Miranda cossgrove nip slip

CHAPTER 9 – ENTROPY
DATE: MARCH 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION) LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL
CAPTAIN HENRY O’TOOLE
"Ah, there you are Commander. Your message said there was something you wanted to talk with me about?" Henry asked as his executive officer approached the system map.
“Aye Captain, now's a good a time as any. As you know, the rate of disciplinary incidents has more than tripled in the last two weeks. We've had six fistfights, one near strangling, a few dozen counts of sexual harassment amongst different parties, and a few more incidents of a nature that I would rather not get into for fear of derailing the point of this conversation. I need additional resources to allocate towards ship internal security. With your permission, I'd like to borrow some of our more trusted marines to help the MA's out on their off shifts.” Commander Alvarez asked.
“Yeah, of course, take what you need to nip this in the bud. I can't say I'm entirely surprised; we expected a certain amount of this with the stresses of FTL travel. With everyone cooped up like this, maybe we should brainstorm some new outlets for the crew. Were there any specific incidents I need to get involved with?” Henry replied as he looked up from the list of updates and reports on his own console.
“No, I have it covered. It's just the regs state I need to ask permission to use marines for internal security matters.” The Commander waved it off.
“Excellent, continue to keep me in the loop then. Can I ask you a question?” Henry took the opportunity to ask something that had been bothering him.
“You just did. Hah! Just kidding, put the axe away boy! Now what would you like to know?” He said with a twinkle in his eye.
“I've seen your file, well, the parts that weren’t redacted anyway. If anything, I should be taking your orders! I mean, you're the Space Wolf! Nobody came even close to the number of ships captured or destroyed than you in the early days of the battle for the belt. Why would they want me to be captain when they had someone like you coming along the whole time? Why aren't you a captain anymore? By all right this should be your command, not mine.” Henry asked, after taking one last look around to verify they were still alone around the system map.
Commander Alvarez seemed stunned for a moment before he settled into a more pensive look.
“Listen, son, you're all full of the vigor and high passions of youth. By that I mean you've got a certain fire and aggression in you, yet I've seen you generally keep it balanced by wit and wisdom. You are a perfect match for the job, even if you could use some more real world experience. With some guidance, you'll do just fine, if you can keep strict standards for yourself and crew and a cool head when things get tough."
"I appreciate that, and I will definitely lean on your experience whenever possible. However, you didn't really answer my question... Why aren't you a captain anymore?"
"I... got a lot of damn good men and women killed in an impossible situation when we lost the Michigan-II, and I never truly got over it. No amount of medals, captured enemy ships, or the fact that I've saved many more lives than I lost can make up for that. I finally found peace with that, but that peace required that I relieve myself of any chance of future command. My legacy, for better or worse, is set in stone. Joining this expedition gives me another chance at adjusting the scales without breaking my former vows, even if the only people who will ever know it are here on the voyage with us.”
“So, you claim you have no aims or desires for leadership, but here you are a mere heartbeat away from it.” Henry said, carefully studying his executive officer's every reaction.
“My time for glory is mostly gone, yours is at your feet before you. To the world, I am retired in comfort and isolation. In reality you have me here to help make your will law. You can relax. I already turned down command of this expedition. I was plan A, why do you think they had to scramble to find you? I will take command of this mission only if you are incapable of doing so yourself, Sir. In the meantime, let my experience and whatever wisdom I can offer guide you.”
An emergency alert snapped both of their attention out of their conversation. "There's a fire in one of the officer's cabins?!" Henry’s pulse quickened as he referenced the map to find which one.
“Fuck, it started in Chantal’s room!” Henry said, horrified.
“I've got the CIC under control. Go on and get her out of there, I'll send the cavalry."
“Thank you, Commander.” Henry called back over his shoulder as he rushed for the quick lift.
The officer cabins were the in the very next deck overhead, so he was able to arrive quickly and break into a sprint. The ship shifted as it dodged some antimatter, causing Henry to slip and scramble back to his feet. As he rounded the corner he saw her door was closed and the keypad powered was off. He could hear thumps and muffled screaming from within the room.
"HANG ON CHANTAL, I'M COMING!" Henry shouted in the hope that she could hear him as he pried at the manual override panel.
Two modified Paladin exo-combat armor suits rounded the corner seconds later with a hospitalman trailing behind pushing a medical cart.
"WE'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE, SIR." A speaker-amplified voice spoke from behind him.
One of the Paladin suits accessed the manual control override and forced the door open enough for the other suit to reach in and pry it the rest of the way open as smoke plumed into the corridor. The second suit charged into the room with its flood lights on as a water cannon mounted on the right wrist sprayed flame retardant from a pack on its back. The first suit abandoned the door control and entered, emerging moments later with Chantal awake and coughing from inside the darkened door frame. She was quickly ushered into cleaner air, set gently down, wrapped in a blanket, and was quickly attended to by a hospitalman who began to check her vitals.
Relief flooded Henry’s mind as his adrenaline surge broke against the wall of worry he had built up during his mad dash from the CIC.
“Baby you came for me! I thought I was going to die in there." She pulled him into a tight embrace as she wept in cathartic release.
"Of course I did! I couldn't stand to lose you, especially not over something like this. So, what the hell happened in there?"
"Well you know me, I was all burning the midnight oil and then I smelled smoke! Then there were some sparks, the outlet pops then whoosh! My computer station and my desk are all ablaze along with half my notes, then the damned door wouldn't work! I had to drop to the floor under the smoke and pound on the door in hopes that someone would hear me. God, it was horrible... I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life." She replied with a deep shudder.
"You're safe now, it's going to be alright."
"I know, but what about my work?" She replied with a forlorn look back at her smoke damaged room.
"What about your work?"
"As you know, I lost a ton of it just now, but what’s worse is I don't even have the ability to recover them! Remember how I lost my backup drive last week? Like, I know I packed it and it is not here anywhere! It’s like some sick cosmic joke on me or something. Sorry! Gotta keep it positive, girl! I get to rethink my last few weeks’ worth of work from scratch... that was almost positive! I probably have most of this recoverable from email sent box backups. Fuck, what do you do if there's no good silver lining?” Chantal bemoaned.
Henry couldn’t help himself but laugh for a second, while his girlfriend stared at him, waiting for a response.
“I’m sorry, is this funny to you or something?”
“No, no of course not. This might be one of those times where the only silver lining is that you're alive. Plus, if anyone can remember and rebuild their notes, you can." Henry smiled down at her.
“Fine, fine, at least I am alive. I was only breathing smoke for a few seconds after all.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Thank you for rushing down here right away anyway, it means a lot. You're amazing, you know.”
Henry smiled, slightly uncomfortable for a moment, so he changed the subject.
“I do my best... Anyway, it seems like these electrical issues seem to be getting worse instead of better. Whatever patch these clowns have slapped on my ship to get her to pass inspection is clearly coming undone. What do you think is going on here?” Henry asked in mild exasperation.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you without digging into the systems myself, which I would rather avoid. My plate is full enough as it is right now, especially having to reproduce so much of my own work now. This ship has kilometers of power cables running throughout it, after all, and you have an entire loyal, capable team down there in electrical, so it should only be a matter of time before they sort it out for you. Let them do their jobs without harassing them too much, please?”
Henry felt a little irked at her for not giving him credit to know not to go overboard, but he stowed it, seeing as she ultimately was right.
“The crew has been under a lot of stress, too, between the technical issues with the lights going out, losing power to workstations, or the constant antimatter threat. More than a few people have tried to convince me to turn us around and return to S33 for a more in-depth refit and repair cycle before we try the mission again. So far, everyone has accepted the fact that we are continuing the mission without much argument, but I fear what may happen if these issues are seen as getting worse. Our orders are clear, though, we must continue the journey.” Henry said, uncomfortable with the implications, even if he didn't dare voice it.
“You should get on the Q-Comm to report the fire to S33. Maybe they will order us back to base after this.” She offered, looking for a solution to an impossible problem.
“Good idea, at least the Q-Comm is still working. It’s incredible to me those particles maintained their entanglement once we passed through the baryonic barrier. That alone has been a huge morale boost, being able to contact home base with no time lag.” Henry replied.
“It’s incredible to you because you only have a basic grasp of the science, hon. But that’s alright, very few people truly understand it. That’s in part what you have me here for anyway. Einstein called the effect spooky action from a distance; I always liked that line.”
Henry ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Chantal, with a shake of his head and a smile.
“Listen, Henry, I just had a crazy stressful experience and I need to unwind. Plus, I haven’t slept in almost a day, so I am bone tired. Let’s go to bed, huh? What do you say doc, am I clear to go?” Chantal asked.
The hospitalman closed her eyes and shook her head before responding. "Yes, you are cleared to rest, and only to rest, do you understand me?"
Chantal mouthed a thank you before she took Henry by the hand and led him off to the captain’s quarters. Henry felt no desire to fight it, nor flaw with her reasoning. Sleep sounded good, really good. Plus, he was about an hour from the start of his sleep shift anyway, and Alvarez had the CIC well covered. The lights flickered again, but Henry very purposefully ignored it.
“Hey, since we have a little time and we are both a little wound up, Why don’t we take a shower together real quick?” She said with genuine enthusiasm and a wink.
“Madam, I like the way you think.” The couple raced just a bit faster than regulations would have liked, and arrived at his door in record speed.
Inside the room they fell upon each other in great passion and need, stripping each other out of their BDU’s and underclothes. Henry tossed a giggling Chantal onto the bed, and proceeded to kiss her neck and nibble on her ear causing her to purr in anticipation before he moved down her chest, past her navel, and then eagerly began to move his kisses in between her thighs.
