Spiced Cider, Hot Soup, and Chilly Days

 Fall is really here in all of it's glory! Soup is one of my favorites, and I can't have it over the summer. There has been a lot of soup lately and it makes me happy. It's something that I really needed. I've got a lot going on, and getting to settle in with a hot dinner is the best. 

So, I don't know what happened last week. Somehow Thursday just sort of... got away from me. I need to be more careful about that. I did, however, get a few days off to do... nothing. It was great. My brain was tired. I needed to have that time to separate myself from it all. 

I'm jumping back into things tomorrow. I've been dipping my toes back in a little bit. I'm getting a website off the ground! So, there are going to be some changes. Links might be a little weird. I have to decide how I want all the things to work before I actually make the website live. Hopefully by next week it will be ready to go! 

Rage is on track. I'm checking and double checking then checking again to make sure it happens the way I want it to. I'm hopeful! I've also decided on what I'm doing for NaNo. There have been a few stories I wanted to get out relating to Justified, so... I'm doing it. As of now, there a ton of them I want to go in there. It will depend on how long it is when it's done. We'll see. IT ALSO HAS A NAME! The anthology will be named Moonlit! I'm pretty excited about it! 

Football things are going to be happening! I'm off to eat tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich while watching the Lions! 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

Got a secret, can you keep it

Swear this one you'll save

Better lock it in your pocket

Takin this one to the grave

If I show you, then I know you 

Won't tell what I said

Cause two can keep a secret

If one of them is dead

Matchstick Excerpt 8: The Note

 I didn’t have a great feeling about it, but I wasn’t about to let Elise drive it back to the house until I was sure everything was ok. She would roll her eyes at me if I told her that, but it is what it is. Being around my aunt and seeing her security team work gave me far more experience than she had. Renee wasn’t even supposed to be involved anymore. I was already anticipating everyone’s reactions when they found out we did this on our own. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I pulled the note off the wheel and let it fall open.

 

I see you’ve found help. You’re all full of surprises aren’t you? I am too. Our little game will continue as planned. It will be more fun with more pieces anyway. Don’t you think?

I’ll see you soon 💋 ♥

 

I would recognize that handwriting anywhere.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or to be removed from the final novel entirely.)

The Warehouse pt3

 

I groaned as I opened my eyes. Someone had put a pillow under my head and covered me with a blanket. I was still on the catwalk. There was a lot of movement and excitement around. I blinked several times, trying to shake off the fog that settled over me. I used too much magic. I would be feeling it for days.

“Morning, sunshine,” James said as he ambled up to me. “We’ve got something for you.”

I glared at him. I hated it when he called me sunshine. That’s why he did it. I grumbled as I climbed to my feet. All my joints were stiff. I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck.

“Why do you have to be so cheerful when I wake up?” I asked him.

“Because I am the light of your life,” he said, looping his arm through mine. “The kids have something for you.”

I slid my eyes to him, but he didn’t say anything else. He led me around to the stairs. He was humming. I hadn’t heard him hum in a while. It made my heart skip a beat. He was happy. Genuinely happy. I squeezed his arm as we stepped off the last step.

He took me over to a closed door. This room had been falling apart, but now it looked as if the wall and door had been patched up. He gestured for me to open it.

I bit my lip as I reached for the handle. As soon as I could see inside, I sucked in a breath and felt tears welling in my eyes. They had done so much more than patch things up. A bed big enough for James and I was in the corner. It looked like they had tried to scrub all the walls inside clean. Some of the art the younger kids liked to make was hanging around the room. A small dresser was on one side with a coffee maker on top of it. I didn’t know where they could’ve found one. They were too expensive.

“I can’t…” I started, trying to force the tears back. “I can’t take this. I need all of you to get settled.”

“You can,” Amy said. “You do everything for us. You set the plan, provide protection, get us medicine, and food, and whatever we need.”

“It’s your turn to have something just for the two of you,” Grace said. “We needed this space, and you got it and helped us defend it.”

“I put you all in danger,” I said softly.

“You saved us,” Allen said.

I didn’t have any words. I didn’t know what to say to any of them. All the work they had put into this. Finding an actual bed alone would have been a struggle. They had done all of this for James and I.

“Thank you,” I managed to breathe.

I couldn’t keep the tears from flowing. James pulled me into a hug. I heard the other kids behind us. I stepped back from James and turned to all of them. They were beaming at me; a few had tears in their eyes, too. They all put their hands over their hearts and bowed. My body shook as the tears fell.

