I could talk about the finale for ages and Claire wants me to go swimming with her (There are pools on this ship. I mean, why? Isn’t the point to keep water outside of the boat? It makes no sense, I say xD) so I’ll save my comments for the PM except to say that I’ve never been quite as excited for a new season of GoT as I am after this episode. Oh, but did they have to have the Dany/Jon scene there at the end take place with a casual discussion reminding us all just how related they are playing on top of it? I mean, really! :P       

I was so unexplainably nervous throughout the beginning of this chapter, although I can't really say why. Obviously I had an idea of how some of the gang (Sam in particular) were likely to react once they returned and discovered that Janelle had disbanded the group so I was nervous about that, but I think it was mostly the lead up to the reveal that Janelle and the others had left. The entire time from the moment the girl opens the door and Teresa comes in, I really thought she was about to sell the out to the Gifted. It just has that feeling, I can't really explain it. I kept thinking that as soon as they enter that room and find it empty, Gifted are going to leap out of the shadows and attack. I don't know if you intended the scene to have that feel to it or not, but if you did then very well done. If not, well, still well done because it's one heck of a tense moment all the way through.

Seeing Sam so crushed by Janelle's (I almost used the word betrayal here, but I hesitate to do so since that's not what she intended, but I could understand if Sam thought of it as such) decision to disband their group. Regardless of what we call it, Janelle did sort of throw away something that she and Sam worked very hard to build together. That alone has to be difficult, so add in the fact that they're really close friends (and that Sam may or may not have more than friendly feelings towards Janelle) and that's a very deep hurt. That's why I was really happy to see Hahana, well, being Hahana at her best. I must admit that I didn't really trust the two foreigners for a while after they first appeared (and I'm still not entirely convinced that they've been completely honest about the purpose of their mission) but they've definitely grown on me, especially Hahana. She's just seems to be a genuinely good person with a big heart. She's very good at talking to people when they're upset and saying just what they need to hear. That's exactly what she did here and she got Sam to open up pretty easily, a feat I'm sure the others wouldn't have accomplished so quickly. Oh, and I've got to say, poor Maui :( He's so clearly got a huge crush on Sam but she won't even give him the time of day. His situation reminds me of Jorah a bit, actually. Maybe they could start some sort of support group for men suffering from unrequited love or something? :P

I don't know why I was surprised that Carey would go visit Reagan's grave, but I was. It makes a lot of sense that she'd want to visit him. He's the only other (known) Gift of Stealth, and so the only person who truly understands how she feels. Like Carey, I wonder how much he knew about his Gift. Did he know how it worked or why the Leader is so interested in Carey? He must have known more than Carey does, or at least I would assume so. We still know so little about him, so it's hard to say for sure. Of course, that's one of the things I enjoyed the most about this chapter; we got some backstory on Reagan. He still remains a huge mystery and I still can't quite piece together all the Ben stuff and whatnot. Heck, I'm still not entirely convinced whose side he was really on. Regardless of all that, this was a really touching scene between Carey and Theresa. They haven't really interacted all that much in the past, but I really enjoyed this scene. Also: "We don't bite. Unless you want us to, of course." Hahahahaha, I officially love Theresa xD

I can't really blame 256 for choosing to leave with the group, honestly, given what happened and how he feels. Family or not, it takes time to forge those bonds. It won't happen overnight. It wouldn't happen easily even in the real world, much less when you add in the Gifted's way of life to the mix. 256 has it right, it'll take time and they need to get to know each other. Then, eventually, perhaps they can be a real family. It's sad that he wasn't able to truly open up to David about his life with the Gifted. I understand why, of course, but it's still really sad :( There's a lot to tell and I'm not at all surprised that David would be horrified to learn of it. Who wouldn't be? Still, I'll keep hoping that one day they'll reunite and perhaps they'll be able to further their relationship then. David certainly seems to want to and clearly 256 does, so I'd say there's hope yet. I like that 256 also intends to keep his promise to the Servant as best he can. The Servants deserve all the help they can get, and he's right that the rebels are the best chance the Servants have of making things better for them. If 256 really wants change for them, and I believe he does, there's really no where else for him to be at the moment. He asks an interesting question, though; how do you feel grief for someone you never met or miss someone you never knew? Despite his own wonderings, I think that makes him human. It’s his mother so it seems perfectly natural that he’d feel that sort of grief.

Hehe, 256 didn’t even try to feign ignorance when Sam asked him if he’d been listening to them :P C’mon man, you’re made of sterner stuff than that. Don’t just confess! At least try to talk your way out of it xD Don’t be like me when you’re asked by your roommates if you ate the last of the apple pie and just scream “Who told you?” at the top of your lungs. Lie, 256, lie xD Anyway, I was glad to see Sam tell 256 the truth about 440. He deserved to know the things 440 had done and the circumstances surrounding his death. She was perhaps a bit harsh, but well, she's Sam and she's obviously pretty emotional at the moment so I think she can be forgiven for getting a bit snippy. Still, 256 really did need to know the truth about what really happened and the things 440 did. I wonder how learning all of this will change things between him and Carey? It surely must, but I’m not entirely sure in what way. But anyway, overall quite a good chapter here. Some interesting revelations in regards to Reagan, a lot of tension at the beginning, 256's reasoning for returning to the group and much more. My only complaint is that you left me hanging there at the end :P For a second I thought something was wrong with my mouse. I was absorbed reading and suddenly the page wouldn't scroll anymore. It was just so sudden :P Oh, also it was nice to see Theresa and the old brothel once again. By the way, I gotta ask; is that peephole still in the kitchen door? xD 

Thanks for the comment :) Hehe, I imagine them falling was a bit anticlimactic at this point, huh? :P And also, I lied. This is the last chapter I’m going to use song lyrics for the title. Seriously, I’m done :P I just couldn’t resist with that one for obvious reasons. Also, I felt like I typed the word fall/fell about 6 million times in this chapter, so there’s that too. And who doesn't like that song, anyway? She's a good girl, loves her mama. Loves Jesus and America too. She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis. Loves horses and her boyfriend too. Why am I sitting here typing out song lyrics? Yeah, I'm losing it. Anyway, I’m glad you thought the tension and whatnot was ok and that Snow managed to make a convincing JTG. I was not at all confident that Snow’s portrayal of JTG would be believable in the least. Given that she’s quite obviously lying and the reader knows it, I wasn’t sure how convincing she would be. But yeah, that’s one thing I knew I wanted to do for sure with Rachel not quite believing but also not quite dismissing Snow’s act. There were a number of reasons why, one of which was as you say it’s more interesting than the other way, but also neither of the other ways seemed all that believable. Snow didn't really have enough proof to outright convince her, but she's convincing enough to make Rachel unsure.  

Well, I’m glad you like Rachel although I have to say I didn’t make any attempt whatsoever to make her likable. It wasn’t even in the back of my mind to try to make her likable :P In fact, she was never supposed to survive the chapter to begin with. I’d always expected her to fall to her death much like Miranda had, it was supposed to be poetic or something. But when I went to write it the whole thing just felt really wrong. So I had to do a pretty major rewrite so Rachel could survive, which changed a lot of stuff :P But regardless, I’m glad she’s likable. I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m going to do with her now, of course, but she’s still around xD You know, that’s another reason why I wanted to keep Rachel alive; to let her and Snow end their conflict peacefully. I figured that might be pretty unexpected considering Snow’s track record thus far, and also because Rachel is neither crazy nor a bad person. She’s just a mom who had her daughter taken from her, so she has good reasons for the things she does even if they aren’t very nice things :P It just felt really bad to kill her when she’s probably one of the characters that deserves it the least.

I went back and forth for a long time over whether Snow should tell Rachel about Tony and Miranda. I had a version where she doesn’t tell her that I planned on using, but once again it never felt right when I tried to let them resolve the conflict peacefully. With Snow telling her, the information sort of breaks her. It kind of kills her desire for revenge in a way. Without that, Rachel’s change of heart didn’t quite fit. As for what Rachel will do now that she knows, well like I said before, I have no idea xD I have no immediate plans for Rachel at the moment so I doubt we’ll see much of her until the sequel because I really don’t have the space to fit her in and I need time to figure out what sort of trouble she can get herself into. Plus, I already know what Tony will be doing up through the ending, so I imagine Rachel will just be plotting her revenge against Tony over these next few chapters. Heh, I think it’s pretty safe to say that JTG is serious when she says she knows everything, so yeah she probably knows all about Rachel’s offer. JTG sees all :P

I think I’ve said it before (I honestly can’t remember :P) but so much more happened on Labor Day than has been revealed. It would be pretty difficult, approaching impossible to put all the pieces together. Mainly because you’re assembling the puzzle with only half of the pieces and the picture on the box belongs to a completely different puzzle xD If you did manage to figure it all out, I’d be extremely impressed. Not because I’m that good of a mystery writer or that you’re not more than capable of figuring out what I’m up to but because there’s just not enough information out there to do so. I don’t think :P Thanks again for commenting :)

Sorry for taking a while to get to this. I knew I wouldn't have time last weekend, but I'd expected to have plenty of time last week. Unfortunately, it was one of those weeks where if it can go wrong, it has :/ Things with my grandmother went to hell in a proverbial handbasket, so... yeah. Anyway, this isn't about that. Today was the first chance I've gotten to settle down and put together some coherent thoughts. Also, the usual disclaimer that this comment may not actually be all that coherent applies. It is 1:30 in the morning, after all. Anyway, it's comforting to know that Carey has roughly the same navigational skills that I do :P I barely manage as it is, so leave me with trees and the stars as my only tools and it wouldn't end well. I liked the conversation between Carey and Sam (surprise, surprise :P) and honestly I'm inclined to agree with Carey in that Sam probably wouldn't admit to being lost even if she was xD I must say, I can't recall Sam calling 805 by his number either, although the likelihood of me remembering such a small detail is, admittedly, small.

It was very interesting to get some more information about the Leader. Like 805 said I'd always thought that the Leader was so fixated on Carey because she was unique. This is one of those chapters that makes me go back and reread things with a different perspective, so I went back and reread Carey's interrogation scene. I remember thinking at the time that she seemed awfully obsessed with Carey and how she escaped as a baby, but I never considered the possibility that there was anything more to it than the fact that Carey was an oddity. Now I'm curious. Was there more to her questions than I thought? It's given me something to think about, that's for sure. 805 seems oddly convinced that the potentials that aren't chosen are still alive. It certainly sounds to me like the ones that aren't selected are taken away and executed. I mean, if they disappear never to be seen again and their numbers are recycled... dead seems likely.  

I have to say I was quite surprised that 256 returned to the group. Not that he met up with them there, but actually left with them. After finding his family, I fully expected him to stay with them for the time being. He's never wanted to be a rebel and now, having been given an out, I thought he would take it. I'm glad he's chosen to return to the group, but you did manage to surprise me with his decision. It was nice to see Carey and 256 have a somewhat normal conversation too. Obviously things are still really tense between them, but it appears their relationship has at least slightly improved. That kind of pain will take a long time to heal, but 256 has a big heart and I'm confident Carey will earn his forgiveness eventually. I swore I would never admit this, but I used to mix up 256's number in exactly the same way David did :P I do that a lot with numbers, actually. Maybe I have dyscalculia or something. In much the same way, I'm surprised 805 stayed as well. He'd be adamant that he'd leave them, so I'm surprised he's sticking around. In my heart I'm hoping he's staying for Sam, but I really don't know for sure.     

Moving on to Janelle's part of the chapter, it appears I've found a kindred spirit. I'm one of those horrible people who will pay for things with whatever change I happen to have. I've gone to the store with a pocketful of pennies before. I'm a bad person :P Anyway, I'm glad to see Ben is recovering. I was pretty worried about him. I wasn't too sure he would survive after the last chapter, so I'm happy to see he seems to be on the mend. Evelyn, on the other hand, is understandably... not. And how could she be? That loss has to be devastating, regardless of whether they are related or not (and I must admit that I'm no longer sure what to believe on that matter anymore :P) Brooke was obviously very important to Evelyn and no one recovers from something like that quickly. Brooke's death will most likely be hanging over the entire group, and Evelyn in particular, for quite some time.  

I'm still considering passing on my crown of mood whiplashes over to you :P I really do think you've got me beat. Sure, this wasn't a case of going from happy to sad or scary, but you went from this emotional, touching moment between two people that have lost loved ones to damn creepy in an instant. But we'll get to that in a minute. First, Janelle's conversation with Ben was really quite sad. Janelle is right that their current strategy isn't sustainable. You can't beat a superior force when you're taking far more losses in every battle. Still, Ben is right that they can't give up. It was a victory at the end of the day, even if it wasn't a tactical one. As much as I hated to see Ben be turned down by Janelle, I can't really say I blame her. Reagan's death is still so recent that even though she certainly seems to like Ben, Reagan still has her heart for now.

Getting some backstory on Ben was also nice. We didn't know too much about him, so seeing more of his past is really interesting. I was also surprised to see him as the first seemingly confirmed bisexual character in the story. But all that aside, what was with that ending? I'm infinitely more suspicious of Ben than I've ever been before. I mean, what the actual frak? Okay, theory crafting time. Ben somehow knew of Reagan, or knew Reagan. I don't believe he heard the name from Thomas or anyone else. So how did he know?  Oh, I'm going to have to think about this a while. I have some theories but I'll keep them to myself for now because they're all pretty far-fetched :P I really don't quite know what to make of it.

Anyway, this was a really interesting chapter. I often find chapters like these to be some of my favorites because they introduce so much for me to think about. The Leader and the potentials and all this stuff with Ben is quite a lot of information to process. I'm not really sure what to expect moving forward. I'm hoping to see the whole group back together soon since I really want to see what happens when Carey and Co learn about Janelle disbanding their group to join Caleb. I guess I'll find out next time :) Anyway, another good chapter that left me with a long list of things to think about. Looking forward to see what comes next :D

Thanks so much for commenting :) That theory makes quite a lot of sense, actually (But seriously, go to bed :P 5 hours of sleep can't be good for you) Poor Steven is coming off as very suspicious lately, isn't he? JTG is working on ending the game, so Steven faking tracing JTG's phone to lead the others into a finale face off seems logical. But if Steven isn't JTG, she won't be at all happy that he's trying to track her down. She's been completely invisible this entire time so if Steven starts to close in on her, particularly so close to the end of her game, she will not be pleased.

Heh, Mary's had her entire perception of the world blown into a million pieces over the course of a ten minute car ride. There's an entirely new world open to her now and she doesn't quite know what to do with it. A perception filter is a pretty good way to describe what has happened to Mary, actually. Mortals are incapable of seeing and interacting with the magical realm unless someone with magic grants them the ability. Basically, a mortal could walk past an entire city and never even know it was there. It's not like Hogwarts where you see a derelict building, there's just literally nothing there. Mary now has the ability to see and touch the magical realm. Oh, and what she saw out of Michael's window was quite sizable, let's just leave it at that. It was not, necessarily, a magical city. That was just an example. Probably :P Michael really should tell Snow the truth, no doubt. Obviously, Snow's going to be really angry no matter who tells her, but she would be more likely to forgive him if he's upfront and honest with her. If she finds out through anyone else, I really don't quite know what she'll do. I really need to make a decision on that, but I doubt I'll settle on her reaction until I sit down to write that particular chapter. Indecisiveness strikes again :P

Ah, the ending. I hadn't intended to end the chapter there because obviously Snow is lying about being JTG so I knew there was no way I was going to fool anyone into thinking she is. Still, ending on that line was too enticing to resist and it felt better, I thought, to not introduce the conflict with Rachel and resolve it in the same chapter. In the beginning, Rachel wasn't supposed to pop up in this chapter at all. She was going to first appear at the end of 53 and we'd resolve the situation in 54. The problem came up that in order to fit everything in properly I'd almost have to bump it out to 61 chapters, which I don't want to do. As such, Rachel was tossed into the end of this one instead. Snow's ruse is actually something I've wanted to talk about for a long time, but haven't been able to until now. This storyline is based upon my original plan for who JTG was going to be. JTG really was going to be Snow. The idea was that Snow had some sort of multiple personality disorder. So we have the Snow that we follow through the story and then we have this other person that's doing all of the JTG stuff. Snow would essentially black out, do these things, then become herself again with no memory of what she'd done. One of the reasons why Snow blacked out on the night of Sara's murder was because at the time I was still deciding on exactly what I was going to do and so I needed to write myself a way out of either situation. Ultimately, the idea of Snow being JTG, while interesting, seemed off and was scrapped before JTG ever appeared in the story. Even so, I do still like the idea and wanted to fit it in somewhere so here it is. I get to write Evil Snow for a chapter or two :P Will her plan work? Well, that remains to be seen, especially if Rachel knows more about JTG than she's let on. Snow is certainly going to try, either way. Oh, right, this is this chapter! One second... ah yes, here it is. "Hmm, now you’re making me nervous that Snow is going to fall off a cliff or something. I hope that doesn’t happen. I love puns, but I don’t think my heart could take it if you went the full way with this one." -Genevieve Middleton, January 31st, 2017. You do not know how much I giggled after you said that xD I knew Snow was going to end up on the edge of Lookout Point (and maybe over the edge :P) so the timing of that was just about perfect. Anyway, you make a good point about Rachel. She seems to just be a mother that wants justice for her daughter. Her own murderous justice that doesn't abide by any sort of law, but justice nonetheless. If that's true, she doesn't deserve to die. After all, Snow and the gang are guilty and Miranda does deserve justice. Not Rachel's style, but, well, you know.

Hahahahaha, sorry about that xD I was kind of desperate for a chapter title and it seemed to fit Snow's crazy plan to pretend to be JTG. That, and it sort of ties back into my idea that Snow would have a mental disorder way back when. I had planned on ending my string of song lyrics as titles that's been going on since 47 with this chapter, but I suppose one more won't hurt :P

Aww, I’m sorry to hear you haven’t felt well :( Hopefully you’re recovering quickly and are feeling better now. Anyway, yeah that was partially the intention behind the title. Well, that and I love the Pretty Little Liars theme song and couldn’t resist borrowing some of the lyrics from it :P That song fits the show so perfectly and it wasn’t even written specifically for the show. One of the actresses had heard it and suggested it for the theme. I’m getting off topic already :P This is one of the few times that I knew going into a chapter like this that everyone would make it out alive. Typically I have other ideas of things I’d like to do or ways I’d like to see the story go, so I’m never quite sure if everyone will survive. This time though I’ve planned ahead all the way to the final chapter, so I knew we wouldn’t be losing anyone here. Don’t get comfortable though, I could just be luring you into a false sense of security or something :P The bit at the end with JTG’s message to Tony is… complicated. There are two principles to this story that need to be remembered. The first is that everyone has a secret, and the second is almost nothing is exactly as it first appears. (This should not be taken as confirmation that Tony does, in fact, have shape-shifting abilities :P) A lot more happened on Labor Day than has been revealed and it involved a lot more people than the girls know about. JTG knows, however. Of course, JTG knows everything :P You know, I'm just going to leave whether or not Tony and JTG are in cahoots (I agree, that's an awesome word xD) entirely up to your imagination for now. It's certainly possible and I'm interested to see what other related theories you can come up with, so please, by all means, ramble away :)

Hahahaha, yes! A compliment for Michael at last xD One day, you will love him. I will make it happen. I'm confident in my ability to successfully succeed! :P I didn’t set out to give Michael this hero moment and he almost didn’t get it. At first, I really liked the idea of Snow managing to talk Tony down. Obviously Snow rescuing herself instead of needing to be rescued is something I like to see instead of a damsel in distress sort of scene. In this case though, knowing all of Tony’s backstory, it just didn’t make a lot of sense that she’d be able to do that. It didn’t fit with who Tony is so in the end Michael got to be a badass. He’s not complaining :P Lol, I’m sorry! I know that was mean, but it’s just not the time for Michael's secrets to come out. You’re right that it is coming but I’ll not say when. To be honest, I was surprised by Michael telling Mary too. I spent a ton of time planning out exactly what was going to happen over the next ten chapters and Michael never told her. Then I get to their conversation and it just felt like the right time for him to tell her. Of course, that left me with the problem of whether or not I should also tell the audience and I really did consider it. But like I said, this just isn’t the time. That’s a big reveal. I mean a big, big reveal. Easily in the top 3 of the whole story and I already know when and how it’ll all come out, so sadly it has to wait for a later chapter. But yeah, you’re right. Michael has handled this all really badly no matter his intentions or how he’s behaving now. Obviously Michael is changing and I’d say Snow has been instrumental in that change, but he’s still done bad things and has behaved like an absolute douchebag regardless of the reasons why.

I swear, I had more trouble with Snow and Tony’s conversations than I did with anything else. Try as I might, it never felt genuine to me. It all felt forced and it didn’t flow properly. It took me ages to get something that even remotely approached what I was going for. It also required me to change Tony quite drastically. At first, he was quite a bit more a pervert in regards to Snow. He does have a fetish for underage girls after all, so it seemed fitting. I guess I can’t write child molestation scenes properly (which is a really weird thing to be upset about) because instead of feeling disturbing and creepy, it was just really awkward and Tony felt too much like a cartoon villain instead of a pedophile. But yes, Tony’s scars are certainly real and there’s still a lot of things about Tony that we don’t yet know. While he's clearly not a good guy, something surely drove him to be the way he is so I'd say your theory is a pretty good one. As with a lot of things, it'll be a while before all of Tony's secrets come out. I've got a lot of other things to deal with before I get to Tony. A lot of other things :P As for what Mary will do, well I'll keep that a surprise for now, but it will have a pretty significant effect on her moving forward. Her world has been rocked, let's leave it at that. Also, Michael didn't lie. He told her the absolute, honest to God, truth. That's not to say he told her every secret he has, he didn't, but the parts that had to do with Mary were all true. Anyway, thanks so much for the comment :) And please, don't worry about being a little late. I just hope you're feeling better now :)  

I'm actually quite glad I didn't have a chance to comment on this earlier because it gave me time to process everything that happened. I can safely say that when I opened this, I was not at all expecting that ending and even after this much time I don't know how to feel. Anyway, okay, let's get this started. It was nice to get a lot more backstory on 913 as well as 256's early days with the Gifted. We don't really learn that much about 913 in the main series, so it was good to see her and find out how their relationship developed as well as seeing a young 256. I just knew he'd be adorable xD It's got to be difficult, especially for the children, to not form attachments. What the Gifted teach is so counter to basic human instinct that I'm surprised they even manage to maintain it. Then again, considering the punishments involved maybe it's not that big of a surprise. Locking Gifts of Air in a tiny box? Geez, that's pretty terrible :/ It makes sense that's what they'd be scared of, but damn that's psychological torture right there. And then to follow it up with physical torture as well? That's just cruel. Then again, I suppose it wouldn't be torture if it wasn't cruel.

For someone well aware of the punishments for attachments, 913 isn't very good at hiding said attachment, is she? I suppose that's what love does to us, doesn't it? It makes us behave irrationally. The Leader kind of makes a good point, honestly. I mean, he's right. Attachments can be used against people and love is easily turned into a weapon, but who would want to live like that? You know, I find this Leader very interesting indeed. He seems so much more... what's the word? Fair? Diplomatic? Obviously he's as staunchly devoted to the Gifted's way of doing things as any of the others, but I liked the way he insisted on hearing all sides of what happened. He strikes me as someone who leads very differently than the current Leader. 4450, however... well, we'll get to that guy later.

That ending though, holy hell. I did not see that coming. I guess one reason why it shocked me so much is that I thought 913 was still alive. Unless my memory is even worse than I realized (which I'll admit is very possible :P) but I don't recall ever reading that she was dead. 256 said several times that she would hate him and never forgive him, so he clearly never learned of 913's death. That makes sense seeing as I doubt the Gifted would want that information getting out. I don't know, I just always thought there might possibly be a reunion between them at some point in the future, so learning that's now impossible is a little jarring. It's going to make me have a very different feeling whenever 256 mentions her now. Anyway, obviously any mention of suicide hits a little close to home, as this instance did, however I must say there is something darkly beautiful about the whole thing. She's doing it for 256, not because she wants to die. It's definitely a different a different take on the topic and it's... yeah, I think darkly beautiful is as fitting a description as I can come up with. That title couldn't be more fitting either. It would take the love of a mother to do what she did. She wanted to save him and she did just that. He may not have ended up how she probably envisioned, but I'd like to think her compassion helped him become the young man we know today.

4450 is a douche, let's just get that out of the way right now. This guy is just... ugh. If I hope for anything, it's that the Servants one day get their well-deserved revenge. If anyone anywhere deserves to burn the Gifted's way of life down around them, it's the Servants. Just the tiny glimpse we get at what they're forced to do by people like 4450 is sickening. The thing is, a tiny part of me feels sorry for 4450 with that last sentence. That's a terrible thing to be cursed with for the rest of his life, but considering what he was doing mere hours before I have a hard time feeling much remorse for him. Anyway, this short story is quite well done. There's a lot of backstory, which again is one of my favorite parts of this. But its also very emotional, heartbreaking, and thought provoking at the same time. I mean, how do you find the strength to kill yourself to protect someone you love? That's different than stepping in front of a gun or something. That's instinct, that's an in the moment response. This is something altogether different and I suppose once again the title sums it up much better than I can. Overall, great job on this! I'm looking forward to seeing where the next one goes :)

Thanks for the comment! :) The interesting thing (for me at least :P) about Brad is that he has a perfectly valid point. One life vs. 7 or 8 (Google says the estimated population by 2030 will be 8.4 billion, so subtract a few for 2027 :P) billion lives is a pretty fair trade, even if Snow is that one life. Brad isn't a bad guy, he's just thinking about the greater good. Even if Snow's death just buys them more time, he's all for it. It's not that he wants to kill Snow or anything. He doesn't and he wouldn't enjoy it, but he would do it if it had to be done. He's certainly not going to just go and do it directly against Michael's orders, but if things got bad enough... well, who knows? Desperation drives people to do things they might otherwise wouldn't.

Sara's files were a punch to the gut the girls didn't need, that's for sure. Even though they all knew what Sara was like, they didn't realize she thought about them like that. That's still a tough thing to find out about someone that was supposedly your friend. That's an interesting theory, I must say. JTG would have had access to Sara's computer, so she would have been able to edit, delete, add, etc anything she wanted to. Then again, Sara certainly had the capacity to be harsh and she would never have intended the files to be read by anyone but herself. She would also have been stalked by JTG for quite some time by the time these were written, so that could also have affected her way of thinking and her attitude. Or maybe Sara was just that mean :P Well, that's what not being a POV character gets Nikki :P I can't blame you for picking her, either. Her lack of POV means we don't get to see her thoughts when JTG texts come in or anything like that. The others can almost be ruled out because they've all been seen getting texts when they were alone and from their own POV. Nikki doesn't get that. Poor thing :P You know, I honestly am surprised Steven isn't suspected more than he is. Very little is known about him and he absolutely has good reasons to hate Sara, and by extension, the girls. The computer blowing up is another good example. He's a pretty suspicious guy and he could easily be playing them all and they would never see it coming. That's kind of what I want to do and that was a big disappointment for me with Pretty Little Liars. They spent years building up A and it turned out to be someone no one really cared about. I'm not saying JTG is part of the core group, but I want JTG to be someone at least halfway important to the story and for her motivations to be relatable. 

Haha, Gwen the dog girl :P Little Gwen is a character I've been wanting to introduce for quite a while, but it's never felt like the right time. Before I end this, I'm planning to introduce at least two new characters and Gwen was one of them. I can safely say Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't my influence for Gwen, although I have seen the anime. In fact, Gwen changed significantly just recently. I can't say where the influence for those changes come from because it would tell you too much about her. Let's just say she was always meant to be exactly what she is, but when I saw this character in a youtube video I knew I had to alter her mannerisms to match. The temptation was just too much to resist :P After we get to the part where more about Gwen is revealed I'll have to link you to the video. You'll... you'll see xD As for Clara and Jacob, yeah it's a really bad situation. Clara wants to tell him so badly, but she can't risk angering JTG who she knows will follow through on her threat. I did consider letting her tell him for a moment, but I've got to admit that the opportunity for so much more drama was too hard to resist. I'm a bad person :P

Yeah, the confrontation with Tony was never going to go well, was it? I don't think I managed to convince anyone Tony was JTG to be honest. I wasn't really trying to and how anti-climactic would it have been if he had been? Or maybe since nobody bought into the idea, it might have actually worked out really well? Hmm. Anyway, Tony is... well, a lot of things :P An accomplished liar is one of them, so take everything he says with a grain of salt. There's a lot more to his story than has been revealed. You might be able to pick up a hint of part of it from this chapter, although no one else that's read this has said they have, so maybe not :P A lot of seemingly unrelated storylines are tied together and we're just now starting to get to the point where some of that is starting to come out. On the JTG side of things, Tony knows more about a lot of things than he lets on. Is JTG one of those things? Who's to say? Anyway, you probably should be a bit worried about Snow and Jackson right now. Tony is desperate and again desperation can lead people to doing things they might otherwise not do. Then again, Tony is pretty smart and murdering two teenagers in his own home isn't exactly a wise move. Unless this is all a trap and Tony is working with JTG and this was the plan all along. I mean, stranger things have happened, right? :P Anyway, thanks again for the comment! I'll be getting to Stories from the Island in the next day or so. I've already read it, but I've been in Florida since Wednesday for Star Wars Celebration so I've been a bit busy fangirling over the last few days :P 

Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from breaking my heart? Do you? Do you? I mean, really? Okay, I suppose I shouldn’t start there. Let’s start at the beginning and work our way towards the heartache. The beginning with Janelle and Ben was quite interesting. Janelle makes a good point that all of this is very similar to her original plan and subsequent defeat the last time she tried to attack the Gifted head on. It makes sense to me that she’d have a hard time believing that this go around would be any different. Better prepared or not, it’s the Gifted we’re talking about. I have to admit that I tend to subscribe to the idea of hope for the best but expect the worst. Its much harder to be disappointed that way and I agree with Janelle’s thinking that its better to expect the bad and then if they win she can be pleasantly surprised. All that said, however, Ben also makes a good point. Too much doubt and negativity is bad for morale all the way around. A lack of confidence is no help at all and it’s a good thing to keep a little hope alive. After all, as someone in my new favorite Star Wars movie happened to say; rebellions are built on hope :P I’ve been quietly hoping for some Benelle (that’s what I’ve been calling them for a while now :P Blame my sister for my obsession with shipping names. She has one for everyone. I’m now one half of ‘Clarina’. I hate her :P Anyway, off topic) and I’m glad to see some of my hopes coming through. I can’t blame Janelle for resisting, however. It wasn’t that long ago that Reagan left us and she’s not exactly over him. I don’t think Janelle’s ready for a new relationship quite yet, even though I get good vibes from Ben for the most part. Hopefully they really do get a chance to talk about it later, although I won’t get my hopes up just in case :P

If only you knew what Carey and the others have gotten into, Janelle. You wouldn’t be so confident she’ll be at the base once you’re done. Cause, yeah… she’s not there. Complications arose, Gift of Earth rebellions started, detours were taken… she’s busy. Anyway, I said I was expecting quite a battle and that’s exactly what I got. Your action sequences continue to impress and honestly this might be my favorite yet. You manage to give a good amount of detail, explaining the combatants actions clearly without it becoming boring. Instead, there’s just enough to see what’s happening without taking the time to intricately each person’s every move. The fights flow well and the combination of Gifts, swordplay, and ranged combat all work together to make some very interesting fights. The battle was tense and excitement and I was scared (for good reason) all the way through. In a story like this where it never feels like the characters are ever truly safe, these scenes are a great way to scare the hell out of me. I knew we would be losing people, but I wasn’t at all sure who it would be.

Okay, so that brings me to this part. I don’t really want to talk about it, but I have to. I really don’t know what to say. I saw it coming though, the second you split Brooke and Evelyn up I knew one of them wasn’t going to make it. You surprised me because I’d pegged Evelyn to be the one to die, but no you decided to go for the jugular and take sweet Brooke. Okay, since I’m not able to do this from the standpoint of someone invested in these characters at the moment, let’s start from a narrative standpoint. In that way, Brooke’s death is actually a really interesting choice. The type of character Brooke was, so young and lively and bubbly, that loss will certainly be felt by everyone. Evelyn, obviously, is devastated and she should be. But also this serves as a great reminder of exactly what it happening here. This is war. Not a war happening on foreign land between soldiers, but a war taking place in the villages and towns where friends and family live. This is war where kids are either taking up arms to fight, or just get caught in the middle. Ack, damn you’re getting too good at making me cry. I guess it’s a testament to your writing that this is hitting me so hard. Brooke wasn’t around all that long in the grand scheme, but when she died it was like… I don’t know, but it really hurt. I’m just… no, I can’t right now. Brooke, you were the bright spot in a dark world. You will be deeply missed and your sacrifice will be remembered. Sleep well.

Anyway, this battle doesn’t appear to have gone all that well for the rebellion. It was a tactical defeat, no doubt, but it may end up being a strategic victory. A difference was made here and the lives lost will hopefully serve a purpose. They didn’t win in the traditional sense, but a point was definitely made. Overall, this was an exciting, tense, and heartbreaking chapter that I honestly wasn’t prepared for. I knew when this chapter came along and we got to the battle it was going to be bad, but damn, I underestimated the emotional impact. I’m going to stay hopeful that Ben will be okay. I can’t take losing anyone else at the moment, and I really want Janelle and Ben to have that conversation. I’m worried for him, but… he’ll be okay. Right? Anyway, this was a really good chapter with lots of action and excitement. Good job!

Thanks for commenting! :) Haha, yeah she finally remembered :P The entire first paragraph should really just read like this; Serina is an idiot. This should have happened in the last chapter. Please try to forgive her, she's shockingly forgetful. Seriously, that's pretty much what I was thinking the entire time :P I started to edit the last chapter to add it in, but that would have required people to go back and reread a chapter they'd already read so in the end this is what I came up with to fix my mistake. I got to bring back future Ariana though, so I suppose some good came out of it. Bringing Rose back has been on my list of things I want to do for a really long time but I haven't been able to find a suitable spot to fit her in. She was going to be the one to visit Snow in the hospital, but it made more sense for Claire to do that instead, so Rose was replaced. Still, Rose is still out there giving advice and guiding. She'll reappear again at some point. She mainly appeared in this chapter just to remind people that I have not forgotten about the Fate/Destiny storyline either xD It's still there, it's just sort of in the background like it was for the majority of Warehouse. As for future Ariana, I'm just going to leave all of that up to your imagination for now. This isn't something I plan to address for a good while. In fact, at the moment I have no plans to bring future Ariana back for a third visit. That said, I've been developing plans for the future. I've always wanted to try my hand at writing fantasy and I'm using this as a way to slowly create a fantasy world without having to jump into it immediately. Fantasy isn't an area that I feel at all comfortable writing in, so I need to ease myself into it :P I have the Coven and their school that I can go and tell stories in some day, or I can do something with Sienna and Divinity, or Michael and the Dawnguard. It's all connected in a way, but they could all be separate stories able to be read without ever needing to read any of the others. A sort of anthology series or something. Future Ariana would certainly be part of that in some way. And on that note, I'm completely rambling and totally off topic :P

I've had that scene with Sophia in the back of my mind for years. Even when Sophia's Mike (I've got to stop naming new characters after old ones :P) died, I had a vague idea of this scene even though I had no idea what would bring it about. Actually, 'idea' is too strong of a word for what I had in mind at the time, but still :P In a way, this chapter is the payoff for something I've been planning for years. That's one reason why I specifically didn't mention Sophia's feelings on the matter at the time. I knew I wanted to do this scene (which for whatever reason always took place in a basement, although for the life of me I don't know why) so I held off for a while. This isn't something Sophia would have hit Snow with right after everything happened, so it was pushed back to now. I completely agree with you about Snow's feelings on being selfish. She's being really hard on herself. I'd say she's got the right to be a little selfish with everything she's dealing with. At this point though, she's begun to realize just how much she doesn't ever want to be like Sara and everything Steven told her back on Founder's Day has weighed on her ever since. She doesn't want Steven to be right, yet she's staring at proof that he was. That's really hard for her to deal with. She wants to be better than Sara was, but now she's convinced she's no better at all and that's really painful for her.

Clara is definitely reaching her breaking point, that's a certainty. All of them are, really. She's consumed by guilt over what she did to Jacob, and the relationship she's built with him (and her potential feelings for him) has only made things worse. She wants to tell him the truth, but after what happened the last time she crossed JTG, she's rightfully scared. JTG had her mother fired within a day just for blocking her number, so if she outright defies JTG's instructions not to tell Jacob the truth, then she's just asking for trouble. Then again, it's JTG we're talking about :P She makes up her own rules, so who knows? Maybe she'll throw a monkey wrench into the whole situation. Anything's possible. Anyway, I'm glad you liked this part of the chapter. I've been wanting to include Jacob much more than I have, but with so many characters all demanding attention he just doesn't get as much page time. Also, for a long time I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with him. He was a plot device for Clara's secret and nothing more. Now that I know how I'm going to use him, he should start to appear that much more. As for what might happen when they meet... well, things will happen. Let's just leave it at that :P   

Lol, no, no, they couldn't possibly have gotten access to all of Sara's secrets. It would have told them too much and where would the fun be in that? xD It was JTG, by the way, that fried the computer. It's not made explicitly clear in the chapter, but its not meant to be any kind of big secret. As for what's in the rest of the files, they'll be looking at those in the next chapter. That video kind of distracted them :P Anyway, with Miranda I'd say its less that she wanted to destroy him and more about the fact that she could if she wanted to. She's blackmailing him, basically, into giving her whatever she wants. She had his career, his marriage, and his reputation held in her hands. There wasn't much poor Tony could do. Heh, well you probably should be worried about Snow's plan. It's rash, no doubt, but they do have to do something. It may not work, but for the moment it's all they've got. I suppose that's really one of their biggest problems at the moment. They're convinced that Tony and Rachel are their only enemy, and based on the evidence they've collected I can't really blame them. Still, it's certainly possible that Tony and Rachel have someone or even a group of people helping them and if they do then all of their planning might be completely for naught. If they're wrong and Tony and Miranda aren't alone in all this, Snow and the gang could be in a lot more trouble than they realize. Rachel does have a job, by the way. I have no idea if I ever mentioned it before and right now I couldn't even tell you what job she's supposed to have, but she does indeed have one :P Allow that to affect your JTG theories however you wish xD

It was Emilia that Zoe fought, so no reason at all to feel like an idiot :P The only reason I didn't outright confirm it in the chapter is because Zoe has no idea who Emilia is and it would have seemed odd for her to announce herself so directly before doing battle :P Anyway, yes, it was her and she's not that shy, nervous girl anymore, is she? You'll find out pretty quickly what Zoe thinks about whether or not Emilia is dead, and maybe get a bit more information about... related stuff xD Anything else I say would drift into spoiler territory, I'm afraid. But yeah, some of the magical stuff is starting to filter in more and more. It's certainly an uncomfortable time for me because, well I have to write scenes like that battle from time to time. That was quite a challenge considering how short it was and I'm not at all sure of the quality of the fight, but it was my first non-scifi action sequence so I guess it'll do. But yes, stuff and things are coming. I still don't know how much will happen before the sequel comes around, though. With this chapter we've entered Snowfall's final act and I'm pretty focused on JTG leading up to the finale which is approaching faster than I expected, so the magic may take a bit of a backseat to the JTG mystery. If so, the Coven and especially Sienna wouldn't appear until the sequel, but I can say with certainty that if they do get pushed to the sequel, you can expect much more of the magical storyline right from the start and hopefully it'll be worth the wait. There will be a lot less secrets on that front to be sure and it'll take a much more upfront role than it has so far. That'll be great for me as well because I can finally stop holding back so many secrets :P

I'm sorry for taking ages to get to this. I read it just after you posted it, but sadly it's been a crazy couple of weeks and I haven't had a chance to comment until now. Anyway, this... heartbreaking doesn't quite describe what I feel when I read this. It's beautiful in a way, but really sad. I expected this to be a sad one considering that opening, but this really tugged at the heartstrings. As much as I hate to make the reference, there's a bit of a Romeo and Juliet feel to this in the way that 805 and Michelle are star-crossed lovers and we already know that they're doomed from the very beginning. And yet despite that, I still found myself hoping 805 would agree to run away with Michelle even though I know he doesn't. I'm also left wondering what might have happened if Michelle had told him she was pregnant. It seems pretty clear that's what she initially intended to tell him and I'm quite curious what he would have done if he had known at the time. I still don't think he would have run away with her, but I suppose anything is possible. As for the woman in 805's dream there at the beginning, at first I thought it could be his mother, but then that doesn't really make much sense seeing as he has said that his family doesn't mean anything to him and he doesn't know them anyway, so that's unlikely. Maybe his trainer? I feel like it's really obvious and I'm just missing it. That's what I get for trying to form thoughts after one in the morning :P

It was nice to see this side of 805. He seems very different from the 805 that we know from the main series. He's younger and in love and it was good to see that part of him. We don't get to see a happy 805 on a regular basis and although he wasn't particularly happy for much of this story at all, there's a glimpse of it so I enjoyed that. And in a complete and total mood whiplash (:P) we also get to see exactly what 805 meant when he told Carey that he didn't want to live and tried to make it happen. It was interesting that it was this that Michelle was thinking about when she decided not to tell him about her pregnancy. I imagine she was considering what he might do if she told him the truth and I can't blame her for keeping it to herself despite how hard it must have been. Still, their final moments together were really sweet and Michelle taught him a valuable lesson: Gifted can fall in love. And then the ending with him realizing that he'll never see Michelle again and starts to cry... let's put it this way, you're getting way too good at making me cry :P Anyway, this one might be my favorite of the short stories so far. There's a lot of backstory which I always like and it adds so much to 805's character. This is definitely one of those times that goes to show that some of the best romances can be the ones where love doesn't conquer all. You know from the start what happens and that they're doomed, but even so I wanted them to make it. I'm not sure how you managed to make me feel that, but you did it and you did it well. Good job :)

"Besides, you're pretty hot, so it's worth it." That is exactly what every single one of his fangirls says xD Oh, or maybe that's just me and Hahana... nevermind :P

Whew, that was an intense opening. I expected we'd be in for a wild ride when Janelle and Wesley appeared again and I was not disappointed. Their escape from the Gifted was tense and exciting and I can't deny I was expecting a sudden and violent death so I was glad that didn't happen and they made it away safely. Stanley, meanwhile :( But we didn't see it happen and Evelyn and Brooke seemed to only hear yelling, so I suppose it's possible he got away. I really liked the part with Janelle trapped in the circle of earth, as well as her rather clever escape. I've got to say, Janelle's pretty badass xD I liked her thoughts on killing the Gifted man as well Our heroes haven't exactly killed whole swaths of people (Carey's well on her way, however :P) and it's interesting to see how it affects them when they are forced to kill. Her thoughts on the matter ring true, I feel. There are good and bad people on both sides, but there's a war on and there's one truth that is constant in war; people die. Then again, this guy did mention disposing of her friend rather casually so maybe he's not exactly all that great of a person.

Evelyn makes a fair point about bringing Lena along. I can see where she's coming from, sure. Bringing a pregnant woman into a war zone isn't exactly the best idea. If they have to flee quickly, Lena would be a major liability. That said, I'm glad Janelle overruled Evelyn and brought her along. In a way, Janelle and Wesley brought the war right to Alex and Lena's doorstep so I suppose they kind of owe her in that regard. Having her along is impractical and potentially very dangerous, but it was by far the right thing to do. I was glad to see Ben's group made it back safely, although how long they'll stay safe is anyone's guess. With the Gifted having now arrived in force, I feel there's quite a battle looming on the horizon and I doubt the Knights of the Vale are waiting nearby to swoop in at the eleventh hour if things go badly. Janelle and Ben... plan carefully. There's a lot of beloved characters in the line of fire here.   

Geez, 256 :( I feel really bad for him now. I mean, I kind of expected what happened to his mother, but watching him learn the truth was heartbreaking. He seems so sure that she left to find him. I don't cry much when reading, but damn that got to me. Still, seeing him getting to know his father a little was really nice as was his realization at the end that there are other types of families than the one he'd always envisioned and perhaps he can one day be part of that. David seems like an all-around good guy and I liked what he had to say about 256 being Gifted and that he doesn't care at all that he's one of them. His willingness to learn about 256's Gift and how he says its part of him... that was really sweet. It was also good to learn more about how 256 was taken and why David believed he had probably died. I guess in a way the Gifted saved 256's life. Since they obviously have much better medical facilities and just general knowledge on the subject than the nonGifted, 256 might very well have died if they hadn't taken him. Hmm, and here I was thinking I'd never have to thank the Gifted for something :P Anyway, I liked what you did with 256 and David's interactions. David seems so open and willing to invite his son into his home, but 256 just seems so unsure of everything.

I can't say I blame Sarah for her reaction. As far as she's concerned, some guy just showed up at her doorstep claiming to be her son and ends up revealing her husband's deception. I don't really like using the word deception here since I don't think David at all intended anymore more than exactly what he says, but I can't think of a better word. She's justified in feeling hurt and betrayed and I can completely understand why she might not be 256's biggest fan at the moment. That said, I do hope she'll come around and help make 256 feel welcome. I'm sure it would be very awkward for her, but I'll stay hopeful for the time being.

Haha, filled with a new hope. I know it wasn't an intentional Star Wars reference, but for some reason I got a giggle out of that xD But I'm really glad that 256 is more upbeat about things by the end. That was a nice, positive note to end the chapter on. Anyway, sorry for taking ages to get to this. Claire's given permission to blame her completely :P When I said I needed someone to schedule my days for me, I meant someone that would better balance my time so I actually manage to get things done. Insisting I spend my evenings on the couch engrossed in a True Blood marathon does not a productive night make xD Regardless, this was a really good chapter and as usual I'm worried about the lives of practically everyone, especially Janelle and the gang now that they're facing off against a reinforced group of Gifted.

I was hoping there would be a story with more detail about the Servants, and this one is exactly what I was looking for. The Servants probably have it worse than just about anyone on the island, so it's good to finally see the world from their perspective. Seeing how they live and how they're treated in more detail is really sad. I mean, it's obvious that the Gifted see them as little more than slaves, but with the way the Gift of Fire talks about "one of them" and his smile and everything he says there at the end... geez. I mean, it's no surprise the Servants go into hysterics if they're even slightly reprimanded. If you know you might have your fingernails torn out or something, you're going to panic a bit.

I do wonder what the Gift of Fire was doing when he left the Servant in the library alone. Since its clear he wasn't supposed to, I'm curious what he's getting up to. I can't imagine he's doing it as some sort of test for the Servant to see if he'll break and do something he's not supposed to. Given the Gifted's views of the Servants, that seems like too much time and effort spent on one of them. Curious. And also, the Gift of Fire's words upon returning are interesting. Sorry about that. That's an interesting choice of words. Why would he apologize to the Servant for leaving him there? Based upon what he says later on, he certainly doesn't think he could ever possibly inconvenience the Servant, so that's interesting as well.    

The ending went roughly as I expected until, well, it didn't :P The second the Servant picked up that book, I knew he was sure to be caught and punished. Once he punched the Gift of Fire, I was pretty sure he was going to die. And then you turned what could have been one of the saddest stories I've read into something quite hopeful. I loved that. I was bracing for something heartbreaking, but instead what we got was a young man free from the Gifted and on the cusp of a new life. Talk about a mood whiplash xD And Rosa! Now, I know there could be other Rosas on the Island, but somehow I imagine this particular Rosa grows up to be an innkeeper. Anyway, this was another good little adventure into a different part of the world that we don't get to see much of. I thought you did a good job making me care about a character whose name we never even learn and you did it in a rather short span of time as well. Good job on this one. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next one is about :)

Yay! You decided to do it :) I'm actually really excited for these since based on what you've said they sound intriguing. This first one is quite interesting. It was nice to get to see something so normal as a little girl's first day of school. It's such a change, both narratively and tonally, from the main story that it's quite jarring, but in a good way. Little Janelle is absolutely adorable! I like what you did with the way she speaks as well, it makes her seem that much more childlike and far removed from the woman we know. It was nice to see a bit of Janelle's family as well. I feel like we know quite a bit about them given the stories Janelle has told, but it's good to actually meet them properly. Oh, and Michelle as well! This had made me want to see more of her, especially after the things Gina said. By the way, I don't think I've ever gotten the urge to punch someone in the face quite as fast as you made me want to punch Gina. That takes talent, no doubt xD. Literally, she's annoying from her first sentence :P   

It's safe to say I did not at all expect Alex to appear here. Seeing how they met and him giving her the nickname Jan was quite interesting. I guess I'd always assumed they had met when they had been a little older, so the fact that they met so young surprised me. This also serves as a great reminder that Alex, despite what he became, at one time was just a little boy. Perhaps a rambunctious little boy that runs away from his mother, but a little boy nonetheless. I must say, I do wonder why his mother wanted him to stay home from school. Seeing young Tom and Sam was interesting too. Tom seems happier here than he does normally, which I suppose would make sense considering. Still, seeing him fiddling about with his gloves and knowing what he's hiding is really sad. It was also sad to see Amy's behavior towards Sam. It seems pretty clear that people know Tom and Sam don't share the same father, but that's not Sam's fault. Of course, I'm assuming that's the reason for her response.

 "Our mine hasn't had a collapse in years." That right there is what we call famous last words :P That's akin to asking; "What could possibly go wrong?" Lots of things, John. Lots of things could go wrong. Stop jinxing yourself, sir :P Anyway, I really enjoyed this tiny bit of backstory and I'll be sure to get to the next one soon. This definitely adds to the main series, that's for sure. There's a lot of little things that if someone ignores your warnings and hadn't been reading Gifted/Cursed wouldn't pick up on but are clear to anyone who's been reading. It's well-written and it kept me interested all the way through to the end. In fact, you managed to leave me wanting more, especially with that last line. If only you knew, Janelle. If only you knew. 

It's perfectly fine if you take a while, I completely understand :) Well, JTG's plans for Sophia are a bit more... long term, I suppose. She's only sent Sophia the one text after all, so she's not in any hurry to help Sophia learn the truth. As for your theory that there may be more to Miranda's death than is known, well there's more to everything than is currently known, so you may be on to something. It's safe to assume that you don't know what you think you know :P Also, I should point out that JTG never actually said that Miranda and Sara were killed by the same person. She said: "What if I help you kill two birds with one stone? I know who killed Sara and Miranda Sinclair." Sophia certainly took that to mean they were both killed by the same person, but JTG didn't definitively say that.

Well, I'm glad you thought the morning after bits were okay. This chapter took way longer to write than I'd planned and it was this scene that caused most of it. Hahaha, poor Michael :P He's never going to win, is he? How many creepiness points is he up to now? He'll never recover xD Heh, your confidence in my ability to write teenage pregnancy well might be misplaced :P I have no idea how well I'd be able to write something like that if I went that way with it because I've never even attempted it before. This is yet another point that I'm honestly on the fence about. I could go either way at the moment and have story ideas for both outcomes. Mainly I'm fascinated by the idea of Snow being pregnant with Michael's baby when she finds out about Mary. Yeah, I'm sadistic like that :P Still, you're right that a baby is the last thing Snow needs to deal with right now. Her dream has helped her, but that's less about the baby and more about the idea that she's been able to live her life and be happy despite her mother's death. That and also because I'm really tired of writing horrible depressed and emotionally devastated Snow. I was honestly planning on keeping Snow in a dark place for a while longer still, but given that I try to put myself in the same emotional state as my characters, it was beginning to take more of an emotional toll on me than I was willing to accept. I mean, the chapter where Snow finds out about Ariana was written almost a year ago, so yeah. Anyway, as a result Snow's bouncing back more quickly than I'd planned, but oh well. Um... *silently commences Operation: Don't Look Like A Complete Idiot* yeah, the morning after pill. Right. Well, see, what had happened was this story takes place in the future. It takes place in 2027, so in that time doctors realized that the morning after pill was causing debilitating illnesses in women taking it, so it was banned. No one is allowed to sell it or produce it anymore. See? That's a totally believable turn of events and I absolutely didn't forget all about the morning after pill and make up all that on the spot. There's absolutely no reason for me to go back and edit anything about the morning after pill at all. No, I've made zero mistakes here and don't need to go back and edit anything. These are not the droids you're looking for. Nothing to worry about. Move along :P

Hmph, Hogwarts? Hogwash. Ilvermorny's where it's at :P Yeah, that's probably the laziest name for a school of magic and I'll admit I didn't put a lot of time into it. At the moment I doubt we'll ever even see Newcastle (unless I ever decide to go ahead with that Coven-focused short story I've got bouncing around in my head) but I still wanted to flesh out the Coven a little bit before we meet them properly. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but Sienna isn't going to appear for quite a while. In fact, she likely won't appear until the sequel but hopefully the wait will be worth it. She's not at all what most people think of when they think of a princess, let's put it that way. Hmm, you're the second person to think of the city of Alexandria. Interesting. I'll just say that you're not completely off the mark with that one. Not completely off the mark at all. As for Sienna's kingdom, it's actually called Divinity. It's been mentioned, but I've never made it at all clear that Divinity was her kingdom. 

The meeting with Dr Pinder was probably the thing that has helped Snow the most, although I don't think she's realized it yet. He's set her on the right track for recovery, but it's still up to her to stay on course. Good old Dr. Pinder has decades of experience in dealing with secretive, closed off people so he's gotten really good at reading people so he picks up on the JTG problem fairly quickly. He has no idea what's going on, of course, but he can tell she's keeping something big to herself. When I started this chapter I hadn't planned on talking about Ariana's time there at all. When I was writing it just seemed to fit so I went with it. I was glad because I never really explored too much of what happened to Ariana while she was at Harbor Bay, so it was fun to get to do that. And yes, Pookie is quite safe and going to live with a nice family. But no, it's not at all because JTG loves cats and has everything to do with scaring the crap out of Snow and making her realize just how far she's willing to go. Snow suspected it before, but now she knows that JTG can and will kill people.

Hahahaha, I'm sorry xD That line just fit so perfectly into this that I knew it had to be the title. Given my love of Taylor Swift, it was bound to happen and once I thought of it I couldn't change it. But at least you didn't get Holiday stuck in your head after the last chapter since that title is a line from that song :P Apparently I'm choosing my titles based on song lyrics now or something, I don't know. Anyway, thanks so much for commenting :) Oh, and Merry Christmas! I know it's early but unless I get a sudden injection of free time between now and Sunday (and given all the holiday related stuff I have going on over the next couple of days, that seems unlikely) I won't be able to return the PM before Christmas, so I'll just say it here instead xD 

Oh, the feels! So so many feels in the chapter and I was completely unprepared for it. I wasn't expecting this chapter to make me as happy as it did, either. Good things have happened and I'm just... ah, good times xD Anyway, Carey and Sam there at the beginning were, as usual, entirely too cute and funny. Carey did about as good a job as I would have when attempting to hide something :P I may have said this before but I can't remember if I have because my memory's crap, but you do a great job at creating fantastic characters with storylines that are completely capable of standing on their own. Characters are, to me at least, the most important part of a good story. A story with just these characters and their personal storylines of dealing with family issues and stuff would be perfectly interesting even without the overarching plot that ties it all together. I'm rambling and getting completely off topic, but Carey and Sam at the beginning reminded me of all that. Anyway, I completely understand where Sam is coming from when she says she's annoyed that she's annoyed. It's understandable despite their relationship (or lack thereof) that she would be annoyed by 805's actions. At the end of the day, he's still her father and watching him drink himself unconscious likely would bother her, even if she's not all that fond of him. Speaking of 805, I'm glad he's okay. I was really worried about him in the last chapter, so I was glad to see he's hanging in there and keeping his fangirl close by :P Hahana, as always, is hilarious. I mean, it was a perfectly fitting Hahana plan to build a bridge across the ocean even if she was only saying it to cheer 805 up. She's actually really sweet, isn't she? Although I do wonder why Maui seemed sad. There's a story there.

The scene at the graveyard was quite sad. As 805 says, I think its fitting that Michelle's gravestone engraving is fairly straightforward and simple. Sam is usually a woman of few words after all. I imagine I'd feel the same and nothing I could think of for my parent's gravestone would never be enough. I loved the moment with 805 and Sam just standing there together. I thought it was sweet and a tiny little step towards creating some sort of relationship. I still don't know if they'll ever be anything more than what they are now, but things like this give me a tiny bit of hope that they could be. It's a long way away regardless. Well, damn. I didn't expect them to run into Alex. That was quite a surprise, almost as surprising as I sure Sam's sudden assault was for poor Alex :P I won't say he deserved it, but in the same situation I'd have the same response Sam did. Hahana has a good point that revenge doesn't really get you anywhere, but being the better person just isn't nearly as satisfying as punching someone in the face :P Still, it's very possible that Alexander is a completely different person now than he was back then and if he is then I feel he deserves a chance to earn forgiveness. Then again, he could be a massive asshat in which case I don't feel much sympathy for him. Either way, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment until I see what he's up to.

