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- source_sentence: 'Tonight, upon first hearing that war has come to my shores, I
    must decide whether or not to fight to the end. Not exactly what I had planned
    for the evening. The viceroy raised himself up to his full height, less than that
    of Rafan, but he stared hard into those emerald eyes. "We come to the bare face
    of it then, dragon-blood." He spoke with deliberate informality, wanting to push
    the man to language that could not hide. "What are you offering?" "Give me a commission,"
    the dragonlord ordered. "If you promise to fight, if you promise to force the
    Deathlord to defeat you, rather than letting him trick you into defeating yourselves,
    then I will defend this island with all my will and energy until my last breath."
    Ever since both emerged from the Contagion Thistles has been the subject of Thorns,
    not in writ, but in the thoughts of all. Jortan knew well that history. For his
    first ten years as viceroy he had lived it. To the living that presumption may
    be granted, his mind was suddenly clear as crystal. Not to the dead. I will bow
    to a living Empress out of respect, to a Deathlord, only at the point of a sword.
    "So be it," Jortan pulled a blank sheet from his stack of papers, and with swift,
    careful strokes took his brush and wrote a single phrase, sealing it with the
    red stamp of the Viceroy of Thistles. It read: Geralse Rafan is now Commanding
    General of all the Island of Thistles The viceroy passed the document to the dragon-blood.
    "We are committed then." "So we are," Rafan took it and rolled it up carefully,
    tucking the sheet inside his armor. "But a commitment best begun in the morning,
    I think. I need to clear my head, and you doubtless need rest by now." "It will
    take until then to call a meeting of the particulars in any case," Jortan agreed,
    glad Rafan displayed some limits to his endurance. "Speak to my secretary, I am
    certain he has apartments arranged. They will have to be in the interior ministry
    offices I am sorry to say, the Satrap"s palace has not been maintained for ready
    use." That was not realm protocol, but it was a small pile of dinars Jortan had
    been able to put to better purposes. "Fine," the soldier nodded. "I"d rather be
    closer to business matters anyway." "Excellent," It was a small gesture, but it
    well backed the flamboyant one made moments ago. Perhaps I have not rashly doomed
    us all, the viceroy dared to hope. "Then you are dismissed general, I will see
    you in the morning." Rafan put a fist over his heart in salute and left with an
    abrupt spin. The viceroy could only sink into his chair as he watched the dragon-blood"s
    rugged form recede from his vision. What have I done? The words crashed through
    him as waves on the shore, endlessly repeating. What have I done? Chapter Notes
    The number I chose for the population of Thistles was not arrived at without considerable
    deliberation. I have seen several estimates for medieval Sicily however, and this
    number serves as in line with those. The numbers Jortan gives for the Mask of
    Winter"s army are taken from CoTD: the Scavenger Lands, but are adjusted for the
    incomplete intelligence available to the Viceroy. Chapter 6 10 Descending Water
    RY 769 As ever, the first step within the citadel brought a sudden sensation of
    stability. Impossible as a matter of logical the black basalt floor was perfectly,
    totally level and ever unchanging. This could not be so, as that floor, indeed
    the entirety of the citadel, rested on a pulsing, squirming, tormented mass of
    flesh dwarfing it in size. At the very least the citadel ought to rock slightly,
    as a ship upon the ocean. But it did not. The woman who walked across those ice-cold
    stones now did not deny the practicality of a floor that remained in one place
    despite its generally unstable perch, but she did not especially welcome it either.
    That unmoving surface was a demonstration of power, specifically of the mighty
    magic of the one being who truly ruled in this place, and it was a selective power
    indeed. She fully believed that at any moment the floor might buck and rage tossing
    every inhabitant save one about as helpless as the toys inside the dollhouse of
    a spiteful patrician child. As she was not that one being, she could never shake
    the sensation of being nothing more than a toy when here. A dark voice in her
    mind chose that unfortunate moment to hiss in bitter laughter. Perhaps we are
    all toys then, she reflected from that inspiration. It brought no solace. Good,
    she thought. Safety is an illusion, happiness is a lie, purpose is a falsehood,
    and all reality is naught but random accidents of mad energies, crashing together,
    endlessly seeking nothing. Her failure to revel in discomfort was simply a sign
    of limited enlightenment. With some regret she turned away from such thoughts
    of overwhelming entropy and focused back on the task at hand. Practicality must
    come first, after all. The mask remains until the climax, and that was yet a very
    long way off indeed. So she ascended the steps of the winding path to the principle
    tower of the citadel, forced to climb stair after stair as a monument to little
    more than vanity, wasting time to no good purpose. The long climb was supposed
    to impress and awe, and to allow the fear of lesser visitors time to cook into
    fully risen dread before they reached that tower room. Those were emotions she
    had long striven to purge from herself, and this walk had only aided her in that
    regard. So while she did not look forward to this particular destination, the
    terror of the journey was something she had surpassed. Her travels were not alone,
    those steps were wide, and serviced many destinations in the great dark citadel.
    Any number of lesser forms slid past, most dead, some not, all deferential. The
    train of her dress shushed slightly upon the stones, and the many thin silver
    chains adorning wrist, ankles, neck, and delicately wrapped across her bodice
    and waist suppurated a semi-somber sound of cool depression as she willed them
    to; her personal theme, deftly suppressed yet still heard. She was a known presence
    in this dread place, and even among such horrors as wandered its halls it was
    known that this one in the black-flower lace hood was not to be troubled without
    cause. The tower room possessed a door, a massive thing many times the height
    of a man, wrought with symbols of ancient arcane power. It was not designed as
    a barrier to interlopers, there were other, less ostentatious measures in place
    for that, but simply as a display of authority and a curtain of privacy. It was
    unnecessary in countless ways, but she knocked even so. He considered it a measure
    of respect and courtesy, and that was the only criterion that mattered now. "Enter,"
    a malformed voice whispered from somewhere undefinable within that great door.
    A dead mind broken to the singular purpose of determining whether the door was
    to open now or not. It was a display of such arrogance she could not comprehend.
    It inspired no fear, only puzzlement at the waste. The door, for all its terrible
    size and her small frame, opened at the slightest touch, sliding upon soundless
    hinges forged from the souls of fallen heroes. Some overt symbolism was inevitable
    in a place such as this. It was also unworthy of notice, considering the means
    of construction it had all the true significance of paint color, or so she felt,
    no matter the scale. The room was not gaudily outfitted at the moment, though
    that too was illusion, for it could change to suit the will of its master at but
    a thought. Instead there was simply an empty circle and a great and towering throne
    of frigid black, light-sucking soulsteel. It was an impeccable piece, a baroque
    masterwork utterly suited to project the image of the conquering warrior-savant,
    exactly how its occupant wished to be viewed. A singular personage occupied that
    throne now. He was a towering figure, just taller than the tallest man you might
    ever meet, and wrapped in billowing robes of perfect black, though matching the
    attire of no nation yet extant in Creation or the Underworld. His face was a false
    one, a mask, but it was such an impossibly beautiful face no one, not even one
    such as she, could care for that distortion. "Master," she dropped to one knee
    upon entering, and set her hooded face to the dark stones at her feet. "Widow,"
    his voice had a beauty to match the face, but this lie was more easily falsified,
    for with every word harsh whispers, unintelligible and below the threshold of
    hearing in any case, began to echo through the bottom of her mind. It was ever
    so between them, and she could not know why. She feared that there should even
    be an answer. "You have requested an audience," her master spoke, and then suddenly
    his whole body contorted, the pleasant face replaced with one of demonic fury
    and unspeakable horror, the wise ruler dissipated into the persona of the murderous
    tyrant. "Why?" He thundered. She did not blanch. He thought such parlor tricks
    useful, and they were, against many, but not only had the Seven Seasons Widow
    long become inured to his little gags, she had practiced such things herself since
    her childhood. "There has been a setback master," she did not try to overly minimize,
    for she could not hide such secrets from him in person, and saw no need to increase
    his wrath. "Explain," he demanded, still the voice of terror. This was a good
    beginning, for he was prone to rages when faced with setbacks, an emotional tempest
    not entirely irrational. Of course, it was always partly irrational, for the Widow
    knew that like all Deathlords the Mask of Winters was quite mad. She did not particularly
    care, the universe was naught but a cosmic dice game in any case, only less ordered.
    "One of our zombie talons on the Island of Thistles has been lost," she kept her
    voice steady as she explained, neither performing nor excusing, simply stating
    things. She believed he appreciated this. "There has been no communication since
    the lieutenant stated his intent to attack. It has been four days." There was
    no need to explain the precise meaning of the lapsed time. "I must assume they
    met some unexpected resistance and were destroyed." "A pity our lieutenant has
    not returned," the deathlord grumbled even as his face and form shifted back to
    perfect pleasantness. "If he has surrendered to either of the calls, simply an
    unfortunate chance, if he has fled..." he did not bother to explain, and the Widow
    did not attempt to guess. She had learned, in a fashion most terrible, that her
    mind could not even come close to imagining the barest fraction of the horrific
    punishments her master might devise. "But no matter," the deathlord continued.
    "One nemissary is irrelevant, as are a hundred zombies, ultimately. Unexpected
    resistance was always a possibility, and it may even be a boon to encounter it
    so early." "How so my master?" she rarely questioned, but when it came to military
    matters he had demanded she expend the effort to learn, so inquiries were tolerated,
    at least to a point. "Recalcitrant elements shall always rear their heads in any
    enterprise," that perfect voice took on the manner of a chiding father. It was
    the phrasing she hated more than any other from his mouth. Master she accepted,
    parent, she did not. "Early identification allows for prompt elimination." He
    focused his eyes upon her. "This you shall do. Find whatever agency was responsible
    and destroy it. I shall leave you to your own devices regarding the appropriate
    manner of such a demise, but it is to be done with all haste. Additionally, you
    are to accelerate your campaign with all due haste, you must not let survivors
    spread words of hope and defiance." "Of course not," she agreed, understanding
    this point perfectly. It was her campaign, after all, though he had provided considerable
    "advice" to the plans. "Have I your leave to journey to the island in person then?"
    "Yes," the deathlord allowed, removing one barrier the Widow had long desired
    destroyed. "But you are not to reveal yourself. That time has not yet come." "As
    you command, my master," she accepted this with as much grace as she possessed.
    It was reasonable, and so far he had presented no punishment. She hoped to leave
    accordingly. This problem ought to be easy to solve. "Go then," The Mask of Winters
    commanded. "I leave this in your hands for now, Widow," he intoned. "Prove your
    competence against further problems, or be prepared for subsequent tasks suited
    to one of," there was a pause pregnant with one thousand hideous eventualities.
    "Lesser talents." "I hear and obey," She did not want to consider what those words
    portended, though one possibility immediately suggested itself. The Physician
    desired her, in more ways than one, but she would see him perform his experiments
    on his own flesh, rather than hers. It was a clear dismissal, and the widow scuttled
    out from the room. It was a motion lacking in grace, but one did not turn their
    back to a deathlord. Ever. Emerging into the hall she allowed a single steadying
    breath, not out of fear, never that, but simply to take in the suddenly less oppressive
    air. The proximity to such a nexus of power as her master was a draining experience.
    In the next moment she discovered she was not alone in the passage. Not that she
    was ever precisely alone here, where terrified ghosts swarmed steadily on various
    business, but she was in the presence of something more than those insignificant
    entities; an unexpected and unwelcome development. "Oh, so you"re the reason I
    had to wait then, Seven," a coy voice giggled from her side. The Widow declined
    to look at the speaker. No one, not even the Mask of Winters, referred to her
    as Seven. Only this insolent whelp dared. Fool miserable sadist, the Widow felt
    nothing but contempt for her erstwhile rival. A rabid dog on a leash you are and
    nothing more. The Widow walked past the murderous child known as the Maiden of
    Mirthless Smile without so much as a wave of an eyelash, casually ducking under
    the daiklave that swung in her face as a challenge. Imbecile, she thought. Even
    in a universe without purpose there are still some things known. Among those was
    the bare reality that the master of them both would destroy utterly any Deathknight
    who struck at another within his citadel. The Maiden"s bravado was pointless,
    and born of no reasonable source. It was well known that the brutal girl-killer
    hated the Widow simply because she felt their names placed one above the other.
    Such matters are madness itself, the Widow thought as always, but today added
    a sly smile. Perhaps, after I complete this mission that you, for all your potency
    in the martial arena, never could, I shall ask for your leash as my reward. Yes,
    she decided. She would enjoy that very much. It was nice to have a motive. Her
    task being imperative, she wasted no time in leaving the citadel, walking swiftly
    through the horrific remains of juggernaught, unseemly in its eternal death throes
    even to one such as she, before standing upon the wasted grounds of the once fine
    fields outside the city of Thorns again. Not far from the fallen behemoth waited
    her small retinue of immediate pawns. Not that they thought of themselves as such,
    but the Widow knew them in true fashion. All relationships eventually die, what
    use bonds not utilitarian in purpose? "Mistress, we welcome your return," Sereni,
    the Widow"s ghost-blooded maid, was the first to greet her. "Did the meeting go
    well?" The child-like half-dead woman wisely did not ask for details. "It went,"
    the Widow replied. Sereni was useful, mostly, and more than a maid besides, but
    for all her helpful talents it would not do to let her get too close. "Plans have
    changed, we make for the Field of Fallen Blades with all due haste." she stepped
    up into the black coach that was kept waiting, nodding to her driver. The ghost-blood
    hopped aboard only a moment before the team whipped into motion. "Summon Returning
    Burn Sereni," the Widow instructed. "I must relay commands." The maid had the
    advantage of being a modest necromancer, not powerful enough to be a threat, but
    providing her mistress with the resource of a few spells. As a result she was
    a valuable tool of coordination and travel. Of course it was not possible to summon
    up a ghost with sorcerous power while riding in the back of a carriage, but even
    the aborted attempt was sufficient to make it known to Returning Burn his superior
    desired his presence. The nemissary had tricks of his own to cover distance swiftly,
    and it took no more than an hour"s journey for him to appear. The Widow did not
    in practice travel with dead companions, but Sereni was part of the way there,
    and so it was possible for the nemissary to easily control her body when needed.
    Regrettably the maid would not remember anything said, which meant the deathknight
    was forced to take notes at times, an irritant, but the benefits outweighed the
    costs. The maid"s eyes rolled back into her head as the ghostly rider swarmed
    over her weakened grave-tainted soul, and she began to speak in a voice far from
    her own past blue lips. "You called mistress?" the nemissary questioned when he
    arrived, slightly challenging. They were not fond of each other. She could not
    like nemissaries, useful as they were. Jumping from body to body like that, it
    defies that natural order of things. They should not be able to endure so. Returning
    Burn"s reasons were far less cerebral. He hated the Widow because she had supplanted
    him, nothing more or less. "I am departing to the Field of Fallen Blades," she
    explained imperiously. "We are accelerating our plans. You must move troops into
    position accordingly. I shall be taking personal command on Thistles, there is
    a small matter to resolve there." "As you command mistress," the nemissary acknowledged.
    "But such a large movement will violate the terms negotiated with the Endlessly
    Virtuous Host," he snickered at the name, and even the Widow could not help but
    laugh at its ridiculousness. She had to admit this point. "I will renegotiate,"
    she decided. Those fools would not dare their recalcitrance against her in person.
    "Move the troops." The nemissary made a messy grin of Sereni"s delicate porcelain
    features. "By your leave," he enjoyed destruction. Too much, the Widow thought.
    It was a common failing of the dead, savoring bloodlust for the mere sensation
    of the killing. "Have you other instructions?" "Yes," The Widow did indeed have
    an idea he could implement. "Acquire some suitable bait for the monsters of the
    Sea of Shadows. The coastal shadowlands may be too small for anything practical,
    but a symbolic measure could be equally effective." "It may be difficult to find
    good candidates in Thorns mistress," her lieutenant cautioned, expressing a problem
    that had been growing for some time. "Purchase them from the Guild then," the
    Widow decided. "We might as well waste coin rather than energy." "As you command."
    "Go then," she dismissed the miserable ghost. He made a competent assistant, but
    she did not desire him gaining ideas of his own importance. He must believe she
    had not destroyed him when she took his place because it amused her, not because
    his skills remained necessary. It took Sereni a short while to recover from possession,
    long enough for the small party to arrive at the shore. The still, black waves
    of the Sea of shadows extended out from Thorns now, night had fallen. "Summon
    the vessel." The Widow commanded. So the ghost-blood sang, and her dirge brought
    forth a bone-hulled ship with sails of human skin. A small device, truly not more
    than a dinghy, but swift, serviceable, and warded against the dangers of that
    black water. The Widow followed Sereni aboard, bringing only her coachman, a nondescript
    man of many modest talents, and a scribe, a mute youth who had been trained to
    perfectly take her dictation. All were mortal, she had found the advantages of
    ghostly servants did not outweigh the drawback of properly functioning in only
    one of two essential realities. Mortal men had greater flexibility. The ship sailed
    at the necromancer"s will, and they set out for Thistles. The Widow felt a twinge
    of anticipation at the black shadows of the island"s high peaks in the far distance
    over the empty underworld air. I am done playing games with petty horse thieves,
    she thought with relish. My master reaches out his hand to claim another realm.
    It is not Thorns, she acknowledged. But it will be mine to claim. That any adulation
    her name might receive would be ultimately meaningless did not mean it would not
    be sweet. Chapter Notes So, canon characters, yes... Obviously the Mask of Winters
    is a canon character, and he"s a bit tricky to handle, being dead, insane, and
    of nigh-unfathomable power and intellect, so we take the dance lightly. Seven
    Seasons Widow is also, technically, a canon character. She is mentioned in CoTD:
    the Scavenger Lands as one of the Mask of Winter"s deathknights. That is the extent
    of her canon representation, so aside from the name I"m creating her more or less
    whole cloth. The Maiden of the Mirthless Smile (she of brief cameo appearance
    for the moment), is also a canon character and one considerably more developed.
    Her little rivalry with the Widow is my own invention, but it seems appropriate
    for someone of her level of sociopath. A few of the tricks involving Sereni and
    Returning Burn are predicated on ghost-blooded mutations. The spell used is canonical.'
  sentences:
  - '"And since the loss of Ghirlandaio," the man said the phrase as if it properly
    belonged to some kind of fantasy. Vernon wished he knew as well. Men in the 1st
    Armored had whispered something about a giant mobile gun that shattered the walls,
    but no one had any details. All that was known was the loss of the fortress so
    rapidly had crippled Gallian defensive planning in the north. "You"ve participated
    in the defense of five towns east of this position." "Yes sir," Vernon winced
    to recall five hideously brutal defeats. He"d done his best, and he thought everyone
    else had too, but whatever they were doing, it wasn"t working. "Am I correct in
    assuming you intend to participate in a sixth effort tomorrow morning?" The Lieutenant
    thought there was something odd in the Captain"s tone. "Yes sir." "Your dedication
    does you credit, soldier," Yolan marked another page in his paperwork. "Tell me,
    what do you think it will take to halt the enemy advance?" "Me sir?" Vernon questioned,
    not believing the Captain could possibly be asking a very junior lieutenant for
    advice. "Yes you," his superior replied irritably. "You have a great deal of experience
    with this enemy so far, so I was hoping you might have some worthwhile insights."
    "I see sir," Vernon thought about it for a moment, wondering what he could say
    this man would believe and whether he truly did understand anything about the
    Imperial force. "The enemy"s principle advantage is in mobile armor. Their formations
    have a far greater proportion of tanks and lancers than ours, and their armor-to-infantry
    coordination is probably superior. That"s what must be stopped, or they will continue
    to penetrate our defensive lines." "And how would you stop these coordinated armored
    formations?" the Captain prodded. "To win, we need to widen the front, if they
    continue to break our lines, the Imperials can present a mobile battlefield with
    short-ranged encounters, which favor their numbers and their heavier, less-accurate
    weaponry," Vernon had seen that already. We can beat them when we keep them at
    arm"s length, but in a fist fight, we lose. "If we could force the Imperial columns
    to disperse their advance along a wide defensive line I believe we could hold
    them back despite their numbers." "An astute analysis," Yolan finally raised his
    head to look at the Lieutenant. Vernon altered his initial assessment of the man,
    he did not have a strong bearing or much of a military presence, but he had a
    sharp, narrow gaze, and projected awareness. "There is one key problem, however."
    "And that is sir?" Vernon felt his heart sink. Was the Gallian army truly in a
    hopeless situation? He would fight on regardless, he vowed, but it would be better
    to have a real chance. "The numerical disparity in this region," the Captain explained
    with a slow shake of the head. "The Citadel at Ghirlandaio was designed to hold
    the northernmost portion of Gallia against invasion. The vast majority of our
    troops were posted to the south, and there is now a second Imperial column between
    this front and any concentration of reinforcements." So the war turns on the rapid
    fall of a single fortress, one accomplished before any but a few in Gallia had
    fired even a shot. It was a nauseating feeling of helplessness to recognize such
    a thing. "Do you intend to retreat then, sir?" Vernon asked, wondering what the
    options might be now, realistically. Could they give ground here and attain some
    kind of advantage elsewhere? "No, we cannot retreat," Yolan scowled. "Naggiar
    is behind us, nothing but wide plains between this point and Fouzen. There is
    no way to establish any kind of front on the plains; it"s too open. The Imperials
    will simply plow through any defense. You are correct Lieutenant, in that their
    armored formations must be stopped. I accept they cannot be halted permanently,"
    the Gallian"s face was murderous in its wrath. "But with the forces assembled
    here I intend to do so at least temporarily. There are many units deployed along
    the northern coast, those must be brought down to the fighting. Above all, we
    must delay this northern column as long as possible, so forces to the south can
    defeat the one below us." "But if we lack the troops to defend..." Vernon wondered
    where this was going. "We will attack," Yolan decreed with finality. "I have two
    regiments worth of the Regulars with me," he explained. "My own 11th and portions
    of the 12th, 9th, and 8th regiments equal in strength. Tomorrow, just before dawn,
    I intend to launch a counterattack against the enemy lines." A bold move, very
    bold, by Gallia let it work! Vernon thought silently, even as he did not believe
    it would. They will be swallowed up, whatever damage they do; the Imperial force
    is too massive. Nevertheless, he determined to support the effort with everything
    he could. "Do you have an assignment for me in this attack sir?" he requested.
    "Not precisely, but I do have assignment for you," the Captain"s look was deeply
    piercing, and devoid of warmth. "I have everything I need for my attack in the
    morning, but I do have a task for you. Lieutenant Marten, I am placing you in
    charge of the defense of Vlonen." "Sir?" Vernon was taken aback, unable to reply
    fully. "Even if our counterattack succeeds, and especially if it does not, the
    Imperials will attack the town," Yolan noted almost casually. "The town watch
    is in position of course, but there are now a large number of scattered survivor
    groups and volunteers that could be mustered into a force. You represent one of
    the only officers among them, in spite of your relative inexperience, and I believe
    you truly understand our circumstances. So, gather up these forces and deploy
    them to defend this town. That was not a request." "Of course sir," there was
    nothing else to say when given an order. Vernon felt woefully inadequate to the
    task; there were surely at least half a regiment"s worth of forces available,
    if a little light on materiel. Materiel, right, think practical. "What resources
    would I have available sir? I will need uniforms, lances, grenades, and, though
    I understand you perforce should mobilize all available armor for your attack,
    at least one tank for command purposes would be invaluable." "Take this to the
    regimental quartermaster," Yolan handed over a small slip of paper. "That is your
    authorization. I will see you get what you need from our reserves, I doubt we
    will be needing them much after tomorrow," a shadow descended over the Captain"s
    face. "I cannot say if there will be a tank available, unfortunately. I will absolutely
    require every last one of mine, but perhaps the Valkyria have a surprise or two
    in store." "Perhaps sir," Vernon wasn"t inclined to call upon beings of ancient
    myth for assistance. He could only hope and try to find something through ingenuity.
    "When is the attack to go forward sir?" "0515 tomorrow." "Then with your leave
    sir, I will get to planning, I would hope to get a few hours of sleep tonight."
    Vernon saluted, and when the Captain returned it, turned and marched out. He felt
    a crushing pressure spreading over him. I must try to save this town if the Captain
    fails, as he is most likely to. The Lieutenant wanted to be optimistic, he truly
    did, he wanted to see a triumph in the morning, but it was hard to see. This move
    was a great risk, and even success would bring only modest rewards at best. Quietly
    though he had to give the Captain credit for making the move. Two regiments could
    not stop the Imperial advance for long alone, attacking was the only real chance.
    Would I have chosen that plan, were I in command? He didn"t know. It was dark
    now, with the sky filled with tattered clouds, but the town of Vlonen was not
    dark. Ragnite lamps burned everywhere as the Gallian forces struggled to gather
    themselves for battle. After a few quick questions to a momentarily idle MP, Vernon
    determined where most of the survivors from the various ragtag defensive squads
    had been placed, a particular park on the west edge of town. Ignoring his own
    exhaustion as he walked through the town, the Lieutenant made plans. He needed
    to get a count first, that was step one. Step two would be to separate out them
    into something like manageable squads and appoint leadership. Step three, get
    to the quartermaster and find equipment. Step four; liaise with the town watch
    to determine needs. Step five, set up deployments and a retreat plan for tomorrow.
    Step six...he stopped. I"ll worry about step six if I"m still awake at that point.
    The Westside Park was filled with people. They were a sorry sight mostly, and
    few were even awake at this point, having chosen, wisely enough in the Lieutenant"s
    estimation, to collapse as soon as possible after being given a meal. Unfortunately
    this meant he needed to wake them up again. No doubt it would prove to be an unpleasant
    process. Thankfully, this was one of purposes for which MPs had been invented.
    "Rise and report! Stand to! Repeat, stand to!" at Vernon"s orders one of the MPs
    started marching through the park with a megaphone, while the other two of the
    trio who had been watching over things got the troops, watchmen, and volunteers
    into a rough semi-circle so they could be heard. There were many nasty looks on
    tired faces, but Vernon faced them without being intimidated. He scanned the group
    for those he recognized but found only a very few. Maia, that angry Darcsen athlete,
    stood at the far edge, in a small group of other Darcsens, isolated from the rest
    as usual. "Everyone!" Vernon called when they had all gathered and achieved something
    resembling silence. "This group will be called to assist in defending Vlonen during
    operations commencing tomorrow morning." He had no intention of revealing when
    the attack was planned; it would be all too easy for the Empire to plant a mole
    in a group of this kind, better to simply withhold information for now. "Per Captain
    Yolan"s orders I have been given command of this group. My name is Lieutenant
    Marten, and I expect all of you to be ready to fight for Gallia in her hour of
    need." The formalities observed, Vernon got to work. "You will be organized into...''
    he made a quick estimation of the total number. About one-hundred and twenty all-told,
    over half a regiment indeed. "Six squads. To that end everyone must fall out by
    specialty. Scouts!" he pointed to one location. "Shocktroopers! Anyone with Lancer
    training or experience!" They would need ever man or woman able to wield a lance,
    he wasn"t about to be picky. "Engineers! Snipers! And Tank Crew!" The result was
    not what he had hoped, but about what he expected. Damn, I really need more lancers.
    Concentrated anti-tank fire was essential to mounting a coherent defense, especially
    since they lacked towed guns. Only four men claimed to be tank crew, and since
    Vernon would only need one for a driver, the others would be pressed into service
    as scouts. "Those with prior military experience raise your hands!" he next ordered.
    The result was a tepid signaling from a mixed group of middle-aged men and women,
    EWI veterans signaling their service. Not what I want, but I need squad leaders
    of some kind. "Anyone who held Sergeant"s rank or higher step forward." This netted
    four, three men and a woman. The Lieutenant gave each one a quick once over, and
    then, satisfied he was not likely to better, assigned them each command of squads
    one through four. I"ll command the 5th Squad myself, there"s no reason to pretend
    I"ll be able to properly coordinate this force as a Captain would. That left only
    the final squad. "Anyone who held the rank of Corporal step forward." Several
    responded to this call, for there had been a great many corporals in the old war,
    but one of the tank crewers, a man surely into his fifties, claimed the rank.
    Vernon approached the man. "Your service?" "Tank Commander in the 8th Guards Regiment
    during EWI," the man responded without much enthusiasm. "Hoped to never have to
    do this again." "War rarely conforms to men"s wishes," Vernon had no time for
    sympathy. "You have the 6th Squad." He gathered the commanders together, and one
    other. "Maia Serl, report!" Scowling, the Darcsen sulked over to the five veterans,
    by far the youngest in the group. "What is it you want?" she hissed. Whether she
    was offended at military attention, at the looks given her by non-Darcsens, or
    simply wished she was sleeping Vernon did not know, or particularly care. He knew
    her and that was sufficient. "You"re promoted to Corporal," he told her. "You"ll
    stand in for me to organize the 5th Squad while I visit the Quartermaster. You
    must each gather a squad together. One sniper, two engineers, five lancers, six
    shocktroopers, and six scouts. We won"t have enough lancers and engineers to fully
    meet that quota, so fill up any deficiencies with scouts. When I get back we"ll
    meet again to distribute gear. Understood?" "Yes sir," they answered, though Maia
    merely nodded, ignoring military procedure. He noted it, but there was no time
    to be irritated. The group of engineers included ten people, a widely variable
    group indeed of age and appearance, but Vernon saw one wore a much battered Gallian
    Regulars uniform, the only professional in the group. "You there, come here,"
    he motioned to the engineer. He was young man, surely not more than eighteen,
    with a ruffled mop of brown hair on a pinched, almost mousy face. His eyes were
    bloodshot from lack of sleep, and haunted by the horrors of warfare, but his bearing
    remained steady, if a bit slumped with exhaustion. "What was your unit soldier?"
    Vernon asked him. "2nd Battery Field Artillery, of the 1st Armored sir!" he managed
    a fairly proper salute. A boy from Ghirlandaio, amazing, Vernon was surprised.
    The 1st Armored had taken a hideous beating in that astonishing loss, and many
    of its troops had never come out of the doomed fortress. Of those that had, Damon
    had withdrawn the survivors rapidly. This youth has surely been separated from
    his unit for days. The 1st Armored was a glory-seeking unit, fast track to promotion.
    Half of them were noble fops toadying to Damon; the other half had real talent.
    Vernon"s eye surveyed the boy with a tight, scrapping assessment, trying to burn
    through to his core. He still carries his rifle with some pride, he didn"t shed
    his uniform, and, the Lieutenant noted this with unexpected realization, he"s
    not shooting disdain-filled glares at Maia. So, I think he"s the later group.
    You"d better be boy. "And your name Private? "John sir, John Standeth," it was
    not the name of any noteworthy noble family, and the boy did not sound as if he
    expected to be recognized. "How"d you end up here?" Vernon queried, seeking an
    answer to that small puzzle. "My squad got separated from the rest of the regiment
    at Ghirlandaio," John explained hesitantly. "We had to retreat to the north. We
    met up with the Sixth Light Infantry there, but the Imperials overran us at Karberry,
    and I"ve been traveling for two days to get here, I don"t know what happened to
    anyone from my unit sir." "Something we share then," he offered what little sympathy
    he possessed. "But I have orders for you. Get a map of the town from the MPs,
    and draft a set of defensive points for use by our squads on the eastern side.
    Once I return from the Quartermaster we will put together a work detail to construct
    them. Simple plans only, we must be able to be in position by 0500 tomorrow morning."
    "Sir I"m not qualified to..." John tried to protest. "Look around you solider,"
    Vernon mercilessly cut him off. "Do you see anyone more qualified? You"re a trained
    engineer of the Gallian army. The rest are confused survivors, old veterans, and
    straggling volunteers. You will do this. Failure is not to be considered. Am I
    clear?" "Yes sir, very clear, I"ll get right on it!" he practically scurried off.
    I hope I"ve made the right choice; the Lieutenant had a cold feeling in his stomach
    as he watched the engineer"s shaking backpack. Lives would be saved or lost depending
    on that boy"s decisions. He"d have rather done it himself. I"m an engineer too,
    I was trained for this sort of thing, but there"s no choice now, I have to handle
    other responsibilities. Defensive positions wouldn"t mean much if they had no
    guns, after all. It was time to go and see the quartermaster, only there was one
    last thing to be done first. Three tank crewers remained, and Vernon was determined
    to choose the best of them as his driver. One man wore the uniform of a regular,
    but would not meet his eyes as he passed a deliberate gaze over the trio. The
    second was an older man, balding, and the Lieutenant guessed he was a veteran
    who was used to the older tanks, not a proper choice for driving any newer models.
    The last was a young woman, probably even younger than John the engineer, and
    she wore the uniform of the Gallian militia. A pretty girl, Vernon couldn"t help
    but notice. The militia uniform was far more flattering to women than the one
    worn by the regulars. She was small of frame, typical of tank drivers, with a
    demure posture and an inherent country-flavored grace about her, very Gallian.
    She possessed a heart-shaped face offset by a long wave of blond hair almost to
    the waist, bound in a tight ponytail. "Your unit?" he demanded, pushing distractions
    away forcibly. He did not trust the militia uniform; the quality of those forces
    was dangerously random. She managed a reasonable facsimile of a salute. "Squad
    3 of the 12th Regiment sir!" "And your duties?" "Tank driver sir!" her voice was
    crisp, clean, and airy. "You"ve no tank with you, how did you survive?" It was
    perhaps a cruel query, but Vernon knew the destruction of a tank almost universally
    claimed the lives of those inside. "We took a lance to the treads in Hedmer, north
    of here, and couldn"t move," her voice dropped, sad memories crossing over her
    face, bathing it in shadow. "The Imperials were overtaking us, so the commander
    ordered us out and to light off the ammunition to destroy her. We did, but he
    took a sniper shot leaving the cupola. I"ve lost my unit ever since." "Don"t worry
    about your unit," he responded immediately. Dwelling on the past would not benefit
    any of them now, not if they intended to survive. "You"re my tank driver now.
    Come with me to the quartermaster"s." "Yes sir!" "Everyone else, get to work!"
    Vernon bellowed as he turned and left. As always, there wasn"t enough time. Well
    then, he thought, I"ll have to find a way to make some. Lost in his thoughts and
    walking at speed, Vernon barely realized the young tank driver had asked him a
    question. "What was that?" he muttered in embarrassment. "I"m afraid I didn"t
    catch it." "I was just wondering if we"ll really get a tank sir?" the blond girl,
    and Vernon had to consider her a girl, for she might well be ten years his junior
    for all her allure, wondered. "I thought the Regulars needed every one." "We shall
    have to see," he admitted, though he hated it. I need a tank! I cannot lead screaming
    into a wireless on foot! "I intend to press hard for everything I can get from
    the quartermaster. There is no point in not using material now, the Imperials
    will surely drive us back, and then we"ll simply have to destroy it." She nodded,
    understanding his point, and Vernon began to consider this one might be a capable
    soldier. "What is your name?" he asked, realizing he had not requested it previously.
    "Yvonne Kellens sir," the militia member told him, a surprisingly exotic name
    for someone with such typically Gallian looks. The Lieutenant filed the name in
    his mind, and then brought all his concentration back on the battle that was sure
    to come with the quartermaster. Ultimately it was a battle he won easily, thanks
    to Captain Yolan. There had been very strict instructions sent that no surplus
    was to be maintained and all reserves to be mobilized. Rifles, grenades, and lances
    were all available if more than sufficient numbers. There was even a fair amount
    of uniforms, blast suits, and field kits for the various troops, something of
    great use in the retreat Vernon was almost certain to be leading if he lived to
    seen noon tomorrow. Heavy equipment, however, failed him. Yolan had taken every
    towed gun and filed piece available. Vlonen would be defended by unsupported infantry
    alone. The Lieutenant did not begrudge the Captain this choice, the counterattack
    would need every resource to have any chance of success, but he felt like he was
    fighting without an arm with any support. The premonition of helplessness was
    abetted slightly when Yvonne managed to find them a tank. She got so excited over
    this? That was the first thought to flow through Vernon"s mind when he saw the
    tank, buried among a group of transport vehicles warehoused by the Regular"s in
    Vlonen"s small depot. The blond militiawoman had been positively bubbly with excitement.
    The Lieutenant did not share the sentiment. An Imperial Light Tank, he analyzed,
    looking at it. It"s not a modern one though, and it"s a very old model, probably
    one of the design testers Gallia bought a decade ago. The Principality had purchased
    sample tanks from both the Empire and the Federation, ostensibly for comparison,
    before deciding on modifying Federation designs for political reasons. No mortar
    turret and the gun is a smaller bore than is now standard by a few millimeters.
    The armor is actually heavier, but there"s corresponding price in mobility. Worse,
    Vernon knew the smaller gun meant non-standard ammunition. The'
  - 'chuckled and looked at Hoss. He certainly was a kind hearted guy and he definitely
    was attractive. I just gave Laurie a look and she burst out laughing in a giddy
    way that caused everyone to look at her like she was crazy. "Sorry," she apologized
    sheepishly. I shook my head in disbelief. Just then there was a knock on the door.
    Ben excused himself and got up to answer it. I heard him talking with someone.
    "Hello Sheriff, what can I do for you?" Ben asked. "Hello Ben. May I come in?"
    a male voice asked. "Sure," I heard footsteps coming toward the dining room area.
    We stopped eating and looked up as a man dressed in a sheriff"s uniform removed
    his hat out of politeness. Everyone was watching him as he turned to Ben. "Ben,
    I"ve had a few complaints from the townspeople," he said gravely. "What type of
    complaints?" Ben asked concerned. "That you"re harboring a witch," he said glancing
    in my direction. Ben turned around at me. Immediately, I cast a look at Hoss before
    turning my eyes onto the sheriff. "Who? Ellie? She"s not a witch. She"s our cousin,"
    Ben said, lying. "I"m sorry Ben, but I have to take her in," Sheriff said solemnly.
    "Now wait a minute," Adam said firmly as everyone stood up now. My whole body
    was shaking with fear. "What makes her a witch? Her hair? It"s just her color.
    That doesn"t mean she"s practicing witchcraft!" "I have a few witnesses that say
    they saw her flying on a broomstick and casting charms. Mr. Andersons" ranch is
    in danger. The cattle are sick and they swear that Ellie is responsible for it,"
    Sheriff said. Little Joe snorted with laughter at the broomstick comment but when
    they looked at him, his expression turned serious. "They even swear the she cast
    a charm on Hoss," "The only spell Hoss is under is love," Little Joe muttered,
    but Adam elbowed him in the gut. He winced and briefly doubled over. "There are
    too many people that claim they saw her and these are credible people Ben," the
    Sheriff said as he came over to me. I immediately clung to Hoss. Hoss scowled
    at the Sheriff and refused to let him near me. "Hoss please I have to take her
    in," the Sheriff said exasperatedly. "If you take her in you"re going to take
    me in as well," Hoss said angrily his blue eyes flashing dangerously. Somehow
    the Sheriff managed to grab me and he pulled my arms behind me and tied my wrists
    together in an early "handcuff". He began leading me toward the front door. "Ellie
    no!" Sam cried as she began sobbing. Adam put his arms around her and Laurie went
    to run after me but Little Joe did the same to her. Hoss was angry as was Ben.
    "She is not a witch!" Ben said as he followed the Sheriff outside to a wagon pulled
    by two bay horses. On the side of the wooden wagon was the sheriff"s shield and
    the words VIRGINIA CITY SHERIFF around the perimeter. The sheriff placed me in
    the back and then climbed up and picked up the reins. He leaned toward Ben. Hoss
    was standing beside Ben. I could tell he wanted to fight the sheriff badly but
    was restraining himself because he knew that would only cause more trouble. I
    looked at him, completely frightened. "I"m sorry Ben but you either provide solid
    proof that she"s not a witch, or she"s going to be hung early tomorrow morning,"
    the sheriff said and flicked the reins. The horses began trotting and the wagon
    began pulling away from the front entrance to the Ponderosa. "Help me Hoss," I
    called as tears formed in my eyes. I watched until the Ponderosa began getting
    smaller and smaller. LAURIE. I was sobbing against little Joe as the wagon carrying
    Ellie finally pulled away and out of sight. Hoss was completely loss and I even
    saw tears forming in his blue eyes. Ben turned and faced us. "Don"t worry. I won"t
    let them hang her," He said feverishly. "What are we going to do Pa?" Adam asked
    him, keeping his arms around Sam. "First, we got to find those so called "witnesses"
    and find out why they"re accusing an innocent girl," Ben said forcefully. "And
    what if they won"t recall their claim?" Hoss demanded. "Ellie will die." "Then
    I"ll turn to the last resort," Ben said raising an eyebrow. "Our friends." Realization
    dawned on Little Joe"s and Adam"s faces. "Let"s get going," Ben said. "You two
    girls stay here. We"ll be back with Ellie I promise." Joe gave me a kiss on the
    cheek as did Adam to Sam. Hoss looked out of place as they headed toward their
    horses and mounted them. Shortly, they took off after the wagon. ELLIE. Once the
    sheriff pulled into town, the people began booing and throwing stuff at me. Pebbles,
    tomatoes and God knows what else. I felt a tomato hit me in the face and the smashed
    remnants slid down to the front of my face. The Sheriff pulled in front of his
    office and hopped out of the large bench like seat. He came around and helped
