Depression
Depression is a common mood or mental disorder and it is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It is also a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease, affecting more than 264 million people of all ages. It may be described as feelings of sadness, loss, or anger that interfere with a person’s everyday activities.
This is different from the usual mood swings and short-lived emotional responses to the struggles in everyday life. Depression may become a serious health condition especially when one seemingly "drowns" in it, where by it becomes intense, causing the affecting person to suffer greatly.
People handle and experience depression in so many ways. It most of the time interferes with daily work, influences relationships negatively and is known to effect some chronic health conditions. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.
It’s important to realize that feeling down at times is a normal part of life as sad and upsetting events happen to everyone. But, if you’re feeling down or hopeless on a regular basis, you could be dealing with depression which could get worse without proper treatment.
Depression could be classified into certain types;
Major depressive disorder is the more severe form of depression. It’s characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness that don’t go away on their own.
Persistent depressive disorder (PDD) used to be called dysthymia. It’s a milder, but chronic, form of depression.
Bipolar depression occurs in certain types of bipolar disorder, when the person experiences a depressive episode. People with bipolar disorder may experience significant mood swings.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder. It causes unwanted and repeated thoughts, urges, and fears (obsessions). These fears cause you to act out repeated behaviors or compulsions that you hope will ease the stress caused by the obsessions.
These types of depression can be chronic over an extended period especially if they go untreated.
The symptoms of depression varies among men, women and children, some affect your mood, and others affect your body. Symptoms may also be ongoing, or come and go which includes; sudden mood swings such as anger, aggressiveness, irritability, anxiousness, restlessness, feeling empty, sad, hopeless, thoughts of suicide, drinking excessively, using drugs, reduced sexual desire, lack of sexual performance, inability to concentrate, insomnia, restless sleep, excessive sleepiness, not sleeping through the night leading to fatigue, pains, headache, digestive problems, feelings of incompetence “I can’t do anything right” or despair. The list is endless and some that cannot be explained by a medical diagnosis.
But there are effective treatments for moderate and severe depression like psychological treatments such as behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), or antidepressant medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Such psychological treatments should only be delivered by professionals and supervised by therapists. Antidepressants can be an effective form of treatment for moderate-severe depression but should not be used for treating depression in children and in the treatment of adolescents, they should be used with extra caution.
There are several possible causes of depression. These include:
Family history of depression or another mood disorder. Early childhood trauma which affect the way your body reacts to fear and stressful situations. Brain structure. There’s a greater risk for depression if the frontal lobe of your brain is less active. Medical conditions such as chronic illness, insomnia, chronic pain, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Drug misuse or alcohol misuse can affect your risk. Low self-esteem or being self-critical. Personal history of mental illness. Stressful events, such as loss of a loved one, economic problems, or a divorce
Don’t ignore symptoms of depression. If your mood doesn’t improve or gets worse, seek medical help. Depression is a serious mental health illness with the potential for complications. They can be temporary, or it can be a long-term challenge. Treatment doesn’t always make your depression go away completely, however, treatment often makes symptoms more manageable. Managing symptoms of depression involves finding the right combination of medications and therapies may work better in helping you manage your condition.
Bad news
I don't feel so good anymore 🤒
Hey guys!
So remember when I told you about my story "Scorched" I was making into a book, well that was because I got scouted for and offered a signing contact for the book. Things have been going smoothly and as planned and sometime last week I got a positive feed back, they liked my story and will be offering me an exclusive contact.
Cool right?! Lol
The book will be released on a website and I could get paid for it consistently and options for pay aren't so diverse but I opted to be paid in crypto as it would reduce cost and will be easier for me.
Just this past week, the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered all commercial Banks to ban the crypto accounts, so Banks won't be able to facilitate payment for crypto exchanges, Binance has already suspended deposits using NGN.
I honestly don't know how to feel anymore 😭 Crypto investments....
I did a crypto investment that would last 6 months and March/April was supposed to be the end of that six months.
This ban is a direct attack on young Nigerians and the government is to dumb to understand or foresee the effect that this ban will have on the economy, the value of naira to Dollar will decrease drastically. It will eventually cripple the economy and plunge many into poverty.
This move they made us just to show how much they actually don't care.
I pray it gets reversed. The next presidential election is in two years. Can we wait? Would it be too late? What solutions do we have?
This is indeed bad news.
Hey guys! Been a while.
So if you follow my stories then you must have read Scorched.....
Well, good news! I'm making that into a book! Haha, yes! I'm on my way to becoming an author!
So. So Happy 😋😊☺️☺️
Leticia's Angel 9
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** **leticias-angel-3** **-** **leticias-angel-4** **-** **leticias-angel-5** **-** **leticias-angel-6** **-** **leticias-angel-7** **-** leticias-angel-8 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-4-694ca3e3 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-5-230af189 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-6-fabd0728 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-7-157c1dbd https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-8-20c0063b
Both Phidian and Leticia kept quiet when Liam walked back inside. Leticia held her cup on her laps and wound both hands round the smooth body, letting the heat warm her hands. She couldn't drink this, it was too bitter. She watched Liam sit with a sign, placing both hands on the counter and resting on them for a while then he lifted his head and fixed his gaze on Phidian.
Phidian who was caught unawares because her eyes were also on him began to feel somewhat uncomfortable and blushed heavily, momentarily looking away from him.
"Th...thank you."
"Hmm."
Liam studied her, she had grown so much and so fast these couple of years. He remembered when he had seen her first after the war, it wasn't in Smokes, it was at Renard's place. The demon girl looked malnourished and frail and she had shackles around her neck, wrist and ankles. He had been furious then and he hadn't understood why but he did later on.
It had been difficult to tell she was a demon because she grew no horns, so save for her tail which was mostly hidden and her extremely pale skin, she looked just like a human. He had helped her out and had grown attached to her and ever since then he had kept her close.
Liam turned to Leticia and stretched his open hand towards her with his palm facing upward. Leticia, confused by the guesture looked from his face to his open palm then back to his face, confusion clear in her expression. Liam sighed and reached for the cup of coffee on her laps, taking it from her.
"You won't take it, so why waste a good cup. I'll have it."
Leticia opened her mouth to protest but then he wasn't wrong. She couldn't take it, it was just too bitter but she wanted the warmth. She shut her mouth and intertwined her fingers on her laps looking away from him.
Ben got up from the ground, dusting himself as he did. It was still quite early for anyone to come into Smokes and the place was deserted of beings so no one witnessed him being flung out or it would have been more humiliating. He stood at the door for a while knowing the couldn't go inside or Liam would do worse and he cursed.
He was always around Phidian and it irked him, he couldn't get to her this way. His body tensed up when he remembered the opportunities he had had when she was still within his grasp and he hadn't taken her because he had wanted to savour every moment. Now all he wanted to savour was her. He didn't understand why he felt this way towards her, all he understood was that he had to have her to himself. And he would.
Dusting himself once more, he stepped onto the street. Yes he knew where he should have gone first but he had chosen to come here first knowing that she would be here and he wanted to meet her alone but them Liam had to be here and that other one.
As he walked down the street, he thought of the female Angel he had seen in there. He had never seen her before. She was young and she was beautiful, although he couldn't make out her womanly curves due to the coat she had on but he was sure she would bee beautiful in that aspect. He smiled to himself and ran a thumb over his lower lip. She didn't seem to be a feisty one, may be an easy pick, he had never had any Angel.
He thought of it now, he would have Phidian and the new Angel. He knew he was dreaming too far but what's the harm in doing so? He chuckled.
The house of Krane was where one would come to if one was looking for a human slave or a messenger demon or some secret information, to cast a spell or to break a spell, conjuring up a demon or anything else of the dark art, Elvis Krane was the demon to come to.
Master Krane was what he was known by, a widely popular and ruthless demon. His dealings spread across all creatures not limited to humans, Angels and demons, the demon had an imp for a pet.
Ben tapped his knuckles on the door and waited a while, glancing round the environment. The demon chose to live in solitary mostly because of the things he did, dangerous things that could cause harm or the creatures he kept. No, he didn't care about others getting hurt, it was on his nature to cause harm.
His greed caused him to live this way, away from prying eyes, he was the only demon in this part of the world to master such daring arts. Rumor has it that the imp he kept was infact once a demon who tried to imitate Master Krane's dark art but couldn't get it right, the result was the annoying creature.
The door was opened by the imp who smiled a mischievous smile, it recognised the man and pulled him inside, shutting the doors and bolting it.
"What now?" Ben could hear the croaking voice of Master Krane but he couldn't see the demon, actually he never had. The room was pitch black dark and his human eyes couldn't adjust fully to it.
"Master Renard..." He began but felt a sharp stab on his calf. He twitched and yelp, the sinister giggle of the imp annoyed him.
"I have no humans for him now leave, I'm in the middle of a spell."
"Well... Master Krane." Ben's voice shook. The place always gave him the chills, standing in the dark with an imp running loose and talking to a demon you couldn't see, it made him wonder what else was in here. He couldn't even see the door.
"Talk fast human, the imp feeds on human flesh and I can't remember when last it was fed."
Ben swallowed. "Master Renard wants a potion. The drug. He is slowly becoming unstable."
The demon laughed. "Well he knows what payment he should bring, why come without it?"
"He...ummm..."
"Go back and tell him." The door was opened slightly, just enough for Ben to see his way out.
"Master Krane...."
"If that door shuts, you become my imps breakfast."
Ben didn't need more motivation than that. He hurried to the door and stepped outside, the imp chuckled sinisterly before shutting the door. Ben breathed, he had been here on several occasions, running errands for his Master but the fear he always felt whenever he went behind that door never went away. The energy here was contaminating.
He began to walk, Renard would be out of his mind again if he returned without the potion. He feared Renard might give in if he went on without taking the drug, many Angels had but Renard would be the first Archangel to do so. Things could only get worse after that.
It's been a long while. Forgive me.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell
Find me on noise.cash 😋😉
https://noise.cash/post/1qrvgxpl
Leticia's Angel 8
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** **leticias-angel-3** **-** **leticias-angel-4** **-** **leticias-angel-5** **-** **leticias-angel-6** **-** leticias-angel-7 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-4-694ca3e3 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-5-230af189 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-6-fabd0728 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-7-157c1dbd
Smokes was not the kind of place to be opened during the day and Liam was grateful for that. He sat on the bar stool beside Leticia who didn't feel quite comfortable in the bar, it reeked of alcohol and vomit and was really stuffy. She noticed that the windows were kept shut and the only light here came from the red bulbs hanging on different places in the ceiling, you couldn't tell if it was day or night in here.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and reached for the bottle of Asphax, wondering if she should apply more. She looked up over the counter, the demon girl whom she had come to know as Phidian was busy fixing coffee, She had her back to her. Leticia squeezed the bottle of Asphax in her hand.
*"You're fine.*" She heard Liam's voice in her head. She looked at him, his head was down an his eyes were closed, he kept drumming his fingers on the counter. *"Don't go anywhere, just sit still."*
Phidian turned with two cups of coffee in her hands which she placed in front of them. Liam looked up and smiled at her before picking up his cup, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip. Leticia stared at her cup for the longest, the dark liquid was unsettled and the steam rising from it danced in the air before disappearing. She side eyed Liam and looked up at Phidian, the demon kept her eyes on her with a smirk on her face like she was saying, 'drink it if you dare'. Leticia looked down at the cup.
*"Drink, it's not poisoned."* She looked at Liam and frowned. He was in her head again.
"I know." She voiced out. She brought the cup up and took a sip. Ugh! swallowing it in a rush and dropped the cup, she squeezed her face in disgust. The coffee was too bitter.
"What? Too strong for you?" Phidian teased, Leticia glared at her knowing that she had done this on purpose, if she wouldn't poison the cup then she wouldn't let her enjoy it either.
"Liam liked his coffee that way," she continued, "I thought you would too."
"You seem to know very much about Liam, what he likes and prefers and what he doesn't." Leticia smiled, trying to remain calm.
"Of course!" Phidian looked at Liam. "I've known him longer than you have so I know practically everything about him."
"Ahh, everything. I see." Leticia searched for something that would make the demon upset, she didn't like the fact that she was having fun. She smiled and looked into her cup as she spoke. "Everything, but you didn't know where be spent the night last night."
Phidian snapped her head at Leticia. "I know...."
"Or with whom." Leticia cut her off with a coy smile and brought the cup to her lips again but the strong aroma reminded her of the taste so she put it back down.
Phidian was vexed, she glared at the female Angel in front of her and wondered what exactly was so special in her that Liam liked. That they spent the night together didn't mean that they did anything together. But even thinking about that bothered her a lot.
"Do you have milk? Or sugar?" Leticia asked calmly with a smile still on her lips.
