New Pom Pom Angel: Forbidden Kiss pt. 13

Dinner went very well, and after we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. He held my hand, and occasionally our shoulders would brush together.

Normally being affectionate with another man in public made me uneasy. There were always glances, or comments. Sometimes people would threaten me. Even in a time where more and more people were accepting of same sex couples, that fear had to always be present. There was that need to always be aware of your surroundings, and the people nearby. 

Dante didn’t care. He understood evil, but in an odd way, he didn’t seem to understand hate. He didn’t care that people were staring at us. He just wanted to hold my hand, and that was all that mattered. It probably helped that he had demonic powers, and that any drunken bro who decided to start shit didn’t stand a chance against him. That wasn’t all it was, though.

He was just too happy to care.

Eventually we made our way to a small park two blocks away from our building. We walked the cracked cement path through the overgrown trees and found a bench across from a small koi pond. Still holding my hand, he gently guided me to sit next to him. Once I was seated he kissed my cheek and gently rested his head on my shoulder.

“Are you happy?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Do I make you happy?”

It didn’t take me long to admit that he did. He made me very happy. He made me happier than I had been in years.

“Yes,” was my answer.

“Good.” He turned his head and kissed my shoulder. “You make me happy, too.”

And that was all it took for me to admit that I had completely and totally fallen in love with the demon sitting next to me.

I didn’t know what how the relationship would develop. It could be amazing, or it could be hell on earth, but that was fine. At that moment I realized that I was willing to take the risk, because Dante was worth it. Dante, with all his flaws and misunderstandings of human tradition, was the perfect man for me, and I would be a complete idiot to pass it up.

I turned my head towards him, and we kissed.

I was madly and truly in love, and that was all I needed at that moment. 

Slime pt. 6

“What the hell was that?” Lana froze, listening. The noise was gone, but she could have sworn it sounded like a scream.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Rochelle was busy at one of the computer terminals that lined the walls of the compound’s central command station. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Lana sighed. “Guess the quiet of this place is just starting to get to me. Never had cabin fever before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

The central command was a medium sized room made smaller by the sheer amount of equipment stuffed into it. It didn’t help that it was tucked in the lower level, not far from the mining crew bunkers, and that meant there were no windows. The place felt like a metal closet.

“So,” Rochelle glanced back at the computer screen, “the damage to the planet is pretty extensive. Not complete, mind you. It looks like almost a third of the planet structure has been hollowed out, but that amount is growing. The planet should be at half mass by tomorrow afternoon if the decay rate stays steady.”

“Half mass?” Lana shook her head. “What the hell is causing it? And where the hell is it all going? That much planet does not suddenly just vanish without a trace.”

“Well, I can account for at least half of what is already missing. Our mining operations have done significant damage to the planet’s structure, and the operations have removed a large amount of materials from the planet’s core. As for the rest of it… I have no clue.” Rochelle continued to tap away at her keyboard.

“As for the structural integrity of the compound?” She leaned forward. “How bad is it?”

Rochelle sighed. “Not great. The entire structure isn’t over the… breakdown? I don’t really know how to describe it. Anyways, the entire structure isn’t at risk, but a portion of it is. Namely the village area. The stores and recreational portions of the compound are at high risk of collapse.”

Lana nodded and stood up, walking towards one of the in station communicators. She tapped a few keys, and the screen blinked to fuzzy life.

“Heather?” She spoke into the intercom, and waited for a response. “Heather, can you hear me? God I hope you have your communicator on you.”

“I hear you.” Heather’s voice crackled back. “Not well, but I can hear you. I have one of the skeleton crew here, Marco. Captain, something happened. The bar… well, it’s gone.”

Lana responded, “I’m not really surprised. Listen, you need to clear out of the village. It isn’t safe. You and Marco should make your way towards the bunker and the central command. I’ll explain more when you get here.”

“Got it,” Heather answered.

“See you in a few. If you run into any problems just contact me through the command number. Rochelle and I will be here.” Lana disconnected from the communicator.

She glanced around the room, at all the outdated technology that surrounded her. TV and movies had lied to people for years. There were no glass touch pads or holographic screens. While they did exist, no company, and no government for that matter, was going to spend money on them. Not unless the compound or ship could prove to be profitable. No, places like Tetra-18 were gifted with the outdated crap that no one else wanted, but everyone knew how to use. It meant less time training people, and lower overhead.