    me down. A man approached him. "Why are you putting her in a jail cell sheriff?
    She needs to be burned at the stake!" he said throwing me a nasty look. The Sheriff
    raised a hand and spoke, while he kept one hand tightly on my wrists to keep me
    from running. "I gave the Cartwright"s the choice. Either they provide proof that
    she"s not a witch, or she dies in the morning," he said. "Why not now!" A woman
    called. That got several approved cheers as another tomato hit me in the chest.
    The front of my nightgown was already stained with the tomato juice and remnants
    and dirt. The sheriff shook his head. "No. They have to provide proof first that
    she isn"t. If they can"t then we know she really is a witch," he said. "But that
    doesn"t mean you can"t have fun with her first." He threw me down onto the ground.
    I landed on my stomach face down in the mud. It had rained earlier in the afternoon
    and the entire ground was muddy. A bit of mud splashed up onto my face and shoulders.
    Someone let out a whoop and I felt hands lifting me off the ground. A rough man
    gripped the back of my hair and pulled me against him. "Well now witchy, you"re
    in no predicament to throw any curses at us. Your life is in our hands now," the
    man smirked. I glared at him and he threw me to the ground again. Someone tied
    rope around my waist and then tied the other end to the horn of the western saddle.
    Another man climbed into the saddle and prepared to kick the horse into motion,
    to drag me behind it through the mud. I had tears running down my face as the
    horse bolted and I was dragged a few feet behind a grey horse. My abdomen was
    being dragged against the dirt. I was screaming. Suddenly, a loud gunfire went
    off causing everyone to stop in their tracks. The horse stopped and so did I.
    Through a dirt and mud splattered face, I saw the four Cartwright men sitting
    atop their horses. Ben was holding a gun aimed up at the sky. They looked absolutely
    murderous. Abraxis Chapter Five-The Rescuers "Let her go right now," Ben demanded
    angrily, slipping his gun into its holster. "Stay out of this Cartwright," the
    man on the horse snapped. "You poke your noses into too many people"s business."
    "This is my business," Ben retorted in a firm and angry tone. "She is a member
    of our family." "You"re lying," The man said smugly. "We know your entire family
    and this wench isn"t one." "Watch your mouth Andrew Jameson," Hoss snapped at
    him, as his black horse snorted and shifted his hindquarters a bit. "Untie her
    right now," Ben repeated. The man on the horse smirked as he kicked his horse
    into motion again and I was dragged through the mud, horse manure and water puddle.
    Already a hanging station had been setup and he headed toward that. Once he reached
    it, he dismounted the gray horse and untied the rope around my waist. By now I
    was soaked. Mud clung to every part of my body. I had mud on my cheeks, caked
    in my hair, and it ran down my bare legs and onto my bare feet. I reeked of horse
    manure as well. The man named Andrew dragged me up the stairs and placed me underneath
    one of the nooses. He swung the noose around my neck and faced the Cartwright"s,
    who now rode up and stopped directly in front of the platform. "Don"t lie to us,
    Cartwright. This wench is no one to you. She"s not a member of your family is
    she?" Andrew demanded. Ben hesitated before answering. "No," A series of gasps
    went around. Andrew smirked. "So why is so important to you? Why do you care about
    her? Clearly she has put a spell on the entire Cartwright family!" I stood, sobbing
    and feeling the cool afternoon breeze whipping my mud caked hair back over my
    shoulders. The noose was heavy around my neck and shoulders now as I stared out
    at them. "She"s important to my son, Hoss," Ben said at last. "He cares for her."
    "How touching," Andrew mocked. "She"s still a witch! Where is your proof she isn"t
    one?" "Just because she"s different looking than the rest of you you"re going
    to label her a witch?" Adam asked angrily. "That"s not answering my question.
    Clearly you have no proof," Andrew smirked and then pushed me off the edge. The
    noose tightened around my throat, putting pressure on my esophagus. My legs dangled
    over the ground, a good 20 feet or so. Out of blurry eyes I saw a shape lunge
    forward. I was struggling to breathe but it was nearly getting impossible now.
    The rope was getting tighter around my neck. Suddenly, I felt the pressure being
    released and I felt myself drop onto a horse and strong but gentle arms were around
    me. I heard gunfire go off as well as I heard the thundering of hooves. As my
    vision cleared, I realized that I was sitting across a saddle on a horse in front
    of someone. It was Hoss. My head was resting against his shoulder, my legs dangling
    over the side of the horse and saddle. The rope was still around my neck, but
    it had been cut. It hurt to breathe and I coughed. Hoss rode over to the rest
    of his family. Ben leaned over. "Ellie are you alright?" he demanded with a worried
    expression. On the right, I had Adam on his horse and Joe was on the left next
    to his father, who was on a pretty buckskin gelding. "Hurts...talk," I wheezed
    out. "She needs a doctor," Little Joe said worriedly. Ben nodded and then regarded
    the crowd. "As for the rest of you, I will seriously be ashamed," Ben said angrily
    to the crowd as Hoss turned his horse around and we galloped back to the Ponderosa.
    Hoss carried me into the house and as soon as Laurie and Sam saw me, they screamed
    and sobbed. Hoss placed me on the couch. Just as he went to straighten up after
    leaning over me, I gently put a hand on his arm. "Saved...me," I choked out. Hoss
    remained leaning over me until Ben gently ushered him back. "I called Doc Brennan.
    He"ll be here any moment," Ben said as he turned to Sam. "Get a damp cloth. I"ll
    try and get some of this mud and manure off her." Sam nodded but panicked, she
    ended up crashing into one of the walls until Adam grabbed her and the two of
    them went and got it. Ben sat on the edge of the couch beside my thigh and easily
    slipped the rope off me. There was a burning ring around my neck from where the
    rope had cut into my skin. I coughed again. Adam and Sam came back with a damp
    cloth and Ben began gently wiping my face off. About 15 minutes later, there was
    knock at the door. "That"s the doc," Little Joe said as he answered it. A man
    dressed in a black suit and tie carrying a black case entered. He headed over
    to me and Ben stood up and explained what happened. The doc shook his head in
    disbelief as he began checking me over. When he was done he turned to everyone.
    "Will she be okay doc?" Hoss asked swallowing. The doc nodded. "Luckily yes. From
    the position of that rope, it would"ve snapped her neck, but it was a miracle.
    Had you not saved her when you did, she would"ve died," Little Joe and Adam gave
    Hoss a praising pat on the back. "Right now her esophagus is just bruised, but
    in a few days she"ll be back to normal. I gave her a mild sedative," he said and
    Ben thanked him and showed him out of the house. Laurie and Sam leaned over me.
    I looked up at them upside down. "Look at it this way, Ellie. We can talk about
    you now and you can"t say squat," Laurie joked as happy tears filled her eyes.
    I reached up and went to swat her, but she ducked out of the way. "Alright, I
    think Ellie could use some rest," Ben said as he gave me a small white pill with
    some water. I took it and before long, I"d dozed off, voices jumbled until they
    vanished completely. HOSS. Once Ellie had dozed off, Adam got a blanket and covered
    her with it. Some of the mud and manure had been cleaned off her face, but her
    nightgown was still stained. I watched her sleeping form and then turned to Pa.
    From Adam"s and Little Joe"s expressions, they were thinking the same thing I
    was. "How"d you know Hoss liked Ellie?" Adam asked Ben curiously. Pa"s dark eyes
    twinkled. "I might be an old man but that doesn"t mean I can"t tell when someone
    is in love," Sam was standing next to Adam, and Laurie was standing next to Little
    Joe. Pa looked at them. "Because you three all have the same expressions," he
    continued grinning. I returned my eyes onto Ellie"s pretty face. She looked so
    peaceful like that, with the exception of the rope burn around her neck. "I"m
    going to have you three take turns keeping an eye on Ellie and Hoss, you will
    take the first watch," Pa said. I nodded. Everyone headed off to do their own
    thing as I sat on the edge of the couch where Pa had been sitting and leaned in
    a bit, my arm over her right knee. Her streaked hair was caked with mud and horse
    manure. I reached over gently and pulled a thick wad from her hair. Around eight
    o"clock, Ellie woke up and spied me sitting there. She broke into a huge grin
    and to my surprise, she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. Her
    chin was resting on my shoulder. I slowly wrapped my arms around her. "You saved
    me didn"t you?" she asked in a watery and strained voice. "Pa said we weren"t
    going to let anything happen to you," I said quietly smiling a bit. Ellie released
    me from the hug and to my surprise, gave me a kiss on the cheek. She laid back
    down again and studied me. "Why couldn"t you tell me you liked me?" She asked
    in a soft voice as her blue eyes studied me. I rubbed the back of my neck before
    answering. "I guess I figured you"d like Joe or Adam more," I said slowly. She
    looked shocked. "And why would that be?" "I wasn"t sure you"d like someone like...me,"
    I finished lamely. Ellie looked at me like I was mad. "That"s ridiculous," She
    said dismissively. "You"re a great guy. And I feel the same way toward you." She
    smiled a bit. I looked at her surprised, but highly pleased. I gently took her
    hand in mine. ELLIE. Hoss gently took my hand in his. I dozed off again. In the
    morning, I awoke to find Ben sitting there, as it was probably his shift. He saw
    me and grinned at me. "Morning Ellie. Are you feeling better today?" he asked.
    "Yes a little," I admitted as I found speaking wasn"t that hard now and my voice
    was starting to sound like its normal self again. As I stared at everyone gathered
    around the table, something hit me like a brick. We were really on the Ponderosa,
    the Cartwright"s were real, I"ve fallen in love with one of them, and so have
    Sam and Laurie. We have a home now. I felt happy tears forming in my eyes but
    also fear. Hoss looked up and immediately spied my expression. He quickly got
    up and came over to me worriedly. He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "What"s
    wrong Ellie?" At that everyone looked up. "I"m happy," I said as a few tears slid
    down my cheeks. "But also, I"m afraid." "Afraid? Of what?" Little Joe asked softly.
    "That I"ll wake up and realize this is only a dream," I said as I began pacing.
    "That none of this ever happened! That I..." my voice trailed off as I looked
    at Hoss. "Fell in love with someone who doesn"t exist." The Cartwright"s looked
    confused as they looked at each other. "But we exist, Ellie. So why are you worried
    hun?" Ben asked confused. "No!" I sobbed now frustrated as I dug the heels of
    my palms into my temples. "This is a TV show called Bonanza! Your just characters
    in it!" I sobbed looking at them now. Sam looked at Laurie alarmed. "Ellie, they"re
    real. You know it," Laurie said with a concerned expression on her face. "It"s
    not real!" I yelled. With that , I spun around on my heels and fled from the house.
    I could hear the shouts behind me and I heard everyone chasing after me. I ran
    through the woods, ducking every once and a while feeling the branches whacking
    at my face, causing cuts to form. After a while, I stopped running and just collapsed
    on my hands and knees, staring at the dead leaf strewn ground digging my fingers
    into the soft damp earth. The place smelled of damp earth and woods. My hair fell
    forward as I sobbed. I heard boots crunching over the leaves behind me. I heard
    the thunder booming in the distance and it began raining heavily. The rain poured
    down, causing my nightgown to stick to my body like a wet suit. My hair was clinging
    to my head like a helmet. I sensed someone beside me, also on their knees. It
    was Little Joe. I felt his hand on my wet back as I heard several more people
    come up behind me. Someone was on my left now. Hoss. I continued to sob, my tears
    mixing with the rain water that rolled off my face. My fingers continued to dig
    into the now wet earth. "What"s wrong?" Little Joe asked worriedly to someone
    behind me. "She"s afraid that this is too good to be true," Sam"s voice said behind
    me. "That since Hoss is the first guy she really fell in love with, tomorrow it
    will be gone." "But it won"t Ellie," Joe said softly next to me, leaning in. "We"ll
    still be here." "Joe"s right," Hoss said next as he too put his hand on my back.
    "We"ll be here tomorrow, and the next day and the next...we"re not going anywhere."
    Sobbing I eventually turned and pressed my face into the front of Hoss" already
    soaked shirt. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I felt his own
    arms slowly encircling me as he leaned into my embrace. I felt Joe rubbing my
    back affectionately. "I think it"s best if we get out of this rain," I heard Bens"
    voice say gently. Hoss helped me up and we all headed back into the house. Author"s
    Note: HEEYY! Hope you"re enjoying the story! Please gimme your thoughts on it!
    I love hearing them. xD Er OKAbraxis Chapter Six-Community Service Once inside,
    I was sat on the couch and a warm blanket was wrapped around me. I pulled it tighter
    around me and snuggled into it. Everyone was seated around me. Ben was sitting
    across from me, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs, hands clasped
    over his knees. "Why on earth did you run out into the storm?" He asked in a fatherly
    tone. He had a concerned expression on his face. Some of the damp strands of my
    hair clung to my cheeks. Hoss was sitting beside me with one arm around my shoulders.
    I still felt the tears forming and rolling down my cheeks as I turned my face
    toward the ceiling in an anguished irritated way. "Because it always ends up being
    too good to be true," I finished in a shaky voice. I returned my eyes onto Ben.
    "I had a crush on this guy a few years ago. He worked in the deli. Sam and Laurie
    thought he was flirting with me, and everyone said that he liked me. Turned out
    he was married. I ended up feeling like a complete ass. That is a feeling that
    I never want to feel again." "But Ellie, Hoss isn"t married," Little Joe said
    softly. "He really does care for you." I turned my red splotchy eyes onto Joe.
    "That"s my point. I"ll probably wake up tomorrow and this"ll all be a dream,"
    I said in a strained voice. "I highly doubt it," Adam said gently. "I think it"s
    time for everyone to head to bed now." Laurie and Sam came over and hugged me
    before everyone headed up to bed. I turned to Hoss. "Can you stay with me? So
    at least when the dream ends it"ll be fresh in my memory," I said. "Sure," Hoss
    said. I snuggled up against him, with my head resting on his chest. I soon dozed
    off. I felt warm sunshine on my face and opened my eyes. I was still snuggled
    up against Hoss. He was asleep as well. I stretched and sensing my movement, he
    immediately woke up. "Still think this is a dream?" he asked grinning. I had to
    admit, finally, it wasn"t. I shook my head and beamed at him. He chuckled and
    hugged me tightly. I returned the hug finally feeling happier then I had in a
    long time. "Come on let"s get breakfast," Hoss said eagerly. We entered the dining
    room and everyone looked at me expectantly. "Ok so it"s not a dream," I said shrugging
    but was grinning. Everyone grinned and chuckled. A knock came at the door. I froze
    clutching my fork. The last time there was a knock at the door, it was the Sheriff.
    Ben got up to answer it. I heard the sheriff"s voice again. "Oh no," I said frantically
    looking for a route out of there. "I"m not letting him take me again." Hoss gently
    but firmly grabbed my arm, restraining me from movement as Ben appeared with the
    sheriff again. I was like a cat trapped in a cardboard box until Ben held up his
    hand and I watched warily. "He"s not here to take Ellie. He feels really bad and
    had come to apologize to her," Ben said. The sheriff nodded and removed his hat
    as he began speaking. "Miss Ellie I"m really sorry about that. I should"ve known
    that what they were saying was nearly impossible, plus none of us had really been
    east, so we don"t know how they dress," he said. "It"s fine," I said. "He has
    Andrew working "community service" for what he had done," Ben explained. "What
    sort of community service?" Joe asked. "Hauling horse manure, since he loves dragging
    things so much," the Sheriff said with a straight face. "Eh no offense ma"am."
    He said'
  - If you thought that the Return of the Living Dead series couldn't get any worse
    than the pointless ORDINAL sequel , you'd be right . While this is still an awful
    , stupid mess ; at least it's a ( slight ! ) improvement over DATE offerings ;
    but of course , that isn't saying anything . Quite why someone has had the bright
    idea to resurrect a series that was never massively popular anyway is anyone's
    guess ; and the fact that the resulting movies are a complete waste of film stock
    aptly shows what a bad idea it was . The subtitle , ' Rave to the Grave ' , should
    be enough to put any sane movie-goer off seeing this film . . . but anyway , this
    time the stalwart bunch of teens that always inhabit this kind of movie are having
    fun getting stoned off their faces with a new drug . ' ORG ' will get you high
    . . . but it will also turn you into a brain eating zombie . It doesn't take long
    for the whole school to be infested with zombies ; and the rave that they've all
    been looking forward to may well turn out to be what it's name suggests ; a rave
    to the grave . ORG , the genius behind ORG , is in the director's chair for this
    film , and gives us a tour-de-force of forgettable direction once again . The
    film uses dreary nu-metal trash for its soundtrack far too often ; as if the rest
    of the film wasn't enough of a turn off on its own . The zombie design is nothing
    to write home about , although in fairness ; it's not the worst I've ever seen
    . There is a zombie in the movie that seems like a nod to the ORDINAL zombie in
    the original movie , which would have been nice if this film wasn't a pointless
    load of crap . The reason why this entry in the series is ever so slightly better
    than the ORDINAL sequel is because it takes in more of the humour that the Return
    of the Living Dead series is notable for . The humour isn't funny really ; but
    at least the film acknowledges its roots somewhat . Most of the cast from the
    ORDINAL film return , and basically do what they did in that one ; i . e . fail
    to make an impression . To be honest , I can't believe I wasted time on this after
    wasting time on part CARDINAL . My only advice where this film is concerned is
    simple ; ignore it !
- source_sentence: "\uFEFFThe world we live in is not as it seems. I, James White,\
    \ write this document so that others may be made aware of what I have experienced\
    \ and know of the dangers that lurk beneath our limited perception of \"reality\"\
    . Whether you believe me or not, dear reader, is up to you. I only ask that you\
    \ read what I write with an open mind since I write, not for my own gain, but\
    \ to warn you of what I can only describe as \"pure evil\".\nI had never heard\
    \ of the \"Cult of Cthulhu\" before I began university in the late summer of 2012.\
    \ I was only eighteen years old, an atheist, and dogmatically pursued scientific\
    \ understanding and knowledge. At that time, I was not in the least bit interested\
    \ in weird cults and other religious movements, which I simply dismissed as primitive\
    \ superstition. Had I but known what I would encounter, I would have burnt the\
    \ science textbook, prayed to God for the strength not to crumble into insanity\
    \ and got as far away from that university as I could!\nThe strange happenings\
    \ started less than two months into my first term. I had been put into student\
    \ accommodation and shared a corridor with four other boys and two girls. I had\
    \ got to know my flatmates very well until all of a sudden, one of the boys by\
    \ the name of Jonathan Mears disappeared. This wasn't looked upon as weird at\
    \ first since Jonathan was the quiet type anyway and often spent long hours alone\
    \ in his room. The suspicions arose however, when he hadn't shown his face for\
    \ three days. His absence was brought up one evening as we sat in a communal area.\n\
    \"He's probably just been very busy lately,\" my best friend, Jacob Shields, said.\
    \ \"You know Jonathan. When he sets his mind on something, he doesn't stop until\
    \ he's achieved whatever he's trying to do.\"\n\"Isn't it a bit strange though?\"\
    \ Annie Roberts, a lovely blonde girl from the room directly across the corridor\
    \ asked. \"I mean, he's in our corridor and we haven't seen him for ages. Not\
    \ even in the kitchen or lecture halls.\"\n\"It isn't like him to miss a lecture,\"\
    \ I agreed. Jacob merely waved these concerns away.\n\"If we haven't seen him\
    \ by tomorrow evening, we'll go to the reception and see what's happening,\" he\
    \ said cheerfully.\nBut Jonathan didn't show up the following day and, as planned,\
    \ my entire corridor went to the reception desk to ask if anything had happened\
    \ to him. The receptionist, an elderly lady, checked through the files on a computer\
    \ before looking up at us.\n\"I'm afraid he has left the university,\" she informed\
    \ us. \"He dropped out four days ago.\"\n\"Well there you go!\" Jacob exclaimed.\
    \ \"Nothing to worry about!\"\nBut there was something to worry about. Even though\
    \ I now had every reason to think that Jonathan was fine, I couldn't shake that\
    \ feeling of foreboding. He had seemed happy in university and was consistently\
    \ getting high marks so I resolved to check things out for myself.\nI waited until\
    \ 3:00 the following morning, and in the darkness, I tiptoed along the corridor\
    \ to Jonathan's room. Using a paperclip, I carefully picked the lock on his door\
    \ and let myself in. I closed the door behind me and switched on the light. The\
    \ sight that greeted me came as a huge shock. Clothes still lay on the floor,\
    \ the bed was made, books were still on the shelves and a laptop was still humming\
    \ gently on the cluttered desk. In short, it looked as though Jonathan was simply\
    \ out of the room. If he had gone home, why did he leave all his things behind?\
    \ And if he hadn't, where was he and why did the university records state that\
    \ he had? Deeply concerned, I left the room and returned to my own. I lay awake\
    \ in the darkness pondering the thoughts in my head and finally decided that I\
    \ needed to find out what had happened and that I would do so alone...\n"
  sentences:
  - '"I love you, too," Reese answers, sounding very sincere. Their mother, who is
    usually off on Saturday and therefore usually in bed, watches them indifferently
    as she prepares to work overtime. "Here comes the kiss," she says. "What?" asks
    Malcolm, turning about. "That is what you"re trying to invoke here, right? "Kiss
    and make up"? Well, let"s have it." When Malcolm turns back around, he is surprised
    to see Reese"s lips already starting to pucker. He hesitates, and starts to say
    it"s not a literal expression, but as had been done before, Reese kisses him before
    he can actually back out of it. "Nice. Very convincing. Now, listen. I"m going
    to work now, and I want you boys to leave the house at least enough for your father
    to come in, eat, and use the toilet. If he wants to spend all hours of the day
    in the backyard that"s his business, but there are some things I will not have
    him doing out there." The door shuts. Malcolm, recognizing that it seems phase
    one was a failure, prepares to defend it from Reese; their mother often plays
    it cool when things are really driving her nuts, after all, he"ll say. Reese,
    however, doesn"t seem to mind in the slightest that it hadn"t worked out as it
    was supposed to. He drops onto the couch like a bag of bricks and turns on some
    Saturday morning cartoons. Phase two: Being more romantic Sunday, 0730 hours.
    Phase two turns out to be if not successful then at least less of a failure. When
    she sees Reese walking with a tray (which, through the simple virtue of being
    in their house, has lost a leg) filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a cup of
    orange juice, Lois sticks out her arm, catching him right in the throat. Miraculously,
    aside from a drop of juice sliding down the side of the glass, everything stays
    in place. "What are you doing?" "Bringing Malcolm breakfast in bed," Reese responds
    indignantly. He ducks her arm and continues on his way. Lois seethes silently,
    glaring at Reese"s retreating back. With one of Malcolm"s textbooks shoved in
    place of the broken leg, Reese sets the tray down on a cluttered desktop. He walks
    quietly over to his bed, where Malcolm is still sleeping with one leg stuck over
    the edge. Reese smiles down at him fondly. He punches Malcolm square in the chest
    with all the force he can muster. Malcolm reels up with a sharp, wheezing inhale.
    Reese giggles madly. Without waiting to regain his lost air, Malcolm rushes out
    breathlessly, "What"d you do that for?" "Breakfast." In his sleep hazed mind,
    Malcolm forgets how their mother hasn"t cooked anything for them in a week, how
    he"s been existing mostly on cereal, "How come Mom didn"t--" "I made it." When
    Reese returns with the tray, Malcolm slides over so they can sit together. He
    sniffs the food. Even though it"s simply because it smells wonderful, when Reese
    looks at him quizzically, Malcolm"s compelled by the voice in his head that always
    tells him to prove his intelligence; his wit; his worth, to say, "Smelling for
    almonds." "Almonds?" "It"s an identifying factor of cy--." A feeling of something
    akin to embarrassment stalls him. "You know what, never mind. Thanks a lot. This
    is really nice." "No problem." They smile at each other. For what could very well
    be the first time, they share food without someone being stabbed with a fork.
    :--:--:--: Sunday, 1730 hours. The breakfast worked so well at angering their
    mother that Reese suggests a date. At least, Malcolm thinks it"s because the breakfast
    went well. Their mom had sputtered at them hopelessly for a long while when they
    both came to the kitchen happy and sated, and finally out of desperation ripped
    into them for the fact that they aren"t supposed to eat food in their room; if
    there"s so much as one crumb, so help her--. But he can"t tell for sure; Reese
    just grabs his elbow, says, "Let"s go out." and Malcolm finds himself answering,
    "Okay." They decide the first place they ought to go is the movies. They can go
    together without much risk of being called "gay" and there"s a new horror movie
    that"s had enough buzz that they"ve heard about it even though they only pal around
    with Krelboynes--who need nightlights after seeing trailers for such films--and
    each other. All right, so it"s Reese. No date is going to be fun, but, hey, at
    least this way I get to go Dutch. They sit together nervously, being certain not
    to let their arms touch on the armrest or their feet bump into each other"s on
    the ground. They"re huddled up, twiddling their thumbs, with faces drawn tight,
    until finally, Malcolm ventures half-an-hour in, "Zombies. Come on. You don"t
    even have to run. Yeah, okay, you"re in a store and therefore potentially trapped,
    but you can out-walk them." Reese agrees emphatically. "I"d just get on one of
    the scooters they have for cripples and fat guys." They talk through most of the
    movie. They start by giving the protagonist murder tips and then somehow wind
    up on their own lives: "What"re you going to do after college?" Reese asks. "I
    dunno," Malcolm answers, taken aback by the interest, "I could do a lot, according
    to the aptitude test I took. Surgeon, aerospace technician. That"s the kind of
    thing I think Mom wants me to do, anyway." "What do you want to do?" "Something..."
    Malcolm"s voice catches on his embarrassment. He looks at Reese carefully. "Normal."
    He stares deliberately down at the screen. It"s unnecessary to elaborate how,
    if only due to pubescent dramatics, he"d prefer to be ostracized in a career he
    could easily excel in by those who strive for mere competence to the possibility
    of being ostracized in a career that stimulates his mind by those who should in
    all rights be his intellectual peers but could, in fact, be superior to him. It"s
    unnecessary to elaborate because Reese understands-- they have certain qualities
    that put them above everyone they know at school, positively or not, and they
    take refuge in being able to blame their being social misfits on everyone else"s
    jealousies and insecurities. To lose this would be to lose a safety net beneath
    a tightrope; although they could walk across unscathed, there is still the horrible
    possibility of falling to their deaths. Reese says he maybe wants to be a wrestler,
    so long as he doesn"t have to go against any girls. "Not a chef?" "I"d have to
    let other people decide what I"d make." Reese shakes his head. "Besides, it"s
    only really fun when I"m cooking for you guys." "You could piss in the food when
    customers tick you off." "You don"t get it." Reese stares at him for a while.
    "What"s some famous art guy?" "Michelangelo." Reese frowns at him. "A real one."
    "Raphael." "Dude, come on, I"m trying to make a point. I know the "Turtles", I"m
    not stupid. Name a real one." Malcolm quirks a grin at him. "Da Vinci," he says.
    He chuckles under his breath, in a way that"s surprisingly lacking patronization,
    when Reese accepts this one. "Okay, you wouldn"t draw mustaches on Da Vinci just
    because some kid in a museum"s a jackass." After a pause, he says accusatorily,
    "It would"ve sounded better if it didn"t take so long to say." He jabs Malcolm
    with his elbow for accentuation. "No," says Malcolm, settling into his seat. "No,
    I get it. That"s...I didn"t know it meant so much." "Yeah, well." They segue into
    a new conversation by Reese kicking Malcolm in the ankle and Malcolm reciprocating.
    They keep talking until they start to think they might know more about each other
    than they should; until the warmth in their stomachs and the shine in their eyes
    begins to feel misplaced, at which point Malcolm says he has an idea. They go
    to the bathroom and fill their bucket, still half-loaded with popcorn, with just
    enough hot water to achieve the consistency of chunky soup after the popcorn wetly
    expands. They then sneak back up into the balcony of the theater. Malcolm busies
    himself with breaking up the pieces of soggy popcorn by spinning his hand quickly
    in the bucket while they wait. When the next disgusting, bloody, throat-ripping
    part of the movie comes up (it takes just long enough to appear for the water
    in their bucket to go from hot to warm and the popcorn to be disintegrated to
    mush), Malcolm grins and urges, "Now, now." Reese clears his throat and starts
    to make the appropriate sounds. He gags first. The patrons below pay them no mind.
    He releases a series of several gasping, "bleugh" sounds next. One or two people
    look about, but the movie screen doesn"t offer them enough light to see. Finally,
    he lets loose the horrifying and recognizable sound of someone vomiting violently.
    Malcolm dumps the warm popcorn soup onto the heads of the viewers below. The chain
    reaction this sets off is one Malcolm and Reese thoroughly enjoy but is nonetheless
    also one they agree they"ll never to try to replicate. :--:--:--: Sunday, 2000
    hours The movie isn"t actually over, but it is for them. They"re laughing madly
    with arms thrown around each other"s shoulders, sickened and pleased. They offer
    each other assurances: It was on the other side of town and it was fun; Mom will
    never find out and it doesn"t really matter if they have a lifetime ban. "I"m
    hungry," says Reese, when they"ve wound down from hysterical to simply glowing.
    "Let"s get some food." He points to a well-lit restaurant-and-store combination
    that has a large sign reading "No shoes, no shirt, no service!'' out front, clearly
    indicating that it"s a classy place. A leftover snicker escapes Malcolm, tickling
    Reese"s ear. "I don"t have any more money." "That"s okay--" "No, if you pay that
    makes me the girl. I"ll owe you half." "An Indian burn and we"re even." Malcolm,
    grinning, pulls himself away and offers Reese his arm. Once his forearm is sufficiently
    reddened and aching, he says, "I thought you didn"t have any money? Do you already
    have a job? Did you think I"d make you pay the whole hundred to Mom this month,
    is that why you didn"t tell me? I wouldn"t do that.... Do you have a job?" he
    repeats. "Kind of." "I better get one, then. I guess I could tutor or something.
    What"re you doing?" "Don"t ask." "Is it legal?" "Knowing makes you an accomplice,"
    Reese says as he hauls them both across the street. They rush in front of several
    lanes of traffic to get to the restaurant on the other side. One horn"s still
    blaring at them when they"re safely across. Malcolm dismisses his brother"s last
    comment to scold, "Jesus, Reese, there was a crosswalk right there." He intends
    complete seriousness, but looking at Reese he can"t help himself; he lets loose
    a strange hiccupping laugh that fills his cheeks and is tearing out of his mouth
    before he can stop it, his forehead landing softly against Reese"s shoulder. He
    quiets. He realizes he can feel Reese"s breath in his hair. "You know, I don"t
    think so much when I"m with you," he says with appropriate absentmindedness, "It"s
    peaceful." He can"t really explain what it"s like being able to stop thinking
    when he"s talking to someone who excels in that regard. What it"s like to have
    a thousand thoughts cut down to two or three, a million voices all his own quieted
    enough so that he can actually hear himself think, so he doesn"t try. He just
    straightens up and walks with Reese into the restaurant. :--:--:--: Phase three:
    Winning over Dad Monday, 1600 hours The first step is to trap their father inside,
    where he can"t elude them. Monday after school while their mother"s out shopping,
    they ensnare Hal in a less literal way than Reese proposes ("We have that big
    net from the time Dad wanted to be a fisherman..."): Reese pulls a sweet-smelling
    pie from the oven, sets it on the kitchen table, and moves toward the back door.
    Malcolm sets the fan--which is missing two of its five blades from that time he,
    Dewey, and Reese spent an afternoon sticking various body parts between the slots--
    behind the pie, making sure it faces the back door as well as it can. He makes
    sure the extension cord is securely attached between fan and outlet. Reese nods
    at him. Malcolm nods back. The door is yanked open and the fan is clicked on.
    Reese hides behind the door while Malcolm makes a scrabbling dash for the living
    room. Almost the second after they"re securely hidden, Hal"s head pokes in through
    the door. He looks carefully left; right. He creeps in, eyes on the pie, his nose
    sniffing, his hands held in front of his chest as though he is attempting to personify
    a mouse. He rushes stealthily to the pie. The door slams shut. Hal wheels about,
    spotting Reese. With a yelp, he spins back around to make a getaway out the front
    door. Malcolm blocks his escape. Hal spins about one or two more times, then stops,
    letting loose the exclamation, "Oh, damn it!", accentuated with a stomp of his
    right foot, to no one in particular. Hal slumps into the nearest chair, his left
    arm lying flat and his right elbow propped on the table with his hand blocking
    his eyes from view. "Dad," Malcolm says. He reaches across the table to pull Hal"s
    arm down flat on it. Hal"s other arm springs up immediately, the left hand taking
    over for the right to cover his eyes. Malcolm sighs but lets go. After a long,
    silent minute, Hal"s right hand creeps toward the center of the table... Reese
    smacks his hand. "No pie until you talk to us." Hal lets out a tortured groan.
    "Dad, we figured we"d tell you...We were making it all up," Malcolm says. "That"s
    fantastic!" Hal brightens immediately. "Oh, I"m so happy. I just knew you boys
    couldn"t be--" "We were making it up. We"re not now. We were just trying to get
    Mom mad to start with, but the more time we spent together, the more we realized...we
    weren"t faking." Hal"s face falls. To his credit he only allows out a single sad
    whimper before he manages to collect himself. "You know, it"s a cruel world out
    there. It"s a bully. It"ll sneak up and steal your lunch money with the slightest
    provocation. Now, you boys have had it pretty good; you"ve always had some redeeming
    quality that kept the world from pantsing you and pushing you in the ladies" locker
    room, too. But at some point...you"re just asking for it. Don"t you--don"t you
    even care about that?" No response from his sons. Hal continues, "Reese, I can
    understand how you could be so blasé about screwing up your entire life." Reese
    accepts this good-naturedly. "But you, Malcolm." Hal"s forehead is furrowed. "Don"t
    you care about the future?" At Malcolm"s unresponsiveness, Hal tries a last-ditch
    effort, "Don"t you even care what your mother and I have to say about all this?"
    Reese stares at his father evenly. "Did you care what your parents had to say
    about you and Mom?" "Reese," Malcolm mutters to his brother in a stern but belated
    warning. He sighs and looks back to his father, knowing what the outcome will
    be. Hal"s lower lip wobbles; his eyes cloud ever-so-slightly, and they know he"s
    on their side. I know, why should I care if Reese saved our butts by saying that?
    Here"s the thing-- Dad"s love of Mom is his Achilles" heel. Reese and I"ve been
    waiting years for the chance to exploit it. We figured out that this is the kind
    of thing we each can use against him one time without Dad getting suspicious,
    and now Reese wasted both of our turns. It kind of sucks; I was hoping to use
    mine on a girl with a Mohawk, a bunch of piercings, and an affinity for swearing.
    He"s only weeping a little, not openly bawling-- besides which, he"s always been
    so emotional that they ought to be used to it-- but Malcolm and Reese politely
    look away when their father starts crying enough to get his cheeks wet. It inspires
    a feeling of such indecency, of vague disgust littered with empathy, the sort
    of feeling that comes when you walk in on someone using the bathroom, that there"s
    really no other response. "At least I won"t have to worry about any more in-laws,"
    Hal says as he wipes his eyes. "Well!" he slaps his hands onto his knees. With
    one final sniff he completes his rebound, "How would you boys like to come outside
    to see my project?" "Your...project?" Malcolm asks. "I had to have something to
    do while I was outside. Reese, get your brother; I"m sure he"ll get a kick out
    of it." Hal cuts himself a slice of pie the second Reese is out of the room. Mom"s
    going to spend the next week or two on bed rest. Because we"re killing the baby.
    She"s yelled this at us about a hundred times. Just in case we didn"t catch it
    the first hundred when she was telling us at a regular decibel level. She was
    supposed to go to Aunt Susan"s, but she"s kind of in this crazy hormone-swing
    and after she saw what Dad did to the backyard she didn"t really want to leave
    him alone with us. I think maybe she was just saying that so she wouldn"t have
    to go, though-- Aunt Susan stresses Mom out almost more than we do. Anyway, Mom"s
    laid up and Dad"s working weekends to make up for it. Mom gave us a whole bunch
    of what-to-do"s and what-not-to-do"s, but Dad says he doesn"t care so long as
    we can keep Mom in the dark and listen to him once he gets home from work. It"d
    be wrong not to celebrate. Unfortunately, most of their best ideas come to them
    when they"re not actually allowed to do anything. Given free rein tends to make
    them lose their incentive. The only thing they come up with is watching television
    they"re usually disallowed to: "Let"s see if there"s something really good on,"
    Reese suggests with lifted eyebrows. Dewey asks if they"re going to watch cartoons,
    to which Malcolm and Reese share a look that clearly means a patronizing "Oh,
    kids.'' It"s an all right idea. Reese flicks through the channels with the volume
    low, sneaking glances at the hallway in case their mother decides to amble out.
    She doesn"t. They reach their destination without interruption. Frankly their
    TV doesn"t get the really good porn until after midnight, which makes this endeavor
    fruitless; they wind up with something that from actors to makeup to lighting
    looks hilariously cheap, like a group of friends decided to shoot it in their
    basement with someone"s home video camera. All they get out of it is Reese saying
    "Lookit her boobs.'', Dewey saying he knows about sex but dear God what are they
    doing, and Malcolm emulating any one of the many girls by throwing out some keening,
    mocking moans. Malcolm is in the throes of an imaginary orgasm when Reese suddenly
    turns off the TV. Reese explains tightly, "We"ve got a couple hours of being totally
    unwatched. We should do something better." Malcolm shrugs. Knowing their dad will
    probably be home before they are, he turns on the television just in time to see
    the woman finish up her own fake orgasm, changes the channel to something wholesome
    enough to be caught watching, and turns it back off. He and Dewey hop off the
    couch to follow Reese. :--:--:--: The policeman is nice enough to escort them
    back home. Apparently making Dewey tear loose with bloodcurdling screams while
    he hid out down the hall from the pediatrics ward in the hospital could be considered,
    in addition to being hilariously terrifying to little children on their first
    doctor"s visit, very slightly illegal. "Now we know," Reese said with a shrug
    after having all this explained to him. "Oh, geez." Hal sighs as he opens the
    door to three grinning sons and an apathetic police officer. "Thanks, Tom." Their
    father yells at them the instant the door is closed. It"s a babbling rage that
    makes virtually no sense. They recognize his ire as being due to him preemptively
    suffering from not being able to have sex with their mom for a week or more--
    a fact that would be almost sweet were it not so entirely horrifying. They"re
    sent to their room, where they"re to stay until their mother is well again. "What
    about food?" Reese asks. Their father considers it. Haughtily, he replies, "That"s
    not my concern." and shuts their door with a flick of his wrist. This doesn"t
    disturb his sons, who know it will be taken back by dinnertime. Malcolm waits
    impatiently for the footsteps to fade down the hall before he wheels around, grips
    Reese by the shoulders and says, "This is great!" in a way that is meant to be
    a whisper but is just a bit too loud for it to actually count as one. Malcolm"s
    strides across the room and yanks open the window, swinging a leg out with practiced
    ease. His ears twitch in response to a sound behind him to give it subconscious
    evaluation. It"s nothing, so he relaxes. "Dewey, cover for us until we get back."
    "Why should I?" Malcolm ignores Dewey to ask Reese, "You want to handle it?" Reese
    gives Malcolm a nod. He says to Dewey, ""Cause if you tell Mom or Dad, I"ll cut
    your face off and use it as a mask every day. Except on Halloween; then I"ll give
    it back to and you"ll be so happy to have your face back that you"ll go as yourself
    instead of wearing a costume, effectively ruining your life and doubly ruining
    trick"r"treating, too." "Reese!" Malcolm shouts before Dewey can say anything.
    Reese turns to him. "What?" Malcolm frowns. "Dewey, do you believe him?" "No."
    Malcolm gesticulates wildly towards Dewey, telling Reese, "See, that"s "what".
    It has to be something you might actually do to him or it doesn"t work." To Dewey,
    "Look, we"ll get you a toy or something." Malcolm swings his other leg outside
    and hops out of the window. Reese quickly goes after him.'
  - "\uFEFFSpoonbill Village, Northernmost Quang Bin Province, SRV\nJune 29, 2011\n\
    As the two young adults stared at each other, nothing but shock registered in\
    \ either of their brains. Not the stares of the villagers nor of Joseph's classmates\
    \ affected them in their surprise. For Joseph, the shock was mixed with relief\
    \ at finding his girlfriend safe, concern about his own impending fate as the\
    \ main course and a strange confusion about what the heck was going on. For Marie,\
    \ it was the sheer shock of actually seeing her boyfriend here and her puzzlement\
    \ at the reason why that added to her numb bewilderment, not to mention the fear\
    \ for his life at what might happen next.\nAs the shock broke, she knew that she\
    \ had to act. And since the village chief was here...\n\"You cannot sacrifice\
    \ this man! His family are allies are of my parents, his parents are involved\
    \ in our business. If anything happens to him, calamity will come upon us all!\"\
    \ Demanding such things of the chieftain might have been rude, presumptuous and\
    \ even insulting, but everything she said was the truth. If Joseph died, things\
    \ would go down the toilet very quickly.\nBefore the men could answer back, the\
    \ crashing of a great bronze gong echoed over the crowd and all heads turned towards\
    \ the source of the cacophony, the temple. Coming down the steps was a red lacquered\
    \ palanquin with red curtains. Four men in deeply-hooded red robes supported the\
    \ wooden structure, it's bracing poles upon their shoulders. As they reached the\
    \ courtyard proper, one of the warriors who had exited the large house went up\
    \ to the palanquin, distinguished from the others by leather shoes on his feet,\
    \ a broad circlet of gold around his black head-wrap and a single pheasant tail\
    \ feather standing erect at the forefront of this headdress. Joseph could distinguish\
    \ some sort of conversation happening, the words too quiet to make out. For several\
    \ tense seconds he, Marie, his classmates and his professor waited for what would\
    \ happen.\nWhat happened was that from this man, the villages hereditary chief,\
    \ the order was given for them to be spared... for now. Another order was given\
    \ to separate them and hold them in isolation until a final decision could be\
    \ made.\nAs Joseph was carried away into a side street, he could almost glimpse\
    \ Marie following the palanquin into the Temple, including his Professor, still\
    \ sitting in his basket.\nSeveral Hours Later\nJoseph could never fully recall\
    \ all of the things that he had pondered in those hours, sitting with his hands\
    \ and feet bound, alone in that dark storehouse, smelling of rice and preserved\
    \ vegetables. He had found Marie and as he had suspected for a number of years,\
    \ she apparently belonged to a semi-unique culture of Vietic speakers in her purported\
    \ homeland of the Annamite Range. What came as a surprise was that they apparently,\
    \ if the few bits of coherent speech he had heard were any indication, practiced\
    \ some sort of ritualized homicide and may well be inclined toward the consumption\
    \ of \"long pork\"... and at the moment, that could include him.\nEventually the\
    \ door opened and soft, yellow light flooded the room, illuminating bags of rice\
    \ and strings of hanging vegetables. In the doorway was Marie, carrying a paper\
    \ covered lantern in one hand, a bronze bowl in the other and now hat-less. As\
    \ he had briefly noticed earlier, the muscles on her limbs now had a definition\
    \ to them that hadn't existed back in Glaston, her frame slightly more lean than\
    \ the apprentice cook that he remembered. She was dressed just as she had been\