Phidian laughed. "Where do you think you are? In a land flowing with milk and honey?" She scoffed and walked away.
Liam sat comfortably still, his back arched and one elbow propped up on the counter, his other hand held the cup close to his lips, continuously tilting it so he could drink the liquid. His mind went back to Leticia's memory, the memory he had seen after they had bonded. The girl was determined in finding her younger brother who had suddenly gone missing but his thoughts were distracted by the noise of the door banging shut. He turned to see a human casually walk in, a silly look on his scrunched face. He knew this human, he knew him all too well.
Ben walked in casually, one had shoved into his pocket and the other wiping off the invisible dust on his left pocket, he glanced over at the counter and his brows came up when he spotted Liam, the famous renegade Angel. Phidian only glanced at him once when she walked back to the counter before going back to what she was doing and then there was the third, one he had never seen before. He watched her watch him curiously, her face holding no readable expression. He walked towards them and the girl turned away from him and back to the counter.
"Liam, you've been a regular around here." He spoke when he got close enough, coming to stand in between Liam and the new girl. He habitually sniffed her secretly and his head snapped sharply in her direction, Leticia flinched at the sudden action and eyed him intently, tilting her body back away from him.
"You're new around here, aren't you?" He asked studying the girl's face, the dim red lights didn't help him in his assessment. "Where are you from? I know almost every Angel around these parts."
Leticia's heart began to beat steady, for a minute she thought he had figured what she was. "You're human? And you walk freely."
He grinned, lifting his shoulders up. "Ahh yes, some of us have the errr... privilege."
"What did your master send you to get, slave?" Liam said swirling the coffee in his cup and without looking at Ben, it was evident in his voice that he didn't want him around. "Do that and leave quickly."
*"Slave?"* Leticia thought.
Ben snickered and turned his attention on Phidian, the demon girl watched him with both hands crossed on her chest. He studied her, carried momentarily away by the full lumps of round flesh on her chest which was largely exposed. He had felt her skin once when she had been new to the business, his master Renard had ordered for her to be punished when she still worked for him and he had been more than willing to carry out his master's wishes. He had felt the curve of her waist, the fullness of her lips trapped in his and her fingers clawing at his chest to push him away, he still carried those scars but he hadn't been able to have her yet. And he would, soon enough.
He licked his lips at her and she rolled her eyes, looking away.
"Phidian..." He began but she cut him off.
"Don't. You know who you should talk to but yet you come to me?"
"I was hoping to find you alone..."
Liam's fist caught the side of his jaw, sending the man crashing down with a bashed lip. Leticia and Phidian gasped staring at him. Liam heaved, his anger getting the best of him and he smashed the coffee cup into the man's head before dragging him outside.
"Tell your master there are no humans for sale and if you dare cuddle up any lusting for Phidian again..!" He spat and flung the man into the street, slamming the door shut.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell I know I took a while. Lol, I'm sorry....
It's been a really busy week 😂
Leticia's Angel 7
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** **leticias-angel-3** **-** **leticias-angel-4** **-** **leticias-angel-5** **-** leticias-angel-6 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-4-694ca3e3 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-5-230af189 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-6-fabd0728
"I won't drop you."
She heard him say and soon enough she felt the wind cease a little bit and she realized they weren't flying anymore. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, the sun was vibrant up behind his head and it made his hair shine, his muscles flexed beneath her hold around his neck and shoulders and without thinking, she lowered one hand to rest on his chest, he was rigid and his skin was rather too smooth, she looked into his smiling golden brown eyes and she could tell that he was amused. She frowned and lowered her gaze.
"Put me down." She said, he didn't argue but bent to drop her and she practically jumped out of his arms, adjusting her clothes and hair before crossing her arms and looking away because she was feeling quite embarrassed.
He had brought her to this vast wasteland of nothingness, it was here, on this very field that the great war had been fought. She remembered the place for how it used to be, beautiful and teaming with plant life, with greens growing as far as the eye could see and beyond but now it was desolate and dry having drank up the bloods of humans, Angels and demons, nothing could grow here anymore. She looked up to the sky, the demons were circling in search of humans to pick on.
"Leticia." She spun, she didn't know that he knew her name. She watched him closely and she could tell that he was disturbed, she focused intently into his eyes and slowly some conflicting thoughts and images made its way into her imagination, she couldn't break away from the gaze and without knowing, began to move closer to him. She saw his brokeness and vulnerability and her heart went out to him.
Words weren't needed, they could feel and see each other's weaknesses and pain. He saw her desperation, her younger brother, her only family, he could feel her strong will and determination, her innocent heart and humanity and he softened. For years he had been totally irresponsible, without a human to protect and now he had been given her to look after without wanting to. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, felt her hand touch his face to wipe the tear and his memories came back to him.
She was Sharon, the sweet and charming sixteen year old of whom he had been a guardian to. He would watch her day and night, watch her play, watch her eat, watch her sleep and watch her wake. The demons were becoming more daring by this time and so were the Angels, the corruption was slowly spreading amongst them but they still managed to live on Earth without really exposing themselves, they also had human bodies so it was much easier for the Angels to blend in but it wasn't so easy for the demons. Most needed a human to posses, but possessing a human didn't give the demon full control and it was that control they wanted so they began harvesting souls, to do this they had to reveal their true self. It was something they had already started.
It was on one of such times that they attacked Sharon's home. Liam had stood watch gallantly over her sleeping body when the attack started. Without waking her, he had picked her and placed her into her closet, gently closing the door and taken a defensive posture.
He saw them rise from the floor like smoke, swirling round till they took form and he had sliced through them easily like knife through butter and watched them go up in flames, crumbling to ashes almost immediately. More came, and as easily as he took the first, he took the rest and then the window downstairs shattered and he saw someone thrown into the garden, he looked out to see the body of Sharon's mother, stabbed with several knives which were still lodged in her body. In that few seconds space of distraction, the closet door opened and Sharon, now awake took a step out. Liam, who had fought his way to the other side of the room, saw the girl, saw the demons rush to her and he ran too, slashing his sword in the air, it caught the demons, cutting them in two and they disintegrated. He rushed to the girl but she dropped in his arms lifeless, they had taken her soul.
His body vibrated with guilt and hurt when he lifted her, gently he placed her back on her bed and a sight from outside caught his attention. Standing over the body of Sharon's mother was an Angel, supposed to be her guardian and when he looked up to Liam, an evil smile played across his face. Renard had given into the corruption. Liam watched him stride away before taking to the skies, flying away into the dark night.
Liam heard a gasp of breath and looked at Sharon. She breathed in though her mouth, taking in the dark smoke which sipped in through her parted lips and her eyes shot open.
Leticia's Angel 6
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** **leticias-angel-3** **-** **leticias-angel-4** **-** leticias-angel-5 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-4-694ca3e3 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-5-230af189
Leticia gripped the sword in her hands tightly, her eyes fixed on the Angel and demon who seemed to know each other, she took a step back and watched them.
"I came here for you but found her instead," Phidian took a step to the side so she could see Leticia. "You spent the night together?"
"I take it that you're the one who brought me here?" He ignored her question.
"You were passed out on the floor Liam..."
"...and this was the only place you could think of to bring me?" He folded his hands and looked around the forest. "Hmm... Not bad, thank you."
Phidian rolled her eyes. "Liam..."
"No really," he held her chin in his hand and tipped it up to look at him. "Thank you. I'd rather prefer out here than within any four walls."
Phidian smiled and Liam let go of her chin because her cheeks had started to color, she looked down. Leticia frowned at their intimacy, demons and Angels falling in love was something that should never be allowed to happen, it was forbidden and an abomination. She eyed the demon girl and felt rage build up in her then she looked at Liam and didn't know what to feel for him, anger or pity.
"But..." Phidian looked up at him when he continued. "There's something missing. Something of great importance to me. My sword."
"Sword? I didn't find that on you."
"What exactly did I take? Because I couldn't have passed out taking just alcohol." He turned to look at Leticia but directed his words to Phidian. "Looks like we will have to pay a small visit to Smokes. Have to chat with that bartender."
Leticia scoffed and proceeded to walk away, she pulled the hood over her head and sheathed her sword.
""We" includes you." She heard Liam say and she faced him zeroing her eyes on him, he didn't smile neither did he smirk, his expression was plain and she knew that he was serious with what he had said but she didn't care. She continued walking away.
Liam groaned and walked to her, he should not be protecting her but he couldn't help the feeling, she was human after all and sooner or later, demons were bound to find her or other Angels who would want to have her as a slave. She was too stubborn and free spirited, he could tell and she could fight pretty well but he still couldn't leave her to be on her own, at least not just yet. He yanked the hood off her head and stretched his hand to turn her by her shoulder but she turned on her own and his hand came to rest on the nape of her neck and immediately contact was made, his wings shot out, burning brightly hot. White hot. She felt electricity zap through her and their eyes fixed on each other, she saw the electricity sizzling through his pupil and just as soon as it had started, it ended. She gasped and took several steps back, her eyes never leaving Liam.
Liam groaned in frustration and raked his hands through his hair, no no no no. For ten years he had enjoyed being irresponsible, living life as it came to him and now he was bonded to this human to be her guardian Angel, something he had been free of for ten years.
"What happened?" He heard her whisper, he felt her accelerating heart beat and saw her confusing thoughts. She was scared, he could feel that but not just from what had happened, she wasn't even scared for herself but for someone else. He became curious and searched her memories but was cut off when Phidian called his name.
"Liam..?" She touched his bare arm. She looked at Leticia and noticed she was bent over, her hands on her knees with her eyes fixed on Liam and she wondered what must have happened. She had seen Liam walk up to her and yanked on the hood and after that the girl just stumbled back and Liam right now was looking frustrated.
"Liam.." She called again. "Are you ok?"
"Yes Phidian. I'll meet you at Smokes, I have to deal with something first." He turned to Leticia.
Leticia stood up right and glared at Liam, what had he done to her? She saw him walk up to her and she stood her ground, he would explain what and why he did what he did.
"Liam, you..!" She didn't expect what he did when he got close enough to her, one minute she was standing on the ground and the next she was scooped up in his arms and they were off the ground. She screamed in fright and held on to him tightly. He didn't wear any upper body clothes so her nails dug into his flesh and she gripped him tight, screaming for him to put her down.
A frown was etched across Liam's face as he held the human close to his chest who wouldn't stop screaming.
"*Quiet down!*" He yelled in her thoughts. But Leticia who was to scared to notice that he had spoken from her head kept quiet and shut her eyes tightly instead.
*"Lord I'm scared of heights! I'm scared, help me I'm scared!"* She thought. Liam heard her and his frown gradually melted when he looked at the human he carried, he smiled and got lower to the ground.
"I won't drop you."
@Ozzyy @Hanzell this story is still quite long haha
It's back!!!!
Yea!!!!!!
I'm super super super excited!!! So @TheRandomRewarder visited me today! Just as I published an article, after two weeks!!!!!!
Haha, I'm super super excited!!!
Yaaaaaayyy...!!!!!
No longer marked as spam 💃💃💃
😁😁😁😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️❤️
Leticia's Angel 5
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** **leticias-angel-3** **-** leticias-angel-4 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-4-694ca3e3
Sheila whistled as she bounced up and down on the seat perched in front of the wagon, she held on to the reins and didn't bother to urge the horse to move faster because the road was a perilous mix of rocks, bumps, holes and sharp objects, she couldn't risk loosing a wheel or waking up the humans, she didn't tie them up and now thinking about it maybe she should. She glanced over her shoulder, the wagon was still covered fully with the tarp. She sighed and continued whistling, maybe she should tie them up, if they wake, they might scream and throw tantrums wanting to get out and that would most definitely bring the attention she was avoiding.
She approached a very shallow river which she had to cross to get to the mountains, it was ok for the horse to pull the wagon through the water but she chose to rest a while here, mostly to rest the horse, she pulled on the reins and the horse came to a stop. Getting down, she walked to the side of the wagon and opened the tarp on one side, she had reasoned to tie them up and gag their mouths but when the tarp came up she was greeted by a pair of hazel brown eyes staring at her. He blinked twice on seeing her but didn't show fear. He frowned and she smiled.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Not long." He looked at the two other boys who were still sleeping in the wagon. "What are you doing?" He questioned.
"Do you know what I am?" She took a step back.
"I know you're no demon because we are pretty much alive, unless you want to sell us. Or you could be a corrupt Angel but definitely not human," he rose an eyebrow. "Or are you?"
Sheila laughed. "I am neither, what's your name?" She put a hand into the wagon to touch him but he flinched back. "I don't bite."
"Leo."
"Well Leo," she retreated her hand, "want to sit up front with me?"
Leo watched her in surprise. "You want to let me out? And to sit up front?"