“This is odd.” Rochelle’s voice brought Lana back into the present.

“What?” She walked over to the computer terminal.

“That unaccounted mass? Well, I think I found it. It didn’t so much vanish as it condensed and relocated.” Rochelle pointed to the terminal. “It’s… well, it’s moving directly under us. It looks it’s building up.”

As if in response the room suddenly gave a sudden jerk. Both Lana and Rochelle had to brace themselves from the shock wave, but they did manage to stay on their feet.

“Rochelle, I need you to contact the pickup shuttle. I don’t know how they can manage it, but they need to get here faster.”

“On it.”

Lana headed back to her desk and opened a connection to Rochelle’s computer. Something in the data she had pulled up, and in the images she had managed to get together bothered her. It was the way the mass was moving. It seemed deliberate. It seemed…

Alive. 

A much needed break.

So, this is a post I never thought I would have to write, but I am finding it impossible to avoid.

Basically, I need a mental break. Square Zero is very fun to write, and I enjoy all the worlds and stories that I've created, but it also takes a lot for me to keep up with all of the different series. I have recently made a big move in my real life, and am job hunting, which is taking up most of my mental energy.

So, I am going to be taking a short break from Square Zero, and when I come back there are going to be some changes to the blog. Most importantly, I am going to be cutting down on the number of series that I'm writing, as well as the days that I will be posting, while also adjusting the schedule with the remaining series that I have currently running. The time will also allow me to plot out some of my trickier series, and iron out some of the issues I've been facing with the story progressions. I would prefer to get those things figured out now instead of writing myself into a corner, as I have with series in the past.

So, once I have the schedule figured out, I will post it on the blog. There will be some new posts next week, and then the new schedule will begin on July 11th, with the beginning of the third arc for New Pom Pom Angel.

I apologize for the break in posting, but I need the time to make the adjustments to keep Square Zero running smoothly. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Tentacle University 2: The Sorority pt. 19

Kent sat in his room, his eyes locked on his phone. He hadn’t heard back from his guys, and that made him nervous. The fact that he had heard police sirens early made it worse. Something had gone sideways. He could just feel it. This was all about to blow up in his face.

Why had he trusted those three to do his dirty work for him? They were morons who were two steps below apes. All they knew how to do was hit shit. Well, and fuck. They knew had to fuck real well, and right now they were fucking him well and good, and Kent wasn’t enjoying it.

The phone rang, and Petra’s number popped up. He answered on the second ring.

“What happened?” Kent could hear the panic in his voice, and it made him sick.

“I couldn’t tell you. Something weird blew up, and Morris is dead.” Petra’s speech was rapid fire.

“One of those fuckers killed him?”

“I doubt it. His body was all messed up. Looked like he had been mummified.”

Mummified? What the fuck was going on? Was Petra screwing with him? It wasn’t funny. He was freaked out enough, and he didn’t need some no brain thug cracking jokes at his expense.

“Don’t you bullshit me…”

“I’m telling you the truth! I don’t know how it happened, but Morris was turned to fucking tanned leather.” Petra paused. “Listen, Voigt and I are coming over, and…”

Kent cut him off. “No, you listen. You two need to stay far away from this house for a good, long while. I’ll meet the two of you tomorrow. Somewhere public. Just keep your heads down and your fucking mouths shut.” He bit his lip. “And watch Voigt. He’s still a good old boy, believes in right and wrong and all that shit. Make sure he doesn’t talk.”

“Do you want me to… you know?” Petra lowered his voice.

“No!” Kent nearly shouted. “Keep him alive, but calm. Got it?”

“Got it.” Petra hung up.

“You little shit.” Luther Stanton’s voice made Kent spin around.

“Daddy!” Kent blurted out his common greeting without thinking.

Luther didn’t look like he was in the mood to play “Daddy” tonight though. His face was bright red with rage, and his jaw was clenched.

“What did you do?” Luther advanced on him. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I… I tried to take care of it!” Kent took a step back, and felt the back of his legs collide with the edge of his bed. He lost his balance, and fell back. “You told me to take care of it.”

“And you fucked it up, just like a knew you would.” He loomed over Kent, fire burning in his eyes. “And you fucked up my backup plan.”

