My Projects
Curious about my stories? You've come to the "write" place!
Waking Up
Every morning for the past twenty-two years, Larry’s been alone when he’s woken up. Today, though, is different – not only is he sharing his bed with an unfamiliar man, his mind and body aren’t his own, either. He’ll need to enlist the help of his new body-mate Tessa if he wants any shot of getting his life back to normal. Unfortunately, things aren’t so great for her, either… Can either of them escape the nightmare they’ve found themselves in, or will they be trapped in this hell together, forever?Sneak Peek SnippetTessa frenetically rips into the box. She barely surveys the contents before tossing the air bags to the side and tearing through the front of the plastic bag holding our new jacket prison. Once free, she strips her zip-up jacket off and drops it to the floor, hastily yanking the new one’s sturdy sleeve over her arm. As she shimmies her other arm into the other sleeve, she giggles a bit.
Larry! She squeals. It’s really here!
So it is.
I can tell you’re excited too, buddy – you don’t have to act like you’re not also grinning inside.
Fine, I’m excited… This is a big moment for me. I’m grateful I get to share it with you.
Shut up and zip the damn jacket, my man.
With pleasure! I take our hands and, with a familiarity I’ve not felt since I got here, zip up the jacket. It fits our frame excellently – it’s not too loose, but it’s still roomy. The cuffs of the sleeves hug our wrists perfectly, and the fabric bunches at the bottom of the waist just like my own did, back in the Wilderness. I exhale as a feeling of joy wells up in our chest.
Let’s go see how it looks! Tessa exclaims. We skip to the full-length mirror hanging outside the bedroom. For dramatics, Tessa fixes our gaze on our socks until we reach the mirror, then sweeps our view up slowly. I make eye contact with her in the mirror, and I can see a twinkle of exuberance in her eyes that I haven’t seen before. She’s loving this just as much as me, if not more. Look at it, Larry! Look, look!
I’m looking! Hold your horses. I turn our attention from Tessa’s eyes to our jacket. In every sense of the word, it’s perfect – an exact replica of the one from the Wilderness. The dark blue of the fabric starkly contrasts with the shiny golden crest stitched to our right arm. My number, 0103, is pressed into the metal. The faded brownish-greyish cuffs and collar feel snug against our skin. I zip open the pockets on the front of the jacket and find them lined with soft, fluffy material, just like my own was. I don’t even bother to check if the interior pockets snap closed – based on the precision and care that this jacket has taken to be accurate to my own, I’m positive without looking that they must. I crane our head back to see if the back of the jacket says ‘EXPEDITION CORPS’ on it. All I can see is what looks like black stitching at the tops of where the letters should be; I’ll have to take it off to know for sure.
Oh, Tessa, it’s…
Yeah?
It’s perfect…
Amulet
Magic is real, and it looks like a gemstone sewn into your throat.That's what Samothrace's older brother told them, at least. But it's not until one of those gemstones gets stitched into their neck that they realize that no, Kal wasn't kidding, and yes, life as a magician is much more turbulent than it ever was before. New friends, new foes, and new powers lie around every corner. How will Samothrace handle the demands of their new life?
Sneak Peek Snippet"Please, please don’t hurt me..." I whimper, staring fearfully at Kal. His emotionless eyes are fixed on the needle. He plants a knee into my abdomen, kneeling over my face. One cold hand grabs at my collar, pulling it away from my neck. A sharp prick in the side of my neck stings my flesh, but it's not nearly as bad as the agony that follows. Excruciating, white-hot pain radiates outward from my throat everywhere the needle touches. I unsuccessfully try to choke back a scream.
"Shh," Kal whispers, "you'll make me lose my focus." As quietly as I can, I fight back tears from the pain. I can't see straight anymore, and forming thoughts is difficult. All I know is that it hurts. It hurts so bad.
"Stop..." I sob through clenched teeth. "Please, it – it hurts..."
"I know it hurts. Be brave for me." The knee in my abdomen bears down harder, and I can't take it anymore. My legs quiver from the pain, and my fingers twitch. One knee flies up, attempting to curl up into a small ball. Kal barks at me to behave, and I try to lower it, with no success. My limbs have a mind of their own, and they’re all trying to disconnect from me. Faint vocalizations of agony slip through my teeth, growing in intensity from quiet moans to full-blown wails. Every second hurts worse than the last.
"Shut up!" Kal roughly grabs my face and gives me a mean stare. "Do you want to fucking die, Samothrace?"
I'm dying right now, I think to myself. But I can't get my mouth to form the words to say it – it's like I've lost control of my vocal cords. My left foot is shaking uncontrollably. My ears are ringing, my vision's growing blurry, I'm gasping for breath. Genuinely, in this moment, I feel like I'm going to die.And then, without warning, everything shuts off.
The Pack
Guy's body is changing, and not in a way he likes. Lycanthropy is one thing, but puberty? He hates it. At least he's got his best friend Kasey to keep him sane through the struggle of growing up in a town that doesn't understand either of them.Sneak Peek Snippet Coming Soon!