"Hm hmm." She nodded, already unlocking the wagon.
"You know I could run away or try to kill you."
She smiled and opened the small door, she held out her hand for him and he took it. "I know you won't. Humans aren't stronger than Angels."
"You're an Angel?" He stood on the ground, his hand still holding hers.
"Renegade. Wanna see?" She placed the other hand on the rope holding the coat to her body by the neck.
"I believe you but yes, I still want to see."
She pulled off the coat revealing two mighty wings which shone a pure hot white, their hands still connected and eyes fixed on each other, they both felt a spark, like electricity sizzling deep in their pupils and Leo gasped, taking a step back. Sheila smiled and let go of his hand, she put the coat back around her and her wings folded back.
"What was that?" Leo asked, Sheila ignored his question and made her way to the front seat urging him to join her.
"We have to cross this water to the other side and head to the mountains. We should be safe there."
"Should be?" He still stood beside the wagon not wanting to hold on to her out stretched hand so he could come up to sit.
"You know what demons are, Leo?"
"Yes I do." He turned to face the back of the wagon.
"You know one when you see one?"
He nodded. "Like those?"
Sheila turned to face the direction of his gaze and she spotted five demons coming towards them. She got down and took the sword she had hidden between the wagon and the seat, she turned to Leo who was still standing there, his eyes fixed on the demons approaching and his brows were knitted in a frown.
"Leo, I need you to cross the wagon to the other side." He looked at her now. "They can't cross the water, you would be safe."
He nodded and ran to the seat, whipping the reins on the horse and it moved forward, he whipped the reins a little harder and the horse increased its pace in a slow run. The water was only high enough to cover almost half of the wheels but didn't get into the wagon. Leo could already hear the clashing of swords and it pained him that he couldn't have the opportunity to sink his sword into the body of a demon. His sword, where was it? It had been with him when he was in the forest. He tried to think about it, he remembered a fire, there had been someone else and....
Ugh! His head hurt.
He made it to the other side and jumped down to the ground. He watched the Angel fight, easily overcoming the demons and from beyond them, he could see more coming. He thought to run to her and help, he searched the space between the wagon and the seat and saw two other swords, grabbing one he ran towards the river but a clear voice in his head stopped him. The voice was hers and it sounded like she had spoken from inside his head, he saw her spin to face him for a brief second from the other side before she continued fighting. The voice was dominating and the command was singular.
"Stay."
@Ozzyy @Hanzell let's keep going!!! Ouuuu!!!! 😁
Leticia's Angel 4
**leticias-angel-1** **-** **leticias-angel-2** **-** leticias-angel-3 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-3-c64d4f3e
Liam dropped down to the ground, his huge wings flapped once before folding up. He had skipped going to the lake and rather chosen to go to the waterfall. He was shirtless and didn't bother taking off his pants before stepping into the water. The water here was shallow, reaching only up to his knees, he walked under the water fall, welcoming the cascading coolness, it felt refreshing on his skin.
Closing his eyes he tried to drown out his thoughts but he couldn't, the dark image of Renard constantly played in his subconscious, this corruption had spread faster than anything he had imagined. Bringing his hands to wash his hair, he tried to remember how the war had broken out, Angels were supposed to be guardians to the humans. It seemed the once heavenly beings got tired of being just guards. They also wanted to be worshipped. He got out from under the water fall and walked out of the water, stretching and flapping his wings in the process to get the water out.
"Liam!" He heard his name and turned. On the other side of the stream was an Angel riding a wagon. Sheila. He flapped twice and was off the ground, coming down to settle beside the wagon. Sheila got down.
"Been a while renegade." She laughed. Like most renegade Angels, she also had a cloak on that concealed her wings. Liam beamed.
"As far as I know, there would only be one reason to find you around these parts."
Sheila grinned. "Ohh yes."
"How many?"
"Three. All boys." She lifted the black tarp that covered the wagon to reveal three human boys sleeping, they were all still young.
"You drugged them?"
"What can I say?" She returned the covering. "Human teenagers or humans in general, don't know who's for them and who's against."
"Where did you find them though?" Be was curious.
Sheila smiled and raised an eyebrow at him. Liam knew that look and he shook his head. "Ohh no you didn't. Again?!"
"What? I had to! It was either that or those demons would use these humans. I had to rescue them."
"Steal them away, you mean."
"Rescue Liam. I rescued them." She climbed back on.
"Where to?"
"A place. Up in the mountains. It's secluded and demons don't come there often, it's cold. They should be safe for a while." She snapped at the reins and the lone horse trotted forward.
"And then what?" Liam walked to keep up.
"And then Liam, we pray for the next move. See you later renegade."
Liam stood a while, watching the wagon bobble up and down, rocking as it's wooden wheels made its way along the uneven ground. As he watched, he remembered the human he had left lying vulnerable on the forest floors. He groaned in frustration and took to the skies.
Leticia let out a small scream when the demon's claw tore into the flesh on her left forearm. She frowned at the smirk plastered on her face. It was no surprise that the demon was strong but she too had held her ground, managing to sink her sword into the demon's thigh and sliced her back twice. The demon fought like a newbie, leaving her sides and back vulnerable to an attack, so Leticia guessed that she wasn't fully comfortable in the human body or she wasn't that good of a fighter, either way it was an advantage for Leticia.
"What bad manners you have," Leticia backed away when the demon leaped onto a tree trunk, ready to pounce. "You didn't even let me introduce myself." She twirled and sliced her blade in the air, dodging the demon's attack.
"Why? So I can scrabble it on your tomb stone?" She crouched down and barred her fangs at Leticia who was circling her.
"The guts!" Leticia smiled, gripping her sword in a better position. "Then what's your demon??"
She snarled. Stood. "Come closer and I'll engrave it in your chest!" She ran for Leticia. Enough play, she was going to end this.
She saw Leticia lift her sword and position herself to strike or dodge an attack. She barred her fangs and her claws protruded, she stretched her hand back and leaped, ready to rip her neck wide open. There was a sudden 'woosh' and her claws came in contact with something. Something hard. She dropped to the ground on one knee and looked up.
Leticia had brought her sword up when the demon came for her. She calculated the demon's strides and watched her extended claws, first she would cut off the hand and go for her abdomen. She knew there was no way the demon would be able to regenerate those limbs, it was still a human body.
She saw the demon leap in the air and then there was a sudden 'woosh' and she couldn't see the demon anymore. All she saw were two mighty wings which shone powerfully. She shut her eyes tightly and felt the immense heat, she staggered back and fell to the floor while still shielding her eyes.
"Phidian." She heard the deep baritone voice which sent shivers through her entire being.
The voice registered power and dominance and somehow still, calmness. She opened her eyes and saw the Angel - Liam - help the demon girl to her feet. She immediately sprang up.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell I'm sorry it took a long while.....
It pains me that I've been marked as spam 😖💔
I have sent an email to hello@read.cash and still waiting for a response.
I just can't find it to write for now, this is so not how I had my Christmas planned.
Resolutions 101
This week has so not been how I planned and hoped it would be...
So let's skip @TheRandomRewarder delaying tips and the fact that for days now we haven't had electricity, which is really killing me, like that has just soaked right into my bones and had somehow made me weak. I haven't been able to play my favorite game - Candy Crush - for days now because my phone's battery is always often in the red zone. The generator comes on at night and stays for two hours and my phone takes three hours to fully charge, so imagine me managing or trying to manage the battery to last throughout the day till when next I'll be able to charge.
But then onto the main issue... ****Friends****.
There are some or that one friend you'll have in your life as a best friend and then both of you and everyone around you thinks oh this Union is "made in heaven". No no, you guys aren't dating,
(lol, you can't even, as you're same gender, but then whatever)
So, you guys are the perfect match and you know almost everything about each other and your family knows each other, you know, things like that... And then as things are going all rosy, one thing could just ruin it. One sided friendship is something that could be damaging. I know this because I had experienced it first hand, and please be careful with whose advice you follow, sometimes those same people don't follow their own advice.
So this friend of mine had issues with me because I stopped coming to her house. No, wait, it was during the covid pandemic and we were experiencing lockdown for about six months and in those six months, I didn't go to her house. And one day she called me and asked why I haven't come to see her since she came back from school... Now, she came back from school first week in March and she didn't tell me she was back, I learnt from her sister that she was back, I still didn't go and see her for a week hoping that she would maybe call and say "hey, I'm back." She didn't. Then I went to see her and everything seemed alright. Mid March was when the lockdown was put in place.
So when she called me that I haven't come to see her, somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to ask her, "can't you come to my house? I mean the distance is the same." And she had only come to my house twice! And I on the other hand had become like a regular visitor at her place so she saw it as normal for me to do all the visiting.... And I saw it as normal too because I didn't take anything to it, not until that call. If I can't come see you, what's stopping you from coming to see me??
I place a huge, tremendous value on friendships. Deep meaning, deep rooted friendships so I try my absolute best to make sure that you know that I'm always there for you and I need to know that you're there for me as well. I don't call so often, I'm a texter, I could chat you up all day long and the gist would just be flowing naturally, I love to text but if I haven't heard from you in a while, I'll call.
One time I was in a relationship and obviously she had to know about it, she wasn't at that time and then she became "relationship advisor" - being in a relationship will distract you from school, what does he have to offer, what do you have to offer, he looks like a player - lol, I didn't take it seriously but then he did, he was her brother and maybe that was my mistake right? Dating my best friend's brother but it worked out with other people, it could work out with us, but it didn't. When he broke up with the excuse that he was "distracting me" I kinda knew who would have advise him. I just let the matter die, I felt her friendship was more important.
And then she got into a relationship! And my goodness lord, she changed! There was something she posted on her WhatsApp status about how being in a relationship doesn't distract you from school unless you want to be distracted. I was wowed by that post.
It kinda hurts when something so....dare I say beautiful, breaks apart and you guys just turn from besties to total strangers. She said I cut off from her first since I stopped coming to her house and I'm not even going to defend myself, sometimes you have to let some people go if they want to go. Maybe I did wrong, maybe I wasn't that "perfect" friend but right now, whatever! Lol. I've got my girlfriend, I've got my bondiee and I'll be damned if I let such happen again.
So as the year ends, set yourself free from some things who wants to be set free and who needs to be set free, you should know what you need and what you don't. No excess baggage into the new year. And excess baggage includes unwanted friends, memories, relationships, problems, thoughts, patterns....and all that. Let's be free and let's welcome those things that are worth it.
Merry Christmas to @Read.Cash
The Mouse Night
The mouse crept through the silent house in search of its nightly meal. Its ears pricked at the scream, causing it to stand in its hind legs to spot the source. When the body came crashing down, it scampered away with it's tiny heart beating fiercely.
From the safety of its hole, it poked its head out, its nose sniffing the air and its black eyes huge and wide. Dark liquid pooled out of the body on the floor, a body it was all too familiar with. Jane was what they called her, she was the same human who had told the other huge human to call the exterminator when she found it scampering through the kitchen cabinet. It had been spooked when the cabinet was suddenly opened and it ran through the adjoining cabinet and into the hole in the wall. She had frightened it and it, without even knowing, had frightened her too.
The other huge human, a male they called Steve, sat on the arm chair in the living room flipping through the pages of a large colourless paper, he listened to Jane whine without a hint of interest. The mouse rather liked this Steve, usually he would leave pieces of cheese on a wooded board at the entrance of some of the holes - Bep is what we shall name the mouse - Bep was grateful to Steve for leaving out food for it in the wooden boards and everytime it took the cheese, the board would make a sudden 'snap!' sound and Bep would scurry away knowing that the 'snap!' of the wooden boards was to alert Steve that it had taken the meal and Steve would come to pick up the empty board, waving it in the air a few times and his mouth would move. Bep wasn't familiar with human language but he understood some gestures and he knew that Steve's gesture meant that more food would be laid out. Bep loved this human.
Now in the dead of the night, with it's senses heightened, Bep remained in the hole with its head out, the black liquid had now spread out more and standing above the human it didn't really like were two other humans, one with a bit too much hair on his face around the mouth and absolutely nothing on the head. Bep thought this was unusual, the humans he had seen had hair the other way; on their heads and not around the mouth on the face.
This no haired human held a metal looking thing and Bep thought the metal heavy because the human held it with both hands and his eyes were on the female that laid unmoving on the floor. The other human was smaller, with hairs in the right places but he had tired it up so it looked like he had a tail on his head. Bep thought that these two humans were unusual. It saw the smaller human slap the no haired guy on the shoulder and his voice was high then he placed his hand on his head and walked away before turning to walk back.
The huge human without the hair threw the metal in his hands away, a look of surprise and shock was on his face as he looked at the woman, he also spoke but it came out shaky and in a whisper. The smaller human then yelled at the no haired man who quickly picked the metal and rubbed one end on his coat like he was trying to clean it.