Oh, 256 :) Oh, I'm so happy right now. I never actually thought he'd find his family. I mean, that just usually doesn't happen in these types of stories so I'm really glad you went this way. Typically they're dead or something else horrible has happened to them, so going this direction is a really nice change from the norm. I know terrible things could still happen, but I'm going to take what you've given me for now :P Although I am interested in the differences between his father's reaction and his mother's. She didn't really act as though it were even possible 256 were her son, yet you can tell instantly that David knows something just by the way he responds. I'm wondering now if maybe something has happened to his mother and his father has since remarried. It has been a really long time, after all. Then again, as David said he never thought 256 would survive anyway, so maybe she just doesn't think its possible. Hmm, but that raises another interesting question; why did David think 256 wouldn't survive? I can't imagine the Gifted have too high of a death rate when it comes to their stolen children. That's very interesting. And Gareth! It was October 19th, 2014 when you told me 256's name started with a G. I've been waiting for this moment for two years one month and eighteen days. Let's put it this way; I read this chapter on my tablet on the subway and people will look at you strangely if you squeal excitedly for no apparent reason. I've done this before so I should have learned my lesson by now :P I love it. I never thought of it I'll admit, but I do like it. Of course, I'm reminded of Sir Gareth from Authurian legend. Coincidentally (or perhaps not and you did this on purpose) Gareth seems to mean 'gentle' in Welsh, which does seem to be a trait of 256's. Also, if you haven't already, don't look up Gareth on Urban Dictionary. I'm serious. You'll regret it and never look at 256 the same way again :P Anyway, okay I'm officially in love with Helena xD She's awesome and I hope we get to see more of her. She's stubbornly persistent, isn't she? I guess someone should have told 256 that some names are girl's names and others are boy's names :P Of course you're a girl. I laughed way too much at that line, I must say. I did feel sorry for 256 though, poor guy. It seems like he's been mistaken for being a girl quite a few times in the past.

Anyway, I've rambled enough for tonight. I went into this chapter expecting... well, I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I wasn't prepared for all the feels at the end. I think you did a really good job building up 256 meeting his family, only to seemingly have it ripped away from him before turning it around again and having him meet his father. Hmm, you know what? Maybe we should just start doing a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants thing and share this mood whiplash crown :P Anyway, this was a good, emotional chapter with a number of funny moments to balance it all out. I can't wait to see what happens next, especially with 256 (or should I start calling him Gareth now?) and his newfound family. 

No worries for taking a while :) Believe me, I understand. Besides, I know you've been busy with school and stuff and until I start paying you for this service, I don't have any reason to complain :P I think you're completely correct that there's really nothing Ariana and Kayla could have done to prepare Snow for what's happening. Snow certainly was sheltered and she isn't at all prepared to face a world that doesn't love her and want the best for her, but what's going on now isn't something they could have helped her be ready to deal with. So yeah, Ariana is being quite hard on herself in that regard. Still, you'd be hard pressed to convince her of that at the moment. It's probably her biggest fear now, dying and leaving Snow unprepared and she genuinely feels that she failed to do that. Of course, now she's afraid she doesn't have enough time left to fix her 'mistake'. Hahaha, its funny you mention fancy lingerie because I was considering her doing something along those lines in addition to dying her hair. I cut it though simply because in Snow's mindset when they left for the warehouse, she wasn't even thinking about the possibility that she might end up sleeping with Michael. She knew it could potentially happen, but she didn't plan it, so bringing sexy lingerie didn't fit. But yeah, I'd been thinking of having Snow do something with her hair for a while I just wasn't sure what. It took a while before I finally settled on her dyeing it. It's definitely refreshing for her and it has helped her a little bit. Not a lot, mind, but it's a step in the right direction. As for what everyone will say back home... well, I imagine she'll definitely get some comments on it, that's for sure :P

I know right? Mary always seems to have to worst luck :( The person she's talking about isn't anyone we've met yet. He's but one of a rather sizable group of new characters waiting in the wings to be introduced. He'll appear at some point in the future, although likely not until the next story in the series. As I'm planning on wrapping this one up somewhere around chapter 60-65, I don't have time to bring him in. He's out there somewhere though xD Yes, I was glad to finally get to bring Rachel in as well. She's super fun xD She's the kind of villain I love writing. She's justified, in a way, for doing the things she's doing. These girls in essence murdered her daughter and she wants revenge. I can't really say I blame her all that much, unfortunately. But what makes me like writing her is that she's utterly ruthless and definitely vengeful. She wants revenge and she won't stop until she gets it. Haha, well hopefully this Rachel did throw you off. I mean, if your sister is anything like my Rachel you might want to call the police xD Hmm, who took the photo indeed? That's a good question, so of course I'm not going to answer it :P Maybe Rachel took it herself? Although, anyone could have been lurking in the woods that night. I like that the sense of someone else lurking in the shadows seems to still be holding on. Even though I'm obviously supporting the idea that Tony and Rachel are JTG, we've not officially said that's the case so I'm glad you still think there's someone else out there. Also, I think it's safe to say at this point that you might not have to wait too much longer to find out if you're right.

Yeah, so... this part. Like you, I knew it was coming but I didn't know for sure it would be this chapter. I'd considered putting it off a bit longer since it was all fairly predictable, but here we are. Anyway, I actually agree with you about sex scenes. I don't like writing them at all. I don't write them, honestly. I think I've done two now? Ariana and Kayla had one way back when, but I can't think of another that I've done since then. I'd planned on just doing the typical fade to black and move on and in a way I kind of wish I'd done that. I don't hate this scene, but I'm not completely happy with it and I doubt I ever will be. I had the hardest time with it and I wrote... geez, about six different versions of it before I settled on this. It was tough because like you say it was either going to end up being cheesy or gross. I knew I didn't want to be descriptive and use certain words or give much detail at all. That, of course, ends up heading directly towards the cheesiness since you've got to fill the page with something. Now seems as good a time as any to confess to you the lengths to which I went to write this. I'll admit that I was desperate for inspiration, so like anyone in today's world, I turned to the internet for help. This was a very bad idea :P A quick Google search led me to a lovely little site called Literotica, which is basically the Sparkatale for erotica authors. In the back of my mind, I knew what I was getting into before I even started, but I thought maybe I could find something that would be in the same vein of what I wanted the scene to be and maybe it would inspire me. So, there I am on the main page looking at the categories, and oh are there categories. I won't list them here, but let's just say if you can imagine it (and there were a couple I hadn't thought of before xD) it's there. But right there in the middle was a 'How To' category. Perfect, I thought. Surely this would be a section where people post guides and ideas on erotic storytelling. This would surely be exactly what I needed. I have never in my life been more wrong. The very first article in the list was titled How to Shave Pubic Hair: The Second Best Way. Now, first of all, I have questions. Why the second best way? I mean, if there's a best way, why take the time to explain the second best way. Secondly, how many ways are there to shave? It all seems fairly self explanatory to me. Regardless, slightly disturbed by my first finding, I moved on. The second in the list was dubbed Save the Cat? No, Burn the Bitch. I still have questions, but I was much too frightened to even dare open that one. When I got to number 3, the title of which was so graphic I probably shouldn't type it in the comments section, I promptly closed the website and have since sworn never to return. I've seen things now. Things I can't unsee. I'm a changed woman :P I don't really know why I felt the need to share the depths I sunk to in order to write this, but there it is and now you know. Anyway, hopefully it's not too bad although I doubt I'll be trying my hand at another sex scene again in the near future either way. I was trying to expand my horizons and do something I don't normally do and I've discovered I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as you might think :P 

Anyway, thanks so much for commenting :) Oh, but just because Snow's happy doesn't automatically mean something bad has to happen. This isn't back in the Warehouse days where we constantly go from them being happy to ruining their lives and back again. Besides, what else could I possibly do to Snow at this point? Oh right... lots of things :P

P.S. Experiencedness is now officially added to my vocabulary and I will be using it regularly xD

Ack, sorry for being horribly late with this. This turned into a really long, weird week and I ended up getting some kind of bug that's kept me in bed the last few days. Anyway, firstly, congrats on hitting 210,000 words perfectly on the nose. I doubt you did that on purpose, but still it's cool. So, I must say I have mixed feelings about this chapter. It's wonderfully written from beginning to end, but the emotional turmoil you've left me in will not go away any time soon. But let's start at the beginning and come back to that bit.

Scott is certainly very interesting. As usual with any new character, I'm immediately suspicious of him although I'm not at all sure why. He just seems... I don't know. He seems shifty somehow. Who's this Ennis that wasn't supposed to be visiting? Many questions :P Regardless, getting to learn more about Sam, Thomas, and Scott and their lives before the rebellion was really nice. The lengths Michelle had to go to keep Thomas safe from the Gifted is really sad, having to keep him locked away so often to protect him :( At least he finally met Scott, I imagine that helped him somewhat. Oh, and Sam and Carey sure do end up sharing beds a lot, don't they? Still silently shipping Samrey over here :P But that ending. Geez, that was... unexpected. That conversation between Carey and 805 was very well written. It was great to get more of 805's backstory and see how he and Michelle met and the reasons he chose not to take Thomas away. I really enjoyed that, especially with how closed off 805 usually is. Alcohol will do that to you, I suppose :P But it's really interesting to see that even 805 hated being at the Council. I wonder how many other Gifted have felt the same? And much like Carey, I could've gone my whole life without picturing 805 and Michelle having sex on the couch xD Hahana and I may very well be the founding members of the 805 fan club and have posters of him on our bedroom walls, but there are some things we just don't need to know :P Anyway, I'm very worried for 805, to say the very least. Carey left him alone when he's very drunk and certainly sounds suicidal to me. He's apparently tried to do so before and he's quite clearly not in a good place right now. I don't see this ending well at all. 

As for Janelle's part, well... heck. I knew something bad was going to happen when the Gifted arrived, but wow that escalated quickly :P I thought it would be Alex or his wife that would turn them in. I was sure Alex was leading them into a trap. But no, we've got Polly to thank for that. Random fact, I knew a Polly in high school. She was a troublesome little bitch too :P Still, I can't really blame her for doing what she did. She did what she thought was best even if that makes me want to push her off a cliff. Alex's murder was sudden and really shocking. I wasn't expecting him to die so quickly at all, so that was a surprise. As was Lena's opinion on the rebellion. I would have imagined her view would have been similar to Alex's, but I was glad to be wrong. Hopefully more people will have that same viewpoint, although I imagine Lena (if she survives) will likely have an even stronger opinion on the Gifted after they murdered her husband. I also loved Lena's speech to Alex about the rebellion as well. I was reminded of a quote from Dumbledore in GoF where he says "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." She's right about that. The easy choice isn't always the right one. In fact, it usually isn't. Anyway, I really have no idea how Janelle and Wesley will get out of this one. Unless some of the other rebels somehow come and help, they're outgunned and, once those reinforcements arrive, outnumbered. They're backed into quite the corner and I can't imagine how they'll manage to get out of it. I really liked how you left both sides of the story hanging with lots of tension, danger, and uncertainty even though both sets of characters are in completely different situations. Anyway, enough of my ramblings for one night. I really enjoyed this chapter and you've managed to raise the level of tension and fear significantly in just one chapter. I'm anxiously awaiting the next one because I can't help but feel that not all will end well.

Yeah, I've known everything with Scarlett had to come up soon. I wasn't quite sure when, but I knew it had to be soon. This ended up being a chapter filled with sadness anyway, so I squeezed Scarlett's breakdown in there just so I could be done with it during an already depressing chapter. I mean, I end it by killing millions of people, so you know :P That's always why I put in what I like to call 'Happy Abby' there at the beginning with her talking about her love of space (which is really just me sharing my own love and thoughts about space xD) to counter-balance all the sadness. Abby really did do the best job she could have done trying to help Scarlett. Her self-confidence is practically zero when it comes to anything not related to her job, so she doesn't think she has any hope of actually being any use to Scarlett. Despite that though, she has some pretty strong motherly instincts and they serve her well when she listens to them. As for whether or not Abby will tell Scarlett, well its unlikely that she'll willingly reveal the information unless she's forced to. She doesn't want Scarlett to know, so unless she's forced into it she'll keep it to herself. Scarlett is pretty smart though, so it's certainly possible she could find out on her own. Jake noticed their resemblance quite quickly, so Scarlett could as well. Subconsciously, I think Scarlett already knows but just hasn't realized it yet. But yeah, I wouldn't say you'll have to wait too long to find out. This not being in the mystery genre, I don't have to keep too many secrets xD

You're right that Abby will probably never completely let go of what happened with the car crash. That moment has come to define who she is and why she does some of the things she does. She'll never forgive herself for it, and what's worse is that the navy won't allow her to be punished for it. Her punishment, essentially, is living with it. As you say though, in Abby's situation most people would probably lose their minds. I know I would. She's being exceptionally hard on herself, but that's who Abby is.

The Na'Vaxii have the military and naval power to wipe the Federation from the face of the galaxy. Yeah, just let that sink in for a minute :P The Federation is hopelessly outmatched by the Na'Vaxii in population, military might, industrial capacity, pretty much everything. That said, there certainly are reasons why they haven't just swept humanity aside. It's mentioned somewhere (I hope :P It's supposed to be in there somewhere, but I can't remember exactly which chapter) that the Na'Vaxii destroy one or two planets a year, sometimes less. They hit humanity, knock them back, show them who's boss, and then withdraw engaging only in small skirmishes and random ambushes in the interim. Why attack the Inner Colonies now? There's a reason, but we won't get to it for a very long time :P But still, if you look at how the Na'Vaxii fight the war and how they seem to view the threat level humanity poses to them, you might be able to pretty much figure it out. As for Jake, Abby, Scarlett and the rest, well they'll definitely be involved. We haven't seen the last of Endeavour and the crew either.  

See? This is what happens when I change things :P Scarlett was never meant to be anything but a redhead, it was her natural hair color. But then I got the bright idea (after writing hundreds of pages worth of material with her as a redhead) that she and Abby would be related and I wanted their hair color to match, so now I've got to go back and change every reference to her being a redhead. Either that, or she'll dye her hair back red again so I don't have to worry about it. On second thought, that's probably what I'll do. 

Thanks for commenting :D Haha, wendigos are a real myth and I’m somewhat fascinated by that particular myth. Sophia on the other hand doesn’t care either way and thinks Brad is just making things up. It wasn’t intentional since the wendigo was the first supernatural creature that popped into my head, but according to folklore, wendigos supposedly are native to the Great Lakes region which is coincidently where the story takes place. Sometimes everything just falls into place xD Anyway, yeah I wasn’t completely sure at what point Sophia would arrive and I ran through a couple of scenarios but ultimately settled on this one for a couple of reasons. The biggest one being that if Sophia were to see that room right now, a lot of things would have to change. Once the JTG secret gets out, its out for good so if I involve Sophia directly and give her too much information then the police have too much information, which disturbs my carefully crafted plans :P Yes, sometimes I have carefully crafted plans. I don't just make this up as I go along. Seriously. Stop looking at me like that :P Sending Sophia out on a mission to figure out what’s going on between Tony and the gang let’s me involve her without having to do much else or involve even more characters. I’m lazy like that :P As for Tony covering for them… well, assuming that he is in fact JTG (and I’m not saying that he is) he would want the game to continue. JTG’s not ready for the game to end and I don’t think she wants the police to get involved just yet, if at all. We still don’t know what it is that JTG actually wants other than to keep playing this game. I imagine JTG would be willing to protect them if it meant continuing the game. If Tony isn’t JTG, then maybe he doesn’t want them to go to jail for breaking and entering, but for murdering his stepdaughter. Or maybe he wants to kill them himself for revenge and involving the police would complicate matters. I’m not being remotely helpful at making you any less confused, am I? Yeah, didn’t think so xD That’s a great observation about Tony and JTG’s demeanors. JTG seems a bit wild and immature and volatile is especially a good word to describe her. I will tell you this much; whoever JTG is he or she is an amazing actor. By the time we get to the end (which is actually coming up a bit faster than I’d anticipated) I don’t suspect anyone to have figured everything out. That’s mainly down to JTG being such a good actor. I’ve said before that by the time we get to the JTG reveal, she’ll be a character that’s appeared in the story previously. But as I’m still going to be introducing a few new characters before then, I’m not saying if she’s appeared yet or not :P      

JTG or not, Tony is that good of an actor as well. He’s a smooth operator and I’ve been thinking of him as Sara on steroids :P He’s a master manipulator, an exceptional liar, and he also has really great hair xD So yeah, his look of concern when the video was mentioned could be him just playing them, or he could be genuinely worried that they have it. Still, you're right that them having the video could certainly bring about some serious repercussions. Tony will in no way, shape, or form want them to keep that video. They may have just made things a lot worse for themselves. And of course no one’s even broached the topic of Tony’s wife, Rachel xD What? I said nothing :P I’m actually quite glad you felt sorry for Jackson here. He’s kind of had a hard time with everything that’s happened between him and Snow. Snow, from his perspective especially, bounced back from their breakup very quickly. She ended up with Michael much faster than Jackson ever thought possible and that hurts him. But yeah, Snow’s way of comforting him doesn’t help at all. It’s probably made him feel worse about it. Snow has her own problems though and she’s still mad at him for punching Michael, so she’s not feeling very friendly toward Jackson at the moment so it probably wasn’t the best time for them to have that conversation. You know, that’s a very interesting question indeed. What would Snow do if she found out Emilia used magic to seduce Jackson and that he was completely innocent and hadn’t actually cheated on her? The fact that he did the same thing that she did helped Snow quite a bit in dealing with that breakup. Both of them were at fault so it made it a bit easier for her. If that weren’t the case… hmm, that’s very interesting and honestly at the moment I don’t have an answer for you. But… maybe someday xD

Lol, my sister constantly refers to Michael as a cradle-robbing pervert so that line was specifically for her xD She got a good laugh out of it too. Going back to the warehouse was a huge help for Snow. She loves that place as much as Ariana does and going back there makes her feel happy despite everything she's dealing with. As for what else will happen at the warehouse, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking then... probably :P I haven't decided for sure, but... yeah, I'm going with 'probably' xD So yeah, Snow's dream/hallucination/actual visit from her time-traveling daughter was as much help to Snow as going to the warehouse. Probably more, come to think of it. It gave her something to fight for, something to believe in. That's the thing she's needed the most; the idea that she could recover from losing her mom. She's starting down the road to recovery. She's still got a long way to go, but this was definitely a turning point for her. Heh, Ariana is absolutely the name I was thinking of for the girl. At least, for her first name. For her middle name, I have other ideas :P I gave her a really toned down version of Ariana's old personality from Warehouse specifically for that reason. I kind of wish I'd kept her around a bit longer because it was fun to write her. Dream or not, I may have to find a way to bring her back at some point. Despite my very best efforts (and believe me, I've tried) nothing I do will ever help Michael become and less creepy than he appears. I wrote some of the sweetest, sappiest, most romantic scenes I could in an attempt to make Michael seem less... well, like the cradle-robbing pervert he appears to be xD All that did was make him seem even creepier than normal xD So, in the creepiness department, poor Michael is screwed :P

I was considering a pretty awful murder for Dennis before I thought it might be more interesting for his death to appear natural. That idea comes from a couple of friends who have told me that if anyone that knows me at all decides they want to kill me they'll just force peanut butter down my throat and no one will ever know I was murdered :P I have lovely friends. But yeah, JTG doesn't want to attract any unwanted attention and another murder in a small town would attract attention. This way, no one's looking for a killer. Well, Dennis had a cat entirely because you mentioned it, so you may as well get to name it too xD I haven't thought up a name yet, but Pookie fits perfectly. He'll find a good home soon, I promise. Someone's taking really good care of him in the meantime though... Bwahahahahaha xD

So 'tomorrow' very quickly turned into 'it's Sunday night and I refuse to go to bed until I finish this' :P Such is my life :/ Anyway, I've been waiting for a chapter from 256's POV ever since Carey told him the truth because I've been really interested in seeing how he's processing everything. Seeing things from his perspective puts everything that's happened between them into... well, perspective. I really like that 256 keeps saying he isn't angry at Carey. Obviously there's feelings of hurt and betrayal there, but 256 certainly has the right to be very angry with Carey. Still, I think it fits his character so much more that he's not outright furious with her and instead seems more confused about why she would keep such a big secret from him. It's so in keeping with the way his character has been portrayed so far. He seems really lost as well as to what he wants to do now. He's talking about going off with 805 or staying in the Lake Village, it seems as though he doesn't know what he wants to do next. That's perfectly understandable and I'm really interested to see what he chooses. He was kind of forced into the rebellion in a way, so now that he has a choice I'm really curious to see what he does.

His thoughts about his past with 440 was interesting as well. Seeing 256 blaming himself for 440's descent into darkness was really saddening. He's heaping a lot of blame on himself for something that isn't his fault. Regardless of anything else that happened (and there's no doubt that what the Gifted did to 440 was horrible) 440 chose his own path. 256 was punished as well and he didn't go the way 440 did, and 256 says himself that he wasn't strong enough for the Gifted, yet still he didn't become what 440 became. I hope 256 can come to see that 440 made his own choices and I'm not sure 256 could have helped him anyway.

256's raid of the Gifted building was tense and nerve-wracking. I was sure he was going to be caught at many different points during that scene. You wrote that entire scene really well and kept the suspense going all the way through as he's struggling with trying to read and worrying the sleeping Gifted might wake up and find him. Especially there at the end when the Servant walks in on him. I expected him to alert the Gifted and 256 to have to make a run for it, so I was surprised when things went a different way. Actually, I loved that. Save us. It reminded me not for the first time that there's another party involved here beyond the Gifted and nonGifted. In fact, I'd wager the Servants have a worse life on average than the regular nonGifted do, and yet it's easy at times to forget about them. They're silent, rarely seen, but probably suffering the most. And perhaps in realizing this, 256 could find a new reason to stay with the rebels? He did promise to try to help them, after all. Perhaps that promise will give him a purpose now.

At least he's found where to look for his family in the end. Or, at least he knows where they were. I doubt his file would have been updated if his family was moved to a different home in the intervening years, or if his father died or was injured and couldn't work so they were kicked out. At the very least, he has a place to start looking. I don't know what he'll find or how things will go if he really does manage to find his family, but I'm glad to see he's getting closer to getting answers and finding out where he comes from. Anyway, before I ramble on too much, this was a really good chapter. There's plenty of suspense and tension throughout, yet the ending is surprisingly hopeful. I'm excited (but getting exceedingly more nervous) to see how things come together for 256. 

Sorry for taking forever to get to this. I wanted to do it sooner, but I'm preparing to move again sine we've got to be out of our current place on the 1st and we've got a lot of crap to pack :P Anyway, that's irrelevant. This chapter was really interesting, particularly the part about Ben. I'm fascinated by Ben, in that his just that type of character that you know there's so much more to him than we've seen. I'm curious to find out what happened between him and his family that caused them to stop caring about him. I doubt it's as straightforward as he makes it out to be, and like Janelle says it must be more than him walking out on his wife. That's not a good thing to do and I'm sure his family would certainly have opinions on that, but surely that wouldn't cause them to seemingly disown him. Very curious. It was also interesting to see how Ben came to join Caleb's group and what led to that. Especially since the Gifted attacked a place that had previously been left alone, that's rather suspicious. The Gifted don't seem the type to go burning down inns without reason, so obviously something was going on there. But what? And is Ben sincere when he says he doesn't know what it was? I think he is, but my honesty meter is known to be a bit off sometimes :P Regardless, I enjoyed learning more about Ben and I hope to see even more of him soon.

I can't blame Janelle for keeping the other mission (and her assorted Gifted friends) a secret from Ben. I like Ben. I like Marina. Hell, I even like Caleb :P But I don't necessarily trust anyone in Caleb's group yet so I'm glad Janelle is staying cautious, especially with 256 and Carey's lives potentially on the line. Anyway, the attitudes of some of the farmers is a bit disturbing, I've got to say. Obviously I would never expect this mission to be simple and I was fully prepared for them to face opposition, but to see two examples of nonGifted outing the rebels to the Gifted is... scary to think about. It makes perfect sense though, I mean again these people are just trying to live their lives and the rebels are destabilizing that just by being there. But that's a powerful thing to try to overcome. It's not devotion to the Gifted, it's a desire to live in peace in the only way they've ever known. I don't quite know how you win people with that view over to your side.

Have I mentioned that I love Brooke? Much like Hahana, that girl has no filter at all. She just says what she likes. Still, Janelle really doesn't need any more reminders of Alex right now. She's already had to deal with Alex the Farmer, so I'm sure she could live without Brooke's new nickname for her. It's interesting that Brooke thinks Janelle might like Ben. I suspect Ben may like Janelle, but I'm not sure Janelle is even thinking about anything like that at the moment. Reagan's death is still much too fresh in her mind, as proven by her taking his shirt out again. She may be recovering from that, but I don't think she's looking for another relationship quite yet. Then again, she doesn't deny it either. Okay, so I know you probably didn't intend for this line to be funny, but there was something about Wesley's observation that the other rebels were, in fact, too rebellious to be very funny xD I know what he means, of course. He's just worried about Carey and couldn't care less about the rebellion. Hopefully he'll finally get a happy reunion, but I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet. I feel like you're either going to give me a Jon and Sansa moment or it'll be like Arya on her way to the Red Wedding and one of them will die within minutes of reuniting xD Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter. Learning more about Ben was great. He's such an interesting character despite his limited screen time thus far. I'm also left feeling even more worried for Janelle now that the nonGifted have started turning the rebels in to the Gifted. I still don't think she's the most likely to die out of the POV characters, but I am much more concerned for her safety. Anyway, I feel like I rambled way more tonight than I normally do. I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to get to 38 tonight as well, but it's now 1am and my sentences are starting to lose coherency (this assumes my sentences were coherent to begin with :P) so I'll have to put it off till tomorrow.

Yeah, Snow doesn't really see the point in seeing a specialist at this point. She doesn't think anyone will be able to help her, so she views it as a waste of time. She only agrees to go because Kayla and Ariana want her to. But you're right, she's talking about Dr. Pinder and if anyone can help Snow, it would be him. I'm always looking for opportunities to bring back members of the old cast, so this seemed the perfect time to Dr. Pinder to return.

I'm glad you enjoyed the break in :) I'm not completely confident in the quality of the writing for that scene. It didn't come as easily as I'd hoped, but it is what it is. The video of Tony and Miranda was a surprise even to me. I've been holding onto that video for a while now, trying to figure out where to fit it in. It was going to be way back in chapter 32 which was meant to be a flashback to the Miranda thing, but when that changed I didn't have a place to work it in. This seems the perfect place to do it. But yes, this is the secret that Sara knew about Miranda. Well, there's more to it (isn't there always :P) but that's the general idea. There are actually several parallels between Miranda and Sara. They were a lot alike. They thought alike and their circumstances ended up pretty similar. Their fathers both died, neither had a close relationship with their mother, they were both very popular, just a lot of things like that. Also, they were both murdered :P Hahaha, well you should be suspicious of Steven. Heck, you should be suspicious of everyone. Steven has a secret just like everyone else and there's every possibility that his secret involves frequent and regular breaking and entering. Or perhaps he's just secretly obsessed with CSI xD

There's been a fairly even divide between people who believe I've revealed JTG in this chapter and those that think Miranda's parents are just a diversion. Who's right? I ain't saying :P I will say that they know about the room. As you say, it would be practically impossible for them not to know about a room like that in their own house. JTG is certainly a ninja, but even she's not that good. As for why she'd want to frame Miranda's parents (assuming they aren't JTG) well, there's any number of reasons for that. She says there at the end that she's bringing her game towards its end. She's preparing to wrap this up and get to her endgame and she knows her identity will come out at that point, but she wouldn't want that to happen beforehand. Or maybe she has a reason to want Tony and Rachel to go down with Snow and the gang. Or maybe she's just out to destroy as many lives as possible. Or, as Claire suggested to me the other day, maybe JTG is actually not the bad guy but is instead a vigilante that's determined to expose everyone's dirty secrets and bring them to justice :P I'm still not sure how I feel about that last one.

I think it'd be safe to say Sophia wouldn't be very happy with them if she caught them breaking into someone's house. Having to arrest all of Snow's friends wouldn't be easy for her at all, especially not now. Still, if she caught them she wouldn't have much choice in the matter. Now, if she were to find the JTG room... things would get interesting. Although, that's likely to happen either way :P Lol, yes, Dennis had to have his cat xD I was determined to bring him back just so he could have his cat. That cat will be safe, no matter what Dennis's fate is. I've already killed one cat in this story. I couldn't stand doing it again. I'm sure we'll see it again at some point in the future. Anyway, thanks so much for the comment and if there was rambling, it was interesting rambling :) Getting people's thoughts and ideas on chapters like these helps immensely. Now, go to bed :P Technically considering its 10:45 at night over here it'd be early in the morning where you are, but whatever :P Extra sleep never hurt anyone.

What does Sam have against you sleeping, Carey? I do believe you've got that the wrong way round, my dear :P Ah, sweet, sweet revenge. I swear, those two are entirely too cute. If you're not careful I'm going to start shipping Camantha before long :P Samrey? Forget it. I'm terrible at coming up with shipping names. Anyway, I find it to be a rare thing that I enjoy a chapter as much as I did this one while at the same time making me feel quite sad. Carey is really in a bad place right now, it seems. 256 as well, but we don't get a POV from him in this chapter so my focus is on Carey. She's clearly not okay, despite repeated affirmations that she is. She seems to be just holding it together all throughout the chapter. Samantha does have a good point that Carey should have told 256 the whole truth about everything 440 did, but even if she had I'm not sure it would have done much to make 256 any less angry. Not that I can blame him for being angry and upset. He has every right to be. Still, I'm glad Carey has such a loyal defender on her side in this even if she did dig the hole for herself. I feel really bad for her. She seems really upset by everything, especially now that 256 seems to want to leave the group. Seeing her break down there at the end... heart-wrenching.

Hahana proves ever the source of amusement :P I love her. I must say I believed her when she told Carey she planned on offering 805 one of Maui's sisters. It did sound like a Hahana plan xD I kind of want to see what he'd do if she actually proposed the idea :P Poor 805 is never going to be rid of her, is he? Just admit it, 805. Some small part of you likes her :P I'm pretty sure she'll be starting the first ever official 805 fan club here soon xD At first I was immensely curious as to what 805 was doing out in the forest, but I get feeling it's got something to do with what he was keeping in his kitchen cabinets. Trying to find a way to make alcohol or something? Either that or the chinking noise Carey heard wasn't bottles but instead gold coins from being paid after selling the last of his severed heads :P Or maybe he's up to something altogether different. Anyway, 805's plan to head to the mountains is interesting. I'm curious what will happen on the way, especially with so much tension between everyone. I'm not sure this is the best time for them to be taking a detour and Carey's right that they need to be heading back to Janelle and the others. Also, this kinds of detours often seem to lead to tragic and otherwise avoidable deaths.

The Lake Village. All this time and 256 is from the Lake Village. That's worrying what with the original rebellion's attack there. If 256's family didn't survive the battle there... That would just be... I don't even know. Now that he knows where they are, now that's he's this close I'm not sure how he'd react if something's happened to them. I can understand 256 wanting to go and find his family on his own. It definitely makes a lot of sense that he'd feel that way. I'm worried about him going off on his own, and I'm less convinced than Carey that 256 wouldn't break his promise to her if he finds his family. I may be even less convinced if he finds out they died and it happened when the rebellion attacked. He's only just begun to become one of them and if they're the reason his family died... eh, I'm diving too deeply into theories especially for this late at night. Suffice to say, I'm really worried about all of this. Anyway, this chapter was a really good one all around. The emotional aspects were quite well done and I especially felt for Carey. I'm really anxious to get into 256's head and see what he's really feeling about all this. As for everyone else, I live in a constant state of concern for them, but this off the books trip to the mountains has me worried more than normal.

Lol, I have been waiting for you to say that xD This is one of those where I was desperate for a title and nothing was coming to mind. I’d originally planned for the burglary to take place in this chapter, but I ended up pulling it at the last minute because it felt unnecessarily tacked on at the end. Anyway, I already know the title of that chapter and I refuse to change it, so I had to scramble for a new title and referencing GoT is always fun and it kind of fits with S’s song, so yeah. Fragile. Yeah, I like that word being used to describe Snow at the moment. She’s sort of holding herself together by sheer force of will. Despite what she’s telling everyone, she’s absolutely no better than she was two chapters ago when she attempted suicide. She knows now that she really does want to live, but she still can't see a way forward. She can't see a future where she's been able to accept Ariana's death. So, she's going to try and pretend that everything is fine when it most certainly is not, which as you say, puts her at risk of falling even deeper into darkness.

JTG's choice of Kayla was certainly intentional. It's no big secret, I just didn't really have a way to spell it out properly. All of JTG's attacks are psychological in nature. Other than Halloween, JTG hasn't actually hurt them or followed through on her threats to rat them out to the authorities. Even Halloween was a psychological attack since JTG proved she could make the girls turn on each other if she wanted to. With picking Kayla first, it was to point out that if Snow tries to hurt herself again then JTG will kill Kayla while Ariana will die from her illness leaving Snow completely alone. It was to make Snow face the possibility of losing both of her parents. That fact hasn't quite hit Snow yet, however.

Hehe :P Well, I guess Michael's still doing his job then :P Michael is... complicated, to say the least. Everything with Snow reminds him so strongly of his sister's death. Riley died on his watch and he's lived his whole life with that weight on his shoulders. It affects him much more than he's let on. It informs so much of who he is. But really, with Michael frustrating is exactly what I aim for. Despite wanting to make Michael a bit more likeable given his relationship with Snow, I still want to keep a good level of mistrust in him as well. So you feeling sympathy for him when he's with Snow, but losing it when he's talking to Mary is exactly what I hope for. Like you said, it really is too little, too late with Mary and no amount of apologizing is going to make up for what he's done, especially without an explanation (and not even with one). As for keeping it all a secret from Snow, at the moment his primary focus is sparing Snow any more pain. He wants to protect her from it for as long as he can. Before this though, I don't think Michael ever intended Snow to find out. I don't imagine he'd ever willing go to her and tell her. It's not a good idea because Mary knows, Emily knows, JTG knows, and our dearly departed Sara filmed a video of it on her now missing cell phone. There’s a lot of sources that Snow could get the truth from, so Michael’s plan of keeping it a secret probably isn’t going to work forever. With everything that’s happened and Michael’s attitude towards what he’s done seeming to shift, he might end up telling eventually. Regardless, you’re right. If his intentions are pure then he ought to have handled everything much better :/

I like writing Snow this way, although I never have been sure why. Snow’s really smart but she has a certain naivety about stuff like that. She wants to believe that the world is exactly as she described it to Mary and she wants to believe that people and the world can be truly good. She gets it from Ariana :P But you’ve got the right of it. Appearance matters. It shouldn’t and it’s unfair and it’s wrong, but a lot of the time it does. Snow, being beautiful, has a hard time seeing things any other way. That’s the interesting thing about writing Snow and Mary together. They are polar opposites of each other in almost every way. Snow is beautiful and wealthy and popular and for the most part she’s an eternal optimist. She’s not quite so much that at the moment since everything’s gone down the pooper, but in contrast to Mary, who’s much more pragmatic, they’re completely different. Mary sees the world as it really is, while Snow sees it through rose colored lenses and looks at things as she wants them to be, not necessarily as they are.

Steven is very confident in his ability to get them inside the house undetected, but there’s still a lot that could go wrong. They’ve got to do it in broad daylight while no one's home so anyone could see them, and since JTG knows pretty much everything you can bet she’ll be watching them. Although if Miranda’s parents are JTG, they might be getting a bit of a surprise xD Yeah, the warehouse is what Snow was talking about. I've been planning on her taking Michael there for a while, I just haven't been able to find a spot to fit it in. Snow's pretty protective of the warehouse and she only takes people she trusts and cares about there. It took her years to take Jackson there and Steven has never been at all. Michael's getting special treatment :P But no, I’m not really planning anything too terrible to happen there. I’m looking for some happier, light hearted moments and getting Michael and Snow off to one of my favorite locations to write in seemed like a good idea. If I have to keep listening to dark, brooding music to set the mood when I'm writing for much longer I'm going to lose my mind :P I figure Snow could use a day off with everything she's been through. The rest of the gang though? Yeah, they're fair game xD *cues maniacal laughter* Thanks for commenting :D

Thanks for the comment :) Appreciate it as always. Yeah, those two were the more likely suspects to find Snow, but I really wanted Sara to be the one who did it. Making Sara seem less like an awful bitch is quite the struggle, but it is something I try to do whenever she appears. Showing her human side, the kindler, gentler Sara if you will, is really important because Sara wasn't all bad. There was goodness in her, despite all the awful things she did. Not to say that Sara was a great person, she wasn't, but she had a heart. Hahaha, ah you're nicely wrapped up in my web of bluffing and deceit :P Keep going around in circles, it makes things easier for me xD I'm not even going to say anything this time. Nothing I say will help and I'm much too excited to get to what Sara really is to risk spoiling it in advance, so I'll just stay quiet.

Yeah, Snow survived and I'm glad I went that route, really. I mean, I figured that's what I would end up doing, but I would've liked to have seen what would have happened if she had died. Despite missing out on a Ned Stark moment (I'm liking that phrase myself now that you mention it xD) I agree that storywise keeping Snow around was the better decision. I even went so far as to write a rough version of this chapter with Michael finding Snow dead and what would have happened after that and I knew I couldn't do it. Like you say, everything's been so bleak and miserable lately that killing Snow would've taken the story to such a dark place that I'm not sure I would've had the desire to continue writing it. That said, I still think it would have been interesting to take such a drastic, hard left turn from my planned course. Although, that was the other reason Snow survived. I've got so much planned that can't happen without Snow. Losing her at this point would require such a massive rewrite... it would be a logistical nightmare :P And nothing there was confusing in the least, by the way.

With Kayla and Ariana, yeah that's what they do. They play off of each other really well. No matter what they're going through, they can still support each other and help prop each other up through everything. I'm glad you found their vulnerability realistic as well. They really have no idea what to do for Snow at this point. Even though both of them attempted suicide, their circumstances were different and that leaves them both feeling very lost as to how they can help her. I'll still consider it a victory that you feel a little sorry for Michael :P Whatever else he is or that he's done, he loves Snow and this has really messed him up. He is definitely thinking about his sister at this point. He turned away from her for just a few minutes and she drowned. He left Snow for 30-45 minutes and she almost died, so that's weighing pretty heavily on him. He was only twelve when his sister died and he's carried that with him ever since and it's the reason for a lot of the decisions that he'd made.

Steven does seem quite sure of his plan, doesn't he? He is pretty proud of himself for hacking their security system so easily, but that doesn't mean he hasn't done something like this before. We don't really know too much about Steven and, well, everyone has their secrets :P Honestly, I'd planned for the burglary to take place in this chapter before they found out about Snow, but the timing of it all just wasn't going to work so it was delayed a bit. That said, I feel confident we'll be getting to the burglary very soon. JTG isn't going to rest just because Snow's out of action and the rest of the gang have to keep going. Mary in particular is stepping up. She's the one that wants to keep going and refuses to give up. Now that Snow is sidelined and Clara has all but given up, the "best" of the gang is out of action. Mary almost subconsciously is trying to fill that void. She's trying to keep them moving forward, but Halloween was just two days ago and they're all still reeling from that and now they're hit with this. They're going to have a tough time moving forward.

I had a lot of fun bringing Claire back. She hasn't returned since she disappeared with Coop all the way back in The Girl and the Warehouse so getting the opportunity to bring her back in was nice. My own real life Claire made me change her hair color to match her own :P She's still ticked at me for killing her namesake. I've been told if I kill Clara she'll never speak to me again xD But yes, let's just say that Fate did a lot of bad things and might very well have broken the universe as a result. Everything Fate and Destiny and the Guides do is to keep the universe in balance. Fate did something that destabilized that balance. Your theory is a very good one, and I will say you're onto something. Yeah, JTG doesn't like anyone trying to quit the game early. She doesn't care about Snow's wellbeing, just that she wants to keep all her pieces in play for the moment.  

Well, I knew it had to happen eventually, but I must say I wasn't prepared for what happened in this chapter. I fully expected 256 to ask if Carey had known about Samantha's mother and I must say her reasoning is perfectly legitimate. It wasn't her place to say anything, despite what she knew. I also liked that 256 thought she should have said something, that he would want 805 to know the truth no matter what. It seems a very 256ish thing to do.

What I hadn't expected was for Carey to come forward with what happened to 440. That I didn't see coming. I was glad she finally told him, since obviously waiting so long has only made things worse, but still seeing them fight hurts my soul. That said, 256 is perfectly within his rights to be angry. Carey keeping something like that from him, I mean I'd be pretty ticked off too so I thought his reaction to it all was completely believable. Also, one thing I particularly liked was that he thought 440 had died at the Council. He wouldn't have ever imagined that Carey would have kept something from him for that long. I liked the entire scene and this all really needed to happen even though it hurts me to read it. I felt so bad for 256 through the whole thing, and Carey as well too since I know how bad she feels about keeping it a secret for so long. Of course, Carey did dig herself into this hole. I just hope she can find a way to climb back out of it :/

I was really intrigued by Carey's thoughts there at the end as well. She really doesn't get it, does she? 256 said it himself. He can't hate her and it seems that's because he loves her and I don't think this will change that. It's sure to change their relationship, though. How, I'm not sure, but it pretty much has to and somehow I imagine it will end up breaking my heart and my dream of finally seeing... you know, I just spent five minutes trying to come up with a couple name for those two, but it just doesn't work when one of the characters doesn't have an actual name xD And of course I loved Sam's response to Carey when she told her everything that happened :P I've been waiting for more Sam/Carey hugs after all xD Their friendship is one that I didn't really ever expect, but watching them become close has been really nice. Their friendship is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I've said it before, but seeing Sam's softer side is always good. She's always had moments where that softer side comes through, but its becoming more and more common now that she's building friendships with people other than Janelle.   

Yay, 256 and Carey reached the same conclusion I did about her powers. That doesn't mean it's the right theory, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of it :P Hmm, 'she cried in private'. Tears... could the tears of a Gift of Water have power? That is interesting indeed. Carey's question is probably my biggest one at the moment. What sort of Gift is that? It doesn't seem likely to be part of her Stealth abilities, although I suppose it very well could be. As you said, there's no Big Book of Stealth Gifted out there xD Although, I would really appreciate such a book right now :P

Moving on to Janelle's part, she's learning how to be a leader, that's for sure. I was proud of her in this chapter. She's working to integrate herself with people like Evelyn who don't seem to like her and she's making tough decisions like giving the order to kill the Gifted woman there. She's on the right track, I think, with the message she carved. They don't know what they need to do, but things can't stay as they are. That does worry me to a degree, and it always has actually. No one really seems to have a plan as to what exactly will happen if the Gifted are overthrown, and that's scary. They're a rebellion that's only unified by their shared desire to see the Gifted removed from power. Once that's done, what's to stop them from turning on each other? I love that aspect of this. It's really interesting that the quote unquote good guys might be making things worse in the long run. All that's completely off the topic of this chapter, but it's late and I chose to have a glass of wine before typing this, which makes me ramble even more than usual :P

It was nice to learn more about Evelyn and Brooke. Their relationship was surprising. I hadn't thought that they would be related. That was a good surprise. Brooke's story was really sad. She seems like a really sweet girl and I was actually tearing up a bit when she said she tried calling Evelyn Mummy but she didn't want her to :( As for Evelyn, I do quite like her even though she's not the nicest person around. She's devoted to the rebellion, that's pretty clear. They need people like her around, that are dedicated to the cause. I am quite curious why it was she was so adamant they join up. I imagine pretty much everyone that's joined the rebellion thus far has a story to tell. I'm interested what hers is. Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter even though parts of it broke my heart. I'm worried about Carey and 256 and I hope they'll manage to work things out, and that Wesley won't actually run off after Carey, and that Janelle's plan will work and they won't be captured/killed when the Gifted march into town. This is a good, emotional, well-written chapter that leaves me anxious for the next one. I'm especially concerned for Carey and 256. 256 seems really hurt and... yeah, I'm worried.

Also, this chapter is a fantastic public service announcement about laziness in the workplace xD I may insist my employees read it for motivational purposes... and then buy a crossbow :P

Thanks for commenting :) Heh, yeah... this chapter. I've known this was coming for a long time but that in no way made it easier to write. It was tough and it definitely hit some sensitive spots. To be honest I almost cut this storyline entirely. I didn't feel that I was in any place to write this and I wasn't completely sure I even should. That said, it was one of those things I really didn't want to change. It had been part of the plan for so long that changing it was something I wasn't prepared to do. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it is what it is. It really has gotten pretty depressing, so maybe we'll take a little lighter path next time. There's a lot of other characters that I've been neglecting since Snow found out about Ariana, so maybe I'll focus on something a bit less miserable :P We do have a little burglary to get on with after all. Anyway, with Jacob... well, honestly I'm not even sure how he'd respond to learning what Clara did. I've always thought of Jacob as kind of being the polar opposite of Sara. Where she was manipulative and vindictive, he's understanding and forgiving. Then again, Clara did something that completely changed his entire life in a terrible way. He puts on a brave face, but he's pretty depressed about his condition. If he found out Clara was responsible... yeah, I don't really know how he'd respond. That is, of course, assuming he didn't figure it out when Clara almost told him and is hiding it for vindictive, revengeful purposes xD But yes even if Snow survives, the attempt in and of itself will be enough to really hurt her friends and family. A victory would do them all a lot of good on the JTG front. I don't think it will help Snow much at all, but for the rest of them it would work wonders. They need to believe they'll all get through this and find a way to stop JTG. What that will be, or in fact if that will be, remains to be seen.  

You know, I normally have some idea of what emotions I hope people feel when they read a particular scene, but with this I honestly have no idea what feeling I want readers to leave with. I guess lost for words works pretty well, come to think of it. Snow's reached rock bottom at this point. She can't really fall any further than this. If she survives, her road to recovery will be a long one. She doesn't feel she has a future anymore. If she can't find a reason to keep going, she'll never be able to recover.  Anyway, I'm glad you thought her sinking into depression and the way she's thinking seemed realistic. It's difficult and yet at the same time frighteningly easy to take myself down to a place close to where Snow is now. At the same time, I wasn't entirely convinced it was a realistic portrayal of someone on the verge of suicide. Although it's a strange thing to be happy about, I'm glad that scene was difficult to read. That's reassuring. If it wasn't difficult to read, I did something wrong. As for whether or not Snow will survive, to be honest I'm really torn on the subject. I had always planned on Snow surviving this. I knew all along she would get to this point and that this would happen, but I never expected her to die here. But now I'm really interested in how Snow's death would change the story. I want to see how the other characters would react to and deal with her death. I've been imagining how things would go and I really want to write it, but damn I don't know if I can. It'd be a good twist I think and it would have rippling effects through every part of the story. I mean, she's the lead character and I have no idea who would replace her. Clara, probably, but I don't know. And I've never gotten to Ned Stark anyone before and I kind of want to :P So I don't know. If I thought my heart could take it, I can't deny I'm sorely tempted so... we'll see.    

Well, I consider it a personal victory that you feel sorry for Michael xD You may not love him, but it's a step in the right direction. You will love him one day! I will not give up xD He's not going to take Snow's suicide attempt very well, whether she survives or not. He's the one who left her alone, so I'm imagining he'll be blaming himself quite a bit for that. And yeah, he's the most likely candidate to find Snow but that doesn't mean he'll get there first. There are certainly other options and Clara seems likely as well. She's really focused on her feeling that something is wrong, so she won't be able to leave that feeling alone. She's likely to go looking for answers when she feels something so strongly. Of course someone else could find Snow too. Someone who doesn't need to use the front door. I'm just saying :P I can never say too much about JTG's feelings on any particular subject, but I think JTG loves how far Snow's fallen. She was the smartest of the gang and therefore the most likely candidate to figure everything out. With Snow firmly sidelined, JTG's in a pretty good mood. If Snow died JTG wouldn't be too torn up about it. She's still got other victims to torture after all, but no, I don't think JTG actually wants Snow dead. Yet xD

Thanks for the comment :) Snow really could use that hug right now, for sure. I'm glad her downward spiral (and she's not done spiraling) seems realistic. While I've grieved before, I've never been hit by something nearly as badly as what Snow's dealing with so I haven't been completely sure how believable her breakdown has been. Snow's asking the same question you, actually. How can she go on after everything that's happened? She can't see a future anymore. Everything seems hopeless and she's kind of lost the will to even try to move on. She just doesn't care anymore :/ Yeah, Michael's secret... I'm not sure I have the heart to drop that bomb on Snow just yet. If she lost Michael now too, on top of everything else I don't think she would ever find a way to keep going. She needs him. Well, at least you believe he loves her xD That's a start, anyway. Despite my saying I'll get you to love Michael, I'm rapidly losing my confidence :P It's my own fault. I made him creepy intentionally at the start and now there's almost no way to uncreepify him.                                                                               

For the most part, Michael will continue to research magical methods to help Ariana. Kayla's already donated a couple of fortunes into cancer research, so that wouldn't be much help but Michael still believes there's a magical solution despite what Zoe says. The Coven don't know everything about magic, so there's always a chance that there's an answer somewhere. I won't say that all magic comes with a price, but the kind of magic Michael would need most certainly would. That's assuming there's a magical solution at all, but if there is it would come with a pretty hefty cost tied to it. Of course, Snow is so devastated and Michael so determined to help that he might not ask if Ariana is okay with the price. You're right that Michael will do pretty much whatever he has to do to accomplish his goals, but he does have a code he adheres to. I'll keep that code to myself for now, but suffice to say that he has one. There are some things he wouldn't do, some lines he won't cross unless he absolutely has to. Haha, I love Kayla :P She's always so fun to write, especially when she's being threatening. She's telling the truth though. If Michael ever hurts Snow, she'll bring the wrath of the Almighty down on him. Magical powers or no. Although honestly, I always imagine Ariana to be the more terrifying of the two when it comes to Snow. Kayla might bludgeon Michael with a stick. Ariana would burn his entire world down. Hehe, there's something to be said for vindictiveness :P Michael will get his comeuppance in some form or another eventually.

At first I wasn't going to make any mention of what Michael and the Dawnguard are doing or anything about the world they and Zoe inhabit. Now though I've decided to do stuff like this and provide a lot of information with absolutely no explanation or context so there's still not a lot given away. Heh, there's a funny story behind Princess Sienna. I'd been messing around with writing something in the fantasy genre and I'd created this whole world with all these different factions and a ton of backstory and whatnot. I never did anything with it, but when I was figuring out how all the magical stuff would work in this, that whole universe just slid right in. Princess Sienna, who was called Princess Sophia but that had to be changed for obvious reasons, was to be the main character and she was a lot of fun to write. This was the perfect opportunity to use her. I won't say too much about her yet since she won't appear for a long time, but let's just say she's spunky with lots of attitude xD She's technically a queen, but she hates the title so she goes by princess instead. She's a big supporter of the Dawnguard, but whether or not that makes her good or bad remains to be seen. As for Sienna being S... I think it'll be more fun not answering that :P It has been a while since we've heard from S, but they're still out there. They've completely given up on keeping Snow away from Michael, but... okay, I'll give you one hint. S is perfectly positioned to keep an eye on Snow and Michael. That's the only thing I'm saying and I almost guarantee that won't help you one bit :P But do with that what you will. 

This plan of Janelle's makes me very nervous, I've got to say. Her group is shockingly exposed and neither she nor Wesley are expert spies. They aren't being all that subtle, and even if they were I'm not sure how much I trust Farmer Alex not to rat them out to the Gifted. I'm pretty sure the Gifted wouldn't reward Alex for reporting them, but he might do it in the hopes that he would win their favor. I don't trust him, but I can't at all fault him for the way he feels about the Gifted. I'd imagine that's how most anyone would feel in his position. It's his way of life, the only thing he's ever known. It would be tough, I would think, to convince someone who hasn't been directly exposed to the Gifted's cruelty to support two strangers talking about bringing a war to their town. I do get a bit of... I don't want to say brainwashing, but the whole thing with Alex saying they were never treated badly unless they "deserved it" and that they weren't "contributing to society" is a little unsettling. Even so, I do see where he's coming from and I enjoyed seeing just a regular guy's opinion on the Gifted and the rebellion. We mostly only hear from either the Gifted themselves or people directly affected by the Gifted's horribleness, so to see what the average Joe thinks is really interesting.  I'm really curious if his feelings are the norm amongst the nonGifted. I'm guessing your time at the sheep farm helped out immensely with this chapter :P Is that really how sheep are herded? I'd be just like Janelle in that situation :P Following along uselessly with no idea what to do xD

I hope the sudden reminder of Alex didn't shake Janelle's confidence too much. She's just starting to regain that and she hasn't had the most successful first day on the job so far. She seems to want to press on, which is a good sign, but I'm still really worried about her. Wesley's comments are really quite disconcerting. They aren't human anymore. That is a scary statement right there. The moment you start thinking of your enemy as something other than human is the moment you start down the road toward dismembering them and leaving their bodies in the town square. We've already had quite enough of that, thank you very much Wesley.

I swear to God if Samantha wanders off on her own and scares me like that one more time she and I are going to have to have a talk. You tell someone, Sam. You leave a note. Something. It's super easy. Example: "Hey guys. Going for a walk. Be back later. Love, Sam." It's considerate, see? :P Wandering around the Council, strolling through dangerous woods on your own... I swear, she's looking for trouble. 805 should do the same, but he hasn't got a record of unexpected disappearances yet :P Anyway, this part of the chapter made me happy, sad, and nervous within a very short space of time. I liked seeing Sam and 805 just talking for once, even if it was a sad subject. While 256 is clearly upset by Sam's lie, I'm slightly hopeful that 805 and Sam have a chance to be, well, something. I doubt they'll ever have a close father/daughter relationship, too much has happened, but just seeing them talking and Sam letting down that wall of hers just a little bit was really heartwarming. 256's thoughts on whether or not Carey knew about Michelle have me concerned. Eventually he's going to find out about 440 and I don't have any idea what that revelation will do to their relationship :/ I am worried because I feel like it's going to happen soon.

So, not only can Carey use other Gifts, but she's more powerful than the regular Gifted as well? That's really interesting. Even if I'm right and I've figured out how Carey gets the Gifts, it doesn't at all explain why she'd be so much stronger. Oh so many questions :P Watching 805 adapting to life away from the Gifted should be quite interesting. I'm interested to see if he has an easier time than 256 or a harder time. He's quite a bit older than 256 and on the surface I'd think that would make it harder for him given that he's spent so much more time living the Gifted way of life, but maybe it might make it easier. He's already given up his uniform and stuff, but then I really can't see 805 clinging to a uniform like 256 did. 805 doesn't seem like he'd care that much about his uniform. Either way, there's obviously no going back for either of them so I hope he'll be okay. I can't really see him sticking around with the rebels, though. I mean, I strongly hope he does since I love having him around and I want to see how his relationship with Sam with unfolds, but I don't know. I can't see him doing like 256 has done and stay with the rebels. Then again, he doesn't really have anywhere else to go I wouldn't think. I doubt he has friends outside the Council and since the Gifted want to kill him, his options are limited.

Anyway, I'm going to stop here since I feel like I'm rambling aimlessly. I am, and have been for the last couple of weeks, so unbelievably tired that I can't really concentrate on what I'm saying. I hope I've managed to make at least a couple of halfway intelligent observations here. This chapter has given me things to think about, which I always enjoy. How does the general population view the Gifted? Do they want things to stay as they are or would they rather have a change? Is Alex's reaction based on fear or does he really feel that way? Is Wesley starting down a dangerous path or is he just pissed off about Carey? Will Samantha ever learn how to write a simple note xD Anyway, another good chapter that's left me with lots of questions and concerns, but a tiny speck of hope on 805 and Samantha.

Yes, Alex has definitely faced her fear far better than I would have. That's one thing that I honestly considered changing. I mean, she's a fifteen year old girl. Most normal fifteen year old girls would be curled up in a corner, crying. I would be and I've got ten years on Alex xD It seems a little unrealistic to me that she's handling it as well as she is, but I thought if I had her behaving like a complete emotional wreck it wouldn't be a very fun read so she ended up handling it a little better. But still, she was definitely paralyzed by fear there on the trip to the bus, so I suppose that's something. Alex's "it's all a dream" mantra isn't going to help her much at all really, but I'm glad it seems a realistic way for her to cope with everything. It all does seem like a bad dream to her at the moment. It's all so insane that she can't believe it's real, but no she's definitely not dreaming. What's happening is very, very real. Oh, but in a totally off topic fun fact on the subject of dreams that I won't remember if I don't mention it now; I once had the idea that nearly all of Snowfall would be a dream :P When Snow gets knocked out at Michael's party right before Sara's murder, I had planned on everything after that to be a dream while Snow's unconscious. Sara wouldn't have died or anything and everything would have gone back to normal. It would have ended with her getting a text from JTG, who's identity was never revealed. It's safe to say I did away with that idea :P Okay, enough of that rambling xD

Hehe, yeah Frank can come off a little strange when he doesn't properly explain himself. Or he could just have a thing for underage girls and got a job at a campground so he can watch them in their swimsuits. I'll leave it up to your imagination for now :P I really felt bad about Lily and Laine. I figured one or both them would die eventually, but I didn't expect to kill one of them in this chapter. Still, I felt I needed a named character that Alex had met to die during the escape for there to be a bit more emotional impact for her. I'm not yet ready to part with any more members of the Masterson family just yet, Frank is too fun to write to kill him so soon, and I felt like I could get more use out of Lily later on that I could Laine so she had to go. It does leave me at an interesting place with Alex and Lily. They're sort of polar opposites of each other. Alex has almost her whole family while Lily is very much alone. Alex is scared and doesn't know how to do much of anything in this new world. Lily on the other hand seemed to want to go out and shoot a bunch of zombies in the face. There's opportunities to explore how they both handle the end of the world as they know it and how their circumstances change them.

