Zombie Chicken. Sounds yummy.

I have received an award. And not just any award. A zombie chicken award. Awesome. I dedicate it to my mother, for allowing me the use of her computer and for buying me all those crappy Fear Street and Sweet Valley High books when I was a kid. :p

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all...

I spread the love by awarding my five favorite whose pages I stalked at least once in the past:

30 is the New 13

Like Pike

Fear Street

The Sweet Valley Diaries

Shadyside Snark

I love you all!

The Enemy Within, Part 5

Previously, on The Enemy Within: We're into the 1990's now, and with it comes our newest bitchy protagonist, Dawn Sullivan, who doesn't like to do homework. Well her buddy Jenni is having memory blackouts and think she might've killed their classmate Savannah Delony whom no one seems to give a rat's ass about, along with a bunch of small children when she was six. Jenni storms up to Dawn in the cafeteria and reveals she's actually the fiendish Gracie! Oh my! Now Gracie wants to meet Dawn alone in the middle of the night at a secluded location. Dawn intelligently agrees. I wonder what's going to happen next...

Chapter 17: A Night of Death

Dawn was walking down to the lake that night with her sister Chloe. [Pronounced like it rhymes with go.] “I still don’t know why you insisted on coming Chloe,” Dawn said.

“Because, if I can’t come, I’ll tell mom and Dad that you snuck out after curfew.”

“And your supposed to be the sister that I like.”

“Oh come on Delta Dawn. Relax. Live a little. Hang ten.” [You know this kids got to die, right?]

“Will you shut up.”

“When you tell my why you’re here, I might consider shutting up.”

“Is that so, Chloe.”

“Yeah it’s so, Delta Dawn.”

“Why do you always call me Delta Dawn.” [It seems like everyone in your family calls you Delta Dawn.]

“It fits.”

“Well, if you really want to know why I’m here, it’s because I’m meeting Jenni here.”

“What does she want.”

“I don’t know. [To kill you.] She’s been acting really weird lately. So I just want to find out what’s wrong with her and get this damn thing over with.” [What a caring friend.]

“Sounds ethical.”

“Since when are you so ethical.”

“Since when do you sware at me.”

“Since you’re getting me pissed off more often.”

“Well thanks for the vote of conf--” Dawn broke her off.

“We’re here, so shut up. Alright.”

“Yeah whatever.”

“Go play by the swings or something. I’m pretty sure Jenni doesn’t want you to here this.”

“Yes sis,” Chloe said saluting Dawn as if she were a military sargant. [I’m kind of starting to like her.] Then she went off to play.

“Jenni,” Dawn called. “Jenni, are you here. Jenni!”

“Hello Dawn,” a raspy voice said behind her a few minutes later.

Dawn jump, startled, and then turned around. “I’m not Jenni. My name is Gracie. Gracie Deck.”

“Uh-huh?” Dawn said quistionally. “Is that a fact.”

“Yes it is. And I’ve been trying to figure out who you are.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like I said earlier,” she paused and sat on a rock. Dawn did the same. [They must have some big rocks at this lake] “I’ve always had my suspicions about you, and now I want to know if they’re true. So tell me, Dawn, have you always felt different from everyone else?”

“Yeah, duh. I think you would know that.”

“Mabey, mabey not. You never know what’s goin on in other people’s eyes, Because you can’t see through them. [How profound.] Are you getting any of this?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Well here’s another example Dawn. Have you ever wanted something that seems unlikely for you to get, but you get it anyway?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you ever have dreams that you’re someone else?”

“Who doesn’t.”

“No, not like that. Someone real.” [Anyone remember the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie?]

“Mabey I do Jenni, mabey I don’t.”

“The name is Gracie.”

“That’s nice. I’m going home.” She got up and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Dawn,” she stopped and turned around. “One more thing.” Then Gracie got up and walked over to Dawn. “Take this.” She reached into her pocket and got out an ivory handled knife, and held it out to Dawn. “For your own protection Delta Dawn.” And with that she left. [What? Why did she give her a knife? To give her a fighting chance for when Gracie eventually will try to kill her?]

Then Dawn started walking down to the playground where she left Chloe. “Hey, Chloe. Where are you you crazy bitch?” she called. “Chloe, Chloe.” Dawn was starting to get worried. Where was her sister.

Mabey she fell into the lake, Dawn thought. Dawn made her way down to the lake, and then saw the most terrifying thing she had ever seen in her entire life. She started to scream.

Chapter 18: “Not Chloe”

“No! No! Not my sister! Not Chloe! She can’t be dead! She just can’t!” Then Dawn started to cry. She couldn’t stop. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t stop crying. [Did anybody NOT see that coming?]

“Oh my got,” an old man said. [Where the hell did he come from?] Then he faced Dawn. “What’s going on here, honey? What happened? Who’s that?” [I don’t know about you, but those wouldn’t be the first words to come out of my mouth after seeing the body of a dead thirteen-year-old. And how did she die anyway? Was she drowned in the lake? Was she stabbed as my characters are so fond of doing when there’s no cliffs to be pushed off of? It would be kind of cool if she was stabbed with the very same knife Gracie gave Dawn, though Gracie must’ve killed her really quick to do it in the time Dawn and Chloe were separated, and without Chloe making a sound.]

“My sister,” she said between sobs. “Chloe. She didn’t do anything wrong. Why did this--” she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“What’s going on here Al?” Dawn heard another guy say. [What? Two old guys out on a moonlit stroll in the middle of the night. Maybe they’re the real killers.]

“Call the cops. A girls been murdered. This is her sister.”

“Right away.” He left. [Notice how they don’t even think to check for a pulse or anything, let alone CPR.]

“It’s going to be Okay. What’s your name Honey?”

“It’s Dawn. Dawn Sullivan.”

“Come into the house Dawn.” [What house? They’re in the middle of a park.]

“Alright.”

* * * * *

The next day at school was a mad house. [What? What about her family’s reaction. I’m sure that was worth reading. Why is she even going to school the day after her sister’s death? Don’t people tend to stay home for a few days, and you know, MOURN?] Everyone was asking her about all the gory details about Chloe’s body. And Jenni was even more upset than Dawn. She was crying consistently. Dawn ran up to her. “Jenni, what’s wrong?” [Because your sister’s death shouldn’t bother her at all…]

“I don’t remember where I was last night. I think--” But Dawn cut her off.

“You didn’t do anything wrong Jenni.”

“How would you know?”

“Because you were with me.”

“I was,” she said questionally.

“Yeah. You and me were talking before Chloe. . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence. It would mak this strange situation real. And Dawn didn’t want that. Not at all. [Repression is the best way to deal with tragedy.]

