Hi guys! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend! I just wanted to apologize for not posting yesterday. There were some technical issues, and still are, so I might not post until later this afternoon.

Have a great rest of your holiday break!😊

Queen of Darkness

My blood started to boil. “FENRYS AND GAVRIEL?” I growled as my voice rose.

“Aiyana, is everything alright?” Aelin questioned.

I started to tremble with rage. My eyes started to burn, and my expression became feral. Just at that moment, Fenrys and Gavriel -- out of nowhere -- appeared in front of me, blocking my view of Aelin and Rowan. Everyone’s faces hardened, preparing themselves to hold me back if something went out of control.

“You,” I spat at Fenrys. “You killed my parents. You killed them while I watched. You made me watch them be tortured by you!” I yelled. The killing calm was taking over. Fenrys and Gavriel blanched. Their faces turned white, and were standing there, paralyzed in shock. Everyone stopped breathing -- no one moved. I started to cry. “You killed them -- innocent people!” I screamed.

“Aiyana --” Aelin started. I cut her off with a glare so feral she stepped back in shock. Fenrys and Gavriel had not yet moved. But then, in a movement so fast they thought I might not detect, pain and regret passed across their face. A minute later, it was gone.

“Aiyana--” Fenrys started as he reached out towards me.

“Don’t touch me!” I screeched. His face became whiter than it was before, and his mouth was set in a hard line. His face started to twist in pain as an invisible hand of mine gripped his wrist where his arm was still out in front of me. An invisible shield formed around me, Gavriel, and Fenrys. I twisted Fenrys’ wrist with the invisible hand, and a sob escaped from him. Tears stained Fenrys’ face, and splattered onto the floor of the deck. I twisted again, and this time, he shrieked in pain.

“Aiyana! What are you doing?” Aelin spat at me in anger. She looked panicked, and her face was drained of color; so were everyone else’s. Everybody stared, shock and horror coating their features. A flash of a memory passed by mind: a woman, with long, silver hair fighting against a man -- Fenrys -- whose face was a hard mask of stone: unmoving. Serious. Untouched. Disgusted. I growled, and started twisting Fenrys’ right ankle. He screamed, and fell to the floor. I was a burning wrath; alive and burning. Another image moved across my mind: my father, silver hair as well, strong, muscled, and tall, being stabbed through the heart by Gavriel, his face unmoving. My father’s mouth formed an O, and his eyes closed, his soul leaving his body. I was never -- never -- going to see him again. I remember what he told me before they attacked: I love you. I will never forget that.

I screamed. At that moment, I sent an invisible wave to Gavriel, pulling his feet out from under him. He fell, and I grabbed his hair with an invisible hand, and pulled it back. My invisible hands wrapped around his throat, and he started choking. I was going to kill him -- both of them. Aedion started yelling in the background, but I couldn’t hear. My ears were roaring with the sound of fire and pure hatred flowing through my veins and body.

Aelin was screaming, “Aiyana! STOP!” over and over again. I looked in her direction, and froze. Everything froze. Aelin held a sword in her right hand, and in her left was a burning ball of flame. Rowan was standing beside her, hands curled into fists. As I turned to face Aedion, he held a sword, and a ghost leopard took Lysandra’s place. Lorcan became a beast; he and Elide were both enveloped in darkness.

“Aelin, I am NOT. If you --” Aelin threw a ball of flame at me, but I was too fast. The ball of flame winked out in a blink, as if it was a candle flame that I just pinched and burnt out. Aelin tried to throw another ball of flame, but it also winked out. Everybody stared; they couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t,” I growled and gritted through clenched teeth. In the blink of an eye, Lorcan was swept off his feet, and started screaming in pain. My invisible hands kept on twisting his wrist, while the others wrapped around his throat. His face was losing its color. Elide started crying and screaming.

