So here is another story that had a different ending than originally planned, although Holly and Damor were always going to have a happy ending. The original ending was going to have Holly choose to go with Alicia, because it was decided that Alicia needed Holly more.

He was going to erase both of their memories. Holly and Damor were going to share one last kiss. As he would erase her memory, he would tell her that deep down in her heart, she would always know that he loved her. Then a year later, Holly would be getting married to the naval officer that found them in the lifeboat. Also the wedding was going to take place at sea, in the exact same spot that they had been rescued.

Alicia would be Holly's maid of honor, but as she was helping her get ready, Alicia would confide in Holly that she thought the marriage would be a terrible mistake. She would be able tell, by look in Holly's eyes, that Holly was in fact in love with someone else.

She would also reveal to Holly that Roger had confided in her a long time ago, about his marriage to Vivian. Roger would have told Alicia that his marriage to Vivian was doomed to failure. This was because the only reason he and Vivian got married, was because it was expected of them. She was going to try and warn Holly not to make the same mistake.

Although Holly wouldn't remember Damor, she would not be able to shake the feeling that she was in love with someone else. Then in an extremely cliched moment. When the priest would say, "If there is anyone here who can show just cause why these two shouldn't be joined in holy matrimony, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace." At that moment Damor was going to breach the surface of the ocean, and reveal himself.

Both Holly, and Alicia would remember him at that monument. Holly would then go off with Damor, after saying their goodbyes to Alicia as well as receiving her blessing. The story would have ended right there. But I decided that I wanted the dark twist at the end.

However I still wanted Damor, and Holly together. So I had Holly choose Damor instead. I did carry over the theme of Alicia knowing deep down in her heart that Holly was alive, because her love for her stepdaughter and their mother/daughter bond being so great. If this story had been a single novel, I might have had the original happy ending with the dark twist at the end. But that would have been a bunch of extra chapters which would have been too many for a short story in a compilation book.

Plus I wasn't exactly sure how that would have worked. I mean Damor would have had to erase all the wedding attendees memories. Then the guy that was marrying Holly would probably wonder where she was, and how she all of a sudden disappeared from the ship. So if I had continued the story after the wedding, I was going to have a hard time explaining what kind of excuses Alicia was going to have to tell everyone about Holly sudden absence.

For those of you who were wondering how Algar was able to disguise himself as a human, I made a point to explain how it was possible in chapter 11. Basically the octomen were able the twist their tentacles together to make a pair of makeshift legs. I also mentioned that if they wore clothing, they could disguise themselves as humans. He has on a pair of slacks, so Alicia doesn't realize that he is actually hiding his tentacles.

I did leave hints about his true identity, even though most of you had figured it out before I even started writing the finale. When Alicia asks if he'd like to sit down, he mentions that his legs are tired. When she asks if he's hungry, he tells her that he starving and feels as though he hasn't eaten in almost a year.

That's because he actually hasn't. In Greek mythology anyone who eats the food of the underworld, can never leave. That is why Persephone, even though she was a goddess and Zeus had ordered Hades to release her, could not leave the underworld. Hades told her she should eat something before he let her go. (He was a dick! Although he was actually a faithful husband to her. Zeus cheated on Hera with anything female.)

Thats why, according to Greek mythology, we get Fall and Winter. Six months out of the year she is on earth, helping her mother with the flora and fauna in the Spring and Summer. During the fall and Winter she has to return to the underworld as Hades's Queen, and her mother (Demeter) is so depressed she just let everything go to hell. But I'm pretty sure most of you know this story, which had nothing to do with my story. (Well, except for the consequences of eating the food.)

Anyway, I'm glad that I've gotten positive feedback. I'm always afraid that the reader is going to be disappointed that the stories don't end with "...And they lived happily ever after."

I'm going to make a slight change to His Tangle Web. It's not going to be anything major enough for you to feel the need to go back and read it. (Unless you want to.) I have decided to pull all of the stories together by having a blood red moon (or a lunar eclipse of a full moon) either appearing in the story, or being referenced. I thought that was a subtle, yet intersting way of tying all the stories together.

So, with that being said. Based on your responses in the "What to Write Next" section, the next yandere Fae hottie will be:

Stay tuned for the next story, !!!!!!