* * * * *

This is great, Gracie thought. This is just so great. I’ve got all those fucking ass holes fooled. They think that I’m sweet sappy pathetic little Jennifer Louise Miller. Hah. May they all burn in hell for just thinking that. Especially little ol’ Delta Dawn Sullivan. She is just so pathetic. But god knows who she is. She could be Lauren for all I know. But she is one of us. She has to be. She practically admitted it. She get’s thing when she wants it, And she has dreams that she’s other people. [Well that just proves it.] But who does she dreams she is? Is there a slight possibility that whoever she was was born into that body? And forgot who or what she was? God knows, Gracie thought. Only god could know, because, she didn’t.

Chapter 19: Death is but a door

[Time is but a window, I’ll be back. Ghostbusters 2, anyone?]

The funeral was held two days later. School had been closed for the accasion. [Isn’t that nice of the school board?] Chloe was a well-liked fun-to-be-with kind of girl. A lot of people were going to miss her. Especially Dawn. Dawn looked around to see how many of her friends were there. She saw almost all of Chloe’s friends, but how many of her own? Melanie Smith, Debbie Larsen, Shari Lapinski, Justine MacNicols, Jenni Miller of course, Clea Mallone, Shannon Park, Paula and Hallie Goodrich, and Nancy Nite. [It’s been a few chapters since we mentioned her other friends and I needed to remind the reader who they were, especially since some of them had yet to be introduced. On an interesting note they were all actually based on friends I had at the time. I was Dawn, of course. Jenni was Amanda, Debbie was Stephanie, Melanie was Brittany, Paula and Hallie were Paige and Aimee (Rachel and Elizabeth from The Day of Rebecca), Clea was Tiffany, and I can’t recall who the rest were.]

A lot of her friends had come. That was nice of them. The service went on and on, and Jenni kept crying more and more. You’d think she was Chloe’s best friend. Apparently she still though she had killed Chloe. But she couldn’t have. She was with Dawn at the time.

Then Clea walked up to her. “Hi Dawn,” she said. “How’s it going.” [In the middle of the service?]

“Okay I guess.”

“She was killed so brutally. So much blood. So much gore. [Clea’s such a tactful little peach. But at least now we have a clue how she died. I‘m going with my knife hypothesis.] And you were the one to find her. If you ask me, that was the bravest thing anyone could ever go through,” she said.

Clea always knew how to say the wrong thing in the right way. Dawn always had admired her for that. [Okay?] It was one of Clea’s few good qualities. That didn’t necessarily mean that she was a bad person. She just had a lot of stuff to work on.

The service seemed to just go on and on, [I think we went over this just a few paragraphs ago] and Dawn started to feel dizzy. The strangest thing popped ito her head. It was a line from a poem she heard a long time ago;

And the day came,
That the risk it took to
Remain closed in a bud
Became more difficult
Than the risk it took
To blossom.

[This is a poem from MTV’s The Maxx whose true meaning went completely over my twelve-year-old head.]

Wow, Dawn thought. Where did that come from? How do I know it? [I believe you mentioned it was from a poem you heard a long time ago. Just a guess.] Where the hell did it come from?

* * * * *

That night after the funeral Dawn had a dream about Chloe. . . . . .

* * * * *

What the hell. . . , Dawn thought, This is strange dream. She was at school, but everything was large. Larger than they should be. And it was all so bright. Everything was so bright but dark. She could see the bright vibrant colors. But they were dark, like pastel. [I’ve always liked bizarre dream sequences. This is the first of many to come in the future.] Things were definitely getting weird.

She saw all these other kids. They were screaming in agony. Dawn wanted to go over there, to help them, but she couldn’t. She had a certain way to go. A certain path, and she couldn’t get off that path. Then, when the path finally ended, she wasn’t Chloe’s locker. [Let me remind the reader that Chloe went to a different school.]

“Open the door,” she heard a high, shrill voice say. “Open the door. Open the door.”

But Dawn didn’t want to open the door. She knew what was behind it, but she didn’t. She knew that behind that door was something that she just did not want to see. But she opened it anyway. Dawn knew that she could not leave without doing so.

Behind the door was Chloe Sullivan, looking the way she had before that gruesome night when she was brutally murdered. “Dawn,” she said in a serious tone. “Your mother did this. Your mother killed me.”

“But Chloe, mom wouldn’t kill you, she loves you.”

“Not my mother dawn, your mother.”

“But Chloe, we’re sisters.”

“You understand, in your subconscious at least. You have forgotten it for so long. But you have to remember Dawn, who your mother really is.”

“But--”

“All will come in due time, Dawn, and remember the poem.”

“The poem?”

“Yes.” Then she started to fade off into oblivion

“Chloe! Chloe! Where did you go? I want to go to! Chloe!”

[In the margin I wrote in huge letters “Gracie killed Chloe.” I guess just in case somebody didn’t get the dream…]

* * * * *

Dawn woke up crying with her mother’s arms around her. “Dawn, it’s okay, it’s okay sweetie. It was only a bad dream, just a dream. Everything’s fine now.”

“Mom,” Dawn said.

“Yes sweetie.”

“I had a dream about Chloe.”

“I know honey.”

“No, you don’t get it. She was really there. Talking about who killed her.”

“Dawn, it was just a dream. Now go back to sleep.” And then, she left.

The poem, Dawn thought. What poem? Then she remember the poem she thought about earlier, at the funeral;

And the day came,
That the risk it took
To remain closed in a bud,
Became more difficult
Than the risk it took
To blossom.

[Let’s start a count of how many times I repeated this. Current Count: 2]

That poem, she remembered that poem. She didn’t remember where she heard the poem, she just remembered it. Is that what she ment by the poem? When what does it mean. . . . . . .

Chapter 20: Another Death

Dawn awoke the next mourning to the sound of the phone ringing. “Will somebody get that,” she called. But no one answered, and no one did. “Fine, I’ll get it myself.”

She got out of bed and went downstairs. “Hello,” she said.

“Dawn?” It was Jenni.

“Yeah Jen.”

“Someone’s dead.”

“Huh? What do you mean Jenni?”

“I mean I don’t know where I was last night, and when I woke up, I was still dressed in the same clothes I had on last night.”

“So, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you killed somebody. [I think we’ve established that yes, it does.]

“Yeah but--” the phone went dead.

“Jenni! Jenni! Hello! Jenni!” Dawn hung up the phone. “She was just on her way out to go to Jenni’s house when the phone wrang.

“Hello,” she said into the phone.

“Dawn? Is that you?” It was Melanie, and she was crying.

“Melanie, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Debbie.”

“What happened to Debbie? Melanie didn’t aswer. “Melanie! What happened to Debbie? You have to tell me!”

“She’s. . . . . She’s. . . .” Then she broke off crying again. Melanie didn’t have to answer. Dawn knew what happened to Debbie. She was dead. And Dawn had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

“Bye Melanie.” She hung up. Then, right when she was about to leave, she heard knocking on the door. “What is it now?” she muttered under her breath. Dawn opened the door.

It was a police officer. “Yes, can I help you sir.”

“Yes. Put your hands behind your back.”

“What?”

He cuffed her. “You are under arrest for the murder of Chloe Sullivan and Deborah Larson. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorny. . . . .” [Is this legal? She is a minor.] And as he read her her rights, the only thing going through her mind was; I’m not guilty, I’m not guilty. I didn’t do anything. I’m innocent. Innocent.