“Stop, Aiyana. Please,” Aelin pleaded, her eyes fixing on Elide. “Stop. You’re hurting them.” Her voice was gentle, soothing me. I loosened my grip on everything; Gavriel and Lorcan started panting, and tears ran down their faces. Elide scrambled towards Lorcan, sobbing. She was holding his face, and was wiping the away the tears that stained his face. Aedion bolted to Gavriel, picking him up. Fenrys tried to rise to his feet, but stumbled back down to the deck of the ship. Rowan walked towards Fenrys, watching me the whole time, and scooped him into his arms. Both Rowan and Aedion took Fenrys and Gavriel below deck.

Aelin started walking towards me, sadness covering her features. When she was about a foot away from me, I collapsed to the ground. My exhaustion, anger, fury, and sadness had taken over. I started to cry. I knew that I had done something wrong -- I knew it; but I had to do it. I couldn’t just leave my parents’ killers there, standing before me. Aelin knelt down, and lifted my chin with shaking fingers. She looked at me straight in the eyes, as if she could understand how I was feeling. Aelin pulled me close to her, and embraced me. She caressed my hair, whispering, “It’s all right, Aiyana. It’s okay. You are here with me now. You are safe.”

Even though she was the one saying those words, I didn’t believe them. I was living just an ordinary day in my own home when Fenrys and Gavriel attacked. I pulled back from Aelin, looked her in the eyes, and whispered, “I am sorry. I am so sorry.” I tear rolled down my cheek and splattered against my dark clothes. Aelin reached her hand up to wipe the tear away. I let her. I had been living in pain and fear for so long. “Aelin, I think I am going to take a nap. I’m exhausted.”

“That’s fine, Aiyana.” She rose up from where she was kneeling in front of me, and reached out a hand. I grabbed it. She helped pull me up from the floor of the deck, and faced me, a faint smile pulling at her lips. “Just try not to kill Fenrys and Gavriel in your sleep; we don’t need any more injuries.”

I smiled, and laughed under my breath, wiping away another tear that escaped. “Okay. I won’t; I promise.” I let go of her hand, and walked to the steps that led below deck. I walked down the narrow hallway, and into my bedroom. I silently closed my bedroom door with a Click! and fell onto my bed. I closed my eyes, breathing in the cool, crisp air coming from the ocean outside my window. I let the sound of the roaring waves against the ship fill my ears, and imagined the waves taking away some of the stress from me, like the way they pull sand into the water once they crash onto the beach. Sleep took over faster than I thought.

By Alexa Gantt

Hi guys! I am so sorry that I did not post last Saturday. Today, I will post a short section that I added onto my story. I hope you all like it!

I also wanted to wish you guys a merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Have fun with your families and enjoy Christmas Eve!😊

Metallic - Ch. 3

     Esther
     I walked into the safe house. After dumping the poor hybrid girl's body into a part of the sewer that was unused I had pointed my gun a Rey blindfolded her, pugged up her ears, tied her hands, and forced her to walk over to this safe house. She hadn't resisted at all. My brother's friends would deal with her.
    I pulled Rey in behind me and shut the heavy wooden door, turning all of the locks. The safe house was located under a bridge. It was in an ideal location-the middle of New Boston. The downside was that the safehouse was always dark and musty. There could be no windows due to the fact we couldn't be discovered. We were in another gang's territory, enemy ground.
    I dragged Rey across the room with me, drawing her away from the door, putting space between her and escape. The room consisted only of a single chair and a bed. There was another door opposite the front entrance that led to a spare bedroom. I led Rey to the bed and sat her down tying her legs to the bedposts using some of the spare rope that I had.
   "I'll get out of here," Rey whispered, her teeth chattering. I had removed her jacket on the way here. It had too much blood on it for her to have worn it all the way here without getting noticed. But I didn't care if she was cold.
     She might as well get hypothermia for all I care, I thought. I checked the knots on the ropes that held Rey in place and walked into the spare bedroom. The guard that was supposed to be guarding the safehouse was asleep on the bed, huddled around a bottle. I reached into my pockets and pulled out a small flask of water. I walked over to the sleeping guard and placed my left hand underneath his chin. I noticed his robotic leg. You could see it gleaming from the little space in between his pant leg and shoe. He stirred slightly. I dumped the contents of the flask onto his head. He woke up, flailing his body, but my grip on him was strong - I had let my nails slide into him, forcing him to stay in place.
    He stopped moving as soon as he saw who I was.
    Caught red-handed, I thought.
    "Ms. Brathe, I..." he mumbled, fear apparent on his wet face. I slipped my hand back from its place. Blood started pouring out of his cheeks.
     "Get up!" I spat. "I have brought a prisoner with me, take her to my brother." The guard quickly stood up and ran to the other room, blood dripping onto the floor. I moved the bottle from the bed onto the floor. Sleep was calling me. But with sleep came dreams. And long lost memories.
_________________________________________________________

