Letters from the Dead Epilogue

A student sneaking out for a smoke had found Felicia in the woods behind the school. 

Her body had been nailed to a large, wooden cross that had been left dangling from a tree.

Just from the brief description in the paper Ashtyn had found her stomach churning. 

Two days after Felicia was found, three students committed suicide during a school assembly.  The day after, four students dove head first off the roof of the school building.

Demon Slayers Inc. couldn’t get ahead of this one, and the fallout meant people were dying. The Sisters of Suffering, and their letters, had moved to quickly for Ashtyn, or anyone on her team, to get to the source.  The letters had spread.

A week after Felicia was found it was announced that the Church of the New Day was acquiring Wheaton Prep.  They promised to do everything in their power to stop the outbreak of violence and suicide.

Ashtyn was sure that, once the Church was in power, the violence would end suddenly. The letters had served their purposes, and the Church, or at least someone in the church, had what they wanted.  Now it was time to build up the town’s trust. The easiest way to do that was to play savior.

This was the first battle that Demon Slayers Inc. had truly lost, and Ashtyn hoped they fared better in the war that she knew was coming.  If they didn’t, she didn’t even want to think of what future awaited them, and how many lives would be lost in the process.

The Suffering Cycle continues in... A Dark Lesson: Amanda

Eye See You: Randy Connects pt. 14

The door suddenly unlocked, then slowly it creaked open. 

Dave stepped back.

I stood next to him. 

Through the widening opening in the doorway Bella’s room was slowly revealed to us.

The first thing we saw was red.

There was so much red.

It was splattered on the walls, the floors. Even the ceiling had a healthy coat of thick, red liquid.

My eyes searched for Bella.

I didn’t see her at first.  Then I saw her hand on the edge of the bed. 

Her leg was on the floor. 

Pieces of her flesh dripped from the blood soaked walls. 

Bella was no more.

She had been reduced to bloody pieces of meat.

Ruins pt. 32

The tree cover grew thicker, blotting out the sun for long stretches. 

I could hear something in the distance. 

It was familiar, but unexpected.

Birds.

I could hear birds.

“There are animals in here?”

Kay’s voice seemed to shake with joy.

“Real, live animals?”

“Yep.  The ones that survived during the first wave migrated here.  The climate is fairly controlled and temperate, so a variety of species are now cohabitating comfortably here.”

She looked around at the forest.

“I’ve even noticed the forest adapting itself to better accommodate specific types of wildlife.”

It sounded like a Garden of Eden.

I didn’t mean to, but I said those words out loud. 

She laughed.

“I guess that’s why we named it that.”

I looked at her, my mouth agape.

We were in the new Garden of Eden.

Eye See You: Randy Connects pt. 13

When I walk into my apartment I can hear the sound of someone yelling.  The voice is familiar.

Dave is screaming.

There is the sound of fists pounding on wood.

“Bella, open the door!” 

Dave’s words spring me into action. 

I rush towards Bella’s room.

The door is closed.  Dave was standing in front of it, his face blotchy and red. 

Blood dripped from his fists as he pounded against the splintering wood. 

What the hell…

The words are barely a whisper, but Dave hears them. 

He looks at me, and I can see tears streaming down his face. 

“He sent a text!  That Unknown guy.  He sent you a message!”

Dave throws the phone to me. 

Expect an update REAL soon.  It’ll be explosive.

Bella’s scream made both Dave and I freeze.

Then there was silence.

Site Updates!

So, Letters from the Dead will be drawing to a close on August 7th, which means that things will be changing up again.  Series end, new series begin, and this blog keeps on rolling.

First change up is the follow up to Letters from the Dead.  The second part of the The Suffering Cycle will be... A Dark Lesson!  A Dark Lesson pulls from a lot of the ideas that I had originally used  in Alternate Lives, but mainstreamed and much less... sucky.  It also ties more closely to the game.  So, if you haven't played the fAccidental Demon Slayers game, give it a go.  Namely, it takes the True Ending as a jumping off point, and you will be seeing a lot of familiar faces from the game show up.

It also will only be posting one day a week, due to the chapters no longer being in the cellphone novel style, and instead reverting back to longer (although nowhere near as long as before) posts.  Longer chapters means more time needed to write, which means I can only realistically handle one post a week.  So, A Dark Lesson will be taking the Monday slot.

What about Friday?

Well, Friday is going to be filled by a new series, unrelated to anything else on this site.  Friday will now be the home to... Tentacle University.  Yep, more tentacles.  I know, I know, I'm a little obsessed, but trust me, the series is fun.  Probably the most fun I've had writing a series in a while.  It is also a bit more on the mature side.  I mean, tentacles... that kind of says it all.  But fear not, it is not all out porn.  Just a little more racy than my other stuff on here.

So, to sum up the updates.  Letters from the Dead wraps up on August 7th, and two new series will be taking their spots. Eye See You and Ruins will continue in their slots until they wrap up (which I don't see happening any time soon).

Stay tuned, as there is always stuff in the works over here at Square Zero.  Mainly because my mind can never seem to be quiet.

Letters from the Dead pt. 65

I howled when the spike made contact with my right wrist, easily parting the flesh and imbedding itself into the wooden arm of the cross.  Agonizing pain shot up my arm.

The world flashed white, but it didn’t fade.

Another loud whoosh, and suddenly more pain was firing up my left arm.

Whatever force had been holding me up finally let me go, and my body began to drop, only being stopped by the two railroad spikes that pinned my arms to the cross behind me.

It became difficult to breath, and the world became foggy.

A hard crack across my face snapped me back to consciousness.

“Not yet.”

Cherish laughed.

I shook my head, pained tears pouring down my cheeks. 

No.

The word came out as a choked croak.

“Yes.”

Cherish’s laugh grew louder.

I didn’t need to look up to know where the next spike was going.

I just closed my eyes and hoped that I would eventually pass out from the pain.

Fifteen minutes later I finally did.

I was grateful that I never woke up again.