Top 15 Fear Street Books

For a few years as a preteen I lived and breathed Fear Street. Not only did I spend every waking moment reading these books, but I dreamed about them. I would walk two miles to the bookstore every month to buy them as they came out. And I even created a fanfiction series called Any Way the Wind Blows based on Fear Street.

So what better way to celebrate my love of these books then to make a top ten list! Only I haven't read most of these in 10+ years so I'm working off vague recollections at best. And I couldn't narrow it down to just ten, either.

#15 The Best Friend
Because Honey got away with murder. (Until you read the crappy needless sequel to discover Bill didn't really die). And not only did she get away with it, she made Becca (Why do I keep trying to type Bella?) think she'd done it. Nobody in Fear Street gets away with murder except the Fears. And their descendants always pay for it in the end. Yay for Honey!

#14 Fear Park #1: The First Scream

Fear Park was probably the most gory, violent Fear Street epic ever. (And Robin was hot.) Who doesn't love the scene of a bunch of teenagers hacking each other to pieces with axes? Or was it hatchets?

#13 Lights Out
All I remember of this one is the scene of somebody dying in an art cabin somehow on a pottery wheel? I just remember the pottery wheel was on and it was spurting something on the protagonist and when she turned the light on she saw it was blood. Awesome.

#12 The Fear Street Saga #3: The Burning
Yeah, the whole trilogy's on here. Family secrets, a feud, betrayal, murder, evil legacies, this trilogy was jam-packed with everything I love about fiction. The only thing missing was poison. Was there poison? The Burning was great because Simon goes from being the good guy at the end of the previous novel to embracing his inheritance of evil and trying to kill people to be with Angelica, a girl he fell in love with at first sight. But she was even more evil and together their evilness brought down their family. Julia being buried alive while Simon searched for her, hearing her cries through the ground, only finding her when it was too late and murdering his other daughter in a blind rage (literally) was truly haunting. God I love the Fears.

#11 Broken Hearts
More than anything what bothered me about this book was Rachel. She was brain damaged in. a horse riding accident. It's one thing for someone to be mentally handicapped from birth, but for someone who was "normal?" To know that every time you looked at this person you would remember the person she used to be. That terrified me that that could happen. I felt absolutely horrible for the mother of these girls.

#10 The Mind Reader
Ellie has visions of her best friend's sister being killed and it turns out it was their dad who did it. The whole time Ellie's describing what she's seeing her friend knows what she means and she doesn't want to admit she understands what really happened. It was pretty creepy.

#9 The Halloween Party
I don’t know if this one was particularly good but it was one I reread A LOT. I loved Justine whole plot of pretending to be a high school student in order to get revenge on the children of the people who accidentally killed her parents and how she set up the party.

#8 The Dead Lifeguard
If for no other reason I was completely positive that Mouse and Terry were in love with each other. And it made me wary of lifeguards.

#7 The Fear Street Saga #2: The Betrayal
The book that started the whole evil feud. I always wondered what Edward thought once he found out Susannah had been innocent and his father had sentenced her to die because Edward was in love with a poor girl. I always thought Mary was a complete moron. Jeremy essentially told her his mother died before he was born. Who doesn’t question that? I need to act this book out with Bratz dolls.

#6 Switched
When I was eleven I thought this was the best Fear Street book ever written. The ending truly took me by surprise in a way few Fear Street books did. And this was the inspiration for Jimmy Dearest. I think I copied some lines out of it word for word actually.

#5 Sunburn
There’s a summer camp involved, a girl almost gets eaten by a shark, their hostess turns up having been dead a week when they just saw her earlier in the day, and a girl who fakes her death by falling off a tree into a gorge (It‘s not a cliff, but close enough), this book is full of awesome! It was also where Andy Drexil from Dear Sister got her last name (though spelled differently), and where the character of Alison came from.

#4 Fear Street Sagas #3: Forbidden Secrets
Creepiest Fear Street book ever. Hands down. It’s about two sisters both in love with the same Fear (a male one). It’s told from an old lady’s point of view as she’s sitting at her sister’s grave, but you don’t know which girl she is until much later in the book. One of my absolute favorites. Tyler was a scary guy.

#3 The Fear Street Saga #2: The Secret
The image of Jonathan and Abigail playing in an abandoned village filled with nothing but rotting corpses stayed with me for a very long time. I think this is the creepiest of the three. For a few years I wanted a black cat I could name Simon Fear. Actually, I still want a cat to name Simon Fear.

#2 The Face
This one really was kind of scary. The whole being decapitated from a wire while skiing kind of haunted me. I still never want to go skiing. Martha drawing the face of a dead boy over and over again without being able to stop herself. All of her friends plotting against her. I did not want to be Martha in this one. I think this was the best written one.

#1 The Fear Street Cheerleaders: The Third Evil
What else? The very first Fear Street book I ever read that inspired an obsession in me only rivaled by Gundam Wing. I dreamed about this book, I acted it out with my friends. I memorized all the cheers and performed them. I told my teacher my name was Corky when I was in seventh grade. And it sparked my fixation on people falling off of cliff’s, which appeared in nearly all of my early stories at some point. I read and reread the Cheerleaders series till my original books fell apart. Corky still remains one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

The Enemy Within, Part 4

Last time on The Enemy Within: Best friends Gracie Deck and Lauren Sanders crossed into another dimension and found themselves unable to return home. Gracie blamed Lauren and it started a bitter feud between them and they've been trying to kill each other ever since. They landed themselves into some strange purgatory where the ruler of the weird disembodied spirits made them the God mothers of each others children. Yeah. I'm just as confused as you are.

Part 3: Despair 1996

Chapter 13: Jenni has a problem

Black haired, blue eyed beauty [I’m a sucker for this combination] Dawn Sullivan walked out of the crowded corridor of Harrington Creston High School. What a horrible day, she thought. It has got to be one of the worst days of all time. [Is it just me, or are all of my heroins complete melodramatic bitches?] Fist it was pouring and the bus was two hours late. Then her boyfriend dumped her for her friend Debbie. She didn’t blame Debbie though. Dan [Spam] had a wandering eye. And when temptation knocks you answer, you don’t question. Then, in science, her best friend Jenni Miller was being a complete bitch. Now, it was still pouring and her bus wasn’t here yet so she had to wait in the rain for the fucking bus.

When the bus finally came, and she went home. She didn’t do her homework. Dawn hated homework. So she just watched TV. [This is what I did. This is why I graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA. This is why I didn‘t get to go to college, and move on to a successful career. The moral of this story kids, is DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK! Okay, I‘m done ranting.] Dawn hated a lot of things. Like her brother, Dean. Her sisters, Liegh and Chloe [Which I thought was pronounced like it rhymes with go.]. They were annoying. All of them. Except Chloe, who was one year younger. Liegh was fourteen months, and Dean was five minutes older. [Is Liegh fourteen months older, or fourteen months old?]