Kent was about to say something, to beg for forgiveness. Luther didn’t give him the chance. His hand came down quickly, cracking across Kent’s face, whipping his head to the side. The pain was intense, but familiar. Luther had hit Kent before plenty of times, and just as hard. Kent knew how to calm him down.

Carefully, Kent rolled onto his belly, then pulled his knees towards his chest, lifting his ass in the air. He could hear Luther suck in breath. Slowly he began to pull his punts down, exposing his round, firm butt cheeks.

Luther was an angry man, but he thought with his dick first. It didn’t take much to get him off track.

“Please, Daddy,” Kent whimpered. “Please punish me for what I did.”

Kent could hear Luther’s belt buckle clacking, followed by the sound of his pants hitting the floor.

Kent had won, just like he always did.

As Luther road him, Kent’s mind drifted. He thought of how exactly he was going to fix things. Apparently he had fucked things up royally, and that could be bad for him. As mean as Luther could be, life on the streets, or worse, prison, could be even worse. He needed to fix this. Brute force wasn’t the answer. That was absolutely clear. No, he needed to take a different approach, and he needed to do it quickly. First, he had to deal with Petra and Voigt. Petra could keep his mouth shut, but Voigt… Voigt was the wild card.

He felt Luther grab his hair and yank his head back.

“Keep your head in the game, boy.” His voice was a harsh rasp. “Don’t you like it when Daddy punishes you?”

“Yes, Daddy.” He purred out the words, and felt his stomach lurch as he did so.

Luther made him sick, but he also made him comfortable. Eugene wasn’t much better, and was a whole lot harder to control. Even with all the shit he had to put up with, his life in Luther’s house, as Luther’s “son” was one hundred times better than his life working the streets.

Eugene… now Eugene was someone that Kent could spare. He, like Voigt, was a wild card. Sure, he was tied up with the pictures and everything, but none of the evidence led back to him. Not clearly. A plan started to form in Kent’s mind.

As Luther pumped away, and Kent plotted. 

Eye See You: Mother's Day pt. 10

I glanced towards Richard.

His body was limp. Did I see his hand twitch? No, that was just my mind playing tricks on me. He was dead. There wasn’t enough left of him to do much of anything if that Virus thing took over. He was dead and…

I saw it again. His hand twitched. Then there was the groan.

I stood up straight, my eyes locked on the corpse of my best friend’s husband. He was watching me. His dead, shriveled eyes were locked on me, and when I took a step towards the door they followed me.

No, not again. I couldn’t do this again.

“You must,” he croaked. “You must go through instillation.”

His death smile grew.

One of the wires that had been whipping around in the hollowed out cavity of his torso had snaked its way out of his body and had made its way across the floor. I hadn’t noticed it until it had wrapped itself around my ankle.

I felt the tip of the wire jab into my skin.

“No!” I screamed as loud as I could as I felt the wire start to burrow its way into my flesh.

I was not going to die like this! 

Rituals pt. 25

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it quickly.” Alana was helping the young woman to her feet.

“You two, run.” I didn’t take my eyes off of Venom. “Get upstairs, get to Doug. I’ll be right behind you.”

Alana didn’t argue with me. She looked at the young woman, gave her a once over. “Are you okay to run?”

The woman nodded.

“You got a name?” I asked the young woman.

“Missy.” Then the young woman ran over, and kissed me on the cheek. “An angel’s kiss for luck.”

Alana and Missy took off, running towards the stairs, past the sea of howling vipers. It was just me, Venom and the growing ball of energy building up in the palm of my hand. It was growing brighter and brighter.

“Release it by flexing your fingers,” said Juktha.

I did as I was told, and just in time. Venom was less than five feet away, and closing quickly. The burst of energy expanded, turning from a ball into a wall of pure light.

“No!” Venom screamed. “I can’t die this easily! I am to powerful. I am…”

His body exploded into a ball of twisting, writhing green flame. 

Eye See You: Mother's Day pt. 9

The house seemed to buzz with electricity around me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even bring myself to cry. I just sat there, the shock washing over me. My best friend was dead. I had killed her.

No. Someone else had killed her. That thing that had taken my husband had killed her. I had just disposed of the monster that had taken control of her body. There was no Bea left in that thing I had killed. There was only… what had my son called it?

There was only Virus.

I started to stand, but froze when I heard a groan coming from the bed.