“Hah…. I haven’t showered. Are you sure? Oooookay! I think…. Hah…. Okay.” She said breathlessly as Henry began to work his tongue until she began to shiver and squirm before she cried out as she melted in his mouth.
“Enough, please, I can’t take it anymore! Just fuck me already!” Chantal pulled herself together enough to beg for it. Henry stood rigid and ready and set himself to granting her request, first slowly, and then with a growing intensity. She once more began to squirm as he paid close attention to her hip’s cues, knowing very well by now what she liked.
As she climaxed again, Henry lifted her from the bed and pushed her up against the wall, and then bent her over his desk for a bit before he could take it no longer and they finished together.
“Holy shit… my legs aren’t gonna work for a bit after that one. Help me up?” Chantal said in between shallow breaths.
“Yes, ma’am. It would be my pleasure.” Henry said as he helped her to her feet and into the shower, staying in longer than was strictly necessary.
Henry left the steam first, once more thankful that his cabin included its own small bathroom, rather than a communal one. Being captain had its perks, after all. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, then handed another to Chantal who gratefully accepted it before it dropped to the ground as she stared straight past him.
“Henry!" She squeaked as she pointed past him.
"What?" Henry asked, confused.
"Henry, someone was in here!”
On their bathroom mirror, wiped from the steam were the words TURN BACK.
Henry's blood ran cold and his adrenaline spiked him into overdrive. He waved Chantal back into the shower and put his finger to his lips. She nodded then wrapped herself in her retrieved towel and dropped to the shower floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, whimpering slightly. Henry moved silently along the wall, watching the visible half of his room for any movement. He then burst round the door frame, only to find everything perfectly, precisely as they had left it. The shock of finding nothing collided with the spike of his adrenaline surge, which only fed his growing unease.
“There’s nobody here!” Henry called out after checking the closet, the only other place someone could have hidden.
“Did you lock the door?” Chantal asked, her mind already working on the mystery.
“I set the security protocol to auto lock every time it closes.”
“Paul. We need to talk to Paul.” Chantal said, squeezing her BDU’s up over her hips with a few hops. Henry pulled on his undershirt before tossing over her bra.
“Why would we want to bring that weasel into this?” Henry asked, incredulous at to how he could possibly help.
“Because he has access to the surveillance tapes, why else?”
Henry stared at Chantal, brimming with rage, trying his hardest to keep it isolated to Paul over the invasion of his privacy.
“Did you just say surveillance tapes!?!” Henry asked in an icy tone. “That does it, I’m going to strangle him.” Henry said, moving with a purpose toward the door.
“Stop. Turn around and give me a kiss. I already disabled the video cameras, at least all the ones I could find. He has audio at best, even that I doubt. What he does have that I want is the data from the motion sensor that he had installed just in case you found the more obvious bugs. Unfortunately, I sabotaged its effectiveness by blocking the sensor with dense foam, but there might be enough of something to give us a clue."
“How in the hell do you know about all of this anyway, and why the hell didn’t you tell me?!” Henry roared.
“This entire enterprise is run by an intelligence agency; how can you not have seen that one coming a mile away? I have gotten very good at catching bugs over the years. Just because I expect the invasion of privacy to be happening, doesn’t mean I have to make it easy on them. Just be happy I already took care of the issue, alright?” She replied firmly while staring him in the eyes with raised eyebrows.
“You’re incredible, I love you.” Henry blurted out before he could catch himself. Chantal beamed and tackled him to the bed sitting on his lap.
“What took you so long? Never mind, don’t answer that. I love you too, man have I wanted to say that one for a while now.”
“You know these things aren’t easy for me. I had to be sure, I also didn’t want to mess anything up. We need to be able to work together even if we had turned out to be a bad couple.” Henry admitted, Chantal made an show as she thought it over, but she then smiled and helped Henry to his feet.
“Alright, my captain. You speak great wisdom. While I have certainly felt, and thoroughly enjoyed, the depths of your passion, it is really nice to hear about it too. I do think it makes it all the better that you rule said passion with reason. It’s just one of the many things I love about you.” She said, laying her hand over his heart.
Henry took her other hand and kissed it before replying. “I think above all, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t take you for granted, nor suffer the same in reverse. A wise woman once gave me some great advice there that I have taken to heart.”
“Okay, Romeo, maybe you have a better handle on these things than you think. Now… Let’s go interrogate Paul.” Chantal had a fire in her eyes that Henry was loving very much at that moment.
“I have wanted to turn the screws on that spook for a while now.” Henry smiled as he spoke, and he opened up the connection to the ship’s intranet through his neural implant to send a message.
MEET ME IN YOUR QUARTERS IN 5 MINUTES FOR A DISCUSSION OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE – CPT. O'TOOLE
“That ought to get him there and alone.” Henry smirked. “Let’s go.”
Together, they made their way to Paul’s equivalent-sized quarters, which he had somehow secured for himself in the ship design to help facilitate his role as the official thorn in Henry’s paw. I guess being the captain’s handler has its perks as well. Henry’s eye twitched at the corner.
After making them wait far too long, Paul opened the door and gesturing them inside. The door closed and Paul turned towards them, narrowing his eyes, studying them both.
“Is this about the fire?” Paul asked before Henry punched the weasel right in the diaphragm, forcing him to gasp for air. The look of shock on his face as he bent forwards was priceless.
“What the fuck, Henry!?” Paul managed to choke out after a minute between gasps.
“Relax, I didn’t do any permanent damage, yet.” Henry said, Paul for just a second showed actual fear in his eyes before he sneered in defiance. “Oh? That got your attention, did it? Why were you spying on me?” Henry growled.
Paul closed his eyes, dropped his head, and began to laugh before Henry grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. Foolishly, Paul even then kept laughing amidst the gasping. So Henry squeezed until Paul started slapping his arm, looking genuine fear once more growing across his face.
“Orders… I was following orders!” Paul managed to say amidst gasps and coughs.
“I thought it might be something like that. You're going to open up those files, now, and you're going to show me everything.” Henry said, dropping him to his feet at last.
“Fucking hell, Henry, I thought you of all people would have anticipated this was going to be the case. Do you think the people who made this all possible would simply let you fly around the most dangerous, advanced warship in human history without some insurance?”
“Don’t try and weasel out of your own personal culpability here. You may also want to think back to other people who were “only following orders” while performing acts they knew were wrong before you wave that line around like some get out of jail free card.” The fact that he had nothing to say spoke volumes.
“You should have told me, Paul.” Henry growled.
“That defeats the purpose! Plus, your girlfriend sabotaged them all before we ever left S33 anyway, and once more after! That type of tech doesn’t just grow on trees you know, and I don’t have an unlimited supply. You should be thanking me for covering for her and reporting back like things are normal!” Paul shouted in indignation.
“This is pointless, show me the files from around fifteen minutes ago, motion trackers, thermals, anything you have that's not blocked or sabotaged.” Henry commanded. Paul’s eyes narrowed, but after a long moment he huffed and closed his eyes.
Paul then sat down at his station and fired it up.
“Like I said, I've got practically nothing. No video, muffled audio and readings from what I assume to be a faulty motion sensor, that’s it. What are we looking for?”
“Chantal and I were, well, together. After we got out of the shower we saw that someone had written turn back in the condensation on the bathroom mirror. Only problem? My door auto locks when closed and only opens for my biometrics. That is why all of this even came up in the first place.”
“Motherfucker. That's a whole heap of bad news.” Paul said. Henry merely nodded, paying rather more attention to the screen to see if he could catch Paul in a lie about the extent of the spying.
“There’s nothing. No disturbances in the air that would even remotely resemble human movement between you two getting in the shower and you charging into your bedroom. With the noise of the shower and the distance to the microphone, there is nothing I can discern that is anomalous. You can see it all right here for yourself.”
Henry found himself even more confused and alarmed than before.
“How is that possible? Look again, run through some filters or something. There must be some evidence somewhere!”
“Alright, relax, I will get to work on this and get you a report by the end of C shift. In the meantime, you look like a mess. Get some sleep man! I can take care of it from here. Oh, and I want you to remember that I forgave you quite magnanimously for that little episode back there where you attacked me.” Henry and Chantal gave each other a look as Paul spoke.
“Wasn’t gonna apologize anyway, you had it coming. I’m going to hit the rack. I expect that report to be detailed and ready when I get up.” Henry took Chantal by the hand, and they left together, not waiting for a response.
“What a snake. Did you see him in there? Zero guilt or recognition whatsoever about spying like that. It just makes my skin crawl. Gives me bad memories.” Chantal said, turning pensive and quiet.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Henry asked, seeing that there was something clearly bothering her.
“I… had an uncle that lived with us from time to time and he would spy on me when I was dressing, try and sneak looks in the shower, stuff like that. Never touched me or anyone else that I know of, thank god, but man did it screw me up a bit still. Played havoc with my sense of security and even my sanity, never being quite sure it was real or all in my head. I wish I had said something, but I was afraid everyone would think I was overreacting or imagining it. I saw it in his eyes though, that look of... predatory lust. At least I didn't see anything like that in Paul's eyes. To this day it makes my skin crawl.”
“Good God, I can see how alone you must have felt in the middle of all that.” He squeezed her hand, she smiled up at him.
