Michelle stood in front of a large gate that lead to castle Neverberg, the most terrible place you can end up in on this side of the galaxy.
The castle was surrounded by an impassible moat of molten lava and was only accessible by a heavily guarded bridge that was charged with C-4 as a last measure in case things ever got out of hand.
Inside it was heavily guarded by demons who were brought here from the planet dam-nation and were given complete freedom to do everything they felt was necessary to demand respect from their prisoners.
"This place should not exist." Michelle whispered to Tony. "It was a rumor spread to create fear among wrong-doers."
Their guard overheard them and replied to her. "Thanks to mister Parker we can finally give you scumbags the punishment you deserve. Now shut up and start walking."
He hit Michelle in the back with the butt of his gun making Tony angry, but he was smart enough not to try anything.
The gate had been raised and Michelle and Tony were forced across the bridge, the heat of the lava stung in their lungs and the gate was lowered immediately after them to take any hope of escape away from them.
As they crossed the bridge dozens of demons looked at them and laughed over the new arrivals in their own little piece of hell here on Carrotus.
The two new arrivals would surely make for a good few days of entertainment.
The guard that brought them left them halfway on the bridge telling them to move forward from here by themselves.
Tony looked at Michelle one more time before the gate to the castle opened, how would they get out of this?

A car pulled up at an abandoned port for private spacecrafts, out stepped two gentleman dressed in blue suits.
One of them sat down on the hood of the car and was quickly shunned away by the other. "You idiot, do you have any idea who we are picking up. Everything has to look perfect."
The taller of the two nervously looked around to see if the mistake the other had made wasn't seen by anyone.
"Alright, alright, take it easy. He's not supposed to be here for another half hour." The shorter one barked back at him but he quickly apologized when the other shot him a dirty look.
The sound of engines could be heard close-by and a small mark one spacecraft came inside.
"Looks like he's early, straighten up your jacket." The short guy complied and made sure he looked picture perfect as the craft landed on the ground in front of them.
The door opened and out stepped a large hare whose head was kept in the dark by a hat. He wore a purple suit that looked slightly filthy as if it had gone through a lot lately.
The limp revealed that the same went for the man who wore it.
"Mister Johnathan Aimon." The short guy said. "It's an honor to welcome you to Carrotus, sir."

Louie was floating through the air at an incredible speed and from the landscape below him he saw that he was getting closer to Greenthorpe.
He looked up and saw that Estella's peering eyes had broken free from him and they were now firmly fixed on her goal whatever it might be.
The ropes that had bound him seemed to become more physical as he called to his own vampire powers.
He grabbed gave a firm tug at the one that held his legs in place and with a scream Estella came to a complete stop. "What are you doing? Where did you learn this?"
Estella screamed harder as Louie bore his fangs into one of the fleshy ropes and Estella pleaded for him to stop it before she could not take it any longer and let go of him.
He fell down to the ground and heard a crack as his back landed on a rock. Estella floated down towards him, the beauty he had seen before made place for malice.
"Come here you." She screamed at him and reached out her hand to push him firmer against the rock.
He felt every inch of his body ache as she did this and his eyes moistened from the pain. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it firmly, she slowly let go.
Estella took a few steps back and pulled him back onto his feet. "I'll go with you." Louie panted as he got up. "Just don't do that again."
The woman in front of him had fallen silent and he could see regret in her eyes over what had happened.
"Please come quietly and we can prevent this from happening again." Estella took a few steps towards Greenthorpe but Louie reached out and grabbed her hand.
"What are you..." She tried to speak but was cut short as Louie placed a kiss on her mouth.
She was caught by surprise but did not object to this familiarity and gently bit on his lower lip. It had been so long, but never had she forgotten the moments they had shared.
This moment of intimacy brought her back to when she and him spend time next to the water outside of his house. Making love until the morning came.
She forgot all about her surroundings and let herself go in this kiss.
Louie took advantage of this moment and the nails on the hand behind his back slowly transformed into claws.
When she broke free from his kiss he felt pity but he knew he had to get away from her. "I love..." She did not have time to finish her sentence as Louie sank his claws deep into her eyes and as she sank to her knees crying tears of blood he ran for it.

----


And I have some more news.
n0 has joined what's left of the writing team. He will try and get a chapter posted over the weekend.
What a guy.

Ah, wonderful as usual.

I can't believe it's been more than a month though; I'd be told I'd been skipped, if I knew it's take this long I would've posted my chapter instead of leaving it. Well, when or if anyone wants me to, I can post it, or wait until next turn.