“Get some rest,” Amy said. “We are going to work out how to use the rest of the space.”

They all filed out and left James and me in the room together. Amy gave me a nod and pulled the door closed. I stepped into James again, and he held me tight.

“I led them into so much danger coming here,” I whispered against his shoulder.

“It was needed,” he answered.

“I should have found somewhere else. I saw the bandages some of them had.”

“If I thought you were being reckless, I wouldn’t have let it happen,” he said. “It was dangerous, and I was worried about it, but I knew we didn’t have many options.”

I pulled back from him again and looked around the room. The pictures the young ones had drawn for us. It melted my heart. They really were my kids. I would do anything to protect them.

IN THEIR OWN HOUSE!

 Ok, I promise I'm not going to make this all football all the time. BUT! The Lions beat the Chiefs. In their own home. On opening night for the season. In primetime. IT'S A BIG DEAL. I'm over the moon!!! THIS IS OUR YEAR! Sure there has only been the one game and there are 16 left to play, it's fine. We are KILLIN it so far. 

The overhauling is going. I'm feeling good about the timeline right now. I should be able to get everything done that I need to get done. As of now, Rage will still be released on October 16th! I've been spending almost every waking moment on it. I'm going to be exhausted when this is done, BUT! It will be done and that's what matters right? 

I've been doing a lot of music lately. I switched out to my motivational playlist. It's helped a lot. When I'm not editing stuff to music, I have shows about ✨ M U R D E R ✨ playing. I probably watch too many things about murder. It's fine. There was a really good one about neighbors.   

I have messed up the sleeping again somehow. I don't know what I did with it, but it's broken. There has been a lot of waking up at night, and I don't like that. Even if I'm not awake very long... it's still not sleeping, ya know? I'll be happy when this phase goes away again. 

I'm going to be incredibly busy until late next week, then I'm hoping things will slow down a little bit. I'm supposed to be writing another book in November. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm writing (even though one of the pocket besties is really pushing hard for one particular project lol). We shall see. I've been told it might be a good idea to not write a book in November. I haven't decided yet. 

Ok, editing and football await! 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head: 

I'm in love with all the voices inside my head
You're so beautiful inside, but inside I'm dead
Just another broken dream in my lonely bed
You're so beautiful inside, but inside I'm dead

AND

My heart's a dumpster fire burning all damn day 
It's filled with memories of us it all went up in flames
Maybe it's trash, maybe it's really not that bad 
But the smoke from what you broke keeps growing higher 
While I'm trying to find some peace of mind 
In this dumpster fire 

The Warehouse pt2

 

I knew they would come in the middle of the night. They would wait for most of the kids to be asleep. Long enough that they'd feel safe. I wanted to be on the roof, but James convinced me it would be a bad idea. I would be too much of a target, and no one would be able to guide the kids. I didn’t like asking them to fight, but we needed this building. There wasn’t a better place. The other neighborhoods would be too dangerous all the time to leave some of the kids there.

I kept pacing around on the catwalk. I didn’t want to wake any of the kids, but I couldn’t hold still. Most of the kids were piled together in a small office that hovered over the middle of the room. They would be safe there. When I felt the wards shimmer, I sent James to wake up the kids that would stand with me, even as the guilt tore through me. It was my job to protect them, and I was leading them into a fight. They were sleeping beneath the catwalk, alert within moments of James shaking them. I should’ve found a way to make the smaller building work. This was reckless.

The first fire trap activated, and someone screamed. Amy led the Weres in shifting. They prowled the warehouse walls, watching for any sign they would break through.

They blew a hole in the wall. It was wide enough for six people to walk in at the same time. The traps were obliterated in the blast. Our fairies lined up in front of our witches. They couldn’t lose line of sight. I stayed on the catwalk and waited for James to join me.

Weres poured through the gap. Seven of them. Our four lunged as soon as they saw them. My heart twisted as they made contact. Most of my kids were younger than theirs, but I made them all train with me. We needed to be stronger. I knew we were a target. The only way to protect them was to make them strong.

Some of their wolves froze as our fairies flung their magic at them. It wasn’t a precise strike, but it held long enough for our wolves to drive the rest of them back. I fired ice lances when I saw the openings and used the wind to lessen their blows. We were holding.

The front door blew open.