“Yeah, that was one of the hardest parts. I don’t think Paul is some raging pervert or anything, but it concerns me how normalized it was to him. Even if he isn’t being a creep with it, as if we can take his claims to be covering for me at face value. There is still no way I am going to let him have easy access to intimate videos of us, if I can possibly help it.” Chantal said before adding, “I’ll be all right, don’t worry about me. Let’s just get some sleep.”
Henry put his palm against the biometric scanner outside his room and the door slid open for them. They definitely needed some sleep after the emotional roller coaster of the past few hours, and the irresistible warm embrace of his bed called for him. The Q-Comm report could wait until he woke, he decided.
Better to have the electrical inspection ordered up, too.
I WANT A FULL REPORT AND INSPECTION PERFORMED ON THE ELECTRICAL FIRE IN CHANTAL’S ROOM BY THE START OF A SHIFT. – CAPT. O'TOOLE
Good enough. Henry thought as he sent the message. Now he could sleep. The chief could handle it from there.
MEANWHILE…
DATE : MARCH 10th, 7 A.U. LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL
FIREMAN APPRENTICE SARAH CALLAHAN
It'll be back again tonight...
Sarah’s haunted thoughts repeated like a mantra. She had to be ready, but how? Her skin crawled and itched, the long sleeves of her BDU’s prevented her from being able to do anything about the painful sensation from the inflamed scratches they hid. She blearily rubbed at her sunken eyes, and she drained the rest of her coffee. All the numbers on the screen had started bleeding in together and her eyes hurt horribly, with the throbbing pain in her abdomen only compounding her misery.
“My god, Sarah, you look a wreck, hon. How have you been sleeping?” Yvonne, her shift partner asked, with concern in her voice.
“I have a monster tension headache, I just hope the meds kick in soon. Can you check my math? I need to get out of these white lights for a few minutes. Close my eyes for a bit, something, anything. I've been having nightmares again.” Sarah felt good, being able to admit it, and Yvonne had long since proven her friendship, so it was easier to actually speak.
“Yeah, no prob. As soon as I am done here I will check your readings and we can get out of here. Do you mean nightmares from the invasion?” Yvonne asked, carefully picking her words and tone.
“Kind of the same general themes, but different. Everything is going wrong, like the worst possible outcomes of my worst nightmares are all combining together. Like, it feels actively malicious, I don't know, its hard to explain...” Sarah said, bleakly.
“That’s hard, I am sorry. You need a shower, and an uninterrupted nap. Sleep deprivation plays all kinds of hell on the body and mind. I had a friend who went through an insomniac phase so extreme he would go days without sleeping. Wound up in the hospital after trying to drive to work while hallucinating his dead fiancée was sitting in the passenger seat screaming at him to watch out. Wound up rear-ending the car in front of him. Thank God he lived to tell the tale, but that is why it worries me to see you like this.” Yvonne planted her hand on Sarah’s shoulder as she told the story.
“Yikes, I think I slept like two hours into my sleep shift before I started having the nightmares again, woke up, and passed in and out of some restless sleep. It got really bad around oh three hundred. There were sounds... noises like scratching and a loud bang, and the shadows were moving. I just kept feeling like I was being watched, but everyone else seemed to be having disturbed sleep in their bunks. God, it was a creepy feeling.” Sarah took a moment to compose herself.
“I know how crazy this will sound, maybe that I am sleep deprived and likely hallucinating like your friend, but just hear me out. There was something there Yvonne, in the dark at the edge of perception, I could feel it. I also know I wasn’t the only one tossing and turning either. I could also hear scratchy whispering, too. I just hid, strapped in under the weighted blanket. At some point I slept some more, I must have, but not for what felt like a few stressful and draining hours. I'm just making a total mess of explaining this, aren’t I?”
“No, you're fine, girl! I am sorry that happened, my dorm has been pretty quiet, but I have always slept like a rock. Is there anything I can do?”
“I could use a hug.” Sarah said, which caused Yvonne to laugh, breaking some of the tension. They embraced warmly for a good minute, which did wonders for relieving some of the headache and her black mood.
“Thanks, Yvonne, I know it’s all in my head and it’s a vicious feedback cycle due to lack of quality sleep. Thanks for listening without calling me crazy.“ Sarah said, shying away from the last thing she hadn’t the courage to say.
She didn’t dare mention how she had hidden under the covers as she felt it get near. How she had felt something pushing on the mattress. How as her fear peaked, she herself peeked over the covers to find nothing there just to have the oppressive feeling evaporate along with the sensation of pressure by her feet. Her dorm mates all seemed to stop stirring after that, and only then did the nightmares stop for her that night. By then she was left with barely enough time for one last short sleep cycle before the start of A shift that very morning. This was a secret she would have to keep to herself, nobody would believe her anyway.
“I think I'll ask the Chief for a break from my duties today to rest and to visit med bay. Maybe they can give me something to help catch back up on my sleep.” Sarah said.
“Good idea, can I come with? I’ll back you up.” Yvonne said. Sarah smiled at her friend before she nodded at her before they checked off the last of their duties on site and headed away to find the Chief.

Welcome back to a little more MARRIED Mary Mania before I wrap things up with The Abridged Goblinization. I decided that this bit deserved its own chapter. Some of you seem to be entertained by Mary (or at least entertained by your own loathing of her), so I hope this will prove amusing. In my life, I've encountered an inordinate number of low-key lolcows (probably because I was far too patient and far too passive for far too long), so I might as well throw just enough distortion on the page to protect the good guys and the genuinely reformed beards. But I'm also gonna shine a bright, unflattering spotlight on the lolcows, creeps, weirdos, pervs, and BEARDS, both neck and leg.
And I'll very, very cautiously tiptoe over the bit where I do a bunch of mental gymnastics, squint my eyes, tilt my head, and convince myself that dating Whisky might be a welcome change of pace. I have no delusions when I look back on it. This was a dumb move in retrospect, but all the mental gymnastics in the world can't bring me to a reasonable scenario where I was psychic and thus able to predict what he'd become once he stopped pretending to be a gentleman. Nor can the most elite, Olympic-level mental gymnastics execute a double salto layout with a half-twist perfectly enough to force me to concede the "logical point" that I should have spotted warning signs that I'd never freakin' seen before. Okay, that's enough saltiness for today. Don't worry. This chapter mostly focuses on Mary's mania. Whisky's just kind of... there.
So there I was... dating a guy who called when he said he would, remained constant in his affections, never asked for weird stuff in the sack (in fact, we weren't even intimate at that point), and claimed to be a secular humanist who practiced elements of Hinduism (as opposed to conveniently becoming born-again whenever it suited his needs to wallow in shame). And we seemed to have similar enough tastes in media, which made for pleasant movie nights and enjoyable conversations about nerdy stuff. It felt like a step up. It felt like emotional maturation. It wasn't. I was deluding myself and I was listening to people who had seriously whacked-out views on romance. I'd learn eventually. But at this point in time, I was "de loo loo" and impressionable. For shame!
But here's an even more shameful admission for ya. My original intention was to make Whisky the "for now guy." I knew I could do better. I was formally educated, I was in shape, I was normatively attractive, and I tended to be successful in both my theatrical and academic endeavors. Plus, I was super friendly and good with people. Whisky was kind of a bump on a log. Sure, he seemed nice. He was sometimes able to make interesting conversation. But my overall sentiment regarding the relationship was, to quote Whisky's favorite catch phrase, "Meh."
I knew he was mooching off his mysterious "big bro," and he wasn't doing this with the intention of saving up and eventually becoming self-sufficient. He just kicked up a fuss whenever he wanted something, and... it usually appeared. I still thought he was physically unattractive, too. I hate nasty-ass beards, I have a strong preference for shorter guys (they don't need to be as short as Dennis, but I don't exactly love being towered over), and Whisky had whatever the dude version of resting bitch face is. I admonished myself for being shallow and decided to soldier on. Date after date. And I did kind of get used to all the shallow things I objected to.
But, really... Dating Whisky at all was a dick move on my part. Then again, how many Nice Guy (TM)s want girls to do exactly what I did? Not attracted? Think he's kind of a bum? Find him a bit boring? Just give him a chance!!! Go on a crap-ton of dates with him until you like the familiarity enough to settle for him. That's the key to a healthy relationship!!! It never works. You could flip this around and apply it to Nice Girls who want pity dates, too.
Anyway. Lucy knew I was dating Whisky, and she thought it was great. She was honestly just happy to see that I was no longer pining over Dennis and that Whisky was no longer getting relentlessly stalked by Mary. Speaking of Mary... She'd had an imaginary dramatic breakup with Scumbanger not long after she crashed Lucy's brunch. Murky aside... The following summer, I'd do another show with the pervy pest and I'd find out that Mary had given the former Rum Tum Tugger a tug in the parking lot of The Imp and had let him motorboat her. When dozens of lewd messaged filled his inbox the following day, the most indiscriminate playboy I'd ever met in my freakin' life blocked that clingy legbeard's number and never had any further contact with her. But seeing as neither of them are especially reliable sources, my best guess is that the truth is somewhere in between.
After the dramatic "breakup" with Scumbanger, Mary immediately became obsessed with the new tech guy. I wasn't seeing shows as often, but I heard from Lucy and George that Mary had taken to wearing see-through mesh shirts with no bra since Tech Guy operated the spotlight. She'd rush out to Tech Guy's car as soon as the show ended and just... wait for him. George said he often saw Tech Guy sneaking out of the emergency exit. Lucy said she saw him get into an Uber a few times and leave his car in the parking lot all night with Mary lounging provocatively on the hood.
