《The Games We Play》The Fourth Chapter
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My Brother was tapping his foot to a strange beat, as he often does when lost in thought, and as the great Brother I am, I decided not to bother him while he was so deeply concentrated, and instead, I walked over to Anderson who was currently shouting at one of the many forensic geeks.
“Whaddya mean there's nothing you can do?! Clean as a whistle?! We've gotta catch this motherfucker before he kills again, and I fucking KNOW he will! This is a serial killer, and you won't do jack shit to help, you useless sack of fermenting shit!!” he shouted at our Forensics lead, Victor Mannheim, who responded by mumbling “It's not our fault he was careful, what do you want us to do, forge it till we make it?” Anderson stared at Victor with a bloodlust I rarely see from him, and I can't say I was happy it was me he was trying to catch. At least he wasn't staring at me. After a few seconds too many of them staring at each other, Anderson threw his hands into the air in a “fuck it” motion, and while Victor solemnly sighed I took the chance and slid up to him almost soundlessly.
“Did you find anything?” I said, almost like a whisper, and I suppose it was in some way creepy as Victor jumped around ten meters into the air. He turned around and stared at me with a frightened and confused expression before asking “which one?” to which I answered “Check the hat. Bowler is my Brother, Trilby is his Brother.” He shrugged his head, gave a snort-like laugh and said “You think I know my hats?” laughter ensued. Clap clap clap. “No but seriously, which one are you. I cant see the difference between you, and I've worked with you for years. You'd better get like, a name-tag or something,” he said, looking a bit more serious by furrowing his brows. “yeah, sure, then we can have two “Mr. Smith,” how about it? But in all seriousness, I'm Brian, and my Brother is the one with the bowler.” he looked over to my Brother, shrugged, and answered my first question. “Well, we ain't got nuthin'. Tricky guy, no fingerprints on the barrels and nothing on the bridge. The two in the barrel are twins, according to the dental records. The witnesses found them at around five in the morning, so we had a lot of time to check 'em. You know what we find?” he paused. I guessed he wanted an answer to the question, so I pleaded ignorance. “no?” He grinned. “Twins. Motherfucking twins, baby. We've got a serial killer on our hands!” I didn't understand why he was so happy about it, but I suppose as long as that was all they had, it was fine.
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After a few more minutes of chit-chat I excused myself and returned to my Brothers side. “did you hear? Twins,” I said, “As in, we've got a serial killer.” my Brother looked at me and snickered to himself, “I knew it.” the two of us continued standing around and observing the others working, but when the call of duty sounds, you can't really ignore it. My Brother and I sauntered back to the car and I drove us over to the station. After a few hours of writing and reading and reporting and talking I was exhausted, and considering all the times someone confused me for my Brother, Victors idea seemed more and more appealing.
I came home at Five 'o Clock and I threw myself into the couch to just lie down and digest what had happened. Someone found my camera, took it, and then... what, exactly? Sure, they might have watched it, but, if that's the case, why didn't they report it to the police? If one were to witness someone dumping a barrel of human paste before setting up a camera, why take the camera? I couldn't make sense of it. After a while, I even fell asleep and I awoke by an ominous gurgle in my abdomen. I remembered I was supposed to be at my Brothers place for dinner at Six, so I wondered if I could make it. One glance at a nearby clock confirmed my statement. Five to six, I could make it. I changed myself at the speed of light and before I knew it I was knocking on my Brothers door. I couldn't see it, but I felt his gaze fall on me through the fisheye, and with some clirr and clunk of various locks, the door was open and he was welcoming me inside.