    \ before, was still tattooed everywhere he could see and, as she she came over\
    \ to where he was sitting, the light in the lantern seemed more like... fireflies\
    \ than any kind of flame.\n\"So... nice place you have here.\" He hoped that starting\
    \ slow could take some of the edge off the dangerous situation in which he now\
    \ faced himself.\n\"Yeah... it is nice, I guess.\" Marie put the bowl (now seen\
    \ to be carrying water) and the lantern on the ground beside him and knelt to\
    \ untie his bonds. \"I'm sorry that you got dragged into this. When I borrowed\
    \ that record... I had no idea that...\" She closed her eyes and sighed in a way\
    \ that, to Joseph, made the tattoos on her face dance almost... alluringly. \"\
    There's a lot that I just couldn't tell you when we were younger. My people are\
    \ used to hiding... maybe tooused to it by now. I want to tell you so much, but\
    \ I... I don't know where to begin.\"\n\"Then start from the beginning. That always\
    \ seems to be how it's done in the movies.\" Rubbing his wrists and ankles to\
    \ get the circulation back, Joseph wondered just what he was going to hear.\n\
    What he heard was everythingabout her people, the stories she had enraptured Cora\
    \ with plus a whole lot of other stuff, fantastic and gruesome in equal measure.\
    \ The human sacrifice, the ritual cannibalism, the intermittent persecution by\
    \ Chinese, Champa, Viet and French over the last two thousand years... nothing\
    \ was left out. As he sipped water from the bowl, she described how her peoples\
    \ ancestors had been Au Lac refugees from the Red River Valley, driven south into\
    \ the mountains by the invading Qin Chinese. On the edge of total starvation,\
    \ they had been saved when a spirit animal, a black water buffalo cow with a seemingly\
    \ endless number of calves trailing behind, had emerged from the highland jungle\
    \ at the chanting of animist shamans travelling with the group.\nBehind those\
    \ spectral buffalo had emerged their wonder and salvation: men in red robes with\
    \ the legs of goats, monks from a far, high land called Leng. These strange people,\
    \ who called themselves Shugoran, had taught this diverse group of farmers, mountain\
    \ peoples, priests, urbanites and servants many useful magics: how to grow up\
    \ to twelve crops of rice per year, how to draw water and metal from the earth,\
    \ how to commune with the forces of the universe and not annoy them too severely,\
    \ how to pass perfect memories from father to son, how to ensure the fertility\
    \ of people, livestock and game and how to armor a person's skin so as to stop\
    \ any blade or spear or arrow or sling stone.\nIt was this last spell, combined\
    \ with the requirement in orthodox Shugoran magic for Human (or similar) sacrifice\
    \ and cannibalism that brought on the next mess. When the Qin Dynasty collapsed\
    \ under the weight of the first emperor's paranoia and his successors incompetence,\
    \ suicide and the resultant power struggle, the men of the new \"Leng Viet\" decided\
    \ to press their advantage. They launched a guerrilla campaign in an attempt to\
    \ drive the Trieu Dynasty, with its mixed nobility of native southerners and Han\
    \ Chinese, out of the Red River valley and establish a new native state.\nOver\
    \ the next hundred years, men raided trade routes and army barracks in the guise\
    \ of screaming, bare-chested, tattooed (associated with bandits and convicts by\
    \ the Chinese) savages, dragging captives off into the night or the forest in\
    \ order to sacrifice them for either civilian or military magic. When they eventually\
    \ lost their \"War of the Bandits\" (from the threefold causes of not getting\
    \ any local nobility on their side, of terrifying the pants off their Viet kinsmen\
    \ with their ferocity and the rumours of their religion and by the sheer weight\
    \ of the eventual re-invasion by the armies of the Han Dynasty) they fled deep\
    \ into the mountains of the West and South, being chided by the last of the original,\
    \ goat-legged sorcerers for their foolish, ill-planned ambitions. From then, they\
    \ had remained hidden and relatively peaceful, though remembered in whispered\
    \ folk-tales as vicious, man-eating monsters.\nAfter Marie had finished. Joseph\
    \ sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting what he had just heard. The whole\
    \ thing about magic was a bit.. hard to swallow. However, his own eyes had seen\
    \ things that most would say were impossible. \"You don't... you don't hate me\
    \ now, do you?\" Marie suddenly asked, her face awash in a worried panic, perhaps\
    \ the culmination of every bout of anxiety she had ever experienced when Joseph\
    \ had began edging onto the subject of her people's true nature. So much worry,\
    \ so much fear and one wrong move now could break her heart.\nFor once, just once,\
    \ he initiated the kiss this time.\n\"Does that answer your question?\" As they\
    \ pulled apart, he could see that most of her anxieties had melted away. \"And...\
    \ I hesitate to mention this, but about your parents restaurant...\" He stopped\
    \ when he saw her face, now an annoyed, knowing grimace that indicated that the\
    \ next words out of his mouth should be chosen very carefully. \"Uh... about the\
    \ chicken, beef and pork they used. Was any of it... officiallysacrificed?\"\n\
    \nMarie's grimace let up. \"You need a priest to do anything official, and my\
    \ parents are from farming families. Don't worry, we never served anyone up as\
    \ the main course.\" She actually began to smile as she stood upright.\n\"Alright...\
    \ but speaking of the main course, what about...\" Joseph gulped nervously. \"\
    Me? Am I still going to be barbecue or did you actually convince anyone otherwise?\"\
    \nThe next news out of Marie's mouth was welcome indeed. \"I didn't, but your\
    \ professor won your life and those of the others after he talked with our Chief\
    \ Priest. If I'm right, he and the rest of your team should be at the house of\
    \ my paternal grandparents. Who arethey, anyway?\"\n\"My classmates. The Anthropology\
    \ department at Miskatonic organized this trip with Professor Andover and a couple\
    \ of us volunteered. \" Still holding the bowl, Joseph began standing, his limbs\
    \ still stiff and numb from hours of sitting. Despite this discomfort and the\
    \ twitching shocks that came when blood began flowing free again, he followed\
    \ her out the door, though not before taking and slinging a bag of rice over his\
    \ shoulder at her asking, along with a braid of garlic bulbs and a small box of\
    \ dried pork on a cord.\nDuring his captivity, Joseph had been held in one of\
    \ the storehouses by the river, a short way north of the village. Now, in the\
    \ waning light of dusk, he and Marie made their way back on the path that wove\
    \ through vegetable gardens and pig-pens until they reached the outlying houses.\
    \ Through narrow alleys between house stilts and below the sounds of evening meals\
    \ being eaten, past dogs and pigs drowsing in the under-crofts and along the great\
    \ outer wall of the temple they traveled before moving into the main square and\
    \ down the main thoroughfare.\n\n\"It should be just after this next left, right\
    \ across from the bronze-smith.\" As they walked along, they came to an intersection.\
    \ On their right was a large house facing the street, belonging to the village\
    \ bronze-smith and acting as a shop, a workplace and his family home. Across the\
    \ main street from that house was a side street, lined by mostly smaller houses\
    \ but each of them with soft lights in their windows. A few houses in, Marie led\
    \ Joseph up the stairs of one house where familiar voices were laughing and making\
    \ merry, including one brash female voice in particular that Joseph had come to\
    \ know well.\nAs Marie lay down the lantern on the porch and opened the door,\
    \ the voices became louder and clearer. When they entered, everyone was already\
    \ seated (or at least kneeling). Albert and Malone were trading stories of their\
    \ brief imprisonment and what they had seen, while Tracy was working her way through\
    \ a bowl of green tea, apparently trying to cajole her way into the rice whiskey.\
    \ Professor Andover was making small conversation with an old village man sitting\
    \ at the head of the table who was wearing the brown jacket and skirt combo that\
    \ was so common. Also at the table was a younger man and his wife, maybe a little\
    \ older than Marie's parents, along with two teenage sons who had not yet received\
    \ their tattooing. Some ways from the table, an elderly woman worked at a hearth\
    \ lined with stone and brick, stoking a carefully controlled charcoal fire.\n\
    Everyone looked up at the new arrivals. The first to speak was the old man who\
    \ had been talking to the professor, telling Marie to bring the rice and other\
    \ ingredients over to the charcoal hearth so the evening meal could begin and\
    \ then for them to sit down. After that was done, Joseph noticed that people were\
    \ looking at him.\nApparently, it was time to make introductions.\n\"Joseph, I'd\
    \ like you to meet my family on my father's side.\" After explaining that few\
    \ of them could understand any English at all, Marie started introducing them.\
    \ First came the old man, now identified as her paternal grandfather. Her grandmother,\
    \ his wife, was the woman starting tending the fire at the hearth, her gray hair\
    \ in an elaborate bun at the back of the head held together with a set of jade\
    \ hairpins and wearing a long, black dress, similar to the garment that Marie\
    \ had worn at the performance. Marie's uncle Huy and his wife An sat across from\
    \ the Miskatonic students and beside them sat Cu'ong and Thao, their two sons...\n\
    Only two?\n\"Damn, the Kids!\" Marie had been so busy with her boyfriend that\
    \ the absence her younger cousins had escaped her until now. She got back up and\
    \ went to the door, opened it and called down the street for them to get in the\
    \ house now and try not to spill the water they were carrying. As she returned\
    \ to where she had been kneeling, many hurried footsteps were heard coming up\
    \ the outside stairs and the door opened again as five children entered as a crowd.\
    \ The oldest, a girl who was perhaps eleven years old, was carrying two bronze\
    \ pails of water in her hands while the second oldest, a boy of maybe ten, was\
    \ carrying two more.\nIn fact, all the kids, which included two more boys and\
    \ another girl, seemed to each be about a year apart down to a little boy of about\
    \ seven years old. \"Big families the norm around here?\" Joseph asked his girlfriend\
    \ as the water was transferred to cooking vessels and the ingredients collected.\n\
    Marie shrugged. \"More or less: most farming families have at least three kids\
    \ nowadays but the norm used to be around five around a century ago. This family\
    \ is weird both ways: My uncle and aunt for having so many and my parents for\
    \ just having me.\" \nOf course, sooner or later this casual reminiscing had to\
    \ end. \"So, Professor...\" Tracy began, consciously deciding to get back on topic\
    \ from the revery the two had been involved in. \"You Said that you had something\
    \ to tell us, about the ultimate purpose of this expedition?\"\nNeville Andover\
    \ smiled the way that someone delivering a great and terrible revelation does.\
    \ \"As a matter of fact, I did.\" He motioned towards Malone, who was now extremely\
    \ attentive. \"This is Malone Roberts; for the last year he has been playing the\
    \ part of my student, but he is far more than that. He is my assistant, my cohort...\
    \ my protege in the context of the agency I work for. Tell me...\" He seemed to\
    \ direct this as every member of the audience (save Malone) who could speak English.\
    \ \"Have any of you heard of Delta Green?\"\n\"What's that? Something in the Marine\
    \ Corps?\" It had soundedlike an innocent question from Ms. Williams, but Joseph\
    \ had shared a class, study groups and cram sessions with her for many months,\
    \ and could recognize the first signs of building stress and panic when he saw\
    \ them. They were amazingly similar to the signs that Marie herself had shown,\
    \ with the difference of gripping objects such as a table edge with white-knuckle\
    \ intensity now apparent.\n\"It's surprising that you haven't heard of it, considering\
    \ the contacts in your community and the agencies reputation for... extreme measuresbefore\
    \ 1960.\" Now Andover turned to Albert Noyes. \"Perhaps you have some notion of\
    \ it... or its partner agency, Majestic 12. It is quite amazing work they're doing\
    \ on the Yuggoth Project, especially on fungi.\" This seemed like it was crammed\
    \ with potential clues, but honestly, Joseph couldn't make heads or tails of it.\n\
    Noyes, on the other hand, apparently could. He began smiling in surprise and recognition\
    \ and began laughing at the revelation. \"You mean... you know about the Mi'go?\"\
    \ Now Joseph was confused beyond all reckoning, and apparently so were Marie and\
    \ Tracy.\n\"Know aboutthem, know some of them, occasionally work alongside them.\
    \ And if I may say, for half-fungus, half-arthropod, telepathic pains in the rear,\
    \ they are remarkably easy to work with.\" What followed was Albert explaining\
    \ the situation: the weirdest kinds of aliens you could imagine had contacted\
    \ some humans in the 1800s and hired them to assist in mining certain valuable\
    \ minerals in the hills of Vermont and Maine. Over the years, the men and women\
    \ in their employ had received advice from these aliens as to potential marriage\
    \ partners, first in terms genetic compatibility and superior traits for their\
    \ offspring, then based on attractiveness as their understanding of human reproductive\
    \ psychology increased. Finally, as they realized the subtle psychological and\
    \ social rules of courtship, the began acting as human elites once did, organizing\
    \ parties for unattached men and women and subtly directing candidates certain\
    \ ways as they piloted artificial human body-shells around the dance floor. \n\
    It sounded weird... but reassuring, even humorous. Even Tracy seemed to lighten\
    \ up... as far as a hunted rabbit couldlighten up.\n\"Mr. Clayton here is what\
    \ you may call 'normal'. However, he was privy to manifestations not usual of\
    \ this Earth.\" Joseph then told the assembled of what he had witnessed, with\
    \ Professor Andover hypothesizing that the phonograph may have projected images\
    \ and smells by some means of eldritch energies. Marie also retold the story of\
    \ her people and of the deal that she had agreed to to gain access to the phonograph:\
    \ one year back in the village and receiving her tattoos of adulthood. Nothing\
    \ more and nothing less had been asked of her.\n\"And finally, we have Ms. Williams,\
    \ whose tale has much to do with the founding of the organization and its present\
    \ form.\" Here, Andover seemed to realize what kind of anxiety the girl was going\
    \ through, and thus went slowly. \"In the winter of 1928, the Miskatonic faculty\
    \ was contacted by the United States Army to help investigate a series of strange\
    \ attacks and abductions in Paige County, Virginia. As the base was in a primarily\
    \ Quaker area, Miskatonic sent its lone member of faculty who was a Friend, one\
    \ Hiriam Willows of Boston. While he remained among the Quaker farmfolk who knew\
    \ the habits of the attacks, the army waged war against what was first believed\
    \ to be a \"degenerate\" tribe of Iroquois but were later found to be white members\
    \ of a strange fertility cult which engaged in human sacrifice.\"\nThe academic\
    \ glanced towards Tracy, who had lowered her head, closed her eyes and grimaced\
    \ at what was surely to come. He turned back to his eager listeners. \"Before\
    \ Willows left, he discovered strange objects in a secret room at the Longhouse\
    \ Meeting Hall... objects which resembled those found on the slain cultists. He\
    \ also, inadvertently, stumbled upon his hosts engaged in a ritual of apparent\
    \ mourning, dressed as the Southern Iroquois would have been three hundred years\
    \ ago, sacrificing pigs upon an altar at an isolated circle of standing stones,\
    \ wailing and keening in grief.\" He looked back at Tracy. \"This was the experience\
    \ which convinced him that not all who worship the base forces of the universe\
    \ are driven to evil nor insanity. It was also the experience that not all things\
    \ should be released to the world, both for the worlds safety and that of the\
    \ subjects.\"\nAfter a moment's silence, Tracy spoke. \"Excuse me.\" She got up\
    \ walked out the door, somewhat to the surprise of her classmates, Marie and Marie's\
    \ family. Marie then got up and went to follow, an act which inevitably drew Joseph\
    \ after her.\nThey found Tracy sitting at the bottom of the steps, her chin on\
    \ one balled fist, her other arm across her lap, her eyes staring into some unfathomable\
    \ distance. Marie went forward first, sitting beside the girl as Joseph hung back.\
    \ \"I don't think we've been introduced. My name's Marie.\" When Tracy didn't\
    \ answer. \"You know, you don't have to feel bad about what other people did.\
    \ Those guys the Army killed weren't your people, no matter how similar your rituals\
    \ may have been.\"\n\"But they weremy people.\" The answer came suddenly and surprised\
    \ both listeners.\n\"Pardon?\" Asked Joseph from the middle of the stairway.\n\
    \"Those dangerous cultists that the professor told you about; they were English,\
    \ Quakers even... or had been at one time.\" She sighed, not quite sure of herself\
    \ on how to explain to outsiders the issue which had plagued her fears since the\
    \ age of 10. \"They were my peoples kin, descendants of those of us who answered\
    \ the Union armies call for guerrillas during the Civil War. Before that, we'd\
    \ adopted some sacrificial ritual from the Iroquois during the 1720s after some\
    \ very hard winters. Where before they'd killed dogs, black deer and captured\
    \ warriors... as well as captured women and children if it got reallybad... to\
    \ get good crops and health, we imposed strict limits and rules. There was to\
    \ be no more human sacrifice, we killed our own livestock and above all, we accept\
    \ the rituals as a gift from on high... even if the whole Christ thing was supposed\
    \ to render sacrifice obsolete.\"\n\"I'd consider it a divine door prize. But\
    \ about the Civil War?\" Marie was trying to make the talk as nonthreatening as\
    \ possible, considering the darkness which had settled over the village.\nGetting\
    \ back on topic, Tracy continued. \"Well, we'd already been hiding escaped slaves\
    \ for years on their way up to the major escape routes in Pennsylvania, but we\
    \ felt that we couldn't do any more, especially with so much Confederate presence\
    \ in the Shenandoah and the internecine aggression over secession. These people\
    \ though... they wanted to do something. So, when a few Union officers wanted\
    \ a meeting, they snuck off north. And when they came back, they brought otherthings\
    \ with them. Old medieval codices which described Druidic rituals shockingly similar\
    \ to our own but twisted and brutal, rituals which needed terror to be inflicted\
    \ in the victims so that the full power of their life force could be drained.\
    \ Their attitudes had changed as well; they became disdainful of the rest of the\
    \ community: calling them weak, cowards, savages who refused to possess the full\
    \ power of the Star Daughter and the Black Stag, fools who held onto their 'petty\
    \ delusions' of morality. Well, after they went and made a mess of everything\
    \ by capturing and sacrificing a Confederate squadron... the rest of the Longhouse\
    \ Quakers shunned them, bidding them to go into the high mountains until they\
    \ were ready to return. And so, a collection of about 50 men, women and children\
    \ left the Valley and went into the high woods.\"\nJoseph put something together\
    \ in his head. \"And I take it that the next time they returned was 60 years later,\
    \ crazier than ever.\"\nTracy harrumphed. \"You've got that right. And think about\
    \ this while you're at it: by the 1920s, we'd been isolated for so long that it\
    \ was starting to show in our features; the more inbred we became, the leaner\
    \ our faces and the bonier our joints. By the time Willows got there, we just\
    \ looked skinny and somewhat malnourished and with the right connections a few\
    \ decades later, that began to get fixed.\" Her face got hard. \"But what if Willows\
    \ had finked on us, or Miskatonic sent one of their Congregationalist mama's boys\
    \ instead? Do you realize what may have happened to us, especially in the 20s\
    \ or 30s? Arresting us for a start, probably followed by forced sterilization\
    \ and throwing us in crazy houses, sanitariums and prisons to rot. And that's\
    \ just the adults!\"\nShe was getting visibly angry. \"Their kids, my great-grandparents,\
    \ would have been shuffled off to orphanages or perhaps boarding schools if they\
    \ thought we were just really pale Indians.\" She shuddered. \"I've read about\
    \ the shit that happened in Canada's residential school system and it gave me\
    \ just as many nightmares as the thought of my ancestors being hunted like wolves\
    \ and tortured for things they never did or for who they were.\" She turned to\
    \ look at Marie and for the first time since he knew her, Joseph could put a name\
    \ (that name being \"very mildly inbred\") on the features which he had labeled\
    \ as 'rural-attractive' or 'cute in a farmer's daughter kind of way'. \"I know\
    \ that your people have been hiding, but at least you guys made the mistake of\
    \ acting like total jerks to get your reputation! We never did anything wrong.\"\
    \nWith that, Tracy got up, passed her companions and just as she was about to\
    \ reenter the house, she paused and rethought something. \"Well, never did anything\
    \ wrong besides burning down that chicken barn, but that was an emergency! Neither\
    \ my aunt nor my little cousin would be here if not for that and besides...\"\
    \ She turned her head to look at Joseph and Marie. \"They wrote it off as an electrical\
    \ fire.\" As Tracy went back into the house, Joseph thought that, while going\
    \ against all conventional reason, his life made perfect sense for the first time\
    \ in a very long while.\n"
  - 'good she intended to be to both of them until ideas became broken and she tumbled
    into bed dick who was soon asleep again with by his side watching a rim of light
    rising above a dark chimney and wondering what new shows must be preparing already
    the rim of light had become a and before her eyes closed in sleep the full moon
    looked down through the window into the cradle waking the sleeping child but her
    cries were too weak her mother lay in sleep beyond reach of her though they were
    the little blankets were cast aside and the struggle between life and death began
    soft fell into knees were to and fro muscles seemed to be torn and TIME who had
    known of this world but a ray of moonlight died â a glimpse of the moon was all
    that had been granted to her after watching for TIME or more the moon moved up
    the skies and in s dream the moon was the great yellow witch in the who before
    her cries back thou art mine only for ever and for ever xxiv thb passing of a
    funeral in our english streets is so common a sight that and and and carriages
    filled with relatives in have al most ceased to remind us that our dust too is
    on the way to the and it is not until we catch sight of a man walking in the carriage
    way carrying a brown box under his arm that we start like suddenly stung and remember
    the mystery of life and death even dick remembered it and wondered as he after
    little s coffin why it was that she should have been called out of the void and
    called back into the void â so quickly whether our term be but DATE DATE life
    and death us but once he said and he fell to her tears tears ing to him more comforting
    than thoughts and he would gladly have shed a few to help the journey away not
    a long one however for the lived in an un frequented part of the town by the we
    shall soon be there he whispered and f raising her weeping face looked around
    all the shops were filled with funeral wreaths of everlasting flowers head stones
    with dates in ink crosses of consolation and kneeling i angels v if we only had
    money cried to buy a i i s a s wife ment to put on her grave and she called upon
    dick to admire a kneeling angel it s beautiful dick said i wish we had the money
    to buy it poor little it s a pity she didn t live she was very like you dear he
    had been offered an engagement for to play the part of the in and had accepted
    it hoping in the meanwhile to be able to persuade her to take it it was rather
    hard to ask her to play DATE after the funeral but there was no help for it the
    company would arrive in town to morrow and dick thought it would be a pity to
    let the chance slip but her grief was so great that he had not dared to speak
    to her about it did you ever see so many graves she asked we shall never be able
    to find her when we come to seek the grave out an angel â a at least would be
    a help oh dick she continued to think they ll put her down into the ground and
    that we shall perhaps never even see her grave again we may be QUANTITY from here
    to morrow or after dick who had had credit of the looked around uneasily but seeing
    that had not been overheard he said poor little thing it s sad to lose her isn
    t it i should have liked to have seen her grow up the coffin was ORDINAL deposited
    in the middle of the church and dick twisted the brim of his big hat nervously
    troubled by the service the parson in a white flowing read from the reading desk
    on the contrary appeared much consoled and prayed silently and the parson so many
    prayers that dick began to consider the time it would take to learn a part of
    equal length and this while the little brown box remained like a piece of lost
    luggage lonely a s wife in the of this station house looking church and when the
    came to claim it again burst into tears her tears reminded the parson that he
    was here to console and in soft and words he assured the weeping mother that her
    child had only been removed to a better and brighter world and that we must all
    submit to the will of god but in the porch his attention was drawn from the weeping
    mother to the weather a little more of this he thought and others will be doing
    for me what i m now doing for others but there being no help for it he followed
    the procession through the his white blowing dick wondering how the little grave
    had been found amongst so many but the knew the parson sprinkled earth upon the
    coffin and the sound of the withdrawn ropes cut the mother s heart even more than
    the rattle of the earth and stones on the coffin lid threw some flowers into the
    grave and it seemed to dick certain that if she didn t pull herself together she
    would not be able to play the in on the morrow she was so fearfully haggard and
    worn that he doubted if any amount of would make her look the part he would have
    done anything in the world for his little girl while she was alive but now that
    she was dead â besides after all '
- source_sentence: the basic premise of this movie is as as follows . In DATE , freelance
    investigator PERSON ( PERSON ) investigates the death of PRODUCT reeves , who
    played WORK_OF_ART . through flashbacks , we meet PERSON ( PERSON ) DATE before
    his WORK_OF_ART would play superman . We are also introduced to others who played
    a role in ORG life ( and later , possibly his death ) the film is based on actual
    events , but that is as far as it goes . the filmmakers offer several different
    possibilities regarding ORG , but do not favour any one scenario . the ending
    of the film is ambiguous , letting the viewer form their own opinions . there
    are some high profile names in this film , including PERSON and PERSON . the very
    talented PERSON also plays a role in the movie . this movie is not meant to be
    a conspiracy theory , but more as entertainment , a sort of what if ? . i enjoyed
    the movie , though it is a bit slow at times . GPE is rated R for strong language
    , violence and sexual content .
  sentences:
  - '"Your last six payments were only partial ones, we need the account brought up
    to date." "I just need three weeks. I have money on the way that will be more
    than enough to cover what I"m behind on." "I"ll give you a month. But this is
    the last exception I can make, Mr Kincaid. If you don"t have the account up to
    date, I"ll have no choice but to seize your home." "I understand. Thank you."
    James waited for the click of the other phone before hanging up. He knew things
    weren"t great. After all he had to change schools because they couldn"t afford
    the tuition anymore. But he didn"t know they could lose their home. His eye caught
    the game box on his bed and his stomach flipped. He shouldn"t open it, he should
    make his father take it back. But then he"d get caught for listening in. And his
    father did say there was money coming. Maybe he got a bonus at work. "James, come
    set the table and help me make a salad" Robert called from the kitchen. "Sure,
    Dad." Everything was going to be okay. It had to be. "That was awesome." "So your
    old man did okay with the birthday Laser Tag?" "Yeah. I totally kicked your".
    James caught himself. "- beat you." "You think so?" "I know so." "Well smarty
    pants. Lets go check the scoreboard." James ducked as his father tried to ruffle
    his hair. He half ran to the display where the players scored were posted. He
    grinned as he saw the list with his name on top. "Told ya." "Two points. Don"t
    think you"ll get so lucky next." "Next time I"ll beat you by five." "Bring it
    on." James laughed as his father winked at him. "Can we get ice cream?" "Before
    dinner?" "Or for dinner? It"s milk, that"s healthy." "Judges?" Robert said to
    a nonexistent figure next to them. "Sorry contestant, that argument only scores
    2 points which is a lose. You want ice cream, you have to have a burger first."
    "Okay." "Then I thought we might hit the movie theater." "Really?" "Sure, you
    only get a birthday once a year, why not live it up?" "Can it be a rated R movie?"
    "Sure." "Yeah." "No." "You"re such a dork." James laughed. "You"d know." Robert
    grinned. James gave his father a punch on the arm and got an attempt at another
    hair ruffle in return. As he ducked away he realized his father was faking it,
    going instead to grab him and lift him up off his feet. It was an old game from
    when he was five but he didn"t care. It was his birthday and his father had been
    in a great mood all week. Whatever was going on before, James was sure it was
    all fixed. Things were going to be great from now on. "I"m home." "In here." James
    called from the den. "Hey, sorry I"m so late. Meeting went over." "uh huh." James
    laughed at the cartoon. "Which one is this?" Robert dropped down on the sofa.
    "Pinky and The Brain." "Which one"s which?" "Pinky"s the tall one." "And The Brain
    is the one that"s trying to destroy the world?" "He"s not trying to destroy it.
    Just take it over." "Mea culpa." "What"s that?" "It"s Latin, it basically means
    "my mistake.''" "And you call me a show off." "You have dinner?" "Uh huh. Peanut
    Butter sandwich and an apple." "And your homework?" "Done." "Even your English
    reading?" "Yep. Did it on the bus." "Good." Robert glanced at his watch. "It"s
    past your bedtime." "I"m not tired." "It"s not about you being tired, it"s a school
    night." "Don"t you think I"m old enough not to have a bedtime?" "Mmm. No. Maybe
    next year." "Can I stay up if I watch the news? Mr Mackey says we should be aware
    of current events." "Pleading educational value?" "Yep." "You can stay up and
    watch the headlines. For Mr Mackey.""Deal." James grabbed the remote and turned
    off his video tape. "And in other news, Education Secretary William Kyle hosted
    a press conference with the President this evening to announce a new initiative
    to update all the nation"s public schools with faster Internet and new computers
    over the next five years." "Cool." "Hush. I want to hear the rest of it." "After
    a careful and confidential bidding process with several of the nations top technology
    firms, Lucien Technologies has been chosen to spearhead the program." "What? No."
    Robert gasped. "Dad, what is it?" Robert picked up the remote and turned off the
    tv. "Nothing. Time for bed." "But the news isn"t over. You said I could stay up."
    "I changed my mind. Go on." James saw the stern look on his father"s face and
    decided the best move was to quietly comply. As he climbed the stairs he could
    hear his father on the phone. "John, it"s Robert. I need to talk to you right
    away. Call me tomorrow at my office." "Nice work, James. Very clean coding." "It
    was easy." "You think so?" "Yeah. It"s like math. It"s logical." "You like things
    to be logical?" "Better than when they"re unlogical." "Illogical." "Right." "So
    if I said we"d do more programming work in the computer club, perhaps even harder
    programming, could I get you to turn that maybe into a yes?" "Maybe." "You"re
    a tough nut to crack, Mr Kincaid." Mr Reese laughed. "But I am going to keep trying."
    "Suit yourself." James shrugged as the bell rang. He grabbed his backpack and
    pushed his way through the crowd to his locker. On the ride home he considered
    Mr Reese"s question. He did like working on computers and yes he did find the
    programs easy. Maybe it would be cool to try some harder stuff. Maybe kids in
    a computer club wouldn"t ignore him like his classmates did. James got no goodbyes
    as he got off the bus and jogged down the street to his house. He was surprised
    to see his father"s car and another in the driveway. "Dad." James called out as
    he entered the house. "James." His father was sitting in the den with two men
    in dark suits. "Hey Kiddo. How was school?" "It was okay. Are you guys cops? Is
    my dad in trouble." "These men are from the FBI." "Your father is helping us with
    a case." "Like a mob case? Are we going to have to change our names and move to
    another state?" "No. Not that kind of case." "Uh. Okay." "James, we need to talk
    privately. So why don"t you go upstairs and work on your homework?" "Finished
    it at school." "Good." Robert nodded. "Why don"t you go watch a movie in your
    room?" "Sure." As he walked up the stairs, James noted that no one seemed to be
    talking. It made him uneasy. Something was going on and he wanted to know what.
    James popped a tape in, turning the volume on his tv up to make sure they could
    hear it. Then he carefully slipped down the stairs, careful to go only half way
    so no one could see him. "What did Morris tell you about this investment?" "He
    said it was solid. He said that Rylant was a big up and comer and they had the
    line on some huge deals that were going to make a lot of money. He said if I got
    in while the stock was low I would be set. As soon as the deals were announced,
    the stocks would go through the roof and I could cash out and clear everything
    with money to spare." "And he told you that Rylant was a shoo in for the Education
    contract?" "No, he didn"t say shoo in, just front runner." "You didn"t think that
    was odd? A Wall Street stock broker having inside details about a government contract
    bid that wasn"t even publicly announced?" "No. I don"t know how these things work.
    I don"t do investments. Or Government contracts." "So you just trusted Morris,
    your old college buddy?" "Why wouldn"t I?" "Where did you get the money?" "I had
    some extra from the mortgage. I thought it would be a good idea to have some emergency
    money. And some money from a college fund Sarah and I started when James was born.
    I cashed it out. I was planning to put the money back and more. "And then there
    were delays. I was falling behind on things. I told John a couple of weeks ago
    that I wanted to cash out, that I needed my money. He told me he"d do it but it
    was the weekend so he couldn"t do anything until Monday. Then Monday he called
    and told him that there was a rumor that the contract was going to be announced
    in a couple of weeks and it was confirmed that Rylant was getting it. " "That
    pretty much matches the other stories." "Other stories?" "We"ve found 58 victims
    so far. 10 were people he knew personally, mostly college. The rest were friends
    of friends, neighbors." "He inflated the Rylant value and sold out just as the
    announcement was being made. He scored thousands of dollars. Which it seems he
    used it at the same time to buy hundreds of shares of Lucien. Lucien skyrocketed
    in value and he sells out to the tune of millions." "Worse part is he did this
    all remotely. He set up the sells and the buys on timed programming in the brokerage
    system. He likely wasn"t in New York when any of it happened. Maybe not even in
    the country." "So he"s going to get away with it?" "It"s very likely yes. If there
    is anything you can think of that might help up find him, please let us know."
    "Of course. Now if there"s nothing else, I need to make dinner for my son." James
    scrambled up the stairs as he heard the men walking past. "James. come down and
    help me make dinner." James turned off the video tape and went down to the kitchen.
    His father was staring out the window. "Hey Dad." "How does Tomato Soup and Grilled
    Cheese sound?" "Can I make the Grilled Cheese?" "Sure. Just be careful, you don"t
    want to get burned." James sat up in his bed, his heart pounding. The wind was
    banging the tree branches against the window. "Don"t be a dork." James muttered
    to himself. He was too old to be scared of a silly wind storm. He was also thirsty.
    James shivered as he climbed out of bed. He pulled his robe off the hook on the
    back of his door and pulled it on as he started down the stairs. He was surprised
    when his foot hit something laying on the bottom steps. He ran his hand on the
    wall until he found the switch. "Dad." James yelped as the light came on and he
    saw his father was sprawled on the floor. He saw the blood as he knelt down. It
    was coming from under his father"s head. James ran into the kitchen and grabbed
    the phone from its cradle on the counter. "911, what"s your emergency?" "It"s
    my dad. He fell down the stairs and he"s not moving." "Is your father awake?"
    "No." "Is he bleeding?" "Yeah. Hurry please." "Help is on the way. What"s your
    name?" "James. James Kincaid." "And can you confirm your address, James?" "1723
    Willow Lane." "Good, James. Is there anyone else in the house with you?" "No.
    Just me and my dad." "Just stay calm, James. An ambulance is on the way. My name
    is Tracy and I"m going to stay on the line until they get there." "Okay." James
    nodded. "Help is coming, Dad." He whispered. "Back for more books, Mr Kincaid?"
    "Yes Ma"am." James set the stack on the counter. "When you do find time to eat
    if you spend the lunch period in here?" "I eat fast." "Apparently you read fast
    too." James walked back to the far corner where the non fiction books began. It
    was his favorite spot. First because most of the computer books were there. Second
    because Mrs Jennings couldn"t see him from her desk. James quickly grabbed the
    books he was looking for off the shelf. The school"s idea of a computer class
    was a joke so James was forced to teach himself. He"d almost finished the reading
    list Mr Reece have given him before he left. His new foster parents only let them
    use the computer to play approved, age appropriate learning games and they carefully
    monitored his reading so he had to be sneaky. He also had to be sneaky that Mrs
    Jennings didn"t catch him eating his lunch among her hallowed books. But eating
    in the cafeteria had quickly proven to be a bad move. The hot lunches were gross
    and there was a pack of food snatching losers stealing from folks. No thanks.
    James ate while he read. He listened carefully for his signal. Few students came
    into the library during lunch and Mrs Jennings would eventually disappear into
    her office behind the checkout counter to eat her own lunch. She probably hated
    the hot lunches also. James heard the squeak of the office chair and quickly cleaned
    up. He had no more than ten minutes before Mrs Jennings would come back out of
    her office and bust him for being on the computers. Another annoying thing about
    his foster parents. They wouldn"t give him permission to use the library computers
    because they didn"t trust the Internet. Although there wasn"t much they could
    access since the school had security software on the computers. It had taken James
    a week to figure out how to disable the software so he could access whatever he
    wanted. One eye on the office door, James quickly typed the commands he had memorized.
    It was just a text interface, no bright graphics or flashy colors. They only did
    that on the movies. Within minutes James had a list of computers on the school"s
    network. They were labeled by numbers only but James had figured out where most
    of them were. He was down to the last two when he heard a squeak. Mrs Jennings
    finished early. She"d get up any second and catch him. James quickly cleared what
    he was working on and reset the security software. He could see Mrs Jennings out
    of the corner of his eye. If she turned her head she"d catch him. James grabbed
    at his notebook as he jumped out of his chair. He fumbled and the notebook dropped
    to the floor. Certain Mrs Jennings heard the thud, James dropped to the floor.
    "James is that you?" James quickly shoved the notebook in his backpack and zipped
    it up. "Yeah." He jumped up. "Shoelace came undone." "Yes." Mrs Jennings corrected
    him. "What are you doing over there?" She said suspiciously. Not many students
    were banned from the computers so she knew the whole list. "I was looking for
    a book for my English report." James bluffed, hoping his face wasn"t bright red.
    "And where"s your book?" "I couldn"t find one that was interesting." Mrs Jennings
    shook her head. "You children simply refuse to ask." She strolled towards the
    shelves. "You have Mr Fletcher don"t you?" "Yeah, yes Ma"am." "Well he prefers
    his students read books that won awards. I have all the Newbery books here on
    a shelf together. I"m sure you can find something." James scanned the books on
    the shelf. He"d read almost all of them already, even the ones about girls. But
    he was going to have to pick something. The end of lunch bell rang and James grabbed
    at two titles. "In the mood for a mystery?" Mrs Jennings asked as she filed the
    cards and put the date slips in the books. James looked at the titles he"d grabbed.
    The Westing Game and "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. "I guess
    I am." He grabbed the books and half ran out of the library. He dropped into his
    seat just as the bell rang. As he pulled his math book out of his bag, James couldn"t
    help smiling to himself. He"d come so close to getting caught and didn"t. He felt
    like a spy. Like Ethan Hunt. Or maybe he was more like Zero Cool, a hacker. "Hey
    Madison." James called out to the cheerleaders walking into the gym for practice.
    "Oh hey, Joey." Madison was, by all appearances, the stereotypical high school
    cheerleader. She had the blonde hair, beach body with tan and a pair of breasts
    James would definitely like to get to know better. But for all her good looks,
    she was mentally average and despite being assigned as lab partners for the last
    two weeks, she still couldn"t get his name right. After changing schools five
    times in almost two years, James was getting used to it. "It"s James." "Right.
    So what do you want? I"ve got practice." "I just wanted to tell you that I made
    sure you got a C in Chemistry on your Midterm report. Oh and you got B in History.
    And those four skipped classes are gone." "Are you serious?" "Yeah." "You just
    changed all that stuff?" "Yeah." "I don"t believe you." "Believe it." James grinned.
    "It was actually pretty easy. The school uses eGrade. My last school used it too.
    The whole thing"s computerized. Teachers put our grades in a file and transfer
    it to the main computer in the office the night before the reports are printed.
    Our attendance reports are in there also. Mrs West keeps her username and password
    taped to her monitor. I wrote it down when I was her office and last night I went
    and changed a few of your older grades to a point or two higher. And erased your
    skips." "And then I get caught. Teachers are going to notice that my grade isn"t
    right." "You won"t get caught. I only changed those two classes cause Mr Collier
    and Mr Briggs don"t keep a paper grade book. And they don"t keep any of our assignments
    so they can"t compare the computer report to anything. If they ask to see your
    old papers just say you threw them out a long time ago. "And the classes you skipped
    were all substitutes so who"s going to remember." "Are you for real?" "See for
    yourself when we get our reports in 5th period." "Why would you change my grades?"
    "Maybe I like seeing you cheer. If your GPA is under 2.5 you"ll get cut from the
    team." "Well thanks." "Sure." James took a deep breath. "Maybe we could go see
    a movie sometime." "Joey, you"re sweet. But I"m a junior and I"m a cheerleader
    which makes me important around here. I can"t be seen hanging out with some nerdy
    kid. But thanks for fixing my grades." Madison spun on her heel and jogged into
    the practice. James watched her leave with dueling fantasies of seeing her do
    a basket toss and realizing she forgot to put panties on and seeing her fall off
    the pyramid and break her nose. "I"m a junior too. Whatever." James sighed to
    himself. If his life was going to be resemble some kind of tv show, why couldn"t
    it be something cool like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She"s bad ass. "What"s this?"
    James turned to see a pair of the school"s jock goons walking up. Another classic
    Hollywood cliche. "We"ve got a geek perving on our girls." "Actually, Trevor,
    I"m not much into the taste of live chickens." James wished very much that there
    was a computer program that would make him about six inches taller, 20 pounds
    heavier and an expert in Kung Fu. Maybe then he"d stop attracting high school
    bullies like honey attracts bees. "That supposed to be a joke?" Geordie, Trevor"s
    looming lump of flesh wingman, shoved James against the wall, pinning his shoulders
    back. "Yes, but I"m not sure you"re smart enough to get it." "Get this, smart
    boy. You need to learn where you belong and stay there. Cause it ain"t with the
    cheerleaders." "You know, Geordie, you should get a mint. Your breath smells like
    dirt." James wasn"t surprised by the knee to his stomach. It was a favorite bully
    opening move. Next would be either the fling to the ground to kick him a few times,
    or getting slammed back against the wall. Geordie favored the wall. "You got a
    mouth, geek." Trevor reached for James"s backpack. "Let"s see what else you have."
    Geordie kept James pinned to the wall while Trevor dumped out his backpack. "Nothing.
    Not even a wallet." Trevor looked up. "Empty your pockets or we"ll do it for you."
    Geordie stepped back but only enough for James to reach into his back pocket and
    pull out his wallet. Trevor snatched it out of his hand and flipped it open. "What"s
    this?" Trevor pulled an id out of the inside slot. "Seymour Birkhoff. What kind
    of stupid name is that?" James debated for a moment if he should tell them the
    truth or not. It was the one thing he had that might get them off his back. If
    he played it right, it might even end up profitable. "It"s not a just name, it"s
    a test." "A test? Of what?" "Let me pick up my stuff without getting kicked in
    the face and I"ll tell you." The two older boys stepped back and waited as James
    picked up his books and notebooks and put them back in his backpack. "Okay you