Just then the phone rang. “Hello,” Dawn answered.

“Hi Dawn.”

“Hi Jen.”

“Can you come over? I’m really scared. I don’t know what to do. Things are happening. Weird things. Please come over! I need to talk to you. But not over the phone. Please!” [Well that’s cryptic.]

“Sure. What’s wrong Jenni?”

“Come over. And I’ll tell you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks Dawn. Really. I mean it.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Bye.”

* * * * *

Dawn walked up to Jenni’s family’s old Victorian two storie’d house and rang the doorbell. [Nice to know my obsession with Victorian houses goes so far back.] She heard Jenni coming down the stairs quickly.

“Hi Dawn. Come in.” Jenni led Dawn to the living room.

“So, what was so important that you couldn’t tell me what was going on over the phone?”

“I don’t know how to start. From when I was six I suppose.”

“Why when you were six?”

“Because that was when things started happening. When I was six I had blackouts. I remember once I was going on a date with my boyfriend and I had a blackout. [When you were SIX?] I woke up the next day in my bed. And Jack was dead. I think I killed him. The police didn’t question me thought, even when they knew that I was the last person to see him alive. [When you were six you not only had a boyfriend, but you killed him. Heavy.] I had seven more blackouts, and three more people wound up dead. Two were my best friends; Emily and Jessie. And the other was my ex-boyfriend Jeff. [She got around, didn’t she?] I didn’t know what to do. Then people started to talk.” [Started too.]

“About what?” [What do you think, Dawn?]

“About how well I knew these people. About how I knew ther daily routines and where and when they would be in certain places.” [I’m guessing these six-year-olds weren’t supervised all that much.]

“In other words they thought you killed them.” [She was a six-year-old serial killer.]

“Yeah. My mother couldn’t bear the thought of her precious little Jenni, a murderer. She got sick and tired of all the rumors, so we moved.”

“God. How could you live with it?” [She‘s taking this rather well, don’t‘ you think? A little too well.]

“I don’t know. But you know how Savannah Delony ; who turned up dead last weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t remember where I was that day.”

“Are you saying that--”

“I’ve been having blackouts again. I think I killed her.”

* * * * *

Chapter 14: A Bad Day

My god, Dawn thought. Jenni, a murderer. I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Why? Jenni wasn’t a particularly cruel person. She was generally nice. But what does--

Her thoughts were cut off as she slammed right into Paula Goodrich. Oh shit. Now she’s going to be following me around for the rest of the day apologizing. Paula was a general wannabe. [There was a certain song that was popular around this time that I in no way liked or ever listened to and knew all the words.] She had the same raven black hair and sapphire blue eyes as Dawn, so in turn, she thought that she was Dawn’s best friend and was always trying to be like her. She dressed in the same style as Dawn. Listened to the same music. She even went as far as shoes and haircuts. Paula was scary. [Stalker]

“Oh Dawn, I am so sorry. It was my fault.” She helped Dawn to her feet. “Are you all right? Mabey I should take you to the emergency room.” [For bumping into you?]

“I’m all right Paula.”

“Are you sure. Mabey we should have you checked out. Just to be on the safe side.” [I think she wants to check Dawn over herself.]

“Paula, I’m fine. I don’t need to go the emergency room.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yea! I’m sure. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home.”

“Hey Paula, Dawn,” said the childish voice of twelve year old Holly Hallie Goodrich. Too late, Dawn thought. “Dawn, where are ya goin’?”

“She’s going home Holly Hallie.”

“Why?”

“Whe was in an accident, Holly Hallie. And she was hurt.” Paula turned towards Dawn. “Come on Dawn. Let’s get you home.” So then Paula grabbed her wrist and brought her home.

It’s funny, Dawn thought. The lengths Paula would go to to get my attention. There was defenent competition between the two sisters. Hallie was definitely the more beautiful of the two, and I think that’s why Paula resents Hallie so much. It also had to do with the fact that their parents play favorites. It’s funny. [I think sad is a better description, personally.]

When they got to Dawn’s house Paula said goodbye and ran across the street to her own house. Goodbye, and good riddance, Dawn thought, as she went inside. She found that no one was home except Dean who was working on his homework. “Hi Dino,” she said. “Doin’ homework like a good little boy.” [Unlike you, you stupid bitch.]

“Shut up Delta Dawn.” [Delta Dawn is a really old song that I heard when I was a kid and sort of liked, and it made me like the name Dawn. Then I read Dawn by V.C. Andrew’s ghostwriter, and I didn’t like the name Dawn so much.]

“Shut up yourself Deany Weinie.”

“I’ll be in my room Delta.” Then he picked up all of his books and went upstairs.

“What a cry baby.” Then she went upstairs.

* * * * *

Gracie walked into Jenni’s bedroom in Jennie’s body. [The shock! I didn’t see that one coming!] “This is just great,” she said slamming the door behind her. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice this before. Dawn has to be Lauren. She just has to. I always get this feeling when I’m around Lauren. But for some reason it feels different this time. Like it’s not Lauren. But that’s impossible. Mabey Dawn’s another one, and she knows about me.”

This just can’t be for real. Luaren’s not in Delaware. She’s in Florida. I think. Then it has to be another one. But who the hell can it be without giving me sighns of wht it was. What’s going on? Who is she? What is she?

* * * * *

Chapter 15: Nightmare on Rosemont Lane [So original with the titles, wasn’t I?]

Dawn Sullivan walked dizzily in the deserted corridor at Harrington Creston High School. That’s strange, she thought. Where is everybody? I’ll go look for Jenni. She’ll know what’s going on.

She started to walk toward the freshman hall. Toward Jenni’s locker. [So they’re fourteen.] Jenni would be there. But Jenni wasn’t there. And niether was her locker. The school was gone too. Suddenly she was two years old again and in the garden back home. That was so long ago. How did she last all of these years? She didn’t know.

Dawn was once again two years old. But she wasn’t herself. Instead of having her long silky black hair, she had short, think, brown hair, and she saw two adults. Both pale. One with light hair, one with dark hair. And the strangest thought entered her head.

Mother. . . .

[Come on, can anyone guess what’s going on here? I’m dying to know.]

* * * * *

Dawn sat up in bed. She was drenched in cold sweat. What a dream, she thought. Then she layed down and fell back to sleep with the thought of that day in her head. The day she had almost forgot. The day she last saw her mother. She hadn’t thought about that day. The day she crossed over.

* * * * *

Chapter 16: Hello Gracie

The next day at school Dawn was sitting with her friends.

“Has anyone seen Dan?” Debbie Larson asked. [Isn’t she the sensitive one, even though Dawn doesn’t really seem to care that he dumped her.] Then she looked over across the table at Dawn. “Mabey I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s OK,” Dawn said. “I’m completely over Dinky Boy.” [I called a lot of people Dinky Boy.]