“Hey Brother, nice of you show up. I've got something to show you,” he said in his usual monotone voice, the same kind that I also speak in. “And what might that be?” I said, to which he answered “I'll show you after dinner, come on inside.” The dinner was nothing fancy, a steak, some potatoes, a few beers, the usual. As we were cleaning up the dishes and letting the food settle down, my Brother turned to me once more. “It's kind of frightening, isn't it?” he said, which caught me off guard. “What is?” I asked. “The killings. You know, the twin guy. I wonder what the media will call him? The Twin-killer?” “The Double Down?” “The Gemini Killer?” “The Two-For-One?” we shared a laugh at the strange names which we oh so carefully crafted. I sort of hoped I'd be called one of them, but you cant ask for anything when it comes to the press. They'll give you what you wanted and still somehow fuck it up. My Brother smiled. “Well, whatever they call him, he's a sick fuck we need to catch.” “indeed he is, Brother.” “and I know exactly how.” “do tell, Brother dearest.” “i found something. A camera.” “Hm?” “I think it was used to film the scene. I haven't watched whats in it yet, but I'm sure it'll tell us who or at the least how.” “interesting. Are you proposing what I think you are?” “Indeed I am.” “Shall we?” “of Course.”
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We seated ourselves in front of his television, and while he fumbled around with it, I thought “aha, so that's how it is,” and soon enough my Brother was finished. The TV jumped to life and emitted a “Bzzzz” noise.
The screen lit up, and the first thing we saw was a mask. It was a plain sort of ski-mask, but it was thin and made of a fine black silk that showed nothing but the eyes. The eyes were a bluish green and darting about, a grin showing beneath the mask. The mask slowly moved away from the camera and soon you could make out the surrounding area. He was standing in a stream, wearing a pair of boots and his body was dressed in all black, the only thing about him you could make out from what we had seen was his eyes. Not even his height was certain. The stream was running beneath a small bridge, under the bridge stood a barrel and in the barrel, al tough you could not see it, two young, male, almost identical bodies were slowly turning into mush. The figure turned around and walked away, staying the shadows, and since it was dark as night, he was gone before he was even out of the scene.
My Brother and I were awestruck. He looked at me, intrigued beyond belief. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he was almost glittering with the Need to Know.
I, as you might know, did not share his feelings.
I didn't need to know.
I already did.
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Embrace the Blade [Drafts 1&2]
James Ransom grew up unable to do the simplest of life’s tasks. Legs were malformed; he was in a wheel chair as long as he could remember. Suffering from a severe form of muscular exhaustion making him unable to use his hands for long despite his resolve to fight through it. All the challenges facing him he still was able to enjoy reading and video games; but a tragic car accident will change his life forever and perhaps he will be given the opportunity to reincarnate into another world. Special thanks to Mikaelle for the Synopsis. This is my first book/fic so constructive critisism would be very nice. Expect a lot of grammatical errors but hopefully not too many spelling errors. Explanation for the tags; Action/Adventure/Fantasy: These don't really need an explanation, Comedy: I'll try to be funny hopefully I won't fail miserably, Romance: I like romantic sub-plots, LitRPG: No explanation needed but I am using my own system, Reincarnation/Summoned Hero: Not sure which one applies here I'm inclined to think both so I put both, Reader Interactive: I put this one here for my own amusment I'll allow everyone to help create the MC's love interest and maybe a few other things we will also hold a few contests.. Male Lead: self explanitory, Magic: Also easy, Strong Lead: Think of this as more of a weak-to-strong tag the MC will be OP but not till later in the story. Warning: Since this fic is labeled as 'Strategy' I believe that the readers should know as much as possible about the situations presented in the story so they can reach their own conclusions about how a fight could have been won or lost. That means: there are a lot of information dumps early on. I don't know how long I'll be able to write this fic but I promise to keep my few readers informed in case I decide to drop it or something.
8 140Demonic Intervention
The Burrows.A place where life is cheap, and safety an illusion. Located in a natural prison, the great slum of Cedia is home to many a cut-throat. One of them a certain street rat, who shouldn't have signed a certain Contract..."What you thinking about, Boss?""Nothing, Gob. Just contemplating about past regrets.""Dick still burning from last night’s whore, eh Boss?"He definitely shouldn’t have signed that Contract. Release Schedule (Edited on 10/10/2017): Currently on hold. Feedback comments badly needed. Reviews much appreciated.