I'm happy you think the horror bits are good. This is very much my first attempt at the genre which is a scary thing anyway, and considering its also a genre I'm unfamiliar with do to being such a massive wimp that I can't make it through the simplest of horror movies it's quite reassuring that you find the scary parts... uh... scary :P I'm glad they're off the mountain too, honestly. I was really limited with what I could do in such a confined setting. Now, I can take them anywhere which opens the door to all sorts of possibilities. As for what's going on in the rest of the world, that information (or at least big pieces of it) will be coming quite soon. That broadcast was created very early on before much was known about the pathogen, so yeah it doesn't tell you much. It is interesting though that no one's bothered to update it with new information though, isn't it? That's probably bad :P Thanks for commenting :)

Well I started typing this up yesterday, but the 26 inches of snow we got managed to cause some power outages so I had no internet until tonight to finish. Screw winter. That's all I have to say about that :P Anyway, I really enjoyed the change of tone in this chapter. The last few I've been scared to read, so it was nice to go into a chapter without fearing for everyone's safety. I'm really proud of Janelle and the way she stuck to her guns about her plan. She's learning more and more how to lead and she's doing a good job. She's not second-guessing herself as much and she's sticking with her plan despite the issues caused by Assessment Day. She's right that it's much more of an opportunity than a problem in the long run. I still think Janelle is the best person to lead the rebellion forward, even if I am coming to trust Caleb a little more. I'm glad to see her growing as a leader. Hopefully this mission will be successful and she'll gain more self-confidence. It's hard to believe it's only been a year since it all started. So many things have happened in such a short space of time. I can't imagine what will have happened in another year.

"Her name's Carey." These are words I've been waiting to hear from Wesley for the longest time. I'm glad he finally knows the truth and I imagine just knowing what happened to her will give him some degree of comfort. Its good that Janelle was able to talk Wesley out of running off and trying to find her. I don't know how big the island is, but I don't think he'd have much of a chance of just bumping into her out in the woods. Or at least I hope she managed to talk him out of it. Not too much is known about Wesley. For all I know he's just telling Janelle what she wants to hear so he can slip away while she isn't looking. Don't do it, Wesley! She's on her way back. Just wait, hopefully there will be a reunion soon. Honestly, I need that too. They've all been apart so long, I need them together again xD

Yay, Hahana and Maui are back and don't seem to have gotten into too much trouble. I can easily see Hahana just strolling up to a random Gift of Earth and insist they accompany her back to Zeia xD Oh Hahana, don't ever change :P And also, we now know exactly how 805 would react to someone fangirling over him xD Poor guy. I really don't think he had the slightest idea of what to do. It was also interesting to see 805's reaction to being called Cursed. Its pretty easy to see why he might agree with Hahana's reasoning. I was glad to get more backstory from Hahana as well. Her story was sad, but I liked how upbeat she is about the whole thing and how romantic she finds their story to be. She seems to have an eternal optimism about everything, no matter what it is.   

Aww, Sam :( I feel really bad for her. (For Maui, as well since he really seems to like her) This seems to be something she's really struggling with and that's terrible. I wonder if she's ever told anyone or if she's kept it to herself? I don't even know how things like sexuality are viewed on the island. For all I know, it might make her a social outcast or something. It does add more weight to my Sam/Janelle/Reagan love triangle theory though. I dismissed that at one point, but now I'm going to have to completely reconsider seeing as its now infinitely more likely. I liked the way she responded to hearing Hahana's story as well. I like seeing her softer, more emotional side come out. She doesn't let it show much, but I do like seeing it when she does. Anyway, overall another good chapter that left me feeling more hopeful for the future. I'm strongly hoping for a reunion soon back at the rebel base, but somehow I imagine I'll be waiting a while. There's still all sorts of opportunities for things to go wrong for one/both of the groups. 

So yeah, this chapter. Like you said, I knew it was coming too but I did not want to write it at all. I hate myself for this too, but it had to happen :P It was long past time and I had no more excuses to put it off. I've been really depressed since I finished this and I haven't been able to convince myself to start the next chapter yet. For Snow, this is pretty much her worst nightmare on top of everything else she's been dealing with. This has absolutely devastated her and I've always had the idea in the back of my mind that the Snow we knew up to this point essentially died the moment she found out. She's been slowly torn down since the beginning and this is kind of the last nail in her coffin so to speak. Every bit of her perfect little world she lived in at the start has been destroyed and that in turn destroyed her. How she deals with that and who she becomes now is going to be a major focus for the near future.  

I'm glad the emotional impact and Snow's grief were both okay. I kept changing things and changing things and it never felt as powerful and painful as I envisioned, but eventually I had to let it go. This is really terrible to say, but I'm glad you were left with a hopeless feeling at the end. Okay, I know, but hear me out :P I was aiming to leave people at the same place and with some of the same feelings that Snow has. She's lost all hope at this point and I wanted to convey that as best as I could. So, yay xD I'm glad you liked the bit with Kayla comforting Snow as well. It's definitely outside of Kayla's comfort zone, but she's surprisingly good at it even though she thinks she's terrible and has no idea what she's doing.

The snowfall at the end was definitely symbolic of what's happening to Snow, so you're not just reading into things. That was the only thing I knew for certain about this chapter was that it would take place almost entirely while it was snowing. Ever since I settled on that picture for the cover, I knew that scene would be out in the snow. That's one of the reasons I couldn't let Snow find out about Ariana before now. It was too early in the year for snow to be falling in the amounts I wanted. Your concern for Snow is certainly justified, I'll just say that. I think things are sure to get worse for her before they start to get better.  

Thanks for the comment :) This is definitely a turning point for Mary. So far, she's been a bit of a wallflower. She's been scared of Michael and hasn't had an ounce of self-confidence and now that's going to start to change a bit. She's found an inner strength after what JTG did to them and that allowed her to move past what Michael and Emily did. Personally, I think Mary has moved from being the weakest link in the group to being the strongest. With Snow sidelined a bit by everything else she's dealing with, Mary suddenly has room to shine and really come into her own. As for when Michael and Emily's motives will be revealed... well, I kind of want to hold onto that until Snow herself finds out. I'm pretty sure if she found out about Michael right now she'd literally go insane. There's only so much the poor girl can take. I could reveal what their reasons were in another way, but I've had this idea of how it will all come to light and I really don't want to change that. So, yeah, it probably will be a while before that comes out unless I change my mind :P

Breaking into Miranda's parents' house is definitely a high risk/potentially no reward endeavor. I'd be just as worried about what JTG might do in either event. If Miranda's parents are not JTG, JTG would still likely know what they had done and then have one more secret to hold over them. But if they are JTG, they could find everything they need to put a stop to all this. Then, of course, JTG would have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking all of them down. Either way, there's plenty of opportunity to find some information about Miranda. Miranda, like Sara, knew how to hide things. Luckily, the gang seems to know how to find stuff that people want to stay hidden.

I really hate myself for killing Fluffers, I really do :( Coop didn't hurt me as badly and that's saying something. I knew all along that Fluffers would die, although it was originally part of a plan that also included the destruction of the warehouse. It would all have been a bit symbolic of Ariana's own imminent death. Everything she loved, everything that's deeply connected to her would die in the lead up to her own death. In the end, I couldn't destroy the warehouse (I need it for stuff :P) but with Fluffers I wanted to stick with my original plan even if I hate myself for it. 

Once, long ago, you told me I was good at mood whiplashes. After this chapter, I give you my crown. The ups and downs in this chapter were frequent, surprising, and powerful. Every time something good seemed to be happening, it would almost instantly turn the other way. The gang's all back togeth... Murder! We're escapi... Death! :P Those moments were really well done and have a lot of impact even though they're characters we know next to nothing about.

Sam, that is really the worst plan ever... of all time. But then if it's a bad idea and it works, it's not a bad idea. I've long been hoping for a Gift of Earth revolution and while this isn't an all-out uprising, it's definitely a start. As the boy says, the Gifts of Earth will remember this forever. Maybe they'll see that things have to change. Of course, the Gifts of Earth don't seem as though they'd be any more lenient with the nonGifted as the current regime ("She's just a rebel") or how open they would be to an alliance with the rebellion, but it is certainly a start nonetheless. Instability and division amongst the Gifted can only be a good thing for the rebellion. The Council would find itself fighting a war on two fronts, one of which is in its own backyard. The Leader might be in a speck of trouble. 

I know I mentioned it already, but the deaths of 571 and the boy hit a lot harder than I would have thought :( I was really hoping to learn a lot more about 571. She seemed like such a complex and interesting character and to lose her so soon was a blow I wasn't prepared for. Her death came right at the moment when I'd just begun to think they might have a chance, so that made it all the more surprising and sad. The boy was just sad all around. He was so brave and noble. I can't imagine the courage it takes to do what he did. He wasn't alone of course, but to join in that kind of uprising, knowing what's probably going to happen... :( 571, we hardly knew you but in the short time you were with us you saved our heroes more than once. Sure, you didn't give the gang a plan and then complained when you weren't happy with what they came up with, but that can be forgiven. I wish you could have stayed longer, but in the end your sacrifice saved many. You will be remembered. Gift of Earth boy, we never even learned your number but you are a hero through and through. Nothing more need be said.

Well, you go Carey! Seriously, what is she? I feel like it's obvious and I'm just missing it even though you said you deliberately left out some details that make it hard to guess. (Dear God it doesn't seem like that comment was a year and three days ago, but according to the date next to it, it was. Geez, time flies) I would say maybe it had something to do with her getting angry, but she felt lighter before that and that almost has to have something to do with Carey getting the Gift of Air. That also eliminates my theory that she can siphon Gifts from other Gifted since there wasn't a Gift of Air near her at the time (this assumes her ability to siphon has a limited range/requires line of sight or physical contact) so I don't know. OOOOOH! She has to kill them! Is that it? Do I win? You probably can't tell me, but I feel like this could be it. Back in chapter 15 she killed that Gifted woman who admittedly wasn't confirmed to be a Gift of Fire, but immediately afterward she had the power. Now she kills a Gift of Air and minutes later she's can control the wind. 3349 was a Gift of Water and 256 was healed by a Gift of Water. And back when Carey killed 440 (she's building up quite the body count, isn't she? :P) just before she noticed that he wasn't affected by the smoke and then later she opens the shed and gets hit in the face with smoke and she notes that it doesn't bother her anymore. I admit, I'm reaching with the last one but I have to say I feel fairly confident with my theory. So I'm sure you'll very quickly tell me just how wrong I am :P I'll let myself feel smart for tonight at least.

I find it really interesting that becoming a Gift of Air seems to have made Carey increasingly confident to the point of recklessness. She didn't even hesitate when suggesting she fly them over the wall. It seems strange that acquiring a Gift would change her demeanor like that, but she's definitely different afterwards. I'm really curious. Anyway, enough of my rambling. This was one heck of a chapter, no doubt. Exciting, action-packed and filled with mood whiplashes. I'm really glad the gang made it out safely and even managed to start a little revolution in the process. I was sure one of them would die in the attempt, so I'm so happy no one did. Hopefully they'll put as much distance as possible between them and the Council and somehow find their way back to Janelle and the others. Oh yeah, Hahana and Maui O.o Whatever happened to those guys? They seem too impatient to just be waiting around for them to come back. Hopefully not getting themselves into too much trouble xD  

Well, damn. I really don't know what else to say after this chapter :P The awaited confrontation happens at last and it didn't end at all the way I had been expecting. I don't know quite what I really was expecting, but it wasn't like this. That's not at all a bad thing because I really like this direction. I had been expecting Nate to be hesitant and beat around the bush a bit trying to get Brandon to confess. I was really surprised he went straight in with accusations even if I can't blame him. It was probably the wrong approach, but then in this instance there really was no right approach since Brandon isn't going to go confessing to a crime he knows he didn't commit. Really, I think Nate's methods and his reactions were really well done and realistic. He's fully convinced Brandon murdered his wife and were I in his place I'd have done the same thing.

So Lauren and Brandon really did have an affair then. Poor Nate :( I feel even worse for him now. And for Brandon to ask for a paternity test on top of it all? That's a bit of a low blow after everything Nate's been through. I'm somewhat surprised Nate didn't just punch Brandon in the face after that. The part about Connor was especially heartbreaking even if I can understand Nate's way of thinking :( If nothing else, perhaps a paternity test (if I works out in Nate's favor) might help him stop seeing Brandon in Connor.

Really, Nate? That's the plan? Just push him in front of a car? How many times do I have to tell you, if you're going to kill someone make absolutely sure they're dead before you walk away. Otherwise, your victim can tell the authorities who attempted to murder them. There are rules to this sort of thing, man :P This thing that's controlling Nate is getting more and more frightening by the chapter. That it can just take over seemingly whenever it feels like it and making Nate do things is just... well, it's just downright creepy. Spine tingling might be more appropriate, actually. The way Nate is forced to watch it unfold, unable to stop himself make it that much worse. Not being able to control yourself while you're forced to do horrific things? Yeah, that's going my list of worse nightmares.  

I'm really concerned that Nate is going to be arrested for this business with Brandon. He was hardly subtle and if Brandon survives he'll be in a lot of trouble even if its not his fault. Although honestly, the world would probably be a lot safer if Nate was locked up since he's murdering people on occasion. I'm suddenly very curious what the creature would do if Nate were arrested? I mean, their purpose is seemingly to make their masters happy (I'm not entirely convinced they don't have other motives) so if that's the case... what would it do if Nate were imprisoned? How would it make Nate happy? He would undoubtedly want to be free, so would it try to break him out? Eh, it's too late at night for theories. I'm too sleepy and my brain isn't working :P Anyway, this was a great, surprising chapter and I genuinely have no idea what could possibly be coming next. I'm excited to see what it is.

Thanks for commenting :) I'm glad this chapter made you happy because this was not at all the chapter I planned on writing. The chapter this one was supposed to be apparently didn't want to be written, so this one became the substitute. I wasn't planning on revealing any of this stuff yet, especially whether or not Miranda's death was accidental or not. Keeping that a secret gave Sara a lot more moral ambiguity than she has now, but as you say Sara was coming off as a completely horrible person and she wasn't. She did a lot of really terrible things, but yeah she was still just a teenage girl so I'm glad Sara was humanized a little bit. Oh, and the reason Sara felt that Miranda deserved what she got is definitely both :P   

Much like everything else, I hadn't planned to reveal that Sara knew about JTG for a long time. Until the very end of the story, in fact. Honestly, Sara has more secrets than any other character and since it's obviously pretty hard to do POV chapters with her its tough to reveal stuff only she knew so I planned to do it all in one shot. That said, there are only so many secrets I can hold onto before I screw up and forget something so Sara knowing about JTG was sacrificed for the sake of my waning mental capabilities :P Well, Sara (or whatever keeps popping up looking like Sara) doesn't really know who killed her or who JTG is. Sara does, however, know things about JTG that the others don't yet know so she may well have her reasons for thinking JTG isn't her murderer. Snow is desperate for clues and answers and she feels she's found something that's solid so she's going to latch onto it.

Hahahaha, poor Tony :P He's mistrusted before he even appears. Then again, maybe there's a good reason for that. What? I didn't say anything. Nope, nothing at all xD Who Sara called is certainly someone who hasn't had their secrets revealed yet. That could still apply to Steven since he's sure to have more secrets than he's revealed so far. Most everyone does :P The person she called is someone whose secrets she knows and who she isn't concerned about getting involved in something potentially dangerous. Of course, she didn't know to what lengths JTG is willing to go and the real danger she and anyone she tells is in. At the moment though, Steven is as good a guess as any. No, I'm not saying any more than that :P

Lol, I have a lot of fun doing little things like that. Does the reference mean anything? Maybe :P Probably not, but it always could and I find that strangely fun for some reason. Just the possibility that some small little reference could link something together adds to the mystery a bit. 

Sorry for taking forever to get to this. I actually read the chapter days ago but haven't had the chance to sit down and type up a coherent comment* Anyway, this isn’t at all the way I expected this chapter to go, so it was a nice surprise. I went in fully prepared for more torture, and while that could still happen I’m very glad to see there’s still a sliver of hope. That's something you do quite well, I should add. I always think I know what you're going to do and the direction you're going to go and then you almost always do the opposite. You constantly surprise me and keep me on my toes and I like that.

Poor Carey :( I feel so bad for her. Being tortured like that, wanting to give the right answer but not being able to is just... unnerving. The Leader is absolutely... ugh, I don't even have words for her :P This does bring up the very interesting question of exactly where Carey's Gift came from, and also just how much do the Gifted know about their own powers? I had always assumed that Carey's Gift, being stealth and all, had just been exceedingly hard to detect and she had slipped through. But if that were the case, the Leader would surely know that already. If Gifts can spontaneously manifest themselves in previously nonGifted people... well, that would be really curious indeed. Okay, I've got to stop otherwise I'll start an endless spiral again of trying to figure out how Carey temporarily got the Gift of Fire and never get to bed xD I still can't figure that one out.   

So, 571... I really don't at all know how I feel about her. I don't trust her for a second and she pretty much admitted she's not on their side and clearly has absolutely no concern for the Servants (although admittedly she did seem to feel bad about killing the poor girl), but she seems sincere in her desire to rescue 805 so... heck, I don't know :P She's willing to kill her own people for someone who's basically a rebel sympathizer, but she isn't willing to actually help them rescue him or even come up with a plan, so... I'm conflicted. I'm not entirely convinced this whole thing isn't some elaborate trap or the Leader is just screwing with them. No matter what 571 is up to, I have no idea whatsoever how they'll manage to rescue 805 and escape the Council armed with their just their wits and a borrowed sword. It seems to be a fool's errand if their ever was one. Of course, they appear to already have been caught so they may not even get a chance to try. Ooooooh, a Gift of Water? Maybe the same one that helped save 256? Probably not, but I've had worse theories before xD

Anyway, overall this was a very good, exciting chapter. It wasn't at all what I expected, which is a very good thing since what I expected was more torture. I'm by no means reassured that nothing terrible is going to happen since they're about to embark on a suicide mission in the heart of the enemy's fortress. My nervousness aside, I'm really excited (and scared) to see what comes next.

*This should not be considered a binding promise that this comment is, in fact, coherent :P

Yeah, it's really tough for Kayla. It's pretty much Kayla's worst nightmare. She's always been so focused on protecting Ariana and she's faced with something that she can't fight. She just has to sit back and watch and she hates that. Watching Ariana just waste away is the worst thing Kayla can imagine. The biggest reason Snow hasn't been told already is because when she finds out the story is going to make a pretty big shift and I had a long list of plot points that I had to hit before that shift could happen. I've finally wrapped up all of those points, so expect that chapter to come up really, really soon. It's the last thing I want to write because I'll be an inconsolable emotional wreck by the time I'm done, but I got myself into this mess and I've put it off as long as I can. In fact, I'm just about to start working on that chapter now. It isn't the next one, but I want to take a lot of time with it and get it right.

I'm glad you liked Mary and Snow's chat :) Mary has her reasons for choosing to be okay with Michael and she didn't exactly share them with Snow. There will be more about it when we get back to her POV, but mainly she's decided that she's not going to let Michael bother her anymore. She very nearly died a couple of hours earlier and she's decided she won't let Michael ruin her friendships or anything else. She's come to believe that Michael isn't going to hurt Snow, so she's not too worried about them being together at this point. He's obviously had plenty of opportunities to harm her if he wanted to and after seeing the way her reacted when Snow was in danger influenced her opinion of him. She still hates him and if it were up to her she'd never lay eyes on him again, but she's done being afraid of him. She doesn't want him to have that power over her anymore and she refuses to let him. JTG already has power over her, but Michael doesn't have to. That realization, and as you say learning that her friends are firmly by her side, will certainly help with her confidence.

I do love Sara's little appearances :P Sara could still technically be a ghost, she could be a poltergeist after all xD I really, really, really want to explain what Sara is. I can't even explain how much I want to get to that, but I've already planned out when that will be revealed and it isn't for a good long while yet. I can't/won't rework the story so I can reveal it earlier, so I must wait. But hopefully what Sara is will be worth the wait.

Sara hid a lot of stuff, it's what she did. There's plenty of stuff of Sara's that they haven't searched, so there's plenty of chances for them to find something important. Or not :P Sara had a lot of useless crap xD Miranda's parents (as if I didn't already have enough characters :P I haven't introduced Mary's family because I'm already juggling too many characters) will hopefully prove interesting. They know things about Miranda and definitely some of the things Sara knew. They may not be open to talking about any of it, but like everyone else, they've got secrets of their own. Thanks for the comment!

I should warn you that I am extremely sleepy, to the point that I'm drinking coffee just to keep myself awake long enough to do this :P So if I say anything stupid, just disregard it. Actually, you probably know me well enough by now to know I say stupid things on a pretty regular basis, sleepy or not so I suppose the warning is pointless xD Anyway, as with the last chapter I went into this one scared out of my effing mind :P I keep expecting really terrible things to happen and I still can't help but think that you're just luring me into a false sense of security, waiting to strike when I'm the most vulnerable. Either way, I'm exceptionally glad no one died. Still don't know what's going on with 805, but I can't let myself worry about that right now. He's fine until I see he's not. Anyway, enough of my ramblings :P Moving on.

256 might just be the epitome of bipartisanship. I really think he might be the only person on the island that doesn't want much more than peace between the Gifted and nonGifted. He's seen that the current regime is horrible and needs to be disposed of, but the fact that he's still one of them deep down is very telling. He doesn't want the Gifted's evils to continue, but he doesn't want to kill them either. He doesn't have much stake in the game other than just wanting to set everyone free. Whether or not he'll ever convince the two factions to agree with him is another story entirely. I like that he has this... I don't want to call it hope, but this idea (and that's still not the right word) that the two sides could, maybe, someday, live in peace.

Samantha and 256's conversation was both sad and touching at the same time. 256 so wants Sam and 805 to get along and love each other and his reasons for that are perfectly understandable. They're an example of what he wants; a reunion with his parents. If they can't love each other, he's afraid his parents won't love him either. But I do hope 256 won't pin all his hopes on Samantha and 805 mending their relationship. Admittedly, it's the only relationship of that type he has to reference but Sam and 805 have a lot of issues that have nothing to be with being Gifted. They aren't the poster children for a healthy parent/child relationship. Despite what he thinks, I believe 256 probably has a better chance at being a family with his parents than Sam does.

I liked how Samantha so blatantly stated that 256 was in love with Carey xD Girl doesn't have an ounce of tact, but then her bluntness is part of the reason I love her :P It's still good to see him at least beginning to come to terms with how he feels. I'm sure that an emotion like that would be pretty difficult to understand, with an upbringing like he's had. How do you understand love if you've never seen what it looks like or anything? That questioning aspect is really well done and I like it. I'm glad to see Carey is safe (I use that term exceedingly loosely) and didn't suffer too much more than we saw last time. Even so, I imagine this is only the beginning of the tortures the Leader can inflict, so I'm not remotely comforted by Carey's return. I'm sure things will get much worse before they get better, so I'm still really scared for all of them.

For Janelle's part, it was really interesting to see what the other members of the group think about Caleb and honestly, it wasn't what I expected. Brooke's thoughts were especially interesting and somewhat mirror my own only exactly the opposite. I'm coming to like Caleb even if I don't completely trust him. Speaking of Brooke, she seems like a nice addition. She's plucky and seems to have about as much tact as Samantha, only in a different way. And I love the way she talks xD Evelyn seems... lovely. I get where she's coming from, even if I don't like it. Someone new and unproven gets tossed into a leadership position on her first day? Sure, that's a legitimate reason to be a little ticked off, but that kind of behavior isn't appropriate for their situation. They're on an important mission, after all. Strike one, Evelyn. Strike one.  

Oh, Reagan... the feels :( It's great to see Janelle beginning to move forward and starting to accept his death. Obviously she hasn't even begun to fully move past it, but she's on her way and that's good. It's heartbreaking to see how conflicted she is over his motives, so much so that she's questioning everything about their time together. It's so sad and she may never know what Reagan's plans were or how he really felt :( Personally, I think Reagan really loved her, but like Janelle I've got that nagging doubt that maybe it was all a plan to do bad things. Nonetheless, she's beginning to heal and accept her loss and that's a good thing that I was glad to see. I hope she continues down that road and eventually finds the answers she needs, but I'm concerned she never will. I can't imagine being haunted by that for the rest of her life :/

I have to say that when I first read 'She could see Ben sitting alone on a tree branch at the edge of the sheltered area they were hiding in' I imagined Ben perched high up in a tree like Katniss, watching for approaching dangers. Then Janelle sat down beside him without climbing anything and I realized my mistake :P Oh, but what's he hiding then? I suppose he isn't necessarily hiding anything, but just doesn't want to have talk about whatever it is. I get more of a 'painful memories' vibe than anything nefarious, but then I don't trust anyone anymore so what do I know? xD

Thanks for the comment, and please, take your time :) Congrats on finishing your exams! I hope everything went well. Michael is ever a source of confusion, isn't he? :P But if that's the case, then he's doing his job perfectly well. I've never wanted him to be obviously good or bad. There's good things about him and then really horrible things too. His concern and love for Snow are genuine and he's telling the truth when he says he'll do whatever he has to do to protect her, but that doesn't stop him from also being a creepy, cradle-robbing rapist. That could change once all of his secrets come out, but then again that could just make it worse xD

I'll not say anything about whether or not Zoe's comment was accidental or if she knows everything. Nope, not a word :P Zoe couldn't say even if she does know. The Coven typically don't involve themselves in the affairs of non-witches, and even if JTG does have magical powers she isn't a witch. So unless she does something with magic that's just crazy evil or otherwise draws the attention of the Coven, they aren't likely to get involved with her. And JTG definitely doesn't want to draw the attention of the Coven xD The Witches' Coven are the supreme magical authority and they have a division of trained warriors that they send to hunt down rogue witches/magical evildoers. You don't want to have one of them coming to get you :P So JTG could definitely still be magical in some form, but Zoe and the Coven aren't remotely interested in her. Yet.

Hahahahahaha xD Shocking xD I love it :P JTG made a similar joke a couple of chapters back and she made no apologies about it. I'm glad you liked the bit with Snow and Mary. That was a last minute addition and like anything I throw in at the last second, it makes me a little nervous. I would have loved the end the chapter right there, but it was pretty obvious that Snow wasn't going to die so it would have been pretty pointless. The second test, much like the first, was a test of the girl's friendship and devotion to each other. JTG wanted to know if they would ever turn on each other and if so, how long would it take? What lengths would she have to go to in order to make them hurt each other? As for bouncing back quickly, the girls will all process what happened very differently. Some of them will look on the positives in that, like you say, they held on for a long time before giving in. Snow, I think, will have a tough time of it. She's really beginning to lose hope at this point and if something doesn't change she's about to start to crack.

There's a reason why Steven was the only one of the guys that got attacked, but since JTG isn't telling and Steven doesn't know we won't be finding out why for a while. But there definitely was a reason for it. As far Mary, you're right. She picked Mary specifically because she thinks Mary is the weakest link in the group. She's already been withdrawing from the others, so JTG thought it might be a place she could possibly split up their friendship. Pity it didn't work :P Hehe, the Michael thing, the Mary thing, the Miranda thing... I do believe I sense a pattern :P That, and I've got too many characters whose names start with M's.

Oho, they could definitely still go further down :P JTG could start killing people, after all. But... well... maybe they could get a little bit of a victory before too long. It is about time something goes their way, but then again it could be said that your nervous feeling is very well deserved xD Dark times are coming.  

Thanks for commenting :D Yeah, Steven... that whole thing really just shows what type of person Sara was. Whatever her reasons, what she did was very cruel. This more than anything has really ruined Snow's vision of Sara. She's realized that the person she thought Sara was never existed and she never knew. I wasn't really planning on revealing that so soon since we won't, I'm sorry to say, be learning much more about Sara and what she wanted the money for in the near future. It just kind of fit in here pretty well, so there it is. Oh, but there's no such thing as too much Breaking Bad xD

To be completely fair, I very nearly forgot about needing to tell Brad's story :P I knew he and Sophia were supposed to have their date, but I meant to do it a little earlier and since I'm fast approaching a time jump I couldn't put it off any longer so I had to slot it in here. You're on the right track with Brad's mom. She was involved with drugs and some other things that took her to a really bad place, so see? Not too much Breaking Bad :P Oh, Karen xD I don't really know if she'll pop up again or not. I like to give minor characters quite a bit of detail sometimes, just to hopefully make the town feel a bit more alive. Or she could be JTG and she's mad at the gang because they can all play instruments well and she can't :P Okay, that's probably not true but at least you found her interesting.

Much like Steven and Sara's money, and I was never completely sure when Snow and Michael would become a couple. I knew they would at some point, but I never knew exactly when. Honestly, the whole thing makes me nervous. It's a relationship that I know no one is going to cheer for, which is a strange thing to write since you usually want people to like the coupling but whatever. I did it to myself xD But yes, the longer they're together and the more she comes to care for him, the worse it'll be when she finds out the truth. In the interim, though, Michael has a chance to prove himself to her. Whether or not that'll help when she finds out remains to be seen. Heh, Romeo and Juliet. No, no, never look to them for a quality relationship :P Anyway, I'm glad you think it's interesting and a good decision because I'm still nervous xD

Like a lot of other things in this chapter, I didn't plan on revealing Emilia's big secret just yet but when looking for a way to end the chapter I thought it would be a fun way to wrap things up. But yes, it's quite possible Emilia used her evil powers to seduce Jackson, which is kind of bad for Snow since Jackson would be innocent if seduced by magic. Snow would be the only one did something bad of her own accord. Not to ruin any theories, but the strawberries thing is really just because I... well, I like strawberries and strawberry lip gloss :P Its a good theory, though. I can't say I'm intuitive enough to have noticed that.

I think I focused way too much on the idea I had which was that Snow really wouldn't care that Steven was gay. I kept thinking about how that wouldn't affect her because she would just accept him as he is, as her friend, and move on, but while that's great of her it is pretty silly that she didn't comfort him about something that's clearly very difficult for him. I'll fix that because you're right; it really does feel like something's missing :) With Zoe (yes, her name is Zoe :P I was just writing a scene with her and I had to go back and make sure her name was, in fact, Zoe xD I'm bad and I know it) even if Emilia and her cohorts can figure out Zoe's who they're looking for, she's... let's just say she's more than capable of protecting herself if need be. I wouldn't be too worried about Zoe just yet. Snow, though... yeah, you might want to worry about her a little bit ;)    

Thanks for the comment :) To be completely honest, I'd forgotten about Jacob a little myself :P I'd mentioned a while back that he was supposed to be getting out of the hospital on Saturday, but I was halfway through the chapter and he wasn't in it. I ended up having to do a pretty major rewrite due to my forgetfulness xD Jacob is facing a pretty tough new reality going back home now. He hasn't really had to face the world since Sara's death, so combine that with his injuries and he's going to have a pretty rough time. Lol never underestimate JTG's trollishness :P Sometimes in plain sight is the best place to hide something, right? Okay, so maybe it's a little bit too obvious but that could be exactly what JTG wants. Either that or she just got really lucky and Jacob accidentally sent them on a wild goose chase :P Hahaha, JTG has way too much time on her hands either way xD She's giving up valuable time when she could be doing normal people stuff to stalk high school girls. But if she doesn't have supernatural powers, can you imagine how many bags of pasta she had to buy to pull that off? Mistbrook Falls would be facing a massive pasta shortage :P Although it's possible JTG is just doing creepy things like that to all of them in the hopes it pays off. Snow might want to clean out her cupboard :P

I know :( I was really horrible to Mary in this chapter. She really does need a hug. I felt bad being so cruel, but it had to be done. Mary being isolated is exactly what JTG wants, of course. Well, not Mary specifically, but all of them. Their friendship, their love for each other is their greatest strength. They're completely alone in this against JTG. If JTG can break that bond, even if it takes a long time, would be worth it. It's not necessarily JTG's main goal, more a weapon to use against them. As for the other girls, for the moment they agree with Snow and think Mary is being irrational about Michael. They've got no evidence to the contrary, so that's what they're sticking with. Even so, they could always change their minds as time goes on and they spend more time around Michael.

Well, at least Michael can be praised for his consistency xD But yes, Ariana's watching Snow's back where Michael is concerned. Her vengeance would be swift and complete if he ever hurts Snow. You know, it's so far in the future that I don't even know if Ariana and Kayla will find out about JTG in time to bring their considerable resources down against her. I haven't really thought too much about it since if they find out too soon they can finance a private army to hunt JTG down :P On the other hand, it would be fun to see JTG on the defensive. So far, she's always attacking. I'm not sure how she'd respond to playing defense.

And now I want to go see The Phantom of the Opera again :P Eh, I've got some free time this weekend... why do I get the feeling I'm going to end up buying theatre tickets tonight? xD I vaguely remember the scene you're talking about, but I can't recall the specifics either. It's been ages since I've seen it too, so I don't remember but... well, let's just say the gang won't be having much fun on Halloween. I don't know if anyone will be hung, but I don't think anyone will be escaping without a few scars.

You don't know how happy I am that you brought up Mary's reaction. My sister and I debated it for a while and we couldn't decide which way was best. We kept bouncing back and forth between whether Mary should be afraid of Michael or if she should be more aggressive since she wants Snow far away from him. It was sort of a question of what would be at the forefront of Mary's mind, her fear or her desire to protect her friend. I wrote both versions of the scene and eventually went with this one, but I can't say I've been completely satisfied with it and I know I want to go back and rework it. I want two completely conflicting emotions at the same time. Hmm, conflicting emotions, now there's an idea. She could react with fear but on the inside wish she could show him exactly how he felt... which would require a POV change... Well, I'm probably not going to go to bed now like I planned :P I'm having ideas and I'll never go to sleep if I don't at least start.    

I was really nervous to read this chapter, which is bad since I knew I wouldn't be able to read it until tonight so it's just been lurking in the background, taunting me with promises of terrible things happening. While my fears, for the moment, aren't fully realized, I'm now even more terrified than I was before :P Anyway, it seems as though Janelle is starting to settle into her new role pretty well. She's found a new purpose and focus and I think that's good for her. As Thomas says, if she'll build up her self confidence, she'll do great. Maybe if she sees some success on this mission, she'll start to gain some of that.

Assuming Sam ever makes it back to Janelle (please, please, please xD) I feel like she might be more forgiving than Janelle thinks. She's obviously going to be going through a lot before they see each other again, and she might be so happy to see Janelle that she doesn't even care what she's done in the meantime. But even if she's ticked off for a while, Thomas is completely right that Sam will eventually forgive her. I'm not sure there's too much Janelle could do that Sam wouldn't forgive at some point. #Friendship :P Speaking of Thomas, it was good to see him again too. I was worried about him after he vanished with Victor a while back, but since Victor didn't murder/dismember/eat/etc him (yet) I'm feeling quite relieved. I'm not comfortable with Janelle going off and leaving him alone with this lot, but hopefully he'll be okay while she's gone.

Alice has got to be the most heartbreaking little girl to ever live :( I think I want to see the Gifted overthrown just so she, Caleb, and Marina can live safe and happily together. Wow, I want Caleb to live safe and happy? What's gotten into me? :P Sure, Caleb, sure. You forgot something, I believe you. No, you couldn't possibly be off to do anything else. No, that would be silly :P It was nice to learn more about Ben too. His story was really, really sad :( I feel bad for him and Lily too. I can't imagine what it feels like to lose a child, but I can see how something like that could drive two people apart. As for Wesley, his response to Janelle becoming a deputy is interesting. It didn't seem happy for her, but he didn't come off as jealous either. But then he didn't seem flustered just because he was surprised that she was promoted so quickly. I know he doesn't trust the group, but... hmm, I'm not sure what to make of that.

Okay... this part. The part I've been dreading. Writing-wise, it was fantastically well done. I was nervous all the while Carey was trying to undo her bindings, hoping she'd manage to free herself. The interrogation scene with the Leader was tense and terrifying and really unnerving. The Leader almost seemed obsessed with how Carey escaped as a baby. Carey makes a very good point. How could she know that and why was the Leader so certain she did? Very curious. Ugh, my fingers are actually hurting right now :P That was so unexpected and horrifying. Just stay strong Carey, stay strong. I'm really worried for the others too, particularly Sam. She's nonGifted and I'm not sure the Leader will have much use for her.  

Geez, I've always thought the Gifted were some egotistical bastards, but the Leader takes the prize. 'We are the great powers above'? She thinks awfully highly of herself, doesn't she? Whether the Queens of the Stars are real or not, you're not one of them, lady. I'm much more inclined to agree with Carey's answer instead. Anyway, I really liked this chapter despite Carey being tortured. That just made me want to stab the Leader just a little bit. I've been worried for ages and now I'm even more scared than ever. I don't know what's happening to Sam, 256, and 805 and I'm really nervous. I'm going to stay hopeful that everyone will be okay, but somehow I just don't see them all making it out of the Leader's clutches in one piece. 

Thanks for the comments! Please, don't apologize. I'm eternally late and incredibly forgetful. Just today I remembered I promised to read something on fictionpress a month ago and I still haven't done it. I'm bad and I feel bad :P

Well, put Abby and Jake together for very long and you're sure to lighten the mood a little bit. Poor Jake's always embarrassing himself around her somehow. With Scarlett, Abby doesn't want anyone to catch on that their might somehow be a connection between them. That's something she'll keep close to her chest for a long time.

Hehe, my brother's in the Navy, so I get a bit of advice from him from time to time on how Abby should give orders and talk to the crew. Then I put my own spin on it and go with it. Abby hates the Na'Vaxii with a passion and she has very good reasons for it. It's not anything I've mentioned at this point, but you're getting there :P I'm glad you like Abby's depth. Sometimes I feel like she's not... I don't know if I want to say realistic or not, but anyway I'm glad you think that aspect is ok :)

I like to think the details of ships and stuff works because I'm not at all attempting to remain scientifically accurate :P I love technobabble and without it, I couldn't begin to tell you how half the stuff these people use works. Fabricators, Translight drives, particle beam arrays... yeah, no. It flows because the characters believe it since all this advanced technology is so commonplace in their world. I don't have to go deep into detail with it to the point where it gets boring.  

Thanks for pointing out those errors! I'll add them to my list and the next time I can convince my incredibly lazy self to do an editing pass, I'll be sure to fix them. Editing... ugh, I hate it so much :P It doesn't help that I don't like reading my own work either.

Haha, you're noticing my tendency to reference things via ship names :P I haven't done it much with characters, but I do it frequently with ships. You won't ever see something as prominent as a UEF Millennium Falcon flying around, but you might eventually catch a glimpse of the Centennial Eagle out there somewhere. No, that's not a joke xD

Lol, I'll take no blame for any bad grades. No blame at all, I say :P Regardless, thanks for the comment xD On the subject of Snow's judgment when it comes to Michael, you're probably right. In fact, the same could be said for Snow's judgment of pretty much anyone. As you say, she has a history of being wrong about people. She isn't always the best when it comes to reading people. She thinks she is, but hopefully one day she'll realize she isn't. Ariana, on the other hand, is a fantastic people reader. It's a trait Snow sadly didn't get from her mother. Kayla and Ariana will definitely keep a close watch on him, no worries there. I mean, have you met Kayla? Michael will be lucky if she doesn't hire a private investigator to follow him around town :P

Haha, poor Michael just can't win xD I tried to make him less creepy than usual this time around, which might have made him seem even more creepy, now that I think about it. Ah well, he's just a creepy guy. There's only so much help I can give him :P Their age difference is a disturbing thing, no reason to feel bad about it. Snow is very much an underage girl and Michael is decidedly not. The idea of their relationship was partially inspired (as so many things in this are :P) by Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars. They have one of the longest lasting relationships on that show, and yet when they started dating Ezra was Aria's high school English teacher so there's a pretty big age difference between them. Those two have always kind of creeped me out, so him being so much older just made Michael that much more creepy. Lol, if there were a convincing way for JTG to trick Snow and Michael into thinking they were brother and sister, I would absolutely do it xD Almost seems like something JTG would do just to screw with them :P

I hadn't really planned to involve Sophia directly in the JTG plot any time soon, but I was hit with the idea of getting other characters involved in different ways that aren't about using secrets to hurt people. JTG is actually appearing to be a friend, someone that's trying to anonymously help Sophia solve her case and Miranda's murder, which she didn't even realize needed to be solved. JTG won't be trying to hurt her like she is the others. She's got other, more insidious plans for Sophia. Anyway, I wouldn't take anything that comes from a JTG message at face value. She's a master at lying and manipulation. JTG could, in theory, make the girls take the fall for Sara's murder as well as Miranda's or something like that. Or she could have just been trying to say something clever to grab Sophia's attention :P Whatever her plans, never believe anything JTG says... most of the time xD

Oh, there will be shenanigans, trust me :P All sorts of shenanigans.    

It figures the one time I read this surrounded by other people in a brightly lit environment, it isn't scary :P I have the worst timing ever. Anyway, it was really nice to meet Nate's parents in the present. I was glad his dad encouraged Nate to visit a counselor. He may not think he needs counseling, but it couldn't hurt him at this point. On the other hand, maybe it could hurt him a lot. Still, Nate seems to be beginning to crack. He's so focused on punishing Brandon, so sure that he's the one that killed Lauren almost to the point of irrationality. He's becoming obsessed with Brandon and as much as I wanted Nate to go through with confronting him... he's not grieving. He's just wasting away, exhausted and miserable while clinging to the idea of revenge. Counseling could help him start to move on, if nothing else for the sake of his children.

After this chapter I can only assume that Lauren and Brandon may have had some sort of affair. Just based on the way Nate and Frances were talking, that's what it sounds like. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it does make sense. Assuming that's what happened, I'm really curious how it came about. Lauren and Nate seem so happy in the flashbacks of them. So many questions, oh so many questions xD Nate seems to partially blame himself, so what did he do? Or perhaps what didn't he do that made Lauren go looking somewhere else? Or was Lauren just disloyal? No, that doesn't seem right. Yeah, so many questions :P

So Fran knows there's some missing time in Nate's story. That's not good news for Nate. All that would need to be done would be to look at the time of Nate calling the paramedics with the estimated time he left Frances (and she obviously knows when that was) and suddenly his alibi could have a pretty big hole in it. Anyway, while this chapter wasn't scary, it was definitely interesting and emotional. I'm really worried for Nate now and I still have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next. Nate's next meeting with Brandon should be interesting and I'm really curious if Nate will actually go through with confronting him next time.

Aww, Bonnie. We had a miniature schnauzer when I was a kid. Oh, memories :P

Well, it isn't the whole story, but it's 99% of it. Honestly, I've been wanted to get that information out there for a while now, there just hasn't been a place to fit it in. It was a mystery that didn't need to be a mystery, so I leapt on the first chance I got to reveal it. I wrote another version of this chapter that was a flashback to Labor Day and Sara came back as a POV character. It had everything about what Sara knew about Miranda, whether or not Sara meant to push her off the cliff, and what Sara did to Mary. That one wouldn't have raised any questions at all :P That's why I eventually settled on this one instead. The other just revealed way too much. I went back and forth for ages on which version to use because I really liked the other one. I still want to use it sometime though. I have no idea where, but somewhere :P

Jackson and Steven both have their share of secrets, no doubt. That doesn't necessarily mean that JTG chose to target them because of those secrets, but they do have them and I'm sure JTG will use those secrets for all sorts of mischief at some point :P Heh, I very nearly forgot about Sara's computer xD I've been meaning to get it to Steven for a while, but since Steven wasn't involved I couldn't do it. Once he did get involved, I didn't give it another thought :P It might be a while before we get to those secrets, but we'll get around to them.

Lol, everybody hates Michael :P Someone told me recently that they couldn't trust him because he's in the sacrificing virgins to Satan business. Poor guy just can't win xD  I'm still not completely sure when Snow will discover the truth about Michael and Mary, but I don't think it will be for a while yet. I've got a lot of other things to deal with and I need Snow to not have murdered Michael until after that :P You're right that it will completely destroy Snow's image of him and her trust in him. Without giving anything away, it will take Snow to a very dark place when she finds out what he did to Mary. She trusts him almost completely at this point so give her a good amount of time to develop a close friendship with him or even something deeper... it won't be pretty, let's put it that way. Don't worry though, your patience will be greatly rewarded xD I'm confident that Snow's first emotion will be absolute rage and Michael will get his just rewards for that. I don't think she'd kill him, but he may wish she had once she's finished with him xD Thanks for commenting :D 

Hehe, that hair color thing is going to be a major pain to deal with now. Since originally Scarlett and Abby weren't related, Scarlett's hair was naturally red. Now, I chose to change all of that so she's naturally a brunette. The only problem is that I've got literally hundreds of pages of material to go through and change every mention of Scarlett having red hair. Sigh... the things I make myself do :P Anyway, I wouldn't say the whole truth about Scarlett is revealed, just most of it. Abby is operating completely based on fear at the moment. She's scared absolutely out of her mind and every decision she makes is based on minimizing any potential damage. Abby's still hiding quite a bit of stuff about her past, and she'll keep doing as long as she feels she needs to. She knew Jake had recognized their resemblance, so she knew she had reveal something of her past. Even so, she made sure to hold back as much as she could to limit the damage if Scarlett found out. The only problem is she didn't think it through very well xD There's a flaw with her story that Jake didn't notice and Abby never even considered :P I did think about Scarlett maybe being Abby's little sister for a while, but I couldn't come up with a convincing reason why she ended up on the Freedom's Progress. Of course, that could just be lack of imagination on my part :P

I was thinking about how Scarlett might notice their resemblance just last night. I'm not sure when it'll hit her, but it has to eventually. She definitely hasn't noticed anything yet, but I do think subconsciously she has some idea and when she does eventually find out I don't see it being a big surprise to her. Deep down, she already knows. No, you're absolutely right that Abby wouldn't be happy to see Scarlett go live with a foster family at all. It's not what would make her happy, but Abby's pretty much at the point where she doesn't believe she'll ever be happy again. Every time she's been happy her life's been torn apart, so she's not thinking about what will make her happy. She's seen her entire family murdered and in her mind if Scarlett stays with her and they start a happy family, she'll end up losing Scarlett too. It's an illogical line of thought, but Abby's basing her decisions on fear, not logic. She's given up on finding permanent happiness and all she cares about is protecting the only thing left in the world that she loves. She thinks that Scarlett would be safer with another family than she would be with her. The thing is, adopting Scarlett is exactly what she needs to do if she really wants to be happy. She's just too scared to do it.

On the flip side from Scarlett, a relationship with Jake is something Abby can seriously consider. It's scary for her because it does require her to open her heart, but if anything happened to Jake it wouldn't be as painful a blow as it would be if it were Scarlett. She thinks she could survive losing Jake. They're both soldiers and she's used to that kind of loss, so she's considering lowering her defenses that far. Haha, yes Jake would be very pleased about that, no doubt :P He really has no idea what he's getting himself into with her, but yeah, he'd be happy. Abby is annoyed with Jake there at the end, mainly because he did speak the truth. He's right, she knows it, but she doesn't want him to be right :P

Anyway, thanks for commenting. I'm glad you liked this chapter, and... well, define 'terrible'. I'm kidding! They're on Earth, after all. There's a fleet of a thousand spaceships up there keeping them safe. What could possibly go wrong? I mean one of them could trip and fall in a hole and break their leg or something, but compared to interstellar space battles, Earth problems seem so mundane xD I miss space already :P

Aaaaaaaand... my bad feeling has been justified :P I don't even know where to start with this chapter, there's so much to go over. Okay, so firstly it was really interesting to see that Gifts of Earth are bothered by being high up and separated from the ground. I wasn't at all sure what theirs would be. I could hazard a guess at the other two, but Earth not so much. Unfortunately it isn't an easily exploitable weakness the rebels can use, but it is nice to see the Gifted do get scared. It really does help to humanize them that much more.

Aww, 256 wants to know where he's from :( It's good that he wants to know, but really sad that he can't find out now. If only 805 could remember. He didn't seem like he did either. Normally I'd question whether he was just hiding it from 256, but it didn't seem like he was doing that.

So the Gifted have glasses too then? Where are they getting all this technology? The Other Worlds? If so, which one? It doesn't seem like they're manufacturing it themselves, so they've got to be getting it from somewhere. Then again, they seemed surprised by bows and arrows which are known to be Other World weapons, so... I don't know xD Anyway, the history of how the Gifted came to be was really interesting. There's lots of interesting information in there. I was especially surprised by the fact that the first Gifted boy could control all four elements. I didn't expect that it all started with one single person. That's really interesting... theories are going to start spinning up over here xD All this also raises a lot of questions about Tarantis. If they've waited all this time, wanting to destroy the Gifted then they'd have a good reason to help the rebels do just that. But after so many hundreds of years, would they really still be worried about the Gifted? I definitely feel like I'm missing some vital information about all this.  

I'm not sure how much of this I actually believe, especially considering the chapter title. History is, after all, written by the victors and clearly the Gifted won, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Gifted were just making up crap to make themselves appear to be the victims. But there's sure to be some truth to the story too, no doubt. I would imagine the truth sits somewhere in the middle between this extreme and the other. I can't imagine the Gifted were completely innocent, but I doubt they were entirely responsible for everything. I'm immensely curious who the Queens of the Stars are as well. Deities, aliens, or something that doesn't exist at all. The Gifted don't seem the type for religion, they're too egotistical to believe there's someone superior to them. Hmm... so many questions xD If only I could spend an afternoon in that library :P

Oh, the Leader... she's a sneaky witch, isn't she? Now the gang has been captured :( I was starting to think they might make it out okay, given how they've managed to sneak about successfully. Although I guess they haven't been sneaking successfully at all, have they? :P I'm really really worried for all of them. The Leader is quite clearly a woman that will go to whatever lengths necessary to achieve her ends and she's not above torture, so... so yeah, I have no idea what's going to happen, but it's going to be very bad. I can't imagine anyone's going to be coming to rescue them either, so it seems they are very much on their own. I'm also really curious about 805 and who he's supposed to have killed. Even more than that, why would the Leader think the Council was so afraid of him that they fabricated a story to let him off? Oh, so many questions xD

Anyway, enough of my late night rambling :P This chapter was really good. I liked learning about some of the history of the island and the Gifted. The Leader questioning 805 was tense and frightening because I just knew she was going to catch him all the way through. Now I'm going to be freaking out, anxiously waiting to see what happens next.

If you don't know what to think of Michael then I'm succeeding far beyond my expectations (which weren't all that high, honestly) and that makes me happy. I want Michael to be a constant source of concern, even when he's being nice. I agree that the age gap plays into that somewhat and it was intentional to a degree. Michael was supposed to be a high school student, but it all seemed much more creepy if he was older. If they ever start dating, I feel bad for him when it's time to 'meet the parents' :P Kayla has a lot of guns xD I never want to say anything for certain when I haven't written it yet, but I would say it's 99.9% probable that Snow will find out about Mary. She pretty much has to, and when she eventually does... yeah, it's gonna completely change her view of him. Whatever his reasons, Mary is one of Snow's closest friends and she won't forgive that easily. Have you ever heard Miranda Lambert's Gunpowder and Lead? That's sort of how I imagine Snow reacting :P Michael better have magical powers because he'll need them. Snow was raised by Kayla, after all xD Of course, a betrayal like that would likely devastate her. She's at a place where she feels she can't trust anyone outside of her little circle of friends and she's opened herself up to Michael. Being betrayed by someone she trusts and really cares about would crush her... and her mom's dying too. Eh... I might need to get Snow some psychiatric help. She's on her way to getting a lot of really bad news.

Haha, there is a lot of evidence to prove that Sara is dead xD I feel a little weird writing those scenes with them debating if Sara is still alive. I mean, you were all at her funeral. It just felt like something they might consider when faced with evidence that Sara might still be alive and that 'she's a ghost' isn't the most logical response for them to have. Sara did genuinely care about her friends, that's true, but she cared about herself more, at least back then. Mary may be reaching with her theory, but selling out her friends to save herself is something Sara might possibly have been willing to do. She wouldn't have tormented them all this time, though. That's something altogether different, although I would imagine death changes people, so... :P With Miranda... you're getting warm, I'll leave it at that. You are missing something and it'd be pretty tough to connect the pieces without that information. Heck, it would be hard to connect all the pieces even with that information. Ah, the web I've woven xD Miranda really did hate all of the girls though, Sara in particular. If she knew Snow had all of her popularity, she wouldn't be at all happy about it and would have set out to do whatever was necessary to destroy her.

Snow can read Latin, yes. She can actually speak three languages in addition to being able to read Latin fairly well. English, Spanish, and French. It's definitely something she's learned mostly on her own. She loves to learn, she loves language, and it seemed like something she would have some grasp of. At least that's what I was aiming for. Hopefully it doesn't seem too silly :P Thanks for commenting :) I usually say that at the beginning... we're doing things backwards tonight xD

Thanks for the comment :) I'm really glad you felt bad for Alex and liked where she is emotionally. She's always been pretty confident in herself, brave and outgoing for the most part. I wanted what's happened so far to break her down until she realizes that she's a fifteen year old girl with absolutely no idea how to survive in this new world and almost no way to protect herself. That basically crushed her confidence. To be completely honest, the crossing the camp scene bugs me but then its an action scene so I've come to expect that I'm never going to be completely happy with my action sequences. I am really happy that you thought it was okay, because I struggled with that scene for a while.  

They have found a way to kill them permanently. They won't be coming back from a head wound like that. I considered holding off on revealing that for a while and let them struggle a bit with ways to stop them, but it would have been pointless and tedious to drag it out I felt, so in it went. The zombies aren't totally blind as they can still see movement and sources of bright light, but otherwise yes, they're blind. If you stood completely still in front of one it wouldn't see you, but since their senses of smell and hearing are vastly increased it could still smell you or hear you. High School of the Dead is one of the many sources I turned to for this (please bear in mind that under no circumstances will Alex fight zombies dressed in those ridiculous outfits, additionally no one will use her boobs to brace a rifle either :P) I'm far from a zombie expert so I had to do some research. I've combined a lot of zombie traits from different places along with a few of my own, probably unoriginal, ideas and went with it.   

I really have no idea how long they'll be on the mountain. Not long, I wouldn't think since there's really only so much I can do in such a limited setting. Now as far as them getting off the mountain without any further issues... what would be the fun in that? :P Zombies could swarm the ranger station, the bus could break down on the way out, or the military could decide to just nuke the entire site from orbit. It is the only way to be sure. Anyway, the choices are endless xD

Thanks for commenting :) I did think about letting Abby and Jake go their separate ways for a while and let them meet up later, but it really just made an already very long story that much longer and didn't add anything to it. The rest of the gang unfortunately won't reappear again in this story at all. They won't be back until the sequel, but they're fine. No need to worry :P Haha, yeah that's the kind of relationship Scarlett and Jake end up having. They're constantly teasing each other and stuff. It's a very brother/sister-ish relationship. Heh, Jake essentially is a lost cause, but who knows? He might surprise you someday xD Scarlett and the ice cream parlor is a scene I very nearly cut. It was from when Scarlett was supposed to be much younger than she is now, but since I've been known to squeal like a little girl at the prospect of ice cream, it stayed xD Lol, don't worry :) I like rambling and besides, I've done the exact same thing before. That or really late at night, occasionally 1 or 2am. I'm honestly surprised people can even make sense of those :P

I would say Abby is 100% more terrified of what she's doing with Jake and Scarlett than she ever was facing down those admirals. That's just part of the world that she knows and understands. Jake and Scarlett's world is one she doesn't know and is really scared of. On Endeavour she's safe, she's in control and she can comfort herself by saying she's kept a professional distance from Jake and Scarlett. On Earth, she'll have a tough time with that. It's the scariest thing she can imagine, losing control and making herself that vulnerable. Abby would disagree, but yes, peace and quiet would do her a lot of good. It'll give her time to relax and adapt to the world outside the military and see that it really isn't that scary at all. Well, it'll definitely be culture shock for Scarlett xD She's never seen a cow. She's lived in the lap of luxury her entire life. Living on a ranch, even a really nice one, will be a big change for her.  

Going in, I wasn't expecting to get nearly as many answers and I got. A lot of things I've been wondering about were revealed in this chapter, but of course now I've got more questions, but I'm still happy xD It was really nice to get so much backstory about Caleb and his group. Marina's story went from sweet and touching to sad and heartbreaking. Getting a taste of a younger, gentler Caleb caring for a girl and her mother was really nice and everything he's done to protect Marina and Alice... geez, I'm actually starting to really like this guy :P Terrifying as I find that prospect, seeing Caleb's history and everything he and his family have been through is definitely warming me toward him.

Then there's Ben's story of Henry going rogue and slaughtering the Gifted. I was really excited to get the details of all of that because that was a big thing keeping me from trusting this new group, so to learn about Henry makes it much easier for me to trust Caleb's group. Speaking of Ben, I instantly liked him. I don't know what it is about him, but he seems like a straightforward, down to Earth kind of guy. Probably means he's evil/going to die soon, but that's beside the point :P It was also really interesting to learn about the black market in the Council and that Caleb's group has spies there. I guess Carey, Sam, and 256 aren't completely alone even if they don't know it.

Gah, Tarantis! Really? I mean, really? The instant, I mean the absolute second I start trusting Caleb and his group, I find out they're being supplied by the bad Otherworlders. I even agreed with Caleb when he said that they're at war and people are going to have to die if they're going to win. Now I'm really worried. I'd bet dollars to donuts Janelle is right and Victor is from Tarantis and is working to achieve whatever evils it is they intend. Assuming they're evil at all and Hahana and Maui are telling the truth. For all I know they could be the bad ones and Tarantis is a perfect pleasant country. I really have no idea who to trust or what to think at this point xD No matter who's good or bad, whenever everyone comes back together again it should make for one heck of a reunion, that's for sure. Oooh, but Thomas is mysteriously absent! He was last seen with Victor and... oh crap, now I'm really scared for him.