“Gee, that was fast. Just yesterday you were all upset about the fucking way he treated you,” Melanie said. Melanie Smith wasn’t the kind of person who was sensitive to other people’s feelings. She always had a way to spoil a moment. And she liked it that way. Dawn had always thought that that was how she stayed in control. She was a very insecure person.

After Melanie said that Justine gave her a look like Melanie had done something. “Nice going Melanie.”

“But you know,” said Shari Lapinski. “Dawn told me that the relationship between them has been coming to an end for along time now. Isn’t that right, Dawn?”

“Yeah,” Dawn replied. Shari knew how insensitive Melanie could be and how Melanie loved to torture people like that. But Shari Lapinski didn’t like to give Melanie Smith the satisfaction and for that Dawn was thankful. [I had to keep repeating their whole name so you’d remember the characters in this story since there are so many, many of them.]

Just then Jenni walked up to the table where Dawn Sullivan, Shari Lapinski, Debbie Larson, Melanie Smith, and Justine MacNicols. That’s strange, Dawn thought. Jenni doesn’t have lunch this bell. Weird. “Hi Jen.”

“Oh shut the hell up with the small talk Dawn. I need to talk to you.” Everyone just sat there. “Alone.”

“Come one you guys,” said Melanie. “There’s an empty table right over there.” [Isn’t that nice of her.] Then they left.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dawn asked.

“Who are you talking to Bitch? Me, or Jenni.” [Same old Gracie. Just as discreet as ever…]

“What do you mean? Like. . . .” Dawn was too stunned finish her sentence.

“Multiple personalities,” Jenni or whoever finished for her. “Not exactly kid. I may look and talk like her right now, because I am living in her body. And for that reason only. I am her.” She paused and looked at Dawn. “I’ve had my suspicions ever since the day I met you.”

“Suspicions about what?”

“You’ll understand in dew time. Meet me at the lake tonigh at midnigh. Okay.” [Not the woods? Really?]

“Yeah. Okay.” [You’re going to meet your best friend, who is more or less a confessed MURDERESS, in the middle of the night at a secluded location. Not so smart, methinks.]

“I have to ask you a few questions.” Then she left.

Then Melanie, Shari, Debbie, and Justine walked over to dawn. “What the hell did she want,” Melanie asked.

“To be honest I don’t really know.”

“That’s one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. You don’t know what she wants. She came over, told Debbie, Shari, Justine, and me to get the fuck oughta here, she practically screams at you, and you don’t know what the hell she wants.” [She’s a bitch, but she’s right.]

“No.”

“This girl can’t be fore real.” Then Melanie got her book bag and right before she left the cafeteria she ran slam into the principal. But lucky for her, he was too stunned by the blow to realize who it was.

“I honestly don’t know.”

Gakuen Alice #6

Now it's time for something completely different. A little taste of what this blog was originally meant for, Book Recaps!!!! ...erm, manga recap... It's a book with pictures. ^_^

Today we have Gakuen Alice #6 (the sixth installment of the manga series Gakuen Alice, go figure) by Tachibna Higuchi.

I first stumbled upon Gakuen Alice in the mutli-colored pages of Hana to Yume Magazine back in the days before I discovered Erin's Sanctuary (she posted summaries and translations) and ordered the magazine in order to get my biweekly Cain fix. Yeah, I couldn't read a word (It is in Japanese) but I could look at Yuki-sama's beautiful artwork and get the gist of what was going on in God Child. Gakuen Alice caught my eye because it had the most adorable artwork and color pages outside of Cardcaptor Sakura. I looked it up online but couldn't find anything about the series anywhere. I didn't pay much attention to it. But then in 2004 I heard they were coming out with an anime. I downloaded each and every episode (on dialup!)--well, except for the last four because they were done by a different group and whatever media type they used wouldn't work on my computer--and became a rabid fan.

Finally, scanlation groups started picking it up, but only released chapter on IRC. I hate IRC. I scoured the web and read through every tutorial I came across but never managed to make the damn program work on my computer. Damn you scanlation groups that release only on IRC!!!!! *doneranting* So I actually never got to read it until Tokyo Pop got a hold of it.

And Volume 6 finally takes us to where the anime left off!!! Woo-hoo! Are you excited? I know I am.

BASIC STORY: Alice Academy is a school in Tokyo for kids with special abilities called Alices (abilities that range from pyrokenesis to a kid who's farts knock you out. Hey, my father-type-person's an Alice!) are gathered, taught, and "protected." There's something dark going on behind the scenes of this cutesy manga and the Academy's been giving unusual attention to new student and heroin Mikan Sakura, and bad boy Natsume Hyuga. It kind of reminds me of a cross between Harry Potter and Cardcaptor Sakura for some reason.

We start of with Naru-sensei (one of the teachers at the Academy) delivering a letter to Mikan's grandfather from Mikan. (Letters home are forbidden).

Naru is kind of a mysterious character with some kind of hidden agenda going on so I'll let you in on what we know about him thus far. He's very pretty (the blond girly kind of pretty that makes me go weak in the knees). He has the Alice of Human Pheromones. He's obsessed with whom we believe to be Mikan's mother and is rather protective of Mikan though the students might not see it that way. He dislikes the way the Academy is run. And he's my favorite character. (If you think it's because of his resemblance to Lorent Parker you are correct ^_-).

Mikan (Nullification Alice), her best friend Hotaru (Invention Alice), and Nonoka (some kind of science Alice) are raking leaves and are really excited that Prez (Illusion Alice) is coming back. He won the best student award and got to go home to visit his family for a week (he hasn't seem them in four years. He never even met his little sister.). And yeah, you're not allowed the leave the Academy once you're there. They're kind of strict about that. And I totally thought Prez was a girl all through the anime until I read the manga. Prez's real name is Yuu Tobita, but a lot of characters have nicknames and it's easier to keep track of them that way.

There's an important bulletin telling the students that five adults out in the outside world's Alices have disappeared without warning. While everyone's freaking out Hotaru listens in on a conversation between two fo the teachers with her "panda with ears tracer."

Naru's talking to Misaki-sensei (who seems to be Naru's best friend at the academy) and they admit a student in the junior division has lost their Alice. (Mikan and co. are in the elementary division). Misaki-sensei warns him not to do anything extreme or it'll effect Mikan.

Natsume (Fire Alice) sulks and wanders away from the other students. His best friend Luca--or Ruka--(Animal Pheromone Alice) follows him and asks what's going on and if something happened. Natsume tells him not to worry about it. I think he's a masochist.

Mikan goes to the Specials room (the are five different ability types--Latent, Somatic, Technical, Special, and Dangerous. Mikan's in the Special group--the leftovers that don't fit in anywhere else, kind of like Hufflepuff) and pouts about Natsume avoiding her. (She so likes him and just doesn't know it yet). In comes a very handsome senior with cigarette in hand and she hangs out with him until Tsubasa (Shadow Manipulation Alice) and Misaki (Doppelganger Alice, and yes it's another Misaki so the other one will always be referred as Misaki-sensei. Wonder if they're related...Hmm...) who up. Tsubasa yells at Mikan to stay away from Tounochi (Amplification Alice) who's a womanizer and apparently not above hitting on ten-year-old girls. Eww.