The smaller guy then dropped the bag he was carrying and it jingled a bit when it came in contact with the floor. Pieces of paper flew out and Bep recognized the paper, it was common in the house and it had eaten the paper once. Jane had blown a fuse and furiously attacked it, throwing shoes, books and pillows at it before it escaped under the couch and into a hole. Bep didn't understand what the big deal was in chewing just a few green papers out of the many bundles stashed away in the wardrobe.
Bep watched keenly. The smaller human walked up to the larger, no haired human and grabbed his coat by the collar, shaking him violently before the large guy nodded and they both picked Jane up off the floor and walked out the door. Bep came out and went for one of the papers but no sooner had it bitten the paper than the floor flew open and the smaller human rushed in, Bep scurried away as the human picked up the bag and left. It remained in its hole for a while but they didn't come back and Bep went back to scavenging.
The afternoon of the next day, Bep noticed that two people dressed in blue came to the house. He noticed that they had a kind of pet, like a black mouse, stuck on their shoulder which they constantly talked to and surprisingly, it talked back. A few more people came but not all was dressed in the blue outfit.
Steve sat in his armchair beside another man in blue, but this time he wasn't flipping through that colorless large paper, neither was he drinking his usual black liquid from the brown cup, instead Steve was crying. Bep had never seen the huge man cry before. The tears from his eyes rolled down his cheek and soaked into the abundant hair on his face around his mouth. The man in blue seemed to console Steve and after a while they all left, the last man in blue gave Steve a small paper card and Steve nodded at what he said before the man in blue stepped out.
When he was sure they were gone, he wiped his face and placed the card on a table, he took off the coat he had on and Bep noticed the huge red stain on the inside of the coat. As Steve made his way up the stairs, the ray of sun from the windows bounced off his head which was void of hair and Bep couldn't help but wonder when he would come to place the cheese on the wooden boards in front of the holes again.
Leticia's Angel 3
**leticias-angel-1** **-** leticias-angel-2 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-2-4b2881ca
Liam had opened his eyes when he felt a powerful sting. He expected to see an animal, a demon it possibly, another Angel, but what he hadn't expected was to see her. He watched her watch him with admiration, she had crouched down close to him and was stroking his wings. The girl was small and get scent was mixed, Angel and human.
Human? Was she an Angel hunting humans? Then she was not renegade like him, he frowned. She turned her gaze and froze when their eyes locked. He looked at her, those hazel eyes were heavy eyes emotions and asides from fear there was something else in them. Hurt?
He sat up and saw her move, her head went back and on impulse his hands went out behind her head to catch her. He smirked, he must have spooked her into fainting. She fainted. Angels don't get spooked so easily, especially not into fainting. He let his hands run along the length of her back through the cloak, smooth, no wings. One of his brows came up in astonishment. She was human. A human in this forest? He studied her, she was small, quite tiny and in her right hand was a feather, a feather from him.
He laid her down comfortably on the forest floor and that was when he noticed the two pouches, he shook them. Money. He noticed the container tied to her waist too and he opened it, brought it to his nose. He knew the smell of Angels. Asphax. That was how she had disguised her scent but she hadn't disguised the scent of the cloak, that had given her away. He searched and found two sandwiches, he decided to help himself since he hadn't eaten anything in a while, he would take this as part payment of losing a feather to her.
Resting his back on a tree stump, he ate the sandwiches while his eyes remained on her, the sword beside her looked very familiar, like the smaller make of his own, then he thought about it. Where was his sword? He remembered entering Smokes bar with it but he didn't remember leaving with it. Heck, he didn't even remember leaving the bar at all but yet somehow, here he was, passed out in the middle of the forest only to be awaken by a human plucking his feather.
When he was done eating, he stood up and stretched, his wings grew wide and his arms came up with a 'pop' sound in the elbows and that was when the stench reached his nose. He reeked of alcohol and needed a shower, fast. He glanced at the human still out on the forest floor, should he leave her alone in this forest? Like this she would be an easy pick for demons if they came this way. He raked his fingers through his long blond hair, weighing his options; fly her to the lake with him or leave her here till he returned. He didn't think long. Grabbing his own cost, he laid it over her, covering her whole body with it, he pulled the hood of her cloak over her head so she was mostly covered. Satisfied that she was ok, he took to the skies heading for the lake. He wasn't ready to be responsible for a human again.
Leticia was startled awake by the sudden 'woosh' of air and the coat covering her was partially blown off. She laid on the floor for a while with her eyes to the sky and tree tops. She had seen an Angel. She sprang up to a sitting position and that was when she noticed the coat on her, it was his - the Angel - she knew this because the stench of alcohol was strong on it. She looked around, her sword lad beside her, the pouches and Asphax were still on her but the sandwiches were gone. She stood up and grabbed the sword.
"What is an Angel doing alone in this forest and so early?"
Sh spun round, her sword up. Leticia studied the woman who had just spoke, only this wasn't a woman, her tail hung in the air behind her and her forked tongue slithered in and out. She noticed that the woman had no horns so she was obviously a demon resurrected in a human's body. She had called Leticia an Angel, meaning the Asphax had hidden her scent.
"You were here with Liam?" She asked again, walking up to Leticia whose sword was still up and pointed to her. The demon smiled.
"Where's he?" She questioned.
"Who?" Leticia replied.
"Liam..." She raised an eyebrow and pointed to the coat Leticia held in her hand, she looked at the coat. *Liam? So that was his name.* She faced the demon and decided to play along.
"Yes I was." She lowered her sword but still kept a distance. "Why are you looking for him?"
"I brought him here." She leaned against a tree and eyed Leticia. "What are you doing here and how did you end up with his coat?"
Leticia perceived that this demon was jealous but why? Liam? She thought they had been together? She smirked and hugged the coat to herself. The demon hissed.
"Hunting. I was hunting."
"Hunting? Human hunting?" She laughed. "You don't look like the type of Angel to do that, and if at all you do then you wouldn't stand a chance with Liam. He hated such sport."
*Oh does he now, so he's against human hunting.* Leticia thought and smiled. *He was a keeper.*
"I don't stand a chance and you do?" Leticia scoffed, it riled the demon and Leticia was enjoying every bit of it.
"When I said hunting," Leticia continued and put down the coat before fixing her eyes on the demon. "I mean demon hunting. I hunt demons for sport."
The demon snapped and charged at her. Leticia brought her sword up and smiled, adrenaline burned throughout her veins and she knew for sure she was going to love this exercise. She was ready.
Ben, Son of...
"I am your daughter!" Eleanor partially yelled at her father. He didn't bother to face her, he kept his eyes fixed on his grand daughter, Eleanor's child, Zo. He watched the two year old play with the sand bucket in her attempt of building a sand castle. She looked to their direction and laughed before hurrying away to join the other children. Lewis smiled at her, she had been the apple of her eyes ever since she was born and she still was. Always would be, but now a new face was in the picture. Not entirely new but to the family at least he was.
Ben was what he was called. He had grown up as Ben Barnes and not as Ben Davis as he should have. Lewis sighed and chose not to look at Eleanor, she was hurt and yes she was supposed to feel that way. She had been his only child for twenty four years, the business, company, house and all the accounts were in her name and now he was asking of her a very difficult thing to do. To transfer half to Ben, his lost but found son.
"You are my daughter El, and you always will be." He looked at the sun setting, he had missed sitting and watching the sun set. These past years, the sun had set with him hunched over work in the office.
"I am, yes. So please don't ask this of me. You don't even know him!"
"He is still my son!" He stomped his walking stick hard on the ground. "And I owe him that much for being away for so long."
"And whose fault is that? It wasn't yours! She! Carol, it was her fault. Can't you see what she's trying to do now father?" Eleanor pleaded
"She's dead El, and he's now my responsibility."
"She kept him away from you for twenty one years and now this...?"
Lewis knew that his daughter was right. Carol had always been a materialistic woman and despite knowing that about her, he still chose to keep her, after all he had the money to take care of her extravagant lifestyle. Carol had come into his life when Eleanor was three years old, only a year after Grace, Eleanor's mother had passed away.
She was beautiful and young and they had fallen in love quite rapidly and he had taken it a step further when he proposed to her and with all joy she had accepted, but then just a few weeks after that, his business had a devastating shock and was about to go bankrupt. Carol couldn't endure it and she ran away. He did bounce back after a couple of months but she never came back. And now, twenty one years later, Ben Barnes had showed up at their door claiming to be his son. A letter from the deceased Carol and a DNA test result had proven that to be true.
Lewis being weak and old now, with a little extra sympathy running freely in his veins, felt he owed Ben a whole lot for being away from his life and Ben had put up quite a show with all the tears and pitiful sad tales. Eleanor had been quick to see through his charade, her father on the other hand was blinded by guilt and lost love. Eleanor could see why the twenty year old Ben had come running back home, just last month, Lewis Davis had tripled in assets and liabilities, all worth over sixty seven billion dollars, who wouldn't want to reckon with a billionaire or even have one as a father.
"Just do this for me, El." Lewis held her hand this time and looked at her, but she didn't hold his gaze instead she looked at her Zo, her daughter as a tear escaped her eye.
"I don't want to feel guilty about him anymore. I don't want to feel burdened."
Eleanor sniffed and wiped her tears, she faced her father and forced a smile. She nodded.
"I'll help you. I'll take the burden off you and your feeling of guilt."
"Thank you El." Lewis kissed the back of her palm.
"But I'll do it my way." Lewis agreed and was finally calm.
Eleanor did do as she had promised. She signed to Ben a share of the company worth one billion dollars and she watched him sell it at the very next available opportunity. Then as sudden as he came, he left them. His actions deeply hurt Lewis, weighing heavily on his heart and it eventually sent him to the hospital. Eleanor was partially relieved that she hadn't signed half the property to him as well but she felt for her father who was only trying to make Ben feel welcomed.
Eleanor sat with her father in the emergency room and watched him play with Zo, who didn't have the slightest inkling that her grand father's heart was rapidly giving out. Lewis held Zo to his chest as they both slept on the hospital bed. The image of Eleanor burned in his memory.
"I am your daughter." He heard her trembling voice say before his breath seized, sending him deeper into sleep and the monitor went off with a long beep.
Leticia's Angel 2
leticias-angel-1 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/leticias-angel-1-cba2fe35
Leticia tugged on through the tough terrain, up ahead she could see the vast forest that served as a border between the two worlds - of demons and a few loose Angels and where she was, the vast wasteland where the war had been fought. The blood spilled hard soaked right into the ground, turning the once fruitful land into emptiness. Nothing could grow here anymore and it was now a toxic place but creatures still flew above the place so a "thing" like her, covered entirely in the huge black cloak she had on would be an easy pick for them. The black cloak stood out sharply in contrast to the brown empty land, reasons why she only moved at night, when it was dark. At this pace, she would get to the edge of the forest before the first light of dawn.
She travelled light, beneath the cloak were two pouches, one full of gold coins and the other with silver coins. Spending gold coins, she knew, would attract a lot of unwanted attention which was something she couldn't afford to deal with right now. A lone human deliberately treading in the world of demons and Angels. With Angels, she had a sure chance of being useful and kept alive, with demons she would also be useful but more useful dead. Human blood was like gold to them.
"Leticia Moore! You are forbidden to go on this volatile quest in search of your brother!"
She remembered the elders warning clearly, they would not give her any form of support. But then she didn't entirely need their support, just what they had in supply, so she had stolen into the chamber where they were being kept. Asphax, the Angel disguise was one thing she needed. It was a scent of sort to cover the human smell. Demons and Angels could smell a human when one came a little close, Asphax on her would hide that. She would have that unique Angel scent.
The sword she had taken was beneath the cloak, it was the only sword known to have pierced through the skin of an Angel during the great war so it was a priceless gem to the elders, if they found it missing and her missing it wouldn't take long to put two and two together, she would eventually be termed a traitor. She wouldn't mind that title, she would face the consequences after returning with her brother and she would only return with her brother.
She paused when she heard screeching from above and she looked up. Demons, they had come to hunt. Scavengers was what they called them, scavenging for human to pick. She laid on the ground in a ball and covered herself with the cloak, blending into the rocks, she wasn't ready to face a demon. They had all been trained in the fine art of war, all the able humans male and female, right from a very tender age, her sixteen year old brother was a warrior himself but none of them had fought an actual demon. She had faith in her skills but just wasn't ready to prove it. She laid there a while until the screeching was over.