Keep up the great stuff Slay, you keep this thread alive!

Well, go ahead ma'am. I'm sorry, I did not know you had one ready or I would not have written this.
I hope it does not clash with mine or n0's.
Glad to have you back on (the) board.

Thanks, I'll see what I can do, I'll most likely have it up sometime the middle of next week. DD, if you want to know what is happening in my chapter so you can write/rewrite yours, PM me.

By the way, great chapter Slay. It leads in perfectly to what I want to do.

I wrote a flashback a while ago, but never got around to posting it. Better late than never...


The Happiest Man

She was his best friend.
Thomas gazed into Susan's eyes. She was sitting opposite him at their round, secluded table. Between them were the remains of a two-person carrot lasagne, their favourite dish. They had spent the day wandering around the older quarters of Nole-in-Isvale. Usually referred to as Nole, it was the historic commercial centre of Golbert, a region of southern Diamondus. This was not the first time they had shared a holiday, but it was the first time they had been off Carrotus together.
Susan gazed back into Tom's eyes. It was nice to have him behaving normally again. he had been detached all day. He still seemed nervous, but this wasn't unusual. Besides, he was probably worried about the bill. It had been rather extravagent of him to book a table at one of the city's most expensive restaurants.
The band finished the piece they were playing and moved on to the next. Tom glanced at his watch. Perfect. He could feel the small box in his jacket pocket. It contained the engagement ring his father had given his mother. His parents had been so happy when he'd asked for it.
"Oh, Tom, they're playing our song!"
Susan loved Tom.
She was his best friend.

Awww...

Thank you Alister, it´s always interesting to learn something about the background of the character.

I also wanted to tell you I have completely edited chapter 1 to add a little more detail and correct some things.

Will the story kept all in one place be edited as well?

I haven't asked Alister yet, but I'm sure he'll get to it as soon as he can.

*Hem!*

Anyone? Hello...?

Let's skip 'n0 and move on to you DD.
Shame, he told us he'd post something last week... oh and the week before that.

But I'm rewriting my chapter to fit with No's; if I post something now, his chapter might not fit in!

Argh, I'll get it out sometime this week (probably Friday). Sorry, I just got back from an exhausting week at Disney World. If I don't have it finished by Saturday, I'll just post what I have so far and you can go from there.

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but because of the... uh... the...
Because of the... accident ...the train will be re-routed to the nearest hub with a repair station. Those of you who wish to go further than the Spaceport Station in Earian, should look to catch another train. We apologize for the delay, and hope the rest of your trip is... uneventful.
Thomas looked around the crowded train as it slowed to a stop. All of the civilians on the train had gotten bored of staring at him and his wife, and most of them had even gotten tired of staring at Tier and Yakira. Thomas starting getting his hopes up, thinking that they might be able to blend in with the crowd, when Tier motioned for him to look out the window. On their boarding platform was at least a dozen Carrotan Military Tuffguards, armed to the teeth.

"Alright, you know what to do, so drop that bomb and get out."
Kaz didn't respond to the tinny voice in his ear, his destination was already in sight as he glided casually through the Spaceport Train Station. Another day, another bombing.
"Kaz, don't look, but there are a dozen Tuffguards with all the trimmings on platform #7. I don't think they suspect you, they are aiming at the... What the hell happened to that train? Listen, finish your job quickly and then see what is happening on platform #7, an enemy of our enemy just might be our friend."
Kaz decided to take on the look of a bird who was about to miss his train, and reached platform #11 just as the train and it's visiting dignitaries were slowing to a stop.
He dove under the train and flew quickly down the length of it, dropping sticks of TNT as he went. As he flew out from under the caboose, he started circling back to platform #7 and then pushed a button hidden in his glove.

Thomas was holding a panicking Susan. Thoughts raced through Susan's mind. More than half the people in the train had left, there was no way out without the guards seeing, there was no where to hide, and -
The explosion rocked the entire train station.
Those closest were knocked flat by the shock wave.
Everyone else hit the floor a second later by pure instinct.
The well trained Tuffguards were running full tilt for platform #11 before anyone else realized why they were laying on the ground.
Chaos. Everyone rushing towards the exits, people screaming, people crying.
Tier quickly realized that this was it. He grabbed Thomas and Yakira and heads out the door, Thomas pulling Susan along as they went.
"Hey, it's the kid! The girl, with the Jade Dawn!" Kaz yelled into his glove, from his perch in the rafters of the train station.
"Yeah, I see her. She seems to have picked up a couple of friends... wait a second, I just saw their Holo broadcasted like a half an hour ago. Let me do a quick search... They are wanted for attempting to assassinate Governor Gary Parker. Kaz, I think we have some new friends to meet"
"Right, just keep the cameras off line. I'll meet you back at base, set the table for six."

