Accidental Demon Slayers: Melody of Light pt. 34

When Ashtyn entered the lobby she felt the tension in the air.  Only hours early the place had been a romantic paradise, but now, as she glanced to the couples seated at the small tables, she could see something other than love in their eyes.  She could see boiling hatred. 

“What the hell is going on?” Ashtyn glanced back at Q, who was doing his best to keep his distance from Max. 

“Heartbreak Island, in full bloom.” His voice was still raw and raspy. 

Ashtyn glanced from table to table.  Some of the couples were just sitting in silence, and the ones that were talking were speaking in harsh whispers.  Then the mirror behind one of the tables caught her eye. 

Standing there, watching her, was Bobby.  His face was slack, his eyes… his eyes a liquid silver.  She glanced across the lobby, at a different table.  Kurt stood there, the same silver eyes, the same slack expression.  Another mirror, and there was Clare, and across from her, Liz. 

The witch had been very busy while Ashtyn wasn’t looking. 

“Clare…” Max’s voice was a choked howl. Ashtyn turned as Rita restrained him, but she wasn’t having an easy go of it. 

Was that really them? Were her friends really standing there, watching her from the other side of the glass?

“Decoys.” Tabitha’s voice rang in her skull.  The urgency made Ashtyn freeze.  “Do not fall for this trick.  The wicked one is strong, but she needs to be stronger.  Do not give her what she needs.” 

“Tell that to Max!” Ashtyn thought. 

Max suddenly froze, his eyes going out of focus. 

“Voices… in my head.” Max looked at Ashtyn. 

“Welcome to my world.” She looked straight ahead, towards the front doors.  Towards the two mirrored front doors, which were now closed. 

The witch stood there, matching Ashtyn’s movements perfectly.  The old bitch was smiling. 

There was a slam, and Ashtyn and her group turned.  The doors to the back gardens closed with force enough to make them all jump. 

Ashtyn glanced around the room.  The tension was growing.  The decoys, the copies of those the witch had spirited away were now smiling.  This was going to be bad.  Very bad. 

“You son of a bitch!” One of the women, older with silver hair and jewelry that probably cost more than Ashtyn’s entire salary, stood up and smacked her husband across the face, her ring cutting into his cheek. 

That was all it took. 

The whole room erupted into screams and yells.  Furniture was being overturned, glass shattered.  The guests were going bat shit, and Ashtyn and her friends were trapped in the middle of it

A chair flew by Rita’s head.  She ducked, pulling Max down with her.  Ashtyn grabbed Q, pulling him behind one of the pillars as two women rolled past them, their perfectly manicured nails ripping at their recently botoxed faces.

“This is your chance.” Tabitha’s voice was calm, but stern.  “Use the pandemonium to break the mirrors on the doors, and get out! Have the others smash the mirrors with the decoys.  It’ll lessen her hold on the room. ”

Ashtyn nodded, not even stopping to think.  She moved quickly, dodging and weaving through the lobby. 

“Break the mirrors!” She didn’t look back as she yelled.

She heard a smash, then the sound of class falling to the floor.  Another smash.  She looked over her shoulder.  Q and Rita had done what she had asked.  Max… Max stood in front of the mirror that held Clare’s doppelganger.  He was reaching out towards her, and she was doing the same. 

“Rita! Stop him!” She froze. 

A potted plant suddenly smashed into the image of Clare, shattering it, and breaking the hold on Max. 

Ashtyn was in front of the doors now, a chair in her hands, raised.  The old woman reflected her stance back at her, but her face was no longer smiling. 

“I’ll drain your friends dry before you ever get to them.”  Her voice was a raspy, ugly hiss. 

“Fuck you.”  Ashtyn brought the chair down, smashing the mirror, and spraying glass everywhere. 

She dropped the chair, turning, shielding her eyes.  She could hear the doors flying open, and the fighting slowed, then stopped. 

Ashtyn stood up, brushing the glass off of her, ignoring the cuts the slivers of mirror had raked across her skin. 

“Come on.”  She glanced back at her friends, who already looked worn and tired.  She knew Max and Rita had been through this already, but looking at them now, she wasn’t sure they were ready for another go at Demon Slaying. 

Too bad they didn’t have much of a choic

Eye See You: Randy pt. 6

“So, what makes you think that one of us sent this to you?”

My roommate, Dave, sat on the couch, his laptop propped up on his knees.  He was a slob, a slug, and my best friend.  He also wasn’t someone who liked playing pranks. 

“That shit is beneath me.”  He laughed.  No, he snorted. 

I knew he wouldn’t have been the one.  It didn’t feel like something he would do.  I couldn’t explain it to Bella earlier, and I couldn’t explain it to Dave now. 

It felt mean.  It felt… angry. 

The messages didn’t contain enough to confirm what my feelings, but they were there, and I knew they were right. 