I'm glad Janelle seems to have gotten her groove back a little bit now that she's in a leadership role again. This mission she's going on with Ben should be exciting and a good way for her to gain more leadership experience and get some good confidence in herself. Anyway, you've left me excited, worried, and very scared since I don't think I can trust anyone anymore. I really did enjoy this chapter and I'm excited to see what happens next since I still can't shake that bad feeling I've been having for a while now. I just know the second that feeling starts to go away and I let my guard down there will be some sort of horrible massacre and my vulnerable heart will be shattered :P

Thanks for the comment :) Haha, Abby's a very lucky girl, no doubt. Sure, she was exaggerating when she thought that the admirals were talking about how to make her disappear, but... well, let's just say that the Federation wouldn't be above that sort of thing if it suited their goals. Anyway, I'm glad you liked that scene. I've never been completely satisfied with it personally, I'm constantly revisiting it and changing things :P Abby's speech on the other hand is one of my favorite parts. It's the first time she gets to really show what she's made of. She's feisty when she's mad, and their comments about Scarlett definitely made her mad. She might not always see it in herself, but she's a leader. She's an exceptionally good leader and this is one of the times she shows just how strong she is. As for Abby and Scarlett's connection, I'll say soonish xD I don't know exactly when myself right now. I'm very nearly to the part that I haven't written yet. I've got tons more material, but there's a huge gap right in the middle of the story and that's where I'm at right now. So for the time being, I'll stick with soonish because that's probably the best description of it. Now who's rambling? :P

I felt Scottish myself this past weekend, although in that case I was in a Scottish pub and there were certain amounts of hard cider involved. I'm getting off topic :P Yeah, the admirals had every reason to be a little ticked off. Whatever Abby said about saving lives and that being what she signed up to do (which she does truly believe in) she only went to rescue the Freedom's Progress because she knew Scarlett was onboard. She knew how much trouble she could get into in things went south, but it was a risk she had to take. Oh, so you didn't pick up on the fact that the other admirals are mute? I thought I made it perfectly clear, but I guess I should edit that to make it more obvious... yeah, you're not buying that, are you? xD Either I was being extremely lazy the day I wrote that or I had a bad case of the dumbs. Either way, thanks for pointing that out. I'll add that to my list of edits I plan on making when I next get some free time :)

Hope's promotion is a direct effect of my changing the story so they returned to Earth instead of... well, something else that we now won't be getting to for a while. Originally Sheridan was going to die during the thing that happens and Hope was going to take his place, but she wouldn't have gotten a promotion since there wouldn't have been anyone around to give it to her. Since they did come back, Sheridan gets to live and Hope ends up in his position anyway. It's a win-win for everyone xD She deserves the promotion, to be sure, and with a little more self-confidence she'll be just fine. There isn't a time skip, or at least not one right now. I did consider it since going to Earth pretty much takes all of the sci-fi out of this story, but there's no way to make the story work if I skip those six months before Endeavour's back in action again. So what comes next will be lacking spaceships and interstellar conflicts, but I hope to make up for it in other ways :P Now, I'm going to shut up considering I'm sure I've blathered on for entirely too long xD      

Thanks for the comment! Jake... he's not really too bothered by his breakup with Megan. It was so long ago and he's not the kind of guy that's going to pine over a girl. There's a lot of stars in the universe in his opinion, so he's very much over it at this point. That said, it is a pretty sad story. It's definitely something I want to revisit at some point and show more of what happened because although he's over it now, he had a tough time of it when it happened. Lol, absolutely not. No matter how long those two are around each other, she'll never let him forget about that one :P Just because I made a habit back in Warehouse where every time people were happy it meant something awful was about to happen doesn't necessarily mean I've continued that here. We could go a long time without anything bad happening at all... but then, where would the fun be in that? xD

Abby and Scarlett would both benefit from spending time together. They've got very similar backstories, what with both of them having their homes destroyed and losing their families. Hehe, it might have been a bit of a cheesy line, but it's completely right. She needs to learn to let herself love again. I guess it's really more that she's too afraid to love, but the point still stands that Scarlett would be of great help getting her to open her heart again. Adoption services are the same or maybe even worse. Kids from planets the Na'Vaxii have destroyed end up in refugee camps on other worlds and eventually get placed in foster care. The system is flooded with orphaned children, so Scarlett would have next to no chance of ever getting adopted :(

Hahaha, yes, the Enterprise xD Every space navy needs an Enterprise, right? Really I just needed a quick name for a ship and Enterprise popped into my head, but it also lets me reference Star Trek, so yay :P There might also one day be a ship called the Centennial Eagle, which is in no way a reference to the Star Wars' Millennium Falcon. It's... just a coincidence xD But yes, Abby's recovery is going quite well for the moment. Things could change later, but for now she's doing much better. Their adventures on Earth will be much different from their antics on Endeavour, that's for sure. Since they don't have the Na'Vaxii to worry about (probably :P) they'll have to find trouble of a purely human variety. Of course, that's not exactly a difficult thing to do, especially when you're Abby. That girl has a habit of finding all sorts of trouble :P

Okay, I've really got to stop reading this in the dark, by myself :P And this time I'm not even in the comfort of my own home where I can read it while hidden under by favorite blanket. Instead, I've got this creepy mirror across the hotel room that I keep seeing scary shapes in out of the corner of my eye. Anyway, to start with you win points for using a Marina and the Diamonds song. Good choice there xD. This chapter is positively chilling and (at least to a wimp like me) terrifying. The scene with Nate finding Lauren's severed head was really unnerving. I knew, going into it, what he was going to find but you still managed to fill me with suspense nonetheless. I liked Nate's reaction to his gruesome discovery (is that a horrible thing to say?) It was interesting that he's calling emergency services even though its quite clear there's nothing paramedics could do. As though his mind can't completely comprehend what's happened, which it probably can't at the moment. While I've never found the severed head of a loved one, that sort of response seemed realistic.

Oh, Nate... Nate, Nate, Nate, why didn't you go through with it? I was really hoping he would because then I would hopefully know more things about Brandon, who's still pretty much a complete unknown. Ah well, I can wait. I'm really curious as to whether or not it was Nate's lack of courage or something else that just wouldn't let him say anything.

The description of the murder at the end was very well done and really scary. That's the kind of horror that I find the scariest. Something as simple and straightforward (on the surface) as an attack with a knife managed to really freak me out. With Nate not being able to control his own actions, to his attempted suicide afterward. The scene was just downright unnerving. I liked the way you turned a sweet, romantic moment into a violent, bloody betrayal. Even knowing things that I shouldn't now know, the whole thing was very surprising and I really didn't see it coming at all. By the way, my brother has a tendency to sneak up behind me and hug me like that (well, you know, not exactly like that, but you get my meaning :P) If I freak out and kick him in the groin the next time he does it, I'm making him read this so he'll understand my reaction xD Anyway, this was, overall, one of my favorite chapters so far. It was perfectly terrifying and intriguing at the same time. I'll be looking forward to the next one as I really have no idea whatsoever what could come next.

Thanks for commenting :) Despite all of Abby's issues (and she's got a lot of them :P) she really does have a special place in her heart for her crew. She doesn't have a family and she's too afraid to let herself love anyone after all she's lost, so her crew, in a way, fills that void in her life. She's able to care about people without making herself vulnerable by letting herself love them. In some ways, she thinks of them as her children and she really wants to protect them and see them succeed. Yeah, there's wasn't much about Jake there, just a little bit. We'll get to more of Jake's backstory soon, but yeah he really is pretty normal xD There's plenty of other people with dark secrets though, so there won't be a shortage of that.

Let's just say if anyone did find out Abby had told those three (four, since Scarlett overheard) no one would ever see or hear from any of them ever again. They would, quite simply, disappear from the face of the galaxy never to be seen again. Section 9, a subdivision of the Department of Naval Intelligence that deals with clandestine-type operations, would see to their disposal quite swiftly. As for Abby suspecting Sheridan, she absolutely suspects him. She's suspicious of every single person on the ship and having someone of Sheridan's rank as the operative would be exactly what One Galaxy would do. He's in the perfect position to do all sorts of bad things, and Abby's scared because he's in command of her ship and she's in no condition to take over. That's the biggest reason she didn't invite him. She basically has to trust him, but she's not going to let him in on who she's using as spies just in case he's up to no good.

Lol, Jake and his awkward situations :P He definitely wins the award for Most Foot-In-Mouth Moments Ever. He'll have plenty of time for more of those moments, and how could he not? It's what he's best at xD Abby will never let him live down the whole peeking down her shirt thing. Never xD Sadly, that's not nearly everything poor Abby's been through :( She easily makes up for Jake's lack of dark secrets. Honestly, I've only ever tortured one other character as much as I have Abby and that's Ariana. Weirdly, they're probably my favorite characters I've written. I wonder if that says something about me? :P   

Lol, no ordering from them probably wasn't the best idea :P I'm not sure how that place is even still in business. Of course, no wedding supplied by them is ever a dull affair xD Hehe, I don't expect anyone to suspect Zoe of being the person Cooper mentioned. If anyone does, I'll be greatly surprised. She's only had maybe three lines of dialogue so far so she's not exactly a character anyone's thinking about. I really don't know when she'll reappear, since Michael and Brad are trying to keep their distance from her, but it shouldn't be too long. Oooh, oooh, I know! Sorry... ideas are forming over here xD

Brad's a complicated guy, that's really the only way to describe him. He doesn't want to hurt Snow, but he will if he has to. He's very focused and direct. He looks for the quickest and most decisive way to solve a problem and doesn't worry about looking for alternatives. In this case, killing Snow takes care of his problem, so that's what he wants to do. Telling her the truth would just make things complicated. Michael, obviously, isn't going to just let it happen which will definitely cause some conflict between them.

Well, you're right that they weren't talking about Sara. That doesn't mean neither one of them is responsible for her death, but they were talking about someone else. Miranda (you got the name right ;)) on the other hand is a perfectly valid guess. The details surrounding her death will be coming very soon, before Sophia and Brad's date. The girls are definitely involved, but they may not know everything that happened that day. In fact, I'd say its very likely that they don't. As for what Brad intends to tell Sophia on their date... well, I'm not sure he'd want to confess to a murder while on a date with a cop xD Although he does have a witch for a friend, so Brad could get his guilt off of his chest and then Zoe could wipe her memories*

*This is in no way a confirmation that Zoe can, in fact, erase people's memories xD 

I'll have to ask you to excuse me if I'm not my usual chipper self today. I've just finished playing through episode 5 of the Game of Thrones game from Telltale and fittingly, I am extremely upset and depressed now :P Anyway, it was really interesting to get a glimpse of Wesley's journey so far. Given how long it's been since Carey was taken away, he must have had quite the adventure to get where he is now. It was nice to see how he came to join Caleb's group and get a lot of insight into his motivations. They're a lot alike, Wesley and Janelle. Neither of them really wants to fight, they just want their loved ones back. The image of Wesley's parents asking him to bring Carey back is really powerful and the whole time I was saying to myself; "Just say Carey's name, Wesley. Just say it once. C'mon man! That's all you need to do." :P But alas it wasn't meant to be. Its interesting, but Wesley's only appeared in a small smattering of chapters and yet now I want to see him complete his quest and find his sister with the same passion I want to see all the other characters succeed. I really do like him, which knowing my luck means he's destined to die soon :P I always fall in love with the doomed characters no matter what it is I'm reading/watching xD I'm also quite curious about Wesley's mission that went bad. Could it have been the one where he ran into 256 or something else? Hmm... curious indeed.

Aww, Alice :( Poor kid. A hidden rebel base is hardly a place for a little girl, with no one her age around for her to talk to. I feel really bad for her. I still can't imagine what could have happened to upset her so much, but whatever it is I hope she'll be okay. Hmm, well isn't Caleb suddenly all kind and compassionate :P He's just a big teddy bear deep down, isn't he? No? Yeah, probably not. Still, he seems to have some positive qualities so that's good. Noooo... too many more moments like that and I'll start warming to him. I won't let down my guard, I say! I will not do it :P Hehe, 'Daleb' xD Nice cover, Alice. Very well done :P Although she was crying, so I suppose she could have just been congested and having a hard time pronouncing her words :P I'm really glad Janelle agreed to be Caleb's deputy. She needs to be in a leadership role, it's where she belongs and I'm happy to see her taking this on.

Poor Sam. No one will ever let her sleep :P Hmm, maybe that's why she's been so grumpy lately. I was so sure the Leader was going to catch them when they ran into her in the corridor. I got a very strong Dumbledore-can-see-through-invisibility-cloaks feeling during that scene and I just knew she was going to see them. You really made her feel terrifying and I would hate to meet her... well, anywhere actually.

Well, I see what you meant by keep feeling bad for 805 :( I feel really horrible for him. He's just being used and while Sam's idea to complain isn't the best plan ever, something has to be done. I've no idea what he could do or how they'll ever find a peaceful balance between the Gifted and nonGifted, but 256 is very right. Something has to change. Hopefully they'll find something they can use in the library, now that 805 has agreed to help them. Now, 256's book :/ That makes me very nervous. Sure, 805 could have knocked it off, but if someone was snooping around the room... Yeah, I'm going to be very worried until the next chapter.

Thanks for commenting :) Lol, yeah Abby's fine :P Well, not fine exactly, but she's much better. There's always time for side effects xD Days, weeks, months, even years later and something could happen. I'm keeping my options open :P

That might be Jake's most awkward moment yet xD Don't worry, he has plenty more. He just can't catch a break, the poor guy :P Everything Abby's been through, and she didn't tell Jake everything, definitely hangs over her all the time. She's really closed herself off and locked away her heart because she's so afraid that if she ever lets herself love someone again she'll lose them too. She's spent years and years building up these walls, but Jake and Scarlett (Scarlett in particular) more or less dropped a nuclear bomb on all her defenses. With them around, she's fragile, vulnerable, and downright terrified.

Well, Abby completely left Scarlett's part out when she was telling the story. She sort of started the story in the middle. She left off the beginning, a bit in the middle, and the end, so Scarlett could fit in anywhere :P Yeah, if Scarlett was Abby's daughter, she would have been around 15 when Scarlett was born. Abby had a big family though, so Scarlett really could be anyone. Whatever their connection is, she doesn't want Scarlett finding out, which is the main reason she didn't say anything to Jake about it. She'd much rather send Scarlett off to a foster family on Earth, protected by a fleet of a thousand battleships, and be rid of her than risk watching her die like everyone else. If she sticks around, she's a chink in Abby's armor and that's something she can't have.

Thanks for commenting :D Yeah, I just kind of snuck this one on here one day and haven't done much with it since. It's sort of a little side project that I work on when I'm stuck on Snowfall (like I am now :P) and it gives me something different to do. Honestly, I'm not that familiar with zombie stories either other than stuff like The Walking Dead. It's definitely a genre that's been done to death and I'm sure I'm trying to reinvent the wheel, but I want to try to put my own spin on it with the way the pathogen works. That's probably been done before too, but oh well xD You'll find out how they'll get out of it not too long after I do seeing as I have no idea myself :P I'm not planning ahead at all with this. I have no idea where I'm going or what will happen next. I'm writing the whole thing completely in the moment, like I'm there and this stuff is happening and I'm just writing it down. It's both really fun and really terrifying at the same time :P

I'm glad you liked the introductions of the characters. I always feel like introducing characters is one of my weakest areas, so yay xD I do kind of wish I'd kept Rich around a while longer, since I could see him and Sawyer coming into constant conflict over Alex while they're trying to survive. He would have been interesting to have in the group, but unfortunately I liked the idea of Rich being a sort of Patient Zero for the pathogen's spread on the mountain so he had to go. I'm glad you thought the ending was scary. I'm a wimp with horror too and it scared me to write it, so at least I can frighten people who don't do well at horror movies :P  

Lol, the funny thing is my brother has said that to me a couple of times xD It's a long, complicated story :P Alex and Sawyer's relationship is based very much on me and my brother, so that, the nicknames he has for her, and his super protectiveness is all based on us... but then we're really weird so it might be worth rewording that bit, come to think of it since it does seem like an awkward thing to say unless you're around us all the time.

If ever there was a book I wish was a Netflix series so I could binge watch it, it's this one. At the end of a chapter, I'm constantly left wanting more xD Of course, that means you're doing it right. Anyway, I'm immensely curious how Nate's meeting with Brandon is going to go. I doubt it will go well, but who knows? Brandon obviously won't confess, so I'm not at all sure what's going to happen but it should be interesting.

I feel awful for Nate :( I mean I've always felt awful for Nate, but in this chapter especially. I can't imagine how terrible it must be to have everyone you know believe you're a murderer. To know you didn't do something, and to have all of your friends, family, even your students think you did would really suck. I may have said so before, but I love the subtle hints of what's really going on in Nate's mind. I mean, I know parts of what's up having read it before you changed things, but I'm trying to read it as though I don't know anything. Anyway, those little almost schizophrenic moments with him hearing voices saying he hated Lauren are a great addition. It gives the whole thing a rather spooky feel since clearly something is up with Nate. That final line is really chilling.

The part with Max was so sweet and sad. Max is absolutely the cutest little boy ever xD I just love him. I laughed entirely too long at "I'm ugly" xD Them looking at the photos was really sad, but I was happy to see both of them laughing, even if only for a moment. It seemed very realistic that Max would see his parents fighting and wonder if they loved each other. How the minds of babes work :P Anyway, another good chapter and I can't wait to see what happens with Brandon when Nate meets up with him. Please don't do anything stupid, Nate. I don't know much about Brandon, but he worries me. A lot.   

No worries, please take your time. You wouldn't hear from me for a month if I'd spent a week on a farm. This city girl is far too frail and weak to handle that xD Anyway, I hope the work wasn't too tiring and that the cows were much more friendly this time around ;) I'm glad you liked the interrogation scene, as it's a favorite of mine. It pays homage to a similar scene from Firefly, a short-lived TV show that when away much too soon. Haha, Hurst's shenanigans xD I've got to use that at some point :P We'll get to that soon, but no he didn't give them the full story. All he did was decrypt the files for them. He didn't actually tell them anything about who he's working for. Hurst would never have told them anyway, although that's not necessarily out of loyalty. Instead, it's much more out of fear.

No, you haven't forgotten any detailed description of Jake's backstory. Not much at all has been mentioned about his past yet. I'm sort of taking my time with revealing everyone's histories, showing who these people are now and then over time going back and talking about where they've come from and the things they've done. With Jake though, he's a pretty ordinary guy. Sure he's got secrets, but there are secrets and then there are secrets :P Jake's got secrets like everyone else, but he doesn't really have any secrets. For lack of a better way to put it, he's got nothing that would interest JTG xD Anyway, you'll be getting a good dose of Abby's backstory very soon and maybe a bit of Jake's too. I say maybe because I can't remember exactly what chapter that part is in :P I think it's in 15 but I could be wrong.  

Lol! Well, I'm glad I was able to give you a laugh, and equally sorry I made you scare your dog xD That line is a massive cop out for me, given that I had no idea how to describe what Bradford's device did on a scientific level. I was going to technobabble my way through it, but I realized I don't know nearly enough about science and medicine to make it believable and I didn't think 'space magic' would work as a proper explanation :P Ah, hope... I love hope. It gives me something to crush. I'm kidding xD Probably... :P Thanks for the comment! :D

Sorry I didn't get around to commenting on this over the weekend. It was Independence Day and I ended up being way busier than I thought I would be... and I just realized I never said I was going to comment over the weekend, I just meant to do so :P I really shouldn't talk to people when I'm sleepy. Anyway, I really liked Carey and Sam's conversation. My sister wakes me up just like that all the time, so I feel Sam's pain xD I liked seeing Sam and Carey's thoughts on Reagan and Caleb too. I'm not remotely surprised Sam doesn't trust Caleb, although Carey does make an excellent point that if Reagan really was a Gifted spy, you'd think they'd have some sort of security measures around their headquarters to detect people with that Gift. Sure, they're arrogant, but could they really be that arrogant? Carey's comments that Reagan could have been spying for someone else (perhaps a rogue group of Gifted?) is really interesting as well. You're going to have me theory crafting all week with this xD

I'm going to have to petition for more awkward Sam/Carey hugs :P I was really happy to see Sam apologizing for her general douchebaggy attitude recently. I knew she'd come around eventually, but I'm really glad it happened now. And it came with a cute hug, so I'm content :P I was also glad that Carey finally told someone else about what's going on with her powers. She's needed to do that for a while now, but I'm not sure she's going to feel much better until she tells 256 about 440. He deserves to know and Carey's clearly disturbed about it. Carey's right, after all, one too many secrets she's keeping.

Marvin :( Now I'm sad. I really miss him. I still can't figure out who the Gift of Water was. Ooooh, maybe it was someone from Reagan's rogue group? Or maybe Reagan himself and he temporarily had two Gifts like Carey? Hmm... I don't know :P It was interesting to get more back story on 805 and Michelle. Poor 805 :( I feel really bad for him. I get the feeling, and I'm not sure why, that he didn't tell her he loved her when she asked him to. He's got a lot of regret in him. If Sam tells him Michelle's dead... :(

Aww, 256, you're not lame. You just need a bit more self-confidence. You'll be fine, just get in there next time xD 256 does make an interesting point though; how would he know what love is? He's never gotten to experience, well, anything really. That would have to be really confusing for the poor guy to suddenly start getting put into situations and feeling things he doesn't understand. Anyway, overall a really good chapter and I'm really excited to see what happens next. I'm really starting to feel like you're lulling me into a false sense of security :P I've still got that bad feeling, but with each passing chapter nothing terrible happens. Not that I'm upset that nothing bad has happened, I'm just really nervous.  

Haha, I do it because I'm actually an evil demoness that feeds on the emotions of her human thralls. There is no escape :P Hmm... pull a Ned Stark on you, huh? Well, that does sound like something I would do xD I'm just not going to say anything at all. Nope, not a single thing :P Jake and Scarlett really are BFF's, no doubt xD They have one of the most fun relationships I've ever written. They're always sort of picking on each other and making fun of each other but they come to love each other in their own way. Hehe, yeah Jake's always getting himself into the most uncomfortable of situations. He needs to work on that. He gets into one pretty soon that's probably my favorite of them all xD As for caring so much for Abby, he sees, perhaps subconsciously, that Abby is someone in need of a great deal of care. On top of that, they've bonded somewhat over Scarlett and let's face it Jake's got a bit of a crush on her, so... there's that :P

I'm actually really glad you felt sorry for Hurst. I mean, yeah he's done something that seems to be bad but we haven't seen his motivations for what he's doing yet. He was cornered and well aware of the punishment he would face if he were caught. People charged with treason in the Federation are sent to Sunshine, a prison in space closely orbiting the sun. The station has no radiation shielding, so everyone aboard quickly develops all the horrible symptoms of radiation sickness and dies. He had every reason to be really, really frightened since he really had no way out. I think Abby would have been able to talk Hurst down if Sammy the Sniper (that's what I always called him for some reason :P) hadn't knocked over his gun, but I can't say for sure. As for what the paper means, well other than Hurst Abby's the only one on the ship who knows and neither of them are talking so... yeah xD It might take a little time to get to that bit.  

Heh, you're confused? So am I :P I went back and re-read this chapter because I knew at one point or another Abby had a pretty long conversation about casualties from the boarding and from all the fighting but I thought maybe it had accidentally gotten shifted to a different chapter or something by how I've had to break them up. The medical staff was overwhelmed with all the injuries and were low on just about all their supplies, blood included. Abby even volunteered to donate if she needed to and she planned on contacting the other ships to request some of their supplies. Abby also talked with Sheridan about battle damage the ship took and made plans with Captain Braxton since Endeavour is much more combat capable than the Nightfall is. The Nightfall was forced to withdraw and neither the ship nor Braxton are mentioned again, which will probably seem odd without those scenes in there :P What happened to those bits, I couldn't tell you xD They aren't anywhere to be found. I guess during my many edits, rewrites, and breaking these chapters up into bit sized chunks they got lost. Now I'm going to have to go over the whole thing to make sure nothing else is missing and hope I've still got those missing scenes saved somewhere. I've got at least five different copies of this on a couple of different computers and flash drives, so I'm sure it's still in one of them. I'm really glad you mentioned that, though. I might have never noticed it otherwise. Thanks so much for the comment :D

Haha, yes, what's wrong with him? He really should have known that. So unprofessional xD He kind of screwed up by saying that anyway, since technically the ship was coming into contact with the enemy so he should have said "Battle stations," or "Action stations," or "General Quarters" so he just made all sorts of mistakes xD

The aliens hadn't been seen or described before this, so you didn't miss anything. Jake might have referred to them as apes at one point, but that's it. I'm glad you liked the descriptions of the Na'Vaxii since despite the fact that I've written a good deal of sci-fi, I've never done too much with aliens :P Well, they would have something up their sleeve if they had sleeves xD Muscle size is a sign of experience, power and social status in their culture. The strong rise high and the weak are kept frail and powerless. Not showing one's arms in their culture would be like walking through the mall stark naked in our culture. Yes, I put entirely too much thought into the Na'Vaxii's culture :P Now Hurst on the other hand... he might be causing quite a bit of trouble before too long. Bring tissues. I'm kidding... or am I? xD

I'd been wanting to expand the backstories of some of the other characters for a while, but never really had the opportunity. So far they, Hope especially, have just been vehicles for delivering dialogue and exposition and that needed to change. I started with Hope, but some of the others will come along at some point. Lol, I would definitely be hiding if I was on that ship. Of course, I wouldn't have gotten on the ship in the first place but that's beside the point xD But yeah, Hope discovering she really did have the courage to do that is a pretty big deal for her. She's always doubted herself in a way and this will help improve her self-confidence over time. Heh, well if sentimentality really is good for the soul then you're in good shape xD

Thanks for the comment! Hahahaha, that’s hilarious xD I don’t know if we’ll ever see Dennis’s home life, but if it happens he’s absolutely going to have a big white cat as a pet. Heh, yeah you don’t want to get on Ariana’s bad side these days. She’s still soft, sweet little Ari until you tick her off. Then the claws come out :P I mainly wanted to use that scene to demonstrate her growth. She’s gone from being this scared little girl that was afraid to go to the mall by herself to being a woman that will walk into a big corporation like she owns the place and tell them exactly what’s going to happen. It’s fun for me to go back and see how much she’s changed. It’s good you feel sorry for Dennis, since he’s kind of stuff in a bad place. He’s not at all on JTG’s side and is being coerced by her, so he’s trapped between JTG, who is obviously scary, and Ariana and Kayla, who can be pretty intimidating when they want to be. And yeah, it makes you wonder who else JTG is talking with and using to achieve her evil ends :P That, to me, is one of the scariest parts is that JTG really could be anywhere and everywhere if she’s threatened enough people into working for her.

Hehe, yeah Cooper’s back again for a little while. I really wanted to have him in more of this chapter, but it started getting so long that I had to cut the back end of it off so that part will pop up a little later. As for Coop guiding some of the other characters… well, I’ll put that in the ‘maybe someday soon’ category. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be around more often, because I’m planning on having him show up much more often than he has been so far. I miss having him around, so I’m looking for any and every reason to bring him back.

Yes, someone in Mistbrook Falls has magical powers. The only clues I can give are these two; they are most certainly still alive and they are not a Guide. Despite my lack of helpful hints, you’ll find out who it is very, very soon :P Making JTG seem supernatural has always been a big goal for me, so I’m glad you’re thinking that way. I’ve said before that I want her to seem all-seeing, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time. That’s not to say JTG isn’t actually supernatural and I just want it to seem like she is for whatever reason because JTG may well be supernatural. It’d be too big of a spoiler, I think, to say one way or the other. Okay, it’s official. At some point in the future Michael will be referred to as Buffy xD Maybe by Clara, she seems like that sort of character :P Well, let’s just say Snow is definitely going to question his choice of a sword as a home defense weapon. I don’t think the average person knows how to wield a sword other than to just stick ‘em with the pointy end ;)

Other than making JTG seem supernatural, my other desire was to make practically everything seem like a potential JTG plot, so I'm glad you're suspicious of the fire xD Some things are perfectly innocent accidents that have nothing to do with JTG (I won't say if the fire was one of them :P) but just the fact that it could have been JTG's doing makes me happy.

I very nearly made a critical error with this chapter. My first thought about the fire was that it would have been at the warehouse and it would have burned to the ground. Kayla would have associated the destruction of the warehouse with Ariana's impending death and seeing it destroyed would have encouraged Ariana to share the same story of how she found it. It would have had a powerful emotional impact, at least on me, but I couldn't go through with it. It would have been a really bad decision, I thought, to get rid of a place that held so much importance for so long. I love the warehouse too much anyway, so it lived to see another day. Besides, Ari would have strangled me in my sleep :P But yeah, that was a story I'd never really told before. Ariana's always had a really close connection to the warehouse, but I never explained exactly how it began. There's nothing wrong with a bit of sentimentality every now and again. I'm pretty sure it's good for the soul xD  

I feel I should apologize in advance in case this comment makes absolutely no sense. It is currently some ungodly hour and I'm sitting in a rather rowdy club my friends dragged me to, typing this on my phone, so... yeah xD I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst :P

I was happy to see Sam came to her senses and came back. I was sure she was going to get in some sort of trouble while she was out, so I'm glad she didn't. It was still very silly of her and I was glad to see Carey stand up to her about her attitude. Someone certainly needed to, because she's getting a little out of control. I still think she's got ever reason to be ticked off, but finish the mission first, Sam. If you want to bludgeon someone after that, fine :P

Watching Carey fret over how to explain nicknames and just names in general was really funny xD It would be pretty tough to explain how names work to someone used to numbers. It's actually an interesting idea. If we used numbers, I wouldn't have 6 different Jennifer's in my phone :P

So, it was booze he's keeping in his cabinet then. Well, that's much less troublesome than the decapitated heads of his victims or something :P I'm still worried about him, though. He's clearly under a lot of stress and turning to the hooch isn't necessarily the best idea. Meanwhile, 805 is definitely a stubborn man. Not that I can blame him, of course. If someone came and asked me help them overthrow my government I'd be pretty hesitant too. That was an interesting tactic Sam employed to try to get him to help. I'm really worried about the consequences of that, but there's no way it'll be good when 805 finds out the truth.  

It was interesting to get some backstory on Caleb's group. I didn't expect them to have been together for so long, so that was pretty surprising. I'm honestly shocked they've managed to survive that long, considering how powerful the Gifted are. As long as they aren't up to anything nefarious, I guess that's a good thing xD They must be a group of experienced survivors if they've lasted that long. It was nice to see where Caleb's group has been holding up as well. Like Janelle, I was expecting another sanctuary of some sort not a separate island. The description of their island reminded of Dragonstone :P

One thing that continues to disturb me (in a good way) is how I keep growing to like Caleb's group and distrust them less and less. I blame little Alice for weakening my resolve xD I mean, they've got kids now. Well, at least one. Just having a kid in your group makes you automatically less intimidating in my mind :P Thomas makes a good point, though. Caleb sounds like someone who would have a hard time seeing that just being Gifted don't make someone an evil lecherous hump. That makes me very nervous for 256, Carey, and Thomas. I really have no idea how Caleb's group would react to learning about them, but I can't see them being particularly welcoming. I still think Janelle should take Caleb up on his offer of becoming his deputy. She has good leadership skills and it would be a good place for her to put them to use. And maybe she could help them see that not all Gifted are bad.

I can't even guess what could have upset Alice so much. I'm guessing it's whatever Marina had to tell her before, but I don't know what it could be. Whatever it is, I hope she'll be okay :( She seems really sweet. Anyway, I'll stop my sleepy rambling here :P I liked pretty much everything about this chapter, and I nervously await the next one because I still can't shake the feeling I had before that something really horrible is coming soon.     

Aww, well you've got to keep giving her plenty of love then xD I didn't notice any mistakes, so you did vastly better than I would have faired typing one-handed :P With Johnny, he and Abby were friends back on her home planet before she left for Earth to join the Navy. He certainly could have something to do with Scarlett, but he wasn't on the Freedom's Progress with her. Where Johnny is now would be a pretty big spoiler, but you'll find out really soon.

Ah, the Na'Vaxii... tricky little weasels, aren't they? That was a pretty unusual tactic for them, since they typically prefer to just obliterate whatever they're fighting. Well, assuming they manage to retake the ship, they'll definitely get back to Hurst and take time to search his computer. Abby can't take any chances with Hurst at this point so the second she can turn her attention back on him, she will. Lol, no the marines weren't much use at all, were they? There's a good reason why he was able to escape so easily, but we'll get to that later :P It's good you're getting bad vibes, because things could be taking a turn for the worse for one person in particular. <---- Evil laughter should be cued here xD

Oh, Michael's just a big teddy bear underneath it all. Deep down, he's a really sweet and empathetic guy xD But yeah, still a douchebag no matter what. Regardless of his reasons, doubtlessly there were other options he and Emily could have pursued.

Thanks for your thoughts! I agree, she should have a very different reaction to what she's hearing. Hmm, this is actually giving me ideas xD That's probably not a good thing. This will end up being even longer than I'm thinking :P Still, she needs to take in what they're saying. I do think she'll still forget all about it once Jackson and Steven show up, but like you said with everything that's happening, it would make sense for her to question it more and I can use her overhearing that in a way I didn't plan. Thanks again for taking the time to push me in the right direction :D

Thanks for commenting! Your theory doesn’t sound remotely idiotic. It’s a very logical line of thought, especially considering Emily and Michael’s last conversation. I can neither confirm nor deny if you’re right, but it’s a fantastic theory nonetheless. I would have to agree that either way it would be a douchebaggy thing for Michael to do... unless not doing it would have been even worse.

Well, assuming Michael is who they’re talking about then no, they’re not on his side xD Okay, okay, I’m not even going to do that :P No, Winston and Banks are not on Michael’s side but I’m glad you’re still somewhat questioning who the good guys are. I like that, just a tiny hint of doubt xD That said, you should be getting a clear idea of who is good and who isn’t pretty soon ;) Mary overhearing that conversation was more of a side effect than JTG’s actual intention. Her hearing it doesn't really have any effect on JTG at all. What JTG wanted and why she chose that moment to officially involve Steven must remain a mystery… at least for a little while :P

With Mary’s reaction to overhearing the conversation, I had a tough time with it honestly. I’ve always thought of Mary as being pretty rational. She somewhat mockingly suggested that Sara’s ghost might be haunting them a few chapters ago, but apart from Snow I think she’s the least likely to actually buy into that idea. Combine that with her friends disappearing for hours and Snow stuck with Michael, it felt like she wouldn’t be remotely concerned about whatever they were talking about when Steven and Jackson showed up. On the other hand, my original thought was to have her seriously think about what they were saying. She wasn’t going to make any real connections at the time, but it was going to sit in the back of her mind and eventually she could put the pieces together especially if she heard the word Dawnguard again. That, of course, could still happen. So, I’m curious as to what you think she should do? Should I leave it as it is or have Mary really pay attention and absorb what they’re saying? Or heck, maybe have her respond in a completely different way altogether. I was torn when I wrote it and I still am now, so I’m open to all suggestions.

Hehe, the only reason I called it The Miranda Thing was so that it would be a reference to The Jenna Thing :P This chapter was filled with references to everything from Dr. Who to Mean Girls and it was so easy to slip in a Pretty Little Liars reference like that. I mean, even the title is a reference. I got a bit carried away with all the references but I was having fun seeing how many I could slip in there xD I don’t know if I’ll keep referring to what happened as the Miranda thing in the future, but for this chapter it fit with my theme of referencing things xD

I didn’t make it nearly clear enough, but what Mary and Nikki were talking about a few chapters back and the Miranda thing are two completely separate events that took place over the same holiday weekend. What Mary and Nikki were talking about was much more personal to Mary than the Miranda thing was. I definitely need to go back and make it clear that they’re talking about something else. I don’t plan on keeping Labor Day a secret for much longer. It’s not something I want to sit on for too long. There won’t be any direct effects from the Miranda thing any time soon though. It’ll have much more impact after the point where I’ve decided to split the story in half. Things will change and the Miranda thing will play a pretty important role. Anyway, that’s enough of my ramblings for one day xD Thanks again for the comment!

Whoa, lots and lots of action in this chapter. All of the fighting scenes were very well written and intense. There was a lot of detail and description, but as usual you balanced it perfectly so it never feels like it goes on too long. Phenex's, I think, was the best especially with the descriptions of his bones being broken and healing. That was really well done.

Speaking of Phenex, he is unquestionably a badass :P He took one heck of a beating but still managed to pull off a win. I found his general lack of concern for the knives he was stabbed with amusing. He seemed more annoyed that he had to ask Forneus for removing them than he was concerned that had been stabbed xD Of course he then goes on to admit that he doesn't hate Gwen, which was nice. He's softening... well... okay, maybe not softening but... you know what I mean :P

I'm so curious to find out what powers Gwen and Forneus might have gained after finding the Goblet. For sure, something happened but what? A mystery for another day, I suppose. Hopefully whatever happened it will help them on their hunt for the next artifact. Regardless, discovering that Reeves is working against them is sure to be a big help. At least now they know how they're fighting. Knowing, as they say, is half the battle.

"Over-glorified fire chicken" Lol XD

I’m finding myself unable to think about anything else other than what 805 is hiding in his kitchen cabinets right now :P That was a surprising thing that I wasn’t expecting. What could he be hiding that he definitely doesn’t want Carey (and I assume anyone else) finding? Clearly not dead bodies, but he’s hiding something. I fully expected 805 to refuse to help them. I think he can be convinced, at least to help them find the library, but there's no doubt it won't be easy. He's very set in his ways, I think, and he is loyal to the Gifted even if he doesn't always agree with their methods. I can't imagine him actively working against his own people without something major happening to change his mind. It was interesting and really sad to see 805's thoughts on his family. He can say he never cared, but I don't buy that for a second.

So, the Gifted have sinks and running water then? Very interesting. An invention of their own, or could it be something given to them by the Other World they're working with? 256's reaction to it was really funny xD I imagine a sink would be a nightmare for him. Oh, 805... he needs to take a cooking class if he's going to keep making his own meals. I wonder why he dismissed his Servant?

Now, let’s talk about Sam. Sam, girl, you know I love you but you’ve got to relax. You’re stuck in the middle of the enemy’s headquarters on a secret mission. You can’t behave this way right now. Once you’ve finished what you came for and you’re safely out of enemy territory, then you can rage as much as you want. Honestly, I can’t even say I think her behavior is unwarranted. She’s ticked off and rightfully so. She’s just choosing a really terrible time to deal with it. Running off like that all by herself is extremely irresponsible. Still, her reaction is completely understandable and definitely believable. As someone who cares about these characters, it’s hard to see her behaving as she is, but it definitely makes her feel more human and relatable. She’s face to face with the man who abandoned her and her mom. It would be tough for anyone to ignore that. I just hope she doesn’t end up putting her friends’ lives at risk because she’s mad. Lol “No matter how mad she is and how many people she has to kill to do it, she wouldn’t leave us alone in here.” Very true, that. Oh Sam, never stop being you xD

I enjoyed the bit with Carey and 256 there at the end too. I liked the twist from what was shaping up to be an awkward ‘sharing the bed’ scene to both of them sleeping on the floor instead. It was also, as they discussed, a nice callback to a time a long while ago when they weren’t quite so fond of each other xD Those two are still really awkward around each other, but it’s absolutely adorable. Anyway, overall a really good chapter here. I’m anxious but excited to see if they can convince 805 to come with them, or at least help them get into the library.

Oh, it's perfectly fine! I haven't gotten back to yours in a while for the same reason. I really need to limit how many things I read at one time because I can never keep up with everything :P Heh, what fun would it have been if the rescue mission hadn't gone bad? You're right, the Na'Vaxii really do have the Federation completely outmatched. Their only real flaw is that they're really egotistical and don't see the humans as a threat. If they did and actually deployed the full power of their navy against the Federation, they'd wipe them out without much trouble. Luckily, they haven't done that yet. Either they're toying with us because they know they can, or because the rest of their fleet is busy somewhere else.

I'm glad you enjoyed the space battle. I'm glad you didn't read my original version, which really was terrible. This was one of my earliest battle scenes and... well, it's been edited a lot xD I appreciate the compliments on the technobabble. It's a deep love of mine, and I do enjoy convincing people that my completely random nonsense is perfectly logical xD I do take quite a bit of inspiration from other sci-fi sources, primarily the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.

Scarlett and Abby's relationship will remain a mystery to everyone but Abby for quite a while. It's... not a topic she likes to talk about. Hehe, I wouldn't count on it :P Endeavour's troubles with the Na'Vaxii are just beginning, and of course, what fun would it be if the crew didn't keep getting into trouble? Thanks for the comment! :)

Thanks for commenting! Heh, yes, if only Snow knew. (Snow asking that was a vague Friends reference, by the way :P Phoebe asked the same thing of the creepy hitchhiker that Joey picked up.) That, I imagine, wouldn't go over very well with her. Especially now that she's coming to trust him and develop feelings for him. Learning that wouldn't end well... for Michael :P Michael got into Snow's phone because Snow is careless like me xD Neither of us have any sort of password on our phones to keep nosy people from finding out about our secret stalkers. Oh, but I must know your theory about Mary! Especially if it makes Michael less douchebaggy. Let's face it, he needs a lot of help in that area xD

Lol, that's funny you give the same answer. It's completely true in both cases, after all. I'm glad you found their interactions creepy and nice both. I want people to question everything they think they know about Michael... and then question those questions :P I think Michael does genuinely care about Snow, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't sacrifice her in a blood magic ritual to appease his demon-god xD I'm kidding... mostly :P But seriously, Michael does care about Snow. Whatever his intentions are for her, he does care about her. He's lied to her, obviously, and he's clearly keeping a lot of things from her, but no matter what else he cares about her. As for Snow, you're right that she's still very upset about Jackson and Sara. Those were two painful, emotional blows within a week of each other as she's far from over it. Don't write off magical pheromones as the reason for their closeness just yet, though xD

Killing them is much more of an endgame scenario, and JTG is far from her endgame. She's got a lot more secrets to attack them with before she gets there. Would she kill one/all of them at the end? Absolutely. In fact, I'd say it'd be pretty tough to resolve all of this without at least a bit of bloodshed. Theirs, JTG's, someone else's... well, that's a question for another day :P Even if Michael isn't a magical knight (and he certainly seems like one since he decided to attack an intruder with a sword xD) he's still not someone you want fighting you. Michael has money, power, and influence. Not as much as Kayla and Ariana, but a lot and he could bring all those resources down on JTG. As for why JTG attacked Snow... let's say she had a very specific reason for everything she did. Anyway, I'm glad the chapter came out scary. That sort of thing is new territory for me, so I hope it worked. Well... I promise that nothing terrible will happen to Snow in the next chapter... because she isn't in it :P We'll be dealing with what some of the others are doing during this storm. Terrible things may, or may not, happen to some of them xD

So I avoided Out in the Clouds as you suggested, but I am going to have to read that now because I'm immensely curious about it. Anyway, this was really intriguing. I wasn't expecting the ending at all and I'm suddenly reevaluating going out with my friends on the weekends instead of staying home. I need to get out more. The whole time I was fully expecting them to turn out to be vampires, so it was a nice little twist there at the end. I liked following Edwin as he slowly convinces himself that not only are his neighbors vampires, but that he himself is becoming one and to stop it he should murder someone. That's a scary thought. This story was very interesting and a fun read and at the end of the day you make a fantastic point; common sense is a very important thing to have. Without it, it's easy to get yourself into trouble.

I never really meant to drag out Snow thinking she might be crazy/dreaming about Sara for as long as I did. With S now in the picture, all of the girls need to know about each other’s encounters with Sara so I had to squeeze that in. I always expect everyone to automatically assume that Sara is a Guide. It makes perfect sense that she would be one, since that’s what happened with Cooper and Claire. If she isn’t one, though, it does give me an easy explanation to hide whatever she really is :P Haha, Clara’s twin theory is actually a small Pretty Little Liars reference that I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t know the story of the books to ever pick up on. Of course, that doesn’t mean Clara isn’t right xD

Snow is definitely starting to develop feelings on some level for Michael at this point. Clara’s comments made her face that reality a bit sooner than she would have otherwise, but now that’s it’s front and center she’s going to have to deal with it. And since she’s going to be stuck alone with him for a while, she’s going to have to deal with it quickly without much time to prepare herself. Lol, I love the idea of Michael having magical pheromones! Magic, obviously, exists in this world so it’s certainly possible.

Yeah, Ariana is pretty lucky that Noel didn’t get mad. She probably would have if the offer had come from anyone else, but she’s known Ariana a long time and she knows her intentions are nothing but pure. Telling about her illness helped too, I think. I do want her to be a bit more resilient to the idea at first, so I’ll likely edit that in at some point. It’s interesting about JTG. I’m not completely sure if JTG would ever want to target Ariana and Kayla directly. Those two are a dangerous team when they’re threatened and JTG, who knows everything, would definitely know that so she’s certainly never going to start sending them texts. With their finances, they could bring the wrath of God down on JTG and tear the town apart looking for her, which is the last thing she’d want. Indirectly, such as with Noel and her job, that’s another story altogether *cue maniacal laughter* xD Actually, the biggest reason Ariana hasn’t told Snow already is because I can’t bring myself to write that chapter :P Usually for something that important, I would have already started with at least a rough draft of it, but I can’t do it. I know I have to, and soon, but I know I’m going to be miserable after I write so I’m putting it off for as long as I can. If you hear someone sobbing hysterically from across the Pacific, don’t worry about it. It’s just me and it means I’ve finished that scene :P  

Lol, yeah that’s pretty inconvenient timing for rain. But I’m sure Snow and Michael will have a fun, pleasant, trouble-free evening. It’s just the two of them (probably xD) locked in a big, creepy house on the outskirts of town. What could possibly go wrong? :P People mistrust Michael so much that I changed the ending of this chapter just to take some heat off of him. He was going to drive out ahead of Snow to make sure the road was clear and safe for her, a perfectly gentlemanly thing to do… or so I thought. When my sister read it, she immediately became suspicious when Michael returned saying the road was flooded. She thought Michael was lying to keep Snow there :P The next several chapters should hopefully answer some questions (and probably introduce a few new ones :P) about Michael, JTG, and a few other things. I’ve got to start revealing some things because I’m starting to get to the point where I have so many secrets floating around that it’s hard to keep track of who knows what. As for what the others will do when they find out she’s stuck with Michael… well, there’s not much they can do. But then, they might have a few pressing problems of their own to deal with instead of worrying about Snow. Anyway, I’ve rambled on way too long. I really shouldn't reply to these unless I have something pressing to do that will shut me up xD Thanks for the comment :)

Short stories aren't usually my thing. I typically favor stories that give me time to get invested in the characters and come to care about them. That said, this was fantastic. Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect and the ending definitely surprised me. That was a unique way for Janet to get revenge, and I really liked it. This is a short, simple, amazing little story that is well worth a read. It makes you think about how stupid decisions can, quite literally, come back to haunt you. Well done :)

This chapter succeeded in making me both extremely happy and quite sad at the same time. You're really good at doing that :P The beginning with Janelle dreaming about Reagan was heartbreaking. I felt awful for her the whole time :( Despite all that, though, she does seem to be improving somewhat. She's made a new friend in Wesley, which will definitely be good for her and she's at least acknowledging that she needs to put Reagan's shirt away and move on. She may not have done it yet, but it's a step in the right direction so I was glad to see that.

I'm glad that Janelle still isn't completely trusting her new companions. She didn't even tell Wesley that Thomas was Gifted, which is a good call. Of course, she is blindly following these people without knowing where she's going :P Still, one out of two isn't bad. Even so, I still can't figure out whether or not I want to trust Caleb and his rebels or not. Wesley's with them, but he doesn't trust them. I'm suspicious of Marina, but she doesn't seem like a bad person. Even Caleb I don't think is a terrible human being, I still just think he's the type of person that will do unspeakable things to accomplish his goals. I feel like he won't be satisfied until he's wiped the Gifted out completely and if Wesley's story turns out to be true, then that makes me believe it even more. That said, I couldn't blame him for feeling that way if all of that happened to him and honestly, I sympathize with him if it's true. That's really terrible and sadly, I believe it. It sounds like something the Gifted would do, so yeah I can see it.

This business about Janelle becoming Caleb's deputy... hmm, honestly I think she should do it. I'm not sure of Caleb's reasoning, but I think it might be good for her. She clearly regrets her decision to step down, so maybe if she took on a leadership role in Caleb's group it would help her. And hopefully it will put her in a good place to keep an eye on Caleb for potential evilness :P

Please excuse me while I take a moment to let the fangirl in me celebrate the return of 805. *Ahem* Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! xD Now that's out of the way, I thought the entire run up to 805 and 256 reuniting was extremely tense and exciting. Especially when 256 walked up to 805 during training,. I thought maybe 805 had been brainwashed and he was going to start yelling that they had been infiltrated or something. I'm glad to see I was wrong. I'm not sure he'll be willing to just drop everything and come along with them, but if he doesn't go I hope he and Sam get a chance to talk. They really need to after everything that's happened. Anyway, I'm really anxious, nervous, and excited to see what Janelle decides to do, and how 805 responds to seeing Sam and being asked essentially join the rebellion. I'm suddenly getting a really strong feeling something bad is about to happen.

Thanks for commenting :) I wish I could say Randy’s name was just random, but that would be a lie xD I thought it was sort of funny, what with the type of character he is. My sense of humor is bad :P Hmm, I’m curious what this theory you have about them is. There’s not a lot of information about them yet, so I’m really interested how close you are to the truth. I guess I’ll have to wait and see. Ack, I gotten a taste of my own medicine, haven’t I? It is bitter xD Even though I think in their minds they love Nikki very much, her parents aren’t the type to show that they do. They’re trying to mold her into a carbon copy of themselves, and to them that’s showing their love. So you’re probably right that Nikki wouldn’t see much difference if she told them, unless of course they could come around to see their daughter’s side of things. As for Labor Day, well let’s just say a lot of things happened on that holiday :P

Exactly! Traditional haunting is so old school. Texting and Facebook are the newest and best ways to haunt people… which is why I refuse to go see that Unfriended movie, but I’m getting off topic :P Those are all excellent guesses about S. It could easily be any of them, especially Emily and Sara. Well, I guess a bit less easily for Sara, but still xD I won’t be keeping S’s identity a secret for long. I’ve already got one mystery texter, I really don’t need another one :P Although, it will be a while before we come face to face with S, so who knows? S could always be lying xD

You’re right that telling Jacob wouldn’t have protected anyone from JTG at this point. Clearly, JTG doesn’t just deal in secrets. She managed to get Noel fired easily enough, and I’d feel confident in saying she would be willing to do a lot more if she needed to. Lol, Clara’s not the most subtle person around, is she? Eh, she’ll never be able to be a spy, that’s for sure. It would be pretty interesting to see JTG’s reaction if Jacob figured it out, though. She loves her game, and if Clara managed to ruin it I don’t think JTG would take that very well. I would imagine a very explosive confrontation at best.

Hahaha, I knew you were going to warn Snow away from Michael after the ending xD Honestly, I don’t think she’s even considering the possibility of anything romantic at the moment. She’s still dealing with her breakup and she really just sees Michael as someone she likes being around and talking to. She’s conflicted about him because she’s hearing all these people warning her about Michael, but all she’s seen so far is a nice, charming guy that seems to really like her. She’ll find it hard to justify their opinions when she’s getting first hand experience with him.

I love never knowing at the start of each chapter whether we’re going to be in the past or the present. It’s fun not knowing what to expect and which version of Nate we’ll be getting. I couldn’t help but laugh at Nate’s thoughts on Perth public transportation system xD But really, Nate? You didn’t pick up your girlfriend for your date? Okay, man… strike one :P Anyway, I enjoyed the glimpse of Nate’s parents and hope to see more of them at some point, particularly Nate’s dad. It takes a special kind of person to accept another man’s son as his own the way Dale seems to have. Nate makes a good point that bringing up the topic of his father would be a difficult thing to do, and especially to your girlfriend. Ah, somehow I would have guessed that Nate would be been a complete wreck when meeting Lauren’s parents :P Poor guy. Oh well, at least Lauren made a good first impression. Lol “I think Mum’s already started planning our wedding.” Ellen sounds like my mother xD

I’ve got to say, Nate and Lauren are entirely too cute together, what with her spinning around under Nate’s arm and stuff. The whole scene in the parking lot was really sweet, especially when Nate said he loved her. The hopeless romantic in me said ‘Awwww’ :P Of course, it serves to make Lauren’s untimely demise all that much more tragic :( You managed to make me happy and all romantic and really sad all at the same time, so good job!

Oh, Nate… let’s not go down this road. You’re happy and in love, and she loves you. Don’t go questioning stuff or doubting her or yourself. Oh, you’re going to do it anyway? Oh, alright fine :P I was really happy to see Lauren take a direct, no nonsense approach to Nate’s doubts. Although, I can completely understand where he’s coming from, I’m glad Lauren was very upfront about her feelings on the matter. She seems like a girl that isn’t going to beat around the bush about anything. I’d say I hope Nate keeps his promise, but… well, the chapter title… :P Anyway, overall I really liked this chapter. It’s definitely one of my favorites so far, aided by an expertly placed Breaking Bad reference xD I’m really interested to find out what happens next.

Thanks for the comment! It wasn’t confusing at all and hopefully the reply will be the same. I’ve been out of town all weekend and I’m just now getting back home so I’m a bit out of it myself. I had to read this whole chapter over again just to remember exactly what happened xD This is another one of those chapters that would make so much more sense if I had been able to upload it in the way I originally wrote it instead of having to break it up. The previous chapter, this one, and the next one, were all one chapter. That’s coming really close to 11,000 words which is obviously way too long for this setting, so here we are. But yeah, I wasn’t trying to hide who Abby thinks the spy is. In the last chapter when Hurst, Hope, and Abby are talking in the cafeteria Hurst says that he ‘knows a thing or two about encryption’ so when Mosley said the same thing, it clicked for Abby that Hurst could be the spy. If that had all been in the same chapter, it would have been pretty clear who Abby is talking about. Whether she’s right or not, well we’ll get to that :P

‘Never trust a Na’Vaxii’ should probably be prominently displayed somewhere for everyone to see xD Very little is known about the Na’Vaxii as it is, so trusting them not to kill you even if you betray your own people probably isn’t the best idea. But then it’s important to remember that the Federation and the Na’Vaxii have been at war for 500 years. No one, or at least no human that we know of, remembers precisely how it all started or really why they’re fighting at all. So it’s possible that someone knows more than they’re letting on and the aliens are more trustworthy that you might think. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the spy has been brainwashed, or is a clone, or a Na’Vaxii in disguise, or an evil alien robot just pretended to be human :P God, I love sci-fi xD The ‘they’ Abby mentioned do, in fact, exist although you won’t find out exactly who they are or what they want for a while yet. Who they are should be more of a mystery/surprise instead of who the spy turns out to be.

Thanks for the comment! Hehe, excellent. Operation: Confuse the Heck out of Everyone is going according to plan :P I’m really going to have to start providing answers to questions at some point instead of just making new questions, aren’t I? Oh, but where’s the fun in that? :P I’ve got to say, I love the idea of Sara’s ghost being JTG. I’ve always wanted JTG to have a sort of supernatural element to her, so I’m glad you’re thinking along those lines. And Sara could stalk them as a ghost if she became a vengeful spirit after her death or something and as you say, it would make an awful lot of things make sense if JTG was a ghost. Lol, it was nice to include a text message that wasn’t insulting anyone. That was a good change. S’s messages will be more helpful than insulting, but they’re stilll anonyomous so S could easily just be JTG messing with them.

It’s funny you mentioned Snow knowing too much about the Dawnguard because I struggled with that part. I didn’t want Michael to ramble on too much explaining about them, so I let Snow already know about them since she spends so much time reading and it let me speed up the scene somewhat by not having to have Michael go into detail. That, of course, makes it weird that she just happens to know so much about them :P That’s going to be one of those parts that I’m going to revisit a million times before I’m ever satisfied with it :/ Well, assuming Michael’s right and the Dawnguard do, in fact, exist and aren’t fictional like Snow thinks then I think it’s safe to say he and Brad are either working against them or are working for them. Which side they’re on is something I don’t think I’ll keep to myself for much longer, but exactly what they’re doing and why will still be a while. Oh, Michael absolutely can be a charmer and he wanted to draw Snow to him so his plan is working pretty well except for her thinking he’s JTG now :P He’s very good at convincing people to do what he wants them to without resorting to supernatural powers*

You’ve not yet seen just how far JTG is willing to go. Muahahahahaha… *ahem* :P Lol, I always though their names sounded like either a bank or a law firm, so when I needed a fictional bank… xD Hehe, yes you’re starting to sound like us Americans. It just means our latest plot to indoctrinate the rest of the world is perfectly on schedule. Be sure to start saying things like “Freedom!” and “’Murica” regularly. It eases the process :P Clara isn’t the most calm and collected person there is, so a drastic response to JTG’s attack on Noel would seem like something she would do. She’s really protective of Noel too, so going after her is a great way to make Clara not think rationally, so it’s good you’re worried about her. JTG won’t react well to another attempt to stop her by Clara.

*This statement should not be taken as evidence that Michael does, in fact, have supernatural powers xD

This comment is being sent from my phone since I have no internet at home right now. I'm saying just in case autocorrect decides it wants to screw with me (and it usually does) and change Council into Chihuahua at least you won't think I've lost my mind :P I was so sure Carey, Sam, and 256 were going to be caught. The tension when they're sneaking around and hiding in plain sight was great, but lightened just enough by moments of humor like Carey wondering if she should hug Sam or a gem like "I keep trying to say nice things, but horrible things keep coming out instead."xD Hmm, with the way Sam's been acting, I'm curious if she would have returned the hug or punched Carey in the face :P I'm really worried about 805 now :( I hope he's okay and the Council aren't doing awful things to him. Although, he does seem to have the admiration of his fellow Gifts of Earth, so that's something. Lol, once again I'm reminded of Harry Potter. I kept imagining the Great Hall during that whole scene :P  

Well, Marina and Caleb sure seem cozy together, don't they? I'm scared and not for the usual reasons. She's the first new person in a while that haven't just instantaneously gotten a bad/suspicious feeling about. That, oddly, makes me even more suspicious of her :P I clearly have trust issues. Hmm, so the Other Worlds and Caleb's rebels have an agreement? That, too, makes me uncomfortable. They're sending weapons in exchange for what? Which Other World country is their agreement with? Ooooooh, maybe Caleb's group is allied with Tarantis and they want help with their invasion of Zeia or something?

