Now that the sun had set on a new evening it's time for me to get down to business. One by one mortals and immortals filled my living room. Each one brought something to me that the other didn't have.The first mortal to speak up was Mike, who brought maps of everything, from topographical to road maps of the area. The second mortal, Tom, brought construction plans and floor layout sheets so I could find my way around outside on the property as well as inside.My two immortal friends, David and Randy, had the site under surveillance almost from the moment I called them the night before. From what they could tell no one guarded the place, either by land or water.The last mortal among us, Brad, opened up a portfolio filled with photographs that showed the mill from the air and water. He even had interior shots before and after the mill had closed down.I studied all the material and made mental notes from the other's viewpoints until it was time to leave. Outside they all stood in fron

I closed my eyes hoping to gain some of my strength back when I heard a squeaking sound growing louder and louder. Levi screamed out to me, "Move, Marina, Move."I opened my eyes and saw Jackson coming toward me out of the darkness with a hook in his hands, pulling the block and tackle mechanism across the ceiling toward me with a ton of force before he let go."No!" Levi screamed.I knew I could get out of the way if I could only slide down to the floor fast enough. But as I started my decent, I stared in horror as Levi, who had somehow cut the rope between his wrist and freed himself, stepped in front of me and screamed in pain as the hook embedded in his shoulder.My heart ripped apart in my chest as I saw the blood seep around the hook where it had came all the way through to his back. Right before my very eyes the mill changed, blending into a memory that my mind now saw of another time, another place. I'm unable to move as the old sawmill turned into an old Italian cemetery. Ins

I quietly closed the lid on the box and looked up. Levi stood in the doorway watched me. I wiped my hands across my cheeks taking my tears away as he came over to sit beside me. "I got a little worried about what was taking so long and thought I would come down and check on you. I'm sorry if I interrupted." I kept one hand on the jewelry box and reached over with my other and twined our fingers together, "Now that I've kept my promise by killing the last underling of the man who killed Dante, I'm saying my finally good-bye to him." I leaned my head against Levi's shoulder, "I should've had this finished a long time ago, but I didn't want it to end. Each day that that underling existed made me think of something I missed about Dante and those memories kept him alive to me." "You don't have to say good-bye to Dante, Marina. I want you to keep all the memories and all the things that you two had or shared. I would have to be heartless to ask you to forget a man who was in your life for

The crowd is loud, so Alice has to touch my shoulder to get my attention. "We should have entered the costume contest. I bet 'The Alice in Wonderland Twins' would win a prize"My smile fades. "I don't have $50 to spend on the entry fee. I can't really even afford $25 for just my half."Alice suddenly frowns. "I don't have any money either. I don't know why I..." She blinks twice, and then her smile is back."Come on, Misty. Let's move up closer to the stage so we can see better." She grabs my hand and drags me through the crowd towards the stage. She finally stops when there are only a few people between us and the stage.The announcer introduces each entry and lets them parade around on stage for a few moments. The costumes are impressive and elaborate. Three of the entries are couples in coordinating costumes."And finally, ladies and gentlemen, we have out last contestant. He is apparently known only as The Count." There is a dramatic pause before the curtain behind the announcer i

One day, someone hit a baseball through the bathroom window. That woke me from my trance. I used the baseball to smash out the rest of the glass. Then I climbed out the window and ran home. It was the middle of the day and none of my family was there. While looking around the house, I found out that I had been his for over 3 months. I also found out that my family thought I had run away."She starts to sound more agitated. "I knew he would come after me. He said he would if I ran away. He said no one would believe what he really was. He said no one could stop him from recapturing me. He said he would destroy anyone who got in his way. The only way for me to protect my family was to really run away.I have been hiding from him ever since. I know he is still hunting for me. I can feel it. Every time I start to get the dreams again, I know he is getting close. Then I have to drop everything and run somewhere else."I think he gave her a lot of post-hypnotic suggestions about how bad runn