In Libro Vitae: Carpe Librum: Book Two

By P. A. Thaddeus

Cape Cove, Indiana, 1998. After the strange events of the summer of 1997, the members of ‘The Crew’ try to get back to some semblance of their normal lives lived before the arrival of the Liber Malficous, but the darkened corners of their strange little town have a different agenda in store for them as new players involve themselves in their lives.

With Bobby and Fall having moved on to life in West Lafayette, it is up to the remaining members to get over their petty squabbles and band together once again to fight the spreading evil trying to influence Cape Cove from new angles, and with the help of new allies whose unexpected arrival plays havoc on the members of ‘The Crew’ and provides even more strain on already frustrated friendships.

Who is the peculiar Ezekiel Wrathbone, and why has he suddenly come forward from his isolation in the hidden and reclusive Manor House of Ravensroost to involve himself in the lives of ‘The Crew’? Who is the beautiful but deadly Salome, and what are her motivations to get in between the members and provide new strain on those old friendships? What are the strange creatures no longer complacent in their underground activities that now steal and kill indiscriminately above ground and in the light of day?

Return now to the small rural town of Cape Cove to meet new denizens and further explore the strange happenings and burgeoning love to be found in ‘the Age of Dial-up Internet.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665549455

P. A. Thaddeus

Born at West Point Military Academy, P. A. Thaddeus spent most of his life living in the Detroit suburbs. He eventually fell in love with cooking and spent over twenty-five years doing just that, eventually becoming a kitchen manager. He currently lives in Ferndale, Michigan, amidst his own private jungle with his Norwegian Forest cat, Bojangles.

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© 2022 P. A. Thaddeus. All rights reserved.

Interior Illustration Credits to Shawn Langley

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  01/20/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4947-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4946-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4945-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901032

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Interlude

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

About the Author

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INTERLUDE

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I n the late 1500’s, in the moors around Dartmoor, England, a magical pact was sealed by Cadmus Abdus Osiris with the Elder Gods to extend his lifespan and servitude in the unholy names they bore. Surrounded by the gathered family members of the Osiris bloodline, as well as members of the mysterious ‘Hands of Hastur’ in their uniquely crafted yellow robes, they had come together with the usage of the equally mysterious book entitled "The Liber Malificous’ to bear witness to his sacrifice and hopeful transformation into a more powerful form. After hours of preparation involving chanting by all those present the words derived from portions of the book selected and assembled by the ‘The Hands of Hastur’, he willingly sacrificed his body and soul to the moors, to sink to the dark depths of its muddy waters to not end his life, but instead recreate it in a new image. After hours of stillness upon the surface, during which time was spent in complete silence by everyone present, a motion stirred that gave way to splashes and bursting bubbles of the slick tarry oil as a form crawled its way out from the depths below. Unlike the yellow robed man that originally dove in, this new thing was abhorrent and different. It had thick, matted tufts of fur encasing the better portion of its frame, and the legs were now bent backwards at the knee and ended in large bull-like hooves instead of feet. Two small, knotted horns grew from the crest of the forehead between two pointed batlike ears that rose high above the head in points. A mole-like muzzle and whiskers extended from the face beneath two pure yellow eyes with double lids like a snake. The hairy back was larger now, a bit hunched, as the thing bent forward a bit under all the new weight while struggling to relearn how to breathe. The hairy arms ended in clawed hands that now had three fingers and an opposing thumb but had gained sharpened talons at the ends of the leathery fingers that most resembled an eagle’s talon in design and substance. Cadmus struggled to speak, to express what he was feeling to the rest of his family present to witness his rebirth but found he would have to relearn how to do that as well with his new muzzled mouth filled with pointed shark’s teeth and a bifurcated tongue that flicked out occasionally as he sensed the air around him.

His senses were more acute now as well; over time he found he had hearing within the range of a wolf at 10 miles distance, the scent of a bear above ground at 20 miles distance, a mole’s underground at 30 feet and in stereo, the eyesight of an eagle but protected in bright light by one set of the double eyelids. The tactile sensation of taste was unequivocally heightened due to the snake tongue that gathered chemicals to pull and deposit into the receptors inside the roof of the mouth. The sense of touch, however, was now completely gone due to the coarseness of the material that comprised both sets of extremities. Pain could be felt, and the whiskers and fur provided tactile sending while movement was made, but no more sense of touch otherwise remained.