Wesley's back! :D I thought it was him based on his description, but I wasn't sure. Darn, Carey's still got the worst timing of anyone ever. She was so close to a reunion. It's nice to see him again. I'm glad he doesn't trust Caleb's group either. Lol "They're too rebellious" xD I liked Wesley's conversation with Janelle. It was awkward between them, but it was nice to see Janelle getting to know someone new. I wonder if she'll have any more luck figuring out that relationship than 256 had with Sam/805 :P Anyway, a good chapter that left me anxious and excited for more. I can't wait for Carey, Sam, and 256 to meet up with 805 and see how that goes.

I don’t really expect anyone to be able to figure out Michael and Brad just yet :P I’ve dropped hints and clues here and there, but I don’t think there’s enough out there yet for anyone to be able to put the pieces together in the right order. Although, maybe there is. You’ve collected some of the right pieces, I can say that much without spoiling anything. All of those things are connected, but it would require a very particular point of view for it all to make sense. Cryptic enough? xD Hmm, I’m not even sure myself when what Michael and Brad are up to will come out. If I hadn’t made a massive change to the plot, it would have already have been revealed by now :P It really is all my fault, but you will get something in the next chapter.

Steven’s secrets, and yes he does have some, will come to light before too long. Well, at least one of them will. This is the first time they’ve ever told someone about JTG who was not already being targeted by her, so how JTG will respond to that is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t say it was part of her plan to bring anyone else into the game, but if she feels she has to she definitely would.

Yeah, you’re completely right that they’re just moving from suspect to suspect. They have no idea what they’re doing or how to track this person down. They’re flailing in the dark with no real plan and no clues pointing them to JTG. That’s why Snow was so quick to jump on Steven. It was the only thing she had at the time. But really, they’re going to be hard pressed to find JTG with their current methods. JTG is seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent and they don’t yet have any real way to combat that until they figure out how JTG can be everywhere at once.

Watching Snow go off to meet Michael was exceptionally tough for Mary. She’s seen him at his worst and knows what he’s capable of and she doesn’t want Snow anywhere near him. She, of course, is sitting on information that would put him in jail at the very least and clearly keep Snow away from him. Will she use it? It would all depend on whether her fear and embarrassment can be overcome by her love and concern for her friend. As it is, Snow has no idea what she’s walking into. She doesn’t trust Michael, but she’s seen a softer, gentler side to him and that’s an easy way to get her to let her guard down. She’s far too much Ariana’s daughter in that regard :P I think it’s safe to assume JTG knows about Michael and Mary. She seems to know everything else, after all xD In fact, if anything is being kept secret in Mistbrook Falls, JTG probably knows about it O.o

Oh my God, that actually happened?! Well, that's a great example of drawing on your life experiences for inspiration :P Geez, that must have been one heck of day.

So I went back and reread from the beginning and I must say that I really do like it without the supernatural bits. Even knowing what's really going on, there's a good sense of mystery and suspense in there that flows really well from chapter to chapter. I'll miss the supernatural stuff for sure, but it's a nice change in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the blend of humor (Nate's thoughts on the poor guy with his wallet and the two receptionists. My parent's apartment building had a receptionist just like that :P) and everything else that Nate's dealing with in this chapter. Oh, Nate, that wasn't the best idea going to the police with absolutely no evidence other than your own suspicions. Especially not when you already look very guilty. Still, I guess he had to if he thinks he could have done it. I'm so curious about whatever it is about Brandon that makes Nate think he would murder Lauren, and why would that make Nate look even more guilty? Ah, the questions keep building xD 

Nate's memories about his parents were really sad :( Whether it actually happened or is pieced together from multiple times as Nate thinks, it's terrible. It's interesting that Nate feels that he couldn't protect his mother. He was only a little boy, but I did find it realistic that he would feel that way. Kids tend to think that way, I've found, so good job on that. I wonder what ever happened to his parents? Oh, I don't like this new idea of Nate's to confront Brandon. There's no way that can go well. Oh, Max :((( That little boy can make me more sad than anything else. I hope he'll be okay, but he's so young and a loss like that at that age... I'm really worried for him.

Thanks for the comment :) Yeah, Snow... poor kid, she never really got the chance to grieve what with JTG going on the attack almost immediately. With Sara’s laptop, I almost went ahead and let Snow get into it just because it seems pretty obvious that there would be something on it, but hey I can always use more mysteries xD I was considering not revealing anything about the desk yet either, but again it was so obvious that there was something going on with the desk, so yeah :P

I’m glad Rick is suspicious. I want most everyone to be a little suspicious, so that’s good. Really, the idea behind the radio bit was to almost give JTG a sort of supernatural element to her. That’s not to say that JTG is a supernatural being in any way. I suppose I should say super human instead. JTG knows things she shouldn’t, things she couldn’t. I want to make it seem as though there’s nothing JTG can’t do and that they aren’t safe from her anywhere. Of course, since Rick was in close proximity, it does make him a fine suspect. I actually didn’t mention the window, but I suppose I really ought to since otherwise it does make Rick look awfully guilty xD

That song puts a different perspective on JTG and her motives, doesn’t it? It’s weird, I really like that song but hearing it in this context, it’s the creepiest thing. But yeah, we don’t know anything about why JTG is doing any of this or what she stands to gain from terrorizing them. Your theory is a good one, a really good one actually but obviously I can’t say anything about it. This story bugs me that way. I can never talk about anything because anything I say is a spoiler :P But I guess I could say this much; JTG’s reasons for terrorizing Snow might not be the same reasons she’s terrorizing Clara, and she might also have different reasons for attacking Jackson and so forth. Or it could be all the exact same reasons. See, I'm never allowed to actually give anyone anything :P 

That money is a big mystery, I can say that. It’ll be a good while before we find out where she got it, and probably even longer before we get to what she planned to use it for. Ah, Breaking Bad. How I miss you, old friend xD Lol, wow I messed up really bad with Rick’s last name :P That’s hilarious. I even came up with this whole reason why Sara’s mom kept Blake as her last name instead of taking on Rick’s back when she first appeared. Thanks for pointing that out. I have no idea how long I would have kept going with that before I realized I done goofed :P  

Oh, but a candle is a fantastic Na’Vaxii deterrent. They’re absolutely terrified of them, you see, especially scented ones. They are the stuff of nightmares xD Actually, the whole candle thing is another relic of a very distant past that I couldn’t bear to part with. At one point Scarlett was going to be around six or seven years old and much more likely to believe Abby’s candle story. She aged several times to make some of the things she does seem more plausible, but once she was 14 it made the candle thing like something she wouldn’t believe by that age :P I just really liked the scene and couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, so it stays. I’m glad you liked it xD There are a lot of other words Abby could have used instead of mother, that’s true. Her reason for saying that, though, might not be as straight forward as you think. Or it could be exactly what you’re thinking xD

Lol, yes Braxton is a lovely fellow, isn’t he?  While he does have a plan, he’s extremely cocky and overconfident. Not to say he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s just really likely to let his ego get in his way. Mosley couldn’t care less and realizes that they are outmatched, outnumbered, and outgunned. Like Abby says, if she wasn’t in charge she’d be right there with Mosley. Still, Mosley’s actions are still likely to get her into some trouble. She’s on Abby’s radar now and not exactly in a good way :P Heheh, well MS Word claims that ‘mutinying’ is, in fact, a word. So we’ll go with that. I didn’t have any idea xD

Well, the reason they left without finishing the ship was because they didn’t plan on the ship getting into a fight. That really was stupid of them since they’re, you know, at war and all. Command, seeing something new and shiny that they could use, wanted to test Arcturus right then and it would have taken months to complete the refit, so they launched her early. Endeavour wasn’t supposed to run into any alien ships (that’s why they went to such an empty area of space) and Abby violated her orders when she responded to the Freedom’s Progress’ distress call which got them into their current situation. Assuming they ever do get back to Earth, I imagine Abby would have some really strong words for those responsible for sending them out unprepared. Abby may seem nice, but she’s got a fiery temper when you make her mad :P

This a pretty tense and exciting chapter, especially when they were sneaking through the Council. I'm sorry, but I kept picturing Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneaking through Hogwarts under the Invisibility Cloak during those bits :P Not that that's a bad thing in any way. Anyway, it was good to see Carey thinking about her family again, even though it always makes me sad. She's always so sure they've forgotten about her or wouldn't accept her or love her because of what she is. For some reason after reading this chapter I started seriously thinking about the possibility that they wouldn't. We know next to nothing about Carey's family apart from Carey's thoughts about them, and we've seen the nonGifted's general hatred of the Gifted (even those that have turned against their own) so it makes me wonder how they would react upon Carey's return.

The infiltration of the Council was really well done. There was plenty of tension as they snuck through the gates and wound their way to the records room. I'm glad to see 256 seems to be handling being back there okay. I'm still really worried about him though. Well, I'm worried about all of them since they're sneaking about in the halls of the enemy's base, but you know what I mean :P That was a brilliant and rather blunt way of fooling the Gift of Air xD Ah well, desperate times call for desperate measures and it got them into the records room. Speaking of the records room, lots of interesting information in there. Hmm... how did 256 know there were clothes there? So, the Gifted recycle numbers then? Well, that actually does make sense. There's less of a chance to ever have a 8,527,931 that way :P The other numbers there... dates of birth and death perhaps? Maybe the date their Gift was discovered and then their death? I'm just guessing, but that line of thought seems logical since 805's file only had one number instead of two. Clearly, 256 seems to know what it means. I wonder why he pretended not to?

So, 805's been made a member of the Council. That is... unexpected :P I was imagining this quest turning into some sort of prison break where they would have to bust 805 out of jail. That's a surprising development for sure. What are the Gifted up to? Anyway, a good solid chapter that kept me entertained on my train ride home from work. You may have had problems writing it, but they don't show up in the finished product as far as I can see. I'm really anxious to see how they'll track down 805 and get out of there.

Thanks for the comment! Hehehe, well that's what I was aiming for :P Every time I bring Kayla and Ariana back I swear I'm not going to talk about what's happening with Ari, but I always end up doing it. I feel really bad whenever I write about them, but I plan on bringing them in much more often despite how miserable I feel when I do. Well, if they ever do find out about JTG I would guess that Kayla would go on the warpath and try to hunt JTG down. Ariana, I'm not completely sure what she'd do. She would be disappointed that Snow didn't trust them enough to tell them what was going on, but I think she would leave JTG to the police. She's always non-violent :P

Of course Steven has secrets xD There's not a character in town without at least one after all. Whether or not Snow will be able to get him to confess any of them, well that's another story altogether :P Lol, never be nervous to point the finger at anyone. I love reading people's theories, right or wrong. Some incorrect ones I've read are so good I almost wish I could use them. As for Emilia, eh... what can I say? She's definitely mysterious and she does have a reason to hate Sara. Haha, I'm with you on lateness xD But that doesn't mean she was up to anything bad... or does it? Muahahahaha *coughs* :P Lol, you shouldn't trust anyone. Seriously, no one. In fact, that should be the motto on the welcome sign outside of town. "Welcome to Mistbrook Falls. Population: 4823. 'Trust No One'" xD    

Ah, so Michael's been caught in a lie. Good eye, I wasn't sure anyone would notice that. Hehe, 'that cunning weasel' xD I love it. Michael is awfully cunning. It would be interesting if Snow ever saw Brad drinking beer :P Lol, I saw Game of Scones on a sign once and knew I had to use it at some point. Since almost all the stores and streets in Mistbrook Falls are references to something, it was the perfect time. It was going to be Game of Thorns instead and be a flower shop, but I liked Scones better. I would totally watch that show xD That's awesome. Not sure how we'd work in the tragic and violent deaths, but it would make an excellent cooking competition. Honestly, the cookie thing was a plot point simply to make the Game of Scones joke :P But some places do have things like free peanuts and there's this Mexican place that has free chips and dip so I'm sure somewhere there's a place that has free cookies. I want to find it now :P    

Well, I wouldn't say ages necessarily xD You'll find out about Abby and Scarlett's relationship before too terribly long. I don't want to draw it out forever, but Abby's not the most forthcoming person when it comes to her past, so it's not something she's just going to bring up without a good reason. It would be possible for Scarlett to have been adopted, I can say that. Those ships are self-contained societies so people just tend not to leave, but new people come in all the time.

Scarlett's still in shock and survival mode, so you're right in that what happened hasn't hit her yet. She's a tough kid, but that's still going to be extremely hard for her to deal with.

Heh, well it wasn't something I planned but I'm actually glad you feel sorry for the Na'Vaxii. They have done really terrible things, unforgivable things, but the ones who died were just soldiers. They were people just like those on Endeavour that are fighting for their home and way of life. They're the bad guys, but I don't want people to just automatically hate them so I'm glad you feel a little sorry for them. Abby, however, does hate them :P She hates them a lot, as a matter of fact. She definitely has a good reason why.

Ack! Yes, that's a relic of the past that should have been purged with extreme prejudice xD Yeah, Jake used to be a straight-laced, by-the-book military guy and Abby often made fun of him for it. That scene was one of those moments, so I need to edit that. Thanks for pointing that out :) I'm sure their are more in there somewhere. Jake didn't change from his old personality until pretty late, so I'm constantly finding moments where he's still acting like he used to. That's one reason why I haven't added a new chapter for this in forever :P I have to rewrite practically the whole thing and I haven't been able to gather the energy to do it xD   

You know, that's actually a really interesting question. Being a lover of the supernatural, I really like having the creature's POV in there. It adds a lot of creepiness to the story that I enjoy as well. On the other hand, it would definitely be much more mysterious if we didn't know who killed Lauren especially after this chapter. Frances asking where Nate was loses it's impact since we already know where Nate was. So... that's a tough one :P I really like things as they are, but I can see the benefit of taking it out too. Ack, I'm torn on this. I guess if I just had to make a choice I would take it out just because I think the mystery and intrigue elements would be amazing if we didn't know, and the creature's POV could always come in a little later on. It all depends on what you're looking to do because to me it works well either way xD I'm useless at making decisions, if you couldn't tell :P What are you thinking about it? Obviously you're questioning it, but I mean which direction are you leaning towards?

Anyway, to the actual chapter. I love Max there at the beginning. He's such a little boy :P He's cute. Nate thinking all of those terrible things about Lauren was really creepy. That's one place I think knowing about the creature really raises the creepiness factor. Knowing what's really happening there was absolutely spine-chilling. 

Well, Olivia's a delight, isn't she? :P I'm really curious about her. She seems suspicious xD She's always perfectly put together and she's just too nice, even if she was being passive-aggressive. Hmm... maybe she has a creature of her own? Eh, I'm reaching now xD But Frances, I must say I never saw that coming. So I'm guessing the creature made Nate think he was with Frances that night so he wouldn't remember killing Lauren? Why did she cover for him if she knew he wasn't with her? If the police find out, she'll be in a lot of trouble. Oooh, maybe she has a creature and the creatures are working together! Okay, I'm sorry, I'll stop xD 

I was wondering when we'd come back to Brandon. Who is this guy? What did he do to rattle Nate so badly? Whatever he did, it's enough to make Nate seem pretty confident in accusing him. I'm really excited to hopefully learn more about him soon. Anyway, overall another good chapter that's given me lots to think about. I still don't know for sure what I'd do about the creature's POV :/ Honestly, I'd probably be asking the same question in your place xD  

Thanks for the comment :D I think it’s perfectly fair to question Emilia’s behavior. It’s good and I’m glad you are because like I’ve said before I don’t want anyone to not be at least a little bit suspicious from time to time. Most of the characters, even the ones we think we can trust finally, have a secret or two that they (and JTG) aren’t talking about yet. So with Emilia I can’t blame anyone for being suspicious of her. You’ll get a better idea of what happened between Emilia and Jackson in the next chapter… assuming she’s telling the truth :P

Poor Michael. No one trusts him. He’s just a sad, misunderstood guy that needs love :P Yeah, you’re not buying that, are you? xD Michael is definitely creepy, but there’s not much known about him yet. He’s not just an evil rapist douchebag, there’s some humanity in him too; which was of course the point of the story about his sister. Snow probably should heed Sara’s warning, but… where would the fun be in that? :P

Lol, you should be worried about Kayla and Ariana. You should be worried about everyone really :P JTG’s always up to something, right? And while whatever JTG is up to might not necessarily involve their car (I mainly used that as a quick and easy way to mention that they still had it in the event that I ever had the need to use it) it’s definitely a hint that JTG might be lurking about the other’s houses as well, not just Clara’s. You were right about Snow suspecting Steven. He’s a really good suspect too because he hasn’t been featured much and he’s close to all of JTG’s targets so far, so he’s in a good position steal their secrets. You would think JTG would be more sneaky than that, but as they say the best place to hide something is often in plain sight, so yeah… :P Lol, that would absolutely be something JTG would do xD She knows Snow is the most likely of the bunch to figure out who she is, so sending her down a false trail would be a good idea.

You say that’s a crack theory, but at one point you would have been on to something. I can’t say much because parts of it are still in there but a number of characters that are linked together because of *something* were all going to have the exact same eye color. The reason why would a spoiler, but yeah I was going to see how many people figured it out before hand based on the descriptions of the characters xD Now though, there’s not real reason why so many characters have green eyes other than I love green eyes xD So green ends up being popular even though it’s not all that common. Honestly, I only know a single black person with green eyes myself. She was the inspiration for Emilia appearance-wise, not her behavior :P  

You make an excellent point about Snow finding that she doesn’t want to date odd. I’ll take a look at that. She should probably just state it as fact, not that she thinks its odd that she doesn’t want to or something to that effect. Thanks for bringing that up :) Lol, no you’re remembering perfectly. Mr. Winston did teach history. Well, he did because of my own mistakes :P He was always supposed to be an English teacher, but for some reason I made him teach history when he first appeared. I only noticed it a couple of days ago when I went back to double check something and saw I’d written him as an English teacher. Ah well, the benefits of the Edit button xD Eh, some schools do, some don’t. Being a school in a small town, I figured Mistbrook High wouldn’t have a strict uniform or anything. They have certain restrictions unlike the school in Pretty Little Liars where the girls go to school dressed like they’re going out to the club on a Friday night :P But then that’s really neither here nor there xD

Abby’s unique method of interacting with her crew is one of my favorite things about her so I’m glad you like that. She believes that her subordinates will follow her just as bravely if they love her instead of fear her. She tries to make them feel like family instead of minions that have to do her bidding.

Lol, yep Jake is definitely cheeky :P He’s always good for a zippy one-liner. Heh, surprise surprise, Endeavour picked up the distress signal. Yeah, that one’s previous obvious, isn’t it xD I wish there was a way for it to be less so, but meh, it is what it is. As for Abby and Scarlett’s relationship to each other, well it’s pretty clear that there is one. What it is, eh… I’m not saying :P But there definitely is one.

Thanks for commenting! I’m glad the military chatter at the beginning is okay. That’s an area I have next to no experience with other than hearing a term here or there from family members so the whole time I’m writing stuff like that I’m thinking ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ :P Thankfully, Battlestar Galactica gave me ideas on how a proper space navy should sound xD

Scarlett was a lot of fun to bring in. She wasn’t there originally, but the story was so serious all the time and bringing in a child seemed to add a bit of innocence to an otherwise all military cast. Lol, yeah that did escalate pretty fast, didn’t it xD Scarlett and Cassie were going to have a long conversation, but I ended up saying meh, let’s just get on with this and kill everybody :P Anyway, I’m glad you Scarlett’s escape. Action scenes are not something I do particularly well, so I’m always happy when someone likes them.

I hadn't expected to switch to the prospective of the bad guys, so that was a nice surprise. Is it bad that I like them? :P I wouldn't want to hang out with them on a Friday night, but still they're very interesting. I loved Cife, Misa, and Kizah's descriptions as well. They're all so unique and fit what I'd imagine a group of renegade fire demons might look like. Reeves seems to have some issues with Phenex, doesn't he? :P I wonder what that's about? Perhaps we'll get some clues while they're attempting to main and/or kill our heroes xD

Her Ladyship is quite interesting as well. I'm curious who she's working for, and apparently against, and how they managed to frame Hercules. Her powers are pretty frightening too. Her ability to control Reeves is impressive and scary. I wonder how much of what he does and feels is because of his own feelings or her influence. I'm also interested in what she wants with Gwen. Anyways, a really good and surprising chapter that I didn't see coming. I'm glad to get a view of the other side. It seems like we're heading for a pretty big confrontation soon. I hope Phenex and Forneus are on their toes when they get to Rome.

Everything Janelle is dealing with makes me so sad :( I hate seeing her so broken, so beaten down. It was good to see her grieving though. I thought the scene in Reagan’s room with her finding his shirt and that note (What was he going to fix? I still want to know xD Oh, the curiosity :P) was very well done.  Janelle’s emotional state throughout the chapter felt believable and very realistic for someone that’s been through as much as she has. She’s doubting her leadership abilities, but she’s also second-guessing her decision to no longer be the leader. Poor girl :( She’s so lost and confused. I feel really bad for her. I liked that she didn't want to leave Reagan behind as well. That part was very touching and sad.

I love Thomas xD He’s clearly the voice of reason these days. He told Janelle some things she definitely needed to hear and hopefully made her think about what she’s done, even if he did earn himself a nice slap across the face for his trouble. He also raises some excellent points about Caleb. He could very well be lying about the size of his rebellion or anything else. He’s an unknown quantity and as Janelle thought, she only trusts him because he killed John. Personally, I think he’s telling the truth about his rebellion. I don’t think he’s a bad guy really. I just get this feeling from him that he’s the type of person that would go too far trying to overthrow the Gifted. It feels like he would sacrifice his own soul, if you will, to do it. I don't know and now I'm rambling :P I'll stop.

I hadn't even thought about the fact that Janelle could very well be pregnant. With everything else happening, I hadn't considered it. Still, it's good she isn't. That's not exactly something she needs to have to deal with right now. Anyway, overall a really good and emotional chapter that I probably shouldn't have read with my dad in the room. I got a bit teary-eyed in the middle and he kept asking me what was wrong and refused to believe it was because of a story :P I liked the ending because Janelle does at least seem to be slightly more... I don't want to say hopeful, but she at the very least managed a smile.   

Thanks for the comment :) I’m glad you enjoyed the space battle. Heh, I watch/read tons of sci-fi and have for ages so I draw on that to help write the battle scenes. If I’m desperate I’ll put on an episode of Battlestar Galactica/Stargate/Babylon 5/Star Trek/etc to give me inspiration. I’m glad no one ever read the ones back when I first started writing this :P Those were awful and boring. I still think some of the battle scenes need tweaking, but then I’m picky so… xD I’m trying to find a good balance between the crew interacting with each other and talking about what’s happening verses going outside and actually showing it.

Hmm, that’s an interesting question. Endeavour has a crew of 6000 so the Achilles probably had around 2000 since she was much smaller. The Michelangelo (which did survive by the way) would be around 1000 because she’s even smaller. I liked the idea of having so many people on these ships even though it’s the future and everything should be automated because to me it gives the feeling that these are big, massive ships, some of them multiple kilometers long and a lot of their equipment needs humans to operate it. And there’s my Random Info of the Day xD

The Freedom’s Progress really was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Na’Vaxii needed a plan to lure Endeavour into a trap and that ship just so happened to be a prime target. I’m glad you’re suspicious of stuff like that too. There weren’t any weapons or anything like that hidden on the Progress, but that’s something the Federation would do. They’re all about the survival of the human race as a whole now, so they would definitely use a few civilians to hide their secret doomsday weapons.

The aliens really are ruthless though and I’m glad that came through in this chapter (although you haven’t seen anything yet :P) That flows pretty well into the last bit too. The Na’Vaxii are based loosely on the Klingons from Star Trek. Like the Klingons, the Na’Vaxii are ruthless, aggressive, territorial, and combative by nature. They never run from a fight. They either win or die (sounds like their playing a very particular game, doesn’t it xD) To demonstrate that, I liked the idea that all of their guns would be on the bows of their ships to show that they’re all about attacking and to discourage cowardly captains from turning and running. No one else they've ever fought has given their ships any trouble like the humans have, but because they’re so arrogant, egotistical, and confident in their superiority, they refuse to change their ships and instead stick to their old design philosophy. But although their ships have that disadvantage, they’re still significantly more powerful than human ships so it ends up not being that big of a disadvantage anyway because the aliens are still winning the war :P And once again, all that was much longer than I’d intended it to be. I need to work on that xD

Sam is not a happy lady these days, is she? She's justified, I feel, considering all she's dealing with and what she's been asked to do, but she ought not be taking it out on her friends. She being awfully... well, awful to them. Nothing that's going on with her is their fault and her attitude won't be helpful to the mission, but still I understand where she's coming from. So, they left Hahana and Maui behind then? It's a good idea, but suddenly I'm concerned those two might decide to follow along behind them anyway :P

The Gifted destroying the village just to make an example of them just goes to show the lengths they'll go to, doesn't it? I always try to view the Gifted as morally ambiguous because while the things they do are really terrible, they believe they're doing the right thing. Good and evil, as they say, depends on your point of view. But then they go burning entire villages to the ground and make me mad :P I guess that's what makes them such a good antagonist. 256 also got a good lesson about how the Gifted treat their own when he found the little girl. That was a really sad and well written scene. I felt really bad for her, despite her helping destroy the village. She was just a kid after all. 256 burning her body was touching as well. It's interesting that they sent someone so young out if they usually don't. That's very curious...

The nonGifted boy was really heartbreaking. He was really brave and I felt awful about him and his family. I hope his reaction isn't common when it comes to Gifted that have turned against their own. Obviously he's just a boy that lost his entire family and saw the horrors of war, but I'm still hopeful that maybe there could be some form of peace between the Gifted and nonGifted. But with the way the Gifted have treated the nonGifted, it feels less and less likely. 256's fight with the Gifted woman was brief, but exciting. I couldn't help but laugh when Sam complained about missing when she threw her knife. Although, she didn't actually miss so she's getting there xD She just needs to work on getting the blade pointing in the right direction :P

There's something I think of all the time when I'm reading this but never think to mention it when I'm commenting (or at least I don't remember it if I ever said something before :P) This time 256's thoughts reminded me about it. I really like that almost all of the characters are acting because of, or at least thinking about their families. Janelle started a revolution because of her daughter. 256 is worried his parents never loved him or would reject him. Carey's been separated from her family for ages now. Sam's dealing with her father and of course Thomas. Everyone has these deep familial connections and I really enjoy that. I know that's random, but... yeah xD

Anyway, I've rambled on entirely too long and really ought to hush now :P I'm really interested to see what comes next. It looks like 256 is finally going home. That's really scary O.o

Haha, well that's pretty fitting then since I was thinking of Friends when I was writing that bit :P There was a joke about it in there but I cut it at the very last second. Jackson was going to say something to the effect of wanting to make sure they both understood what being on a break was because he didn't want to hook up with another girl and end up spending the next ten years arguing about whether or not they were, in fact, on a break xD Anyway, they won't be like Ross and Rachel at all. That annoyed me too so there's definitely not going to be any of that going on. I'm still not sure yet where they'll end up exactly. They're pretty much broken up at this point, but I could see them eventually getting back together. Emilia will be making her first appearance very soon. At first she was going to be in this chapter, but I liked ending it where I did so she got left out xD Soon though, I promise :P

There's a reason why Clara said she and Sara weren't close. They were close once, but at the time of her death they really weren't. So, she still loved Sara because at one point their friendship had been really strong but then certain things took place that I can't talk about and changed their relationship. Still, you make a really good point. Clara should have said that she wasn't as close to Sara as Snow was, which would make more sense in the context of the scene since that other stuff was only vaguely alluded to ages ago and Noel doesn't know about it either, so yeah :P I need to look at rewording that part :)

Hehe, no JTG would never give up like that. Clara's plan was doomed from the start. She never thought JTG would go after her mom like that, which was kind of a low blow but that's who JTG is. Like you said, she fights dirty. I wouldn't underestimate her either :P If JTG starts something, she's got a plan. Noel may not lose her job, but she should be very worried *cue evil laughter* xD Heh, I've been wanting to add some variety to the methods JTG uses to send her messages, hence the creepy note. It's kind of fun coming up with different ways for JTG to send messages without texting. As for how JTG got in, well she's clearly good at breaking and entering without leaving behind any evidence. Unless, Noel is JTG O.o Anyway, thanks so much for commenting :D

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you like Endeavour's interior. She's old, but she's still got some fight left in her. Don't get too used to the rundown look though. Once she's done she'll look less like the Millennium Falcon and more like the U.S.S. Enterprise from these two latest movies xD  

Lol, yeah I know all about the chatter between military branches. My brother is in the Navy and I've got an uncle in the Army and two cousins in the Air Force. Holidays are very interesting, as is the annual Army-Navy football game :P Anyway, I'm glad you liked that bit.

Hmm, I really can't imagine where you might have gotten the idea that Jake and Abby would meet again. Seems like a really odd thing to suspect, if you ask me :P Yeah, Abby doesn't have time for all of the pomp and circumstance of rank. She's more focused on getting the job done and that's it. She doesn't care if people go around treating her like a queen, she just wants them to do their jobs. At the moment, I'd say she's enjoying seeing him squirm more than she's interested in him. She likes him, sure, but she's mostly just enjoying herself messing with him xD

I'm glad you're enjoying the characters as well. There are quite a few of them so it's good to hear you think they're a diverse bunch. Kahoku would be of Japanese descent, yes. Dimitrov is obviously Russian. There are a few Middle Eastern characters working in Weapons and Engineering. There's a marine that's Hispanic and an engineer that's French. I figured it's the future so I need to be as diverse as possible with the crew :P Although, quite a few countries no longer exist due to humans being generally disagreeable people and since we've got access to nuclear weapons, well... you guess what happened.

That bit with Abby and Ackerson, you're right that they both have really good points. One shell from one of the eighteen guns that make up Endeavour's main battery has enough kinetic energy to level a small city. If you're fighting over a planet, you wouldn't want to accidently miss. These are weapons of mass destruction and Ackerson doesn't want them mishandled, but if your tech breaks and you don't know how to shoot without it you're kind of in trouble :P

I'm happy to hear that the FTL bit is imaginative. I wish I knew what I was talking about, but I didn't have a clue :P I just picked words that sounded good and went with it. It is one area where I looked to Star Trek for inspiration since the warp drive is pretty well explained and then did my own spin on it. I highly doubt it's anything close to real science, but it sounded pretty good to me xD Still, I think there's a bit too much exposition in this chapter. I throw a lot of information at the reader in one sitting and it's a lot to take in. I'm considering rearranging things so some bits are in a separate chapter. Lol, yeah Dimitrov just wasted his time telling them all that, didn't he? That whole scene was meant to reflect how I'm sure people reading this are feeling at the time xD

You'll learn about Abby's family before too long. It's not a topic she likes to talk about, obviously, but she does eventually open up about it. For now, let's just say she definitely has her reasons to be upset.

Thanks for commenting :) I never figured anyone would think JTG was more than one person so I tossed that in there just to get people thinking :P It's another path of speculation to send readers down while I'm over here busy trying to keep my secrets xD That's not to say that JTG isn't more than one person, she very easily could be. After all, the best lies contain a hint of truth and the best place to hide something is often in plain sight. I'm being cryptic again, aren't I :P

You were definitely on the right track about Nikki. At one point you would have been completely right because she was going to have gone ahead and had the baby, but then she would have given it up for adoption. But since I could come up with no logical way for her to hide all that from her parents, she ended up having an abortion instead. I'm glad you felt for her because it's definitely something she's still dealing with. Even if she wasn't afraid of her parents, she's still struggling with her decision.

It's moments like these that I really wish I had gone ahead and introduced all of the group's parents at the beginning. I thought about it, but I felt like it would have been character overload to bring in so many people so early on. None of them would have had anything to do anyway, but it would have been nice to let people know a bit more about them than what you can glean from a few sentences about them from other characters. But you're right about Nikki's parents and Snow's view on them. Snow comes from a family that would support her no matter what she did. Nikki doesn't. But then, Nikki is terrified and she isn't thinking completely rationally so she could just be overreacting. And of course, anyone can change their ways so her parents could always come to see their daughter's side of things as well. To be honest, it's another of those things that I haven't completely decided what will happen. I don't even know for sure if her parents will even find out. Sometimes my own lack of preparation scares me xD

I wasn't really sure whether Jackson and Snow would break up or not. I'd planned on them staying together at least a while longer and trying to fix things, but it felt like they were beyond that. Something is obviously very wrong in their relationship, so I agree that it's the best thing for them. I worry about that scene with them so I'm glad you think it's okay. I don't know why, it just makes me nervous :P Them sleeping together probably wasn't the best idea. It would make me uncomfortable too :P But given their situation and the small few they can trust, they'll have to figure out how to work together regardless.

We'll be meeting Emilia very very soon, once the gang goes back to school. This has been an oddly long weekend, hasn't it? And it's only Sunday morning :P With the strange men staring at Snow, it will be a while before you get any solid answers, but there will be hints here and there most definitely.

Wow, that was certainly one exciting chapter! The battle sequences were exceptionally well done. You managed to find a good balance in both given plenty of detail without describing every single movement the combatants make, so good job there. Lol, Phenex manages some pretty zippy one-liners even in battle :P Your descriptions, as always, were fantastic. I feel like I say that in every comment, but it's a topic worth mentioning again because they really are that good. I may have said this before, but I'm usually not a fan of overly detailed descriptions. Yours somehow manage to be extremely detailed and rich without becoming too long to read or cheesy. How you do that, I don't know because when I try to be so detailed I typically fail spectacularly, so again, nice work with your descriptions.

I thought Gwen taking note of the architecture of the buildings was a nice touch, especially considering where she had just teleported from. I liked that she appreciated something as normal as a building after everything she's just seen. Hmm, so Gwen can sense the presence of artifacts then, eh? Well, it makes perfect sense why she would be sent along on these missions with them then. And she got a power of her own out of the deal too. That'll be pretty useful, being able to control her enemies for a while. And Forneus got one of his powers back too, so that's good. One artifact for one power, then? Well, if he's right and worse enemies are going to start showing up then I suggest they find as many artifacts as they can, and fast xD

And as for Gwen... what in the world is she? Right now, I really don't even have a guess but it must be pretty big since Forneus is so worried about telling her. It was also really nice in that last scene to see that Phenex will stand with Forneus no matter what. Whatever else Phenex may be, he's loyal to Forneus and that's a good thing. Anyway, enough of my ramblings for one afternoon :P I'll be sure to read more soon.

And thanks for commenting once again! It just occurred to me that I could have replied to both comments at once and saved you the time switching between them, but oh well xD I don't think clearly this soon after getting off of work and fighting through NYC subway commuters :P Anyway, I'm glad you like Abby and find her relatable. Fun fact (or maybe not so fun, I don't know :P) is that originally Abby was... well, kind of a bitch. Instead of being sad about the things that have happened to her, she was really really angry and was kind of mean to other people. It was hard, even for me, to feel any sort of sympathy toward her or to cheer for her because she just wasn't likeable. So, I made her hate herself a bit and I ended up not hating her myself after that :P

Stanforth is really underused, I'm afraid to say. He makes really rare, brief appearances but otherwise doesn't really have that much of a role. He's a sort of father figure to Abby, but that's really about it. I have plans for him down the road (many many many miles down the road) but regardless, I'm glad you like him.

Heh, I'm not really that familiar with weapons at all, particularly ones of that scale. I did have to do quite a bit of research about them and I ended up settling on a theme where the human ships are armed much like the ships from the World War 2 era. Endeavour especially is a blend of the Iowa-class battleships and an aircraft carrier. So they've got a lot of really big guns instead of Star Trek-esque phasers. There are some laser and energy based weapons, but for the most part it's just projectile weapons and missiles. Geez, I sound like a nerd xD

Honestly, I think even if Abby had known that she and Jake would be on the same ship she still would have done exactly what she did. Abby's not easily embarrassed and she's not a big fan of being appropriate or following the rules. She had a good reason to make that offer because as she said, he's not likely going to be alive much longer and she knows how powerful hope can be. And despite what she says, she might very well have honored the deal. Even so, Endeavour has a crew compliment of 6,000 people. She's a mile long with 55 decks. The chances of Abby ever actually meeting Jake again on a ship that big are pretty small, right? Right? Hello? :P

Lol, I'm glad you enjoyed Jake's panic attack xD He's screwing up left and right, isn't he? It's kind of funny but this gets compared to Star Trek quite a lot. It's funny because my original inspirations for it were the Halo video game series and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica xD

Thanks for commenting! The bedtime story is actually a pretty recent addition. It used to just be an opening monologue but it was so boring I thought people might give up before they got through it :P So, the bedtime story was born and so far it seems to be working out. I'm glad you think it has a twist of its own. That's a particular concern anytime I write sci-fi because it's pretty difficult to truly be original. Either you're copying Star Wars or Star Trek or Babylon 5 or whatever. It's tough to be at all unique when it's all be done before xD

Lol, yes Abby has an attachment to 20th/21st century music. She likes the really old school stuff from 1600 years earlier :P She's put together a database of old songs from what's left of the Internet so that's how she listens to such old music. Honestly, having songs included is a habit of mine that I'm actually trying to break. I used to do it far too much so I'm trying to cut back and only do it occasionally when I think of a particular song that really fits the scene, such as the case with Abby here. I agree that Bring Me to Life is definitely one of their best songs, along My Immortal will probably always be my favorite. I don't know why because it's really morbid, but eh :P

Poor Jake, he really does come off as a bit of a douche, doesn't he? But yeah, he's really not. He's much more of a goofball once you get to know him xD In this chapter he really had no idea what he was doing :P Thanks for pointing out those typos as well. I'll be sure to fix them. I don't know why because I edit this chapter so much that I'll just make all new ones before long, but oh well :P

The spirit creature continues to be absolutely chilling to read about. I'm really glad you included it's POV because it adds a lot to the creepy factor. It's interesting to learn more about the creature too, what it's limitations are, that sort of thing. So, it's trying to feed Nate bad memories of Lauren in order to get stronger? Well, we don't want that, do we? :P Especially since it seems to be planning even more vicious murders of other people close to Nate. Oh, out of random curiosity, if someone were to stroll into the room while the creature was floating about disconnected from Nate, would they be able to see it? Weird question and you may not be able to tell me if it's important to the story or something. I was just wondering xD I want to know random things :P 

The rest of the chapter made me really sad. Seeing the way Nate and Lauren met, knowing that she's doomed, was really heartbreaking. I wasn't expecting to actually meet Lauren properly since she's dead, so that was really nice. Unfortunately, I really like her :P She has all these dreams and goals, she's funny and musical and managed to completely and humorously fluster Nate, who clearly has no idea what he's doing xD Poor guy. Still, he didn't do too bad. He managed to get a coffee date, after all.

Anyway, it was interesting to see how Nate and Lauren met. I liked Nate as he was back then. He's clearly a very different person now than he used to be. Of course, I imagine being inhabited by a mind controlling creature and finding your wife's body would no doubt do that to anyone. Anyways, another good, creepy, and heartbreaking chapter. Nice job!

Heh, from this point forward Nate will be forever known as Mr Chemistry xD

Thanks for the comment! So it would surprise you then if Arcturus worked perfectly the very first time they ever use it? In fact, I'd say it even works much better than they ever expected. I won't confirm if that's actually a good thing or not :P Whatever happens, it'd be a safe bet to say it couldn't possibly go as planned xD It's good you're worried about the ship and crew too. You should be. Muahahahahaha :P

Well, Abby's 29 so she's theoretically old enough to be Scarlett's mother. It's kind of funny, I went back and forth multiple times on whether or not to include any sort of connection between them at all. I liked having no connection except them just meeting when Scarlett is rescued, but... yeah, there's something between them.

Heh, I wouldn't be strong enough to handle all that either. Scarlett's a tough kid though, but then again she is still a kid. Right now she's still sort of in shock, so it hasn't all hit her just yet. Anyway, I'm glad that part was emotional. Yeah, Jake... he doesn't get nearly as much action as he ought to. For some reason, I enjoy putting him in positions where he's uncomfortable. That'll make sense in a couple of chapters xD He's supposed to be a fighter pilot but we so rarely see him in the cockpit it's sometimes easy to forget that :P He just can't catch a break with Abby, can he? Every time he runs into her he does something dumb. I'm really unnecessarily mean to him like that :P

The second I start to somewhat trust Maui and Hahana, I'm immediately hit with some unnerving new information about them. Whatever Hahana's explanation is, they did technically lie. With their insistence to go on the mission, I'm getting really nervous that they're up to something nefarious or at the very least aren't being completely honest about their reasons for being on the island. I hope not since I really like them xD Regardless of that, it was nice to learn a little bit more about Maui and his family. We don't know much about either of them yet, so I was glad of that. 

Carey and 256's conversation was heartbreaking. 256 talking about 440 and just his whole story really tugged at the heartstrings, so good job there. It's a tough thing to make a character as cruel as 440 a sympathetic character, but you succeeded in spades. Despite everything 440 did, I can't help but feel sorry for him. And 256 blaming himself for what 440 became, that made me really sad. Carey, naturally, is still struggling with having killed 440. I think 256 would understand that what she did was mercy, but still they were friends once so it's going to be hard for him to hear. I know that chapter is going to make me weepy :(  Hmm... why were Hahana and Samantha laughing together all of a sudden? What are they up to out there?

Oh Janelle... Janelle, Janelle, Janelle, what are you doing? She's lost hope and her confidence again. I really hoped she wouldn't, but it's pretty clear she has. I don't know if Caleb is up to no good or not, but I can't help but think that this is the worst move she could have made. I was also surprised that she made such a big decision without discussing it with at the very least Sam. Although, I suppose it does make sense seeing as Sam would tell her she was being silly and to woman up and be the leader. I don't trust Caleb as far as I could throw the Empire State Building and giving him command of her rebels just seems like a terrible idea. Sure, he's organized and in control of a much larger force, but... I don't know. I've just got a really bad feeling about all of this. Suddenly, I can't help but get a very slight President Coin vibe from him. Like... he seems like he's a decent guy, fighting against the Gifted, but I worry about the lengths he'll go to in order to win. Gah, I'm rambling. I'll stop now xD

Right now it seems like the group has lost their way somewhat. They've all got a lot of personal issues and I'm scared they're not ready to break into the Council. I hope they manage to pull themselves together in time to get this job done. Otherwise, I'm afraid we might well be having another funeral before long. Anyway, another really good chapter that has succeeded in further increasing my nervousness for the safety of the group and their future. With Janelle stepping down, the team on the mission not getting along, and 256 and Carey worrying about 440... I'm scared xD

Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I'll be pretty surprised if anyone figures out that Brad is Mary's cousin. There's no hints or clues about it or anything, so yeah :P I've got to say, you notice so many minute details xD I didn't think anyone would pay any attention at all to Brad and Mary's last name being different. But you're right, he took his mother's last name because... reasons :P It's explained later once Brad becomes a more prominent character. It's nothing huge or story-changing, just a bit of his background. Still, I'm going to have to watch myself and what hints and clues I slip in. You're paying attention xD As for what Brad stole from the store, well that's an interesting story. I'm just not going to be telling it for a while :P I've recently decided to split the story into two parts so it's very possible we won't get into that until the next one. I'm not sure yet if I'll go that deep into what Brad's up to or not before I get to the cut off point.

Yeah, Clara's plan probably isn't the best. It couldn't be that easy to get rid of JTG, right? Like Snow said, they're playing a game and as far as JTG is concerned Clara just decided she wasn't going to play anymore. That won't sit well with JTG. I will say though that JTG doesn't really get mad, she gets even :P Oooh, I'd been meaning to ask if you thought JTG killed Sara or not. I'm always interested to get people's thoughts on that. There's sort of a range of different ideas so it's always fun to read them. I'm trying to avoid similarities with Pretty Little Liars wherever I can and Alison received messages from A before she died, but it would be interesting if Sara was fighting with JTG before she was killed, so... yeah :P

Lol, someone on fictionpress got upset with me for bringing Cooper back without any warning xD I believe the feels were a bit too strong, which I admit is perfectly fair. I miss Coop myself xD He will make more regularly scheduled appearances from now on and we might see one or two more old friends from time to time as well. With Alana, I actually agree that it's important to move on in a situation like hers. It's just in this case, and I have to be really careful with what I say here lest I say too much, Alana knows things that very few other people know. Cooper let her in on things that he wasn't supposed to, but given that she knows these things she now knows what's really important. It's kind of meaning of life stuff and what life really is. The only hint I can give you to clear some of that up is what Cooper said. Death isn't the end, it's the beginning of everything.

This chapter is making me feel anxious again. Whenever the group splits up, it makes me nervous but this time I'm just getting a really weird vibe. To say the least, I'm really worried. Lol, I'm glad you left no question as to whether or not Caleb was 256's father. If you hadn't, I would have been theorizing about that one forever :P The fact that you had already done something similar with 805 would have made me really skeptical of the idea, but still I know how my mind works xD

256's part of the chapter was really good, especially the scene with Caleb. That Caleb, why must he be so smooth and make very good points about things? It was much easier to be mistrustful of him before. Now I find myself agreeing with him because his points are perfectly valid. I still don't trust him, but he's starting to lure me in xD Even so, his lack of any compassion or responsibility in regards to what he claims his people did to the Gifted worries me. Either he doesn't care that his men mutilated the Gifted or he does care but his people didn't listen to him. The latter would make him a bad leader, while the former scares me a lot. And it's not just Caleb, I mean if his people are willing to do things like that... O.o Oooh, I almost forgot. He had his mirror turned facing the wall. I wonder if that's because he doesn't want to be reminded of his scars or for some other reason?

I'm concerned about 256 going on this mission, especially after what Caleb said to him. That's not something he really needed to hear right before going back to the Council. With him thinking that 913 and 440's punishment being his fault.. yeah, I'm worried about him. Lol, 256 using Carey's name :P What's he going to do if he, Caleb, and Carey are ever in the same room together. That'd be awkward xD

Carey's talk with Thomas was really emotional. His story about hurting Sam and their mother made me sad :( I feel really bad for him. I was glad that Thomas was able to convince Carey to let 256 teach her even if she doesn't need him to anymore. I honestly have no idea what's going on with her now. I'd been thinking she could be some sort of Avatar-ish character that can 'control all four elements' or something, but since she's lost her Gift I'm guessing not. Hmm, maybe she can focus the Gifts of other people that are nearby? Or maybe she can 'borrow' Gifts from other Gifted or something? Yeah, I have no idea. I'll stop rambling :P

Lol, Hahana and Maui xD I love them. They're always a delight to have around and I was happy to see Hahana got Sam to smile. That was really nice. I found it funny that Samantha was worried about their armor but not about the fact that they're taking the (I assume) only two black people on the island with them. They're kind of going to stand out a bit. That's not how you sneak around places, Sam. Bring people who blend in :P Anyway, this was a really good and emotional chapter and I enjoyed it. It made me really nervous for the future, but I suppose that's a good thing. I'm excited to see what happens with the mission and until then I'll be over here in my corner, quietly praying that no one else dies :P

Thanks for the comment! Lol, see? You're becoming one of us now. Embrace the sci-fi. It's fun over here :P I do find sci-fi to be easier to understand and remember the more time I spend with it. I sort of have to get my mind into that place, especially when I'm trying to write it and make at least some small amount of sense xD

I'm glad you liked Scarlett's escape and found it exciting and scary. Those types of scenes are usually not in my area of expertise at all so any time someone enjoys an action scene is a good day xD Why I'm trying to write a story about an interstellar war when I don't think I'm very good at action scenes is a mystery even I can't answer :P I'm glad you like Scarlett herself so far as well. My first reason for bringing in such a young character was to add a little innocence to the story and help a bit with some of the seriousness of later chapters... and I introduce her by destroying her home and killing a million people :P Heh, you'll often find that Abby ends up taking more detours than she'd like to admit and they usually get her into a lot of trouble. But then again, trouble can be fun, right?

Lol, wow that's a lot of uses of the word dome, isn't it? Yeah, I'll have to do some editing there :P Thanks for pointing that out :)

Oooh, Miss Atomic Bomb. I love that song. I'm going to have to play it now xD But actually I was thinking of Anna Kendrick's 'When I'm Gone' when I picked the title. I was going to go with something a bit more funeral related for the title, but I like that song so... yeah :P

Sara seems to have really gotten around that night, didn't she? It'd be safe to say she at least visited the four girls, or will if she hasn't already gone to see Mary and Nikki. As for anyone else, well it's always possible :P I'm glad (and it sounds really weird to say that) that you found the funeral scene emotional. I've been to a few funerals and I'm always creeped out by them, which is one reason I skipped the actual ceremony itself. Burying Sara was definitely a good first step to help Snow move on, but as long as her killer is still running free she won't be able to find any real peace with it. Lol, the bit with Sara's body was somewhat important, but yeah I agree that's pretty creepy xD That's the main thing I don't like about funerals...

Those are good guesses about Nikki's secret. I'm not sure exactly when I'll reveal it yet. Mary knows and now that all five of them know they can trust each other (Or can they? Muahahahahaha... ahem) it would be odd for her to keep it a secret from the rest of them, but I do love my secrets so... eh. Anyway, I'm glad you liked learning more about her and Clara's mom. None of the other girl's families have appeared yet and this was a good opportunity to start to introduce them. It also gives me many new characters to play with and any one of them could be JTG or Sara's killer... or both :P

Don't feel too bad about not figuring out that Mary stole because she lost Ari's earrings. So far, I don't think anyone has. I even told my sister that Mary's secret was really obvious, but she still didn't see it. I think people kind of forget that Mary borrowed the earrings anyway since it was so brief and wasn't mentioned again since then, so yeah. But that's her big secret. I can't say I would have believed her either, but even if Zoe did JTG still knows so you're right. It's not over for her just yet xD

You know, I almost didn't reveal that Mary and Nikki were both getting messages in this chapter. Snow, Clara, and Jackson were going to spend a while being suspicious of them and naturally they were going to be acting really suspicious as well, but I liked the idea of establishing a core group of people that are trustworthy and having them work together. That and this story is getting to be pretty long already. I'm just getting started and I'm already up to chapter 16 and am seriously considering cutting the story in half and end up with a trilogy of sorts. But either way, that would have sort of been a pointless storyline since it would have ended the same way anyway, so yeah :P

Steven though, he'll definitely be one that at least some of the group are suspicious of. Lol, the characters are gonna call JTG her too now because trying to be gender-neutral is extremely annoying whenever I have to refer to JTG :P Hmm... technically I could say whether JTG is a character that's already been introduced or not, but to me it would just be a massive spoiler though and remove a lot of suspicion from any new characters that come in later on. I will say that by the time we get to JTG's reveal, the person will be a known character. It won't be someone brand new that we haven't met that is introduced at the same time you learn that they're JTG... if that made any sense xD Anyway, I've gone on way longer than I'd intended to. Sorry about that. Thanks for the comment! :)

This chapter right here is exactly why I'm not supposed to read stuff when I'm home alone and sitting in the dark :P That last section was absolutely terrifying. Anyway, this chapter was really dark and gloomy (in a good way). Poor Nate is barely holding it together, it seems. Once again his emotions are very well described and heartbreaking. I really liked Nate and Max's interactions as well. I felt so sorry for little Max. Poor little boy losing his mother like that... :(

The description of the way Nate found Lauren's head was chilling and disturbing, and combined with the ending... wow. I'm really creeped out. You weren't kidding when you said Lauren's killer is revealed early on. I wasn't expecting to find out so soon :P I was thinking a murder mystery for at least a little while, so I'm glad you went a different route and surprised me. I didn't think Nate did it either, so you surprised me twice even if it was something else using his hands to do the deed. That creature/ghost/spirit/demon whatever the heck it is is really creepy with the way it talked about making Nate happy... O.o Anyway, this chapter was a little short but very interesting. It was dark, depressing, and downright terrifying. I'm excited to see what you do with it next :)

Hey, thanks for commmenting! I'm sure you read it just fine, it's just that I've done some editing on these early chapters a couple of times since you read them. I didn't want anyone to guess exactly what had happened with Abby and the car accident, so I was intentionally making things vague. Now it doesn't bother me if anyone figures it out, so I changed things to make it much more clear that Abby was driving the car. I don't come right out and say it, but yeah it's pretty obvious now :P So yeah, you're right about the car crash and Abby's family. You won't find out about her family for a while yet, but there are enough clues here and there to figure it out.

Poor Jake is right xD He just can't get it together around her. No matter his intentions, it doesn't work out for him. I'm glad you like him as he's a character I worry about a bit :P He used to be a serious, by the book military guy but he ended up morphing into the comic relief in a way. He can still be serious, but he tends to be less so most of the time. He also uses his job in the military to pick up girls, so you've got to take the good with the bad :P

Sci-fi is the only genre I dare to attempt to be really detailed and descriptive. I guess it's because I'm limited only by my own imagination, so I can pretty much do whatever I want and get away with it. I even created a fully planned out government system for the Federation. You'll never see it explained because it doesn't need to be, but it's there. That's the sort of thing you end up doing when you've been writing something this long and you get stuck. You create a new form of government xD I don't know why, but let me try to describe a room or a meadow or something in great detail and it's awful, but if you want me to design a fully functional spaceship... yeah, that I can usually do. Go figure :P

There's way too much information being thrown at you in this chapter. I really ought to maneuver things around so there's a bit less to absorb. It doesn't really matter if you remember all the sci-fi sciencey stuff though xD Lol, that scene with Abby and Sheridan listening to Dimitrov explain about the engine was meant to reflex exactly what I'm sure you and anyone else reading this was no doubt thinking. "What in the world is he talking about?" xD So its just like Abby says, she (and the reader) doesn't understand and she doesn't need to. It just works. Don't worry about remembering all the technobabble, which is really all it is. I'm not a quantum engineer, I just made something up that sounded good :P It's not important, really and if it ever is a character will be sure to say something to remind you about it. Personally, I keep a glossary of sorts with all the details and stuff because I can't remember myself half of the time xD 

I've been wanting to go back to the warehouse for ages, I just haven't had a reason to up till now. I really miss it though :( To me it became a character in and of itself and things don't feel the same without it around. If I hadn't just needed to make the move to Mistbrook Falls, they'd all still be living there. The warehouse will make plenty more appearances though, I promise.

It's a safe bet to assume that JTG is bothering other people and not just the three of them. I don't completely know for sure how many myself. I think I know, but that could always change. Yeah, I intentionally left Mary, Nikki, and Steven out of the spotlight so they're kind of unknown quantities. I knew Snow and Clara's secrets were never going to be kept a secret from readers and Jackson's wasn't for very long, so their secrets can stay just that for a while; secret. Any one of them could be JTG as you said, so keeping them somewhat mysterious helps with that feeling of uncertainty a bit. Emilia's got a role to play, no doubt. I'm just not saying what it is xD

Yeah, Snow is slowly starting to realize that the Sara she knew wasn't necessarily the real Sara. The truth about Sara is going to be really hard for her to believe and right now, she still doesn't believe it. Well, she doesn't want to believe it. She wants to remember Sara the way she knew her, not as the person Clara and Jacob are telling her she was. I'm glad you liked their contrasting views on Sara. Clara's viewpoint is definitely the more realistic one of the two. I'm glad you liked Snow and Clara's interactions and Clara's opinions on Snow's blackout. Their friendship honestly is deeper than Snow and Sara's was. It's much more pure, I should say. Even though Clara changed pretty much everything about herself to fit in, she's not just Snow's friend because of her status. They really do care about each other and writing the two of them can be really fun sometimes xD

Jackson's anger is completely justified and Snow really shouldn't have yelled at him. He has every right to be angry with Clara, helpful or not. This is really the first time Snow's starting to show signs that she can't handle everything that's happening. She's just lost Sara and suddenly she's faced with the losing Clara too, not to mention JTG and Jackson cheating on her, and she just snaps. It won't be the last time either. Still, I'm glad you won't hold it against her :P

Lol, I need to go back and edit the first two chapters (and a good number of the others) because there's many things that need fixing in that story. Every time I think about doing it, this story beckons me and I never get around to it xD

Heh, I didn't even expect Brad and Michael to be working together :P I'd planned on them being enemies at first, but I like them better as allies. Maybe frienemies is the better word as they don't always get along so well. And yeah, it changes things too xD Michael isn't the type of guy who feels much remorse for anyone really. He doesn't have time for remorse or feelings at all for the most part, as he's obviously a busy man :P

Nearly all of the pieces to the Mary puzzle are already out there, they just aren't arranged in the proper order xD Your theory is close, not quite on target just yet, but getting warmer. The problem she had is also linked to whatever she and Brad did the night Sara was murdered. That's the only clue I'm giving xD One thing I should clear up because it will be important later is that Michael did in fact rape Mary and Sara did catch him in the act. She also has the video she took on her phone to prove it. Rereading that chapter (you're right, it was three) I see that it's not explicitly said that she caught him raping her and it really should be. I'll have to edit that because it's pretty important :P You're right about Brad though, he definitely doesn't know about that. Michael wants to keep that secret all to himself.

I'm glad you didn't expect Jackson to have cheated on Snow, especially with Emilia. I have no idea why I don't want anyone to see that coming, I just don't :P It will definitely make it hard for Snow to keep her promise, but she's Ariana's daughter, so yeah xD Snow and Jackson's relationship will be strained, for sure. I'm not completely sure myself what will happen with them yet. I could see them breaking up, but for the moment they're going to try and repair their relationship and I'll likely end up doing with them what feels right as times goes on.