When she got to the edge of the forest, the sub was just coming up. She poured a little of the Asphax from it's container onto her palm and applied it to her skin, it burned a little. U
She unsheathed her sword and held it gingerly in her right hand as she proceeded into the forest. She heard more screeching and fear registered in her body, she placed a hand on the bottle of Asphax which was tied to her waist, contemplating to apply more to her skin but she shook her head. It would be best to use only as little as she could, it lasts on the body for only forty eight hours and she couldn't afford to waste it without knowing how long she would be out here. She continued walking.
She had only walked a little distance when she saw something glistering deeper in the forest. It was huge and seemed to be moving. She approached it carefully and only when she had gotten close enough did she realize what it was. Here, in the midst of the forest was a sleeping Angel and he was huge. Leticia thought on what to do; she should run, she should hide, she should try to kill him, the sword in her possession was known to have pierced through Angel's skin. She stepped closer to his face and got down, he reeked of alcohol. Drunk? Angels drink? She didn't know this. Reaching out, she moved his hair away from his face, my God he was beautiful, but then all Angels were beautiful but she had never seen one up so close.
She watched him sleep, his wings brightening and dimming with each breath he took. She brushed her hand over the feathers and marveled at them, she giggled, momentarily lost, then she thought to pluck a feather. Why, she didn't know but she did pluck one, with one powerful yank. She froze when she felt him stop breathing, then he resumed.
The feather in her hand was huge and still shone, her eyes widened at the treasure then she looked back at his face and her heart seized to beat when she saw his eyes watching her with his brows furrowed. His golden brown eyes burned through hers and when he shifted to sit up, she fainted.
AMPLmeme contest on PublishOx
Hey...!!
So about last month, PublishOx announced that Ampleforth would be introduced as a tip on the platform, and already Eth, BAT, and Loopring were used as to tips.
Introducing AMPL came with a contest and a chance to grab a share of $500. Lol, so out of boredom or just want to try my luck, I went in to it.
So out of 25 selected winners, guess what??!
I got selected as a winner!!! Haha.
So what did I win??
Like what...??! Hahahaha. I am super excited right now....and eeeeiiii!!!!! Lol
So thank you PublishOx ❣️😋😁😂
Leticia's Angel 1
**[Writing Prompt]: In a world of angels and demons, humans are a rare commodity and any who survived the great war are in hiding. Now years after the war started, your little brother has gone missing. The elders forbid you from searching for him, claiming it's too dangerous, too volatile. You leave anyway, only to run face first into a handsome renegade angel, with a sword in his hands and death in his eyes. He sees your desperation, your humanity and promises you one thing; he will help you on your journey or die trying. With your brother missing and humans being sold to the highest supernatural bidder, you don't have time to be wary. It's you and one broken angel against the whole world.**
Liam slured in his speech as he tried to narrate his sad sad story to the bartender who was in no way pitiful towards him but kinda liked the way he kept the other listeners happy and eager to buy more drinks for both him and themselves. The place was called Smokes and it was a place where one would come to seek demons to do dirty jobs, it was like a hidden, mini black market of a sort and it was welcomed to all dark things and creatures, it was also opened to angels too but then the beings of higher intellect, power and all their fancy status would never be caught in this place.
Angels also did dirty jobs. Ohh yes, in every good, there had to be a bad egg to spoil the crate but even the bad Angels never came here, instead they sent their slaves - humans, or if they had demon friends, they did their dirty works for them, because sending a human in here was only asking for death. Humans were now believed to be extinct so any human found was as good as a mountain heap of gold. The demons needed them, their bodies served as a good vessel to transfer or summon another demon, if not that then the bloods of humans could be used to conjure a pretty powerful potion, or their flesh could be on the menu for a higher price. But they were better of used than eaten, but death was sure.
The only human who could walk in here quite freely was Bell, a man servant to Renard, the most powerful Angel who ruled the world as it was. Renard was a bad egg, you could say the baddest egg, he dealt with powerful demons but never had one for a friend. Renard was shrewd, but wise enough to know that demons were never faithful, reasons why he settled for the human servant. Bell couldn't be hurt, it would mean war on the demons and they knew they didn't stand a chance, that piece of information rested heavily on Bell's shoulder and puffed up his pride. In this bar, he was a mini god.
The demons gathered round Liam, enjoying his sorry story, buying him more drinks and laughing at his predicament. In all, Liam had downed five bottles and was on his sixth, the waitress who passed made eye contact with him as winked, her forked tongue slithered out of her mouth to lick her lips seductively. The dangerous colour of red on her lips glimmered in the dull light when her saliva rubbed on it.
Liam smiled and stretched out a hand to grab a hold of her. She giggled and whipped out a tail, caressing his cheek, neck and bare chest with it before blowing him a kiss and striding away, her pronounced hips swinging with the music.
"I think I'm in love." Liam clutched at his chest and laid his head on the bar table, smiling.
"Haha, Liam Reid." A demon sitting close to him spoke, tapping Liam on the shoulder, "You cannot be in love, not with Phidian at least." The other people joined in the laughter.
Liam rose from the table and frowned. "And why not? Why can't I?" He hiccuped.
"Because she's a demon Liam." The bartender replied him, slamming another bottle on the counter in front of him.
"Demon? Yeah." He took a gulp. "And what am I?" He smirked.
"What are you, Liam Reid?"
"What am I?" He repeated getting up. He staggered a bit before standing still, he took a hold of the think brown coat he had on and pulled.
"I am...." He tore off the coat, letting it fall to the ground. On his back were two mighty wings which spread out wide and shine with such powerful light that it immediately incinerated the two demons standing close behind him. Liam smiled, unaware of the two demons he had just burnt. He placed his arms on either side of his body, his toned muscles stood out powerfully and intimidatingly. He stood a good six feet and eleven inches tall, taller than any other person in the bar.
"I am an Angel."
A roar of laughter rise from the bar and someone threw a bottle at Liam which caught him in the temple, he fell to the ground and his once vibrant wings folded back, loosing their brightness. He folded up on the floor and laughed with them, then slowly, his laugher turned into sobs. He stayed on the cold floor and wrapped himself up in his coat, his past life came rushing to him, cascading over him like a waterfall over a small rock. He laid on the floor and little by little, drifted into unconsciousness as the demons emptied drinks all over him.
He had accepted his fate, that he would never be able to rise to the pinnacle of power which he once held. Liam Reid, the lost Angel, defeated and humiliated and now laid wasted as the only Angel in this bar full of demons. He slept off, the laughter, chants an hoots of the demons registered in his brain as the last noise he heard.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell I'm kicking off another series!! Let it be all Angels, all demons, a dash of humans and a whole lot of action on the way. Lol
Christmas Mysteries 7: Missing Child
People disappearing.... People causing other people to disappear.... None would beat this story because till today, no body knows her whereabouts, no body is even sure if she is dead or hopefully, alive.
It is more shocking to know that this story is about a two year old girl who was found to have been missing only after twenty years. What we know is that something dreadful had happened to her because the only people who would have told of her whereabout chose to die rather than to speak the truth. Possibly the killed her.
The Disappearance Of Nikole Betterson
Jarrett Betterson and Susan Klingel lived in Dearborn, Michigan with their two-year-old daughter, Nikole. It was Labor Day weekend 1977 in September of that year, and Jarrett was at the wheel when the car he was riding in with his girlfriend, Susan, and their young daughter, Nikole, went out of control and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
Susan Klingel was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Jarrett and Nikole were not seriously injured.
Marijuana was found in the car, and police wanted to charge Jarrett with vehicular homicide. But the investigation was sloppy, and charges were never brought.
Soon Jarrett Jarrett became involved with a woman named Barbara, his new girlfriend. Around Christmas time, Jarrett and Barbara surprised Susan’s family by announcing they were moving out with Nikole, the two had plans to take Nikole with them and start a new life out West. The couple did not give the Klingels their exact destination and told conflicting stories to friends about where they were going. He told some friends they were headed toward Las Vegas. Someone else said they were on their way to California.
“I’ll be a good mother to Nikole. She’ll be well taken care of,” Barbara promised Susan’s parents just before leaving Dearborn around Christmastime 1977.
The Klingels were already at odds with Jarrett Betterson, who hadn’t exactly been welcomed into the family. Jarrett was bitter, thinking that the family rejected him because he was black. They thought that he had lured their daughter into a lifestyle of drug use. Jarrett and Barbara weren’t heard from again for 20 years, and Nikole was never seen again.
Almost 20 years later, the Klingels tried to contact their granddaughter, Nikole, so they finally hired a private investigator to determine Nikole’s whereabouts. He tracked down Jarrett and Barbara, who were living in Las Vegas, but there was no trace of Nikole. Records were searched, but no evidence was found that she ever made it with her father to their new home.
Until Nikole turned 18, Social Security Administration kept sending her the monthly survivor benefit that goes to children whose parents have died. Jarrett faithfully picked the check up each month at a local post office still she was nowhere to be found. There was no paper trail for her after she left Michigan in 1977. It was as though Nikole Betterson, sometime in early 1978, had simply ceased to exist.
The police soon got involved and Rosgen, the detective figured he had but one chance. He would go to Jarrett Betterson and pretend he knew all about his daughter. Tell him he would be brought before a grand jury if he didn’t talk, where more questions would be asked. Then lure him in with a promise of leniency if he did. By now, it was early November 1997. It was time to talk to Jarrett Betterson.
The detective was bluffing, but Jarrett Betterson didn’t know it. In the apartment was a motorized wheelchair Jarrett was forced to use because of injuries from a bus accident. A bathroom full of pills indicated that Barbara also had severe medical problems.
“I know what happened to your daughter, it will be easier on you if you tell us the whole story.”
Jarrett was shaken. He promised to get back to the detective in a week or so and shut the door to the modest apartment, trembling as he sank back into his motorized wheelchair.
Jarrett acknowledged as much when he called the detective four days later and said he had no other option but to cooperate. But he needed time. Jarrett promised to tell them the whole story about what happened to Nikole.
"Give me a few weeks," Jarrett said, "and I’ll set up a meeting with Nikole."
Ten days later, Jarrett called again, asking for more time.
Thanksgiving passed before Rosgen called the Betterson home to see what was taking Jarrett so long. There was no answer. Faced with what they thought was a jail sentence for Jarrett, he and Barbara had chosen death.
Shortly before Christmas, on the 20th anniversary of Nikole’s disappearance, Jarrett shot his wife to death and then turned the gun on himself. At first, homicide detectives treated the deaths of the 49-year-old man and his 50-year-old wife as a murder-suicide. Declining health may have prompted the man to shoot his wife and turn the gun on himself.
Jarrett had shot Barbara twice in the heart with a .22-caliber rifle while she lay on a water bed, clutching a Bible and a cross. He then made the bed and placed a red rose on her chest. Jarrett then went into the adjoining bedroom, covered himself with a blanket and fired a bullet through his brain.
Before she died, Barbara mailed a letter to the Klingels apologizing for everything she had done, but did not provide any details about what happened to Nikole.
The handwritten letter was as polite as it was chilling. When Joni Betterson retrieved it from the mailbox at her Georgia home, it was the first she had heard from her son and daughter-in-law in more than 20 years.
“By the time you get this we should be dead,” Barbara Betterson wrote. “Jarrett is about to go to jail and I don’t want to live without him. I’m sorry about living apart from our family. I’m sorry about so many things. We’ve had a sad and difficult life.”
“We had hoped our troubles would never touch our families so we kept to ourselves. We’ve tried to follow God. Now it’s about time for him to judge us.”
In death, Jarrett and Barbara did nothing to answer them. The only hint came in Barbara’s final letter to Jarrett’s mother.
“Go to your Bibles to see peace,” she wrote, “and please forgive us for all the wounds we have put in your hearts with our tragic and youthful blunders.”
Inside the envelope was a money order for $900 that Jarrett and Barbara Betterson had managed to scrape together to pay for their cremation. Barbara Betterson asked that their ashes be placed in the same urn.
It wasn’t until three weeks later that the bodies were discovered by the apartment manager. On the front door were several eviction notices for nonpayment of rent.
When their decomposing bodies were found a few days before last Christmas--Barbara clutching a Bible and a wilted red rose--there was no suicide note in the apartment. Just an apologetic note on the refrigerator to their apartment manager asking him to “forgive us for having to deal with the mess we left.”
No mention was made of a daughter.
Nikole could be alive somewhere, police say. She could have been sold for drugs or given away somewhere between Michigan and Las Vegas. She could have grown up with another family, another name, never knowing her past. Police fear, though, that Nikole’s fate may never be known.
Truly a mystery, and maybe her fate would never be known. A sad Christmas for the family. Kinda makes me doubt the "accident" that killed Susan in the first place.....
Christmas Mysteries 6: On Fire
Fire works are a common show for some popular holidays, like the American Independence and Christmas but this Christmas fire work was not so common and not at all welcoming because it claimed the life of a young mother.