Soon enough, Tech Guy's wife started attending shows. And she would remain glued to him. And so, Mary's narrative became, "He was shy about things at first 'cause he's married. But then I explained ethical infidelity and polyamory to him. So now I'm the guest star in their sex life!!!" Neither Lucy nor George saw any evidence of this. In fact, Mrs. Tech Guy was consistently rude and aggressive towards Mary. According to the delusional legbeard, "That's just foreplay. She loves angry bangs! And I'm cool with being a sub. She ties me up and shoves her entire fis..." Lucy would usually shush her when she sensed that Mary was ramping up the raunch factor.
After a very short time, Tech Guy issued a formal complaint, which led to Mary getting called into the artistic director's office. Tech Guy quit the following week, and Mary was suddenly "officially" dating the artistic director of The Imp. She began calling herself the "First Lady of the Theatre." At first, this seemed outlandish. But the director had been the one to hire her. And he repeatedly refused to replace her when she consistently failed to learned her lines, ran around naked, stalked the tech guy, and contributed little more than mukbangs to the comedy.
Some skullduggery was definitely afoot. Was it "sexy time," as Mary enthusiastically claimed? Who knows. Chuckie might have been paying the dude to give Mary a hobby. But not long after Mary started boasting about boning this new boo, he lost his temper during a show, stormed onto the stage, swept her mountains of food aside (making an enormous mess), and shouted in her face, "Button up your blouse and put on a fucking bra, you imbecile!" The audience, thinking it was part of the sketch, apparently roared with laughter; but Mary burst into tears and went into hiding for a few days.
But when she reemerged, she was miraculously back into the improv group, much to Lucy's disappointment. She began dressing a little more conservatively (which basically only meant that she knocked off the deliberate nip slips and started wearing underwear). The director barely interacted with her, and she still wept in the dressing room over the harrowing breakup. Was this true in the slightest? Well, Mary bragged that she could sue the director for sexual harassment if he fired her. Seeing as she could have and SHOULD HAVE been booted many times over, it does check out to some extent.
And then... there was the pièce de résistance of Mary's misadventures in mating. She met a biker dude at Filthy McNasty's. This guys was disgusting. Most of her previous dudes had been questionable, weird, or possibly imaginary. But we all saw this one. He was as fat as a Hutt, he smelled like a grease trap, motor oil, B.O., and a very specific type of cheese... The few teeth that he had were black and green, his fingernails were yellowed and a few of them oozed pus. Finally, the volume and crackly, bubbly properties of his frequent farts indicated to George Gay that he, "definitely had a virgin booty." Mary's lard-ass loverboy called himself "Hogg," which was probably a reference to the two-wheeled vehicle that he was very obviously too large to actually ride. Or it might have just been an obvious nickname for a filthy fat fuck.
But Hogg, like Tech Guy a few loverboys ago, had a wife. And she made frequent appearances at Filthy's as well. Hogg's wife was shockingly... kind of pretty. A little rough around the edges. Didn't smell the greatest. But she stood in stark contrast to her repugnant hubby, even with her fried hair, her sloppily inked tats, and her imprecisely applied eye makeup. Her teeth were free of obvious rot. She had a beautiful figure. And she had a carefree attitude that was probably attractive to a number of people. She'd fart right along with Hogg, she didn't shave her legs, and the profane compound nouns she came up with always cracked me up (lard-tard, smegma-booger, felch-belcher).
And Mary was once again claiming to be in a throuple with The Hoggs. But this time, there was hard evidence. They'd get busy in some corner of the establishment, and even got booted from the dive bar a few times for lewd behavior, offensive odors, and illegal drug use. On one particular night, Mrs. Hogg lit one of her hubby's gargantuan ass-rippers while Mary was doing her thing, completely shrouded by his big belly. The blue flame ignited some spilt booze on the dingy floor, and a small fire erupted. The staff were able to stomp it out, but the nasty throuple was unceremoniously banished.
Alas, management allowed Mary to re-enter the bar because she apparently had some sort of sway with one of the bartenders. Instead of meeting her...uh... "partners" for some more boom-boom, Mary decided to come back inside and gush about Hogg's majestic rooster to all of us. She smelled like D cheese, ammonia, and burnt farts as she plopped down at our table, already screeching about how much bigger her "new boo" was, compared to that vile turd of an artistic director.
George Gay: Fuck me, Mary!!! You reek. Go wash the uncircumcised methhead off your hands and then you can sit with us.
Mary started to protest. Lucy cut her off. "Your whole body is probably a veritable Petri dish from fooling around with those nasty-ass people." She handed Mary some Purell. "Was the junkie junk off, keep the bottle, and don't you fucking touch me when you come back!"
Mary's bottom lip began to quiver and she looked pleadingly at me. "Just wash up," I told her. "You're too pretty to go around smelling like that.”
Off she went to the dingy bathroom. Maybe I wasn't harsh enough, but flattery got results in this instance. And when she returned, she had managed to dilute the stench enough so that we could stand to sit at the same table with her.
Mary took a deep breath in preparation to gush about something that would have undoubtedly been disgusting, but George cut her off this time. "Mare. How do you even BANG someone with a belly like that?"
Mary (speaking a bit more quickly than usual): Oh, it just takes some creative positioning. We get him to lie down. If Mrs. Hogg is taking in the rod, I hold his bowl of jelly up with both arms and stick my cooter in his face. He eats it like his mommy made it! And when it's my turn to get blasted, the missus uses a bunch of yoga straps to hold it up. I have to take it from behind because my own little tiny bit of va-jiggle-jaggle bumps up against his bowl of jelly if why try to smash like vanilla people. It's so much fun, though!!! And then he props his bowl of jelly up on the coffee table and plays with himself while he watches his honey strap on a dil...
George: I so regret asking.
Mary: They're sooo fun to fool around with! I think they might be my forever partners! (Her hands were too shaky to slide down her body in unbridled ecstasy, so she clasped them together and hid them underneath her itty bitty little gunt.)
Lucy: So when are you gonna dump Chuck?
Mary: Well... Hogg and the missus don't have much scratch. And what they do have, they spend on smokeables. When I meet a real sugar daddy, I'll get rid of Chuckle. He pretended to be a baller before we got married. But he's just middle management and he's content to stay there. Pffffftt. No ambition.
Mary launched into another long, unnecessarily graphic gushing about her garbage partners and their nasty-ass boom-boom. So I decided this would be a good time to clear my conscience about dating Whisky. Mary hadn't so much as mentioned him in months. She was inexplicably smitten with The Hoggs. And her ultimate dream man was obviously some filthy rich dude (perhaps a literally filthy dude who was also rich), which took Whisky out of the running. I still think it would have been amusing if Mary had tried to date Mori...
I waited for her adult film star gasp to wind down before I finally interjected, "Wow. Sounds like you've got a fantastic sex life right now!"
Mary: I do! You need to get over that born-again weirdo and find a real man so that you and I can have good girl talk!
Me: Well... I'm not banging anybody, but I am dating somebody. Sort of. It's not really that big of a deal. I'm not even sure that I'm completely into him. But he's been super sweet to me...
Lucy put her arm around me, almost as if she knew I was about to need protection.
Mary: TELL ME!
I hesitated. "Well... It's Whiskers."
In an instant, George jumped up and grabbed Mary by the shoulders, lest she lunge at me.
But Mary got very quiet. Silent tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She gasped and buried her face in her hands, now emitting one seemingly endless, impossibly high-pitched whine.
George loosened his grip and began to pat her on the back. Lucy's grip tightened on me and she whispered, "Here we go. Overreaction sequence has commenced."
Mary lifted her red, tear-stained face and glared at me. "HOW COULD YOU???"
Me: Mary, I swear. I thought you hated his guts. I haven't heard you talk about him in ages. When he asked, I thought it would be good for me to give him a chance since he's always been really sweet to me.
Mary: But what about the way he treated ME??? He was such an asshole!
Lucy: Was he? Mary, you stalked the guy. If he was rude, it was only because you weren't taking NO for an answer.
Mary: He never told me he wanted to end things. He just kept ghosting me. But whenever I showed up at his house and jumped on him, we always wound up smashing. Eventually.
I didn't have the gumption at that point in my life to suggest to Mary that it's wrong on every imaginable level to coerce someone into intimate activity, regardless of gender. And even knowing what Whiskers would eventually become, he didn't deserve THAT. I should have called her out. Instead, I tried to steer the conversation back to her current bedroom bliss, hoping she'd get distracted by the disgusting thoughts that delighted her so much.
Me: Who cares what he's doing now?! Aren't you insanely happy with your fun new lovers???
Mary: NO! THEY STINK! HE'S FAT. I want my sexy Whisky-Boo Whiskers back!!! Give him back, Valley! Puh-leeee-eeee-eeeee-eeeease.
Me: I don't "have" him. I'm just seeing him. If he hurt you this much, why don't you try to sit down and have a real conversation with him? It might be good for both of you to clear the air.
Mary: He blocked me on everythi-iiiiiii-iiiii-iiiiiing. Waaaaaaaaaah!
Me: Well, I guess that's your answer. You probably overwhelmed him. He seems like a bit of a softy. Personally, I need a softy right now. But I think you need a manly man.
Mary rose. She gave me an icy stare. And then she cooed in an unnervingly sweet tone. "I love you, Valley-Boo. I know you didn't mean to break my heart."
Me: Thank you, Mary. Really, I wouldn't have even considered his initial invitation if you hadn't been calling him "Satan," and telling us all that you hated him, and dating all these new guys. I didn't do it to spite you, I swear. It just happened.