I actually thought I mentioned the bookstore before this, but when I noticed I hadn't I knew I needed to reference it because it's still around. She's changed the name, though. It's now called Coop's Books and Cupcakes. Ariana sells cupcakes there too :P I'm glad hearing about it made you feel warm and fuzzy :)

Well, I'd planned on reading the next chapter of The Killer tonight but when I got home I saw you'd posted this and my curiosity got the better of me :P I really like the nervous interactions between 256 and Carey. They're so cute together xD Their scenes could just go on and on and I wouldn't get bored with them. Hmm... Carey can keep control over her new power already. Very interesting. It was interesting to see both of their thoughts on Reagan and Caleb. His death would naturally hit Carey much harder than 256. I felt really bad for her, especially since I'd been so focused on how his death would affect Janelle and less about the rest of the group. Carey cared about him too, maybe not the same as Janelle but still... :(

I'm glad Carey doesn't trust Caleb. Sure, he could be a perfectly nice person that only wants to see the Gifted overthrown. Or he could be a crazy psychopath with an agenda all his own, or some other point in between the two. Better safe than sorry, I say :P In this world, trusting new people would be really hard. 256 thinking back to the Gifted murders was good as well. If that really was Caleb's doing... O.o Lol, squishy Carey xD Well, she wasn't so squishy when she slapped Samantha. Carey's got a temper :P

Janelle's dream made me really sad :( Heck, Janelle's entire portion of this chapter made me sad. I liked that she didn't care if Reagan had been a spy. I think that would be a very natural reaction. He's gone, so what does it matter? I thought that was a realistic response. I've got to say, as much as I love 256 and Carey's relationship, I really think Janelle and Sam's relationship is my favorite of them all. There's something magical, and I hate to use the word magical here but it's the only word coming to my sleepy brain right now, about their relationship. I just love their friendship. There's a deepness to it, if that makes any sense at all :P Like I said, I'm sleepy xD The conversation between them was really well done. It's emotional and very sad. When Janelle said Sam was the last person she loved left... :( If anything happened to Sam...

I'm glad Samantha decided to go on the mission to the Council. I'm really proud of her for doing that. It would be good for her to come face to face with 805 again. I'm glad she's realized she needs to see him and face her demons. That last sentence :( Damn.  Now I'm all weepy and want ice cream.

I'd been trying to find a place to mention Adrian for a while. I even considered editing it in an earlier chapter, but as you say it's not something they talk about very much so it always seemed out of place. I was happy to finally find a spot to fit that in. I'm glad you found Snow's thoughts on the situation realistic. It seemed realistic to me, but I've never been in her place so what do I know? Heh, it's chapters like these that I'm glad I went against my original plan and revealed that Ariana was dying instead of keeping it a secret. It hovers in the background of every scene she's in in a way I didn't expect. And I've already got my tissues ready so when I get around to writing Ariana telling Snow I can actually get through it :P

Assuming Snow's dream really was related to that murderer, I'll agree with you that I hope Snow doesn't get caught by him. That would be an extremely bad day for her xD That guy doesn't seem very nice :P I wasn't sure Sara would be coming back either. There’s a reason, I just can’t talk about it for a long while. Yeah, just like everything else :P I just started thinking that there's still so much about Sara that we don't know and it would be much more interesting if she could still appear from time to time. Is she a guide, a ghost, something else entirely? We'll get into that later :P

I'm pretty confident that Cooper and Claire will reappear at some point. Since Ariana is dealing with her own mortality, talking to people who have already died would be pretty useful. And Cooper did promise to come running whenever she called, so… :P And as for Michael and what he’s up to, well the next chapter will either give you a tiny bit of clarity about him (and a few other things) or just make everything that much more confusing xD I’ve heard both from different people, so… yeah. Anyways, thanks for commenting :D

I've been meaning to read this for a while, but somehow I've never managed to get around to it until now :( Anyway, since you've written this in first person I have to congratulate you for braving that method of writing. I'm usually pretty bad at it, I think, so any time I read something where it is done well it's the first thing I mention. The perspective really was good and I think you used it well to show Nate's feelings and emotions so good job there :) The flow of the story was really good and smooth too. His thoughts on everyone thinking he was the killer was heartbreaking and the entire scene in the cemetery made me feel really sad.

The description of the murder was really good too. Awful and disturbing, obviously, but very good :P I wonder who the killer really is? I don't think Nate did it, unless he has one of the mind creatures that made him do it... Okay, it's way too early for theories xD And Brandon. I wonder why Nate was so afraid of him? Anyway, a really good start! I'm very interested to see where this goes.

Thanks for commenting!! You make a good point about Kayla seeming neglected up to this point. It wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened that way. But I always knew I wanted Kayla to be the one to comfort Snow about Sara because its just not something Kayla is really expected to do. As you said, you thought Ariana would be the one to do that and usually she would be. I was glad I got to give Kayla a scene like that for once. Of course, it's likely not to be the only time Kayla is in that situation. When Snow finds out about Ariana, I imagine Kayla will have to do it again. Anyway, I'm glad you liked that scene :)

There are a lot of creepy older men checking Snow out, aren't there? It's probably bad news, whatever it is :P As for Emilia... well, she'll factor in in a way that I'm hoping nobody expects. I don't want to give anything away because I really hope no one sees it coming xD Jacob's role at the moment still isn't fully fleshed out. While he could always potentially be JTG, other than that I don't have big plans for him yet. I say yet because he's a character that I created because I needed bodies :P I've got a lot of storyline ideas that I'm not sure when and how they'll be introduced so Jacob will very likely fall into one of those. Is he good? Is he bad? Even I don't know right now xD I'm leaning towards good, but this is Mistbrook Falls so who knows :P

That scene with Snow and Jacob and her thoughts about Sara seeming worse than she remembered her is the very beginning of something that will likely take the entire story to fully explore. Snow will slowly start to learn more and more about Sara's real personality, a journey which I hope will be interesting. I really glad you liked the contrast between Sara and Michelle. It's been established that Sara didn't get along with her mother, but we never got into why. Well, that's one of the reasons why :P They're drastically different, but very similar in some ways as well. Michelle knows how to get what she wants just like Sara did, she's just more likely to use brute force than manipulation.

With Sara's stepdad, Sara just didn't like him because she really loved her dad and so when this new guy showed up in her life, she didn't want anything to do with him and, being Sara, didn't want her friends to like him either. So she convinced her friends that he was a jerk even though he doesn't seem to be. Of course, that doesn't mean he's not actually a jerk and is just hiding it well at the moment xD He's also the type of person that, when he sees a problem, he just rushes straight at it and does what he thinks is best to fix it. He thinks Michelle isn't grieving her daughter's death appropriately, so he decides to tear down the so-called shrine as quickly as he can. He really should have at least waited until after Sara's funeral to do it though. At this point, Sara hasn't even been dead 48 hours.

Another good chapter! It was quite interesting and we learn a lot in this one. It's pretty lengthy, but it was just perfect as it completely occupied me during my boring train ride to work :P Anyway, it seems more likely now that humans must have done something pretty bad to Phenex at some point. At least, that's the impression I got from his thoughts in this chapter. Despite his general jerkish attitude most of the time, I still like him. I feel like there's so much depth to him waiting to be explored.

So Nowhere is a prison then? I didn't see that coming. I see what you meant about the Council doing something to Forneus. That's pretty harsh :( It's also a bit silly of them to take power away from the person that they're sending out to reclaim the artifacts that will close the wide open portal to their prison. I'm not sure I like the Council at all. I get the feeling they'll be more a hindrance to our heroes than a help. I'm also not sure how Phenex would respond to being called a hero xD

I'm also quite curious as to why Gwen needs to go along on the mission. I agree with her that she would be much safer staying behind, but there's clearly a reason why she must go. Anyway, a really good chapter and I'll read more just as soon as I can :)  

No, no, I didn't mention them at all :P I re-read it earlier and you didn't miss anything. I'm just losing my mind, that's all there is to it. I'm just remembering things that never happened xD I suppose it could be lack of sleep because I'm still up catching up on my reading after midnight instead of going to bed, but oh well... :P

Thanks for the comment :) I'm not looking forward to Snow finding out either. I already know I'm going to be very depressed for a while when I get around to writing that chapter. I'm already preparing myself for the feels :( I even get sad writing parts with Kayla and Ariana even if they aren't talking about Ariana's disease because that's always in the back of my mind. It's funny you mentioned a supernatural force rescuing Ariana because I do sort of have an out for her. I inadvertently wrote it into the end of Warehouse so the option is there if I wanted to pursue it but... I really don't know for sure what I'm going to do. It's kind of 50/50 right now. I suppose it'll depend on how much I can harden my heart once I get there. Suffice to say, Ari will be with us for a long time to come regardless.

 Well, it all really depends on what JTG wants, doesn't it? I mean, he/she hasn't made any demands or anything and that could very well be the only secret JTG has about Snow. If so, and they wanted to coerce Snow in some way they wouldn't want to relinquish their only ammunition. Of course, it's always possible that JTG is actually just a psychopath that wants to hurt her, so... xD JTG is remarkably unpredictable, just let me say that. As for Jackson being JTG, I'd say he's just as likely a suspect as anyone else. There are only two people in town who are supposed to know both of the things JTG knows. And of course those people are Snow and Clara :P JTG's messages do tend to sound more like a girl than a guy, don't they? Was that intentional or was I just using the fine art of misdirection? We may never know... xD

Yeah, I still don't want to talk about Brad and Mary :P Well, I want to I just really shouldn't. I'm going to end up saying too much one day xD I shouldn't talk about the teacher either, actually. It's much too soon. Let's just say he's not the only person that will be eyeing Snow strangely O.o

While I wasn't going to have an assembly, I could have sworn I wrote a part where the girls were talking about the grief counselors that had been brought in to school. None of them wanted to go, so they skipped the sessions. In fact, I know I wrote that. I know I'm not (that) crazy :P That's going to bug me now because I specifically remember writing that. Whatever. I'm glad you pointed that out. I'll edit that bit when I get a chance :D  

Damn. Yep, that's all I've got for you. Comment over :P I don't know how to feel right now. So much happened in this chapter that I should probably wait and think everything over before I start talking but oh well. Firstly, Carey has two Gifts? I didn't think that was possible. That's a really interesting revelation. Could she have more than just the two?  Ooooh, 256 was healed by a Gift of Water Marvin said, so could that have been Carey? Has she had more than one Gift all along and just didn't know? If she had them all along I would have thought she would have discovered it before as she's been in life threatening situations before. Wow, so many questions xD I must admit I was a bit surprised, in a good way, by 256's reaction to what 805 did. He's optimistic and hopeful and he's choosing to believe the best in 805. Truth be told, I believe he's right.

Janelle survived and that made me immensely happy :P But everything else... I just don't know what to feel. Reagan's death hit me harder than I expected it to. I only just started to trust him, but if what Caleb said is true and he was spying on the rebellion all along, then... O.o But if he really did turn against the Gifted, and I mean he was fighting John, then was he really on the rebel's side? I still believe he loved Janelle, so had he really changed sides? Perhaps because of her? Regardless of my confused emotions over Reagan, I'm really upset for Janelle :( She just finally let her guard down for someone and now this has happened. Poor girl, she just keeps losing the people closest to her. How much more loss can she handle?

This Caleb though, he's quite interesting. Do I trust him for a second? Hell no. Since he seems to be the leader of the rebels that were slaughtering Gifted, I'm not sure he's the nicest guy around. Of course, Wesley was last seen with them so perhaps a reunion is coming soon? Either way, it appears things are about to change pretty significantly with Caleb and the Southern Rebellion in the picture now. Anyway, overall this was an emotional, informative, and well-written chapter. It's given me plenty to think about until the next one. And for Reagan... well, for a long time I didn't trust you and I'm still not sure if I ever should have, but whatever you did, whoever you worked for, you loved Janelle and that earns you a place in my heart. RIP Reagan :(  

JTG actually was heavily inspired by A. Originally I wasn't going to have any of JTG's messages signed at all because I thought it felt too much like A. The characters were just going to refer to him/her as the 'mystery texter' but typing that over and over got tiring quickly so I ended up with JTG; which could mean anything or nothing at all :P Heh, it would have been pretty tough for Nikki to send that message, although I know someone who can send lengthy texts while keeping their phone in their pocket the whole time, so Nikki could just be really skilled. Of course, she doesn't know about Clara sabotaging Jacob's bike... or does she? *cue evil laughter* 

I can't say much about Mary and Brad. One of their stories is directly related to another character's story, which in turn is connected to another character's story that I'm not even hinting at yet xD So, yeah I should really keep my mouth shut :P I can also neither confirm nor deny your jewelry store theory, but I can say that the mention of the robbery wasn't just random fluff. Geez, have I been cryptic enough today? And you're not rambling, I love reading people's theories. I like to know what people are thinking and just how close to the truth they are. I've seen some theories that were dead on and others that were very far off the target, but they're all quite interesting. Especially the incorrect ones because a couple of them have fit so perfectly with the rest of the story that I almost wish I could use some of them xD

Are you trying to kill me? :P You know my heart is fragile and that I'm on edge about this story, but you still do this to me xD That ending... I can't even right now. But despite almost having a coronary, I really liked this chapter. I must say that this is one chapter where I really wish Samantha was a POV character. I can only imagine what's going through her head when she's faced with the prospect of coming face to face with 805 again. That must be really awful for her :( Thomas makes a good point though, running away isn't going to help her at all. I'm also interested to see how 256 will react to learning about 805 and Samantha. I imagine that will change his opinion of him, even if it's just a little.

Lol, Hahana xD She's so optimistic. Somehow I can't see 805 being so easy to convince :P I was glad to see Reagan opening up a little to Janelle. Even though he hasn't been completely truthful, he seems to be heading in that direction. The part with him and Janelle was really sweet and romantic. Janelle had to open up a bit a well and let down her guard with Reagan, what with everything she's been through with Alex. That can't have been easy for her, but I'd like to think it was good for her... and by 'good for her' I just meant emotionally not, you know, anything else :P

John... this guy, I don't know. Right now I'm thinking he's part of some sort of group of renegade Gifted. I mean, John's clearly Gifted but he doesn't seem to be working with the Gifted so... yeah, that's my theory for now. And Janelle, don't ever look away from someone you find suspicious. C'mon, girl, you know better than that :( I'm going to hope and pray that Janelle is okay. She has to be, right? Reagan was likely hiding nearby, invisible. He'll save her or she'll find a way to escape, right? I don't think she'll die, but who knows? There's still way too much to her story for her to die this early, though. Of course, I said the same thing about Ned Stark and we all know what happened there, so... yeah. It'd be a heck of a surprising twist if she died and although it would break my heart to see it happen, I'd have to praise you for fantastic writing.   

Thanks for commenting :) Yeah, that bit about Cooper made me sad too. It's moments like these that I really miss having him around. I'm glad you liked that part though, because honestly this chapter was pure evil to write and I'm not completely happy with it, but oh well :P Snow's breakdown is coming, she's just sort of still in that denial stage where Sara's death isn't real to her yet. Crying really is therapeutic though, so it really would help her if she did. I spent a lot of time thinking about what exactly will happen to their group without Sara and to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure xD Right now I'm just going with what I feel like in the moment. As their secrets come out, the dynamic within the group could easily change which would be fun for me because I don't have a plan.

Nikki, huh? She's really easy to be suspicious of, isn't she? Out of the four girls, she's the one we know next to nothing about. She hasn't done much of anything up to this point, she's just sort of been in the background. She's definitely got a secret, I'll say that much. But then, everyone does so that's hardly a clue xD Heh, if you end up accusing everyone then I've done my job right. I want everyone to be suspicious :P It makes it much easier to hide the real killer if everyone seems like they could have done it.

Oh Brad :P I really like writing him even though I usually don't enjoy trying to write from the male perspective. He's been fun so far. You'll get answers about him soon. Of course he's up to something, but whether it's got anything to do with Sara... well, you'll have to wait and see. I mean, maybe the person he's talking to is just a really sensitive murderer or something xD But yes, he would have to be incredibly clueless to leave his own knife at the scene of the crime. Unless he knew that by leaving his knife there he could convince the police that someone had stolen his knife and that he was being set up to take the fall for someone else, thereby removing himself as a potential suspect and so left his knife intentionally. Mind = Blown, right? xD

 I'm glad you pointed out that bit at the end there about Sophia. That needs to go. That's there because originally Brad was going to be a bit of a womanizer and was going to end up pursuing Sophia romantically after a while. He even whistled and made a few sexual innuendos when her saw her before O.o I changed Brad so he's not like that now and while he may eventually find himself interested in Sophia, he's no longer the time of person who's going to notice if the detective that's arresting him is lovely or not :P

So that's what you meant by that. Yeah, I remember you saying that and I was on the lookout for it for a while, but it eventually slipped my mind :P I never picked up on that one. It's interesting that they both chose to use their mother's names in the same conversation xD

Oh, yeah. I actually do remember Sam asking Janelle to use her knife. I'd forgotten about that. That's what happens when I try to do stuff like this at 1am :P My crazy schedule this week has forced me to do things at extremely odd hours that I really shouldn't be doing xD

Hey, I finally got around to reading those chapters. It was nice to go back and relive this part of the story again and see how far these characters have come. It also reminded me just how bad my long-term memory is :P So, if I talk about anything that wasn't changed but was in there the first time I read it, well... sorry xD I just means my memory sucks, but I liked it enough to mention it.

Anyway, starting with chapter 17, I don't remember Janelle having that dream the first time around and I didn't mention it in my original comment, so I thought I'd talk about that. It's a good addition because it serves to show just how much the failure at the Lake Village and losing her people broke her. Her thoughts about how Amy might hate her for her failure was really sad. Her conversation with Marvin seemed longer and more in depth as well and I liked the way he made her question who else among them would take over if she stepped down. I know none of that was what you asked me to read these for, but still :P One thing I did notice was at the beginning of that part during Janelle's dream it says 'It had been over a week since their failed rebellion, and she had not left this bed since' and then after she wakes up you sort of repeat yourself by saying 'It had been a week since their fight at the Lake Village, but she had not left this room since'. It seemed redundant to have that mentioned twice.     

With chapter 18, I really enjoyed the changes to Carey and Sam's... er, I mean Amber and Michelle's (I never noticed Sam's choice of that name before :P) conversation. It was interesting to read it with the knowledge of what comes next and knowing what Sam's story is really about. The reference to Sam's dagger was new as well, was it not? I liked the changes to the ending as well. I think it was a good call to change that like you did. I liked the original too, but giving that little hint with Carey thinking that Sam was lying was a nice touch.

But enough with my rambling, I should get to what you actually asked me about :P I think you did a really good job making it feel much more believable in regards to the way the rebels react to Carey. Janelle and Sam make some good statements and observations about Carey now and how she's clearly not a normal Gifted person. Lol 'She’s obviously far less intelligent than the rest of them too' Sam's got some really zippy one-liners, doesn't she xD But yeah, it's way more believable now I think. If I were reading it for the first time, I wouldn't have any issue with their reactions at all. Even by the end they still don't seem to completely trust her. Janelle is still wondering if she can trust what Carey's told them so far.

Anyway, if you have any questions, want me to give my thoughts on something I didn't, or want me to read more chapter please don't hesitate to ask :)

Note to self: Don't start reading something blindly that has the potential to have graphic descriptions of vomiting in the opening paragraph while eating lunch :P Ah well, a good and enjoyable chapter regardless :) I must say, Gwen is a feisty little thing, isn't she? At least she is when Forneus is around. It was interesting that she became must less confrontational when she was alone with Phenex. She seems to have lost quite a bit of her confidence without Forneus around.

Speaking of Phenex, he's quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. He's a bit of a jerk, but I think he's got a good heart under there somewhere. He reminds me a bit of Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries (Yes, I watch that. Don't judge me :P) Phenex seems to hate everyone, or at least all humans but the fact that he even thought about giving Gwen his jacket proves he's not heartless. I still wonder what made him hate humans so much. Something clearly must have happened because I don't believe it's simply because he thinks humans are inferior to his kind.

I'm also curious about this mysterious Council and what they're about. Phenex seemed to indicate that they had done something pretty harsh to Forneus in the past when he thought 'what else could they do to him'. I was also glad to see Phenex as a POV character. Given the type of character he is, it ought to be fun :P Anyway, another good chapter. I'm very interested to see what's coming next :)

I almost couldn't force myself to read this today. You've got me seriously worrying for the safety of these characters and after one of my favorite TV shows killed a beloved character last night I'm hardly in a place to deal with anymore heartbreak today. Luckily, nothing terrible happened so I can start breathing again :P

This was a really good follow-up to the last chapter. The fact that you managed to make teenage relationship drama fit so seamlessly into a fantasy story about a rebellion is really cool :P The part with Carey and 256 was funny and had a good balance of awkwardness. Neither of them have any idea about how to handle what's happened between them or what to do next, do they? Both their situation and their reactions to it are realistic and relatable. Their future encounters should be fun xD

It was very sad and emotional to see Carey thinking about Wesley and her family and wondering if they would still love her and want her to come home.
Of course I'm sure they would, but for Carey that's got to be something she would be afraid of. Poor girl really shouldn't be so hard on herself. She's kind of in the middle of a war, after all. She's got a lot on her plate :( This is making me curious again as to where Wesley has gone. We haven't seen him in ages. I wonder what he's been getting up to.

Meanwhile, Reagan continues to be a mystery. He's not going to be able to keep his secret forever. He'd be much better off telling Janelle the truth than letting her find out through some other means. And it seems Carey's powers are growing. That should be interesting.

I half expected 256 to say no to Janelle's plan. Not because he wouldn't want to help, but as he said he might not be strong enough to see his old life again. I'm once again very proud of him for having the courage to agree to the plan despite his reservations. Oh and of course, 805! *happy dance* xD

Haha, that's the best theory so far xD I could see Sara being a criminal mastermind, preparing to destroy the town with her Death Ray and Snow must stop her. I love it! Fun fact, my very first idea for a sequel was going to be something along those lines. The CIA (or some fictional government agency) was going to discover that Fate and Destiny existed and were going to be trying to capture them and use their powers to control everyone. Somehow, Snow would have ended up fighting against them to save the world. That, I quickly realized, probably would have been a bit too drastic of a departure from the original so… yeah, I didn't go that direction :P Still, as I say anything's possible so there very well could be an evil mastermind in town that's up to no good. It could even have been Sara. I’m glad you find everyone suspicious as well. That was the plan, after all. Everyone’s up to something around here :P

I wondered about Sophia questioning Snow as well. I did some Googling and while there’s not a specific law against it, anything Snow said would likely be inadmissible in court. But yeah I figured that since it’s a small town and there aren’t that many detectives around, Sophia was the only one there at the time to question her.

As for Michael, he was questioned off-screen (off-page?) along with everyone else at the party. He’ll actually be questioned again by Sophia in a later chapter as the investigation continues. I thought about showing his original questioning in this chapter, but since there’s no evidence pointing to him it wouldn’t have been all that interesting.

Heh, I’m happy you feel sorry for Brad :P No one ever feels sorry for Brad. I mean, we don’t even know him yet. He could be a positively wonderful human being and is simply being misjudged. Poor guy xD It would be pretty stupid of him to murder someone with his own knife and just leave it there at the scene of the crime where the police can quite easily find it… of course, there are some pretty dumb criminals out there so… xD
 

Hey, thanks for the comment :) It's been a while since anyone's commented on the very first chapter, so I'm feeling all nostalgic now. Ariana is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery for a while, I like to say. She's definitely not an ordinary seventeen-year-old, that's for sure :P 

Thanks for pointing out those errors, I'll be sure to fix them. I swear every time I look over this chapter and think I've caught any and all mistakes more of them end up popping up xD There's a conspiracy, I say! Anyway, thanks again for commenting. I'll be getting back to Whispers of Nowhere as soon as I can. I'm doing a lot of traveling over the next few days so it might be as late as Monday :(

Thanks for commenting! So, yeah, Sara... :( I'm glad you liked the scene even though it was awful. It broke my heart to write that bit, even though Sara hasn't been around very long and hasn't been the most likable of characters, I still felt terrible. And as for Snow, yeah her perfect world is starting to fall apart. I feel really bad. I love Snow and I'm really making things hard for her :P Sara does look pretty guilty of drugging Snow, doesn't she? But then as you say, she's very cunning so who's to say? She had the opportunity, certainly, and she did mention that she had a betrayal planned for the party so yeah... anything's possible xD

Ah, I do love theories :P Steven just sort of pops up out of nowhere in this chapter, so I can see how he'd seem pretty suspicious. You probably will end up saying that about everyone at some point xD I mean, at this point the only people we know for a fact didn't kill Sara are Kayla and Ariana because they were out of town at the time of the murder. A lot of people are going to appear guilty, both intentionally and unintentionally. So Steven... as I said, anything is possible. Everyone in town definitely has their secrets after all O.o With Michael, eh... it's probably best if I don't say anything :P I'm walking a fine line with him, so yeah... xD Hmm, I suppose I can say he could be quite a bit smarter than you think he is. Okay, that’s it. I’ll say no more.

Ariana... God, I've never cried over a fictional character the way I did when I wrote that scene. That was horrible for me :( Of all the characters I've written, she's undoubtedly my favorite and with this I've pretty much just signed her death warrant, so yeah, I was really upset. I sobbed for hours after that. I didn't want to do it, I really didn't. I almost backed out many times, but... yeah. Ariana is strong though, so she'll be able to handle it pretty well. Kayla, well... it'll be interesting to see where that goes. Both of them have grown a lot in the 13 years since ‘Warehouse’ so Kayla isn’t ever going to react as she did when Ariana was shot, but she’s still Kayla and she doesn’t handle loss well at all, so…

Haha, yep, that was it! I read that and was like; 'Yeah, you're absolutely right. Someone won't be making it out of "that night" alive' :P

Thanks for the comment! I haven't worked on this in ages, actually. It was a side project that got pushed aside by other things unfortunately. It was also an experiment to see if I could improve my ability to write in first person, which I've never thought was one of my strong points :P It also let me indulge in a bad habit I have in which I talk directly to the audience in the narration xD It's not good at all. With this, I did it intentionally just to see what would happen. It was kind of fun actually.

That bit about Belle comparing herself to a character in a story was almost cut. I knew I was going to break the fourth wall with this story, but that was almost too much. I liked it though so it stayed, and since Belle is already talking directly to the reader anyway... Anyway, I'm glad it captured your interest :) Thanks for reading!  

Sorry for taking ages to get back to this. I planned to read more of this last week but alas complications arose and I failed miserably :P The best laid plans, as they say. Nevertheless, let's go :) This second chapter was really good. If I had questions at the end of the first chapter, I have even more now. What are these mysterious artifacts? What exactly are Forneus and Phenex and what is their interest in Gwen and where did they take her? Lots of interesting questions.

Gwen handled the arrival of two creepy strangers into her home much better than I would have. I admire her courage, even if she was scared. I'd have been cowering under my bed personally, but that's just me xD Forneus and Phenex seem like they'll be an interesting and fun duo. They're so different and I think their contrasting personalities will be fun to explore. Phenex especially because he seems like the 'bad' guy that people just love regardless of his attitude. I wonder why he has such a low opinion of humans?

I thought that I said this last time, but I see by looking at my previous comment that I didn't That's what I get for leaving comments when I'm in a rush :P I end up forgetting things. Anyway, I really like the way you describe everything in this so far. I usually don't like really detailed or artsy descriptions, but you've managed to strike a really good balance and I think they're really good, so great job there.  Anyway, I'll go be quiet now as I've rambled on long enough :P Overall a great second chapter and I'm really interesting in reading more. I'll try not to take so long to get to the next chapter this time xD 

Haha, yes you were caught between edits so I'm sure Snow's sudden change seems very out of place now :P I've essentially abandoned my idea of playing up Snow's naivety and have made her guilt much more prevalent instead. It really does work much better and makes Snow more sympathetic than she was before. Heh, it's funny because at work yesterday (I'm such a professional :P) I was debating whether or not I wanted to change Nikki and Clara's reaction to everything or not. While they aren't necessarily Jackson's friends (they wouldn't really have any connection with him if he and Snow weren't dating) I was thinking that at least one of them should be a bit more disapproving. I'll work on that :)

Who's to say Sara didn't spill the beans on what was going on with Snow and herself intentionally? Sara is a master manipulator and while that hasn't really come out yet, eventually it'll be pretty clear that she knows how to get people to do what she wants. Everything she does, every move she makes is meticulously planned. She likens her life to a game of chess where she has to think several moves ahead of everyone else. In this case, she suspected they would be supportive of their relationship or at least that they would accept it even if they didn't agree with it. It was a move by Sara to push Snow towards choosing her over Jackson. She thought if Snow had support from her friends, she might be more willing to dump Jackson. Whatever Sara might have said, she's not willing to sit back and let Snow stay with Jackson.

As for what Sara's up to, well you'll be waiting a while for that explanation I'm afraid. But just like everything else she has meticulously thought and planned it out in her figurative chess game. But that doesn't mean she's not playing against a chess grand master.

It's always interesting to see the reactions to the bit with Ariana and Kayla. Usually the guess is an illness, but I've gotten a couple of guesses that they might be splitting up as well. It's really interesting because whichever one it isn't, assuming it's one of those two choices, wasn't even a thought in my mind at the time I wrote it and yet both of those theories do fit that scene O.o The same thing has happened with the murder suspect. I've gotten a handful of amazingly well thought out theories about who did it and the thing is, nearly all of them really could work xD All the pieces fit and I never planned that. It's really cool. Anyway, thanks for the comment :D

Thanks for commenting! Lol, I hope I'm wrong too :P But I looked at his track record for the last 3 books and they've come 5 and 6 years apart. So if he keep up his track record or even if the rumors are true and he adds an 8th book... O.o

Please, never apologize for complaining :) Complaints are actually really helpful. Besides, it's not like you said "You suck. Go die." That would be hurtful :P To be honest, I struggled a lot with this chapter. I needed Snow and Sara to have sex. I know that sounds really odd, but I needed it to happen. At first I thought about taking a lot of time to build up their relationship, but I was desperately trying to avoid the slow start that 'Warehouse' had with taking a lot of time just detailing their relationship. So I really didn't want to take that much time but I had to do something. In my mind it was sort of a situation where they're sort of thinking this might be a one-time thing for them. Neither of them are sure about the future or anything and it just sort of happens. I don't necessarily like that explanation but I was never able to come up with a better way for things to work >.< I hope it's not too weird O.o And just as a point of interest, Snow is a virgin but Sara actually isn't. There's a story there, to be sure.

I agree that Snow's not nearly guilty enough in this. I was trying to play up Snow's naivety and show her denial about what she's done. You're right that she's seriously in denial over the severity of what she did. She knows it's bad, but she doesn't think its as bad as it really is and I was really focusing on that and ended up downplaying her guilt which was the completely wrong thing to do :P I'll definitely work on making her seem more guilty, because she really should be. Rereading it, she's not at all remorseful and doesn't seem to care about Jackson's feelings but she really does and that really needs to come through.

Heh, yeah Ariana's really direct about things these days :P Especially with Snow. She doesn't hesitate to say things anymore. You'll just have to wait and see what if anything is going on with Ariana, but perhaps not too much longer O.o It also won't be too much longer before you can start guessing who the murderer is either. You're getting really close to a few things, I promise. And yeah... that serial killer story means something, clearly. What, exactly? Well, I can't say xD Haha, "I think someone's not going to make it out of that night alive" I'll explain later why the wording of that sentence is a funny coincidence :P

Okay, so the short, too long; didn't read version of this comment: I loved this chapter :P Seriously, I did. It definitely ranks among my top favorite chapters of this series. This chapter has so many of my favorite aspects of fiction. There's a lot of emotion and hints of romance, but there's also humor and awkwardness as well. It managed to interest me just as much as an action-packed chapter so well done all around on this one.  

Janelle's section was very emotional. It was good to learn more about Alex and what happened with him. It's a very sad story and it makes me feel really bad for Janelle. I am wondering, though, if maybe there isn't more to the story. Alex did at least one halfway decent thing by Janelle and their daughter, so I can't help but wonder if there's something else going on. My suspicious mind :P It was also really sad to see Janelle's feelings about Reagan's obvious secrets. That has to be really tough for her, even though I don't agree with her when she seems to say that Reagan doesn't love her because he's hiding things. I do think he really does love her. Whatever else he may be, I believe his feelings are real. Yeah, that's right, a positive comment about Reagan. I'm capable of it xD This John person, however... him I'm immediately immensely suspicious of him. Reagan definitely reacted strangely to his appearance. Something's up with that, I'm sure.

And on to 256's part now. Without a doubt, my favorite part of this chapter. His talk with Carey was so adorably sweet and awkwardly cute. Carey's offer to abandon the rebellion and return to the Council with 256 was sweet and really pulled at the heartstrings. And the kiss... What can I say? Been waiting a while for that :P

The only nitpicky thing that I have, and I'll say here that I didn't even think about this while I was reading the chapter but it just occurred to me as I was preparing my thoughts on this chapter and I really hate to even mention it, was that 256's decision at the end seemed a little... sudden. He's been pretty dedicated to holding on to his few remaining ties to the Gifted and I was surprised that he abandoned everything so quickly. Of course, he had just kissed a pretty girl so I imagine that could have had something to do with spurring him on xD I'm not saying I'm upset about it, mind you. I'm really glad he's turned this corner and I couldn't be prouder of him. Like I said, when I was reading the chapter I was too busy cheering him on to think about it :P

Anyway, I've blabbered on long enough so I'll shut up xD Overall, a really good chapter. I've got a feeling that something really big is about to happen soon and I'm really worried for the future of my favorite group of rebels.

Hey, thanks for the comment. I'm glad you feel sorry for Clara. I keep expecting people to be like "Well, if she feels so bad about it then she should turn herself in!" but so far that hasn't happened. She does need to tell someone other than Snow, I think that would help her. It might take her a while to realize that though :P It's good you find Clara changing herself to fit in and Mary's refusal to go to the police realistic. I was a bit worried about both of those bits when I wrote them, particularly the part with Mary. Poor girl really could use a hug.

Well, Sara's not exactly appearing to be the most trustworthy person, is she? She's obviously up to something, but it's not clear what she's doing or if it's for good or for evil. So, I can understand anyone not trusting her right now. And I'm not saying you'll trust her or like her more in the future either. But then I'm not saying you won't either xD With Snow's feelings about Sara, yeah that doesn't exactly read the way I meant it to. My intention was to say that while she's fully aware of how she feels, she's not yet willing to embrace it. She's trying to resist what she feels for Sara. Reading it again, it doesn't sound that way at all. I'll work on that. Thanks for pointing that out :)

Honestly, I hate love triangles too :P I took a calculated risk with this one and I think, in the long run, it will pay off. I hope O.o But yeah, Jackson definitely deserves some pity. I mean, even if Snow and Sara never act on anything, his girlfriend is still in love with someone else. That's a bad place to be no matter what. Hmm... if I say that's the thing would that be a spoiler? Probably, so I will neither confirm nor deny just in case xD However, it's a perfectly logical guess since I did say there would be a clue in this chapter and illnesses like that do run in Ariana's family :P

I apologize in advance if I say something stupid or this comment makes no sense. I got very little sleep last night and I'm really high on cough syrup, which is proving to be a bad combination. Nevertheless, here we go.

I felt really bad for Carey when she was trying to get 256 to talk to her. I just wanted to give him a shake and say "Talk to her, you fool!" :P Still, leaving the Gifted has been really hard on him so I suppose that earns him a reprieve even if he has been really rude to my girl. Watching 256 begin to slowly integrate with the group, even though he does still think of himself as one of the Gifted, is really interesting. It was really intriguing that he found freedom in something so simple writing letters. I liked that because even though most people take something like that for granted, it's new and exciting for him. It's also funny because he's defying the Gifted just by learning.

I liked Thomas's teaching methods too. He did a much better job than I could've done. I wouldn't even know where to start. To be honest, I can't really even remember learning. Either way, his methods made sense to me. Maybe Thomas could be a teacher once the war is over. Oooh, 256 is left handed? Me too! #LeftiesUnite xD

For Janelle's part, it was funny with her thinking the Other Worlders would be really sophisticated and then Hahana comes in :P Hahana continues to be a delightful addition to the cast, even if I still don't completely believe her and Maui's story. Anyway, there was a lot of interesting information gleaned during their conversation. 

I'm glad to see Janelle is actively seeking information about forms of government. It's never too early to plan ahead. Janelle's plan to raid the Council is worrying me, I'll admit. There are so many things that could go wrong, but I am glad that she's trusting her instincts. She's the 'fearless leader' after all :P I'm glad Marvin's death seems to be making her stronger and more confident. She's using that as a source of strength. Her plan does raise the interesting question of what would 256 do if he found himself back at the Council. I'm curious if his newfound freedom would be enough to keep him from going back.

Lol Julia xD That's funny! Anyway, I'm going to shut up now before I say something really confusing or stupid (if I haven't done so already) Overall, I really liked this chapter. It gave me some things to think (and worry) about. Good job :)

A very interesting and solid second chapter! Sorry for taking so long to get back to reading this. This last week has been... weird. Anyway, back on topic. It was very nice to get descriptions of the characters in this chapter. I was glad to get a mental picture of them.

Sylvia and her friends seem interesting. The strange feeling she gets from Arnel must have something to do with her having half of his powers. A warning, perhaps, to stay far, far away from him? She really should :P Anira might just be my favorite character. She seems sweet and I really hope we learn more about her.

And that ending! Quite the cliffhanger :P Arnel's creeping! I'm excited to see how that turns out. I'll be sure to read more soon.

Haha, nothing wrong with brain dead comments. Sometimes they're the best :P Or sleepy comments either for that matter. Drunk comments however I'll have to get back to you on xD

It's so hard to talk about this story because there's more than meets the eye to pretty much everything that happens, especially this early on and I can't say a word about any of it. Let's say that there's a lot going on in that scene with Sara, Mary, Michael, and Emily that maybe isn't readily apparent. I am glad you found the scene creepy though as that's what I was aiming for. As for Sara, yeah she really did tempt fate in this chapter and we all know what a fickle witch fate can be... xD Still, I'm not saying anything.

Michael would be a very obvious suspect should Sara die, but he does have a powerful motive and he appears to be an awful enough person to kill someone. Either way, he's up to something even if I can't talk about it :P

Yeah, Sophia will be investigating the murder so she'll have a decent sized role to play. I consider her to be a guest star POV character :P She doesn't get whole chapters from her perspective, but she will occasionally get her moments. It's interesting about her last name because I wasn't sure whether to change it or have her keep it. Naturally I did what any person would do in today's world when they don't know something. I turned to the Internet for help. It seemed like some people kept their names while others changed it in order to feel more included in their new family. Some people occasionally even hyphenate it their names in that situation. In the end I figured Sophia would want to feel like she belonged a bit more and have her name changed. Wow, I've just realized that I can't remember ever giving Sophia and her dad Mike a last name :P I don't think I ever mentioned their last name at any point. I really should go back and fix that...

It's amazing what you managed to do in less than five hundred words. You've managed to make me want to press the 'next chapter' button even though I know almost nothing about this story or what in the world is happening. That's a feat in and of itself because I usually need a bit more to pull me in, but somehow there's just enough here to make me what to read more, so good job there.

I'm very interested in finding out what Forneus is doing and why he's watching this little girl. Clearly, she must be important but why? There's plenty of questions and I'll be sure to read further :D

Very interesting. It's not at all what I expected based upon the summary. It's fantasy, but with a bit of a sci-fi twist thrown in. Its a nice mix and I like it. This opening chapter does a good job of setting up the story and it served its purpose of keeping me interested and making me want to read further. Also, I commend you for writing in first person. I'm really terrible at that, so I'm always proud of anyone willing to go that route.

I'm looking forward to see where this story goes. The only real critique I have at the moment is that I kind of wish the descriptions of the characters had been included in this chapter just to help with visualization. Other than that, a solid first chapter. I look forward to reading more :)

Hmm, if you think Michael is creepy now... well, I'm not saying anything at all. Let's just say lots of fun should be had at the party. I'm sure it will be a night to remember and that absolutely nothing will go wrong. Nope... nothing whatsoever :P

It's definitely a self-esteem issue for Mary. She only sees the negative aspects of herself and absolutely none of the positives. She isn't built like Sara or Snow or Emily and that's all she can see. No one has ever shown any real interest in her and she's never learned to I guess love herself. She's really hard on herself, too hard in fact. She needs to gain some self-confidence and she'll get some opportunities to do that later on. But I agree, I do love that hair/eye color combo xD

Haha, Sara really is arrogant. She'd call it confident, though :P She's very sure of herself and she's positive no one is going to outsmart her. She's very strategic. She's almost playing a game of chess, trying to think several moves ahead of her opponent. She's definitely poking her nose into things best left alone and that's never a good thing, but she is pretty smart so... who knows?

Ack, I've just realized I never mentioned that Jacob doesn't still live at home with Sara. He has his own place so Sara's left alone with her parents and doesn't get to see him as often. I need to add that in :P But yeah, she lives alone with two people that she really hates so her home life is pretty miserable.

Yeah, one of Kayla's friends was named Nikki. This Nikki started out as a placeholder name until I came up with something else but I never did. So, alas, Nikki she remained :P Thanks for commenting!

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you liked Clara and I hope the rest of the new cast turn out to be equally as interesting. I'm working with a positively massive cast (compared to Warehouse, which technically isn't saying all that much :P) and I want to make sure that they all have their own distinct personalities. For Clara though, I'm glad she's likeable even if she did do something immensely stupid. Jacob... I'm not sure yet if his condition is permanent or not. I don't really have an important role for him to play yet, so we'll have to wait and see.

You're right about Brad, he's definitely going to be important later on. He may even wind up being a POV character at some point, although I'm not quite sure yet. Along with the larger cast came a larger group of POV characters so I want to make sure I have a few male ones this time around. I'm sure I'll end up regretting that because I'm terrible at writing guys, but oh well :P And as to your Guide theory... well, I wouldn't dismiss any theory right away. Anything's possible.

Snow knows the whole story about Adrian. I wanted to work that in somewhere that she knew already, but it never fit anywhere. He wouldn't be a topic they would talk about all that much, so it felt weird to have it in there. I'd still like to have him mentioned though. Hmm... I'll have to give it some more thought. And Snow calling them both mom, yeah I wasn't really sure about that. I don't know anyone with two moms either so I didn't know how that would work. I'll look into that too. Of course, I'd need to figure out which one of them would be 'Mom' and which would be 'Mama' :P

Snow coming off as being perfect was done intentionally, so I'm glad you find her to be that way. Right now, her life is pretty perfect. She's never faced any real adversity or challenges and Kayla and Ariana have sheltered her from the world quite a bit as well. Over the course of the story, her perfect world will slowly start to fall down around her and her perfect image will begin to break down and we'll start to see a lot more of her flaws. That's actually where the title Snowfall comes from. It's not about the weather condition, but instead the steady breakdown of the character.

Lol, I've been waiting to use that line! I thought about awhile ago, but haven't had the opportunity to use it. As soon as I could, I knew I had to. With a name like Snow, it was too perfect not to toss that in there xD

Haha, yeah it's only been a year. That was kind of the plan, actually. My working title was 'A Year in the Life' because the story was to take place over the course of one year, beginning and ending on the same date. These girls had a busy year xD

I'm glad you liked the romance aspect of the story. At its core, that's what 'Warehouse' is, really. It's a love story and if their relationship wasn't believable, that would be pretty bad :P So, any time anyone approves of the romantic part I feel pretty good. I do still think the beginning moves a bit too fast, but despite a handful of attempts to change those early chapters, nothing ever came of it that I liked. So, it will likely stay as it is unless I get in a really creative mood :P

The final scene has been around for a really long time. That's yet another reason why I'm glad I let both of them live because I got to keep my ending. I wanted to throw back to the last few lines of the first chapter and that only works if both Kayla and Ariana are alive. And yeah, it's also a happy ending which would have felt a bit off if either or both of the girls had died. I did consider, briefly, having that last scene from Snow's POV. She gets POV scenes in sequel, so I thought it would be a good time to transition to that, but... eh, I changed my mind. I started with Kayla and so I ended with her as well. 

It's interesting about titular because over here they sound exactly the same :P Well, at least they do here. We've got dozens of accents all over the country, so who knows what it sounds like anywhere else xD It wouldn't surprise me at all if we're saying it wrong over here in America. We have a tendency to make the English language much more difficult that it needs to be :P

There will absolutely be more about the supernatural bits in the sequel and maybe some new supernatural stuff as well O.o The sequel is definitely a change of pace from this one and the supernatural will eventually play a larger and more lengthy role than it has before.

Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting :D Glad you enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about the sequel.

Yeah, I definitely wasn't aiming for Cooper to appear as though he thinks of Alana as a consolation prize :P I was trying to focus so much on the two of them that I neglected Alana completely. That wasn't the plan at all. My thought at the time was more that Cooper knows he won't see Ariana again for a very long time, possibly forever, and he's trying to make sure she understands exactly how he felt and the reasons why he never said anything to her. Rereading it though, it really does make him sound like he didn't really care all that much for Alana and that's not good. I'll definitely be adding this to my list of changes that I need to make :)

As for the name of Cooper's bookstore, it was named after a local bookstore called Manhattan Books. Of course Manhattan is a borough, not the whole city, so... yeah, not the best idea :P I might change it to Westside Books or maybe Rivertown Books. Those are both areas of Detroit that are extremely close to where I envisioned the store being anyway and close to the spot I picked out for the warehouse so that would work great and sound much better.

And by the way, I don't think you're complaining at all. You're pointing out flaws or things that sound weird and that's always helpful so thanks! :D 

Thanks for commenting! Kayla survived only just by the skin of her teeth. Since Ariana survived her gunshot wound I never thought I would kill either of them but as this chapter got closer and closer, I did give serious thought to letting Kayla die. Had I not had an idea for the sequel that needed her to be alive, well, she probably wouldn't be. As for Ariana, she was pretty safe even if I did have this wild idea to let both of them die and tell the last couple of chapters from Snow's POV. However, when I proposed this idea to a friend, she said and I quote: 'Are you stupid? That's the most retarded idea you've ever had. Don't do that.' Clearly, I didn't do that :P

Kayla's growth is often overshadowed by Ariana's, for obvious reasons. But yeah, she's come a long way since Ariana was shot and that growth will play a pretty significant role in the Kayla's part of the sequel. Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed the girls' development. It was one of the main points of this whole thing, essentially taking two people and having what is broken in one of them be whole in the other and them slowly finding a way to heal each other.

The supernatural stuff. This is the part I'm extremely nervous about whenever someone reads this chapter, because if the supernatural bits don't make any sense then the whole thing sort of falls apart. The whole idea came about due to a debate I had with some friends about why we exist. Is there a God? What's the meaning of life? That sort of thing. Yeah, we talk about stuff like that a bit too much actually xD I'm glad you still have questions about Fate and Destiny. I tried to explain the supernatural stuff but still leave a few unanswered questions as well. I'm not sure I'll ever reveal everything about them since I'm of the opinion that the best mysteries are never fully solved, but I imagine we'll see them again someday even if it isn't any time soon. 

Originally, Kayla was going to be done as well as Ariana. That's the idea I had that saved her :P Snow's just three, so she has all sorts of things she has to do and I'll say only that Kayla is involved with that somehow.

I actually agree with you that this chapter should be split up. I think it's either the third or fourth longest of the whole thing and it really does take away a lot of the emotional impact of Cooper's death having him pop back into the story so quickly. I already want to split 26 and 27 definitely and maybe 11. 43 is going to be merged with 44 and those flashbacks removed so I'll add this one to the list when I go back to make those changes. I'm thinking of doing the split at the break when I switch from Kayla's POV to Ariana's because I don't want to break up the conversation about the supernatural stuff and make an already potentially confusing explanation that much more confusing xD

Another new chapter already! You sure know how to spoil a girl :P I was so glad to see most of the gang back together again, even if things are a little awkward between some of them. I really didn't expect them to meet up again so quickly, so it was a very nice surprise.

It was pretty funny when 256 was confused by Samantha. Like Carey, I wonder how long it will take him to figure that out. He's also acting quite strange around Carey. I'd been hoping seeing her again might cheer him up a bit, but it seems to have made things worse for the poor guy.

As for Janelle's portion, it was really sad to see her feelings on Marvin's death. I actually kind of like that you waited until this chapter to show that. She's had some time to process her emotions somewhat before we start to see what she's feeling. I must say I'm really proud of her. I was worried she would break down like she did after the battle at the Lake Village. It's nice to see how much she's grown since then. She has a strength now that she didn't have back then and maybe Marvin's death will even make her stronger because, as she said, she won't have him to go to for advice anymore. She's soldiering on even though I'm sure she'd rather just lie down and cry. I really think she's be okay.

Since Reagan's secret was revealed I find him shockingly less creepy than I did before. Even his relationship with Janelle is quite nice. I'm still not saying I'd bring him around my apartment for dinner or anything :P Just that I'm starting to warm to him a little bit. Admittedly, in books like these this is around the time I end up getting my heart broken, but well, here we are xD 

Oh yeah: "Are you sure you’re not secretly Gifted" I loved that :P

So yeah, this chapter. I wanted to go so many different directions with this one and when I sat down to write it I had no idea which way to go :P I knew that, regardless of what else happened, we would be losing some characters. People were going to die in this chapter and absolutely no one was safe. I actually intentionally left the ending rather vague so I could kill any or all of them in the next chapter if I chose to. I'm glad it was emotional for you. Sorry I made you cry, but I was absolutely sobbing the whole time I was writing. I get a little too invested sometimes xD.

Since you're so certain about Cooper, then it's hardly a spoiler to say that yes, he is dead. He's been one of my favorite characters since his introduction and I really feel like I underused him. He didn't get a lot of page time in this and I wish I'd given him more. I'm glad it was unexpected, though. It's been planned for a really long time. No matter what else happened, Cooper was doomed in this chapter. He was out no matter what unfortunately :(

As for Tricia, yeah I didn't expect anyone to remember her. She was mentioned literally once before this back in chapter 12 so if anyone did I would be very surprised :P And yeah, so many things are connected in this. Threads from a long time ago are just now paying off.

Yeah, everyone thinks Kayla's personal backstory ended when Dwayne died. So far, no one's ever mentioned that they thought something like that might pop up again for her. I'm really happy you felt sorry for Tricia, even though she did these terrible things. I was aiming for that. She was meant to be an Anti-Kayla, an alternate version of what Kayla did to Dwayne and his brother. Tricia felt just as justified as Kayla did when she killed all those people.

As for Kayla's attempt to talk Tricia down, that was done somewhat intentionally. Kayla has always been bad with words. She's... blunt. She didn't know what to say, so she just said the first thing that came to her mind even though it wasn't all that smart. She just knew she had to say something to try and stop this girl, especially once Ariana came in.

Haha, yes the mood whiplashes! I can't get enough of those. It was obviously this, and the next chapter, that was going to take place during the wedding. Since you've already read the next one I can say that it clearly could have been my own Red Wedding :P It's a pretty straight shot through to the end from this point. If I'd pushed the bad thing happening back any further and I'd never have been able to squeeze everything in :)

I actually had to go back and re-read this chapter (It's been a while since I wrote it) to remember exactly what Penny says to Byron. My intention was to say that Penny understands why Byron did what he did, but doesn't necessarily forgive him for it yet. Reading it back, I agree that it doesn't come off that way at all. I really should change that. Whether or not she fully forgives him by the end is somewhat open to interpretation. I don't ever officially say whether or not they manage to heal their relationship.

And please, you're definitely not annoying :D I'm always happy to hear any and all opinions and views and each is just as valid as the next. So don't ever hold back any criticisms. I need to hear them because they really help me improve. Thanks for commenting!

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you liked this one because it's one of my favorites. I'll admit to anyone that I'm a hopeless romantic and I always love a good wedding. That's the main reason why I decided against my own version of the Red Wedding :P I really wanted them to have their day. For a lot of girls, their wedding is something they've been looking forward to since they were little. I wanted to let them have that special time. I figured I could always destroy their lives the day after or something xD

I did feel a little bad about giving that necklace to Ariana instead of Alana. She doesn't need to know about that. Shhhh! :P That whole scene was a late addition, actually. I can't exactly explain quite yet why I added it. There's a reason, but it would be a spoiler to talk about it. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it :) Coop's not anything like my brother either. Mine doesn't have a sentimental bone in his body :P Don't tell him I said that.

With Kayla's dad, I originally had him walking in at some point during the wedding and sitting down in the back. I ended up changing it to this way, knowing it would be cliché but I liked it too much to care xD 

As for their vows... there's a kind of funny story there because I too have difficult with romantic scenes sometimes. Both of their vows were pieced together by me and my best friend sitting up on the roof of my building and acting that scene out. We recorded everything we said and then took the best parts and constructed their vows. It definitely helps with realism, being able to play off the reactions of another person. We've actually done that a couple of times. It helps me when I'm stuck on a scene :P

Penny wasn't sure what to say because I wasn't sure what to say xD I got to that part was like huh... how would this go exactly? I had to do some Googling to find alternatives and then figured it'd be funny to toss my own confusion in there :P

Yay, I'm glad you switched back to Carey's POV. I've been waiting for this one :P Our Mr. Reagan is just full of surprises, isn't he? How could he have learned to control his powers? Why was he so insistent that he and Carey are different? So many questions! This is one of those times when finding out the truth just creates that many more mysteries to discover. Hmm... I'm assuming the story he told Carey about his powers manifesting was the time the Gifted attacked his home? I can't go back and double check the details, but it would make sense.

One thing that interested me was that both times Reagan said 'she' would hate him. He never once specifically said he was talking about Janelle (who, admittedly, was the first person I thought of) I can't help but wonder if he was talking about someone else. And if he was... then who?

As for 256 and Thomas, their conversation was equally interesting. I was very happy to see 256 has found a purpose in teaching Thomas to control his powers. That will be good for both of them. Thomas, meanwhile, made an excellent point. The world isn't spilt into rebels and Gifted (Yes, I just sort of quoted Sirius Black right there :P) 256 doesn't have to be a rebel or one of the Gifted if he doesn't want to be. Especially once he learns to read and write, the world will be open to him. Although oddly enough, his desire to learn to those things is an open act of rebellion against the Gifted since they don't allow it.

Anyway, overall a really good chapter that answered some questions and brought in a whole host of new ones. I'm interested to see 256's continued growth and development now that he's free of the Gifted, and of course finding out more about Reagan. He *may* not be a traitor or a spy, but he still has plenty of secrets that will definitely be exciting to learn.

I swore to myself I wouldn't comment on anything after midnight anymore as I usually can't string together an coherent thoughts, but after this chapter I doubt I'd be able to even if it wasn't after 2am :P I literally have no words right now. I just... gosh, I didn't expect to feel this lost. I'm really upset right now. Well, at least now I know why The Winds of Winter is taking so long. You're clearly George R. R. Martin in disguise :P 

Poor Marvin. He's been around pretty much since the beginning. I've always thought of him as the wise, old mentor of this series. He's been a leader and a founding member of the revolution. He was Janelle's advisor and moral compass in a way. This was a major loss for the rebellion. I'm interested to see how Janelle handles the loss of her mentor and one of her oldest friends. 

Despite Marvin's death bringing me to tears, it was, writing wise, an excellent decision. You're clearly not afraid to kill off important characters, which I'm always happy to see. This is a war story in a way and in war people die, so losing main characters like that definitely adds a layer of realism that's really good. That, of course, terrifies me for the rest of the cast but still it's good writing. Janelle's reaction to Marvin's death and her subsequent refusal to just leave his body behind felt very realistic and believable.

As usual, I really enjoyed the fighting scenes. You're really good at those, a skill I'm immensely jealous of because I don't think I am :P As for 256, it was good to see him finally beginning to distance himself from the Gifted. He hasn't fully come to terms with his new life, but he's clearly realizing he can never go back to the Gifted.

Anyway, that's it from me for tonight/this morning... whatever. I'm going to bed. Overall, this was a very emotional chapter and one of my favorites so far even though it really upset me :P Oh, and I've finally caught up! Yay, that's a first! If there's anything else of yours you'd like me to read in the meantime, just let me know.

Procrastinators unite... tomorrow! :P As always, no worries about taking a while. It's not going anywhere :)

Kayla's dad was an extremely late introduction into this. I had no intentions of him showing up until I got to the end of this chapter, so it feels a little rushed to me but oh well :P The thing with her dad is that so far he's only been shown from the point of view of Kayla and Penny, both of whom have reasons to think of him in a very negative light. Personally, I don't think of him as a bad guy, just someone who made some really bad choices. Does he regret them? Is he sorry? Well... you'll have to wait and see :P

I'm glad you liked Kayla's fears about getting married. I was a bit worried about that (Kayla's fears, not getting married XD) I wasn't entirely sure how she would feel about it all, so I hope it's believable.

I did give serious thought to going full on Red Wedding on them in the next chapter :P Did I do it? I don't want to say. It would spoil a turn of events I hope no one's expecting.

I have no idea why I laughed as much as I did at your note at the beginning. My first thought was that the Leader's Gift is the Gift of Sex Change and giggling ensued. I digress :P Anyway, that's a pretty interesting change and I'm very curious as to why. I don't envy you having to go back and change all of the Leader's past appearances. That can't have been fun.

Anyway, moving on, 256's part was very interesting. You really managed to show just how much knowledge the Gifted suppress in order to keep the masses in line with 256 not knowing what a liver was or even how to make his own food as the Servants do it all for them. The Gifted are so rigidly structured that they don't seem to be able to operate very well at all once that structure is removed. It's interesting to think about what would happen to them should Janelle's rebellion overthrow the Gifted regime. Doubtless there would be Gifted still alive afterwards. I wonder how they would react to suddenly finding themselves structureless?

I must say that 256 and Janelle are perfectly awkward around each other. They both seem just the right level of uncomfortable with each other. The sandwich scene was cute :P I'm glad 256 sort of learned a new skill. I do hope, with time, he'll come to see he can have a purpose beyond the Gifted. I'll admit I expected the Gifted would come looking for them before long. I'm not really sure how they'll get out of this one, but it's sure to be exciting!