.

Nadine Harefeathers was tired after a long flight across Carrotus. She remembered back when she was a child, some of her Rabbit friends saying how lucky she was, that she could fly while they were confined to walk. This week, she was almost wishing she wasn't a pigeon, with all these stories of assassinations and vampires and werewolves and civl war refuges, she barely had any time to sleep between researching, reporting, then flying to the next location.
As she flopped into the squeaking hotel bed, exhausted, she asked herself for the third time this week if this was worth it. As she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, with the clatter of rain on the roof of the Inn, she convinced herself not to quit. At least not yet.

Nadine started awake whimpering, the face of a vampire still etched in her memory. "Ok, it was just a dream" she said to herself, trying to convince herself of it. She scanned her dingy hotel room, making sure she was alone. "Ok, I need to sleep, I can't have nightmares keeping me up, I have enough to deal with as it is," she told herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her breathing. Before she could exhale, she was lifted out of her bed by the throat and found herself staring into the eyes of a vampire.
"Where are they!" it hissed, through closed teeth.
Nadine struggled to breath, the creature loosened it's grip on her throat enough for her to talk.
"Wh-where ar-are whowhowho?" she stuttered.
"Those who were arrested for the attempted assassination of Gary Parker," the creature breathed, "they cut your broadcast every time you mentioned a name."
"Th-the locals of Tahamo say they were taken to C-Castle Neverberg."
"That place does not exist on any map" the creature growled "where did they take them?"
"Th-they were headed towards th-the Carrotridge M-mountains, last I saw. At least, it's the only thing I know of in that direction."
The creature hesitated, then growled "Thank you" and dropped Nadine back into her bed. It turned and stepped toward the window.
"Wait!" Nadine squawked, "who are you?"
The creature paused at the window, turned and said "I am Louie Greenthorpe. Sleep well, Nadine." and then was gone.

.

"Welcome to the Underground," said the burnt turtle, sitting down at the table.
"I don't want your names, and you will not get ours. The underground works best if those who are captured have nothing to tell."
The burnt turtle turned and addressed Yakira, "I never thought I'd see you again, after dropping you off, blind and burnt..."
"You are the ones who saved my life?" asked Yakira, "I never even saw your faces. You are good people..."
"Good?" asked the burnt turtle, "We kill many people on a daily basis, My companion and I. No, I wouldn't say we are 'good', I'd just say we are a means to that end. And look, we are in the company of assassins! No, not good people at all."
"Why did you bring us down here?" asked Tier, "You killers must have some motive for assisting us"
"Yes, in fact we do" started Kaz
"We want the corrupt government to be destroyed, from the very core." continued the burnt turtle, "And you, even though you might be doing it for different reasons, seem to be wanting to help."
At this point, Susan started crying. "I am not an assassin, never wanted any more than to live in peace with Thomas, raise kids and grow old together..." she hugged Thomas protectively and turned to quiet whimpers.
"I just wanted to find out what happened to my sister, I just want to head to Pneum Arklik and find my way from there." stated Yakira quietly.
"And you?" asked Kaz.
"I... I want revenge." Said Tier, "Estella and Parker are both vampires and working together and I want Estella dead."
A moment of silence, then Burnt said "Well, we know of someone who is passing through, and perhaps can help you three hide from the eye of the law. We have ties in with the mafia and might be able to get you smuggled to a planet outside the jurisdiction of the Carration Empire. Now," the burnt turtle turned toward Tier, "bombs and hacks don't kill vampires, do you have a plan, Zombie?"
Tier thought for a moment, then asked "Turtle, in your tour of the hacking world, have you ever come across an organization called 'Schism'?

.

Alex had followed the space ship he saw fly overhead, as it was flying low, and flying low in the middle of nowhere is always worth investigating. He reached the landing point just in time to see the spaceship take off and a car driving his way. He hid in the shadows and slapped a bug on the car as it passed, then headed back to camp while listening to the feed from his bug... "Well..." he thought, "It seems that Johnathan Aimon is in town."
He got back to camp just in time for it to be his watch. Naomi complained about him not getting back sooner and crawled under the tarp they called their bedroom.
Alex was just settling in for the long haul when his Schism issued phone rang. The caller ID was blank...
"Who is this and how did you get into this network?" Alex asked forcefully.
"Hey, Schism, this is Zombie. I just met a hacker who really knows closed circuit phones. We need to talk."