     "Now, daughter," my father said. "Pay attention, you will be doing this one day too. But remember, it is not because we enjoy this. Why do we do it?"
     "To uphold an image father," I had answered. We were in the cells that were located in the basement. Infront of us, in a dark and damp cell, was a filthy looking man tied to a chair. One of my father's men walked up to the man, a whip clutched in his hand. 
     A hand touched my shoulder. 
     "Esther, you cannot see this." It was my mother. 
     "Leave her be, Bella," my father whispered, brushing my mother's hand off of my shoulder. My mother had brown hair in contrast to my blonde hair. But while my hair came from my father, my eyes came from my mother. They were blue like hers. 
     "Robert!" my mother yelled. "No! She is too young! Only seven." My father kept silent and snapped his fingers. The gang member started whipping the prisoner. With every hit, the prisoner shuddered but never spoke or screamed. My mother picked me up and threw me over her shoulder. My father didn't even move. 
    "Mom!" I had screamed in protest, pounding my fists against her shoulder. I had thought that I had ought to see that. But the truth was my father had been slowly turning me into him. A man whose only purpose in life was to hurt. 
_________________________________________________________
 
    I woke up in a cold sweat. My father had stepped down as the gang leader and my brother had become the leader by the time I was ten. I realized just how much of a monster he had been when I was fifteen. It was when I had stayed up late in my room reading. My father had thought I had been asleep. I heard the noises. He had been hurting my mother. Beating her, whipping her. By that time she had become 'sick' and we wouldn't see her sometimes for several days. She was dead by the next spring. My brother and I had known all along what had happened. But I was the only one who had vowed vengeance, and had gotten it.
By Marizo Bheh

Hi guys! I hope you are enjoying your Friday!

I just wanted to apologize for not posting a newly-written part of Queen of Darkness last Saturday! I will post it tomorrow.

Have a great rest of your day, and enjoy the snow!😊

Metallic Chapter 2

    Rey

I looked around the dark alley carefully. One could never be too cautious in New Boston. Things could get ugly very quickly. That was why this morning I had chosen plain gray baggy clothes so I could blend in with the crowd. I heard a shuffle behind me and quickly turned around, placing my hands on my concealed weapons.

A little girl around 8 or 9 was walking towards me, her hands begging for money.

“Please miss,” she said. I lurched forward and clasped her arm, balking at how skinny it was. Her face was covered in ash and mud, but her clothes were barely dirty. I pulled her with me down the alley. She was barely protesting.

“I know you’re a fake, so tell me what temple do you belong to?” I asked her snarling. She bared her teeth, started howling and pushing against me. I shoved her to the ground. A small grunt escaped her lips. I pulled out my gun and aimed it at her face. She froze.

“Oh, look at you. Not so high and mighty anymore are you?” I cooed.

“She will find you. The avenger will find you,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

“Well if she is going to find me, I might as well know who she is, mutant.” I spat.

“I’m not gonna tell ya,” she promised. I shot her in the leg. She howled in pain.

“Oh, are you going to tell me now?” The girl shook her head, tears rolling down her face. She mumbled something and then quickly brought her hand to her mouth.

“Looks like I kept my promise, eh?” she muttered, and the light went out of her eyes.

Esther

I looked at what was going on in the alley. A woman in gray had just shot a poor hybrid girl. A few moments passed and then the woman picked up the girl and slung her over her shoulder. I approached the woman and the girl.

The woman stopped. I pointed my gun at her back.