The blast of air the leader sent out knocked all my kids off their feet. I barely managed to brace for it as James got to my side, bow slung over his shoulder.

“You can do this, V,” he said.

He notched an arrow as I nodded. I threw my hands up. He fired when I did. He was getting faster. He let arrow after arrow fly as a stream of fire left my fingertips. I didn’t have the control to wield it as a true whip, but it kept them occupied.

Then I felt magic joining mine.

Two different kinds. While I kept the fire a solid mass to be used, someone added intensity to it, and someone else started steering it. Grace. She was the oldest and most skilled. She had to be guiding it.

My magic was fading. I could hear our wolves still keeping theirs back. I leaned into the railing so I wouldn’t collapse and felt James’s arm come around my waist.

“Don’t worry about me,” I forced out. “Keep focus on them.”

“I’m not going to let you fall.”

“I’m fine.”

He sighed but drew his bow. He fired a few more arrows as my vision blurred. I was going to lose the magic. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder. Our wolves howled triumphantly, and I saw them run toward the front door.

The leader stepped up to meet them. I would not let him take aim at our wolves. I fired an ice lance. My aim was off. It shot straight through his left shoulder. One of our wolves leapt and ripped his throat out. It had to be Amy.

I stumbled. James dropped his bow and reached for me. He barely managed to keep me upright.

“Let go, Vanessa,” someone yelled from below. “We’ve got it.”

I didn’t want to. I needed to help them.

“V,” James said softly as he helped me sit down. “Let go.”

A sob was torn from my throat as I let go of my magic. The whip flickered but then took up its form again. I blinked stars out of my eyes as our wolves howled again. Cheers rang out from underneath me.

“They are retreating,” I heard someone yell. “We held it!”

Then I blacked out.

LET'S GO

 THE NFL SEASON IS KICKING OFF!!!!!! I'm so excited. My Lion's are going to be playing. We are going to win. It will be awesome. Today is such a happy day!!! 

The last week has been... a week. BUT I'm getting ok with it. I'm doing the things that need to be done, including last minute overhauling of a few things in Rage. Here's to hoping I can pull it off in time. I don't want to delay release... I'm trying to push it ahead. I'm confident I can do it!

I also killed the Moon Lord! I finally did a full play through of the Terraria. Now I'm just messing around in there doing fun things there and trying to nail all the achievements. I like seeing completions. So, I'm going to do it! 

Ok, I have FOOTBALL things to do! XD

Until next week ♥

Matchstick Excerpt 7: The Aftermath

 “You think Maria was doing the shooting? Mark would have been there, though. He wouldn’t want to miss her reaction.”

“I also don’t think he would have taken a shot at me. He is mad at me, but I don’t think he could kill me. Maria was pissed he called me. She would probably be thrilled to have a chance to take me out.”

“We need to tell them,” Elise said.

“I know. I will. Annabell and Arthur are down and need to rest. Onyx can barely walk. Harley has a lot on her plate with everyone that’s been injured. I think it needs to wait until morning. Let everyone sleep, and then tell them.”

I was restless, but I needed the rest. The level of adrenaline that courses through you when you’re being shot at takes a toll. My mind was whirling too quickly for that. At least the living room was big enough to pace in. Elise stayed perched on the edge of couch. All her muscles were tense, she was ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. I didn’t blame her.

“Do you think the house will be ok tonight?” she asked.

“Maybe? It’s hard to say for sure.”

“We need to get Harley’s car. Arthur’s too,” she said. “We can take a cab to Harley’s and then drive to his.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea. We would be out there on our own. If something happened… they wouldn’t even know where we had gone.”

“Let’s get Renee then. She can drive us in her car.”

“No one will be happy with us involving Renee.”

“What about involving me?” she said as she walked into the room. “Everyone else is sleeping.”

“I wanted to go get the cars. We can’t just leave them, it will draw attention.”

“None of them will like it, but it needs to be done,” Renee said. “Let’s go get it over with before someone wakes up and tried to stop us.”

“I just don’t think that’s a good plan. We don’t know if they are still watching the cars or if they left some kind of surprise at them,” I said.

“It will be ok,” Renee said. “While I don’t have much in the way of formal training, I have spent a lot of time with Arthur and Annabell. I know what to look for.”

“It won’t take long and we’ll be careful,” Elise added.

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents are subject to change or be removed entirely from the finished novel)