The deliberate act was likely related to her partners addiction to drugs and the money he owed numerous people, people who would do anything in anyway to get their money or send that message that "we're still coming for you." And this unfortunate woman was caught up in the mix.
The Murder Of Tracy Mertens
In 1994, 31-year-old Tracy Mertens moved to Rochdale, England, with her on-off partner, Joey Kavanagh, and their two children, Kelly, aged 11, and Daniel, 12.
Her family said the couple, who first got together when they were 16, had a strained relationship at times - and drug user Joey owed people money.
Two days before Christmas, she had left her new home in Rochdale, where she was from, to pick up her benefits book from her old house in Birmingham. Tracey was supposed to make the trip to her old home in Cattells Grove and back to Rochdale in the same day - but ended up staying overnight nearby with her sister-in-law.
The next morning, Tracey had gone to her old Birmingham home for around 10 minutes, While Tracy was there, there was a surprise knock on the door, and two black men came bursting inside her house demanding to know where Joey was.
When Tracey wouldn't answer, they proceeded to restrain Tracy before blindfolding and abducting her, bundled her into a tatty yellow Ford Escort and driven 70 miles to the village of Eaton in Cheshire.
The two assailants drove to the town of Eaton and left Tracy on the steps of a church. They doused her with gasoline and burned her alive. Around five hours after she was snatched from her old house, a passer-by heard Tracey crying for help on the steps of the church after she had been set on fire.
Despite the bitterly cold night, her clothes were still smouldering, and her burns were so horrific her rescuer said he initially thought she was wearing a costume. When Tracy was found, she had burns on 90 percent of her body but was still breathing.
A petrol canister was later recovered by police nearby.
She was taken to a hospital and lived long enough to describe what happened to her before passing away on Christmas Eve. Tracey fought long enough in hospital to give detectives as much information on her abduction as she could - but she died around 12 hours later.
She described her abductors as two black men around 30-years-old, big and fat in build with Birmingham accents, who also spoke in a foreign language, which police believe was the Jamaican dialect Patois.
The most intriguing part of Tracy’s story was that her two unknown attackers reportedly asked, “Where’s Joey?” after bursting into the home. After Tracy told them her boyfriend wasn’t there, they decided to abduct her and leave the area.
During their time together, Tracy and Joey often had a strained relationship. Joey had frequent issues with heroin addiction and owed people money at the time of Tracy’s death. Joey contended that these issues are unconnected to Tracy’s murder and claimed to have no idea who was responsible. Police have interviewed thousands of people during their investigations and made multiple public appeals - but her killers have never been charged.
Joey Kavanagh has always maintained he was not the cause of her murder.
It is said that one should be careful with whom one rolls with, as with the case of Tracey who met with an untimely death. Decades later and this crime has still not been solved despite the huge reward on any information leading to conviction. The case still hasn't gone cold as the police and the family are still working on it.
Christmas Mysteries 5: Disappearance
I think as we go down the mysterious Christmas lane, we find weirder and weirder things!
People just poof! disappear and without a trace. Wait, without a tangible trace. And sometimes there are suspects bit just not enough evidence or no evidence at all to tie them down and you can't arrest a person based on a hunch now, can you?
So this lady apparently disappeared, leaving lots of questions behind and the main suspect happens to be her ex husband and yes there seems to be fowl play because he was the last to see her alive and then the discovery in her bedroom...?? Arrest the ex husband please. tch.
The Disappearance Of Patty Vaughan
On Christmas Day, 1996, 32-year-old Patty Vaughan left her home in La Vernia, Texas and never returned.
So, Patty and her then husband, known as Jerry Ray (J.R) had begun a trial seperation in October of 1996 after which he moved into another apartment in San Antonio, Texas and Patty remained at their old residence in La Vernia, Old Park Road. They had been married since 1985 and had three children.
After the seperation in October, Patty began dating another man in December 1996 and this apparently got J.R jealous when he found out about the relationship on December 13th and he had gotten into an argument with her in her place of residence on December 25, 1996. After which Patty disappeared from the house between 6:00pm and 8:00pm and has never been seen again.
Of course J.R told the authorities that Patty and left the house on December 25 alone and simply disappeared. J.R was confirmed to be the last person to see her.
On December 26, Patty's light blue 1991 Dodge Caravan with Texas license plates was found 25 kilometers (15 miles) away the following day, abandoned with a flat tire, one day after she was last seen. Tests were carried out, which revealed that the tire had been intentionally deflated. There were traces of blood in the van as well as a pile of men's clothing when it was located. One of the clothing items was a red workman's jumpsuit, something an auto mechanic or plumber might wear. The jumpsuit had an emblem with the letters JM on the back.
J.R filed for divorce from his wife on December 26, just one day after Patty was last seen.
Traces of blood were found in Patty’s bedroom and on a mop inside her residence, someone had attempted to clean the blood from the house prior to discovery, and the van's carpet had been shampooed recently and was still wet. DNA testing proved that the blood was Patty's.
Patty's mother, Patsy Wallace, was charged with burglarizing J.R.'s residence and assaulting him with a baseball bat in February 1997, two months after her daughter disappeared. She said she thought he was involved in her daughter's disappearance. Nevertheless, there was no evidence to implicate him in Patty’s disappearance, and he took custody of their children and left the state.
J.R. had Patty declared legally dead in 2005. Shortly afterward, Wallace filed a civil wrongful death suit against him. The outcome of the suit is unknown.
However, during the time Patty went missing, J.R. was working construction on a school in the nearby town of Natalia. Investigators looking for evidence in her case examined the foundation of the Natalia, Texas school that J.R. had helped build.
Authorities have not discounted the possibility that Patty’s remains might be encased in the concrete foundation and that multiple people were involved in the disposal of her body. In December 2008, investigators announced they may be close to solving Patty's case. They stated three friends of the Vaughans are now the focus of the investigation. J.R. is still the primary suspect in Patty's disappearance, but police believe the three family friends may have helped dispose of her body. None of these individuals have been identified.
Years later, DNA testing was performed on items found in Patty’s van. The DNA was determined to be female, but did not belong to Patty Vaughan, adding further intrigue to this unsolved case.
J.R. now resides in Colorado with the three children he had with Patty. He maintains his innocence in her case and stated he believed she had left him deliberately. Foul play is suspected in Patty's disappearance due to the circumstances involved. She has never been located and no arrests have been made in connection with her case. Patty's case remains unsolved. Her family held a memorial service for her on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance.
And the foundation of the school would be an excellent hiding place. I mean the body could be there for years and I don't think the authorities can tear down a school to search the foundation for a body that may or may not be there....
Stranger things are really happening.
Christmas Mysteries 4: Murder
Another Christmas disaster with a sinister twist. The girl was said to have been involved with a married man, by consent or by force, we never can tell but one thing is for sure, that later on she felt threatened to even step out by her self.
If truly she was involved with a married man, then I'd say there are other subtle way of dealing with the issue that to kill her, that is if wife of the married man was behind this.....
There is also the option of it being her boyfriend but that didn't hold so much water in it, as he wasn't so mentioned in the case but it was definitely somebody she knew because based on various statements and actions she made prior to her death, investigators believe that she may have known her killer. Her family does not believe that she would have stopped her car for a stranger, they believe that she stopped for someone she knew.
The Murder Of Rhonda Hinson
On the night of December 22, 1981, just three days before Christmas, nineteen-year-old Rhonda Hinson attended her first office Christmas party. She had recently graduated from high school in Valdese, North Carolina, and started a job as a clerical worker for a local steel company. At around midnight, she and two of her friends left the party and headed home. At approximately 12:30AM, she dropped off her friends and began the ten mile drive back home, where she still lived with her parents in Valdese when she became the victim of a bizarre homicide.
A high-powered rifle was used to fire a shot at Rhonda’s vehicle from an unknown location. The bullet managed to travel through the trunk and the driver’s seat before striking Rhonda in the heart. Her car was discovered on Mineral Springs Mountain Road, just a half mile from her home. The driver's door was opened, and just a few feet away, she was found dead. She was lying on her back, with her arms deliberately placed at her side. Police believed at first that her murder was a random act of violence until an investigation revealed that she may have known her killer. The circumstances of how or why she was murdered remain unclear.
Prior to her murder, Rhonda had been acting strangely toward her parents in the preceding weeks. She dropped hints that she was concealing a terrible secret and although she was normally comfortable driving alone, she began to ask her father Bobby to accompany her on trips into town. During one of these trips, she said that she had something to tell him, and that it was bad. When he asked her to explain further, she said she'd think about it. However, she never explained to him what was troubling her. Then she made an unusual inquiry to her mother, Rhonda asked her if it was ever okay to be in a relationship with a married man. Judy said it was never okay, because it would only end in people getting hurt. She did not know why Rhonda asked this question; she did not know if Rhonda was asking for herself or for a friend.
In the weeks prior to her murder, her parents noticed that she was suffering from insomnia. She also began getting up in the middle of the night and taking showers. She told her mother that she "felt dirty". According to police, this is usually the behavior of someone who has been sexually abused. This unusual behavior suggested to police that she was under some kind of pressure.
Police also uncovered evidence that suggested that Rhonda was being stalked by someone on the night of her death. On the night of the murder, between 12:15 and 12:30AM, a witness drove under the Interstate 40 bridge on Mineral Springs Mountain Road. She observed a blue GM Chevrolet facing in a northerly direction, with two white males inside. The car was parked next to the same off-ramp that Rhonda would later use to exit. It was spotted just thirty minutes before Rhonda was shot and just two-hundred yards from where her body was found.
Later that evening, a motorist traveling down the same road passed by a similar blue vehicle, with a single man behind the wheel. This vehicle was speeding away from the murder site. As he continued down the road, the witness saw Rhonda's vehicle at the same spot where her body would be found. The witness saw her slumped over the steering wheel with an unidentified man standing at the front driver's side door, assuming that they were a drunk couple, he drove on.
The witness did not know that Rhonda was dead at the time, but he did see a Trans-Am parked down the road a short distance away, which may have belonged to the man seen next to Rhonda’s vehicle. If this man fired the fatal rifle shot from a distance, why did he approach her car and drag Rhonda’s body out onto the road? Was her death an accident or cold-blooded murder? These questions remain unanswered. Her murder has never been solved, and a $20,000 reward is being offered for information.
She was only able to live such short life and that is just so heartbreaking. They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but then how are you going to know all your enemies when some despise disguise as friends?
Christmas Mysteries 3: Jane Doe
Some events surrounding Christmas just keeps getting weirder and weirder and creepier and creepier and a whole lot more confusing.
Apparently, this woman simply known as "Jane Doe" - for nobody could identify her - actually didn't want anyone to identify her. I mean, no fingerprint matches? No identity card? No family members? No.... nothing??
Although till now, they still have a hot line to call if anyone can identify the woman but then I doubt it. It's been so long....just too long.
Let's go to the story then...
The Pleasant Valley Memorial Park Jane Doe
It’s a very sad occurrence when a person is found dead and no one knows their true identity. If the victim cannot be identified, he’s called John (or Jane) Doe. This situation occurs many times per year, but in 1996, one particular Jane Doe made a concerted effort to ensure her identity remained a mystery.
On December 18, a woman was found lying dead atop a plastic sheet in Annandale, Virginia at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park cemetery, a small cemetery in Annandale, a freshly coiffed auburn-haired woman in her late fifties or early sixties spread a clear plastic sheet on the ground. Next to the sheet, she placed an eight-inch Christmas tree, adorned with gold balls and red ribbons. She wore bifocals with a translucent frame, a blue all-weather Eddie Bauer hooded jacket over a blue sweater and blue pants, and she carried a green knapsack.
In the darkness of a mid-December morning, she sat down and finished off a flask of brandy, perhaps chasing it with bottles of peach and mango juices. She turned on a portable tape player, placed headphones over her ears and listened to a recording of comedians Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner doing their "2,000-Year-Old Man" routine. Then she reached into her knapsack and pulled out a plastic bag and a roll of masking tape, placed the bag over her head and tied it off with the tape. She put the roll of tape back in the knapsack, then lay down and suffocated.
When cemetery workers found her shortly after 9 a.m., they called police. Detectives Richard Perez and Mike Headley arrived 40 minutes later, and her body was still warm. She was approximately 60 years old and carried no identification. Brandy and Valium were found in her system. A plastic bag was taped over her head. She had asphyxiated. As the investigators checked her pockets for identification, they found only two envelopes, one addressed to the cemetery and one to the coroner. Both contained two crisp $50 bills and the same typed note:
"Deceased by own hand. . . . Prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation, with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe."
When they couldn't identify the woman through fingerprints or locate any family from missing persons reports, police distributed a drawing of the woman through the news media. Still nothing. It seemed she did not want anyone to know her identity.