“Who are you?” I asked. I had to get the girl out of here, if she was still alive. Blood was dripping off the hybrid girl’s leg and onto the woman’s baggy gray clothes. The woman was about, medium height and slim. She looked familiar. Too familiar.

I walked around the woman and stood in front of her, my gun still trained at her head. I gasped. This woman had blonde hair that was partially hidden under her clothes, brown eyes and thin lips. This woman was Mary. Mary too looked shocked at seeing me.

“Esther it is not as it seems,” Mary pleaded.

“Who are you, Mary? Is your name even Mary?” I questioned her.

“Please just let me first get rid of this body, and I’ll talk to you,” she pleaded. I had been too late then.

“What’s your name?”

“Rey”

“So you lied.”

“You lied too I’ll assume.”

“I never lied, Mary.” Rey flinched at me calling her Mary.

“How are you even involved in this Esther?”

“I’m the one asking questions here Rey.” I let my claws slip out of my left hand and walked closer to her. I passed my gun from my left hand to my right hand.

“Who are you, Esther?” Rey asked me. I disarmed her. At least Rey was smart enough not to move. I slipped her weapons into my empty hidden pockets and grabbed her with my left hand from her chin. My razor sharp nails dug into her soft skin causing blood to drip down Rey’s slender neck.

“I am your enemy, Rey,” I whispered in her ear. “Maybe once your friend, but you have betrayed my trust. I hope it was worth it.”

Metallic - Chapter 1

Esther
I shivered in the morning chill. The mornings were always the worst on New Earth. Especially because that meant that sometimes my wiring would get frozen and it would need to be repaired. I clutched at my light shawl, waiting for the old rickety bus to come and pick me up so I could get to school. My ears picked up rumbling coming from the left of where I sat.

“Finally,” I muttered under my breath and stood up from the bench that had been erected to mark where the bus stop was. The dark camouflaged bus came to a screeching stop in front of me. I hefted my heavy bag and waited for the aged identification pad to pop up next to the door. When it appeared I stepped forward, hiding my left arm, and placed my right hand on the identification pad. The pad clicked in affirmation and the door next to it opened revealing a scowling driver.

“Why’d you have to get involved in gangs, young lady? You waste my time every day having to go through the identification process every day,” Mr. Paul complained. I stepped onto the bus and found my way to the empty bench right behind Mr. Paul.

“Well sir, just to remind you, I’m not part of a gang just protected by it. And every student has to go through the identification, whether they are involved in gangs or not,” I responded. Mr. Paul and I went through this conversation every day.  He disliked my involvement in New Earth’s gang life, because New Earth had been found and colonized for the purpose of having a land that was peaceful. Either way, Mr. Paul just grumbled, and the bus lurched and started moving forward.

I took out my left hand from underneath my black shawl. My arm itself was normal, maybe a little too pale, but from the wrist up my hand was metal. Robotic. The joints were visible but the wiring was entirely encased. The fingers have metallic claws sheathed inside of them that could extend to be used for self-defense. Though my teachers did not know about that feature of my hand. They knew though that my allegiance was with the so-called ‘Metallics’ gang. Getting one a body part chopped off and replaced with a robotic part was the initiation.

Of course, the robotic replacement still felt and acted like the regular part would have. You still had the sense touch with the robotic arm. The only thing was you couldn’t feel pain. You would understand that your robotic part was being damaged, it would register in your brain. But common things like punching somebody, or running the robotic part into something lightly, did not hurt it. The robotic parts were built to be stronger than human skin, flesh, and bone.

I still remember the day I got mine.

---

“Esther! Are you listening?” My brother’s voice rang out in the silence. “Which part do you choose?”

“My left hand. Wrist down.” I was twelve and it was my initiation into the gang my brother led. After I got attacked walking home from the bus stop my brother had decided to speed up my initiation. Once I got my metallic part, nobody would ever bother me because of the Metallics reputation of being cruel, heartless, and savage. I looked back up to my brother’s metallic eyes whirring in his sockets. I could almost see how his eyes were analyzing my face, noticing the drop of sweat beading down my neck.

“Are you sure?” he asked me. I was sure. It would be noticeable, and easy to use to defend myself. One punch to someone’s face and their jaw would break.