.

Tier absently hung up the jury rigged phone, contemplating his next move.
The mafia leader, Johnathan Aimon himself, is here on business, and from the sound of things the business is probably the crew Alex is helping. If he wants them dead or alive I don't know, but neither is a good option. Gary parker, with the help of Bruhn and Estella, moving up quickly through the ranks of corrupt government, Louie most likely ripped to shreds, and all over the news is Tony and Michelle's capture. So few of us versus an entire Mafia and Government... but... but what if we got them to fight each other?
Tier snapped out of his stupor, and saw Burnt staring at him.
"So," Tier started, "Do you happen to know the number for a Jonathan Aimon?"
"I might be able to dig it up," answered Burnt, eying him, "But why do you ask?"
"I want to see if they can smuggle three people out of this system's jurisdiction, and I am wondering if they would take a little muscle as payment for that ticket."
"I don't think your muscle would be enough for that," Burnt started,
"-would you like to join me? Or is the Mafia somehow conflicting with your's and the bird's goals?" Tier asked.
It was the burnt turtle's turn to sit and think, now.

.

Louie was running full tilt, high on the fresh blood of a deer he met in passing. The path was easy to follow, even in the rain and in the dead of night. A caravan of military vehicles leave quite a mess of tracks when crossing a plain. The full moon and fresh blood was good for him, he felt like he could fly. He spotted something glowing ahead of him, and steered toward it. He slowed to a stop next to the moat. It was real, then. Castle Neverburg, a bit of hell, imported for the sole purpose of... something so evil, not even this Vampire could get his mind around it.
He circled the castle, the drawbridge was up and there was no way in. Louie briefly wondered if the moat of lava was more to keep the prisoners in or to keep the demons in. He looked up and saw a window, big enough for a man to fit through. Ten feet above ground level, thirty feet above lava level, and a hundred feet from this side of the moat.
Louie looked again, and saw a glimpse of motion through the window. He listened closely, he could hear the evil cackling of demons and cries of pain. He could smell the blood... He was fairly sure that that was Tony's blood.
The moon was full, his blood was fresh, he felt, no, KNEW that he could fly. He turned around and walked away, for he would need a running start.

STILL no comments? C'mon people, everyone *else* got a comment for their chapter, within a few hours too! This was a brilliant piece of writing, don't tell me the story is *that* ignored!

Eh, may as well post my chapter then, whoever's next, may you have more interest than poor ol' No.



* * *

Estella skipped through the night, and it was a skip, the merry kind of half hop, half jump that a child might do down the street with a big lollipop. She was in a very good mood; she had fed earlier that night and relished the sheer terror you could cause before putting someone out of their misery. And now she had a new toy to play with, how fun! Behind her she heard the crashing as something slow and ungainly pushed through the bush. She jumped into a tree, landing on the branch as lightly as a feather amid a small flurry of snow. And there it was; the zombie struggled past beneath her, turning slowly as she grabbed its arm, before it was flung away into a snowdrift.

"Oh dear, oh dear. What shall we do with you? Do you need a hand?"

It was a puerile and childish thing to say when you were holding someone's arm, but Estella didn't really care, she enjoyed the irony, and anyone who thought otherwise could take up the issue with her. She smiled, or at least the corners of her mouth turned up, and approached the indentation the creature had made. A few brief kicks told her that it had gone, which was odd, surely she hadn't seen it move?

"Come now zombie, it's no fun of you to be hiding like this! Come out and play!"

The clearing was quiet, everything muffled by the fresh snow. The moon was up, bathing the whole scene in an alien light, as if the world had been turned to ice. Estella looked about, but there was no sign of her quarry, it had disappeared, which was impossible. It had to be around here somewhere... There was a sharp crack above her and she looked up.

They weren't supposed to move that fast.

"My name's Tier, you bloddsucking b*!"


* * *

Where had he been at the time? It was difficult to remember. Everything was difficult to remember now. It had been near some small town, there were so many. It was picturesque, you could say that much; nestled between two towering mountains, bisected by a fresh mountain stream, the houses were perched on what had once been sheer rock cliffs but had, due to a rockslide who knew how long ago, formed a plateau, a rock ledge surrounded by scrubby mountainside.