Mary (still creepily, icily sweet): Yes. We're so alike, you and I. It's perfectly understandable that the same guy would go for both of us. But you owe me. You owe me big.
Me: I'm gonna disagree with that. If you think I slighted you, just tell me to fuck off. If you really do understand that these things happen, then you'll accept that there was no malice on anyone's part.
Mary: Mmmm-hmmmm. We'll see about that.
She jiggled her Jupiters, tossed her hair, and stalked out of the dive bar...

AND THEN SHE BANGED DENNIS.

[Previous]
Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic
Date [standardized human time]: July 12, 2136
I couldn’t help but quake in regret as the human ship touched down on the landing pad before me. Would they come down running, frothing at the idea of tasting unfamiliar flesh? Or would they immediately start blasting everything in sight, relishing in the cruelty coded in their blood? As much as I wanted to cry and scream, I had to remain calm for these beasts and the others accompanying me: Kam and my diplomatic advisor, Cheln.
I would normally have more people, but because of our nature as Venlil, nobody bothered to come, forcing me to drag these two here.
Kam’s tail flicked in anxiety, wanting to do something he so little has the power to perform.
“You’re going to get us all killed, Tarva.” He hissed at me, “Might as well hand us to them on a silver platter, all tied up and gutted.”
“Kam, you’re making me really nervous, and that will happen if you don’t shut up. All that we’re doing is buying the Federation some time to save us from these freaks!” I hissed back. “Venlil Prime is not going to be another slaughterhouse!”
“You know I’m not going to be all uppity and friendly with them. I could barely hold it when that transmission came.”
“Neither did I, but here we are! So how about we all act as if they’re just prey? Can you do that for the sake of not being torn apart?”
He huffed, turning his head away from me, his tail curling up in spite. If we’re predator food, I’m ensuring you’re the first one. Drifting away from the thought, I prayed that Cheln, on the other hand, would be more reasonable than his militaristic counterpart.
Speaking of Cheln, I wonder how he’s doing—and now he’s frozen in place. Wonderful. This is absolutely what I need right now. I hope that the humans would just pass this off as standard Venlil behavior and not just begging to get out of here…
Hearing the clanking of the human ship’s ramp hitting the floor, all three of us snapped out of whatever fear lingering thoughts that poisoned our minds. Unexpectantly, I was slightly shoved forward, Kam and Cheln hiding behind me as they peeked over my shoulders.
Ohpleasedontdothistome! I could feel my eyes watering, unable to control my prey instincts as one simple goal came: live. But that couldn't happen; I had to do this for Venkind. Sighing, I wiped my tears away. My voice, once again, was trembling. “W-welcome! Welcome to V-venlil Prime!”
Looking up the ramp, heavy footsteps came—a pair. The one known as N-04H was the first to step down, followed by S-4R-4.
“Greetings,” the former began, its cold, metallic voice present as it descended the ramp. “The tactical advantage provided is in mass gratitude to us.”
Oh, it’s even bigger in person! Speh, why did I do this?! My heart throbbed at the sight of the predator, as all I ever wanted to do at the moment was to run away, but we, as Venlil, had to keep up a facade of strength. Predators thrived on the assertion of dominance, so I doubted they’d turn down a blatant challenge.
Both of these beasts stopped precisely in front of us, keeping a rather coordinated stance amongst each other.
“U-um… as you know, I-I’m Governor Tarva of Venlil Prime and these are–”
“General Kam of the Venlil Armed Forces and diplomatic advisor Cheln,” the human interrupted. How did it know?! Was it listening to us from afar?! Spehspehspeh! How much can they do?!
“H-how did you know our names?” Kam interjected, his tail tucked in between his legs, quite visibly fearful of the thing already knowing his name.
It slowly moved its head to directly face Kam, staring him down with its disgusting forward-facing eyes. This caused the general to let out a small squeak in fear, contrasting his earlier hostile attitude.
It remained silent as if it was a machine going through possible responses to hide its knowledge before finally speaking, “You look like a Kam.”
What the speh is that supposed to mean?!
A thud sounded beside me, which I realized was Cheln hitting the pavement. My diplomatic advisor fainting was not a good look, I knew that. Even Kam had his ears pressed against his head, earlier bluster forgotten.
Both predators didn’t react, ignoring the fact that there was an easy meal right in front of them. By then, I knew that humans reveled in the thrill of the hunt, refusing to accept such simplicity. They wanted us to run, fleeing for our lives as they tore us apart one by one, joyed by the cruelty they so exerted.
They knew we were afraid, and they knew that we knew that. It was obvious the human thought we should abandon Cheln, rather than allow weakness to tarnish the gene pool.
Kam knelt by Cheln’s side, trying to rouse him. Given that the nurturing trait stemmed from compassion, that wasn’t the sort of behavior to exhibit in front of predators either. I had to nip this conduct in the bud, or else the primates would think it was commonplace. That answered what I should do, but how could I leave a man to die in the cold? How could I chastise my general for basic empathy? That level of cruelty was beyond my sensibilities.
“You are afraid.” N-04H stated, “Do our large presence pose an instinctual threat, contributed by an unfamiliarity to the unknown? We are likely the first extraterrestrial life you encountered, correct?”
What... That’s why they think we’re afraid? Um… yeah, I think we can recover from this…
“Y-yeah!” I exclaimed, “T-that’s why! You’re practically the first species not from Venlil Prime to set foot here! Um.. please pardon us for our fearful attitude…”
“You are pardoned.” It said bluntly. Gazing at Cheln, it marched on over him, kneeling beside Kam. “Allow me to assist.”
“You’ve done enough, monster!” Kam spat.
“Allow me to assist.”
“No! I am not letting you–”
“That was not a request.” N-04H interrupted, for the first time, displaying emotion. And it wasn’t kindness like us prey. It was a predatory tone, the fleshy mask of theirs slowly slipping, uncovering whatever true beasts they so had hidden.
The tone had made Kam flinch back, fear overtaking his protectiveness. He had begrudgingly stepped back, covering his eyes and ears as he expected poor Cheln to be a meal.
“Thank you,” the human said, slowly picking up Cheln with ease, with no indication of him even weighing anything. It gave its attention to me, brown eyes meeting mine. I froze, inspecting the hellish landscape that protruded in its eyes, a faint red glow displaying its desire to consume.
I could see Venlil Prime being nothing but a mere wasteland, the innocent inhabitants long gone as they became slaves to the predators' hunger. Children separated from their parents as they became livestock to the eventual horrors.
The Federation must stop them; we have to exterminate Earth before they exterminate us. For now, we all had to play along with the game presented.
“W-would a tour be nice for you two?” I squeaked.
It looked around the area, scanning everything in sight. At this point, a tour would be meaningless if it weren’t for the fact that it would stall them long enough for a fleet to arrive.
“A tour would be of utmost importance to us.” Great… Just great…

I will preface this by saying I made a terrible mistake and a complete lapse in judgement due to a selfish decision I made. I ended up crashing my car into a pole. I was not hurt and no one else was involved.
The people that saw the crash called the ambulance. After that, a rookie officer and a trainee showed up on the scene but I was already in the ambulance so they couldn’t do a field sobriety test on me.
I was taken to the hospital where the hospital drew my blood. I thought that was the blood test so I told the officers I don’t want to give any more blood. Turns out that was just the test for the hospital, not the police. I was cuffed and taken to the station but I was not told my Miranda Rights.
I sat in the police station for what must’ve been hours until they got a blood warrant. By the time my blood was drawn, it was well over 3 hours since my crash and I insisted that I did not know what the refusal meant because they never read the refusal script to me.
I ended up getting sent to county with the pink slip, but not a single violation on the pink slip was checked off (not even refusal) and my BAC has not come back yet.
I’ve been drowning in guilt with this stupid ass decision that I made, but I am trying to find silver lining, if there even is any. I do have an attorney retained as well, they are waiting for the police report.

New Chapter on every MWF (Monday, Wednesday,Friday)
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Chapter 19: Four-Legged
Gribble's bare feet pounded against the wet ground, splashing through puddles and squelching in the mud. His heart thundered in his chest, threatening to burst out of his ribcage with every frantic beat. The dark, damp forest closed in around him, the trees looming like silent sentinels in the gloom. Above, the sky rumbled ominously, the sound echoing through the woods like a warning.
Raindrops pattered against the leaves overhead, the light drizzle gradually soaking through Gribble's clothes and mingling with the sweat that beaded on his skin. He gulped in lungfuls of air, the earthy scent of the forest filling his nostrils - the petrichor of rain on soil, the green aroma of the trees, the musty odor of decaying leaves underfoot. In another time, another place, it might have been a comforting smell. But here, now, with danger nipping at his heels, it was little more than a fleeting distraction from the terror that consumed him.
"Gotta keep going," he panted, his voice barely a whisper. "Can't let them catch me."
The goblins and trolls were hot on his heels, and Gribble knew he couldn't afford to slow down. The forest was his only chance to escape, and he was determined to make it count. He pushed himself harder, ignoring the burning in his lungs and the ache in his muscles.
The heavens opened up, unleashing a torrential downpour that battered against the forest canopy. Fat droplets burst through the leaves, pelting Gribble's skin like icy needles. His tattered clothes, already hanging off his lean frame in shreds, were drenched within seconds, the fabric clinging to his body like a second skin.
The deluge blurred his vision, reducing the world to a hazy mess of greens and grays. Gribble squinted against the rain, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes, but it was a losing battle. The path ahead disappeared, swallowed up by the murky gloom, and he stumbled blindly forward, his steps faltering on the slick, uneven ground.