Tounouchi does a lot of jobs outside the academy because his ability is so useful but the current on was cancelled so he's just hanging out for the day. He's also the Special Ability Type's representative.

Tounouchi recognizes Mikan's name when introduced because she's Natsume's partner and asks her about Natsume's health since he's been seen going in and out of the school hospital a lot. He has kind of a weird interest in him. Maybe he likes to hit on ten-year-old boys, too.

Mikan asks Noda-sense (the specials teacher and Time Travel Alice) about the "loss of Alice" incidents. Node-sense doesn't seem to know anymore than Naru.

Meanwhile Prez is on his wy home when a bag lady runs in front of the car and the car slams on the breaks to avoid her. Prez gets out of the car to see if she's okay and offers her his hand to help her to her feet. Prez thinks that the woman reminds him of someone but can't think who. Deathy's bad guess that will ultimately be wrong: Mikan.

Prez returns to campus and everyone happily exclaims "Souvenirs!" Hotaru een holds a flag that says "Big Catch." Nice welcoming for your friend.

Prez passes out his gifts and someone writes on Curly's (Her name's Sumire, Cat Alice) doll and she gets pissed. She discovers it was Mind-Reader (Mind-Reading Alice, maybe?) and Fox-Eye (Flying Alice)--no idea what their names are--and commands Prez to create an illusion to frighten them. Prez then discovers that his Alice isn't working! Oh noes!!!

Prez is put into quarantine and after two days Mikan begs Naru to let her see him. He can't let her but offers to give him a message. Hotaru throws a flower pot at his head. A FLOWER POT. At his HEAD. He's knocked unconscious (ten-year-olds are strong) and she attatches some kind of mind control device to his head and order him to take them to the lab where Prez is being kept. I love how random this manga is sometimes.

Prez is extremely moved that they came to see him. He's scared, wondering what's going to happen to him and starts to cry. I love Prez. He's so cut.

Mikan's grandfather once told her that if you fold 1000 paper cranes with a prayer, they'll grant your wish, so she and her friends start folding paper cranes (origami is a required course in Japan). Hotaru makes a more elaborate one. Two other kids in their class wearing strange hats come over and start bullying Mikan for visiting Prez and infecting them all. Curly punches them then berates Mikan for doing something so reckless.

They're interrupted as Prez rejoins them. It wasn't a virus or anything and the teachers believe there's a change he could regain his Alice. They think it was stolen from him, that it was the bag lady who stepped in front of the car, and that she's a member of the Anti-Academy rebel organization "Z." Why did they tell all this to a ten-year-old? Shouldn't some things be kept under wraps? Seriously!

We first heard about Z in Volume 3, when super pop star sensation Reo kidnapped Natsume and asked him to join Z. Natsume declined.

Natsume thinks about Reo's invite and wanders away from group once more. Mikan follows him, calling him out on his behavior and demands to know if there's something about her that bothers him. He tells her he hates everything about her and walks away.

In the previous volume Natsume was threated by Persona (S&M weirdo freak extraodanair and leader of the Dangerous Ability Group) into continuing to do the Academy's dirty work or they'll hurt his friends, and mentioned Mikan in particular, which is why he's staying away from her. He knows the Academy is watching her. He thinks about the little girl who called him big-brother.

There's a sudden emergency at the Academy. A member of Z has infiltrated the school! Oh noes!!!

Natsume runs outside followed by Mikan, Prez, and Luca follow him, but Hotaru beat him to it. She's already on her hovering duck and tells them she's going to see the ones who stole Prez's Alice with her own eyes and asks Mikan to go with her. Mikan doesn't have to think twice and dives on the duck.

Mikan and Hotaru hide in the bushes near HQ and Mikan expresses her surprise that Hotaru would go this far for Prez. Hotaru explains that Prez is the glue that keeps the class together, he's one of the things that keeps her from being completely twisted by the academy. She used to think he was an idiot for trying so hard to keep the peace in their class by himself but when she asked him about it he told her they're all alone in the school but the school is their whole world. He hopes the day will come when everyone helps each other and they won't be sad and lonely anymore. She admires him for that. I think she has a crush. ^_^ They make a vow to get Prez's Alice back together.

The teachers discover that Mikan and Hotaru are near HQ but before they can get to them they're spotted by intruders. And now there are three instead of the two the academy believes there are, one with a gun. They see Hotaru first and keep going, but then Mikan pops out of the bush and the woman stops and reaches out for her. The gun-toting guards of the academy show up and the intruder with the gun fires aiming for the one behind Mikan. Hotaru, thinking he's trying to shoot Mikan, dives in front of the bullet and is shot in the shoulder.

The invaders get away and Hotaru is rushed to the campus hospital. The bullet is removed but there's an unknown virus that was tipped on the bullet. Hotaru's brother is also at the Academy. I can't remember his first name so I'll just call him by his last name, Imai. Imai has both the Healing Alice and the ability to inflict the pain he takes from people onto others. Pretty cool, huh? He's able to keep the virus from getting any worse but he can't get rid of it entirely. They need the anecdote for that.

Mikan's beside herself with worry because Hotaru was protecting her and got hurt because of it. Noda-sensei and Tounouchi show up in the hospital. Noda-sensei tells Natsume he's wanted in a Dangerous Ability meeting and will escort him there. Mikan is to be confined in her room until her punishment is decided. He asks Tounouchi to take her.

Mind-Reader is looking in on Hotaru through the glass and tells Mikan to come over, Hotaru's awake! She "tells" Mikan to smile and not worry about her. Mikan goes outside to cry and Luca follows. She tells him that Hotaru is in so much pain and she only worries about her instead of herself. She wishes she could be strong like Hotaru. Luca comforts her.

Instead of taking her to her room Tounouchi takes her back to the Specials room where she is scolded by Tsubasa, who keeps calling Tounouchi Gramps for some reason. Tounouchi tells them what happened to Hotaru and that they're going to have to steal the technology from Z, but he can't figure out how Z got in in the first place. (Int is a word, by the way). All he can think of is an unfounded rumor from a long time ago about a kid who had the Alice to make worm holes in the time-space continuum. He made a worm hole that led outside the Academy and has a student with a Spell Casting Alice hide it. He wrote the direction in a notebook and hid it somewhere in the senior division. And no one's ever found it.

It's enough to get Mikan all riled up and wanting to go look for it. She wants to do anything she can to help Hotaru. Tounouchi thinks one of the guys in the newspaper club might know where to start.

Natsume wanders away fronm his meeting and overhears Naru, Misaki-sensei, and Jinno-sensei (another teacher with the Thunder Alice. He's really mean.) discussing Hotaru. Jinno is unwilling to let Hotaru's parents see her even though she's in critical condition. He alludes to Mikan and Naru asks how he knew. Jinno says he can guess from the facts, and tells Naru he better watch himself.