Over several weeks adapting to his new form Cadmus came upon the realization his bigger upper torso might also account for the addition of extra, or uniquely horrific new organs that allowed him to digest carrion as well as the normal animal, plant and vegetable matter in order to survive. To this end, his recently transformed body could eat literally any carbon-based matter in any degree of freshness and still process it for sustenance, which was idyllic given how ravenous he found himself at any given moment. His intellect had not changed to any degree, but the aforementioned communication challenge would take time to master so that he could express what he was feeling to others eager to hear. His new talon ended hands were not fit to hold a quill to write without crumbling it in the process of trying with his new strength that filled every muscle in his new body. Eventually it was worked out that he could dip a talon into an inkwell and write crudely on paper that way to communicate in a question-and-answer format, since the talon was cumbersome to spell out larger words.

Cadmus could now track in the darkness, and over vast distances, and even tunnel through soil quite easily if it suited him. His jump was drastically shortened in the case of vertically, but he could now leap further than fifteen feet horizontally with a running start. Swimming was an ugly exercise in this new form, as it was not designed to roam across the surface but walk along the bottom of its depths. His new lungs’ ability to breath in little to no oxygen rich environments, such as while tunneling, was supported by a set of gills behind the great bat ears to make him an amphibious creature. A large lizard-like tail, matted with as much fur as it was scales and with small plates growing up along the length of the top was generated for balance and ballast to combat the huge upper torso on land or in water.

To his knowledge he was the absolute first such creature to have existed upon this earth for several eons due to the nature of his sacrifice, and thanks to his bravery in facing the transformation, he would by far not be the last. In taking this great step Cadmus had abdicated his position as the Osiris family patriarch to his nephew Honorus Astorus Osiris, the one that showed the best qualities to the lead the bloodline forward during this new undertaking. This exact formula would then be replicated down through the generations as one head worthy of the change abdicated to his next best suitable kin and themselves went through the rites of transformation into becoming an ‘Ancestor’ that would serve the Osiris bloodline and the ‘Hands of Hastur’ alike.

And so it went, over the centuries that followed, that Cadmus was joined by one or more volunteers of each successive generation of the Osiris bloodline into the transformation into one of the ‘Ancestors’ as they came to be known; servitors of the divine will of the Elder Gods and their instruments upon the soil of the land they had been deprived of so long ago. The transformation endowed them with strength and cunning as well as a nearly immortal lifespan, but the horror of their new form made it impossible to be public figures anymore, so they were relegated to menial tasks performed in secret, and an invisible life lived deep within the earth or under its waves. They were the successors to the ‘deep ones’ that were far less amphibious in nature and had far less intellect to do capable work that required ingenuity of any kind. By their heinously evil and magical creation, ‘Ancestors’ had a much more remarkable lifespan as well due to their efficient and powerful, albeit hideous bodies that were amalgamated aberrations of the natural evolution.

Some say that the cryptid creature known as the ‘Dartmoor Beast’ is actually an ‘Ancestor’ having been spotted above ground while on a hunt. The same can be said for many cryptid creatures around the globe, from ‘The Wendigo’ to the "Yeti’ to the ‘Chupacabra’.

As to the eventual and final fate of Cadmus Abdus Osiris, the first ‘Ancestor’, nothing is known and can only be speculated at.

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CHAPTER 1

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L ife in Cape Cove seemed a little less bland these days, after uncovering the secrets lying just beneath its banal surface over the summer. Suddenly the boring, old, abandoned houses seemed to exude a new sense of mystery they had never offered before. Those people that lived a bit estranged from the major society of the town were now suspected of having ill intentions or dark dealings. There were still ‘missing’ posters scattered around town on telephone poles and the sides of shops looking for any information regarding the disappearance of Clint Frewer which left a bad taste in the mouth of those that were with knowledge of the reality. It was a shame The Crew couldn’t give the Frewers a sense of closure with the information they were privy to, but the truth would have been far too difficult to explain to them, and even more so for his family to absorb and accept as the truth that it was. The Osiris family was keeping an even lower profile than they had previously after all the attention they had gotten from the local authorities concerning the suspected theft Sirius had committed as well as his own rather timely disappearance.