The town had been almost unreachable in winter, the roads becoming blocked with drifts of snow or small rock and mudslides. Every spring the villagers cleared the main paths and sent off to the cities for supplies, and in bad winters, coffins. After really bad winters they didn't leave at all, some things were kept quiet.

It had been winter when Tier had arrived, if that was the word, he set out in no particular direction and kept to no timetable, either way he found himself in the vicinity just as the snows were closing in. The villagers had been smart enough to carve markers on the trees, a great aid to anyone who became lost in the freezing nights, but Tier avoided them. Somehow, he couldn't remember when, he'd figured out how to read them, the more stripes the further you were away, and they were always on the village side of the trees.

Tier hadn't noticed anything of course, he'd wandered through cities without batting an eye. Food was scare here, but he always avoided the village. Always. Nothing good ever came of approaching civilization because he was a shadow, something from a story book, a tale to frighten small children away from the darkness outside the window. He'd looked in once, spied on those living normal lives, but that was long ago and he hadn't benefited from it.

And then it was spring, the snows were melting and he could move on. That's when he met her, or she met him, just like Michelle. He'd been hungrier and she was a lizard though and it had been almost the pitch of night. The fact she'd been there at all was amazing enough given the war the rabbits were undertaking over Deserto, but small towns couldn't afford to be prejudiced when there weren't enough people to go around. He'd simply been making his way out of the area when he spotted her behind him, holding a lantern and a carving knife. The markers needed recarving every spring. Interestingly enough she hadn't fled, despite his appearance, she'd just been curious, and restrained.

"You're the creature everyone's been talking about right? You're the one who got rid of all the wolves and that vampire this year?"

She spent the rest of the night talking to him, it was the longest conversation he'd had in decades and with good reason. He remembered the vampire; he'd left what remained of it lying in the snow somewhere. The wolves had been easier, they got desperate with the cold, especially the lone males; all that mattered was eating. For both of them. Apparently the village was exceedingly grateful, they'd probably have given them one of their first born. As it was he sat and listened, unable to answer back in his condition. He was endlessly grateful for someone to talk to, he knew she was almost gagging at the smell and probably shocked at his appearance. Did she know how hard it was to stand still? To not simply reach over and tear out her throat?

A voice interrupted Tier's thoughts.

"Hey. Hey dude, are you awake? You've been sitting there for hours."


[i]And now the world was big and complicated again. It couldn't just be about the Hunger anymore, there were people and lives and... life. He had to watch out for others again and think and strategize, and all the other things that came with living that he had forgotten over the years. The Vampire was out there somewhere, with her smug little smile and stupid voice. Tier would hunt her down and tear her to pieces again. And this time he'd leave nothing.

He'd make sure she suffered as much as he did.

* * *

The sky was ominously overcast as the sun set, its rays blood red and tinging the landscape as if the clouds had been murdered. It was going to be a cold night, and already the guards were wrapping up warmly. Two of them led their captive into the building ahead, it's door dark and empty, like a waiting mouth. Behind them, another two guards held their captive, at least until, with surprising strength, she jerked out of their grasp and ran forward.

Michele grabbed hold of the leading guard's shoulder, instinctively he pointed a pistol at the young rabbit. His gaze was contemptuous and unmerciful.

"Where are you taking him?"
"You don't expect two terrorist suspects would be held in the same cell, or even the same building do you? Where you can plot and plan a cover story, or even perform some sort of suicide pact? Say goodbye to your friend here, you won't be seeing him in a long, long time."

Michelle gasped and dashed forward. Out of surprise the guard let off a round that grazed her shoulder and knocked her off balance. In a flash she was up again, but this time the gun was pointed at Tony. A hand fell across her shoulder and she turned to see another guard grasping her firmly and shaking her head. This one wore a different uniform and looked rather unkempt, a young white fox, whose perfect, pointed teeth showed when she smiled. She gently grabbed Michelle's hands and led her away, across the compound and towards the forest. Michelle twisted her head around as far as she could, her last glimpse of Tony being his pained face as a guard kicked him in the shint o hurry him along.

"There's nothing you can do my dear. Just come with me; there's been an arrangement."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see. Now strap this on; it'll block anyone tracking us, electronically or by magic."