Meanwhile, back with Carey, things got really interesting really fast :P Reagan! That sneaky bastard! Just when I started thinking he wasn't Gifted (and yet still very suspicious) I find out he most certainly is Gifted and a Gift of Stealth as well. Now it all makes sense! He could see Carey that day in the woods when he and Janelle were kissing. So... he's Gifted, I know that now. But is he a spy? Is he working for the Gifted? He's obviously keeping secrets from Team Janelle, but that doesn't automatically make him an evil, lecherous tool bag.

Despite lying and being generally suspicious, he hasn't technically (as far as I know) done anything to harm the rebels, again unless he's working as a deeply embedded spy. And if he is a spy, he's clearly not a very good one. He got caught. Geez, I could go on and on with this for hours. Oh, how I love a good mystery! I don't think a book series had made me think this much since I was reading Harry Potter.

Climbing out of my box of theories for a moment, it was interesting that Reagan turned out to be a rare Gift instead of one of the common ones. I didn't expect that. I suppose it does take away a bit of Carey's uniqueness given that up until now we haven't seen any other people with rare Gifts. Still, I like that she's not the only one now. Assuming he's not working against the rebels, the revelation of Reagan's powers will be sure to change the dynamic of the team.

Hahana and Maui need a mention as well. While I still continue to really like them more and more each chapter, something about them continues to trouble me. It's interesting that they're basically newbies and have been sent on a mission that could very well save their nation. That's like sending a solider straight out of basic training to command a battle that could end a war. Hahana's explanation makes sense. It's a perfectly logical reason for them to be chosen, but something about all of this makes me nervous. I still think they could be hiding something.

Anyway, overall a very good chapter. I get the feeling things are going to change quite significantly now. I'm looking forward to finding out more about Reagan and seeing if Janelle and the others make a clean getaway from the Gifted.

Oh my... that dream was all kinds of creepy. Very well done with the dream sequence, playing off of 256's belief that his parents must hate him because he's Gifted. It was a really interesting way to show that. Also, a nice and happy 805 is entirely too weird :P It was also interesting that Thomas has dreams about water too. Hmm... now I'm curious if the other Gifts have the same sort of dreams.

I've never had to explain what a brothel is to someone, but I can easily understand Carey's... hesitance to do so :P That would be awkward. I like the way you described her wonderment at learning a new language. I don't know any other languages myself but I can see how to someone like Carey, who never knew such a thing existed, would be amazed by it. Oh, out of simple curiosity, what inspired the names of Zeia and Tarantis? I always like to know what people are thinking when they create names for fictional countries/towns/etc... I really don't know why :P 

And Reagan's being suspicious again xD Why was he afraid when he learned Hahana and Maui were from the Other Worlds. Is he, perhaps, from the Other Worlds as well? Hmm... it's all quite curious indeed. Also, what could he have said to Samantha? I do not know, but he's one thought-provoking character.

Anyway, overall this was one of my favorite chapters. I can't exactly say why, but it was. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it! I'm hoping to read another one today, but given how I swear this website hates me sometimes I may not get to comment on it. It took me forever to reply to your comment yesterday and this is my third attempt to post this one. Hopefully it works this time *fingers crossed*

Haha, yeah Mistbrook Falls is a pretty creepy name for an equally creepy town. I spent more time than I should have coming up with that name :P It’s an old town, established well before the American Civil War. All the buildings are built in the style of that era, so it has an innate creepiness that comes out more once we start spending more time there. At the moment, though, there isn’t really anything too grim happening there. Of course, that doesn’t mean something sinister couldn’t spring up in the future, right?

Ariana just wanted to spread his ashes somewhere peaceful as she has no idea what places meant something to him. I really should have mentioned how Ariana found Mistbrook Falls, though. I’m glad you pointed that out. The town itself was a late addition (originally I had them staying at the warehouse pretty much permanently but a small town setting worked better for various future plot points) and never really gave much thought to how Ariana might have heard of it. I’ll need to change that. Coop does say he knows about a restaurant there so I suppose he’ll be the one to tell her about it.

As for Kayla writing the book, I suppose I technically broke the fourth wall there just a little bit :P I break it a lot later on simply for the sake of a joke, but I found it funny so I did it anyway :) And why can’t they be happy for once? Something terrible doesn’t have to happen, right? This story could just wind down nicely with everyone happy and healthy… right? Although, there is a wedding coming up soon. Hmm… maybe I should instruct the band to play a rousing chorus of The Rains of Castamere? XD

I love Maui and Hahana already! They're both great additions to the cast. They fit in well even though they're so different. They add a good deal of humor too, which I always like. I couldn't help but laugh at the mental image of Samantha's face when Hahana was pledging herself to her :P And of course her 'you'll do' reaction to Carey.

Maui's quite interesting as well. He's clearly very different from Hahana. He seems more... fun, I guess is the word. Relaxed, actually works a bit better. Hahana's clearly the more mission-focused of the two of them. Maui also seems to have a little crush on Sam :P

Ah, they need a Gift of Earth to take back with them. I wasn't expecting that! It would definitely be a good way to fund one's country, having someone that could create diamonds on demand. It's too bad they don't know the Gifted very well. It's interesting that Hahana thought they could just pop on over to the Council and politely a Gift of Earth for help. That also reinforces my theory that the Gifted weren't always evil, egotistical tool bags xD

So, Hahana's mother was from the island. I wonder if she was Gifted? I'm also curious how she managed to get off the island. Clearly there's a story there and whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be interesting.

I do agree with Sam, somewhat, on the subject of asking Hahana and Maui to help them. While I do like both of them, I don't exactly trust anything they say. They could easily be lying about everything. In fact, I would be quite surprised if they weren't at the very least leaving out a detail or two about what they're doing on the island.

As for Janelle's portion, it was very clever of her to tell 256 about Amy. Obviously she couldn't know that he was once thinking about how his parents wouldn't remember him or want anything to do with him, but by telling him that she's shown him that his preconceived notions about that might not be entirely correct. Having Thomas around seems like it would be good for 256 as well seeing as he's Gifted too. Hopefully they'll be able to slowly help him feel better about leaving the Gifted and gain his trust.

Anyway, I do believe I've rambled on too long as it is so I'll hush :P Overall, this was a very good chapter. Hahana and Maui are very nice additions to an already great cast and I can't wait to learn more about them.  

Haha, no that song isn't a made up one. I'm not nearly that creative :P In the Pines (which is also known by a couple other titles) is an American folk song written sometime in the late 1800s. It's been recorded and re-recorded a bunch of times and the lyrics aren't always the same either. Nirvana even did their own rendition of it. If you want to hear the version I used just Youtube 'In the pines walking dead'. It's a very obscure song, so I don't actually expect anybody to recognize it xD

As for Adrian... he definitely realizes that he hurt her, but no he still doesn't think what he did was wrong. I did consider letting him remain evil to the end because I didn't want there to be any sense of redemption for him (and, as you say, it would have been so easy to do :P) Redeeming him in any way just felt really wrong. But I did think he would feel something at least a little bit fatherly towards her in that moment. I think, in his own really twisted way, he does love her and he is proud of who she's become.

Ariana's reaction was a last second idea that came to me as I was writing the chapter :P Originally, she was going to be pretty devastated about it. Given that she's always said that he's her dad and she still loves him I just figured that's how she react. But the idea that she would really just be more relieved than anything because she knows that she and her daughter are safe seemed to work so much better. I'm really glad it was realistic because I'm always a little worried that it's somewhat out of character for her.

I'm really glad you like this one. This chapter is one of my favorites, although when I was writing it I was terrified that I was going to mess it up :P This chapter really had to work out. It's the payoff to Ariana having a daughter, something that was hinted at back in chapter 13, so yeah that was pretty scary. It was Snow, actually, that scared me so much. I discovered that I'm truly horrible at writing children. Like you say, kids often end up seeming older than they're supposed to be and Snow was the same way at first. It took longer than I care to admit to get her acting and sounding her age xD

I'm glad Ariana's reactions were realistic. She actually came together pretty easily. I knew pretty much how I wanted her to react and it flowed really easily. Fun fact about the unicorn; when I was a little kid I actually had a toy unicorn that I named Mikayla. I have no idea where I got that name from, but yeah I sure did. Naturally, I had to slip that in xD And no, Kayla herself is not named after said toy unicorn :P

Snow really does come off as the perfect daughter. I think that's partly due to the difficulty I had in writing her, but I rationalize it by saying that she's on her best behavior since she's meeting her mom for the first time. I imagine she's like every other two year old otherwise. (A holy terror if my nephew is any indication :P)

As for Adrian, yeah it's a bit disappointing. I don't want to spoil their meeting by saying too much so I'll say that at the very least there will be some closure to that part of Ariana's storyline that I couldn't see happening if he had lived :) 

Lol, well good luck on your test! :D Try not to fall asleep during that lecture :P

Blessedly, I'm finally headed home and back to my normal schedule, so I'll be able to read things again! I'm posting this from a plane that's got pretty unreliable wi-fi, so hopefully this works and this comment posts :P Anyway, wow! That was unexpected! Pretty clearly these two new arrivals are from the Other Worlds. I wonder if they have anything to do with the group of rebels Wesley joined? I don't know. Somehow, I think they don't really have any interest in the Gifted/Rebel war but instead have their own agenda... so much mystery! I love it! My theories are already running on overdrive after this chapter :P

I'm curious as to why they're looking for Gifted people and also why they call them Cursed. It seems 256 was onto something when he said that. Maybe these Otherworlders know more about the history of the island than its own residents do. Of course if that's the case and they really are Cursed instead of Gifted (and we could easily just be talking semantics here) then who cursed them and why? And then of course there are the strange weapons. Perhaps there's some link between Samantha's dagger and their weapons.

It was interesting that Carey and Sam knew nothing of other languages. I'd never thought about that before actually, but it makes perfect sense. Anyway, I'm going to keep this comment short due to the aforementioned unreliable wi-fi. This chapter was very well written and it really took the story in a direction I never expected. Well done. I'm really excited to see what comes next.

Another good chapter! Again, I don't see any problem with this one. Not too much happened, I suppose, but it was written very well. I especially enjoyed 256's portion. Poor guy. I felt really sorry for him now that he's 'captured' by the rebels. I liked the way he slowly realizes throughout the scene the full weight of what he did. His part ended with him in a really dark place. I hope Janelle can manage to help him. Hmm... I bet she wishes she hadn't sent Carey away right now :P

Janelle's part was short, but interesting. I liked the way she wanted to make 256 more comfortable and get him to trust them. She even patched his uniform. Perhaps, with time, he'll be able to see how much better his life could be away from the Gifted. It was also nice to see Janelle's desire to learn more about the Gifted's society. They are still human underneath all of the brainwashing. If only there was some way to break that. Even if there's not, it's obviously always better to understand all the facets of your enemy.

Okay, so don't tick Samantha off :P Reagan, it appears, touched a very sensitive nerve. Reagan earned a little bit of... I don't want to say 'trust'... I suppose I like him a bit more since he tried to get Carey and Sam to forgive Janelle. I'm glad to see Carey has let go of her anger at Janelle and instead is focused on 256 recovering. Keep hope alive, Carey. Keep hope alive.

As always, it's good (and sad) to see Samantha's softer side. Poor girl's having a tough time and something tells me she's not just crying about Thomas right now. I think she needs to open up to someone before she cracks under the weight of everything she's dealing with.

I'm glad you liked Ariana's reaction to learning about Snow. I'm always a little worried about that part. I wasn't entirely sure how she would respond, so I'm glad its okay and seems natural. As for Snow, it was a lot of fun figuring out what kind of personality she would have. While she doesn't really play a huge role in this, (she's two, how could she?) she definitely has her moments.

I don't think it would be a spoiler for me to say that there are a couple more mood whiplashes before the end :P Still, I have to let them be happy eventually... or do I? *Insert evil laugh here* And please, there's no rush to catch up :) Believe me, I understand being busy. After this weekend, I'll barely have time to breathe properly for a while xD. Never agree to be in someone's wedding, I say. You're essentially loaning them your life until its over. That's actually why I doubled down and got those last few chapters finished this week.

Haha, the List fluctuates depending which theory I'm working at the time :P Currently Marvin, Reagan, and Janelle are on the List. Janelle's there because I've recently started thinking that perhaps the odd feeling she gets from Reagan is the Gifted's ability to sense each other. Also, we know from Carey that it's possible to be Gifted and not know. Obviously that would mean Reagan is Gifted too for that idea to work so... yeah, don't ask... I put way too much thought into stuff xD 

But yeah on this chapter, I really like it. Personally, I don't see anything wrong. I'm the same way though :P I'll write something that other people think is perfectly fine and yet I'll obsess over it for ages trying to get it to work exactly like I want it to.

This was a really good chapter! I always like seeing the Carey/Sam duo together. They have an interesting dynamic between them. They don't really seem to be the likeliest of friends, but they compliment each other really well. Despite the fact that they're still being rather large jerks in regards to Janelle, I really enjoyed their portion of the chapter. Also, it's always good to see Samantha's softer side. I liked the scene where she tries to comfort Carey as she blames herself for 256's current situation. She really can be quite nice when she wants to be, although I can absolutely see her wishing Reagan had drowned in a river :P

I must say, I do hope Carey changes her mind about springing 256 and going on the lam. That's probably not the best idea she's ever had. Despite her feelings on the matter and whatever course Janelle chooses to take as she tries to get information out of 256, I think both he and Carey will be better off with the rebels than trying to strike out on their own.

Janelle's portion was also very interesting. So, there's a secret Gift of Water running about then? Right now I'm leaning more towards it being a new character, despite Marvin's insistence that no one else could have gained access to 256's room. Unless, of course, it's Marvin himself. Actually, that is an interesting possibility now that I think about it. He was pretty quick to shift the focus to Samantha and Reagan and he also pointed out that even if they were Gifted they didn't necessarily betray her. Hmm... well, he's definitely on my Secretly Gifted List for the time being :P

Anyway, before I decide to go back and peruse the last story for clues to aid my theory and forget I'm supposed to be leaving a comment... I really liked the emotions in this chapter. Carey's guilt and regret was very well done. And regardless of my opinions of Carey and Sam's attitude toward Janelle, it's a very realistic portrayal. That's how practically anyone would respond in that situation, so well done! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Also, 256 is awake! *Happy dance* :) 

The flashbacks are absolutely unnecessary, I agree. I honestly hate this chapter and it wouldn't even exist had the ability to write not been struck from my brain for about a month :P Seriously, for the life of me I couldn't get this chapter to flow. What happens in the next chapter was supposed to happen in this chapter, but I couldn't get it to work how I wanted. So, in desperation being well over my (admittedly self-imposed) schedule the idea of a flashback chapter came to be. I used parts of the story I'd written back at a time when I could at least halfway string sentences together in a cohesive fashion to pretty much convey what Kayla's feeling and thinking at the time :P  Eventually, once I'm ever satisfied with chapter 44 because I'm still not, I plan to merge these two and remove the flashbacks altogether.

Ariana's grandfather was very cunning indeed. He had a lot of faith in her and he set things up, fully believing that one day Ariana would be ready and would want her daughter back. As for Kayla, yeah I think she's make a good mother too and definitely different than Ariana. I think more than anything she's afraid of the unknown. She's never been a mother, so she's afraid she'll fail at it. If she tried, I think she'd come to see that she does in fact have pretty strong maternal instincts. As for Ariana... well, you'll just have to wait and see :D

Lol hard and soft palates! If Kayla can do that, she might need to see a doctor because that's not good xD That wouldn't even be a useful superpower.

Well, that was certainly a good start. I wasn't sure where this story would pick back up (expected a bit more of a time jump, actually) but I'm glad there wasn't. This way it feels more fluid and I like that.

I fully support Janelle in this chapter. She's making smart decisions (strategically at least, I'm still not sure about 'the Reagan thing' :P) and she's doing what she needs to do to keep her revolution going. Carey and Samantha are being really mean, but I can see their points. Still, Janelle's making the right call.

Speaking of the Reagan thing, the romantic in me loved their kiss. Janelle let her guard down and allowed herself to trust him, and perhaps herself as well because she doesn't think she'll make the same mistakes she did with Alex. Then again, being overly suspicious as I am, Reagan still makes me uncomfortable. I'm beginning to think I'm just prejudiced against him because he was really sweet and kind in this chapter. Naturally, I want to know what it is he can't bring himself to tell Janelle because right now I really have no idea :P

As for 256, there was a bit of schoolgirl-ish squealing on my part with that ending xD I didn't think he was really going to die, but I was still worried about him. Now I'm curious as to his seemingly miraculous recovery.

Anyway, a very good start. I'm really excited to see where the story goes from here :)

Thanks for the comment :) I'm glad you like this one because I've always been a little nervous about it. You're exactly right about Ariana; she's really dreaming about what she thought was a perfect life. She thought that would be a happy father/daughter relationship as that's the only thing she ever knew. I'm also glad the transition from a nice, normal family moment to... well, not a normal family moment worked out. It's a sort of gradual descent from sweet to creepy :P

The thought of what would have happened to Snow is what inspired this whole chapter. I'd never really given it much thought before, but yeah it wouldn't have been good for Snow had she been born there. I don't really know what would have happened. I'd like to think Ariana would have somehow found the strength to fight back and stand up for her daughter unlike her own mother who just stood back and let it happen.

Yeah, Ariana tricking Kayla was too much fun to resist xD It was mean but I though; yeah, Ariana would so do that. As for Sophia, well it'd be pretty tough for anyone to accurately guess what she'll be doing :P I don't plan on her being a POV character at the moment (that could change) but she certainly has a role to play.

When I first set out to read this, I had a pretty clear idea of where I thought it would go. I assumed that by the end the Gifted would be overthrown, Janelle's rebellion would take power, Carey and 256 would fall in love, and a time of peace would come to the island. I'm very happy that none of those things happened :P The pacing is really one of my favorite things about this story. It's very realistic. The rebels have only just achieved their first victory over the Gifted, even if its just a minor one. There's still a long way for them to go.

I think I mentioned early on that Janelle and Sam's part of the story starts off a little slow compared to Carey's. However, at that point I was still under the impression that by the end the Gifted would be defeated. Now that I've finished the story, I actually think it works really well. The storylines all built up and maintained a consistent and good pace right up to the end.

Speaking of the ending, I've got to say it almost feels more like the beginning of something instead of the end. There's no real resolution to any of the storylines and this chapter really makes me what to keep reading straight into the sequel. I don't know how many sequels you have planned, but it feels as though this is something that could continue on and turn into a series. The story could go anywhere from here and I'm excited to get to the next story.

As for the characters in this chapter, I really liked all of their reactions to the things that were happening. Janelle has become a remarkably good leader. I like that she's putting the good of her revolution ahead of her friend's opinions of her. She's looking at the big picture and thinking of 256 as a hostage and a potential gold mine of information should he survive (please, please survive...). I'm really proud of her, especially looking back at how far she's come since the beginning. She's not the same girl she was when it was just her and Sam hiding in the woods. She's a leader and if she asked me to join her rebellion, I'd follow her.

I was hoping 805 would stick around, but I suspected he would leave. He's not going to suddenly become all paternal and start doting on his daughter (Not that Sam would be all that open to that at the moment anyway). Although, I'm not sure I believe him when he says he's going back to the Council. I suspect he's still going to try to find Michelle and that won't end well once he finds out she's dead. (She is dead, right? After I typed that I realized I honestly couldn't remember for sure if she was, but I'm pretty sure she is.)

Carey's emotions were very well done. If 256 dies, I'm not sure how she'll handle it. She's a tough, feisty girl but she really cares about him. I liked her optimism that he would be okay. She was desperate and grasping at whatever good news she could. That's important, she needs to stay strong for him. I really hope she can.

Overall, this was an excellent closing chapter. It's an ending, but also a beginning. It's not a happy chapter, nor are any of the characters looking hopefully towards the future, but seem resigned to the fact that this is where they are now; especially Janelle. I really loved her final line. 'We'll keep on fighting.' It's not hopeful, it's really the only thing they can do and a very fitting statement to end the story on.

I must say that I've enjoyed this story from beginning to end. There's plenty of great action and intriguing mysteries. The characters are all interesting find ways of being relatable despite the fantasy world they live in. The storyline is exciting and kept my attention all the way through. I don't really have any true negatives to point out. There are spelling and grammatical errors here and there, but everyone makes those so I usually don't mention them at all.

So, great work! I'm really excited to get to the sequel and see what happens next. By the way, if I'm ever unpacking boxes at the bookstore I work at and find a copy of this, I'm mailing it to you to have it signed :P

I hate to say it but I cheered a little when Carey stabbed 3349. Although it would have been nice to see her get a chance at redemption after seeing her open up a little in the last chapter, that scene was quite satisfying so I don't even care :P I was also glad to see that Carey was able to do what she needed to do, especially since she's had trouble in the past when it comes to killing people. It was clearly a 'kill or be killed' moment and she did what she had to without fretting over it. Hopefully that makes her that much stronger in the future.

It was also interesting that she had no trouble running or fighting while she was invisible. I'm going to assume either grief or downright rage just made her react on instinct. She wasn't focused on trying to move or fight, she just did it naturally. Maybe that's the key?

Poor Thomas! I didn't expect him to lose his hand like that. I can't imagine what that's like, especially for someone like Thomas whose profession pretty much depended on his hands. I would assume that outcome will weigh pretty heavily on Sam and Janelle as well.

As for 256, I'm really hoping he pulls through. I imagine he will, but who knows? I must say I liked Carey's reaction when she found him. It was quite emotional and believable. I do hope he'll be okay, but with only one chapter left somehow I feel I'll have to wait until I get to the sequel to get an answer. Anyway, overall a very good penultimate chapter. I can't believe there's only one left!   

Thanks for commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. This chapter (and the next one) are chapters that I get a little anxious about when people read. I've never been completely happy with it, although I'm not sure why :P It just reads weird to me. I also had to be super careful with what I had the girl say because I very nearly spoiled the ending, the sequel, and what all the supernatural stuff is :P Luckily, I write three or four chapters in advance of what I put out for people to read so I caught myself before I really messed up XD

It's weird, there's not much I can really say about this chapter without giving spoilers. I suppose I should mention that the girl isn't necessarily focused on Ariana and Kayla. There are plenty of other people she's involved with too. Geez, I can't even properly explain that without spoilers!

And it really would be like Kayla to fight some strange, supernatural being XD Not sure if she'd win, but she would absolutely fight. That's what she knows how to do. Gosh, there's something I'd so like to say about that, but I can't do it. Not yet :P

Before I begin I would like to point out that if while riding the subway filled with morning commuters, a small, short brunette with an oversized purse and an Ipad suddenly shouts out quite loudly in the otherwise peaceful train car 'Nooooo! 256!' those aforementioned commuters will give her strange looks for the rest of the journey. I'm not joking, that's a true story. Also, I'm not going to read anymore on the way to work.

These last few chapters have all been very good, but this one might be my favorite. The confrontation and resulting fight between 3349 and Carey was very exciting. I was kind of hoping that, while invisible, Carey would just slip across the room and stab 3349 just a little bit. Ah well, maybe next time :P

I've got to say though, this is the first time I've felt anything positive for 3349. She's always been a very cold woman (pun not intended) and I've never liked her. The part when 256 was trying to talk 3349 down and she opened up just a little and showed a hint of emotion was a really touching moment.

I hate her again, obviously, given that she went and stabbed 256, but in that moment I felt that I understood her a bit more. She really is only what the Gifted have made her and underneath all of the 'we're Gifted so we're better than everyone' propaganda that she's been taught, really she just wants to belong. To not, as she says, be nothing. Being Gifted, to her at least, is better than being nothing. It also serves as a great reminder that the Gifted, whatever else they are, they're still human.

As for 256, the hopeless romantic in me loved him in this chapter :P He admits, both openly to 3349 and to himself, that he loves Carey. He willing gives up his whole world, everything he's ever known, for a girl. He's even willing to die for her. He knew the risk he was taking by trying to save her and he did it regardless. Anyway, a great dramatic chapter! I'm going to have to spend the rest of the day worrying about 256 :P

Thanks for the comment! The plan, currently is about 10 more chapters. I've limited myself to 60 chapters, but I really plan on wrapping everything up before then. That's actually why this chapter just sort of randomly appeared from nowhere. I've been sitting on it for ages, ever since the idea of a prequel about Kayla's life before Claire's murder and her time on the run got shelved. I knew I wanted to fit it in somewhere, but I'm quickly running out of space :P

Pre-Ariana Kayla is always interesting to write. She was a very different person back then, but it's usually Ariana who gets noticed more as a character that's changed a lot, for obvious reasons. Kayla's change is much more subtle, but its there. As for whether or not it was their destiny to meet, or if that woman was Rose... well, you'll be finding out all about that soon enough.

However, don't underestimate the possibility that Kayla just happens to have odd encounters with elderly women when she needs advice and direction xD Of course, who's to say supernatural beings have to be dead people? Maybe Rose was never a human but a supernatural being all along? Or she could be dead, but chose to hide in plain sight afterwards and started working undercover as a nurse. Heh... now I've just made it even more confusing :P

You're right about Spencer! Although, oddly I've only ever watched the show and haven't read the books. She's my favorite of the four girls, mainly because the actress who plays her happens to be a massive GoT fan :P Kayla really needs to get someone else to make her fake IDs. Whoever's doing them now obviously watches too much TV...

Gah! Another cliffhanger. Curses :P I liked seeing so much emotion from Sam. I really felt bad for the poor girl, especially when she's telling Janelle the story about just wanting her dad when she was younger. While I'm glad Sam didn't catch him (that kind of encounter wouldn't have helped either of them) I do hope at some point they have a chance to talk (or yell, probably, in Samantha's case) about things in the future. Maybe Sam can get some answers or at the very least closure.

I get what Janelle was saying when she said that she would lie to Amy if she ever asked about her dad, but personally I've always thought that an ugly truth is preferable to a pretty lie. Especially, as in Sam's case, she realized the truth anyway. Although, despite what Sam thinks, I don't believe 805 knew about her at all. He seems like the type of person that, had he known, he would have done something to help them even if he couldn't be there himself.

Speaking of 805, I'm guessing the reason his blood is making grass grow is because he's pretty badly wounded and can't fully control his Gift? If so, I'd hate to be around a Gift of Fire or Water when they're injured :P

256 might just have become my favorite character. I'm so uncool easily takes the prize of second best line ever, with first prize still going to 'I like shoes'. Also, he punched 805 in the face! Okay, sure, his attempts to intimidate 805 into staying and restoring order failed spectacularly, but just because he tried he earns a few extra Awesome Points from me.

In closing, I'm going to be absently chanting 'Please don't let Carey drown' under my breath until I can read the next chapter :P

Haha, I didn't know much about adoption either. Once again, I had to do a large amount of Googling and what I learned is that adoption is more confusing than quantum physics xD Laws vary by state, so what's legal here in New York may not be legal in Michigan. For example, same-sex couples can joint adopt in NY but not in Michigan. Of course, there's also the fact that these girls live in an old warehouse... not exactly the safest place for a child :P

Coop and Alana's pasts are certainly more adoption friendly. From what I understand, they would have too many complications. Again, that's from what I understand :P

As for what Kayla knows about Snow... well, I can't really say anything without spoilers and since what happened to her is one of only a few more mysteries left to be revealed before the end, I don't want to spoil it :P I suppose I can say that Kayla is more worried about Ari's reaction to what she knows and not necessarily that something terrible happened to Snow.

And I do love Frozen. I've seen that movie entirely too many times. Ariana quotes (unintentionally on my part, believe it or not) a line from Let It Go back in chapter... 32 I think? Penny says they should spent the winter in California and Ariana says 'The cold never bothered me anyway' :P

Huh, well you certainly weren't joking when you said a lot happens in this chapter! First of all, a moment of silence for Will and Anna. Much like James and Emma, they didn't really have big roles in the story, but they were pillars of the rebellion. They've been around since almost the beginning. I'll miss them.

Now, for the big stuff. 256 and Carey's reunion was absolutely perfect. I had a number of ideas as to how it might go, but I didn't suspect a friendly, awkward meeting in the middle of the street. I loved it. 256 was uncomfortably cute too. 'I really like shoes.' Best line ever XD. It was almost too nice, though... that worries me because now I'm thinking something terrible is going to happen.

So 805 is Sam's dad, huh? I kinda thought that might be it at one point, especially once 805 started talking about his past with Michelle. They look alike and Sam's got that dagger while 805 is always making daggers. I sort of wrote that theory off because I thought it was too obvious :P The clues really were there all along and regardless of my earlier suspicions, I was surprised by this and that made me happy. My mind's going a little wild with theories as to where this could go. Samantha is clearly, and please excuse the term, pissed. There aren't going to be any sweet father/daughter moments anytime soon, I don't think.

I swear, you and your cliffhangers :P Obviously that's 3349 Carey ran into. I feel like Carey's not going to come out on the winning side in this fight somehow. My bad feeling from her and 256's meeting coming true already?

Anyway, overall an excellent chapter. One of my favorites so far! I'm sad, there's only four chapters left.

I would just like to say that if I ever discover who it was who came up with cliffhangers, I'm going to send them a very strongly worded letter :P

Anyway, starting off, lots of great action in here. The fight between Carey/Reagan and the Gifted man was very well done and exciting. This fight also made me question a few of my theories regarding Reagan since he's actively killing Gifted now. Of course, it could be that it was all a setup and Reagan killed the Gifted man to further solidify his position within the rebel's ranks. Now I'm getting a little too deep into this... I swear, I'm going to go crazy trying to figure him out XD

As for the Carey/256 reunion... I'm still not sure how this is going to go. I don't think either one of them will attack the other, but 805/3349/Janelle/Sam etc might be a little more inclined to do so. Of course, personally I'm hoping 256 sees the light and joins Carey and the rebellion, but I don't think that'll happen right away.

Anyway, I'm going to keep this comment short because I'm going to try to squeeze in the next chapter even though I really don't have time :P I likely won't be able to leave a comment on it until tonight/tomorrow, but I know I can't go into work today with that cliffhanger dangling over my head.

Oh, but one other thing! I like the clever way you named this chapter. Taking the name of the chapter when 256 and Carey last saw each other and flipping it for their reunion was pretty crafty :D

Might there be a Carey/256 reunion in the near future? I think so. I'm not sure it'll be a happy reunion, but a reunion nonetheless. I'm a bit worried now that all the characters seem to be on a collision course with each other. I really like 256 and 805, but obviously they and Team Janelle are enemies. I'm really excited about the coming chapters, but I'm also terrified :P

I do hope this attack goes better than the rebel's last. I've been looking forward to their next act of open rebellion for a while now and at the very least this one seems far better planned than the Lake Village. I suppose it's a good thing 805 is wounded. I'm not sure how well the rebels would fair against him at full strength.

It was interesting to see Carey thinking about going home. I can easily see how she might not want to go back to her old life now that she's had a taste of freedom. Her life now may be dangerous, but at least she's having the adventures she used to dream about.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter. I expect it will be bad (in a good way :P) I'm foreseeing at least a death or two soon. I don't know who exactly, but I can feel it coming.

This was a very good start. First, I'll commend you for writing in first person. That style can make or break a story (I'll openly admit I'm terrible at it!) but you managed to make it work exceptionally well. Also, there's just something about the way you write that I really liked. I can't exactly put my figure on what it is, but whatever it is keep it up.

Percy seems like an interesting (and very sad) character. It's really horrible what he's going through. His disorder isn't one I'm familiar with, so naturally I did some Googling to better understand it. It's pretty clear how having something like that could easily just wear you down. I really felt sorry for him, especially with the cyber bullying at the end. I'm quite curious who sent those emails.

Anyway, overall a great start. I'm looking forward to reading more.

I absolutely know what you mean :P There definitely has been a role reversal with these two and really, that was the basic idea that I had when I started this thing. Two people who are at two completely opposite extremes. Ari's vulnerable, childlike and scared while Kayla is tough, cold and keeps her emotions closed off. The idea was that over the course of the story they would take on certain characteristics of each other and by the end sort of become whole again. I really hope that makes sense XD

Adoption agencies are pretty strict here too.The girls would run into quite a bit of difficulty trying to adopt Sophia, no question. There would be some legal trouble as well, actually. Without saying too much I hope, Sophia has a pretty important storyline in the sequel that really requires Mike's death. It does not require her to be adopted by Ariana and Kayla, however. That's not to say she isn't or that she is, but it would be very obvious and expected if she were.

As always, there's no reason to be sorry for being a little slow on comments. Schooling should always come first! Unless you're an easily distracted, lazy procrastinator like me :P Even then it should still come first... you just might having trouble putting it first XD

805 was practically affectionate in this chapter! It was a little strange, the way he acted with 256 but it was good all the same. Plenty of great male bonding in that part. I'm really enjoying these two more and more. They have a very interesting dynamic between them that's really fun to read about.

I suddenly get the feeling the the brothel 3379 is going to is the same one the rebels are using as a base. I suspect she's going to stumble upon the rebel's hideout. The entire rebellion comes to an end because one Gifted girl can't keep her pants on :P

I wonder what Sam's reaction would have been if Carey had told her she had spotted Janelle and Reagan kissing. I imagine that confrontation would have been... heated to say the least. Also, I'm not sure Sam thinks Reagan seeing Carey was impossible at all. Perhaps Reagan was just really good at pretending tried to get a reaction from him.

I'm very curious as the plans Janelle has for Carey and Thomas. It should be very exciting!

You managed to make me feel sympathetic toward Reagan with the story about his mother, but only a few paragraphs later made me more suspicious of him than I've ever been! Overall, I'm not 100% sure I believe his story. Although, part of me thinks he's telling the truth, but is leaving something out. I still can't figure him out, but I definitely don't trust him. :P

I used to think he was secretly Gifted, but I left that idea behind a while ago. Now, though, I'm thinking maybe he's immune to the Gifted's powers somehow so that's how he knew Carey was there. It might also explain how he was able to escape the attack on his home when no one else did. Either that, or he is Gifted and his power is the ability to see people with the Gift of Stealth... which would be a pretty useless power if that's all it can do so yeah... I don't think that's it xD

I've never really thought about how odd it would feel to be invisible. I guess I've always assumed that invisible people could still somehow see themselves or something. In Carey's case, it would have to be extremely disorienting to try to fight or do much of anything when she can't see herself!

Wow, that was one heck of a chapter! I was a little worried when I saw the title there, I'll admit :P This chapter was very emotional all the way through. Wesley reacted exactly as I suspected he would. To him, this is the guy who kidnapped his sister and did heaven only know what to her. He's just being a protective brother and despite the fact that I'm always cheering for 256, I can't fault Wesley for doing what he did. He's still a likeable character regardless and everything he did was believable and completely justified in my opinion.

256 meanwhile earned some more points from me when he stopped 805 from attacking Wesley. He knowingly broke the rules and showed mercy to a rebel. 805 told him he would have to kill him if he made any more mistakes, and I do believe this counts as a pretty big mistake in the Gifted's eyes. That took a lot of courage and while I don't actually think 805 is going to kill him I am a bit worried about 256 right now.

One other thing that's completely unrelated to this chapter but since you brought back Wesley it made me think of it. Didn't Rosa have a son at one point? Whatever happened to the little guy? Did he die in the fire? He just sort of disappeared ages ago and I haven't really thought about him since.

Cool, I can finally post this! This site has really been hating me today. Anyway, thanks for commenting! You're in the same ballpark (if you'll excuse a sports-related parlance) to where I'm going with the car wreck. That conversation between Graham and Abby was hard to write because they both know what happened, so I had to chose my words carefully. There's a lot that's talked about there and if you look deep enough into what's said, you might be able to figure it out. I'm hoping most people won't do that, though, and I'll be in the clear. I'll give one hint though: Abby never said she was grieving because of the car accident.

You make a great point about too many pretty characters and actually I agree with you. I don't usually have that many and that's also true in this. The rest of the main cast, which is actually far too large, is typically described as pretty average overall. I'll openly admit that Warehouse got away from me :P I blessed Ariana with her looks because I thought after everything she went through, she deserved something XD Then I went and made Kayla pretty and by extension her mom and sister. Cooper was meant to be this dreamy college hunk, but that storyline fell by the wayside and I never completely edited his appearance. Then Kayla's friends ended up being the popular girls in high school and, well, here I am XD Luckily, I've kept the Beautifier 9000 powered down for the most part on Milky Way. 

Jake not recognizing Abby is a relic of a time when they met only briefly before that and under very different circumstances. I've been writing this story since late 2009 and it's seen more than its fair share of edits and rewrites. I'm surprised this part even still makes up a cohesive story at this point XD I'll be sure to edit that part. Thanks for pointing it out.

Please ask at any time if you have questions about any of the sci-fi bits. Even I have to go to some of my more geeky friends and ask questions like 'Ok, so you have a big spaceship. What sort of weapons would you put on it and why?' and 'So... artificial gravity. How would that work exactly?' Also, feel free to point out any places that are confusing/don't make sense/are utterly stupid. I have a tendency to not be clear sometimes when writing sci-fi.

One thing that doesn't help with this story is the fact that when I set out to write it I made the chapters much longer, more like what you would see in a physical book. To make it work in an online format, I had to cut the chapters up. For instance, parts 1, 2, and a big part of 3, are all supposed to be one chapter and instead I've had to break it up into three parts. If I hadn't done that, the chapters were way too long. So far, I think the only chapter I've uploaded without splitting it up was chapter 10 and it was originally chapter 5 :P  So, in the case of the ship being old and rundown, Abby and Graham talk about that in the next chapter and he explains that the ship was pretty much rebuilt from the ground up so it's practically brand new. That's the price I pay for cutting up the chapters in odd places.

As for them sending Abby... Command has their reasons. On the surface, those are honest and pure reasons that will be explained before too long. If there is another reason she was sent on this mission, it wouldn't be mentioned for a very long time :D

Well, I'm glad you found it satisfying :P Adrian definitely deserved the knee to the groin. She was going to pepper spray him a little bit, but it seemed a little excessive. I've got to say that despite how excited I was to finally write this chapter, I was just as nervous about it because I wasn't at all sure how Ariana would react to meeting Adrian. In the end I went with the idea that she was more afraid of the memories she has of Adrian than of the man that actually exists now. She just had to realize that in order to finally free herself from him... that and injure his manhood a bit XD Also, half of the reason she still agreed to do the transplant after what Adrian tried to do to her really was because he doesn't want her to save him. It's like you said, one more way to defy him.

Ariana really has changed a lot. Sometimes I miss the old kooky, goofy Ariana because she was a ton of fun to write and I don't get to be as silly with her now. Still, she had to grow and change as the story progressed. Like you said, she's changed quite a bit since she got her memories back and now that she's faced down her father she'll change even more. She has this sort of confidence in herself and she's much less afraid from here on out and that lets her make some pretty tough decisions a little later on.

Oh, wow! Yeah, that's not good. Of all the people 256 could've run into and it had to be Wesley. I expected him to pop back into the story at some point, but I figured it would be in Carey's portion, not 256's so nice twist there. I also never suspected he'd be working with these rebels. You definitely managed to surprise me, so good job :D I'm curious to see how 256 is going to respond to this situation, and also how Wesley ended up with the Bow and Arrow Rebels.

I really think I'm going to stop trying to figure Reagan out and just wait until it's revealed. I've considered so many different things he could be up to and I just can't figure it out. After this chapter, I've started thinking that maybe he's not actually a bad guy, but he's being forced to work against Team Janelle (There are two separate rebel groups now. I've got to call them something to distinguish them :P) by the Gifted or maybe even those new rebels. Reagan seems to actually care for Janelle and his guilt look in this chapter... I don't know XD

Again, the action in this chapter was great. 805 can be quite brutal when he needs to be. I've got to say, he's pretty lucky 256 was the only other Gifted around during the conversation about Michelle. I can see 3349 learning about that one. That'd go over really well, I'm sure. She'd likely go straight to the council with that tidbit of info. Speaking of 3349, for the life of me I can't figure out why her number is so hard for me to remember. I haven't had a problem with any of the other character's numbers so far, but I seem to have a mental blockage when it comes to her. There's even two threes in her number for goodness sake! You'd think that would make it easier for me XD

One nitpicky thing I noticed that I thought I'd mention: Janelle, during her speech which overall was quite well done, told the inn at large the target of the rebel attack, a timeframe for it to occur, the general location of her base and the strength of her forces. If the Gifted had any spies there, the rebels are in a lot of trouble now XD It wasn't the wisest decision in my admittedly far too strategic mind (I can't get anyone to play chess with me... :P) but it does make sense that she would want to show any potential followers that she does have a group of fighters and a plan. I don't know, it was just something I thought I'd mention. Personally, it's not really worth worrying about changing it.

Overall, a great and exciting chapter. It definitely got me excited for the next one. I can't wait to see what happens between 256 and Wesley!

Haha, actually I had to stop and think whether he knew already or not myself! I had him showing up at the hospital and then I remembered that he still didn't know about any of it :P As for Adrian, I did give serious thought to him having a change of heart. I won't spoil anything except to say that this confrontation between the two of them is a little on the short side, but it's not their last.

I'll definitely agree that on the surface it does appear that Mike died just so the girls can adopt Sophia. It's the obvious way that storyline would go and you're not the first person to say that about that part :P Let's just say that I don't usually go the obvious route if I can avoid it :D Sophia also has a role in the sequel and it hinges on Mike being dead. I think that was cryptic enough xD

As for Mike's death, I really hated to kill him but he's survived far longer than he was ever supposed to. Originally, he was to die in the apartment fire. In that situation, the girls would have absolutely ended up adopting Sophia. Then I planned on killing him when Dwayne found them. I don't know what would have happened to Sophia in that case. Kayla was in no place to take care of her, clearly. Poor Mike, though, he really was doomed from the beginning.

So it's after midnight, I'm extremely sleepy and just finished binge-watching the last ten episodes of the fourth season of Pretty Little Liars. I'm prefacing this comment with this information so if I say anything stupid, you know why :P

805 continues to intrigue me. He's a deep and complex guy. Hypocritical to the extreme, but I keep liking him more and more. He's clearly got secrets, pretty big ones by the sound of things. I'm excited to see what he's hiding, because I don't really have any idea.

As for Janelle and Carey, I really liked the scene with both of them. Carey's not the most sensitive of people, is she? I was surprised she told Janelle about Samantha's suspicions so quickly. She should really start thinking before she speaks :P I do hope Carey didn't completely destroy Janelle's confidence. Now isn't the time to crush her spirit!

It was interesting that Carey thought Sam should be the rebel's leader instead of Janelle. It's true that to most people, Sam is the obvious choice. She's the warrior, she's the one that people would look up to but she doesn't have that charisma that a leader needs to inspire their troops... especially when they're up against these kinds of odds. Janelle seems to have that spark, even if she doesn't always believe in herself. She's not the necessarily the best tactical thinker or fighter, but she's a really good leader and that's important.

Overall, a good solid chapter. I get the feeling something big is about to happen soon!

I was very glad to see Janelle thinking about what would happen should her rebellion actually succeed at overthrowing the Gifted. Their focus so far has only been to take down the regime (which is completely understandable at this point as they really haven't been at this all that long) but she definitely needs to start thinking about the future. If the Gifted collapse, what would the nonGifted do? Does Janelle even want a leadership role in a new government? There's a lot for the rebels to consider and bringing down the Gifted without some form of plan for what happens after that might just be worse than the situation they're in now.

The conversation between 805 and 256 really made me start to think more about the history of the Gifted. I think I once mentioned how I thought the Gifted called themselves Gifted because they were incredibly egotistic. While the present day Gifted clearly still are highly egotistical, I'm starting to wonder more and more about how it all began. Perhaps the Gifted weren't always the awful people they are now and at one point it was considered a good thing (by everyone) to have a Gift. I don't know, just thinking out loud :P Anyway, overall a very informative and thought-provoking chapter that kept my attention all the way through :)

Thanks for commenting! Don't worry about getting confused :P I'm writing this and even I have to take a step back occasionally when I start to get too science-y and weird. I actually put together a sort of glossary if you will of terms and things so I remember what they all mean XD

The bedtime story (although this would be a really awful story to tell a kid... ever, actually :P) started out as just what it sounds like. An opening monologue that briefly explains the backstory. The grandma and child were a recent addition because, as you said, it makes the information easier to process. Before it felt like a high school history teacher droning on and on in a monotone for hours on end. Naturally, the kid had to poke fun at the 'opening monologue' change!

Abby does have a love for really old music and movies :P She has a massive digital collection of old songs that she likes to listen to. A couple of characters question her taste in music later on, but its kind of her thing. She hates the modern music of the times. (imagine rock, pop, and dubstep rolled into one and that's what's big these days.) She's spent years hunting down long forgotten songs to add to her collection. Its hard for her to do, but with the Internet still around on Earth all that data's still out there somewhere so she can find it.

As for Abby and Ariana sharing the same same last name, there's actually a story behind that. I'll have to get a little too personal for the comments section to explain it but here goes; Laine was actually the name of one my best friends who died of a drug overdose about five-ish years ago. We were both 15  when it happened and she inspired me to write, so ever since she died I've had a least one character in every story named Laine. It's like a little memorial to her, I guess It's usually not a lead character so it doesn't draw as much attention as it does here with Ariana/Abby. I'm waiting for someone to think they're related somehow and that this is actually a sequel to Warehouse :P  

As for Abby though, yeah she's definitely mysterious! She's got a handful of secrets that she'd really like to keep... well, secret. I gave this to a few friends to read and they can't agree whether or not Abby was the girl in the car or if she knew someone involved in the accident. Obviously, I'm not going to say :P But yeah she's got her mysteries to be unraveled.

I'm glad you liked Jake. He's a character that's undergone the most changes and has been the source of most of my editing. He started out as a hardcore military man and a stickler for the rules. But the story was really without any form of humorous character and Jake really worked as this sort of goofy, relaxed guy that uses his military career to pick up girls xD  It's no secret that Abby and Jake are both going on the same mission, and since she's his superior officer it's quite uncomfortable for him when they meet up again, especially after this little encounter.  

Anyway, I'll shut up now that I've pretty much written an entire book here :P I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also, I'm very open to suggestions for changes. I think I mentioned before that very little in this is set in stone so I could alter many aspects of this story.

Aww, Sam! She was kind of sweet in this chapter, in her very own Samantha-ish way. She's always been one of my favorite characters, even if she wasn't all that likable. After this chapter she's definitely shifted into the likable category. She seems to be opening up a bit now. I really like her relationship with Carey. They compliment each other really well and I enjoyed their conversation.

I'm also completely with her on Reagan. He earned a bit of sympathy in this chapter. He's clearly had a hard time of it, but I still don't trust him at all. I'm very suspicious of him and I don't think he's there with good intentions. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I still think he's up to no good :P

Also, there's something about Janelle looking through a peephole in a door in a brothel that made me giggle when I read about it XD There's my sense of humor for you...

See, now I'm going to pick apart every line of dialog trying to find what you're talking about :P I guarantee I'll miss it completely. I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to noticing things that actually matter!

I'll admit that I don't know very much at all about medical things (animals or humans). Google and WebMD are my best friends in that regard :P I haven't got any family or friends in that field either, so I'm dependent on the internet (and we all know how reliable that is XD). Everyone I know either has boring or really strange jobs that are completely useless for writing :P

You're talking to the queen of procrastination XD. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? As for what else you can read... well, I'm not actively working on Endless Wonder (it's written in first person and I have to be in a particular mood to force myself to write that way...) Under the Milky Way I do work on much more often, but it's pretty hardcore science-fiction and isn't for everyone. That's not to say there aren't interesting characters with relatable problems in there, but you'll have to work your way past a space battle or two to get to them :P If you don't mind reading about warp drives and spaceships, by all means please give it a shot. It's in a constant state of editing and pretty much nothing is set in stone so I always like to get people's opinions on it.

Thanks for commenting! Fun fact about burning down the house: Originally I thought Ariana might turn it into an orphanage or a shelter for battered women or something. I was never sure exactly what it would be. However, my friend who likes to lay on my bed listening to music while I'm writing was playing Ellie Goulding's 'Burn' while I was writing this chapter :P The rest, as they say, is history. Going home though absolutely gave Ariana a lot more strength and courage than she had. Whether it's enough to finally come face to face with her worst nightmare is something she'll be finding out before too long.

Yeah, Ariana wasn't lying when she said she was thinking about Snow :P I didn't expect anyone to think twice about her saying that back in chapter 30. It's good to have a character that says random things from time to time. I can hide things in her dialog and no one notices (Just a note, that's the only time I've done this. One of my friends went back and started questioning everything weird Ariana ever said, looking for clues XD)

I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent months thinking up Snow's name XD I knew it had to be something out of the ordinary, but nothing too crazy. Snow ended up just fitting so well. Like you said, it's something Ariana would name her daughter. As for them meeting or Ariana perhaps getting her daughter back... I've made no firm decision on that yet. I'm actually at the point now where I've got to make a choice and I don't know which way I'm going to go yet. On one hand, I'd love to see Snow come and live with Ari and Kayla and yet there would be something bittersweet about Ari watching Snow play at a park with her adoptive family from afar, just glad to know that she's safe and happy. It may be time to flip a coin again and let fate decide :P

You're right about Ari's hands. I hadn't thought of that. I'll add it to the list of things I'll be going back and changing once I'm finished with the story. And as I've said before, never apologize for being a nerd :P All of my writing before Warehouse has always been science fiction. You should see my browser history... I've done way too much Googling to make sure my science is accurate, or at least makes sense in a futuristic world. Hey, at least I learn stuff!

More great action in this chapter! Again, the fight scenes were very exciting and kept me riveted until the end. I thought for a moment there 256 might kill that rebel woman. I'm very glad he didn't have to, though. It was interesting that he imagined her being Carey there for a minute...

Michelle, hmm? Very interesting. 805 clearly has something to hide although I'm not sure what that might be. My first thought is that she could be his current/former wife/girlfriend. Or perhaps she's his daughter? Either way, it likely wouldn't do for the Gifted to find out about her.

I'd like to take a brief moment to say that 3379 is a (insert foul name of your choice here). She's great to have in a fight, but otherwise... She's a cold, cruel, ruthless woman. She also makes me question the overall wisdom of the Gifted's disobey-and-die policy when she says she should just kill 256 right then. I mean, sure 256 might not be overly useful in a fight and yes he's made mistakes and broken rules, but when you're up against an enemy like these new rebels, it probably isn't the best time to start killing your own team :P

Overall, a great chapter. I'm excited to see what happens next :D

See, now you've got me thinking. I've only flown twice late at night like that and both times the plane was nearly empty. The first time for a few minutes I was the only passenger on the plane! I was concerned they'd bump me to another flight to save the fuel. Other people came onboard though, but now I want to know what happens if only one person buys a ticket for a particular flight. I'm getting too far off topic. I digress. Honestly though, I just assumed that all late-night flights were like that :P

That doctor isn't empathetic at all XD He's pretty much solely focused on taking care of his patients and curing them. He doesn't really care that much how Ariana feels about Adrian. As far as he's concerned a life is a life and Ariana can help save Adrian's. Feelings and emotions don't matter so much to him. You'll see a bit more of that later on as well.

I'm glad you found Ariana's reaction realistic. It was tough and I wasn't sure exactly how she would respond to the situation. That's actually what I eventually went with. She doesn't know how to feel about Adrian's illness and there's a part of her (a part she's not yet willing to speak about) that would probably be happy if Adrian died since, if he did, she would be free.

Thanks for the comment! With Ariana telling her story so quickly, I was going for the idea that she is coming to terms with it more than she ever has before. She's opening up more and healing but I agree that it happens way too fast. I think I overdid it :P I'll edited that bit when I get the chance. Maybe include her thought process as she decides to tell her story or something. I'll work on it.

You're absolutely right that Kayla's dad (Who, by the way, I've just realized has never had his name mentioned in this) isn't solely responsible for what happened to Claire and by extension Ariana. He's partly to blame, clearly, but as you say Kayla is responsible for involving Dwayne. Kayla blames herself already, but from Penny's point of view Kayla's dad was the adult in the situation and so she puts the blame for everything squarely on him. As far as she's concerned, he involved their daughter in a very dangerous situation that had already split up their marriage and a girl was killed because of it. Penny's incredibly biased in this :P Ariana, being Ariana, tries to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Penny won't even let her finish. The poor woman is holding on to a lot of grudges and I'd really like to see them resolved some day.

I'm glad your first thought was that Adrian had escaped XD I wasn't necessarily trying to make readers think that, but I'm glad you did. You're right that having him escape would be horribly cliché and having him come after Ariana would feel like a rehash of Dwayne hunting down Kayla. I like to do the unexpected thing and keep people guessing, which is why I'm also glad I surprised you with the ending :P Originally there was to be at least one more chapter (and perhaps another that would have been a flashback to Kayla's time on the run before she met Ariana) before Ariana got that call but I started thinking if I held that back much longer people might start expecting something big was coming :D

Yay, more action! I absolutely love your actions scenes, they're very well done. 805 is a pretty awesome fighter. He's like the Jack Bauer of the Gifted world. (I apologize in advance if you have no idea who that is XD) It was nice to see 256 come up with the escape plan, although I did want to warn him that lighting a fire in an enclosed space with little oxygen isn't the best idea. If only the Gifted knew science...

I'm suddenly curious if the rebels who attacked them are Otherworlders (I don't know what to call them :P) or if they're just villagers who have gotten their hands on Other World weapons. If it is, in fact, an Other World invasion I would have expected them to arrive in force. Perhaps these people are just a scouting party? Although if they were sent to survey the Gifted and report back, they probably wouldn't be wantonly murdering the Gifted. Now I've poked a hole in my own theory. I'm going to stop now.

On the rebellion's side of things, it was great to finally see the gang back together again! It was good to see a new, softer side to Samantha during her conversation with Carey. She's always so hard and cold and seeing that she does have a compassionate part of herself underneath the tough exterior is nice. Janelle, meanwhile, took the news about Thomas quite well. I half expected some tension between them after Sam kept that secret from her for so long. I'm glad it didn't go that way, and it's actually understandable seeing that Janelle's daughter is Gifted. It makes sense that she'd understand where Samantha was coming from when she decided to keep her secrets.

Haha, Kayla's mom is inspired somewhat by my mom and she's pretty old-school in that regard! She's asked that same question of anyone I've ever dated. She claims she's joking but personally I think she wishes we lived in a time when people married off their daughters when they're twelve XD. But yeah, Penny wasn't seriously suggesting Kayla should propose when she asked that. She was poking fun at Kayla and didn't really expect her to say she was already planning on doing it. She just didn't have time to say anything because Ariana interrupted them. They'll have a talk in the next chapter about whether or not Kayla's really ready for that kind of commitment.

Yeah, the whole point of going to Kayla's hometown was to show a lot more of her life. It was a great opportunity to talk more about Claire and their relationship in detail. You'll meet more of Kayla's friends in the next chapter. They're a little wild, but they're fun :P As for the engagement scene, yeah it's cheesy. I actually toned it down from the first version I wrote. It was so sweet it was positively nauseating XD.

San Diego really is a nice place and the total opposite of my city. I've only been there once, but honestly I didn't want to come home XD. I'm glad it reminds you of home though! The only place that reminds me of home is Coruscant from Star Wars...

And hey... maybe Penny has a unique way of storing her potatoes. Using a pantry for that is so out of date XD. I almost want to keep that typo in. That's really funny! Anyway, you've caught up to me! Blame Pretty Little Liars for my slow writing of late :P I'm binge watching season 2 at the moment and I can't stop myself. 

I've been considering changing some of Adrian's dialogue for a while now. At first I thought, given that it is a dream, Ariana's subconscious might make him even more villainous and evil than he really is. Adrian was never like that when he had her locked in the closet. He didn't say things like that to her and he never would. He always said sweet and loving things, despite what he was doing to her. I wrote it that way originally, but for a dream it felt wrong somehow. I may tone it down a little though, because like you say it probably would raise the fear factor if he seemed more realistic :D

The song is the same one she sang before. She knows she heard it as a child and really wants to remember it because her mother sang it to her. I don't expect anyone to guess what song it is as it's pretty obscure XD The reference to Ariana's daughter's name is likewise obscure. I'd be really surprised if anyone caught it because Ariana sounds like she's talking about something else entirely when she says it. That's the only hint you get :P

They did do quite a lot, but it's definitely possible to do it all. Coney Island and the aquarium are literally right next to each other and the two museums they went to are both in Central Park so they're easily within walking distance. The only thing that would take time would be traveling from Coney Island to Central Park, which depending on traffic shouldn't even take an hour. I'll stop now before I start giving you turn-by-turn directions :P

It's not surprising at all that you don't think of 9/11 that often. I watched those buildings collapse out of my living room window and I don't even think about it that often anymore. I almost cut that part honestly, because I thought it might come off as offensive to some but I really liked Ariana's reaction to it and so I ended up keeping it. Thankfully, no one's said it's inappropriate yet and I hope no one finds it so.

There's just nothing I can say about Claire that's not a spoiler XD. I suppose I can say that she will return again in the future and you will, eventually, learn what she is.

As for Ari's daughter, (her name has already been mentioned by the way, although so far no one I've asked has caught it until they get to the chapter later on where Ariana reveals it :P) again anything I say would be a spoiler. I guess I can say that anything is possible and the outcome of that storyline may, or may not, come as a surprise. Wow, that was cryptic wasn't it? XD  

If you don't like guns, you wouldn't want to stop by my uncle's house. He's got an arsenal, literally XD He has over 200 guns and a whole room dedicated to them! Although, if the zombies rise, aliens invade, or the British decide to come for their back taxes I know exactly where to go :P With Ariana though, yeah she's got a couple of good reasons to fear them, although learning how to shoot might help her out some day.

I'm the same way about the ocean! It's kind of always present here so I've never had that 'Wow!' moment of seeing it the first time. By the way, I like making people think about things! Philosophy was always one of my favorite subjects. Don't get me started on it though, I'll go on and on and on XD.