The day Toby and the rest of ‘The Crew’ helped Bobby The Bowler move out of Cape Cove to start his new life in West Lafayette with his love interest Fall was bittersweet to say the very least. A U-Haul truck had been rented by Bobby to load up and make the drive the few hours distance where it would be then unloaded and turned back in at a local branch. Everyone was there to help carry things and usher this new couple into the fresh start they so deserved, but with obvious reservations by multiple parties as to ‘how it’s gonna suck in Cape Cove without you’.

Sally seemed the most affected, as she hardly talked during that whole weekend. She had been very introverted, even more than she already exhibited, since the return from California and shared even less of her emotional bearings then she ever had before, which was hardly anything at all. Bobby and Joanna probably knew her best of all in the whole ‘Crew’ namely because of all the intimate times they had shared as a couple or as best friends. Sally wasn’t that close to Fall, but there had been obvious progress in the short time of a burgeoning new friendship that would now be cut short, or in the very least handicapped by distance. Bobby was another story: since the two had dated previously they were as close to a best friendship Sally had, second only to her friendship with Joanna. She was already feeling the loss of time spent with him and Bobby hadn’t even actually left yet. She mentioned this to Joanna, about how selfish she felt for feeling this way, and Joanna comforted her with the reality that it was simply a reaction to a natural change and was something they all would have to face as they got older, and it began to happen more and more frequently.

Bobby took her aside when first getting to the new apartment he had rented for Fall and himself to give her the first view of his new surroundings in hopes it would make her feel that tiny bit more special, but as she looked around at the spacious one room flat with concrete flooring and wide bay windows overlooking street views of nothing in particular, it actually seemed to make her even more sad instead.

All this and just the two of you. Can you handle all the alone time? Are you prepared for emergencies if they happen?, Sally asked as she sniffed back tears that were unrelenting.

We’ll be fine, ok? It’s what we want to do, and if it doesn’t work out, we can always move back. Our parents understand what kind of choice we are making for ourselves and for the most part they are supportive. I would hope you would be also, no?, Bobby said as he hugged his ex-girlfriend close and petted the back of her head reassuringly.

I’m just…I’m gonna miss you like crazy. It’s the first time we will have ever been this far away from each other, and with what happened…. I need you Bobby. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I’m feeling so…broken, so hollow now and I just don’t know how to process it. Please understand., Sally tried to convince him while squeezing him as tight as she possibly could to try to change his mind on his choice.

Sally you are acting like I am moving to Hawaii, but I’m not. I’m only going to be a few hours away from you and we still can call each other at any time, day or night. Trust me, it’s a healthy choice I am making for the both of us to get the hell out of that miserable town and try to achieve something more tangible out of life. I only hope you also can find a way that suits you as well and follow your dreams down whatever path it takes you. Bobby pushed her back from him just enough that he could look into her bright blue eyes, now a bit softer and reddish from prolonged crying.

I know. I told Joanna I was being selfish, but I don’t know, it’s just how I feel—like if I let you go now something bad is going to happen to one or both of us. We have always been stronger together, whether as a couple or just close friends, and now I will have neither.

Nonsense. You are experiencing something everyone is feeling right now, myself included, but for you it’s got a whole other level to it with what you went through that none of us did. That monster paid for what he tried to do to you, I made him pay for it. Now, you get to move on and be whatever—whoever you wish to be from this day forward. Do that for me, ok? Be the Sally Dobremuz you always had within you and become better for it. I will do the same on my end. Bobby noticed Fall carrying some boxes up into the flat and trying to be quiet as she did, so as not to disturb them. We both will., he said as he let go of Sally with one arm and opened it out for Fall to join the mass hugging.

Fall looked a bit tearful herself as she set the boxes down and walked over to accept the invitation. Yes, we will. I have this guy to look out for me, and he has me. Sally, you have the rest of ‘The Crew’ to help you out, and if ever they aren’t cutting the mustard, you just call me up and I will set them straight myself. I don’t know if you’ve realized this about me yet, but I can be quite the hellcat when I need to. Besides, I feel like you and I had a special bond of some kind between us I can’t explain—even without adding this knucklehead into the equation.

Sally gripped Fall just as tight as she had Bobby in her other arm. She looked into her eyes, currently that special hazel color of warmth and sensitivity, with her own bright blue that were clearing up a bit as the tears stopped flowing. We do have something special you and I, don’t we? I felt it too, like it’s destiny or something I can’t explain—this here knucklehead not included.

Hey, go easy you two. I’m a sensitive guy after all., buffered Bobby as he cracked a smile. Ok, let’s get this truck unloaded and then we can order some pizza!! My treat, although I will have to find a payphone nearby as our phone lines haven’t been hooked up quite yet.