The fox hurried along at a surprising speed, they were well into the forest now, surrounded by nothing but the quiet organic sounds of the trees. Michelle almost struggled to keep up, still finding it strange she wasn't panting from the exertion. The device the fox had handed her resembled a small bracelet, silver, but with strange black markings on it that seemed to be strangely indistinct, as if they were shadows trapped in the metal. However, once it had clicked onto her wrist, it wouldn't come off, no matter how hard it was tugged. All of a sudden the fox stopped dead, turned, stared at her with deep blue eyes and handed her a small black box, with a silver disk embedded in its top.

"This is a copy of a book known as the Chronicles of Bruhn; one of quite a few me and my comrades made without our... leader's knowledge. Of course, we should probably call them the Chronicles of Parker by now.
"I don't understand, what has this got to do with anything?"

Michelle was completely confused, nothing was making sense. The box was strangely warm in her grasp, and heavy, as if it were packed with ead. The fox tapped the box on it's upper face; it shimmered and a holograph of a page flickered into view. The fox swiped her finger along it a few times, and the page shimmered, other texts popping past until it showed what she wanted. The text was strange, it looked not so much like writing, but rather as if someone had placed a small razorblade at the end of a pencil, then repeatedly slashed the page with it. It was nothing she'd ever seen before, and there were diagrams too, and tables, shimmering just above the box.

"You don't know what you are, you're an Arcania zombie, descended from the circle or Bruhn themselves. As far as I can tell, you're only two down from the line. Perhaps I should bow?"
"Bruhn, who's Bruhn? You keep mentioning him."
"Let's walk and talk, we have the time. He's the Big Guy. The Boss, the creator of all the undead races. Werewolves first, then vampires, and finally zombies. Each an improvement on the last apparently. Vampires are stronger than us, and zombies too, and harder to kill than anything. Mind you, Bruhn wasn't always successful..."

Michele listened as they moved further into the forest, as the sun set and the moon rose, walking in almost pitch black darkness. She heard about how the great Bruhn had taken prisoners, slaves and innocents and twisted their bodies, spawned the first of the undead, not just the pure races, but accidents, twisted creatures that begged for a death that never came. The stupid, moaning zombies that could still be found in wild areas were some of the less twisted results. In the end he'd transformed a circle of his greatest friends into an almost all-powerful cadre... and then what? Something had happened to end almost all of them. Michelle wasn't paying much attention; the dark held no fears for her now, but all the time she worried about Tony; what were they doing to him? What would they do to her?

And all of a sudden, there were there. The fox had slowed and was sniffing the air, evidently she was being guided by scent. They were deep in the woods now, who knew where, though there *was* a trail here; an ant would've ignored it, it was just a rough path through the clearings, covered in moss and split by bracken. And there was a large hole in it, right in the middle. Next to it was a large bulky mechanical craft, the dirt had been piled up neatly on a platform nearby, the mossy turf cut into neat squares. The fox stopped suddenly, confused, then ran over to the hole and peered at the bottom.
"Twofire!" she gasped.

Michelle became aware of several presences behind her, she'd been too caught up to pay attention to her 'life sense' There was a sharp flash and the fox whimpered and fell into the hole, right on top of the body of the wolf she'd presumably been waiting to meet.

"Ah, Fourfox, such a pretty girl, pity about the name, if there's one thing the Vyrrn clan couldn't do it was names. Smart though, far too smart it seems. Copying my little book behind my back, tut tut, you could have just asked to borrow it."

The voice was clipped, measured, and certainly quite different from when she'd heard it last, but Michelle recognized it long before she twirled around to face the speaker. Gary Parker was leaning idly against a tree, flanked by two strange rabbits, normal from what Michelle could tell, and that made sense.

"I don't know if I should thank you my dear, you did, after all remove a large number of those whose loyalty to me was wavering, and I have taken care of the rest. But I really must deal with you, I had a rather unpleasant time getting rid of the last lot, but we live and learn, or, in most cases at least one of them."
"You can't do anything to me, not like this."
"Oh but I can, it's all in the book you know. Only extreme fire will take care of you permanently of course, but I've always been more... inventive. Low calcium cement, about six tonnes; emphasis on the tonnes."

Gary Parker was grinning widely now, like a child who had just built their tallest block tower and wanted to show it off to their parents. He gave the slightest nod towards a shaded vehicle nearby that turned out, on closer inspection, to be a cement mixer. The two rabbits that had been standing idly by were now working the controls of the machinery nearby. Parker had taken a lot of trouble to dig the pit, the vehicles were all hoverers, which was the only way you'd get anything into forest this thick, the turf had been cut out nicely, and the hole was neat, six feet wide and six feet deep. But what-

There was a flash and Michelle felt herself split in two, saw her legs tumble after her into the pit, landing on the still-warm body of her former captor. Then something else hit her, it was cold and thick, like liquid stone.