But Gribble refused to let the storm halt his desperate flight. He gritted his teeth, determination burning in his chest like a flame, and pushed onward. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, he forged ahead, his mind focused on a single, all-consuming goal: escape. Grimrock's forces were out there somewhere, searching for him, hunting him like a fox before the hounds. He couldn't let them catch him. He wouldn't.
So he ran, and he kept running, even as the rain pounded against his back and the wind howled in his ears. He ran until his lungs burned and his muscles screamed in protest, until the forest was a blur of green and brown around him. He ran, and he didn't stop.
"Come on, Gribble," he urged himself. "You can do this. Just keep moving."
The rain was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it helped to cover his tracks and hide his scent. But on the other hand, it made the ground slippery and treacherous. Gribble lost his footing more than once, catching himself just in time to avoid a nasty fall.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the forest, and Gribble saw something that made his heart leap with hope. There, in the side of a nearby hill, was a dark opening - a cave that could offer him shelter from the storm.
"A cave!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Maybe I can hide in there, just for a little while."
He hesitated for a moment, wondering if the cave might be dangerous. But another crack of thunder made up his mind for him. He couldn't stay out in the open, not with the storm getting worse and his enemies getting closer. The cave was a risk he had to take.
Gribble scrambled towards the cave, his heart pounding in his ears as the thunder crashed around him. The rain pelted his face, making it hard to see, but he didn't let that stop him. He slipped and slid on the wet ground, nearly losing his balance several times.
"Almost there," he panted, his eyes fixed on the cave's entrance. "Just a little further."
The mouth of the cave loomed ahead of him, a dark and forbidding hole in the hillside. Gribble's mind raced with thoughts of what might be waiting for him inside, but he pushed them aside. Whatever the cave held, it couldn't be worse than what was behind him. His lungs burned and his muscles screamed in protest, but he refused to slow down. He was so close to safety, so close to a moment's rest.
As he reached the cave's entrance, Gribble paused for a moment, peering into the darkness. It seemed empty, and he knew he had no choice but to go inside. The sound of the rain and thunder faded as he stepped over the threshold, replaced by an eerie stillness. Gribble blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden change in light.
"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing off the cave walls. "Is anyone there?"
Only silence answered him, and Gribble let out a sigh of relief. He was alone, at least for now.
His heart was still racing, and he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He knew he couldn't let his guard down, not even for a moment, but the relief of being out of the storm was overwhelming.
Gribble stepped further into the cave, shivering from the cold and exhaustion. The sound of the rain and thunder became muffled, and he allowed himself a moment to catch his breath, leaning against the damp stone wall. The rough surface scraped against his skin, but he barely noticed. His mind was swirling with emotions - fear, relief, desperation, and a tiny spark of hope.
"I can't believe I made it," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I thought for sure they were going to catch me."
He knew he couldn't stay in the cave forever, but for now, it was the closest thing to safety he'd known in a long time. He closed his eyes, letting the coolness of the stone seep into his skin, grounding him in the present moment.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Gribble took a look around the cave. It was small but deep, with a low ceiling and narrow passages leading further into the hillside. The floor was uneven, with loose rocks and pebbles scattered about. He could make out the faint shapes of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, their tips glistening with moisture.
"Wow," Gribble breathed, his eyes wide with wonder. "I've never seen anything like this before."
The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and something else, something Gribble couldn't quite identify. He shivered, pulling his tattered clothes tighter around himself. The cave may have provided shelter from the storm, but it was far from comfortable. Gribble knew he'd have to keep moving soon, but for now, he allowed himself a moment to rest and gather his strength.
Just as he was starting to relax, Gribble saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. At the mouth of the cave, a dark, shadowy figure appeared. Gribble's heart leapt into his throat, and he froze, his body going rigid with fear.
"Who's there?" he called out, his voice shaking. "Show yourself!"
He squinted, trying to make out more details, but the figure was backlit by the dim light from the entrance, making it impossible to see clearly. Gribble's mind raced with possibilities. Was it another goblin? A troll? Something even worse? He held his breath, not daring to make a sound. The figure didn't seem to have noticed him yet, but Gribble knew that could change at any moment. He cursed silently, realizing that his moment of rest may have just put him in even greater danger.
As Gribble watched, his heart pounding, he realized that the figure was crawling on four legs, moving with a predatory grace that sent a chill down his spine. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and a sense of dread washed over him. He could hear the faint click of claws against stone, and he shuddered, realizing that whatever this thing was, it wasn't friendly.
"Oh no," Gribble whispered, his eyes wide with fear. "What is that thing?"
His mind raced, trying to come up with a plan, but he was trapped in the cave with nowhere to run. Gribble's body was tired and he didn't think he had the strength to summon the vines, and he knew he was no match for the creature in terms of strength or speed. His only hope was to stay still and silent, praying that the figure would pass him by.
Gribble pressed himself against the cave wall, hardly daring to breathe as he watched the mysterious creature make its way into the cave. Its eyes glinted in the darkness, reflecting the dim light from the entrance. Gribble's heart was pounding so hard he was sure the creature must be able to hear it, but he didn't dare move.
"Please don't see me," he prayed silently, his hands trembling. "Please just go away."
The figure paused, its head swiveling from side to side as if searching for something. Gribble held his breath, his body trembling with the effort of staying still. The creature took another step forward, and Gribble could see the outline of its muscular body, the way its shoulders rippled with each movement. He closed his eyes, silently begging for the creature to go away, to leave him alone. But deep down, Gribble knew that his luck had run out. Whatever happened next, he was on his own.
Trapped in the cave with nowhere to run, Gribble's mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan. He knew he was no match for the creature in terms of strength or speed, and he was too exhausted to summon any powers. His eyes darted around, searching for anything he could use as a weapon or a means of escape. But the cave was empty, with nothing but rocks and shadows.
"Think, Gribble, think," he muttered to himself, his brow furrowed in concentration. "There's got to be a way out of this."
He cursed his own foolishness for not being more prepared, for not having a backup plan. He'd always relied on his wits and his powers to get him out of trouble, but now, faced with an unknown enemy in an unfamiliar place, Gribble realized just how vulnerable he truly was. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He knew he couldn't give up, not after everything he'd been through. Gribble steeled himself, ready to fight or flee, whatever it took to survive.
As the silhouetted figure drew closer, Gribble's heart pounded frantically in his chest. He held his breath, hoping against hope that the creature hadn't noticed him yet. His mind was reeling, trying to find a way out of this terrifying situation, but deep down, he knew that his options were limited.
"Come on, Gribble," he whispered to himself, his fists clenched at his sides. "You can do this. You've faced worse than this before."
The figure was almost upon him now, and Gribble could see the glint of teeth in the darkness, the flash of claws against stone. He braced himself, ready for the attack, ready for the pain and the fear and the desperate struggle for survival. But even as he faced this new threat, Gribble felt a flicker of something else, something he hadn't felt in a long time: hope.
"I've survived the dungeon, the goblins, and the trolls," Gribble said aloud, his voice growing stronger with each word. "I've fought my way through the storm and the forest. And now, faced with yet another challenge, I know that I have the strength to keep going, to keep fighting, no matter what."
He may be small, but he wasn't alone. The cave, the forest, the earth itself - they were all on his side, all part of the same unbreakable will that drove him forward. And with that knowledge, Gribble faced the silhouetted figure, ready for whatever came next.
"Bring it on," Gribble said, his eyes narrowing with determination. "I'm not going down without a fight."
The creature took another step forward, its claws scraping against the stone. Gribble tensed, every muscle in his body coiled and ready to spring into action. He didn't know what was going to happen next, but he knew one thing for sure: he wasn't going to give up. Not now, not ever.

Hi everyone, I know this isn't strictly bra information. I figured this out for myself and believe this is the best reddit community to share the information on.
I found the best bikini top style for large chest. For context, I am a 34H, size 8 in general clothes, and I buy bikini tops in XL for myself.
Short Sleeve, Deep V-Neck/ tie style (links of examples below). I can also share a pic of myself in mine if anyone is curious.
It's perfect because the deep v shape and tightness of swimsuit material keep my breast separate so no uni-boob or uncomfortable cleavage sweat. With the top being short sleeve, there is no side boob. It keep me well contained and no risk of nip slips. This style top is more comfortable to me than bra style tops, especially those with underwire. As well as these regular types of bikini tops are more affordable.
One point where is this may not work for someone, is if your nipples are set more medial/ toward the middle of your body with the deep V. My nipples are set slightly outward facing so it works perfect for me.
Hope this helps someone else!
https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_3192d4b1-dc1f-49c6-b97b-536e97324116?wid=1200&hei=1200&qlt=80&fmt=webp
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61FNPBVRq0L._AC_SL1033_.jpg https://www.rainbowshops.com/cdn/shop/products/1201074211705242_001.jpg?v=1676703964
https://jcpenney.scene7.com/is/image/JCPenney/DP1221202207034874M?hei=350&wid=350&op_usm=.4%2C.8%2C0%2C0&resmode=sharp2&op_sharpen=1

My boyfriend and I will be attending a wedding in the middle of July so I've been dress hunting. I found one I love but its strapless which is fine in regards to dress code, however, I am a 38DD and fear a nip slip.
Anyone have advice for successfully wearing a strapless dress without having to constantly pull it up or make a scene of it? I know we will be dancing and moving around so should I continue hunting?