Bobby released himself from the hug-huddle and walked down the steps to get another load of stuff to bring up, but as he went, he hazarded a look back to see the two girls he loved most in life continue to hug each other alone, and it seemed as if they were sharing some intimate whispers—probably about him, but none of his business.

Outside on the curb Seth and Shaggy were arguing about what was best to bring up first, just as Toby and JimJim were silently exacting their own schemes of such by bringing little things that could be stashed out of the way once atop the stairs.

Guys, guys, settle down. It’s a hard enough situation without you two making it unnecessarily more difficult. Joanna—you’re missing a sensitive moment up there., Bobby exerted his leadership skills for probably the last time for a while.

Oooo thanks Bobby. I need me some hugzezes!, she said as she dropped what she had gathered up and sprinted up the stairs empty handed to dive into the obvious hugging she would encounter once there.

Bobby killed some time for the girls as he arranged for the bedroom set and loveseat that were the biggest items they already owned to be carried up first, much to Seth and Shaggy’s amusement.

Gotta get da ‘shaggin stations’ set up first ‘uh Bobby?, Shaggy ribbed him as Seth belly-laughed uncomfortably while trying to get his footing up the stairs backward.

Shagging, sleeping, spooning, it’s all the for the same purpose. Your apparent jealousy is a delight to my eyes., Bobby shot back without skipping a beat.

Again, Seth laughed so hard that this time he lost his footing and slipped underneath the dresser he was carrying, requiring Toby and JimJim to come to his rescue. Toby and Seth had few words to say ever since getting back from California, but the very fact they were united in helping out Bobby was a testament to an enduring friendship. Bobby felt secure that over time, and without him as a buffer or third party to wage their little war, they would eventually get over any animosity Toby felt about Seth’s temptation by the book. It hadn’t been his fault after all, and without Toby’s quick thinking it could have been disastrous, but all those things were in the past. The book was secured and under Gus’s watchful eyes even now to allow for everyone to complete this task without worry.

Gus had garbage picked a bathroom cabinet some weeks back and Seth had done tons of work crafting sigils into it that would ward off any scrying of its location, or any human hands tempted to grab it without permission and the correct counter spell vocalized. Gus had even blessed it once completed as it turns out he was an ordained Reverend in the ‘Universal Life Church’ since that Foundation’s establishment in 1962. This would help with any paranormal intrusion, should that ever become a necessity in the future. They had already encountered ghosts, Gus himself on two occasions with the very same ghost, and they didn’t think it was overboard to be ‘too careful’ about how they handled this dangerous object’s storage from the world at large. Bobby had suggested they bury it at sea eventually, but with none of them having the kind of capital it would take to expedite this, they had settled on keeping it close in the created reliquary.

With the furniture and boxes all moved, ‘The Crew’ sat down to engage in some ‘last chance’ group activities like ‘never have I ever’, itself with an entirely new scope of possibilities with the recent twists to things they had experienced. While other groups of kids their age were playing a similar game elsewhere in the world with statements like ‘never have I kissed two boys at once’, or ‘never have I played seven minutes in heaven with a girl’, theirs had things like ‘never have I fought off the influence of a demon book’ or ‘never have I been magically kidnapped by a crazy sorcerer’ in it.

When Bobby went to make the phone call for the pizza delivery, he was stopped at the door by the owner of the bowling alley below, now his new boss and current landlord, Rex. All moved in now Bobby?

What little we have to start life away from our parents with, yes. My friends and I are hanging out a bit and I’m going to order some pizza for their help with the job, I just need to find a phone nearby., said Bobby.

Or you could let your new boss treat your friends to some pizza made right here in about an hour. My cook won’t be here until after 4, but I can get everything heated up ahead of him coming in for you, if you want. You can even kill some time playing a few games right now. Whatya say?, asked Rex.

Are you sure? I don’t want to impose on my very first day., replied Bobby astounded at the offer.

It’s not imposing if I have offered it to you, now, is it? You seem like a good kid Bobby, let me welcome you to life here in West Lafayette in the pomp and circumstance it should be. No simple parlor games and pizza in an empty room—bring the gang down so I can meet them.

That is amazingly generous of you Rex, um Mr. Hobbes., stammered Bobby.

Rex is fine. You’re my employee and my renter, so we can keep it all business.

