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Twenty-Four Twenty-Four At first, there was no sound at all as Jared descended the cold steps into the warm light. Even with every nerve raw, there was a sense of peace that covered him as he found his way closer to the bottom of the steps. Then suddenly he could faintly hear water. He...

Twenty-Three Twenty-Three Jared looked blankly down the empty hall for a moment before turning and walking into the library. The expanse of the room was overwhelming with the spines of a million books lined up on shelves that covered each wall. He looked around the room, and the sense of...

Twenty-Two Twenty-Two Eternity turned into seconds, and they moved as slowly as possible for Jared. His body began to suffocate on fear as his pores leaked futility. How long have I been here? The room was still dancing in the light of an invisible fire. Everything seemed red and chaotic to...

Twenty-One Twenty-One "Jared." He heard her soft voice in the fog of his anguish. "Jared? Can you feel me?" He felt her. He felt the soft skin of her thighs as they rested against his hips. He felt the pressure of her breasts on his chest. He felt her lips on his cheek. He felt the caresses...

Twenty Twenty Black turned to fire which turned to fear when Jared opened his eyes. Even the pain that wracked his body was numbness compared to the horror that flooded over him when he tried to look around the room. His lungs felt inadequate to compensate for the stifling air, and his heart...

Nineteen Nineteen Despair surged around Jared like the pale glow of the Silver Bullet in his hand and crawled around his flesh like some kind of parasite looking for a way into his body. As kind as the release from the straight jacket had seemed, the pain from his wounds dug into his mind and...

Eighteen Eighteen He opened his eyes to sparkles in the darkness. There was a translucent quality to them that he seemed to recall was something special to him once upon a time. But Jared was caught off guard and blinded by the flickering light in front of him, and he rolled on the floor to...

Seventeen Seventeen He fell against something hard. The door opened smoothly as Jared turned on the knob and gave it a push. The light was blinding, and he held up his arm over his eyes for a moment. The sun was warm, and the sounds of spring were everywhere around him. His eyes adjusted...

Sixteen Sixteen Jared stared at it. The silver glow filled the room with a light that left everything in shadows and nothing illuminated. It just hung there in the darkness in the middle of his cell, floating in front of him like an eidolon of fear that mirrored what he felt behind his eyes...

Fifteen Fifteen It only hurts when I remember. He poked the fire some more to move the logs around, the flames rising higher around the little pile of things that he'd placed there. He watched the burning memories of ... "Jared." Rose? "What are you doing?" I'm just trying to get the...

Fourteen Fourteen Jared didn't know how long he had lain there on the floor. He didn't recall seeing the light move across him. There was certainly some light here and, though he couldn't tell the source, it didn't appear to be a definitive ray from the crack in the mess he'd splashed over...

Thirteen Thirteen Humans are defined by their pain. Gods are defined by their happiness. Heroes are defined by their ability to revel in both the pain and the happiness, their entire existence wrapped up in only the quest that produces both in a lifetime. But, for all the glorious songs sung...

Twelve Twelve The lights, the sound; the entire room was packed with an energy that seemed to flow from every aspect of the show. The band played while the crowds jumped and screamed, provoking every nerve of their bodies in a mass of twisting flesh and force. Tempest and Jared moved through...

Eleven Eleven "Do you want my cookie?" Her voice was filled with such innocence that he about fell over himself to come up with a line. "Oh, the places I could take that question." Jared looked at her with such lust. He knew that he had wanted her since he first saw her picture. Tempest...

Ten Ten Silence to a blind man. Salt to a wound. There is little difference in one thing and any other thing save in degree. The years spun by in a day and a day was no more than mere agony of longing for something that he felt he could never really have. Jared sat in the dark and felt the...

Nine Nine Shadows shifted and moved around. Jared saw faces in the corners of his mind. Strange contorted faces that almost reminded him of people that he thought he knew. He was not sure, though, when they moved in and out of the light. The unusual patterns of metal and flesh protruded into...

Eight Eight A lie is not the absence of truth, but the illusion of truth. Morning broke, and Jared found himself in the arms of a dream. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her hair spread out across his chest and belly like a blanket of satin and sensuality. Like so much between them...

Seven Seven "Daddy?" The tiny voice came from the other room. "Where are you, Daddy? Come to bed now. I'm scared." Jared looked around and saw the shadows of his life in the glow of the monitor. His computer, his books, his work, his life all in a safe cubicle filled with stacks and stacks...

Six Six It was not the absence of light that disturbed him. It was the comfort of the darkness. Someone once said, "Be careful when you hunt monsters that you do not become one yourself." The story of Beauty and the Beast was not one of a woman redeeming a man, but of a single individual...

Five Five Morning came too early. The shaft of light pierced the room like a blade of steel in his chest. The memories of the candle, the woman and the sound echoed in Jared's head as he rolled over to look at the open door to his cell. There were details of the room that he only noticed...