Teddy and Jeff watch as the Lear Jet they were on starts taking off. They grab Brittney’s and Terry’s hand and hold onto them. Brittney just smiles as she feels Teddy grab her hand.

“We’ll be alright, Teddy. I trust my cousin.” Brittney reassures Teddy.

Two hours later, they land at a private airport. Brittney and Terry were amazed at how bigger it has gotten since they were last at the airfield. August guides the Lear into the private hangar that had the planes that she and Butch personally owned. Once she comes to a complete stop, she powers down.

Scout looks out at the fishing vessals she was assigned to watched. The fishing company that hired her had her working on the weekends starting on Friday working from 3pm to 11 pm. And then coming back at eight the next morning and working until four in the afternoon. On Sunday and Monday morning working from midnight till eight in the morning and the same on Monday morning as well.

“Watch you doing up there, Amy?” Steve looks up at Amy way up at the top of her mainmast in a bosun's chair.

Amy looks down towards Steve as he stood near her sailboat. She had just finished installing a new light bulb and a radio antenna on her mainmast.

“Replacing a light bulb and installing a new radio antenna.” Amy was glad she got started early on the repairs.

“You’re a better person then I am.” Steve had a fear of heights.

“I love my boat.” Amy starts lowering herself back down to the deck.

Lien had gone and told her aunts what Cheshire told her. Krisha and Catlin rushed towards the window that looked out onto the front lawn. Omphile and Lien were at another window that allowed them to see the front yard. None of the girls knew the other three women outside that had shown up and were standing near Cheshire.

“Do you think I should call my mom?’ Lien looks towards Krisha.

Lucky girl
There's more than one way to be lucky. Maybe, there's more than one way to be a girl?

The Caution is for a slightly oblique reference to self harm. For American readers a Stanley knife is what you might call a 'box cutter'.

Raven was escorted out to the courtroom by the deputy sheriff. She glances over towards Dr. Heath. Memories of what he did to her came back as if it was yesterday. She notices that there were several guards there from the prison and the warden himself.

She places her hand on the bible and raises her hand "I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

“Please sit down, Mrs. Mondragon.” The Judge looks at Raven.

“Yes, ma’am.” Raven sits down in the witness chair.

The Blossoming of Ciri

Chapter 6- The First Day Back, Part One

“Hi my full name is Alex Damion Marteau and I’m. Well currently I’am 18 but in this story I will be telling you about when my life got turned upside down and changed both me and my family forever...” Chapter 6...

“Urrrrgggggghhhhhh... I hate Monday’s...” I said out loud to myself as I moaned into my pillow.

Most of the day goes by pretty quietly. Sayen manages to take inventory and restock the shelves without to much interruption, which she enjoys. Especially setting up a new display for some products they had just gotten in. While she was busy setting up the display and stocking it. Sayen didn’t hear the approach of some guys behind her.

“Well, well, fellows who do we have here, on her hands and knee’s? The white chick that thinks she is an Indian.” As, a tall long black hair fellow with a scar running down the left side of his face glances at Sayen.

“Tammy?” Becky looks at the text message she just received from Stanley.

She couldn’t believe that Kat and the rest of the team were on their way to their location. All the message said, was that a pissed off Kat was on her way to them. When she responded about the rest of Kat’s team. She was informed they were heading to Walker, Kansas to stay with Kat’s sister.

“Tammy, where are you?’ Becky couldn’t find Tammy anywhere and the next thing she hears is the sound of a gun.

“Guys, Tammy is under attack.” Becky heads towards the sound of the gunshot.

“I don’t know Jack. This is some unique and barbaric modification that has been done to this person. All traces of what they were originally has been removed.” Dr. Carl Salk looks at the person on the examination table.

“What modifications have been done to the body?” Jack had watched as Dr. Salk examined the body.

Prelude:

“What the fuck just happened?” Grace had a confused look on her face.

Their SUV just shut down in the middle of the road. Anthony was trying to restart it, but nothing was happening. The next thing the two of them feel is an explosion.

All the glass on the SUV cracked from the explosion. The SUV rocks again, as another explosion hits it. Grace tries opening her door, but it wouldn’t open “my door won’t open.”

Anthony tries his as well, but it wouldn’t open as well “mine won’t open either.”

Lien does as her grandmother tells her. The other girls were exercising with her. All of them were wearing different color leotards. She had on a pink one, that she had picked out when she went shopping with her mother. Krisha and Catlin wore identical leotards that were high cut.

Omphile had on one that had flowers all over it. She loved flowers and liked anything that had a floral design to it.

“They're moving out now, number one.” Nelson watched as the three SUV’s leave the parking garage.

“Roger, number two. Keep your eyes on them and wait for our signal.” Juan watches from his perch.

He hopes that the plan they laid out will pay off. The research he did into each bodyguard had proven very fruitful. It also revealed that he and the others didn’t want to get into hand-to-hand combat with a few of them either.

The Blossoming of Ciri

Chapter 4- The Return Home

“Hi my full name is Alex Damion Marteau and I’m. Well currently I’am 18 but in this story I will be telling you about when my life got turned upside down and changed both me and my family forever...” Chapter 4...

“...hmmm... Oh!” I said as I stretched and yawned sleepily, looking to my left and seeing my clock that Dad brought me from home. 11:59 AM, Friday.

“Mornin, little sis. Finally awake are we?” Allison said beside me.

She put the magazine that she was reading down and stood up to stretch.

Virtuality
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

“I call her Pandora,” said Felix. “Get used to her. This is why I need you. This kind of interaction has to be a two-person thing.”

Jake was used to virtual reality. It was his thing after all. But here he was in their apartment. The only thing different was that he was in another body. When he held his hand up he could see that it was not his hand at all, it was a slender feminine hand, with manicured nails.

Elizabeth looks at her wife as she walks out of the bathroom. Her belly has gotten big since she became pregnant. The two eggs that had been artificially inseminated had split. Now, they were going to be a family of six, instead of a family of four.

She couldn’t believe that Sara was going to have four babies. Neither one of their family’s had a history of twins or any signs of multiple births in their family line. How the egg she gave Sara had split and Sara’s own egg split was a mystery to them.

The Quarterback
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I played nose tackle, primarily on defense, but as guard for blocking on offence as well. I guess that means I am a versatile player. Anyways, I did OK and got a good run at pro-ball in my time. I had enough money to retire because my Mama put it all in the Bank. And besides, I do all right as a sales rep for a sporting goods company. I travel around and shake hands and talk about football. It is a good life, I guess.

Haylee pours the feed she has for the horses. The temperature had dropped and she was outside in her winter gear feeding the animals. She spots John and Berry feeding the cows over near the other corral.

Haylee finishes feeding the horses and heads over towards John and Perry. She enjoys being out among her grandfather’s animals. She rides her four-wheeler over towards the animal feed and loads the trailer attached to her four-wheeler up with food. Afterward, she heads over towards the gate and head into the corral.