Delighted by this exchange, Bobby excitedly turned to run back up the stairs to the apartment to tell his friends, stopping a few steps up to turn back and say Thank you so much! We will be down shortly.

What followed was an amazing afternoon and early evening as they played darts, bowled a few games that resulted in whatever team Bobby was on seeming to win every time, and indulged in some of the best free pizza they had ever collectively had before in their young lives. Bobby’s new co-workers got to meet his girlfriend and his friends for the first time, and ‘The Crew’ got to experience what safe hands Bobby and Fall would be left in when they all went back home to their lives in Cape Cove without them. All in all, what had started out as a bittersweet occasion for ‘The Crew’ had ended in one of the best nights they had ever shared. Bobby suspected this was Rex’s intentions all along, and for that he was the sweetest man on earth.

Then came the tragedy of the parting of ways: the entire ‘Crew’ first got in a massive huddle and talked of what they would be doing in the recent future, what their plans or aspirations were, all except Sally and Seth who had no such goals yet devised for themselves. Then, they broke up into groups of gender with the guys in one group making pacts and secret promises to each other in their own huddle, and the girls just hugging, crying, and whispering. When all was said and done, half of the troop going back to Cape Cove climbed into Seth’s new truck, the other half into Joanna’s cousin’s borrowed car for the trip back home, while Bobby and Fall waved goodbye with arms resting around each other’s waists as the two vehicles pulled away.

Once back in Cape Cove, ‘The Crew’ rendezvoused at the old ‘headquarters’ of the Fish Market for a farewell ceremony of their own with Gus now among them as they remembered the recent past events and talked of how much they hoped Bobby and Fall would find the happiness together they all thought they were entirely capable of. There were yet more tears, and laughter, as recounting of the infiltration of the Osiris Mansion was the predominant storyline everyone enjoyed so much. To recapture that same feeling would be essential to their continued survival as a group of friends, as time crept up on them and their lives would eventually diverge around them.

Seth was still heavily researching the exploits of The Hands of Hastur that he could find traces of, and he shared what he had discovered so far, which was not much and entirely projected and conspiratorial. He had become less and less interested in furthering his knowledge of the arcane arts after his brush with the power of the book and was leaning into the library to fill that void of hunger for knowledge, which was a healthy choice supported by everyone else, even if he still had that entirely odd and enthused aspect to his findings.

After Shaggy and Gus smoked so much weed that they ended up passing out, the rest decided it was time to disband for the night. Joanna still had to get her cousin’s car back to her, and Sally pointed out, With all the time you spend borrowing the thing, maybe it’s time you put in an offer to buy it off of her.

It’s a good point, but I’m not ready for the responsibility of a car yet when most everything I have here is within walking distance., Joanna replied as she took Sally’s hand in a show of warmth.

Sally let her take her hand, but for some reason she didn’t reciprocate the squeeze as well, just let her hand kind of lay within Joanna’s grasp like a dead fish. This gave Joanna some pause, and she asked, Are you okay Sally, really?

I’m sad. I’m a bit heartbroken actually, but I will come out the other side of it. I just need some time alone I think, to think things through you know?

Sure, sure, I understand. Whatever you need I am here for you. If that is time alone, you got it. Just don’t take too long, okay? I’ll grow concerned that you are turning into a shut-in if that happens., Joanna smiled to show her warm support and walked to her car alone. As she pulled away from the Fish Market’s parking lot she watched Sally in her rearview mirror, just standing there with a blank expression on her face, holding her left arm with her right hand and staring up at the moon. Joanna was growing more concerned every day for her best friend’s state of mind and emotional landscape by the strange way she was behaving ever since she got back from California. It was like Sally came back, but not all of her—a piece of her was left that day upon the blood-strewn grass of the cliffside overlooking the valley to the west and the Pacific Ocean even further out. Until Sally could find that missing piece again, or a replacement part to fill the void, Joanna might never see the full Sally again, and that distressed her but there was so very little she could do to help. Space and alone time had been requested, so that is what she would do for now.