Alisandra:
Catz and Tenty walked in to see the crew pushing more generators and battery rocks onto the ship, her petite form looking lovely in a frilly pink dress. Flicking her tail with curiosity, Tenty waved me over. Succumbing to her request, her eager eyes glittered with excitement. Pressing her gloved hands together, the new leather button up dress looked fantastic. The bonus thing was that leather was easier to clean.
“When you go to that planet, could you get your hands on this tea called thistleburg? It has the sweetest taste of strawberries and cream.” She pleaded an even bigger smile than the one she bore a few seconds ago. She did watch my kids while I was gone, the tea wouldn’t be an issue. Placing my hand on her shoulder, admiration brightened her smile.
“Sure thing. I look forward to trying it.” I returned simply, Scampy leaping into my arms. “Be a good boy. I promise to pick up when you call.” Tears glistened in his eyes, my real smile doing little to relieve his fraying nerves. Setting him down, Tenty offered him her hand. Accepting it with a weary smile, Jack came out of the kitchen with Basy. My pets slithered up to my side, my palms rubbing behind their heads. Passing her over to Tenty, they exchanged words for a couple of minutes. Running the plan through my head, something had to come to fruition. Kissing the tops of Scampy and Basy’s heads, Mortos came in in his space suit. Dusting off my own, Jack had my usual mechanic’s suit on his arm. Climbing onto the ship with me, Icy came on with Jack. Whiskers and his brother found their way into their seats, Whiskers’ eyes watching me hook up my harness. Zoning out while everyone got settled, it dawned on me that I was the one lady on the trip. Fussing with my golden chains, Jack played with the tip of my ears as he took the captain’s chair. Scarlet flushed my cheeks, his crooked grin caused my heart to skip a beat.
“Stuck in your head again? This mission should be fairly simple.” He assured me with a crooked grin, flipping the switches. “Then again, trouble seems to find you.” The door opened, my snakes hissing the moment I strapped them to my chair. Shooting them a stern look, their tongues flickered against my cheeks. Ignoring the odd looks, anxiety built in their eyes as the ship backed out onto the street. Straightening out, the ship shot into the inky sea of diamonds. Stabilizing the gravity of the ship, a sigh of relief cascaded from my lips. Plucking the files from the side pocket of my chair, the information not adding up. Another problem lurked underneath the surface, a monster had been plaguing the refugee camp. Why not, right? Missions could never be simple and everything had to go wrong if it was going to.
“What is this monster plaguing them?” I inquired with a pensive expression, Jack asking for the details. “Webbed feet and leaves a trail of blue slime on the trees.” Seeing my snakes recoil at those words, Jack groaned gruffly with an impressive eye roll. What fresh hell were we flying into?
“Sounds like a galgatoad.” He grumbled under his breath, his eyes flitting between my snakes and me. “They eat Ratalia and Ratonia for a snack. Not to mention that damn slime is rather venomous to certain aliens. That probably should be dealt with.” Mulling over what he said, the wheels of my mind began to churn. If it was poisonous to them, then it would be poisonous to me. Continuing down that line of thought, Solomon would die if he came in contact with it. Please don't hate me for my next suggestion.
“Correct me if I am wrong but we could boil that slime down to create a proper venom to kill Solomon, right?” I suggested calmly, shock rounding my comrade’s eyes. “Hear me out! If that venom can kill me, it can kill him. He is the purebred version of me.” Jack grinned slyly in my direction, his mind picking up what I was putting down. No wonder we were perfect for each other.
“That might actually work. One thing we could do is make a wine laced with it and make an oil to coat your staff.” He suggested with an equally calm tone, the others seeing the reason behind it. “You won’t absorb it this time.” Chewing on my lip, there was no animal to tame. A lack of answer gave him a bit of relief, his hand cupped mine for a second. Other conversations broke out, neither of us speaking to each other. Letting the hours pass lazily, the worn dock was in sight. Descending into the last spot, chains curled around the holders. Undoing my harness,it was time to get changed. Excusing myself, the mechanic’s suit felt soft on my skin. Locking the door behind me, the outfit change was as swift as it came. Buttoning the last button under my chest, a dull ache had my teeth gritting. Hissing mixed with rattles on the other side of the door, big grins exposing their fangs. Snuggling into their scales, a rare moment of serenity washed over me. How lucky was I to have them, especially alive and well! Images of them taking deadly hits had tears welling up in my eyes, Jack calling for me in his usual leather jacket and khakis. A worn leather bag hung over his shoulders, new weapons sticking out of the top.
“Ready to go, my dear wife. Gosh, I adore saying that.” He chuckled sweetly, yanking me close to his hips. A throat clearing had him releasing me with scarlet cheeks, Icy and the others wearing similar outfits. I suppose the options of clothing weren't there in the first place, the outfit seemed quite comfortable. Stepping off with my boys, a sea of trees and hearty ferns greeted me. Wonder brightened my eyes at the vast amount of tree houses made of the finest wood, Shaulleaux coming out with the carts of generators and rocks. Calling over Whiskers and his brother, his sharp eyes lingered on me while pulling out complicated instructions penned by me. If anyone could figure them out, he certainly could.
“We have this. Go make that beast croak for good.” He urged with a wink, dragging my poor friends along to the first home. Taking note, Mortos and Icy were the only ones besides the two of us. Mortos had excellent marksmanship with his new rifle, Jack surpassing him by a good few points. Seconds from reaching for our staffs, Jack’s hand rose into the air. Tossing us four sticky covers, our brows cocked at the same time. Tracing the salt based metal, his attention shifted to Mortos. Throwing him an old fashioned rifle, bullets made of the same metal his other palm.
“Salt is the one weakness this damn toad has. Hit him with all you have.” He commanded with his million dollar smile, Icy's strong hand jamming on my tips before doing his. Spinning his staff over his head to test the weight, a triumphant grin curled across his lips. His scales shimmered in the lilac moonlight, his grin growing wider.
“I might simply keep these on. The added weight is brilliant.” He announced with a toss of his staff into the air, ice crawling down his arm. “Time to wake up the toad, Ali.” Sprinting into the woods, a low growl rumbled in my throat. Chasing his boots, an idea came to mind. Cutting my palm on a dull brown rock, shimmering blood pooled in my palm. Running while marking random trees, the scent would draw out our freaking toad. Checking on my scaly friends, pride glittered in their eyes. Tears wet my eyelashes at the obvious scars, guilt eating at me. Crouching down, a quiet fear lingered in my eyes the moment I placed my palm on the dirt. Watching it soak into the dirt, the ground trembled underneath my boots. Pushing off the ground, a neon green toad the size of two houses crawled from the loose dirt. Hitting a bit of slime my skin hissed in protest, a steady stream of curse words exploded from my lips. Allowing golden energy to build around my boots, dead trees cracked onto the forest floor upon my impact. Whistling sharply, Ratalia and Ratonia took my side with eager fangs dripping with their own venom. A wave of ice blocked a row of sharp teeth coming our way, bullets whistling by our head. Shrill shrieks joined hisses, steam curling off of the slimy porous skin. Watching the skin patch itself up, a groan escaped my lips. Massaging my forehead, my snakes aimed their heads in the direction of his throat. A translucent heart thumped with wild beats, my hands petting Ratalia and Ratonia. Smashing the wall of ice, ice shards sparkled in the air. Kicking up a pile of dirt, a pang of pain had me grimacing at my raw burn. Sprinting around the toad, Icy joined my side. Waiting patiently for my next order, our bond was one I cherished greatly.
“Freeze the sack holding his heart.” I whispered into his ear, skidding into the monster’s view. “Come and get me.” Dodging the flurry of venom attacks, ice devouring its body. Too frozen to move, a sly grin danced across my lips. Sprinting along the edge of the toad, my hands spun my staff over my head. A flick of my wrist had it flying deep into its heart, I raised my foot over my head. Allowing golden energy around my boot, my staff glowed brighter. Slamming my heel into the dirt, a blast of energy had ice chunks whistled by my head. Stumbling around, a cloud of dirt had us choking the moment the monster hit the forest floor. Stepping over the pooling puddle of slime, Icy freezing every ounce of it. Gagging as I plucked my staff from its decaying heart, jolts of pain shot through me upon contact with the venom. Whipping off the slime, a golden gleam cleansed it of any venom. Leaning against a tree, my left arm was covered in minor burns. Icy froze the last piece, he placed his hand on my arm. Wonder brightened my eyes at the ice cooling down the wounds, a barrage of bullets melting the toad into a fog of steam. Mouthing thank you, the relief proved to be rather welcome.
“You did great. Let’s get those checked out.” He urged with a tired smile, his words fading out as Solomon came out of the shadows. His slow clap pissed me off, nasty burn marks covered the left side of his face. The shriveled flesh had me smiling softly to myself, the smile fading to sheer panic. Of course, the ring leader of a his own sick circus had to make an appearance.
“Since you can’t stop being a damn brat, you have to play my game. All along this town are some bombs you missed.” He bragged with a Cheshire Cat grin, his fingers snapping. “I am going to leave in case you fail.” A metal ladder hit his head,his fingers curling around the rung. Pushing through the raw agony, my boots pounded into town. Solomon was an ass but one thing he did was never lie. Calling my snakes over, their sense of smell was better than most dogs. Sending them out to seek out the bombs, the others caught up to me. Spinning on my heels, this problem needed to be dealt with. Gathering my wit, the next stop had to go off without a hitch.