"Out of courtesy, I saved you a meal for your stay, and believe me, that will be a long, long time. You will of course, go quite mad, I suggest you try and think of all those you left behind, it will keep you sane, for a few years at least, and I do so like to see a good struggle. And no, nobody is coming for you, nobody will find you, unless, oh, maybe in a few decades they'll plow the place up for apartments, not if I have anything to do with it though."

The cement bogged her down, Michelle struggled to pull herself up but the more that poured down, the more firmly it held her. She struggled and thrashed in the much, but it was no use, it poured down onto her like an avalanche of rock, pinning her arms, crushing her chest, filling into her mouth and nose, muffling her screams and struggles.

It wasn't long before the cement had buried the rabbit. Gary watched until the tank was completely emptied, the surface settling and bubbling gently. It would harden in less than half an hour, and get stronger for years afterward. His two contractors dumped another ton or two of earth on top, taking absolute care not to leave a single ounce misplaced. Finally they replaced the turf, neatly as it had been removed, so you could barely see where it had been disturbed. Finally, to top things off Gary planted a small seedling he'd removed from nearby; after all, it paid to have *some* marker of this place. Maybe he'd come back to watch its progress afterwards.

By the time the sun rose the next day there was very little trace of the night's activities; some scents, earth sprinkled where it shouldn't be, a ragged look to the bracken. But this place was popular, in a sense. Many lay buried under the turf here; Gary Parker had many enemies... once. It wasn't easy to control the undead, or the underworld. The next day a gentle rain smoothed out the newest, and most secure grave in the unofficial graveyard. By that time the two that knew its location were already sinking into the mud of the river carrotus with their own personal supply of cement.

A week later the silence was broken by a flock on hungry starlings scrapping over a large worm, but that was all that disturbed the small sapling as it settled its roots in for the slow but steady growth it had plans for in the long, long years ahead.


.

I had already told him I thought his chapter was great and to be honest, I think n0, you and I are the only ones left writing.
I hope that people will change their minds after they see that amazing chapter however. I really think it was wonderfully written and it packed a great surprise.

Poor Michelle.


(Who'se up next or should I have another go? I have this wonderful idea.)

Nooo... You can't kill Michelle! She's like, my favorite!

Very nice chapter, DD.

I hope it isn't down to the three of us, because I don't have a lot of free time to work on the story. I just had an idea and wanted the plot pointed in a certain direction, which is why I took the time to write this chapter, I don't think I could write again without waiting for the story to develop some more..

If you give me permission, I can poke and annoy people into doing something, I have a lot of spare time on my hands this week. I'm sure we can push others into doing something.

Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness! (That means yes, go annoy people, if you get in trouble Hey, at least you got the point across!)

Give it a try DD, but I say that if they do not WANT to write anymore, why keep asking them? Even if it is just the three of us, it would be better than working with a group of people who do not want to write anymore. (I'm not trying to make anyone angry, I'm just saying.)

If they do not want to write anymore, so be it, I'll take the next chapter if nobody else wants it.

FYI, I'm incommunicado for a week or two yet (I've been out of the picture for the last few weeks due to moving stuff etc.) I'll write something if you wish but it won't be posted for some time.

Hey, I'm still here. And unless I'm very much mistaken, I haven't written anything in ages.

Edit: And by "anything" I mean "a chapter"

Does that mean you want to go next Alister? Otherwise, I guess it is my turn since everyone else gave up apart from the four of us.

Yes, I would. I've got some ideas, and I'll try to have something up by this time next week.

Alright, sounds good.

Awesome.

Moving is done and Internet is restored, so I'm around again.

I was going to write an entire chapter, but this will do for now.
I think this wraps up the background story for Louie so far.