Sally walked home that night, completely alone and headed away before anyone could realize she had done so. She took the long way home, stopping by a few key spots from the past as she made her way: The custard stand Bobby and her had their first date at, where Bobby spilled almost an entire milkshake into his lap when Sally had leaned over to kiss him; the streetlight outside of the Library where Bobby had made his own first move ever by touching her breast ever so gently like his hand might get bitten off for having made the move; the bike racks outside of the bowling alley where Bobby tried to defend her honor against Clint Frewer and his goons that were calling Sally a ‘Lesbo’ because of her fondness for boy’s clothes and shorter hair. Bobby had gotten the snot literally kicked out of him before Sally could get the aid of Seth and Shaggy to help him out. He had been so brave fighting for her honor against tremendous odds and with no real fighting experience, just like he had when he saved her life with a wild shot at Sirius that could have easily killed her as well.

Sally stood there, alone and staring once again at the moon for a reason she could not explain, thinking how hard life would now be without Bobby in it. Maybe she was being a bit too overdramatic about him moving only a few hours away, just like he had told her, but for some reason in her heart it was if she had said goodbye to him forever, again without any real reasoning behind why she felt this way. Maybe she was in the emotional place a person gets in right before they contemplate suicide, because it felt like her world was ending inexplicably. She started to walk again, lowering her gaze from the moon high in the sky overhead. Her thoughts now drifted to Travis: he was quite the hunk in his own right. An upstanding officer of the law, single, and handy with a gun. By most rights he should not still be single with these attributes, but the fact remained that he was. A new fire started to burn in Sally as she felt all hope was not yet lost. Bobby had gone from her life, but there was another….

Her walking pace slowly turned into a run as she sped on her way home to get to a phone to use the number he had provided her. She had been dwelling on Bobby so long and hard she had forgotten she even had it at home, sitting prominently on her desk where she had left it. This was exactly what she had needed to lift her spirits, time alone to think and clear her head of all this new melodrama that had taken over. Sally had never been like that before, not ever in her life, not even when Bobby and she had broken up. She had taken it all in stride and just kept on being her. For some reason this leaving of Bobby had dominated her thoughts and feelings in ways that were new to her, and she had just needed to find a way to process them.

She reached her front door and sped past her dad who was just getting out of his chair to yell at her, throwing her jacket into his face to slow him down so she could reach her room unscathed. Once inside, she pushed a chair up against the inner knob of the door to effectively lock it against intrusion and went to her desk.

It wasn’t there. The piece of paper she had written the phone number on was no longer there. In a panic, she began to toss her own room looking for it. It was only a small piece of paper she had written it down on, it could have fallen anywhere. WHY HAD SHE WRITTEN THE NUMBER DOWN ON SUCH A SMALL PIECE OF PAPER!!?

Her door began to shake as her dad tried to barge in but was locked out, his fists starting to bang on the door and then his foot after his hands grew tired. He was such a domineering male, her father. One day someone would give him a taste of his own medicine, and if no one else would do it first, she would be the one and derive satisfaction after doing it.

"Open this damn door you little bitch!", she heard him yell out.

Leave me the fuck alone you unhappy bastard!, she found herself growling back in response over her shoulder as she scattered papers across her floor looking for that tiny scrap she needed.

Don’t talk to me that way or you will pay for it once this door is open, You have to come out at some point, and I will be waiting., she heard him say in a controlled voice that was even more threatening than the one he used while shouting.

Then she saw it—currently on the floor pinned underneath her letter opener when she had pushed everything off her desk in panic and rage. She grabbed the letter opener in one hand as she took up the paper in the other and then a feeling came over her out of nowhere: which choice to make? Call the number asking for help from an officer of the law in a family dispute he had very little place stepping into? Or meeting out her own justice by her own terms right here and now.

The banging had stopped, but Sally knew her dad was still standing just outside the door. It’s the way he always behaved, like an angry child pouting until he was allowed to get his point across. She calmly walked to her bedroom door and waited this side of it, feeling out her choices. She knew that the minute she opened it, he would be barreling through it before she could close it again, and then he would beat her with his belt or the back of his hands just like he always did. This was her time to put a stop to it, a stop to the rampant abuse she never let anyone know was a part of her life. She suspected her friends knew but were waiting for her to open up about it before they tried to help. It was the exact reason she never wanted anyone over, not even Joanna on most days, because she didn’t want them to see the signs.

Her choice made, she spoke at last through the door, and just as calmly as he last had. If I open up this door right now, I am going to stab you in the eye before you can run away. Take my advice and walk away now and leave me be, or I will be calling the police on you. You have two minutes to make your decision. She heard an audible gasp from the other side of the door as he adjusted his anger based on what he had just heard from her. She watched the shadow of his feet under her door as he stood still, utilizing nearly that entire two minutes to contemplate what the threat he had just heard was capable of doing to him. Then, calmly and quietly, he walked away with nothing more said. She could see the shadow of his feet depart from the bar of light coming in through under the door and the creaking of the stairs as he descended them.