The scene contained many strange clues about this mysterious woman’s background. She had set up a miniature Christmas tree beside her and decorated it. She also had a portable tape player and comedy tapes in her possession. She died with headphones on, listening to the famous “2000-Year-Old Man” comedy routine by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. She wore a gold Guess watch, a 14-karat gold ring with four jade stones, and clothes that Perez thinks might have come from an upscale store such as Saks Fifth Avenue. In addition to drinking brandy (she had a 0.14 blood-alcohol level) and swallowing Valium, she had two empty juice bottles and a new roll of masking tape in her knapsack.
The woman had an eight-inch scar on her stomach, possibly from a Caesarean section. The most intriguing aspect of Jane Doe’s suicide was that she was found in the section of the cemetery where deceased infants were buried but not near any particular grave. Sadly, no one has ever come forward to identify Jane Doe, and her motivation remains a mystery.
It was Dec. 18, 1996, when "Jane Doe" committed suicide, apparently determined to remain anonymous. And nearly twenty four years later, she has.
The trouble of not wanting to be identified. I feel that she lost a young child? For her to come to the cemetery for kids, but then she's sixty, so maybe the child had grown and is possibly her only child and she had lost him/her.
There are many speculations surrounding this, guess they'll remain just speculations.
Scorched 20
**scorched-1** **-** **scorched-2** **-****scorched-3** **-** **scorched-4** **-** **scorched-5** **-** **scorched-6** **-** **scorched-7** **-** **scorched-8** **-** **scorched-9** **-** **scorched-10** **-** **scorched-11** **-** **scorched-12** **-** **scorched-13** **-** **scorched-14** **-** **scorched-15** **-** **scorched-16** **-** **scorched-17** **-** **scorched-18** **-** scorched-19 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-1-b70f43e8 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-2-491285fd https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-3-9e51a631 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-4-dbb4043a https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-5-3f10da6b https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-6-2d41b1e6 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-7-4672b467 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-8-f563ca23 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-9-9d854beb https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-10-563b30a2 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-11-2561944f https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-12-56089091 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-13-e42f6338 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-14-2b25cd28 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-15-6778467a https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-16-7951903f https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-17-b27eed72 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-18-e6ea8d99 https://read.cash/@Leo_kitti/scorched-19-39c0ca6c
Mariam walked Omar to her favorite place in the garden. Both of them talking and occasionally laughing, it had been nearly two weeks since the failed attack and Omar was healing pretty fast.
"Your injuries are mostly gone." Mariam commented.
"Yes. My shoulder still hurts a bit." He tried to move it but winced a little. "It'll take more time I guess."
"You should take care of it." She sighed and sat down. "So the wedding has been called off..."
"So it has. You don't sound too happy." He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If I recall dearie, you yourself, boldly said to my face, to the face of your husband to be, that you didn't want the wedding."
Mariam laughed. "I didn't." Sigh. "A woman is not supposed to have such closeness with a male that isn't a family member or someone closer, but I'm glad I have you."
"Well princess, I am closer. I mean for a period of time I was your fiance." He grinned. "I'm glad you have me too."
"Ugh! Again with that pride." Then they both laughed.
"How did you manage to convince them though. About the wedding?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Errr...." He bowed a little, thinking of his father. "I have my ways, let's say a little secret."
"Ohh." Was what she could say. "So what now? Your lover?"
"Hmmm...." He sighed and looked far, delving into his thoughts. "... Megan."
Mariam smiled sadly, then shaking her head she cheered up. "I wish you both luck and love. You're too good of a person Omar."
"Of course I am! I mean look at this amazing piece of art!" He boasted turning to face her now, she laughed hard and he smiled widely, a genuine smile on his face, then he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
"I'll have to leave you now princess, but we will keep in touch." He squeezed her hand. "My warrior princess." He winked and she laughed. Omar left the palace and headed for home, there was something important he had to do. And fast.
Megan held on to her camera which was handing from a strap on her neck, she had come to this same mall almost everyday for the sweet and rich coffee that M&O makes. But that was a cover up, everyday she would sit and look out the window while sipping her coffee and looking into the crowd for hopes of maybe seeing Omar walking through in search of her. And everyday she would go home more broken.
Today she wouldn't have coffee. Today she would just stand by the glass wall and over look everything from here, occasionally taking pictures of whatever caught her fancy. She had made it clear to Samir that what they had in the past was long gone from the moment he left her abruptly and she had pleaded for him to leave because he reminded her so much of Omar, and he had left her with a sad look in his eyes she almost felt pity for him. She shook her head and turned round, time to head home.
The strap of her camera came loose with the spin and it fell to the floor. She cursed and bent down to pick it, examining it she was grateful that the lens hadn't broken but the covering was. *Ohh well*.
"Hello." She heard someone say and then a pair of feet come to stop in front of her. She looked up from the extremely polished shoes to the person's face and was greeted by the kindest eyes she'd ever seen, her eyes widening in awe, slowly she got up. He smiled and stretched his hand for a handshake.
"Strangely I feel like we've met before. Megan right?" He watched her eyes, he could tell that she was shocked to the bone.
"You..." She began but was cut off.
"I'm Omar, you probably know me or don't but could you help me in finding my bride? She kinda looks exactly like you." He flashed a smile and watched a tear escape her eye, her lips trembled and without thinking he claimed them in his. He finally found her.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell a satisfying ending ei? Finally it's over. So let another begin. 😋
Christmas Mysteries 2: The Hit and Run
So, I would consider this one as a misuse of power if indeed, the mayor was the culprit but then it still seems that after years, the truth still isn't out and someone doesn't want it to come to the light.
Someone went through the trouble of hiding evidence and investigation reports. The death may be an accident or it could have been deliberately carried out. I mean for such crazy cover-up.... something is definitely aloof.
The Hit-And-Run Of Kevin Showalter
Christmas Eve is one of the few times of the year where everything is supposed to be peaceful. Back in 1973, for one family it was a night of unspeakable tragedy. A 20-year-old Mitchell College student Kevin B. Showalter and his girlfriend were driving through New London, Connecticut when their vehicle got a flat tire. Kevin pulled over and was in the midst of changing the tire on a well-lit section of Pequot Avenue on the New London shoreline when he was struck by a passing vehicle and killed at 11:12 p.m. His girlfriend at the time, was only 6 feet away on a stone wall and claimed she saw nothing.
Kevin’s mother soon sensed that something was wrong when she went to retrieve her son’s personal effects from the scene but was told they had been lost and that his death would probably never be solved. Her subsequent investigation would uncover allegations of shoddy police work and a potential cover-up. There were immediate reports of a potential suspect but there was reluctance to prosecute as rumors of a police and judicial coverup were abound.
Harvey Mallove, a former mayor of New London, was considered a potential suspect because he had driven through the area at the time of Kevin’s death, but provided testimony which contradicted eyewitness accounts of the accident. A one-man grand jury, Judge Joseph Dannehy of Willimantic, determined that Mallove was the most likely culprit, but there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges.
The popular former Mayor was never prosecuted and probably never will because he died several years ago. Mallove maintained his innocence, and in 1979 a man named Paul Hansen came forward to confess that he was the hit-and-run culprit. By that point, the statute of limitations had expired, so no charges could be filed against Hansen. Another grand jury was convened, but they determined that there was no evidence to support Hansen’s claim, so the inquiry was closed.
The case remained cold until 2005 when Hansen committed suicide. He left behind a note once again claiming responsibility for Kevin’s death, however, this claim was never proven to be true. Police decided to reopen the case, but when the local media requested transcripts from the earlier investigations, they were denied. In fact, the 3,000-page transcript from the original grand jury investigation on Mallove had mysteriously gone missing. Decades after his death, it seems some people are afraid of the truth getting out and to this day, Kevin Showalter’s death is still officially unsolved.
And the life of a very young man was ended abruptly. But the girlfriend though... How could you not have seen a thing??! I see bribery in this!! The case had probably been shelved and forgotten somewhere and might not ever see the light of Justice.
Christmas Mysteries: Spontaneous Combustion
So as we jump into the festive season of Christmas with the red, green and white colors blaring merry wishes, there lies some head turning, brain cracking mysteries behind the cheers of Christmas, of which I am going to be sharing with you.
First off, this one is crazy and I doubt the combustion stuff because I'd rather think she was hugged by a burning demon or something - no offense to the dead - but then if you were on fire would you actually stand rooted to a spot??
But then science would not believe in anything they can't prove, so yea, combustion works fine.
Spontaneous Combustion Of Matilda Rooney
A farmhand named John Larson spent Christmas 1885 with his employers, Patrick and Matilda Rooney, an elderly couple who lived just outside of Seneca, Illinois. They shared several drinks before Larson retired for the evening and went upstairs to bed. Sometime during the night, he underwent a coughing fit and had trouble breathing, but soon drifted back to sleep.
When Larson woke up on Christmas morning, traces of soot were on his pillow. Larson went downstairs and was shocked to find Mr. Rooney lying dead on the floor next to his bed. The bedroom was next to the kitchen, and the door was ajar. Matilda was nowhere to be found.
Later that day, Larson wandered into the kitchen and found a large blackened hole in the floor. It rested alongside what appeared to be the charred remains of a human foot. A pile of ash was inside the hole. Larson alerted neighbors that something was wrong in the house, he himself had been nearly asphyxiated by the smoke inside, so the horror within was not fully explored until a doctor from Port Huron, Michigan, Dr. Floyd Clendenin arrived to perform an inquest.
In the kitchen, a partly burned candle stood on the table... and next to the table was a hole burned through the floor measuring two and a half feet by three feet, through which the ground under the house could be seen. In that hole was a heap of ashes, which was found to also contain a skull, a cervical bone, some dorsal vertebrae and part of an ilium -- the vertebrae and ilium were nearly reduced to a cinder -- six inches of the right femur, and two human feet, still in their shoes... and both charcoaled. In all, Mrs. Rooney's formerly one-hundred and sixty pound body had been reduced to just twelve pounds worth of remains. Nothing else in the kitchen was damaged by fire directly, but most of the house's interior walls and furniture were coated with a "dirty, greasy, sooty substance." This was all that was left of Matilda Rooney.
It seemed that Matilda was the victim of spontaneous human combustion, a situation in which it is believed the human body somehow ignites itself and reduces to ashes in a very short time, which caused her entire body to catch fire and burn to ashes. The estimated temperature of the fire that consumed her was 1,400 degrees Celsius (2,500 °F), but there were no other signs of fire damage other than that spot.
It was further stated that her husband had been asphyxiated by the fumes rising from his wife's burning body while sleeping off the drinks. Patrick had died of smoke inhalation. This explained Larson’s coughing fit during the night. He was spared from death because he slept behind a closed door on the second floor.
Even though there was speculation that Larson could have murdered Matilda, it seemed impossible for him to have started such a blazing fire without damaging the rest of the house. John Larson was cleared of the suspicion of murder because rising soot from the fire had left an outline of his head on his pillow, proving he had slept through the strange event.
Larson probably survived the night because he slept on the second floor and his door was shut, and so he was reasonably protected from the main source of smoke and soot. However, he died two weeks after the event, apparently due to the effects of inhaling the smoke and grease in the air of the house that night.
It’s possible that excessive alcohol consumption caused Matilda Rooney to spontaneously combust. A prominent local legend was that she suffered divine retribution for daring to drink so much on Christmas Eve. It was duly noted that both of the Rooneys were "addicted to the excessive use of whisky," as this fit the then-current belief about spontaneous combustion effecting drunkards... on the other hand, Mr. Rooney had not combusted, and the effect of the drinks was to simply render him incapable of responding to the threat.
At least this one teaches us one thing, don't be so overly addicted to alcohol or you might burn. And come to think of it, it does give that burning sensation when gulped down!
I guess it'll remain a mystery till the end.
Merry Christmas🎅☃️🎁
Package
Charles sat steady in bed with a headset glued to his ears and connected to his laptop, his eyes fixed on the screen. Anyone watching him now would think he was probably watching a movie. He smiled and listened, the deal was going down today and he would be the one to crack this, he could smell his promotion already. Four years they had spent in tracking down, or at least tried to track down the Bulldog, as they were known, and now he had managed to infiltrate their communications. He listened to the men talk of their next operation and disclosed every single details right down to the location and the amount of "stuff" they would be smuggling.
"How much stuff is in the package?"
"The exact amount. Nothing more and nothing less. I expect my money too."
"It will be wired at the location, when I lay my hands on my property."
"The old harbour in exactly one hour."
"Why the sudden change in location?"
"I have a boat to take me out once the deal is done. I don't like to waste time. Old harbour. One hour." Then the call was disconnected.