“We are probably minutes from getting blown to bits. Find those bombs and call for me if you don’t feel confident enough to disarm any bomb you find.” I ordered while chewing on my lip, everyone shifting around uncomfortably. “Let’s go!” My lips parted to speak, Ratalia hissing for me a couple of houses down. Branches crunched with every step towards her, an idea came to mind. Scanning the land for a crater of sorts, a barren circle caught my eyes in the far distance. Skidding to a stop, horror rounded my eyes at the complicated setup of dangerously unstable bombs. A loud fuck burst from my lips, my fingers fished around my boot for a simple screwdriver to unscrew them. Noticing Shalleaux in the distance, a wave had him sprinting over to me with a cart. Noticing the dilemma at hand, relief crashed over me at him shooting me orders. Following them to a tee, the unstable bombs rattled on the cart. Running his hand through his hair, both of us knew what to do. Building energy around my boot, Shalleaux grabbed my shoulder last minute.
“That is too much! We aren’t trying to set them off, are we?” He barked impatiently, not hiding his fear of the situation too well. Lowering the amount, a new layer of sweat dripped down our chin. Nudging it gingerly, the cart took off like a rocket. Watching it with paling faces, the metal stopped short of the crater. Cursing under my breath, something had to move it along. Scooping up a rock, my vision blurred while energy built around my fingers. Adjusting my aim, a quick flick had the rock shooting the cart into the pit. Summoning all I had left, a golden dome hummed to life over the settlement. Counting to three, orange flames decimated the dead plains around us. Every muscle in my body protested, fresh blood pouring from my nose. Listening for more ticks, one remained. Digging at the dirt underneath me, the corner of my lips twitched at another bomb. No other one remained, a steel box catching my eyes. Ripping it from the dirt, the beeping sped up with every step towards my target. Chucking it in, my palms held the door shut. Shalleaux sprinted over to me, old chains rattling in his hand. Pushing me to the forest floor, his trembling hands tied the chains around it. Lifting it out of the ground, he bounced it off of his palms until enough of the air had built in his palm. Spinning it off of his palm, the bomb exploded midair. Rolling his hand around, a blast of wind sent the flames and debris into the dark side of the planet. Not one drop of new sweat glistened on his brow, his attention falling on me. Too weak to move, his strong arm tossed me over his shoulder. Bewilderment mixed with wonder at the display of powers.
“Let’s get your dumb ass patched up. Neptune must have a cure.” He sighed with a goofy grin, his head cocking to the left with a hearty chuckle. Purified water glistened in his palm, a tip of his hand cleansing the land of any nuclear chemicals. How the hell did he manage that?
“When did you learn to do all of that?” I queried with a twinkle in my eyes, his grin widening. “Why not inform your captain about all of that?” Shrugging his shoulders, a muscular snake demon in a simple button up shirt and worn leather overalls waved with a natural smile. His violet scales shimmered in the light, his golden snake eyes shimmered with pure bliss. Assuming he was Neptune, his smile grew bigger to reveal his curved snake fangs. At least his aura was as pure as the morning suns.
“Shally, you brought me the prize snake.” He teased playfully, Ratalia and Ratonia slithering up to us with wagging rattling tails. “Your snakes came to me to inform me of your little burns. Thanks for taking out that pesky croak of a toad.” Wondering how he was so cheerful naturally, my eyes flitted around the room he guided us into. The inner markings of the trunk made a lovely study of sorts. A crackling fire called me, the river rocks casting shadows in the light of the flames. Setting me down in a plush green chair, Neptune seemed head deep into a beat up box. Plucking out a tub of neon green ooze, nausea flipped my stomach about. Melting the ice with one touch, Whiskers skidded in. Leaving a cloud of dirt, my new friend slopped some of that darn ooze onto my arm. Biting my lips until a small ribbon of blood dribbled down my chin, the raw agony had me seconds from crying out. The agony died down to a dull throb, the sight of Icy and the boys had containers full of the frozen slime. Waving as they walked by, Whiskers wagged his tail, his ears pinning back at my clear annoyance. What was my issue? All of us were in one piece which meant that the mission was a success.
“I managed to gather a six month supply of that tea. Tenty will be tickled pink.” He chatted with me brightly, the attempt not easing my mood. “A feast is being held in our honor tonight.” Pressing his palms together, the sight of being at ease had my heart fluttering. Adjusting his jacket, he didn’t need to be here. Fun needed to be had in order to keep the well-being running smoothly among a good team.
“Go on a little date with your dear Shally.” I urged with a meager wink, his features illuminating to life. “Trust me, you both need it.” Shalleaux offered his arm, Whiskers’ arms hooking onto it. Gliding out, the fire and Neptune kept me company. Taking the seat across from me, his cheerful demeanor slipped to a more stern one. Resting my hands on the laps, the scars were going to be hideous. Would they make me hideous to my husband?
“Who are you? I mean who are you really?” He asked tersely, a maid setting down a tray of tea. “People like you are like a comet that comes by once a millennia. What scares me about you is that you are a ticking time bomb emotionally.” Shrinking back into my chair, no one had read me that well since Jack. Scratching at my cheek, his sharp gaze demanded my answers. Why did his aura demand answers?
“I am the literal half-breed of you. All I want to do is to become president of the universe to bring back it a new glory where all can be free to live. As for the ticking time bomb, you aren’t wrong. Enough shit haunts the recesses of my mind to kill the weak.” I returned with a gulp, hating the harsh feelings nipping at me. “Maybe we could reach a trade deal and get your people things as impressive as the current power systems illuminating your homes.” Leaning onto his hands, curiosity brought his eyes back to life. Please say yes to increase my chances against Solomon.
“Sure. The legends have been proven valid.” He mused with a bemused grin, his hands dropping to his lap. “How many independent planets have you made your unofficial allies? Our supplies have increased greatly since you have been running around fixing the systems. One more question! How come you never prosecuted any of us on our little planets? “ Massaging my forehead, this conversation had a strange hold on me. Wondering that myself, the principality of it was what held me back. Independent planets deserved to remain free as long as they desired.
“Why prosecute what wasn’t ours to prosecute?” I commented simply, waving my hand around. “You guys never joined the union. Running around on your own makes you guys stronger than I could ever dream to be.” Parting his lips to speak several times, Jack pounded into the cozy space. Cupping my face, his lips brushed against mine feverishly. My breath hitched, the release of his spell had me realizing how tired I was. Wiping away the blood with his sleeve, Jack doubled for a minute. Snapping his fingers in front of my face, the inability to focus had alarm bells ringing away. Giving him a list of certain medicines, Neptune excused himself to gather his supplies.
“I hope this lands on good ears but you can’t keep pushing yourself, Ali.” He chastised me clumsily, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Next time you use your magic, let’s keep it within your limits.” Neptune came out with a big grin, the medicines clanking in another worn box. Accepting them with a gracious smile, Jack mixed the right ones together with a jolly hum. Pouring the muddy liquid down my throat, voices came in and out. Swaying back and forth, exhaustion had to be a nasty side effect. Falling from my chair, Jack’s strong arms caught me. A severe paralysis had me at his mercy.
“What did you give me?” I slurred languidly, my tongue weighing about twenty pounds. Pressing his palm to my lips, his face floated in the new lights. His lips moved a mile a minute, the words not entering my ears. Blinking a couple of times, his hand cupped my cheek. Mixed emotions flashed in my eyes, an apologetic smile lingering clumsily on his lips.
“It is a heavy sedative mixed with the best pain medication around.” He explained calmly, his voice getting deeper and slower by the second. “Sleep is what you need the most. Nightmares plague you but you still need slumber at the end of the day.” Nodding once, a rough darkness stole me away.

Sudden Stop By Alan Wake
Alex Casey had seen it all in his 15 years as a detective with the New York Police Department. He'd solved countless murders, worked on high-profile cases, and even earned a few commendations. But nothing could have prepared him for his own sudden stop. It was a typical Friday evening when Alex was driving home from a long day at the precinct. He was running late for dinner with his ex-wife, Miranda, and their two kids, so he was speeding along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. As he approached the Manhattan Bridge, he noticed a strange smell filling his car. At first, he thought it was just the exhaust from the car in front of him, but then he saw it: a huge cloud of smoke billowing from the bridge itself. Alex's heart skipped a beat as he realized something was very wrong. As he slowed down, a black SUV cut him off, forcing him to swerve into the oncoming lane. Alex tried to regain control of his car, but it was too late. The SUV rammed into him, sending his car crashing onto the side of the bridge. Alex tried to get out of the car, but his door was jammed. He pounded on the window, screaming for help, but no one came. The SUV sped away, leaving Alex alone and injured. As he struggled to free himself, Alex saw a figure emerging from the smoke. It was a tall, imposing man with a cruel grin spreading across his face. Alex recognized him as Victor Vex, a notorious gang leader who had been at the top of his most-wanted list. "You're going to pay for all your meddling," Victor sneered, pulling out a gun. Alex knew he was doomed. He tried to beg for his life, but Victor just laughed and pulled the trigger. Alex's world went dark as he felt his life slipping away. The paramedics arrived soon after, but it was too late. Alex Casey's time had come to an abrupt stop. The city's finest detective had fallen victim to his own killer instincts – and now his own life would be left in cold blood. As they wheeled him away on a stretcher, Alex saw Miranda's face one last time. Her eyes were red from tears, and her expression was a mix of shock and grief. She knew she would never get to tell their kids goodbye. The sudden stop had taken Alex away from the world of crime and punishment, but it would never forget the man who had fought for justice every day of his life – until it was too late.
Alan Wake is a critically acclaimed author known for his dark and suspenseful thrillers. His latest novel, "Sudden Stop", is a gripping tale of murder, betrayal, and revenge that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end