    got your stuff." "It"s to test if the ID is good enough to not get caught." "It"s
    fake?" "Do I look 17?" "Seven maybe." Geordie laughed at his own joke. James ignored
    the lame joke. "That name should be a huge red flag that it"s fake. If they look
    and they don"t spot any flaws then I know I"m ready." "Ready?" James motioned
    for the boys to lean closer. "To mass produce. But not for just anyone. There"s
    a huge risk in making something like this. It"s not worth the risk for people
    who won"t truly appreciate the product. Like the two of you." "You could make
    us fake ids?" "Totally. Happily. And anyone you can promise me won"t tell." Trevor
    and Geordie grinned at each other. James knew he had them. "How much?" "Well,
    it"s not cheap. My materials cost a lot of money. I mean these IDs should fool
    a cop. Even with a tiny amount of profit, it"s still $100. Each." "$100. That"s
    bull." "But I suppose." James paused. "I mean given how welcoming the two of you
    have been, how you keep other guys from messing with me and all that, it would
    seem ungrateful if I wasn"t equally willing to help out a couple of friends. So
    even though I"ll be losing money, for the two of you, I"ll do it for $50." "$50
    is still a lot." "But I am losing money, I"ll only do that for real friends."
    "Okay you got a deal. But we want good ids. 21." "If 21 is what you want, it"s
    what I"ll make." James plucked the ID out of Trevor"s hand. "Meet me tomorrow
    at the arcade at the West End Mall and I"ll tell you what I need from you." James
    turned and walked away grinning. $50 was going to make him a decent profit and
    $100 was going to be great. And no one would raise a fuss cause those two morons
    were going to back him up. And he should get the rest of the school year bullying
    free. It was perfect.'
  - this was not what i would term a great movie , but it isn't that bad either .
    it's a psychological thriller / horror . it's not really very fast paced , but
    it does build some suspense and atmosphere . i liked that aspect of it . but there
    are some scenes later on in the film ( probably at least halfway through ) that
    are absolutely disgusting . at least i thought so . for me , theses scenes showed
    more than was necessary . if you're a PERSON hound , these scenes won't likely
    bother you . if you have a weak stomach , you'll have to turn away when these
    scenes appear . i don't have a weak stomach , but i was unprepared for how graphic
    the movie became . aside from the that , i think the movie is fairly original
    . it does borrow a concept from a horror / ORG movie of quite a long time ago
    , but as far as i know this particular scenario hadn't been done by any film in
    recent history , although i could be wrong . also , i think it could be similar
    to DATE's ORG , though i haven't seen that movie yet . i think i will though to
    see if there are any similarities . for me , this was TIME diversion , which i
    don't regret . i give The PERSON a
  - '        You have to see  urlLink ORG .  It is such a good movie!  Seriously,
    it''s like the best conspiracy movie I''ve ever seen!   urlLink Buy tickets now
    .           '
- source_sentence: '           Gosh.  ORG has more ORG than my remaining disk space
    at home! (56Mb).         '
  sentences:
  - and then left. ~*~*~ Jason and Elizabeth"s penthouse. Elizabeth was still in the
    bathtub when Jason came back. Jason went up stairs to check on her. "Elizabeth,
    are you feeling better. " "A little. Jason you can come on in." Jason walked in
    and was shocked at what he saw. Elizabeth"s hair was tied up behind her head.
    Jason could see her whole body under the water. "Hello, Jase are you still there?"
    Jason nodded a yes. "I got some food from Sonny. Carly and Michael are coming
    with us to the island." Jason tried to keep his eyes on Elizabeth"s face. But
    they didn"t stay there long. Elizabeth couldn"t help but laugh. "Jason give me
    a hand here." Jason walked up to Elizabeth and helped her out of the tub. Elizabeth
    graded a towel when she saw that Jason couldn"t take his eyes off her long enough
    for anything let alone get her a towel. Elizabeth wrapped the towel around her.
    She then pressed her self in to Jason. Jason groaned at Elizabeth"s movement.
    Elizabeth was happy to hear Jason groan. She then got on her tiptoes and place
    a small kiss on Jason"s lips. Elizabeth was about to pull back to get dressed.
    But Jason wouldn"t let her move. Jason had one hand on her hips and the other
    on the small of her back. He held her close to him. "You started this now you
    have to finish it." "Okay, but can we eat first. I"m starving." "Okay." Jason
    backed them into their bedroom. Taking his hands off her for just a second. He
    pulled off his shoes. Then Jason pulled off his shirt, and handed it to Elizabeth.
    Elizabeth looked confused at first. Jason leaned down and took Elizabeth"s ear
    in his month. "Put it on and we will go eat." Elizabeth arched into him causing
    him to groan again. Then put the shirt on and want down stairs before he could
    say anything else. "She is going to be the death of me." Jason went down stairs
    after her. ~*~*~ Jason and Elizabeth went down stairs and ate on the couch since
    Jason doesn"t have a table to eat at. Jason started to read the file that Sonny
    gave him. "What"s that or am I not allowed to know?" Jason pulled Elizabeth close
    to him. "This file is about where we are going, when and how long." Elizabeth
    laid back and looked at the file in her lap to see what Jason was reading. Jason
    stopped reading to look down at Elizabeth. Elizabeth felt Jason looking at her.
    When she looked up her was staring at her wit this grin on his face. "What?" "God,
    your beautiful." Elizabeth turned in his arms so that she was straddling him.
    "So are you." Jason dropped the file on the floor to put his hands on her back.
    Elizabeth moved her hands up his chest to the back of his neck. Jason"s hands
    went to the side of her head. Elizabeth crashed her lips down hard on Jason"s.
    Elizabeth lost all thought. She didn"t even notice when Jason picked her up and
    laid her down on the couch so that he was on top. Jason went to kiss her again
    but there was a knock at the door. "GO AWAY!" Jason went back down and started
    kissing Elizabeth"s neck. "Lizzie it"s me Sarah we have got to talk." Jason looked
    up for a minute then went back to sucking on her neck. "I know who sent all those
    pictures." That stopped them both in there tracks. Jason went to the door and
    opened it to let Sarah in. Elizabeth sat up on the couch. "Ohh, sorry to interrupt
    but I know you would want to know went is trying to hurt you. But their not trying
    to hurt just trying to get you to go away with them-" "SARAH, come here sit down."
    Elizabeth motion to the sit on the couch next to her. Jason sat on the edge of
    his desk. *DAMN IT, Elizabeth and me are never going to have sex, if this keeps
    up. * "Okay, Sarah now who sent to pictures?" "Mom and Dad." Elizabeth jumped
    off the couch. "WHAT?" Jason jumped up to Elizabeth"s side. "Let me at the beginning.
    Tonight after dinner mom, dad, and me went home. Mom and dad where talking about
    this plan they have to get you to go back to Europe with them. Something about
    you wasting your life. They know you wouldn"t live Jason. So they have a plan
    for him too. Now, I don"t know what that plan I just know that they said Robin
    is coming back home tomorrow. After I heard that I came right over here." "Why?
    DAMN IT." "Lizzie, I am so sorry. This is my fault. I knew I should have shut
    up." Elizabeth went and sat down next to Sarah again. "Sarah, what are you talking
    about? What did you say?" Elizabeth was surprised when Jason asked to the same
    questions that she was thinking about. "Mom, called last week and asked how things
    where. So I told mom everything that happen with me you and Lucky." Jason flinched
    at the thought of how Lucky and Sarah hurt Elizabeth. Elizabeth saw Jason flinch.
    "Well, she asked if you moved on and I told that you and Jason where getting close.
    Then two days ago, they came back to town. And had a lot of questions about Jason."
    "Okay, thanks Sarah. Listen don"t let anyone know that we know about all this."
    Sarah nodded and left. "They blew up my studio. Sent me pictures. And are trying
    to brake us up. I want out of town now. I don"t want them to find us." Jason pulled
    Elizabeth up to their stairs to there room. "Get dressed. Pack up we are leaving
    tonight. I am going to talk to Sonny. Let no one in this house but Sonny and me.
    Got that?" "Yeah, but Jason you never told me where we are going. So what do I
    pack?" "Anything, everything. I don"t care. I can"t tell you where we are going.
    You"ll be safer that way." Jason kissed her and left. ~*~*~ Jason stormed in the
    penthouse across that hall. Sonny and Carly where kissing on the couch when Jason
    came in. "What the hell?" "Sonny change in plans we leave in two hours get ready."
    Sonny could tell something changed. "Carly go up stairs pack." Carly moved off
    of the couch. "Not until Jason tells my why." "I know who is after me and Elizabeth."
    "Who?" Sonny moved passed Carly to get a drink. "Elizabeth"s so called parents.
    They don"t like me so they want us apart." Jason moved to the drinking cart and
    pulled himself a drink as well. "So save us all the trouble and leave the Goody
    Goody." "CARLY. Don"t start and if you would shut up. I am would tell you how
    they plan and braking us up. And Carly I think you"ll love the person they are
    going to use." "Who?" Sonny just got himself another drink. "Robin. She comes
    back tomorrow." Sonny was shocked. "Fine, I am going to go pack." Carly went up
    stairs to help pack up Michael. "Are they really going to use robin?" "That"s
    what Sarah says." "Sarah? Elizabeth"s sister?" Jason nodded then told Sonny everything
    Sarah told Elizabeth and him just a little a while ago. "I have to go help Elizabeth.
    I want you to meet with the Webber"s and fine out what would get them out of Elizabeth"s
    life forever." "Are you sure about forever?" "These people treat Elizabeth like
    shit. They never showed her love. They left her at the age of 15 so they could
    go to Europe. When Elizabeth was rape they didn"t give damn. They have not talked
    to her in 6 years. I don"t think Elizabeth would care if they don"t come back
    to see her." Jason and Sonny didn"t see Carly as she heard every thing they said.
    "In fact, she likes it that way. These people are worst then the Quatermaine.
    At least in their only way they love each other. These people told Elizabeth that
    she was a mistake." "Your right Jason, these people are worst then the Quatermaine.
    Go help Elizabeth pack. The limo will be here in two hours." "Sonny get two limos.
    Don"t want Carly and Elizabeth to fight." Jason left the room before Sonny could
    say anything else. Chapter 11 A couple of days later. Sonny was sitting in his
    penthouse waiting for the Webber"s. He had called them over to "talk" about Elizabeth.
    After everything Jason said about them. He didn"t want to meet with them. Sonny
    knew not what Elizabeth felt but he had a good ideal. Sonny walked over to his
    desk and picked up the file he had on them. Both doctors, 3 kids, love Europe,
    rich. That was all Sonny cared about. He knew what they were all about. If they
    were really that bad, he would give them money to go away. Sonny was worried about
    Elizabeth. Last time Jason called nothing changed. Elizabeth was depressed. Carly
    and Michael were having fun. But Jason wanted to help Elizabeth but couldn"t.
    It was up to him to fix this. "Boss, Mr. And Mrs. Webber are here to see you."
    "Let them in Francis." Francis stepped a side to let them enter the penthouse.
    "Mr. And Mrs. Webber, I am Sonny Corinthos." "We know who you are Mr. Corinthos,
    my questions is why have you called us here." Caroline asked as step towards Sonny
    and let go of her husband"s hand. "Well, Mrs. Webber, I have called you here to
    talk about your daughter Elizabeth." Just as he finish Francis walked in and handed
    Sonny a file from Benny. This time it was Jeff who moved forward. "What has the
    little brat done this time?" Francis was about to leave but stopped and looked
    at Sonny. Sonny nodded, Francis shut the door and walked back to Sonny"s side.
    "Watch your month, Elizabeth is not a brat and you will not disrespect her in
    my home like that. Do you under stand me?" Sonny was pissed. These people where
    worst then the Quatermaine"s. "She is our daughter we will talk about her if we
    please." "Your right. She is your daughter. By blood alone. I know you have not
    been Elizabeth"s life for over 6 years. So why now?" "That is none of your business."
    Caroline wanted to leave. Sonny could tell Francis was making her nervous. Jeff
    was to busy talking to Sonny to even notice. But Francis and Sonny both knew it.
    "Yes, it is my business. Elizabeth is my business. She is my friend and dating
    my best friend. Not to mention she lives in my building. But you knew that. You
    had to. I mean when you send your daughter pictures you had to know where she
    lives. Right?" Jeff and Caroline were in shock. How did he know? Francis was pissed.
    How could Elizabeth"s parents hurt her so much? "Well, tell you what. I want both
    of you to leave Elizabeth alone. You two have not been in her life foe 6 years,
    and she has been just fine." Sonny turned to Francis. "Hey, Francis you think
    she wouldn"t even care if she never saw them again?" "Boss, I think your right."
    "That won"t happen." Jeff moved forward and so did Francis. Sonny put his hand
    on Francis arm and shook his head. Francis took a step back but glared at Jeff.
    "I think it will. You may think you"re powerful because you"re a doctor, but your
    not. I on the other hand am." "We don"t care. You can"t keep us a way from our
    daughter. We will fight you for her." With that they turned around and left. "Oh,
    this is going to be fun." Francis couldn"t help but laugh at his boss. "Francis
    get the car, we are going to GH. We have some doctors to pay off." That made Francis
    laugh even herder. "Sure thing, boss." With that Francis and Sonny left. ~*~*~
    A month later. Jason watched from the patio as Michael and Carly tried to build
    a sand castle. Jason had been spending more and more time doing that. Carly was
    glad Jason was spending more time with her and Michael then Elizabeth. Jason couldn"t
    help it. Elizabeth had completely closed off. She loss had a lot of weight, hardly
    ate, and didn"t talk to anyone. At first she would just talk to Jason. Nut after
    the first week she wouldn"t talk to anyone. Elizabeth scratched all the time.
    Every now and then Jason would see Elizabeth taking a walk down the beach sometimes
    he would join her just to be near her. Jason hated that she was in pain and there
    was nothing he cold do to help, mostly because she wouldn"t let him in. Jason
    was pulled out of his thoughts with the ringing of his phone. Jason jumped up,
    and ran inside to get it. "Morgan" "Hey, it"s me. The Webber"s have left town.
    Never to return." "What did you have to do?" "Nothing really. Just told them to
    get lost. Did you know they tried to fight with me? They think they are powerful
    because they are doctors. They soon learned other wise." "Did anyone get hurt?"
    Jason could have sworn he heard Francis laughing in the background. "No. You guys
    can come home now." "Carly and Michael will be home tonight. Me and Elizabeth
    are staying here until she lets me in." "She still not talking to anyone." "Yeah,
    is Robin leaving too?" "No, she has a job at GH. Bye, and good luck with Elizabeth."
    "Thanks bye." Jason hug up and went outside to talk to Carly. Jason told Carly
    and Michael that they where going home. Michael couldn"t get to his room fast
    enough. Michael was so happy to be going to see daddy. (IN MY STORY MICHAEL ALWAYS
    CALLED SONNY, DADDY.) ~*~*~ Carly was happy to be going home. She missed Sonny,
    and didn"t want to see the look on Jason face everyday because Elizabeth was not
    talking to him. Carly wanted to help. But she knew Elizabeth need time to be with
    just Jason. Even if she hated it, all this time with Jason made her realize Jason
    loves her. Carly also felt bad for Elizabeth. She had a family worst then the
    Quatermaine"s. Carly even tried to talk to Elizabeth. But Elizabeth told her she
    just wanted to be alone. The thing that hurt Carly more was that is was nice about.
    Carly knew that when Elizabeth was being nice to her. That she really was depressed.
    So Carly would live and try again in a couple of days to talk to her some more.
    But it was the same over and over again. ~*~*~ Michael got into the limo after
    saying goodbye to Jason. Carly gave Jason a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Take
    care of her so you guys can come home soon." Jason was shocked Carly wanted him
    to spend time with Elizabeth. But he nodded any way without asking any more questions
    about it. Carly got in the limo and they left. Now he was alone with Elizabeth.
    ~*~*~ Elizabeth had come down and said goodbye to Michael and Carly. Elizabeth
    even smiled a little when Michael talked about how much he missed his daddy and
    was glad to go home. To hear Michael talk about Sonny made her think about Jeff.
    Elizabeth wanted to cry. But that was all she did anymore. Then she would ask
    to unanswered question. WHY It always came back to why. Elizabeth would sit in
    her room day after day and try and answer it. But she couldn"t and it made her
    cry even more. Elizabeth was pulled out of her thoughts when Jason knocked on
    the door then entered the room. Elizabeth was sitting in the big bay window that
    the room had. Jason came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
    She didn"t move back into his chest like she did before. Just sat there. "Carly
    and Michael are gone. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour." Elizabeth nodded.
    Then got up and walked out side. Jason didn"t want to let go of her but he had
    no choice. Jason went to the kitchen and made dinner. ~*~*~ Elizabeth came in
    just as Jason was setting the table. Elizabeth and Jason had a normal dinner.
    No one talked, just ate. After dinner Elizabeth helped Jason clean up then went
    back to her room. Jason on the other hand went out for a swim. ~*~*~ A couple
    of hours later. Jason was sitting on the beach looking out over the water. Elizabeth
    walked out with two beers in hand. She handed one to Jason. "I thought you might
    want one." Elizabeth sat down right in front of him. Jason with even thinking
    about it, pulled Elizabeth back into his arms. There was something different about
    her. This time she leaned back against him. "Yeah, thanks." They sat that way
    for a long time. Elizabeth turned in his arms to look at him. Jason could see
    she is ready to cry at any moment. "I"m sorry." "Elizabeth, don"t-" Jason was
    stopped with Elizabeth month on his. Then she pulled away. "Just let me finish."
    Jason nodded and she went on. "You bring me out here, and get me away from my
    parents. And what do I do I shut you out. I am sorry. I don"t mean to. I just
    needed time to get my life in check." Elizabeth moved so her hands where on Jason"s
    neck and her head was next to his ear. "My parents, the people who brought me
    into this world, hurt me worst then ever before. I didn"t know what was going
    on any more." Elizabeth began to cry. Jason just held her while she cried. "GOD,
    I am sick of crying. I feel like that is all I have been doing since we got here."
    "It"s okay. Tomorrow, I am taking you out." Elizabeth looked up at him. "What?"
    "Tomorrow, I am taking you out. Dinner and what ever else you want to do. We are
    going to have some fun." Jason ran his hand up and down her back. "I would like
    that. I think that is what I need." "Elizabeth, don"t shut me out anymore." "I
    won"t. And I am so, so sorry." "I love you." "I love you too, Jason." Jason leaned
    down and kissed her. He then got up with her in his arms. And walked with her
    back to the house. Jason went into his bedroom, and out her on the bed. Then got
    into bed with her. Jason wrapped his arms around her. Elizabeth was so tied she
    was asleep in minutes. Jason waited a while. He was so happy she was talking to
    him. Then joined her in sleep. Chapter 12 ~ Conclusion The next day Elizabeth
    woke up in Jason"s arms. Jason had been up for an hour just watching her sleep.
    He wanted to get up for a swim. But he didn"t want to leave Elizabeth either.
    So he stayed. When Jason saw Elizabeth open her eyes, he leaned down and kissed
    her. "Good Morning." "Mmmm. Yes, it is a good morning." Jason just laughed. Elizabeth
    got up. "I am going to take a shower. Then we need to talk." Jason got up and
    kissed her. "Okay." "Don"t start something you can"t finish." Elizabeth pulled
    away from Jason and left the room. ~*~*~ When Elizabeth came into the kitchen
    Jason was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. Elizabeth pulled herself
    one then sat down next to him. Jason leaned over and kissed her cheek while she
    was drinking. "What did you want to talk about?" "Us." Jason was about to open
    his month when his phone rings. "Sorry." Jason picks up the phone. "Morgan" "Hey."
    "Carly why are you calling?" "I just wanted to see how things are going." "No
    you want to know if Elizabeth has talked to me yet. " Elizabeth looked up. Why
    would Carly care? "Okay, yes. I just feel bad for her. You know her family. So
    I wanted to know if she was talking." Jason looked at Elizabeth. "Yes, we were
    about to talk but then my phone rang." "Oh, I"m sorry. At least you two where
    not making up." "Carly we were never fighting." "Yeah, but I have a feeling you
    two are going too." "Carly, one minute you don"t want Elizabeth around me and
    now you want to know about our sex life." Elizabeth was just staring at him. "Jason
    I never asked about your sex life." "Carly, I haven"t I told you. You can never
    lie to me. You"re not very good at it." Now Elizabeth was laughing. "Goodbye Carly."
    Before Carly could get anything else out, he hung up on her and turned off his
    phone. "Was that really Carly and was she really asking about our sex life?" "Yes,
    and Yes. Lets take this talk out side." Jason said holding out his hand. "Okay."
    Elizabeth said taking his hand. ~*~*~ Jason was sitting in the patio chair with
    Elizabeth in his lap. "Now, what about us?" "I love you, Jason. You know that.
    We had this conversion before at your penthouse. When my studio first blow-up
    I was scared that it was your job. But when we found out my parents where behind
    it. It scared me even more. The thought that some one so close would hurt you
    like that." Elizabeth took a long breath. "I just wanted you to know that is what
    I was thinking about all month." "Elizabeth, I would never hurt you." "I know
    that. I just.Lucky said he would never hurt me and he sleep with my sister. Zander
    said he would never hurt me and he hit me. I"m just scared that you even if you
    don"t want to hurt, that you will. I can"t help but think of what might happen."
    "Honey, I know when it comes to guys you a very afraid of getting hurt. But if
    you want this to work with us you can"t think and live that way." Jason moved
    his hands on her neck that way she would look up at him. "I want us to work, more
    then anything. I mean I just got you. I don"t want to lose you." "Elizabeth, baby,
    you"re not going to lose me." Jason looked in her eyes. "Wait, is this about Robin."
    Elizabeth tried to hold back to tears. "I know she was your first love." Jason
    got and put her in the chair then kneed down in front of her. He then took her
    hands in his. "Robin taught me how to love, she was like a first love. Just like
    Lucky. He was your first love. Well, Robin was my first love." Elizabeth took
    Jason"s head in her hands and pulled him up her a kiss. "I"m sorry. When Sarah
    said she was coming back, and that my parents where going to use her to break
    us up. I thought that was how you where going to hurt me." "Baby, I not going
    back to her. Why would I go for her when I can have you?" Elizabeth smiled at
    that. "Now, there is that smile I love so much." "I love you, Jase." "I love you,
    too." Jason got up. He pulled Elizabeth up with him. "Now, is that the end of
    all this talk?" "Yeah, I am going to get dressed. Then can we go for a swim?"
    "Anything you want." Elizabeth started to walk away. But was stopped by what Jason
    said next. "Go away with me." Elizabeth turned around to have Jason holding out
    his hand. "Jason, honey, we are away." "No, I mean Italy, Egypt, me and you."
    Elizabeth smiled at him. "Are you trying to give me the world again?" Jason waited
    a minute. "Yes." "Then how could I say no. Yes Jason I will go anywhere with you."
    Elizabeth threw herself into his arms. And they kissed. THE END!!!!!!!!
  - PERSON is an inappropriate lead for a musical . Not so much because he can't sing
    very well ( although he NORP sing as well as the genre requires ) , but mostly
    because he is too closely identified , at least in our minds , with his " tougher
    " roles , and we just can't take him very seriously when he suddenly starts singing
    . PERSON isn't a very accomplished singer , either . And the CARDINAL miscast
    leads aren't the only problems of this musical-Western . It's also pointless ,
    slow and plodding . Its only strong redeeming quality , which keeps it bearable
    , is the lovely presence of GPE . She gives the best , the most likable performance
    in the film , providing a center of strength and dignity . If she wasn't around
    , this movie would be nearly unwatchable . As for the songs , there are lively
    ones ( like the title song ) and there are boring ones ( like " WORK_OF_ART "
    ) .
  - '                  Stress!   Yeah, that''s what I said,  Stress! . DATE of classes
    plus CARDINAL finals, boom done. Yet, it all seems so impossibly far away. *sigh*             '
- source_sentence: '       and sorry about the hard drive....let me know if I need
    to email you anything...    '
  sentences:
  - '       I missed the  urlLink FAC  awards the other night. They looked pretty
    cool but I had much better things to be doing :-)  But now I am bored yet busy
    at work. Hmmm..................         '
  - '           I found this little trick on the  urlLink Little Gamers''  news post
    and indeed was on the floor laughing like a madman.  Go to  urlLink Google  and
    type in Miserable Failure and hit I''m feeling lucky.  It''s so deserving. I am
    sorry Summer for posting this, but its so funny! Nothing against GPE or its people...
    okay I lied as long as they produce this...sigh.         '
  - Viktor looked at him, surprised. "Vhat you mean? Ve are on train." Mordecai glared
    daggers at him. "You know very well what I mean, Viktor. I"ve had quite enough
    of this nonsense." He sounded bitter, hopeful, and nervous all at once. Viktor
    leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, looking out the window. He
    let Mordecai sit there for a moment, simmering in his own increasing frustration.
    "Nonsense, yeah?" "Yeah." Mordecai mocked, agitated. Viktor looked back to him,
    thinking. There was a light in his eye that unsettled Mordecai. What have I just-
    Viktor"s hand shot out, grabbing Mordecai"s tie, and pulled him forward, covering
    the young man"s mouth with his own. Mordecai hesitated but quickly returned the
    offer of lips. Viktor kissed him repeatedly, removing his hand from the tie and
    placing it firmly on the back of Mordecai"s head, his other elbow still on his
    knee. It was not the most comfortable or practical position to snog in, but neither
    man cared at that moment. It had finally happened. 1927. He reached for his gun
    and turned around only to see Viktor standing there with a wrench in hand. "I
    vas vorking. Need light on." he said, turning to go back to one of the trucks
    that seemed to always need maintenance of some sort. Mordecai straightened up
    and cleared his throat, following the larger man to said vehicle. He wasn"t sure
    why he was doing it yet, but was sure he could come up with some reason- if not
    an excuse. He stood nearby, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. Viktor had
    realized years earlier it was a kind of nervous habit Mordecai had, though he
    didn"t think Mordecai knew it himself. It was strange to know someone so well
    that had been so alienated. Though Viktor hadn"t had a decent conversation with
    him for what seemed like a lifetime, he knew the man well enough he could probably
    have told you what he ate for breakfast that morning. Mordecai put his glasses
    back on. "So... You heard our conversation?" "Yeah." Viktor responded, looking
    at the engine before him in bewilderment. "Jebem tá." he said, defeated, closing
    the hood. Mordecai looked his ex-partner over as Viktor reached into a pocket
    and produced a small flask, taking a drink of the liquid within and making a face
    that looked like he wished he hadn"t before capping it again. He looked to Mordecai
    and offered it to him. Mordecai made a foul face and shook his head. Viktor smiled,
    remembering what an intoxicated Mordecai Heller looked like. Viktor sighed and
    Mordecai shoved his hands in his pockets and they both began to speak at once.
    "Look, Viktor-" "Vhat happened-" They simultaneously cleared their throats, looking
    at anything but each other. "How"s your...?" Viktor pointed to his own side, indicating
    he was trying to ask how Mordecai was healing. "Oh!" Mordecai started, "I"m quite
    well now, thank you." He said, rubbing the spot that was scarring nicely underneath
    his clothing. The silence crept up on them again and awkwardly, almost unintentionally,
    they started looking one another over, as if to see if the other had changed since
    their last encounter. The air was curiously warm for late November, Mordecai noted
    in the back of his head. It was then that he also took note of Viktor"s simple
    cotton shirt which lay tight across his chest, and his trademark suspenders that
    outlined the firm muscle under it. He watched that large, expansive chest rise
    with each intake of air, and fall with every exhale. Likewise, Viktor studied
    his face, or, more specifically, his lips. They had always been one of Mordecai"s
    most exceptional features. They were not large, but not thin, and had a slight
    but masculine plumpness that was rarely seen. And God, did he know how to use
    them. With that thought, Viktor pulled his eyes off of the younger man, somewhat
    embarrassed. "You, eh, vant to sit?" Mordecai was equally embarrassed and looked
    away quickly. "Where?" he said, suddenly looking around, far too interested in
    where this seat might be. Viktor went around the truck, past Mordecai, and opened
    the door, offering the truck seat to the younger. Mordecai thought for a moment
    that he shouldn"t, but the concept fizzled away as he walked around Viktor and
    sat inside, nodding his appreciation. His eyes didn"t leave the older man as Viktor
    went back around and sat in the driver"s seat, hoisting himself in. Mordecai thought
    this was an all-too-familiar thing for them, this whole front seat business. Not
    that they should be in the back seat, of course! He thought quickly before mentally
    slapping himself, the implications too much for him at the moment. It was quiet
    again as they sat next to each other, only about 2 feet of empty seat between
    them. Viktor took another swig from his flask and made another face, though it
    was less appalled this time. He took a deep, calming breath, determined to talk
    to Mordecai like an adult who could handle a proper conversation with another
    adult. To talk to him like an old friend, and not something more awkward or difficult.
    It would make it easier to handle a discussion. If they ever started having it.
    Mordecai cleared his throat yet again, another nervous habit, "What... were you
    going to say, earlier?" Viktor thought for a moment and remembered, glad not that
    he had not gotten to say it. "Is nothing." He heard Mordecai let out an agitated
    sigh and decided that asking the silly question was better than sitting in awkward
    silence again. "Vhat happened... Back then? Vhy did you leave?" Mordecai was relieved
    that the question didn"t turn out the way he had anticipated, but this one angered
    him somewhat. "Don"t start that, now, you know very well why I left." Viktor looked
    at him seriously. "No. I don"t. I haf no idea vhy, vhen ve needed you here most,
    you just leaf!" "I didn"t just leave, Viktor." "Ah, yeah. I forget. You shoot
    me, then you leaf!" He shouted, his face growing more accusing. Mordecai wondered
    briefly if Mitzi knew Viktor was back here and wanted the two of them to talk.
    He pushed it aside. It didn"t matter anyway. "I did what I had to! You could have
    come, but you chose to stay." "Yes, and you choose to leaf." "I didn"t choose!
    Mitzi sent me to work for Asa, remember?" "... No." "Yes! And then Asa asked you
    to come with us, and you refused. We had a chance to... To work together and you
    turned it down." Viktor sat thinking about this for a moment. He hadn"t known
    that Mitzi sent him. He realized many things. One being that Mordecai wanted to
    be with him, and he was assuming when he said "work together" that wasn"t exactly
    what he meant. Another being that Mordecai evidently had not gone because he wanted
    to. And last, that Asa had lied to Mordecai. "Asa nefer came to me. Ve never talk.
    He doesn"t, eh, vell, ve haf nefer like each other much." Mordecai looked confused
    and conflicted. "No. No, he told me that he asked you to come with us and that
    you refused." Mordecai looked at Viktor, desperate for confirmation, but Viktor
    could only offer a sorry stare in return. Mordecai looked away, realizing he"d
    been played. "Why would they... did they... Did they do it on purpose?" He was
    not used to being out of the know, and detested the feeling of confusion. Viktor
    thought about this as well. Did they know? Even if they did, why would they tear
    the two apart? A better question was, "Then... Still, vhy did you shoot me?" Mordecai
    looked at him with a start and felt slightly embarrassed. "Well... I was angry.
    And... If you weren"t with us, you"d be against us. I thought it best, in my disapprobation,
    that you cease such work lest I be given orders to do something that would not
    be in your best interests as a consequence of your employment." Viktor understood.
    It was a complicated way of saying, You pissed me off but I still cared enough
    to shoot you so I wouldn"t have to do worse later. "Not that it had any apparent
    effect, seeing as you"re still here." Mordecai scoffed. Viktor sighed. He knew
    there was no use arguing any of this. It was a matter that was two years old and
    could not be reversed now. But at least they had talked and learned the truth.
    He looked over at Mordecai, defeated. "I"m... Sorry." "What? Why?" "I don"t know...
    I"m sorry that things turn out this vay." It was Mordecai"s turn to sigh. "Yeah.
    Me too... Especially about... You know..." Mordecai made a "gun" with his hand
    and pretended to shoot Viktor"s knee. Viktor chuckled and rubbed at the knee of
    his stretched-out leg, then lay his head back on the seat and turned is tired
    gaze to Mordecai, who looked equally tired and even more sorry, almost as if he
    would cry. But Mordecai Heller didn"t cry. Ever. They were content to just sit
    there looking at each other a while, as if they were sending I"m sorries back
    and forth telepathically. Viktor felt something warm brush against his hand that
    was lying on the seat between them. He recognized it immediately and took hold
    of it, squeezing. The other did the same. It was much later that the two parted
    ways. They had caught up, talked about important things, regrets, plans, Viktor"s
    extensive injuries and how they were taking their toll on him. And trivial things
    as well. They mentioned the past a couple of times, but it seemed like that only
    lead back to the subject of regret, which was not something either were fond of
    talking about. Their long conversation was filled with occasional hand contact
    and fleeting I missed this looks. They did not mention whatever it was that was
    between them, their romance, as the sentimental might call it. But it did not
    need mention to be rekindled that night, though both were loath to admit it or
    even acknowledge it. When it came time for Mordecai to leave, it was because the
    sun was in the sky and he desperately needed sleep. They stood at the door that
    lead out, where Viktor had caught Mordecai the night before. They weren"t sure
    how to say "Good bye" now. Gathering his courage, Viktor put a hand on Mordecai"s
    shoulder and placed a chaste kiss on his temple. Putting the sides of their heads
    together he still refused to say goodbye. "I vill see you soon, yeah?" his voice
    was soft and low and pleasing so close to Mordecai"s ear. The younger nodded,
    briefly grabbing Viktor"s arm in a reassuring manner before pulling away gently
    and slipping out the door, looking in all directions as he slunk away. Viktor
    did not feel so lonely knowing that there was still someone who cared. As a matter
    of fact, he felt better than he had in two years. Just so we"re clear. . . They
    didn"t have sex. They didn"t even kiss. I just don"t want to give anyone the wrong
    idea there with that ending. Tell me how I"m doing Please! It motivates me ;]
    Short, short short, short short! I"m so sorry this chapter is tiny. I"ve been
    having trouble writing. Just hang in there until I figure out what to do next.
    I had a plan coming into this story, and I was sticking to it. But now I don"t
    know what to do! I hope everyone can forgive me for this pathetic excuse for a
    chapter. -Daft It"s not that Mordecai didn"t like Viktor. He just didn"t like
    the conflicting feelings the man caused within him. He sighed for the umpteenth
    time that afternoon. It was not something he would normally do, but on this particular
    afternoon his mind was plagued with memories. He didn"t feel much like reading.
    Or doing a crossword. Or any of the other boring things he usually did in his
    time off. Inevitably, this left him with too much time to just sit around and
    think. And to make things worse, he just simply could not get comfortable. The
    early December air outside was too cold for a walk, and the fire inside was making
    the house too hot. No clothing he owned felt comfortable on him, the scar on his
    side was itchy, and his hair refused to stay back and instead kept falling in
    his face. All together, he was half naked, hot, itchy, bored, and incredibly irritated.
    The raven haired man took a deep, calming breath, and decided that he would clean.
    Cleaning always helped take his mind off things, and he hadn"t done it in a while,
    anyway. Sufficiently relaxed, pushing the hair from his face again and straightening
    his glasses, he made his way to his small bed room and set about changing his
    bed linens. Viktor felt great. He sat cleaning guns for Mitzi- just one of the
    many tasks she always found for him to do before they opened up in the evenings-
    and smiling to himself. Well, he was trying not to. Every time he realized he
    was making a ridiculous expression he quickly wiped it from his features, but,
    inevitably, it returned soon after. Stupid, lop-sided grin on his face once again,
    he was startled when he heard a feminine clearing of the throat. He hid the expression
    away and looked up to see Mitzi in the doorway. She wore her usual half-concerned,
    half-apathetic expression but regarded him with raised brows. "How did it go?"
    Viktor furrowed his brow and turned his attention back to cleaning the pistol
    in his hand. "Haow did vhat go?" He only hoped she wasn"t talking about what he
    thought she was talking about. "Well... Did you talk to him?" Of course. Mitzi
    leaned against the wall with her hands behind her back. Why did she have to look
    so innocent and nice and have such a sweet voice? Viktor would have been able
    to lie to anyone else. He sighed, not bothering to play dumb. "Yeah. Ve talk."
    "Yeah? How was it?" She sounded a little excited, and offered a little smile when
    he looked up at her. He tried to look mean and scary but she wasn"t falling for
    it. He nearly sighed again but he stifled it. "Vas okay. Not much to talk about."
    Okay, so he could lie a little. Mitzi gave him an expression of doubt and he only
    shrugged in response, turning once again back to the gun. "You two were such good
    friends... I felt terrible when he left." She looked down at the floor, sadness
    covering her features. "Is because it vas your fault?" He glared at her this time,
    determined to make her feel bad. She sent him a sorry glance before looking down
    again. "I had to. I needed someone I could trust on Asa"s side. Not that I trust
    Mordecai, really, but he was my best option at the time. I know you were friends
    with him, but please understand. I didn"t have much of a choice. I still don"t."
    Viktor could no longer concentrate on cleaning the weapon. He sighed and ran a
    hand over his face. It was that word. Friends. Mitzi looked him over, noting his
    apparent distress. "Are you okay, dear?" She moved over to where he was sitting
    and took a seat next to him, laying a small hand gently on his huge arm. He looked
    at her. Tired, sad, hurt, and implying. He wanted her to know that there was more
    between Mordecai and himself but didn"t want to say it aloud. He hoped she would
    guess. But she didn"t assume anything. Viktor was torn between disappointed because
    he couldn"t tell her of the true nature of their relationship, and relieved because
    he wasn"t sure he was ready for anyone to know. He just nodded at her and regarded
    the gun again. Mitzi pat him on the shoulder and started out the door she had
    come in. She turned to him before walking out. "I really am sorry Viktor. I know
    he means a lot to you." And then she was gone. Leaving Viktor to decide what she
    meant by that. Well, there it is. Let"s just call this... half a chapter? . .
    . A filler? . . . A small update? . . . Proof I"m still alive? I"ll have more
    soon! Really! Hey! I wrote something! Sorry if it"s a little boring, but the faster
    we get through the boring, the faster we get to the not-so-boring ;] I just hope
    there are still people reading this.. -Daft Serafine stepped into the small office
    with Nico entering just behind her. Asa looked up at them from his paper apathetically,
    raising his brow slightly. "How"d it go? We get a big haul?" "Eh, yeah, Boss,
    but..." "Mitzi"s bois, dey di"nt show up." Asa looked from Serafine to Nico, thinking.
    "Are you sure? She had to have known... That shipment was supposed to be huge!"
    Serafine shrugged, "Maybe she din" wanna risk it?" Asa returned to his paper,
    a bit disappointed at the missed opportunity to cause some more damage to the
    Lackadaisy establishment. If his plan had worked out, they would have fallen for
    good and Mitzi would surely have had to finally step down. "Ah, well... Always
    next time. She"s bound ta slip up sooner or later." Asa looked up, confused for
    a moment, and looked behind him. "Hey, you two seen Spooky around?" The siblings
    shrugged and shook their heads "Not sin" las" night, he was dere when we go to
    collect, but he din" stay long." Asa nodded, "Well if ya see "im, send "im in"
    and shooed them out of the office. Ten minutes later, Mordecai entered, shutting
    the door quietly behind him. "Hey, Happy, where you been?" Asa beamed. "I just
    arrived. As to where I was, that is none of your concern. You wanted to see me?"
    He stood in front of the desk, hands behind his back, waiting for a response.
    Asa looked him up and down. "You been gone a lot lately, eh?" Mordecai looked
    on at him, raising a brow, silently asking for Asa to reach his point. "I been
    thinkin"... You left in a hurry the other night. And then, yesterday, them Lackadaisy
    boys didn"t show up. Now, with you gone so much, and that little coincidence,
    you might just have some people thinkin" that you"re helpin" out our competing
    establishment. But you wouldn"t do that, would you?" Asa gave him one of his deceptively
    friendly smiles, waiting for an answer. "Of course not. That insane woman and
    her ludicrous group of questionable individuals she calls employees doesn"t deserve
    assistance. We both know she"s barely holding onto her resources, she should fall
    any day at this point." Mordecai responded, keeping his cool. He was however,
    very disturbed that Asa had been able to come up with such a deduction, considering
    he wasn"t the sharpest tool in the shed. Asa nodded and grinned. "That"s what
    I thought. Just makin" sure. But, while we"re talkin" bout it, as your boss, I
    feel I am entitled to ask exactly where you have been Mr. Heller... Would you
    care to inform me?" He folded his hands and leaned forward with his elbows on
    the desk, watching Mordecai and waiting for a response. Mordecai twitched. He
    hated it when Asa tried to sound smart. He had always thought the man was a complete
    idiot. "Again, you may be my employer, but where I am outside of this establishment
    and it"s activities is none of your business." Asa"s smile dropped and he looked
    hard at the young man in front of him. "Fine. I have some errands for you to run
    for me." Asa knew that Mordecai hated running errands, but if this was all the
    punishment he had to face, he wouldn"t argue. As far as Mordecai knew, Asa was
    prepared to let the issue drop if he did a couple miniscule tasks for him, and
    that was enough. It took Mordecai approximately 12 minutes to realize that the
    Savoy siblings were following him around town. He rolled his eyes. Idiots. All
    of them. As if he would be foolish enough to do anything suspicious right after
    speaking with Asa about his recurring absences. The worst part was that now he
    wanted to prove Asa right. He wanted to throw his job out the window. He wanted
    to waltz into the Little Daisy and chat up Mitzi just for a bit of fun. Then he
    wanted to return to Asa and throw him out a window. If he could find one the man
    would fit through. He ignored the siblings" terrible job at trailing him and continued
    around town, doing this ridiculous job for his ridiculous boss, talking to ridiculous
    people about ridiculous things that Asa thought would help his ridiculous business.
    Why he would send Mordecai was anyone"s guess. Mordecai was not a people-person.
    Or a negotiator. He just shot things and stole things and any and all negotiating
    he did was with his pistol to someone"s head. He was not a talker. He was a thinker.
    And a do-er. But he kept himself in check for today, to satisfy Asa, and powered
    through it. Rocky and Calvin followed Viktor down the dry bank of the river, once
    again on their way to collect what little they got weekly from the faithful and
    apathetic Captain Kehoe. Viktor"s mind had been on Mordecai almost constantly
    but an hour with Rocky was enough to kill a couple braincells and numb anyone"s
    mind to the point of barely having coherent thoughts. "And by the way, do you
    still think I"m like spaghetti noodles? Because I think I"ve really been bulking
    up I mean, don"t get me wrong- I agree with you about me before- but now, I mean
    look at this improvement!" Rocky said in one breath, flexing his thin noodle-arms
    for emphasis. Viktor turned around and glared at him. "You. You alvays are talking!
    Vhy can you not be more like smaller one and stop with all these noise coming
    out of your face!" Viktor huffed and stared at Rocky, who still had his arms flexed.
    "... But I have gotten bigger, right?!" He asked, grinning. Viktor rolled his
    eye and turned around again, heading toward the boat. Rocky turned to Freckle,
    who looked a little worried, and flexed at him this time, wiggling his brows.
    Freckle shook his head and followed Viktor. The stop didn"t take long and they
    got more liquor out of the deal than they normally did for their weekly visit,
    which was a good thing after the recent losses. Viktor was satisfied with the
    haul and was in a better mood, if only for a little while.
---