They had kept the call under twenty seconds and Charles noticed that one man had a strong British accent, the guy doing the selling. He rubbed his hands together excited and looked at the time; 10:57pm. He had one hour to get there, that was plenty enough time. He glanced at his girlfriend Melinda, sleeping peacefully beside him on the bed, he tucked a strand of hair carefully away from her face then stood up and rushed into his trousers and top. He left the house by 11:02pm.
Charles Bolding was an undercover detective who took his job just a little bit too seriously. He always imagined that things worked out in real life, just how they worked out in the movies and which was why tonight, he was going to burst the biggest drug shipment ever! The Linz cartel was going down and he would be the one to bring them down. As clumsy as he may seem to be, he was actually the best in the business. His numerous award which lined the top two shelves in the living room was his pride, after he would burst this deal, another award or maybe a medal would be added to his collection.
The air outside was choking and the wind whipped his coat, the collar came all the way up to cover the back of his head and ears, his hands which were protected by thick leather gloves were shoved into his coat pocket. He looked back up to where his room window was and thought of Melinda, if this his stake out was successful then that promotion would be sure, he would have the money to take her on that trip to the Bahamas that she was always talking about. He smiled to himself and walked to his car. He should call the office and request for backup, it was only rational and it would be for his own safety but as smart as he was, he was also greedy. He wouldn't want to share the glory of bursting this deal with another low ranking officer. He started the car and drove off.
---
Melinda woke up to the sound of tires crunching on the gravel in the drive way. She looked around the room, Charles was not here. She checked the time; 11:10pm. She stood up and walked to the dresser, he had left a note there for her.
'Hey babe, I'm out for work. I won't be back tonight and probably not till noon tomorrow. Take care of yourself darling. Much love. Charles.'
She squeezed the piece of paper and threw it into the mini plastic trash can and picked up her phone, punched in a number and brought it to her ear. She looked at her self in the mirror and admired her figure. She was a perfect 36-25-40 hot body, the short silk night dress she had on revealed too much cleavage and lots of skin, she could seduce any man with one look. As she watched her self, heat began to build up in her body. The phone beeped.
"Melinda." The person on the other line spoke. A deep baritone voice that sent shivers through her body. She smiled.
"He's gone." She kept it simple because he already knew why she was calling.
"You're alone?"
"Hmm..." That came out more of a moan than as a reply.
"Quit drooling over your self by the mirror darling, you should come over."
"You know me too well." She smirked. "I'll be there." She hung up and took one last look at her self and sighed. It took only six surgeries to get this perfect look and now she had the men at her beck and call.
---
Charles parked his car very far away from the rendezvous point and slowly crept up to the old harbour, he set up a camera on one of the poles and hid behind a larger pillar. He checked his time, he was fifteen minutes early. He hadn't been there long when a car pulled up in the opening and two minutes later, two other cars pulled up. Charles rubbed his hands in excitement, he could smell that promotion.
"You've got the package Moss?"
"Hold on, I'll confirm that." He signaled to a man standing close and a suitcase was brought. He placed it on an old barrel and clicked it open, the suitcase was a computer which showed the whole view of the harbour.
"There is your package." He pointed to an object on the screen. The other man smiled.
"Delivered quite earlier than I expected." He grinned.
"I try not to loose." Moss snapped a finger at another man. "Go get the package."
Charles who watched the scene from behind the pillar was suddenly surrounded and a spot light was fixed on him. He stood, rooted and shocked to move. He was dragged out and into the opening where the two men stood and he was beaten to the ground.
"Mr. Charles Bolding, right? You look quite surprised."
"The police will soon be here." Charles spoke boldly, dusting his coat.
"Ahh... Trying to be brave aren't we?" Moss laughed. "We know your greedy self didn't call the cops, wanting to burst this on your own, didn't you?"
Charles looked on in fear, he clearly didn't see this situation as a possible happening. He swallowed.
"We know you've been on our tail for quite a while. We know you tracked the last call we made. We know you came alone." Moss walked round, circling Charles who had gotten to his feet now. "We also know you came here alone, and we know of the camera you had set up."
"What you didn't know..." The other man chipped in, "...was that you my friend are the package." He smiled and signaled to his men to take the surprised and petrified Charles away while he walked back to his car.
"No, no, no! You can't! You can't!!" Charles struggled fruitlessly as they dragged him away. "You can't do this!"
As he was being taken away, another car pulled up and Melinda got out, she ran straight into the arms of Moss who scooped her up and passionately kissed her.
"Where's he?" She asked.
"Gone my love. You're quite the bait." He winked and they both got into his car and drove off.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell good morning!!!
Check Up
The big house echoed of emptiness, asides from me no other soul was in the house. When we were planning the trip, dad had thought it wise not to leave the house unguarded and naturally I had to sacrifice my weekend of fun to stay back and baby sit the house as the eldest child. My weekend couldn't get any more worse. I laid in bed, surrounded in complete darkness and I was feeling afraid. If I turned on the light, I was afraid I would see something I didn't want to, or worse, they would be able to see me. In darkness, they could be lurking and as long as they don't make themselves known, I felt I could get a good night's sleep.
Outside the window, the trees stood like tall sentinels of doom and the branches swayed in the wind. I pick up my phone to check the time, it's just a few minutes past one in the morning and I still haven't slept. I sighed and turned on the flashlight, pointing it towards the door, yep, closed and bolted just the way I like it. I turn off the flashlight and assure myself that all is well.
*Stop being such a baby*. I reprimand myself. *You can't spend the weekend alone at home?*
I place my phone back on the bedside table and snuggle deeper into bed with the blanket all the way to my chin and I shut my eyes. My body feels weak and sleep is impossible to come so I began to count sheep in my head, hoping that the childhood trick would actually put me to sleep fast.
One sheep.
Two sheep.
Three sheep.
Four....
My phone began to ring and vibrate, the screen lights up and sends a dull light across the room, the ceiling fan becomes like a dark octopus above my bed. I quickly turn and pick up my phone. The number is unknown so I ended the call and placed the phone back down and continue my sheep counting.
Four sheep.
Five....
Again the phone vibrates with a ding, this time it's not a call but a message. I picked up the phone, it's a message from that unknown number.
'I'm right outside. Come open the door.'
Who the..? I rack my brain as I study the number, trying to figure out who this person could be. The number ID doesn't show up on true caller. I heard a knock on the front door and on impulse I throw the sheets off me to go and know who's as the door but my phone vibrates again. Another message.
'come open the door, it's me. You're alone aren't you?'
I hold my phone with shaky hands as I stare at the screen. I'm thinking too much, I know I'm thinking too much and it's probably nothing but the sudden rasp knocking on the door throws me out of that thought. I decide to look out the window, my window faces the side of the house so I know I won't be able to see who's at the front door but still I check and just in time, I saw a shadow figure running round towards the back of the house.
Another message enters. 'The back door then?'
I gasp as I tried to remember if it is locked. I don't remember locking it. I sprang out of bed and out of the room heading towards the kitchen, hoping to get there before the... My phone vibrates again and this time I didn't bother to check it because standing in the kitchen, I watched as the door crept open slowly with that creaking sound. Instantly I reach out for the rolling pin on the kitchen table and as adrenaline coursed through me, I ran for the door with the pin held high up for a strike. As soon as the figure stepped in, I brought the pin down on his head and he cried out in pain, going down to the floor. I reached for the light switch and flipped it, on the ground was Spencer, my neighbor.
"Spencer? You?"
"Yes me!" He groaned still holding his head.
"What are you doing here? Ohh my God I'm so sorry but you sacred me." I got down and helped him up
"I called you, but you didn't pick up. Your mum asked me to check up on you. Ohh my head hurts."
Ohh so he was the one calling with the strange number. "Why did you come through the back door?"
"I knocked on the front door, you didn't respond so I thought to come through the back door."
Ok that explains that, and I was scared for nothing. I laughed at myself, *I'm such a baby*. "I'm really sorry Spenc."
"Na, it's alright. At least you're safe and know how to defend yourself. You clearly don't need a baby sitter. I'll be off now. Lock the door behind."
After he left, I poured myself a glass of water to calm down and still laughing at what had happened. I returned the glass and lock the door before flipping the switch down, the kitchen goes dark. As I make my way out of the kitchen, my phone vibrates again and I bring it to my face. One new message from that same number. I smiled as I thought off Spencer. I opened the message and what I saw fixed me to a spot.
'now look behind you and try not to scream. I'm in.'
@Ozzyy @Hanzell with this I say good night. And sleep well😁
Scorched 19
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Khalid opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, he felt soft foam beneath him and he wondered where he was or how he had gotten here. His head ached when he tried to get up so he laid back down to calm himself and recollect how he had gotten here. He looked around, this wasn't his room and it didn't look to be like any other in his house, so probably this wasn't his house. He shouldn't be lying so comfortably. He sat up. He was dressed so well in one of his best, he remembered he had gone out for an occasion, today was....he gasped, "...the wedding."
He sprang out of the bed. What had happened and who had put him here. Her thought of Omar and Mariam, were they able to get married? He thought of Prince Aazim, the planned attack and he frowned, if he was here then it meaned that the attack was a success and someone or Prince Aazim himself had tried to double cross him. He looked down at his feet, his shoes were still on, he walked to the door and placed a hand on the handle and at that moment a memory flashed in his head. He had been with Omar before the attack. Yes he remembered the attack had started before they had the chance of getting married, but there was more. Omar had told him something and now he remembered clearly.
"I know the plan father." Omar had whispered to him.
"I'm glad you do, so just get married."
"I know of the attack."
That had shocked him. He looked at his son. "What attack?"
"You and Aazim. I know of it." The sheik was silent, he just stared at his son in anger before looking away.
"Imagine letting King Jaan know about it." Omar had told him before walking away and not long after, he heard the first gunshot and saw King Jaan fall. After that was chaos and he couldn't remember much again.
King Jaan was dead, the attack was a success and he had been left in a room. He was going to confront Aazim. But he should find his son first and maybe Mariam too.
"I'm glad I took it upon myself to getting you trained Mariam." King Jaan beamed. He sat on a high chair patting Mariam's head who sat at his feet.
"And I should thank you Omar, for protecting her."
Omar stood by the window side looking outside, his stomach and shoulder were wrapped in bandages and his left arm was in a sling, he turned when the king spoke and bowed slightly, a smile on his lips.
"It is my duty to serve." Then he looked at Mariam. "I'm really sorry about Parvina."
Mariam lowered her head and smiled weakly. She missed Parvina and her silly talks and her ever bubbling presence.
"I'm sure she is in a better place, looking down on us right now. She misses us too as much as we miss her."
"But then, I never knew you could fight so impressively." Omar changed the topic. The king laughed and Mariam blushed.
"It was something I had to learn to do. Father insisted."
"And I am very glad I did. You have made me proud daughter."
"Aazim..." Omar got the king's attention.
"I've kept him alive for now, this attack wasn't planned by him alone, I'm sure of it. And I will find out."
Omar swallowed, he was still worried about his father. And speaking of his father, he wondered if he would be awake by now. As the attack started, he had gotten his father drugged into unconsciousness and kept him in a room, he was glad he did that if not his father would be sharing the same fate as Prince Aazim was.
"I should go find my father now as I haven't seen him since the attack began." He excused himself.
"Yes, you do that." King Jaan gave his consent and Omar left.
He walked back to the room in which he had kept his father and got there just as Khalid was opening the door. He walked into the room and closed the door behind, the sheik looked surprise, most especially because his son was in a sling.
"What happened to you Omar? Who did this to you? Aazim?"
"Yes, Aazim." Omar replied.
"He was not supposed to touch you!" Khalid fumed. "Where is he, I'll go and meet him right now!"
"Before you go father," Omar started "It would please me to tell you that the attack the both of you planned, had failed."
"Failed? What do you mean?" That too him by surprise.
"I mean to say father, that Prince Aazim is in the custody of King Jaan, in the dungeon."
"I saw King Jaan get shot and fall, so what impostor are you referring to?"
"The person you saw fall was a double. His double." He sighed, "I had told him all about the attack."
Omar smiled as a thought crept into his head, Khalid watched his son wearily.
"Father, I have a proposition for you, and I'm sure you're going to love it."
Khalid was amused. "A proposition?"
"Now the King knows Aazim wasn't alone in all these so he would look for the other person or persons no matter what." He paced the room, demonstrating so often with his good hand.
"Now I know one of such person..."
"Get straight to it Omar." The sheik was impatient.
"You will find a way to dissolve this marriage or I would do it my way and Aazim would have more cell mates."
Khalid laughed. "You wouldn't. I'm your own father."
"And I am your son, surely some cruel blood of yours flows in my veins."
The sheik fell silent.
@Ozzyy @Hanzell I've been lacking full sleep because I'm attending a vigil 😵 right after this, I'm hitting the bed 😴
@Leo_kitti