Natsume looks in on Hotaru and kicks the little penguin robot she made that's crying about her. She tells him, or rather a voice imitating, mind-reading nurse that's passing by, tells him that it was expensive and he'd better not break it.

Mikan's behind talking out of her crazy plan and one-by-one the other kids agree to help her, Luca being hte first. Only seniors are premitted in the senior division so their first hurtle is that they're mostly kids. The little robot that followed Natsume hands Mikan a bag filled with Gulliver candy, a candy that allows you to age or de-age? the number of years indicated on the wrapping. (Man that would be useful.) The only thing about them is they only work while the candy's in your mouth and it has weird side effects, which was why it was pulled from shelves.

Since Mikan has to be confined in her room, Misaki will use the candy to be younger and pretend to be Mikan, while her doppelganger will continue to be her. A boy whose face can be molded lik clay will be the doubles of Luca and Natsume, and they'll use a hollogram for everyone else.

Mikan emerges as a fifteen year old dress in senior clothes (she really doesn't look any different) and Tounouchi gets all pervy and Tsubasa very protective. Natsume and Luca get ready (and are the hottest manga ten-year-olds ever) and Mikan's very surprised by how they look. Luca can't stop staring at Mikan. Natsume grabs Mikan by the chest and tells her it hasn't grown an inch (that's tactful). Tounouchi stares at him longingly wishing he were ten so he could get away with that. (Or maybe for another reason....)

They go to the senior division whose walkway is lined with very creepy looking statues. They sneak around the school and Mikan confesses to Luca that she's so nervous her candy's already dissolved. He tells her to hide in a corridor and when the two step in they're trapped in a time warp. Tsubasa uses his shadow manipulation to get them out but they're already elementary students and are noticed.

They escape and finally make it to the newspaper club and find Hayami, the information freak that wears weird goggles for no reason, kind of like Quatre.

Tounouchi asks about eh worm hole and he tells him it most like exists. There's an area in the west building on the second floor where two peopel were seen around the time of the incident with the intruders. That ghosts often appear in that area, always in groups of two and holding an old notebook. And that one looks exactly like student body president Shuichi Sakurano.

To be continued...

The Enemy Within, Part 3

Last time, Gracie’s is shacking up in the body of Que Ellen Bizac, a girl from a French family that lives in Scotland and is vacationing in Italy. Lauren’s followed her though we don’t know who she is yet. And Gracie is dating a guy named Stefan, who is actually Justin, a guy who is in cahoots with Lauren. And their great plan is to make Gracie fall in love with him and then kill her. Make sense? No? Moving on.

Chapter 9: Lauren and Justin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. . . . .

The weeks past quickly for Gracie. But slow for Lauren. Lauren just stood by as London watching Gracie as Que Ellen making a fool out of herself for Justin as Stefan. It was a confusing tale of who was who, and Lauren stuck right in the middle.

Lauren was getting impatient for Justin to propose to Gracie. She wanted Gracie dead and to have Justin all to herself. But of course Gracie couldn’t die because they weren’t home. They were here in this strange and primative world.

Lauren remembered Justin’s tale of how he came to this bizarre land. . . . .

* * * * *

Justin and his friends Billy and Sara were going to go steal a care when they saw the swirling gateway. Sara dared the boy’s to go through it. Only Billy did though. And when he didn’t come out of the other side she started crying and Justin told her that he would go through and bring Billy back. So then Justin went through. And wound up her in the year 1743. . . . [Is this foreshadowing for Billy showing up later, too?]

* * * * *

Lauren sat back and thought about his story, and how different it was from her’s. This is ridiculous, she thought. Why don’t we just kill her? She’s had it coming to her since that day. I can’t believe we were ever even friends. It’s sick. It’s pathetic. It’s--

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said.

Then Justin came in.

Lauren quickly sat up. “Does Gracie know your here?”

He shut the door. “No. And I’d like to keep it that way if you don’t mind.”

Lauren got stood up. [When did that happen? ^_-] “Justin, I am really getting sick of this. I just want to kill her.”

“Lauren--”

“She’s always saying things like ‘I’m the more beautiful one, London, and--’” [And that’s a perfectly good reason to murder her. I think one of her incarnations was as Andy Drexil.]

“Lauren--”

“‘I’m better than you, London,’ oh and this one’s really smooth, ‘You are nothing but a slutty little Lauren winnable.’”

Then Justin just grabbed her and kissed her hard on the lips. [My first love scene!] The kiss got more and more passionate. Then, the door opened and the stunned face of Gracie Deck A.K.A. Que Ellen Bizac, ran off in shock.

* * * * *

Chapter 10: Lauren?

Gracie was running and running, but she didn’t know where she was going. I can’t believe that they would do this to me. London and Stefan of all people. Why? Why? [Obviously she came in late in the conversation if that’s all she’s concerned with.]

Gracie finally came to a stop. At a bridge over a roaring river. [That can’t be good.] She just sat there. Just sat there and sat there and sat there and sat there. . . . . [Not standing. Sitting.]

* * * * *

Just and Lauren pulled apart. “Oh no, Gracie found out,” Lauren said in great panic.

“So what. Now you and me can be together. Without her.” [Was that ever an issue, really?]

“But you don’t understand. This’ll ruin everything that we’ve worked so hard for.”

“So. Let’s just kill her when she gets back.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. [Justin just wants to get into her pants.]

“No,” she pulled away from him once again. “You don’t understand. I have to go after her.”

He put a hand on her arm. “Lauren.”

She shook it off. “You don’t understand.” Then she ran out of the room to go find where Gracie went.

* * * * *

Grace was just sitting there thinking. I wanna go home. I miss my daughter. Julie. [What about Julie‘s father? She never spares a thought to him. Or are people so advanced in her world they‘re capable of asexual reproduction?] She felt tears forming in her eyes. She quickly rubbed them away.

“Gracie,” a familiar voice said. Then she got this funny feeling that she only got when she was around Lauren and Stefan. Why the hell did someone call me Gracie? [Well, since you were telling London she was a “Lauren wannabe” who knows what else you might’ve let slip.] She looked behind her to see who said it. It was London.

“Why the hell did you call me that London? My name is Que Ellen, not Gracie.”

“Don’t play dumb Gracie. But of course you’re not playing.” [Oooh! Nice one.] “I knew who you were since the day you started inhabiting Que Ellen’s body.”

“What are you talking about London?” Gracie was beginning to get worried. Had London truly discovered her secret? [It’s obvious!]

“While we’re talking, let’s get another thing straight. I’m not London. I’m Lauren.”

“Lauren?” Gracie gasped. No, she thought. This has to be a joke. A really sick joke. It’s got to.

“Yeah, that’s right. Lauren. In case you want to know, Justin is also one of us.” She giggled. “But of course you know him as Stefan. I’ve known him for years.” Her smug smile came off her face. “We planned all this.” [I’m thinking being stuck as a spirit in another realm prohibits you from maturing. ^_^]

“You mean. . . .” Gracie pointed an accusing finger at Lauren.