“I could try and backtrack it for you.”  Dave held out his hand, his fingers wiggling, waiting for me to give him my phone. 

I didn’t have much of a choice. 

Pom Pom Angel: Love Rescue pt. 17

Missy couldn’t sit still.  She couldn’t just let Gus go out with that… that DEMON! She was his responsibility, damn it, and she needed to make sure that he didn’t get his soul sucked out of his body in the first week she was on the job. 

“Don’t even think about it.” Nando’s voice echoed from the kitchen, over the sounds of pots and pans. 

“Think about what?” Missy tried to play dumb.  It wasn’t too difficult.  Most people already thought she was an airhead.  All she had to do was play to their expectations. 

“I can see you in there, fidgeting around.” He poked his head into the living room.  “Don’t you dare even consider crashing Gus’s date.  The first date, I might add, that I have ever seen him go on.  Ever.”

“She’s a demon, Nando!” She was on her feet, hands balled into fists.  “Do you know what demons do to people?  Especially to gullible people like Gus.  People who secretly crave romantic attention, even though they’ll never admit it?” 

“Just because you didn’t pick her, that doesn’t instantly make her a…” 

Missy cut him off.  “This has nothing to do with me picking her or not.  She. Is. A. DEMON! Horns, pointy tail, the whole deal.”  She was right in Nando’s face, her eyes locked onto his.  “Just because she hid her nasty, demonic self behind a cute pair of boobs and a nice butt doesn’t make her any less of a demon.” 

He looked at her, watching her face closely.  He put down the bowl he had been holding, his hands resting on his hips.  “You’re serious, aren’t you?” 

“Dead serious.” Finally, she was getting through to someone. 

“Then come on.” He brushed past her, making his way to the hall closet.  “I can’t be having my best friend, and the guy who pays half my rent, getting his soul stolen.”

Missy was right behind him, following him out the door. 

She hoped she wasn’t too late.  Demons could work fast. Real fast.  She wasn’t exactly sure how demons stole men’s souls, but she was pretty sure that it wasn’t pretty. 

They were out the front door of the apartment building when Nando stopped. 

“What?” She bumped into him when his forward motion ceased.

“Do you remember where he was taking her?” He looked at her. 

“Do you really think he would tell me?”

“Shit.” 

Eye See You: Randy pt. 5

My phone vibrated. 

I jumped.

I must have looked like an idiot, but Bella didn’t say anything. 

Out of habit I pulled my phone out of my pocket.  I had a message.  My heart rate started to increase.  The sender was Unknown.  My mouth went dry.  I clicked on it. 

There was a list of names, first only, and five total.  Janelle’s was at the top, mine at the bottom.

Janelle.

Sam.

Luke.

Amy.

Randy.

“Who is it?”

I told Bella the truth.  I didn’t know. 

The phone shook again.  Another message appeared. 

“I’m close.”

And I completely missed a very important anniversary!

Accidental Demon Slayers: The Serials has been running for a year now! How the heck could I have missed that?

So, in honor of that one year anniversary, I will terrorize you all with my terrible art.  These are four covers for the four story arcs that I've done over the past year.    They were actually something I did for a project in class, but this anniversary seems like the perfect time to release them!





 Clare and the Ghost Hunter         

 (Character on Cover: Clare) 
  Experiments in Darkness
                                                                            (Characters on Cover: Left-Kurt, Right-Bobby)

Daughter of Darkness

                  (Character on Cover: Rita) 

Melody of Light

(Characters on Cover: Left- Clare, Center-Aria, Right- Bobby)

Knowing when to pull the plug...

If you look up at the tabs for pages you may notice that something has changed.

Yes, I have changed the tab for Accidental Demon Slayers: Alternate Lives. Why?

Well... I am going to be totally honest.  I have grown to hate that game. I mean, really hate it.  The original idea was good, but by the end the game had become such a mess that I couldn't in good conscience release it as it is.  Even with most of the game actually completed.

So, why would I not release something after working for so long on it? I don't want my name, or the Accidental Demon Slayers name attached to something that I feel is subpar.  It's as plain as that.  I love the characters and the world of ADS, and I do not want to put something out that may damage what I have built.

The other issue is that the story in Alternate Lives started forming not long after I completed the first game.  At the time, the story made sense, and would have opened up a whole new side to the mythology.  Then I started working on the serials, and the world started to grow, and the story direction changed.  Suddenly I was finding that the story in Alternate Lives no longer fit into the ADS world.

So, I'm starting from scratch.

What can I tell you about the new game?

Right now, not a thing. I'm still figuring it out, and also trying to figure out how I'm going to get it done with the little free time I have.  If I had a team, making a visual novel would be a whole lot easier, but right now it is just me, and between work, school and maintaining some semblance of a social life while also trying to get some sleep, makes giving a game the time it needs very difficult.

So, I apologize for pulling the plug on Alternate Lives, but it had to be done.