“Yes.” I looked again at my brother. His blonde hair stood out in contrast to the dark walls and table at which we sat. He pushed a small cup filled with a deep amber liquid at me. I knew what it was. Once I drank that there would be no going back. I picked it up and drank it in one gulp. I looked at my left hand one last time. Then a black fog started forming in my vision and I fell forward onto the table. When I woke up my left hand wasn’t human anymore. It was robotic.  

By Marizo Bheh

Hi guys! I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday!

I wanted to apologize if my story -- Queen of Darkness -- became confusing since I switched the point of view in my story from third person to first person. I just found it easier to write the story in first person. Aiyana is the the character in which I am writing the point of view from, in case you got confused.

Have a great rest of your weekend, everybody!😊

Queen of Darkness

I walked up the steps that led to the deck of the ship. The sun was high up in the sky, signaling that it was midday. The sunlight kissed my face, causing my cheeks to warm up. I walked onto the deck of the ship, my boots tapping on the polished wood. I looked around, and the breath was taken from me. The ship was enormous: it had extremely big sails that fluttered in the wind; its hulls were a light brown, with intricate light-blue swirls painted on them that started at the bottom, and gradually made their way to the top; and the sea -- it was magnificent. It stretched on and on for miles; it was the only thing that you could see. It had an aqua-blue color that was lighter on the surface, and gradually became darker as the sea grew deeper. The sunlight reflected off the surface of the sea, making the water sparkle. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.

I walked towards Aelin, who was standing in the white-haired man’s arms, laughing. As Aelin heard the sound of my boots, she walked out of the man’s embrace, still smiling.

“I see you cleaned up well,” she said.

“I did, thanks. Who are all of these people?”

“I will introduce you to them,” she said as she lightly took my arm and guided me towards the center of the deck.

“Guys! We have an important guest here today!” she said as loud as she could over the roaring of the waves. “Get over here!”

All of the people on the deck -- a total of 7 people, excluding Aelin -- stopped what they were doing, and walked towards me. They all formed a circle around me, looking quizzically at me as if I were an interesting object that they had picked up along their journey.

Aelin first introduced me to the couple on my right: it was the dark-haired man who had come rushing to my room after I screamed, and one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. The woman had long, white hair put back into a braid and had gold eyes that shone in the light. The dark-haired man smiled, and his girlfriend still stood there, watching me with a close eye.

“Hi. I am Dorian. Sorry that I didn’t tell you my name when I came to your room earlier,” he said. The woman turned towards him, raising her eyebrows. His smile grew. “Oh, please, Manon. I didn’t do anything. The girl screamed. I had to go see what was going on. As you should know, a scream is not a very good sign.” The woman -- Manon -- smiled, and turned to me.

“Hi. I am Manon. Nice to meet you. It’s great to know that my boyfriend met you in your bedroom,” she smiled a feral smile that sent shivers down my spine. My face must have shown that I was scared, since Dorian elbowed her.

“Manon, you are freaking her out,” he said, turning towards me. “Sorry. Manon can be just a bit overprotective.” Aelin snorted.

“I also know someone who is like that,” Aelin said. She tipped her head back at the male standing behind her. She smiled. “In my case, it is called ‘territorial male nonsense’”.

“As I was saying,” Dorian said as he pointedly looked at Aelin, “Manon will get nicer after a while. Like she did with me.” Dorian looked down at Manon and smiled. It was a smile that told her “I love you”. A twinkle shown in his sapphire eyes. Manon looked up at him, and smiled that same smile. They both turned back to me.

“I am Aiyana. It is very nice to meet you.” I smiled, and Manon looked as if she wanted to rip out my throat. Dorian saw the look and laughed. Manon glared at him.

The white-haired man came out from behind Aelin and said, “I am Rowan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Rowan,” I said, and smiled. He smiled back.

I turned to my left, and stopped at another couple. The male had golden-blond hair that reached his soldiers, was tall, and extremely muscular. He had the same eyes as Aelin. His lips parted as he looked at me, and then his eyes widened. My eyes widened, too -- I knew him.