Sally leaned up against the door next to the propped chair and gave an audible sigh as she relaxed her form, disbelieving what she had just done had been within her to do this entire time, and that it had worked after all. Next, she went to her phone and collapsed into her bed with it, still clutching the letter opener in her left hand as she dialed the number off the scrap of paper. The other end rang three times before someone picked up, but it wasn’t Travis, it was a woman.

Hello?, the strange female voice said into Sally’s stunned ear.

Um, hi. Is Travis there?, Sally said meekly as her heart started to beat furiously in her chest. It looked now as if her gamble seconds ago had paid off through her making the right decision after all and not opening the door.

No, sorry. He is in the middle of moving and I am here watching his dog for him. Can I take a message? He will be back tomorrow for another load.

Where, um where is he moving to? Her heart was beating so hard she thought this person on the other end surely must be hearing it as well.

He is starting up his new office in South Bend. Are you sure I can’t take a message? He doesn’t have a new phone number yet or I would give it to you sweety. Whoever this was on the other end she sounded nice. Sally was happy for Travis, even as her own world seemed to be falling apart around her.

No, that’s alright. I will try him later at his new number once he is settled in. Sorry for the trouble.

Oh honey it’s no troub-, and Sally hung up the phone to end the conversation. She lay there, crumpled upon her bed with one leg crossed under the other where she had fallen, the phone resting upon her belly as she stared up at her bedroom ceiling. For a second time that day she was feeling lost and alone. Why was she putting her own lot in on the rescuing of a male each time? Why did she need men at all? But the other side of that same coin was Joanna. Sally could sense that Joanna was slowly building up her confidence to ask Sally to go out with her, but despite past insinuations by lesser dunderheads she went to school with, Sally was no Lesbian. She was just a troubled girl that didn’t want to find herself marrying someone that would end up being just like her father, for she had heard that is a common psychological aspect of growing up in an abusive home as a female. This would never happen to her because she would not allow it. Better to be alone than let herself get abused anymore once she found a way out from this place.

She looked down at the letter opener, still clutched in her hand like it was a lifeline. Maybe it was, she thought now. Maybe she felt comfort in its cool metal touched with a sharpened edge. She would have to get a much better one soon; better, sharper, and bigger. She would let the chair remain propped up against the door for the night, so she could get some good sleep in the safety and security it offered, and then in the morning she would be different. She would be stronger, more individually capable to defend herself from any threat from now on. She was done chasing after men, it was high time they chase after her now, and fight each other for that honor.

Men would now be the ones to show weakness around her. Men would struggle, men would bleed, and she would be the one to make it happen. But she needed a new look, and a new name. Little Sally Dobremuz had died tonight, not by her own hand, but by the need for positive change in her life.

Sleep came for her finally, crept into her room past the obstructed door like a mist and enveloped her until it shut out the light from the lamp she had left on. In this sleep she began to dream: a dreamscape of new territory and new pleasures. She was alone and standing in the middle of a field of purple grass under a blood red waning moon set upon a night sky of blue-lit stars that blinked every so often in random occurrence. She looked down at her hand, feeling as if it was clutching something in her grasp. A large knife, bigger than any knife she had ever seen apart from in the stray fantasy movie. Its blade was four-fold and crossed at the handguard, of which it seemed a carving of a strange animal was presented. Tentacles crafted of metal reached out from a reptilian body to encase her hand acting as the handguard itself, the hilt being the belly of the beast and the pommel at the end its coiled tail that ended with the spike of a stinger. It glowed with a strange blue tincture likely caused by the reflecting starlight, but she suspected that given a good source of light the metal of the blade would prove to be a shiny black in color. She turned her hand around as she looked at this weapon from differing angles, and then noticed the sleek black leather gauntlet she was wearing upon the hand holding the unearthly blade. This gauntlet was of a leather so thin it seemed like plastic but studded in places with heavy spikes she knew must lend to the material’s strength to be able to support. She now looked at her other hand, also gauntleted, but holding a spear within it that was almost twice as long as Sally was tall, no not Sally, Sally was dead. She was someone else now, she needed to find herself a new name.