# SentenceTransformer

This is a [sentence-transformers](https://www.SBERT.net) model trained. It maps sentences & paragraphs to a 256-dimensional dense vector space and can be used for semantic textual similarity, semantic search, paraphrase mining, text classification, clustering, and more.

## Model Details

### Model Description
- **Model Type:** Sentence Transformer
<!-- - **Base model:** [Unknown](https://huggingface.co/unknown) -->
- **Maximum Sequence Length:** 512 tokens
- **Output Dimensionality:** 256 tokens
- **Similarity Function:** Cosine Similarity
<!-- - **Training Dataset:** Unknown -->
<!-- - **Language:** Unknown -->
<!-- - **License:** Unknown -->

### Model Sources

- **Documentation:** [Sentence Transformers Documentation](https://sbert.net)
- **Repository:** [Sentence Transformers on GitHub](https://github.com/UKPLab/sentence-transformers)
- **Hugging Face:** [Sentence Transformers on Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/models?library=sentence-transformers)

### Full Model Architecture

```
SentenceTransformer(
  (0): Transformer({'max_seq_length': 512, 'do_lower_case': False}) with Transformer model: BertModel 
  (1): Pooling({'word_embedding_dimension': 768, 'pooling_mode_cls_token': True, 'pooling_mode_mean_tokens': True, 'pooling_mode_max_tokens': True, 'pooling_mode_mean_sqrt_len_tokens': False, 'pooling_mode_weightedmean_tokens': False, 'pooling_mode_lasttoken': False, 'include_prompt': True})
  (2): Dense({'in_features': 2304, 'out_features': 256, 'bias': True, 'activation_function': 'torch.nn.modules.activation.ReLU'})
)
```

## Usage

### Direct Usage (Sentence Transformers)

First install the Sentence Transformers library:

```bash
pip install -U sentence-transformers
```

Then you can load this model and run inference.
```python
from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer

# Download from the 🤗 Hub
model = SentenceTransformer("sentence_transformers_model_id")
# Run inference
sentences = [
    '       and sorry about the hard drive....let me know if I need to email you anything...    ',
    '       I missed the  urlLink FAC  awards the other night. They looked pretty cool but I had much better things to be doing :-)  But now I am bored yet busy at work. Hmmm..................         ',
    "           I found this little trick on the  urlLink Little Gamers'  news post and indeed was on the floor laughing like a madman.  Go to  urlLink Google  and type in Miserable Failure and hit I'm feeling lucky.  It's so deserving. I am sorry Summer for posting this, but its so funny! Nothing against GPE or its people... okay I lied as long as they produce this...sigh.         ",
]
embeddings = model.encode(sentences)
print(embeddings.shape)
# [3, 256]

# Get the similarity scores for the embeddings
similarities = model.similarity(embeddings, embeddings)
print(similarities.shape)
# [3, 3]
```

<!--
### Direct Usage (Transformers)

<details><summary>Click to see the direct usage in Transformers</summary>

</details>
-->

<!--
### Downstream Usage (Sentence Transformers)

You can finetune this model on your own dataset.

<details><summary>Click to expand</summary>

</details>
-->

<!--
### Out-of-Scope Use

*List how the model may foreseeably be misused and address what users ought not to do with the model.*
-->

<!--
## Bias, Risks and Limitations

*What are the known or foreseeable issues stemming from this model? You could also flag here known failure cases or weaknesses of the model.*
-->

<!--
### Recommendations

*What are recommendations with respect to the foreseeable issues? For example, filtering explicit content.*
-->