And you should definitely come to New York! If you can stand the crowds and have a good sense of direction, you'll love it :P I'm still happy you've got a feeling that anything can happen, because that was what I wanted!

805 is a very bitter guy, isn't he? He clearly has his reasons for being that way, though. I must say he was actually likable in this chapter! I never know which version of him I'm going to get, so to see him as he is in this chapter was really good. He's relatable, in a way, what with his shattered hopes and ideals. He also seems to care for 256... well, at least a little bit :P

3349 definitely brought some humor to the chapter. She teased 256 about his height (Being 5 foot 1 myself, I understand his pain as my friends tease me all the time XD) and telling him he looked like a 12 year old girl were both greats lines from her. She's mean but I can't help but like her :D

And it seems Janelle might just have a little bit of a crush on Reagan. I'm not exactly comfortable with that. We're still not trusting him over here, by the way XD

Never apologize for being a nerd :P You're talking to the girl who has attended Comic-Con dressed up as 7 of 9 from Star Trek. I never once apologized. (I probably should have, but that's neither here nor there.)

Seriously though, the Fluffers the Cat thing... it's not something I do intentionally. I keep catching myself doing it and I always change it whenever I see it, but for whatever reason I keep doing it. An odd writing quirk I have I guess :D As for nighty/nightie, I actually Googled it beforehand because I'd seen it written both ways and wasn't sure which was correct. Suffice to say, I'm still not sure which one is right :P I flipped a coin and 'nighty' won. Nightie looks better though, so I may change it. By the way; I'm now referring to cotton candy only as fairy floss from this point forward XD

Ari's scared of clowns because, yes, they're extremely creepy :D I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds them disturbing.

I'm glad you don't know where the story is going, because that's exactly what I was aiming for with the next several chapters. I was essentially freeform writing with no real direction or goal in mind, I know that sounds terribly lazy but when something big does happen I want it to be a shock and a completely unexpected surprise that comes out of nowhere. I don't want anyone to see it coming :P Also, just because they're happy doesn't automatically mean something bad is about to happen! Admittedly, it usually does happen to these girls, but keep hope alive :D

Almost forgot! San Diego is California's southernmost city. It's almost on the US-Mexico border. I've been down there a couple of times in the summer and it's so nice! It has a small town feel in a way even though its a good sized city. It's a very good change of pace from the way things are up here in NYC :D 

Haha, yep it's a small world! (Or is it? O.o) I was going to call this chapter 'Six Degrees of Separation' just because of that but it was such a small part of the chapter that I decided against it. Rose will definitely be back at some point, but I'm not sure when. I've got some ideas, but nothing concrete yet.

Their relationship, for the time being, will mostly be as it was. It's more that Ariana now knows exactly what Kayla is capable of and she has to come to grips with Kayla's dark side and find a way to prepare for the day it comes out again. There is definitely still a part of Ariana that's mad at Kayla and there will be times that she reminds Kayla just how badly she hurt her.  

I think it's pretty clear that Ariana will have to come face to face with her father at some point. I'll not say how that will come about, or when, but obviously it has to eventually. It'll be an interesting meeting, I'll just leave it at that. 

Thanks for mentioning the bit about monologuing! That's an issue I have whenever I have one character speaking without anyone else talking for a while. I never know what reads better; just letting them keep talking or break it up in some way. If I break it up, it seems to lose a little of the impact in some way and yet like you say, if they just keep talking it reads like a monologue. I'll work on breaking it up soon and see if it helps. By the way, everything you said made perfect sense :D

On the Dr Pinder/Dr. Bradley bit; his name is Bradley Pinder (I really should mention his full name again in this chapter because he hasn't been seen since chapter 10). It was something I introducing back in chapter 23 in Ari's diary. I thought she would have some sort of nickname for him that no one else called him (Kay-Kay, for example). So, she calls him Dr Bradley while Kayla and his colleagues at work call him Dr Pinder as their relationship is more professional while Ari's is closer and more friendly. I should probably change it or somehow mention that only Ari calls him that so people know what's going on :D

This chapter was intriguing to say the least. There are lots of hints and threads dangled if very few outright details given, which so early in the storyline is a good thing in my opinion.

So much for Rose's 'dream' then. Derek is quite the interesting character. I found myself liking him despite knowing very little about him. It should be fun watching him try to befriend Rose and integrate into a high school setting.

As for the Abeo Hibou (interesting name by the way), they seem to be some sort of shape-shifters that are clearly at war. Whether they're at war with their own species or... something else entirely should be fun to find out. I wonder what powers Rose has that will help them?

While I wouldn't have considered that a spoiler at all, it definitely not what I was thinking on the murder aspect. I was fully expecting some sort of assassination or something. I'm very glad it didn't go that way. It was interesting to learn a bit more about the Other Worlds. At the first mention of the strange weapons and the descriptions of the wounds they caused I half expected them to be modern day firearms and that the Other Worlds might be real world countries. This was immediately shot down by the reveal that the weapons were arrows. I never considered arrows because I had always assumed that bows and arrows were already around on the island. I makes sense as the Gifted would see no need for them, but it was a nice surprise nonetheless.

As for Janelle's portion of the chapter, let's just say Reagan continues to creep me out and I'm not really sure why. He seems like a nice guy, but he worries me. Especially now that he's so skilled with a sword. Where'd he learn those skills? I briefly thought he might but the Gifted murderer, but I don't think the timelines line up for that to work. He would have already been with the rebels by the time the murders took place. Regardless, I don't trust him. :P

Overall, a very good chapter. Anxiously awaiting a Janelle/Sam/Carey reunion :D

Thanks for commenting! You're completely right about the sappiness of the early chapters. Others have said the same thing. It's really sweet and cute and fluffy and while you'll start to see some dark things have happened as these girl's back stories are revealed, there's really no conflict or threat to either of them for quite some time. Later on, though, it doesn't get very dark indeed and there's much less sappiness, I promise :D I promise, I'll get back to yours tomorrow. I'll have some free time and I'll be able to get to several of the stories I'm trying to read.

First, let me commend you for writing this in first person. I'm in the process of trying that style of writing and I'm finding it rather difficult, so I respect those who manage to make it work. As for the chapter itself, I really enjoyed your descriptions. They were detailed, but not overly so to the point of being annoying. The sentences all flowed very well and your paragraphs weren't overly long (a problem I suffer from terribly).

I'll admit that I got a 'Twilight' vibe from the description and the title, but once I started reading that disappeared almost entirely and quite honestly I'm very glad it did. Nothing against Twilight, it's just not my style. I can't really comment on the character Rose yet because we don't learn any real details about her except that she's having this creepy dream, but I'm sure she'll become more developed as the story progresses.

The only critique I have is that there were a few spelling and punctuation errors here and there. Nothing that a quick editing pass wouldn't fix. Good job so far. I look forward to reading more.

This is a prime example of the fact that not much has to happen in a chapter to make it a very interesting read. Carey's reaction to 440's death and her role in it surprised me, I must say. I can't say I'd be all that inclined to bury the man who one tried to rape and murder me. However, I can see how Carey would be effected by killing 440. Regardless of what he did, she killed him. That would have to take a powerful emotional toll on her.

It was very good to see Carey and Sam getting along for once. I've always liked Sam, but she was irritating me a little when she was being so mean to Carey, even if she did have her reasons. I enjoyed getting the details of Samantha's mysterious secrets at last. Of course, doing so just opened up new mysteries. Something is clearly going on with Sam and Thomas's family. I want to think that 805 might somehow be involved with them. Perhaps he was the Assessor that didn't take Thomas? Eh... it's a stretch, I suppose, but my mind works that way :P

Although I didn't expect to feel this way, 440 was redeemed somewhat in this chapter. The way he begged for 256's forgiveness in his final moments really revealed so much of the boy he once was. It doesn't excuse the things he did, but I do feel a little bit of compassion for him now at the very least. Well done. As for Carey, she made the right decision in ending 440's suffering. She could have easily left him there to die, but instead took the merciful route and I liked that.

It's also interesting to note that Carey sees Samantha and Thomas as lovers...

805 continues to be a very interesting, albeit infuriatingly confusing character (that's a good thing in my opinion, by the way). For the life of me I cannot figure him out. He's drinking on the job, which I'm pretty sure the Gifted wouldn't approve of and he was positively sweet to the little nonGifted girl. (I was drinking orange juice when I got to the 'Mister Gifted' part. I laughed quite a lot and... let's just say complications arose :P) Then he goes on to say that he'll cast his ideals aside the second the Gifted give him orders. The guy is definitely a hypocrite, but hey, at least he admits it.

And to wrap up, naturally I must mention that cliffhanger. With 805 and 256 seemingly out to do murder, I'm suddenly very uncomfortable as to the safety of some of my favorite characters. It is odd though that 805 was afraid. He had no problem killing that woman in the forest, so why should he be worried now? Very curious indeed :D

Yeah, this chapter is very long. I went way over my 6500 word limit on this one :P I've thought about splitting it up, but like you said there's not really a good point to do so. Once I'm finished with the story, I'll likely try to find a good point to split it because it bugs me that it's so long. I even dread doing an editing pass on it XD

Ariana is very forgiving so yeah, Kayla's speech definitely softened her a bit. Deep down, she's still hurt but she has her reasons for letting Kayla off the hook so easily which she'll talk about in the next chapter. She's still going to carry what Kayla did around with her for a good while though, even if she seems perfectly happy on the outside. It changed her view of their relationship and of Kayla herself and not in a positive way. She sees how cruel Kayla could be in certain circumstances now.

'Damn' would probably be considered a very light swear word over here, depending on where in the country you're from. I'm from New York and pretty much nothing's off limits up here, but I've got friends in the south and down there things must be a little different because apparently its not as acceptable there. Kayla was surprised just because it was Ariana that said it. If it had been anyone else she wouldn't have been but since Ariana's... well, she's Ariana, it came as a bit of a shock. I might change it so she says something else. No F-bombs because again she's Ariana, but I've got options :P

Also, thanks for pointing out the comma/period issue. I'll be sure to correct that in my next editing pass and I'll watch out for in the future. Thanks!

Wow, I wasn't even thinking about that when I was typing that comment!  Good catch, though! :D I must have Game of Thrones on the brain or something :P

Wow, so much happened in this chapter! Starting with 805, I'm still not sure what to make of him. I want to hate him for being a ruthless killer that murders innocent women, and yet after learning a bit more about him I can sort of see where he's coming from. In his mind, he's just doing his job. He may not like it, he may not want to do it but that's the world he lives in. He's just following the orders of his superiors and the rules laid down by the Council. That's not to say I suddenly like him or that I think he's any less of a jerk :P I just understand him a bit better.

It was rather unsettling to see how he felt about the nonGifted though. He does seem to buy into the idea that the Gifted are superior to everyone else, especially when he said that the only punishment for the nonGifted is death while this is untrue for the Gifted. 805 is one complex guy.

On Carey's side of things is obviously where the action happens in this chapter. Once again you've broken my heart with a truly tragic death. Rest in peace, Rosa. You will be missed. :( Thomas turning out to be Gifted instead of Samantha was a nice twist (although Sam could obviously still be Gifted too). At the very least the rebels have two Gifted on the team now, although I'm assuming Thomas isn't very good at controlling his abilities what with his hands being the way they are.

It was also interesting to learn that Carey can turn other people invisible as well. Since other Gifted can create walls of ice and fire, could Carey perhaps make a bubble of invisibility? I'm envisioning her turning a rebel army invisible and sneaking them into the Gifted headquarters. Anyway, a very good chapter overall. The action scenes were very well done and there's a lot of good new information to be gleaned. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Thanks for commenting! You make a very good point about Ariana forgiving Kayla too quickly. It doesn't help that this chapter and the next were supposed to be one chapter but due to length I lopped off the upper third of chapter 25 and shifted the rest to make up all of 26. There's definitely a pretty heated fight between the two of them by the end of 26.

I didn't want Ariana to be angry with Kayla at the beginning of this one mainly because I felt that after hearing Kayla recount everything that had happened, Ariana's not the sort of person to tear into them about anything else right then. She's still upset and hurt, but like you say she's really trying to deal with the realization that it's suddenly six months later and so much has changed. That, and doesn't want to hurt Kayla when she's so happy, despite how terrible what she did was.

On the point of platonic relationships and friendships, I couldn't agree more! I'm a sucker for them too. I usually don't write them very often because I've found that if I make it the central focus it doesn't go well for me, but I love reading about them.

Yeah, Kayla's definitely going too far with this one. In her mind, I think she believes that she's already lost Ariana anyway so if it doesn't work out she won't be any worse off than she was before. Of course, her mind doesn't always work like most people's do so she often comes up with really terrible plans :P

Rose will likely show up again in the future. I'm not sure exactly when I'll bring her back though. There's actually a brief reference to her in chapter 23 but it's so vague no one would probably ever notice it.

Thanks for pointing out the exclamation marks. I'll happily admit that I'm terrible with punctuation. I'll tidy that up a bit on my next editing pass :D And yes, the title is a The Rains of Castamere reference. I don't really want to talk about it... that episode makes me sad. Never get married in Westeros. Stupid weddings... :P 

Another good chapter! I see what you meant about my opinion of 805 changing soon. It most certainly did in this chapter and now I'm not sure what to make of him. He seems to be a person looking to make reforms in the Gifted regime and relax some of their more extreme laws on one hand, but then he murders a defenseless girl who was only trying to save her child. And then how he seems to be able to read 256's mind as well... I'm gonna have to think about this for a while, try to sort it out.  He's quite the interesting character, that's for sure.

I must say that I'm developing a bit of a girl crush on Janelle XD. She's really turned into a responsible leader. She's taking the revolution seriously and seems to be making wise choices. While I'm pretty sure this road trip isn't going to end well for her, she's still becoming the leader the rebellion needs and I'm proud of her :D

Reagan continues to make me uncomfortable. I just can't figure him out. There were clearly more hints about him in this chapter, but I still can't fathom a guess at what he's up to. I suppose he could be completely innocent and up to nothing at all. He's just that happy to be there. That'd be a nice plot twist, actually, if a bit anti-climactic.

Oh and by the way, you've given me my new favorite word: Niggle. XD! Before today I can safely say I've never heard it before, but now I have no choice but to add it to my daily speech. My previous favorite word (medulla oblongata, don't ask...) was a bit hard to say in normal everyday conversations. And that was far more than you needed to know... I'm gonna stop now...

Great chapter! I'm glad to see 256 again. While I enjoyed following Carey/Janelle's story without any breaks for a while there, I've missed the guy. The flashback at the beginning was excellent. It was good to learn more about 256's past and it helped me understand him better. It's terrible what happened to him and it makes me hate the Gifted regime even more.

805 seems very interesting. From what little I've seen of him I kind of like him. (Which is probably a terrible mistake because that likely means he'll turn out to be an evil, ruthless toolbag XD) Perhaps if he earns a seat on the Council he'll become the source of an internal uprising within the Gifted what with the way those with the Gift of Earth are treated. I'm reaching again... I've got to stop that.

Anyway, overall a very good chapter. I'm looking forward to finding out what mission 805 and 256 are going on. I'm pretty sure its not going to be to do anything good...

And so Carey officially joins the rebels! Yay! I'm far more excited about that than I probably should be but that's okay. Now, if only they could plot some sort of daring rescue mission to spring 256 from what I can't help but imagine is the Gifted version of Azkaban from Harry Potter, I'd be immensely happy XD.

Joking aside, I greatly enjoyed this chapter. I was glad to see Carey finally realize that getting back home won't be as easy as she's been thinking. I was worried that she would try to get to her village regardless of what Janelle said (Carey hasn't always made the wisest of choices, after all). It was good to see that she made really the only choice she could have made and joined the rebellion. Well, I suppose she could have chosen to live alone like a hermit in a cave up in the mountains, but what would that accomplish?

I'm still suspicious of Reagan. He's too excited to be there and too happy to meet random people. That, and I'm automatically wary of overzealous huggers XD. If he's some sort of Gifted spy, then he's the worst (or maybe the best O.o) spy ever. I don't know, but I think he's up to something.

And Samantha! Okay, so I didn't buy that her story was mostly lies like she claimed, but I didn't expect her to confront Carey like that! I fully believe she's Gifted now... or maybe Thomas is and the story was about him? Sam's protecting him? Maybe they're both Gifted! Okay, I've got to lay off the conspiracy theories... but hey, you're definitely making me think!

Not to worry! My own comments are slow right now, so I completely understand. Please, never feel pressured to comment! We're not getting paid for any of this after all XD!

Anyway, yeah this chapter came to be mainly because writer's block hit me like a sledgehammer during this chapter (which was supposed to contain what takes place in chapters 24 and 25, neither of which am I satisfied with to this day) and so I took a friend's request to tell the whole story over again from Ariana's POV and the idea of 'clip show' that some TV shows are known to do when they go back and show scenes from earlier episodes and the pieces just fell into place. It also let me tell Fluffers' story, which I'd been trying to work in for a while :D

As for Ari's mother... well, I'll say only that you're right. There's more to it than that, and she might not have done it for the reasons you're thinking O.o

Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this. I had a really strange week... Anyway, another good chapter. I must say that this chapter is making me suspicious of everyone XD! Samantha; who I'm starting to truly believe wasn't lying with her story before. Reagan; who seems oddly... I don't know. Something's off about him. I think I would have felt that way even if Janelle hadn't been suspicious of him. And, of course, there's Thomas. He seems like he'll be an interesting character. His introduction added a bit more mystery to the story, which to me one can never have enough of :D

I've got to say, I really liked Janelle in this chapter. She seems to be trying to become a real leader now, so that's good. Telling Carey that her village is likely being watched showed that she's thinking logically. That's exactly the sort of thinking she'll need to lead the rebellion.

Carey's interrogation was also quite well done. I'm interested to see if Carey will join the rebels (assuming she can convince them she's not an evil Gifted spy) or if she'll ignore Janelle's warning and try to return home regardless.

Haha! Yep you were right! That was an incredibly disconnected payoff for that brief mention all that time ago. I don't think Kayla put it together with what Ariana was going to tell her. I don't think she even remembers the conversation. A lot's happened since then, after all XD. You'll learn a bit more about what happened in the next chapter, although not too much. It'll be a sad story for sure once its told in its entirety, but that won't happen for quite some time yet. (Blame LOST for my evil plot threads that hang for numerous chapters. That show made me into a truly infuriating writer :D)

Kayla's really going about this completely the wrong way, isn't she? That scene where she's recounting their relationship was absolutely meant to be sad and sweet and yet clearly the wrong thing for Kayla to do, so I'm very glad you were thinking 'it's too much' during that part :D I'm also glad you found their reactions realistic. I was a bit worried about that part initially due to the time jump that skips over a lot of it and I tried to make their interactions after the jump seem 'colder' than before the jump given that their obviously not getting along that well. It seems to work anyway :P

Okay, so it's roughly 2am and I've been awake since 6am yesterday and I'm exhausted, but I can't get to sleep so here I am. I said that so you'll know that if anything I say here makes absolutely no sense, well you know why XD

Anyway, very good chapter. Samantha's story was intriguing and I'm not sure I believe she was lying. As Carey said, that story was well thought out. There's no way she came up with that on the fly. I'm very interested to see where that goes!

And poor Carey! How she'll get out of this one, I have no idea. I feel like she'll have a tough time convincing the rebels that she's on their side. I still don't see the rebels resorting to torture, but I expect some sort of serious interrogation happening in the next chapter.

One thing that I noticed was that it seemed odd that Janelle was so certain Carey was no threat very quickly. I would have thought, given recent events, that she would be overly suspicious of everyone but most particularly a Gifted girl that just strode into their secret headquarters. Not a big deal, just something that struck me as odd.

Poor 256! I'm really worried about the guy. I can imagine what sort of punishments the Gifted could come up with and none of them are particularly pleasant. I hope he'll be okay...

I was glad that someone finally told Janelle what she needed to hear. I've felt sorry for Janelle since the rebel's defeat, (her reaction to that event and her continued moping and self-doubt since then was realistic, expected, and wholly justified) however I'm glad to see that she's finally getting the strength and courage to own her failures but realize that she can still be a good leader regardless. I don't think she's fully ready to resume her position, but she seems to be on her way.

She really needed to hear what Marvin said to her. He actually expressed my own feelings on the matter quite well! I had suspected that Samantha would be the one to talk some sense into her, but I liked that Marvin did it instead. As much as I mistrusted him initially, he comes across as being very wise. I still think there's more to him than what he's revealed so far, but he seems to have both the good of Janelle and the rebellion at heart.

I'm worried about Carey, of course. Although, I'd like to ask her why in the world she decided to waltz into an unknown building in the middle of the forest while still wearing her Gifted uniform. I'm sure it's cold outside, but she'd have been better off going in there stark naked than wearing that! She needs to have a talk with someone about thinking before she does things :D I do imagine the rebels are going to capture her now and question her. I don't see Janelle resorting to torture to get information out of her, but I'm still concerned. I hope she'll be able to convince the rebels that they are on the same side.

Everyone automatically assumes Claire is a ghost, which considering how she's represented in this chapter, is a perfectly reasonable assumption. I still can't say too much about her due to her involvement with the ending, but I will say that she isn't a ghost in the traditional sense. I'm glad she interests you, but unfortunately there won't be any real revelations about her for quite some time yet. ;)

I had entirely too much fun writing memoryless Ariana. I got to completely rework a character that I've known for a long time now and that was really exciting. I messed around with exactly how she would act for a long time. I even made a sort of Anti-Ariana at one point where she was the total opposite of the original Ariana in every way. She was really mean XD. But yeah, the version I settled on really is a completely different person and there's really none of the old Ariana left in her.

I'm glad you mentioned that Ariana is under too much pressure, because you're completely right. Kayla's putting a lot of pressure (and will continue to put even more) on her to remember and that's something that could easily blow up in her face at some point. But that's Kayla, though. She's terrible at dealing with this kind of stuff and tries to bulldoze over the problem to get the result she wants, but it never really works out way she plans :D

Excellent chapter! This one hits you right in the feels at every turn! All those emotions! I was very happy to see Carey at last escape the Gifted's clutches, but also devastated that 256 didn't go with her. I was almost sure he would!

Speaking of 256, his journey and growth throughout the story so far has been exceptionally well done! From the terrifying Assessor at the beginning, to Carey's stiff and uncompromising kidnapper, then to a sort of mentor and friend, and now the hero that let's her go despite knowing the consequences of doing so. 256's evolution continues to be one of my favorite parts of this story. I certainly hope Carey and 256 reunite at some point, but I suspect Carey is going to stumble across a certain group of revolutionaries in the near future which might put my hopes of their reunion on hold for a while.

Also, you were correct that I dislike 440 even more now than I did before XD. Perhaps when whatever it is that 256 and 440 did is revealed (and the punishment that they each received for it) I'll have a bit more compassion for him, but for now I still want to punch him a little bit :P

Nope, they really can't catch a break! A series of unfortunate events might be a suitable description XD. On the memory loss bit, I knew I had to do something and not just have her wake up and be perfectly fine. I almost went with something else because memory loss was kind of predictable. Oh well. I'm glad you found it interesting :D I'll say that Ariana's inner battle might take a more outwardly course in the future... Is that a spoiler? Probably not. It probably didn't even make sense...

I'll definitely be doing some editing on this chapter when I get around to making another editing pass. I tried downplaying most of the references to the supernatural (which, yes you are correct, this is) when writing from Kayla's POV in an effort to keep it in the background as much as possible where she's concerned (Claire notwithstanding). But all it really did is make it seem as though Ariana's impossible recovery was nothing out of the ordinary when it clearly isn't. I'll get working on changing that soon. Thanks!

Another good chapter! Not a good one for the rebellion, of course, but a good one for the readers. With seven rebels already dead to only one Gifted, my favorite rebellion isn't starting off very well.

256's past continues to intrigue. I'm developing ideas about what he and 440 did, but I suspect I'm way off. Speaking of 440, I'll simply say that I do not like him. What he seemed to suggest 256 do to Carey gave me chills... and reminded me how the Gifted think of regular people. I must say that the conversation between those two was interesting and enlightening. Also, 256 seems to have some fight in him if he gets mad!

Poor Janelle. I feel bad for her quite often, but never so bad as I did in this chapter. She's sunk about as low as she can after the Lake Village slaughter. She reactions to what happened and her role in it come across as very realistic in that she blames herself completely and now doubts her ability as a leader even more than she did before. Considering how slow Janelle's story began, I'm now just as interested in her and Sam's story as I am in Carey and 256's. You've really ramped up the story of the rebellion and the two girls at the forefront of it, so great job on that!

Also, very interesting about Janelle's sister being her daughter instead. I began to suspect something like that I couple of chapters back, but I wasn't completely sure that was the way you were going with it. I see now why Janelle was so motivated to overthrow the Gifted. Now, I must learn Sam's secrets!

Haha, yes I debated for a long time just how long to let Ariana's life hang without a resolution or really even an update. If it's keeping you coming back, I guess I chose right :D 

Claire is... Claire is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery that we won't be unraveling for quite some time yet. She's involved with the ending, so I don't want to say too much about what she is or isn't. I've already probably said to much XD

Kayla is definitely coming to terms with the fact that Ariana isn't coming back at this point(that's not to say she isn't, of course!). It's good for her because she obviously doesn't handle death very well at all. I'm glad you find her grieving process realistic :D. I had quite a bit of trouble writing it. 

Oh, Alana! Yeah, she's got a crush. I get to have some fun with the two of them later on... Alana's not very good with the flirting.

Okay, so I held off reading this chapter because I just had a terrible feeling that it would make me sad and, naturally, it did. So, here we are XD

Overall, I enjoyed the action scenes. They were described very well without going into far too much detail about each movement the combatants made. It was interesting to see Gifts in conjunction with the rest of the melee. Good job!

So, on to storyline points. Carey didn't fair very well at all. It would have been odd had she been particularly successful against Janelle given that the latter has been training for a long time for this, so I liked that she failed even though she's one of my favorite characters. 

I really felt for Janelle in this chapter. Her first attempt at open rebellion ended in complete failure and she lost a lot of good people. Hopefully she'll learn from this and come back stronger, but I have a bad feeling that this defeat might just break her spirit. I'm not sure how many fellow revolutionaries she lost, but no matter what it will surely devastating both to Janelle as the leader and to the future of the rebellion.

Not James and Emma!!! I knew this wasn't going to end well and that people were going to die and I wasn't overly surprised that both of them died, but I was surprised at how bad I felt about it. Considering how little face time we've had with them, I didn't expect their deaths to hit me that hard. That's a sign of good writing, though! 

Yeah, Kayla definitely needed someone willing to stop tiptoeing around her and tell her the truth. Sometimes that's what it takes to get through to someone and Kayla absolutely needed some cold, hard truth about how she's been acting. That's Alana, though. She's usually very... direct XD. I intentionally added some humor to this chapter because, quite frankly, I was getting depressed writing this. Everything has been dark for a while now even I needed a break from it!

Kayla has pretty drastic moods swings! One moment, like at the end of this chapter, she seems to be doing better and then she's down again and then back up. She really doesn't know what to feel most of the time. She's kind of lost right now, but I think she actually expects Ariana to die so she's beginning to prepare herself for what she feels is inevitable. Poor girl has a very pessimistic additude towards... everything really :P

Haha, I'm glad you don't want Ariana to die XD! Fun fact: I actually wrote both outcomes, one where she dies and the other where she survives. Given how much the idea of fate plays into this story, I flipped a coin to decide which one I would use :D  

So, the rebellion begins! I'm very uncomfortable with this plan of Janelle's. She has very little actual leadership experience and she's taking a team of recruits to fight a squad of Gifted that was assembled specifically to hunt them down. I don't think this is going to end well for my favorite revolutionaries, but the next chapter should definitely be exciting!

I continue to enjoy Janelle's thought process and the way she doubts herself as a leader. It's very realistic that she would have doubts and fears and even lack confidence in herself, so well done there. I am a little worried that a few of the others aren't taking all this nearly as seriously as they should. Particularly James, who even says he's only there for the adventure of it all. Despite the fact that I think he's going to get the group in trouble soon, I still like him!

Poor Carey just can't catch a break! I actually thought she might manage to escape that time! Very good cliffhanger at the end. It made me very excited for the next chapter.

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you find Kayla's grief realistic. I tend to write overly dramatic at times and I find that I often have to consciously dial that back down because I've far overplayed character's emotions. This is particularly true in Kayla's case. She's supposed to overreact the things, that's part of her nature, but sometimes I go overboard XD.

I've long fought against (and pretty much defeated) the idea that Cooper could have or might have had some form of romantic feelings toward Ariana. I, too, hate love triangles so it never would have been anything like that. More of a 'I regret I never gave it a shot' type of thing. I don't know. I really prefer the brother/sister bond they have right now though.

Please, continue to be as picky as you'd like! :D Without anyone pointing out mistakes, flaw, etc, it's hard to fix them! I work on changing that when I do (yet another) editing pass. I'm terrible at editing xD.

Now I want to know what 256 did that he made him feel he deserved what he got. I'm guessing it was pretty bad, whatever it was. Anyway, really good chapter! 256 is without doubt my favorite character now. The banter between him and Carey tends to be hilarious even when the scene is serious and I really like that.

Carey definitely seems to be influencing him in a positive way. He's not yet questioning his duty or his loyalty to the Gifted, but he doesn't seem to always like or approve of the things he's expected to do, which of course is a good thing. It means he's not a full on company man and could one day change his ways, particularly if he stays in Carey's company for a while longer.

Also, the Other Worlds? Now I'm immensely curious about that. Since the story takes place on an island, I've been wondering what's going on elsewhere in the world. Now that I see there are whole other worlds out there, well... I confess myself to be intrigued!

Please, by all means have nerd moments! I'm notorious for my own nerd moments, so I understand! Actually, I did quite a bit of reading on the effects of people being locked in the dark for extended periods and cherry-picked the ones for Ariana that I liked (liked here having the meaning of 'terrified me').

I'm glad Adrian seems to disgust you! I know that's an odd thing to be happy about, but I was trying to make him as sick, twisted, and loatheable as possible without getting too gory with the details.

Ari's mother is a character that I really do need to explore more. You're right that Adrian was very cruel to her as well, which made her a lot like Ariana in her desire to please him although in her case she knew very well that what was happening was wrong. I will say that there is a very good reason why Ariana shot her mother instead of her father when she had the chance ;D

It was good to get some background info on Marvin! I was expecting him to say that he was Gifted himself seeing as his parents were. I had been assuming Gifts were inherited traits that were passed down through family lines. I'm still not sure if I trust him though. He's suspicious XD

I enjoyed learning more about the Gifted and their social structure. I didn't expect any sort of hierarchy or caste system based on their respective Gifts, but I really liked it. Good job there.

I knew Carey would try to escape the Gifted's clutches once out in the wild. I liked the way she seemed to regret leaving 256 behind. While I'm glad she stuck with 256 because I like him and the sort of love/hate relationship they seem to have going, if I had been her I'd have taken the risk and gone for it :P Anyway, good chapter. It seems like these characters are all starting move towards an encounter with each other soon!

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you mentioned Kayla's views of Ariana because that will turn into an important thing later on. She really is putting Ariana on a pedestal and while she is a very sweet, good person, she's still just human. Kayla's developing a bit of an unhealthy obsession with her for reasons that we'll delve into later. She's also starting to show some cracks in her mental state right about now.

Thanks for pointing out those errors. You're completely right on all accounts there. I'll definitely do some rewriting there as soon as I can. I was so focused on making sure I brought out as much of Kayla's feelings and emotions that I neglected realism. It works sometimes for the sake of storytelling, but it's far from necessary here. I'll fix it. :D 

I'll say though that Ariana being dead for as long as she was was done somewhat on purpose. I don't want to say too much because it has to do with the ending (although a few details appear in the next chapter) but there have been supernatural undertones throughout the story so far, what with the idea that fate or destiny is sort of guiding these girls along a predetermined path.

It was meant to come off as a miracle because you're right, no one could possibly survive that long without oxygen. I probably will change that too though, just so that it is a bit more logical. Thanks again! :D

The Leader is beginning to worry me. (yeah, as though he wasn't already worrying me before!) Shipping Carey and 256 to help put down the rebellion? He's up to something dastardly, I can feel it! Although perhaps Carey will soon come across a handful of revolutionaries hiding in a basement and decide to join in?

It's nice to see 256 is worried about Carey going on the mission as well. He really seems to care about what happens to her. I'm starting to see that he's not as much of a Gifted 'Yes Man' as I thought he was. He seems to have perhaps defied the Leader (and apparently lived to tell about it) once before. I wonder what he did?

Part of me kind of agrees with Janelle and her desire to train hard and long hours. They're up against an army of immensely powerful people and the only weapons they possess are two swords and a bundle of sticks. But while the others, or at least James, might not be taking things as seriously as he should, Janelle's at the other end of the spectrum altogether.

It seems like her responsibility as a leader of this revolution is starting to wear on her. I think she'll need someone to share the burden of leadership with if they're going to continue. Poor girl shouldn't have to shoulder all of that on her own. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough XD. Good chapter!

Oh, no worries! Good luck on that exam :D Hope you do well!

Let me first say that I'm very similar to George R. R. Martin in regards to the lives of my characters XD. None of them are ever truly safe. That's not to say Ariana dies, of course, although I seriously debated whether or not she would survive. Part of me really wanted to see what Kayla would do if Ariana died and that part put up one hell of a fight trying to win. I wasn't sure, even when I posted that chapter, whether Ariana would survive her wounds or not!

I'm glad you liked Kayla's acting talents. There was a version that led the reader into thinking that Kayla was actually serious, but I kind of hated it just a little bit so that version died tragically. Additionally, 'bastard' isn't nearly strong enough of a word to describe Dwayne XD. I'll not say what he is here, but well... yeah. I still want to go back and do a little editing to make him even worse. I love writing bad guys, but Adrian's still out there, so I have opportunities. :)

Another good chapter! I liked that this one focused solely on Janelle and Company. Their story has been a little slow moving thus far, (which, considering they are trying to overthrow an incredibly powerful enemy while having practically no resources or serious strategy, it really should be) but I was still glad to see them take center stage this time around.

I found the events at the Rosa's inn to be very realistic. The reactions of the inn patrons were all believable and exactly how most people would respond to being asked to join a rebellion. It was good to see that Janelle did manage to inspire a few people to join her and while they might not be the A-Team when it comes to potential revolutionaries, every rebellion has to start somewhere. (James seems exceptionally proud that he's a musician XD)

This was the first time I ever actually thought about the fact that these girls don't have any real plan to bring down the Gifted. It makes a certain degree of sense that they really wouldn't have any actual idea of how to do it yet considering that until now it was just the three of them with no supplies, allies, or even a base of operations! It should be interesting to see where their revolution goes from here.

Very well done with Carey's dream! Wesley's death scene was exceptionally well written and while it was pretty clear it was a dream (a fact which is aided by the italic) it was still a shocking moment. I scared my sister when I shouted 'Wesley, no!' rather loudly. Good going there.

I loved the interaction between Carey and 256. It was suitably awkward given their relationship thus far. I found myself laughing at some of his reactions. 256 isn't very good at comforting people, is he? Understandably, given the life he's had. It was interesting to learn that 256 can't read. I didn't expect that, although with the Gifted's efficient and utilitarian nature, it makes sense that he wouldn't because he doesn't need to.

By the way; Sam and Janelle huddling under the blanket together = cute XD

Mood whiplash! That's good, I'm going to have to remember that. I need to use that somewhere XD. There will be tears, I assure you. Lots of them.

Dwayne was clearly going to show up at some point. It's pretty much a given from the very beginning that these two are going to meet and have a final showdown at some point. I'm glad it managed to come as a shock, though!

Now, now, if I told you that where would the fun be? It's kind of Ariana's last secret and she's buried it pretty deep. It won't be brought up again for a good while. Obviously these girls have more pressing matters to deal with for the time being ;P

I call it 'fluffy darkness' myself. This story is full of it. It's sweet, but there's this darkness that kind of hovers in the background. Well, at least that's what I've been aiming for. This chapter was the last gasp of sweetness for a while. Without giving any spoilers, bad things are clearly about to happen ;P I'm not too shy to say that I cried like a little girl while writing chapter 14. Thanks for the comment!

Is there any story significance to the fact that all of the Gifted's numbers thus far all equal 13? I noticed primarily because I'm fascinated by numbers and patterns like that. (My friends think I'm weird) In my own writing, I use the infamous Numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) from the TV show Lost at any point I need to reference a number. I have no idea why I do this, but it helps me see similar patterns in other works. Now I sound crazy and I'm babbling... forget I said anything XD

Anyway, this chapter continues to both humanize the Gifted (with 256 and his memory of his trainer) and vilify them (in the case of the Leader). I like that while 256 is clearly devoted to the cause, he's not just a mindless drone. He has feelings and opinions that are entirely his own and they don't seem to always line up with the Leader's.

Interesting limitation to the Gifted's powers. I thought they would have to have one, otherwise Janelle and Sam's rebellion is pretty screwed. Having to be in physical contact with their target makes the Gifted seem far less powerful than they do if you think they can strike you dead from afar. If that little secret got out, it might just make some of the oppressed decide to join a fledgling rebellion.

Yeah, it was a Friends reference. At first I put that name in as a filler until I came up with whatever name I wanted to use. Then I forgot about it and by the time I got around to proof reading and remembered it I just decided to leave it. Figured it might get a giggle out of someone and hopefully lighten up an otherwise dark chapter.

Adrian's a really messed up guy! Like you say, Kayla going to the prison was pretty obvious, but I wanted to give readers a better look at just who this man is. His use of religion as a sort of 'Get Out of Jail Free' card was something I thought he might do just to toy with Kayla, although I think part of him actually believes he's been forgiven. Of course, there's also part of him that doesn't think he did anything wrong in the first place. As I said, he's a messed up guy.

There was a version of this chapter where Adrian gave more... details of what he did to Ariana. I'm talking very graphic details, but I actually felt a little sick to my stomach writing it so much of that was cut. That... and I figured Kayla really would kill him if he said much more! XD

I agree about Kayla being wrong about killing him. There are many worse fates than death, after all. Although, if you're sadistic, I'm really in trouble because I'm pretty sure a life sentence in a medieval torture chamber is where I'd put him!

Thanks for the comment! Yeah, everyone brings up the doctor and I completely agree about that. I spent ages writing and rewriting this chapter trying to come up with a better version of that scene. I even spent hours on Google, looking for any loophole that would give the doctor reason to tell all of that to Kayla. There isn't one. My problem is I don't want Ariana present when Kayla learns the truth, but as only the doctors responsible for her care know the truth I ran into a pretty serious roadblock. There's no one else that could tell Kayla because Ariana would never do it herself. I am going to figure out a better way for that scene to work because it still bugs me. I thought about changing it so that Ariana answers the door instead of Kayla, who would then eavesdrop on the conversation like Ariana does in the current version. The only problem with that would be that both Ari and the doctor know everything and it would be hard to give a lot of detailed info without both of them explaining things that the other would know about. I don't know, I'm gonna keep working on it.

I'm glad you're getting a bad feeling about the future here. I wanted to have a subtle feeling of something terrible looming on the horizon over the next few chapters without really talking about it directly. Without giving away too much,(although just by looking at the chapter titles will give you some idea) things are about to take a darker turn.

Another good chapter! Carey is reckless! She really should take 256's advice and stop telling everyone her escape plans. Not that she could actually escape from the Gifted anyway, but she should still keep her mouth shut on that topic.

I liked Marvin. He seems like a really good guy. I did find it odd that Janelle and Sam trusted him so quickly and flat out told him that they were planning to overthrow the government within minutes of meeting him. I would have been afraid he would turn me in for a reward! Although, the Gifted don't really seem like people that would go around offering rewards... Perhaps all the unGifted hate the Gifted and therefore wouldn't turn in those working against them regardless? I don't know, just something I noticed.

Overall, great chapter. I enjoyed finding out a little more of Janelle and Sam's backstory, although now I'm really interested in learning even more of Sam's. She got secrets, I think.

It occurred to me in the last chapter but I forgot to mention it and then 256 thought 'When he was a child, he had been taught that he was one of the lucky ones – they were the privileged, the Gifted. They were so much better than the others.'

The Gifted, I assume, are the ones that decided to called themselves Gifted and normal people unGifted. Not wizards, not benders, but Gifted. They're some egotistical little bastards, aren't they? XD

Anyway, this was probably my favorite chapter thus far. Despite the fact that I didn't want to, I actually found myself liking 256. Obviously, I wasn't rooting for him at any point when Carey was trying to escape, but his desire to not harm Carey's family, the fact that he thought she was pretty, and how uncomfortable he became when she just kept staring at him brought a bit of humanity to the Gifted. Until this point I kept picturing the Gifted as evil imperious overlords who might perhaps say 'Resistance is futile' every now and again.

I'm liking Carey more and more. It's good to see she has some fight in her. I'm pretty sure she's going to need even more now that she's going to... Gifted Hogwarts? I'm excited to see how things work out between Carey and 256 when he's trying to train her. Something tells me he's not going to have much luck!

Okay, I've got to ask; was Harold's mother's 'Winter is coming' statement a Game of Thrones reference? Probably not, but if it was then bravo! You have excellent taste in television! Anyway, on a more chapter related note; well done on this one.

I'm glad we got to see a little more of Janelle and Sam this time around. They seem to have an interesting dynamic between them. However, I can't say following a woman they just met to an inn filled with people was a particularly bright idea, especially since they're on the run XD. Wouldn't want to see them get caught before they can fire up their rebellion!

Poor Carey! I figured she'd be found out by the Assessor, but I had hope! I have to say, though, she had the absolute worst timing of anyone, ever!

I can't believe I'm only just now getting around to reading this! Gah, I need more free time! I keep finding things here that I really want to read! Anyway, great start! I like the plot you've got going so far. It makes me think of a sort of crossover between The Last Airbender and The Hunger Games. I'm interested to see where it goes.

I like Carey, especially the fact that she's just a normal, everyday girl living in a crappy world with dreams of having something more. She's not starting out as a badass warrior woman with a crossbow, bent on overthrowing the Gifted. She's just an average farm girl, so good job there. Also, while I fully expected her to end up being Gifted, I didn't see it coming up so soon so you managed to surprise me with that.

I think Janelle and Sam's (May I call her Sam?) two woman rebellion is going to need a little more support before it can get off the ground. Still, every revolution has to start somewhere, right? I'm interested to see what kind of mischief these girls will be getting into.

I love your descriptions in this chapter (and overall as well). The way you describe the scenes, particularly the garden, is very well written and really helps bring the reader in and make them feel as though they're really there.

I also liked May's reaction to finding herself in this strange world. She quickly goes from a dream, to Narnia, and then to a TV prank show! Love it!

Ah, so Maewyn must be May in an alternate universe then. This should be good! I'm quite interested to see how Maewyn will react to being tossed into our modern world, especially since she's clearly a noble lady and May is... well, not.

Also, something makes me feel as though these mirrors aren't just showing up at the exact same time in these women's lives by accident. I'm thinking someone somewhere is pulling the strings to set this up.

Very good chapter, and while I didn't expect such a drastic departure from the prologue it wasn't a bad thing. In fact, I quite liked it. I can empathize with May to a degree, especially in regards to her overbearing mother. I actually felt quite bad for the poor girl by the end. 

I enjoyed the part with the mirror. Pretty surprising that Hailey was right about it and since May's dad specifically told her to unpack everything, I'm curious if he knew what the mirror would do to her. I know I'm probably reaching there :P

Nice work so far! Will keep reading!

There's definitely been, and continues to be, a gradual shift in Ariana towards... normalcy. Especially her fear which starts to be lowered to a more manageable level. She'll probably never be completely normal, mainly because I think it would kill too much of her charm, but also just because too much has happened to her for her to ever fully recover.

Thanks for pointing out that error. You're not being picky at all, that line reads horribly. Working on changing that right now. Thanks!

I'm starting to get worried about Emma. She's always so tired all the time. That can't be good. Add to that a creepy man staring at her and something tells me she's about to start having some trouble come her way. Glad to see she still loves birds though! :P

I liked Jake a lot in this chapter. He's utterly clueless when it comes to Emma (and girls in general, really I think) but he's really sweet. I liked his attempt to protect Emma, even if he was just trying to bluff his way out of the situation.

He also seems to be realizing that he should stop comparing himself to Michael. That's really good for him and a great start on his path to healing and beginning to lead his own life. He needs to realize that he's just as good of a person as Michael was, and he seems to be heading in that direction.

This was, without question, the most difficult chapter of this story to write to date. I wrote it at least five different ways before settling on one. I had Ariana telling Kayla everything, but it felt wrong. I don't think she would talk about it willingly because she never wanted Kayla to know in the first place.

I also considered having her past revealed just by telling it from Ari's POV but that still didn't solve the problem of Kayla learning the truth. It was, however, far more detailed. I was much more descriptive of what happened to Ariana. It was dark and quite frankly sadistically terrifying. That part may be used at a later time.

The only other path that seriously considered was having Ariana answer the door and talk with the doctor instead of Kayla. She would have overheard the conversation like Ari did. It would have solved the problem you mentioned about doctor-patient confidentiality, but as both Ari and the doctor would have known all the gory details, it was hard to explain everything logically without both of them talking about things they would already know.

In the end, I chose plot over realism and tossed doctor-patient confidentiality out of the window for the sake of storytelling.

Haha! You're getting closer to bad things happening, I promise! :D

Ari's POV was something I heavily debated doing. I originally intended to never switch from Kayla's POV, but telling portions of the story from Ari's POV opened up so many new avenues for storytelling that I had to do it. It let me explore Ari's past before Kayla learned about it. It also allowed me to show the stark contrast between the version of herself she shows to the world and the real girl that she is inside.

Your impressions about Ariana's past is really the thing that almost kept me from including Ari's POV and nearly made me rewrite this chapter. Revealing as much of her past as I did in this chapter takes some of the power out of the actual reveal. Not a lot, because even what I do say is mostly open to interpretation. In the end, though, I'm glad I wrote it this way and will continue to switch to Ariana's POV from time to time.

Oh, absolutely! Coop's concerns are completely valid and, were I in his position, I'd feel the exact same way he does. Ariana is like a little sister to Coop and he's extremely protective of her. The thing is, he doesn't even realize just how dangerous Kayla is. Not because she would hurt Ariana herself, but because Dwayne is still hunting her. Coop is completely right and justified in his suspicions, he just doesn't realize that the danger isn't Kayla herself, just what she could bring down on Ariana simply by association.

Also, I'm very interesting in what would happen should Coop learn the truth about Kayla. There's definitely room for a story there.

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, I know that dream sequence can be seen as disappointing to some, dream scenes often are. But who's to say? Maybe it could happen for real some day.

I'm glad you liked the erotic scene (that's really weird for me to say). I originally considered being more... graphic... with the scene, but in the end it just didn't fit. That, and I wrote most of it on a red eye flight back home from NYC and the guy sitting next to me kept reading what I was typing. It was a very uncomfortable flight.

You're quite correct that the story is very fluffy up to this point. The background threat of Dwayne possibly finding Kayla really doesn't serve as a strong, constant danger to counteract the light and fluffiness of the rest of the story. However, there is a point (and I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler) where the plot turns from being happy to dark and very dangerous and stays that way for a while. While I still keep some humor around, the story definitely takes a much darker turn later on.

Thanks again for reading!

Haha! Ah, the power of music! :P You're one of us now.

This was really one of those chapters that I wanted to just let the girls have a little fun. You're right that there is a storm coming pretty soon and this chapter needed to be lighter and happier to balance out some of the darkness of the next couple of chapters. Plus, chapters like this let me have fun writing Ariana. She can be hilarious to write sometimes. Oh and as a point of interest, this chapter was actually once called 'The Calm Before the Storm'.

Glad you like Cooper. He's really protective of Ariana. He thinks of her as his baby sister and he sees Kayla as someone who could put her in danger. Unfortunately, I've really underutilized him so far, but I'm starting to integrate him much more. He has a pretty major storyline coming up soonish. 

You'll find out much of Ariana's past soon, I promise. I'm sure you can guess when just by the chapter titles!

Good chapter again. It was really sad that no one acknowledged Jake's birthday. It's understandable, given the circumstances and Jake obviously didn't want to think about it anyway, but still very sad.

I loved Dan in this chapter. The way he attempts to encourage Jake to pursue Emma, despite Jake's embarrassment, was really good.

It was good to see a little of Emma's home life and meet her foster family. Like Jake, I'm wondering why she was fostered and additionally I'm wondering just how much they know about Emma and what she can do.

The introduction of Hannah as Emma's foster sister I especially liked. Hannah seems to be the polar opposite of Emma in that she's very forward and talkative, whereas Emma is shy and socially awkward. There's a really great contrast with these two characters. Keep up the good work! :D

Yep, having that happen so soon was something I never intended to happen. It was to be much later, but when I was writing this chapter it just fit. It's one of the many places this story has taken a turn and gone a different direction than I first envisioned. Don't worry, though, there's a good bit of clueless romance coming and although it isn't between Ariana and Kayla, it's definitely in there. I'll admit, I generally prefer romances to be slow myself. But for these two it felt like it should happen fast. It should be unexpected and happen in the moment. Especially for Kayla, who already wishes she hadn't waited around when Claire was still alive. I thought that she would try and see where their relationship could go while she still has time.

The part from Ariana's POV was originally completely different. The entire story was to be written entirely from Kayla's POV and never switch to Ariana's. However, when I got to this point it seemed like such a great way to explore more of Ariana without going to deep into what happened to her. Glad you liked it!

And you're right; the side of Ariana that she shows to the world is very different from the side she keeps hidden and she has very good reasons for that.

Ariana's suicide attempt was something that I knew from the beginning was part of her back story. She even very vaguely hints at it when she gives Kayla the bottle in chapter 3. I wasn't sure when I would reveal it, but when I decided to do the section from Ariana's POV, it was a good fit since I was trying to show off the darker side of side of Ariana.

Haha! I was looking for something to lighten the mood after the previous chapter and I guess that worked! It's great having a character like Ariana that I can use for comic relief. She can say anything really and it doesn't seem strange or out of place. I'm glad you find Ariana refreshing. As much as I like writing her and keeping her weirdness, I worry she might end up coming off as annoying or unrealistic.

Kayla's guilt over her feelings for Ariana is something I worked on for quite some time. She carries a lot of guilt, unnecessarily in my opinion, over a lot of things and most of them aren't her fault. She blames herself for Claire's death and moving on feels like she's betraying her. She'll struggle with that for a while.

Oh, and to be honest, I HATE snow. Where I live we see snow a couple of times each winter and only a few inches at most. At these times, my entire city shuts down. Literally, everything is closed. Meanwhile, you can easily get out and drive if you're just a little careful. It is really pretty though...

Great start! I try not to read stuff like this because I honestly believe some idiot is going to push a button in some secret government facility and unleash a world-ending plague on us all, but regardless of my own unnatural fears, I really liked this. While this first chapter is quite long, which I've learned can be discouraging to some people, it didn't bother me. I was engaged and interested throughout. 

You describe your characters really well, but perhaps there are a few too many. I found myself forgetting who was who after a while, but regardless of that each character seemed to be very real and well crafted.

Good job. Will read more.

Really good start! I'm not the world's biggest fantasy fan, I'll admit. It's not a genre I'm really familiar with, but I enjoyed this. I like your writing style, the way you describe the scenes is really in-depth and detailed. You managed to draw me into the world and keep me interested, even though the prologue is very short. Good work! Looking forward to reading more.   

Good chapter. I liked the way you described Jake's memories as a long corridor with locked doors. That was a really interesting way to visualize a person's memories.

I really thought we were going to learn much more about Emma in this chapter since Jake was beginning to see that she wasn't just a normal girl, but nope :P She goes and wipes his memory! It's good writing, of course Never reveal your secrets too early, but we were so close it seemed! Ah well, it keeps me coming back for more!

Aha! My guess was right, even if as you say it was rather obvious.

I liked the interaction between Jake and his mother in this chapter. It seemed very real, very genuine that she would react, or perhaps overreact, to even the slightest sign of sickness in Jake, considering what happened to Michael. Good work there.

I felt bad for Emma when she said Jake was the only friend she ever had. Poor girl... kind of makes you want to give her a hug :P Anyway, nice work. Looking forward to learning more about Emma, because I don't have the slightest clue of what she could be.

Thanks for the comment! Most people that read this believe that Kayla was directly responsible for Claire's death and as such has been on the run from the law, and in an early draft that was actually the case. Eventually, I decided on a more unorthodox route and instead of having her on the run from the law, she's hiding from someone who's trying to kill her. That also allows me to play on the idea that Dwayne is still out there looking for her. That constant threat of him finding her hangs over both of the girls. 

Kayla is bisexual and I agree that it is definitely underrepresented and really always has been. I made the conscious decision to made Kayla bisexual, but also to really make the whole thing kind of a non-issue. I wanted it to be there and to be seen and referenced (which Kayla does in chapter 3 when she's talking to Cooper and here again in chapter 5) but I didn't want to make a huge deal out of it and end up coming off as perhaps disrespectful. I wanted to mention it, acknowledge it, and then let it be. It's there to be seen just like any other aspect of these characters, but it never becomes a focal point of the narrative. It isn't any more important or less important than any other part of Kayla.

There's definitely more depth to Ariana than there first appears to be. She has the sweet, innocent side that she shows to the world, but underneath there's a long going on. She uses that innocence almost like a shield, a way to protect herself from what she's really feeling... if that makes sense.

Ariana has an incredibly forgiving nature. She forgives everyone, even those who aren't deserving of it. Even if someone hurts her, she'll let it go and forgive them even if she knows they'll do it again. It's beautiful, but it puts her in a position to be abused very easily.

Yeah, Ariana's a sweetheart. That was really my vision for her. I wanted her to have a generous and giving nature, despite all she's been through. I hope I succeeded. She's definitely not a badass anti-hero, although now I'm picturing her in a chainmail bikini battling a dragon with a flaming sword. Hmm... you're giving me ideas... :P

Their relationship has moved, and continues to move over the next few chapters, far too fast. It's something I've seriously considered changing, but when I look at just how large of a rewrite I would have to do it just doesn't seem worth it.

I've come to rationalize it by thinking that because of how long Kayla as been alone and on the run, forced to abandon her family and losing Claire, she kind of has this need to love someone and Ariana is just so easy to love that it just came on more quickly. I need to go back and work that into a chapter somewhere... maybe show a bit more of Kayla's thought process on the subject. It's something to look into. Thanks! :D

Okay, so I broke down and read the last few chapters in one sitting. I was trying to pace myself, but finally said screw it and finished it up. I shouldn't have because now I'm sitting on a cliffhanger that has me very interested indeed.

I'm wondering what Emma did to Jake, because it seems clear that she had something to do with him fainting. I have a whole list of ideas as to what the short 'dream' could have been but I'll spare you having to read that and just wait to find out if I'm completely wrong.

I'm also intrigued by Emma's interest in drinks. Her reaction when the shop didn't have her mint chocolate milk seemed like more than simple disappointment. And her getting the ginger beer seemingly by magic was interesting. Is there, perhaps, a magical quality to the ginger beer? Or was it really ginger beer at all? Maybe a drink from... wherever it is that Emma's from that she knew would help him? Ugh... now I'm rambling. Anyway, good work. Looking forward to your next update! 

I'm really liking this so far. I'm even more intrigued by Emma now than I was before. She's strange, but she seems like she knows a lot more about everything than she's letting on. She also seems really sweet. Her concern for the poor bird, despite being such an insignificant creature, made me really like her. She appears to have a love for life in all its forms.

I also liked the counseling session. Jake seemed really believable there and I wouldn't mind seeing more of Sarah in the future. I liked her even though she may not play a huge role.

I did feel that the scene itself was a little short and Jake stating that he felt better after only one short session felt a little off, but otherwise that's my only nitpick. Still, the scene was excellently written and it actually made me sad.

Thanks for the comments. By all means, ramble away! I often do the same thing! It's bad when I have to spend a few minutes editing my comments because I've gone on too long...

Yeah, Cooper really is a bit young to be a manager. I need to do some editing on that. Maybe make him a bit older or his family owns the shop or something. I'll look into it because that really doesn't fit

I'll agree that I don't like that song either, which is weird because I use it a few more times. Like you say, though, it's just so appropriate that I had to use it. I scrolled through Youtube looking for sappy songs for that chapter and nothing else fit the scene like that one did.

I'm really liking this so far. Great start! Looking forward to future chapters.

I really enjoyed this chapter. It did a good job of introducing readers to the setting and characters. I love your writing style too. It's different, but really good.

I'm finding myself intrigued by these characters, particularly Aoti who seems very interesting and just a tiny bit... I'm not sure if creepy is the right word. Something just seems off about him. I'll keep reading and see if I'm completely misjudging him.

Thanks for the comments! You're completely correct about the slipping into second person. It's a terrible habit that I have that has proven very difficult to break. I've been working to catch myself whenever I do it recently, but I do need to go back and edit those places.

Chapter 1 is super long, I agree. Point of interest, it was originally a third longer than it is now. I did tons of editing and trimming to get it to the length that it is now. Looking back, I've wished I could shorten it but when I try it doesn't read as well. It feels like it's missing something.

The slang bit is something I really have to work on and I have to watch myself very carefully when I'm writing. In my part of the world, we use words and phrases that aren't used many other places so I have to make sure I don't slip up and use words no one else will understand. FUBAR was one of those times I messed up. I've got family in the military so I hear that all the time and it slipped through. I need to edit that too.

That was really good. You have a great setup and introduction with really revealing back story other than Jake's brother's death. This chapter has that hook, just enough to make me want to keep reading. 

I'm interested in this mysterious girl as well. That duck line was such a sudden change of pace that for a minute I thought there was a missing paragraph or something. I guess the question now is, does she like ducks?

Anyway, good work so far. Looking forward to reading more.