She continued to look upon herself observing from her right hand up her arm that was wrapped in ribbons of this strange new leather that only partially covered her soft skin. Tassels of the same were flowing down from her elbow where they were tied tightly, more than likely with the aid of another’s hand because of the angle they were at. She looked down at her chest—and her eyes lit up in delight as she saw this armor that was little more than a corset pushing her breasts together pertly in a presentation she had only dreamed of, and still was apparently. There were various rings coming off from her armor at places she suspected were for strapping various tools or weapons, but as she dwelled on them, she realized they could be there for strapping HER down on occasion. This new thought was a bit of a revelation to her even as she considered its implications. She actually didn’t hate the idea and that was an entirely new perspective for her. She moved on to viewing her shoulders, protected by the carapaces of strange otherworldly creatures she couldn’t identify almost like badges of honor strapped onto her to showcase the battles she had won, but battles where, and for who? Her legs were wrapped just like her arms and terminated into large boots made of much harder and worn black leather that was not as shiny or as thin. Chains surrounded her ankles outside of the boot’s leather to offer extra protection there, if not look badass while being so functional. A leather skirt was wrapped around her waist that was pleated like a roman’s Pteruges and made her feel very Amazonian to be wearing now.

What strange world was she standing upon that was so alike, yet so different from the one she knew? Who was she working for, or was she leading others? So many questions filled her brain, but as she was alone, there was no one to ask them to. She looked around once again at her surroundings and became aware she wasn’t entirely alone after all: yellow eyes glowed out from the darkness just beyond the glow of the moon overhead. She counted nearly a hundred sets of eyes just staring at her, unmoving as if awaiting her orders.

Where am I?, she asked the sets of eyes looking at her, but no answer came back from the darkness, so she tried a different tactic. Who are you?, again no response came back. She tried to approach the ring of darkness, but as she did so the circle of light never moved, and so those in the dark stayed within its embrace. Once getting to the ring of darkness, and closer to the sets of eyes that followed her every move, she reached out her spear point and came in contact with something hard around the perimeter of the light. What is this? Am I a prisoner here?

Finally, an answer came, but from above in the starry night sky, not from the ring of darkness that surrounded her. You could be, if you let this happen.

She looked up toward where the voice seemed to emanate from but could see nothing beyond what she had already observed so far. And who are you may I ask?, she almost commanded.

I am your guardian spirit, the warrior within. I am the voice in your head that tells you when to fight and when to become a prisoner.

Are those my only two options: To fight or to be captured?, she asked defiantly.

They soon will be the choice between them will always be your own.

What good are you to me then, if you only offer two choices? Surely I am wise enough to discover more than two options. To emphasize her point, she turned her long spear around in her hand and thrust the point down into the purple grass covered soil beneath her feet.

Wise enough yes, but soon you will grow weary of such alternatives and care little for negotiating or compromise. You will think only in terms of Life or Death, a fact that is already manifesting within you.

So, you are equating being a prisoner to dying. I can fight and be free...

Or be captured and perish yes. It has always been the warrior’s way upon your world: To live free or die. You will be no different.

You don’t know anything about me any more than I know anything about whatever it is you are trying to sell me right now. I am strong, I will be even stronger soon. Now she pulled the spear back up from the ground and spun it back around to raise it and point defiantly at the night sky.

I know what has been written, and I can see how it could end. One way is continued life in warrior servitude, the other is death. There is no third way., came the voice.

She felt an anger begin to grow within her now, a seething contempt for whatever this voice represented. Written where? Written by whom? I defy you and your platitudes! No one can make me, only I make me.

Yes. And I have already seen this thing that you make of yourself. He has deemed it worthy in his eyes and given you the power to do so. Now it is all up to you to complete the bargain that has been attained.

You speak in false riddles and cryptic puzzles. I am finished with wasting my time with you, begone!, and she waved her spear defiantly even as she turned her back toward the sky itself by kneeling down toward the purple grass. She could feel the strange leather ribbons wrapped around her limbs tighten a bit as she shifted her weight around her, and the feeling brought immense pleasure to her as she experienced it. Who knew she ever had a thing for bondage and restraint? This was all new territory achieved within her own mind, and she would investigate these feelings in her real life with her real form.

The voice proved a bit harder to push away than she had hoped though. "We will see each other again, very soon, and at a time when you are most weakened and in need of extra power. Be as wise as