## Training Details

### Training Dataset

#### Unnamed Dataset


* Size: 325 training samples
* Columns: <code>sentence_0</code>, <code>sentence_1</code>, and <code>label</code>
* Approximate statistics based on the first 1000 samples:
  |         | sentence_0                                                                           | sentence_1                                                                          | label                                           |
  |:--------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:------------------------------------------------|
  | type    | string                                                                               | string                                                                              | int                                             |
  | details | <ul><li>min: 12 tokens</li><li>mean: 458.43 tokens</li><li>max: 512 tokens</li></ul> | <ul><li>min: 7 tokens</li><li>mean: 466.12 tokens</li><li>max: 512 tokens</li></ul> | <ul><li>0: ~47.38%</li><li>1: ~52.62%</li></ul> |
* Samples:
  | sentence_0                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           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  | <code>It was as if the world he lived in had ceased to exist. And he finally, finally had to admit to himself why the thought of not seeing her everyday in school caused a sharp pain near the region of his heart. "Would you like something to drink?" Minoru"s voice interrupted his thoughts. Jerked out of his reverie, he looked at the inquiring faces before him as the words finally sunk in. "Oh yes," he bowed affirmatively from his kneeling position on the table. He smiled appreciatively as they brought the sake bottle to the table. "How time does fly," a voice to his side commented. Recognizing the voice, he stood up to face Yankumi"s grandfather in a formal bow. "Kuroda-san," he greeted. Ryuichiro Kuroda was just as he remembered. If he didn"t know any better, he would have said that the man hadn"t aged a day since he last saw him. "Shin," he greeted in return with a firm handshake. "Was it not only yesterday that you refused Wakamatsu"s gift of sake on the grounds that you were a minor?" Seeing those wise eyes looking gently at him, Shin basked in the feeling of welcome that was extended to him. As they all sat by the table, it was as if the last seven years never happened and he found himself enmeshed in discussion with the people he had considered his second family. How many times during those dinners in evenings long ago had he silently thanked Yankumi for including him in her family? "It was good of you to come," Kuroda told him. "I heard you were in town and wondered whether you would visit us here." "It would have been impossible for me not to," he replied honestly. "You have been my family when my own gave up on me." He looked at him and tried to convey the gratitude he felt over the years with his eyes. "That has not changed just because my own family and I have reconciled." He paused. "I am...sorry I was unable to visit the last time I was in the country," he said quietly. Kuroda peered at him through the rim of his sake cup. "It was a difficult time for you," he said slowly. "I remember Kumiko seemed very worried at that time, but we understood your need to most likely be alone. I was very sorry for your loss," he told him gravely. Shin inwardly winced. Yes, he remembered years ago when he came home for the death of his mother. While he hadn"t seen Yankumi"s family, he had seen his teacher. He cringed as he thought of his encounter with Yankumi the night of his mother"s funeral. "You must know, however, that you are always welcome in this house," Kuroda continued, as he raised his sake-filled cup up in a toast. After sipping the drink, he looked at him closely and asked, "How long will you be here this time?" "Actually," Shin began, a little distracted, "I believe I"m here for good this time." He heard the surprised sounds coming from Minoru and Tetsu. "It thought that it was time," he hurried to explain, "to come back home." But in front of him, he found Kuroda nodding at him slowly. "My reasons for going away," Like trying to get away from his father influence or being in love with someone who saw him as nothing more than a kid, "no longer existed." He and his father were certainly in better terms and Yankumi...well, he wasn"t in love with her anymore...right? "I see," stated Kuroda. "And what brings you here today, on your first day back?" he asked. "I thought I"d see...everyone...and catch up," he replied. "Kumiko should also be here soon," Kuroda declared knowingly. "She will be more than happy to see you." He looked at him closely. "She misses you, you know." Shin nodded, feeling warmth suffuse his cheeks as he silently cursed. What was the matter with him? Her grandfather makes an off hand comment and here he was acting like a schoolboy. "After a time," he continued on, "your letters had stopped coming and I believe she was saddened by that fact." Shin looked up in surprise. She was saddened by it? Wasn"t she the one who first stopped corresponding with him? Wasn"t she the one who stopped writing? When he thought of all those nights he laid in bed just thinking of the things he could have done or said or eventually written to make her write back to him, a familiar wave of frustration washed over him. "I know you had a falling out, the two of you," Kuroda stated while giving a pointed look to the other two men beside him. With that look, Shin heard Tetsu make a coughing sound before he and Minoru excused themselves from the table. Apprehensive, he met their encouraging eyes before he turned back to face Kuroda-san"s piercing ones. What had Yankumi told her grandfather? "She did not tell me what it was about," he continued, answering his unasked question. "And that is rare for her given our relationship. But I respect her privacy and yours. Your battles are your own in this situation." He took a deep breath. "But whatever it is you two have argued about, I am sure that it could be fixed. In your own ways, both of you care and respect one another. That is why you are here, and that is why Kumiko has-" "Tadaima!" He stiffened, hearing the all too familiar voice behind him. He closed his eyes before opening them slowly, as if to brace himself for the coming onslaught. "Where is everybody?" she called out. "Oi, Kumiko!" Kuroda greeted his grand-daughter after meeting his nervous eyes. "Oji-chan!" her voice floated over him. "Eh? Do we have a guest?" Her voice was closer now, in the same room even. He knew he should turn around and greet her. Knew he should have done it the second he heard her voice. But something inside him was paralyzed. Whether it stemmed from the beginning of her grandfather"s talk with him or whether it was the image of her with his own father, he couldn"t bring himself to face her right that second. "Yes, a surprise guest," replied Kuroda, looking at his expression curiously. "Come over here and welcome him." Hearing the shuffling of feet behind him, he willed his body to turn and look away from the inquiring gaze Kuroda-san was sending him. Lifting his eyes, he turned in time to see Yankumi do a double take and almost stumble through the rice-paper door that led to the room. "S-S-Sawada!" she stammered, her eyes wide like saucers and her mouth agape. He stood up, almost clumsily, and stared at the face that had haunted his thoughts and dreams in the past. He stared at the woman who was his teacher, the woman whom his father was supposedly seeing, the woman who helped bridge the abyss between him and his family. The woman whom he wasn"t in love with...at least, not anymore. He stared at her for what may be seconds but for what seemed like hours and knew that once again...once again he had lied to himself. As his heart raced the trip-hammer beat he was all too familiar with, he knew...that he had loved her all along. As always: like it? Hate it? Let me know! Author"s note: Thank you, THANK YOU for the favorable response to this story! Happy reading! Family Matters - A Gokusen Fanfiction ...I didn"t mean it that way. Maybe it came out all wrong. I never meant to imply that I distrusted you. After all that you had done for me...for my friends, my classmates, I admit that there is no one else I could rely on with more confidence. I would have thought that you understood this... From Shin Sawada written to his former teacher, Kumiko Yamaguchi, while muttering under his breath, "You would think she would know after I practically announced to everyone both at graduation and that time she was forced to resign that she was the one adult I did trust. Damn Yankumi"s as clueless as ever." Chapter Three: Confrontations "Yankumi," he said, in that stoic voice she knew so well. He could have been talking about the weather, for all the emotion contained in his tone. The way he sounded, it could have just as easily been one of those times when he said her name during their time as teacher and student. He said her name as if years and events didn"t separate them. It was almost anticlimactic in a way. When she entered her home that day, she had already been fighting a feeling of being out of sorts. She had been distracted that whole day in class. There was a nagging feeling that she couldn"t quite pinpoint and she had almost been glad when the last bell had rung. Even her students had given her inquiring looks all day as well as a wide berth. To their minds, a distracted Yankumi was far more prone to slip into her Yakuza skin and they were careful not to let that Yankumi out against them. This was why she had been more than a little apprehensive upon arriving at the unusually quiet house. While she understood that Wakamatsu was often busy with work, she had come to expect Tetsu or Minoru to greet her whenever she came home from school. Seeing her grandfather had relieved her mind. While she wasn"t the most superstitious person out there, she would have to admit that part of her had been afraid that her restlessness might have been due to a premonition of something bad happening to her family. Seeing her grandfather relieved her mind not only because it assured her that he was alright, but it also let her know that the rest of the family was alright. Otherwise, her grandfather wouldn"t have been sitting there calmly talking to... "Sawada," she said again, unable to help herself. Unable to believe what her eyes were telling her. Attempting to hold herself steady, she clutched the rice paper door before her and looked back and forth between her grandfather and her former...student. He was her student. "Shin arrived in Japan just this morning," her grandfather informed her helpfully as he stood up to give her a kiss of greeting on her cheek. His arms held her steady, something she was more than thankful for at that moment. "I"ll leave you two alone to catch up," he told her, as she met his kind and gentle eyes with her panic-stricken ones. "You don"t have to," she said hurriedly. "I"m sure Sawada would like to have all of us welcome him back to the country." She looked meaningfully at her student"s eyes. "He"s been gone for so long and-" "Kumiko," her grandfather interrupted, his voice low and somewhat reprimanding that she winced at the implied criticism. "I"ll go see what Minoru and Tetsu have in terms of plans for tonight"s dinner," he said, before giving her shoulders a firm squeeze and walking away. Leaving her alone. With Sawada. Her student. Feeling his pointed stare, she quickly straightened up and approached him as casually as she possibly could. "Sawada," she said again, meeting his eyes. He grinned at her. And it was that same rare grin she knew from long ago. The same grin she had worked hard at drawing out as his teacher. "Is that all you have to say after all these years?" he asked, almost nonchalantly, she would have said, were it not for the slight narrowing of his eyes. She hated this. If it had been any other student, she knew she would have flung herself at him in joy and given him the biggest hug a teacher could give to welcome him back home. She would have ruffled his hair and teased him about being late. She would have done something...something than just standing here and staring and being awkward. Because this wasn"t just any other student. This was the boy who kept her secret when she first started to teach. This was the boy who"s always meant just a little bit more to her and her family during that year at Shirokin. He"s your student, she reminded herself, as she pasted a smile at her face. Maybe, maybe the thing to do would be to treat him as she would any other student. Because at this point, she was at a loss. Slowly, awkwardly, she stepped forward and wrapped him in her arms as she attempted to ruffle his hair. He"d grown even taller, she thought, feeling his unresponsive body beneath her arms. "Welcome back, Sawada," she said softly, before she felt herself pushed away firmly by two strong hands. "It won"t work," he said steadily as he set her before him. Looking up at him, she stared at the brooding eyes of old and asked innocently, "What do you mean?" He let go of her arms, as if burned, before stepping back and watching her intently. "You know what I meant," he stated. He smiled ruefully. "Although it"s just like you to pretend otherwise." Giving him an indignant look, she stepped away and looked at him in askance. "I don"t know what you mean," she reiterated slowly, lying through her teeth. What else did one say in this situation? She gestured towards the table to invite him to sit down. Looking up at him from her height left her feeling at a disadvantage at this stage. He gave a deep, exasperated sigh before following up on her prompt. She grinned. That sigh reminded her so much of the Sawada she knew way back then. She would recognize the mannerism anywhere. Situating herself across him, she offered to top off his cup before pouring some of her own. "So," she began, wracking her brains for something intelligent to say. "How"ve you been?" She winced at the inanity of her words. From the look she received, she could tell that he seemed to be admirably restraining himself from saying something else rather than the short, "I"ve been alright." She nodded. "Things have been alright around here too," she told him. She grinned. "Can you believe that Uchiyama is now your brother-in-law?" she asked teasingly. "I bet you didn"t see that one coming. Natsumi-chan was very disappointed that you didn"t make it to the wedding last year, but I"m sure you"ve made it up to her." She tucked an imaginary strand of her hair behind her ear. "You must have seen her already. Isn"t she great? She"s been doing really well with the pregnancy-" "Stop it," he muttered lowly, his lips hovering just above the sake cup as he peered at her from above its rim. "I told you before it won"t work." He placed his cup gently down the table and looked at her steadily. "I didn"t come here for small talk." The hell? Then why did he come here? Surely it wasn"t to- "Then why have you come here?" she asked, her voice bordering on frustration. Without any sort of warning? At least, if she had known he was coming, she could have mentally prepared herself. She could have had a speech ready to deliver. Because while she knew perfectly well how to greet a former student, or an old friend, she was a little out of her depth on how to greet an old...she paused. She couldn"t quite make herself complete the thought. He gave a mirthless laugh. Somehow, in all his dreams of this moment, in all the fantasies he"d had regarding coming back here and facing her, he had never imagined her looking quite so lost. He"d imagined her surprised and he"d imagined her angry. In his most optimistic and idealistic moments, he"d even imagined her happy to see him. After all, to him, it had been a given that he would come back. Eventually. He had meant to come back sooner. When he left the day after his mother"s funeral, he"d had every intention of coming back as soon as he possibly could. He had committed himself to two more months in the current volunteer program he had been working with. If he remembered correctly, he had been helping teach English to a group of young adults in a small South American village. As strange as it seemed, he had found himself slipping comfortably in the skin of an instructor. He had found himself enjoying his students who, granted, were not quite the delinquents that class 3-D was in his days. And so he went back to teach, fully intending to return to Japan as soon as the school year ended. Except he didn"t. He didn"t come back that summer, or the summer after that, or the summer following. And now, over three years later, he stared at the woman who was in part responsible for keeping him away. "I thought it would be best if we cleared the air," he replied somberly. "From what I hear, we were bound to see each other sooner or later." He noted her flushed cheeks. "Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes looking at him intently. "Yes, Natsumi-chan and I have become good friends over the years," she said carefully. "I"m surprised that she...she never mentioned you were coming home," she trailed off. He smiled bitterly. Did she mean to hide it from him, her relationship with his father? He saw the careful way she watched his eyes and gauged his responses. Was she waiting for some sort of acknowledgment from him before broaching the subject? Could she even be...waiting for his approval? He shuddered. "That"s because she didn"t know about it until today," he replied abruptly. "It was...a surprise." "Oh, it"s a surprise alright," he could hear her mutter beneath her breath before she gave him a wide smile. "I bet she was ecstatic! She misses you, you know. I know she"s told me several times that she was hoping you would be home when she delivered the baby." She paused for breath. "Speaking of which, how long do you plan on being here this time?" he heard the uncertainty in her voice. "Actually," he began, making note to watch her reaction, "I"ve come home to stay." "Heh?" "I"ve come home to stay this time," he reiterated as he observed her eyes widen like saucers. "You mean forever?" she asked blankly. He gave a bitter laugh. "I"m not sure about forever, but definitely longer than a couple of days," he replied, aware of her growing agitation. Was she nervous about him being in town? Was she afraid that he might have some objections over her relationship with his father? He grimaced at the acrid taste that thought brought to his mouth. "That...that"s...that"s great, Sawada," she finally said softly. "I"m glad." And for a moment, he let himself imagine that she really meant it. If it wasn"t for the growing uneasiness he could see in her eyes, he might have actually been able to convince himself of it. "I...I mean...Natsumi-chan must be over the moon!" she said somewhat awkwardly. "She"s always complained about you living so far away. At one point she could barely keep up with the rate of your change of addresses!" "Did you have that problem?" he asked abruptly, right before he silently reprimanded himself for being a masochist. He promised himself that he was not going to ask that particular question. After all, her silence all these years should have been answer enough. His mouth, however, seemed to have run away from him and had different agenda for this meeting. "Heh?" she asked, her eyes looking guilty. "What problem?" "Forget it," he muttered tersely, his pride momentarily overriding his need for answers. He looked away. Maybe he shouldn"t have come here. At least not yet. Not this soon. Especially after talking to Natsumi. He stared at his sake. He felt like slamming his head against a brick wall. What the hell was he doing? Didn"t he come here to settle matters? Instead here he was at a loss for the words that would bring it all about in the open. Didn"t he come here to find out from the horse"s mouth, so to speak, if Natsumi"s speculations were true? Instead, here he was afraid to ask the question for fear of the answer. And last but not the least, didn"t he come here, fully intending to be able to look at her in the face and know, know, that his feelings for her were long dead? Instead, one look at her face was enough to leave him feeling like a school boy once more. This was pathetic. He was an adult. And so were Yankumi and his father. If there was something there (and Natsumi seemed certain that there was!), then he couldn"t...just couldn"t... concern himself with it. At least not until he figured himself out. Not until he"d figured her out. He needed answers and the person to give it to him was sitting right in front of him. "Sawada," she said interrupting his thoughts. He looked up at her, meeting her earnest gaze. "I thought we"d established a long time ago that it"s "Shin,'" he told her. She blushed, averting her eyes and ending up looking down at the table. He watched as she worried her bottom lip. "You do remember, don"t you?" he said almost tauntingly. He didn"t know why he was doing this. Something inside him just needed to push and prod at her. "Sawada," she said again, more forcefully this time. He gritted his teeth. Was she going to deny it? Pretend that nothing happened? "Kumiko," he returned deliberately. He watched her mouth open, then close, and open again then close. He could almost be proud of himself. He might just have rendered her speechless. Frustrated at his lack of progress, he stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. While he didn"t think this would be easy, he didn"t think it was going to be like pulling teeth. He had expected her to have a lot to say. If anyone had anything to say, it had to be her. After all, hadn"t he said his piece years ago? While she...she responded in silence. He"d accepted that response then. He"d been stupid to do so, but there it was. Now, however, no oceans or continents or outdated forms of communication separated them. He could demand the answers he sought. And this time, this time around, he wouldn"t accept anything less. "Yankumi," he finally said, using the name she was used to, the name she no doubt preferred coming from him. "What the hell happened?" More author"s note: as always, I love hearing from people who"ve read and liked my story as well as people who are kind enough to constructively criticize.</code>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | <code>will always prevent her from what she sees as damaging her pride even more. "I need to talk to her," he said desperately. Hadji had looked at him with understanding while Jonny had just stared at him "We do not know if she has been out yet," said Hadji. "It is perhaps better to wait for her to come to us." He looked at them and decided he was going to look for Jessie himself. He got as far as the principal"s door when the secretary stopped him. He would have camped outside the door, but he was asked very politely to leave. When he refused, the secretary demanded that he does leave. They had called her father apparently and he and Dr. Quest were on their way. He left the office frustrated. The sight of the police entering and leaving did not in any way give him a feeling of relief. He wanted to see Jessie and he wanted to see her NOW! As it turned out, he wasn"t able to see her until his track practice. She had come up to him on the field. "I heard you wanted to talk to me," she said. "Yeah," he replied. He tucked a few tendrils of her hair behind her ear. "I"ll wait for you at Jenner"s classroom, okay?" she asked. "I have to take a make-up quiz from him anyway so I"ll wait for you in there when I"m done." He kissed her forehead and nodded. She blushed and looked at his teammates, who were doing everything they can to look as if they weren"t paying attention to what was going on. "Well," she said, "I better go. I wouldn"t want to get you in trouble with your coach." She kissed him on his cheek and of she went. Then she turned back. "Can you take me home today?" she asked. "I wouldn"t want to hold Jonny and Hadji up." He smiled. "Sure," he replied. She was about to leave when he said, "Jessie." She turned back to him inquiringly. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. She glanced behind him and again saw his teammates with their coach this time. She looked at him and said, "Ofcourse," while her eyes said something different. "I"ll see you later," she said and left. He stared after her and went back to practice while his thoughts stayed with her. Track practice had eventually ended and he jogged over at the school building anxious to see Jessie. He found her sitting in Mr. Jenner"s classroom, looking at the scene from the window. He stared at her for a few minutes wondering how he could come to care for someone so quickly. He guessed he must have made a noise because she turned to him and smiled. "How long have you been standing there?" she asked. "Long enough," he said as he walked towards her. She stood up and walked over to the window. She stared at the scene again. He followed and stood behind her. He put his arms around her shoulders and rested his chin on top of her head. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly. She was silent. They stood like that for a long time when he finally said, "Do you have any idea what I felt when I found out about it?" Still silence. "I felt so helpless," he continued softly, "and frustrated. I tried to find you to talk to you, but something always seemed to prevent me. I thought I was going mad until I saw you walk towards me on that field today. Then I just wanted to run to you and pull you to me and make sure you were okay." "I"m fine," she said quietly, "as you can see for yourself." They stood silently again. "I didn"t break down or anything," said Jessie. He held her tighter. "I even went back to school after all of them talked to me about it." He rubbed one of her shoulders. "I threw up in the bathroom though," she said matter-of-factly. He smiled at her tone. She sounded almost like a little girl. "I couldn"t help it," she said softly. He turned her to face him and lifted her chin so that he could look at her eyes. "Did I mention that I had a cat when I was young?" she asked him. He shook his head. "She was a kitten really," she continued. "She was so cute and tiny. We had to give her away when I had to go travel around the world with mom." He held her eyes. "I"ve always loved cats," she said softly. He felt his heart ache. "When I saw that . . . when I opened my locker and saw . . ." She leaned against his shoulders. "At first I thought it was my cat," she said. "I know, I know it"s ridiculous. But the coloring -- from what I can see of it at least -- was the same as mine." She swallowed. He felt her shoulders shake. "How could someone do that to that poor cat?" she whispered. He felt her tears in his shoulder. "I couldn"t stand it," she said. "The stench, the writing, everything." He strengthened his embrace. "I didn"t want to cry and look like a baby." He stroked her back. "Didn"t want Jonny or Hadji thinking I"m some sort of shrinking violet." She looked at him, her green eyes watery. "You don"t think that, do you?" "Never," he replied. She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Thanks," she said. Again they were silent. "Jessie," he said softly. She looked at him. "Sometimes it"s good to talk about things," he said. "Crying can be very healthy, you know." She was silent. "Your father or Jonny or Hadji will not think less of you if you do this in front of them," he continued. "I can"t," she said. He sighed. Maybe in time, he thought. Maybe in time she"ll learn that she doesn"t have to hide parts of herself to the people she loved. The drive back to her house had been a comfortable silence between two friends. **END FLASHBACK** Jonny looked down at the girl -- woman, really -- he was dancing with. She had been silent ever since he had taken her in his arms and led her in a dance. To be quite honest, he didn"t quite know how to act around her tonight. He could still remember seeing her descend from the stairs and feeling his heart pump wildly at the sight of her. He had stood there and stared at her like an idiot. He didn"t exactly recall what he started saying, but from the perplexed look on Jessie"s face, he didn"t believe he made much sense either. All he saw was Jessie, walking up to her father with a hopeful expression on her face while Race . . . Race had gruffly complimented his daughter on her beauty. Jessie had smiled radiantly at her father"s approval and in turn remarked on what a handsome quartet her father, Hadji, his father and he made. All through the evening, Jonny would feel his eyes drawn to his red- headed friend. His breath never failed to catch whenever he met her eyes and her mouth would give him a smile. Things got hectic after that. Race had to run to pick up Estella and take her to dinner while the rest of them had greeted their arriving guests. For the most part, everyone had arrived on time, including the caterers and the musicians hired for the event. Then Michael arrived and Jessie . . . Jessie had chosen Michael as her escort. He didn"t find out that Jessie had invited Michael to the surprise party until lunch in school that day. To say that he was surprised was an understatement. He had been flabbergasted. Jessie had never once hinted that she had wanted her parents to meet Michael, and for some reason, that had reassured him. He had seen it as an indication that Jessie wasn"t really serious about Michael. After all, whenever she and Michael go out, she had seemed to take great pains to make sure Michael never met Race -- or is it the other way around? Jonny frowned. It didn"t matter now, anyway. Jessie had proudly introduced Michael to her parents the moment he had arrived. While Jonny gleefully noticed a reservation in Race"s part, he had also seen Estella"s delight with the track athlete. "Jessie," he said finally. Jessie slowly looked up at him, her eyes wide and questioning. He took a deep breath as he looked into her eyes. All through the dance, he had been more than aware of the feel of her in his arms as their bodies swayed along with the beat of the music. He had felt a warmth pervade his being the moment he had touched her. The feeling of rightness, of coming home had stayed with him from the time he took her in his arms. He didn"t think he could feel as complete as he did at that moment. "Jessie," he said again, more softly this time. She smiled hesitantly at him, if not inquiringly. He cleared his throat. "You . . . uh . . . dance well," he said. You dance well? he thought to himself with disgust. You dance well??!! Why could he not come up with something better to say? He sounded like a complete idiot! He looked down to see her reaction to his asinine remark. He wasn"t sure, but it looked as if relief sparkled in her eyes for a moment. She grinned at him. "So do you, hot shot," she replied. "I must say that I"m suitably impressed, not to mention surprised." "What do you mean by that?" he asked defensively. "Oh, nothing," she replied. "Only that you don"t seem to be the type of guy who"d know the basics of ballroom dancing." "Oh yeah?" he asked with a challenge in his tone. "Yeah," she answered belligerently, her eyes responding to his thrown gauntlet. He twirled her around his arms and led her to series of complicated dance steps. By the end of his exhibition, they had drawn a crowd of onlookers and received the applause that was due to them. He saw Jessie blush as they bowed and he drew her back into his arms. He smiled down triumphantly at her once she raised her eyes to meet his. "Show off," she muttered at him. "Ah, come on, Jess," he cajoled, "you know you enjoyed it." She ignored that and broke their eye contact. She seemed to find something fascinating with the bow tie of his tux. Jonny grinned mischievously and decided that a little . . . persuasion was in order to gain her reply. He shifted the hand in her waist threateningly. Jessie stiffened and he stifled a laugh. If there"s anything he knew about Jessie, it was her ticklishness. "Don"t you dare," she whispered furiously as she looked up at him. "Jessie," he said, moving his hand again, "you know that I"d dare . . . anything." She tried without success to escape from his grip without gaining the attention of the other dancers. "Jonny Quest," she began in a lecturing voice. "Admit it," said Jonny, his fingers tightening around her waist. She gasped. "Admit what?" she demanded. "That you enjoy dancing with me," he said matter-of-factly. "I did n--" His fingers moved. She glared at him, her eyes promising retribution. "Alright," she said hoarsely. He looked at her innocently. "Alright what, Jess?" he asked guilelessly. "I"ll get you for this, Jonny Que--" "Promises, promises," he replied. "Now what was that you were saying about dancing with me?" "I didn"t say any--" His other hand moved to her waist. "Alright, I enjoyed it, okay?" she said. "Satisfied?" He looked at her intently. "Far from it," he said softly as he brought one of his hands to her cheek, caressing it. She had the smoothest skin . . . the most incredible eyes . . . the nicest mouth . . . "Jessie," he said, all playfulness gone, "we need to talk." She tensed up and avoided his gaze. "We are talking," she said lightly. His hand raised her chin so that she was facing him. He held her green eyes. "You know what I mean," he said quietly. They had stopped dancing at this time and just stood there staring at each other. He saw her gulp and look around in embarrassment. He finally noticed that the other dancers are looking at them strangely. "Let"s get outta here," he said as he dragged her with him and headed for the double glass paned doors which led to the gardens. He felt her dragging her feet behind him, but didn"t care. They needed to talk and it was about time they did. He was tired of her delaying tactics, her timely attempts at changing the subject, and her reluctance to broach the subject that he was sure had been in both their minds lately. When they finally reached their destination, a secluded spot in the garden which hid them from any possible prying eyes, he stopped and turned to look at her. She was standing in front of him, her back ramrod stiff and her arms crossed. Jessie had been getting angrier by the second as she was literally dragged by Jonny across the room and into the garden. How dare he? she thought. How dare he just decide then and there for them that it was time to destroy the years of friendship they had built. Didn"t he know what this "talk" will do to both of them? to their friendship? to their lives? Didn"t he know that after this talk he wanted to have, there is huge possibility that they would lose the camaraderie that took over a decade to accomplish? It"s stupid. This wanting to talk is stupid. This whole situation is stupid. In fact, he"s behaving stupidly. She will not allow this! "We"re going back to the party," she said as calmly as she could. She turned from him and started to walk away. She had barely made three steps when she felt the strong grip of his fingers on her shoulders, stopping her progress. "Jessie," he said in a tone of voice she"d never heard him use before. "We . . . will . . . talk." Jessie turned to face him, furious, but trying to reign the temper she was known for. "Listen to me, Jonny," she said, deliberately slowly, "there is nothing to talk about." Jonny looked at her closely. "I think there is," he said quietly, "and if you"d stop being a coward and running away, you"ll agree with me." Coward? she thought. He"s calling me a coward?! Take a deep breath, Bannon. Remember, when you lose your focus in a battle, you lose the battle. And whether you like it or not, this . . .is . . .a battle. It"s a battle for the friendship you want to preserve. "I am not a coward," she told him softly. "And if you weren"t my friend, I"d have knocked you senseless for even suggesting such a thing." His fingers dug deeply into her shoulders. He looked as if he wanted to shake her. "You know I"m right about this," he gritted, "and we"re going to stay here and talk about it even if it takes us all night." "For the last time," she said, her patience running thin, "there . . . is . . . nothing . . . to talk about." Jonny cursed softly under his breath. "Fine!" he said. "I"ll talk and you"ll listen." *You will lose him, Jessie* *Remember what happened to your parents* Jessie struggled from his grip in her shoulders, but Jonny was angry and that anger gave him strength. She couldn"t let this happen. She was not going to lose Jonny. She wouldn"t let what happened to her and Hadji happen with Jonny. She had to stop this. She had to do something, anything that will halt this conversation. But she couldn"t think of anything to do. She, Jessie Bannon, could not figure out a way to stop him. She felt tears of frustration build in her eyes. I will not cry, she told herself. Not in front of Jonny. *Suck it in, Bannon!* Hold back the tears, Jessie. You know crying never did anything. *Remember when you cried for your father when he and your mother separated* He never came back to live with you and your mom again, did he? *Remember when you cried for yourself, for the cat, in Michael"s shoulders today* The cat is still dead, isn"t he? Do not cry. Hold back the tears. "Jonny, listen to me," she pleaded. "Don"t do this." Jonny looked at her face as she appealed to him. He saw the moonlight bouncing off the redness of her hair. He can see the desperation and the beginnings of panic in her face as she pleaded. He felt his resolve falter. "Jessie," he said softly. He took his hands from her shoulders and used them to hold her face up to him. His fingers caressed her cheeks, touched her hair. Lines of worry appeared in her forehead. He thought her the most beautiful woman in the world at that moment. "Jessie," he said again, his voice trembling. He put one of his hands in the back of her neck and the other in beneath her hair. He drew her close to him and leaned forward. He touched his lips with hers. Jessie felt Jonny"s mouth close over hers, hesitatingly, questioningly. *Step away from him!* She felt the warmth of his hands as one of them moved to her waist. *You know you can step away from him!* She felt his hold of her tighten, his lips still moving. *Step away now, before it"s too late!* It is too late, she thought. Her eyes closed as she put her arms around his neck and she kissed him back. Michael blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing. He blamed the poor lighting of the garden, the denseness of the trees, the glow of the moonlight. He blamed his tiredness, his eyesight . . . anything at all. He couldn"t be seeing what his eyes are telling him. He shouldn"t have let his curiosity get the better of him. He should have just stood in the room and waited. He knew he shouldn"t have followed them in the garden. He shouldn"t have followed them to the secluded spot. He shouldn"t have hid behind the trees. He shouldn"t have eavesdropped. And when they had stopped talking, he shouldn"t have leaned close enough to see them. But he did. And the sight he saw was like a knife dug deeply into his chest and twisted. He couldn"t breathe. He couldn"t move. He couldn"t drag his feet off and leave. He couldn"t do anything! All he could do was stare helplessly at the couple as they kissed. He stared as Jonny held the girl who had come to mean more to him than the very air he breathed. He stared bitterly as Jonny took the place which he had wanted, craved more than anything. Jealousy ate at his soul when he saw Jessie"s arm go around Jonny"s neck. He couldn"t stand it. HE COULD NOT STAND HERE AND WATCH THIS!!! He willed his feet to move, to take him away anywhere as long as it took him from this place. Finally, with they started to move, to walk, to run. He ran from the garden, past caring if they heard his retreat or not. All he knew was that he . . . had . . . to . . . get . . . away . . . away . . . away. He tried to compose his face by the time he got back inside the house. He could feel his blood pumping furiously as he sought the exit. A blackness threatened to overwhelm him. "Michael," he heard someone say behind him. He turned his haunted eyes to the owner of the voice. It was Hadji. "Where are you going?" Hadji asked. "I . . . uh . . ." he stammered. He cleared his throat. "I have to go now," he said hoarsely. "But. . .but," said Hadji, "have you said goodbye to Jessie?" He smiled bitterly. "I"m sure she won"t miss me," he said flatly. He left. Hadji stood and watched Michael"s exit. Confusion marred his features as he wondered what had Michael rushing from the party so suddenly. He had seen Michael come inside from the gardens with a bleak look in his face. He had approached him to inquire what was troubling him, but he didn"t even have a chance to ask. He wondered . . . He looked back at the doors which led to the garden. Then he looked around the room. Jessie and Jonny were nowhere to be seen. Oh no, he thought. A noise penetrated the edge of Jessie"s consciousness and it was enough to bring her to her senses. She broke her kiss with Jonny and looked around for the source of the noise and found nothing. She looked up at Jonny, and found him staring at her with wonder. She could still feel the imprint of his mouth on her lips . . . "Jonny," she said, her voice unsteady. She felt him draw her close again, but this time she used her hands -- which she found around his neck -- to push him away. "No," she said, her voice still unsure. She pushed him harder until he let go of her. *What have you done, Jessie?* She looked up at Jonny, her right hand covering her mouth. *What have you done?* She saw his eyes look at her with concern. "Jessie," he said softly. "What"s wrong, Jessie?" She stared at him. She could see her world crumbling before her. "Jessie?" Jonny said again. "Talk to me, Jessie. Tell me what"s wrong." Didn"t he know, she thought. Didn"t her know? "Everything," she whispered. "What?" Jonny said. "Everything," she shouted. She started to back away from him. "Everything is wrong. We shouldn"t have . . . we shouldn"t have--" "Don"t say that," he interrupted. His hands clasped her arms, stopping her retreat. "This has been waiting to happen for a long time." "That"s a lie!" she said desperately. "This is wrong. It shouldn"t have happened!" "Jessie," he said, his face inches from her. "Jessie. I love you." NO! she thought. No, no, no, no, NO! Love, this kind of love, never lasts. It eventually destroys. "Jonny," she said to him, panic lacing her voice. "We"re best friends." "I know, Jessie," he said, smiling at her. "Jonny," she said frustratingly. He was deliberately being dense about this. "That"s all we are." Jonny shook his head. "Now who"s lying," he said. "Jonny, Jonny, please," she said, she could feel tears forming in the back of her eyes. "Let"s just be friends." Jonny shook his head again. "Jonny!" she said desperately. "I want more than that, Jessie," he said. "You"d realize you do, too, if you"d stop lying to yourself." She shakes her head vehemently. "Jonny, listen to me," she said. "Ofcourse you love me. We"re best friends. We"re supposed to love each other." Jonny sighed with impatience. "Jess," he said, "we both know that"s not what I meant when I said I loved you." "Jonny," she said, also impatient. "That kind of love never lasts. We"ll only end up hating each other. There"s no purpose--" He touched her cheek. "Give it a chance, Jess." "No!" she shouted. "I don"t love you! Not that way!" She watched as he winced. He looked at her and searched her eyes. "You don"t mean that," he said hoarsely. "You know you don"t." *Dig the knife in, Jess. Whatever pain he might feel right now is</code> | <code>1</code> |
  | <code>feel the time is right, say what"s in your heart & let him know." "Okay." Ali said. Meanwhile, several waiters walked towards Yai, Ducky, & Spike with a platter with a lid over it. They set it in front of the 3, & 1 of them lifted the lid, revealing 1 large sirloin steak & 2 salads. Next to the plates was 3 glasses beside a pitcher full of pink liquid. "A sirloin steak for you, Ms. Yai." 1 of the waiters said. "& for your guests, 1 chef"s salad each." "Thank you, James." Yai said, & the waiters all dispersed. "Wow, Yai." Ducky said. "You really get to eat like this?" "Yep." Yai said. "Pretty neat, huh?" "Oh yes, yes, yes." Ducky exclaimed in her usual fashion. "It is neat. It is." "Mm hmm." Spike said as best he could before digging into his meal. "Well, guys." Yai said. "When you"re with me, it"s fine dining all the way." "Neat." Ducky said. They all began eating. Then, Ducky noticed Yai pouring the pink drink into a cup. "What is that pink stuff?" Ducky asked. Yai turned to her with a puzzled look, then smiled upon realization. "It"s strawberry milk." Yai said. "My favourite thing to drink." "That sounds good." Ducky said. "You 2 want some?" Yai asked "Oh yes, yes, yes." Ducky said. "We do." Yai poured strawberry milk into the other 2 cups & handed them to the 2 dinosaurs, who begun drinking them. Once done, they all looked up at her, with starry eyes. "This is delicious, Yai." Ducky said. "Uh huh, uh huh." Spike said. "Glad you like it." Yai said. "There"s plently more where that came from." Meanwhile, Cera & Chaud were approaching Chaud"s mansion. Cera just looked in awe. "Wow, Chaud." Cera said. "Your home is big. You must be pretty happy." Chaud sighed. "Not entirely." Chaud said. "My dad"s a lot like your dad. He"s a blowhard who acts like he"s immune to his emotions." "Hey!" Cera shouted. "Nobody makes fun of my dad except me, got it!?" Chaud smirked. "But this is my dad we"re talking about." Chaud said. Cera sweatdropped. "Whatever." Cera said. They walked through the large marble doors into Chaud"s home. They were greeted by a large man with black hair sticking back with white streaks in it. He was dressed mostly in black with a stern look on his face. "Chaud Blaze." The man said. "You"re 6 minutes late, unacceptable." "Sorry, dad." Chaud said. "I has to stay a while longer to make sure the gameland was running properly." "Well..." Chaud"s dad said. "See that it works in time for the release date. Dinner will be ready in an hour." "Thanks, dad." Chaud said. Chaud went up to his room, Cera was concealed behind Chaud"s legs, do his dad didn"t see her. Chaud lay on his bed with his hands behind his head. Cera leapt onto a chair & curled up in it. "Wow." Cera said. "He really WAS like daddy. You weren"t kidding, Chaud." "Told ya so." Chaud said. Cera looked around the room & then saw a portrait on 1 of Chaud"s walls. It was of a little mini Chaud, his father, & a woman in an orange dress with brown hair & a kind smile. "Hey, Chaud. Who"s this?" Cera asked. Chaud looked over to where Cera was & saw what she was mentioning. He sighed. "That kid is me when I was little, & the woman was my mom." Chaud said. Cera looked back at him. "Your mom?" Cera asked. "Yeah." Chaud said. "She died when I was that age, & it was just me & my dad ever since." After a pause, Cera spoke up. "I envy you, Chaud." Chaud looked down at her. "You do?" He asked. "Yeah." Cera said. "I never knew my mom. Dad said she was swallowed up by the ground in a big earthshake on the way to the great valley." "Really?" Chaud asked. "Yeah." Cera said. Chaus smiled. "Then I guess we have something in common." Chaud said. "We both live with our dad." Cera looked at him with a smile. "Yeah." She said. Meanwhile, Princess Pride & Tickles were riding in a plane towards a country. Princess Pride picked Tickles up & took him over to the window." "You see that?" Princess Pride asked. Tickles squeaked in what could easily be described as yes. "That"s my country, where we"ll be staying." Princess Pride said. Tickled squeaked happily. A butler then approached Princess Pride. "We"ll be landing shortly, madam." He said. Princess Pride smiled. "Good." She said. "Our little guest is getting antsy." The person left. Princess Pride smiled at Tickles. "When we land, I"ll show you to my home." Tickles squeaked happily. (A/N:Sorry for neglecting this fic. I"ve been putting my weight behind other fics, & recently, my fic has been deleted, so this chapter might be shorter than I originally intended(or not). But after an extremely LONG hiatus, I"m back.) About a day since Littlefoot & co. came to Lan"s world. In a part of the cyberworld, 2 net navis were battling. The net nevi on the right was green & had a dollar sign on his chest. The net navi on the right had a blue torso with a large fan in the middle. His legs were black from the crotch down to the knees. His shins were blue tubes with silver rims. His feet were blue semi-ovals with silver souls. His arms were orange from the shoulder to the elbow, with another blue tube with silver rims as lower arms. They also had a green fin on each tube. He also had orange hands. There were also 4 silver fins on his torso. 1 between each arm & the head, & 1 between each arm & leg. A lump was his head & had 2 rectangular eyeholes with green eyes on them. On his forehead was a silver ring jutting out with a black field inside. Inside the field was a green tornado. "Don"t think you can win, you blowhard." The green net navi said, it charged up a buster & fired at the other net navi multiple times. All the shots seemed to hit him & enveloped him in a cloud of cyber dust. "Ha ha." The green net navi said in triumph. He then looked & saw the other net navi was unharmed. "Ho ho!" The net navi said. "That was a breeze to evade, now prepare to be blown away." The net navi raised its hands & opened them towards the green net navi, a tornado formed around the green net navi & spun him in the air. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The green net navi shouted in mid-air, then turned into a pillar that said "LOGOUT" going down. "Moneyman, logging out." A voice said, & the pillar disintegrated. In the real world, a man in the shadows is staring at the net navi who won. "Nice work, Airman." The man said, congratulating the net navi, apparently Airman. The screen then changed to show the words "Your account now reaches..." with rapidly climbing numbers underneath the words. "With your help, all those greedy companies who bankrupt me will pay, & I"ll get all their money. Who do we strike next, Airman?" "I believe I may have an idea." Airman said. He shifted off to the side & a screen appeared next to him. Inside the screen was a picture of Yai Ayano. "Ah, the Ayano family." The offscreen man said. "Good choice, Airman." That morning, Lan was rollerblading down the street at a great speed. Littlefoot was nestled in his backpack with his head sticking out & looking over his shoulder. "Aw man, I"m gonna be late." Lan said. "Yeah, again." Mega Man said. Littlefoot looked down Lan"s P.E.T.. "Huh, so Lan"s been late before?" Littlefoot asked. Mega Man crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Oh yeah." He said, nodding. "Mega man!" Lan shouted. Soon, they were at Mr. Higsby"s chip shop. Also there were Maylu, Chaud, Tory, Yai, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ali, & Chomper. Lan was exhausted, & holding himself up by his knees. Everybody was looking at Lan & at Littlefoot. "Wow, Lan." Maylu said. "You"re actually on time for once." "Hey!" Lan shouted. Everybody laughed. Ali just walked up to Littlefoot, wondering about what Maylu had said. "Wow, so he was late before?" She asked, looking up at Lan. "Apparently so." Littlefoot replied. Mr. Higsby spoke up. "Yes, well, now that we"re all here, I can now show you something I have just made." He said. "Follow me." He said. He lead everybody to the backroom & opened the door. Everybody looked at the door & what they saw truly amazed them. It was a huge clear dome, about the size of a baseball diamond with a jack-in terminal on opposite sides. In front of the left terminal was a girl in a bright teal dress with a blue apron & purple hair with 2 pigtails. She held a P.E.T. in her right hand. "Hello, Mr. Higsby." She said. Then waved at Chomper. "Hi, Chomper." Chomper waved back at the girl. "Hi, Shuko!" He called. Littlefoot looked at him. "You know her, Chomper?" He asked. Chomper looked at Littlefoot. "Yep, that"s Shuko Kido." Chomper replied. "She works here at Higsby"s shop to support her brothers." "What about her mom?" Littlefoot asked. Chomper looked sullened at this question. "She has no mom, or dad." Chomper said. "They died in something called a car crash. She"s been providing for her brothers ever since." Littlefoot looked saddened by this information as well. "Gee." He said. "That does sound pretty said." "I know." Chomper said. His mood then once again lightened. "But Mr. Higsby said that she could work for him." "Yes, well." Higsby said. "This is my new net battle arena." Everybody stared at it in awe. "Woah, look at the size of that thing." Lan said. "Yeah." Littlefoot said. "It"s really big." "Yes, it is." Higsby said. "With this, it actually makes you feel like you"re right next to the net battle." He turned to Shuko & pointed at her. "Show "em, Shuko." "I will, Mr. Higsby." She said. She then turned to the terminal & aimed her P.E.T. at it. "Jack in, Spoutman. Power up!" She shouted. A beam shot out of her P.E.T. & hit the jack-in terminal. A small net navi appeared inside. The net navi had a white torso & a red ring around its waist. Everything below his red ring was bright blue, except for 2 white rings, 1 around each of his ankles. He also had red rings where his arms connected to his torso, & his arms & hands were also blue, & he had a white ring around each wrist. He had a bright blue head concealed in a bowl filled up with water, with the only facial feature being a cute noseless face. On top of his head were 2 small white pucks. Everybody was amazed at how big the net navi appeared, except Higsby. "Wow, he looks huge." Lan said. "Yes, well you can just imagine how big Mega Man would look in this." Higsby replied. "This way, I could attract a lot more customers who would want to net battle me, each other, or Shuko. I even hired a referee for the dome." Everybody looked at him. The dinos were confused. "What is a ref-ree?" Ducky asked. Yai looked at her. "A referee is somebody who watches the game & makes sure everybody"s playing fair." Yai explained. "Who"s your ref, Higsby?" Lan asked. "I"m glad you asked that, Lan." Higsby said. He then called somebody in the back of the room. "Hey, Arashi!" He shouted. "Come meet my friends!" The humans went stiff from fright upon hearing Higsby"s new referee"s name. Just then, a man approached them. The man was dressed head to toe in a blue business suit. He had a red tie on, & where his sleeves ended, looked like cones. He also had black shoes & his hair was blonde & was combed downward, except for 2 bits that stuck out at the sides. He looked at the kids with a smile, but the kids didn"t return it. "Hi, kids." Arashi said. "Zip it, Arashi!" Lan shouted. "What do you want now?" Arashi was shocked by this reaction. Mr. Higsby was offended. "Lan Hikari!" He shouted. "How dare you yell at my new employee like that!" Lan looked at Higsby. "But, Mr. Higsby." Lan said, he pointed at Arashi. "This man tried to kill Yai once." Mr. Higsby was surprised by this. He turned to Arashi. "Is that true Arashi?" He asked. Arashi hung his head. "Unfortunately, yes." He said. "I used to work for Grave. I didn"t want to tell you because I really wanted this job." Higsby looked at Arashi with a little remorse, then smiled & put his arm around him. "Ah, forget about it." He said. "That doesn"t matter anymore. "What matters now is you"re working for me." Arashi looked at him with a little smile. "Thanks, Higsby." He said. Meanwhile, in the arena, a small hole was present, & a silhouette was shown of Airman. His yellow eyes glowed. "Heh heh heh heh heh heh." He chuckled, before the hole closed up again. Spoutman felt a chill go up his body. Everybody noticed this & looked at the small net navi. "Are you alright, Spoutman?" Shuko asked. "I thought I felt somebody here." He replied. "That"s impossible." Higsby said. "I designed this thing"s security system myself with the best security systems on the market. It"s virtually impenetrable." Nobody noticed Arashi smirk. "Not impenetrable enough, fool." He thought to himself. "Well, that aside." Higsby said. "This won"t officially be released until tomorrow, so I can"t let you netbattle on it now." "Okay, Higsby." Maylu said. "We"ll all meet back here tomorrow to try it out." "Okay." They all said. Then they walked out. "& tomorrow, your bank account will be mine, Yai Ayano." Arashi said. "What was that, Arashi?" Higsby asked. Arashi felt a chill go up his body. He turned to face Higsby & put his hand on his back. "Um uhh, nothing, sir." He said, laughing nervously. Higsby just stared at him, cluelessly. "Uuh, alright." He said. "Well, see you tomorrow." He then walked off. Arashi let out a small sigh of relief. "That was too close." He thought to himself. He then smiled evilly. "But tomorrow when I show up for work, I"ll show them how I net battle." "Oh, man." Lan said as he roller bladed down the street the next morning. "How could this happen?" "Well, Lan." Mega Man said from his P.E.T. "Perhaps if you didn"t stay up all night net battling, you might be there by now." "Not now, Mega Man!" Lan shouted. Littlefoot poked his head out of Lan"s knapsack. "He"s got a point there, Lan." Littlefoot said. "Aw man." Lan said. "Not you too, Littlefoot." He continued skating towards Higsby"s shop. Meanwhile, at Higsby"s shop, everybody was in a long line-up, still waiting for Lan. "Well, looks like Lan"s late, again." Maylu said. "Don"t bet on it." They heard Lan"s voice say in the distance. They saw him rollerblade up to him & take the spot that was saved for him. Everybody looked at him. "What kept you, Lan?" Maylu said. Littlefoot poked his head out of the backpack. "Lan was up all night netbattling." Littlefoot said. "Aw, Littlefoot." Lan said. "Well, it doesn"t matter now, guys." Yai said. "We"re here, so let"s get netbattling." "Yeah!" Everybody shouted. & with that, they all ran into Higsby"s chip shop. A camera showed the kids entering to the mystery man on a tv screen. "Ah, so she"s here." He said. "Now"s my chance to get my riches back." He chuckled to himself. Littlefoot, Lan, Cera, Chaud, Maylu, Ali, Tory, Petri, Yai, Ducky, Spike were entering the room with the battle dome. "Man, this will rock!" Lan said, really excited. Just then, as Mr. Higsby & Chomper stepped into the room, the door automatically slammed shut behind him. "What the?" Higsby asked as he jumped, surprised by the slamming door. He turned around & tried to open it, but it was locked. "Oh no!" Higsby said. "The door"s locked! We"re stuck in this room!" "WHAT?" Everybody shouted. "He said you"re all locked in this room." Said a voice from inside the dome. Everybody looked to see Airman in the dome. "You!" Higsby said, pointing at Airman. "You"re doing this!" "You better believe it." Airman said. "My name is Airman, & you have something I want." Everybody looked at him. "What do I have that you could possibly want, Airman?" Higsby asked. "Not just you, Higsby." Airman said. He pointed to Yai. "She has it too." "Who, me?" Yai asked. "Yes, you." Airman said. "I propose we have a netbattle. If you win, you can go. But if I win, then I get your bank account." Everybody jumped at this. "You get all my money?" Yai asked. "But then I"ll be poor." Airman closed his eyes & shrugged. "Not my problem." He said. He then looked at them. "But if you refuse, I"ll remotely beam viruses onto Higsby"s chips & erase the data on them. Even his rarest chips in his private collection." Mr. Higsby freaked out at this. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Higsby shouted. "Not my chips! Not my rare chips!" Yai, however, remained defiant. "You don"t scare me, fan face." Yai said. "My father is a rich man. It doesn"t matter if you erase his chips, I"ll just ask daddy to buy Higsby some replacement chips." "But Yai." Higsby said. "These chips are collectables. Some of them you can"t even find anymore." "Well I"m sorry, Mr. Higsby, but I"m not about to net battle this creep if it means becoming destitute." She then felt somebody push her towards the dome, it was Higsby. "Yai, I urge you to net battle Airman." Higsby said. "Besides, you"ll be the first kid to use my dome." Yai hung her head in defeat. "sigh, alright." She said. She aimed her P.E.T. at the Jack-in terminal. "Jack in, Glyde. Power up." A beam of light shot from her P.E.T. & hit the terminal & Glyde appeared inside the dome. "Prepare to be blown, away, Airman." Glyde said. Yai held up a cannon battlechip. "Cannon, battlechip in!" She shouted. She then inserted the battlechip into her P.E.T.. "Download!" a green cannon popped out of the ground in front of Glyde. It fired a blast at Airman. Airman laughed. "Ha ha! Never send a small gust of win to do the work of a hurricane." Airman said. He sent a huge gust of wind straight at Glyde. It redirected the blast & sent it back at Glyde. "Oh my!" Glyde said. The blast hit Glyde right in the chest, sending him flying back a ways. "NO! GLYDE!" Yai shouted, worried for her net navi"s safety. Glyde slowly stood up & charged at Airman, ready to throw a punch. "You"ll have to do better than that, buddy." Airman said. He leapt back to avoid Glyde"s punch & threw a tornado at him. Glyde spun around in the tornado & was flown back against the wall. "OH NO!" Yai shouted. "This isn"t looking good." Maylu said. "But how did he get in?" Higsby asked. Lan got a stern look on his face. "It has to be somebody who has access to the battle dome." Lan said. Then it hit him. "It"s Arashi!" Airman jumped at this. "Uh oh." He said "Looks like he blew our cover." "Does it matter?" Arashi"s voice said. A screen with his face on it then appeared. "It"s not like it"s gonna help them." Higsby glared at Arashi. "ARASHI!" Higsby shouted. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I TURSTED YOU ENOUGH TO LET YOU WORK FOR ME, & THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" Arashi chuckled at this. "Oh please." He said. "You think I actually wanted to work in this small-time corner store?" Higsby"s face turned red at this, an anime throbbing vein appeared on his forehead, & he grew black demon horns out of his forehead. "SMALL-TIME CORNER STORE?" Higsby roared, frightening everybody, except Arashi & Airman. "ALRIGHT BUDDY, YOU"RE GONNA RUE THE DAY YOU MESSED WITH ARCHIBALD CORNELIUS HIGSBY!" Arashi smiled evilly at this outburst. "We"ll see about that, 4 eyes." Arashi said. "Blow Glyde away, Airman." "Whatever you say, Arashi." Airman said. Arashi held up a battle chip with a picture of a hollow blue tube on it. "Air shot, battle chip in!" Arashi shouted, then inserted the battle chip into his P.E.T.. "Download!" Airman"s arm turned into a hollow blue tube. He pointed his arm at Glyde. "Air shot!" Airman shouted. He fired a large blast of air at Glyde, slamming into his chest. "NO! GLYDE!" Yai shouted. Lan watched the netbattle with a hardened face. "This is not good." Lan thought to himself. "If Arashi wins, Yai will lose all her money. There"s got to be a way to stop this." Lan then caught something out of the corner of his eye. He saw an air duct. A thought then occurred to him. "Hey, perhaps I could use that." He thought. He ran over to the vent & knelt down in front of it. He grabbed the grate & pulled it off of the hole. Everybody looked over at him. He looked over at Littlefoot. "Littlefoot, get over here." Lan said. Littlefoot, confused, did as Lan said. "Littlefoot, go into this vent & see if you can find Arashi." Littlefoot looked into the vent. "Ummm, okay." Littlefoot said. He climbed into the vent & disappeared inside. "Hey, wait!" Cera shouted. "I want a piece of this Arashi guy too, Littlefoot!" She ran into the vent after him. "Wait for us, guys." Ducky shouted. Spike ran into the vent with Ducky on her back. She was soon followed by Petrie & Chomper. Arashi chuckled at this. "If you think those dino punks are gonna find me, then you"ve got another thing coming." Arashi said. Everybody glared at him. "They"ll find you, Arashi." Lan said. "& they"ll make you pay for all this." "We"ll see about that." Arashi said. "Now if you don"t mind, I"ve got a net battle to win. Airman, attack!" "Whatever you say, Arashi." Airman said. He spun the fan in his torso & created a huge tornado. Glyde stared at the tornado nervously. "Oh my!" He said. Yai held up a battle chip with a picture of a silhouette holding a glowing sword with a glowing arrow shaped blade. "Hero sword, battle chip in!" Yai said, she then inserted the battle chip into the P.E.T. "Download!" Glyde"s arm then turned into a big sword with a glowing arrow shaped blade. Glyde charged at the tornado & leapt at it. He sliced the tornado & cut it in half, destroying it. Everybody cheered. "Way to go, Glyde!" Yai shouted. Arashi growled. "Rrrrrrrgh!" Arashi said. "Lucky shot, you won"t pull that again." Yai smirked at this. "We"ll see about that." she said. Meanwhile, in the vents, the gang was crawling through a cramped vent, when Littlefoot heard something. "Hey, I</code> | <code>all started playing again, & they didn"t sound any different. Luigi placed the beacon on his back & walked out of the room. He sighed in relief at the quiet. "Ah, that"s-a better." Luigi said to himself. Luigi. went up the stairs & continued towards the door. He broke down the spirit barrier & the door opened. Luigi saw it was the game room. "Ah, fun." He said. He switched to the Poltergust 3000, turned on the flashlight on the end of the nozzle, & walked into the room humming the Luigi"s Mansion theme. Several evil spirits spilled into the room. He sucked them all into the Poltergust 3000. Madame Leota contacted him. "Hmm." She said. "Luigi, I"ve noticed you"ve only been using the Poltergust 3000 to capture the souls, saving the beacon for evil spirit sucking. If we"re to withstand the spirits that are impervious to the Poltergust 3000, we should learn to use the beacon"s rapid-fire shot." "Really?" Luigi asked. "Exactly." Leota said. "To use it, just aim it at whatever you want & fire." "Ok." Luigi said, & switched to the beacon, then looked down at Leota. "Hey, Leota. While we"re-a at it, how about a clue for this-a room." He said. "Ok, here goes." Leota said. "Look out now, the games begun. Pocket each ball 1 by 1." Luigi scratched his chin, trying to decipher the riddle. He then looked towards the large pool table in the room. "Hmm, maybe-a I"ll find out-a the clue over there." Luigi said. He walked over to the pool table & saw a large spider silhouette crawl across the window. "Huh?" Luigi said in curiosity. "What"s-a that?" He walked up to the window he saw the silhouette on & a huge spider crashed through. "YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" He shrieked. He landed on his butt & crawled away from the spider on his back. "Alright, Luigi." Leota said. "Now it"s time to use the beacon. Aim at him & shoot." Luigi pointed the beacon at the humungous spider & pressed a button above the light. A small beam shot out & hit the spider. Luigi looked at it, amazed. "Wow!" Luigi said. Luigi stood up & begans firing at the huge spider. The spider then shot out a sticky silk & snared Luigi with it. He then began pulling Luigi towards him. "Uh oh." Luigi said. "Hurry, Luigi!" Leota urged. "Shoot that spider!" Luigi layed into the button like a madman, hitting the spider every single time. Then, just as he was only a few inches away from the spider"s enormous mandibles, he hit the spider 1 last time & it flopped on its back & died. "Whew." Luigi said & wiped sweat off his forehead. "That was-a close." "& it ain"t over yet, Luigi." Leota said. Luigi looked at Leota. "Huh?" He asked. "What do you mean, Leota?" Just then, Luigi found himself shrunk & falling towards the pool table. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" He shrieked. His entire body hit the red floor with a thud. He stood up & nursed his sore nose. "Ouj." He said. Luigi then saw several billiard balls hit the ground & form a triangle. He slapped his forehead. "Of course." He said in realization. "Pocket-a each ball 1 by 1." Just then, Luigi saw a white billiard ball land on the table on the opposite side of the table from where the others were & saw a huge cue stick move towards it. "Uh oh." Luigi said, knowing full well what was about to happen. "I see where this is-a going." The cue stick moved back & hit the ball, launching it towards Luigi. "YIKE!!" he shouted & dove to the right. He saw the ball hit the others. They all spread apart & the purple ball landed in a side pocket. Luigi got an idea. "Aha." He said to himself. Luigi began humming the Luigi"s Mansion Theme & ran behind a yellow ball. The huge cue stick hit the white ball, sending it hurtling towards him. He sidestepped & saw the ball hit the others & knock them about. But knocking none into the pockets. "Darn!" Luigi said, snapping his fingers. The cue stick lined up again & attempted to squish Luigi under the behemoth ball. However, Luigi sidestepped & the ball hit a red ball, sending it into a corner pocket. "Alright!" Luigi said in victory. The cue stick lined up again & Luigi positioned himself so between him & the ball is a green ball & behind him is a corner pocket. The cue stick hit the ball & sent the green ball into the corner pocket. "Aha!" Luigi said. He runs around until there were only 2 balls left. The white ball, & the 8 ball. He lined up & positioned himself behind the 8-ball. The cue stick hit the ball & the ball hit the 8 ball as Luigi dove away, causing it to move towards the corner pocket. "C"mon." Luigi said. Sadly, it bounced off the corners around it & stopped moving. "Darn it!" Luigi said, throwing fists at the ground. He walked over to the ball & positioned himself so the cue ball would hit the 8 ball. The balls hit & as Luigi dove to the left, the 8 ball careened into the side pocket. Leaving only the cue ball & himself remaining. "That-a reminded me of Slim Bankshot." Luigi said, recalling his old mansion romp when he had to rescue Mario. Just then, a light switch appeared, floating in the middle of the large pool table. "This is-a odd." Luigi said. Luigi walked up to the light switch. He then noticed fortune cards & bottles floating around the rim of the pool table. "Why not?" Luigi said, shrugging. Luigi switched to the Poltergust 3000 & sucked up the cards & bottles. He then walked back to the switch & pulled it down. He then saw he was not on the huge pool table anymore, he was back in the game room, & restored to his normal height. "Woah, this is a relief." Luigi said to himself. Just then, his GBH started beeping. He picked it up & saw the professor. "Krrrrzzzz... Lu... i... gi... Krrrrzzzz." The professor said through the static. "Luigi? Oh thank GOODNESS you"re alright." He said in relief. "I got an energy disturbance & couldn"t reach you." "I was on-a this huge pool table." Luigi said. "I had to-a pocket the balls in order to-a get off." "Wow, that sounds like some battle you had, Luigi." E. Gadd said, then noticed the bottles of bravery tonic. "Wait a minute." E. Gadd said. "What are those bottles you"re holding? Let me check." The professor ducked off screen for a bit. After a few minutes, he came back onto the screen. "Amazing, Luigi!" He shouted. "This is Doctor Perizak"s old fashioned bravery tonic! I never thought I"d see a bottle of this stuff again! Doctor Perizak"s old fashioned bravery tonic. Good for tongue warts, ear twitches, naval lint, cowardice & other such ailments. There must be more of this stuff somewhere in the mansion, Luigi. Use it whenever you get scared. Be careful, Luigi." He said, then hung up. Luigi walked around the room, whistling the Luigi"s Mansion Theme & noticed a blackjack table with a green top on each side of the room, they were both pulsating. He switched back to the beacon. "Now to restore some-a spirits." Luigi said. Luigi walked up to both blackjack tables & shook them, spilling spirits into the room. Luigi sucked them into the beacon. However, he discovered he just called forth a siege of spiders. "EEK!!" He shrieked. Luigi ran onto the pool table, switched to the Poltergust 3000, & vacuumed up all the spiders. "Whew, that was-a close." Luigi said with his hand on his chest. He looked & saw 2 small tables in the corners near the door. He walked up to them & shook them, spilling spirits into the room. He sucked them up & took out the huge spider that appeared with the beacon. "Now, just a few more." Luigi said. He walked up to the small tables near the pool table. He shook them & spirits poured into the room. Luigi sucked them all up & saw he"s caught them all. "Well, that"s-a it." Luigi said. He walked to the door, but as soon as he was in the middle of the room, he heard a voice behind him & saw a ghost with a mustache holding a gun. It"s the duelist. "So, now he"s got you doing his dirty work eh?" The duelist said in his southern accent. "Much oblahged to meet ya." Luigi pulled out his death certificate & showed it to him. "Hey, mah death certificate." The duelist said. "Much olbahged." The duelist then read his death certificate. "Hey, according to this, that low-down, cheatin, backstabber got the better of me." He said. "Bullfeathers!!" He shouted, then reacted to something & started pointing his gun around. "Shh, you hear that?" The duelist asked. "It"s him." Luigi looked around, but saw nobody. "Who?" he asked. "Ah know he"s here, ah can smell his beady little ahs." The duelist said, pointing his gun in various places. "He"s probably camping out with a shotgun, trahin to get a bead on me, since you done gone & lit up mah hahd"n spot." He said. He then pushed his face close to Luigi"s. "Laht makes the shadows deeper though, could be anywhere." He said. "Ah reckon ah should reward ya, seein as how you went through all the trouble of bringin me this." The duelist pulled out a purple gem. "Here, it"s 1 of them soul gem thingamajigs." The dueslist explained. "Should bring you better luck then it"s bringin me." Luigi took the soul gem. "Thanks." Luigi gladly said. "Much oblaghed." The duelist said. "Now, ah suggest you"d best leave before the lead starts a flahin." Luigi did his show the item thing he always did in Luigi"s Mansion whenever you got a key, the music played, & he attached it to the beacon. Just then, a lot of ghosts flew into the beacon. "Good work, Luigi." Leota said. "With that second soul gem, you can now charge your rapid fire shot. Hold the button down until that soul gem starts glowing & shoot." "Got it." Luigi said, he put the beacon on his back walked out of the room, humming the Luigi"s Mansion Theme. "Well, that"s all of-a the rooms in here." Luigi said. "Now for-a the downstairs hallway." Luigi walked down the stairs & towards the door between them. He touched the door & the spiritual barrier disappeared. "Aha." Luigi said. He opened the door & found himself in the downstairs hallway. Madame Leota then piped up. "Ok, Luigi." She said. "Here"s something about my past. The original owners of this mansion left me in charge for a while until they returned. However, I soon found myself being attacked by Atticus" followers. I held up a good fight, but they eventually had me begging their mercy. Atticus then sealed me in this crystal ball. I shudder to think of what happened to the original owners." Luigi thinks as well & shudders himself. "Personally, I"m-a happier not-a knowing myself." Luigi said. He then saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turns to his right & sees a bewitching woman with her hair covering her face, floating around a corner. "Luigi." The woman softly said. Luigi followed the woman & switched to the Poltergust 3000. He hummed the Luigi"s mansion theme music all the way. He saw her disappear into a door. He walked up to it & touched the barrier. He broke it down & followed the girl into the kitchen. He saw the girl floating in fronting of her. She made her finger move in a "come closer" way. "Luigi..." The woman said. "Luigi." Luigi walked up to the woman. Just then she revealed her eyeless frightening face & made a blood-curdling shriek, scaring Luigi half to death. "YAAAAH!!" Luigi shrieked. The woman hid her face & started floating towards Luigi. "Quick, Luigi." Leota said. "The Poltergust 3000 should work on her. She"s a banshee, which is a type of ghost. Wait for her to show her face, & she"ll most likely show you her heart at the same time." "Got it." Luigi said. The banshee went right up to Luigi & screeched at him, at the same time, Luigi shined his light on her & commenced sucking. "Oooooooooaaaahhhh!!" The banshee shrieked. The banshee tried to escape like the evil spirits did. But failed miserably & ended up being sucked into the Poltergust 3000. "Gotcha!" Luigi said. Luigi shined his flashlight around the room while humming the Luigi"s mansion theme. He walked past a stack of plates & pulled out Leota. "Hey, Leota." Luigi said. "Got a clue for this-a room?" "I already got it, Luigi." Leota said. "Broken plates & bottles too, together light the way for you." Luigi scratched his chin as a plate rose from the stack & lined up to hit Luigi. "Broken plates &-a bottles too, together light-a the way for you?" Luigi asked himself. "What"s-a that ,mean.?" Madam Loeta then noticed the plate behind Luigi. "LUIGI, LOOK OUT!!" Leota shouted. Luigi noticed the plate as well & it flew towards him. "YAH!!" Luigi yelped as the plate flew directly at him. Luigi dove out of the way & the plate hit an oil lamp, spilling red liquid all over the floor. The flame then ignited & set the patch of floor on fire, which was blue, much to Luigi"s surprise. "Huh?" Luigi said, confused. Then it hit him. He slapped his forehead. "Of course." Luigi said. "Broken-a plates & bottles too, together light-a the way for you." Luigi noticed bottles all over the room & got an idea. "Aha!" Luigi said, snapping his fingers, he started running around as the plates tried to hit him. They got a lot of bottles, but none hit Luigi. "Well, so far-a so good." Luigi said, he turns & sees where the burning puddle is intended to go. A large fireplace in a corner on the opposite side of the room where the plates were. "I guess that"s-a where the fire goes." Luigi said to himself. Luigi then looked & saw some of the bottles up on high places. Some were on shelves, others were on shelves suspended by chains. "Good thing I"m a skilled jumper." Luigi said, he jumped up onto the hanging shelves with bottles on them. A plate came up from the stack & flew at Luigi, he jumped & the plate hit both bottles & spilled the fluids inside everywhere. "Now for-a the next shelf." Luigi said. Luigi leaped over to the next shelf & a plate floated off the stack & readied itself to hit Luigi. Luigi dove off of the shelf & the plate hit the bottles, spilling the stuff inside all over the floor. The flame moved across the room, as more fluids spilled all over the floor. "Just a few more &-a the fire"s lit." Luigi said. He moved towards the door & a giant spider appeared in front of it. "YAAH!!" Luigi screeched, he switched to the beacon & fired at the spider until it was dead. Luigi let out a sigh of relief & switched to the Poltergust 3000. "Just-a 3 more bottles." Luigi thought to himself, he saw that 1 of the 3 remaining bottles would be difficult. It was sitting on front of a large stack of flour bags. The other 2 were on a nearby table. "Ok. This"ll-a require a lot of skill." Luigi said, a plate rose off the stack. Luigi narrowed his eyes & got ready. The plate floated towards Luigi & he dove out of the way. The plate hit the 2 bottles, spilling the fluid all over the ground. Luigi looked at the stack of flour & got an idea. "Aha." Luigi said, he stood in front of the flour. He waited, just then, a plate lifted off the stack & flew at him. Luigi leaped out of the way. The plate hit the flour stacks & bounced off them, hitting the bottle & spilling the elixer all over the floor, the fire spread to the fireplace. The fire lit up & so did the room. "Now for-a the ghosts." Luigi said, he switched to the beacon & begun hunting, whistling the Luigi"s Mansion Theme. He looked at the barrel nearby the flour stack & shook it, spilling 5 souls into the room. Luigi sucked them all into the beacon & found a piece of a death certificate. "Wow, another death-a certificate piece." Luigi said as he picked it up. He looked & saw a china hutch in a far corner, pulsating. He walked over to it & shook it, spilling spirits into the room. He sucked them all into the beacon. "Alright, that"s-a good." Luigi said, satisfied. "But there are-a still more." Luigi checked the GBH & saw it was picking up ghostly activity from the 2 remaining china hutches. "Ha, no-a spirits can-a hide from me." Luigi said. Luigi walked over to the first china hutch & shook it, spilling 5 souls into the room, he sucked them all into the beacon. He went over to the last hutch & shook it, spilling the ghosts into the room where he sucked the last 5 souls into the beacon. He shot his fist forward in a victory stance. "Oh yeah!" Luigi said, he switched back to the Poltergust 3000 & walked over to the door. He saw a spirit of a hunched over old man next to it. He walked up to it. "Do you suffer anxiety attacks? Accute paranoia? Feel like something horrible could leap out at you at any moment? Ha ha!" The ghost asked, then paused for a second. "Well, do I have the tonic for you, friend." As Luigi went to leave, the ghost spoke again. "Friend, do I have something for you." The ghost said, then spread his arms out. "1000 acres of the finest Louisiana swamp you"ve ever laid eyes on, I"ll even throw in a free haunted mansion. 1 crocodile is optional of course." Luigi put his hand up. "Sorry, I"m-a not interested." He said. "Well, come back if ever you change your mind." The ghost said. Luigi rolled his eyes & shook his head. He then walked out the door. "Why would I want-a this place?" Luigi asked. "I"ve already got a mansion." "Yep, but do you think HE knows that?" Leota asked. Luigi smirked, getting the idea. He then walked down the hall some ways & saw another door, he discovered that he had enough souls to break down the barrier Atticus made, so he did just that. "&-a behind door number 1." Luigi said as he flung the door open. He peered inside the open door & saw the Maid"s room. He walked in & pulled out Leota, then looked at her. "Got a clue for this-a room, Leota?" Luigi asked. "Uh huh." Leota said, then started talking like she usually did in a trance. "When walls that shift may hide your doom, seek out the exit from each room." Luigi scratched his chin, trying to figure out the meaning of the clue. He then walked towards the walls & jumped at the fact that they were moving. "Woah, moving-a walls." Luigi said in surprise. Then, suddenly, it hit Luigi. "Of course." He said, slapping his forehead in realization. "Though walls that-a shift may hide your doom, seek out the exit from each-a room." Luigi walked forward until the wall couldn"t shift any further. He then looked left & moved that way, he was then assaulted by evil spirits. "Yow!!" Luigi shouted, he shined his Poltergust 3000 on them & proceeded to suck them in. They all tried to escape, but ended up inside the Poltergust anyway. "Aha." Luigi said in triumph. He continued forward & found some double doors. He walked through them & a huge wooden plank sealed the door behind him. "That must-a be so I can"t-a go back." Luigi said to himself. He was then snared in a spider string & saw a huge spider to the right of the door. "Uh oh." Luigi said, he switched to the beacon & begun shooting the spider, he was just inches from the spider"s fangs when he killed it. "Whew, that was-a close." Luigi said to himself. He turned to the left of the door & walked that way. He found a real wall with a huge hole in the wallpaper & a chest up against it. "Must be-a the real wall." Luigi said to himself. He walked along the wall & eventually came across several small spiders. He sucked them into the Poltergust 3000 & continues on, humming the Luigi"s mansion theme. He continued to walk along the wall, avoiding the bits sticking out, until he came to a corner. He walked around to the left & found the next set of double doors, with a fortune card in front of it. "Aha!" Luigi said. He collected the fortune card & opened the door. It sealed behind him. "2 down, who knows how many more to-a go." Luigi said to himself, he went to the right of where he entered. 2 big spiders appeared from behind the wall. "Yow!" Luigi shouted. Luigi switched to the Beacon of souls & fired at the spiders. After a while, both were on their backs. Luigi let out a sigh of relief. "Whew." He said, wiping sweat off his forehead. "That was-a close." Luigi switched back to the Poltergust 3000. He then veered off to the left of the spider corpses, keeping the corner of the fake walls in front of him. He saw some fortune cards & found the door behind them. "Alright!" Luigi said. He walked up to the door, grabbed the fortune cards, & opened the door. Wooden planks sealed the door behind him, cutting off his access of the previous room. "I hope this is-a the last room." Luigi said to himself. He turned left & walked forward, keeping the real wall to his left. He kept humming the Luigi"s mansion theme. He came to a crooked painting above a chest. "That"s-a not right, that painting"s-a crooked." Luigi said. He walked onto the chest & straightened the painting. A door opened to his left & he was surprised. "Wow!" Luigi said. "Weird." Luigi walked through the newly opened door & found 10 fortune cards floating above a bed. "Aright!" Luigi said. He used the Poltergust 3000 to suck the cards straight to him. He then walked out of the room. "Now." Luigi said. "Back to-a the mission." Luigi followed the real wall on his right & eventually saw a part of the wallpaper that was torn. At which point, he made a left, staying on the left side of the freestanding wall. After a while, a familiar eerie scream pierced his ears. "Uh oh." Luigi said nervously. "I hope that"s-a not what I think it is." Luigi saw a banshee come out of the fake wall, followed by some evil spirits. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Luigi shrieked, he trained his flashlight on all 3 ghosts & freezes them all at once. "Alright, 3 in-a 1." Luigi said. He began sucking & all 3 spirits began to get drawn into the</code>                                              | <code>1</code> |
  | <code>secure around her waist. What? I wanted to let her know I was here, if something made her wig out. She started to tense up as the vows were completed, and then completely freaked when the power went out. I heard a voice that I hadn"t heard since I was really little. "I"m coming for you..." Dad? What the fuck- pardon my French- was he doing here? I heard footsteps behind me, and I tightened my hold on Jess. "I"ve got you right where I want you..." and suddenly, I felt Jess being yanked away from my arms. She screamed, and I tried to follow the direction of where Jess had gone. I thought for a minute I had grabbed the material of her dress, but then she was gone. Just like that. Gone. The power cut back on, and I looked around. Everyone was accounted for... Except Jess. Jess"s POV: You know, I always figured the first people to kidnap me would be the FBI. Not, say, my future father-in-law, assuming I played my cards right. After he grabbed me from behind, and dragged outside into the cold, in my fancy dress, I was thrown- yes, literally thrown- into a beat up four-by- four. I had no idea where we were going, mostly because it was majorly dark out. There was enough light to see that Rob looked a lot like a younger version of his dad. They both had curly dark hair, eyes the color of fog, and a slightly crooked nose. I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. "So, you"re the infamous lightning girl." Rob"s dad said. I still didn"t know his name. "Yep, that"s me." I sneered. What? Did you expect me to be polite? "I was expecting someone..."He drifted off. "Taller." Why that evil...So what if I"m only 5"2? I still kick ass. I could kick Rob"s ass, even though he"s 6 feet...Not that I"d want to, but you know what I mean. I glared at him and said, "Where the hell are we going?" I was slightly cold in my dress, seeing as somewhat low cut, and had a slit up to my knee. Hopefully, I"d get warmer wherever we were headed. "Little ditch I know." I"m sorry, did he just say ditch? Oh that"s it, when Rob and I get married, his father is SO not invited! "Uh, ditch?" I said questioningly. "Why exactly are we going to a ditch?" Rob"s dad just snickered. I started to feel very, very scared. Rob"s POV: "This is bad...This is bad...This is bad..." I mumbled. It was the only clear thought I had. Mikayla and Lindsay kept bursting into tears, and my aunt Ruth- Earl"s wife- and my mom kept trying to calm them down. "How the insert unprintable F word here did he get here?" I said, my voice sounding like a low growl. Stasha looked up when I said that word with big eyes. "Rob said a bad word!" Uncle Earl came by and chuffed me on the back. "I know you"re upset that he took Jess, but you can"t-" "Can"t what?" I yelled, slamming my hand on the table, making Julie and Cheyanne jump. "Can"t get pissed off at the asshole who kidnapped my girlfriend? Can"t get pissed off at the prison guards, who weren"t doing their job? What can"t I do, uncle Earl?" Uncle Earl looked a little sheepish then. "You can"t let your anger get the best of you. Focus it on what"s important, and try to watch the language." "Sorry." I glanced down at my shoes, breathing heavy. Now, what"s important? Getting Jess back, obviously, and letting her parents- Oh, Shit. Her parents were going to FLIP. Forget making any progress. They were going to forbid her from seeing me until she was twenty. "Ok, how long before we have to leave to go home?" I said, to anyone that would listen. "Um...a few hours. The roads haven"t been plowed yet, and it"s still snowing in Paoli." Mom said. "Why? What are you thinking?" I crossed to the door and threw it open. The snow had stopped and you could see very faint tire tracks not too far from the snow-covered driveway. "Rob..." My mom said warningly. "What are you thinking?" I glanced longingly at the road. Uncle Earl seemed to read my mind. "I got a bike in the garage out back." He said. "You want to borrow it?" "Can I?" That"s how I was following the faint tire tracks twenty minutes later. Don"t get the wrong idea. My mother just about had a coronary when I said, "Can I?" The only person who let me leave willingly was uncle Earl. He tossed me the keys to the motorcyle out back- nothing like the Indian I had rebuilt, but it would do- and said, "Go get her, son." So to get her, I did. I followed the tracks carefully, making sure I didn"t miss any. It was insanely cold, as I had only my leather jacket to stay warm under. Jess must be freezing, since she was just in that thin sexy black dress she"d worn for the wedding, I thought. I just kept following the tracks. After all the people that Jess has found, she deserves to have someone find her. Jess"s POV: The whole ride to the ditch, I did not once think, "Oh, this is where it all ends. I"m gonna be worm chow." Nope, I was slightly more positive with "Rob"s gonna find me before I become worm chow. I know it." As freaked out as I was, I still couldn"t help wondering why- and how- he was going to kill me. Since I"m not known for being quiet, I asked. "So, what"s your deal?" I said, willing my voice to stay firm. "Do the names Clay Larson and Patrick O"Hanahan mean anything to you?" he said with a sick grin. My stomach dropped about six inches. Both of those names could- and one already had tried to- kill me. I tried to hide my fear though. "So? What about them?" "Well, girlie," Ok, I so don"t care if this is my future father-in-law. He calls me girlie again, and I"m kickin" ass. "They are mighty pissed off at you." "And why"s that?" "Think about it." When I remained silent, he continued. "You got them in trouble with various officials." "So they sent you to off me, is that it?" I said snidely. "Partially." He said, a sicker grin crossing his face. "I volunteered." "What?!" I said hotly. "Why? What"d I ever do to you?" Only I never got the chance to find out what I did to him. At that moment, I was hit with a shooting pain in my left arm, and I felt waves of unconsciousness pass over me. The last thing I remember is wishing for Rob to come find me. Rob"s POV: I kept following the tire tracks, praying they would lead to Jess. I cursed John- my father, and Jess"s kidnapper- for doing this. I really hoped his insanity wasn"t passed on to me. I sped up and was met with a broken down truck bumping along. Making the same tire tracks as the ones I was following. I sped up a bit more, staying out of the line of sight of the driver, until it looked like I was just trying to pass the truck. I glanced in the passenger side window, which was rolled all the way down, to see a freezing Jess slumped back on the seat. Her skin was as pale as the snow, and it looked like she was shivering pretty bad. I felt red-hot rage course through my veins, but I held back and let the truck pass me. It rolled along for a few more miles, before slowing and coming to a stop right next to an enormus ditch. The passenger side door opened, and Jess"s unconscious body came tumbling out. "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" I screamed, jumping off the bike and running to her side. I hauled open the door and slugged John. He yelled, and tried to slug me back, but I caught his fist with my hand. "What the hell did you do to her?" I roared, except sustituting "Hell" for the F word. John didn"t reply, he just tried to slug me with his other hand. I caught that one too and twisted both arms back at painful angles. I heard Jess moan slightly, so I grabbed the truck"s keys and growled at John, "If you run, I will kill you." Then I flew out of the car and ran to her side. "Mastriani? Can you hear me? Jess...?" My voice trailed off. Her eyes were shut completely, and her skin had taken on a graying tint to it. She was still breathing- raspy breathes that seemed to hurt her, but they were breathes. "Jess, baby...If you can hear me, open your eyes." I whispered close to her ear. "It"s no use." John said, somewhat cheerfully. "Once that poison"s in your bloodstream, there"s no turning back. She"s as good as dead." Rob"s POV:Dead..Jess...Dead...No, she can"t die! I lunged at John and proceeded to beat the crap out of him. It was during this time that I heard the most beautiful noise on the planet."R-Rob...W-what happened?" I turned and was at Jess"s side in a flash. I lifted her head and gently set it in my lap, and whispered, "Shh...Don"t talk, baby...everything"s going to be OK..."My voice trailed off as I swept up Jess"s limp frame into my arms and placed her in the back seat of the truck."You," I growled at John, "Will sit in this passenger seat. You will not move, and when I stop this truck outside the church, you will wait for the cops and confess to everything. Got me?" John was bleeding pretty profusely from his nose, so he gave me an thumbs up sign. I got in the driver"s seat after loading up the motorcylce in the truck bed, and did ninety going back to the church.Halfway there, Jess started having hallucinations. She flaired her arms- smaking John a couple times- and moaning things I couldn"t understand. I glared at John and said menacingly, "If she dies, I will kill you.""Start," John said raspily, "killing."Had we not reached the church right then, I would have. Killed him, I mean. But we got there to find my uncles Earl and Randy, along with other assorted realitives, all waiting outside. I pulled in and saw a couple people go unload the bike while uncle Earl dealt with dear old dad."Rob! Where are you going? Where"s Jess?" I heard my mom yell. I hadn"t realized she was outside."Hospital," I yelled back. "Jess"s been poisoned." Without another word, I took off, doing at least ninety-five down the highway. The second I parked, I scooped up Jess in my arms again and brought her inside.The nurses and doctors all rushed to get Jess on a gurney. They told me to take a seat and someone would be right out, then gave me a bunch of forms to fill out. I did as best I could- I didn"t know the insurance stuff, but I could do the name, age, birthday stuff. Reluctantly, I took a seat and filled the forms out, and then I waited.And waited. And waited. And waited...Finally, my mom showed up and waited with me. She told me we had to stay another night because the highways hadn"t been plowed yet by where we lived. She also told me that she"d contacted Jess"s parents.I put my head in my hands when she said that. "They are going to freak out. Her parents are going to ban us from seeing each other until we"re forty." I groaned."No, they didn"t!" Mom said. "They are very relieved that she"s been found, and she"s going to be OK." Mom patted my shoulder in that reassuring-it"s-gonna-be-alright type way.Just then, this bald doctor came out. He looked like that guy from Oprah, Dr. Phil or something. "Are you Robert Wilkins?" he asked, peering down at me over his glasses. I nodded. "Mr. Wilkins, we"ve tried every antidote we have. Unfortunately, the poison got the better of her. I"m sorry for your loss." He finished, and was about to start again, but I didn"t hear anything. I passed out.(A/N: Ooooo, so sad....It"s not over yet!!!!!!!)Jess"s POV:After the inital shock of the needle to my arm, I started to fall asleep. But it"s fairly hard to sleep when you go sailing from a truck and land on snow. I could have sworn I heard Rob"s voice, and I may have even talked to him for a little bit, but then I just moaned and rolled over. I closed my eyes, and then felt my head get lifted up a bit later, only to be gently set back down. Then I was airborne again, but in a good way, because I was in the safety of Rob"s arms...I don"t know how I know it was him, I just knew. I was put in the back of that trunk, where I had had another dream...this one wasn"t psychic, just your random fight-the-evil-pink- monkey-who"s-attacking-your-ride dream.I was somewhat awake when they pulled me into the emergency room. I wondered briefly where everyone was, then remembered the storm.Then I shut my eyes and let the dark emptyness envelope me... A/N: Ok, BEFORE the flaming starts, let me say this: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. THERE WILL BE ONE MORE AND IT WILL ROCK YOUR SOCKS! Don"t give up on me! Jess"s POV: We were all standing in the church, Randy and his new bride had just completed their vows, and everyone was cheering. Mrs. Wilkins was crying a bit, as were most of the woman present, when suddenly a voice came over the loud speakers. (Who knew the church had such a kick-ass sound system?) "I"m coming for you..." I screamed. It was a deep voice, one that I knew without knowing belonged Rob"s dad...But it couldn"t be him. He was supposed to be in prison, for ten to twenty years....But then the voice continued. "I"ve got you all where I want you..." When suddenly the lights went out, and I felt big meaty hands on my shoulders. I yelled and flailed my arms, desparately trying to escape... "Mastriani! Wake up! It"s just a really bad dream!" I heard Rob whisper loudly. My eyes flew open and I saw Rob on top of me, waking me up from this nightmare... Because that truly was the worst dream ever. I never have dreams like that. Ever. It"s always the see-a-picture-find-out-where-they-are dreams. This was a big thing. Rob climbed off of me and I sat up, shaking and somewhat crying on his shoulder. "Are you gonna be OK?" Rob whispered softly as we lay back down. This is the part in the dream where I said, "Sure, I"m great. Go to sleep." Well, let"s just recap on where that got me, shall we? A) kidnapped B) poisoned by a future in-law C) DEAD Ok, so maybe I had this way freaky dream so I could stop it...maybe. At the very least, I was telling Rob about it. So I spilled my guts about this lovely dream. Every last detail, almost crying again when I got the whole I-died part. Rob"s response? To hold me tighter and say, "Well, you"re not going to the wedding now. You and me, are going to stay right here until after everything is done and over with." "No." I said, shaking my head. "Then, he"ll just grab someone who resembles me, or one of the kids. I can"t let that happen." "Well, I"m not letting you die this time." Rob said, with a fierce protective quality in his voice. "So if that means I have to lock you in that bathroom"- He pointed to the one in question- "Then I will." Rob cupped my face with his hands and kissed my nose. "I"m just not going to lose you, Mastriani. I lo-" Suddenly, Rob stopped short as he realized what was about to come out. I grinned and looked up at him. "831, Rob." He looked confused for a minute, so I explained. "8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning. 831." "831, Jess." Then he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply, not even caring that his mom and her boyfriend were in the bed right next to ours. Nope, that did not stop him from pulling up the blankets all around us and kissing me hungrily, kisses that I gladly gave back to him. Nor did it stop him from running his hands up and down my back under my shirt. It didn"t stop me from running my hands through his curly dark hair, or kissing his neck. It did stop us from going any further than that, though. We finally broke off our kissing, and I cuddled up in Rob"s arms, resting my head on his shoulder. Rob kissed my forehead, whispered goodnight, and we fell asleep again. The next morning, when we got up to get ready for the ceremony, I wondered how we were going to get away with it. I mean, the whole reason I was here was for this wedding. I knew that the aunts and uncles may not ask questions, but Rob"s mom sure would. She knew about the psychic thing, so I just explained the dream to her. Not only did Mrs. Wilkins not make us attend, she got them to move the time up, so that hopefully everyone was out of the chapel by the time he struck. I could not believe my good luck! We stepped outside, and walked around to the front of the church, where the driveway is to get in. Parked just out of sight, behind a lot of brush, was the truck. And Rob"s dad. "He must move it while we"re all inside." I murmured. Immediately, I felt Rob"s arm around my waist tighten. Maybe he thought I was going to do something stupid, but I wasn"t. Really. I happen to like breathing. So we went inside the church, and hung out in the back while everyone got settled in front for the ceremony. Rob seemed to think that the best way to take my mind off the impending danger was to get me in as little clothing as possible. Seeing as how I was only in a dress and then my bra and underwear, I didn"t think it was possible, yanno, without exposing a lot of skin, plus there was the chance of people walking in, but for once I really didn"t care. Plus, I majorly liked his whole must-make-out-with-my- girlfriend-as-much-as-possible attitude. So, in the back of the church, in this tiny room that must have been a coat check-in place or something, was where Rob and I stayed during the ceremony. He kept kissing me very passionately- I guess the prospect of your girlfriend dying in the next few hours boosts a guy"s sex drive- and I returned those kisses, each one more passionate than the last. We lied on the floor, using coats, my dress, and Rob"s shirt and jacket to keep warm. (No, we did not do the dirty. We just had a very heavy-duty make out session.) Then the power cut out just as Rob"s hand grazed my ass. I moaned, from both his hand and the power outage, and then realization dawned on me. My would-be kidnapper was HERE. Oh shit! Rob"s POV: The whole day of the wedding all I could think about was making out with Jess. I know, I know. My psycho dad has escaped from prison, is plotting to kill my girlfriend, and all I could think was, "Now, where can we make out at?" I"m a perv. I"m also a guy. It happens. Jess didn"t seem to mind though, as we entered the coat closet, and I kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck, like she did that day last spring, when I rode the Indian into a stream. I put my hands on her hips and kissed her harder, slipping my tounge in over hers. The next thing I knew, I was shirtless, Jess was in this really sexy black bra and panty set, and we were laying on the floor of the coat closet, still kissing. Then the damned power goes out. Jess started freaking out. She threw her dress on really quickly, and then put on a coat. The power came back on after a few minutes, and we went to the front of the church to check on the situation. Mom"s plan had worked, sort of. John didn"t have the opportunity to kidnap anyone- because the second he"d walked in the door, uncle Earl had tackled him. So now, John was out cold on the floor, with this little needle sticking out of his pocket. And that"s how he laid for until the cops showed up. Along with Cyrus Krantz, that guy who"s been trying to get Jess to come work for him. The cops and Krantz made Jess go through the entire dream, from start to finish, a million times it seemed. They confirmed John"s side of it when he came to, and then we were finally able to go home. Jess and I sat in the back seat of Gary"s truck the entire way home, her head resting on my chest, my arm wrapped around her waist. Mom kept glancing back and giving us the Aww-they"re-so-cute look. I just did the same thing with she mimicked Jess"s position- except, she was lying on Gary, not me. When we got home, Jess put her bag into the storage compartment of the Indian so I could drive her home. She didn"t seem like she wanted to go home, so we kind of hung around my place, talking about random things. Her dream, the possibility of her power expanding, my psycho dad, the many enemies it looked like she"d made. And then finally, the biggie. I knew she"d drag the conversation over to it. "Rob, look, I know you"ve said before that you aren"t going to tell me why you"re on probation, and I respect that, I really do, it"s just sometimes, I start to wonder, and then I think that you might be breaking your probation rules whenever we go out or whatever and- " Jess said in a big rush, before I silenced her with a finger to her lips. "You really want to know?" I said. Jess nodded. "You"re going to freak." "It can"t be that bad." "No...Just...it"s not what you think, I"ll bet." "Just tell me Rob, or I"ll get your mom to give me copies of your baby pictures." "Ok." I took a deep breath and said, "Jess....I"m on probation for..." Jess"s POV: I still can"t believe it. I mean, seriously. Rob"s on probation for COW TIPPING. Yes. He got crazy one night with Wendell and Wylie (from detention) and decided to knock over an innocent cow. I"m not even kidding. After he said that, I just looked at him. "Jess...Say something." he said, taking a hold of my hand. I couldn"t speak, I just burst out laughing. "THAT is why you"re on probation? I can"t believe it!" and bust a gut laughing some more. Rob just sat there, looking all serious and everything. I stopped laughing and cupped his chin in my hand. "Oh, I don"t even care. I still love you." and planted a big wet one on his lips. When we broke from our kiss- which had switched national origins pretty quickly- Rob said, "Yeah, well, I told you it was stupid!" And kissed me again. This one got pretty serious. Not coat-room serious (I don"t think we"ll get that serious again until after my birthday), but still pretty heavy. Then Rob drove me home, and said goodnight with a quick kiss on the lips. It was an almost perfect Christmas. THE END</code>                                                                                                                                                                              | <code>Followed by Kelly Prescott and Debbie Mancuso- both also glowing. I sat in my bed, mouth open in shock. I pulled on Jesse"s hand and said, "You see them all too, right? This isn"t a hallucination? From the fever?" Jesse shook his head sadly. "No, I"m afraid not, Susannah. They"ve all become victims of murder." "Murder?! No one murders Kelly Prescott and gets away with it!" I heard Kelly shriek. Her french-tipped fingers flipped through her hair as she fumed. Seconds later, her expression softened. "Murdered? You mean, we all...We all died?" I nodded. "Anyone know how this happened?" At first, no one spoke. I looked around at everyone- the worried violet eyes of my best friend, still fixated on Adam, Paul"s icy blues fixated on me. "Let"s just say, Suze, it"s a good thing you didn"t come to school today. Saved you from this fate." Paul said hesistantly. Debbie and Kelly had taken to sitting on my day bed, both in shock that they were dead. In their minds, this was probably never taken into consideration, and who can blame them? Most people don"t wake up in the morning, thinking, "What am I going to do after I die today?" I do, sometimes. It comes with the territory, you know. So Debbie and Kelly were no help. Adam was basically silent- a change for him, actually- and CeeCee looked like she wanted to cry. "All I remember, Suze, is that it hurt. A hell of a lot." Adam finally said, in a very quiet tone. Cee nodded. "I felt like I couldn"t breathe, when he fired the bullet. It hurt so bad..." "Bullet?" I asked. She nodded. Then I couldn"t breathe. "Jesse...Bullet?" I asked. "Susannah..." Jesse started. "I tried to protect them. Or, those four, at least." He gestured to Cee, Adam, Kelly and Debbie. Paul looked a bit put out. "But the bullets went straight through me. There was nothing I could do." I fell back in disbelief. My school, my safe Junippero Mission Academy, had become the setting of a school shooting. Never in a million nightmares would anyone ever believe it... If it hadn"t been so damned true. Because moments later, the boy responsible for it all appeared. "You the mediator?" He asked me bluntly, ignoring the fact that his victims were all around him. He was dressed all in black, with a ski mask over his face. Suddenly, Debbie lept off of my day bed and tackled the kid. "YOU FREAK! IS THAT ANYWAY TO TREAT YOUR VICTIMS?! I SWEAR IF YOU WEREN"T GLOWING LIKE THE REST OF US, I"D KILL YOU!!!" She screamed as her perfectly manicured hands pummeled him. For a minute, we all watched as Debbie beat him up. Then Jesse and Paul seemed to think this wasn"t appropriate and tried to break it up. Only Debbie"s nails came flying up to hit them, so they backed off. "Well, I guess I"ll start talking to everyone one-on-one, see why you"re all still here." I said, pulling up a blanket. "Cee, wanna go first? I have a pretty good idea about you." Cee nodded, and joined me on my bed. We spoke quietly as everyone stuck to their own things, Debbie still beating up their murderer. "So, Cee, first do you believe me about my mediator abilities?" I asked with a small grin. CeeCee giggled a little at that. "Yeah, Simon, I guess I don"t have much of a choice." She sighed. "Although, if this is the afterlife..." "It"s not, don"t worry." I said. "But I think you"re still here because you never came clean to Adam about your feelings to him." I dropped my voice to a whispher here, should Adam be listening. He didn"t appear to be, however. He looked like- everyone did, actually, and I saw Paul and Jesse had broken up the fight. Maybe they explained why everyone was here? CeeCee locked her violet eyes on Adam. "I guess I don"t have anything left to lose, right?" She said, not looking at me, nor talking to me. She was lost in thought. "Cee, I"m going to mediate Adam for a moment, then I"ll let you two alone, OK?" She nodded, and I hugged my best friend one last time. "Adam, you"re up." I saw him sigh as he got up and settled in next to me. "Suze, I think I know why I"m here. I kinda understand this mediator stuff, from hearing you and Cee talk in what you think is "code" so let me give it a shot." I nodded and grinned. "Why do you think you"re here?" "I"m in love with someone. I never told her." Adam said in dead seriousness. Before he continued, I prayed it wasn"t me. "Suze, I"m in love with CeeCee." he whispered. I hugged Adam tightly and whisphered back, "Go tell her." I watched Adam and CeeCee start talking together, heads bent down on the floor. Adam said those three little words, and CeeCee responded the way I figured she always would: Pulled Adam"s head into her"s and kissed him. Adam moved on top of Cee as their arms circled each other, and before we could view anything more, they were both gone in a bath of bright white lights. I choked back tears and said, "Who"s next?" "Susannah, you need to rest. Slater and I can handle these three." Jesse said, standing next to me as I laid in bed. "Jesse, it"s my job." I protested as Kelly, Debbie, and the mysterious murderer were directed to my bed by Paul. "Suze, how is it you can see us, anyways? Are you dead, too?" Debbie asked. Kelly was still silent, probably in shock of being dead. "No, I"m not dead. I"m a mediator." I explained. "A what-iator?" I laughed. "A liason between the living and the dead. I can see, hear, speak to, and hit the dead." "And sometimes she even makes out with them." Paul said, waggling his eyebrows at Jesse and I. So what if Jesse was sitting behind me, and I was basically in his lap? With this damn flu, I could very well be glowing like him any day now. "Hey Suze, now that I"m dead, do I have a better chance at getting with you?" Paul asked, leaning back on my desk chair. "No, Paul." "Damn. Well, what if-" "No." "But-" "NO!" "Fine, fine." Paul sat back grumpily. "So, Debbie, let"s start with you." I said, sighing. "Is there anything you didn"t do before you died?" Debbie thought for a moment. "Well, there was this really cute skirt- red plaid, so catholic school girl- at the mall the other day, and I didn"t buy it because Daddy"s been getting on my case about s pending so much on what he calls "frivolous junk" when in reality, it"s so not! I mean, a girl can"t help but have sixteen pairs of Jimmy Choos, or twelve Kate Spade bags. And I mean-" "Debbie, I didn"t mean shopping wise." I said, raising my hand to silence her. Or maybe that skirt she didn"t buy is what was holding her back. Highly doubtful, but maybe. "Well, I didn"t tell someone that he was a father." Debbie said. WHOA! "A father?!" I cried- well, as much as I could. I was going horse a bit. "Debbie, you"re pregnant?" She was only 17! She laughed. "God, no. I was, about a year ago, when I took time off school and told everyone it was because we"d moved and then moved back." "That"s what it was?!" Kelly shrieked. Her first words since she"d realized she was dead. "I can"t believe you didn"t tell me, your own best friend!" "You"d have called me a whore, like Heather did!" "Let"s not fight for now." I said hastily. "Debbie, who"s the father? I can pass it along or something." "Um..." Debbie hung her head, staring at her feet as she curled up. "I kind of don"t want to say." "Why not?" "Look, Suze, are you absolutely sure you"re the only one whocan hear us?"Debbie asked, looking pained. "Yes, I"m sure." I nodded solemnly. "Querida, what about your brother?" Jesse asked. Dopey- Er, Brad- could hear. "He"s not home. School"s on lockdown, I bet." I said. "Go on, Debbie. Who is it?" "Brad." She mumbled. I don"t blame Debbie"s news at all on my vomiting. I had the flu, remember? I was bound to throw up again. And at least it all made it into the toilet. When I came out of the bathroom, I said, "I"m an aunt?" "Yes." Debbie said, grinning now. "Her name"s Madeline Rose. She"s the sweetest, cutest, most well-behaved baby on the planet." I believed it. "Debbie, other than Brad not knowing he"s the father, do you think that there is any other reason?" I asked, hugging my (almost) sister-in-law. "My parents hated the fact that I kept her." Debbie said quietly. "I think I may be around because I want to know what"s going to happen to my baby. I don"t want my parents to raise her, because she"ll end up like me. Believe it or not, that"s not a good thing." She giggled lightly. "But I don"t want her to be raised by strangers." Paul- who"dbeen silent- and Kelly- who"d been in more shock- both spoke at the same time. "She won"t be." They looked at each other. Paul said, "Go ahead, Kel." "Thanks." Kelly sighed. "Debbie, don"t even bug on it. I bet once my parents find out, they"ll ask for custody or something. Or Brad"s parent"s might." Debbie nodded. "I wish Brad"s would." "I may have some pull there, Deb." I grinned. "Paul, what were you going to say?" "Just going to suggest you take the kid, Suze." Paul said, grinning wickedly. "You and De Silva can play house." I responded by flipping him off. So Debbie would be sticking around for a while. It was then I realized our mystery ghost was no where in sight. "Jesse, can you sense him?" I asked, pointing this out. Jesse concentrated. "The only other being is in Bradley"s room." he said. "Let"s go check it out." I said, trying to get up. For once, Jesse let me. We all moved to Brad"s room, and saw the murderer- his ski-mask tossed over a bed post. I think all of us would have fainted- if ghosts could faint. As it is, I"m the only one who did. Although, I blame the flu. The Junippero Mission Academy"s shooter was... OK..IT"S A TO-BE-CONTINUED...TAKE A GUESS ON OUR MYSTERY MAN, AND IF YOU"D LIKE TO WIN A PRIZE, EMAIL ME! Wow, only posted a day ago, and already I"ve gotten responses! You guys totally and completely ROCK OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I"m warning you up front: This WILL BE A BIT GORY. IF YOU CANNOT STAND BLOOD, DO NOT READ. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE VIOLENCE, WHY ARE YOU READING IN THE FIRST PLACE? Mystery Murderer"s POV: (No, you will not know who it is until the end. Don"t skip ahead to read who it is either, you"ll ruin it for yourself.) I sat in Brad"s room, my mask over the edge of the bed post. I heard everyone walk- or, whatever we ghosts do- into the room, and soon after heard Suze faint. I suppose she was shocked by who I was, what I"d done. I don"t know why I chose to do...that. I knew it wasn"t the way to solve things. Sometimes, Kelly and her group made me so mad, I just wanted to slap them. I only meant for there to be three victims. Kelly Prescott, Debbie Mancuso, and myself. In the cross fire, I got that albino girl, CeeCee Webb, and Adam McTavish, the classic class clown, and finally, Paul "I"m-hot-so-let"s-give-me-everything" Slater. Well, there are always flaws in the plan... ...Flashback...Ish... "Do you see that outfit? What a freak." I heard behind me. I was the only one in that general area, so I figured they must be talking about me. I ignored the snotty high-pitched girls" voice and kept walking. They"ll learn...then they"ll be sorry... That afternoon, I cleaned out my locker.I saw Suze Simon talking to her friends a little ways down the hall, and wished I could join them. Suze was pretty, smart, nice, funny- all the things I wanted in a friend. Of course, I"d never had a real friend, so anyone- or thing, really- would work. The next day, I stayed home from school to prepare. Kelly Prescott and Debbie Mancuso would be sorry. They"d learn to treat everyone a lot nicer. On Wednesday, I walked to school, the only thing in my backpack a 9mm gun I"d found hidden in the back of my dad"s closet. I kept up my usual smiles, acting like nothing was wrong. I didn"t see Suze, and her brother David told me she"d been home sick with the flu yesterday and today. I told him to tell her I said to feel better soon. At that point, Suze could have talked me out of it. Instead, I saw Debbie Mancuso and Kelly Prescott walking in my general direction. Suze"s friends, Adam and CeeCee, were nearby, and so was Paul Slater. Those two could be aiming for any of them. Yeah, Sure. Like Queen Kelly would pass up an opportunity to diss you. Well, screw Queen Kelly. Screw her in the ass with a sharp pineapple. Suddenly, my mind wasn"t my own anymore. I wasn"t controlling my body. I reached into my bag, pulled out the gun, and haphazardly pulled the trigger. Then continued until it was empty. The first shot hit CeeCee directly in the heart. Blood splattered everywhere as she fell over, crimson pouring out on the floor. Blood sprayed the lockers as the bullet hit, as well as the walls and ceiling. The second shot hit Paul right in the middle of his forehead. Blood, withpieces of his skull and brain,went in the opposite direction of CeeCee"s, splattering the rest of the lockers, walls, and myself. I stood stock still, firing off the rest of the round. I still stood, watching Adam fall over, a bullet lodged in his left temple. He"d turned to see what was going on right as I"d fired, and was blown back from the blast. Half of his skull lay in a puddle of blood, his eyes still staring up in surprise and shock. Next- my designated victims", Kelly and Debbie. Kelly doubled over as the bullet entered her belly, I fired another at her, hitting her square in the head and killing her instantly. Debbie had barely moved during this whole time, and two quick shots hit her dead in the heart. One bullet left. I surveyed what I"d done. It had changed nothing, except that 5 (fairly) innocent people were dead. It didn"t take back what Kelly and Debbie had done, it didn"t reverse time, it didn"t make my pain go away. So, as I realized I"d acted without thinking everything through, I ate the last bullet. And everything went black. I saw myparents, my friends, everyone...I saw the damage I"d done, I saw my body from above it as I floated there, my long red hair hanging in clumps drenched in blood, andthe deceased also floating above their corpses. "Come on, you guys." Paul said. He"d yet to notice me. "Since we"re all floating here, and shouldn"t be, I know how to fix it." And they disappeared in a swirl of lights. ...End Flashback...Ish... I looked at Suze"s passed out form on the floor of Brad"s room. "I"m so sorry..." I whispered. The remaining ghosts- and that Spanish guy- looked doubtful. The Spanish guy and Paul picked up Suze and carried her to her room. Kelly and Debbie just shook their heads at me. My name is...was...Gina Augustin. I was a transfer studentat Junippero Mission Academy. I had personally kept this from Suze and her family, though I don"t remember why. I wasn"t smart and I wasn"t pretty, which made me the target of bullying. If I could come back to life, or reverse time, I would. And I wouldn"t do what I did. Then I saw bright white lights, and was in a hallway filled with doors. One of the doors uttered a knock. I did what seemed logical next; I opened the door. Suze"s POV: "Querida? How are you feeling?" Amazing how five little words can make me melt. "Better. Did I pass out?" I asked Jesse, hoping it had all been a horrible dream. "Yes, shortly after following that mystery ghost." Jesse said, patting my forehead with a damp cloth. "Kelly has moved on; Paul attended to her. Debbie has decided to stay until she knows her baby"s fate." I nodded. "Jesse...that was no mystery girl." I said, remembering her face. "What do you mean, Susannah?" Jesse asked, brushing away hair from my eyes. "It was Gina." And then I fell asleep, wondering how my best friend could have done such a thing when she was supposed to be in Brooklyn. Thanks to everyone who reviewed in general...I"d like to take this time to reply a little bit: My Divinest: Can you please be more specific when you say "BULL" repeatedly? If it"s about the portrayal of the shooting, and it sucks, then I"m sorry. Since I"ve never been in one, I can"t really write it well. Bewitched85: Thanks for reviewing!!! Gator aka JJ!: Teehee...Yeah, Yeah, I picked Gina...I"m so horrible... :big grin: UnangelicHalo: Actually, I almost made it Father Dom...But then some people had guessed it might be him, so I changed it to someone no one had thought of. Stella Blu: I"m going to explain further in this chapter why Gina didn"t talk to Suze, Suze"s family, all that good stuff. Chione: Thanks for reviewing!!! Angel From Fairyland: Thanks for reviewing!!! Qui tacet consentit: Thanks for reviewing!!! Kay: Thank you sooooooo much for your review. I didn"t think it was negative at all. It"s the kind of review I wish more people (me included) would leave when they review because it"ll help when I go back and edit the chapter a bit. The next chapter will be up in a few days...This story will actually be short (5 or lower, actually) so I can finish everything else... Love for now, Kaitie Tragedy Chapter 3 Gina"s POV: Life sucked when I came back from visiting Suze in Carmel. Everything was so cool there, and then I come back to New York, and life just sucks. My parents divorced, and to deal with the stress, I turned to drugs and alcohol. Not to mention boys in general. After months of alcohol abuse, drugs (ranging from marijuana to cocaine to E to LSD), and virtually becoming a prostitute, I found out I was pregnant. There was no way of knowing who the baby"s father was, since only a handful of guys wore a condom when we did it. That"s a handful out of 100 or more. The weird thing is, I wanted to keep the baby. So I stopped doing drugs, stopped drinking, and tried to get back on track. Then one night I was walking home, and cut through my old "work" neighborhood. Derick, this white-boy-gangster-wannabe walked out in front of me, completely stoned off his ass, and goes, "Ginaaaaaah!" Oh shit. So, I keep walking. Not the best choice, actually. Derick followed me, his eyes glazing over, looking like frozen pools of ice. "Gina, why didn"t you call me the other night? There was a good grand in it for you to appear at the party on 8th and Market." "Yeah I know." "So why didn"t you show?" "Because Mother"s don"t strip for a living, Derick!" I threw at him. His eyes got huge. Maybe he thought it was his kid or something, because he threw me to the ground and started to pound on me. "Derick! STOP PLEASE, NO!!!" I screamed, begging him to stop, to not kill it or me. He just kept hitting, kicking, making me bleed all over. Before he stopped, I passed out. Blackness consumed me until I woke up in a pure white hospital room. "Ms. Augustin?" I blinked. I looked over at the doorway to see a doctor, about 45 or so, holding a clipboard. I murmured something, and the doctor walked over to my bedside. "Ms. Augustin, I"m Dr. Walker." he said, kindly. He had that salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes. "That was a nasty beating you took." "The...the...baby..." I tried to ask if the baby was OK. Dr. Walker continued. "I"m sorry, Ms. Augustin. We lost the baby." And at that point, I wondered if it would have been a boy or girl. A pretty little girl who I could dress up in princess dresses, and raise in California where she"d never have to worry. A strong little boy who would play sports and know how to treat woman and never ever lay his hand on one in a harsh manner. But it didn"t matter now. God obviously didn"t trust me to raise a kid; why else would s/he been taken away from me? After I left the hospital, my mom kicked me out. She had met this total sleazeball of a guy, who didn"t want a kid, so she didn"t either. I hitch-hiked to Carmel, and planned to start over with Suze and her family. Only somehow they didn"t recognize me. No one knew who I was, despite the fact that I grew up with Suze. Brad slammed the door in my face when I showed up. I didn"t have an ounce of the old Gina left in me. So I wouldn"t be the old Gina. I"d be a random stranger, a new girl. Maybe Suze would realize it was me after all. Only after a few weeks, she didn"t. And between Kelly and Debbie"s insults, most of them reminding me of who I used to be- the odd girl who did what she wanted, when she wanted- and being ignored, I couldn"t take it. I wanted everyone who made me miserable to die. I wanted to kill everyone I"d known in Brooklyn. I wanted a new life! I just wanted Suze back! Hey everyone! First, this is JUST AN AUTHOR"S NOTE. All my stories will be updated soon, I swear! As well as a few I"m planning on starting. Just so everyone knows, I"m going to do all of the 1800 stories through Rob"s POV. Second...If you"re a fan of Princess Diaries, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT COMES UP NEXT!!! I have in my posession...ONE AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF PRINCESS PRESENT! YES, YOU READ RIGHT! PRINCESS PRESENT AUTOGRAPHED BY THE ONE, THE ONLY, MEG CABOT! All you have to do to win this faboulous prize is answer the following question: (Question comes from "Mediator" books.) Which book is the following line from? "I may have been dead the last hundred and fifty years, Susannah, but that doesn"t mean I don"t know how people say good night. And generally, when people say good night, they keep their tongues to themselves." Leave a review with your answer. I"ll collect the user names on January 18, 2005. The winner will be notified via Email, so you need to have this visible on your bio page, on January 19, 2005. Good luck! Love, Kaitie</code>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | <code>1</code> |
* Loss: <code>utils.Losses.ModifiedContrastiveLoss</code>