“Aedion? Is it really you?” I excitedly said. His eyes sparked.

“Aiyana!” he exclaimed. I leapt towards him and hugged him. He was like my brother when we were little kids. Gosh, I hadn’t seen him in such a long time! He squeezed me. We tore apart from each other and stood back, looking at how much we had both grown. “You look great, Aiyana! You look exactly the same from when you were little!”

“Same for you! You are so big and tall! What has happened to you?” I exclaimed.

“It’s a long story. I want to introduce you to somebody,” he said as he turned towards this beautiful woman standing by his side with green eyes and long, brown hair. “This is my mate, Lysandra.” Lysandra smiled from ear to ear.

“It is nice to meet you, Aiyana,” she said.

“It is nice to meet you, too Lysandra. I am glad you are taking care of Aedion. He needed someone to keep him on his toes.” Lysandra laughed.

“Oh, I sure do,” she said.

I looked in Aedion’s direction; his face showed that he wanted to kill me. I smiled. I then turned to another couple standing next to Lysandra and Aedion. The male was definitely Fae: he had pointed ears, short, black hair, and dark brown eyes. He was muscular and tall, and I could tell he was extremely protective of his girlfriend, who was looking at him as if he was ridiculous. The male’s girlfriend stepped out from behind him, and smiled. She was short, had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and had brown eyes.

“Hi! I am Elide. I am Marion’s daughter. I think I met you multiple times when we were little,” she said.

“Hi, Elide. I remember you! Your mother was so sweet and kind. Your dad was too. I loved them! How are they?” I asked.

Elide’s face lost all happiness; she looked extremely sad. “My parents are dead. They were killed when I was little.” A tear fell down Elide’s cheek.

“Oh, gosh, Elide. I am so sorry.” I walked towards her and hugged her. “I am so sorry,” I muttered.

“It’s okay, Aiyana.” She stepped out of my embrace, and looked up at me. She smiled. “It’s not your fault. I am so happy you survived those slave camps. I am so happy that you are here.”

“Thanks, Elide. I am really happy I’m here, too.” Elide smiled, and turned towards the Fae male standing behind her.

“This is Lorcan, my mate.” She smiled up at him, and he smiled back. As he looked back at me, his smile vanished, and his face was set in a predatory expression. Chills ran down my spine as I stared right into his eyes. His stare seemed as if he could see right through me. “Lorcan, stop. You are being truly ridiculous. She is a friend. Stop it. Now.” Lorcan’s face softened, just a bit, but kept staring me down. “I am so sorry, Aiyana. He will become nicer in probably a year. It will take time, but he will warm up to you, don’t worry.” She smiled, and looked back up at him. He smiled, and laughed a bit under his breath.

“Nice to meet you, Lorcan,” I said as I smiled sweetly. He growled.

“Where are Fenrys and Gavriel?” asked Aelin. I froze.

“Who?” I asked, turning around.

“Fenrys and Gavriel,” Aelin slowly said, looking at me. “Is something wrong?”

My blood started to boil. “FENRYS AND GAVRIEL?” I growled as my voice rose.

“Aiyana, is everything alright?” Aelin questioned.

I started to tremble with rage. My eyes started to burn, and my expression became feral. Just at that moment, Fenrys and Gavriel -- out of nowhere -- appeared in front of me, blocking my view of Aelin and Rowan. Everyones’ faces hardened, preparing themselves to hold me back if something went out of control.

“You,” I spat at Fenrys. “You killed my parents. You killed them while I watched. You made me watch them be tortured by you!” I yelled. The killing calm was taking over. Fenrys and Gavriel blanched. Their faces turned white, and were standing there, paralyzed in shock. Everyone stopped breathing -- no one moved. I started to cry.

“You killed them for her -- for Maeve!” I screamed.

“Aiyana --” Aelin started. I cut her off with a glare so feral she stepped back in shock. Fenrys and Gavriel had not yet moved.

“We didn’t --” Fenrys began.

“Yes you did!” I roared and sobbed. Right when Gavriel moved forwards, everything exploded.

Written by Alexa Gantt