---

"Yes Tobias, I can hear you now." Louie mumbled to himself after another night chained to the walls like a beast.
Insanity had been his closest companion for years and now it seemed it had taken a corporal form and it was feasting on the things that belonged to him.
The being outside the wooden door to his makeshift home had to leave before it succeeded in it's malignant plan.
The voice of his old mentor soothed Louie in the night as a shriek of pain came from his living room.
"You are not an evil person. Are you?" Louie shook his head in an answer to his own question and with newfound strength and confidence he rose to his feet and gave a firm tug at the shackles that bound him.
Dirt fell down over his face and he growled as the iron cut into his wrists.
"Do not disappoint me Louie, I have taught you more than this." He pulled at the firm rings again and clenched his teeth. Tears sprung in his eyes as his wrists started bleeding.
"Tobias, I do not have the strength anymore." Louie sank down on his knees, his arms being held up over his head and he let his head hang in shame.
The door unbolted behind him and the shadowy figment of his deluded mind walked in with fresh food.
"You can not be real, begone foul being." Louie spoke with little enthusiasm, he was ready to give up and let go.
"If I were not real, would I be able to do this, fool?" He forcefully threw yet another young maiden at Louie's feet. Too tired to struggle she let herself fall towards the floor.
The vampire stood up, devoted to his intentions never to feed on an innocent being again. "Do what you will to me, I refuse your gift."
"So much spirit, so much... good." The shadow told him, repulsed.
Tobias' voice spoke to Louie again. "Make a stand, we need you. We all need you." Louie looked up and for the first time the shadow saw in his eyes the thread that he posed.
He rose to his feet and broke the shackles behind his back, he growled and slammed the shadow into the wall.
"I refuse insanity, from now on I will be in charge of the things I do." And with these words, the shadowy figure and the dark part of Louie's soul disappeared.
The girl at his feet let out her last breath and lay motionless on the floor, her peering eyes on him. A pool of dark blood underneath her, diluted because of the sweat and tears.
He closed her lovely, big, blue eyes with the tips of his fingers and took her in his arms.
He wept because he could not be there for her sooner and carried her out into the garden, hiding behind the overgrown plants out of sight from the curious eyes of the villagers like he always did when he went out.
Louie carried her into the mausoleum and put her in the coffin that had once belonged to him.
Her beauty had not yet ebbed away a half hour later when he put a lid on the casket and hid her from the face of the earth until her remains had turned to dust.
"Tell me what to do now Tobias and I will listen." He waited for hours, the sun set and it rose again. He fought against the oncoming hunger for blood and the insanity.
On the third day of calmth and patience a voice spoke to him, much clearer than that of his old mentor. Much more angelic and pure as the soul of a newborn hare.
"Never forget which powers you possess, child of Carrotus." She soothed him to sleep echoing the word 'Patience.' until he had slumbered off.

Very nice. A suitable period to end the sentence of flashback.

Originally Posted by Alister

Yes, I would. I've got some ideas, and I'll try to have something up by this time next week.

Ground control to Major Alister

Yeah, sorry. I haven't been able to find the time. Probably best to move on to someone else.

Hello?
*listens to echoes*

This project is like, 5 years old or something, right? That's pretty incredible. But now it'd dead

I'm afraid I've come to the same conclusions ...

If it doesn't start up again in the next month or so, I'll unsticky it.

It's a real flipping shame. I found this a few days ago, and now I'm hooked (I'm at chapter 24/25). Of course, I don't know what's happened in the latest chapters, but I was really hoping that this would at least be rounded off somehow. I've been waiting for a new post for a while because I really didn't want it to end like this (I know it's way too late to join, but I'm really enjoying it so far) - I would have posted myself, but it would have seemed rather stupid, with it being my first post on this forum... It's also a shame that some of the writers dropped out; I loved every one of the characters, although I haven't yet seen if the decline in writers has caused the other writers to improvise with the other characters, so, of course, before I say anything too embarrasing, I'll continue reading the rest of the story.

I'd forgotten about this.

I've updated the complete files I made with the chapters in this thread. Note that the chapter numbering in these files doesn't match the numbering used in this thread - I think I may have a couple of extra chapters in there. The Palm version is untested (need to reinstall Palm Desktop), and may have weird formatting.

Text version
PalmDoc version

Well this is a pity indeed, I was hoping for something. I can always write stuff, but there's no point doing so if everyone else is finnished.

It would indeed be a shame to just let this die, but so many writers have given up already and I really didn't think anyone was interested anymore.

I would love to see an ending to this, but I'm afraid we've only just reached the half of it. It would be to strange to start working towards an ending because we've really stretched out the beginning.

And sure DD, I guess I'm still interested in writing something if you are.

Definetly not.

Originally Posted by The SlaYeR

It would indeed be a shame to just let this die, but so many writers have given up already and I really didn't think anyone was interested anymore.

For what it's worth, I'm still interested in this.