“Yes. Me and Justin had this set up so well. But you just had to step in. In the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Lauren, is that really you?” [Kind of slow on the uptake, isn’t she?]

“Yeah Gracie. It is me.”

“Oh my god.”

“Don’t act so suprised, Gracie. Cause in a way, you knew that I was here all along.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know that tingly sensation you get whenever your around me and Justin.” Lauren didn’t wait for her to answer. “Well that’s how you know. You only get that feeling whenever you’re around being that aren’t from this world,” she said gesturing around to the land around them. “So in a way you have your own little tracking device. That’s how I met Justin.”

“How long have you been in London’s body?”

“Longer than you’ve been in Que Ellen’s body?” [I don’t think that should be a question.]

“Oh.” She started to walk away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked Gracie in a heated tone.

“Away from you.” She turned and started walking again.

“Oh no you’re not!”

“Oh yes, I am.”

“Oh no, you’re not.”

“Yes I am Lauren. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” [That was probably the wrong thing to say.]

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. It’s right.”

Suddenly Lauren jumped on her, strangling her. Pulling her hair. Hurting he. Gracie herd the surprised shouts of the crown. [There was a crowd? Why wasn’t there any reaction from Lauren’s monologue about beings from another world?] Cause to them, the girls were London and Que Ellen Bizac. Not Lauren Sanders and Gracie Deck. [It’s not the fact that they’re identical twins beating the shit out of each other, it’s that they’re Que Ellen and London Bizac, who are the equivalent of this world’s Wakefield twins.] Then Lauren hit Gracie’s head on the pavement. The world went black for a moment. Lauren grabbed her by the throaght and brought her over to the rail of the brige. [Knew that bridge was a bad place to be.]

“Now it time for you to die.”

Why is this happening? Gracie thought. With that thought in her head, she braced herself for another meat with death. . . . .

* * * * *

Chapter 11: Till Death Do Us Part

She braced herself for the pain, but it didn’t come. Then Gracie opened her eyes to see Stefan, or Justin--whoever he was--pull Lauren off of her.

“Lauren, are you crazy?” he said. “You can’t just kill her in public. With all of these spectators.”

“I don’t care. I want her dead, and you know it.” She said pointing an accusing finger at Gracie. “And I’m gonna kill her whether you like it or not.” She turned and started walking towards Gracie.

“Lauren!” Justin yelled as he grabbed to restrain her. “Not, in, public.” [Kind of reminds me of the scene in Interview with the Vampire when Lestat smacks Claudia’s hand and tells her “Never in the home.” Except Lestat is way cooler than Justin.]

Then with all her strength Lauren pulled away from Justin and dived at Gracie. The blow broke one or two of Gracie’s ribs and the two of them tumbled over the side. The last thing Gracie saw before she died for the fourth time [Fourth, huh? She died in her own body when she committed suicide, then again when she was in the old woman on the street’s body, so there was one other unnamed time she died.] was Justin looking over the side screaming Gracie and Lauren’s names. And then. . . . . darkness.

[This next chapter is completely scribbled out so I must’ve cut it from the story altogether but I can still read it. . . Unfortunately.]

* * * * *

Chapter 12: Destiny just walked in

When Gracie woke up she didn’t know where she was. She looked around and saw that she was in some kind of waiting room. [Is this like purgatory?] Then she looked at herself. She was in her old body again. She had her shoulder length wavey dark brown hair. Then Gracie went into a bathroom. [There are bathrooms in purgatory?!] and looked at herself. She had her creamy complexion and dark blue eyes. This is great, she thought. I’ve been given a second chance. I’m me again. I’m--

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Gracie looked back at the mirror just as a familiar face came into view. A pale face surrounded by mounds of curly platinum blond hair. And the coldest ice blue eyes she’d ever seen. There was only one way to describe her. Lauren. [We finally get physical descriptions of the main characters twelve chapters into the story. Yeah, that’s the way I roll.]

“What do you want?” Gracie said. [You’d think she’d be a little nastier considering the fact that Lauren just, you know, KILLED HER.]

“There’s a guy who runs this place. His name is Jonathon. He wants to see us.”

“Why?”

“Because we killed each other.”

“Wonderful.”

* * * * *

“I am very disappointed in the two of you,” Jonathon said.

“Who are you? And what do you care?” Lauren asked. [Good question.]

“Alright. I’ll explain. But only if you promise not to interupt.” [Remember that thing I said about the spirits not being able to mature?]

“Yes sir,” Gracie and Lauren said in unision. [There’s that spelling word again. And, once again, it’s misspelled!]

“The two of you are not the only two people who have traveled from one dimension to another.

“Of course not. Justin and that friend of his. What’s his name.” [Billy]

“No, not just them. Others as well. Dozens in fact. But they’ve never tried to kill each people. Let alone each other.”

“Yeah, but it’s her fault we’re here,” Gracie said pointing at Lauren. [Didn’t he say something about not interrupting?]

“You didn’t have to follow me in, Gracie.”

“Yeah, but if were more responsible, and less risk taking, I wouldn’t have felt inclined to follow you in.”

“Oh please. The only reason you followed me in is--”

Just then Jonathon stood up and cut Lauren off. “Lauren Sanders, Gracie Deck, shut the hell up!” [Thank you!] The two of them were quiet emmediately. “That’s better. Now, if you’ll let me explain. Like I said, the two of you aren’t the only ones that have traveled from one dimension to another. Many people have done this before you. People from many different worlds. There’s another dimension every two feet. If you take a look at how big the world is that’s a lot of worlds.” [Well, duh.] “And every once in a while a gateway opens up and people on occasion, go through them. The two of you are no different.”

“But there are some things that--oddly enough--can and can’t happen. First of all, if you’re in a girls body while they have a baby you will be born into that baby unless you were the person while the baby was conceived. Then that baby will be yours and will be immortal like you.” [This will be important later, I promise.] “Then, if tht happens, there is going to be hell to pay. Also, there is only one way to kill you.”

“What?” They both said in unison. [I spelled it right!]

“You’ll find out soon enough. I’m sending the two of you back into the real world.” [If there’s another world every two feet, which one’s real?] “And I hope that you’ll steer clear of each other’s paths. Alright.”

Gracie and Lauren didn’t say anything.

“At least try. Please. We don’t want another mess like this.” He turned to leave. Then he turned again. “Oh yeah. And one more thing. Gracie, if Lauren has a baby, you’re automatically the godmother. Same thing goes for Lauren. If Gracie has a baby, you’re the godmother. And that means you cannot kill the baby. No matter how much you hate it. So, for both your sakes, steer clear of each other. And I mean it.” [Did that make ANY sense whatsoever?] And with that he left. Gracie and Lauren were sitting there. Just staring into space.

After a while they left. Went back to the real world. Not they’re home in Scottland, where they came from. But back to the world where they were damned for all eternity, where they continued they’re distructionous path through the centuries.

[Man this story is ungodly complicated.]