8 227Summoned
“Per aspera ad astra." Death. Mercilessly, it comes for all. But when a young man is given a second chance – a second life – to experience what he never has, what will he do? Leave the burdens of his past behind, improving upon his faults? Or will he collapse back into old sins, wasting the opportunity given to him? Perhaps even he himself does not know. * Join Andre on his journey as he explores a new world – one ripped straight from the pages of a D&D campaign he's never played. He will face monsters. He will face men. And above all, he will face himself. The story’s genre is your standard progression fantasy, isekai: magic, a system, and a level of technology suspiciously underdeveloped. I’ve borrowed tropes from various books I’ve read like “The Second Coming of Gluttony”. The similarities are there (particularly in the beginning), but I assure you the story is my own. It’s in the first-person perspective and has its own quirks, characters, and world for you to become immersed in. The upload schedule for this will be different from the usual fictions on this site: I’ll release chapters in batches rather than so many a week. I’m a college student, so I don’t want another deadline to worry about. Depending on the popularity/demand of the series, I might increase or decrease the rate of releases. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story! P.S. This is my first fiction so make sure to point out mistakes wherever you see them. I’m doing this, partly, to increase my skill as a writer. However, be kind! I’m fragile, you know? Warning: ***This is far from your happy-go-lucky, feel-good adventure story. There will be content that some of you might not be comfortable with. And if you're already feeling skeptical reading this, click away and don't come back. If you're still here, what are you waiting for?***
8 171Cloudlark
File under: sky pirates, guild level-ups, and true companions (nakama) The problem isn't her, it's her folks. Seren is tired of living a lonely life on the island, but every time she brings up the lack of community to her parents, they tell her that it's better that way. Better not to have anyone else around. Better to have dad-vetted "friends" in touch only by mail. Better to not go near the transportation area and to report anything "strange." And she tries. She really does. When it becomes crystal clear that nothing will change, the lure of far off horizons is louder than ever. The last straw is when an attempt to abide by the rules fails and even small pleasures are taken from her. Opportunity knocks and she throws open the door, determined to prove that she can take care of herself. Too bad the world is just as determined to prove otherwise. (Story is aiming for PG-13 levels of content. Tagged with Profanity & Gore just to be safe.) (weekly update at Friday midnight PST / Saturday 4pm JST)
8 75The Tower of Opportunity - Rewrite
Criminals from around the world are summoned by a mysterious being who informs them that they only have 3 months left to live unless they climb the mysterious tower that lies before them, through which they can gain another two weeks added to their lifespan for every floor conquered. They soon discover that they can harness powers that have been granted to them by this mysterious being to not only achieve victory against the enemies that they will face in the tower, but also attain their deepest and darkest desires as well. Watch our protagonist's journey through the tower as he struggles to endure the curse he bears, one which damns him to ever-repeat his climb to the top of the tower, until he succeeds. *** This is a rewrite of a story I started writing about 3 months ago which was written in the third person, and this rewrite shifts the story perspective to the first person. There will be occasional user polls to decide how the story progresses, interspersed throughout the story, and the polls that were done in the original version will still apply to the current version. Also if you have any suggestions for story ideas that you would like to see incorporated, leave a comment about it, and they might show up in the future. Lastly, I hope you enjoy the story, and thanks for reading. P.S. Thanks to gej302 for the cover art.
8 254The UnSlut Project
I was the 6th-grade "slut." And I kept a diary. So I decided to create The UnSlut Project in the hopes that my own diary entries could provide some perspective to girls who currently feel trapped and ashamed. I am publishing these entries one at a time, without changing a single word except for the names of the people involved. My limited commentary, which is confined to brackets in each entry, is meant to provide the relief of my current perspective, fifteen years later. The UnSlut Project: Working to undo the dangerous slut shaming in our schools, communities, media, and culture by sharing knowledge and experiences.
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