### Training Hyperparameters
#### Non-Default Hyperparameters

- `eval_strategy`: steps
- `per_device_train_batch_size`: 2
- `per_device_eval_batch_size`: 2
- `num_train_epochs`: 5
- `multi_dataset_batch_sampler`: round_robin

#### All Hyperparameters
<details><summary>Click to expand</summary>

- `overwrite_output_dir`: False
- `do_predict`: False
- `eval_strategy`: steps
- `prediction_loss_only`: True
- `per_device_train_batch_size`: 2
- `per_device_eval_batch_size`: 2
- `per_gpu_train_batch_size`: None
- `per_gpu_eval_batch_size`: None
- `gradient_accumulation_steps`: 1
- `eval_accumulation_steps`: None
- `learning_rate`: 5e-05
- `weight_decay`: 0.0
- `adam_beta1`: 0.9
- `adam_beta2`: 0.999
- `adam_epsilon`: 1e-08
- `max_grad_norm`: 1
- `num_train_epochs`: 5
- `max_steps`: -1
- `lr_scheduler_type`: linear
- `lr_scheduler_kwargs`: {}
- `warmup_ratio`: 0.0
- `warmup_steps`: 0
- `log_level`: passive
- `log_level_replica`: warning
- `log_on_each_node`: True
- `logging_nan_inf_filter`: True
- `save_safetensors`: True
- `save_on_each_node`: False
- `save_only_model`: False
- `restore_callback_states_from_checkpoint`: False
- `no_cuda`: False
- `use_cpu`: False
- `use_mps_device`: False
- `seed`: 42
- `data_seed`: None
- `jit_mode_eval`: False
- `use_ipex`: False
- `bf16`: False
- `fp16`: False
- `fp16_opt_level`: O1
- `half_precision_backend`: auto
- `bf16_full_eval`: False
- `fp16_full_eval`: False
- `tf32`: None
- `local_rank`: 0
- `ddp_backend`: None
- `tpu_num_cores`: None
- `tpu_metrics_debug`: False
- `debug`: []
- `dataloader_drop_last`: False
- `dataloader_num_workers`: 0
- `dataloader_prefetch_factor`: None
- `past_index`: -1
- `disable_tqdm`: False
- `remove_unused_columns`: True
- `label_names`: None
- `load_best_model_at_end`: False
- `ignore_data_skip`: False
- `fsdp`: []
- `fsdp_min_num_params`: 0
- `fsdp_config`: {'min_num_params': 0, 'xla': False, 'xla_fsdp_v2': False, 'xla_fsdp_grad_ckpt': False}
- `fsdp_transformer_layer_cls_to_wrap`: None
- `accelerator_config`: {'split_batches': False, 'dispatch_batches': None, 'even_batches': True, 'use_seedable_sampler': True, 'non_blocking': False, 'gradient_accumulation_kwargs': None}
- `deepspeed`: None
- `label_smoothing_factor`: 0.0
- `optim`: adamw_torch
- `optim_args`: None
- `adafactor`: False
- `group_by_length`: False
- `length_column_name`: length
- `ddp_find_unused_parameters`: None
- `ddp_bucket_cap_mb`: None
- `ddp_broadcast_buffers`: False
- `dataloader_pin_memory`: True
- `dataloader_persistent_workers`: False
- `skip_memory_metrics`: True
- `use_legacy_prediction_loop`: False
- `push_to_hub`: False
- `resume_from_checkpoint`: None
- `hub_model_id`: None
- `hub_strategy`: every_save
- `hub_private_repo`: False
- `hub_always_push`: False
- `gradient_checkpointing`: False
- `gradient_checkpointing_kwargs`: None
- `include_inputs_for_metrics`: False
- `eval_do_concat_batches`: True
- `fp16_backend`: auto
- `push_to_hub_model_id`: None
- `push_to_hub_organization`: None
- `mp_parameters`: 
- `auto_find_batch_size`: False
- `full_determinism`: False
- `torchdynamo`: None
- `ray_scope`: last
- `ddp_timeout`: 1800
- `torch_compile`: False
- `torch_compile_backend`: None
- `torch_compile_mode`: None
- `dispatch_batches`: None
- `split_batches`: None
- `include_tokens_per_second`: False
- `include_num_input_tokens_seen`: False
- `neftune_noise_alpha`: None
- `optim_target_modules`: None
- `batch_eval_metrics`: False
- `batch_sampler`: batch_sampler
- `multi_dataset_batch_sampler`: round_robin

</details>

### Training Logs
| Epoch  | Step | Training Loss |
|:------:|:----:|:-------------:|
| 0.0649 | 10   | -             |
| 1.0    | 163  | -             |
| 2.0    | 326  | -             |
| 3.0    | 489  | -             |
| 3.0675 | 500  | 0.4331        |
| 4.0    | 652  | -             |
| 5.0    | 815  | -             |


### Framework Versions
- Python: 3.10.12
- Sentence Transformers: 3.0.1
- Transformers: 4.41.2
- PyTorch: 2.1.0+cu118
- Accelerate: 0.31.0
- Datasets: 2.20.0
- Tokenizers: 0.19.1

## Citation

### BibTeX

#### Sentence Transformers
```bibtex
@inproceedings{reimers-2019-sentence-bert,
    title = "Sentence-BERT: Sentence Embeddings using Siamese BERT-Networks",
    author = "Reimers, Nils and Gurevych, Iryna",
    booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2019 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing",
    month = "11",
    year = "2019",
    publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
    url = "https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.10084",
}
```

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